| Date | Version | Reading Plan |
|---|---|---|
| @August 17, 2024 | ESV (2016) | M’Cheyne Plan 2024 |
1 Samuel 9
1 Samuel 9:19–21 (ESV) 19 Samuel answered Saul, “I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place, for today you shall eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your mind. 20 As for your donkeys that were lost three days ago, do not set your mind on them, for they have been found. And for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father’s house?” 21 Saul answered, “Am I not a Benjaminite, from the least of the tribes of Israel? And is not my clan the humblest of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken to me in this way?”
Saul and his servant were tasked with looking for lost donkeys which they had yet to find. The servant suggested that they inquire of a man in the city (Samuel) who was held in honor and all that he said came true. Samuel was informed by the LORD of Saul’s coming the day before his arrival and the LORD told Samual that Saul was to be appointed over His people in Israel. Upon their meeting, Samuel provided Saul with much more than he had asked; that Samuel would tell him all that was on his mind, that the donkeys had been found and, through rhetorical question, that what was desirable in Israel was for him and his father’s house. Saul’s response expressed an apparent modesty, acknowledging himself to be of the tribe of Benjamin, the least and humblest of the clans. Commentaries are mixed on whether this display by Saul was customary deference or genuine humility, but it does reveal a level of respect Saul possessed as a youth. It is helpful to obtain this baseline of Saul’s origins as we continue to read of his life, reign as king and evolution of character.
Romans 7
Romans 7:7–12 (ESV) 7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
Paul speaks of how the law brings sin to life and death to the one who possesses it. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to Paul. As the BBC states, “This probably looks back to Leviticus 18:5, where God said, ‘You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.’ Ideally the law promised life to those who kept it.” However, since no one can fully or completely keep the law, what was given to bring life instead brings death. Awareness of our radical inability to keep the law is what makes the gospel of Christ so sweet. Without the Father sending His Son to be the perfect fulfillment of the law—sinless life, worthy sacrifice and triumph over death—we would remain dead in our trespasses and sins. There is no victory to achieve over our greatest adversary apart from our gracious Lord and Savior and thus it is in Him we place our faith.
Jeremiah 46
Jeremiah 46:28 (ESV) 28 Fear not, O Jacob my servant, declares the LORD, for I am with you. I will make a full end of all the nations to which I have driven you, but of you I will not make a full end. I will discipline you in just measure, and I will by no means leave you unpunished.”
Closing the chapter, the LORD through Jeremiah gave the people a complex message that they were not to fear, that they would be disciplined in just measure but not destroyed completely. A remnant of Israel would be “restored to her land, and will enjoy quiet and ease.” (BBC). By this we see the grace of our God to keep such a remnant. Sinful and wayward as they were, the LORD was faithful to keep His covenant commitment with His people. Patient and longsuffering is our God who delights not in death but in obedience and exclusive worship of Himself. It is this God through His Son Jesus Christ in whom we place our full surrender and whole hearts in faith.
Psalm 22
Psalm 22:1–2 (ESV) 1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? 2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.
These are some of the most well-known verses in Scripture, but here and as they are quoted by Jesus in the NT (Matt 27:46; Mark 15:34). The FSB provides helpful context on David’s sense of abandonment by God:
The psalmist describes his great suffering, both physical (Ps 22:14–15) and social (vv. 6–8), as well as the enemies that surround him (vv. 12–13, 16–18). Most troubling to him, however, is his apparent abandonment by God. The lifelong relationship between the psalmist and God (vv. 9–11) deepens this pain. However, God does not forsake His people, as the second half of the psalm shows (vv. 22–24). Joyful shouts of praise follow the anguished cries; despite feeling forsaken by God, the psalmist will praise His name throughout all the earth.