David’s prayer here reminds me of Abraham. The Lord promised something to David, to
establish his house as the ruling house of Israel, God’s own people. David praises the Lord for this decision, he
stands in wonder that this could be so.
He, like Abraham, was chosen for no particular merit of his own at the
time of his choosing, Samuel didn’t see it, even David’s father Jesse didn’t
see it. David stands in wonder and awe
at the Lord’s choice. Next, he praises God
for all He has done for His people. The
Lord redeemed His people from Egypt and then drove out other peoples and their
gods before the nation in giving them the land.
David believed because of these things that the Lord could and would do
all He promised re David’s house. He
didn’t see it, he believed it and praised God for it. Has the Lord said anything to you that you
need to praise Him for in spite of the fact that you haven’t seen it yet?
I’d love to know why Jesus took the blind man and led him
out of the village and then spit before laying hands on him. Why did He take him away from the village and
from those who had brought him to Jesus?
Why did it take two tries to complete the healing? These are imponderables. Is there a metaphor for the disciples in this
healing? They too are beginning to see
but not completely and clearly yet.
Peter’s confession is a sign that they are beginning to see and believe
and yet his dispute with Jesus concerning the future only shortly after his
confession shows that he, too, isn’t seeing clearly yet.
The Jews make an interesting charge against Paul before the
proconsul: “This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law.”
Why no mention of Jesus? They were
trying to make the charge civil and not religious. The “law” to which they refer is Roman law
not God’s law and Gallio sees through it immediately, refusing to get involved
in the matter. The failed strategy didn’t
work out well for the leader of the synagogue, the mob turned on him after this
failure and beat him. The proconsul paid
no attention to it whatever. Paul finds
a more sympathetic audience in Ephesus who ask him to stay longer but he
declines with a promise that if God wills it he will be back and then heads
back to his home base of Antioch.
Following Paul’s departure, Apollos arrives and began to teach about
Jesus there but he only knew the baptism of John, not about the baptism of the
Holy Spirit. Priscilla and Aquila,
fortunately, are there as well and they are able to complete his education in
the matter and power now comes with the ministry there. We need to know the promises of God and stand
on those if we are to have true power.
No comments:
Post a Comment