Hebrew Bible and Christian Scriptures

I think it is interesting that when preachers use the book of Job they always talk about the view of God and the accuser in the book, Job’s horrific circumstances and his faith (and rightfully so) or his three friends (you know – “With friends like this, who needs enemies), BUT what is not often talked about is Elihu.

Elihu, for whatever reason, in the the sermons I have heard about Job is not talked about.  I think Elihu’s view of the three friends, Job and God is the most righteous response in the book.  I think he is worth us looking at more closely!

Many times when we read the Psalms, we run across sections that are quite violent and claiming victory before it has happened.  Of course, the Psalmist believes God is on their side. This makes complete sense.  Dr. Maxwell Maltz, a world-renowned plastic surgeon and author of Psycho-Cybernetics coined the term “psychocybernetics” to describe such visualizations.  Okay, not all the violence, but in battle… violence makes sense. Cybernetics is the goal-striving behavior of machines and mechanical systems, and the “psycho” on the front of it causes it to be applied to the human thought processes.

Basically, Maltz says that our goal-striving mechanisms seek to accomplish the pictures created in our imagination.  This goal-striving mechanism cannot tell the difference between reality and fantasy.  It needs images to be vivid to work effectively.

In That Winning Feeling! by Jane Savoie (reserve rider for 1992 US Olympic Dressage Team, coach for US team at 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympics) goes into how we can apply the psychocybernetics principles to our daily lives in order to achieve our goals. Although this seems like something that is relatively new, it is not.  We see it being played out in the Psalms, as well as in every  motivational speech that we hear before any sports activity.  We are to visualize our victory.  We are to go out there and play like we are already the winners.  This doesn’t mean to slack off, but to do everything possible to bring our visualizations into reality. In other words, it makes sense for the Psalms to carry these violent tones and to claim victories.  Who goes into battle desiring to lose?  Who sets up tactical defenses with the hope that they fail?  The Psalmist is claiming victory, visualizing how God is on their side and helping them.  It does not matter if the Psalmist is reminding the people of past events, the pictures are so vivid that the mind remembers the joy of victory and strives to achieve it again.

Chapter 3 contains one of the most often passages – “Trust in the LORD with all your heart…”  What I found extremely interesting was that the rest of this chapter houses great scripture that is often overlooked. 

I think this shows a large problem for us as readers of the Bible.  We often pick out the things that sound the best, and although the benefit is that we remember scripture, the problem is we only remember what we think sounds good as opposed to consulting the whole counsel of scripture!

I heard of a pastor that was on his own rotation of sermons.  It is about a 2 year rotation, so his people in 9 years have heard the same sermons 4 times.  I dont want to judge another pastor, BUT there is so much more in the treasure house of scripture!

As current/future ministers, I think it befits us to study and teach all of scripture.

Although I am not surprised that it was the royal scribes who compiled much of the material found in the book of Proverbs, I am surprised that this caused most of the sayings within Proverbs to reflect the elite view.  Perhaps, this is due to the difference in culture . . . whatever the reason, it is interesting to look back on history and see that for the West, the various sayings that have stuck through the ages are those that were developed by the common.  Examples would include our nursery rhymes  as well as the trite sayings we use to teach the younger generations good habits.  Or, perhaps I am not fully aware of the origins of what seems “common” now.

In Ezra-Nehemiah, the Jews are starting to split into various groups.  Each of the religious groups falls under the main umbrella heading “Jewish”, but they have slightly (and sometimes not so slightly) different interpretations on how their faith should be lived out.  This is the beginning of the religious sects within the believing community.  Unfortunately, the process of splitting off into independent groups based upon interpretational differences has not ceased throughout the centuries.

Although, today, we would not call various Christian groups religious sects.  Instead, we prefer the softer term, denominations.  Yet, perhaps for many Christians, the term sect is more appropriate.  I say this because while many believers like the idea of recognizing other denominations as “fellow Christians”, they tend to look down their nose at other denominations.  In other words, they doubt the faith of those who do not attend either the same church as they do, or they doubt the faith of those who are not at least members  of a specific type of church.

Why compare Christian denominations to money?  Firstly, the word “denomination” is a word used to describe money.  Every currency has several denominations that make up the  money system.  So, in America, we typically do not discriminate against the various types of coins and bills that make up our money system, but we would surely become upset if we were given change in another currency such as pesos.  Yet, as Christians, we are often not happy to work along side someone of the same “currency” (i.e. another Christian), unless they are of the same denomination.  Secondly, I find it somewhat funny that Christians are often caught up in judging others for the evils that stem from loving money.  Yet, we insist upon using a term to describe our various groups that has an alternate (yet widely used) definition that is for the very thing we exercise a love-hate relationship with.

I think we need to be honest about how we feel towards other Christians.  If we are willing to accept them, then we should call our various Christian groups denominations.  If we are unwilling to accept that there are other Christians out there who believe/interpret differently from ourselves, then we should refer to our own  group as a sects.  In a nutshell, unless you are going to ask a cashier what currency the various portions of your change are, don’t go around asking other Christians what religion they are!  Recognize and embrace the fact that you have brothers and sisters in Christ.  Acknowledge the fact that there are various methods of arriving at the same goal:   worshipping Christ.

In the words of President Lincoln, who paraphrased Christ, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

The Psalms are some of my favorite pieces of literature ever written. I loved to read growing up, but I could never bring myself to sit down and have a ‘quiet time.’  I thought too that the best way to connect with God would be to start reading a book and just keep on reading it until I was done.  By the grace of God, this was partially true, as I began to read the Psalms.  As a sophomore in high school I began to read Psalm 1 one night and its honest and heartfelt words drew me in.  Over the next 150 days I read all 150 Psalms- 1 a night (and yes I stayed up late the night I read Psalm 119).  It was over the course of the next 150 days that I fell in love with reading the Bible.

To this day though there are certain Psalms that I really enjoy.  For example, Psalm 25 has always been one of my favorites.  Psalm 27:13-14 says, “I believe that I will look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”  This passage has spoken to me over and over as I have needed encouragement.  There have been many times that I have needed to be patient with God and have needed to take courage in him.

I love the honesty and brokenness that the Psalms convey as well.  Psalm 51 has been one of my favorites to turn to when I know that I have deeply grieved God’s heart and need to repent.  The heartfelt confession and repentance of David have been a great reminder in my life of what that looks life and have many times been the voice of my prayers.  The humility and desperation found in other Psalms has been a theme that I have latched onto many times.

On the other hand, the majestic acts of the Lord prod me to worship Him as I read the Psalms.  God in the Psalms is a God who forgives, a God who gives life, and a God who deserves our praise.  The words of the psalmist have many times been the praises that I have said or sung.  For example.  In Psalm 115 David writes, “not to us O Lord, but to your name be glory.”  The Lord is one who has power over Creation, he saved the people of Israel, and He formed me in my mother’s womb (Psalm 139).  How great is His name and He is worthy of all praise!

The comfort found in Psalms such as Psalm 57 has also been another helpful tool found in the Psalms.  God is seen as a God who cares for his people and his compassionate.  He is a rock, a fortress, a protector, a provider, and a Savior.  I love that He is the one who delivers from the enemy and the one who listens.  The psalmist’s desperation in crying out to God though in a time of need has been my prayer many times as well as I have needed comfort.  The Lord’s steadfast love has been the answer to this question as the psalmist records.

I love the passion the psalmist conveys for the Word of God as well.  He respects and diligently studies who God is and asks the Lord for wisdom and guidance.  This has been a necessary prayer of mine for all of my life. I need to be reminded of who I am and who God is.

At the end of the day I must end how the Psalms end (Psalm 150):

Praise the Lord!  Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!  Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!  Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!  Praise the Lord!

As we are training to ministers of the gospel, in churches all over the place, I think it important to take note of what happens in Exodus 4 and after. Moses is called by God to serve, but doesn’t feel adequate.  However, God has a plan for this inadequacy.  This is where Aaron comes in the picture….a man who is eloquent in speech, unlike Moses.

Moses and Aaron together are sent to talk to the elders, and to show the plans God has for the Israelites.

A great lesson can be learned from this.

A huge part of ministry is finding people to engage in serving alongside you.  Yes, God has given ministers of the gospel many gifts, but not all of them! Many “lay” people are just waiting for someone to engage them in service. So, this is the challenge set before us:  to minister to others, but also to minister alongside others.

It is an interesting read to go through Psalms in sequence.  What it did for me as I was reading was truly give me a taste for all of life…

When life is good and we are praising God out of the abundance He has given…

When things are dark and we are mindful of our sinful ways…

When there is real persecution around us…

When we see the wicked prospering…

As we look at all the different scenerios in the Psalms and in our lives, we are reminded that the human condition and/or situation has not changed.  So whatever the place we are in, Praise The LORD, for He is good, and His love endures forever.