Considering the Bible

Psalms for Psome – Ps 71.01

2025-06-28

My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.

This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.

I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.

Psalm 71 is a psalm written by an aged saint, a man who had walked with the Lord through many trials and triumphs. Some think this psalm represents David’s thoughts as he approaches the grave, as he ages and finds his life coming to a close.

One thing that is obvious in this psalm, that whoever wrote this psalm had an intimate experience with the Word of God. I have heard the claim that in the 24 verses of this psalm, there are up to 25 references, allusions and hints of other psalms within this reflection of an old saint. He has saturated his life with the Word, to the point that even phrasing of the old book comes through this old man’s message.

It is truly a witness of the wisdom to engage in an early and consistent immersion into the Word of God for every saint.

Let’s take a moment to consider.

Psalm 71:1 In you, O LORD, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame!
Psalm 71:2 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me, and save me!
Psalm 71:3 Be to me a rock of refuge, to which I may continually come; you have given the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.

Our saint must have been considering Psalm 31 recently in his times with God, or there has been circumstances in his life that brought the psalm to mind, for these verses are built on the first three verses of the 31st psalm.

Consider the likeness!

Psalm 31:1 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. In you, O LORD, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me!
Psalm 31:2 Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily! Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me!
Psalm 31:3 For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;

The cry for rescue was heartfelt in Psalm 31, as it is in this psalm. The timing is different, and the problem may be different – heck the person crying out to God may be different, but it is the same God we look to, the same Savior who is always waiting for our admission of weakness and need. Even if this elderly saint had copied the passage verbatim, it takes nothing away from the desire of the saint for God’s rescue.

I may have mentioned this in earlier posts, but to refer to shame in this passage reminds me that the Israeli man speaking this lived in a shame based culture, where the goal of a man or woman was not primarily appearance of wealth, or intelligence, or influence, as it may be in our society. No, the highest goal for a faithful Israeli was to be honored amongst his or her peers, and even more so, how the man’s honor or shame reflects on the Lord whom he follows.

In our first verse, this elderly man, this faithful saint is not looking for rescue from poverty, as we modern believers may seek, but from shame. The word originally referred to being “pale”, and did not relate to being embarrassed, or to blushing, but was associated with a terror. It spoke of a troubled mind, one who was characterized as disturbed or confused, not of a right mind, a soul that experienced a failure of hope. This shame referred to an expectation not realized. A loss of esteem from associates. To be disgraced amongst others.

For you see, in a shame based society, to be honored amongst family, peers and even strangers was the highest goal for a man in this culture. (Our modern society, I fear, lacks in this goal, even amongst some believers!)

This saint sought to be “in the Lord” and found “in Him” refuge from shame. At the very least, this is his plea. Is this not our plea. Shame may be directed to us from those we rub shoulders with, that those we know may consider us a disappointment, even a disgrace – even rightly so – yet we can turn to Jesus and seek His comfort, To learn from Him that even in the shame He experienced, He looked beyond, He obeyed the Father, and was eventually delivered from it.

This old saint sought to never be put to shame. Oh how we should seek that also, to honor God with an honorable life, yet we are weak, mere dust and dirt.

My reader may be experiencing a period of shame even as he/she reads this. Do not loose faith in Him, for as the world poured shame on the only truly honorable Man that has walked this earth, we should not expect different treatment. Shame poured on the believer by the world due to being “in the Lord” may be a believer’s lot for a period of time.

As James once said

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

Our old saint sought to be rescued from shame. We know that the One who suffered the greatest shame was rescued and now has the name that is above every name. As we follow Him, we can be assured of our rescue from any shame we experience in this life.

As I close for this morning, may I mention that shame associated with a sinful decision or action before the Lord is to be responded to in repentance! Forgiveness from the Lord is abundant, quick and assured upon a true repentance before Him.

Remember – It is to be “in the Lord”, and not against the Lord that we find our refuge.

For He is good.

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Names of God – GOD OF ENDURANCE – 190

2025-06-27

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

190

GOD OF ENDURANCE

Romans 15:5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus

In the fifteenth chapter of Romans, Paul refers to God in four different ways.

God of Encouragement 15:5
God of Endurance 15:5
God of Hope 15:13
God of Peace 15:33

We have previously considered God as the God of Encouragement, and for this post we will consider God as the God of Endurance.

Now before we look specifically at this particular name, I think it wise to simply consider the combination of these two monikers of God being linked together. This very specific thought is one reason I looked at encouragement first, for endurance of the believer is very much dependent on the encouragement received.

Well, maybe.

Consider the believer who receives little to no encouragement, the believer who finds no one amongst his peers and family that share in his faith. This may be a very real world experience for some in countries that persecute the faith, or that are saturated with a faith that is not in the true God.

Encouragement may be lacking from the outside, that is from those amongst us, yet as we see in this passage, Paul is not depending solely on an outside influence of our brother’s and sister’s in the faith in this particular passage.

Please do not get me wrong. We, as believers in our Father, are to encourage our brothers in the Lord in every godly way, in their efforts to serve the Master and His people.

But again, this is not Paul’s specific topic in this verse.

His focus is that the believers may receive strength and perseverance to live in harmony with others. Harmony ios the goal in Paul’s mind, and he appeals to the God of encouragement (a strength giving God) and the God of endurance (a persevering God) to lead the saints accordingly.

Encouragement and endurance are characteristics of our God and are provisions of our God to the believer for the sake of creating a harmonious environment for the family of God. Encouragement and endurance for our own lives are not the end goal of this prayer to God, but that the result is that of harmony amongst the saints.

Now I have already hinted at the nature of endurance, that it is the ability to persevere, to be faithful, to be steadfast. To remain in the truth when the rubber hits the road, when things go wrong, when troubles come along, when disappointments and discouragements hit over and over again.

To be provided endurance from the God of Endurance is to imply we have an uphill slug, a fight ahead, disappointments and discouragements. In the very context of Paul’s passage, this may relate to interpersonal affairs within the body, but it certainly is not limited to that in our every day existence.

To remain in the context is challenge enough, for there are many times when relationships with the body are strained, when circumstances arise in the fellowship that are difficult, uncomfortable and strained. It is for each believer to find encouragement and endurance from the Lord, for the purpose of finding peace in the body amongst the saints, for the purpose of maintaining harmony within the family of the saints.

We certainly need the God of Endurance, to provide us all a steadfastness in ministering to the body an appearance of harmony amongst us all.

No – the challenge is even greater than simply creating an appearance, for the God of Endurance is also the God of Truth, not simply a god of appearance, and He is seeking and has provided the ability for the church to experience true harmony amongst themselves in the Person of Jesus Christ.

As mentioned earlier, we certainly need the God of Encouragement and Endurance to lead us on in working toward a true harmony with our brothers. As believers, we have been granted this challenge. Let us take it up, and seek to be a people who are peacemakers, builders of a harmonious environment, a place that lifts up the Lord Jesus.

For He is the God of Endurance. He endured for us on the bloody cross. He endured to the very end.

Hebrews 12:2, 3 looking to Jesus … who endured the cross, … Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Proverbial Thoughts on Sluggards – B

2025-06-26

Thoughts on the topic of sluggards from the book of wisdom

Before we venture into this topic, let’s be clears on the meaning of the term. There may be some readers who are not familiar with the term “sluggard”. Personally, I love the word. Not the meaning, and especially not the application or reality of it in my own life, but the sound, the noise it makes as it rolls from the throat.

I got a thing for sounds!

To be a sluggard is to be a deadbeat, a couch potato, a loafer, a slouch, an idler, a good for nothing lazy bag of bones. To be a sluggard is to be a professional, highly motivated procrastinator, a shirker of responsibility and an avoider of tasks!

For our time in the proverbs, we will find there is much to be challenged by. A number of truths occur over and over in the passages we will consider. Truths that describe the sluggard as having nothing to show for his life, that he will go hungry, that he is a disappointment to others. He is a “victim” and that he is a great story teller.

Our last proverb study we found the sluggard as a great story teller. Today’s topic in relation to the sluggard is his love of the horizontal position.

Proverbs 6:6 Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.
Proverbs 6:7 Without having any chief, officer, or ruler,
Proverbs 6:8 he prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.
Proverbs 6:9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?
Proverbs 6:10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,
Proverbs 6:11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

We all need sleep. Some more than others! Personally, I am a fella that loves the horizontal position, that will easily be convinced of a quick nap, a short time on the hammock, a bit of relaxation. So when I read a passage such as this above, I identify with it in a bad way.

But it is a relative truth, and it seems to specifically address the one who stays in bed, who rejects the alarm clock. Solomon speaks of the sluggard lying there, and questions when he will arise. It is not the need of sleep that is being judged, but the refusal to rise, to get on with life.

Solomon speaks of the sluggard needing to consider the ant. No leader, chief, officer, or ruler. The ant is a fantastic example of a “self motivated” worker.

Let me tell you a quick story.

My wife came home from work last night and spoke of one of her workers receiving a promotion. First question out of my mouth was if it was a deserved promotion. “Oh yes” she said, “Frank (not his real name, cause I can’t remember it) was always finding things to take care of. Frank doesn’t need to be led about by the hand. He is a self starter”.

When asked about another co worker, she continued. “Not so with Tommy (again, not his real name, but this time to protect the sluggard) for Tommy constantly needs to be told what to do, when to do it, how to do it, why to do it…..”

Which of these fellas would you describe as a sluggard?

Ants

Solomon directed the sluggard to study the ant. A seemingly insignificant little insect. Yet the ant is known as an insect belonging to a society exhibiting categories of labor, maintaining communication with others, and that exhibits an amazing ability to solve complex problems as a group. A sluggard seems to fight against each of these characteristics.

A sluggard accept a category of labor? He would rather not take part!

Communicate with others? That may require team work. There is that “work” word again!

Solve complex problems? A sluggard will allow others to take care of that!

Ants are a fantastic example for the sluggard to study, and not only to study, but to learn from and to practice the methods of group life together.

Sluggards. Not an appealing description to fit into.

I s’pose I could get an alarm clock, and nail it to the wall 20′ away from the bed, with a loud alarm!

Or better yet, be a self motivated fella that once I awake, I plant my feet on the floor, gets up and gets at it! Ya, forget the alarm – just determine to have some internal motivation to be a servant for others, instead of a slave to myself.

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Life of David – 22.05

2025-06-25

Saul and the Medium of En-dor

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

This passage has got to be one of the most difficult to comprehend, to understand the combination and depth of news Saul received is simply beyond my ability to grasp.

He is done. As you read, consider this man named Saul, and his last day on earth.

1 Samuel 28

20 Then Saul fell at once full length on the ground, filled with fear because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten nothing all day and all night.
21 And the woman came to Saul, and when she saw that he was terrified, she said to him, “Behold, your servant has obeyed you. I have taken my life in my hand and have listened to what you have said to me.
22 Now therefore, you also obey your servant. Let me set a morsel of bread before you; and eat, that you may have strength when you go on your way.”
23 He refused and said, “I will not eat.” But his servants, together with the woman, urged him, and he listened to their words. So he arose from the earth and sat on the bed.
24 Now the woman had a fattened calf in the house, and she quickly killed it, and she took flour and kneaded it and baked unleavened bread of it,
25 and she put it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they rose and went away that night.

He fell full length on the ground.

He collapsed, and well he should, for if any heard the declaration Saul heard, there would be no hope left, no reason to look forward, but only that the worst of possible outcomes had now come to fruition. The rebellion of Saul was about to reap it’s wages. This night of Saul, he faced the consequences of rejecting His God.

It was declared previously that Saul had lost his kingdom to David. This was news he had heard, but surely sought to ignore it, pushing it off to tomorrow, or thinking of it in the far flung future, or even considering the message to be less lethal, less condemnatory than when he first heard it.

He would loose the kingdom. That news he may have buried in his thoughts years back, but he had physically survived, he had stayed on the throne, even thinking possibly that he had avoided the consequences of his rebellion.

This night though, this night of Saul, he came face to face with the worst of all news. Saul has just been reminded of the result of his rejection and rebellion against God.

One of these truths are devastating, but to be told the following must have been been a mind numbing, heart crushing, breath taking experience. To only fall face down on the ground seems to be an understatement.

Consider the message Saul heard on this night, this night of Saul.

His kingdom would be lost.

1 Samuel 15:17 The LORD has done to you as he spoke by me, for the LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David

His army, that of Israel would be defeated, given to the enemy by God.

1 Samuel 28:19 Moreover, the LORD will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines,

He no longer has access to God.

1 Samuel 28:16 .. the LORD has turned from you

His son’s, representing any hope of continuing a dynasty on the throne of Israel, will die tomorrow.

1 Samuel 28:19 … tomorrow … your sons shall be with me.

He would be given to the Philistines by God tomorrow.

1 Samuel 28:19 Moreover, the LORD will give … you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me.

He will die tomorrow.

1 Samuel 28:19 tomorrow you … shall be with me.

He has acquired the ultimate enemy.
- This has got to be the very worst of all the list!

1 Samuel 28:16 .. the LORD has … become your enemy

Personally, I am surprised he got up. For what reason? What purpose did he have left? What hope could he muster in his mind or heart?

He eventually ate some unleavened bread, and walked into the night.

His desire to find out his future caused this final night of Saul to be filled with remorse, hopelessness and a forsakenness indescribable. Driven by fear, he entered his final night, ending up fully alone, and for the next dozen or so hours of his existence, he would know there was no future for his kingdom, no future for his family, and no future for his own life.

On top of all that news, and while experiencing fully the deep sorrow and pain from hearing the truth, he was barred from reaching out to God, for God had become his enemy.

How dreadful. How utterly dreadful. What a terrible and utterly horrific night Saul experienced!

What can be said from this horrible story. What benefit or encouragement can we find? Only that of a warning, of the importance of understanding the fear of the Lord as the beginning of wisdom, the blessing of bowing before Him while we can, acknowledging He is great and all powerful.

Do not let the day come when you have to face your sin all alone. Turn to the One who took your pain, your sin, your hopelessness, remorse and forsakenness.

Repent and turn to the Lord Jesus, the One who can rescue each of us from our “night of Saul”.

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Jesus in the Old Testament – Boaz – 01

2025-06-24

Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.

I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.

SEEING JESUS IN

Boaz

A Worthy Man

Ruth 2:1 Now Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.

Revelation 4:11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

Quick – Give me a definition of the term “worthy”. Don’t fall back to the google search – take a moment and try to find a word that is equal to worthy in your vocabulary.

I will readily admit it. I aint got no word in my mind.

For Boaz, the Word tells us he was a worthy man, and when I check out the Hebrew term translated worthy, it typically is synonymous with such concepts as strength, might, wealth, force and ability.

It also includes the concepts of virtue and valor. If I were to associate worthy with any of those concepts above, I would lean on the virtue and valor definitions.

For Boaz, as a worthy man, he was one who exhibited strength, might and ability. He had character, a man of convictions, a successful man, a man who had possessions, wealth and power.

He was worthy.

Not one chapter later we find that Ruth was also described as a worthy woman.

Ruth 3:11 And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman.

Although she did not possess great riches, we learn that this term may be used in a manner relating to morals, or ethics or spirituality.

She was worthy.

Now we know that Boaz, a worthy man, met Ruth, a worthy woman, and after a period of time, found a wedding in their future. Out of this wedlock, a child was born. And another. Eventually, the One who is truly worthy in every respect was born in this bloodline, and poured His blood out for all who are not worthy.

Revelation 4:11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Names of God – GOD OF ENCOURAGEMENT – 189

2025-06-23

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

189

GOD OF ENCOURAGEMENT

Romans 15:5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus

The apostle Paul is wrapping up his greatest treatise on the gospel, a letter written in a jail cell to saints he has never seen, having provided glimmers of truth expressed in letters to other churches, but in this letter, he holds nothing back.

He expresses the truth of the gospel clearly, directly, boldly and without any hesitation. He voices the most difficult arguments the enemies of the gospel provide, and then openly proceeds to demolish them with Scripture, logic and reasoning.

He takes us through character studies, such as Abraham and David, speaking of foreshadowing’s of the gospel, of truths that lead one to see the root of the Old Testament to flower into the beauty of the New Testament.

Now, as he proceeds to close this letter, he describes God in four ways. God is the..

God of Encouragement 15:5
God of Endurance 15:5
God of Hope 15:13
God of Peace 15:33

Our name of God to consider today is God is the God of Encouragement.

To be encouraged is to be strengthened, comforted, motivated and even exhorted. The Greek term is παράκλησις paráklēsis, and it literally means a “calling to one’s side”

Para = beside
Kaleo = to call

To be encouraged is to be given strength. It is a spiritual transfer of strength, mainly through some form of communication from one who has went through a similar experience. The transfer of strength is not a zero sum condition, meaning that the strength received is equal to the strength given.

Let me put that another way.

If I am encouraged by my son in some area of my life, he doesn’t walk away discouraged in similar measure. Typically to encourage someone actually provides a similar effect on the giver. It is a win win situation!

It may be applied in times of grief, when life is difficult and loss may be the only experience we are walking in. God is the God of Encouragement. This very name speaks of the reality of grief and loss in the believers life, and that due to this experience, we can know of God’s encouragement

It may be applied in times of weakness, when we have given all we have, or we are experiencing a time of hopelessness, when there is no obvious upside in our thinking, when all feels dark and without meaning. God is the God of Encouragement. Again this name of God infers the Christians very real experience of weakness, hopelessness and loss of meaning.

At times when we go through valleys, whether mentally, physically, emotionally or spiritually, we can run to the Father, knowing that He is One that is a strengthener, an encourager, an advocate for the believer.

This strength is provided for a specific purpose, as the verse above states. Encouragement from God is intended to provide the strength to live in harmony with one another in the church, in the manner Christ Jesus would desire, in unity and peace with one another.

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus

Please do not think this verse relates only in our relations to those in the church, that is, that God only provides encouragement in order to have harmony in the church. No, I am convinced God can provide encouragement to His people every minute of the day as they seek His Son and look to follow Him.

For you see, God Himself is our Helper, our parakletos (a derivative noun of our word we are considering), even as we walk on this earth. He is the One who is called to our side, to aid us in following Him.

John 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever

John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

John 15:26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.

We surely do not deserve such a loving, helpful, strengthening encouraging God as we have in Jesus.

May His name be lifted up as we look to Him, and as we look to Him, may we find that His encouragement makes each of us people of encouragement.

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Proverbial Thoughts on Sluggards – C

2025-06-22

Thoughts on the topic of sluggards from the book of wisdom

As we venture into this topic, let’s be clears on the meaning of the term. There may be some readers who are not familiar with the term “sluggard”. Personally, I love the word. Not the meaning, and especially not the application or reality of it in my own life, but the sound, the noise it makes as it rolls from the throat.

I got a thing for sounds!

To be a sluggard is to be a deadbeat, a couch potato, a loafer, a slouch, an idler, a good for nothing lazy bag of bones. To be a sluggard is to be a professional, highly motivated procrastinator, a shirker of responsibility and an avoider of tasks!

For our time in the proverbs, we will find there is much to be challenged by. A number of truths occur over and over in the passages we will consider. Truths that describe the sluggard as having nothing to show for his life, that he will go hungry, that he is a disappointment to others. He is a “victim” and that he is a great story teller.

One small verse for this post. One tiny truth about the sluggard. One characteristic that the sluggard exhibits, that he depends on to continue in his sluggardness.

He is wiser than them all!

Proverbs 26:16 The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly.

Imagine a perfect storm of bad character traits!

A lazy man or woman, that is actually wiser than all others! There would be no arguing with him, no convincing him that he needs to change. As a matter of fact, his manner of life and his ability to justify his decisions may only spread throughout a culture, guiding those who are less wise than he (which is you and I) into an indolent lifestyle. This man or woman (who is the wisest of all) could inflict massive destruction on a society though his wise teaching on the life of laziness, of the benefits of a “sluggards lifestyle”.

We all know this is poppycock, for it is only in the mind of the sluggard that he is wise. He is a fool! In his mind, he is the wise one. The know-it-all that has found the secret of a comfy life. And due to this arrogance of the sluggard, to speak to him about his sluggardness is well nigh impossible due to his or her stubbornness of pride.

Trust me – I have met one or two in my day!

The threat of sluggardness still exists though, for a “lazy lifestyle” can permeate a culture. It is not though through the concentrated efforts of the sluggard, for you see he will not exert himself to spread his own way of life. No, his example does enough damage simply by being a sluggard to those who come in contact with him.

No, the diffusion of a “lazy lifestyle”, that of a lifestyle of ease, sleeping in, story telling and owning a proud spirit brings about the downfall of a culture simply because it is easy, allowed and appealing to those who want an excuse to be taken care of, allowing some to demand rights and refuse responsibility.

I can hear the sluggard in me, calling out to me, whispering to me of a little extra rest. And as I mentioned in an earlier post on sluggards, we all need rest, some more than others. The key for this post is that we need to be open to others comments if they see something in our lives. We need to exhibit a humility, a constant humility that would allow a friend or brother to speak openly about this tendency grabbing our lives.

A little humility in our lives, a little surrender of the “don’t challenge me” attitude may bring great dividends to our lives and honor the Lord.

May it be so.

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Psalms for Psome – Ps 70.02

2025-06-21

My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.

This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.

I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.

Psalm 70 is essentially a repetition of a portion of Psalm 40. There are some differences that may prove to be instructive, and provide opportunity for comment. The following tables will provide my reader an opportunity to quickly compare each verse between the two psalms and consider the differences for themselves.

As before, variations between the two Psalms will be noted by italicized font. Earlier comments for this first portion may be found at Psalms for Psome – Ps 40.07

Let’s consider the last two verses.

Psalm 70	Psalm 40
4 – May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you! May those who love your salvation say evermore, “God is great!”	16 – But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the LORD!”

The difference in this verse when compared with the parallel in Psalm 40 is the psalmist’s reference to God. In Psalm 70, he uses the common name for the creator God. Our psalmist speaks of God in the more general terms, where in Psalm 40, the psalmist refers to God by using the more personal name of Jehovah. Two short posts are available for my reader if they are interested in following up on these names.

Names of God – ELOHIM (GOD) – 1

Names of God – JEHOVAH (LORD) – 2

Psalm 70	Psalm 40
5 – But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay!	17 – As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God!

In our final verse, we see the psalmist repeating his immediate need, and removes the description of “the Lord takes thought for me”. This seems to reflect an intentional “depersonalizing” of the Psalm, yet the psalmist refers to God with the more personalized name of God in the end.

No matter how we interpret this adjustment to the message of this man in need, it is refreshing to hear in both the 40th and 70th psalm that these men knew their place. They were poor and needy.

They knew their position before the God they prayed to. May we remember also, that we are but poor and needy people, looking to the Lord God for our assistance.

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Names of God – GOD OF BETHEL – 188

2025-06-20

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

188

GOD OF BETHEL

Genesis 31:13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.’”

God knows our weaknesses, better than we ourselves.

In Genesis 31, we find Jacob on the run after scamming Laban.

At least that is how it appears to Laban, after he looses much of his flock to Jacob though a payment scheme Jacob devised. It turns out that Jacob, after making the deal with his father in law, made out like a bandit!

Any sheep that were born striped, spotted or mottled would become Jacobs. Surely the hand of God enabled the birthing marks of the flock to favor Jacob over Laban.

Now that he has his flocks, Jacob looks for the next phase in his life, having served Laban for 20 years. Fourteen years for his wife Rachel, gaining another wife through that period, and then serving another 6 years for the flocks. He is set to move on and the Lord, after having given him direction on the goats, directs him to return to Bethel.

So why refer to Bethel? What is so special about Bethel, and why is God relating to this place called Bethel?

Let’s go back to Genesis 28:18-22 for a moment.

Genesis 28
18 So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.
19 He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first.
20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear,
21 so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God,
22 and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.”

Bethel is the place where Jacob first met God, the location where he spoke – “the Lord is in this place and I did not know it”.

It was during this encounter with the Living God that Jacob was promised the land, offspring like the dust of the earth, and God’s promise of being with him.

When God speaks of being the God of Bethel, there is only one God that Jacob could think of. The God who made promises and spoke of His commitment to Jacob.

Speaking of commitment, Jacob made a promise to God at Bethel also . Yes yes yes, something of a promise, but mostly a conditional commitment, for he spoke of his following God if God would give him food, provide clothing, supply passage back to Isaac… Then the Lord would be his God.

No matter how I view Jacob, he is always coming off as the negotiator, the one seeking the best of a deal, looking for an advantage. Though this tendency was engrained in his personality, even when faced with God, nothing changed.

He worked a deal with God.

God is reminding him in this passage. God is reminding Jacob of his initial meeting with God, of the first time Jacob experienced God, of the start of his walk with God.

God had kept His part of the bargain. Wives, children, wealth, safety. God had provided all.

Was the Lord his God? Would Jacob follow through? Did Jacob remember that night God came down, made promises, heard Jacob’s response?

It is good to remember our initial point of contact with the Eternal God. February 19, 1981, at 7:30 in the evening, in a house in Bracebridge Ontario. The single most eventful night of my life. (Testimony) My Judge had become my Savior!

Can you remember meeting God the first time? Take some time today to remember.

If you haven’t met Him, you are surely missing out. He is a wonderful Savior that keeps His Word, guides the wanderer, comforts the brokenhearted and provides for His people. Give up you sin, admit your rebellion to Him and ask for forgiveness.

To know Him will change your life!

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Proverbial Thoughts on Sluggards – A

2025-06-19

Thoughts on the topic of sluggards from the book of wisdom

Before we venture into this topic, let’s be clears on the meaning of the term. There may be some readers who are not familiar with the term “sluggard”. Personally, I love the word. Not the meaning, and especially not the application or reality of it in my own life, but the sound, the noise it makes as it rolls from the throat.

I got a thing for sounds!

To be a sluggard is to be a deadbeat, a couch potato, a loafer, a slouch, an idler, a good for nothing lazy bag of bones. To be a sluggard is to be a professional, highly motivated procrastinator, a shirker of responsibility and an avoider of tasks!

For our time in the proverbs, we will find there is much to be challenged by. A number of truths occur over and over in the passages we will consider. Truths that describe the sluggard as having nothing to show for his life, that he will go hungry, that he is a disappointment to others. He is a “victim” and that he is a great story teller.

A great story teller!

Lets start with this characteristic of the sluggard. Two passages in the proverbs speak of the sluggard slinging a tale about lions.

Proverbs 22:13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!”

Proverbs 26:13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! There is a lion in the streets!”

Any task in the sluggards mind is worthy of developing an exaggeration, a story of why he can’t do the task. He is strangely adept at creating a condition of fear, telling a story (to himself) that provides reasons not to work.

Does the sluggard create a bold faced unbelievable lie? Is it such that during the times of Solomon and other authors of the proverbs, lions sometimes did roam the streets of Israel?

It is common knowledge of the existence of lions within the land of Israel during the times of the kings, when the proverbs were mainly written. Many a time in the Old testament, reference is made to lions, and it was surely a common animal that existed amongst the populace.

The sluggard uses a possibility, a truth that lions were in the area, but he surely greatly exaggerated the truth to create a barrier, a restriction from doing anything.

Consider an alternative life choice.

Consider David’s fear of lions.

David and Lions

A youngster who was a lowly shepherd fought lions. It seems David didn’t consider any obstacles, even the possibility of death when he faced the lion.

1 Samuel 17:34, 35

But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him.

David did not “stay in the house”, creating a condition in his mind of his inevitable death if he opened the door. No, David went after the lion. Not only did he go after the lion, he struck the lion, took him by the beard (if the lion was foolish enough to come after him again), and dealt that lion a death blow.

David made no excuses. He didn’t create an obstacle in his mind, but simply faced the lion, and dominated that animal. He was something else!

How about Daniel and his fear of lions?

Daniel and Lions

Daniel is another saint who dealt with lions. Multiple lions for an extended time. Now of course in Daniels situation, facing the lions was the result of his habitual prayer life, and the challenge of a corrupt government seeking to impact his faith in God.

Daniel 6:10 When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.
Daniel 6:16 a Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions.

He knew he would be thrown into the lion’s den. He invited the encounter by his faithfulness to God in prayer amongst the heathen. He made no exaggeration, no excuse, and accepted no fear mongering attempt to avoid a challenge to his faith.

The conclusion of the author is that a sluggard creates a condition in his mind that restricts his options. Now of course, we know that he wanted to restrict his options, for he surely had important work to do inside the house. Work such as consuming TV, eating some ice cream, and surfing the web. Focusing on being a consumer, instead of a producer.

The sluggard knew what he was doing, and when we witness someone making excuses, or exaggerating a situation, rest assured that this is an indication that we may be in the presence of a sluggard, even if we are all alone in the room!

Even to this day, when I meet a fella or lady who makes excuses, I ask about the lion in the street. I do get some strange looks sometime!

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Life of David – 22.04

2025-06-18

Saul and the Medium of En-dor

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

15 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Saul answered, “I am in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams. Therefore I have summoned you to tell me what I shall do.”
16 And Samuel said, “Why then do you ask me, since the LORD has turned from you and become your enemy?
17 The LORD has done to you as he spoke by me, for the LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David.
18 Because you did not obey the voice of the LORD and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek, therefore the LORD has done this thing to you this day.
19 Moreover, the LORD will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me. The LORD will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.”

Saul keeps hitting walls. The one “person” Saul turns to, Samuel the prophet, is ticked off at him disturbing him in his rest.

Nevertheless, Saul starts in with his problems. Not sure about you, but if a spirit were to appear to me, my problems would definitely be the least of my concern. Now whether that speaks of my lack of connection with the spirit world, or the immensity of Saul’s problems, I will let you decide.

Given that, Saul’s problems are fairly massive! He is in great distress!

Philistines are on the War Path

The immediate physical threat Saul is facing is a large Philistine army, already in the nation of Israel, chomping at acquiring more and more of the nations land. As mentioned in earlier posts, the Philistines have been very aggressive in their troop movements, and it seems there has been no comparable effort on Saul’s part to resist.

Even now, as his army, all of his army are facing the enemy, he realizes he is no match to the greater strength of the Philistines. And then there is the rumor that David is with them, the same David that will sit on Saul’s throne. That has got to be rumbling around in his thoughts!

God has departed from him

Yes, the Philistines are knocking on the door, asking for the victory over the weakened nation of Israel. A king that is preoccupied with a challenger, and who has rejected the nation’s God.

Saul rejected God. Now God has departed from him. And he knows it. He admits it. He admits it to the prophet.

God does not answer him

Not only has God departed from King Saul, but he admits that no matter how hard he tries, God will not answer his requests. God will not respond to the pleas of the king, even when the nation is on the brink of defeat!

Samuel, ever the man committed to truth gives no solace, but only clarifies the problem and Saul’s eventual fate.

Samuel reminds Saul that God has become his enemy. Wow. Harsh truth. Where is the love Samuel?

We are so thankful that God is the God of love, that His mercies are fresh every morning, and that His faithfulness extends from the east to the west, yet I was stumped when I first came across this concept of God being an enemy. If this is a new concept to my reader, may I suggest a post I wrote a few years back – The Lord’s Enemy. It seems God will become an enemy if we so choose!

Not only does Samuel tell Saul of God being his enemy, but that the kingdom has been (past tense) torn from him. He is a man living on borrowed time, a paper tiger with his destiny set.

Samuel gives us, and Saul, the reason for this abandonment, this refusal to assist, this action of rejection on the part of God. The reason?

Because Saul kept the best animals for sacrifice to the Lord. You remember the story. God had told Saul, through Samuel, to completely destroy Amalek.

1 Samuel 15:3 Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

No matter how you judge this action, it is clear that nothing related to the nation of Amalek was to survive the scourge of Saul reigning down on them. This was the command of God.

Saul went religious. Saved some animals to sacrifice to God. What a righteous man! A righteous man that sealed his own doom! And not only his own doom, but that of his sons, and the nation of Israel. For our sin always affects those we are closest to.

Is there any hope for such a desperate situation? For Saul and his sons, no hope at all. This is a very dark day in the life of Israel!

If only there was a savior for Israel. No one would suspect he was one who had suffered, had lost his family and friends, was rejected by his own nation, and was persecuted by those in power.

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Jesus in the Old Testament – Bathsheba – 03

2025-06-17

Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.

I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.

SEEING JESUS IN

BATHSHEBA

Child of Promise

1 Kings 1:28-30 Then King David answered, “Call Bathsheba to me.” So she came into the king’s presence and stood before the king.
And the king swore, saying, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my soul out of every adversity,
as I swore to you by the LORD, the God of Israel, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,’ even so will I do this day.”

Romans 9:8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.

In our last posts we have seen the shame and of a promise kept for both Bathsheba and the Lord.

In this post we see a principle that is related to the patriarchs of Israel, Abraham’s sons Isaac and Ishmael, and Isaac’s sons Jacob and Esau.

A short history lesson regarding Abraham. He had a son through the impatience of a certain wife, naming him Ishmael. Over a decade later, Isaac was born through a certain wife. Both sons were of Abrahams loins. Isaac was the younger and received the inheritance!

Later, as Isaac was about to become a father, Esau actually fully breached the birth canal first, making Jacob the literal second born. (Jacob struggled with his brother even in the womb though). Jacob was therefore classified as second born, but the promises were passed onto him.

In the Word, it is not uncommon for a child of promise to be elevated over a child of the flesh.

In this passage we see Solomon, a son of David, a son whom the King had provided Bathsheba a promise of the throne to, usurp the “normal” succession of the a throne to the eldest. Solomon had a promise laid on him at an early age, and though Bathsheba became David’s wife after a number of predecessors had provided children, the promise the king gave to Bathsheba invalidated all normal procedures and practices. Solomon would be elevated based on promise, not on order of birth.

The promise of God is not held down by convention or customs, by standard accepted procedures or expectations. Jesus, as the second Adam, is the true Son of Promise and as such reigns over all.

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Names of God – GOD OF THE SPIRITS OF THE PROPHETS – 187

2025-06-16

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

187

GOD OF THE SPIRITS OF THE PROPHETS

Revelation 22:6 And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”

I was writing a proposal for a small engineering task this morning and as I was writing, I began to insert multiple nouns into the sentence, connecting them with words such as “associated” or “with” or “of the”.

I find I am very susceptible to typing long winded sentences describing various conditions or situations, defining requirements of a project that is associated with the location of the site relating the parameters of the scope to the expectations of my client.

Did you understand my gobbledygook? Did I ramble on and on about something that made no sense? Did I thoroughly confuse you, leaving behind my poor reader with no clear message, and a blurry feeling of “What was that?”

We can be thankful that the Word is not susceptible to this weakness, that the words used by God in communicating to us a truth can be understood with a little patience, a little diligence and little effort.

For me, this passage presents a small challenge. I got more than one noun in this passage. How do they relate to one another?

Shall I understand this phrase to mean “God of the spirits (which are the spirits) of the prophets”, or God of the prophets, each prophet having the Holy Spirit?

You see how I struggle with communicating a simple truth?

Let me see if I can clear up my self inflicted confusion by comparing two phrases within this passage.

God of the Spirits

Two verses in the Old Testament use this English equivalent.

Numbers 16:22
And they fell on their faces and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?”

This verse is describing Moses and Aarons plea to God for reasonableness in judgement, that the whole nation not be consumed due to Korah’s rebellion.

Numbers 27:16
“Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation

This second verse speaks of the appointing of Joshua over the congregation of Israel, after the passing of Moses.

What may we understand from the two uses of this phrase in the Old Testament? Is there a common situation that we might gain in these two verses?

One truth is that Moses is the only one who referred to God in this manner, that the phrase is connected to “all flesh”, and most interesting to myself is that both are related to the separation of a man or group from the congregation. Granted, one is for destruction, and one is related to consecration of service. Nevertheless, when this phrase is used, it is in the context of separation

Spirits of the Prophets

Two verses in the New Testament use this English equivalent. One is the passage we are in now, and the second is

1 Corinthians 14:32 and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.

Paul is addressing a church that is out of control on the “gift of the Spirit”, seeking the flamboyant and ignoring the humble gifts, such as service and giving.

How like our own lives!

Paul’s message to the church is that the spirits of the prophets are controlled (subject to) the prophets.

Consider a typical church service, where a number of prophets may be in attendance, and one stands to give a message. This message is judged by the prophets. Note that the word “prophets” denotes more than one, implying the other prophets judge the the message, determine it’s validity, and join in declaring the truth to the congregation, or declare it to be false.

Now, after I have initially claimed I was seeking to simplify this study, I find I have travelled two rabbit trails, so let me try to being this home.

God is the God of the spirits, a God who separates, a God who classifies groups from other groups, a God who creates structure or order by separating one group or situation from another. We see this in our own lives, as we are all somewhat different in our talents, our ministries, our abilities and even in our weaknesses. God is a God of order and structure.

God is also the God of the prophets, those whom He allows to seek Him, to pursue after Him. Prophets seeking truth by being together, by declaring a message to others, and by submitting to the judgement of the spirits of the (other) prophets.

He separates and He gathers.

God is a God of the spirits of the prophets, and in the Book of Revelation, we find He separates those who do not seek Him from those who do seek Him, and gathers together both in their respective groups, or destinies.

I have to admit to my readers that I have never felt so inadequate in explaining my thoughts, and I pray that this short study might even irritate you to dig deeper into this name of God.

He is truly a wonderful God seeking to fulfill His purpose in those who seek Him with a humble heart.

Even with an ol’ fool who struggles to explain a simple concept!

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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1 Thessalonian Bits – 1:10

2025-06-15

A little while ago, I produced a verse by verse series in Philippians. I really enjoyed that exercise and have been wondering if I should take on another book. Well it turns out that 1 Thessalonians is the victim of my machinations, and hopefully, the thoughts produced by this fantastic book will edify and encourage the reader.

As with Philippians I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.

1 Thessalonians 1:10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

This letter from Paul made the chapter breakout relatively easy for that priest or scribe back in the 13th century that determined the chapters in the Word, For this book, each chapter break ends with a reference to the coming of Christ.

Our first chapter closes with the Thessalonians waiting for the Son of God to come from heaven. Paul can not resist the opportunity to speak of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and that one of the ministries of Jesus is the deliverance from wrath that was to come.

Jesus is the Great deliverer and it matter’s not the specifics of the trial the believer is in, for the Lord is able to deliver those not deserving His care – which is all of us!

So as we spend a few minutes considering the wrath to come for these believers, let us not get too distracted from our own coming wrath. He is a delivering Savior, yet for those Thessalonians, as well as for us, wrath was coming.

Now how to understand that is the question in my mind. Is the wrath to come, for both them and us, the terrors of eternal damnation? Is that how the Thessalonians would have understood this?

Maybe, for Paul speaks of eternal destruction in his next letter to this church.

2 Thessalonians 1:7-9

and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,

Maybe.

Maybe not.

Let us leave a discussion on these verses in 2 Thessalonians for another day, and allow for our current understanding to stand. Paul may be speaking of eternal damnation in the fires of hell for ever and ever.

Jesus can deliver us from this destiny, and has delivered believers by His blood, by His death and by His suffering. He is the Great Deliverer.

But let us also consider that the “wrath to come” may present itself in a more immediate context for these Thessalonians.

Let’s remember – Paul found these saints in a synagogue. They were not heathen Canadians who were Biblically illiterate (as I was at my conversion!) Consider that for the Jewish faithful that followed after Paul, the background these believers had was of Moses, Isaiah and Jeremiah, steeped in the Old Testament imagery of the prophets.

Granted, to understand the wrath to come is more complicated than I first considered.

Sometimes it looks like it was in the future for those who first heard the declaration. Consider Jeremiah’s audience. He directed his pronouncement of God’s wrath on the very people of His nation, for they were about to experience the armies of Babylon coming into their nation, their city and their Temple, completely decimating the people of God.

Jeremiah 7:16, 17, 20

As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you.
Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, upon man and beast, upon the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; it will burn and not be quenched.”

In hind sight, it is obvious that Jeremiah was speaking of Babylon invading Israel, but he described as the wrath of God on His people.

Jesus used the same phrase when He spoke to the Pharisees and Sadducees in the gospels. Might He have been referring to the Romans coming to the nation of Israel, as the Babylonians had previously. After all, it was less than a generation later that these men who heard Jesus may have witnessed the very wrath coming on them in the form of the Roman legions!

Matthew 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Luke 3:7 He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

Yet I spoke earlier of the wrath as being somewhat complicated, at least for an ol’ fool like me. What do you do when Jesus speaks the following?

John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Every person on earth has the wrath of God remaining on him or her, until they believe in Jesus and follow! How might the Thessalonians have understood this wrath? An experience of warring nations on a people, causing death, destruction, famine and desolation? Might they consider it as modern believers may understand it, as a pit of fire, with demons and darkness, suffering excruciating pain for ever and ever?

All of this is debatable, but for me, it is weariness and worry, a seemingly endless debate that in the end does not motivate the believer effectively to the glory of God. Debates and discussions on the eternal state have their place, but not to the exclusion on the most important matter!

It is Jesus who delivers us. He is the Deliverer. He delivers from death, from destruction, from the grave and from our own foolishness.

For this ol’ fool, I am thankful that whatever the wrath might be that is coming, that had come, that is on us, or that may touch us, it is Jesus who is faithful to His own nature, to being a Delivering God, to being a Saving Messiah.

May His Name be praised and lifted up.

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Psalms for Psome – Ps 70.01

2025-06-14

My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.

This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.

I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.

Psalm 70 is essentially a repetition of a portion of Psalm 40. There are some differences that may prove to be instructive, and provide opportunity for comment. The following tables will provide my reader an opportunity to quickly compare each verse between the two psalms and consider the differences for themselves.

Variations between the two Psalms will be noted by italicized font. Earlier comments for this first portion may be found at Psalms for Psome – Ps 40.06.

Prior to getting into the Psalm, it may be good to consider that this Psalm begins with “To the choirmaster. Of David, for the memorial offering.”

This Psalm is stated as related to an offering associated to a past occurrence, a memory, and may refer to Psalm 40, basing this psalms cry to God on the previous Psalm.

This may give the modern believer justification for the repetition of prayers and petitions that are not original from the saint. This thinking is somewhat foreign in my circles, but I have met good and honest believers, those who “merely repeat”, prayers. My judging of this practice is wholly unfair, for what man can judge another man’s motives in his prayers?

Let’s consider the first three verses.

Psalm 70	Psalm 40
1 – Make haste, O God, to deliver me! O LORD, make haste to help me!	13 – Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me! O LORD, make haste to help me!

It seems this prayer is motivated by an immediate need, more so than the original request. Hurry up O God.

Psalm 70	Psalm 40
2 – Let them be put to shame and confusion who seek my life! Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt!	14 – Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt!

The apparent difference between “confusion “and “disappointed” is translational, for the Hebrew word is the same, but the concept of the disappointment not being complete or “altogether” in psalm 70 may imply the Psalmist is looking for an individual, instead of a group of enemies.

Psalm 70	Psalm 40
3 – Let them turn back because of their shame who say, “Aha, Aha!”	15 – Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”

The difference in this verse may be seen in Psalm 70, and that the psalmist is praying for them to be “turned back” or to retreat from any advancement on his life. To be appalled is a much more forceful word in that it describes a desolation, or a ravaging.

Psalm 70, for the minor differences, seems to present to God a prayer of an immediate need, or at least a greater concern with a response from God without delay. The psalmist has modified the prayer to God in Psalm 40, presenting his need as more urgent, and somewhat less concerned with the treatment of his enemies. He is more focused on his salvation than the retribution of his enemies.

A question for my readers. How should a believer, one who has trusted in the Messiah and understood His message, consider the retribution of those who seek his harm?

Leave me a message in the comments below.

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Names of God – GOD OF SHEM – 186

2025-06-13

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

186

God of Shem

Genesis 9:26 He also said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant.

I will be honest with you. When I first saw this verse, the three stooges popped in my head, and I had a picture in my mind of Shep.

Let me tell you first off, that that this mental picture is not helpful, and it is absolutely not true. Well, let me take that back, for it may be true that God is the God of Shep if he had trusted in Christ during his life, and generally, that God is the God of all, (and therefore the God of Shep). but I am going down a rabbit trail.

Let me get back on topic. Who is Shem?

Shem is the first son of Noah, brother to Japheth and Ham, and the father of the line of the Shemites, or as we say it today, the Semites. Yes, he is the father to Abraham, who produced the people of Israel, along with the the Arab nations.

Shem was the eldest of the brothers, and showed respect to his father, (along with his brother Japheth), when Noah fell drunk and lay naked in his tent.

Shem, along with his brothers were associated with Noah in the building of the ark, a massive endeavor to complete. Nowhere does the Word speak of these sons receiving direction or any message from God directly, and this speaks of the honor these men showed to their prophet father Noah.

When we consider Noah’s drunken incident, it occurs to me that Shem is revealing his true colors, his actual faith in God by honoring God’s prophet. He had been faithful prior to the flood in construction efforts and the shame associated with that He had been faithful during the flood, since he was carried through the flood in the ark!

This final act of reverence to the prophet Noah, who has “exposed his nakedness” in some manner, describes the ongoing character of Shem as a righteous man, a protector of his father’s reputation.

Shem is mentioned only a few times in the Old Testament, but from those few times we can deduce that he was a man who worked for his father, who accepted shame for his father, who endured hardness for his father and protected the name of his father.

As Noah spoke these words over his son Shem, the actions of Shem in his past provided Noah a basis of character for this prophecy. Was it clear to Noah that Shem would carry the lineage of Jesus? Maybe. It surely is clear for us, for the chronicler listed a lineage of Shem to include Abraham.

1 Chronicles 1:24 -27
Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu Serug, Nahor, Terah Abram, that is, Abraham.

Shem’s character showed who he trusted, and Noah declared that God was the God of Shem.

May we hear the Father speak the same of us!

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Conditional Security – John 5:28-29

2025-06-12

John 5:28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice
John 5:29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

It has been a while, but years back I sought to study the term judgement in the New Testament. The series was called Judge Judge Judge, and for the most part I remember finding that judging was a necessary part of the believers life, that to judge was imperative for the believer.

Now before you blow a gasket and start condemning me for propagating a lifestyle of hating on people, the Greek words I found that were occasionally translated as judge had the intent of discernment, not condemnation, and it turns out that when we see “judge” in the New Testament, we need to be careful as to our understanding of it.

I need to pick up that thread of study, for I got diverted in completing it.

Nevertheless, one of the Greek words I was slated to study is found in this passage. The term is κρίσις krísis, translated as judgement in verse 29.

When we see this word, we can default to the base meaning of condemnation, of a judgement to punishment, not merely an act of making a decision, but that consequences of punishment are the result of this judgement.

Harsh. Yes. There will be some that are resurrected to this judgement. A judgement of condemnation, of punishment, of damnation.

Thankfully we can rest on the fact that salvation is by faith alone, and that if we believe, we will escape this judgement. One act of belief, one night of decision, one point in time when a person invites Jesus into their heart, and all is well.

Woah. Hold on a minute! Let’s read this passage again.

John 5:29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

I do not explicitly see any reference to faith or belief in this verse! Let’s look a few verses earlier for Jesus does bring up the concept of faith, of believing, of hearing.

John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

Jesus speaks of the one who hears and believes. The one who currently hears Jesus word, and currently believes God that sent the Messiah. Both of these verbs in verse 24 are in the present tense, indicating a current condition of the one who is being granted eternal life.

Yet Jesus does not speak of faith in the verse we are considering, but speaks of “doing”, of those who have done good, and of those who have done evil.

Why has he changed up the criteria? What is it that we are to understand? Does faith save us? Yes, of course, but we sometimes think of faith as “mental assent” or “inner agreement”, where Jesus is teaching us that faith is equal to, or results in “doing good”.

Let me be frank. Good works are necessary for the believer, for to believe in such a great God will produce good works in our lives. As we constantly listen for and believe the words of Jesus, we will reproduce the life of service that Jesus exhibited, not perfectly by a long shot, but “doing good” will be evident.

So how should we consider the term “doing evil”? Is this synonymous with disobeying, not listening, not believing Jesus and His message? Might Jesus be defining the nature of “doing evil” by being equal to rejecting God’s message of Jesus as the Messiah, and that not believing will result in a life dominated with doing evil?

The twist in my mind is that there are some, from a worldly point of view, that “do good” all the time, and yet have nothing to do with Jesus. Is Jesus implying that by merely doing good there is the hope of resurrection to life?

I would suggest that as we read this passage, the definition of doing good is to be understood in the context of belief in Jesus, that our understanding of doing good needs to be refined.

To truly do good not only is an action seen by men, but that the motivation also is critical. Did not Paul speak of this in 1 Timothy 1:5?

The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

Consider that the resurrection of life is dependent on our belief in Jesus, a continuing, current belief, and that out of this continuous, current faith in the Messiah and His message, our hearts will lead us to perform good works. We will do good, according to Jesus definition, and not merely for show

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Life of David – 22.03

2025-06-11

Saul and the Medium of En-dor

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

8 So Saul disguised himself and put on other garments and went, he and two men with him. And they came to the woman by night. And he said, “Divine for me by a spirit and bring up for me whomever I shall name to you.”
9 The woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the necromancers from the land. Why then are you laying a trap for my life to bring about my death?”
10 But Saul swore to her by the LORD, “As the LORD lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.”
11 Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” He said, “Bring up Samuel for me.”
12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul.”
13 The king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a god coming up out of the earth.”
14 He said to her, “What is his appearance?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped in a robe.” And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and paid homage.

Let’s remember the situation.

Saul is scared, really frightened by the massive force of Philistines coming to make war with Israel. He has no resources to rely upon beyond his army. Given his reaction to the battlefield, his army must have been significantly less than the army he is facing. He may also have heard rumors of a certain Israelite in the camp of the Philistines by the name of David. That, I imagine, was very troubling.

On top of this, the location had a history. Shunem, where the Philistines had encamped, belonged to the tribe of Issachar and was south of the valley of Jezreel. This indicates that the Philistines had entered Israeli territory and were itching to take more land.

A previous battle with the Philistines in this same locale, under the leadership of Eli the judge, did not go well, with Eli’s sons dying, the Israeli army being defeated and the Ark of the Covenant being taken from the people of God.

Things were not stacking up good for Saul.

As mentioned in the passage, he started looking for a witch, a medium, one who could channel dead spirits. As luck would have it, Sauls servants found a medium at En-dor, a location that was just beyond the Philistine encampment at Shunem. His encampment was south, the witch was north, and the Philistines were just to the west.

So off with the royal garb and crown, and on with other garments, Saul and two of his men headed north, past the Philistines and under cover of darkness, knocked on the mediums door.

After reassuring the medium of the safety of the situation, she brought up Samuel, or at least a spirit that mimicked Samuel. (When you are dealing with a medium, what can you trust?) Also note that she was willing to trust this “stranger” regarding the safety of the action. She just seems real sketchy at this point, but then again, when you deal with the dead, verification of truth claims probably are low on the priority scale. She just trusted this stranger, not knowing this stranger was Saul until after “Samuel” came out of the earth.

The witch spoke of an old man wrapped in a mantle. Saul made the claim it was Samuel.

A question to my reader. Was it Samuel or a deceiving spirit? Let me know your thoughts.

No matter what, this passage literally yells at me that when the Lord is not in the middle of the situation, you just don’t know who you can trust.

Trust is such a fragile commodity for if you provide it to everyone, you will be burned and not able to exercise it due to the disappointments of previous trusting.

A wife that can be trusted is a beautiful thing. I have been blessed with a wonderful lady who I trust wholeheartedly.

My children – I don’t deserve them, for they are trustworthy, loving young men and women who have proven themselves over and over again.

A Christian brother or sister that can be trusted is a precious find, and though believers are a family, conflicts and priorities may produce times when trust is broken. Communication to restore relationship, and then to eventually able to exercise trust is critical.

The passage above brings two people together that have never met, that in the past were on opposite sides of an issue, and due to special circumstance are forced together by a man’s desperate and trembling heart. It is a bad situation ripe for defeat, disappointment and deception.

And they both trusted each other! How desperate of a situation, and how unnecessary for them to be in such a situation. But that is not true! It was necessary for Saul to trust the medium, and for the medium to trust Saul, for they had both rejected the only One who can be trusted fully.

Only due to rejecting the living God is such a situation forced on a person. Trust God, or you will be forced to trust someone or something else at a time that is forced upon you.

May God give us wisdom and strength for a daily decisions.

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Jesus in the Old Testament – Bathsheba – 02

2025-06-10

Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.

I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.

SEEING JESUS IN

BATHSHEBA

Covenant Owner

1 Kings 1:28-30 Then King David answered, “Call Bathsheba to me.” So she came into the king’s presence and stood before the king.
And the king swore, saying, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my soul out of every adversity,
as I swore to you by the LORD, the God of Israel, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,’ even so will I do this day.”

Hebrews 6:17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath,

In our last post we spoke of the shame both Bathsheba and the Lord experienced at the hands of the politically powerful.

In this post, we see Bathsheba receiving the fruit of the promise King David gave to her regarding her son Solomon. Solomon would sit on the throne of David upon his passing.

The promise provided to Bathsheba was certain. Bathsheba went to the King, in the midst of another coup attempt happening in the nation of Israel, and was assured of the promise given her, that her son Solomon would be king. The promise granted to Bathsheba was fulfilled at a time when all seemed dark and threatening for her and her son.

A little background may help, for you see, Adonijah had legal right to the throne of David. He was the oldest living son of David, and by the standard of primogeniture, his claim to the throne was valid. Although He assumed the throne prior to the death of king David, which is highly irregular and speaks of his nature, he did have the ancient custom and common law behind him in his effort to ascend to the throne.

It is interesting that David initiated the completion of the promise, that Bathsheba (in this passage) was passive in the transaction. The only action Bathsheba performed was paying homage to the King.

Jesus also was passive in the grave, as the Father worked His power, and kept His promise in raising Him physically from the dead. The Father kept the promise of an everlasting seed on the throne of David by way of having the True King rise from the dead.

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Names of God – GOD OF MY SALVATION – 185

2025-06-09

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

185

GOD OF MY SALVATION

Psalm 18:46 The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation

We spoke of the God of Salvation in an earlier post, recounting the nature of the God we worship. This passage speaks of the personal ownership of such a God.

I understand David wrote this psalm in his old age. He wrote this passage after having been rejected by king Saul, hunted by king Saul, ran out of his country by king Saul, rejected by the nation and having only a small portion of Israelites trust him. He had to hide in caves, run at night, have cities that he rescued turn on him. Those he protected rejected him, and those of his family he lost. Wives were taken from him, his best friend was torn from him, and all the comforts and recognition he once enjoyed, was ripped from him, replaced with suspicion, deception and slander.

By the time Saul passed, David had been through the wringer. His testing had proven to be severe, and by the grace and mercy of God, he came out alive, rising to the throne of Judah. Yet his struggles were far from over.
Seven and a half years of war with his own people to establish one nation, having to struggle against Saul’s son Is-bosheth and Abner.

Once on the throne of Israel, he experienced a period of personal quietness, while the nation took to warring against their enemies, and eventually becoming the dominant power in the region. If David led the battle, the nation won. God was doing amazing work through a man that had been crushed, chased, hunted, ridiculed, slandered and threatened.

Once he found comfort, he stumbled. This stumble brought great pain and severe consequences to his life, family, and the nation. He lost multiple children to the sin with Bathsheba in the immediate and long term, his daughter was raped by a son who found license by example, and the kingdom of Israel was torn apart, leaving David in his old age, teetering between the grave and the throne. Rejection by the nation he led though the treachery of his own son, and betrayal by his best friend pained David. Even on his death bed, forces were acting in the kingdom, in his very own family, to take his legacy away.

A short history of David is offered here to remind us that the God of Salvation can be the God of My Salvation, and that to experience the God of Salvation requires difficulties, struggles, pain and disappointment. It is in the battles and wars we fight through with the God of Salvation, that allows us to experience the God of My Salvation.

As we walk with Him and taught by Him, we need to keep our eyes on Him as He leads us. He can be the God of My Salvation as we wait on Him each day.

Psalm 25:5 Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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1 Thessalonian Bits – 1:9

2025-06-08

A little while ago, I produced a verse by verse series in Philippians. I really enjoyed that exercise and have been wondering if I should take on another book. Well it turns out that 1 Thessalonians is the victim of my machinations, and hopefully, the thoughts produced by this fantastic book will edify and encourage the reader.

As with Philippians I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.

1 Thessalonians 1:9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,

Who are “they”?

As I mentioned in my last rambling, I think Paul may have spoke of both believers (regarding the Word of the Lord) and unbelievers (regarding the Faith of the Saints). If my thinking is correct, who might Paul be referring to when he speaks of “they themselves”? Am I getting lost in my pronouns!

Whoever is doing the reporting, “they” understood the impact Paul and his cohorts had on the Thessalonians, or more accurately, the reception the Thessalonians gave Paul and his gang.

What type of reception did you ask?

Well, the city did not show it’s best face to these visitors, but for a few of the citizens, they openly accepted these strangers with good news, exhibited a willingness to hear and listen, and an openness to be influenced by men that laid it on the line for others. They saw men speaking of a risen Savior, being in the middle of a riot erupting with some jealous Jews, eventually having their synagogue ruler dragged before the court, with these apostles run out of town.

The reception of those few Thessalonians resulted in conversion to a whole new life. They were willing to hear a message, they watched the messengers and they made a choice. People were hearing about it, and some of “them” were reporting about it!

And what were “they” reporting?

Two pieces of news!

turned to God from idols

Turning.

I want to speak of this word as defining repentance, and it might very well speak of that, but the Greek word usually used for repentance, μετάνοια metánoia, is not used here. This word is ἐπιστρέφω epistréphō. Interestingly it is used often of Gentiles becoming believers.

Nothing too earth shattering about it’s meaning, for it simply means to turn, or to turn oneself. These folk saw the gospel, heard the gospel and turned to God. This turning included one action with two results. These folks turned to God and these folks turned from idols. This is conversion, and this also informs us of the idol worship involved in those who did not turn.

Is this true for todays citizen of the world? If one you know hasn’t turned to God, is it safe to conclude they are still following after idols? Leave a comment, let me know your thoughts

to serve the living and true God

Many may hear the gospel, and say they believe in God. They say they believe and well enough they may. But the second piece of news being reported on was the commitment the Thessalonians exhibited. They turned to serve the Living and True God.

Let me be blunt. The Christian life is not a warm fuzzy feeling received every 7 days for 15 minutes while the music blares in the auditorium. The Christian life is a life of service, of following and caring for others in His name. At times there are very difficult decisions to be made in following the Master, decisions and actions that cause pain, loneliness, separation from friends and family, in order to follow after the One who walked a path to Golgotha.

To serve the Living and True God is a marker of the man or woman of faith, of one who has truly turned to God from idols.

The Thessalonians had turned even though no promise of an easy life. Pretty impressive. I guess it makes sense that “they” were telling everyone.

Still not sure who “they” are though!

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Life of David – 22.02

2025-06-07

Saul and the Medium of En-dor

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

3 Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the necromancers out of the land.
4 The Philistines assembled and came and encamped at Shunem. And Saul gathered all Israel, and they encamped at Gilboa.
5 When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly.
6 And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets.
7 Then Saul said to his servants, “Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him, “Behold, there is a medium at En-dor.”

Did we not witness the death of Samuel three chapters back? His passing was recorded in 1 Samuel 25:1

Now Samuel died. And all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him in his house at Ramah. Then David rose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.

The repetition of this fact may be reminding us of the loss of spiritual leadership God’s people were suffering under. The nation had a king who was in rebellion against God, a king who had chased off the hope of the nation, a king that would hold on to the throne at all costs! Things were not looking good!

As an aside, and to set up the story of Saul’s final grasp on his kingdom, we are reminded that king Saul had outlawed mediums and necromancers in the land. It is safe to assume that Saul set the lay down in response to the prophet Samuel, who knew the Word in rejected the practice of contacting the dead.

Samuel sure was a pesky influence on king Saul!

As Saul ventured farther and farther away from the God of Israel, he found the distance he suffered was insurmountable, that the God of Israel had become “deaf” to his cries of help. And Saul needed help!

The Philistines were on his doorstep, and they were looking pretty fearful. Saul, the natural leader of the nation, the man who has led the armies of Israel into battle, was not exhibiting bravery once he saw the Philistines

He was afraid

This fear mentioned of Saul spoke of astonishment, awe, even reverence. The Philistines were bringing their best and it was intimidating Saul to his core.

His heart trembled greatly

Our author describes Saul’s heart as trembling greatly, of being struck with terror, shuddering at the sight of this army in front of him. Saul had brought the entire army of Israel to the battlefield and yet the enemy caused him terror. Saul had no reserves in his army, or in his personal life to deal with such a challenge! Saul was in no shape to face this enemy.

And God was nowhere to be found.

It is to Saul’s credit (minimally) that he sought out the Lord in this time of terror, but no matter his many pleas or much begging, through various methods, he was not heard by the God of Israel.

He had been abandoned by God.

1 Samuel 28:6 And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets.

At Saul’s greatest time of need, God was gone. Abandoned by the God who chose him as king. No response to his pleas, in the face of his greatest fears, the heavens were still, the Lord quiet and still.

This surely is a black mark on the faithfulness of God, as many may claim. Yet let us consider the past, for Saul surely had fought against the Lord in his seeking to retain the throne.

He disobeyed in the matter of the Amalekites. He sacrificed that which was against the command of Samuel. He had been informed by the prophet that the kingdom would be taken from him. He actively persecuted the anointed son of Jesse, whom he knew was his successor.

Saul knew it was over years back, when Samuel had clearly informed him of the loss of his kingdom after the fiasco with the Amalekites.

1 Samuel 15:28 And Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.

Now we are witnessing the grasping of a man who knows he has been in rebellion, a man looking for help from the very One who has declared his end.

How desperate! How utterly depressing for the former king of Israel, to face such a challenge and have no resource to lean on. He had no spiritual assistance at all.

Maybe.

Well, if one god doesn’t answer, maybe another god will come to his rescue. After all, he is a desperate man, not a discriminating king at this point. He had made his choice years back, and at this point in his life, the early choices he made are simply being acted out in real time before our eyes.

A witch. Get me a witch he says! I’m desperate, and I am driven by fear. I need help and I don’t care where I get it.

My friends, this is the lesson of Saul.

Isaiah 55:6 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near

Do not wait. Make your choice today for God and not your self, Do not wait for tomorrow, for the days passed for Saul, and the door was shut. Listen to and obey the One who may be sought, while He is near. Do not reject His leadership today, thinking tomorrow you will still have opportunity.

Now is the day of salvation.

2 Corinthians 6:2 For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

My friends, Saul is an example to us all, that early choices for self make later choices for God impossible. The earlier you make good choices for God and His Son, the greater you will know of His peace and presence, and the confidence gained from walking with the Savior will be invaluable.

Choose you this day whom you will serve. If you do not actively and openly choose God, eventually you may be resorting to the door of a witch! As we will see in our next few posts, this goes from bad to worse for the king of Israel.

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Names of God – GOD OF SALVATION – 184

2025-06-06

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

184

GOD OF SALVATION

Psalm 68:20 Our God is a God of salvation, and to GOD, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.

I once heard a preacher challenge the saints to a thought experiment.

Consider God differently than the Bible teaches.

Hold on a moment. Consider if God was not as the Word teaches. We know He is not for the Scriptures are abundant in the claims of the love, patience, mercy, humility and saving nature of God. We can be thankful for such a God who is for us and not against us!

Yet consider the thought experiment.

What if God’s nature, His personality were grounded and based in hatred, of despising all that were not perfect, providing no hope to those who sought Him.

What if His character allowed, or even championed the trait of deception. No trust could be developed, suspicion would constantly fester and grow within all of creation.

This is painful to consider!

What if God’s character demanded not only perfect obedience to all His demands, but also allowed no delay in that perfect obedience. Instant compliance.

What if God was proud, arrogant and haughty? No encouragement of approaching Him for assistance! No possibility that He might bend down to us, but our only expectation was that He exhibit scorn and contempt towards those below Him.

Can you imagine?

But alas, some want to think of Him in this way. Those who know not the Suffering Savior want to consider Him as the worst possible God.

In fact, as believers, we also tend to sometimes imagine Him this way in our lives, forgetting the message of the Word, the beauty of the God we serve, the mercy He shows, the patience of His love, His willingness to bend down to us in our condition of weakness.

God is a God of love, not hate, a God of truth, not lies, a God of patience, not of agitation, a God of meekness and lowliness, not of scorn and contempt.

We have a God, who by His very nature is a God of Salvation, who can not help but by His very own nature seek to save. Deliverance from death is His game plan, His goal and we are simply the recipients of such a God’s desire.

It is out of this nature of love, truth, patience and lowliness that we find He is the God of Salvation.

He is the God of Salvation, bringing salvation to us through the death of His own Son, proving Him to be the loving, truthful, patient and lowly God we don’t really understand or can fully comprehend.

He is the God of Salvation, and His very name speaks of salvation, for His name is Jesus!

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

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Conditional Security – Matthew 13:5-6, 20-21

2025-06-05

The Parable

Matthew 13:5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil,
Matthew 13:6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away.

The Explanation

Matthew 13:20 ESV – As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy,
Matthew 13:21 ESV – yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.

If this passage supports the conditional security teaching, it is in seeing that, though the seed had no root, “they” (vs 6) sprang up. The debate in my mind is that “they” who sprung up, may have sprung up merely emotionally, and not due to conviction of sin and the birth of the new heart.

Yet as the Lord explains the passage to His disciples, He speaks of …

the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy,

“Hearing and receiving” certainly falls into the description of life, and at least for a short time, to be evidence of life in this one. To “receive” is used of true conversion, or at least the process of conversion taking place.

Acts 19:2 And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

Acts 26:18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

One additional phrase that may argue for this one to have been truly saved, and yet to have fallen away or apostatized, is that

…he endures for a while

This one walks the walk for a period of time, providing evidence of life, even in the midst of trials. This is typically the very thing I watch for in any that claim they follow, that is if hard times come, do they turn their back on the Master. This one did not for a while….

One last phrase that this passage provides may help us understand the teaching of conditional security. The Lord declares..

…he falls away

This is not the Greek word that is transliterated as apostacy, which prior to looking, I assumed I would find. The term found in the gospel is σκανδαλίζω skandalízō, and typically is translated as offend, to be offended, or to trip up. So the first thing I need to understand is what might be the stumbling rock upon which this one trips up over. He has endured for a while, it is looking promising, so what is it that trips him up?

It is…

when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the Word.

This is enlightening, but not for my purposes in relation to conditional security. It may support the teaching, it may not, I will let my reader consider.

For this one who we are considering, he endured for a while, assuming the endurance was due to troubles he suffered, but when persecution was due to the Word, this caused the one to stumble.

Could the Word become a stumbling block for a believer?
Might a truly born again person get to the point that the Word offends them, causes them confusion or inner conflict?
Might a truly repentant, blood bought believer apostatize, due to the Word?

As we are on our pilgrimage, it is critical to have a humble and sensitive spirit towards the Word, to approach it with respect and to acknowledge it is the truth, the witness of the Son of God, the Savior. Some things in the Word are very difficult to understand, and some seem to be in conflict with what we think is true. It is at this point we need to confess our ignorance of all things, of our near complete ignorance of the universe, of history, of our own current affairs in this world and even our own lives.

We are simply too limited in our understanding! How then could we take the position of judge over the Word of God? It is the message God has provided to His people, that has survived for millennium the attacks of the faithless, and given us the witness of His Son, the Sacrificial Lamb who died for our sins. As we become a judge over the Word, finding problems or supposed conflicts, statements that are uncomfortable, or things we just don’t want to accept, we should realize this may be dangerous territory to enter into.

No matter what the specific message you may be struggling with this very day, a willing heart, an inquisitive mind, and a humble spirit is needed to provide opportunity for solutions to be found, or the patience to endure until the Lord provides direction for our souls.

He is good, but sometimes He lets us struggle for our own good. Do not give up the fight of living a life of humility before the One who died for us.

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Thoughts on the topic of sluggards from the book of wisdom

Ants

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Thoughts on the topic of sluggards from the book of wisdom

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Thoughts on the topic of sluggards from the book of wisdom

A great story teller!

David and Lions

Daniel and Lions

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Philistines are on the War Path

God has departed from him

God does not answer him

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turned to God from idols

to serve the living and true God

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He was afraid

His heart trembled greatly

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The Parable

The Explanation

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