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.