DAY 193

WHAT TO DO WHEN CHALLENGED

Psalm 1, 2 & 3 and Acts 17:1-15

In this chapter of Acts we see Paul’s method…again. This time he is in Thessalonica. He goes to the synagogue and reasons with the Jewish people and their teachers. It says in this instance he did it for three Sabbaths. For three weeks Paul worked to show them that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, and in fact the Messiah of the world. Many Jews and Gentiles believed…but then there was jealously. This pattern has happened over and over, from village to village, for Paul and his compatriots.

In fact we see when he arrives in the next village, Berea, go again to the synagogue. They receive him but some from Thessalonica come and stir up trouble. There is always opposition to Jesus – opposition to God.

Consider how those opposed to Jesus reacted. They wanted Paul, when they could not find him, they took another man, Jason. Then they went to a neighboring village to stir up trouble. Rather than look at them, I am asking myself what sort of opposition I am facing, and then how am I responding. As I ponder that question I am reminded that it is through prayer and reading God’s Word that I stay grounded in a way that helps me face such times. One of the great parts of God’s Word is the Psalms, and we turn now to them.

Today we are starting to read the Psalter – that is the word we use to describe this “Book of Psalms.” There are 150 of them. Consider how others have described them:

John Calvin called them a “mirror” for they reflect all the moods of the human experience – joy and sorrow, excitement and depression, confidence and doubt, triumph and defeat. Another author has said they contain “all the music of the human heart.”

The Psalms contain a range of genres: from private devotion to public liturgy, lament and penitence, praise and prayer, remembrance and prophecy. I was taught they are also Jewish Poetry. Jewish Poetry is often written in a “parallel” manner. The second half of a phrase reinforces the first half. Consider: “Blessed are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked” – who is it that are blessed – those who “nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seats of the scornful.”

It is best to have a Bible or eBible that has the Psalms written in prose format, vice paragraph format; it allows you to see the parallelism in an easier manner.

So now onto to the beginning of the Psalms: Psalms 1, 2 and 3. There is quite a range of emotions in the first three. Jill Stellman a priest at the Cathedral notices that the first Psalm is like a conversation on a front porch when the weather is nice. There is airiness about it. Psalm 2 is a bit stormy as it challenges the rulers of the earth to remember who is God. Psalm 3 is more a prayer of petition. It begins with a cry, “I have too many adversaries” and it ends with an expression of confidence in the Lord “Deliverance belongs to the Lord.”

In these three Psalms we see the range of emotions and feelings. Are any of these emotions yours today? Let me invite you to slow down when you read them.

I am always convicted by Psalm 1 verse 2 – “O how I delight in your Law, I meditate on it day and night.” I don’t measure up to this. Do I delight in it? I can tell you I do not meditate on it day and night. Yet to do so is to be like trees planted by streams of water! There is a point, a huge point, which I suggested earlier. When I questioned whether I could face what Paul faced, I also noted that I am best at facing challenges when I have been praying and reading God’s Word…you might say meditating on it!