Psalm 119:137–143

Commentary

Trouble and distress

At any given point in our life there is usually some area that causes us trouble and distress. It may be something you yourself are going through, or a family member, or a close friend, or something to do with your work or ministry.

I remember hearing the American pastor, Rick Warren, say how he used to think that life was a series of battles, followed by times of blessing. Now, he thinks of life as being on two tracks – one track is blessing, the other is battle. They run concurrently.

The psalmist certainly went through times of battle: ‘Trouble and distress have come upon me’ (v.143a).

How do we respond? The psalmist’s answer is to keep trusting in the Lord. He keeps on believing that God’s words are ‘fully trustworthy (v.138): ‘your servant loves them… your commands are my delight’ (vv.140,143).

He fixes his thoughts upon the Lord: ‘Righteous are you, O LORD’ (v.137a). The great revelation of the New Testament is that ‘Jesus is the LORD’ (Romans 10:9). He is the one on whom you are to fix your thoughts.

Prayer

Hebrews 3:1–13

Commentary

Times of testing

A faith that has not been tested cannot be trusted. Sooner or later all of us go through times of testing. In these times, the challenge is to stay faithful to God – not to harden our hearts but to keep them soft and tender towards God – to keep on trusting in spite of all the difficulties and challenges to our faith.

During these times of testing, every time you feel like doing the wrong thing but choose to do right, you grow in spiritual maturity, wisdom, character and faithfulness.

‘Moses was faithful’ (v.2). But Jesus, of course, is our supreme example of faithfulness. He went through years of training and times of powerful temptation. Yet he was ‘faithful in everything God gave him to do’ (v.2, MSG).

This letter was written to a group of people who were going through a time of testing and persecution. It was written to encourage them to hold on to their ‘courage’ and ‘hope’ (v.6), inspired by Jesus: ‘Fix your thoughts on Jesus’ (v.1).

In this passage, the writer quotes Psalm 95:7–11 (Hebrews 3:7–11). Interestingly, he does not write, ‘as the Holy Spirit said’ but, ‘as the Holy Spirit says’ (v.7). He clearly believes that the Holy Spirit continues to speak through the Scriptures in a contemporary way to the readers. As you read the Bible, expect the Holy Spirit to speak to you today.

In spite of the great high moment of deliverance from Egypt, the people of God had fallen away in a time of testing in the desert (v.17). This is a warning for us: ‘See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily… so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness’ (vv.12–13).

One of the remedies to unbelief that the writer highlights here is community. He tells them to ‘encourage one another daily’ (v.13). This is why it is so important to be part of Christian community, spending time with other Christians, encouraging one another and building up your faith.

‘Sin’s deceitfulness’ is an interesting expression. Sin is deceptive. If it were not, we would not sin. Sin is usually accompanied with a deceptive label: ‘This isn’t really sin, and it won’t do you any harm anyway.’ But, when we enter in to sin, bad patterns form, our conscience is seared and our hearts become hardened.

At the heart of sin is unbelief. Ever since the Garden of Eden, the deceitfulness of sin has caused us to doubt God’s goodness, his love for us and his word – ‘Did God really say?’ (Genesis 3:1), ‘You will not surely die’ (3:4). You always swallow a lie about God before you swallow forbidden fruit. For us today, it is still the same. If we really believed God’s love for us, his goodness and his word, then we would not fall for sin’s deceitfulness.

Because the people of God kept on complaining, they never entered God’s rest – which was the one thing they wanted. They did not trust God to provide. They were ‘unbelieving’ (Hebrews 3:12). They were not able to enter God’s rest ‘because of their unbelief’ (v.19). When we do not trust God, we lose the peace of God. Find peace by fixing your thoughts on Jesus, trusting him and listening to him as he continues to speak to you through the Scriptures.

Prayer

Joel 2:12–13

Commentary

When disaster strikes

‘When disaster strikes, understanding of God is at risk’, writes Eugene Peterson. There are times when we face unexpected illness or death of someone we love, national catastrophe, social disruption, personal loss, economic uncertainty, pandemics or the devastation of natural disasters. Peterson continues: ‘It is the task of the prophet to stand up at such moments of catastrophe and clarify who God is and how he acts.’

The prophet Joel describes a time when disaster struck – the great devastation caused by a plague of locusts. This may have been a real event or a vision. There was a plague of locusts that hit Jerusalem in 915 BC. The devastation they caused was extraordinary.

The army of locusts is (without insecticide) unswerving, unstoppable and invincible. It ruins the vineyards, strips the orchards and, as a result, all the crops fail. The livestock then has nothing to eat. The locusts are like a tornado that moves through the land.

‘What a day! Doomsday! God’s Judgment Day has come’ (1:15, MSG). This image of the locusts is picked up in the book of Revelation and used as a description of the tribulations of the final judgment (Revelation 9:7–11).

Jesus himself used the language from Joel 2, ‘The sun and moon are darkened, and the stars no longer shine’ (Joel 2:10; see also Matthew 24:29), in his description of the coming judgment.

What should our response to all this be? None of us like half-hearted apologies – nor does God. He seeks for genuine repentance:

‘It’s not too late –
  God’s personal message! –
“Come back to me and really mean it!
  Come fasting and weeping, sorry for your sins!”
Change your life, not just your clothes.
  Come back to God, your God.
And here’s why: God is kind and merciful.
  He takes a deep breath, puts up with a lot,
This most patient god, extravagant in love’ (Joel 2:12–13, MSG).

In the midst of these prophecies of judgment, there is hope. When you turn to God and seek his forgiveness, you no longer have to fear this final judgment. Joel uses the image of a trumpet being blown to herald this day of judgment (v.1).

In the New Testament though, Paul uses this same image to describe how Jesus has conquered death, and made forgiveness and salvation possible – ‘In a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable and we will all be changed… Death has been swallowed up in victory… Thanks be to God! He gives the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (1 Corinthians 15:52–57).

Prayer