Psalm 82, another psalm of Asaph, is brief and a bit confusing. It seems to be a psalm of praise, while at the same time seeming to question God’s motives for some of His actions. Verse 2 in particular reads, 2“How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? Selah” Psalm 82:2 (NIV) In the Hebrew, the “you” is plural, and could refer to the angels, or to some human audience. In any case, the psalm seems to call God to defend the poor and take His rightful place of leadership.
In Psalm 83, Asaph calls on the LORD to repay Israel’s enemies. He lists those current enemies by name and calls on the LORD to do the same to them as He did to Israel’s enemies in the past. Sometimes when we read such requests, it offends our modern or post-modern sensibilities. It seems Asaph is calling on the LORD to be “evil.” In truth, he was calling on the LORD to show justice. Israel’s enemies were, in fact, evil. They worshiped false gods. They lived contrary to God’s will and purposes. Therefore, Asaph reasoned they deserved to experience the same end as Israel’s former enemies. We who live on the resurrection side of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection often focus solely on God’s mercy. Thankfully, He is gracious and merciful, but we must always remember the reason we rely on His mercy is because we deserve His justice!
Psalm 84 is a psalm of the sons of Korah. The psalm extols the greatness of God and reminds us one day in His presence is better than a thousand anywhere else. As we read the psalm, which is distinctively filled with praise and adoration, it lifts our hearts to God, and calls us to offer Him worship and praise as well.
Psalm 85, another psalm of the sons of Korah, calls on the LORD to remember His past forgiveness of His people, and calls on Him to forgive His people now. They don’t deny they have sinned, but they throw themselves on His mercy. This is a prayer with which we can all relate. God has forgiven us in the past, and we know we need that same forgiveness in the present, because none of us is without sin in our lives.
As we turn to Luke 18, Jesus tells a parable about an unjust judge who was badgered by a widow to hear her case. She kept coming to him over and over asking for him to hear her case. The judge didn’t care about God or people, but the woman’s constant badgering led the judge to hear her case and act on her behalf. Jesus told us we are to pray as that widow did. Not that God is unjust, or we must badger Him to get what we want. Indeed, Jesus’ point is the opposite: God is righteous, and He wants to act on our behalf, so if we have the persistence of the widow, He will act for us. Jesus closed out the parable with a serious question: When the Son of Man comes will He find faith on the earth? Given the content of the parable, we must conclude one component of faithfulness is diligence in prayer.
Next, Jesus tells a parable about two men who went to the Temple to pray. The first was a Pharisee, who called out to God to bless Him, because of how righteous He was. Then a tax collector cried out to God for mercy. He wouldn’t even look up to the LORD, because of his sin. Jesus said the tax collector went away justified, and those who humble themselves before the LORD will be lifted up.
Luke then records Jesus receiving little children to bless them. When the parents brought them, the disciples rebuked the parents, but Jesus rebuked the disciples, telling them the Kingdom of God is made up of those who are like little children.
Luke follows this account with the account of the rich young ruler, which we also find in Matthew and Mark. The account is similar and includes the man walking away sad, because of his great wealth. Every time I read this passage, I’m reminded this man could have been a disciple of Jesus, but instead, he is simply sad. When we let anything get in the way of our relationship with Jesus, we will be sad in the present, but even sadder in the long term, because we were created for relationship with Him.
Jesus then told the disciples they were heading to Jerusalem and when they arrived, He would be arrested, convicted, crucified and buried, but He would rise again. There is no additional comment this time, as Luke moves right to the account of a blind man coming to Jesus asking to be healed. Jesus tells the man, because of his faith he will receive his sight. And he does! This reminds us once again, sometimes our faith brings healing to us, while at other times it is others’ faith that brings healing to us, and at times Jesus heals without attributing faith to anyone. At times we don’t receive physical healing. It is possible our lack of faith is the reason. It is also possible Jesus has another purpose in the moment, as He did when Paul asked for healing from the thorn in his flesh, (which we will get to when we read 2 Corinthians). Faith in Jesus produces miracles, and He is the one who determines what the miracles will be. The key for us is to remember Jesus always knows what is best for us. That’s why we must always to put our faith in Him!