Jesus and the Davidic Covenant
The Third Day
Psalm 49:5-15
The Message
5-6 So why should I fear in bad times,
hemmed in by enemy malice,
Shoved around by bullies,
demeaned by the arrogant rich?
hemmed in by enemy malice,
Shoved around by bullies,
demeaned by the arrogant rich?
7-9 Really! There’s no such thing as self-rescue,
pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.
The cost of rescue is beyond our means,
and even then it doesn’t guarantee
Life forever, or insurance
against the Black Hole.
pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.
The cost of rescue is beyond our means,
and even then it doesn’t guarantee
Life forever, or insurance
against the Black Hole.
10-11 Anyone can see that the brightest and best die,
wiped out right along with fools and dunces.
They leave all their prowess behind,
move into their new home, The Coffin,
The cemetery their permanent address.
And to think they named counties after themselves!
wiped out right along with fools and dunces.
They leave all their prowess behind,
move into their new home, The Coffin,
The cemetery their permanent address.
And to think they named counties after themselves!
12 We aren’t immortal. We don’t last long.
Like our dogs, we age and weaken. And die.
Like our dogs, we age and weaken. And die.
13-15 This is what happens to those who live for the moment,
who only look out for themselves:
Death herds them like sheep straight to hell;
they disappear down the gullet of the grave;
They waste away to nothing—
nothing left but a marker in a cemetery.
But me? God snatches me from the clutch of death,
he reaches down and grabs me.
who only look out for themselves:
Death herds them like sheep straight to hell;
they disappear down the gullet of the grave;
They waste away to nothing—
nothing left but a marker in a cemetery.
But me? God snatches me from the clutch of death,
he reaches down and grabs me.
For Reflection
The
offense attacked and attacked again. Fear gripping them to the core,
"Defend to the death," the defenders cried, "Counter attack!" Power
against power, wealth against wealth.
Is this what life is, a constant never ending battle -- a descending death spiral -- or as E.L.Doctorow put it in his new novel, Andrew's Brain, our "pathetic intention to survive. Because, of course, [we] never do."
Christ has shown us the futility of capturing and commanding the material world. After all the threats, after all the bloodshed, after all the winning is done death ends it all.
Without God there is no survival. Without God death is the end of life both physically and figuratively.
Pray
for
the courage to take up the cross and follow Jesus. Pray to discover
God's will for your life in the Kingdom. Praise God for the risen
Christ.
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