Exodus 15:26 – The Lord Our Healer

Exodus 15:26
26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.

-The final phrase in this verse identifies God as “Jehovah-Rophi” and means “the Lord who Heals“.  It is a name that God has worn through the ages as time and again He has stepped into the broken messes we call lives and brought healing and restoration.  At His word, “the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, [and even] the dead are raised” (Luke 7:22)  But He has done more than just erase our sicknesses, the Bible teaches us that “surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4).  You see, for the sinful human race, the weight of sin and death could not simply be removed, it had to be dealt with.  Someone had to carry it in our place.  The Lord Jesus Christ carried all that sin and all that death to Calvary and offered up His own perfect blood in exchange.  Now the Lord is justified when He heals us- physically or spiritually.  Now the sickening effects of the curse are a reminder of our greater sin sickness.  Now the Lord’s healing of a physical infirmity is a reminder of the greater spiritual healing that can only come by way of repentance in the name of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 5:5 – Blessed Are The Meek

Matthew 5:5
5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

-The word “meek” in the Bible is the Greek word “praus” and carries with it the idea of a wild horse that has been tamed.  This imagery is important because meekness in our modern society is often dismissed as a weakness but that could not be further from the truth.  Consider how fearsome a wild horse can be; now realize that a tamed horse still possesses the same might and fearsomeness, but that horse has made a choice to obey the will of its master.  So it is with those who are led of the Holy Spirit, we still have the same angry, rebellious human nature, but we make a choice to act against that nature in favor of Christ’s Divine influence.  Meekness is the power to act coupled with the discipline not to.  A discipline that can only come from the Lord.  This duality is the reason the Bible calls us to be both bold as a lion (Proverbs 28:1) and gentle as a dove (Matthew 10:16).

Mark 10:17-18 – “Why callest thou me good?”

Mark 10:17-18
17 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.

-When this rich, young ruler approaches Jesus and addresses Him as “Good Master”, Jesus responds with an interesting question, “Why callest thou me good?”  Why would Jesus ask this question?  Was He calling attention to the idea that He Himself is not good?  God forbid.  Jesus said this because He wanted to make it clear that being a “master” doesn’t make you good; being a ”teacher” doesn’t make you good; being “pious” doesn’t make you good; not even being a “Savior” makes you good.  Only being God makes you good.  If the rich, young ruler was going to see Jesus as good, Jesus was going to make sure it was because he was seeing Jesus as God.  Likewise, if we are going to really understand what makes Jesus good, we are going to have to see Him as God.

Luke 19:5 – He Must

Luke 19:5
5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.

-Scripture tells us that the Lord Jesus didn’t have a home or even a place to sleep at night (Luke 9:58).  Given that, it can be easy to take a verse like Luke 19:5 out of context; did Jesus come to Zacchaeus’ house just because He needed a place to stay?  Consider this verse in context of John 4:4, “and he must needs go through Samaria”.  Jesus didn’t go to Zacchaeus to fulfill His own needs any more than He walked through Samaria for Himself; He went there because He was following a mission.  Jesus was always busy about the Father’s business (Luke 2:49) and everything He spoke and did reflects that need to please the Father.  As He said in John 6:38, “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.”  If Christ set an example that we are all compelled to follow, then where must we go today to please the Father?

Hebrews 13:5 – Be Content

Hebrews 13:5
5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

-The Bible goes into great detail explaining how riches are deceitful (Matthew 13:22) and that the love of money leads to nothing but sin (1 Timothy 6:10).  However, the Bible gives a lot less direction regarding what is an appropriate level of wealth for someone trying to live godly.  Is it okay to be rich?  Is it okay to be poor?  What is the standard of living in God’s economy?   Usually, when the Bible gives little information on a subject it means one of two things:  1) The topic is not important relative to other, heavier subjects (this is not applicable here given how heavy a subject money is) or 2) The Bible’s directive is fully explanatory and requires no further elaboration.  In this case, all our questions about money can be summed up in one phrase, “be content with such things as you have”.  If you can do that, then you can be rich without having your heart drawn away, you can be poor without being bitter, you can look at those who have less without feeling superior or disdainful, and you can look at those who have more and not feel envious.

Psalm 34:17-19 – But The Lord Delivereth

Psalm 34:17-19
17 The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.

They say trouble comes in threes.  I think if we are being honest, we often feel like trouble comes in much greater numbers, though.  The Bible does a good job of summing up how many troubles we will face.  Many.  Many troubles, many frustrations, many afflictions.  What’s more important than the number of troubles, however, is how many the Lord can deliver us from.  All of them.  Whether it be one trouble or a thousand, “the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save.” (Isaiah 59:1)  If trouble is certain to come and the Lord will always deliver the righteous, then making sure we are righteous in the eyes of the Lord is the best way to prepare.  How do we make sure we are righteous?  “For he hath made [Jesus Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Psalm 12:6 – The Words of the Lord Are Pure

Psalm 12:6
6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times

Psalm 119:103
103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

-Oh to have a mouth like the Lord; a mouth free of lies, free of spite, free of foul language.  When the Lord speaks, you can count on righteousness to proceed forth; you can expect wisdom and instruction and edification.  How unlike the lowly human race, “our tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison” (James 3:9).  Have your words ever cut like a knife?  Have you ever said something that you regret?  The Lord can forgive and cleanse us from those indiscretions.  We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13), that means there is no reason why we cannot have pure and honey-sweet words of our own.

Romans 12:19 – Vengeance is Mine

Romans 12:19
19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Hebrews 10:30
30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.

-How satisfying it would be to claim retribution when a wrong has been committed; to pass judgment on those we perceive as desperately in need of judging.  But to have such a personal stake in judgment would be wrong and is the reason why God alone is able to judge.  Our actions would inevitably be tinged by our own convictions and morals, and no human’s moral compass truly points perfectly north.  We all rank transgressions and see some as better or worse than others, but how can someone be guilty of a “better” sin?  God can judge and still be no respecter of persons regardless of whether they are a liar or a thief or a murderer (Romans 2:11).  God can take vengeance and still maintain His holiness because He sees all sin for what it really is.  More importantly, only the Lord can truly measure the value of the Blood of Jesus; because the guilty are not those who transgress the law, but rather are those who do not repent and accept Christ.

Exodus 40:18-27 – As The Lord Commanded

Exodus 40:18-19, 21, 25, 27
18 And Moses reared up the tabernacle, and fastened his sockets, and set up the boards thereof, and put in the bars thereof, and reared up his pillars.
19 And he spread abroad the tent over the tabernacle, and put the covering of the tent above upon it; as the Lord commanded Moses.
21 And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the vail of the covering, and covered the ark of the testimony; as the Lord commanded Moses.
25 And he lighted the lamps before the Lord; as the Lord commanded Moses.
27 And he burnt sweet incense thereon; as the Lord commanded Moses.

-The phrase “as the Lord commanded Moses” is repeated 13 times throughout this section of scripture dealing with the tailoring of the ephod and setting up of the tabernacle.  The Lord had previously commanded Moses that he “make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount” (Exodus 25:40) and the Bible makes it very clear that Moses remembered this instruction every step of the way.  Why is this important?  While certainly making an ephod and building a tabernacle for the Lord is a nice gesture, the Lord Himself seems just as concerned (if not more so) with making sure these items are laid out according to His will.  This is an important lesson especially in regards to contemporary forms of serving the Lord.  It is not enough to stamp the Lord’s name on our practices and declare them worship and service.  The Lord has a very precise way that He chooses to be followed and as we see in Exodus, it is vitally important that we do “just as the Lord commanded”.  “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.” (John 4:23)  “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.” (Ecclesiastes 5:1)

Isaiah 1:18 – Let Us Reason Together

Isaiah 1:18
18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

-There are times when it is important to simply follow the Lord no questions asked.  Thankfully, the Lord doesn’t hold us to such a standard when it comes to developing our belief in Him.  Instead, He asks us to come to Him and reason the whole thing out.  Bring your doubts, bring your concerns, and talk them out with Him.  He doesn’t forbid your questions and doubts and He isn’t afraid of them either.  A faith that stays quiet and conforms is no faith at all.  If you really think about God and His word, you will have questions sooner or later.  Talk them out with the Lord; you’ll find that believing Him is perfectly reasonable.