The Hebrew people divided (Old-Testament) Scripture into three primary sections: the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. The third division, the Writings, include such books as Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes.
This week, as we complete our reading of the Psalms and move into Proverbs, we stay within the Writings…but move into a very different literary tradition, which we call Wisdom Literature.
This week’s readings are as follows:
• Weekend: Psalms 145-150
• Monday: Proverbs 1-5
• Tuesday: Proverbs 6-9
• Wednesday: Proverbs 10-13
• Thursday: Proverbs 14-17
• Friday: Proverbs 18-21
King Solomon wrote most of the Proverbs. According to 1 Kings 4:32, Solomon spoke over 3,000 proverbs. Many of these proverbs were no doubt recorded and included in the Book of Proverbs.
Other sage writers contributed to the Book of Proverbs as well. Proverbs 22:17 and 24:23, for example, speak of the “sayings of the wise.” Other contributors appear by name. Chapter 30 ascribes authorship to Agur, son of Jakeh, and 31:1-9 attributes its content to King Lemuel. Neither of these writers appears again in Scripture.
The Book of Proverbs displays several notable literary characteristics. Many proverbs are short, two-line sayings that are cast in contrasts. Biblical scholars call this type of Hebrew poetry “antithetical parallelism.” Proverbs 10:19, for example, says, “When words are many, sin is not absent, but those who hold their tongues are wise.” Proverbs makes liberal use of simile and metaphor. Eleven similes occur in chapter 25 alone!
One important feature to note is that the Book of Proverbs contains practical wisdom…which is to say wisdom that is generally (though not always) true. It is often the case, for example, that the just and unjust “receive their due on earth” (11:31)…but not always. A person’s rewards or punishments will be reckoned in eternity, irrespective of what happens on earth (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:10).
When we read these proverbs, we must be careful not to interpret them as absolute promises or surefire prophecies that will always be realized. They are offered up as “instruction to the wise”…“for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young... (Proverbs 1:2-4).
Read with a pen in hand and mark the proverbs that speak to your soul this week. You’ll be the wiser for having read this section of God’s word!
Faithfully,
Chuck
Friday, July 2, 2010
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Week 26: Psalms 112-144
The book of Psalms continues this week with the following plan:
* Weekend: Psalms 112-118
* Monday: Psalms 119
* Tuesday: Psalms 120-127
* Wednesday: Psalms 128-135
* Thursday: Psalms 136-139
* Friday: Psalms 140-144
This is the last full week of reading the Psalms. Last week, Dick shared some examples of how this book plays an integral part of his and his family's spiritual health. The instruction Dick gave was "to make the Psalms your own." This means that different Psalms will resonate more with you based on where you are in your spiritual walk. There are Psalms of praise, of pain and of repentance among others. As you read the Psalms and if one really grabs you, please print it out or write it out and post it in a prominent place.
Two Psalms stand out for me: Psalm 25 and Psalm 119. The first Psalm is a prayer for forgiveness. This is posted above my desk in my work office. It is my reminder to live a life with integrity, yet still humble myself to know that I sin repeatedly and am in constant need of forgiveness. A reminder that I cannot do life without God.
The second Psalm is more about a verse as opposed to the whole chapter. Psalm 119:105 is the first memory verse I was taught in church as a kid. I remember it in the King James version and I suppose that is always how I will remember it: "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."
Have you found a Psalm to own?
Have a great week- sorry for the late posting!
-Mike
* Weekend: Psalms 112-118
* Monday: Psalms 119
* Tuesday: Psalms 120-127
* Wednesday: Psalms 128-135
* Thursday: Psalms 136-139
* Friday: Psalms 140-144
This is the last full week of reading the Psalms. Last week, Dick shared some examples of how this book plays an integral part of his and his family's spiritual health. The instruction Dick gave was "to make the Psalms your own." This means that different Psalms will resonate more with you based on where you are in your spiritual walk. There are Psalms of praise, of pain and of repentance among others. As you read the Psalms and if one really grabs you, please print it out or write it out and post it in a prominent place.
Two Psalms stand out for me: Psalm 25 and Psalm 119. The first Psalm is a prayer for forgiveness. This is posted above my desk in my work office. It is my reminder to live a life with integrity, yet still humble myself to know that I sin repeatedly and am in constant need of forgiveness. A reminder that I cannot do life without God.
The second Psalm is more about a verse as opposed to the whole chapter. Psalm 119:105 is the first memory verse I was taught in church as a kid. I remember it in the King James version and I suppose that is always how I will remember it: "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."
Have you found a Psalm to own?
Have a great week- sorry for the late posting!
-Mike
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Week 25: Psalms 78 - 111
This week we'll continue in the book of Psalms:
Psalm 92 is another one of those memorable Psalms for me. On Sunday morning before church, we would all have breakfast together as a family. After breakfast, my dad would get out his Bible and read either Psalm 92 or Psalm 122. Both are Psalms of worship that exalt God and tell us how good it is to worship God in his temple. Very appropriate to read that before you go to church. As kids, we'd sometimes jokingly recite the whole Psalm to imitate my dad -- that's how familiar it had become to us.
Psalm 103 is a beautiful psalm about God's mercy and forgiveness. Jesus' work on the cross almost jumps off the pages if you read that. In the church I grew up in, we used to read that every single time after we had communion. Parts of Psalm 105 were read when we had baptisms as it talks about God's faithfulness with his people.
I encourage you to make the Psalms your own. They are expressions of all kinds of emotions, but most of all, they are expressions of worship of our great and awesome God. He is worthy of all our praise.
Dick
- Weekend: Psalms 78 - 82
- Monday: Psalms 83 - 89
- Tuesday: Psalms 90 - 97
- Wednesday: Psalms 98 - 103
- Thursday: Psalms 104 - 106
- Friday: Psalms 107 - 111
Psalm 92 is another one of those memorable Psalms for me. On Sunday morning before church, we would all have breakfast together as a family. After breakfast, my dad would get out his Bible and read either Psalm 92 or Psalm 122. Both are Psalms of worship that exalt God and tell us how good it is to worship God in his temple. Very appropriate to read that before you go to church. As kids, we'd sometimes jokingly recite the whole Psalm to imitate my dad -- that's how familiar it had become to us.
Psalm 103 is a beautiful psalm about God's mercy and forgiveness. Jesus' work on the cross almost jumps off the pages if you read that. In the church I grew up in, we used to read that every single time after we had communion. Parts of Psalm 105 were read when we had baptisms as it talks about God's faithfulness with his people.
I encourage you to make the Psalms your own. They are expressions of all kinds of emotions, but most of all, they are expressions of worship of our great and awesome God. He is worthy of all our praise.
Dick
Friday, June 11, 2010
Week 24: Psalms 42-77
Welcome to week 24...just two weeks shy of the year's halfway mark, which means that we've read almost half the Bible!
If you've missed some reading, don't despair. Jump right in here and resolve to finish the balance of the year on a strong note. God has a way of speaking to us in timely ways whenever we open his word.
Here's our reading schedule for the week:
Weekend: Psalms 42-47
Monday: Psalms 48-53
Tuesday: Psalms 54-59
Wednesday: Psalms 60-66
Thursday: Psalms 67-72
Friday: Psalms 73-77
Students of Scripture call the Book of Psalms the "most New-Testament Old Testament book." The Psalms are prayers, praises, petitions, reflections, and even complaints...voiced by people who are trying to sort out life in relationship with Yahweh, the God of Israel.
Old Testament scholar, Walter Brueggemann, says that the writers of the Psalms alternate between periods of "orientation," "disorientation," and "new orientation" (see his superb commentary, The Message of the Psalms).
This is our spiritual journey. There are times in our lives when all is right with the world. Songs and praises flow easily. There are other times, however, in which dark clouds darken our days. We are in a state of disorientation. The Psalms help us through these periods by giving us vocabulary by which to articulate praise and thanksgiving during times of "orientation," and examples of how to express dismay, confusion, and even anger amid the periods of "disorientation."
The silver lining that the Book of Psalms reflects is that periods of disorientation are followed by seasons of "new orientation." God will never leave or forsake us. "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging." God says, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth" (Psalm 46:1-2, 10).
If you've missed some reading, don't despair. Jump right in here and resolve to finish the balance of the year on a strong note. God has a way of speaking to us in timely ways whenever we open his word.
Here's our reading schedule for the week:
Weekend: Psalms 42-47
Monday: Psalms 48-53
Tuesday: Psalms 54-59
Wednesday: Psalms 60-66
Thursday: Psalms 67-72
Friday: Psalms 73-77
Students of Scripture call the Book of Psalms the "most New-Testament Old Testament book." The Psalms are prayers, praises, petitions, reflections, and even complaints...voiced by people who are trying to sort out life in relationship with Yahweh, the God of Israel.
Old Testament scholar, Walter Brueggemann, says that the writers of the Psalms alternate between periods of "orientation," "disorientation," and "new orientation" (see his superb commentary, The Message of the Psalms).
This is our spiritual journey. There are times in our lives when all is right with the world. Songs and praises flow easily. There are other times, however, in which dark clouds darken our days. We are in a state of disorientation. The Psalms help us through these periods by giving us vocabulary by which to articulate praise and thanksgiving during times of "orientation," and examples of how to express dismay, confusion, and even anger amid the periods of "disorientation."
The silver lining that the Book of Psalms reflects is that periods of disorientation are followed by seasons of "new orientation." God will never leave or forsake us. "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging." God says, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth" (Psalm 46:1-2, 10).
Monday, June 7, 2010
Week 23: Psalms 7 - 41
Happy Monday! Hope you all are enjoying the Spring as much as possible! Since the rain is keeping us a little more indoors these days, hopefully you are able to keep up on the reading plan a little better...
Here is the plan for this week:
* Weekend: Psalms 7-12
* Monday: Psalms 13-18
* Tuesday: Psalms 19-24
* Wednesday: Psalms 25-30
* Thursday: Psalms 31-36
* Friday: Psalms 37-41
Tuesday we will read the 23rd Psalm, probably the most known passage in the entire Bible. How does this Psalm apply to your life? Please post your thoughts if you would like and maybe even post how this reading plan has been a catalyst in your life (we hope it has been!).
Have a great week!!!
Mike
Here is the plan for this week:
* Weekend: Psalms 7-12
* Monday: Psalms 13-18
* Tuesday: Psalms 19-24
* Wednesday: Psalms 25-30
* Thursday: Psalms 31-36
* Friday: Psalms 37-41
Tuesday we will read the 23rd Psalm, probably the most known passage in the entire Bible. How does this Psalm apply to your life? Please post your thoughts if you would like and maybe even post how this reading plan has been a catalyst in your life (we hope it has been!).
Have a great week!!!
Mike
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Week 22: Job 29 to Psalm 6
This week's reading entails:
After finishing the book of Job, we will make a start with the book of Psalms on Friday. Psalm 1 is a wonderful praise to the upright person, who meditate on God's law. You, who have committed to reading the Bible in 1 year, are such a person. You are blessed, and you are like "a tree planted by streams of water".
Have a great week.
Dick
- Weekend: Job 29 - 31
- Monday: Job 32 - 34
- Tuesday: Job 35 - 37
- Wednesday: Job 38 - 39
- Thursday: Job 40 - 42
- Friday: Psalm 1 - 6
After finishing the book of Job, we will make a start with the book of Psalms on Friday. Psalm 1 is a wonderful praise to the upright person, who meditate on God's law. You, who have committed to reading the Bible in 1 year, are such a person. You are blessed, and you are like "a tree planted by streams of water".
Have a great week.
Dick
Friday, May 21, 2010
Week 21: Job 11—28
Reading schedule for this week:
· Weekend: Job 11-14
· Monday: Job 15-17
· Tuesday: Job 18-19
· Wednesday: Job 20-21
· Thursday: Job 22-24
· Friday: Job 25-28
This week continues our reading of the book of Job. This is one of the oldest biblical books in Scripture…and it can be a bit confusing to first-time readers. Therefore it might help to stop and take a birds-eye view to get a feel for how the book is structured:
· The Prolog (chapters 1-2), tracks Job’s upright character, his blessings, the divine-demonic drama that gives rise to Job’s sufferings, and an accounting of Job’s losses and state of suffering in isolation from all that he held near and dear.
· The section of Dialog and Dispute, encompasses the largest single section of the book (Chapters 3-31). It starts with Job’s lamenting his state of suffering (ch. 3). This is followed by three cycles of dialog between Job and his friends, Eliphas, Bildad, and Zophar (chs. 4-31) – all of whom were convinced (wrongly) that the reason behind Job’s suffering was some secret, unconfessed sin.
The cycles follow the same pattern for the most part. Each one starts with Eliphaz’s comments (chs. 4-5, 15, 22), followed by Job’s reply (chs 6-7, 16-17, and 26), followed by Bildad’s interjections (chs 8, 18, 25), then Job’s reply to Bildad (chs. 9-10, 19, and 26-31), and Zophar’s comments, which appear in only the first two cycles (apparently Job wore him out!) (chs. 11, 20), and Job’s reply to Zophar (chs 12-14 and 21).
· The next section features, Elihu, a person who had been a silent observer to the dialog between Job and his friends to that point. His speech encompasses chapters 32-37.
· At that point, God shows up to speak directly to Job (chs. 38:1 – 42:6).
· The book concludes with an Epilog (42:7-17), which gives us the final account of Job’s (restored) life.
As you read this week, you will be completing the conversations of the first cycle of dialog , all of the second cycle, and most of the third. Bear in mind that the main mistake that Job’s friends made along the way was trying to speak for God in explaining why Job was going through his suffering.
We too can end up making a similar mistake whenever we try to “comfort” someone by offering up the “reason why God allowed” a terrible thing to occur in one’s life. Only God is qualified to speak for himself on such matters. Our job as friends is to sit alongside our suffering companions, put our arm around them, and say, “I am here for you.”
· Weekend: Job 11-14
· Monday: Job 15-17
· Tuesday: Job 18-19
· Wednesday: Job 20-21
· Thursday: Job 22-24
· Friday: Job 25-28
This week continues our reading of the book of Job. This is one of the oldest biblical books in Scripture…and it can be a bit confusing to first-time readers. Therefore it might help to stop and take a birds-eye view to get a feel for how the book is structured:
· The Prolog (chapters 1-2), tracks Job’s upright character, his blessings, the divine-demonic drama that gives rise to Job’s sufferings, and an accounting of Job’s losses and state of suffering in isolation from all that he held near and dear.
· The section of Dialog and Dispute, encompasses the largest single section of the book (Chapters 3-31). It starts with Job’s lamenting his state of suffering (ch. 3). This is followed by three cycles of dialog between Job and his friends, Eliphas, Bildad, and Zophar (chs. 4-31) – all of whom were convinced (wrongly) that the reason behind Job’s suffering was some secret, unconfessed sin.
The cycles follow the same pattern for the most part. Each one starts with Eliphaz’s comments (chs. 4-5, 15, 22), followed by Job’s reply (chs 6-7, 16-17, and 26), followed by Bildad’s interjections (chs 8, 18, 25), then Job’s reply to Bildad (chs. 9-10, 19, and 26-31), and Zophar’s comments, which appear in only the first two cycles (apparently Job wore him out!) (chs. 11, 20), and Job’s reply to Zophar (chs 12-14 and 21).
· The next section features, Elihu, a person who had been a silent observer to the dialog between Job and his friends to that point. His speech encompasses chapters 32-37.
· At that point, God shows up to speak directly to Job (chs. 38:1 – 42:6).
· The book concludes with an Epilog (42:7-17), which gives us the final account of Job’s (restored) life.
As you read this week, you will be completing the conversations of the first cycle of dialog , all of the second cycle, and most of the third. Bear in mind that the main mistake that Job’s friends made along the way was trying to speak for God in explaining why Job was going through his suffering.
We too can end up making a similar mistake whenever we try to “comfort” someone by offering up the “reason why God allowed” a terrible thing to occur in one’s life. Only God is qualified to speak for himself on such matters. Our job as friends is to sit alongside our suffering companions, put our arm around them, and say, “I am here for you.”
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