April 18 ▪ Day 108

Scripture Readings

Proverbs 15:26
Jeremiah 45–46
Acts 5
Psalms 108

Verse Focus (Proverbs 15:26)

The LORD detests the thoughts of the wicked,
     but gracious words are pure in his sight.

Meditation

Proverbs 15:26 is one of those proverbs that can vary a bit when it is translated into English because the Hebrew words don’t fully match their English counterparts. As the NIV translates the verse, it says, “The LORD detests the thoughts of the wicked, but gracious words are pure in his sight.” The NRSV says, “Evil plans are an abomination to the LORD, but gracious words are pure.”

The biggest difference is in the first half of the proverb. The Hebrew word that is translated as thoughts or plans can mean either of those things. In fact, the word can be translated as thoughts, purpose, means, imagination, intentions, plans, plotting, schemes, devices, cunning work, curious work, or inventions. So the LORD not only detests what the wicked think, but what they produce out of that thought.

I look up the Hebrew for the “words” that are “gracious” to see if I can gain additional insight there as well. The word being translated as “words” also means speech, utterances, commands and promises — pretty much all forms of speech. The word being translated as “gracious” can also mean agreeable, pleasant, delightful, suitable, beautiful, or splendorous.

If I understand what the study aids are telling me, the Hebrew for the second half of the proverb can be translated either as “gracious words are pure” or as “the words of the pure are gracious.”

Again, it’s interesting that the two halves of the proverb are not exactly parallel. God deems certain speech to be pure, but is conspicuously silent as regards the thinking that produced that speech. However, I may be making more of that than is warranted. The proverb may not be making a distinction between thought and speech, but may be assuming they are essentially equivalent. Using thoughts for one and speech for the other may simply be more for variety — a more pleasing saying — than because there’s a difference between what the wicked person does and what the clean person does. Hmmmmmm.

Father God, may we be pure in your sight through Christ Jesus. Please help our words and actions to be gracious and pleasing to you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Jeremiah 45 is a short chapter with a prophecy specifically for Jeremiah’s assistant, Baruch son of Neriah. Again, this goes back in time 19 years to 605 BC, the year that Judah first submitted to Babylon. Jeremiah was confined, and Baruch became his secretary and helped prepare a scroll of all his prophecies. The prophecy for Baruch is quite interesting. In verse 5, the LORD says to Baruch, “Do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them.” Baruch probably had ambitions as a scribe; he had dreams to advance his career. But none of what he hoped for would come true because of the national disaster that was coming. However, God graciously promises Baruch that He will save Baruch’s life everywhere he goes during the coming war.

We tend to assume that when God says “no,” it’s personal. In Baruch’s situation, the “no” had nothing to do with Baruch’s dreams, desires, capabilities — or anything to do with him at all, really. It had to do with the national situation. Some of us experienced something similar to this when the pandemic first started. Closed doors turned out to be blessings in light of a national health crisis that none of us could have anticipated. As a good friend says, “It’s not all about me.” Sometimes when God says “no,” it has to do with how or where He wants you to be so that you might be in the perfect position to help someone else. It doesn’t have to do with your life; it has to do with someone else’s life.

But how difficult to learn that your life is being swept away from what you had envisioned for it! It was a bitter pill for Baruch. It is for us as well, when things don’t work out as we hope. But whether God says “yes” or “no” to the things we desire, we need to learn to trust Him. He has plans and purposes for our good and He will be with us in whatever happens in the interim.

Jeremiah 46 records a prophecy of judgment against Egypt. This prophecy also dates back 19 years to 605 BC, during Jehoiakim’s reign. The prophecy must have come soon after Nebuchadnezzar defeated Pharaoh Neco. Pharaoh Neco lost territory to Babylon, but Egypt was not invaded and conquered until a later campaign. This prophecy speaks of the Babylonian invasion of Egypt, which would happen after the fall of Jerusalem.

“There is no healing for you,” says verse 11. Desolation, exile, calamity, shame — God will punish the Egyptians gods and those who trust in them. Yet afterward, says the LORD, “Egypt shall be inhabited as in the days of old (v. 26).”

With the prophecy against Egypt comes reassurance — of a sort — for Judah and Israel. Twice, in verse 27 and verse 28, the LORD tells Jacob to “have no fear.” Verse 28 continues as God promises, “I will make an end of all the nations among which I have banished you, but I will not make an end of you.” Yet with the sweet comes more bitter — the final word of the chapter is that God will not leave them “unpunished.”

Acts 5 tells the somewhat disturbing story of Ananias and Sapphira. At the end of Acts 4, we learn that the early church held property in common among the believers. Those that had wealth would sell lands or property and bring the proceeds to the apostles, who would then distribute it as needed. In fact, Acts 4:34 tells us, “There was not a needy person among them.”

Ananias and Sapphira were a husband and wife who owned some property. They sold the property, but only gave a portion of the proceeds to the apostles. Yet they pretended that they had donated the whole amount. With special revelation from the Holy Spirit, Peter confronted them about their duplicity and they both ended up dying for their sins.

The story is shocking. And it seems harsh, too. Why was it necessary for them to die? What had they done that was so bad? Part of our reaction stems from sympathy with Ananias and Sapphira — we can imagine ourselves being tempted to do the same thing.

There are two charges that Peter brings against Ananias and Sapphira. First, they they are lying to the Holy Spirit (v. 3). But secondly, they are putting the Spirit of the LORD “to the test” (v. 9). Peter asks Ananias about the property in verse 4, “While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, were not the proceeds at your disposal?” In other words, it was up to them if they wanted to sell or donate, or even how much they wanted to donate.

Ananias and Sapphira didn’t trust the LORD enough to give all of the proceeds from the sale, but they wanted to be perceived as selfless as the others who had donated their property. And it was the desire to be seen as more godly than they really were that was at the heart of their duplicity. They could have said, “Here are some of the funds from the sale of our property.” But then they would have revealed themselves to be less gracious than others had been. Whether it was a stingy heart, or fear of being without resources to provide for oneself, or indeed whether they were motivated by wanting others to admire them for their generosity — clearly, their hearts and their motives needed to be renewed by the Holy Spirit. But even though their hearts were awry, it was the dishonesty that ended up being the real problem.

We no longer live in New Testament times, so the likelihood of your being struck dead from lying to the body of Christ is pretty remote. But God knows when you lie to Him and to those in the church. Perhaps it’s by implication. You imply that you study the word diligently. Or maybe you give the impression that you are a prayer warrior when in reality you struggle to pray even for five minutes. Regardless of what lies you tell to make others believe you’re a better Christian than you actually are, these lies will be found out. And if nothing else, today’s Scripture should make you think very carefully about presenting yourself as more righteous than you actually are.

When Jesus was ministering in the towns of Judah, people flocked to him for healing. The gospels tell us that people believed if they could just touch Jesus’ robe, then they would be healed. And many were. Acts 5 tells us something very similar was happening in the early church. People flocked to the apostles for healing. And verse 15 tells us that the sick would line the streets in the hopes that Peter’s shadow might fall on them. This seems to me like an almost exponential increase in signs and wonders — Jesus heals by his clothes, but Peter heals by his shadow (through the power of Christ, of course).

The Sadducees continue to persecute the apostles — out of jealousy, we are told. The apostles are arrested and put in prison, but they are miraculously freed. The apostles preach boldly in the temple, as they had prayed to do. And even though they hadn’t prayed for the Sanhedrin to be restrained, God does work things out so the apostles are protected. For fear of the crowds, they bring the apostles in for questioning “without violence (v. 26).” A wise Pharisee counsels the Sanhedrin to let them go — as he says in verses 38 and 39, “If this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them — in that case you may even be found fighting against God!”

So the Sanhedrin is restrained. They again order the apostles not to speak in the name of Jesus, they have them flogged, and then they let them go. Of course, this does not stop the apostles at all. They continue to spread the gospel and they rejoice at being “considered worthy to suffer dishonor (v. 41).”

Psalm 108 may sound familiar to you today, although it’s okay if you don’t recognize it. The reason I recognize it is because the first part of the psalm is a repeat of Psalm 57 — the one psalm that was so meaningful to me in college. The second half is also more or less a repeat, but of a different psalm — Psalm 60. So, Psalm 108:1-5 is nearly identical to Psalm 57:7-11, and Psalm 108:6-13 is nearly identical to Psalm 60:5-12. If you recall, Psalms 14 and 53 are also nearly identical, although the one big difference they have is in the names they use for God. However, there is nothing like that in the differences between Psalm 108 and the other psalms they are based upon — in fact, the differences are so minor they are hard to pinpoint.

As I concluded with Psalms 14 and 53, it seems clear that Psalm 108 is a revision of the other two psalms, perhaps for some specific occasion. The psalms may have different tunes associated with them, and they also appear in different “books” of the Psalms. Psalm 108 is attributed to David, although some scholars believe that another author may have been the one to combine Psalms 57 and 60 to make Psalm 108 — yet, since David wrote the original verses, it is still credited to him.

It actually makes more sense when you look at what was left out by combining these particular verses of the two psalms. In Psalm 57, the first part of the psalm is a prayer for mercy upon a particular individual. The second half of the psalm, the part included in Psalm 108, is praise to God for His wonderful steadfast love. In Psalm 60, the first part of the psalm cites God’s anger at the Israelites and asks for God to restore them. The second part of the psalm, the part included in Psalm 108, is a prayer for victory in battle because God rules the nations. So Psalm 108 becomes praise of God and then a prayer for victory — leaving out individual concerns or issues about possible punishment for disobedience.

Today, as I read Psalm 108, verse 4 stood out: “For your steadfast love is higher than the heavens, and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.” The conclusion of the psalm is also powerful as the psalmist recognizes that “human help is worthless” — it is God who brings victory.

Father God, thank you for your Scriptures and thank you for this psalm. I praise you for your steadfast love. I also thank you that we can rely on you for help against the foe. Please help us to be honest and humble, not trying to make ourselves seem better than we are. Protect us from the kind of pride that Ananias and Sapphira had. Help us also to remember that what happens in our lives isn’t always about us — you govern nations and events, not just individual hopes and dreams. May we always keep in step with your Spirit by your grace to us in Christ Jesus. Amen.