Creating, collecting, and sharing thoughts and ideas. And learning along the way.
“We are…ministers, not messiahs”
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2 CHRONICLES 8:11-10:19 | ROMANS 8:9-25 | PSALM 18:16-36 | PROVERBS 19:26
The Temple is completed, and Solomon becomes well-established as a good and wise king, endowed with all the wealth and wisdom promised to him by the Lord. His fame spreads far and wide, and we learn of the Queen of Sheba, presumably modern day Ethiopia, who comes to pay him a state visit.
She is much impressed by her host and her visit, and says this to Solomon: “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. 6 But I did not believe what they said until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half the greatness of your wisdom was told me; you have far exceeded the report I heard. 7 How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! 8 Praise be to the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on his throne as king to rule for the LORD your God. Because of the love of your God for Israel and his desire to uphold them forever, he has made you king over them, to maintain justice and righteousness.”
The text also tells us this: 22 King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. 23 All the kings of the earth sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart.
This is a summarized account of Solomon’s life and times. Like his father David, Solomon also ruled for forty years as king of Israel, and when he died, his son Rehoboam was appointed king.
And so begins the life and times of Rehoboam, a man who unfortunately does not start out his reign in a wise way; rather, he starts it out with by antagonizing Jeroboam and his followers, a group in the northern part of the kingdom who consider this the final straw on the camel’s back, and openly revolt against Rehoboam, appoint Jeroboam as king of Israel (as opposed to Rehoboam who will from now on be known as king of Judah), and secede from the union in the northern territories.
This is the defining event that sets the course of history for the grave split between Israel and Judah. As we have already learned from the book of Kings and other sources, it is Jeroboam who has the distinct infamy of being the one to introduce the golden calves as symbols of God, enjoining the people to worship these idols and not to go down to the Temple in Jerusalem.
This is the man who introduces and ingrains idol worship so deeply into the people’s minds, that for many hundreds of years to come, we see how the kings of Israel remain steeped in their practices of idolatry with a variety of gods, including the more well-known one called Baal.
Turning now to our continued reading in the book of Romans, we find Paul offering a simple cause-and-effect type of logic in comparing and contrasting the life of the flesh and the spirit. Paul says, 9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
So great is this concept of the Spirit residing within us, that we ought rejoice in this wondrous gift that we are endowed with. Paul explains: 14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Next, Paul speaks to the matter of present suffering as juxtaposed with the hope of future glory that awaits each one of us that believes. And as for the matter of hope itself, he puts it in so beautiful a way, when he says, 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
Turning now to our psalm for the day, we continue with Psalm 18, and find David, the poet-warrior-king, waxing eloquent on the great love, mercies, and provision of God Almighty. David says, referring to God:
16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the LORD was my support.
19 He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.
He goes on to offer praise and thanksgiving by way of these beautiful confidence-building words that would behoove us to repeat even today:
27 You save the humble
but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.
28 You, LORD, keep my lamp burning;
my God turns my darkness into light.
29 With your help I can advance against a troop;
with my God I can scale a wall.
Like David, I also wish to speak these words with the same level of confidence and courage as they read here:
32 It is God who arms me with strength
and keeps my way secure.
33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
he causes me to stand on the heights.
34 He trains my hands for battle;
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 You make your saving help my shield,
and your right hand sustains me;
your help has made me great.
36 You provide a broad path for my feet,
so that my ankles do not give way.
Finally, one verse from the book of Proverbs that is undoubtedly true, as penned by Solomon, the wise king:
26 Whoever robs their father and drives out their mother
is a child who brings shame and disgrace.
May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word.
“Mommy, why aren’t the lights out already?”
My Snack of Choice at the Movies 
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2 CHRONICLES 6:12-8:10 | ROMANS 7:14-8:8 | PSALM 18:1-15 | PROVERBS 19:24-25
The temple has been built, and Solomon has done well in erecting it in the exact manner as instructed by his father, David. But beyond the success of raising up this grand temple, Solomon does even better in the prayer that he offers up.
We saw how Solomon had already established the litany of “He is good; his love endures forever” in appointing singers to offer up this simple song of praise in the Temple at all times.
But beyond this, Solomon himself goes into the Temple to offer up a prayer on behalf of his people.
He says this in all humility: 18 “But will God really dwell on earth with humans? 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.
Solomon’s prayer is a long one, and he goes on to make intercession on behalf of his people. It is as if he is predicting the very nature of his people’s actions into the future, and the consequences that will befall them when he says to the Lord: 6 “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.
In this way, Solomon dedicates the Temple to the Lord.
Turning now to our reading in the book of Romans, we find that Paul is voicing a human dilemma that transcends time and place.
He is speaking of the nature of our humanness in relation to the Law when he says: 14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
But in case you despair about the futility of it all, Paul follows that up with this reassurance, 1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
And in line with this, Paul is exhorting us to live a life governed not of the flesh but of the spirit when he says this: 5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
Turning now to our psalm for the day, we find David, the poet-king, using the magnificent imagery of nature to personify the majesty of the Lord God Almighty. But the relationship that David has with his God is not an impersonal one to be described only in these majestic terms; it is, in fact, a most personal one that allows the psalmist to call the Lord by so many names. David says:
1 I love you, LORD, my strength.
2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Finally, a verse from the book of Proverbs that offers some no-nonsense advice—that may or may not be viable in this day and age, at least not the part about flogging anyone! Solomon, the writer, says this:
25 Flog a mocker, and the simple will learn prudence;
rebuke the discerning, and they will gain knowledge.
May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word.
Gobi Paratha: The New All-American Lunch 
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2 CHRONICLES 4:1-6:11 | ROMANS 7:1-13 | PSALM 17:1-15 | PROVERBS 19:22-23
Turning now to our reading in the book of Romans, we find Paul continuing with his dissertation on the concept of the Law. Today, he is putting a fine point on the purpose of the Law: it is to illuminate the matter of sin. Were it not for the Law, we would not be aware of having broken the Law, i.e., to have sinned.
It is not the Law that is sinful, nay, it is so pure and perfect that it is unattainable. Which is why the concept of Grace was even introduced.
Paul says, 7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.
Next, we turn to our psalm for the day, and find one that is an emotionally-charged one, penned most likely by David during his darkest hour. Would that we might also have the same level of confidence in asking of the Lord in our hour of need. David says:
6 I call on you, my God, for you will answer me;
turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.
7 Show me the wonders of your great love,
you who save by your right hand
those who take refuge in you from their foes.
8 Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings.
And like David, may it be that we might also have the confidence to predict our own outcome in this way:
15 As for me, I will be vindicated and will see your face;
when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.
Finally, two beautiful verses from the book of Proverbs that capture essential truths. The “fear” that Solomon, the wise king of Israel, refers to is a variation of deep love and respect. May it be that we cultivate this kind of fear of the Lord.
22 What a person desires is unfailing love;
better to be poor than a liar.
23 The fear of the LORD leads to life;
then one rests content, untouched by trouble.
May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word.
Late Night Snack in Order: Making Late Night Great Again 
