True humility

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Devotions: Ps 23, 27, 75, 76; Est 2:5-23; Acts 17:16-34; Jn 12:44-50

The Lord is my Shepherd; He encourages me to rest in green pastures; He guides me beside quiet waters; He restores my soul. God guides me in righteous ways for His name's sake. Even if I walk through the darkest shadow, the Vale of Death, I will fear no evil, Lord, for You are with me. Your rod and staff comfort me. You prepare a banquet for me, right in front of my adversaries; You anoint me with Your Spirit, the oil of gladness, and my cup overflows with Your bounty. Surely goodness and love will pursue me all my mortal days, and I will live in Your house for ever. YHWH is my Light and my Salvation; I will fear nothing. When evil and the wicked assail me, I will bear up. I ask only that I may dwell in God's house forever, and worship Him in holiness. My head will be lifted up; I offer shouts and songs of praise and triumph before my God. Keep me near You, Lord; teach me Your ways. I believe that I will see YHWH's goodness in the land of the living; so I will wait for the Lord, with strength and courage. Lord, I wait upon You. I call upon Your name, and trust You as Judge and Master. I know You don't play favorites, and bring justice tempered with mercy to all who call upon You. I will rejoice and praise my God forever. He is known and revered in Judah; His footstool is Mount Zion in Jerusalem. Lord, You are glorious, more majestic than the everlasting mountains. You are awesome and terrible in wrath and judgment, wonderful in mercy and care. Let all who are wise praise and obey our God, the Mighty One.

In Xerxes' capital Susa lived an upright Jew named Mordechai, a man of Benjamin descended from Saul's brother Shimei. He had brought up his younger cousin Esther (Hadassah), an orphan of great beauty. When her parents died, Mordechai adopted Esther and cared for her, even in the exile. When Xerxes' proclamation was enacted, Esther was among the virgins gathered to be candidates to replace Queen Vashti. The maiden earned the favor of the eunuch who kept the king's harem, Hegai. He undertood her grooming and training. No one in the palace knew that Esther was a Jew, as Mordechai had warned her not to reveal this. After twelve months of beauty treatments and training in the graces of a king's partner, each maiden would be taken to spend a night with the king; then she would be transferred to another harem, for the women who had intimate relations with the king. A woman never again go in to the king, unless summoned by name. When Esther's turn came, she deferred to Hegai to advise and direct her. The king loved Esther more than any other, and he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti. Then the king gave a great banquet for all his princes and servants; he granted a tax holiday to the provinces and gave gifts with royal liberality. Mordechai made it his practice to sit near the king's gate, as close as he could get to Esther to watch and pray for her. One day, Mordechai overheard to of the king's eunuch guards, conspiring to harm the king. He got this information to Queen Esther and she conveyed Mordechai's message to King Ahasuerus. An investigation proved the charge, and both conspirators were hanged on the gallows, and the incident was recorded in the official Book of the Chronicles, in the king's presence.

Paul was in Athens without his companions. He was provoked by the profusion of idols he saw in the city. So Paul argued in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearers there. He was also encountered by some of the Epucurean and Stoic philosophers of the city. They discussed Paul and his message: some wondered what his message was; others said he seemed to be preaching some foreign divinities. They invited Paul to the Areopagus, because they, and all the Athenians, were ravenous for new ideas. So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and addressed the assembly: 'Men of Athens, I perceive that you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I came upon an altar inscribed "To an unknown god." I am here to tell you about what you worship as unknown. The God Who made the world and all in it, as Lord of heaven and earth, does not inhabit shrines made by mortals; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything. Indeed, He himself gives everything—life and breath and all things to mortals. He made from one created being everey nation of humans who live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their habitation. His intent is that all should seek God, in hope that they might seek after Him and find Him. Yet He is not distant from each of us, as is written "In Him we live and move and have our being." Your own poets have said the same: "For we are indeed His offspring." Since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the Deity is like gold or silver or stone or wood, a representation by the art or representation of mortals. In past times of ignorance, God overlooked this, but now he commands men everywhere to repent, because He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world, in righteousness and by a Man whom God has appointed; and He has given assurance to everyone of all this by raising this Man from the dead.' When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some moked Paul; but others said, 'We want to hear more from you about this.' So Paul went out from among them, and Some men joined him and believed. Among these were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris, among others.

Jesus cried out: 'Whoever believes in Me also believes in Him Who sent Me. And whoever sees Me, also sees Him Who sent Me. I have come as light into the world so that whoever believes in Me need not remain in darkness. If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him. I did not come into the world to judge the world, but to save the world. Whoever rejects Me and does not receive My sayings has a Judge; the word that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day. For I have not spoken on My own authority; the Father Who sent Me has Himself commanded me what to say and speak. I know that His commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say just as the Father has directed Me.'