Category: Daily Bible Reading Blog

A blog following the daily readings from the Revised Common Lectionary.

1 Samuel 18:6-30

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            Anxiety tends to warp our thinking.  Maybe that statement seems a bit harsh.  After all, everyone is anxious at some time or another.  Anxiety is part and parcel of the human experience; it is something we all have in common.  However, when anxiety takes root in the heart it bears the fruit of unholy fear.  Today’s Old Testament story illustrates the insecurity and irrationality that an unchecked anxious heart can produce.
 
            King Saul was jealous of David’s success in battle.  Behind Saul’s anxiety was the concern that David was in the limelight.  It made Saul angry that David was getting all the attention.  Since he was the one in charge, Saul kept putting David in situations where it seemed that he would certainly fail.  But instead of failure, David had wild success in everything he did.  The text makes it clear that this was because “the LORD was with him.”  This made Saul even more anxious and afraid to the degree that he had malevolent motives behind everything he did toward David.  Even though it might not have looked evil on the outside, in reality the interior life of Saul was a mess, and it made him stupid.
 
            When Saul saw and knew that God was with David, it only reinforced his fear and led him down a dark path.  In contrast to Saul, David had a character developed in the lonely place of the pasture.  Genuine integrity is always forged in the secret place where no one is looking.  If we are only concerned for outward performance and/or perfectionism, all kinds of anxieties can develop and warp our sense of reality.  But if we pay attention to the inner person and allow God to create a deep faith within, then we can stand strong even when there are those who have ill will against us.
            Search me, O God, and know my heart.  Test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.  Amen.

1 Samuel 8:1-22

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            In the days of the prophet Samuel, the people asked for a king.  They had never had one before.  Samuel, and others before him, served as Judges who led the people in special times and acted as intercessors between the people and God.  Samuel was not pleased that the people asked for a king because he understood that there were two realities behind the request:  1) Israel wanted to be just like all the other nations in having a king; and, 2) Israel was rejecting God as their rightful king.
 
            What the ancient Israelites wanted from an earthly king was what God himself was really supposed to do for them.  It is God who is Sovereign over everyone and everything; an earthly king only rules partially.  An earthly king cannot provide all of the people’s needs for them.  Yet, even in this present day and age, people of all kinds still look to earthly politicians and pastors to meet their every need.  This is why so many people get upset and have visceral reactions to politics and the church – far too many of them expect a human authority figure to do for them what God is supposed to do. 
 
            No other human being can fight your battles for you.  No other person can do your relational and spiritual work for you.  We must all take charge of our own lives and be responsible to develop and cultivate spiritual and relational practices that connect us with the God who is in charge of the universe.  We can then ask God for things according to his will, not ours.  God ended up giving Israel a king, even when it was not the best of ideas on their part.  Be careful what you ask for; you just might get it.
            All-wise God, I look to you for the discernment to even know what I ought to be asking for in prayer.  Guide me into truth and grace so that in everything I will make wise decisions that reflect your sovereignty over the church and the world. In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.

Psalm 108

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            Today is my 30th wedding anniversary.  Little did my wife and I know at the time that our vows to one another would be put to the test time and time again over the years:  a commitment to be with each for better or for worse; to hang in there whether rich or poor; to persevere in sickness or in health till the very end.  Through all the ups and the downs, I am tremendously thankful that Mary and I are together.  No matter the circumstance, we will face it together.
 
            Just as in a marriage there are times that stretch the relationship and the couple must make choices for the benefit of each other, so the follower of God will face difficulty as a believer and must make a decision to remain faithful.  “My heart is steadfast, O God!  I will sing and make melody with all my being…. For your steadfast love is great above the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.”
 
            If we lived by the whims of our feelings many of us would not get out of bed in the morning, and not even bother to put on pants when we do.  Yet, many believers take such an approach in their relationship with God, praying when they feel like it and praising him only when things are going their way.  But the psalmist chose to give thanks to God because of who God is.  He made the daily decision of being faithful by choosing to look at the faithfulness of God.  The truth is that God is with us, and he longs for us to recognize it and enjoy it because that is the nature of a committed relationship.
            Loving God, I give you thanks for your constant never-ending commitment to me.  Help me to so connect with you and your love that it forms and shapes my every decision and each relationship, through Jesus Christ my Lord.  Amen.

2 Corinthians 5:1-5

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            We are all on a perpetual camping trip.  It may or may not feel like one, but every person is living in a tent.  One of the challenges of the biblical writers is that they worked to communicate hope and spiritual realities in concrete language.  So, when the Apostle Paul likens our current lives to being in a tent he means that what we are experiencing now with our bodies is temporary.  Compared to the eventual permanent resurrected body, our existence now is temporary and not very glorious.
             We would consider someone homeless if they lived in a tent on a permanent basis.  In many ways, the Christian is homeless, not really at home in this present body and world.  So, it is rather curious that many believers in Jesus can be ruthlessly attached to the trappings and stuff of this contemporary campground.  If we were to make a list of all the things we do and all the things we have that are extra-biblical, that is, not specifically mentioned in the Bible, it would not take long to discover that much of what we do on a day to day basis, not to mention through church ministry, is simply temporary.  Yet, too many persons cling to their stuff and their ways as if it will endure forever.
             In those times when we experience bereavement; in the situations that demonstrate that we are mortal; and, in the circumstances that occur in which we glimpse how fleeting this present life can be, we begin to understand that what we need to be living for is the permanence of relationships expressed through the ever-present Spirit of God.  It is good for us to long for a better day when we will no longer groan in the tent of this body so that we will connect with the unseen God who goes before us, with us, after us.
             Eternal God, who always has been and always will be, help me to so connect with your Holy Spirit that I can discern the difference between what is temporary and what is permanent.  Guide me with your holy hand so that I can place my present efforts into the things that will make a difference for eternity, through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.