June 21 ▪ Day 172

Scripture Readings

Psalms 34:3
Job 39–40
Revelation 1–2
Proverbs 22

Verse Focus (Psalms 34:3)

Glorify the LORD with me;
     let us exalt his name together.

Meditation

Psalm 34:3 calls, “O magnify the LORD with me, and let us together exalt his name.” I once heard a beautiful choral piece of music set to this psalm. To this day I cannot read this verse without hearing the beautiful soprano solo in my head. The voice soars. My heart throbs. I can no longer remember the rest of the music, but this one verse remains as a cherished memory.

The verse is a reminder of the corporate nature of faith. Worship should be communal, not just solitary. And the verse’s invitation should be our invitation. When was the last time you invited someone to worship with you? Or when did you last tell one of your friends about God’s mercy towards you? Shared an answer to prayer?

I will tell you about the LORD’s mercy to me today. And you can glorify the LORD along with me. I get migraine headaches periodically. And I had one last night. Instead of writing a meditation, I went to bed. When I got up today, I still had a headache and a visual disturbance. So I asked some friends to pray for me. Did my headache go away? Not entirely. But it lessened dramatically, and my vision improved. And I started writing. I was two days’ behind. And I got one day written in half the time it usually takes me to do so. It may not seem like it to you, but to me, that’s a major miracle right there.

This is now the second meditation that needs to be written (particularly if I want to take Sunday as a day of rest). With how quickly the first one went, though, it really gives me hope that I will be able to finish this evening after all. I’m still not feeling well. But I am encouraged. And I’m so grateful for the power of prayer, and for God’s mercy to me today. So rejoice with me at today’s ordinary miracle — the fresh grace that God gives us each day. Hallelujah!

Father God, thank you for helping me today. Thank you for enabling me to persevere. Thank you especially for your mercy that the writing has gone quickly so far. Please bless this meditation, too. Pour out your grace on me, and upon all who read these words. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

In Job 39, the LORD continues questioning Job. He speaks of mountain goats, wild donkeys, and wild oxes. Does Job know when the mountain goats bear their young? Does he know the wastelands that are home to wild donkeys? Could Job exert his will over the wild ox? Would they obey him?

God speaks of the ostrich. The ostrich abandons her eggs and does not keep watch over her young “for God has deprived her of wisdom; he has not endowed her with understanding (v. 17).” Yet when the ostrich decides to run, she will outrace a horse.

The LORD asks Job if he was the one to give strength to horses. Does the hawk take flight because Job has given it understanding? Can Job command the eagle to soar?

In this chapter, the LORD shows but a small array of the vast numbers of beings that live and breathe because of God. God oversees myriads and multitudes; human life is but a small portion of those under His care.

In chapters 38 and 39, the LORD has questioned Job about the cosmos, the stars and constellations, the earth and its seas, the deeps, death, light, darkness, clouds and rain, lions, ravens, mountain goats, wild donkeys, wild oxen, ostriches, horses, hawks, and eagles. In chapter 40, the LORD now asks Job another question. As the commentator Matthew Henry writes, “After God had shown Job, by his manifest ignorance of the works of nature, how unable he was to judge of the methods and designs of Providence, he puts a convincing question to him; Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him?” Or, as the ESV translates verse 2, “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?”

Job’s response is brief. As the NIV says in verse 4, “I am unworthy — how can I reply to you?” Or, as the ESV says, “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you?” In humility, Job decides to stop speaking.

The LORD speaks again out of the whirlwind, repeating his earlier words from Job 38:3. He tells Job to brace himself like a man; the LORD will question Job (v. 7).

God’s first two questions in verse 8 are piercing. “Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself?”

Elihu had cut through the plethora of words spoken by Job and his friends to pinpoint this exact same problem: Job was upholding his innocence at the expense of God’s majesty and justice. He was counting himself as more right than God.

As chapter 40 continues, God questions Job if he can carry out the LORD’s tasks. Can Job speak in thunder? Does he have the LORD’s strength? Can he clothe himself in splendor and adorn himself with majesty and dignity? Can Job humble the proud, or bring down the wicked?

God speaks of the behemoth — a powerful beast, one of the first works of creation. Strong and mighty, with bones like “bronze” and limbs like “iron,” the behemoth is confident and unafraid. Yet no human can tame him.

Today we begin reading the book of Revelation. The book was written about 95 AD by the apostle John. It is written as a letter, but also is prophecy — the only book of prophecy in the New Testament. (This is not to say that there aren’t snippets of prophecy all throughout the New Testament, but this is the only book of prophecy.)

The book of Revelation, also called also called the Apocalypse of John, the Revelation to John, or the Revelation from Jesus Christ, gets its title from the first verse. The first word in the first verse is Apokalypsis (Ἀποκάλυψις), meaning unveiling, or revelation. In our modern English, the book is often mistakenly referred to as Revelations, but the title is properly singular — Revelation.

In addition to being prophecy, the book is also of a genre of literature known as apocalyptic literature. This was a form of prophecy that became popular in Judaism after the exile to Babylon; it was a style well-known to John and others who lived in New Testament times. In this style of literature, an angel or messenger from heaven reveals details of the end times. There is an entire body of such literature, in both Judaism and Christianity, that spans nearly a thousand years — from about 5th century BC down to the Middle Ages. Of course, the vast majority of this literature is non-canonical.

To be non-canonical does not necessarily mean that the literature has no value; simply, that it was not deemed to be inspired directly by God. Books published on Christian topics today are also non-canonical; however, as you know, many of today’s publications are extremely helpful for believers. (A warning, however, should you decide to read some of the older non-canonical literature — some of the gospels and prophecies that are non-canonical were deemed to be false prophecy and heretical material. So do a little homework before you read, and pray for wisdom as well.)

Biblical prophecy in the Old Testament usually took the form of poetry. This is also true of the book of Revelation, even though most English translations print the text as prose. As with other poetry, images become very important. There is a lot of symbolism. Sometimes the language is a bit obscure. If you have trouble understanding this book, just keep reading. The book of Revelation is one that may take years to fully understand.

A few years back I heard a couple of sermons on the book of Revelation. It was actually one of the most helpful teachings I had heard on the topic, because it pointed out that the book is not chronological. If you assume that the book speaks of chronological events, then you would think that there are going to be three different judgments of the world. Rather, the book speaks of the same judgment, simply using different symbols each time. If you think of Revelation as circular rather than linear, then it might be easier to understand.

A brief overview of the structure of the book of Revelation: The NIV study guide mentions that the book has four main sections, each prefaced by the terminology “in the Spirit.” By this definition, the four sections begin at Revelation 1:10, Revelation 4:2, Revelation 17:3, and Revelation 21:10. The different sections would be:

1. the letters to the seven churches;
2. before the throne room of God including repetitive visions of judgment (seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls);
3. aftermath of the different woes, including the judgment of Babylon, the marriage supper of the Lamb, judgment of the beast, the false prophet, and the dragon, as well as the judgment of the dead; and
4. the new heaven and earth, including the New Jerusalem.

Okay, that’s enough of an introduction! Now, on to the first two chapters….

Chapter 1 is rich in symbolism. I love the different ways that God and Jesus Christ are described! We could spend weeks meditating on these different names.

Verse 8 introduces God. “ ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘the one who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’ ” I love how John takes the Hebrew “I AM” and translates it into the Greek “the one who is, who was, and who is to come.” As we have learned, Hebrew does not have the same kinds of tenses that English has, thus God’s name does have all these meanings of past, present, and future — but I hadn’t understood that until quite recently. Of course alpha and omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, so we learn through this that God is the First and the Last. It also implies that He is the entire alphabet — the Word. And, of course, we’re already familiar with God being called “Almighty.”

Jesus is described as one who looks like a “son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest (v. 13).” His hair is white, his eyes are like flames (v. 14). His feet are burnished bronze; his voice is “like the roar of many waters” (v. 15). He holds seven stars in his right hand. A sharp two-edged sword comes out of his mouth. His face shines as bright as the sun. Jesus says, in verses 17 and 18, “I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”

Some of the symbolism is interpreted for us. Jesus tells us that the “seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches (v. 20).” But other symbols are up to us to decipher and understand. The two-edged sword that comes out of Jesus’ mouth must be Scripture (Hebrews 4:12). Scripture has two edges — one offensive, and one defensive. The white hair indicates age and wisdom; it is a symbol of honor. The sound of his voice should remind us of the streams of living water. And, of course the brilliance and brightness indicates God’s glory. Jesus tells us that he is the living one — he now has the indestructible life. Like God the Father, Jesus is also the first and the last.

In chapter 2 we have Christ’s messages to four of the seven churches of Asia. As each message is concluding, we have the repetitive refrain, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” This occurs in verses 7, 11, 17, and 29. Clearly, even though these messages are specific to each church, Jesus wants all believers to pay attention to these words of both encouragement and warning. We know that when something is repeated once it should have more significance for us. This statement is not just doubled, but quadrupled. It could not be emphasized more strongly.

I love how each of the messages gives a different picture of what heaven is like. To the church in Ephesus, Jesus speaks of the conquerors eating from the tree of life (v. 7). The church in Smyrna is told the conquerors will not face the second death (v. 11). The Church in Pergamum is told that those who conquer will receive hidden manna, as well as a white stone with a new name written on it — a secret name that only the believer and God will know. And the church in Thyatira is told that those who conquer will rule over nations, receiving authority from Jesus. They will also receive “the morning star (v. 28).”

Each message has both encouragement as well as warnings. Jesus makes clear that he knows exactly what type of situation the believers are facing. He knows our successes, and he knows how we need to persevere. The warnings are things that all Christians should heed. The Ephesians were warned against abandoning their first love. Those in Smyrna were told not be afraid of what they were about to suffer. The church in Pergamum was warned against sexual immorality, while the church in Thyatira was warned for tolerating a false prophet.

There is a lot packed into these two chapters. But as I consider them today, two things stand out in my mind. In Revelation 1:3, John says that “the time is near.” Modern readers have a natural cynicism to these words since we know that John wrote this nearly 2,000 years ago. And a span of several millennia does not seem “near” by human standards. But the Spirit warns that the time is indeed near. Whether Christ’s return is tomorrow or another thousand years from now, we each have only a short amount of time to prepare. As the writer of Hebrews warned, Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.

The other thing that stood out to me was Jesus’ words to the church in Thyatira in verse 25. “Only hold fast what you have until I come.” It is the call to persevere. Considering my now low-level migraine headache, it’s not surprising that a call to persevere resonates! But no matter the trial or struggle, we always have the need to hang on tightly to our faith. Indeed, this is partly why the entire book of Revelation was written — to encourage the believers to press on, to endure, and to succeed — despite persecution and trials.

Proverbs 22 contains the last of the proverbs that Solomon himself wrote or collected for this anthology of wisdom. At verse 17 it switches to a new collection — “Sayings of the Wise.” The new section is not attributed to anyone in particular, and it spans the next couple of chapters. You will see immediately how the style changes in this section since each “saying” takes up two to three verses (although a couple are only a single verse, and a few sayings have a half a dozen verses).

There are some favorite and familiar proverbs. Verse 6 reminds me of family. “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” I also like verse 9 and verse 12.

Today as I read the chapter, it was verse 19 that stood out to me. This is part of several connected verses (17 through 19) in the first saying. In the CSB, they read:

¹⁷Listen closely, pay attention to the words of the wise, and apply your mind to my knowledge.
¹⁸For it is pleasing if you keep them within you and if they are constantly on your lips.
¹⁹I have instructed you today — even you — so that your confidence may be in the LORD.

Verse 19 is another reminder to memorize Scripture so that it will be “constantly on your lips.” But it’s not just about memorizing Scripture. It’s also about discussing Scripture. Letting Scripture pepper your conversations. May we all pay attention to the words of the wise!

Father God, thank you for this day. Thank you for helping me to write this meditation, especially on day when I was not feeling well. I appreciate your grace and your goodness. Help us to take to heart what we have learned today. Let us remember your greatness and your majesty. Let us magnify your name with others. Let us constantly speak the words of Scripture. And let us be ready for your return. We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.