Read the Bible: Psalm 118

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his faithful love endures forever.
2 Let Israel say,
“His faithful love endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron say,
“His faithful love endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the LORD say,
“His faithful love endures forever.”

5 I called to the LORD in distress;
the LORD answered me
and put me in a spacious place.
6 The LORD is for me; I will not be afraid.
What can a mere mortal do to me?
7 The LORD is my helper;
therefore, I will look in triumph on those who hate me.

8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in humanity.
9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in nobles.

10 All the nations surrounded me;
in the name of the LORD I destroyed them.
11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me;
in the name of the LORD I destroyed them.
12 They surrounded me like bees;
they were extinguished like a fire among thorns;
in the name of the LORD I destroyed them.
13 They pushed me hard to make me fall,
but the LORD helped me.
14 The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.

Psalms 118:1-14 (CSB)

Read all of Psalm 118 using the link below.

Read the Bible: Psalm 117

Praise the LORD, all nations!
Glorify him, all peoples!
2 For his faithful love to us is great;
the LORD’s faithfulness endures forever.
Hallelujah!

Psalms 117:1-2 (CSB)

Read the Bible: Psalm 116

I love the LORD because he has heard
my appeal for mercy.
2 Because he has turned his ear to me,
I will call out to him as long as I live.

3 The ropes of death were wrapped around me,
and the torments of Sheol overcame me;
I encountered trouble and sorrow.
4 Then I called on the name of the LORD:
“LORD, save me! ”

5 The LORD is gracious and righteous;
our God is compassionate.
6 The LORD guards the inexperienced;
I was helpless, and he saved me.
7 Return to your rest, my soul,
for the LORD has been good to you.
8 For you, LORD, rescued me from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling.
9 I will walk before the LORD
in the land of the living.
10 I believed, even when I said,
“I am severely oppressed.”
11 In my alarm I said,
“Everyone is a liar.”

12 How can I repay the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
13 I will take the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the LORD.
14 I will fulfill my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people.

15 The death of his faithful ones
is valuable in the LORD’s sight.
16 LORD, I am indeed your servant;
I am your servant, the son of your female servant.
You have loosened my bonds.

17 I will offer you a thanksgiving sacrifice
and call on the name of the LORD.
18 I will fulfill my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of the LORD’s house —
within you, Jerusalem.
Hallelujah!

Psalms 116:1-19 (CSB)

Sunday School is for All Ages!

Yearly, our church hosts an Easter Eggstravaganza that includes an Easter egg hunt. After hiding about 450 eggs all around our small church, we open the doors and loose basket-wielding children eager to fill them with as many eggs as quickly as they can. As you can imagine, some are better gatherers than others. Some are quick with a keen eye; they fill their baskets, their pockets, and soon enough are handing surplus eggs off to parents and friends. Some come back with a comparatively meager haul. For some reason, we never do seem to find as many as we hide.

I couldn’t help thinking of this Easter scene when reading how God rained bread from heaven for the children of Israel (Exodus 16:4). Similar to the problem of thirst at Marah in Exodus 15:22-27, the desert conditions of the land where they sojourned simply could not provide sustenance for such a large number of people. When the hunger pangs were severe enough, they again grumbled to Moses. Moses again cried out to the LORD, and the LORD again promised provision.

“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘I am going to rain bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. This way I will test them to see whether or not they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days’” (Exodus 16:4-5, emphasis mine).

In their hunger, the children of Israel are tested by God to see whether or not they would follow His instructions. The test wasn’t their hunger, but their obedience. And God’s instructions, described throughout the rest of Exodus 16, boil down to three principles:

1. Only gather what you need, sufficient for the day.

2. Don’t hoard extra.

3. On the Sabbath, rest from gathering.

In the midst of the manifold ways Israel failed all three of these tests (Exodus 16:20 & Exodus 16:27-29), we read an interesting principle for daily bread application:

“So the Israelites did this. Some gathered a lot, some a little. When they measured it by quarts, the person who gathered a lot had no surplus, and the person who gathered a little had no shortage. Each gathered as much as he needed to eat” (Exodus 16:17-18).

Much like our Easter egg hunt, when the children of Israel begin to fill their baskets with manna, some are better gatherers than others. But in the end, we read that one person’s surplus meets another person’s need. What if we thought of our daily bread in this way? “I have what I need for the day; to whom can I give my surplus?” “My quart jars are full for the day; whose aren’t?”

Such was the posture of the earliest church following Pentecost. We read that they “held all things in common. They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need” (Acts 2:44-45). Not out of compulsion, to satisfy a law, but because their hearts were moved to be part of the daily bread provision for their brothers and sisters in the faith.

Sufficient unto the day is the manna thereof. Sufficient: enough to meet the demands of a situation or proposed end; occurring in such quantity, quality, or scope as to fully meet demands, needs, or expectations. Sufficient, not surplus. Whose sufficiency is lacking for want of our freely offered surplus?

“Give me neither poverty nor wealth;
feed me with the food I need.
Otherwise, I might have too much
and deny you, saying, “Who is the LORD?”
or I might have nothing and steal,
profaning the name of my God” (Proverbs 30:8-9).

Sunday School for all ages begins weekly at 9:45 AM. All are warmly welcome.

Read the Bible: Psalm 115

Not to us, LORD, not to us,
but to your name give glory
because of your faithful love, because of your truth.
2 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God? ”
3 Our God is in heaven
and does whatever he pleases.

4 Their idols are silver and gold,
made by human hands.
5 They have mouths but cannot speak,
yes, but cannot see.
6 They have ears but cannot hear,
noses, but cannot smell.
7 They have hands but cannot feel,
feet, but cannot walk.
They cannot make a sound with their throats.
8 Those who make them are just like them,
as are all who trust in them.

9 Israel, trust in the LORD!
He is their help and shield.
10 House of Aaron, trust in the LORD!
He is their help and shield.
11 You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD!
He is their help and shield.
12 The LORD remembers us and will bless us.
He will bless the house of Israel;
he will bless the house of Aaron;
13 he will bless those who fear the LORD —
small and great alike.

14 May the LORD add to your numbers,
both yours and your children’s.
15 May you be blessed by the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
16 The heavens are the LORD’s,
but the earth he has given to the human race.
17 It is not the dead who praise the LORD,
nor any of those descending into the silence of death.
18 But we will bless the LORD,
both now and forever.
Hallelujah!

Psalms 115:1-18 (CSB)

TOMORROW: School Supply Give-Away

Read the Bible: Psalm 114

When Israel came out of Egypt —
the house of Jacob from a people
who spoke a foreign language —
2 Judah became his sanctuary,
Israel, his dominion.

3 The sea looked and fled;
the Jordan turned back.
4 The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills, like lambs.
5 Why was it, sea, that you fled?
Jordan, that you turned back?
6 Mountains, that you skipped like rams?
Hills, like lambs?

7 Tremble, earth, at the presence of the LORD,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 who turned the rock into a pool,
the flint into a spring.

Psalms 114:1-8 (CSB)

Read the Bible: Psalm 113

Hallelujah!
Give praise, servants of the LORD;
praise the name of the LORD.
2 Let the name of the LORD be blessed
both now and forever.
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting,
let the name of the LORD be praised.

4 The LORD is exalted above all the nations,
his glory above the heavens.
5 Who is like the LORD our God —
the one enthroned on high,
6 who stoops down to look
on the heavens and the earth?
7 He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the trash heap
8 in order to seat them with nobles —
with the nobles of his people.
9 He gives the childless woman a household,
making her the joyful mother of children.
Hallelujah!

Psalms 113:1-9 (CSB)

Read the Bible: Psalm 112

Hallelujah!
Happy is the person who fears the LORD,
taking great delight in his commands.
2 His descendants will be powerful in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in his house,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 Light shines in the darkness for the upright.
He is gracious, compassionate, and righteous.
5 Good will come to the one who lends generously
and conducts his business fairly.
6 He will never be shaken.
The righteous one will be remembered forever.
7 He will not fear bad news;
his heart is confident, trusting in the LORD.
8 His heart is assured; he will not fear.
In the end he will look in triumph on his foes.
9 He distributes freely to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.
His horn will be exalted in honor.

10 The wicked one will see it and be angry;
he will gnash his teeth in despair.
The desire of the wicked leads to ruin.

Psalms 112:1-10 (CSB)

Sunday School is for All Ages!

With the high of the miraculous Red Sea crossing long behind them and the journey through the wilderness wearing on them, Israel becomes hungry. We read in Exodus 16:2 that they grumbled against Moses and Aaron.

…“If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat and ate all the bread we wanted. Instead, you brought us into this wilderness to make this whole assembly die of hunger!” Exodus 16:3

Somehow, they could remember the taste of unleavened bread and roasted lamb. But, where was their memory of the bitter herbs meant to remind them of the bitterness of their bondage in Egypt?

Let’s not be too quick to condemn Israel. Their journey was terribly hard. They were dragging all they owned through the Sinai desert—the wilderness—for about a month at this point. Food was scarce and hunger is a hard burden. I wonder, how many of their children had asked for food they couldn’t provide? That would break the strongest of us, for sure. This is not a time to minimize Israel’s hardship, but to recognize the weight of it.

We rob ourselves of the comfort of Scripture when we minimize its message. When we make the failures of our heroic characters smaller, or the tribulations described in the Bible less than they were, we rob ourselves of the comfort of a God who provides, heals, and restores amidst the worst of situations. We leave ourselves ill-prepared to endure the discipline of sanctification in exchange for the eternal weight of glory that awaits us (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

Israel, in her hunger, is hurting, and she turns it all toward Moses and Aaron. Fortunately, Moses is able to see this hurt for what it is, and yet again, he speaks caution over God’s people.

“…in the morning you will see the LORD’s glory because He has heard your complaints about Him. For who are we that you complain about us? …He has heard the complaints that you are raising against Him. Who are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the LORD” (Exodus 16:7-8).

Are we able to receive Moses’s words of caution? He doesn’t scold them for being hungry. But he does call them to account for the reality of their words. Around 1500 years before Christ, Moses previews the warning Jesus will issue to the Pharisees: “…out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34, NKJV). Their grumbling was an overflow of their heart toward God, their lack of trust that He would honor His word to them and continue to provide for their needs.

Israel is hurting, but she is not in a place where she will lift her hurt to the Lord. And because she won’t lift her hurt to the Lord, she turns it outward upon her leaders. Israel hasn’t learned to pray like the prophet Habakkuk:

How long, LORD, must I call for help
and You do not listen
or cry out to You about violence
and You do not save? (Habakkuk 1:2).

Because Israel hasn’t learned to pray through hardship like Habakkuk, she also hasn’t learned to praise through hardship like Habakkuk.

Though the fig tree does not bud
and there is no fruit on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though the flocks disappear from the pen
and there are no herds in the stalls,
yet I will celebrate in the LORD;
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!
The LORD my Lord is my strength;
He makes my feet like those of a deer
and enables me to walk on mountain heights! (Habakkuk 3:17-19).

What a prayer! Though the crops fail, the food supply dries up, and the grocery shelves are empty. Though my pantry is bare, my stomach growls, and all my livelihood is gone. Though my wallet is empty, and my job is lost, yet—even so—I will celebrate in the Lord, the God of my salvation who makes my steps sure, even in rocky places.

Because Israel in her time of hunger hadn’t learned to lift her hurt heavenward, she turned it outward. What about us? As we submit to the sanctifying leadership of God—even through wilderness wanderings—where do we take our hurt and fear? Are we spewing it outward, or lifting our eyes to the heavens from which comes our help (Psalm 121:1)?

Sunday School for all ages begins weekly at 9:45 AM. All are warmly welcome.