Jun 8, 2025
2SAMUEL 14:
There is more than one way in which David did
not obey God’s instructions for kings. The big one, of course, is
the Bathsheba affair, but God had already said that kings should
not have lots of wives. David’s daughter Tamar was raped by her
half brother Amnon. And after two years, Absolom (Tamar’s brother)
murdered Amnon.
PSALM 113:
This
is a song praising our incomparable God.
ROMANS 15:
Paul
continues what he was ‘on about’ in yesterday’s reading. We must
accept other believers even though we don’t agree on prohibitions,
practices, or rituals. Disputes over these things often come from
our differing backgrounds.
GNT Translation
note:
[The psalmist uses ‘his name’ as a metonymy for
God himself. To us in English, it sounds like idolatry to praise a
name rather than the Person of God Himself.]
Ps.
113:1 Praise the Lord! You servants of the Lord, praise [him//his
name]!
2
May his name [be held in reverence//be praised], now and
forever.
[Another way is to just go
directly to the topic of the metonymy: “May He be praised
…”
3 From the east to the west [let the name of
the Lord be held in reverence//praise the name of the
Lord]!
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Rom. 15:1 We who are strong
in [our belief in Christ//our belief in the freedom we have because
of our union with Christ//the faith] ought to help the weak to
carry their burdens. We should not please ourselves.
2 Instead, we should all please other believers
for their own good, in order to build them up in [believing//the
faith].
3 For Christ did not please
himself. Instead, as the scripture [quotes the Messiah’s words to
God//says], “The insults which are hurled at you have fallen on
me.”
13 May God, the source of hope, fill you with
all joy and peace by means of your [believing//faith] in him, so
that your hope will continue to grow by the power of the Holy
Spirit.