Saturday, May 15

OK - I don't have much to say. Goin down to ORB tomorrow for the first time in a while. Excited about that. I guess it's Bible time.

Reading for May 15
1 Samuel 17:1-18:4
Oh snap. It's David and Goliath time, yo.

Damn. This is not the children's story I remember. Sure the main points are there - little dude takes out big dude with a sling shot. But there are some seriously deep things going on here. First of all the language David uses is soaking in:
A) Confidence and
B) Things God delights in


Here's a little of his confidence:

Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.

And here's a little of that stuff God must have loved:

"You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

For so long it seems like the lesson in the OT has been that the Israelites would pervert a task from God for their own benefit - this kind of stuff still happens today. But what David says and how he  approaches this situation is exactly what God would have told him to say and exactly how God would have wanted David to approach it. This must have been one of God's proudest moments in humanity.

Also, my impression of this story up until like 10 minutes ago was that David knocked out Goliath with the stone and "won" over him, but that Goliath lived. No no. That is not the case. It says, first of all the the stone "sank into his head". There's something about the word sank that's so macabre here. Anyway - the stone killed Goliath, and after he died, David went over, took Goliath's sword and cut his freaking head off. Boom. Graphic violence. In the Bible. Lay off of Halo. 


John 8:21-30
A really thought provoking thing Jesus says here:

"You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.

This really does put some separation between Jesus and us. Not like the God/human separation, but there is a clear distinction. I don't think that's meant to spiritually separate us from him, but rather allow us to understand that Jesus is perfect and holy by design, and we are sinful by nature, and therefore can rely on him to be holy and perfect for us. 

Psalm 111:1-10
 ¹⁰ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
       all who follow his precepts have good understanding.
       To him belongs eternal praise.

This idea of fear of God and wisdom being tied together is one I've already read in the Bible. I think it was one of the first proverbs. I didn't really understand what Solomon meant by that in proverbs and I'm not sure if I have any more of a clue now.

So if I don't have a fear  of God, but I become really smart otherwise, it's not true wisdom. Like building a house without a foundation. Maybe it's like becoming wise without the fear of the Lord will create an arrogance in you, while fearing the Lord first and then seeking knowledge will make you humble in your brain power.

Proverbs 15:11
 ¹¹ Death and Destruction ^[a] lie open before the LORD—
       how much more the hearts of men!

With that - my laptop's about to die. Goodnight, friends. Love all the time.