PSA Bible Reading Challenge 2025-2026

We see some historic occurrences here in these writings. The first that we see is the complete destruction of the northern kingdom, Israel. It is taken into captivity into Assyria and ceases to be completely. The king of Assyria even brings in other folks from the surrounding region so that there would not be people who were native to that land, like the Israelites. That doesn’t work great because God wants to be worshipped and so He sent some lions until a priest came to the north and showed them how to worship God. That made things a bit better.

In the south, king Hezekiah is reigning and guess who his prophet is? That’s right, Isaiah. I love it when Scripture overlaps. The Assyrians try to do to Judah what they were able to do to Israel, but God defeats them and so saves them for the time being. Then the Babylonians, in a good will gesture, send people to a sick Hezekiah to wish him well and basically take inventory of all the things that they want to take with them the next time that they come with their army. Isaiah wasn’t happy that Hezekiah let them in, but Hezekiah was thinking, it’s okay if we become captives to the Babylonians. At least there is peace then. There are worse things than peace.

Psalm 139 is a tremendous Psalm that I often use when I go visit pre-surgery because it reminds us of how God has wonderfully and fearfully made us. What a great reminder that it is God who commands, and not us.

The back and forth between the rulers of the north and the south continues with the rulers in the north being more or less unfaithful and those in the south being more or less faithful. In fact, we get to the point where Assyria takes the north into captivity which pretty much ends the rule of that region. We aren’t quite there yet with the south but we will get there.

Proverbs gives us some Scripture that we would do well to listen to. It reminds us wisdom should be our sister and insight should be our intimate friend. I like that imagery.

It is interesting that while the northern kingdom, Israel, remains unfaithful and tends to be the most unfaithful, we find ourselves in a time where a ruler takes over who was anointed by the Lord and then takes on the commands of the Lord. Jehu takes over in a most violent way, clears the house of Ahab in the most violent of ways, and rules over Israel in the most violent of ways even while the territory of Israel is being chipped away. We are seeing the beginning of the end for Israel, even while a somewhat faithful ruler takes over.

The saga of this type of Game of Thrones is just about over and we do not have anyone or anything taking its place except when Jesus comes, and then it is anything but a geopolitical rule, it is a ruler of the hearts and minds of the people of God. What a difference.

We see some of the favorite stories of Elisha that I have preached on consistently. We have the widow and the oil that pretty much never runs out until it is enough. We have the death of a son who then is raised after he was born against all odds. We have the cleansing of Naaman in the Jordan, which while it was not nearly the type of rivers that Naaman was used to, not nearly the size nor the power, served its purpose. Elisha continues to follow the Lord, even while he is the only one in all the land, and he is changing hearts and minds.

Proverbs warns against laziness and infidelity. Now, not that these two are related, they are not, but according to the author of Proverbs, they both produce that which the Lord abhors.

We see that King Jehoshaphat brings the two kingdoms together by going to war, a war which they lose by the way. But it at least begins the peace that is between Israel and Judah, a peace that is not often seen in Scripture. They do not combine the two nations into one, but at least there is peace between the two of them. We see that the South remains faithful and the North remains idolatrous.

Proverbs encourages the reader to pursue wisdom, for it is the the fear of God which defines itself in the presence of wisdom. Interestingly wisdom is portrayed almost as if it were the Holy Spirit, the third person of the trinity in how it is described. It could be somewhat dangerous to take that metaphor and go too far with it lest we fall into the same trap that Israel did in worshipping that which is not God.

There is a nice concurrence between the Old and the New Testament readings that we have today. In I Kings we are introduced to the prophet Elijah who lived during the time of the worst of the worst kings who took the people of Israel away from God, Ahaz. Remember, there are two kingdoms now. The South, called Judah and who was stable and faithful under the rule of Asa during this time, and the North, called Israel who had a succession of bad kings and established their center in Samaria, where a lot of idol worship and offerings took place. Elijah is the prophet to the North, to Ahaz, and he challenges the prophets of Baal during a time of very, very severe drought. He wins the battle of the prophets and the drought is broken.

James speaks about our faith and the resulting actions that can take place if we have the faith that God actually wants us to have. We would be able to start and stop the drought just as Elijah did if we had that power. I love the Scripture in James that commands believers to go to the elders of the people if they are sick so that they can be prayed over. We need to do more of that.

Just when we thought that Solomon had it figured out and that he would be the one who obeyed the Lord to his death, we see that he turns his back on God. We read that he had many wives and as a result of those wives he wanted to please them and so he allowed them to worship their many gods in the ways that they were used to worshipping their many gods. He allowed them to build edifices and locations where they were allowed to worship their gods, and Solomon actually participated. This is as clear of a violation of what God wanted His people to do as you could imagine. God says that he would take away the rule from Solomon’s house, which is also David’s house, because of Solomon’s disobedience, but not until Solomon had died. He would take it away from his son’s hand.

Not a whole lot of time passes when after Solomon dies then the house of God becomes divided between Israel in the north with a different king serving, and Judah in the south (with Jerusalem) with a king serving that was of the line of David. Things get really bad and sketchy alliances are being made. Basically, we read that as a result of the disobedience of the people of God peace is not able to be found. What a great lesson for all of us. Proverbs 3 reminds us not to seek out after our own understanding, but that is exactly what God’s people had done so they turned their back on God as a result.

We transition from the crowning of Solomon to the building of the temple through the work and the wisdom of Solomon. The temple in these chapters is built and Solomon gives a dedication of the temple in chapter 8 that is incredibly powerful because it seems more like a dedication to the people than it does of the temple. He puts forward every possible scenario in life and in each of these scenarios the people are commanded to go to the Lord for help and for refuge. It is a dedication that would be good to use whenever a building is given up to the Lord for Him to bless.

We didn’t mention Proverbs the last time posting but it is very fitting that as we look at the life and the work of Solomon we also hear his words in the book of the Bible that he is given credit for writing, which is Proverbs. I know that at one time I have used the phrase that Solomon is like a cross country trip with your mother in law, but that isn’t fair. I loved my mother in law, she was awesome. I know that this is said in a way that is meant to be disparaging, but Solomon is filled with jewels that we would do well to remember, especially from the last post in 1:8.

We begin I Kings and we see the life and the rule of David’s son, Solomon. This book begins somewhat inauspiciously with a different son of David seeking to be crowned king while David was failing in health. He doesn’t find out on his own, but rather Bathsheba and Nathan, two who had a real vested interest in Solomon, were able to find out how Adonijah was plotting behind the scenes, and they got Solomon into power before it was too late. David tells Solomon that there are certain people who cannot be allowed to live, and Solomon carries out his commands and kills those who were enemies to David and would have been enemies to Solomon as well.

Solomon consolidates his power and sets up peace upon the land and begins to make steps to build the temple because sacrifices were being done in places where in the past pagan sacrifices had been done. The scene where God tells Solomon that he can have anything that he wants and Solomon asks for wisdom does smack a bit like a genie in a bottle with one wish, but it is at the core of the life of Solomon. He asks for wisdom in order to rule the people of God wisely, and God recognizes that and gives him that wisdom as well as everything else: riches, long life, peace, etc. The reign of Solomon has begun.

The last day of Jesus’ life unfold before us. Judas is sorry that he did what he did, but it is too late, the damage is done. He goes and hangs himself. This is probably one of the least focused on passages in Scripture. The hanging of Judas is tragic, very tragic. It is the opposite of what the Gospel teaches, that there is always hope for the lost, always. Judas took that away from God, he took away God’s ability and willingness to forgive him.

We see Peter is also distraught because he has betrayed Jesus, and so he weeps bitterly. Jesus appears to the disciples and gives them the great commission in chapter 28 to go out and make disciples and to teach, and to baptize. It doesn’t say go out and plant churches, it says go out and make disciples. That is our primary goal.