Leviticus 9, Psalm 10, Proverbs 24, 1 Thessalonians 3

Date	Version	Reading Plan
@April 6, 2024	ESV (2016)	M’Cheyne Plan 2024

Leviticus 9

Leviticus 9:24 (ESV) 24 And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.

This must have been an amazing moment to behold as the glory of the LORD appeared before the people and fire came out before Him to consume the burnt offering. The fire that came out to consume the offering assumes that it was accepted by God. The whole scene must have been overwhelming since it caused the people to shout and fall on their faces. To be in the presence of God and bear witness to His sheer might and majesty must surely stir every emotion to its highest capacity.

Psalm 10

Psalm 10:2–3 (ESV) 2 In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised. 3 For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the LORD.

The psalmist describes the guile of the wicked, one who is arrogant, hotly pursuing the poor, boasting of the desires of his soul, greedy for gain, cursing and renouncing the LORD. All of these are certainly terrible but final one is most dire. The cursing and renunciation of the LORD denote a vicious denial of God’s sovereignty and by this we are left to ourselves to discern proper conduct. It is this moral subjectivity that allows the inherent corruption of man to deem permissible every manner of evil and wrongdoing.

Proverbs 24

Proverbs 24:3–4 (ESV) 3 By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; 4 by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

Describing a house as being built by wisdom indicates its constructive and productive qualities. A builder must have understanding in erecting a structure capable of protecting its inhabitants and enduring through the various seasons. However, even beyond the building of the house itself, wisdom also fills the house with riches. Through wisdom, a house is both established with lasting integrity and plentifully furnished.

1 Thessalonians 3

1 Thessalonians 3:6–7 (ESV) 6 But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you— 7 for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith.

Timothy reported to Paul that the Thessalonian church had remembered them kindly, leading to Paul being comforted through their faith despite distress and affliction. So on mission was Paul for the growth of faith and love in the church that the very hearing of these things being achieved made their distress tolerable. This level of self-sacrifice is inspiring and points us to the priority of bolstering faith among the saints even as we face difficult circumstances.

Carson on Psalm 10

The closing verses (Ps. 10:16–18) find the psalmist reminding himself that God’s scale of timing is less urgent than ours: “The LORD is King for ever and ever; the nations will perish from his land” (Ps. 10:16). The scale that anticipates the dissolution of nations is not meant to dispel confidence that God also concerns himself with the minuscule scale of individual calamity. Rather, it is another way of saying that “the wheels of God’s justice grind exceeding slow, but they grind exceeding fine.”

God’s justice will be meted on His terms and on His timeline. We can grow indignant when we see the wicked prosper and evil propagate, but the faithful must remain steadfast in viewing such things from an eternal perspective. “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Rev. 21:4)

Justin Houtz