Brevity and Eternity in Psalm 102

 

I've been reading the Psalms these days and find that, if read as the thoughts and prayers of the Savior, there is so much to consider.  Psalm 102 is 28 verses long, apparently written by someone suffering affliction and very conscious that life on this earth is over quickly compared to the vast time of the earth and stars, and they are short compared to the eternity of God.  But my faith in Christ reminds me that all those who trust in Him as Lord will likewise live with Him forever.  So the brevity of my earthly life is tempered by my view of eternity before us (cf. Hebrews 12:22-24).  Verse twenty three starts with weakness and fear:

 

²³  He weakened my strength in the way; He shortened my days.   
²⁴  I said, "O my God, Do not take me away in the midst of my days; Your years are throughout all generations.
²⁵  Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands.

Genesis 1:1  "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."  Our Lord is the Creator at the beginning of time.
²⁶  They will perish, but You will endure; Yes, they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will change them, And they will be changed.

He is also present at the end of the created order and of time as we know it.

Note:  Verses 25-26 are quoted in Hebrews 1:10-12 in reference to the Lord Jesus.

Our days are so short compared to the eternity of our Savior.  But consider also that the regenerated person in Christ has all of eternity stretched out before him.  The brevity of these days beacon us to be wise, but the eternity ahead of us informs our values even more than the brevity.  Prayer, the Scriptures, the Gospel, mercy and care invested into others, especially the "least of these" become of primary importance in  light of these verses.

²⁷  But You are the same, And Your years will have no end.
²⁸  The children of Your servants will continue, And their descendants will be established before You."

Identify with the Weak and Don't Judge

 Job 4

¹²  "Now a word was secretly brought to me, And my ear received a whisper of it.
¹³  In disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night, When deep sleep falls on men,
¹⁴  Fear came upon me, and trembling, Which made all my bones shake.
¹⁵  Then a spirit passed before my face; The hair on my body stood up.
¹⁶  It stood still, But I could not discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes; There was silence; Then I heard a voice saying:
¹⁷  'Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker?
¹⁸  If He puts no trust in His servants, If He charges His angels with error,
¹⁹  How much more those who dwell in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust, Who are crushed before a moth?
²⁰  They are broken in pieces from morning till evening; They perish forever, with no one regarding.
²¹  Does not their own excellence go away? They die, even without wisdom.'

 

(bible blog entry for March 9, 2021

I'm now in the Book of Job, the great book about perseverance.  The only reference I know of the Book of Job in the New Testament refers to his perseverance (James 5:11).  The traditional author of the Book is Moses, in addition to the five books of Moses at the beginning of the Old Testament.  I suspect that the story of Job may have existed for some time as oral tradition, memorized carefully by scribes for many years on end.  In the story Job, a prosperous man who suffers one disaster after another, is visited by friends to try to make sense of his suffering but consistently come to the wrong conclusion; that is, Job must have done something wrong and is being punished.  There is a long debate between Job and his friends until God shows up at the end of the book.  In the first speech in the long conversation among Job and his friends, a young man, Eliphaz, tells of a vision he had in the night.

 

What was the spirit that Eliphaz saw?  An angel?  The Holy Spirit?  I would imagine an angel.  This happened "when deep sleep falls on men", similar to the sleep in which Abram encountered God in Genesis 15.  In one way or another he had a riveting encounter with the righteousness of God.  It was true, but did not fit the situation for Job was not being judged.   Eliphaz speaks and makes an erroneous application of a theological truth.  No one is righteous before God, which is true, compared to the holiness of God.  He also states that people suffer misfortune only because of sin, which isn't true.  The innocent suffer misfortune all the time and the unrighteous often prosper (cf. Habakkuk 2).  The questions the spirit asked Eliphaz are questions we do better to ask ourselves than to ask  others, especially if they are suffering.

 

The Spirit Filled Life Bible study note for verse 17 is helpful.  "Mortal" in this verse is one of four words for humans.  One refers to man in his full strength, or man as a champion of his people.  The other refers to "man" as a species.  There is also a word for "man" meaning man as an individual.  Then there is the word for "man" as a mortal, literally meaning one that is weak, sick, frail, sad and in need.  It is this last word used in this verse.  Later, Daniel 7:13 will use the Aramaic equivalent "son of man" as a title for the Messiah.  Jesus often called Himself the "Son of Man".  He identifies with humans even in their weakest and most frail. 

 

What the Acts of Worship Mean

2 Chronicles 2:1-18 (NKJV)
¹  Then Solomon determined to build a temple for the name of the LORD, and a royal house for himself.
²  Solomon selected seventy thousand men to bear burdens, eighty thousand to quarry stone in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them.
³  Then Solomon sent to Hiram king of Tyre, saying: As you have dealt with David my father, and sent him cedars to build himself a house to dwell in, so deal with me.
⁴  Behold, I am building a temple for the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to Him, to burn before Him sweet incense, for the continual showbread, for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, on the New Moons, and on the set feasts of the LORD our God. This is an ordinance forever to Israel.

 

Note: The two books of Chronicles covers much of the same historical events as the four books of Samuel and Kings, but does so after the Exile to Babylon ends and there is more of an emphasis on grace than on the sin and judgment of the earlier books.  Compare this to the Christian Gospels, which cover many of the same events but with differing emphases.  I read recently that the Jewish Bible ends with the two books of Chronicles, giving a hopeful view going forward. 

          When reading these books, I try to compare and contrast the religious acts recorded with what we do in church buildings on Sunday over much of the world.  In so doing I found verse four of this chapter interesting.  Here Solomon is beginning work to build the Temple in Jerusalem and he writes the king of a neighboring country for skilled workers and raw materials for the project.  What struck my attention was verse four, which outlines the purpose and activities of the Temple.  They are...

to dedicate (purpose)

burn incense

present showbread, made fresh regularly.

offerings morning and evening, and on Sabbaths, New Moons and great feasts outlined in Scripture.

          The fact that this describes the great Temple of Jerusalem contrasts greatly with the humble congregation, one of many in my town, that I serve.  The priests of the temple represented the whole nation of Israel, and my congregation is one of many thousands scattered across the country.  Still, the symbolism of the activities of the temple speak to the values of worship in any Christian congregation.  First, the place was dedicated, that is, it is declared holy and for sacred use.  Christian theology would maintain the same for the place we gather for worship, and for the congregation itself.  The image of a temple made of people to house the Lord is part of the New Testament (cf. Ephesians 2:19-22).  Incense symbolizes the prayers of the people; showbread represents the life-giving presence of the Holy Spirit; the sacrifices remind us to be living sacrifices unto Christ (Romans 12:1-2).  With this in the back of our minds, I strongly hope that our participation in worship this Sunday will bring encouragement and a refreshed presence of the Holy Spirit.  We don't worship in order to receive, but God does reward people who see Him.  (Hebrews 11:6).

Are Our Lives Gifts from the Lord to Others?

 

2 Kings 13:1-25 (NKJV)
¹  In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years.
²  And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. He did not depart from them.
³  Then the anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel, and He delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Ben-Hadad the son of Hazael, all their days.
⁴  So Jehoahaz pleaded with the LORD, and the LORD listened to him; for He saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them.
⁵  Then the LORD gave Israel a deliverer, so that they escaped from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents as before.
⁶  Nevertheless they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin, but walked in them; and the wooden image also remained in Samaria.

 

Note:  By this time the now separate nations of Judah and Israel had spotty careers serving the Lord.  Judah was mixed as far as worship of the God of Israel for people also burned incense to other "deities" in the shrines up on the hills.  Israel had been worshipping other gods for many years by this point.  Yet when the idolatrous king of Israel pleaded with the Lord, the Lord listened because He was sensitive to the troubles of the people.  So he sends a deliverer, an unnamed leader who helped Israel break free from Syria.  Then Israel returned to their idolatrous ways.  This has been happening for a long as humans have existed.  They sin.  The get in trouble.  They call on the Lord for help. He helps them.  As soon as the troubles cease, they go back to their old ways.

Verse five says that the Lord gave them a deliverer, as if the life of the person, whoever he was, was a gift to the people of Israel.  I find that an interesting concept, that the Lord gives people as gifts.  This is in the New Testament as well, in Ephesians (4:7-13), pastors and other leaders are given to the church by the Lord.  Is this true of every Christian, not just deliverers, etc?  What if we all thought of our lives as gifts to others, and our definition of success is the positive impact our life has on others?  Are other people enriched and have better lives because we are in it?  Does this change our priorities, if we view our lives as gifts from the Lord to other people? 

Everyday Trials, the Temptation of Witchcraft and People Who Feel Powerless

2 Kings 6:1-33 (NKJV)
¹  And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, "See now, the place where we dwell with you is too small for us.
²  Please, let us go to the Jordan, and let every man take a beam from there, and let us make there a place where we may dwell." So he answered, "Go."
³  Then one said, "Please consent to go with your servants." And he answered, "I will go."
⁴  So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees.
⁵  But as one was cutting down a tree, the iron ax head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, "Alas, master! For it was borrowed."
⁶  So the man of God said, "Where did it fall?" And he showed him the place. So he cut off a stick, and threw it in there; and he made the iron float.
⁷  Therefore he said, "Pick it up for yourself." So he reached out his hand and took it.

This is one of the more obscure miracles in the Old Testament, and for some time I did not see the point of this miracle.  Recently, I learned that one takeaway from it is to compare it to the unfortunate fate of Gehazi, the original personal assistant to the Prophet Elisha (2 Kings 5:20-27).  The Lord does not approve of greed but values the humble servant and cares about the joys and challenges of even his everyday life.  It also is an appeal to people who feel powerless in life, and to those among them who are tempted to look at witchcraft as a way to deal with life.

I found some notes from a good study Bible, and the episode of an unfortunate slave caught in the middle of the Salem Witch Trials, to be helpful commentary when considering this passage.

 

Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible

"Ancient magic included a category called transference, where properties or characteristics of one object were passed to another.  In this case, the buoyancy of the wood is passed to the axe head.  While the text is unclear whether Elisha was actually practicing magic or not, his actions would have appeared that way to an ancient observer."

"Magic is typically forbidden to Israel for a number of reasons:  (1)  Magic is human encroachment into the divine realm.  (2)  Magic is used to manipulate deity.  (3)  Magic involves relying on a power other than Yahweh.  If that is the reason, a sanctioned prophet would be able to bypass all three; his office already enters the divine realm, and the power come from Yahweh, even though the prophet appears to have some autonomy in using it.  The prophets are called to wield divine authority at some level."

(Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2017)

 

Note:  I don't know if this is true, but I once read that the horrors of the Salem Witch Trials started with a slave from the Caribbean named Tituba, who taught some young girls spells.  The article noted that witchcraft was attractive to the oppressed and powerless.  The teacher was enslaved and the students were in a culture that probably did not acknowledge much value in them.  Here in this strange passage the Lord addressed the questions of whether God had any interest in the everyday trials and difficulties of His people, and whether it is really worth it for the oppressed and powerless to turn to witchcraft. 

 

What I mean is that the miracle is about a minor issue, not minor to the young prophet who borrowed the axe head, but minor in the grand scheme of things.  Here the miracle shows the intimacy of God.  Our God is a God of everyday life, and has interest even in the everyday trials and challenges of His people.  Also, note that the miracle looks similar to an element of magic called "transference".  The Study Bible listed above said that in ancient times one form of magic was to transfer the characteristic of one object (the stick) to another (the axe head) so the axe head rises to the surface so the young prophet can retrieve it.  Why would the Lord make a miracle look like magic?  I think He wanted to send a message to people tempted to participate in magic.  Magic can be tempting to those who are powerless and oppressed (note the story about the Salem Witch Trials.  Note also the teen witch movie "The Craft" has a sequel out soon).  The message from the Lord is "don't turn to witchcraft in an effort to manipulate nature or some sort of "deity".  Rather, turn to me, the only true God of the universe.  It is an appeal to everyone who feels defeated, powerless, mistreat, subject to injustice. 

 

Note from the web on Tituba, thought to be the first person to confess involvement in witchcraft during the infamous Salem Witch Trials.

Tituba was an Indian woman, not (as commonly believed) a Negro slave. She was originally from an Arawak village in South America, where she was captured as a child, taken to Barbados as a captive, and sold into slavery. It was in Barbados that her life first became entangled with that of Reverend Samuel Parris. She was likely between the age of 12 and 17 when she came into the Parris household. She was most likely purchased by Parris from one of his business associates, or given to settle a debt. Parris, at the time, was an unmarried merchant, leading to speculation that Tituba may have served as his concubine.

Tituba helped maintain the Parris household on a day-to-day basis. When Parris moved to Boston in 1680, Tituba and another Indian slave named John accompanied him. Tituba and John were married in 1689 about the time the Parris family moved to Salem. It is believed that Tituba had only one child, a daughter named Violet, who would remain in Parris's household until his [sic] death.

Tituba made herself a likely target for witchcraft accusations when shortly after Parris's daughter, Betty, began having strange fits and symptoms, she participated in the preparation of a "witchcake" (a mixture of rye and Betty's urine, cooked and fed to a dog, in the belief that the dog would then reveal the identity of Betty's afflictor). Parris was enraged when he found out about the cake, and shortly thereafter the afflicted girls named Tituba as a witch. Parris beat her until she confessed.

Tituba was the first witch to confess in Salem, and she likely did it to avoid further punishment. In her confession she apologized for hurting Betty, claimed she never wanted to hurt Betty, and professed her love for the child. She also wove a lively tale of an active community of witches in Salem. She named Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne as witches. By confessing early on, Tituba avoided the ordeal of going to trial, joining with the afflicted girls in providing key evidence against accused witches. Her husband, John, would also fall into fits, and become afflicted.

When public sentiment towards the accusers and the trials began to change, Tituba recanted her confession. This further enraged Parris, who in retaliation, refused to pay the jailer's fee to get Tituba out a prison. As a result, she spent thirteen months in jail until an unknown person paid the seven pounds for her release and bought her. It is likely that the same person bought her husband, John, because Puritans were not inclined to split up married couples, even slaves. It is unknown what happened to her after she began her life with her new owner. --KS

http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/ASA_TIT.HTM

I think that www.umkc.edu is the University of Missouri at Kansas City

The Importance of Music in Worship

2 Kings 3

¹²  And Jehoshaphat said, "The word of the LORD is with him." So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.
¹³  Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, "What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother." But the king of Israel said to him, "No, for the LORD has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab."
¹⁴  And Elisha said, "As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you, nor see you.
¹⁵  But now bring me a musician." Then it happened, when the musician played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him.

The situation:  Israel and Judah are now separate and sometimes antagonistic countries.  Elijah the great prophet has left for heaven, and his assistant, Elisha, has continued the ministry.  The kingdom of Moab has chosen to rebel against Israel and the king of Israel, Jehoram has enlisted the king of Edom and Jehosphaphat, king of Judah, to go to battle with him.  Uncertain how to proceed, they decide to consult the gods.  Jehoshaphat requests Elisha, prophet of the God of Israel, who agrees to help only because of Jehoshaphat.   The prophet begins by asking that a musician come and perform.  Then he prophesied.

 

Note:  Perhaps this is an example of music being the vehicle of worship.  Worship is an end in itself:  It needs no other purpose than to honor God in a special and unique way and is worth doing even if the worshipper received no benefit.  But worship with music seems to prepare the spirit to receive from the Holy Spirit.  Here the musician helps Elisha and he prophesies to the kings.  Among other things, there is an element of prophecy in a good sermon. 

Family Can Be a Source of Joy or of Misery 2 Samuel 18

 2 Samuel 18:33Then the king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept. And as he went, he said thus: "O my son Absalom--my son, my son Absalom--if only I had died in your place! O Absalom my son, my son!"

Note:  Like the misery of losing the infant son who was the first child of David and Bathsheba, (2 Samuel 12:23) now David mourns over a son who hated him, plotted against him for years and sought to overthrow him and have him killed.  How many parents long for and dearly love a grown child who does not love them back?  I remember a couple, now long gone, who endured the conversation with a son who announced he was going to see America on his motorcycle, and he was never coming home.  I know also of a fellow minister, also long gone, whose wife and grown daughter abandoned him and His God.  The church became his only family for the rest of his life.  Family can be the source of great joy or the source of great misery.