Day 20: Psalms 101 – 150

Today’s section of our Read around the Bible continues the Psalmists’ roller coaster ride of ‘up one minute, down the next’. A whole life’s joys and pains condensed into a few pages. Key words to reflect on are: The love and faithfulness of God. God’s law and justice. The glory, majesty and righteousness of God. Thanksgiving and praise. There are a couple of quick revisions of Israeli history to refresh our memories of earlier readings. In these Psalms one finds ‘Life in all its suffering and Praise in all its fullness’. In earthly terms diametrically opposed concepts inextricably linked by the Psalmist. Elation and desolation. Life, real life, as we experience it on our journey of faith. And there is the rub – our experiences are the common lot of everyone, it is how we deal with such experiences which makes the difference to our personal journey. If we can but hold on to that very last Psalm in our down moments as well as our joyful times then maybe our journey with God, and with our family, friends and neighbours, will reflect something of the love, glory and majesty of God.

Ann Brittain

Read the Bible on line at Bible Study Tools. Today’s passage (NRSV) is here: http://www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/psalms/101.html

Day 19: Psalms 51 – 100

How easy it is to celebrate God by worship and devotion when things are going right.When things go badly it is somehow easier to forget God or blame him.Being human and fallible it takes a while for us to regain our faith if we think we have done nothing to deserve the downturn in our fortunes.Jesus was careful in his teachings not to promise us abundant happiness and rewards for our loyalty and faith in God.On the contrary,he told us that our joy was in our salvation, the reality of which would mean that we would have to pick up the burden of our own cross. These psalms ascribed to King David and others ask for forgiveness,thank God for his goodness,call for deliverance from plotting enemies,strength,wisdom and consolation,but still praise God daily despite life’s problems, threats and dangers. Others ask for deliverance from invaders but the common theme is worship.The Israelites had an awareness of the presence of God who cares for and rewards the faithfull but also admonishes and punishes disobedience. The Venite( Psalm 95) and the Jubilate (Psalm 100) continue with the liturgical theme of worship and thankfulness for the glory and goodness of God.

John Chrisp

Read the Bible on line at Bible Study Tools. Today’s passage (NRSV) is here: http://www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/psalms/51.html

Day 18: Psalms 1 – 50

Imagination is needed to release the treasures of the psalms. It is hard to realize how different was the psalmists’ world from our world; few books and no phones, e-mail, or TV; pasture, not concrete; flocks, not investments; paths, not streets; an enclosed world lacking mobility. Anything they wrote, any poems they handed down, should, in theory, be so far removed from our world as to be practically useless, however, these ancient writers share with us a common humanity, and their writings touch our hearts and minds precisely because they deal with matters which affect humans: justice in a world of injustice; relationships with God, each another, outsiders and wicked people; love and hate; sickness and depression; sin and forgiveness; these are the stuff of which our humanity is made. The problems that torture and tease us are the same whether we live in the year 2000BC or AD. We and the psalmists are one.

These Psalms are externalised expressions of human passion; love, anger, frustration, vengeance, and all directed to the one who can best address the situation. They ‘sing to the Lord’ and the rhythms are musical, but above all the psalms are poems, and poems need time, so, after Lent, come back and reread some, or all of them, at leisure.

Tony Levene

 

Read the Bible on line at Bible Study Tools. Today’s passage (NRSV) is here: http://www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/psalms/1.html

Day 17: Esther and Job

Two books, two stories, two happy endings but apparently nothing much in common! Job’s story is a personal one of suffering. He asked God for reasons, passionately, persistently and eloquently. He distained going for a second opinion to his friends; he took his stance before God and there protested his suffering mightily. Overwhelmed at the presence of the Lord and humbled at the majestic and mysterious workings of the universe, he accepted that there were matters beyond his comprehension. His faith is rewarded and his fortunes are restored. Esther pleaded that the lives of her people should be spared when the Jews were threatened with massacre in fifth century BC Persia. She used her position as the favourite queen of King Xerxes to ask for a favour. Esther had much to lose, for in admitting that she was Jewish she opened herself up to the possibility of being killed as well. She was aided by the virtue of Mordecai her elder cousin who had served the King with distinction. The plot of their enemies failed and God’s people were saved. How to sum up these stories? From Job comes the message that we should love the Lord our God with all our heart, and from Esther that we should love our neighbour as ourselves. Together these two stories illustrate God’s law and its rewards. As Jesus said: "You can be sure that anyone who gives up home or wife or brothers or family or children because of God’s kingdom 30will be given much more in this life. And in the future world they will have eternal life." Luke 18:29-30 Will we follow the example of Esther and Job and have our own happy ending?

Ann Peters

Read the Bible on line at Bible Study Tools. Today’s passage (NRSV) is here: http://www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/esther/1.html

Day 16: Ezra and Nehemiah

At a conference entitled, ‘Imaginative Reading for Creative Preaching’, Pastors from around the USA gathered to review a variety of literary works to enrich their own preaching. Discussion got around to conjecturing, what Biblical literature spoke most to their nation? Without hesitation all agreed that ‘post-exilic’ literature was, ‘where they were at!’ I tentatively suggested that the opposite might be true for the UK. Ezra/Nehemiah, though just post-exile, could be a powerful metaphor for the state of Church and society in the UK today. We, with crumbling walls and a crumbling society, might feel under attack but, Ezra and Nehemiah spearhead the last major spiritual movement in the Old Testament with lucid lessons for us today. The Kingdom of God is rebuilt when we are clear of our identity, when we recognise our own sin, when we build on prayer, when we act and when we recognise it is God’s work. Whilst Ezra rebuilt the Temple and Nehemiah the city walls, the greatest work was the redemption of the people and nation. We must not repair our Churches as citadel’s to barricade ourselves in but as heralds of redemption for those outside their walls. God the Builder – can he fix it? Yes, He can!

Liz Pinnock

Read the Bible on line at Bible Study Tools. Today’s passage (NRSV) is here: http://www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/ezra/1.html

Day 15: 2 Chronicles 3 – end

The central message of 2 Chronicles is the priority of the relationships between God, the king and the people. They are key to the success of the monarchy. Solomon certainly recognised that God worked through His people during a time of Unity.

God’s people built the temple for YAWEH on the site that David had chosen; the highest focal point of Jerusalem. This denoted respect for the God of their ancestors. The temple was large enough to accommodate them all and was built of the finest materials. It was coated with gold inside so that the lamp-light ‘danced’ as it reflected from the walls. It also had two huge golden angels to symbolically protect the Ark of the Covenant. Solomon was clearly well aware that awe and wonder are essential pre-requisites to the nurture of spirituality as they still are today.

To obtain the strong, sweet smelling, cedar and pine from Lebanon and the requisite craftsmen, Solomon had to re-establish good relationships with his neighbours, carefully ensuring that he held out a hand of friendship and generosity from a position of security.

Sadly many subsequent kings did not always recognise these essential points that underpinned the reigns of Solomon and David; unless they respected God’s laws, and ensured that the people did, they were unable to have a long life and establish peace and plenty within their territory.

 Shalom

Carole Crompton

 

Read the Bible on line at Bible Study Tools. Today’s passage (NRSV) is here: http://www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/2-chronicles/3.html

Day 14: 1 Chronicles 5 – 2 Chronicles 2

Chronicles is also known in the Greek Septuagint as paralipomena which means ‘things left out’. After ploughing through all the seemingly endless lists and family trees in Chronicles you might wish that someone had left them out. Chronicles is not a part of the Bible I’ve ventured into much and I can see why now. Even the notes in the Round the Bible blog aren’t very encouraging, ‘The books of Chronicles go back over the same ground [Books of Kings] with much overlap, but with a strongly religious viewpoint so that all kings are evil and doomed who did not support the orthodox tradition.’ Allegedly Chronicles is one of the books that the high priest reads on the eve of the Day of Atonement to keep him from sleep; I suspect this has more to do with dry Jewish humour than the thrilling nature of the text itself! Why did the Chronicler rewrite the histories? It is a different kind of history, history seen through a theological lens. I was struck by how orderly the Chronicler wants Israelite culture to be and how supremely focussed it is on the one relationship that really matters, the relationship with Yahweh which has been the reason for Israel’s creation and which continues unbroken to the Chronicler’s own time and our own. The writer wants to look beyond the every day problems and failings of people and rulers, to draw all back to a renewal of their relationship with Yahweh. May that relationship with Yahweh be as central to us today. ’Yours, O Lord, are the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.’ (1 Chronicles 29:11)

Janet Bunker

Read the Bible on line at Bible Study Tools. Today’s passage (NRSV) is here: http://www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/1-chronicles/5.html

Day 13: 2 Kings 6 – 1 Chronicles 4

Elisha and the Arameans (2 Kings 6-8). God’s power and presence can be seen in the most troubled times. Faith knows that God is in charge, even when surrounded by enemies.
A new Northern Dynasty (2 Kings 9-13). A new beginning is a God-given opportunity. We can miss our chance and slip back into old ways, or we can take advantage of it.
The fall of the North (2 Kings 14-17). The religious and moral foundations of Israel were worn away by an unbroken line of wicked kings, leading to the fall of that nation to Assyria. One bad choice may not bring ruin; but a whole series of them surely will.
One Kingdom survives (2 Kings 18-20). Hezekiah is praised as a king who trusted God. One person can make a difference to the fate of a nation when they are fully committed to the Lord.
Judah‘s fall (2 Kings 21-25). Judah was dragged into detestable sins during Manasseh’s 55-year reign. A brief revival under Josiah could not reverse the plunge to judgement.
Evidence from history (1 Chronicles 1-4). History shows that God is faithful. As evidence, the author of Chronicles traces the line of David — who received a covenant promise from the Lord — back to Adam.
An interesting juxtaposition. First, in 2 Kings, we see the fall of the divided Hebrew Kingdom — the Northern Kingdom, Israel, falling to the Assyrians around 722 B.C.; the Southern Kingdom, Judah, to the Babylonians around 586 B.C. Then, in 1 Chronicles, we read a list of names, strange names, strung out one after the other. But each one of those names represents a person, most unknown to us, but every one known and remembered by God. Just as he knows and remembers each of us. Throughout all the troubles we face in this life, God knows us, remembers us, and loves us — all of us

Paul Sibley

Read the Bible on line at Bible Study Tools. Today’s passage (NRSV) is here: http://www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/2-kings/6.html

Day 12: 1 Kings 7 – 2 Kings 5

Sparkling as it crashes against boulders along its banks, the river swiftly cascades towards the sea. The current grabs, pushes, and tugs at leaves and logs, carrying them along for the ride. Here and there a sportsman is spotted in a canoe, going with the flow. Gravity pulls the water, and the river pulls the rest …. downwards. Suddenly, a silver missile breaks the surface and darts upstream, and then another. Oblivious to the swirling opposition, the shining salmon swim against the stream. They must go upstream, and nothing will stop them from reaching their destination. The current of society’s river is flowing fast and furious, pulling downwards everything in its way. It would be easy to float along with the current. But God calls us to swim against the flow. It will not be easy, and we may be alone. God warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers, ‘Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your fathers to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets.’ As we read these verses today think about the fate that awaits all who refuse to make God their true leader. How can we be like the shining salmon and swim against the flow to respond to God’s call to us?

Steve Mashford

Read the Bible on line at Bible Study Tools. Today’s passage (NRSV) is here: http://www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/1-kings/7.html

Day 11: 2 Samuel 6 – 1 Kings 6

It was only then that the two men drew their guns and fired. The first bullet caught Don Corleone in the back. He felt the hammer shock of its impact….* Our excerpt for today reads like just like something out of The Godfather : a powerful dynasty in the making, betrayal by trusted allies, brutal sex, hired killers and turf war. A son takes the throne of his father by outsmarting his brother and then wreaks revenge upon the family’s enemies. We might ask ‘where is God amongst the treachery, the rapine and slayings?’ At the centre of The Godfather is greed and organised crime. At the centre of the dynastic struggle in Samuel>Kings are the people of Israel and their relationship with God. We start and finish with the Ark, designating the very presence of God. We begin as David brings the Ark up to Jerusalem, dancing before it. We end with the completion of the Temple in which the Ark is to be housed. David and Solomon both struggle to retain power and try to keep God in the box: Ark and Temple – a small box inside a bigger one. The result is mayhem. When men and women try to constrain God’s will and bend it to their earthly benefit, they fail. Victory and mastery will be fleeting – corruption and death are on the pages which follow. Only by allowing God to rule their hearts, to come out of the box, will the people find the peace and contentment for which they yearn. God waits for us to release Him into our lives so that he can free us from our golden chains. ‘Joab says, tell the Don, Absalom sleeps with the fishes…’ *The Godfather by Mario Puzo. Wm Heinemann 1969

Matthew Bradbury

Read the Bible on line at Bible Study Tools. Today’s passage (NRSV) is here: http://www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/2-samuel/6.html