Old Testament reading: Psalm 87-89
God keeps His word, no matter what we might say or do. “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself” (2 Tim 2:13). So also says the Psalmist in Psalm 89:19-37. God chose David and exalted him and his seed forever (vv 17-29). God’s promise was not negated or nullified by the faithlessness of David’s descendants (vv 30-34). Ultimately, God’s promise to David and his seed was fulfilled forever in Jesus Christ (vv 36-37). A couple of other points of interest: Psalm 89:7 – “God is to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be held in reverence by all those around Him.” We should serve God with gladness and enter His courts with thanksgiving (Psalm 100:2-4), but our worship assemblies should always reflect an attitude of reverence and respect as those who have entered into God’s presence. The worship of God should resemble neither a pep rally or a circus. [Note: Psalm 89 concludes the third book within the Psalms.]
New Testament reading: Acts 3-4
“If these should keep their peace, the stones would cry out” (Luke 19:40). Peter pictures this statement in defending the apostles’ preaching of Jesus’ resurrection. While many are familiar with Peter’s bold declaration in Acts 5:29, “We ought to obey God rather than men”, I love the apostles’ statement in Acts 4:19-20. After spending their first night in jail, the apostles were forbidden to speak at all or teach in the name of Jesus. To this, Peter and John retorted, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” Like trying to shut up a fire in their bones (cf Jer 20:9), the apostles could not hold their peace following the events of Pentecost. Being further threatened and released, they would be neither dissuaded nor deterred from their mission to preach Christ to the masses. O that we possessed that same fervor and desire! Let us pray, as Paul besought the Ephesians, that we might always speak boldly as we ought to speak (Eph 6:19-20).
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