Thursday, May 19, 2011

Thursday, May 19 ~ Miriam

Today's reading from the Chronological OT/NT Reading Plan is 2 Samuel 21-22; Psalm 18; John 6:22-40.

Good morning, afternoon, evening, or night!

Our John passage today was short, sweet, and to the point.  It really summed up exactly who Jesus is, why he came, and what we need to do to have eternal life.  We do put too much emphasis on this life, I think.  We've talked about this before.  I don't think we should be so focused on eternity that we neglect to enjoy our lives here on earth, but we need to constantly be assessing our priorities to make sure that we are doing the work of God for food that endures to eternal life.  Believe.  Simply put, that is the work of God according to today's reading.  Belief spawns so many other things, but at the root of it all is simply that faith.  Faith that Jesus is the Son of God.  Faith that Christ's blood has washed away our sin.  Faith that we will be provided for.  Faith that all things, good and bad, big and small, will work together as parts of God's plan and for the good of His children.  Faith that He is God, He is good, He is faithful, He keeps his promises.  Faith that He knows best.  And from those things come our HOPE.

Hope being one of the themes of the Psalm we read twice today.  According to Richard D. Patterson in The Believer's Hope:

Although the word hope does not appear in Psalm 18, the psalm itself is a powerful testimony of David’s gratitude and commitment to the One who alone has been and continues to be his only sure hope. The psalm revolves around David’s expression of thanks to God for delivering him from a desperate situation and granting him victory over his enemies. Although David’s praise of God and confidence in him are clearly expressed throughout the psalm, “The original situation is not entirely clear.” Yet, judged by David’s description and testimony to God’s deliverance, it must have been an exceptionally dangerous one. His praise and thanks to the Lord are so expressive that the psalm is permeated with many figures of speech that bear witness to David’s love and adoration, and the overwhelming emotions that he felt.  (emphasis mine)


Psalm 18 is actually repeated in 2 Samuel 22, as I'm sure you noticed.  The Psalm brought an old hymn to mind which expresses better than I can my thoughts and feelings as I was reading today's OT passage.




Tomorrow's passage:  2 Samuel 23-24; John 6:41-71.

3 comments:

Tammy said...

I don't remember noticing that these were the same last year. Course, I probably did and just can't remember. :)

Belief is huge. And our deeds are a reflection of what we truly believe.

tammi said...

Awesome song!! (And really good arrangement of it, too!)

Pamela said...

Great post. I loved the images in that song, thanks for sharing it.