Category: Scripture

Daily Psalms – Psalm 112

by Matthew Stidham, posted in Psalms, Scripture

Daily Psalm Reading – Psalm 111-115

The most common command in all of Scripture is “do not fear.” Psalm 112 is a juxtaposition of fear.

Praise the Lord.
Blessed are those who fear the LORD,
    who find great delight in his commands.

Psalm 112:1 NIV

What does it mean to fear the LORD, especially when we’re commanded so often to not fear? Are we supposed to cower, afraid that this all powerful God is just waiting to smite us? Perhaps if we are enemies of God this is an appropriate “fear,” but not for those who love him and have committed their lives to him.

One of the definitions of this word is “to stand in awe of, reverence, honor…” The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom (Ps. 111:10), and it’s the end of all other fear. As John reminds us God is love (1 Jn 4:8), and perfect love drives out all fear (1 Jn 4:18).

If we are right before God we will not be fearful of our lives before him, but we will stand in awe and reverence before him knowing full we we are not deserving. Proper “fear” before Yahweh will lead to caring for the poor and seeking justice (Ps. 112:5, 9). Proper “fear” of Yahweh leads us to fear nothing else! (v. 6-8). To “fear the LORD” is to love him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mk. 12:29-31).

I have known far too many Christians that face the end of life terrified of the end for fear of what God might do. This is not the “fear” we are called to. We are to live boldly in the grace we have received, and fearlessly serve our Lord in the midst of a world that hates him. The fear of the LORD drives out all fear. The fear of the LORD enables us to do what we cannot do on our own.

If you are a child or God, washed in the blood of Jesus, you have no reason to be terrified. But you are called to fear the LORD!

Daily Psalms – Psalm 106

by Matthew Stidham, posted in Psalms, Scripture

Daily Psalm Reading – Psalm 106-110

Psalm 106, in many ways, is the “other side” of Psalm 105. Where 105 calls us to recount the blessings that God has given us, Psalm 106 calls us to acknowledge our sins by telling the story of our failures.

We have sinned, even as our ancestors did;
    we have done wrong and acted wickedly.

Psalm 106:6 NIV

While harm can come from ruminating on our failures, acknowledging them in recognition of God’s grace is important. Here the Psalmist starts with praise (v. 1-3), petition (v. 4-5), confession (v. 6), and then begins the story.

The first episode recounts God’s salvation. Even though Israel forgot forgot Yahweh, he did not forget them. He saved them out of slavery and defeated the Egyptian army. Israel saw the might of Yahweh and believed! (v. 6-12)

From here the psalmist recounts many of the episodes that led to Israel’s exile. “How did we get here?” This is the confession that the psalmist makes: Yahweh asked us to do these things and time after time we did not. But that’s not the end of the story!

Once again the psalmist returns to the grace of Yahweh, and tells of his goodness, mercy, and future favor.

Many times he delivered them,
    but they were bent on rebellion
    and they wasted away in their sin.
Yet he took note of their distress
    when he heard their cry;
for their sake he remembered his covenant
    and out of his great love he relented.
He caused all who held them captive
    to show them mercy.

Psalm 106:43-46 NIV

How does this captivity come to an end? It isn’t anything that the people do, but the unmerited favor of God. It is God’s faithfulness to his covenant! Our faithlessness does not nullify God’s faithfulness! (Rom. 3:3-4) He is faithful! And because of God’s faithfulness, we have hope in him for salvation!

Save us, LORD our God,
    and gather us from the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
    and glory in your praise.

Psalm 106:47 NIV

Once again, we end on a petition for rescue, not for our own benefit, but for bringing glory to Yahweh in praise. He alone is our hope. He alone is our salvation. He alone rescues us, and so we give thanks to him in praise.

It is good to tell our story. It is good to remember our past. How did we get here? Where are we going? These questions recall God’s continued blessings and our continued need for them. We must never think we have “arrived” in our walk with God, but always remember, analyze, and adjust our walk as we move forward. Yahweh is good and faithful. Don’t forget this. Live accordingly.

Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
    from everlasting to everlasting.
Let all the people say, “Amen!”
Praise the Lord.

Psalm 106:48 NIV

Daily Psalms – Psalm 105

by Matthew Stidham, posted in Psalms, Scripture

Daily Psalm Reading – Psalm 101-105

Today we focus in on Psalm 105, a poetic history of the people of Israel. If you want a summary of the Hebrew Scriptures in a concise package, you’ve come to the right place. The psalmist begins by reminding us of our part in the story of God:

Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name;
    make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing to him, sing praise to him;
    tell of all his wonderful acts.

Psalm 105:1-2 NIV

How often are you stopping to “tell of all his wonderful acts?” Or better yet, how often are you stopping to recognize all his wonderful acts in your life? The psalmist recounts Israel’s history, which is also your history and my history because we are children of Abraham (Gal. 3:7). We need to know this story! It’s your story!

Your personal story is also important. Every generation of believers learns the historical story of Yahweh’s people. We are also called to be witnesses of what he has done in our lives. We need to tell others the story of Jesus and how he has changed our lives! Lost souls need to hear that God remembers the promises he has made forever, and those promises extend to us as well! (v. 8-10)

Telling our story also keeps us focused on what matters. History is selective. We tend to tell about the winning goal we scored rather than what we ate for lunch in the 4th grade. We tend to leave out the unimportant details in favor of the ones we view as more important.

So how important is God to you?

How important is the saving power of Jesus in your life?

If it is important to you, are you telling that story?

If not, why not?

These questions get us thinking about what is really important in our past, and those realizations should influence us to focus on what is important in the present and the future.

Glory in his holy name;
    let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
Look to the LORD and his strength;
    seek his face always.

Psalm 105:3-4 NIV

Our history is his story. Let us all focus on what truly matters, and tell that story in our lives. Blessings.

Women Praying & Prophesying With Their Heads Covered?

by Matthew Stidham, posted in 1 Corinthians

Why does Paul ask women to cover their heads while praying and prophesying? (1 Cor. 11:2-16)  Most people will assume something cultural is going on here, and they would be correct! But what exactly?

Women’s hair was seen as a major object of lust in the ancient world, as well as in some cultures in the middle east today (remember a lot of the Bible was written to people in middle eastern cultures). It seems foreign because hair doesn’t really cause us to lust. But as a means for cultural understanding, let’s equate the “uncovered head” of these women to wearing a very revealing bikini.

Now imagine someone dressing in such a way in front of the congregation on Sunday morning. Now you’re starting to understand the problem. In the ancient world an uncovered head meant you were sexually promiscuous; not such a crazy idea because this is one of the ways pagan temple prostitutes would wear their hair. The idea of a bikini in worship in our culture, and an uncovered head in theirs, is clearly inappropriate.

One of the greatest physical shames a woman could have in this culture was having her hair shaved off. What Paul is saying here is that if you see nothing wrong with uncovering your head in a worship assembly then you might as well go ahead and shave your head. The female readers would understand the level of shame Paul is equating to what they were doing in the assembly.

Why were they doing this? Keep in mind that churches met in homes, not church buildings. It was perfectly acceptable for a woman to have her head uncovered at home in front of her family, just like you might walk around in clothing at home that you would never wear in a public setting. When a more formal gathering (worship assembly) gathered in the same homes, it seems that some of the women were leaving their heads uncovered – again, inappropriate for male non-family members present. 

This was new territory for most of these Corinthian people. We are having a public gathering in a private home. How do we act? Paul here is teaching modesty within the assembly. How do we know this is the assembly? Paul tells us so in verse 16. “Churches” is the Greek word ekklesiai, the plural form for “assembly.” There is no assembly that practices uncovered heads (again cultural) while women are praying and prophesying.

But did you notice what is assumed in this passage? Women are clearly praying and prophesying (v. 5) openly in the presence of men in the assembly (v. 16), and that is totally ok! It is never questioned if women can pray or prophesy in the assembly, but rather can they do so with their heads uncovered. 

Somehow, women praying and prophesying in the assembly of 1 Corinthians 11 is not a violation of 1 Corinthians 14:34-35. But how can that be? We’ll take a closer look at that next week. But as a starting point, read all of 1 Corinthians 14 while asking yourself this question: 

What goal does Paul have in writing this chapter?

Daily Psalms – Psalm 100

by Matthew Stidham, posted in Psalms, Scripture

Daily Psalm Reading – Psalm 96-100

Today let us step away from the crazy of life, and simply worship our God! Yahweh is to be praised today, and every day!

Joy and gladness should fill our hearts because Yahweh is our God! He is our shepherd and we are under his care, now and forever more. Let us draw near to him in thanksgiving.

Such a short and simple psalm, but one that we all need reminding of. In a society that preaches to us to do our own thing, and it’s all about you. Psalm 100 reminds us of that it isn’t all about us, it’s all about God! Don’t pull away from God; draw near in praise and thanksgiving.

Blessings.

Daily Psalms – Psalm 95

by Matthew Stidham, posted in Psalms, Scripture

Daily psalm reading – Psalm 91-95

Psalm 95 is one which many of us can “sing,”, or at least the first two thirds of it. Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord (vs. 1-5), and Come, let us worship and bow down (vs. 6-7) have both been set to music many different times, and made their way into many congregations in the 90’s and early 2000’s.

But our familiarity with the psalm usually stops there. Verses 7b-11 really don’t lend themselves to modern song as much as the beginning of the psalm, and yet they’re vital to understanding the importance of this work.

I think the story is familiar to most who have read the Hebrew Scriptures, even if the names are not. In Exodus 17 the Israelites are traveling through the desert being lead by Yahweh when they settle in a place called Rephidim. There the Israelites needed water. But instead of asking Yahweh for water (keep in mind he has already done amazing miracles before them), they grumbled against Moses and questioned the reality of Yahweh’s presence among them!

Yahweh tells Moses and the elders of Israel what to do. They take a staff and strike the rock at Horeb and water poured forth. Now read the words of Moses:

And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Exodus 17:7 NIV

Yahweh had set them free from slavery by crippling Egypt through 10 powerful plagues, parted the Red Sea for the Israelites to cross on dry land, destroyed Pharaoh’s army, led them with a pillar of fire and cloud, appeared to them on Mount Sinai…I could keep going. Yahweh appeared everywhere, and constantly took care of them, and yet when they needed something they doubted his presence?

It’s really easy for us to sit here and cast stones towards the Israelites wondering how they missed the presence of God in their lives. And yet we do the same thing, don’t we? We have the most prosperous and existence in all of human history, and when something doesn’t go our way we question his presence as well.

The admonition of this psalm is for us to worship Yahweh, to declare his praises, to acknowledge that everything around us is his because he made everything! When we understand that he has made and cares for everything, won’t he care for you as well? Aren’t you just as valuable to him as anything else he has made? Isn’t he our Good Shepherd?

Today, if only you would hear his voice…

Psalm 95:7b NIV

Are you listening for God’s voice today? Are you seeking his presence? He is with you, and will never leave you. Worship recenters us on that. Remembering the Creator cares for the creation does that as well. We can have peace and trust his provision, if only we will hear his voice. Blessings.

Daily Psalms – Psalm 77

by Matthew Stidham, posted in Hebrews, Psalms, Scripture

Daily Psalm Reading – Psalm 76-80

Today we spend our time reflecting on Psalm 77; a psalm that recounts what God has done for his people, and asks him to move once again on their behalf.

We often believe that faith is blind. It is not.

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Hebrews 11:1 NIV

It is true that faith is in something we cannot see, but that doesn’t mean there is no proof. We may not know where we’re going, but we know how we made it to the present. That’s a bit like what the psalmist is doing here.

Israel knows that God has done great things in the past, and now in their time of need they are pleading with him, and trusting him to move yet again. This is an example of faith in God for the future in light of the past. Faith is not blind.

Most of the stories in the Bible involve God showing his power in order to help his people have faith. Take the life of Jesus for instance. No miracle of Jesus is ever about the miracle, but rather to provide evidence that their faith was warranted. They always point to Jesus’ authority to do whatever he was doing. (See Matthew 9:6)

This psalm begins by pleading with God for help, interspersed with remembering how God interceded in the past (v. 3-6). The end of the psalm reflects on specific ways God moved in the past (v. 16-20). And right in the middle is faith in action: looking toward the future, but evidenced in the past.

Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:
the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.
I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
I will consider all your works
and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”

Psalm 77:10-12 NIV

As we wait for God to move powerfully in our lives (as he may very well be doing already), let us keep our faith rooted in his mighty acts of the past. Let us plead for God to do great things now and in the future through his people, and expect nothing short of the great things he has already accomplished through them.

May God be praised now and forever more! Amen.

Daily Psalms – Psalm 73

by Matthew Stidham, posted in Psalms, Scripture

Daily Psalm Reading – Psalm 71-75

Our reading today concludes Book 2 of Psalms and enters Book 3, of which Psalm 73 is the beginning. Here we focus on the psalms “of Asaph.” Psalm 73 is a wonderful reminder for us today who struggle with the same fault that the psalmist admits: envy over the unrighteous.

But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
I had nearly lost my foothold.
For i envied the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

Psalm 73:2-3 NIV

This is a big theme throughout the Proverbs especially, but also in Psalms. “Ill-gotten gain” is condemned repeatedly, and yet we still admire seeing wealth on display, no matter how it’s gotten, for some reason. We are drawn to the illusion of wealth and luxury, that it will somehow fix our problems. In reality, it amplifies our problems.

But back to the main point, we think about money so much, and yet we don’t think about money as much as we should. Dr. Jenn Hale Christy had a very thought provoking podcast on this topic recently where she asked us to consider what we’re actually doing with our money. We blindly throw our money into investment accounts, but do we actually know what we are investing in? Is our retirement savings coming to us through “ill-gotten gains?”

The psalmist talks about all the present-moment advantages that these wicked people seem to have: no struggles, healthy, easy life. But when we renew our focus on God we begin to see things clearly. The illusion of the wicked lifestyle begins to fall.

When I tried to understand all this,
it troubled me deeply
till I entered the sanctuary of God;
then I understood their final destiny.

Psalm 73:16-17 NIV

This is one of the many reasons why worship is so important. When we worship God it recalibrates our hearts to follow him. In his excellent book, You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit, James K. A. Smith reminds us that the entire world is a liturgy; everything we do is worship of something, and forms us into the image of that something. Gathering with believers in worship of our God refocuses and reshapes us into who he wants us to be. He is the one who loves. He is the one who guides. He is the one who saves.

Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.

Psalm 73:23-26 NIV

Daily Psalms – Psalm 66

by Matthew Stidham, posted in Psalms, Scripture

Daily Psalm Reading – Psalm 66-70

Shout for joy to God, all the earth!
Sing the glory of his name;
make his praise glorious.

Psalm 66:1-2 NIV

I love Psalm 66. It is a wonderful song of praise, but different than you might expect. You see, we tend to praise God for the good times. The psalmist here praises God for the good times, and praises God for causing the bad times!

For you, God, tested us;
you refined us like silver.
You brought us into prison
and laid burdens on our backs.
You let people ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water,
but you brought us to a place of abundance.

Psalm 66:10-12 NIV

Notice that the psalmist says it was God who “brought us” into some terribly painful situations. These led to refining (removing all the impurities), and eventually to a place of abundance.

We love to praise God for the mountaintops, but we rarely praise him for the valleys. The psalmist tells us to not only praise him for the valleys, but praise him while we’re in the valleys!

I will come to your temple with burnt offerings
and fulfill my vows to you —
vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke
when I was in trouble.

Psalm 66:13-14 NIV

Even in the darkest moments of trouble, we should be committing to worship. Even when we don’t know how the situation will turn out, we commit ourselves to praising our God. No matter the highest highs or the lowest lows, we commit ourselves to our God.

Praise be to God!

Phoebe: Female Deacon

by Matthew Stidham, posted in Scripture

I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae.

Romans 16:1 NIV

The English word “deacon” is really not a word, but rather a transliteration of the Greek word diakonos. In the NIV diakonos is translated 19 times as “servant,” 4 times as “deacon,” 4 times as minister, once each as “attendants” and the verb “promotes.” Again, the most common translation is “servant” with “deacon” and “minister” tied for second.

What do we make of this? One could try to argue that Phoebe isn’t really a “deacon”, but rather a “servant” as we all should be. That’s fine, but it’s the same Greek word used to discuss the qualities of “deacons” in 1 Timothy 3. Whether you want to make the word servant, minister, or deacon…it’s all the same word in Greek – diakonos.

We, in our English translations, attempt to draw differences between these various distinctions. Greek does not. Whether we’re being told that “The greatest among you will be your diakonos,” (Mt. 23:11), or “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a diakonos…”, it’s the same word.

Some may say they have been taught that only men are allowed to be “deacons.” This obviously comes with a partial understanding of the word deacon, seeing as Christ himself has called us all to be diakonos (Jn. 12:26). But let’s look at the text in 1 Timothy 3:11.

“In the same way, the women are to be worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.”

1 Timothy 3:11 NIV

If gynaikis is translated as “wives” instead of “women” (as some translations do) you might assume that there is no authorization for a woman to be a diakonos. The obvious problem here is that we do have a woman diakonos in the New Testament.

But if taken as the NIV translates this passage, it is clear that Paul has a specific stipulation for the female diakonos to not be malicious talkers. Does this make sense within the context of 1 Timothy? Yes it does!

As for younger widows, do not put them on such a list. For when their sensual desires overcome their dedication to Christ, they want to marry. Thus they bring judgment on themselves, because they have broken their first pledge. Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also busybodies who talk nonsense, saying things they ought not to. So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander. Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan.

1 Timothy 5:11-15 NIV

Seems like Paul knew Timothy had a problem in Ephesus with some women who were malicious talkers “saying things they ought not to.” That’s not the type of person the church needs as a diakonos to other believers.

Diakonos – servant, minister, deacon. It’s the same word. And we have examples of males and females doing this work in the New Testament church. For now, what can we learn from Paul’s writing?

(To read about female deacons within the American Restoration Movement, look at Distant Voices by Leonard Allen, God’s Woman by C.R. Nichol, or The Stone-Campbell Movement by Leroy Garrett.)