Thursday, January 20, 2011

God is indeed our help

I'm following This plan takes you through the bible in two years. Todays' reading is :Gn 32-33 Ps 20.

Gn 32-33
You know, sometimes I read this OT stories of God meeting with man and stuff happens and I wish sometimes that I could meet with God like that and have stuff happen...and then I think...oh foolish one... wanting to meet with God face to face like that ... yeah, stuff would happen but you would also be changed forever and nothing would be the same. Do you really want that? Moses face shone like the sun, Jacob limped, and life was different for them. They had this surety of faith in God, they KNEW that God was God, and still life changed for them when they met God. Who am I to want to meet with God face to face? I'd rather, when it comes right down to it, just talk with him in my head, or pray to out-loud. But wow...some of those OT stories are rather neat aren't?

in this passage Jacob is coming home, He's been away for years and has gotten married and has children and huge flocks/herds of animals, and now he's going to meet his brother. His brother who should be very angry with him. Jacob is scared. IN that fear he trusts God. He prays to God and figures out a plan. That same night that he prayed to God, he wrestled with him..in a literal sense. he literally wrestled with God and came away with a limp, a name change, and a blessing.

And when Jacob finally meet Esau it was a meeting of joy and all was as it should be. Family with family without lots of fighting between them. God answered Jacob's cry to him.

Ps 20
I find this Psalm intriguing I think would be the right word. Throughout the whole Psalm it seems like a declaration of how much God will help his people, yet the last line makes me query if that is the sole intent of the Psalm. The last lines read
9O LORD, save the king!
May he answer us when we call.
I have to wonder, why are is the Psalmist beseeching the Lord to save the king? It's a Psalm written by David as well. Would this be before he was made King or is he praying like many Pastors will pray... for himself to lead the people well? I suspect that it's more the later but I"m not sure as I don't know when it was written .... though I think all the Psalms that David wrote he wrote after he was king, but that's just a thought.

As King he is the leader of God's people, and as he goes, so go the people. So for him to pray that God help him is a fitting prayer. As God helps him (the king), so the people of God are helped. I have to admit, I really like this line
7Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
Reminds me of who I should really trust in, and it seems like such a bold statement. You believe in thus and such, but WE believe in God! He helps us stand even you can no longer. A good psalm for me to read today. :)

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