1 Kings 7:1-51, Acts 7:30-50, Psalms 128:1-6, Proverbs 16:31-33
Today is the 10th day of June. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is great to be here with you as we get our work week started and take the next step forward together as we continue our journey through the Scriptures this year. And we’re working our way through first kings and the reign of Solomon. We’re working our way through the book of Acts and the birth of the church and we’er reading from the English Standard Version this week. Today first Kings chapter 7.
Commentary:
Alright. So, as we’re moving our way through first kings we’ve seen Solomon build a palace for himself and he had the implements needed for use in the temple fashioned.
And then in Acts we’re continuing to listen. It seems like a sort of long review. And it’s really wonderful that it comes at this time of year. What it actually is is the testimony of a deacon, a newly appointed deacon, one of the first deacons in the church named Stephen. He’d been arrested and kind of defamed. And, so, he’s been kind of hauled before the Jewish high Council and he’s giving testimony and what he’s doing in the process is giving us review but what he’s actually doing is proving to the high Council that he is thoroughly Hebrew and thoroughly understands the Hebrew origin story. So, we listened to him talk about Moses today and that was one of the chief accusations against him, that he was defaming or denigrating Moses and blaspheming God.
And then, so we get to the Psalms today and it’s this example of how something profound happens when a blessing is spoken over us. This may happen to you in church every week, right? At the end of the service maybe your pastor speaks a benediction, a word of benediction over you, a word of blessing over you. That was true in biblical, right? It carries through, the tradition carries through all the way today. And we can kinda just blow by that like in church, the benediction, if you have that. And you probably have that in some form or another, right? So, if you’re in a more traditional church the benediction spoken of you will probably be the same every week, whereas your pastor, no matter what church you’re in probably has a way of closing the service and it may be a word of encouragement or blessing over you. And, so, we can blow-by that, it’s just like a little marker, just a little trigger. Okay, service is over. But words of affirmation spoken over us, like that actually reorients our hearts if we’re paying attention. So, let’s just practice that. Slow down a bit. Because now you know, we’ve already read to the Scriptures and we’re moving toward the end of our time together. And, so, we can kind of just start moving out of this space. Slow down and just allow these words to be spoken over you for your day. “How joyful are those who fear the Lord. All who follow his ways you will enjoy the fruit of your labor. How joyful and prosperous you will be. Your wife will be like a fruitful grapevine flourishing within your home. Your children will be like vigorous young all of trees as they sit around your table. That is the Lord’s blessing for those who fear him. May the Lord continually bless you from Zion. May you see Jerusalem prosper as long as you live. May you live to enjoy your grandchildren. May Israel have peace.” See! Right, doesn’t that not orient your heart toward God and encourage you for your day? So, words of benediction or affirmation or declaration spoken over us has been a tradition all the way back into biblical times. All we just did was use the Bible to speak those words of affirmation, words that were spoken over people who were coming up to Jerusalem or leaving Jerusalem. So, it’s amazing how the Bible can speak such encouragement and life over us if we’re just paying attention. So, remember this blessing as you move forward into your day.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You that we’re continuing forward in the story of King Solomon, we’re continuing forward in the testimony of Steven and they all lead somewhere and we’re watching these stories because we find ourselves in these stories. But we thank You for the gift of the Psalm today, Psalm 129, speaking these words of affirmation of blessing over our lives for today. And, so, we receive them. We take them within us and we meditate upon them today. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.
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