Matthew 26:31-35
Jesus predicts here that the disciples, especially Peter, will desert Him. Peter openly declared that he would never desert Jesus. Apparently he thought he was better than the others and that Jesus didn't really know what he would do! Indeed, pride comes before a fall. Peter and the others would fail and fail miserably.
We must never feel that we are too good to fall into sin. I've heard it said that given the right circumstances, we are all capable of any imaginable sin. We must not think too highly of ourselves, but humbly trust the Lord to keep us strong. And we must fight the temptation to think of ourselves as better or stronger than others. The truth is that we're all weak! Only the Holy Spirit living within us can make us strong.
Paul tells us in Romans 12:3, "...Don't think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us."
Psalm 132
Here David expresses his desire to build a Temple for the Lord. When the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, they worshiped in a tabernacle (which was actually an elaborate tent). David longed for God's people to have a beautiful and permanent place to house the Ark of the Covenant (which symbolized God's presence) and a permanent place of worship. He could not rest until he had begun this process. God let him (David) draw up the plans, but his son Solomon actually completed the structure. vv. 1-9
We see in vv. 10-18 we are reminded of God's promise to David that his descendants would reign forever. Actually, this promise was two-fold. V. 12 says that if David's descendants were obedient, their royal line would continue to reign over Israel forever. Vv. 13ff share the second part of this promise and that is that the promised Messiah, Jesus Christ, would come through the line of David. And He will truly reign forever!
MEDITATION: For our meditation, we will look ahead at Psalm 133:1 "How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony!"
No comments:
Post a Comment