I Trusted in Your Steadfast Love

God's Prophets Demand Justice
Amos Rails against Injustice

Micah Calls for Justice among Unjust People


God Shows Clemency

Psalm 13  The Message

A David Psalm

13 ^1-2 Long enough, God—
    you’ve ignored me long enough.
I’ve looked at the back of your head
    long enough. Long enough
I’ve carried this ton of trouble,
    lived with a stomach full of pain.
Long enough my arrogant enemies
    have looked down their noses at me.

^3-4 Take a good look at me, God, my God;
    I want to look life in the eye,
So no enemy can get the best of me
    or laugh when I fall on my face.

^5-6 I’ve thrown myself headlong into your arms—
    I’m celebrating your rescue.
I’m singing at the top of my lungs,
    I’m so full of answered prayers.

For Reflection 

I suppose there are times when each of us feels abandoned.  The despair of facing the world alone pressures us.  In the face of such pressures we sometimes falter.  David is facing such a time.  He honestly opens his feelings to God. Critical, yes, but confident that God will hear his petition, David does not bargain with God.  Rather, David praises God for God's blessings and confesses his devotion.

Pray

In times of trouble remember to God the blessings God has given.  Remember your devotion to the only one who can save you.  Remember and celebrate the relationship you have.  Pray prayers that are honest and authentic.

You Have Blessed My Enemies

God's Prophets Demand Justice
Amos Rails against Injustice

Micah Calls for Justice among Unjust People


Justice, Love, and Humility

Numbers 23:1-12 The Message

23 Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and then prepare seven bulls and seven rams.”

² Balak did it. Then Balaam and Balak sacrificed a bull and a ram on each of the altars.
³ Balaam instructed Balak: “Stand watch here beside your Whole-Burnt-Offering while I go off by myself. Maybe God will come and meet with me. Whatever he shows or tells me, I’ll report to you.” Then he went off by himself.

⁴ God did meet with Balaam. Balaam said, “I’ve set up seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.”

⁵ Then God gave Balaam a message: “Return to Balak and give him this message.”
^6-10 He went back and found him stationed beside his Whole-Burnt-Offering and with him all the nobles of Moab. Then Balaam spoke his message-oracle:

Balak led me here from Aram,
    the king of Moab all the way from the eastern mountains.
“Go, curse Jacob for me;
    go, damn Israel.”
How can I curse whom God has not cursed?
    How can I damn whom God has not damned?
From rock pinnacles I see them,
    from hilltops I survey them:
Look! a people camping off by themselves,
    thinking themselves outsiders among nations.
But who could ever count the dust of Jacob
    or take a census of cloud-of-dust Israel?
I want to die like these right-living people!
    I want an end just like theirs!

¹¹ Balak said to Balaam, “What’s this? I brought you here to curse my enemies, and all you’ve done is bless them.”

¹² Balaam answered, “Don’t I have to be careful to say what God gives me to say?”

For Reflection 

Balak thought that he could manipulate God through Balaam. Through Balaam,  Balak thought that he could have God support his own ends.  But God allowed Balak to think his misguided design would succeed and let the natural course of events play out until God turned Balak's endeavors into failures.  Having waited until the moment of selfish satisfaction and in the midst of Balak's followers, God blesses Balak's enemies.  God's blessing now trivializes Balak's Godless endeavors.

Pray

prayers of thanksgiving for the living God whose victory prevails.  Pray that you will travel with God in confidence that your role in God's plan is pivotal to the realization of the Kingdom of God.  Pray for your willful participation.

Speak Only What I Tell You

God's Prophets Demand Justice
Amos Rails against Injustice

Micah Calls for Justice among Unjust People


Justice, Love, and Humility

Numbers 22:31-38  The Message

³¹ Then God helped Balaam see what was going on: He saw God’s angel blocking the way, brandishing a sword. Balaam fell to the ground, his face in the dirt.
^32-33 God’s angel said to him: “Why have you beaten your poor donkey these three times? I have come here to block your way because you’re getting way ahead of yourself. The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she hadn’t, I would have killed you by this time, but not the donkey. I would have let her off.”
³⁴ Balaam said to God’s angel, “I have sinned. I had no idea you were standing in the road blocking my way. If you don’t like what I’m doing, I’ll head back.”
³⁵ But God’s angel said to Balaam, “Go ahead and go with them. But only say what I tell you to say—absolutely no other word.”
And so Balaam continued to go with Balak’s nobles.

³⁶ When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him in the Moabite town that was on the banks of the Arnon, right on the boundary of his land.

³⁷ Balak said to Balaam, “Didn’t I send an urgent message for help? Why didn’t you come when I called? Do you think I can’t pay you enough?”
³⁸ Balaam said to Balak, “Well, I’m here now. But I can’t tell you just anything. I can speak only words that God gives me—no others.”

For Reflection 

Just as God was in Balaam, God is in you.  God will never abandon you.  Even if you , like Balaam are caught in a seduction of selfish desire.  God will turn you into righteousness.

Pray

Pray that you will be on the alert for God Whispers.  Pray that you will follow God's plan for your life.  Praise God for saving you from the errors of your own ways.

Do Only What I Tell You

God's Prophets Demand Justice
Amos Rails against Injustice

Micah Calls for Justice among Unjust People


Justice, Love, and Humility

Numbers 22:15-23  The Message

^15-17 Balak sent another group of nobles, higher ranking and more distinguished. They came to Balaam and said, “Balak son of Zippor says, ‘Please, don’t refuse to come to me. I will honor and reward you lavishly—anything you tell me to do, I’ll do; I’ll pay anything—only come and curse this people.’”
^18-19 Balaam answered Balak’s servants: “Even if Balak gave me his house stuffed with silver and gold, I wouldn’t be able to defy the orders of my God to do anything, whether big or little. But come along and stay with me tonight as the others did; I’ll see what God will say to me this time.”
²⁰ God came to Balaam that night and said, “Since these men have come all this way to see you, go ahead and go with them. But make sure you do absolutely nothing other than what I tell you.”
^21-23 Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went off with the noblemen from Moab. As he was going, though, God’s anger flared. The angel of God stood in the road to block his way. Balaam was riding his donkey, accompanied by his two servants. When the donkey saw the angel blocking the road and brandishing a sword, she veered off the road into the ditch. Balaam beat the donkey and got her back on the road.

 

For Reflection 

Balaam recognized the authority of God and deferred to God's judgment.  However, Balaam was still moved by the offer of power and wealth.  God saw this and granted permission to travel.  But, as they traveled closer to Moab, God saw Balaam slipping into the grip of Balak's seduction.   The strength of Balaam's resolve to accept Balak's reward was indicated by the violent reaction to his donkey's refusal to continue.  Balaam was slipping into sin, separating himself from God. 

We all have weak spots that can lead us to choose to follow a path that would separate us from God.  What seduces you?

Pray

that you will not weaken in your resolve to obey God.  Pray that when confronted by seductive options, you will choose to follow God.

The Word of the Lord Speaks

God's Prophets Demand Justice
Amos Rails against Injustice

Micah Calls for Justice among Unjust People


Justice, Love, and Humility

Numbers 22:1-14  The Message

Balaam

22 The People of Israel marched on and camped on the Plains of Moab at Jordan-Jericho.

^2-3 Balak son of Zippor learned of all that Israel had done to the Amorites. The people of Moab were in a total panic because of Israel. There were so many of them! They were terrorized.
^4-5 Moab spoke to the leaders of Midian: “Look, this mob is going to clean us out—a bunch of crows picking a carcass clean.”
Balak son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, sent emissaries to get Balaam son of Beor, who lived at Pethor on the banks of the Euphrates River, his homeland.
^5-6 Balak’s emissaries said, “Look. A people has come up out of Egypt, and they’re all over the place! And they’re pressing hard on me. Come and curse them for me—they’re too much for me. Maybe then I can beat them; we’ll attack and drive them out of the country. You have a reputation: Those you bless stay blessed; those you curse stay cursed.”
^7-8 The leaders of Moab and Midian were soon on their way, with the fee for the cursing tucked safely in their wallets. When they got to Balaam, they gave him Balak’s message.
“Stay here for the night,” Balaam said. “In the morning I’ll deliver the answer that God gives me.”
The Moabite nobles stayed with him.
⁹ Then God came to Balaam. He asked, “So who are these men here with you?”
^10-11 Balaam answered, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent them with a message: ‘Look, the people that came up out of Egypt are all over the place! Come and curse them for me. Maybe then I’ll be able to attack and drive them out of the country.’”
¹² God said to Balaam, “Don’t go with them. And don’t curse the others—they are a blessed people.”
¹³ The next morning Balaam got up and told Balak’s nobles, “Go back home; God refuses to give me permission to go with you.”
¹⁴ So the Moabite nobles left, came back to Balak, and said, “Balaam wouldn’t come with us.”

For Reflection 

The Moabites had resolved to ruin the Israelites.  They had forsaken the religion of their father Lot. Yet, out of the remains of the religion of Abraham, Balaam appeals to God to curse the Israelites.  God answers Balaam's appeal and advises him.  Balaam takes the advice and follows it.  Balaam seems to return to God what is God's.

God always finds the worthy in unworthy places.  God always anticipates the unanticipated solutions to result in bolstering the faith of those who are within God's sphere.  Only God knows whom is to be blessed and only God can bless.

Pray

prayers of thanksgiving for God's justice.  Pray that you will find love at the root of your just actions.  Pray that you will find unanticipated responses to the conflicts you face.

What Does the Lord Require?

God's Prophets Demand Justice
Amos Rails against Injustice

Micah Calls for Justice among Unjust People


Justice, Love, and Humility

Deuteronomy 10:12-22  The Message

^12-13 So now Israel, what do you think God expects from you? Just this: Live in his presence in holy reverence, follow the road he sets out for you, love him, serve God, your God, with everything you have in you, obey the commandments and regulations of God that I’m commanding you today—live a good life.

^14-18 Look around you: Everything you see is God’s—the heavens above and beyond, the Earth, and everything on it. But it was your ancestors who God fell in love with; he picked their children—that’s you!—out of all the other peoples. That’s where we are right now. So cut away the thick calluses from your heart and stop being so willfully hardheaded. God, your God, is the God of all gods, he’s the Master of all masters, a God immense and powerful and awesome. He doesn’t play favorites, takes no bribes, makes sure orphans and widows are treated fairly, takes loving care of foreigners by seeing that they get food and clothing.

^19-21 You must treat foreigners with the same loving care—
        remember, you were once foreigners in Egypt.
    Reverently respect God, your God, serve him, hold tight to him,
        back up your promises with the authority of his name.
    He’s your praise! He’s your God!
    He did all these tremendous, these staggering things
        that you saw with your own eyes.

²² When your ancestors entered Egypt, they numbered a mere seventy souls. And now look at you—you look more like the stars in the night skies in number. And your God did it.

For Reflection 

Worship: 
        Step One!

Praise God.  In what ways are you blessed by God?  For that, alone, God is praise worthy.  Remember your blessings and praise God with great exuberance! Praise God in prose and poetry.  Praise God in Song.  Praise God in Dance.  Praise God in obedience to God's word.  Yes, God does staggering things.  Your have seen it with your own eyes.  You have felt it in your heart.  Praise God!

Pray

Praise God!

Woe to Those Striving with God

God's Prophets Demand Justice
Amos Rails against Injustice

Micah Calls for Justice among Unjust People


No Tolerance for Corrupt Leaders and People

Isaiah 45:5-13 The Message

The God Who Forms Light and Darkness

45 ^1-7 God’s Message to his anointed,
    to Cyrus, whom he took by the hand
To give the task of taming the nations,
    of terrifying their kings—
He gave him free rein,
    no restrictions:
“I’ll go ahead of you,
    clearing and paving the road.
I’ll break down bronze city gates,
    smash padlocks, kick down barred entrances.
I’ll lead you to buried treasures,
    secret caches of valuables—
Confirmations that it is, in fact, I, God,
    the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.
It’s because of my dear servant Jacob,
    Israel my chosen,
That I’ve singled you out, called you by name,
    and given you this privileged work.
    And you don’t even know me!
I am God, the only God there is.
    Besides me there are no real gods.
I’m the one who armed you for this work,
    though you don’t even know me,
So that everyone, from east to west, will know
    that I have no god-rivals.
    I am God, the only God there is.
I form light and create darkness,
    I make harmonies and create discords.
    I, God, do all these things.

^8-10 “Open up, heavens, and rain.
    Clouds, pour out buckets of my goodness!
Loosen up, earth, and bloom salvation;
    sprout right living.
    I, God, generate all this.
But doom to you who fight your Maker—
    you’re a pot at odds with the potter!
Does clay talk back to the potter:
    ‘What are you doing? What clumsy fingers!’
Would a sperm say to a father,
    ‘Who gave you permission to use me to make a baby?’
Or a fetus to a mother,
    ‘Why have you cooped me up in this belly?’”

^11-13 Thus God, The Holy of Israel, Israel’s Maker, says:
    “Do you question who or what I’m making?
    Are you telling me what I can or cannot do?
I made earth,
    and I created man and woman to live on it.
I handcrafted the skies
    and direct all the constellations in their turnings.
And now I’ve got Cyrus on the move.
    I’ve rolled out the red carpet before him.
He will build my city.
    He will bring home my exiles.
I didn’t hire him to do this. I told him.
    I, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.”

For Reflection 

Sometimes we get the feeling that those whom we choose to lead us are worthless unless they are perfectly pure.  Does such a person exist?  Who are we, that we are so pure, that we can sit in judgement of others?  This is a humbling thought.

And yet, in today's world we have choices among the "not so perfect."  We have distaste for the taboo topics of religious and civil politics.  "Avoid talking about politics and religion." we say.  This is especially true when we talk politics in religious settings.  If we do, we open the door for all the sacred cows to escape and we are confronted with alternative beliefs.  What if "they" are right and "we" are wrong?  Are "we," like "they," hiding behind the Bible?

It takes courage to be a Christian in our times, just as it did in the early church.  The most courageous Christian act is to challenge one's self by openly thinking and discussing our political and religious beliefs.  Simply claiming the words of the Bible is not enough.  Our action needs to be faithful. Our voice needs to proclaim truth. 

Most importantly, Christians need to study, discuss, and pray about God's will.  The Christian faith is not a static thing.  What you believed as a child is not what you believe now that you are older.  As you confront the challenges of today, your faith grows.  Christians grow into the grace of God.

Pray

for those who challenge us.  Pray for the wisdom and trust in God that permits us to discuss our faith in challenging ways. Pray that you will grow in grace as you tackle the difficult questions about your belief.