May 24 - Evening
"In the Lord I take refuge.
How then can you say to me:
'Flee like a bird to your mountain. For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart. When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?'
The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne. He observes everyone on earth; his eyes examine them. The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion. On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur; a scorching wind will be their lot. For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will see his face."
- Psalms 11:1-7
'Flee like a bird to your mountain. For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart. When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?'
The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne. He observes everyone on earth; his eyes examine them. The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion. On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur; a scorching wind will be their lot. For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will see his face."
- Psalms 11:1-7
Even When the Foundations are Destroyed, the Lord is in his Temple in Jerusalem and on his Throne in Heaven
In Psalm 11 the writer is being threatened by a wicked adversary, and the writer is advised to flee in order to seek a natural place of refuge. We know that there are times to flee opposition, but this situation demanded that the righteous psalmists merely refocus his attention and stand in faith trusting the Lord. It appears the very core (or, called “foundations”) of social order were collapsing, so instead of seeking a natural place of refuge, the psalmist responded with a statement of confidence: “In the Lord I take refuge!”
This situation that involved the righteous being pursued by the wicked is described with a hunting analogy. The hunter is stalking his prey from the cover of dark shadows with an arrow placed on the string of his bent bow. The trouble was from a wicked opponent hiding in a place of concealment with his weapon loaded as he waited to shoot his prey – the righteous man.
The psalmist does not pray to the Lord, but instead refuses to fear the natural opposition by recognizing some basic theology. The Lord is both “in his holy temple” in Jerusalem among men and “the Lord is on his heavenly throne” beyond men. In other words, the Lord is both immanent (present among men and involved in their affairs) and transcendent (outside of time, creation and completely independent of man).
The Lord is described in terms of fire. Presumably, when the psalmists writes, “The Lord examines the righteous man,” he is considering the trials and distresses of life being used by the Lord as a refiner’s fire to purify righteous people. In contrast to this purifying work of fire in the lives of the righteous, this same fire becomes “fiery coals and burning sulfur” that consume the wicked leaving them with nothing but “a scorching wind” that covers what used to be their place of existence.
This psalmist is confident in the Lord because his focus is on the Lord’s truth. This helps the psalmist determine when to take a stand and trust the Lord, and when it is time to simply walk away. Jesus demonstrated this same confidence, but with righteous restraint in Matthew 4:1-7 when he allowed himself face examination and testing for forty days, but refused to even consider Satan’s challenge to jump from the pinnacle of the Temple.
Threskeia (Gr) – Worship (Eng) – a Greek word which means “worship” in Colossians 2:18.
It is used in Colossians 2:23 with the preface ethelo- (meaning “to will”) which converts threskeia (“worship”) into ethelothreskeia or “will-worship” which means “self-chosen worship.”
It is used in Colossians 2:23 with the preface ethelo- (meaning “to will”) which converts threskeia (“worship”) into ethelothreskeia or “will-worship” which means “self-chosen worship.”
Do I trust the Lord’s presence and protection as much as I fear man’s intimidation and threats? I will trust in the Lord while I contemplate and live my life in confidence and peace.
Bible Reading Descriptions Here
Personal
Employment
Church
Love and selflessness
Nation
Social Security
World
France
Galyn points at some potsherds at an excavation in Shiloh. These are some late bronze/early iron age pottery that would be dated to the time of the book of Judges when this location of Shiloh was the site of the Israelite's Tabernacle until it was destroyed by the Philistines around 1100BC.
Someone to Quote
"I would go to the deeps a hundred times to cheer a downcast spirit. It is good for me to have been afflicted, that I might know how to speak a word in season to one that is weary."
- Charles Spurgeon
- Charles Spurgeon
Something to Ponder
Here’s a Fact
Critic of Intelligent Design
“I challenge any Intelligent Design proponent to demonstrate a single predictive model that Intelligent Design can make regarding living organisms and their present day ecosystems. There are no models, the Intelligent Design proponents got nothing but faith."
Response: Predictive model: Animals were designed by an intelligent designer and have genetic limits outside which they are no longer viable. These limits will constrain the fossil record to be composed of clearly delineated familial forms rather than transitional forms. Experimental evidence: the fossil record. Now it’s your turn. Please explain the cambrian explosion in purely Darwinian terms.
Response: Predictive model: Animals were designed by an intelligent designer and have genetic limits outside which they are no longer viable. These limits will constrain the fossil record to be composed of clearly delineated familial forms rather than transitional forms. Experimental evidence: the fossil record. Now it’s your turn. Please explain the cambrian explosion in purely Darwinian terms.
Proverb
"Know also that wisdom is like honey for you:
If you find it, there is a future hope for you,
and your hope will not be cut off."
- Proverbs 24:14
Coach’s Corner
Identify and ignore the things that are inconsequential.
Amos 8
New International Version (NIV)
A Basket of Ripe Fruit
8 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: a basket of ripe fruit. 2 “What do you see, Amos?” he asked.
“A basket of ripe fruit,” I answered.
Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.
3 “In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “the songs in the temple will turn to wailing.[a] Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence!”
4
Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land,
5 saying,
“When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?”— skimping on the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales,
6
buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat.
7 The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they have done.
8
“Will not the land tremble for this, and all who live in it mourn? The whole land will rise like the Nile; it will be stirred up and then sink like the river of Egypt.
9 “In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord,
“I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.
10
I will turn your religious festivals into mourning and all your singing into weeping. I will make all of you wear sackcloth and shave your heads. I will make that time like mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.
11
“The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.
12
People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.
13 “In that day
“the lovely young women and strong young men will faint because of thirst.
14
Those who swear by the sin of Samaria— who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,’ or, ‘As surely as the god[b] of Beersheba lives’— they will fall, never to rise again.”
Footnotes:
New International Version (NIV)
A Basket of Ripe Fruit
8 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: a basket of ripe fruit. 2 “What do you see, Amos?” he asked.
“A basket of ripe fruit,” I answered.
Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.
3 “In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “the songs in the temple will turn to wailing.[a] Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence!”
4
Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land,
5 saying,
“When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?”— skimping on the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales,
6
buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat.
7 The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they have done.
8
“Will not the land tremble for this, and all who live in it mourn? The whole land will rise like the Nile; it will be stirred up and then sink like the river of Egypt.
9 “In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord,
“I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.
10
I will turn your religious festivals into mourning and all your singing into weeping. I will make all of you wear sackcloth and shave your heads. I will make that time like mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.
11
“The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.
12
People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.
13 “In that day
“the lovely young women and strong young men will faint because of thirst.
14
Those who swear by the sin of Samaria— who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,’ or, ‘As surely as the god[b] of Beersheba lives’— they will fall, never to rise again.”
Footnotes:
- Amos 8:3 Or “the temple singers will wail
- Amos 8:14 Hebrew the way
Psalm 110
New International Version (NIV)
Psalm 110
Of David. A psalm.
1
The Lord says to my lord:[a]
“Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”
2
The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of your enemies!”
3
Your troops will be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in holy splendor, your young men will come to you like dew from the morning’s womb.[b]
4
The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
5
The Lord is at your right hand[c]; he will crush kings on the day of his wrath.
6
He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth.
7
He will drink from a brook along the way,[d] and so he will lift his head high.
Footnotes:
New International Version (NIV)
Psalm 110
Of David. A psalm.
1
The Lord says to my lord:[a]
“Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”
2
The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of your enemies!”
3
Your troops will be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in holy splendor, your young men will come to you like dew from the morning’s womb.[b]
4
The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
5
The Lord is at your right hand[c]; he will crush kings on the day of his wrath.
6
He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth.
7
He will drink from a brook along the way,[d] and so he will lift his head high.
Footnotes:
- Psalm 110:1 Or Lord
- Psalm 110:3 The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain.
- Psalm 110:5 Or My lord is at your right hand, Lord
- Psalm 110:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.