Psalm 108
At the end of this psalm, David says he is confident that, with God, they will prevail: “With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.” (vs 13) This was very important to David, and in many ways, it was important to God. In David’s day, the worth of a god was determined by his nation’s success on the battlefield. Thus, the more success Israel had, the better God looked—not only to the Israelites, but also to the surrounding heathen nations.
Psalm 74
When my first daughter was just four months old, some missionaries from our church who were living and working abroad lost their six-month-old child in a terrible accident. Though I had never met their son, the story touched me deeply. Perhaps it was because I had a four-month-old, and it was too easy to think about losing her. Maybe when the ages are similar, things hit a little closer to home. I still think about their story to this day; I can’t even imagine what it would be like to have to bury a child. I honestly hope I never have to find out.
Psalm 59
There was something in this psalm that reminded me of a scene from the great classic movie The Wizard of Oz. Dorothy had just landed in Oz, her house falling on (and killing) The Wicked Witch of the East. As Dorothy began to explore the strange world she had landed in, The Good Witch of the North came for a visit. They were both interrupted by the arrival of The Wicked Witch of the West who wanted to know how The Wicked Witch of the East had died. When she found out, she began to make all sorts of terrible threats. But, with a wave of her hand, The Good Witch of the North laughed: “Aha ha ha, rubbish! You have no power here! Be gone, before somebody drops a house on you!”
Esther 9
I wonder about the King of Persia. He was king of a heathen land, with a large number of Jewish exiles living in his territory. I’m not sure what gods (or how many) he worshiped, but it’s safe to say that he did not worship the God of Israel. Yet, when the plot of Haman was uncovered, he was willing to stick his neck out for this race of people who were foreigners in his land:
Darkness does not exist
It has no properties
no matter
no makeup
Darkness does not exist
It cannot be measured
or observed
or heard
Darkness does not exist
It functions only as a corollary
It's a symptom
a condition
/and a temporary one at that/
Darkness does not exist
It's just the absence of something else
a ghost quantity
a negative integer
Light obliterates darkness.
Every time.
It's not even a contest.
There's never a doubt.
When darkness presses in around you,
you need only remember the Lampstand.
Let the tiniest, flickering flame appear—
the darkness must obey
and immediately poof away.
2 Chronicles 21
Over the last several chapters of 2 Chronicles, I’ve noticed an interesting trend. See if you can spot it in this passage from today’s chapter: "Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. In the time of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up its own king. To this day Edom has been in rebellion against Judah. Libnah revolted at the same time, because Jehoram had forsaken the Lord, the God of his ancestors." (vs 5-6, 8, 10)
1 Chronicles 18
Well, sometimes there is a very simple and easy lesson about God in the chapter for the day. Today was like that. As I read the chapter that recounted David’s military success, I noticed that one thought was repeated a couple of times: "The Lord gave David victory wherever he went." (vs 6, 13)
2 Kings 11
After King Ahaziah of Judah was killed, his mother Athaliah went nuts: "When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to destroy the whole royal family." (vs 1) Can you imagine this? A grandmother setting out to kill all of her grandchildren? The children of Ahaziah were heirs to the throne, but apparently, Athaliah decided that she should sit on the throne. And she did. She became the only queen of Judah.
JUDGES 5
In Judges 5, Deborah and Barak burst into song over their victory against King Jabin and Sisera. Tucked away into this rather interesting song is a rather interesting piece of information: some of the tribes of Israel ignored the call to go to war. Instead of aiding their Israelite brothers, they stayed home. "The rulers of Issachar came along with Deborah, and Issachar followed Barak into the valley. But the tribe of Reuben was no help at all! Reuben, why did you stay among your sheep pens? Was it to listen to shepherds whistling for their sheep? No one could figure out why Reuben wouldn’t come. The people of Gilead stayed across the Jordan. Why did the tribe of Dan remain on their ships and the tribe of Asher stay along the coast near the harbors?" (vs 15-17)
JUDGES 1
The first chapter of the book of Judges chronicles more of the war conquests of Israel. And as I read the various accounts, I thought about how God helps us fight. Of course, these were accounts of actual fighting, and we may not find ourselves out on the battlefield, but God helps us fight in other areas of our lives. When we need spiritual help, God fights for us. When we need emotional help, God fights for us. And whenever we align ourselves with God’s will, He helps us fight... and we always win.
