Psalm 58
Miktam of David.
Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?
Do you judge the children of man uprightly?
2 No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
your hands deal out violence on earth.
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb;
they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
4 They have venom like the venom of a serpent,
like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
5 so that it does not hear the voice of charmers
or of the cunning enchanter.
6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths;
tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!
7 Let them vanish like water that runs away;
when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted.
8 Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime,
like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.
9 Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,
whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!
10 The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
surely there is a God who judges on earth.”
My first thought at looking at this is the various ways lions are used in Scripture.
However, more importantly we should compare and contrast Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. I don't know about you, but foot washing is not my favorite thing. Much less feet of sandal wearing men walking through the city where sanitation is iffy.
You can fully understand Peter saying during supper, "Um Lord, you don't want to wash my feet." Jews following kosher rules lived well into their fifties, even in the time of David, when un-kosher countries in the iron age where dying in their 20s, if they were lucky.
Jesus is really entering the fray to un-kosher wash their feet during the meal. And you have to hand it to Peter, he knew meeting Jesus when he said - paraphrased "Oh my God! Get away from me. Not only are you scary, I'm not that good a man." Now, Peter's house in Capernaum tells us Peter was next door, front and center, good real estate, next to the Synagogue. Peter owned a fleet supporting the house - with the grand view of the Sea of Galilee. Peter, not only was astute, he was literate, and he knew what God and the Ark of the Covenant did to sinners. You have to smile at the idea of being in a boat with Jesus Christ HIMSELF and seeing other boats begin to sink. And he says "Oh my G o d, get away from me, I'm not that great. Bye." Of course, Peter seeing the boats sinking says this with a mind to make this GOD happy:
Luke 5:10
But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
When you think of prosperous Peter sitting in the middle of his fleet and business is so good the ships start to sink. You realize you've just witnessed an X-Men Movie type of really fine analogy to God's Church. And Peter is astounded. How can you help but smile. Me, if I'd been sitting there I would have been open mouthed and said, "Cool! Jesus, I'm in." And had the smarts not to hold on to the new Ark of the Covenant. I might have been worried that if He looked too hard, I was sunk.
So Peter is repeating this astuteness, saying - don't wash my feet. Jesus is saying He is willing to wash our feet. And wash the pollution we wade in from our lives. He is going to serve us - to sever the muck from us. This is more important than Jesus walking on the water. This is far more costly to
Jesus Christ, the Messiah, The Son of the Most High GOD.
We take our pollution and we see David, who understood this portion of life so well. And we think about how God is willing to answer our prayers. And the criticism of God being judgmental. How many of us are willing to get on a cross and die for humanity. We are a lot like lions. We take care of our young and provide for them. And on any given Sunday, we look pretty cute doing that. Then we rush off to little league and act like the lion willing to eat the other lion's son for getting in the way of ours. David knew both what it was to have our prayers answered like Psalm 8 saying we are lower than gods. What is man that Thou art mindful of him. And we act like lions.
1 Samuel 17:36
"Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”
Solomon used lions on his throne.
1 Kings 10:18
Then the king made a great throne inlaid with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them.
Life is like a lion roller-coaster. How unworthy we are to judge HIM for judging us.
Only in Jesus Christ the LORD, do we find utter goodness. We forget there was time when some of 72 disciples walked away. It was too difficult. Peter was more honest.
John 6:68
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."
Revelation 5:5
And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Like South Africa, and others Rwanda, peace is found in the forgiveness. Only available in HIM.
Isaiah 11:6
The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.
<>< The Words of Life !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment