For a full description of the (Y4) reading plan, see the “About” page.
Lev. 16
In order to approach God at the mercy seat, the high priest had to wash in water and put on holy garments. That sounds a lot like baptism, which is an act of obedience to demonstrate a repentant heart. It is an outward expression of our washing away our old selves and putting on the righteousness of Christ so that we can approach God and receive His mercy.
Ps. 19
David prayed, “Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not rule over me” (Ps. 19:13a). I really like vocabulary.com’s definition for the word, “presumptuous”. It reads, “Taking for granted your access to someone or power to do something.” That definition speaks volumes! There are so many ways that we take God for granted and misuse the authority and grace He offers us. We make no effort to seek Him, yet expect Him to stay close to us. And we live however we want, assuming His forgiveness. We might even claim credit or authority that belongs to only Him, or look down on weaker Christians as if we stand on our own. Yes, LORD, protect my heart from every form of pride, so that, “the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart [will] be acceptable in Your sight” (Ps. 19:14a,b).
Prov. 30
“Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to His words or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar.” (Pr. 30:5-6). The comment about God’s being a shield to those who take refuge in Him seemed a little out of place in these verses about His words. What does one have to do with the other? Because proverbs often contrast opposites, I tried looking at it from that perspective, and I think I can make some sense of it.
First, I looked up the word, “reprove”. Of course it carries a meaning of correction, but the descriptive word that jumped out at me was, “expose”. Aha! That sounds like a great opposite for, “shield”! So then I considered the thought of adding to God’s tested word. People might add to something because they think it is incorrect or incomplete. But here we see that anything added to God’s word is a lie. Thus, God’s tested word is not just true, but also complete.
That, of course, takes me to the introduction to John’s gospel. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (Jn. 1:1). And now I begin to see. Jesus is God’s word. He is proven, trustworthy, and complete. He is all that there is and more than enough. If we take refuge in Him – run to Him with total abandon, laying aside all opposition and trusting Him solely and completely – He covers us as an unfailing shield. If, however, we oppose, lack trust, fail to understand that He is ALL, we stand exposed as one who belongs to the Father of Lies.