Luke 4:22-44. Jesus was rejected as a prophet in his own hometown. Going forward, Jesus cast out an Unclean Spirit and healed many.
1 Samuel 30. David defeated the Amalekites but his two wives were taken hostage and had to be rescued.
1 Samuel 31 tells of the death of Saul’s sons, and how Saul himself fell on his own sword.
Psalm 40, of David. It speaks of the servant that comes to do God’s will. David attributed this to himself, but it is spiritually a messianic Psalm.
Mark 13, Jesus told his disciples of the Signs of the End of the Age, the Great Tribulation, the Coming of the Son of Man, the lesson of the Fig Tree and the Day and Hour of his return, which shall remain unknown until it happens.
Proverbs 2 is telling of the moral benefits of wisdom.
Psalm 37, of David. With two lines dedicated to each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, this psalm is one of the longer acrostics in the book of Psalms. David wrote it late in life (“ I have been young, and now am old;
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
Nor his descendants begging bread.“) It is full of promises and praise and was intended for memorization.
Psalm 38, of David, a Petition. This is a Psalm of deep despair and remorse. David acknowledged his sin and cried out to God. Yet, in failing health and abandoned by friends and family, his hope in God remained steadfast.
Mark 12:28-44. Jesus answered the question: “What is the Greatest Commandment?” He then gave the people the riddle “whose son is the Christ?” Finally, looking at temple offerings Jesus noticed the widow that gave all she had, two mites.
Ruth 3. Ruth’s Redemption was assured.
Ruth 4. Boaz redeemed Ruth, and that’s how Ruth came to be in the genealogy of David and Jesus.
Psalm 36, of David, the Servant of the LORD. This Psalm also tells of wicked people, but then shows the mercies of God and ends up with David recognizing that without God’s protection he too is vulnerable, as are we all.
What better subject to study on tax day April 15,than the question “Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar? Jesus answer, and his answer to the next question shows that while some taxes are unavoidable it is more important to acknowledge God while we live, and then the resurrection.
Mark 12:1-27 begins with Jesus telling the parable of the unfaithful tenants, and after that the Pharisees tried to entrap Jesus with the question “Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar?” You know the answer, if not, check it and ponder. Then it was the Sadducees’ turn to entrap him with the question what happens to marriage at the Resurrection. Jesus answered: “He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.”
Ruth 1. Elimelech’s family went to Moab, and all the men in the family died. Naomi returned back to Israel with Ruth, a Moabite. The famous quote from Ruth 1: “Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:”.
Ruth 2. Ruth met Boaz.
Psalm 35, of David. An urgent call for God to execute His righteous judgment on the enemies of God and vindicate David. (This is the Psalm that has received the most hits of any Psalm on my blog!) A sign of the times we are living in.
Mark 11 begins with what is called the Holy Week with the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. Jesus entered, riding on an unbroken foal of a donkey. This was the sign. The next day Jesus cursed a fig tree (symbol of Israel) and cleared the Temple of the money changers (You don’t want to give too much, you know). Following morning the fig tree was withered, and all that saw it marveled. Finally, Jesus authority was questioned by the religious authorities.
Proverbs 1. It extols the virtue of wisdom. Read it and apply it.
Psalm 34, of David. This Psalm is an almost acrostic psalm (except for the letter waw). Like many acrostic Psalms, this is to be sung and memorized as it is full of praise and good advice. It contains one notable prophetic reference: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.
He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken.”
Mark 7:1-23. Jesus explained what is clean and what is unclean.
Ecclesiastes 11 explains the value of diligence. One advice: Seek God early in life.
Ecclesiastes 12. “Remember now thy creator in the days of your youth“. “Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”
Psalm 31, of David. As was so often the case, David was in trouble. He cried out about his woes to God, and yet, the Psalm ends with praise and total confidence in God.
Psalm 32, of David. “This was Saint Augustine’s favorite psalm. Augustine had it inscribed on the wall next to his bed before he died in order to meditate on it better.” (James Montgomery Boice)
Mark 6:1-13, In Mark 6 Jesus proclaimed ”A Prophet is not without honor, but in his own hometown, and among his own kin.” Jesus sent out the Twelve disciples, and they were amazed they could heal too.
Joshua 20 lists the cities of refuge, three West of Jordan and three East of Jordan.
Joshua 21 lists the 48 towns given to the Levites, they received no land. God’s promise to Israel was finally fulfilled and the land had rest for a while.
Joshua 22. The Eastern tribes returned to their lands. On their way they built an altar by the Jordan. The Western Tribes thought by doing so they were abandoning the LORD. Not so, they were confirming “it shall be a witness between us that the LORD is God.”
Psalm 30, for the dedication of the Temple. Of David. ( An alternate translation : For the dedication of the House of David.) Punctuations are important, but are not in the Hebrew text. You decide the best interpretation. It was written at the time of the completion of building David’s palace, but Charles Spurgeon, among others, thought that it was actually written prophetically for the dedication of the Temple – for which David made the preparations, but the construction of the Temple was left to Solomon to perform.
Again, in Mark 3:1-19 Jesus did heal on a Sabbath, this time He healed a man with a withered hand. The powers that be hated it, but more and more people followed him. Then Jesus appointed the 12 apostles.
Joshua 5. While camped at Gilgal the second generation of Israelites were circumcised. Joshua met the Commander of the Army of the LORD.
Joshua 6 describes in living detail the Fall of Jericho. (One of the many musical renditions of this event is with the Delta Rhythm Boys from many years ago.) Enjoy!
Psalm 27 of David. “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”
Mark 2:13-28. Jesus called Levi, the tax collector, also called Matthew. To associate with a tax collector was controversial and the Pharisees objected, since tax collectors were held in deep disregard, but Jesus assured them he came to save sinners. Then Jesus was questioned about why he and the disciples did not fast as they should, and worse yet, they picked food from the head of the grain on a Sabbath! To this Jesus claimed that he is also Lord of the Sabbath!
In Joshua 3 the Israelites were finally crossing the Jordan.
Joshua 4. After crossing the Jordan Joshua commanded the Israelites to take twelve stones as Memorial Stones to remind them they crossed Jordan on dry ground even though the Jordan River was flooded. (When the Levites finally had passed over the Jordan River with the Ark the waters returned to flood stage.)
Psalm 25, of David. “Unto Thee, o LORD do I lift up my soul.”
Psalm 26, of David. A Psalm where David asked God to judge him on his merits based on faith.
In Mark 2:1-12 Jesus healed a paralytic man, and he also forgave the man his sins. This caused quite a stir, since nobody can forgive sins but God alone.
Joshua 1 tells of God’s Commission to Joshua. The LORD gave the order to Cross the Jordan, “Only be strong and of a good courage”.
Joshua 2 tells the story of the innkeeper Rahab and the spies. From this story we get the idiom “a scarlet thread”.
Psalm 24, of David. Here the Psalm is illustrated with beautiful pictures. Enjoy!
Len Bilén's blog, a blog about faith, politics and the environment. 