Day 66 Bible Readings – Psalm 39: 7-8 (ESV)

Leviticus 15 & 16, Mark 13: 32-37, Mark 14: 1-16, Psalm 39

Psalm 39: 7-8 (ESV)

“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you. Deliver me from all my transgressions. Do not make me the scorn of the fool!”

In verses 7 and 8 from Psalm 39, we read about David putting his hope and expectation in God and not on himself. David has hope in God and looks to God to deliver him from his transgressions, and not himself. David understands that only God can deliver us from our sins. Many Biblical scholars believe that this psalm was written by David in the last years of his life when he was feeling the frailty of his life. I love the faith of David in this psalm. Even during the ending years of his life, David’s faith in God was unshakeable. David always relied on God for everything. He knew that God was the only person who could save him from the bad things he had done in his life. David’s ego never got the best of him, and he always seemed to know that only God could deliver him. I love these verses because they remind me that God is the only one who can deliver me from sins, and my hope needs to only be in God and not on myself.

Day 65 Bible Readings – Psalm 38: 21-22 (ESV)

Leviticus 14, Mark 13: 1-31, Psalm 38: 12-22

Psalm 38: 21-22 (ESV)

“Do not forsake me, O Lord! O my God, be not far from me! Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!”

In verses 21 through 22, we read of David’s anguish as he talks to God. David was suffering pain from a sin he committee against God. Biblical scholars cannot agree on what event in David’s life made him write this psalm, only that in Psalm 38 we know that David was feeling God’s displeasure with him. I remember reading these verses when I was in perhaps similar circumstances to David, and I was wondering if God had forsaken me because of my sinful life. I know the feeling of wanting to feel God’s presence when I pray, and how important it was to me especially when I was in pain. I just wanted God to comfort me and by feeling his presence, I felt that God was telling me “don’t worry, everything will be okay.” Not feeling God’s presence is the depths of my misery was horrible and I let myself feel so abandoned by God. I didn’t have David’s faith to feel faithful to God even when I felt no sense of his presence in my life. Readings the psalms can be a good reminder to be faithful to God because we need only read about the trials that David went through in his life, and wonder at his continued faithfulness to God. David was always faithful to God, no matter what happened in life.

Day 64 Bible Readings – Mark 12: 29-31 (ESV)

Leviticus 13, Mark 12:28-44, Psalm 38: 1-11

Mark 12: 29-31 (ESV)

“Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

In verses 29 through 31 from Mark 12, Jesus answers the scribe who asked me which commandment is the most important of all. The authors of the Bible commentaries I read all noted that the scribe was trying to test Jesus to see if he would show disrespect for one of the Law of Moses. But Jesus was smarter than the scribe and pointed out the essence of the laws of Moses. Jesus said that the most important commandment is to love the God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Then Jesus said if you love God this way, you will naturally want to obey all this commandment which in essence tells us to love your neighbor as you love yourself. Jesus teaches us that God wants us to love him first. Without this love, any obedience to the laws of Moses would be empty. If the image of God is in every person as well as in us, then we need to love our neighbor because God is in them. And what is rarely mentioned is that we need to love ourselves as well because God’s image is in us. God loves us and wants us to love ourselves as much as he loves us and our neighbors.

Day 63 Bible Readings – Mark 12: 15-17 (ESV)

Leviticus 11 & 12, Mark 12: 1-27, Psalm 37: 32-40

Mark 12: 15-17 (ESV)

“But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar's.” Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” And they marveled at him.”

Verses 15 through 17 from Mark 12 are famous for Jesus telling the Pharisees and Herodians that they need to pay taxes, because the Caesar’s likeness and inscription was on the form of money that they used. In one Bible commentary I read the author noted that since God’s image is stamped on us, we belong to him and we need to give our selves to him. We need to pay taxes and to submit to the government because we benefit from the government’s role in our lives. But since we also belong to God, we must be careful to note when our submission to the government infringes on our service to God. We can pay taxes to the government and when needed die in service to our country but since we belong to God, we need to live our lives for God. I like this interpretation of these verses since it reminded me that I was made in God’s image. God’s image is stamped on me like a coin, so I belong to him and my life belongs to him.