In today's reading, Samuel is formally made a judge, and then he leads the people of Israel into victory over the Philistines. But when Samuel was old and he had appointed his two sons to be judges in his place, his sons perverted justice for bribes. And after discussing the situation, the people asked to have a king. God had already long ago said this would happen. Samuel was displeased, not for the sake of his sons, but because the people were rejecting God as their king.
Psalm 94 is a poem of trust in the face of injustice. The psalmist asks for God’s righteous vengeance on arrogant and evil leaders. Those who take advantage of others are called ‘fools’. There is a parable that forms an interesting parallel: Luke 12:20, where God says, “You fool, this very night your soul will be required of you.” I also want to highlight the beautiful words, “But the LORD is my fortress; my God is the mighty rock where I hide.”
In Romans chapter 3 Paul refutes important misunderstanding and wrong teaching in the process of resoundingly proving that Jews cannot save themselves by their own power by fulfilling the Law. The Law itself (including other Old Testament books) says that not even one person is righteous in God's sight. So God has provided another way, which was actually foretold in the Law and prophetic writings long ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment