January 5 ▪ Day 5

Scripture Readings

Proverbs 3:5–6
Genesis 9–10
Matthew 5
Psalms 5

Verse Focus (Proverbs 3:5–6)

⁵Trust in the LORD with all your heart
     and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶in all your ways submit to him,
     and he will make your paths straight.

Meditation

Our verse focus today is Proverbs 3:5-6. This is an extremely familiar passage for those who have been raised in the church. Often memorized, frequently chosen as a “life” verse, these two verses talk about cleaving to God. It’s not just a matter of trusting God, but of trusting His word and His ways above what you might think would be the right thing to do. I don’t think this has to do with distrusting reason and intelligence so much as understanding that our minds are fallen, too. Attitudes, behavior, our thinking, the culture we live in — it is all permeated with sin. We need to renew our minds by reading, absorbing, and meditating on God’s word. And if God’s word or His Spirit indicates a different course of action than what we might choose, we prayerfully submit to that.

These verses include the promise that if you trust and submit, God will make your paths straight. How God does this is somewhat of a mystery. All we can say is that things just seem to fall into place. The road is smooth. Things work out well. Non-believers might marvel at the coincidences that occur, but faith sees the hand of God at work.

In Genesis chapter 9 we read of God’s covenant with Noah, his descendants, and with all living creatures on earth: never again will all flesh be wiped out by a flood (v. 11). God gives us the rainbow as a sign, and promises to remember this covenant between Himself and all flesh whenever a rainbow appears.

Before the flood, all people were vegetarians; now, however, humans are allowed to eat meat with the restriction that they are not to eat blood because “life” is in the blood. God further says that every person and every animal will have to give an accounting for their “life’s blood.” Translations differ a bit on these verses, but what is clear is that God will hold both mankind and animal-kind accountable for any bloodshed. Furthermore, if humans shed blood, they in turn will have their own blood shed.

After the warning about bloodshed and the reminder of the sanctity of life (since mankind was made in the “image of God”), God blesses Noah and his sons and tells them to be fruitful and multiply on the earth.

So there’s this weird little story we get in chapter 9 about Noah’s youngest son Ham. Moses, who is reputed to be the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible), makes a point of telling us that Ham was the father of Canaan, and thus of all the Canaanites. In this story, Ham sees his father drunk and inadvertently naked. Ham tells his brothers, and the two brothers go in and cover up their father, taking great care not to see him in his nakedness as they do so.

When Noah learns about this incident, he is enraged at Ham and he curses his youngest son, calling him by the name Canaan, and telling him that he will be a slave to both his brothers. At the same time, Noah blesses both of his other sons. Whether it was immaturity or wickedness that flavored Ham’s actions, this incident seems to be symbolic of why the Canaanites are later to be destroyed by the descendants of Abraham.

Genesis chapter 10 covers the descendants of Noah’s three sons. Japheth and his descendants don’t feature as much in the later books of the Bible as do the descendants of Ham and, of course, Shem (the line that Abraham and eventually Christ descends from). Ham does have other descendants besides Canaan — Cush (forefather of the Babylonians), Egypt (from whom the Egyptians came as well as the Philistines), and Put (who apparently had no descendants).

Yesterday I asked if anyone was surprised at the content of Jesus’ early preaching. Today, as we read Matthew chapter 5, we read the first part of the Sermon on the Mount. It is here that we encounter some of the more revolutionary teachings of Jesus: anger is as bad as murder; lust is as bad as adultery; we should respond generously to those who are evil or those who demand things from us; we should love our enemies. Jesus shocks people by saying that unless our righteousness surpasses that of “the Pharisees and the teachers of the law,” we will “certainly” not enter the kingdom of God. The chapter is concluded by Jesus telling us to “be perfect” as our heavenly Father is perfect.

So there’s a lot in this chapter. A lot. I’m sure you know that people have written whole books just about this one sermon that Jesus gave. (And neither you nor I have the time for a book today.) So I will limit my comments to just a few thoughts on the Beatitudes (v. 3-12), which are a series of statements Jesus makes as he begins this sermon.

To begin with, Jesus shows us that our understanding of what it means to be “blessed” is seriously flawed. If someone were to ask us to define what “blessing” looks like, we’d probably talk about family, health, riches, a good reputation, satisfying work, sense of purpose, freedom, etc. And it’s true that all of these things are and can be blessings. But simply possessing these things does not make one blessed. Think of the story of the “poor little rich kid” who dies of an overdose. Wealth makes a lot of things easier, but it does not mean your life is free from trouble or distress. To some degree, it is our attitude of appreciation and thankfulness that makes us blessed when we have things like family, health, riches, or any of things I mentioned earlier. Without thankfulness, we are blind to many if not all of the blessings God has given us.

Jesus tells us the “poor in spirit” are blessed. If we meet someone poor in spirit, we think — how troubled that person is! What poverty of soul! And yet is is precisely this poverty that enables that person to draw near to the kingdom of God. In my complacency I am further away from God than the person who recognizes how impoverished he or she really is.

The Beatitudes are prime material for meditation. Pick one of the verses — any of them. And read it over several times. Mull on it. Pray over it. Ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten you. Try emphasizing a different word each time you repeat the verse in your mind. And try living with the verse for a day or a week. Bring it up in conversation. Ask someone else what they think the verse means. By this time you likely have the verse memorized, so you might as well make sure you also know the verse reference too. 🙂

As we read Psalm 5 today, after just having read Matthew 5, there’s an interesting contrast that occurs. Jesus tells us not to resist an evil person; however, David prays for God to declare the guilt of the wicked and to banish them from His presence. Does this seem like a contradiction to you? It’s not, really. Because what David prays is true: God does detest the bloodthirsty and the deceitful. God hates wickedness. God hates evil. The key to understanding the contrast is to understand that we are not God. It is not our place to judge the world’s wicked or to call them into account. Jesus tells us it is our place to do good to those who hate us. It is our place to pray for the wicked (and praying about how they have hurt you and harmed you is just fine so long as you eventually remember that God also calls us to forgive them).

What I love most about this psalm is David’s confidence that God listens, hears, loves, leads, protects, and blesses. Several of these verses have comforted my heart over the years. “Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield” (v. 12).

Father God, as I read your word today, please open my eyes to understand Who you are. I thank you that there are things you want me to learn from these passages. Help me to learn. Help me to see You. Renew my mind and transform me into the person you want me to be. I know that I can’t be perfect in myself, but I’m so thankful that Jesus is perfect and His righteousness *did* exceed that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. Thank you for the grace you extend to me in Christ Jesus. I pray in his name, Amen.