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.