1 Kings 5:1-6:38, Acts 7:1-29, Psalms 127:1-5, Proverbs 16:28-30
Today is the ninth day of June, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is great to be here with you today, as we gather yet again around the Global Campfire together, for a reason. We gather to take the next step forward together, and I’m referring to the next step forward in the Bible, since we’re here at the Daily Audio Bible. And that next step leads us back into the book of First Kings, where we are understanding Solomon, King Solomon’s reign. Today, First Kings, chapters 5 and 6.
Commentary:
Okay, so, we have a couple of things going on, both in Old and New Testaments, so that we stay in the stories as were moving through them. So, in First Kings, we are learning of King Solomon and his reign, and his governance and how he established things and how he put rulers under him and how he had peace on every side. And he has decided now, to build the temple of God, something his father David and wanted to do, but was prohibited from doing. And so, David stored up all kinds of resources in preparation for the building of the temple. And then Solomon got to work. Seven years later, seven years later the temple is completed. And now there is this permanent home. This permanent representation of God’s presence dwelling among His people. So, this is the first permanent temple built, God had been moving around in the tabernacle, the portable tabernacle, moving around with the children of Israel and it had made its home for centuries in Shiloh. But now, there is this permanent structure in Jerusalem, the temple of the Most High God, giving the people an identity. And this is the first temple built to the Lord God in Jerusalem. And so, now, when we, when we look back biblically or we look back historically, this is known as Solomon’s Temple or the first temple. Later, during the time of our Savior, the Lord Jesus, He also visited the temple, it’s just a different temple. It’s known as the Herodian Temple or the second Temple, or the second temple period. And before we finish the books of Kings, we’ll understand why there needed to be a second temple constructed and that it came quite a bit later. But for now, there’s a brand-new Temple in Jerusalem, a temple to the Most High God, and the centerpiece of Solomon’s construction.
And then, we flip over into the Book of Acts and we’re hearing a story being told, that sounds like…like it’s a review of everything that we’ve read since we began the Bible, going all the way back to the book of Genesis, and meeting up with Abraham. And what we’re reading is actually testimony from somebody who’s defending themselves. So, we met this man named Stephen yesterday, we learned about the diaconate and people helping the orphans and the widows and just the way that things were beginning to become structured and spread out, as the early church grew. And Stephen was one of these helpers, but he was arrested, and he’s been brought before the High Council and they are charging him with blasphemy. And so, in his own defense he is telling the Hebrew story and in telling the story he is establishing himself as a Hebrew person who actually knows the story. Who actually knows where they came from. So, he is retelling this to the High Council so that they know he has a pedigree and that he is a Jew and that he understands the Hebrew customs and the Hebrew rituals and the Hebrew law. And he’s telling this to establish his heritage and defense that he is in no way trying to abolish Moses’ teachings and that he is in no way trying to commit blasphemy. He knows who the Lord God is, he knows who he is, he knows who the people are. And so, as we listen to Stephen’s testimony in his own defense, we have this opportunity to review some of the major stories that we, that we encountered as we’ve navigated our way until this very day, since the beginning of the year. And so, let’s enjoy Stephen’s testimony over these days.
And then lastly, the Psalms, Psalm 127. One of my favorite scriptures, something that I refer back to in my life often. Unless the Lord builds the house, the work of the builders, or the laborers is in vain. Unless the Lord protects the city, guarding it isn’t going to do any good. I mean, I’m kind of a risk-averse person. I’m looking for the problems out in front of me and there’s a nasty little trick in all of that, and that is to get control over things so that you’re in control over things, so that you know what’s coming and what’s not coming. Only, I have found that, no matter how well-prepared a person might be, there’s no way to know everything that a day may bring, or a week or month or a year, may bring. And so, returning back to Psalms 127 and saying, unless the Lord builds the house, the work is wasted. There’s something really comforting in there, but something really reassuring in there and that’s because of the pace of the world. Like we live behind right, like we live literally feeling like if we can get through this day well, we’re going to be behind, and we’ll never catch up. And so, we’re running, running, running, running, running, and then we run right into this Psalm that tells us, unless the Lord is building this, this is a waste of time. If God isn’t included in what we’re doing, if God, through His Holy Spirit, isn’t guiding what we’re doing, then we’re driving ourselves in, into insanity because our culture is telling us to go faster. But unless the Lord builds the house, going faster is in vain. Unless the Lord is the foundation of the plans and the motivations of our lives, we’re wasting our time. And so, often when we’re told something like that in the Scriptures, we can go yeah, okay, I see that, I get that inside, I get that truth. But the converse is true, if the Lord is building the house, if we are collaborating with God in our lives, then nothing is wasted and we will have rest, shalom, the way things are supposed to be. And so, let’s just examine our lives today, in light of Psalm 127. And invite the Holy Spirit to help us determine which, which path we’re walking.
Prayer:
And so, Holy Spirit, come into that we ask You. We confess life can be so fast with obligations so, so wide, we’re so overcommitted to so many things that we can lose ourselves, and we can lose even the direction that we’re going in. And then we run into Psalm 127 and are reminded yet again, rest is something that You want us to have. Peace is how we were created to live, shalom, how things are supposed to be, is how things are supposed to be. And we try to arrange for that using our own strength, only to find out that we’re laboring in vain. And so, come, Holy Spirit, and show us where we’re wasting our time and energy. Where we’re wasting our lives. We ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Announcements:
dailyaudiobible.com is home base and that is where to find out what’s going on around here. And so, check that out. You can do all of the checking out within the Daily Audio Bible app, as well. Which you can download free from the App Store that works with your device. Check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop. I’ve been mentioning this week, it’s ballcap season so, we’ve put all the snapback Daily Audio Bible hats, including the…the limited-edition camo one, on sale this week. So, that’s just today and tomorrow. So, grab yourself a ballcap for the summer festivities out in front of us. You can see those and check them out in the Daily Audio Bible Shop in the Lifestyle Section.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible. Thank you, humbly, especially thank you, humbly, here in the summertime. We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t in this together and so, thank you. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.
And as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, that’s the little red button up at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.
And that’s it for today, I’m Brian, I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here, tomorrow.
Prayer and Encouragements:
Hello, this is Kristen, aka Christ in Me. While listening to the DAB community prayer this week, my grief began to surface. This was an old grief, but it was still there, as grief is something that we deal with for the rest of our lives. This grief was for my mother. I lost her when I was 14, a very difficult time in a girl’s life, to lose a mother. I experience isolation and depression like I never had before. I felt lost and alone. This affected me for the rest of my life. I had lost the most important person in my life. She was an amazing, wonderful woman. I could not have been blessed with a better mother than the one that I have. I have been listening and hearing prayers, due to loss, losses in families. But the common thread is there are children in these families who are experiencing the loss of a mother. Father, I lift up these children to You. I pray Your wings around them to comfort them. I pray they seek You in this difficult time. I pray the enemy would not have a hold on them. Lord, keep them on a path to You. I pray their families would pull them close and remember to love on them and be there for them. I pray for them in Jesus mighty name. Amen.
Hello, Daily Audio Bible. I am Debra from Culling, Texas. I just came to tell you that every morning, I read a story from the Bible. And I am here to encourage you to keep reading the Bible or Daily Audio Bible if that is more easier for you. God is good. He is always moving and keeps His promises no matter what you’re going through, God will help and guide you. Ask God for guidance and He will guide you. There is surely a future hope for you and your hope will not be cut off. Keep your faith and trust in God, for He is faithful through all things. Don’t lose hope. When you are down to nothing, God is up to something.
I come to you DAB, this Carpi Diem Driver from Maryland. I come to you seeking your prayers and we all deal with fear and chains that hold us back from being the best that we can possibly be. I ask the community to come together to break these chains of fear. Break the chain for God of thought of anxiety. Break those chains and heal that knot in our stomach, those stones, Lord God. Heal those stones, Lord God. Allow us to face the fear and to do it anyway, know that You are with us. Knowing, Lord God, that You are there to guide us, to give us wisdom, to give us the clarity, Lord God. To allow us to see the truth of these fears and the truth of these fears is they are lies that the enemy wants us to believe about Your love. But Your love can conquer all fear. Allow that love to penetrate our hearts, our minds and our souls and our spirits, allowing us to when we feel those fears, to give them to You. We allow these fears to be laid at Your feet and allow Your spirit, Lord God, to give us the wisdom and clarity to face these fears and to do it anyway, because we know that You are with us every step of the way. Release the anxiety, release the depression, release that spirit that holds us back from allowing us to be the blessing to this world. To be the light in this world. To be the best that we can possibly be because of You. Because we are child’s of the Most High God.
Hello, I’m returning a call. I called way back in December, around the holidays. My name was God is With Me. And it’s June. And I just wanted to give a good update. I was the one that called, and I heard prayers requests for me, and I thank you so much. I was the one that called about my son that wanted to take his life. And he was 18 years old, 17 at the time when he was saying it, but he turned 18 in January. And he’s in the 12th grade and he is doing so much better. And I remember I’ve heard somebody call and say they had a someone, their daughter was in that same predicament. My son told me something that happened to him 10 years ago when he was 7. And it just made him spiral in the years. And tomorrow he is graduating. And he is so much better. He is doing so much better. Please continue to pray for me and my family. This was a journey I didn’t think we were gonna get through 12th grade. And he did well in his school, he’s going to college in the fall. And I just pray for continuing prayer for me, and I just pray for those. I listen every day. And I’m so thankful that I have an outlet for someone to hear my voice and my family and pray for us also. I am, I heard the man call about his son that was 24 that took his life. You are in my prayers. I know how hard; I don’t know but I can just imagine how difficult that is. Please pray for our teens and young adults in this world we live in, it’s so hard. And it was so hard for me.
First time caller to the prayer line. I want to thank the Daily Audio Bible for offering this opportunity and my dad for introducing me to Daily Audio Bible. I wanted to let the woman know who was asking for prayer who’s been hit by a vehicle, had a prosthetic eye placed, had her tibia/fibia shattered. Had family members or that had been hit with dementia. That you’re being prayed for, and God is hearing your prayers. And you’re loved. I’m calling today because I, myself, am a nurse and I had surgery earlier this year. And I’m not currently on leave. If I could be prayed for, I would greatly appreciate it. And also, I’m 40 years old, desperately looking for love still, for a Godly man to enter my life, wanting children. I have to thank Brian for his un-favoring, unwavering faith in the Lord for the last 18 and a half years. I’m not consistent every day but this is consistent in my drive to work of over an hour to the hospital and through COVID it helped me stay faithful in believing in what I was doing to help patients on my way to work. Thank you, Brian and my faith, in the Lord. I appreciate you and I thank you for what you do to serve our community. God bless. Bye Bye.