Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. – Psalm 37:3

Today's Scripture Reading (October 7, 2022): Psalm 37

One of my favorite lines that have come out of the American political wars is the thought that while the Democratic Party rhetoric seems to mirror the talking points of the Republican Party, in reality, they are trying to be the adults in the room on the world stage. And, according to the experts, being an adult sucks. I don't disagree. I hate having to do adult things that I know are right, yet something that is hard, boring, or not fun to do. Over the length of my life, I have watched politicians from various parties try to do the adult thing. And they usually have one thing in common, those who try to be the adults in the room seldom get re-elected. That is because we don't really want them to do the adult thing; we want them to do the easy thing and the selfish thing. We want our politicians to do childish and irresponsible things while convincing us that they are the adults in the room doing what is responsible. Because that is what we want, we are an easy audience to convince. But in the end, it will only hurt us.

I have admitted that politically I am a "fiscal conservative." I am not convinced that debt and deficit serve any of our needs, except maybe the one that presents us with an easier path in our current lives. My problem is that I suspect it will make life harder for my children and grandchildren. I have no desire to lead an easy life while making things tougher for my grandchildren. And so, debt doesn't sit well with me; it doesn't feel like being the adult in the room. And it doesn't feel like something good for us to do.

The Psalmist declares that we should trust in God and do what is good. If we do, then we can dwell in the land and enjoy safe pastures. But the first part is incredibly important. We need to trust in God and then do what is good and responsible, even if what is good is hard. I believe that is why the Psalmist places trust in God first, rather than saying do good and trust in God. It may not sound like much of a difference, but I think it is huge. As long as we trust God, we can do what is good. We can live according to his principles, which tell us to care for creation and live without debt, rather than inventing tortured ways of proving that what is bad is good and what is irresponsible is responsible.

Is the Democratic Party really being the adults in the room? Maybe in some things, but I am not convinced they are fully the adults in the room we need. But then again, I am not sure that any of the world's political parties are actually doing their job and being adults. We give them significant portions of our income so that they will do the hard thing, even if that means not getting elected in the next cycle. We expect them to do what is good and not convince us that bad is good. It is a difficult task, but that is the hat they choose to wear. Now is the time to be the adults and make the hard decisions, which we can only do because we trust in God.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Psalm 72

King Solomon answered his mother, "Why do you request Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? You might as well request the kingdom for him—after all, he is my older brother—yes, for him and for Abiathar the priest and Joab son of Zeruiah!" – 1 Kings 2:22

Today's Scripture Reading (October 6, 2022): 1 Kings 2

We know their names; Helen of Troy, Cleopatra, Nefertiti, and Phryne. They are women who are historically said to be among the most beautiful women in history. I get it; in our current environment, it is not politically correct to compare men and women according to their looks but stick with me. It was not always that way. Were these women more beautiful than Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Loren, or Elizabeth Hurley? We will probably never know the answer to that question. Although we try to list them, the reality is that we don't know what Helen of Troy or Cleopatra really appeared. Not only that but what was considered to be beautiful has changed over time. Even in my lifetime, the standard of what is beautiful has changed drastically. But even if that standard hadn't changed, our personal opinion of beauty is also sometimes vastly different. And, of course, what is really beautiful in a woman or man is what is on the inside. As we mature, most of us have known people who might have been beautiful on the outside, but they were impossible people with whom we would want to spend any time. It is a truth that becomes more important as we get older. Beauty is a young person's priority. I remember driving in a van in the late 1990s when Shania Twain's "That Don't Impress Me Much" came on the radio. There was a group of young ladies sitting behind me, and when Twain got to the part of the song where she said, "Okay, so you're Brad Pitt," the girls behind my seat changed the first words of the chorus to "That does impress me much."  

A name that doesn't make our lists of beautiful historical women is Abishag the Shunammite. She was the woman who shared King David's bed late in the King's life. Her job was to share her body heat with the King, keeping him warm at a time when the King struggled to stay warm. The Bible is clear that David and Abishag didn't have sexual relations, but even so, Abishag would have been considered one of the King's concubines. And in ancient times, sleeping with a King's concubines was a way of declaring that you had a claim on the throne. Sleeping with David's concubines was precisely the path that Absalom, David's son, had followed during his rebellion against his father.

Enter Adonijah, another son of David. He believed he should have been chosen King of the nation instead of Solomon. And so he decides to ask for Abishag as his wife, maybe indicating that she could be his consolation prize because he had lost the throne to his younger brother. Perhaps he can convince Bathsheba and Solomon that he only wants Abishag for her beauty when he really wants to put the first piece of his plan in place to take the throne from Solomon. Sleeping with Abishag would be the public declaration of his intention to take the throne. It was a symbolism that Bathsheba missed, but one that Solomon didn't. Solomon makes it clear that he knows what his brother is doing. If he gave Abishag to Adonijah, he might as well just hand over the keys to the kingdom along with his priest and the general of the army because Adonijah wanted it all. Solomon will give him none of it, starting by refusing to provide him with Abishag.

We aren't sure, but it is quite possible that the beautiful Abishag, the Shunammite became one of the wives of Solomon. If that is true, then it is likely that she is the bride that is highlighted in Solomon's love poem, "The Song of Songs." And Abishag, the Shunammite, belongs on any list of beautiful women in history.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Psalm 37

When King David was very old, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him. – 1 Kings 1:1

Today's Scripture Reading (October 5, 2022): 1 Kings 1

In the dramedy M*A*S*H, there is a poignant moment when Colonel Sherman Potter is forced to examine his declining surgical ability as he gets older. In a confidential conversation with Psychiatrist Major Sidney Freedman, Potter admits that he is afraid the time has come when he can no longer do his job. Freedman agrees that the day will come when the Colonel will no longer be able to work as a surgeon, but whether now is that time, Freedman doesn't know. What he does know is that, right now, at this moment, it is fear that is stopping Colonel Potter, and that is something that was directly under the control of the Colonel.

It is a situation that we all have to face. As we age, there is a decline in our lives. And that decline reveals itself in many ways. What Potter was concerned about was losing the ability to do delicate tasks. It happens. But there are other declines, including mental and physical infirmities, and all of these growing deficits can result from our advancing age.

But not all decline is age-related; sometimes, it results from disease. Illness can force the issue of decline in our lives, and sometimes the state of our health can make the natural deterioration much quicker, especially if the disease is left untreated. The fear of what the doctor might find that keeps us away from the doctor's office sometimes allows the decline to happen even faster in our lives than it needs to. Our decline can also result from depression, and sometimes the solution to our deterioration is found in trying to put all the puzzle pieces together.

We know that King David was getting older. What is surprising is how quickly he declined. The incident when David goes to war and needs to be saved by a fellow soldier is not long in the past. And while his decline on the battlefield was noticeable, David apparently went from old to very old within the same calendar year. The King's swift decline raises the possibility that disease may have played a role in the life of the poet King.

Or maybe David's failure on the battlefield caused the King to give up on life. David may have wondered if he had become a liability on the battlefield, what good was he as a King. Depression had settled in on David, and as a result, the normal decline of age was quickened. But whatever the reason, David was now on a path to the end of his life. And it wouldn't be long before the nation would mourn the death of their King.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 2

As for the events of King David's reign, from beginning to end, they are written in the records of Samuel the seer, the records of Nathan the prophet and the records of Gad the seer. – 1 Chronicles 29:29

Today's Scripture Reading (October 4, 2022): 1 Chronicles 29

I have always loved the story of King Arthur. Admittedly, the movies that have been made about Arthur are situated in the wrong century. We like to think of castles and armor, which existed in more recent history. But the original story, if the tale of King Arthur has any historical merit, takes place in the fifth or early sixth century. Part of the problem is that we don't have any record of the story before about the tenth or eleventh century. That means that more than 500 years could have passed before anyone decided to write the story of Arthur down. Of course, there is always a chance that a contemporary of Arthur wrote the story down, but that telling has been lost in the fog of antiquity.

Some historians believe there is a real Arthur and knights of the Round Table. And others believe that the whole story of Arthur and Camelot is fiction, made up in the mind of some unknown writer. But there is a third option. Maybe Arthur did exist, or more accurately, the story of Arthur exists as a composite story about several real kings who lived during the fifth and sixth centuries. It is these stories that have been combined into one legendary King, Arthur. But we will never really know because there is no record that explains the origins and historicity of the story.

It is important to remember that the author of Chronicles didn't live in the era of David or even Solomon. Chronicles is a historical document that wasn't written until after the Babylonian Exile. We aren't sure who wrote Chronicles, but Christian tradition points to Ezra. But whoever wrote was likely well educated, male, and a resident of Judea, most likely from Jerusalem.

Ezra didn't know David or Solomon. All that Ezra knew was found in the books that he had read. Today, we often talk about whether any historical figure actually lived. Some don't even believe that William Shakespeare was a real person. So, how do we know that David is a historical figure and not the figment of someone's imagination? How do we know that his exploits actually took place and are not made up by someone to produce a more exciting story? For Ezra, or whoever wrote Chronicles, the answer is found here. The author has done his work in researching the story of David, and this story can be found in the writings of Samuel the seer (and the last Biblical judge), Nathan, the prophet, and Gad, the seer. All of these men lived during the days of David, and they would have seen these events occur. The writing of Samuel is quite possibly the Book of Samuel that we have in our Bible, with some history that has been added on finishing the portion of the story of David that occurred after the prophet's death. Unless they refer to the stories included in Samuel that we know the prophet could not have written, the writings of Gad and Nathan have been lost to the darkness of antiquity. But the author of Chronicles wants us to know that he has seen them and that this is a historical record we can trust. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 1

Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple, its buildings, its storerooms, its upper parts, its inner rooms and the place of atonement. – 1 Chronicles 28:11

Today's Scripture Reading (October 3, 2022): 1 Chronicles 28

Back in my University days, I remember one of my sociology classes. But what I remember was not the planned teaching point of the day but rather a lesson that was likely unintended by my professor. The church that I had attended since childhood was going through the process of constructing a new building. The old building was downtown in what had become a rough area of the city. It was not unusual for the homeless to show up looking for help, and prostitutes regularly tried to sell their wares to the men who were attending the church or some other meeting. Part of the problem was that this was essentially an upper or upper-middle-class church, featuring many economically and politically powerful people in attendance. The church no longer reflected the neighborhood where the church had been built in any way. The mission field might have been ready for the harvest, but this church had no inclination to be the workers needed for the harvest that now surrounded the building. And so, the pastor, with whom I was admittedly often in conflict, had decided to move the church. He had chosen an upper-middle-class neighborhood and had drawn up plans for the new church. Now he was going through the procedure of getting permission from the city to begin the construction.

Enter my sociology class. Apparently, my sociology professor was a resident in the neighborhood where the church had proposed constructing their new building. He had seen the plans, and he was disgusted. The proposed blueprints included large fountains and large monuments. My sociology professor was not amused. The money that would be used to build what he considered a largely ornamental church could have been used to change the lives of people around the church's current location. The church could have struck a blow to poverty and crime if it wanted to. But instead, they decided to build fountains and monuments. Making the blueprints even more absurd was the fact that we lived in a northern town that would suffer under winter conditions for almost half the year, times when the fountains would not even be able to function.

I sat quietly and listened. I didn't disagree with my professor, but I did not want to stand up in class and admit that this was my church. I would likely still be showing up if the building were constructed because that would be where my friends were going. So, I sat for the entire class and just listened to my professor's tirade about the social ills of my church.

We call the first Temple in Jerusalem Solomon's Temple, but it was really David's. David had dreamed of the Temple. He had planned its features, likely over and over again as time passed. By the time David's life was ending, every inch of the Temple had been painstakingly prearranged. On top of the plans, he has found the location, paid for it, supplied the materials and the supervisory staff, and even organized for how the Temple would be run. He did everything but build the Temple. And he had used his personal political capital so that Solomon wouldn't have to have any uncomfortable moments like the one in my sociology class. All Solomon had to do was build the Temple. And with all of the work that had already gone into the Temple, not building the Temple would be a hard decision to make.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 29

When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented concerning the disaster and said to the angel who was afflicting the people, "Enough! Withdraw your hand." The angel of the LORD was then at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. – 2 Samuel 24:16

Today's Scripture Reading (October 2, 2022): 2 Samuel 24

It would be easy to suggest that the Temple in Jerusalem should be built somewhere other than on Temple Mount. After all, churches move all the time. Even I have proposed that the answer to the problem of an occupied Temple Mount might be to place a new Tabernacle somewhere else, waiting in preparation for the day that it once again becomes possible to build a Temple on Temple Mount in Jerusalem. But that suggestion possibly misses the incredible importance of Temple Mount, a place that many hold to be Mount Moriah of the Hebrew Bible. To understand the importance of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, you must understand the story behind the mountain. It is not just a piece of real estate in the Old City of Jerusalem; the story makes this piece of real estate important.

The story of Mount Moriah begins with the travels of a father and son riding. The pair were traveling away from home to make a sacrifice to their God. The father was Abraham, and the son was Isaac. And what Abraham knew that Isaac didn't know was that God had instructed Abraham to sacrifice his only son to prove his trust in his God. It must have been the worst camping trip in history. But just as Abraham was about to sacrifice his only son on a crude altar he had built for his God, God stopped him. A ram was caught in a thicket close by, and it was the ram that lost its life that day, not Isaac. The Mountain, Mount Moriah, became the place where death stopped. It was a place of life and joy because Isaac lived and went home with his father. I can't imagine the depth of despair as Abraham went up on the mountain to carry out the sacrifice of his promised son. And I can't imagine the height of joy as Abraham and Isaac both came off the mountain alive at the end of that day.

Time passes, and the children of Abraham and Isaac eventually leave the area. The nation of Israel sprang from the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, descendants who were not born in Canaan but rather in slavery in Egypt. But eventually, they escape their slavery and return to the land God had promised to them. The land is inhabited by different peoples who had built cities that did not exist when Jacob and his sons had left the land. Mount Moriah still existed, but it was found within the walls of the city of Jebus, the home of the Jebusites. We know Jebus by a different name, Jerusalem. David conquerors the city of Jerusalem, and he makes it his capital.

But David's disobedience near the end of his life almost caused him to lose his city. God sent a plague to Israel as punishment for the King's sin. And Jerusalem was not supposed to be spared. I love the translation the NIV uses of this verse in 1 Chronicles. "And God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But as the angel was doing so, the Lord saw it and relented concerning the disaster" (1 Chronicles 21:15). It is just a short phrase, one that is missing in Samuel; God "saw it." What exactly was it that God saw? According to the story, the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite was what God saw. And that threshing floor was at the top of a very familiar mountain, Mount Moriah. Is it possible that as the angel moved into Jerusalem, God saw a memory of a man who had come to this mountain to sacrifice his son? I think David thought so. And so, death stopped here on this mountain for a second time, at the top of Mount Moriah.

As David began to put the story together in his mind, something else became apparent. David had always wanted to build a Temple for his God. The plans had probably been a little vague up until this point. But now everything was coming together. David would buy this spot off of Araunah, and this would be the place where the Temple of Jerusalem would be built – at the place where death stopped not just once but twice.

When you know the story, it isn't hard to understand Temple Mount's meaning for the Jews. It is much deeper than just the place where they worshiped in ancient times. It is the place where death stops—a place where from the beginning time, God was glorified. And that made Mount Moriah important to two of Israel's great men of faith, Abraham and David. So why would the children of Israel not want to worship there? That is a question with which we still struggle today.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 28

Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. – Psalm 108:2

Today's Scripture Reading (October 1, 2022): Psalm 108

In 1994, Stuart Garrard, better known to his fans as Stu G and currently a member of One Sonic Society, wrote a song he called "Awaken the Dawn." The lyrics of the chorus state:

            You are the Lord, - the Savior of all,

            God of creation we praise You.

            We sing the songs - that awaken the dawn

            God of creation we praise you.

The words of the song promise that the singer will give the choicest part of the day to God, the early morning. The worshipper arises early, prepared to play and sing praises to God as the sun rises over the horizon. The idea is that the first thing we do as we wake is to worship our God. Of course, praising God in this way requires that we are awake. Sleepy worshippers never provide the best worship.

It is a lesson of which I am well aware. Early every Sunday morning, not long after dawn, our worship team gathers to bring our praise to God. We awaken our instruments, admittedly, there are no harps or lyres, but they are replaced with a keyboard, guitars, and drums. And while the team starts at a particular time, for us, it is 8:30 except on special emphasis Sundays in which we meet earlier, often not all of the members are present. They are still trying to awaken themselves before they can awaken their instruments. But eventually, we gather as a team, ready to awaken and lift our praise to God.

I have often admitted that I am not a morning person. But the first thing I do as I greet the day is to work on this blog, although that happens much later than dawn. It is my way of ensuring that I get the day started on the right track, thinking about the God I serve. But I am also thankful for those in my life who are morning people willing to greet the dawn with their praise. However, I believe there is a need for all of us, both those who awaken the dawn and those who carry their praise much later into the night.

We need to hear the intent of this Psalm and set the example for the day by awakening your praise whenever you rise. Be willing to carry that praise through the events of the day, with God never far from your mind and his song standing close to your lips. And as you close your eyes, allow your mind to praise God, preparing you once more for the coming dawn.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 24