Jun 8, 2022
2SAMUEL 3-4:
In yesterday's story,
David was anointed as king over his own tribe of Judah, while all
the rest of Israel followed Saul's son, Ishbosheth. Ishbosheth was
not a strong leader, but was put in place by Abner, the general.
Joab was David's military commander. In the first battle, it is
significant that Abner killed Joab's brother Asahel. David's troops
decisively won their first battle in the civil war.
PSALM 108:
This is a psalm of
exalted praise, and a song asking God for military victory.
Translation notes:
1 I have complete confidence [in You], O God! I will sing and
praise you! Wake up, my soul!
7 From [your//his] sanctuary [O God, You have//God has] said, “In triumph I will divide Shechem and distribute Sukkoth Valley to my people.
11 Have you really rejected us? Aren't you going to march out[ O Lord] with our armies?
13 With [You, O God,//God] on our side we will win;
[You//he] will defeat our enemies.
ROMANS 12:
Yesterday at the end of
Romans 11, we came to the end of the long parenthesis. God is seen
as both kind and severe. He is severe toward those who refuse to
believe. Belief is not something that just happens without our
control. It is an act of the will to believe. That is why the
stubborn disbelief of the Israelites is called
'disobedience'.
This chapter marks the beginning of the practical section of Romans. In other words, this part shows the way we should live based on the teachings given in the chapters before.
Translation notes:
1 So then, my friends, because [God has shown such great mercy to us in many ways//of God's great mercy to us] I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer.
3 And because of God's gracious gift to me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you should. Instead, be modest in your thinking, and judge yourself according to the amount of [belief//faith] that God has given you.
6 So we are to use our different gifts in accordance with the grace that God has given us. If our gift is to speak God's message, we should do it [in accordance with what we believe//according to the faith that we have];