Reading the Prophets

For the past 9 months, I have been working my way through the prophetic books during my devotions, spacing them with some Psalms and New Testament epistles.  Although in future I will be organizing my Bible reading system differently, it's been interesting to read so many prophets at one time.  The following notes from the post "Some Guidelines for Reading Prophetic Literature" by Julian Freeman crystallized thoughts that have been forming in my mind over the past months.  Some of the comments could be understood in a number of different ways, so this isn't an endorsement of his blog because I haven't read it extensively.  The comments definitely do a good job of summarizing how to study the prophets and will go into my file of "Things to Refer to Later."  

1. Because prophets speak mainly to their own day, we need to make sure we understand their day
2. Don’t be afraid of (good) Study Bibles and commentaries
3. Read a whole prophetic book rather than just sections; main themes and rhetorical strategies are important for interpreting the various parts
4. Use a cross-referencing system to see how the NT interprets / borrows the passages you’re reading
5. In apocalypse, remember the big picture: This world is messed up beyond repair and exists in a state of turmoil until God intervenes by judgement, bringing victory for the good, which ushers in a time of peace, where justice reigns
6. In highly image-driven apocalyptic sections, always remember that the author’s main purpose was to effect change in his contemporaries; if our interpretation doesn’t include a call to holiness in the present, our interpretation is wrong
7. Always look for the persistence of hope: the shining of the light of redemption through the dark clouds of God’s judgement; this is where the nature of our God is magnified—this is where we see the cross
8. Because the prophets write to a people in a different covenantal  relationship, the application is less direct; the application will spring from the heart of God revealed in his dealings with his people
9. Application should always be done through Jesus, the one who lived our righteousness, became sin, and took our curse so that we could know the hope & blessing the prophets extend to the righteous.
10. Prophecies of judgement, showing us the wrath of God toward sin, and what we truly deserve, should always make us more thankful for the cross.

 Freeman cites How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Fee & Stuart, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation by Klein, Blomberg, and Hubbard, An Invitation to Biblical Interpretation by Kostenberger and Patterson, and Knowing Scripture by R.C. Sproul.

Bonhoeffer on the Psalms

Today, I began researching for my paper on Dietrich Bonhoeffer's view of Christ. While looking through one of his books, this chapter on the importance of personal and corporate use of the Psalms challenged me.

"Congregational Worship and the Psalms"
from Psalms: the Prayer Book of the Bible

In many churches the Psalms are read or sung every Sunday, or even daily, in succession. These churches have preserved a priceless treasure, for only with daily use does one appropriate this divine prayer book. When read only occasionally, these prayers are too overwhelming in design and power and tend to

turn us back to more palatable fare. But whoever has begun to pray the Psalter seriously and regularly will soon give a vacation to oth er little devotional prayers and say:"Ah, there is not the juice, the strength, the passion, the fire which I find in the Psalter. It tastes too cold and too hard" (Luther).

Therefore, wherever we no longer pray the Psalms in our churches, we must take up the Psalter that much more in our daily morning and evening prayers, reading and praying together at least several Psalms every day so that we succeed in reading through this book a number of times each year, getting into it deeper and deeper. We also ought not to select Psalms at our own discretion, thinking that we know better what we ought to pray than does God himself. To do that is to dishonor the prayer-book of the Bible. In the ancient church it was not unusual to memorize "the entire David." In one of the eastern churches this was a prerequisite for the pastoral office. The church father St. Jerome says that one heard the Psalms being sung in the fields and gardens in his time. The Psalter impregnated the life of early Christianity. Yet more important than all of this is the fact that Jesus died with the words of the Psalter on his lips.

Whenever the Psalter is abandoned, and incomparable treasure vanishes from the Christian church. With its recovery will come unsuspected power.

The Heavens Declare His Righteousness - The People See His Glory

And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.

By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,

and by the breath of His mouth all their host.

My hand laid the foundation of the earth,

and My right hand spread out the heavens;

when I call to them,

they stand forth together.

He determines the number of the stars;

He gives to all of them their names.

He who made the Pleiades and Orion…

the LORD is his name;

The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the sky above proclaims His handiwork.

Day to day pours out speech,

and night to night reveals knowledge.

When I look at your heavens, the work of Your fingers,

the moon and the stars, which You have set in place,

what is man that You are mindful of him,

and the son of man that You care for him?

The heavens declare His righteousness, and all the people see His glory.

But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You.

The heavens, without human life or voice, unceasingly praise and glorify Christ. And is it not strange that we, who were crowned with glory and honor so that we might unceasingly worship Him with our lives and voices in a way even greater than heavens, are the ones who sin against Him so often?

Genesis 1:16, Psalm 33:6, Isaiah 48:13, Psalm 147:4, Amos 5:8, Psalm 19:1-2; 8:3-4; 97:6, I Kings 8:27

Our Good Refuge

" I will bless the LORD at all times;

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul makes its boast in the LORD;

let the humble hear and be glad.

Oh, magnify the LORD with me,

and let us exalt His name together!

I sought the LORD, and He answered me

and delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to Him are radiant,

and their faces shall never be ashamed.

This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him

and saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel of the LORD encamps

around those who fear him, and delivers them.

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!

Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints,

for those who fear him have no lack!"

- Psalm 34:1-9

Trusting and Waiting

"I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,

and in His word I hope;

my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning,

more than watchmen for the morning." - Ps. 130:5-6

"We are too apt to wait for circumstance, people, things' and to meet with disappointment, because they are apart from Himself. But those who wait for the Lord cannot be ashamed. There may be no Theophany; but, as they wait, a new strength and comfort steal into their hearts. Oh to have the eagerness of the watcher for the dawn, as we wait for God! And should not we all cherish this expectancy for the breaking of that eternal morning, when the day shall dawn on which night never falls?" - F. B. Myer on the Psalms

These words encouraged me in my devotions this morning. Then, in chapel this morning, Uncle Phil said, "How much we trust God is linked to our understanding that God is in control." That trust is demonstrated in confidence in God, belief in what He says, and submission to His will.

Is it not a restful thing to trust in God?

Security

"The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup;
You hold my lot.
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
I bless the LORD who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
I have set the LORD always before me;
because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let Your holy one see corruption.
You make known to me the path of life;
in Your presence there is fullness of joy;
at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

- Psalm 16:5-11

It is a secure to know that God holds my lot. Life is not a pair of dice tossed on the table, six being Option A, and two being Option C. God planed the future.

It is secure to know that God gives counsel. To worry that I will deceive myself and miss God's will is foolish, because God's counsel is not hidden.

It is secure to know that God is at my right hand. It is impossible to miss the path when the Guide stands beside me. He loves me too much to allow the yielded heart to accidentally wander away. My job is to remain yielded (surprisingly difficult:), not to worry about the path.

It is secure to know that God will not abandon me. In a college student's life, very little is stable. Home changes every six months. People run into your life and they run out. Classes come and go. The stable core is very small. But God does not change with the semesters. He will never leave, and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

It is secure to know that God shows the path of life. Not only is there security right now, the there is security in the future. The next phrase speaks of God's presence. God's path of life leads to the security of His presence.

It is secure to know that God gives fullness of joy. Happy times with God now are a taste of the fullness of joy in His presence later. Imagine! The best devotional times in the morning are a small appetizer for the fullness of joy in His presence