Bible Reading Challenge Blog

As we come to an end of our reading together, at least in the next few days, we continue to cover the Psalms.  It is a good relaxing way to finish our time together.  It brings us to Psalm 133 which is highlighted consistently as a vision of unity among all people.  God bestows His blessings upon those who are able to live in unity with others.  That is crucial.

What actually caught my attention is Psalm 134 which is addressed specifically to pastors and those who do the work of God in the church.  The writer asks for a blessing upon those who minister in the house of the Lord.  That’s a nice way to go about doing things, asking a blessing for those who are working for God in a consistent, direct way.

There is a verse in Psalm 147 that might be interesting to some of you.  Look at vs.19-20 and it reads: “He has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel.  He has done this for no other nation; they do not know his laws.”  This gives us what we have always knows, the choseness of Israel as being  the people of God to the extent that the laws of God were only revealed to the people of Israel.  We knew this with the whole 10 commandments thing, but this really puts it into words.  It should also make us think about who are we today in the eyes of God.  Thanks be to God that in the new covenant through Jesus Christ we have been chosen, as well as all of humanity, to be God’s children.  That’s a relief.

I also like vs.8 from Psalm 124 which states: “Our help is in the name of the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.”  So we have that going for us.

These three Psalms contain some of the more familiar verses that we find in the Psalms.  Let’s look at each of them individually.  46 gives us the assurance that God is our ever present help in the times of trouble.  No matter what is happening around us, even if the earth gives way or the mountains tremble God is in control.  It also gives us the command to: “Be still and know that I am God”.  That is a verse that we often attribute to Elijah when he flees from Jezebel after he wins the battle against the prophets of Baal.

Psalm 118 tells us with conviction that “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  That is good to remember.  I try to use this at all funerals and weddings to remind us of no matter what season in life we may find ourselves, God has made this day with all of its complexities.

It is not often that we can write an entire chapter within this blog, but I’m going to do it.  Look at Psalm 117: “Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples.  For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.  Praise the Lord.”

In Psalm 113 we find in vs.3 a verse which has produced this song.  

Each of these Psalms that we read today tend to be Psalms of praise and a recognition of who God is.  It is a much different pace than what we have been reading in the Old Testament lately, so this is a bit of a relief.

There tends to be a lot of imagery in the Psalms about battle and the people of the Lord crushing those who would serve other gods.  It is sometimes quite graphic, and also can be disturbing.  Why would the Lord use violence and war as a means to accomplish His goals?  That is a great question and there is an answer, albeit a somewhat tepid one.  It was a different time when war and battles were all that was known.  It was how nations grew from nothing to something.  It was how people were able to identify who ruled over them.  It was a time that was very, very different from ours today.  Although, with what is happening in the Ukraine maybe it is not so different after all.

Psalm 107 begins what is known as Book 5 of the Psalms.  Like our hymnals is divided into liturgical seasons and themes, this book of the Psalms is divided into sections, but they don’t tend to be thematic in any way.  Psalm 110 is used many different times in the New Testament.  You can find it referenced in Mark 12:36, 14:62, Luke 20:41-44, I Corinthians 15:25, Hebrews 5:1-6, 6:20, 7:4-7 and 7:17-24.

Every year when we were in Italy in the fall, sometime in October normally, we would take our church communities and go up to the mountains to gather chestnuts.  We would call it the hunt for the chestnuts.  And every year it was a great event, a real time of fellowship.  We would eat at a restaurant up there with our prize chestnuts that we knew we would cook eventually.  You see, in Italy they still have chestnut trees that produce edible chestnuts.  

Every year as soon as we arrived and before we started our hunt I would gather the community and I would read Psalm 104 on the summit of the mountain so that we could have a 360 view of the glory of God’s creation.  There is something about being able to see the glory of God’s creation that elicits awe and wonder in our great creator.  

We can’t skip over Psalm 103 which reminds us that the Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.  Now, we didn’t begin with such praise, we found ourselves in lament for a period of time in Psalm 102.  The beginning of the prayer we read: “A prayer of an afflicted man.  When he is faint and pours out his lament before the Lord.”  It is pretty heavy.  But all of these Psalms remind of this song.

A couple of times we read in these six psalms the phrase: Sing to the Lord a new song.  Keep in mind that the psalms are a lot like our hymnal.  They were written to be sung.  Often before the psalm they even tell us to what tune they are to be sung.  So when the psalmist commands us to sing a new song, it means something similar to what it does today.  How do you feel on the Sunday that the organist or the pastor introduces a new song to you?  I’m guessing most of us would rather have the oldie but goodie.  There is always some sort of push back, some sort of reticence.

But God says in these psalms that we tried the oldie but the goodie, but you did not obey.  The people of God disobeyed when we tried to do it the old way.  Now we need a new song that the people do not know so that they will be forced to pay attention and try to figure out exactly what it is that God wants us to do.  I like the oldies but the goodies, but the newbies provide some great spiritual edification as well.

Today we cover the Psalms that were not covered in our reading list for some reason.  If you make it through to the end but do not read these Psalms then it means you have not read the Bible completely.  I recommend you read these Psalms if you are at all goal oriented like I am.

I want to focus on Psalm 105 which takes us through the history of the people of Israel as they were in limbo about to leave Egypt with the arrival of Moses to bring them out.  So many of these Psalms are reminders of the work that God has done in the past.  These reminders serve to provide people with an assurance that if God has done it in the past then he will do it again in the future, the future potentially being now in your life.  That is good to know.  That God’s work is not done and that His miracles are not finished.

We find ourselves back in the psalms.  Remember, they are songs that were written normally after some fairly significant event in the life of the writer, or in the life of the nation of the writer.  If you remember, Jesus when he is tempted in the wilderness by Satan uses Scripture to defend himself and to ward off whatever temptations that the devil might bring his way.  When he was taken to the pinnacle to look down  and Satan asked him to throw himself down, it is here where actually Satan uses the words of Psalm 91 verses 11-12 where it states: “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”

You know it is serious when Satan himself uses Scripture to try to tempt you.  But Jesus responds that you shall not tempt the Lord your God.  That’s a good answer.

Paul saves some of his harshest words for the Corinthians in these chapters.  There are two issues that are at stake: 1) the community that he founded was questioning whether Paul was actually an apostle, appointed by God, to be doing the type of work that he was doing.  He certainly was not one of the 12 original disciples, so from where was he getting his authority.  This leads him to “boast” about the work that he has done, including, look at chapter 11:23ff where he lists all of the times that his life was in danger because of the work for the Gospel.  He admits that while his letters are powerful, his words might be a little less so.

The second issue was that of an offering that was supposed to be taken up that all of the other churches had taken up but the Corinthian church had not been required to do it as of yet.  But Paul states that he is on his way to collect it, or he would send Titus to collect it for him.  These two issues lead him to warn the community that as he is on his way to see them he tells them to examine themselves because when he comes he will drive out those who are involved in immoral deeds that is taking the community away from being the virgin bride that Christ wants his church to be.  

I love 13:12 which states – “Greet one another with a holy kiss.”