Tag: god’s word

Psalm 119:97-104

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            We live in a wonderful, complex, beautiful, broken, and upside-down world.  The information we have access to, the choices we make, and the networking we engage in all require a great deal of wisdom.  Throw into the mix the reality that most things rarely go as we plan, and you have a recipe for disappointment and/or frustrating anger.  So, is there a path, a way of approaching this world that can help us navigate all of its twists and trials?  Well, yes, there is a light through it all.  And I will let today’s psalm, from the Contemporary English Version of the Bible, inform us of how to proceed:
 
I deeply love your Law!
I think about it all day.
98 Your laws never leave my mind,
and they make me much wiser
than my enemies.
99 Thinking about your teachings
gives me better understanding
than my teachers,
100 and obeying your laws
makes me wiser
than those
who have lived a long time.
101 I obey your word
instead of following a way
that leads to trouble.
102 You have been my teacher,
and I won’t reject
your instructions.
103 Your teachings are sweeter
than honey.
104     They give me understanding
and make me hate all lies.

 

Amen.

Psalm 119:49-56

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            Insomnia happens to all of us, some more than others.  We all know the experience of not being able to get to sleep at night.  Then, there are those persons who actually choose to arise in the middle of the night just to pray.  Yes, there are monks who do this, but there are common people who do, as well.  I think about such persons when I read a verse like this:  “Even in the night I think about you, LORD, and I obey your Law.”
 
            At various times in my life I have actually chosen to set my alarm for two o’clock in the morning in order to pray.  I know it may sound crazy to some, but this discipline has taught me something very valuable:  God is Lord over all time, and I am his servant.  The exercise of me wrapping my life around set times of prayer has caused me to learn that I have spent far too much of my life making time bend to my wishes.  But it is all really an illusion – that I can somehow control the clock.  Time marches forward, seasons come and go, and we are but a vapor that lasts only a moment.
 
            Whether we find ourselves awake in the night because we cannot sleep, or intentionally choose to use the night for connecting with God, the wee hours of the night afford us a unique opportunity to think about God and his Word.  The next time you find yourself awake at night, don’t just turn on the TV and wait to fall asleep.  Use the night-time for thinking about the Lord in ways you might not have considered during the day.  In doing so, you will find a blessing in the dark.
 

 

            God of all time, no matter where I am, your teachings fill me with songs.  You have given me blessings in the day and in the night because you are the one I choose to obey.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.

2 Chronicles 34:20-33

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            Today’s Old Testament lesson is both very sad and quite joyful, all at the same time.  When God’s temple was undergoing repairs, the Book of the Law was found.  What is sad is that it was lost to begin with.  Somewhere along the line a king, a priest, some people, they all just plain forgot about God’s Word to them.  But what is joyful about it is that King Josiah had God’s Word read to him and he and his officials responded by promising “to faithfully obey the LORD and to follow his laws and teachings that were written in the book.”  What is more, Josiah asked the Israelites to make that same promise.
 
            It is likely that you are reading this because you are a person committed to listening to God’s Word.  It is likely that you don’t need to go on an archaeological dig inside your own house in order to find an old dusty Bible to read.  God’s Word is important enough to you to read and obey.  So, maybe you need to take the next step, like Josiah of old, to not only listen and obey yourself, but to ask and invite others to make the same promise.
 
            You and I both know that Bible reading often does not take place within the homes and even the churches of many confessing believers in Jesus.  Take the next step.  Invite others to read with you.  Ask your fellow Christians to read Scripture, make observations about it, apply it to their lives, and base prayers upon it.  Ask them to make the same promise that you have made to God:  to listen to God’s Word and do what it says.
 

 

            Patient God, you continue to wait for people to read your Word and obey it.  May I not simply attend to your laws in isolation from others, but freely ask others to make the same promise I have:  to obey Jesus Christ, my Lord by living and loving like him in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Psalm 19

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment


            One of the bedrock realities of the world is that God created the heavens and the earth.  Furthermore, he has given us his very great and precious promises through his gracious law.  God’s creation reflects his wondrous character.  The sun is the constant presence bringing light, warmth, and life to the earth – just like God.  Everything is creation bears the mark of its Creator to such a degree that it is almost as if the creation itself speaks.  Even at night, it is as if our God keeps constant vigil, gently whispering the knowledge of his presence and protection over us.
             If this were not enough, God has given his people his perfect law with all of its right precepts, clarity of commands, and truthful statutes.  God’s law, like his creation, reflects his gracious character.  The Lord did not leave us alone to fend for ourselves and to try and figure everything out about how to live in God’s world.  He has provided an extension of himself, his law, to provide us with sure footing and solid direction.  The law of the Lord is so good that it is more valuable than gold, and more desirable than any food.
             Since all this creation and law is available to us, it would be a good thing to memorize and meditate on this very psalm.  Take just a few verses with you out for a leisurely walk in God’s good creation.  Carefully reflect on them as you notice all the grand scope of God’s vast sky, and the intricacies of God’s small details.  Let it all rise to a paean of praise and appreciation to the God who notices, has acted, and will intervene.
             Wondrous God, you created the heavens and the earth in its splendor.  Your law mirrors your grace to a world which has lost its way.  In the face of such a large God, cleanse me from my inadvertent sins.  Let the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be acceptable before you, my Rock and my Redeemer.  Amen.