Psalms 4:9 (4:8)
I will both sleep and rest in peace,
For You alone, O Lord, cause me to dwell in hope.
Encouraging Words
Our Lord loves us and cares for us. He has always been true to His promises. We can be at peace in all aspects of our lives if we truly believe this and have faith in Him rather than the world. Glory be to God!
Psalms 4:2
You heard me when I called, O God of my righteousness.
You strengthened my heart when I was in distress;
Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.
Encouraging Words
Throughout the history of mankind, we see over and over again where God always responds when we call upon Him. The reason we seldom see Him respond is that we really do not call out to Him. We have created a culture where we call out to everything but God for our help and support. If we do not truly know Him then how can we see His hand at work in our lives? Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!
1 Kingdoms 7:3 (1 Samuel 7:3)
Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the Lord with all your hearts, if you put away the foreign gods and the sacred groves from among you, and if you prepare your hearts for the Lord and serve Him alone, He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.”
Personal Challenge
In our modern-day, it may sound strange to tell people to put away their foreign gods and the sacred groves from among us. We may not have these in the same manner as the Jews did in the day of Samuel, but we do have things in our lives that we treat as gods and put before our Lord. It may be the stuff that we have poured our wealth and our hearts into. It may be those sports or other events that we put before participating in our church activities. We must be careful to look into our lives to identify those things that we put above our God and put them away from us so that we can serve our God unencumbered. Only then will we see His hand of deliverance. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!
Psalms 3:4-7 (3-4)
But You, O Lord, are my protector,
My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
I cried to the Lord with my voice,
And He heard me from His holy hill. (Pause)
I lay down and slept;
I awoke, for the Lord will help me.
I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people
Who set themselves against me all around.
Encouraging Words
I love how David loves the Lord. In his psalms, he both praises his God and argues with Him. His relationship with his God is intimate to the point that God called him a man after His own heart. And yes, David was still a human like the rest of us. He sinned and failed his God. But he always ran back to Him for His forgiveness. We can do the same, by doing this on a regular and consistent basis, we too will see God as our protector, the One who lifts our head, the One whom we can cry out to knowing that He will hear our voice and respond. He is our God and we are His children. Glory be to God!
Psalm 1:1-3
Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the way of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the troublesome;
But his will is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree
Planted by streams of waters,
That produces its fruit in its season;
And his leaf shall not wither,
And whatever he does shall prosper.
Encouraging Words
Don’t we all want to be considered blessed in the eyes of our God and in the considerations of our neighbors? Here the Psalmist provides the formula for being considered a blessed person. We are to avoid walking in the counsel of ungodly people, to avoid sinful ways, and not hang around with troublesome people. Instead, we are to align our wills with the will of God and meditate on Him and His precepts day and night. By living this way we will be like the tree planted next to a stream; vibrant, refreshed, growing, and fruitful. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!
3 Maccabees 3:3-5
The Jews, though, maintained their goodwill and unswerving faith toward the throne. But because they worshiped God and lived by His precepts, they kept themselves separate from others with regard to food, and therefore appeared hateful to some. But they adorned their way of life with the good deeds of righteous people, and thus established themselves as honorable to all men.
Personal Challenge
At this point in time in the Maccabees, the rebellion by the Jews has been thwarted and they are once again under the rule of a foreign nation. They had a history of giving themselves over to foreign gods and then suffering the consequences of separation from their loving God. Don’t we do the same today? Even in the midst of all of that, including threats from the leaders that they are under, this group chooses to live in a way that showed their love for their God, our God, and their commitment to His ways. By doing this, they were perceived as honorable to all men. We too can live this way in this world around us. We can live for Christ and by His teachings. We can love our God and our neighbor, even when it is difficult and different from everyone around us. We can adorn our lives with good deeds in order to glorify God.
2 Maccabees 8:18
“For they trust in arms and bold acts,” he said, “but we trust in Almighty God, who with only one nod is able to overthrow both those who come against us and the entire world.”
Personal Challenge
One of the joys of reading the Old Testament is to see how many times the people of old were rescued or redeemed because they recognized their sin, turned from it, and put their trust in God. Our God is trustworthy, even if we are not. We have come to a point where we put more trust in our government, our job, or the wealth that we have been given by God. All of this is fleeting and not trustworthy. We need to let go of these things of the world and hold onto our God alone. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!
2 Maccabees 6:24-28
“For to pretend such things,” he said, “is not worthy of our time of life, lest many of the young should suppose that Eleazar in his ninetieth year has gone over to a foreign religion, and because of my pretense for the sake of living a brief moment longer, they should be led astray through me, while I earn only pollution and defilement in my old age. For even if for the present I should avoid the punishment of men, yet whether I live or die, I shall not escape the hands of the Almighty. Therefore by manfully giving up my life now, I will show myself worthy of my old age, and leave to the young a noble example of how to die a good death willingly and bravely for the venerable and holy laws.”
After he said this, he went straight to the rack,
Personal Challenge
The days of the Maccabees was a very dark time for the nation of Israel. Israel has been oppressed and occupied by the Hellenists for quite some time now. The Maccabees have risen up from the ranks of Israel and started rebelling against these oppressors who are trying to wipe out their religious beliefs and their worship of their God, JAHWEH. Eleazar, a 90-year-old Maccabean, has been chosen by the Hellenists to publicly reject his God by eating forbidden food. The punishment for not doing this will be death on the rack. Surely, at the age of 90, he has nothing to lose by submitting? However, he knows that it is more important to show the young men coming up behind him the integrity of living a life for God than submitting to the threat of death. Would I do the same? This passage is his final statement of His love for his God and the importance of giving your all for Him. And then he walks up to the rack to give his life as a noble example. Glory be to God in all things.
1 Maccabees 3:18-19
Then Judas said, “It is easy to hem in many at the hands of a few, and it makes no difference before heaven to save with many or with few. For victory in battle does not come from the size of the army, but from the might of heaven.”
Encouraging Words
Do we really believe this as Christians today? Do we believe that the army of heaven that we cannot see, touch, or hear is far more powerful and victorious than any army or power that this world can muster up? I am not sure that we believe this the way that we should, for if we did, our lives and the lives of those around us would be changed forever. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!
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