Notes from my Bible Study for January 20, 2010

Passages Read: Psalm 19, Genesis 19, 1 Chronicles 21:18‐22:19, Luke 12:13‐48

Psalm 19 - 14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

When I was a new youth pastor, serving a church outside of Washington D.C., I had the privilege of meeting a man named Cooper. Cooper had been a pastor for a number of years, and was now working in corporate America. On occasion, Cooper would preach a message at our church. I loved when this man spoke. He had a tender heart for God and a real passion for the Word.

One of the things I'll never forget about Cooper was the way that he prayed before each message. He always ended his prayer with David's words from Psalm 19:14: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Would that we would all pray such things before we spoke! It might just change the way that God worked through us.

Genesis 19 - Sodom and Gomorrah . . . have there ever been such wicked cities. There are several things that struck me as I read this chapter:

* Angels visited earth with such regularity in the book of Genesis. It's so fascinating to see how Lot responded to his visitors.
* The men of Sodom were so vile.
* Lot wasn't a very good father.
* Lot's daughters must have despised their father for what he said to the men of Sodom.
* God deals with sin in His time. If the sinner hasn't repented, the end result is God's justice; and God hates sin.
* Lot's relationship with his sons-in-law was such that they couldn't distinguish when he was telling the truth from telling a joke.
* Lot made an awful decision when he chose to dwell in the land of Sodom.
* Why did Lot's wife look back?
* Lot went from a city to a cave, and from pride to fear.
* It was so important for a family's name to be carried on from generation to generation.
* The Moabites were descendants of Lot. Ruth was a Moabite woman. She would trace her line back to Lot. No wonder the Jewish people despised the Moabites. This would have been considered a vile thing to God's people.

1 Chronicles 21:18‐22:19 - What a fascinating piece of Scripture. A few thoughts.

I love David's words in verse 24, "No, but I will buy them for full price. I will not take for the LORD what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing." David wanted God to give extravagantly to God.

I never put it together that the site of the temple was the site of the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

I love how even though David could not build the temple, he prepared the way for the temple. He provided Solomon with such a wonderful start to build the temple.

David, nearing the end of his life, has restored his relationship with the Lord.


Luke 12:13‐48 - I love the way that Jesus taught. There was such power in His words. He minces no words when it comes to anxiety. Christ knew what things cause human beings anxiety. We worry about our lives - what we will eat, what we will wear, how much money we will make. Christ told us not to spend our days worrying about these things.

Then, he adds in verse 34 that where our treasure is, there will our hearts be also. I don't know about you, but too often my treasure has been . . . well, treasure. I want more stuff. I want more money. I want more vacations. I want more, more, more. And, God wants me to want more of Him. My treasure needs to be God, not the thigns of this world. How are you doing on that area? How can we help each other truly treasure the Lord?

The teaching on anxiety is bookended by the parable of the rich fool and the Christ's teaching on being ready for Christ's second coming. I don't think this is a mistake. Christ was a masterful teacher.