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October 26, Sunday
Reading A299 — Psalm 84 — Going to Worship Audio: Psalm 84 (ESV)
An audio recording of the following comments is available below:
How Blessed! — This is another psalm that jumps ahead in time, perhaps to Solomon’s reign, with the completed temple in Jerusalem. It contains three themes marked by the word “blessed.” The first is the blessing of dwelling with God: “Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise!” (v. 4). This is not referring to being in residence but being in attendance. The verses before that statement mention that this worship center was a lovely, welcoming place. To set aside time to “dwell” with God, whether at your church or in your closet, provides great times of joy. The second section begins with a statement of blessing: “Blessed are those whose strength is in you” (v. 5). That strength was needed for the pilgrims’ journey to Jerusalem, and it is needed for our own physical journey through life. Our Creator is also our Healer and Sustainer; He gives us the strength we need. The last section concludes with this statement of blessing: “O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!” (v. 12). We trust in God when we pray (v. 8) and depend on His answers and support. We trust God when we make Him our highest priority (v. 10) and when we obediently and wholeheartedly “walk uprightly” (v. 11). What a great psalm this is to begin our day!
October 27, Monday
Reading A300 — Psalm 85, 87 — Drawing Close Audio: Ps. 85, Ps. 87
An audio recording of the following comments is available below:
Restoring God’s Favor — I could preach a sermon now from Psalm 85 with three alliterated points. The first would be to remember what God has done in the past: “LORD, you were favorable to your land” (v. 1). The people of Israel had a long history of God’s faithfulness to them. He had repeatedly done things for their benefit that were far beyond their own collective ability. The same is true for us, beginning with the change God made in our lives when we accepted His Son as our Savior and were filled with His Spirit. How about remembering our answered prayers in the past? Both we and Israel should have a ready list of how God came to our rescue. The second point here is to request what you want God to do: “Restore us again, O God of our salvation” (v. 4) or “…revive us again” (v. 6). Israel had fallen into disfavor with God because of their unfaithfulness, and His blessings had ceased. Perhaps their prayer was motivated by their material lack, but at least they recognized that the cause of their problems was that they had drifted away from God in disobedience, and they wanted to return to Him. The final step in this process was to resolve to do something about it: “Let me hear what God the LORD will speak … but let them not turn back to folly” (v. 8). There was a resolve to listen to God and to obey Him. Let that be our desire today! Remember His goodness! Request His strength! Resolve to follow Him!
October 28, Tuesday
Reading A301 — 1 Chron. 3 — David’s Descendants Audio: 1 Chron. 3 (ESV)
An audio recording of the following comments is available below:
Enduring Kingdom — There are three main sections in the genealogy of this chapter. The first section (vv. 1-9) listed the direct sons of David born to him in Hebron and Jerusalem—19 of them were named plus sons through his concubines. The second section (vv. 10-16) followed the long list of David’s descendants who were kings of Judah or of all Israel. The final section (vv. 17-24) lists the descendants of David through Judah’s captivity in Babylon and beyond. Why bother to keep track of his descendants after David’s kingdom stopped with the Babylonian exile? It was because God had sent the prophet Nathan to David with this promise about his son, Solomon: “I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever… I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever” (1 Chron. 17:11-14). There are three “forever” words in that quote! Listing all these descendants showed faith in God’s promise. It was also God’s purpose to show that this royal line would extend to His future Messiah, Jesus, as confirmed by genealogies in the Gospels. Every Christian is a spiritual descendant of Jesus; we are part of His kingdom, sons and daughters of an eternal King.
October 29, Wednesday———————-ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!
Reading A302 — 1 Chron. 4 — Judah and Simeon Audio: 1 Chron. 4 (ESV)
An audio recording of the following comments is available below:
Honorable Jabez — Following the genealogy in this chapter is challenging. For perspective, the first half of this chapter concludes the genealogy of the tribe of Judah, which began in chapter 2. Judah had five sons. One of them, Perez, was featured in chapter 3 because he was the ancient ancestor of David. One challenging factor is that much of the lineage of this chapter is fragmentary, providing disconnected genealogical information. One example is the mention of the honorable man, Jabez, and his brothers, without any mention of their father (v. 9). In 2000, Bruce Wilkinson wrote a small book, “The Prayer of Jabez,” that sold 9 million copies in two years. That notable prayer in verse 10 asked for God’s blessing, presence, and protection. Jabez appears to have been “honorable” because of his attention toward God. After completing the genealogy of Judah with his son, Shelah, in verse 23, the descendants of Israel’s son, Simeon, are listed for the rest of the chapter. You might remember that, because of the violence of Simeon and his brother, Levi, against the city of Shechem over the rape of their sister, Dinah, God did not allow the descendants of Simeon to have their own land in Canaan (Gen. 34:25). Instead, they were given scattered cities within the borders of Judah.
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October 30, Thursday—————ACCOUNTABILITY REMINDER
Reading A303 — 1 Chron. 5 — Transjordan Tribes Audio: 1 Chron. 5 (ESV)
An audio recording of the following comments is available below:
Finishing Well — In Numbers 32, the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, received permission from Moses to occupy the land just east of the Jordan River. Our reading for today covers a fragmented genealogy of those three tribes. Reuben had been demoted by his father, Israel, taking away his birthright because of his sin and giving it to the sons of Joseph: Ephraim and Manasseh. Some of the genealogy of Reuben’s descendants is provided in verses 3-10. They occupied the most southern area east of the Jordan River (see map). The descendants of Gad lived just north of Reuben, and part of their genealogy is provided in verses 11-17. The half-tribe of Manasseh lived north of Gad. These three tribes started out well by calling out to God for help and trusting Him (v. 20), but Manasseh “broke faith with the God of their fathers” (v. 25), and God “stirred up … Assyria” (v. 26) to send them into exile. Many of the stories of people in the Bible start out well but end in punishment and shame. That happened to Reuben and to the descendants of Manasseh. How will you end up? Will you be faithful to the end? That should be the desire and outcome for all of us Christians.
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October 31, Friday——————ACCOUNTABILITY FINAL DAY
Reading A304 — Psalm 73 — Tempted to Sin Audio: Psalm 73 (ESV)
An audio recording of the following comments is available below:
The Challenge of Godliness — Sin is tempting. This psalmist was tempted, saying, “my feet had almost stumbled” (v. 2), and the reason was that “I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (v. 3). He felt that maintaining godliness might not be worth it and that “All in vain have I kept my heart clean” (v. 13). Do you feel that way at times? The psalmist said that he changed his mind, however, when “I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end” (vv. 16-17). There is eternal punishment at the end for unrighteously striving for gain in this life, and there is eternal reward for remaining faithful. Notice that it was in “the sanctuary of God” when this truth dawned upon him. We see more clearly when we join with other Christians in learning, worship, and fellowship. Paul summed up both sides of this dilemma by writing, “… we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18).
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November 1, Saturday
Reading A305 — Psalm 77 — Prayer in Trouble Audio: Psalm 77 (ESV)
An audio recording of the following comments is available below:
Remember and Meditate — Three times in this psalm the words “remember” and “meditate” are used, and each time, it teaches us something about our spiritual life. The first lesson it teaches us is that, when we are in trouble, we should remember and meditate on our relationship with God. The psalmist said, “In the day of my trouble … my soul refuses to be comforted” (v. 2). When he was down, he remembered God and meditated, but his “spirit faints” (v. 3). Why? It seems to me that he was remembering the close relationship he had with God in the past but wasn’t experiencing in the present. That is a sign that something went wrong and there was a need for correction. The second lesson is that singing may be a means to bring us back into close, personal relationship with God. The psalmist said, “Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart” (v. 6). This seemed to lead to the realization that God might have been displeased with some sin in his life: “Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” (v. 9). God gets angry at our sin, and it harms our relationship with Him. We need to meditate on that and discover what attitude or action in our life might be upsetting God. Memorize songs of confession, like “Search Me, O God,” and sing them when you feel separated from God. The third lesson is to remember and meditate on all God has done in the past: “I will remember the deeds of the LORD … and meditate on your mighty deeds” (vv. 11-12). The Jews could remember the record of God leading them through the Red Sea and the wilderness with Moses and Aaron. So can we; plus, we can remember the many answers to prayer that we have experienced personally.
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