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Daily Bible thoughts 726: Wednesday 15th October 2014:

Isaiah 43:1-13

For God’s people in this world there is no cast iron guarantee that they will not go through fire and flood. On the contrary, there should be an expectation that they will. It’s not a case of ‘if’ but ‘’When…when…When…’’ (2). Suffering will come. Hard times will pay a visit. Tribulation will knock on the door. But God calls His people to remember who He is (3a), how much He loves them (4a), that He is with them (2, 5), and has created them for His glory (1, 7). Therefore, if God is for them, who can be against them? So they are not to fear (1, 3a). None of this trouble takes God by surprise. He is working to a plan. ‘’This is inevitable. He is too transparently truthful to engage us without telling the nature of his service. Through much tribulation we must enter the kingdom.’’ F.B. Meyer: ‘Great verses through the Bible, p.285.

God’s love is a costly love (3, 4). In order to redeem or ‘’ransom’’ His people, God ‘gave’ Cyrus‘’…Egypt…Cush and Seba…’’ in their stead. Cyrus was later to conquer these countries. ‘’I paid a huge price for you : all of Egypt , with rich Cush and Seba thrown in! That’s how much you mean to me! That’s how much I love you! I’d sell off the whole world to get you back, trade the creation just for you.’’ The Message. When times are hard, and maybe we are tempted to question the love of God, it’s good to remember the ultimate price Jesus paid to redeem us; to buy us back from sin’s slave market.

God’s people must always keep in their minds and hearts their calling to be His witnesses (8-13). Those redeemed by Him should say so. He is the Almighty, awesome, overwhelming God who fills these pagers with His dominant presence. He has come to the rescue of His people. He is the true god and no idol. We are to testify that there is no other god, and no other Saviour. Of course, a large number of God’s people were spiritually blind and deaf, verse 8. See also 42:18-20. These people had nothing to say for they did not see. They could not comprehend. But all who have experienced God’s redemption and do understand, are called to be His witnesses in the world. ‘’Redeemed how I love to proclaim it…’’ Eventually, in the unfolding revelation of Scripture, the title ‘’my witnesses’’ was to have its full force (Acts 1:8). The point at issue here is the non-existence of any god but Yahweh, in ages past, present, or to come.

So, the people of God have been redeemed by God to glorify Him by witnessing to Him in this hostile world. This will not be always easy, but the Lord will never leave or forsake them, so there is no need to fear. The gates of hell will never prevail against the church. They will try, but they will not succeed!

Here, then, is a great thought to carry with you through the day ahead: ‘’When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you. When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down. When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead end – Because I am GOD, your personal GOD, the Holy of Israel, your Saviour. The Message.

Prayer: May I never think that fire and flood mean you have abandoned me Lord. Amid burning and overwhelming problems, let me always know that you are with me.

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Daily Bible thoughts 725: Tuesday 14th October 2014

Proverbs 22:28-23:9

Here are more nuggets of wisdom from the book of ‘Proverbs’. We are continuing to listen to the ‘sayings of the wise’:

(28; see also 15:25 and 23:10). This was about justice and protecting property rights. But I am also mindful that we keep moving moral ‘’boundary’’ stones in our society. It is both foolish and dangerous to defy God in this way. We must inevitably pay for doing so.

(29) Here is a principle that is generally true: a good, skilled worker will gain recognition and promotion. When you want to employ someone for a particular role, you look for the best qualified person you can find. You take up references. You are hardly likely to give a job and a salary to someone who is lazy and unproductive, and shoddy in their approach. ‘’Observe people who are good at their work – skilled workers are always in demand and admired; they don’t take a back seat to anyone.’’ The Message.

(23: 1-3) The point here is that if a ‘’ruler’’ or other important figure asks you out for a meal, take care. He may be testing you with a view to asking you to do some service for him. So, be self-controlled and don’t lose the opportunity of advancement through careless over-indulgence. ‘’When you go out to dinner with an influential person, mind your manners: Don’t gobble your food, don’t talk with your mouth full. And don’t stuff yourself; bridle your appetite.’’ The Message. (There is also a time to ask, ‘Why is this person being so generous and friendly to me?’ Don’t switch off your ‘discernment antennae’. Someone may be setting you up in some way.)

(4, 5) The goal of your life should not be to become rich. If wealth comes your way, then steward it wisely. But money is transient. It can easily be lost, and you can’t take it with you. It’s not something to build your life on. ‘’Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich; restrain yourself! Riches disappear in the blink of an eye; wealth sprouts wings and flies off into the wild blue yonder.’’ The Message.

(6-8) These verses are, again, well expressed in The Message: ‘’Don’t accept a meal from a tightwad; don’t expect anything special. He’ll be as stingy with you as he is with himself; he’ll say, ‘’Eat! Drink!’’ but won’t mean a word of it. His miserly serving will turn your stomach when you realize the meal’s a sham.’’ In terms of hospitality, the spirit of the person communicates something powerful, and not just what they put in front of you on the table. Someone who isn’t truly generous-hearted won’t be much joy to be around.

(9) There is a need for discernment in speaking to people; in knowing when to speak and when to be silent. Wise words will be wasted on some. It will be ‘casting pearls’ before ‘swine’. The precious words won’t be wanted or heeded. They will be trampled underfoot. People who will not receive feedback impoverish themselves. They cut themselves off from the possibility of growth and improvement.

Prayer: Lord I recognise that, more than cleverness, I need to have the gift of your wisdom in order to navigate my life through all the dangers of this sin-cursed world. Please give me in plentiful supply what I so obviously lack and desperately need.

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Daily Bible thoughts 724: Monday 13th October 2014:

Galatians 3:15-25

Paul’s message was about the promise of God in the gospel: if you believe in Jesus you will be saved. That is God’s commitment; His guarantee; His ‘price-free promise’! (‘Price-free’ to you and me, that is. We just have to believe.) This is all of grace and received by faith. (To my mind, verse 22 is at the heart of today’s passage and provides a definition of Paul’s message.) But the Judaizers who dogged Paul’s steps, and who were particularly active in the churches of Galatia, taught that one is saved by law rather than promise. So in this section Paul shows that the promise came first and cannot be altered by the later appearance of the law. He writes about the purpose of the law and shows why it is inferior to the promise.

Paul begins with an illustration from ordinary life. People make various covenants with each other. Once one is ‘’established’’ it cannot be easily changed (15). Salvation began not with law but a promise (16). It was not a promise to the ‘’seeds’’ (i.e. all the natural children) of Abraham, but to Christ (and through Christ to all who believe). In (17) the apostle makes his main point. God gave the promise of salvation to Abraham long before the giving of the law at Sinai. So how could the Judaizers say that the law is necessary for salvation? The promise of salvation never depended on the law. It preceded it in time and importance. The coming of the law could not change that original covenant of God. When that covenant was ratified, Abraham was asleep (see Genesis 15). The covenant was all about grace and the promises God made to Abraham. ‘’This is the way I interpret this: A will, earlier ratified by God, is not annulled by an addendum attached 430 years later, thereby negating the promise of the will. No, this addendum, with its instructions and regulations, has nothing to do with the promised inheritance in the will.’’ The Message.

So what was the purpose of the law? (19a, 23-25) It was to prepare people for the coming of Christ; to show us that we are sinners in need of a Saviour. But it cannot save anyone. That’s not its purpose. (Someone has pointed out that the law does not contradict the promise, but it cooperates with it in fulfilling God’s plan. While law and grace seem contrary to one another, if you go down deep you find that they complement each other. They work hand in glove.) In Paul’s day wealthy families hired special tutors or custodians to look after their children. The children were under the authority of the custodian. Paul paints the picture of the law being a custodian to people in (24). Once we come to Christ, however, we don’t need the custodian’s supervision anymore (25). ‘’Until the time came when we were mature enough to respond freely in faith to the living God, we were carefully surrounded and protected by the Mosaic law. The law was like those Greek tutors, with which you are familiar, who escort children to school and protect them from danger or distraction, making sure the children will really get to the place they set out for.’’ The Message.

So that is the purpose of the law. Paul also points out that the law is inferior to the promise because a.) it is temporary (19, 23-25); b.) it was not given directly from God to man, but came third – hand, from God to angels to Moses (19b, 20), and because it cannot impart life (21). The law cannot save anyone, and that is why Paul stood his ground against the Judaizers. He knew the important place of the law. He knew what it could do. But he was also aware of what it could not achieve. To be saved we have to go back to the promise given to Abraham and not to the law given to Moses.

Prayer: Thank you Lord for your wonderful grace. Help me to never go back to a futile religion of self-effort.

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Daily Bible thoughts 723: Friday 10th October 2014:

Galatians 3:10-14

There are two key messages in these verses:

  • We are saved by faith and not law (10-12);
  • We are saved through Christ (13, 14). His work on the cross is central to our believing and receiving the gift of the Spirit. So see:
  •  The curse of the law (10, 12): Paul quotes from Deuteronomy 27:26 and later from Leviticus 18:5. The Law demands obedience, and the problem is that it’s not just a bit of obedience that will suffice. There must be obedience in ‘’everything’’. As someone has said, the law is not a religious cafeteria where you can pick and choose (see James 2:10-11). I took an examination some years ago, made up of four parts. But if you failed one section you failed the entire exam. It’s rather like that with the Law. To be saved by the Law you have to do it all No one can and that’s why no one can be saved by the law. If you think you can be spiritually rescued by keeping the Ten Commandments, the bad news is that if you’ve so much as broken one of them you’ve failed to get the pass mark!
  • The content of Paul’s message (11): Habakkuk 2:4 was a key text for the apostle Paul. We could say that it is theme text out of which Romans is developed (Romans 1:16, 17). Paul was insistent that people are not saved by doing good deeds but by believing in Christ. It’s not just that the law can’t save anyone (and that much is clearly obvious) but it is also about what is written in the Old Testament Scriptures. Way back when, the Word of God said you cannot be saved by working and earning, but by believing and receiving. The only way to find true life is by faith.
  • The cross at the centre (13, 14): Paul quotes some more from Deuteronomy (21:33): ‘’Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’’ The Jews did not crucify criminals; they stoned them to death. But in cases of shameful violation of the law, after the stoning, the body was hung on a tree and exposed for everyone to see. This was a great humiliation, because the Jewish people were very careful in their treatment of a dead body. After the body had been exposed for a time, it was taken down and buried (see Josh.8:29; 10:26; 2 Sam.4:12). Of course Paul’s reference to ‘’a tree’’ has to do with the cross on which Jesus died (Acts 5:30; 1 Peter 2:24). He was not stoned and then left exposed on a tree. But by dying on the cross Jesus bore the curse of the Law for us. We can be free from it, and experience redemption, with the Holy Spirit in our lives by faith.

Abraham was saved by a faith that works, and not by faith plus works. The Judaizers, who were infecting the church with their error, were arguing for the latter. The flesh loves legalism. It means we can boast about our religious achievements, and compare ourselves with others who don’t keep the rules as meticulously as we do. But this is not the way of Jesus. The gospel calls us to a simple faith in Him. All boasting is excluded. Through trust in Jesus alone we are made right with God, and even the faith to believe is a gift from God. The cross lies at the centre of our message and experience, and at the cross pride has to die.

Prayer: Lord keep me from trusting in Jesus plus my own efforts. Teach me to live by the gospel.

 

 

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Daily Bible thoughts 722: Thursday 9th October 2014:

Isaiah 42: 18-25

In this chapter we see two ‘servants’. There is the perfect Messiah (1-9); but we also encounter the imperfect Israel (18-25). We are reminded of the church’s perennial failure to live up to her calling, and we are challenged as to what kind of servants we will be. Will we seek, with God’s help, to be more like Jesus, and spread His light in the world?

Privilege brings responsibility (18-20). Preachers in particular must feel the challenge of these words for if we do not see and hear clearly, what message can we give? But the passage is pertinent to us all. We can attend church services and go through the motions of personal devotion, but be distracted and inattentive; not really seeing or hearing: ‘’You’re my servant, and you’re not looking! You’re my messenger, and you’re not listening!…You’ve seen a lot, but looked at nothing. You’ve heard everything, but listened to nothing.’’ The Message. John Ortberg, in his wonderful book about spiritual disciplines, ‘The life you always wanted’, has a chapter on ‘The practice of deliberate slowing.’ He tells how a spiritual advisor, after reviewing John’s patterns, said just one thing to him, ‘You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.’ Someone else John quotes said, ‘Hurry is not of the devil; it is the devil!’ At my junior school we learned about the poet, William Davies, and his poem, ‘What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?’ The sheer pace at which we live can adversely affect our spiritual focus, if we are not careful. We need to know how to depress the brake, and slow down our lives, in order to really see and hear God’s truth. Surely we get most from prayer and the Bible when we reduce our speed and are fully present in what we are doing. I heard a great sermon many years ago on the theme: ‘Don’t just do something; stand there!’

But in the case of Israel before the exile, it wasn’t merely a case of carelessness about hearing and seeing. They refused to do either. There was unwillingness to ‘’listen’’…or pay close attention… (23), and refusal to ‘’follow his ways’’ (24b). This was outright rebellion. So God would ‘’make His law great and glorious’’ by punishing His people for their disobedience (21, 22). ‘’If people do not honour God’s law by obeying it, God will honour His law by punishing them!’’ Tom Hale: ‘The applied Old Testament Commentary’, p.1041.

In (23-25) Isaiah warns Judah about the punishment to come (in the form of the exile.) Although it hasn’t yet happened, he speaks in the past tense, as if it had taken place. For what God says is certain to come about!

‘’How sad it is when God disciplines us and we do not understand what He is doing or take it to heart (v.25). Israel’s captivity in Babylon cured the nation of their idolatry, but it did not create within them a desire to please God and glorify Him.’’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, p.1187.

The last words of this chapter are true of so many people today: ‘’Their whole world collapsed but they still didn’t get it; their life is in ruins but they don’t take it to heart.’’ The Message.

Prayer: Lord God, I believe I need to live in such a way that I am always ‘tuned in’ to your voice. I cannot afford to miss anything you may want me to see or hear. Please enable me to stay alert.

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Daily Bible thoughts 721: Wednesday 8th October 2014:

Isaiah 42:10-17

A ‘new thing’ calls forth a ‘’new song’’ (1). The description of the Lord’s servant (1-9) evokes this song of praise, envisioning new blessings still to come. God is going to do something great, and the call to sing to Him goes out to people everywhere. The choir will be formed from all peoples and all creatures. Isaiah hands out song sheets all round! He doesn’t want anyone not joining in. They’re written in every language. It has been pointed out that outbursts of singing are a feature of these chapters (see 44:23; 49:13; 52:9 etc.), as they are of chapters 24-27. They are closely akin to Psalms 93, and 95-100 in theme and language. In (13) Isaiah sees the Lord leading His people in triumph; He will lead them out of bondage in Babylon. Ultimately, in the day when the Messiah comes, He will bring them out of the biggest bondage, which is slavery to sin. Here is a magnificent theme for a worldwide song. (The mention of Israel’s bitter rivals, ‘Kedar’ and ‘Sela’, demonstrate the breadth of God’s grace. Former enemies of God and His people will experience His great salvation.)

‘’…sing his praises all over the world! Let the sea and its fish give a round of applause, with all the far-flung islands joining in. Let the desert and its camps raise a tune, calling the Kedar nomads to join in. Let the villagers in Sela round up a choir and perform from the tops of the mountains. Make GOD’s glory resound; echo his praises from coast to coast. The Message.

In (14-17) the Lord again speaks. He has ‘’kept silent’’ during Israel’s exile, but now He will act (14). The time has come for Israel to be ‘delivered’ from captivity, just as the time comes for a baby to be delivered: ‘’But now I’m letting loose, letting go, like a woman who’s having a baby –‘’ The Message. The Lord will level the mountains and dry up the rivers so that His people can travel home the more easily (15, 16). There will be a new exodus. The people will have a personal guide: ‘’But I’ll take the hand of those who don’t know the way, who can’t see where they’re going. I’ll be a personal guide to them, directing them through unknown country. I’ll be right there to show them what roads to take, make sure they don’t fall into the ditch.’’ The Message.

God may seem to be silent and inactive for a long time (14). However, there will come a ‘’But now’’ moment when ‘’GOD steps out like he means business…’’ The Message (13). Don’t lose patience with the Lord. His time to act will come. That means your time will come too!

The folly of idolatry is a major theme in the second part of Isaiah, and here we have another reference to it in (17): ‘’But those who invested in the no-gods are bankrupt – dead broke.’’ The Message. But if our hope and trust is in the living God, we need not doubt in His unfailing power and ultimate triumph.

Prayer: Lord please guide me through all life. I need you to lead me through dark situations and rough places (16b) to the glorious destination you have planned for me at journey’s end

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Daily Bible thoughts 720: Tuesday 7th October 2014:

 Isaiah 42: 1-9

In the last chapter, God called Israel His ‘’servant’’. But gradually this ‘servant’ emerges out of the mass of Israel as an individual: ‘’him’’ / ‘’He’’. In the New Testament, the gospel writer Matthew applied these words to Christ (Matthew 12:15-21). God says in Isaiah 42 that He ‘delights’ in the Messiah (1), and this reminds us of words used at Jesus’ baptism (Mark 1:10, 11). He also says, ‘’I will put my Spirit on him…’’ (1), and that is precisely what happened with Jesus (Isaiah 11:2; Mark 1:10; John 3:34). God describes His servant as a gentle person and not a rabble-rouser (2). ‘’He won’t brush aside the bruised and the hurt and he won’t disregard the small and insignificant…’’ The Message. Without faltering or turning back, he will establish justice on the earth (Isaiah 9:6, 7), and in His ‘’law’’ (His Word, His Gospel) the ‘’islands’’ (the remotest nations on earth) will place their hope (4). There is a breath-taking breadth of vision in these few verses: …’he’ll steadily and firmly set things right. He won’t tire out and quit. He won’t be stopped until he’s finished his work – to set things right on earth.’’ The Message. We can feel discouraged as we witness something of the mass of injustice in the world.                                                                                                                                                                                          But Jesus never becomes downcast as He works unfalteringly to establish justice everywhere (1b, 3b and 4).

In (5-7) the Lord addresses His servant directly. How these words have been fulfilled (and are still being) in Jesus. He came as ‘’a light for the Gentiles’’ (6b; see Luke 2:28-32; John 1:9; 8:12) He did (and He is still doing) the work described in (7; see Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18). Note particularly the words ‘’I…have made you to be a covenant for the people…’ (6). Only Jesus could be a ‘covenant’, uniting God and mankind (1 Timothy 2:5). His own blood sealed the covenant (Mark 14:23, 24). By His death on the cross He brought in the new covenant (see Jer.31:31-34; Luke 22:20; Hebrews 8:8-13). ‘’I have set you among my people to bind them to me, and provided you as a lighthouse to the nations…’’ The Message.

There would be a ‘’new’’ thing happening in the coming of Jesus (8, 9). Long before He came, God said that this would happen. Here is something that no idol could ever do (41:21-29), and to God alone be all the glory! Jesus appeared on earth in fulfilment of many prophecies. In chapter 42 we have one of them. ‘’Verse 3…has been a great comfort to believers down through the centuries. We often face times in our lives when we feel bruised, when our spirits are smouldering, almost burnt out, times when we feel that just one more blow would break us completely. If we will but turn to Christ at such times, we can be sure that He will not allow us to suffer more than we can endure. We can be sure that whatever we experience will be for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28).’’ Tom Hale: ‘The applied Old Testament Commentary; p.1041.

‘’Weakness, weariness, and sin, never fail to draw forth the deepest sympathy from the Lord Jesus. Nothing lays a stronger hold upon Him, or brings Him more swiftly to our side. At home our mother was always sweet but sweetest when we were ill or weary…those who are most bruised and struggling get the tenderest manifestations of his love. He resembles the strong man, with muscles like iron, and who stands like a rock, but who will bend in tears and tenderness over his cripple-child.’’ F.B. Meyer: ‘Great verses through the Bible’; p.285

Prayer: Thank you Lord that justice will triumph in this world because of Jesus; and thank you for your love for even me!

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Daily Bible thoughts 719: Monday 6th October 2014:

Isaiah 41:21-29

In (21-24) the courtroom scene of (1) resumes, but now it is the idols of the nations who are on trial. God challenges them to explain the past or accurately predict the future (22, 23). Let them at least ‘’Do something’’ to show that they exist. But they can’t because they are not real. ‘’Ask them, ‘If you are gods, explain what the past means – or, failing that, tell us what will happen in the future. Can’t do that? How about doing something – anything! Good or bad – whatever. Can you hurt us or help us? Do we need to be afraid?’ They say nothing, because they are nothing – sham gods, no-gods, fool-making gods.’’ The Message. The word ‘’detestable’’ (24) was usually kept for heathen rites or idols (e.g.44:19). Transferred to the worshipper it shows how serious an issue it is to choose a lie for your ultimate allegiance. This point is followed through in Romans 1: 18-32. As someone said, a religion can only be as good as its gods. We will take on the character of what we bow down to

God could do what no idol was able to do (25-29). He could predict the future. This chapter is proof of it. God’s mention of Cyrus a century before his birth shows that He can do what no idol can. He is omniscient – all-knowing. These verses would touch the pagan world on a sore spot since divination was a major concern (see 47:13). The reference is again to Cyrus king of Persia in (25). Compare this with (2) where he is referred to as ‘’one from the east.’’ Cyrus originally entered the Babylonian Empire from the East. However, before invading Babylon itself, he conquered the kingdoms of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), and only then turned south towards Babylon. So there is no contradiction. It is accurate to say that he came from both ‘’the east’’ and ‘’the north’’. In all of this we must not miss the all-important point about the sovereignty of God. It was the Lord who ‘’stirred’’ him ‘’up’’ (2, 25). ‘’History is His story!’’

‘’…who calls on my name’’ (25) must be taken with (45:4). Cyrus would invoke the Lord’s name (Ezra 1:2, 3), but not as a genuine convert. This is indirectly supported by his inscriptions, which diplomatically attribute his victories to the gods of the peoples he conquered. There’s nothing new about politicians using religion to win over a crowd!

Prayer: Thank you Lord that we have a God who does things. You are alive and you show yourself to be real.

 

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Daily Bible thoughts 718: Friday 3rd October 2014:

Isaiah 41: 8-20

‘’But you, O Israel, my servant…’’ (8a). There is a sharp contrast drawn between God’s people and the other nations (1-7). Israel did not have to fear Cyrus or Babylon, for Cyrus was working for God and Babylon would be no more. God was going to deal with the enemies of His people. The nations being attacked by Cyrus did have cause to fear, but God’s chosen people had no reason to feel afraid or ‘’dismayed’’ for God would ‘’strengthen’’ and ‘’help’’ and ‘’uphold’’ them (8-10). (By the way, the reference in verse 9 is probably to the call Abraham received when he was in Ur. At that time it seemed like the ‘’farthest’’ corner of the earth.) This morning a friend of mine posted a prayer request on ‘Facebook’ for persecuted Christians in Baghdad. He expressed a desire that God would deliver them, just as He did for Israel at the Red Sea. I could only say a hearty ‘Amen’ to that! Here is another passage in the Bible in which God assures His people that He will defeat their enemies (11-16): ‘’I myself will help you’’ He says (14) See how God transforms people and places (14-20):

  • God transforms people (14-16). Israel could be described as a ‘’worm’’ because of her lowly and depressed state in exile. But God will take His weak and helpless people and turn them into instruments of judgment against the nations who oppose them. (In the Bible, threshing and winnowing are pictures of judgment.) Warren Wiersnbe says that ‘’servant’’ defined what they were by God’s grace and calling, but ‘’worm’’ speaks of what they were in themselves. It was what they saw when they looked in the mirror: ‘’Imagine a worm getting teeth and threshing mountains into dust like chaff! As the nation marched ahead by faith, every mountain and hill would be brought low (40:4), and the Lord would turn mountains into molehills!’’ Warren W. Wiersbe: The Wiersbe Bible Commentary (Old Testament), p.1186. God uses small things to accomplish great tasks (1 Corinthians 1:26-27).
  • God transforms places (17-20): These verses call to mind God’s supernatural provision for Israel in the desert. We see God changing the desert into a place of overflowing fertility. This is a totally unexpected scenario. When God does things that people obviously could not do, the glory goes to Him (20).

God can still speak to us in personal ways through these ancient words. They are ‘ever new’. I remember sitting in a house in Bristol early one Sunday morning in 1978. I was in my last year at Bible cottage and had been sent as part of a small team to lead the service at one of my denomination’s largest and most renowned churches. It was my responsibility to speak at the morning service, to a bigger crowd than I had ever stood before previously. I rose early to finalise my preparations, and as I sat on that sofa in a home where I was a guest, I saw a ‘worm’ reflected in the mirror. But as I recall it the words in (13, 14) brought encouragement to me, and I truly did know God’s help.

‘’All this stands against a realistic background of an Israel cowed (e.g. vs 10-11) and puny (e.g. v 14), a fit starting point for God’s grace. A threshing-sledge, by contrast, was the most solid of objects, being made of heavy boards, flint-studded; it was dragged over the reaped corn to break open the ears, which were then winnowed by tossing them to allow the husks to be blown away (16). The huge scale of the metaphor must have seemed belied by the ‘day of small things’ that followed the return from Babylon, yet it does not exaggerate the importance of God’s people on the world, past and to come.’’ Derek Kidner: The ‘New Bible Commentary’, pp.656, 657.

Prayer: Lord I need your help today. I am nothing without you. Make me your sharp instrument.

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