Monday, October 18, 2021

The Daily Bible Readings for Tuesday, October 19, 2021

 
Job Chapter 41

The Daily Bible Readings
Tuesday, October 19, 2021
Psalm 75; Job 41:1-11; Hebrews 6:13-20
with commentaries from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible

Introduction

In today’s lectionary readings, David returns God thanks for bringing him to the throne in verses 1 and 9 of Psalm 75. In verses 2, 3, and 10, David promises to lay himself out for the public good using the power God had given him. In verses 4 and 5, he checks the audacity of those that opposed his coming to the throne. In verses 6-8, David fetches a reason for all this from God’s sovereign dominion in the affairs of the children of men. Our reading in Job is the final speech of God in the book to end this second section of God’s rebuke of Job. God brings to the attention of Job another creature. His name is Leviathan. He’s not a land animal like Behemoth—but is instead a sea creature. And whereas we’re supposed to imitate Behemoth, it seems that God has a different purpose for Leviathan. Our reading in Hebrews is the conclusion of the author’s digression. It presents God’s promises (particularly those sealed with an oath) as the basis for our hope and perseverance. The principle of our verse of the day is the foundation for a principle sometimes called Christian Hedonism—the idea that God has designed each of us with an innate desire to pursue happiness.

Today’s Verse of the Day:
Psalm 37:4

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
When you make the Lord your joy, the desires that grow in your heart are usually the ones He plants. These are the things that bring lasting peace and satisfaction—not the things we think we want or strive to achieve apart from God.

Today’s Lectionary Readings:
From the Psalter
Psalm 75
People Will Tell of Your Wondrous Deeds

1 We praise you, God,
     we praise you, for your Name is near;
     people tell of your wonderful deeds.

2 You say, “I choose the appointed time;
     it is I who judge with equity.
3 When the earth and all its people quake,
     it is I who hold its pillars firm.
4 To the arrogant I say, ‘Boast no more,’
     and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horns.
5 Do not lift your horns against heaven;
     do not speak so defiantly.’”

6 No one from the east or the west
     or from the desert can exalt themselves.
7 It is God who judges:
     He brings one down, he exalts another.
8 In the hand of the Lord is a cup
     full of foaming wine mixed with spices;
  he pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth
     drink it down to its very dregs.

9 As for me, I will declare this forever;
     I will sing praise to the God of Jacob,
10 who says, “I will cut off the horns of all the wicked,
      but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.”


Commentary

Verses 1-5: We often pray for mercy, when in pursuit of it; and shall we only once or twice give thanks, when we obtain it? God shows that he is nigh to us in what we call upon him for. Public trusts are to be managed uprightly. This may well be applied to Christ and his government. Man's sin threatened to destroy the whole creation; but Christ saved the world from utter ruin. He who is made of God to us wisdom, bids us be wise. To the proud, daring sinners he says, Boast not of your power, persist not in contempt. All the present hopes and future happiness of the human race spring from the Son of God.

Verses 6-10: No second causes will raise men to preferment without the First Cause. It comes neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. He mentions not the north; the same word that signifies the north, signifies the secret place; and from the secret of God's counsel it does come. From God alone all must receive their doom. There are mixtures of mercy and grace in the cup of affliction, when it is put into the hands of God's people; mixtures of the curse, when it is put into the hands of the wicked. God's people have their share in common calamities, but the dregs of the cup are for the wicked. The exaltation of the Son of David will be the subject of the saints' everlasting praises. Then let sinners submit to the King of righteousness, and let believers rejoice in and obey him.


From the Books of Wisdom
Job 41:1-11
God Confronts Job

1 “Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook
     or tie down its tongue with a rope?
2 Can you put a cord through its nose
     or pierce its jaw with a hook?
3 Will it keep begging you for mercy?
     Will it speak to you with gentle words?
4 Will it make an agreement with you
     for you to take it as your slave for life?
5 Can you make a pet of it like a bird
     or put it on a leash for the young women in your house?
6 Will traders barter for it?
     Will they divide it up among the merchants?
7 Can you fill its hide with harpoons
     or its head with fishing spears?
8 If you lay a hand on it,
     you will remember the struggle and never do it again!
9 Any hope of subduing it is false;
     the mere sight of it is overpowering.
10 No one is fierce enough to rouse it.
      Who then is able to stand against me?
11 Who has a claim against me that I must pay?
      Everything under heaven belongs to me.


Commentary

The description of the Leviathan, is yet further to convince Job of his own weakness, and of God's almighty power. Whether this Leviathan be a whale or a crocodile, is disputed. The Lord, having showed Job how unable he was to deal with the Leviathan, sets forth his own power in that mighty creature. If such language describes the terrible force of Leviathan, what words can express the power of God's wrath? Under a humbling sense of our own vileness, let us revere the Divine Majesty; take and fill our allotted place, cease from our own wisdom, and give all glory to our gracious God and Savior. Remembering from whom every good gift comes, and for what end it was given, let us walk humbly with the Lord.

From the Epistles
Hebrews 6:13-20
The Hope of God’s Promise

6:13 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” 15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

16 People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

Commentary

The promise of blessedness God has made to believers, is from God's eternal purpose, settled between the eternal Father, Son, and Spirit. These promises of God may safely be depended upon; for here we have two things which cannot change, the counsel and the oath of God, in which it is not possible for God to lie; it would be contrary to his nature as well as to his will. And as He cannot lie; the destruction of the unbeliever, and the salvation of the believer, are alike certain. Here observe, those to whom God has given full security of happiness, have a title to the promises by inheritance. The consolations of God are strong enough to support his people under their heaviest trials. Here is a refuge for all sinners who flee to the mercy of God, through the redemption of Christ, according to the covenant of grace, laying aside all other confidences. We are in this world as a ship at sea, tossed up and down, and in danger of being cast away. We need an anchor to keep us sure and steady. Gospel hope is our anchor in the storms of this world. It is sure and stedfast, or it could not keep us so. The free grace of God, the merits and mediation of Christ, and the powerful influences of his Spirit, are the grounds of this hope, and so it is a stedfast hope. Christ is the object and ground of the believer's hope. Let us therefore set our affections on things above, and wait patiently for his appearance, when we shall certainly appear with him in glory.


Today’s Lectionary Readings are selected from the Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, a three-year cyclical lectionary. We are currently in Year B. Beginning with the first Sunday of Advent in 2021, we will be in Year C. The year which ended at Advent 2020 was Year A. These readings complement the Sunday and festival readings: Thursday through Saturday readings help prepare the reader for the Sunday ahead; Monday through Wednesday readings help the reader reflect and digest what they heard in worship. Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org. The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle, and Gospel lessons are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Commentaries from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible.

The Morning Prayer for Tuesday, October 19, 2021

 

The Morning Prayer
Tuesday, October 19, 2021

God's peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:7, GNT


O Lord God, grant us your Spirit, that we may comprehend your peace. As we pray, help us to recognize what must come from you alone, for you are mighty and holy and your will is peace on earth. Your will is peace beyond all understanding, your peace in heaven and on earth and under the earth, your peace that opposes all sin and death and takes away every evil that can be named. We await you, O Lord our God, and you will hear us. No matter how long the battle lasts, we hold out in patience, for we are your children. We shall never lose the faith that your name shall be honored and that all things shall come into harmony with your will of peace on earth, your peace. Amen.

Verse of the Day for Tuesday, October 19, 2021

 


Verse of the Day
Tuesday, October 19, 2021


Psalm 37:4
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
When you make the Lord your joy, the desires that grow in your heart are usually the ones He plants. These are the things that bring lasting peace and satisfaction—not the things we think we want or strive to achieve apart from God.

Read all of Psalm 37

Listen to Psalm 37


Scripture from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Our Daily Bread — When to Sacrifice

 

When to Sacrifice

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22–23

READ Galatians 5:22–26

In February 2020, as the COVID-19 crisis was just beginning, a newspaper columnist’s concerns struck me. Would we willingly self-isolate, she wondered, changing our work, travel, and shopping habits so others wouldn’t get sick? “This isn’t just a test of clinical resources,” she wrote, “but of our willingness to put ourselves out for others.” Suddenly, the need for virtue was front-page news.

It can be hard to consider others’ needs while we’re anxious about our own. Thankfully, we’re not left with willpower alone to meet the need. We can ask the Holy Spirit to give us love to replace our indifference, joy to counter sadness, peace to replace our anxiety, forbearance (patience) to push out our impulsiveness, kindness to care about others, goodness to see to their needs, faithfulness to keep our promises, gentleness instead of harshness, and self-control to lift us beyond self-centeredness (Galatians 5:22–23). While we won’t be perfect at all of this, we’re called to seek the Spirit’s gifts of virtue regularly (Ephesians 5:18).

Author Richard Foster once described holiness as the ability to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done. And such holiness is needed every day, not just in a pandemic. Do we have the capacity to make sacrifices for the sake of others? Holy Spirit, fill us with the power to do what needs to be done.

By Sheridan Voysey

REFLECT & PRAY

When have you made a sacrifice for the sake of others? What needs around you call for the Holy Spirit’s fruit today?

Holy Spirit, fill me afresh today and make me a person of virtue.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT

The book of Galatians has been rightly referred to as a “short and fiery” work. Paul’s tone and word choices match the seriousness of the error that confronted the believers in Jesus in Galatia (a region in Asia Minor where Paul preached and established churches). What needed correction? False teachers were preaching a false gospel that required adhering to the demands of the law of Moses in addition to faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins.

Not only are we justified—made right with God—by faith in Christ alone (Galatians 2:15–21), but believers in Christ grow to be like Him (sanctification) by the same means—by faith apart from keeping the law (5:1–11). Through God’s Spirit, believers are empowered for godly living, including loving one’s neighbor as oneself (vv. 13–26).

Arthur Jackson