THE LORD SPOKE (February 24)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: Numbers 5-6

It’s called the Priestly Benediction because the priests were instructed to pronounce this blessing over Israel:

The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.
(Num. 6:24-26)

Peace here is not the absence of war but a state of fullness, contentment, and well-being. Coming from the verb shalem (“to fill”) it has the basic idea of full satisfaction or completeness. Nothing is missing. Everything is in balance. It’s often used in Scripture in connection with spiritual wholeness. It can indicate the state of righteousness that can only come from the Lord.

That’s what makes this pronouncement such a blessing. To know the Lord’s gracious look and to sense His turning in our direction is the highest of joys. Why should He consider us? But He does. And with favor! To “find grace in the eyes of the Lord” gives a sense of fulfillment to which nothing else can compare!

Thou, my everlasting portion,
More than friend or life to me;
All along my pilgrim journey,
Savior, let me walk with Thee.

Not for ease or worldly pleasure,
Not for fame my pray shall be;
Gladly will I toil and suffer,
Only let me walk with Thee.

Lead me through the vale of shadows,
Bear me o’er life’s fitful sea;
Then the gate of life eternal
May I enter, Lord, with Thee.

Close to Thee, close to Thee,
Close to Thee, close to Thee,
Then the gate of life eternal
May I enter, Lord, with Thee.


New Testament: Luke 11

There it is again! Throughout Luke’s Gospel, Jesus places a high emphasis on hearing the Word of God and doing it. “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” (Lk. 11:28).

Just three chapters back He told the parable of the soils in which the emphasis is on how well each receptor listens. Remember, “the seed is the word of God” (Lk. 8:11) and each type of soil represents how different people hear it (vs. 12,13,14,15). That’s followed by Jesus’ pointed advice, “therefore, consider carefully how you listen” (Lk. 8:18). Then, to nail it home, He says, “my mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.” (Lk. 8:21).

Several other cases follow in chapters nine and ten, but perhaps the sharp reminder given to Peter at the Transfiguration (Lk. 9:28-36) is the most telling. When he starts jabbering, the voice from heaven reminds Peter with words to this effect: “You’re standing before my beloved Son! Shut up for a change and listen to Him!”

Now in chapter eleven, the Lord pronounces a blessing on those who hear and do according to His word. The hearing must be accompanied by doing. Merely hearing isn’t enough. True listening must result in action. The illustrations that immediately follow (Lk. 11:29-32) are powerful. A chosen prophet, Jonah, heard but didn’t do, while a wicked city, Nineveh, heard and followed God’s way. A foreigner, the Queen of Sheba, came from far to hear God’s word through Solomon, while those who were close, the people of Israel, didn’t heed his message. Both will rise up at the judgment to condemn the faulty listeners.

So where does that leave you and me? Jesus, referring to Himself, says that “one greater than Solomon” and “one greater than Jonah” has spoken. Are we careful to hear His words? More important, are we careful to obey them? “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” (Lk. 11:28).

THE LORD SPOKE (October 20)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Jeremiah 23-24

Jeremiah 23:28-29 - Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain? declares the Lord. “Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?

The truth of God’s Word is illustrated in this passage by three metaphors:

Grain - God’s Word is whole, integral, and weighty, as compared to chaff which is easily driven away by any little wisp of wind. How dare man mingle the chaff of his own dreams with the pure wheat of the Word of God. How many voices today tell us they have “a word from the Lord” when it’s nothing more than some frothy, charismatic “revelation”. In contrast, Scripture is food for the soul; the very bread of life.

Fire - God’s Word consumes evil. Just as fire can harden clay but soften wax, so the Word of God will work differently with different people. The same fire can consume dross but purify gold. The messenger of God’s Word may be to some “a savour of life unto life, to others of death unto death” (II Cor. 2:16).

Hammer - God’s Word breaks in pieces all false doctrine; it crushes and brings to repentance the man who resists its pressure. The unhumbled heart of man is like a rock; if it will not be melted by the Word of God as a fire, it will be broken to pieces by it, as with a hammer. Whatever opposition is given to the Word will be beaten down and broken to pieces.

The Anvil of God’s Word
John Clifford

I paused last eve beside the blacksmith’s door,
And heard the anvil ring...the vesper’s chime.
And looking in I saw upon the floor
Old hammers, worn with beating years of time.
“How many anvils have you had,” said I,
“To wear and batter all these hammers so?”
“Just one,” he answered. Then with twinkling eye:
“The anvil wears the hammers out, you know.”
And so, I thought, the anvil of God’s Word
For ages skeptics’ blows have beat upon.
But though the noise of falling blows was heard,
The anvil is unchanged - the hammers gone.

Psalms 67-68

If God were not gracious to us, where would we be? Psalm 67 begins with this most comforting thought:

May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us.
Psalm 67:1

Those words recall the “Priestly Benediction”:

The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.
Numbers 6:24-26

In 1979 two small silver amulets containing those words were found in a tomb in Jerusalem. They were something like good luck charms worn about the neck on a leather thong and had been buried with their owner after death. The amulets dated back to the mid-seventh century BC but the words were much older. Liberal scholarship, which follows the “JEDP Theory” on the composition of the Pentateuch, had arbitrarily assigned the passage to a so-called “P-document” or to the priestly traditions and dated it variously in the fifth, fourth, or even as late as the third century BC. The find in Jerusalem made such a theory patently false! Here was a key “priestly” passage used by common people as jewelry as early as the seventh century BC. This text was written into Scripture by Moses around 1400 BC and appears here in the psalter in a section probably compiled by David around 1000 BC.

It’s quite possible that this liturgical prayer (Ps. 67) was repeated by the people at the conclusion of worship, either just prior to or immediately after the Priestly Benediction (Num. 6). Using the name “Elohim” once, rather than “Yahweh” three times, it invokes God’s blessing and describes the results. The three stanzas (vs. 1-2, 4, and 5-6) are separated by a repeated refrain (vs. 3,5).

But, don’t let the historical and literary analysis get in the way of the message of the psalm. Let this be your prayer today:

O God, be gracious to me, bless me
and make Your face to shine upon me.