Devotions: Ps 119:145-76; 120-30; Jer 25:8-17, 30-38; Ro 10:1-21; Jn 9:18-10:18
Lord, I cry to You with my whole heart; hear me in the maelstrom of my troubles, Lord, and deliver me. All Your words are true, and I praise You all the day long. Let my supplications come before You; deliver and bless me, as I praise You, YHWH. I stray like a wayward sheep, but You are my great Shepherd. I seek peace, but I live among warmongers. My help comes from YHWH on high, who shades and protects me. So I am glad when I am called to worship with God's people. I pray for all the church, and for the people of Israel and Jerusalem; may all prosper who wish them well! And may God's peace bless the Holy City of our God. Lord, enthroned in heaven, I call to You. Have mercy, Lord, for I am wearied by the malice of the wicked. If God had not taken my side, I would have perished long ago. Blessed is YHWH Who has not given me over to the fangs of the wicked; my Helper is the Maker and Master of heaven and earth. He surrounds me like the mountains surround Jerusalem; let God's peace be with all who love Him. We are like dreamers, celebrating God's victory; we go out weeping, but come home with sheaves, rejoicing! Blessed are all wo walk in God's ways; our wives and children are safe and fruitful, under God's mighty hand. I have been afflicted from my youth, but God requites me against my enemies. I cry to YHWH from my profound depths, and I long for God with complete abandon. God will redeem His people from all our iniquities!
YHWH had Jeremiah prophesy: 'Because you have not obeyed Me, I will bring Nebuchadnezzar and his hosts down upon you from the north. I will banish from Israel the voices of mirth and gladness, of groom and bride, the music of grindstones and the light of lamps. All the land will become a ruin, and My people will serve Babylon for seventy years; but then, I will also punish them for their offenses against My people.' God charged Jeremiah to take the cup of judgment and serve it to the nations, and so he did, serving the princes of Judah, Pharaoh and his servants and princes in Egypt, all the land of Uz, and all the kings of Uz, and the Philistine kings at Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron and Ashdod, Edom, Moab and the Ammonites, the kings of Tyre and Sidon, and the kings along the seacoast; Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut the corners of their hair. Again, at YHWH's bidding, Jeremiah prophesied: YHWH will thunder from on high, and the echoes will reach the ends of earth. He is entering into judgment with all that lives; and He will put the wicked to the sword. 'There will be no refuge for the leaders and shepherds of these peoples. In His fierce anger, YHWH is despoiling rick and byre, field and flock. Like a lion, He has left His covert and devastated the country and peoples all around.
Paul writes of his desire that the Jews should be saved. He bore them witness: zealous for God, but unenlightened. They failed to submit to God's righteousness, while trying ot establish their own. The Messiah, Jesus, is the end and fulfillment of the divine Law, so that everyone who has faith in Him may be justified. Righteousness is impossible to achieve by obeying the law. But God's Word is near us—on our lips and in our hearts. God's word is very near to us, and if we confess Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised Him from death, we will be saved! A mortal believes with his heart, and so is justified As the scriptures say, no one who believes in Jesus will be put to shame. There is now no distinctions, between Jew and Greek—the same Lord is Lord of all, and He bestows His riches on all who call upon Him. For everyone who calls on YHWH's name will be saved. But the must hear, in order to believe; and the good news must be proclaimed –they can't believe in One of Whom they have never heard. They need a preacher, and preachers must be sent. As scripture affirms, the feet of those who bring the good news much be preached. Faith comes from what is heard, and that is from the preaching of Christ. All have this message before them, though the Jews have often and long ignored YHWH and His word; so He is calling in Gentiles, to make His Jewish people more jealous and zealous . All day long, God holds out His hands, to a disobedient and contrary people.
The Jewish authorities did not believe that the man whose sight Jesus restored had been born blind, until they heard it from his parents. They declined to testify concerning his healing, because they feared excommunication from the synagogue. So the Jews called the man to testify for a second time. He repeated his testimony, but again the Jews reviled him: 'You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God spoke to Moses; we don't even know where this man comes from.' He answered, 'Well, this is a marvel! He opened my eyes, yet you don't know where He came from. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but only to those who do His will. Now, it has never before been reported that a man born blind, like me, has been healed and his sight restored. So if this man were not from God, He could nothing.' They grumbled against him and cast the man out. Jesus heard what had happened and found the man. He asked him, 'Do you believe in the Son of man?' The newly-sighted man repolied, 'Who is He, sir, that I may believe in Him?' Jesus answered, 'You have seen Him; it is He Who is speaking to you.' The man said, 'Lord, I believe.' And he worshiped Jesus. Jesus said, 'I have come into the worold for judgment, that those who see may become blind, and sightless may gain their sight. Some Pharisees standing nearby asked, 'Are we also blind?' And Jesus said to them, 'If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you affirm that you see, your guilt remains.'
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