I am catching up on reading the Bible, by listening to it – I will read it through this year! Lately, I have been listening through 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 Kings: sometimes we have an idealized picture of King David, based on the nobility and faithfulness of his youth. But the story of his reign is fraught with tragedy, sin, violence, and hardship. Again, part of the beauty of the Bible is its honesty in showing the real human, broken lives of our heroes of faith. Despite hardship, and despite the sin and brokenness of David’s life and family, God does not abandon him. On this 8th anniversary of the 9/11/2001 bombings, when we find our nation still enmeshed in Afghanistan and Iraq, it is worth reminding ourselves that God is present even (or especially) in the midst of hardship and brokenness. When we ask, Where was God on September 11? the answer is, Right there, with the people who were suffering and dying, and with the people who were helping them. God is present with us in our suffering, in our struggles, despite our shortcomings and sin. Remember, “God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Psalm 115 is a passionate appeal to the real living God, the God of Israel, and a call to Israel to trust in the Lord.
Psalms is the prayer book of the Bible. It is full of individual and corporate (group) prayers: prayers for help, prayers of thanksgiving, prayers of praise. The Psalms are a school of prayer for us: as we pray the Psalms, we learn to pray, and we are given words to pray.
Paul is here proclaiming and defending the truth that Christ has been raised from the dead, “the first fruits of those who have died.” We do not live as those who have no hope; we live as those who know that death is not a wall, but a doorway to the resurrection.
