Isaiah 36-37, Galatians 2: 1-10, Psalm 136: 1-12
Psalm 136: 1 (ESV)
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast
love endures forever.”
When I first read Psalm 136 and I knew I had heard it before
as a song, which makes total sense because the Psalms were song as songs. I listened
to several song versions of Psalm 136, and this is the one I really like. I hope
you like it too.
Enjoy.
Isaiah 33-35, Galatians 1: Psalm 135: 13-21
Psalm 135: 15-18 (ESV)
“The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of
human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not
see; they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. Those
who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them.”
Verses 15 through 18 from Psalm 135 makes so much sense to
me that if you worship an idol that is not God, you will become like the idol. These
verses talk about idols made of silver and gold, which people used to worship when
this Psalm was being written. These idols have eyes and ears, but they do not
see or hear because they are not alive. But I think “idols” can also apply to
more modern idols that are worshipped like money, prestige, or fame. If we
worship idols other than God, we will become like these “idols”. We will not
see, hear, and become dead inside like our “idols”.
Worshipping money makes our life easier and can answer material
prayers, but the idol of money doesn’t care about us. The idol of money is not
moved by our prayers and is an indifferent God. For people who belief in God,
Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, we worship a living God. Our God has eyes to
see our lives, ears to hear our prayers, and is alive and has powers to answer
our prayers and shower us in miracles in our life if we need them. I am glad I
worship a God who cares about me and only wants to the best for me in my life.
Isaiah 31-32, 2 Corinthians 13, Psalm 135: 1-12
2 Corinthians 13: 5 (ESV)
“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith.
Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ
is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”
Verse 5 from 2 Corinthians 13 shows us Paul’s recommendation
to the Church of Corinth to ask themselves if they are really followers of
Christ. Paul told them that they need to test themselves if Christ in within
them. When I read the Bible commentaries on this line, I was struck by what Charles
Spurgeon wrote about this verse. Spurgeon wrote that “The true Christian
carries the cross in his heart; and a cross inside the heart, my friends, is
one of the sweetest cures for a cross on the back. If you have a cross in your
heart – Christ crucified in you, the hope of glory – all the crosses of this world’s
troubles will seem to you light enough, and you will easily be able to sustain
it.”
I never thought that having Christ in my heart meant to
think about how Christ was crucified for my sins, and all the pain and agony he
went through in his trial and his final death. If think about how Christ died
and suffered, I can see why my own troubles would never compare to what Christ
suffered and would seem paltry and insignificant. And if my troubles are that
small compared to Christ’s troubles, then my own season of trouble could easily
be sustained. I know we all tend to look at our troubles as so big and
horrible, but when we compare them to what Christ went through then there is no
comparison. I grew up Catholic and at Lent leading up to Easter we used to do walk
and view the Stations of the Cross in our church on Fridays and meditate on the
suffering of Christ. I never understood why we did this as a child, but now
after reading Spurgeon I understand the reasoning behind the practice. The
Stations of the Cross meditation needed to be performed so we could understand
what Christ went through and remember that our sufferings were nothing compared
to sufferings of Christ. I don’t remember ever being told why we did Stations
of the Cross at my childhood church, but I wished they would have explained it using
Spurgeon’s text. I might not have fully understood this explanation as a child,
but it would have made some sense to me as to why this ritual was practiced and
would have gotten more out of it as well.
Isaiah 29-30, 2 Corinthians 12: 11-21, Psalm 134
Isaiah 30: 18 (ESV)
“Therefore the Lord waits to be
gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the
Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.”
Verse 18 from Isaiah 30 is Isaiah
telling us to trust in God’s timing. Isaiah tells us that when God seems slow
to answer our prayers, it always because he has a purpose behind that is in our
best interest even if it may not seem like to us at the time. When we receive
mercy from God, he is exalted in our eyes because he has given us his grace. God
will deliver justice and answer our prayers, but only to those who are willing
to wait on God’s timing.
I know for myself that waiting for
God’s timing to answer prayers is a hard thing. But God’s timing in my
experience is always perfect, even though I only see how perfect God’s timing
is in hindsight a long time afterwards. Because we cannot see into the future, we
need to trust in God’s timing. God sees our past, present, and future. So we
need to always trust God’s timing and rely on his promise to us that he will always
answers our prayers in a way that serves us for our ultimate good.
