Notes from my Bible Study for February 28, 2010

Psalm 59, Exodus 2:23‐3:22, 2 Chronicles 32, Acts 28:16‐31

Psalm 59 - I'm struck at the persistence with which David's enemies are painted in this chapter. Again and again the enemies come for David, and again and again David trusts in God's protection. David addresses God with the pronoun, "my Strength," in this passage. What a beautiful picture of Who God is!

Exodus 2:23-3:22 - The children of Israel may have felt abandoned by God as they lived as slaves in Egypt, but God had not forgotten them. He was raising up a servant, in the middle of the desert, to go before Pharaoh on behalf of God.

Moses was a fugitive from justice, a man with no confidence in his speaking ability, one who was raised as a Prince in Egypt by a royal family that was not his own, one of the only surviving Hebrew men that was of his age, and one who was not sure about much of anything. He was also someone that God felt that He could use.

The choice of Moses to lead the Children of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt and into the Promised Land was a beautiful one. If God could use Moses to deliver a nation, He can use you to accomplish His purposes too. Let God work through you, and be amazed at what He does.

Moses offered God every excuse in the book as to why he could not be used by God. God had an answer for every one of Moses' excuses. Has God called you to do something that you have put excuses up for? God loves to take our excuses and turn them upside down. He did it with Moses, and He will do it with you. When God calls you to do something, don't make excuses, just do it!

2 Chronicles 32 - This is a remarkable chapter. Sennacherib was the king of the Assyrians. The Assyrian army was strong. They had toppled enemy after enemy. When the King of Assyria rose his armies up against King Hezekiah, and the armies of Judah, Sennacherib was cocky and confident. He was convinced that he would leave Judah in ruins. He mocked Jehovah, basically saying that God was no more powerful than the gods made of hands in the other nations that he had triumphed over.

God would not be mocked. Many times, God chooses to let people speak poorly of Him, and still "prosper" on earth. Not so this time! This time God immediately judged Sennacherib and his armies, giving Hezekiah and his armies the victory. God has told us that, "I will not be mocked." It may not come in this life, but God will get the last laugh on those who mock Him.

Acts 28:16-31 - The book of Acts ends with Paul finally preaching in Rome. He remained in Rome for two years, preaching and teaching the truth of the Gospel. Luke is careful to include that Paul remained in Rome at his own expense. He wanted the people of Rome to know Jesus, and he was willing to underwrite the effort himself, so that the Romans could no God.

To get a sense of how much Paul wanted to preach in Rome, see Romans 1:11, 12, "11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine."