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For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A maskil of David. When the Ziphites had gone to Saul and said, “Is not David hiding among us?”

¹ Save me, O God, by your name;
    vindicate me by your might.
² Hear my prayer, O God;
    listen to the words of my mouth.

³ Arrogant foes are attacking me;
    ruthless people are trying to kill me—
    people without regard for God.

⁴ Surely God is my help;
    the Lord is the one who sustains me.

⁵ Let evil recoil on those who slander me;
    in your faithfulness destroy them.

⁶ I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you;
    I will praise your name, Lord, for it is good.
⁷ You have delivered me from all my troubles,
    and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes. (NIV)

At the heart of this brief, and beautiful, psalm there is a confident expression of belief in God’s ”help” (4). As the title to this psalm shows, it was written at a time of very real danger, but David had proved God as his very real helper in the past, and he was utterly confident that He would come to his aid again (6,7).

Someone wrote that, ‘Whereas all of Scripture speaks to us, the psalms speak for us.’ Like David, we often find ourselves in tight corners. We regularly feel out of our depth, and overwhelmed by life’s many challenges. But also, along with him, have we not also found God to be our ”help”?

”God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble” (Ps.46:1);

”I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
² My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth” (Ps.121:1,2);

”So do not fear, for I am with you;
    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Is.41:10);

”¹⁴ Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. ¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebs.4:14-16)

” Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

“Never will I leave you;
    never will I forsake you.”

⁶ So we say with confidence,

“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
    What can mere mortals do to me?” (Hebs.13:5,6)

PRAYER: Lord, you know what I’m facing, and how weak and small I am. I seek to entrust myself and my needs to you, and I ask for your help.

THOUGHT: Looking to God for help doesn’t mean passivity. We do what we need to do; what we have to do. We accept our responsibilities, but we ask God for His help to do it all.

 During the time he was in Jerusalem, those days of the Passover Feast, many people noticed the signs he was displaying and, seeing they pointed straight to God, entrusted their lives to him. But Jesus didn’t entrust his life to them. He knew them inside and out, knew how untrustworthy they were. He didn’t need any help in seeing right through them. (The Message)

Perhaps we can be too quick to declare that someone has come to Christ? It’s understandable, of course, that we are excited and ebullient when we witness new found faith. But there is a caution in today’s short passage: not everyone who appears to be converted actually is. We have our disappointments, do we not? But Jesus is never taken by surprise. He knows people through and through.

‘He’s a truly converted man’, I heard someone declare about a friend of mine who professed faith some years ago. I could only agree. It had seemed to be a miraculous and ‘whirlwind romance’ with Jesus. But in very little time he was no longer among us, and I don’t know where he is today. The plant had shot up, and for a time appeared impressive, but he had all too soon withered. The initial euphoria we felt was quickly replaced with a frustrating sense of loss and sadness.

By all means, let us rejoice over every sign that God is at work in a person’s life. But also, may we walk wisely and carefully and patiently among men. It can take time for genuine ‘fruit’ to appear. We have so much to learn from Jesus.

When the Passover Feast, celebrated each spring by the Jews, was about to take place, Jesus traveled up to Jerusalem. He found the Temple teeming with people selling cattle and sheep and doves. The loan sharks were also there in full strength.

^15-17 Jesus put together a whip out of strips of leather and chased them out of the Temple, stampeding the sheep and cattle, upending the tables of the loan sharks, spilling coins left and right. He told the dove merchants, “Get your things out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a shopping mall!” That’s when his disciples remembered the Scripture, “Zeal for your house consumes me.”

^18-19 But the Jews were upset. They asked, “What credentials can you present to justify this?” Jesus answered, “Tear down this Temple and in three days I’ll put it back together.”

^20-22 They were indignant: “It took forty-six years to build this Temple, and you’re going to rebuild it in three days?” But Jesus was talking about his body as the Temple. Later, after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered he had said this. They then put two and two together and believed both what was written in Scripture and what Jesus had said. (The Message)

The Jews recognised, perhaps, an implied claim in Jesus’ action on this day. Had not the Lord said through the prophet Malachi?:

” “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.

² But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. ³ He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, ⁴ and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.

⁵ “So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty.” ( (Mal.4:1-6)

Jesus had come to the Temple in that ‘spirit’.

In ‘presenting His credentials’, Jesus said something very significant – something that His disciples were to remember (and some of His enemies were going to use against Him). Jesus was not referring to the physical Temple, which had indeed been under construction for a long time, but rather to His own death and resurrection. (Indeed, there is deep meaning in the mention of ”the Passover Feast”, v.13, because Jesus had come into the world as the ultimate fulfilment of this great Festival: ”For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” 1 Cor.5:7)

The death and resurrection of Christ are at the heart of the Christian faith. If Jesus has not been raised we have no basis for hope (see 1 Cor.15).

I read that Professor Joad, a famous broadcaster and philosopher, was once asked, ‘Which figure of history would you most like to meet, and what question would you put to him or her? He replied, ”Jesus of Nazareth, and I would ask Him, ‘Did you or did you not rise from the dead?’ ”

 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, ² and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³ When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

⁴ “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”

⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

⁶ Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

⁷ Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

⁸ Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so, ⁹ and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside ¹⁰ and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

¹¹ What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

¹² After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days. (NIV)

Two further thoughts on this beautiful passage:

• Tell Jesus the problem. You don’t need to tell Him how to fix it. Trust Him with it. He knows best how to work it out. But stay tuned! Be ready to ”Do whatever he tells you.” ‘…to pray is to open the door to Jesus, and that requires no strength; it is only a question of our wills…To pray is nothing more than to lift the eye of prayer unto the Saviour who stands and knocks, yea knocks through our very need, in order to gain access to our distress, sup with us, and glorify His name’ (from ‘Prayer’ by Ole Hallesby). Similarly, Bruce Milne writes: ‘We all have a tendency to use prayer to dictate to God. Our part is to lay the need before him, and then trust him to respond as he wills. We also note that Mary’s prayer was followed by implicit obedience (5). Prayer without a willingness to obey is little better than faith without a willingness to work.’
• The ”best wine” offered by Jesus has to be ”tasted” to be fully experienced. It is only in the tasting that we fully recognise that what He offers is truly the ”best”. ”Taste and see that the Lord is good…” (Ps.34:8)

What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. (NIV)

John’s gospel is carefully built around 7 ”signs” performed by Jesus. These point to the Lord’s identity. Furthermore, the evangelist is clear in stating his purpose:

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. ³¹ But these are written that you may believe  that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (20:30,31).

Years ago, for a season, I did quite a lot of research into this gospel, and I remember one commentator arguing that this first ”sign” speaks of Jesus’ power to transform. Sidlow Baxter says that all 7 signs are, in one way or another, about transformation.

Last year, I read a short biography of William Wilberforce. I found it fascinating as well as inspiring. One detail I didn’t know concerned the influence of John Newton’s friendship and encouragement upon Wilberforce. Newton, who had been a slave trader, was wonderfully converted, experiencing ‘amazing grace’. By the time Wilberforce knew him, Newton was a church minister and a faithful Christian. There is no doubt that Jesus changes lives.

 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

 Three days later there was a wedding in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there. Jesus and his disciples were guests also. When they started running low on wine at the wedding banquet, Jesus’ mother told him, “They’re just about out of wine.”

⁴ Jesus said, “Is that any of our business, Mother—yours or mine? This isn’t my time. Don’t push me.”

⁵ She went ahead anyway, telling the servants, “Whatever he tells you, do it.”

^6-7 Six stoneware water pots were there, used by the Jews for ritual washings. Each held twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus ordered the servants, “Fill the pots with water.” And they filled them to the brim.

⁸ “Now fill your pitchers and take them to the host,” Jesus said, and they did.

^9-10 When the host tasted the water that had become wine (he didn’t know what had just happened but the servants, of course, knew), he called out to the bridegroom, “Everybody I know begins with their finest wines and after the guests have had their fill brings in the cheap stuff. But you’ve saved the best till now!”

¹¹ This act in Cana of Galilee was the first sign Jesus gave, the first glimpse of his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

¹² After this he went down to Capernaum along with his mother, brothers, and disciples, and stayed several days. (The Message)

I love the story of the former drunkard who declared, ‘I have no problem believing that Jesus turned water into wine, because He turned beer into furniture in my house!’

Verse 4 may sound a bit rude to us. But Mary clearly did not understand it as a refusal, and she uttered the most simple, but powerful, word of counsel in the wake of it:

”Whatever he tells you, do it.”

That was the key to this miracle. The servants did exactly what Jesus told them to do, and the transformation happened. It remains the key to every miracle.

” My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27)

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, above the clamour and noise of this world, help me to hear your voice and do your will.

THOUGHT: “The word ‘listen’ contains the same letters as the word ‘silent.'” Alfred Brendel

 Now the family heads of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the other tribal families of Israel ² at Shiloh in Canaan and said to them, “The Lord commanded through Moses that you give us towns to live in, with pasturelands for our livestock.” ³ So, as the Lord had commanded, the Israelites gave the Levites the following towns and pasturelands out of their own inheritance:

⁴ The first lot came out for the Kohathites, according to their clans. The Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest were allotted thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin. ⁵ The rest of Kohath’s descendants were allotted ten towns from the clans of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan and half of Manasseh.

⁶ The descendants of Gershon were allotted thirteen towns from the clans of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

⁷ The descendants of Merari, according to their clans, received twelve towns from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Zebulun.

⁸ So the Israelites allotted to the Levites these towns and their pasturelands, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

⁹ From the tribes of Judah and Simeon they allotted the following towns by name ¹⁰ (these towns were assigned to the descendants of Aaron who were from the Kohathite clans of the Levites, because the first lot fell to them):

¹¹ They gave them Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), with its surrounding pastureland, in the hill country of Judah. (Arba was the forefather of Anak.) ¹² But the fields and villages around the city they had given to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession.

¹³ So to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron (a city of refuge for one accused of murder), Libnah, ¹⁴ Jattir, Eshtemoa, ¹⁵ Holon, Debir, ¹⁶ Ain, Juttah and Beth Shemesh, together with their pasturelands—nine towns from these two tribes.

¹⁷ And from the tribe of Benjamin they gave them Gibeon, Geba, ¹⁸ Anathoth and Almon, together with their pasturelands—four towns.

¹⁹ The total number of towns for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, came to thirteen, together with their pasturelands. (NIV)

As we see in today’s reading (and will do so again when we come back to the remainder of chapter 21, in a few days time), the Levites did not have any tribal land as such, but were allotted ”towns to live in with pasture-lands” for their animals (see, e.g. vv.2/8). This was according to the Lord’s own Word, which they ‘claimed’. In Gen.49:7 God had said that He would scatter the Levites throughout Israel. and He gave them forty-eight towns, including the cities of refuge.

‘The distribution of the Levites through the tribes is of obvious significance…consider what a wide and wholesome effect must have been produced throughout the country, especially when Levi fulfilled the lofty possibilities of this high-calling. Moreover, the teaching of the Law was a special prerogative of the Levites, who appear to have travelled through their apportioned districts…The distribution of the Levites was the Lord’s provision for the preservation of Israel’s faith in the land.’ J.Sidlow Baxter

”He teaches your precepts to Jacob
    and your law to Israel.
He offers incense before you
    and whole burnt offerings on your altar.” (Deut,33:10)

Yesterday, my wife, Jilly, had a physio appointment in our nearby city of Ripon. We decided that, while we were there we would attend evening prayer in the Cathedral. We made a couple of observations about our experience:

1. The Cathedral conveys such a sense of how big God is and how small we are, and that is a good thing for people to be made to see and feel (if they do). In a way, it preaches a sermon, and the presence of Cathedrals and other church buildings in cities and towns and villages across the land remains so important. They remind the general population about God, and prayer, and that there still are believing people. But we also noted that…
2. There is something wonderful and precious about the daily rhythm of prayer, praise and worship offered in so many of these churches scattered across our home nations. There were only three attendees (including ourselves) at evening prayer yesterday, plus four clergy. But it would go ahead regardless. Who can tell the life-giving, health-giving effects of these services? Their restraining power? Their preservative influence? Their ‘salt’ and ‘light’ impact? God only knows. But there is something of simple beauty and power in the ancient (and modern) prayers, and the reading of Scripture. Thank God for the presence of His faithful ‘Levites’ in the land.

Then the Lord said to Joshua: ² “Tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses, ³ so that anyone who kills a person accidentally and unintentionally may flee there and find protection from the avenger of blood. ⁴ When they flee to one of these cities, they are to stand in the entrance of the city gate and state their case before the elders of that city. Then the elders are to admit the fugitive into their city and provide a place to live among them. ⁵ If the avenger of blood comes in pursuit, the elders must not surrender the fugitive, because the fugitive killed their neighbor unintentionally and without malice aforethought. ⁶ They are to stay in that city until they have stood trial before the assembly and until the death of the high priest who is serving at that time. Then they may go back to their own home in the town from which they fled.”

⁷ So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. ⁸ East of the Jordan (on the other side from Jericho) they designated Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau in the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead in the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan in the tribe of Manasseh. ⁹ Any of the Israelites or any foreigner residing among them who killed someone accidentally could flee to these designated cities and not be killed by the avenger of blood prior to standing trial before the assembly. (NIV)

The cities of ‘refuge’ are mentioned in Exodus 21:12,13, Numbers 35 and Deut.19. They were a divine provision to offer protection to those who had committed certain wrongs unintentionally.

From our perspective, Jesus is our ‘City of refuge’. But there is contrast here as well as a comparison, for, thanks be to God, in Jesus we find forgiveness ”from all sin” (1 John 1:7). The ‘refuge’ is not just from accidental and unintentional sins, but ”all sin”. Outside of Jesus there is no mercy for us; but in Him there is all mercy.

‘Other refuge have I none;
hangs my helpless soul on thee;
leave, ah! leave me not alone,
still support and comfort me.
All my trust on thee is stayed,
all my help from thee I bring;
cover my defenceless head
with the shadow of thy wing.’ (From the hymn, ‘Jesus, lover of my soul, by Charles Wesley)

‘Jesus Christ is our ”city of refuge” (Heb.6:18-20), but the salvation He gives is in contrast to the refuge given to the manslayer. It is true that the sinner must come to Christ (Matt.11:28-30), but it is also true that Christ first comes to us (Luke 19:10)…When we come to Christ, there is no trial to determine our guilt. We know we are guilty! That is why we fled to Him! We did not stand at the door and wait; we entered the open door (John 10:9) and were welcomed by the Saviour, knowing that we would never face condemnation (John 5:24; Rom.8:1).’ Warren Wiersbe

J. Sidlow Baxter also comments helpfully: ‘Even when we are ”in the land” we may do many things that are wrong without realising they are wrong. In strict justice the law of God cannot but pursue us as guilty. Yet there is provision made for this in the blood of Christ. Mistakes, inadvertencies, ”sins of ignorance,” unintentional wrongs are provided for in the Atonement. Christ Himself is our ”City of Refuge”; and by holding to Him we are protected and covered…’

The inheritance of the Simeonites was taken from the share of Judah, because Judah’s portion was more than they needed. So the Simeonites received their inheritance within the territory of Judah.

When they had finished dividing the land into its allotted portions, the Israelites gave Joshua son of Nun an inheritance among them, ⁵⁰ as the Lord had commanded. They gave him the town he asked for—Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim. And he built up the town and settled there.

⁵¹ These are the territories that Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun and the heads of the tribal clans of Israel assigned by lot at Shiloh in the presence of the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. And so they finished dividing the land.

I want to highlight two further things in Joshua 19: the first appears close to the beginning of the chapter, and the second at the end. Here they are:

1. The principle that those who have more should share with those who have less. This is illustrated in the story about the Simeonite share coming out of Judah. In two great chapters on ‘giving’, in 2 Corinthians, Paul writes in 9:13-15: ” Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. ¹⁴ At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, ¹⁵ as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”
2. Biblical leadership involves service – putting others first. It’s not about sitting at the top of the pile and keeping all the best for yourself – the cream from the top of the milk, as it were. Simon Sinek wrote a book with the wonderful title: ‘Leaders eat last’. This seems to encapsulate the principle. Warren Wiersbe writes, ‘Joshua saw to it that the distribution to the tribes was completed before he received his own inheritance (19:49-50). The city of Timnath was located in a mountainous region where life would not be easy. Joshua could have chosen the finest place in the land, but he put others first and let them take the best (1 Cor.10:24; Phil.2:1-4).’