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Read the Bible: Psalm 135
Hallelujah!
Praise the name of the LORD.
Give praise, you servants of the LORD
2 who stand in the house of the LORD,
in the courts of the house of our God.
3 Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good;
sing praise to his name, for it is delightful.
4 For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel as his treasured possession.
5 For I know that the LORD is great;
our Lord is greater than all gods.
6 The LORD does whatever he pleases
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all the depths.
7 He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain
and brings the wind from his storehouses.
8 He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
both people and animals.
9 He sent signs and wonders against you, Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his officials.
10 He struck down many nations
and slaughtered mighty kings:
11 Sihon king of the Amorites,
Og king of Bashan,
and all the kings of Canaan.
12 He gave their land as an inheritance,
an inheritance to his people Israel.
13 LORD, your name endures forever,
your reputation, LORD,
through all generations.
14 For the LORD will vindicate his people
and have compassion on his servants.
15 The idols of the nations are of silver and gold,
made by human hands.
16 They have mouths but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see.
17 They have ears but cannot hear;
indeed, there is no breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them are just like them,
as are all who trust in them.
19 House of Israel, bless the LORD!
House of Aaron, bless the LORD!
20 House of Levi, bless the LORD!
You who revere the Lord, bless the LORD!
21 Blessed be the LORD from Zion;
he dwells in Jerusalem.
Hallelujah!
Psalms 135:1-21 (CSB)
Sunday School is for All Ages!
About seven weeks after celebrating the first Passover and leaving Egypt, Israel receives a message from the LORD at Mount Sinai through Moses.
Moses went up the mountain to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain: “This is what you must say to the house of Jacob and explain to the Israelites: ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now if you will carefully listen to Me and keep My covenant, you will be My own [treasured] possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine, and you will be My kingdom of priests and My holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites” (Exodus 19:3-6).
In obedience, Moses descends, summons together the elders of Israel, and relays for them the message from the LORD. And we read:
Then all the people responded together, “We will do all that the LORD has spoken” (Exodus 19:8).
It seems like a sweet, simple story. But will Israel do all that the LORD has spoken? Nope. They won’t even finish receiving the instructions for the Tabernacle (Exodus 25-31) before they turn to serious and abhorrent idolatry (Exodus 32). In other words, they won’t even make it from the foot of this same mountain before they’ve failed to do all that the LORD has spoken.
Doesn’t the omniscient God know how it will go? Is He unable to see that Israel would not even come close to honoring their commitment to do all that the LORD has spoken? Is He an irresponsible covenant-maker, allowing Israel to make a commitment they could not keep?
The LORD certainly knew that Israel would not keep their end of the bargain. Yet He still cut covenant there at Mount Sinai. He still proceeded to provide the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:2-17), the Book of the Covenant (Exodus 20:22-23:33), and instructions for the Tabernacle (Exodus 25-31). In His mercy, He continued the work of making a kingdom of priests and a holy nation of a people who would never merit those titles by their own behavior.
In His mercy, God was pleased to honor Israel’s willingness to serve Him, despite their inability to do so. He was pleased to honor their godly intent, in spite of their worldly temptations. And so it remains with us, who can so closely identify with the prayer recorded by Thomas Merton in Thoughts in Solitude:
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road,
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though
I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
Sunday School for all ages begins weekly at 9:45 AM. All are warmly welcome.
Read the Bible: Psalm 134
Now bless the LORD,
all you servants of the LORD
who stand in the LORD’s house at night!
2 Lift up your hands in the holy place
and bless the LORD!
3 May the LORD,
Maker of heaven and earth,
bless you from Zion.
Psalms 134:1-3 (CSB)
Read the Bible: Psalm 133
How delightfully good
when brothers live together in harmony!
2 It is like fine oil on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down Aaron’s beard
onto his robes.
3 It is like the dew of Hermon
falling on the mountains of Zion.
For there the LORD has appointed the blessing —
life forevermore.
Psalms 133:1-3 (CSB)
Read the Bible: Psalm 132
LORD, remember David
and all the hardships he endured,
2 and how he swore an oath to the LORD,
making a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob:
3 “I will not enter my house
or get into my bed,
4 I will not allow my eyes to sleep
or my eyelids to slumber
5 until I find a place for the LORD,
a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 We heard of the ark in Ephrathah;
we found it in the fields of Jaar.
7 Let’s go to his dwelling place;
let’s worship at his footstool.
8 Rise up, LORD, come to your resting place,
you and your powerful ark.
9 May your priests be clothed with righteousness,
and may your faithful people shout for joy.
10 For the sake of your servant David,
do not reject your anointed one.
11 The LORD swore an oath to David,
a promise he will not abandon:
“I will set one of your offspring
on your throne.
12 If your sons keep my covenant
and my decrees that I will teach them,
their sons will also sit on your throne forever.”
13 For the LORD has chosen Zion;
he has desired it for his home:
14 “This is my resting place forever;
I will make my home here
because I have desired it.
15 I will abundantly bless its food;
I will satisfy its needy with bread.
16 I will clothe its priests with salvation,
and its faithful people will shout for joy.
17 There I will make a horn grow for David;
I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one.
18 I will clothe his enemies with shame,
but the crown he wears will be glorious.”
Psalms 132:1-18 (CSB)
Read the Bible: Psalm 131
LORD, my heart is not proud;
my eyes are not haughty.
I do not get involved with things
too great or too wondrous for me.
2 Instead, I have calmed and quieted my soul
like a weaned child with its mother;
my soul is like a weaned child.
3 Israel, put your hope in the LORD,
both now and forever.
Psalms 131:1-3 (CSB)
Read the Bible: Psalm 130
Out of the depths I call to you, LORD!
2 Lord, listen to my voice;
let your ears be attentive
to my cry for help.
3 LORD, if you kept an account of iniquities,
LORD, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
so that you may be revered.
5 I wait for the LORD; I wait
and put my hope in his word.
6 I wait for the LORD
more than watchmen for the morning —
more than watchmen for the morning.
7 Israel, put your hope in the LORD.
For there is faithful love with the LORD,
and with him is redemption in abundance.
8 And he will redeem Israel
from all its iniquities.
Psalms 130:1-8 (CSB)
Read the Bible: Psalm 129
Since my youth they have often attacked me —
let Israel say —
2 since my youth they have often attacked me,
but they have not prevailed against me.
3 Plowmen plowed over my back;
they made their furrows long.
4 The LORD is righteous;
he has cut the ropes of the wicked.
5 Let all who hate Zion
be driven back in disgrace.
6 Let them be like grass on the rooftops,
which withers before it grows up
7 and can’t even fill the hands of the reaper
or the arms of the one who binds sheaves.
8 Then none who pass by will say,
“May the LORD’s blessing be on you.
We bless you in the name of the LORD.”
Psalms 129:1-8 (CSB)
Sunday School is for All Ages!
In the first half of Exodus 19, “the house of Jacob and…the Israelites” encamp before Mt. Sinai from whence God speaks.
Moses went up the mountain to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain: “This is what you must say to the house of Jacob and explain to the Israelites: ‘…if you will carefully listen to Me and keep My covenant, you will be My own possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is Mine, and you will be My kingdom of priests and My holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites (Exodus 19:3-6).
In exchange for their obedience, God offers Israel three privileges:
They would be His own treasured possession.
They would be His kingdom of priests.
They would be His holy nation.
Why would God offer Israel status as His treasured possession instead of a possessor of treasures? First, they already possess treasures. They left their 430-year enslavement with the spoils of Egypt simply handed to them (Exodus 12:35-36). But more important than Israel’s material wealth is her relationship with God. Out of all the peoples of the world, God chose to place His presence among the people of Israel (Deuteronomy 7:6-9). Israel’s wealth is not in what she possesses, but in the presence of the One by whom she is possessed.
Why would God promise that Israel would be a kingdom of priests instead of a family or community of priests? Because being part of a kingdom requires recognition that there is a King. There is One whose rule is authoritative to whom they will bow. The people of God will be a people under God’s authority as their King.
Why would God promise that Israel would be a holy nation instead of a great or mighty nation? Other nations knew greatness. But holiness implies being sacred, set apart, and sanctified for a specific purpose. Israel wasn’t delivered for mere greatness; she was set apart to assure the birth of Jesus Christ.
Sunday School for all ages begins weekly at 9:45 AM. All are warmly welcome.
For Further Study:
Jen Wilkin. (2022). God of Freedom: A Study of Exodus 19 - 40.