| Date | Version | Reading Plan |
|---|---|---|
| @August 14, 2024 | ESV (2016) | M’Cheyne Plan 2024 |
1 Samuel 4
1 Samuel 4:3, 10-11 (ESV) 3 And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.” … 10 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great slaughter, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell. 11 And the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
The Philistines drew up in battle against Israel, defeating them and killing about four thousand men. The elders of Israel associated the defeat to LORD and sought to bring the ark of the covenant to be among them in order give them power over their enemies. As the CSB Notes points out, “The people associated the ark of the LORD’s covenant (Ex 25:10–22) with God’s presence, and they assumed taking the ark into battle would guarantee victory over their enemies. This is the equivalent of trying to manipulate God through a talisman.” While the ark had historically been the way God met with His people, it was merely an object and did not possess the power of God in itself. It was only through God’s direct accompaniment with the ark that it expressed such power. From this we can draw how mistaken it is to identify anything of creation as having the divine qualities of our Creator. Whatever capability an object may have in the natural world, it has been granted by an awesome God of supreme capability.
Romans 4
Romans 4:23–25 (ESV) 23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Paul describes how Abraham’s belief and faith in God was counted to him as righteousness, but then associates the phrase “it was counted to him” to all who believe in the One who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead. Both we and Abraham serve the same Creator and, by faith, ascribe salvation to Christ and His gracious propitiatory work. The CSB Notes says simply, “We are credited as righteous before God in the same manner as Abraham: by faith.” It is profound to dwell on this, that we serve and worship the same God as the patriarchs. God is the same from beginning to end; eternal, transcendent, immutable and yet personal and immanent.
Jeremiah 42
Jeremiah 42:11–16 (ESV) 11 Do not fear the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Do not fear him, declares the LORD, for I am with you, to save you and to deliver you from his hand. 12 I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and let you remain in your own land. 13 But if you say, ‘We will not remain in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the LORD your God 14 and saying, ‘No, we will go to the land of Egypt, where we shall not see war or hear the sound of the trumpet or be hungry for bread, and we will dwell there,’ 15 then hear the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: If you set your faces to enter Egypt and go to live there, 16 then the sword that you fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine of which you are afraid shall follow close after you to Egypt, and there you shall die.
The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah which he spoke in the company of Johanan, all the commanders of the forces and all the people from the least to the greatest. The people were to remain in Babylon and serve its king and, if they did, God would grant them mercy and let them remain in their own land. It was an unpopular word because they wished to flee to Egypt where they perceived that they would not see war or hear the sound of the trumpet. However, if they disobeyed and proceeded with Egyptian asylum, the sword would overtake them and famine would follow them. As we read this from our own context, we can see the disaster that awaits those who seek peace and prosperity on their own terms apart from God’s guidance and directive. Abiding in the Word of God is difficult and the saints will not be spared affliction in this fallen world, but it will be with the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.
Psalm 18
Psalm 18:25–26 (ESV) 25 With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless; 26 with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
David connects the expressed attributes of the faithful with those of God—merciful → merciful, blameless → blameless, purified → pure—but with the crooked God makes Himself seem tortuous. Noteworthy is that the connection of qualities breaks with the crooked. God as holy and righteous has no crookedness in Him and thus cannot show or make Himself crooked. Moreover, God makes Himself seem torturous with the crooked, employing active judgment upon the wicked. How convicting this is to read that we may be a people whose focus is on the glory that our Lord receives by those joyfully striving to be merciful, blameless and purified.