Month: May 2019

We could call Psalm 36 “King David’s ode to the unworthiness of sinners, and the goodness of God.”  The first portion of the psalm describes what sinners are like, and then shifts quickly to David’s praise for God, for His mercy not only to people, but even toward animals.  The LORD is good, and David wants everyone to know it.

Psalm 37 shows us King David extolling the virtue of loving and serving the Lord. One of the  most familiar verses of the Bible is found in it: ⁴Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 (NIV) David promises goodness and blessing to those who follow the LORD. The promises seem to be without qualification, but several times David does point out we must sometimes wait for our reward.  The tone of this psalm affirms the idea that those who follow the LORD will always be blessed.  While David has shown us in other psalms that he knew and even experienced times when the righteous were not exalted, Psalm 37 elevates the “rule” that obedience to the Lord brings blessing.

Psalm 38 offers us a quick return to King David’s realization both that his sinfulness has caused him great spiritual and physical pain, and his enemies have rewarded his goodness with evil.  David once again confesses his own sin and asks for forgiveness, and then calls on the LORD to vindicate him from experiencing the vindictiveness of his enemies.  The psalm ends with an affirmation of the LORD, as is often David’s tendency.

In Psalm 40 King David focuses on the brevity of life.  While his tone is not quite that which we find from his son, King Solomon, in the Book of Ecclesiastes, there is a sense in which David sees a bit of “vanity” in the brief life we live, and then leave our wealth to others, whom we might not even know.  There is no sense of hopelessness from King David, but he makes us quite aware of the permanence of the LORD and the brevity of our lives.

As we turn to Luke 6, Luke starts by telling us the account of Jesus’ disciples picking grain on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees calling Jesus to task for it. Jesus responds with an example of King David “breaking the rules” by eating bread reserved for the priests, and then telling the religious leaders the Sabbath was made for us and not the other way around. That account is followed immediately by Jesus healing a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath and drawing the wrath of the religious leaders. Next, Jesus chooses the twelve disciples. Following that, Luke devotes the remainder of the chapter to what has often been called “The Sermon on the Plain.” If you line up the content of this portion of Luke 7, with Matthew 5-7, you will see a great deal of overlap. While the order differs, many of the points are word-for-word the same as in the Sermon on the Mount. Some biblical scholars contend Luke has just varied the content, because he wasn’t there, while others contend Jesus would have taught this content many times, because it was the core of His teaching. Either way, the content is vital, because it is recorded in both gospels.

Psalm 33 is an “anonymous” psalm, that is we are not told who wrote it. It sounds much like the psalms of King David we have read that extol the virtues of the LORD and offer Him praise.  The psalm emphasizes the LORD’s power and superiority over any army or other force in the world. It focuses on the LORD’s creative power, and in that sense is something of a creation psalm. It also reminds us the LORD is with the righteous, with those who follow His ways. The psalm serves as a helpful reminder to us that the LORD is sovereign, and we do well to praise and obey Him.

The introduction to Psalm 34 tells us King David wrote it when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech. David found himself in a difficult position, his own king, Saul, had vowed to kill him, even though David had always been faithful to Saul. David and his men were forced to go on the run. He decided it would be “safer” to go to the land of the Philistines, Israel’s enemy, than to stay in Israel. The plan worked far better than David could have imagined, and for a time he, his men, and their families lived in relative peace. The psalm offers praise to God for protecting those who call out to Him, to those who face difficult challenges, who are willing to obey Him.  The circumstances of the writing of Psalm 34 help us to remember we can always praise the LORD, we can always call out to Him, and He is with us in our most difficult challenges as well as in our times of blessing and ease.

In Psalm 35, King David calls on the LORD to protect him from his enemies and to destroy those enemies. David “reminds” the LORD he has shown mercy and compassion to all, even to his enemies, but when they have the opportunity they gloat over David’s misfortune. This psalm petitions the LORD to vindicate David and judge his enemies. While we might assume it is always better to pray for mercy on everyone, David calls on the LORD’s justice in this situation and asks Him to respond accordingly. When we offer such a prayer to the LORD, it is vital we are, indeed, walking in His ways ourselves.

As we turn to Luke 5, Luke offers us an account of Jesus interacting with Peter, Andrew, James, and John that differs from the accounts we read in Matthew and Mark, about how Jesus came to call them to follow Him. In Luke’s account, Jesus asks the men to let Him board their boat and uses it as a “pulpit” from which to teach the crowds. After the message has ended, Jesus calls the men to take their boats out into the lake and lower their nets for a catch. Peter “knows” this is not the time of day to fish. After all, he was a professional fisherman. He protests he and his partners had fished all night (when one is supposed to fish!) and caught nothing, but he obeyed Jesus’ command. The result was an unprecedented catch of fish. The boats become so filled with fish they started to sink. On seeing this, Peter exclaimed, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” Peter called Jesus “Lord.” Peter recognized the power of God in Jesus’ discernment, and in providing the catch of fish. Peter’s response in the presence of such goodness and holiness, was to recognize his own sinfulness.

Jesus’ response is so helpful. He didn’t say, “Peter, your sins are forgiven.” After all, Peter’s protest was that he was a sinful man, implying his unworthiness to be in Jesus’ presence. Yet, Jesus responded, “Do not be afraid…” Jesus realized Peter’s true response was fear. He responded to Peter’s fear and promised they would catch people if they followed Him. Peter and the other’s responded by heading back to shore, leaving their boats, (and possibly the amazing catch of fish, although some biblical scholars believe they sold the fish so their families would be supported while they followed Jesus) and following Jesus. When Jesus calls us to follow Him, we might feel unworthy, and we will certainly feel fear. Peter’s example helps us to realize Jesus is greater than our unworthiness and our fear.

In the rest of Luke 5, we read of events, which are quite familiar to us after reading Matthew and Mark.  Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called the “synoptic” gospels, which means “seen together,” because their content is so similar. As we read them, we see how connected they are, and yet how the details differ–as we would expect, given Luke was not an eyewitness, but a historian, Matthew was one of the disciples, and Mark was most likely recording the events from Peter’s perspective. In the remainder of Luke 5, Jesus touches a leper and heals him. He then heals others. Next, Jesus heals the paralyzed man who was brought to Him by four friends. Before the healing, Jesus forgave the man’s sins, showing He is God’s Son, because only God can forgive sin. Next, Jesus called Levi or Matthew, and finally, Jesus had a discussion about fasting with the religious leaders. Jesus pointed out His disciples didn’t fast, because no one fasts when the “bridegroom” is present. (Jesus was [and is] the bridegroom!) He pointed out fasting would become part of the disciple’s spiritual discipline after He left. He also pointed out it was a time of new realities and used an analogy of putting new wine in old wineskins, to show, that such action ends badly. Thus, Jesus bringing new realities would bring them in “new wineskins.” As we seek to live out our faith in Jesus, we will find ourselves struggling with traditions from our upbringing and even the free-wheeling culture in which we live. In those times, let’s remember Jesus didn’t come to bring us back to where we were, but to give us a whole, new life!

The words that stand out in Psalm 29 are “Ascribe to the LORD…” and “The voice of the Lord…” King David is in full-on praise mode in this brief psalm. He wants everyone to know of God’s worthiness to be praised and of His great power. David recognized it is the LORD’s voice, or His word that has the power to change everything. When Jesus came to earth 1,000 years later, John would remind us Jesus is “The Word.” When we are struggling with anything, how important for us to remember the LORD’s worthiness to be praised, and His great power, because He is always good even when our lives aren’t.

In Psalm 30, King David recalls the LORD’s faithfulness in his times of difficulty and reminds us the LORD is with those who trust Him. While we’re now familiar with this theme in David’s psalms, we can never be reminded too often of the LORD’s love and faithfulness to us!

In parts of Psalm 31, King David seems to have taken the place of Job in his distress. He recalls times when he was cast aside, and when he wasn’t regarded by people. Yet the overall tone of the Psalm is one of confidence in the LORD’s deliverance. One of the truest realities in our lives is life is not all good or bad. When we face the giants of our lives, we forget so easily the LORD’s provision in the good times, and all the provision of the good times doesn’t erase the reality of a current conflict, illness, loss, or challenge. Maintaining our faith in times of trouble isn’t easy. Craig Groeschel’s book, Hope In the Dark: Believing God Is Good When Life Isn’t,takes a serious look at maintaining our faith when we experience the hardest challenges of our lives. It is well worth the time to read.

In Psalm 32, King David rejoices in the LORD’s forgiveness. He reminds us when we remain silent before the LORD, when we are guilty of sin, the result can impact us in every area of life. But when we confess our sins, God does forgive and restore us. While we know this truth as Jesus’ followers, King David’s reminder helps us to remember to turn to the LORD quickly when we have sinned, because all our sins are against Him.

As we turn to Luke 4, Luke records Jesus forty-day temptation in the wilderness after He was baptized. Luke records the same three major temptations as Matthew, but in a different order.  Both accounts record Satan tempting Jesus to turn stones into bread to satisfy His hunger after forty days of fasting. Even though our English translations read, “If you are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread…” we realize Satan knew Jesus was the Son of God, because it wouldn’t be a temptation if he challenged you or me to turn a stone into bread, because we couldn’t do it. Only the Son of God would find Satan’s temptation to be a temptation! But Jesus saw through it and quoted Scripture to Satan in response. Luke reverses the order of the final two temptations. He tells us Satan offered Jesus the world if He would bow down and worship him, but Jesus would not. Nor would Jesus use His powers to amaze the people by jumping from the Temple and letting angels save Him for death. At the end of this account, we’re told Satan left Jesus “until an opportune time.” We must remember Satan and his minions are always waiting for an opportune time to tempt us. They never quit, but the good news for us is just as Jesus overcame the temptations by remaining strong in the LORD and in His word, so can we.

In the next portion of the chapter, we’re told Jesus returned to Nazareth and was given the opportunity to preach in the synagogue. He read from the prophet Isaiah, a portion of what the Messiah would do when He came, including healing the sick, and preaching the Good News to the poor. After reading the Scripture He put down the scroll and told the people the Scripture had been fulfilled in Him. The people were amazed, but as they considered Jesus’ words, He told them a prophet is not without honor except in his hometown. Then He reminded them of examples in Israel’s history when the great prophets Elijah and Elisha helped foreigners in times of trouble, but not the people of Israel. At this the people attempted to kill Jesus, but He escaped.

Next, we’re told Jesus went to Capernaum and preached in the synagogue there. He also cast a demon out of a man. The people were amazed. Afterwards, Jesus went to Simon’s home. (Luke has not yet told us of the calling of Simon, Andrew, James and John, as Matthew and Mark had done by this time.) Jesus healed her, and then healed the townspeople who were brought to Him that night, thus fulfilling the Scripture He had read in Nazareth. The next morning, instead of the disciples coming to find Jesus as we read in Matthew and Mark, Luke tells us it was “some people.” Jesus response was the same, though. Rather than stay in that place and do more ministry, He left to preach in the other towns of Israel.  We see again, Jesus knew His purpose and His timing.  He would not have His agenda set by others, and we can learn an important lesson from this example: when we know God’s purpose and timing in our lives, we must pursue it and not be distracted.

Psalm 25 is a wonderful example of how King David praises the LORD for who He is, calls on Him both to forgive his sin and to restore him, rests on the truth of God’s word, and calls out for God to overtake his enemies, because of His great love and mercy. As we read it, we are reminded that apart from God’s mercy and forgiveness we stand condemned before Him, but because of that mercy and forgiveness we are empowered to live out His truth, and to receive His protection in our lives.

In Psalm 26, King David calls on the LORD to deliver him from his enemies, because of his righteous life. David contrasts his life with those who don’t follow the LORD and offers in extensive detail the righteousness he has displayed. This psalm reminds us the LORD does expect His followers to live righteous lives, and we must remember there is only one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We don’t serve a God of mercy, while King David served a God of works. God has always been a God of mercy, who expects His people to live His truth in the power of the Holy Spirit. As we read David’s account of the righteous deeds of his life, it reminds us to live righteously in the power of the Holy Spirit as well. Jesus reminded us in Matthew 7 not everyone who cries out, “Lord, Lord!” will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of His Father in heaven. That was not a call to works-righteousness, but rather a call to righteous living in the Holy Spirit’s power.

In Psalm 27, King David calls on the LORD to deliver him from his enemies once again and reminds himself how the LORD has been faithful to do so. King David reminds himself (and us!) the LORD has been faithful even when His parents have not. He reminds himself the word of the LORD is faithful and true. He calls on the LORD not to turn away from him in his anger, and at the last he reminds himself to wait on the LORD. How important it is for us to remind ourselves to wait on the LORD. The LORD always hears us, but we must wait for the LORD’s response to our prayers, and even more importantly we must wait for the LORD to reveal Himself to us, and to make His will clear to us. We find the LORD’s will in His written word. He reveals it to us through the Holy Spirit in prayer. He also shows us His will through the circumstances of our lives, and even through the voice of fellow believers. But in all this we must often wait for the LORD to show us what He desires to do in and through us. As the prophet Isaiah reminded us, “Those who wait on the LORD will renew their strength; they will soar on wings as eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.”

In Psalm 28, King David cries out to the LORD for deliverance from his enemies once again. He compares his righteousness with his enemies’ sinfulness and calls on the LORD to deliver him. He makes his trust in the LORD clear, and at the same time demonstrates an urgency to have his life vindicated by the LORD. Sometimes in our lives, as we look around and see those who aren’t following the LORD seeming to prosper and enjoy a “better” life than we do, we need to remind King David’s constant struggle with this reality in his life. Good things happen to bad people, and bad things happen to “good” people, because we live in a fallen world, where the LORD lets us choose our own way, and when we choose not to follow Him, the results will be contrary to His desire, but that will only be for a time. In the end, the LORD’s will and purpose will be carried out, but for now, we are in the same position King David found Himself: crying out for vindication in the face of his enemies.

As we turn to Luke 3, Luke tells us of God’s call to John the Baptist to start his ministry of preparing the way for Jesus. It is interesting to note, Luke roots John’s call in history by telling us who was the Roman emperor, the Roman Governor of Judea, the King of Israel and even the Tetrarch of Iturea, but the word of God didn’t come to any of them. No doubt they were busily going about their work of governing their domains, but the word of God came to John “in the wilderness.” John was waiting on God’s call in his life, and it came to him. John took his work seriously, calling out people of every social strata as they came to him to be baptized. John called everyone to repent of their sins in preparation for Jesus’ coming. John’s word and work were so powerful, people started to wonder whether he was the Messiah. He set the people straight quickly. He told them One was coming after him who was more powerful than he was. When Jesus came, John baptized Him. Luke tells us King Herod arrested John for calling him to account for marrying his brother’s wife. Luke closes out the chapter by recounting Jesus’ genealogy. As we read it and compare it to the genealogy at the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel, we find the two didn’t use exactly the same line of ancestry, and Luke traces Jesus’ ancestry all the way back to Adam, while Matthew only went back to Abraham. That difference in the details shows us a difference in sources between Matthew and Luke. The difference in how far back each went in their record of Jesus’ ancestry is because Matthew was a Jew, and for him, the key was to show Jesus was in the line of Abraham and David, while Luke was a gentile, who would have wanted all of us who are not of Jewish ancestry to see, Jesus is for us, too, because His ancestry goes all the way back to the very first human being. We are all descendants of him.

Psalm 21 is another royal psalm and in it, King David extols the LORD for His blessing and protection over the monarchy. David offers explicit details of the terrors that have and will befall those who have turned against him but invests most of the time in this brief psalm affirming the LORD’s blessing in his life.

Psalm 22 is a powerful psalm of lament, written by King David, but quoted by Jesus as He hung on the cross. Biblical scholars debate whether Jesus was merely quoting the psalm, which begins, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” as He hung on the cross, because He knew the psalm’s ending praised the LORD for His faithfulness. But Jesus agony on the cross was far different than David’s. Psalm 22 was definitely written by David to describe times when he felt deserted by the LORD. Yet the vivid details of the psalm also describe clearly what Jesus experienced as He endured crucifixion. This is a time when the psalm was written by David for his life and situation, but also pointed to the future time when Jesus would endure indescribable agony, as He bore our sins in His body on the cross.

Psalm 23 is the most beloved of all the psalms. Written by King David, the psalm describes the LORD as our Shepherd. David, having started his life as a shepherd, was intimately acquainted with the images he portrayed of the LORD’s watchful care in our lives. This brief psalm reminds us of God’s constant love, watchfulness, care, provision, and His constant seeking for us in our lives. The psalm is often read at funeral services, because of its immense comfort for any aspect of our lives, but particularly when we are facing “the valley of the shadow of death.”

Psalm 24 is another creation psalm. In this brief psalm, King David reminds us the earth belongs to the LORD and everything in it. He also reminds us that only those who are pure may ascend to the LORD’s presence.

As we turn to Luke 2, we come to what most people think of when they think of the birth of Jesus.  The first seven verses tell us a decree went out from the Roman emperor requiring everyone to return to the home of their ancestors, which is why Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem even though Mary was about to give birth to Jesus. While they were in Bethlehem, Jesus was born. He was placed in a stable and laid in a manger–a feeding trough–because there was no place else to stay. The city was crowded past its capacity with all the people in town for the census.

Luke 2:8-20 tells us of the shepherds who watched their flocks that night, and how the LORD made them aware of Jesus’ birth by sending first an angel to tell them the news, and then a host of angels to glorify God and sing His praises. After the angelic visitation, the shepherds ran to Bethlehem and found Mary, Joseph and Jesus. They told them what they had seen and been told, and then they told everyone in the town. Afterwards, they returned to their flocks rejoicing and praising God for everything they had seen and heard, which was just as they had been told.

The next nineteen verses record Mary and Joseph taking Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem to dedicate Him. As the Law of Moses required, they went on the eighth day, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD. While they were there, they were visited by Simeon and Anna. These two servants of the LORD had been waiting for the coming of the Messiah. Each offered a blessing to the family, and also a prophecy that Jesus would be the cause of the rising and falling of many in Israel. Mary was also told a sword would pierce her own soul.

The remainder of the chapter is devoted to the account of a time when Jesus was twelve years old, and the family went to Jerusalem for Passover. After the celebration, Mary and Joseph started home with their family entourage from Nazareth, which would have included many in their extended family. On the third day, they realized Jesus wasn’t with the group. (It’s challenging for us to understand how that kind of “oversight” could have happened, but it was a different era, when families cared for one another’s children, and Jesus’ absence wasn’t a cause for alarm.) Joseph and Mary returned to Jerusalem and searched everywhere. Finally, they found Jesus in the Temple talking with the religious leaders. We’re told the religious leaders were amazed at Jesus’ questions. Mary asked Jesus why He had done this to them? Jesus’ answered, they ought to have known He would be in His Father’s house. Jesus returned home with Joseph and Mary, and we’re told that He was obedient to them, and that He grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and people. What a wonderful blessing and challenge it must have been to be Jesus’ parents.

In Psalm 17, King David calls on the LORD to protect him from his enemies once again. He describes the tactics of his enemies, and then he acknowledges the LORD will prevail and David will serve Him faithfully as always.

Psalm 18 is the longest psalm we have encountered to this point. In it, King David praises the LORD for protecting him from all his enemies. He speaks of the LORD’s fury being poured out on his enemies, and how the LORD protected him at every turn. These words came from the time in David’s life when he was eluding King Saul, and when he was being disparaged by Saul for no reason. David realized the LORD was vindicating him, and he offered the LORD praise and thanksgiving for it.

Psalm 19 starts out as a creation psalm and then in the middle turns to an affirmation of the LORD’s word. King David praised God often for the wonder of His creation and the amazing truth and power of His word. We do well to emulate King David in this. How often we race here and there without pausing to consider the majesty of the LORD we see in creation. How many times do we rush to read the Bible, so we can check that off our list for the day, without pausing to let the words sink not only into our minds, but also into our hearts? We must not let the busyness of life or even the work of the LORD, keep us from focusing on the LORD of our work!

Psalm 20 is a “royal psalm” that affirms the king and calls on God to protect him. While it was written by King David, it seems to have a bigger purpose, which was to affirm God’s leadership over all the kings who would follow him.

Today, we turn to the Gospel of Luke for the first time. Luke is the only gospel writer who tells us up front why he wrote a gospel. In Luke’s case, he wrote for a friend, most likely a Roman official, name Theophilus. He wrote to assure Theophilus of the certainty and truth of his faith in Jesus. Luke tells us he looked at the available accounts of Jesus’ life, as well as interviewing eyewitnesses. The result was an orderly account of the birth, life, teachings, death and resurrection of Jesus. As we read through Luke over these coming days, we can be sure Luke, who was a physician, will give us a clear account of who Jesus was, and what He did on our behalf.

After Luke tells us why he wrote his Gospel in Luke 1:1-4, the remainder of this long chapter is devoted to two major events: the appearance of the angel Gabriel to Zechariah, who would become the father of John the Baptist and then Gabriel’s appearance to Mary to tell her she would become the mother of Jesus. The chapter is divided into three sections: 1) Zechariah receives the news from Gabriel while serving in his priestly duties at the Temple. He doesn’t believe the news, so he isn’t able to speak until the time of John’s birth; 2) Gabriel appears to Mary and tells her she has found favor with God and will be the mother of the Messiah. Mary also questions the news, but for a different reason: she is a virgin, and she can’t understand how she will have a son. Gabriel tells her the pregnancy will come about through the power of the Holy Spirit, which will make her son the Son of God. After receiving the news Mary went to visit her cousin, Elizabeth, who was also Zechariah’s wife. As Mary approaches Elizabeth, the child in her womb leaps in recognition of the child in Mary’s womb; and 3) the birth of John takes place, and because Zechariah cannot speak everyone wants to name the child Zechariah. When Elizabeth tells the people the child’s name is John, they turn to Zechariah, who writes the child’s name for all to see: John. At that moment Zechariah’s ability to speak returns and he offers both praise to God and a prophetic pronouncement about John’s future ministry.

Psalm 13 is a brief psalm of King David. In it he cries out asking how long God will forget him, how long his enemies will defeat him. Then he closes with a quick affirmation of his love for God, his trust in Him, and how God has shown him favor. As we read the psalm, we can either think, “Wow! David had a split personality.” Or we can realize David was being honest. How many times in our own lives do we know in our hearts God’s love is sure, His presence is real, and yet we feel as if we are losing the battle and our enemies are going to win? In psalms such as this one, whether short or long, the common theme is praising God whether in the midst of struggle or in times of victory. Here the struggle was quite real to King David, but he started and ended with the premise that God is worthy of praise.

King David started Psalm 14 with the vital truth: The fool says in his heart there is no God. He continued by noting the foolishness of turning away from God or denying His existence. He acknowledged the evil often thwart the plans of the poor. Then he concluded, as always, with an acknowledgment of God’s power and in this case a call for God to exert His presence among the people of Israel.

In Psalm 15 King David asks a powerful question, “Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary?” The answer is brief but equally as powerful: those who are blameless and righteous; those who keep their oaths even when it hurts; those who lend money without charging interest; and those who won’t accept a bribe against the innocent. In a word, those of integrity get to dwell with God.

Psalm 16 is another brief psalm of King David. In this one he affirms God’s presence, help, and power in His life. He affirms the goodness of God and the blessings he has received at God’s hand. As we read the psalm, we are reminded of how good God has been to us. We are reminded that in general, when we obey God the result is favorable.

As we return to Matthew 28, we see the power of God at work in Jesus’ resurrection. Matthew’s account tells us an angel caused the earthquake that moved the stone outside Jesus’ tomb. That action caused the soldiers posted outside the entrance to freeze in fright. The women, on the other hand, went inside the tomb and found it empty. They were told by the angel that Jesus had risen. They met Jesus as they returned to tell the disciples what had happened. They worshiped Him, and then returned and told the disciples to meet Jesus in Galilee. When the disciples went to Galilee, they found Jesus and worshiped Him, but some doubted. I have always appreciated that statement. Even with Jesus alive and standing in front of them, some disciples doubted. Rising from the dead is an extremely uncommon feat, and even though Jesus was the Son of God, His return frightened the group, and caused some to wonder how it was possible.  Jesus gave the group what we call the Great Commission, reminding them He was transferring His absolute authority to them, and they were to make disciples as they went throughout the world. The discipleship process would include water baptism and teaching the disciples to do everything Jesus commanded them. He then promised to be with them always, even to the close of the age. As we reflect on this sequence of events, remember the significance of them. Jesus who was dead was now alive. Jesus called the first believers to evangelize the world. That’s an incredible task, but it started with an even more incredible reality–their Master and Friend rose from the dead. When you find yourself frustrated or down about your call as Jesus’ follower, remember this moment in history, and remember you, too, have been given Jesus’ authority to carry out His work.

Psalm 9 includes both praise for who God is and a call for God to vindicate the righteous. One of the common themes of the psalms David wrote is David “reminds” the LORD who He is. He reminds the LORD of His goodness, His protection of the weak, and many other positive characteristics. Something I have learned from this over the years is when I am praying, I “remind” God who He is, not that He ever forgets, but I do sometimes. When I praise God for being all-powerful, or acknowledge His goodness, the reminder is more for me than for Him. I’m sure that’s the way it was for King David as well.

Psalm 10 calls the LORD to come out of hiding and pronounce judgment on the wicked. The author, who is not identified, reminds the LORD of all the injustices done by the wicked, and particularly the injustices the wicked carry out against the poor. Then he calls on the LORD to judge the wicked and to show the world His righteousness and power.

Psalm 11 is brief, but reminds us the LORD is in His Holy Temple in heaven and He sees all. He judges the wicked and upholds the righteous. This theme repeats over and over throughout the psalms.

In Psalm 12, King David calls on God to “show up.” By this I mean David tells the LORD the evil prosper, and they don’t seem to be judged. David knows the LORD’s righteousness prevails in the end, but at the moment it seemed the wicked were more prevalent than the righteous. As we look around in our world, we might think the same thing. The “rewards” of righteousness aren’t always evident in this life, and it seems the wicked often prosper and benefit. The LORD’s justice always prevails, though, and we need to remember as King David did that the LORD has the final word.

As we return to Matthew 27, we read again the account of Jesus’ trial before Pilate, His condemnation by the crowd, His crucifixion and burial. We’ve read this account before several times now. As I reread it, two things stood out to me: 1) Judas “repented” of his sin of turning Jesus over, but he didn’t really. He was sorry for what he had done. He gave the money back to the religious leaders, but he didn’t repent, that is he didn’t change his mind, nor did he turn away from what he had done and back to God. Instead, he languished in his sorrow, and decided to kill himself in his remorse. The devil won twice: first when Judas sinned by betraying Jesus, and then when Judas ended his life rather than being restored from his sin. As we read in John’s gospel, after Jesus’ resurrection He restored Peter to fellowship. Peter had sinned by denying Jesus three times, yet because Peter repented, turned away from the sin, changed his mind about it, and returned to God, he was able to receive restoration. Then he lived a fruitful life for Jesus. We must learn both from Judas’ failure to repent and Peter’s willingness to do so, how important it is to repent and turn back to God when we have sinned.

The second truth that stood out to me in this reading of Matthew 27 is how much it seemed Pilate wanted to do the right thing regarding Jesus, which was to release Him. Yet, in the end Pilate listened to the voice of the crowd. It’s easy to condemn Pilate, but we have all been in situations where we knew the right thing to do, but the crowd was doing the opposite. I haven’t always done the right thing in that moment, because it’s always the hard thing. It’s hard to stand against the crowd whether the “crowd” is only a handful of people or a huge multitude. Pilate missed the opportunity to act righteously, because he was more concerned with pleasing the crowd. In our lives, we will face the “crowd test” many times, and the only way we will “pass,” to choose what’s right in that moment is to follow Jesus faithfully as if it is just Him and us.

Today, we turn to the Book of Psalms, the “Prayer Book” of the Bible. Many of the Psalms were written by King David. Others were written by priests and Levites who served David. This great king’s influence on the people of Israel, and on Christians the world over is inestimable, because the psalms touch every aspect of our lives. The psalms offer praise and thanksgiving to God. They cry out to God in despair. They question God’s goodness and then reaffirm it. They remind us again and again of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness. As we read through these 150 psalms over the coming weeks, we will be calling on the LORD to meet us in every area of our lives, and we will be praising Him in every area of our lives!

Psalm 1 is brief and calls us to godliness. The psalm compares and contrasts the way of the godly with the way of the wicked. The godly person is like a tree planted beside the waters, having a constant source of health and growth. As we live in relationship with God through Jesus, our lives stay healthy and grow strong. That has always been God’s plan for our lives and as we live it, we bring Him glory and our lives blessing.

Psalm 2 speaks of the reign of the Lord’s “Anointed.” The word anointed in Hebrew is the word from which we get the English word Messiah, so this Psalm can be about any of the Kings of Israel, because each was God’s anointed. It can also be about Jesus “The” Anointed One of the LORD. The point is clear: no one can overcome the LORD’s anointed. He is set in place by the LORD, and whether it is nations raging against Him or any other foe, the LORD’s anointed will prevail. This is most significantly true of Jesus, “The” Anointed One!

Psalm 3 shows us the Psalms are not in a particular order, because it is a Psalm of David, which he wrote (or more likely prayed) to the LORD during the time when his son, Absalom, attempted to overthrow Him. The psalm pleads for the LORD to protect David against his enemy, and to cause his enemy to be defeated. This was a prayer which the LORD answered quickly, as Absalom’s rebellion was over nearly as quickly as it began.

Psalm 4 is another of David’s psalms. In this one he cries out for the LORD to answer Him when he calls. It is also a call for those who cry out to the LORD to have patience and to wait for an answer. David tells us in our anger not to sin, which is a statement we find again in Ephesians 4. Many of David’s words in the Psalms make their way into the prayers and teachings of the New Testament as we would expect. After all, the psalms were much loved by the Israelites, and were memorized as a means of praising and petitioning the LORD in times of joy and need.

As we return to Matthew 25, Jesus tells three parables about the coming Kingdom. The first is the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins. In this parable ten virgins wait for a wedding feast, but the groom is delayed. This delay of the return of the main character, often the master or landowner, but in this case the bridegroom, tells us Jesus will be away for a time before His return. In this case, each of the virgins had a lamp to light the way after dark. Five of them brought extra oil for their lamps, so they would be ready if the bridegroom were delayed, but the other five didn’t. As the ten waited for the bridegroom time passed and each virgin’s lamp became low on oil. The five who were prepared refilled their lamps, but the five who weren’t prepared had to go to get more oil. The bridegroom returned while they were gone. The parable’s obvious point is: Be ready! How often we hear that command from Jesus. We don’t know when Jesus will return, but we know He calls us time and time again to be ready when He does.

The second parable is often called The Parable of the Talents, because it is about three servants who were giving differing amounts of their master’s money to manage while he went away. The amount of money they received was in a measurement called a “talent,” which was a certain weight. The three servants received differing amounts “according to their ability.” One received five talents, the next one two talents, and the third one talent. The parable helps us see we will be held accountable for what the LORD has entrusted to us when He returns and not all held to the same standard. That’s why comparison is such a tool of the devil. If he can get us to waste our time wondering why we don’t have certain gifts, or a certain amount of wealth when others do, or if we become prideful, because we have more than others, then we won’t use our time investing those gifts and wealth in advancing the master’s kingdom. When the master returned, both the servant who received five and the servant who had received two talents were rewarded equally for being equally faithful. They had differing amounts of money entrusted to them, but they both did their best in managing it. Only the third servant was punished, and he was punished because he wasted the opportunity to serve his master. Notice, the third servant didn’t lose his master’s money. He preserved it. But the LORD doesn’t call us to tread water with our lives. He calls us to invest them in advancing His Kingdom with the gifts and resources He entrusts to us.

Finally, Jesus tells us when He returns every person will be separated into one of two groups: the “sheep” or the “goats.” The sheep represent the righteous ones, and the goats represent those who were unrighteous. The interesting point in the parable is both groups will be brought before the LORD and He will tell the one group they were faithful by meeting His needs, and the other group they were unfaithful because they didn’t meet His needs. Both groups will be confused, until Jesus explains that in serving others, particularly the least among us, we serve Jesus, and when we don’t serve others, we don’t serve Jesus. The parable makes it clear again that Jesus expects us to be found serving actively when He returns. The time before Jesus returns is not a time of sitting idly by, or even just sitting and praying, but it is a time for serving those around us in Jesus’ name.