Reading the Bible Together

The Passage for the Day

    “LORD, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. 15 You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today.

    16 “Now LORD, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me according to my law, as you have done.’ 17 And now, LORD, the God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David come true.

    18 “But will God really dwell on earth with human beings? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! 19 Yet, LORD my God, give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence. 20 May your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, this place of which you said you would put your Name there. May you hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. 21 Hear the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive.

    22 “When anyone wrongs their neighbor and is required to take an oath and they come and swear the oath before your altar in this temple, 23 then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty and bringing down on their heads what they have done, and vindicating the innocent by treating them in accordance with their innocence.

    24 “When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you and when they turn back and give praise to your name, praying and making supplication before you in this temple, 25 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their ancestors.

    26 “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, 27 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.

    28 “When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when enemies besiege them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, 29 and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel—being aware of their afflictions and pains, and spreading out their hands toward this temple— 30 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive, and deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know the human heart), 31 so that they will fear you and walk in obedience to you all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors.

    32 “As for foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel but have come from a distant land because of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple, 33 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.

    34 “When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to you toward this city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name, 35 then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.

    36 “When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to a land far away or near; 37 and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong and acted wickedly’; 38 and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their captivity where they were taken, and pray toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and toward the temple I have built for your Name; 39 then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their pleas, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people, who have sinned against you.

    40 “Now, my God, may your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.

    41 “Now arise, LORD God, and come to your resting place, 
       you and the ark of your might. 
       May your priests, LORD God, be clothed with salvation, 
       may your faithful people rejoice in your goodness.

    42 LORD God, do not reject your anointed one. 
       Remember the great love promised to David your servant.”

Points of interest:

• ‘You have kept your promise to your servant David my father’—again, we have a large time gap between passages.  Since our last passage, the Israelites have spent 40 years wandering in the desert, and then begun the long, slow process of taking possession of the Promised Land.  This is perhaps—particularly to modern readers—the most disturbing part of the Bible’s story of God and the nations, because the land God has promised to the Israelites is actually possessed by other people.  Under God’s clear and specific instructions, the Israelites drive out, subjugate, and in some cases completely destroy this other group of nations, the Canaanites. Even here, there are signs that things aren’t quite as simple as God loving the Israelites and hating everyone else.  For one thing, we get hints that being an Israelite isn’t entirely a matter of physical descent from Jacob.  Many non-Israelite slaves and perhaps even Egyptians end up joining with the Israelites (Exodus 12:37); and the Bible makes a point of telling us that Moses’ own wife and two of the ancestors of Israel’s royal family (Rahab and Ruth) are not Israelites by birth, but are fully included in Abraham’s promises.  Also, it seems there is more going on between God and the Canaanites than God simply shoving the Canaanites aside to make room for the Israelites.  Apparently, the Canaanites are a pretty corrupt group, and God has been warning them for some time to put a halt to their injustice and wickedness (Genesis 15:16).  When those warnings go unheeded, God uses the Israelites to punish the Canaanites.  In this regard, God tells the Israelites that they are, in fact, just like the Canaanites; if the Israelites neglect treating God, one another, and strangers well, they too could find the same thing happening to them (Deuteronomy 8: 19-20). These nuances don’t completely allay my discomfort at what happens to the Canaanites, but it does help quite a bit to know that God isn’t acting arbitrarily, or simply out of a blind preference for the Israelites. In any case, moving back toward today’s passage, it is during the time of David that the possession of the Promised Land is finally completed.  David starts out as a shepherd, but ends up becoming the greatest king the Israelites will ever have.  Among other things, David is known as a passionate lover of God, and it’s David’s biggest dream in life to build God a temple.  Ever since the departure from Egypt (perhaps 400 years earlier), the center of Israelite worship had been a tent.  To honor God, and to commemorate the fact that the Israelites have fully moved into their land, David wants to move God from the tent into a more permanent dwelling.  God in essence replies, ‘That’s very nice of you, David, but it’s more important that I build your house (i.e. establish your dynasty) than that you build mine.  Maybe your son will get the chance to build a house for me.‘  David’s son Solomon does in fact build a temple.  This passage is Solomon’s prayer of dedication when the temple is complete.
•  ‘But will God really dwell on earth with human beings?’—Solomon starts this prayer by recognizing that God does not, in fact, live in the temple.  God doesn’t need a roof over his head.  The temple is meant to be a symbol of God’s presence, not an actual place for God to live.  The Israelites often have a hard time remembering this fact.
•  ‘As for foreigners’—when you think about it, this is fairly remarkable.  This place is meant to be the center of the Israelite’s religious life and, in fact, of their entire national identity.  In my experience, places like this are usually built entirely for the people who are already in the club.  But from the beginning, Solomon has the expectation that there will be a flow of visitors to this temple.
•   ‘so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel’—again, as we saw with Abram, the temple is in Israel, but it’s not only for Israel.  Here’s Solomon’s plan:

1. When Israelites come to this temple to pray, they will actually meet a living God who answers prayer;
2. News of this amazing place where prayers are answered will spread beyond their borders;
3.  Strangers will come to see if these rumors are true, and they too will meet God and have their prayers answers;
4. And they will spread the word until the whole world knows of this living, prayer-answering God.

Taking it home:

• For you: Do you feel like God has made you any promises recently?  Take a moment to remind God of those promises, and ask him to fulfill them.
• For your six: It seems that even people who don’t really believe in prayer can occasionally find themselves praying, sometimes out of sheer desperation.  Pray that if any of your non-praying six do step out in prayer, for whatever reason, God would quickly answer them.
• For America: David initiated the building of the temple, but it was Solomon who finished it.  Often, a nation’s most important projects take more than one generation to accomplish.  Today, choose one of our nation’s overwhelming, long-term projects: improving public education, re-forming healthcare or social security, or decreasing carbon emissions for instance.  Pray that the generations now living would start a good foundation for future generations to build on, even though we may very well not see the end results.

John Testifies Again About Jesus

²² After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. ²³ Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. ²⁴ (This was before John was put in prison.) ²⁵ An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. ²⁶ They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

²⁷ To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given from heaven. ²⁸ You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ ²⁹ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. ³⁰ He must become greater; I must become less.”

³¹ The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. ³² He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. ³³ The person who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. ³⁴ For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. ³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. ³⁶ Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.

¹¹ Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

¹² For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ¹³ Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Jesus the Great High Priest

¹⁴ Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. ¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Fear the LORD

¹² And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, ¹³ and to observe the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?

¹⁴ To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. ¹⁵ Yet the LORD set his affection on your ancestors and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations—as it is today. ¹⁶ Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. ¹⁷ For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. ¹⁸ He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigners residing among you, giving them food and clothing. ¹⁹ And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. ²⁰ Fear the LORD your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. ²¹ He is your praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. ²² Your ancestors who went down into Egypt were seventy in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A maskil of David. When the Ziphites had gone to Saul and said, “Is not David hiding among us?”

¹ Save me, O God, by your name;
vindicate me by your might.

² Hear my prayer, O God;
listen to the words of my mouth.

³ Arrogant foes are attacking me;
ruthless people seek my life—
people without regard for God.

⁴ Surely God is my help;
the Lord is the one who sustains me.

⁵ Let evil recoil on those who slander me;
in your faithfulness destroy them.

⁶ I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you;
I will praise your name, LORD, for it is good.

⁷ You have delivered me from all my troubles,
and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.