Contemplative Bible Reading

Nehemiah 8:10 (New Living Translation)

10 And Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!”

Nehemiah was reading the Book of the Law to the people who had returned to Jerusalem. Many of the people had never heard these words. They were hearing that much of their lifestyles were not what the LORD wanted. They wept in shame.

“Don’t weep, don’t be dejected,” encouraged Nehemiah.

And then he added, “Joy in the LORD is strength.”

Let’s party! Right? Well, I guess that depends on what a “party” is. We have changed the meaning of words over a few thousand years. Words like singing, dancing, celebrating, and others meant one thing in one place at one time and, well, they mean something else today. There is a difference between dominoes and doobies (slang for marijuana).

Let’s celebrate! Right? Right. In this case, Nehemiah describes the celebration as,

12 So the people went away to eat and drink at a festive meal, to share gifts of food, and to celebrate with great joy because they had heard God’s words and understood them.

Eat and drink and share gifts of food. Well, that sounds like fun to some of us and boring to others of us. What’s the answer? Each of us has to provide that answer. Each of us has a conscious and so on.

Joy in the LORD.

2 Chronicles 20:17 (New Living Translation)

17 But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you!

Show up. Stand still. Just be there.

These are instructions given to an army by a man named Jahaziel. This is how to win a battle in a heated war. Really? Yes, really. Be there. Stand still and watch the Lord’s victory. What Jahaziel said came true.

Why didn’t God do this for me last week when… Because God didn’t choose to do that for me last week when… Why doesn’t God do this for a person I know who has been suffering an ailment for decades and needs mercy? Because God didn’t choose to do that.

But why? Why perform this unbelievable thing at that time but not at my time in my place? I want to know. Nope. Not for me to know.

Back to the beginning. This is what God wants us to do more times than I realize. Be there. Stand in place. Show God that much faith. Notice what God does.

I think that is where I fail the most and the most often. I don’t notice what God does. I don’t notice the power and action of God. I give the situation some other explanation. I claim credit too often.

Please God, help me to put myself in the ranks of those who stand in place and watch you perform miracles every day.

Psalm 40:9-10 (New Living Translation)

9 I have told all your people about your justice.
I have not been afraid to speak out,
as you, O Lord, well know.
10 I have not kept the good news of your justice hidden in my heart;
I have talked about your faithfulness and saving power.
I have told everyone in the great assembly
of your unfailing love and faithfulness.

King David is preaching about preaching. All this meta-preaching comes in a prayer and is recorded in a Psalm. Confusing? Could be.

But it is simple.

Here is Good News! God is just. God is faithful to Himself. God saves through a power we cannot understand. God never fails in love.

Why follow God? Those are great reasons. Claim those blessings and walk out everyday into a sinful and hateful world knowing that God is with us.

Tell someone else what is in these verses, in this little sermon from David. Repeat the words. Preach.

2 Chronicles 20:21 (New Living Translation)

21 After consulting the people, the king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the Lord and praising him for his holy splendor. This is what they sang:

“Give thanks to the Lord;
his faithful love endures forever!”

A battle is about to begin. The King has the army ready. Leading the troops into battle are…singers? Yes, singers.

First they sing to the army telling the army to give thanks to God.

Next they sing a praise describing God and God’s all-enduring love.

Talk to God. Talk to one another about God. Hmmm. What else should we be doing before a trying episode in our lives? Pretty simple. How is it that we make things so much more complicated than necessary? I guess we often try too hard.

Please God, help me to rest, breathe, and use the simplest things that you provide that are far more than sufficient.

Nehemiah 8:8 (New Living Translation)

8 They read from the Book of the Law of God and clearly explained the meaning of what was being read, helping the people understand each passage.

Some of God’s people have returned to Jerusalem after a 70-year exile. The Priests are reading the Book of the Law of God. That isn’t a simple book. Reading it brings the question “Why?” to many sections of it.

The Priests explained the meaning; they answered the “why?” questions.

The Law of God was a good set of laws. The people living near the people of God recognized the greatness of God’s Law. Those surrounding people understood how much better life was with God’s Law.

“What does this mean? Why all this little print? Why is it so thick?” These are common questions about the Holy Bible we have today. We all need some explanations from day to day.

Who will explain it? We will. One day I will explain this to you, and the next you will explain that to me. God doesn’t provide gibberish that no one can understand and explain to another.

God, help me to slow down, read, pray, and understand. Give me the words to explain when that is appropriate and give me the wisdom to keep silent when that is appropriate.

2 Chronicles 19:6-7 (New Living Translation)

“Always think carefully before pronouncing judgment. Remember that you do not judge to please people but to please the Lord. He will be with you when you render the verdict in each case. ⁷ Fear the Lord and judge with integrity, for the Lord our God does not tolerate perverted justice, partiality, or the taking of bribes.”

“I don’t try to please any of you. I please God,” said many who were not well liked in what they said or did, but wanted to justify themselves.

Above is the easiest and one of the most used excuses by people who find themselves alone or in a very small group. People don’t like me and don’t like us because we are with God. Those popular folks just try to be popular by doing whatever it takes. There is some merit to those statements and arguments. Being with God is not a popular stance in many instances.

Note the third sentence. God will be with the judges when they judge to please God, not the people. Unpopular stance? Maybe. Is God with me in my stance? Well, sure, I’m a Christian. God is always with me. Really? Am I sure of that? Am I using God as an excuse for my folly? Am I just plain wrong? Well, uh, er, I uh…

This isn’t easy. I try. Some days are better than others. Some days I am a miserable failure and those days are my own fault. Please God, help me when I fall flat on my face. Help me in my unbelief.

John 18:28 (New Living Translation)

28 Jesus’ trial before Caiaphas ended in the early hours of the morning. Then he was taken to the headquarters of the Roman governor. His accusers didn’t go inside because it would defile them, and they wouldn’t be allowed to celebrate the Passover.

The Jewish leaders were having the Roman rulers execute Jesus knowing that Jesus was innocent of any wrongdoing. This was murder by committee.

Note, however, that those pushing Jesus’ death were carefully following the rules of hygiene. They didn’t want to go into the presence of Gentiles and defile themselves. That would just be plain wrong.

Murder while clean. How convenient. Follow the smallest health and hygiene regulations and ignore the big issues.

Lessons for today? Perhaps.

2 Chronicles 6:21 (New Living Translation)

21 May you hear the humble and earnest requests from me and your people Israel when we pray toward this place. Yes, hear us from heaven where you live, and when you hear, forgive.

King Solomon is praying at the dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem (called “this place” in the verse). There is much we can write about this prayer and this final request.

Consider the last phrase, “and when you hear, forgive.” Solomon knows that he, his people, and all mankind for all time will sin and will need forgiveness. Solomon asks, please forgive.

Well, we say, let’s just stop sinning. Well, maybe let’s just try harder and sin less. The second idea has some merit. We can sin less. We can live better and closer to God. Maybe a lot better, maybe a little better, but we can do better. Right?

Maybe we can; maybe we can’t. Maybe we can try so hard and worry so much that we hurt ourselves and those around us. Maybe we can relax and let the grace of God dwell in us and we simply live in that grace.

I strive for improvement. I’ve always felt like I could do better. That has helped me on occasions and given me a lot of pain on other occasions.

Well, what do we do? Let’s pray. Please God, hear us and forgive us.

Exodus 2:19 (New Living Translation)
19 “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds,” they answered. “And then he drew water for us and watered our flocks.”

This is part of the (hi)story of Moses. He fled Egypt and found the daughters of Reuel with their flocks. He “rescued” the daughters and their flocks and then watered the flocks.

We learned in Genesis that Egyptians detested or loathed shepherds. Yet here was an Egyptian shepherd tending to the flocks of stranger.

None of this makes any sense. Yet, here it is—nonsense making perfectly good sense given an odd situation. The Bible is full of this type of thing. The Savior would come from the line of David. The Savior would come from Nazareth. The Savior would come from Egypt. All those statements are in the Bible. Nonsense! Yet, there they are, and once we read all the (hi)stories, it makes sense.

I suppose there is a lesson in here about not judging before having all the facts or something. We shouldn’t jump to conclusions, and the like. When will we have all the facts? Probably never in our lifetimes. I hear people say, “I would only do this and that if I knew that and this.” But we won’t be able to know that and this. We live with incomplete knowledge in a confused world—most of the time.

What are we to do? Seek righteousness and justice. Love one another. Pray. Be patient. Yes, all those things are difficult, especially when I am tired and when I am agitated and when I just want to fix things right now! Please God, help me in my unbelief.

Genesis 31:14-15 (New Living Translation)

14 Rachel and Leah responded, “That’s fine with us! We won’t inherit any of our father’s wealth anyway. 15 He has reduced our rights to those of foreign women. And after he sold us, he wasted the money you paid him for us.

Laban was the father of Rachel and Leah. Jacob worked for Laban. In return for Jacob’s labor, Laban “gave” his daughters as wives. Yes, Laban sold his daughters to a fellow who watched his livestock.

In addition, the daughters noted that their father had wasted the price paid for them. Hmmm.

What was wrong with Laban? What was wrong with Jacob? Jacob did, after all, buy his wives from Laban. What was wrong with all these folks? Why didn’t any of them stand up and say, “No. This isn’t right. This isn’t just.”

Times were different. The times were different with different laws and different customs. Still, they could have all done better.

Now we come to the part of this little essay where we look at ourselves today. We live in our times with our laws and our customs and our injustice and unrighteousness. Do we stand up and say, “No. This isn’t right. This isn’t just.” Sometimes we do. Good for us on our good days. Often we don’t say these things. Bad on us on our bad days.

Please God, help me to speak for righteousness and justice. Even when I’m having a bad day.