Ps. 73, 85
The writer of Psalm 73 starts off by acknowledging that he knew that God is good to His own. But when he looked around at the world around him, he saw the prosperity of the wicked. This shook his faith. Why put in the effort to be righteous when the righteous suffer and the wicked flourish? Why indeed. Notice what pulled him off this shaky ground and put his feet back in a solid place. In Psalm 73: 16-17 he says, “When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.” The problem was that the Psalmist had taken his eyes off of God! When he entered the sanctuary, putting God directly back in view, he returned to his senses and once again knew the Truth.
We see something of the same thing in Psalm 85. The people are in need of restoration and the Psalmist is crying out about it. But he is also remembering God’s goodness and placing his trust in that. “I will listen to what God the LORD says; He promises peace to His people, His faithful servants” (Ps 85:8). So he, too, bolsters his faith by focusing – this time with his ears – on God.
Life is hard. The world is full of wickedness. The weeds planted by the Enemy mingle in with the wheat planted by God. It is critical that I keep all my senses tuned in to God – knowing His goodness, remembering His faithfulness, fearing His power and righteousness – so that I stay firmly planted in His Truth. This is why I come to His Word every morning and try to take hold of it. And this is why I want to teach myself to keep a running conversation going with Him. I want to come to Him directly and immediately in every situation I face in life, whether good or bad, hard or easy. May God reign always in my life.
1 Cor. 11:17-34
I wonder how Paul knew of Jesus’ words from the Last Supper? He says that he received them from the Lord, but he was not at the Last Supper. Clearly it was passed on to him by someone, and it seems he then passed it on to the various churches. So it must have been important.
Jesus’ words and actions, which we now know as Communion, were actually a part of the Passover meal, which is what the Last Supper was. There is a very specific cup and a very specific piece of unleavened bread that are part of that meal that correspond with Jesus’ words. He was identifying Himself as the fulfillment of the Passover rituals. It is actually quite fascinating to study the Passover meal (the Seder) and learn all the ways that the various details point to Christ. It, along with the other Feasts of the LORD, was given to God’s people first as a prophecy or ‘road map’ of God’s Plan for redemption, and now as a remembrance of the work that has already been done toward that plan. That is why Jesus said that when they partook of that part of the Seder, they should do it in remembrance of Him.