THE LORD SPOKE (August 12)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: Psalms 43-48

Natural disasters and national disasters. We’ve seen them both in recent years. Psalm 46:2-3 reads like our daily newspaper - earthquakes, tsunamis, broken dikes and flooding. The only thing that bumps the natural disasters off the front page occasionally is the news of national disasters - whole countries falling apart, wars and rumors of war. Psalm 46:6 refers to that when it says, “Nations are in uproar.”

Frustration with the state of world affairs naturally affects us but they’re pretty easy to block out if they’re happening thousands of miles away. It’s when my private world is in an uproar that I can’t ignore the news. It’s when bad things happen in my own back yard that I can’t just wish them away. I have to deal with them and this psalm tells me how:

Ps. 46:1 - Look to God for help. It’s okay to run and hide when you seek Him as your refuge.

Ps. 46:4-5 - Remember what great things He has done for you and then trust Him for the present moment and for the future.

Ps. 46:10 - Calm down, be quiet, and repeat the process.

Be still! Good advice for our crazy world. Charles Swindoll says, “It means saying no to more and more activities that increase the speed of our squirrel cage.”

It was this psalm that inspired Martin Luther’s great expression of faith, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”. When his private world came crashing down he hid away in Wartburg Castle and found solace in the God of Jacob. The many months he spent being still and listening to God gave him the fortitude necessary to face even greater battles.

And tho this world, with devils filled,
Should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph thru us.
The prince of darkness grim
We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure,
For lo! his doom is sure -
One little word shall fell him.


New Testament: I Peter 2

“Rocky” was the nickname Jesus gave him. Peter’s name (Petros) comes from petra, “rock” in Greek. Cephas was the Aramaic equivalent (Jn. 1:42).

There were times when Peter was anything but a rock. His impulsiveness often got him into trouble. On the other hand, he was the only one to get out of the boat when the storm was raging and the only one to stay close to Jesus in Caiaphas’ courtyard that last night.

Later on Peter liked to talk about rocks - like in this chapter. Quoting from Isaiah and Psalms, he drew attention to several texts using “stone”, “cornerstone”, and “capstone”. It’s popular today among scholars to play down such messianic references but not so with Peter. He says, “to you who believe, this stone is precious” (I Pet. 2:7). A couple verses earlier Peter refers to Jesus Christ as “the living Stone” and encourages his readers to be built into a spiritual house “like living stones”. Jesus is the solid foundation upon which those living stones are built up into a spiritual building that exalts Him. It displays the holiness of God.

Peter uses four quick descriptors for this function. He says we are (1) a chosen people, (2) a royal priesthood, (3) a holy nation, and (4) a people belonging to God. In an obvious reference to the Jewish people of the Old Testament, he says of Gentile believers today: “Once you were not a people but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (I Pet. 2:10).

The design and orientation of this spiritual house is determined by the Lord Jesus, the Cornerstone. The whole body of believers have become a “holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. What are those sacrifices?

• our bodies dedicated to Him (Rom. 12:11)
• a life of love (Eph. 5:1-2)
• faith (Phil. 2:17)
• offerings of money or material goods (Phil. 4:18)
• praise to God (Heb. 13:15)
• good deeds (Heb. 13:16)

With such sacrifices, He is well-pleased.