The Moses Psalm
This psalm is the only one in the scripture attributed to “Moses, the man of God.”
It’s a beautiful, sonorous psalm that has a weight to it, like a paperweight you find in the drawer of an old desk.
I like to think of the Children of Israel, wandering in the wilderness, and Moses, reflecting on all that he has seen, writing these lines.
Some of my favorite lines from Psalm 90:
Lord, you have been our dwelling place
throughout all generations.
Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the whole world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
and
Relent, Lord! How long will it be?
Have compassion on your servants.
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
for as many years as we have seen trouble.
May your deeds be shown to your servants,
your splendor to their children.
and especially the beautiful ending:
“May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands.”
Amen.
Psalm 90
A prayer of Moses the man of God.
1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place
throughout all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the whole world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.3 You turn people back to dust,
saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”
4 A thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night.
5 Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—
they are like the new grass of the morning:
6 In the morning it springs up new,
but by evening it is dry and withered.7 We are consumed by your anger
and terrified by your indignation.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.
9 All our days pass away under your wrath;
we finish our years with a moan.
10 Our days may come to seventy years,
or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
11 If only we knew the power of your anger!
Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.
12 Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.13 Relent, Lord! How long will it be?
Have compassion on your servants.
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
for as many years as we have seen trouble.
16 May your deeds be shown to your servants,
your splendor to their children.17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands.
The Few Days I Have Left
This long psalm is a remembering of Israel’s story—how the same God who created all things formed a people, Israel, and how God made a promise to David that he would protect Israel forever.
But the Babylonians have come and destroyed Jerusalem (that part is not explicitly stated, but is in the background), and the psalmist wonders, “Lord, when will you come and keep your promise?”
He then makes a heartbreaking statement:
“Lord, don’t you know that my life is short? In the few days I have left, I’m desperate to see you fight for your people.”
“How long, Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your wrath burn like fire?
Remember how fleeting is my life.”
But after that urgent complaint, the psalm ends with a sure note of praise:
Praise be to the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen.
It’s as if the psalmist has to remind himself that the Lord should always be praised, even when times are dark.
Raise your complaints to the Lord today, but be sure to always end with praise. Life is too short not to.
Psalm 89
A maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.
1 I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever;
with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known
through all generations.
2 I will declare that your love stands firm forever,
that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.
3 You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
I have sworn to David my servant,
4 ‘I will establish your line forever
and make your throne firm through all generations.’”5 The heavens praise your wonders, Lord,
your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones.
6 For who in the skies above can compare with the Lord?
Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings?
7 In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared;
he is more awesome than all who surround him.
8 Who is like you, Lord God Almighty?
You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.9 You rule over the surging sea;
when its waves mount up, you still them.
10 You crushed Rahab like one of the slain;
with your strong arm you scattered your enemies.
11 The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth;
you founded the world and all that is in it.
12 You created the north and the south;
Tabor and Hermon sing for joy at your name.
13 Your arm is endowed with power;
your hand is strong, your right hand exalted.14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
love and faithfulness go before you.
15 Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you,
who walk in the light of your presence, Lord.
16 They rejoice in your name all day long;
they celebrate your righteousness.
17 For you are their glory and strength,
and by your favor you exalt our horn.
18 Indeed, our shield belongs to the Lord,
our king to the Holy One of Israel.19 Once you spoke in a vision,
to your faithful people you said:
“I have bestowed strength on a warrior;
I have raised up a young man from among the people.
20 I have found David my servant;
with my sacred oil I have anointed him.
21 My hand will sustain him;
surely my arm will strengthen him.
22 The enemy will not get the better of him;
the wicked will not oppress him.
23 I will crush his foes before him
and strike down his adversaries.
24 My faithful love will be with him,
and through my name his horn will be exalted.
25 I will set his hand over the sea,
his right hand over the rivers.
26 He will call out to me, ‘You are my Father,
my God, the Rock my Savior.’
27 And I will appoint him to be my firstborn,
the most exalted of the kings of the earth.
28 I will maintain my love to him forever,
and my covenant with him will never fail.
29 I will establish his line forever,
his throne as long as the heavens endure.30 “If his sons forsake my law
and do not follow my statutes,
31 if they violate my decrees
and fail to keep my commands,
32 I will punish their sin with the rod,
their iniquity with flogging;
33 but I will not take my love from him,
nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.
34 I will not violate my covenant
or alter what my lips have uttered.
35 Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness—
and I will not lie to David—
36 that his line will continue forever
and his throne endure before me like the sun;
37 it will be established forever like the moon,
the faithful witness in the sky.”38 But you have rejected, you have spurned,
you have been very angry with your anointed one.
39 You have renounced the covenant with your servant
and have defiled his crown in the dust.
40 You have broken through all his walls
and reduced his strongholds to ruins.
41 All who pass by have plundered him;
he has become the scorn of his neighbors.
42 You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
you have made all his enemies rejoice.
43 Indeed, you have turned back the edge of his sword
and have not supported him in battle.
44 You have put an end to his splendor
and cast his throne to the ground.
45 You have cut short the days of his youth;
you have covered him with a mantle of shame.46 How long, Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your wrath burn like fire?
47 Remember how fleeting is my life.
For what futility you have created all humanity!
48 Who can live and not see death,
or who can escape the power of the grave?
49 Lord, where is your former great love,
which in your faithfulness you swore to David?
50 Remember, Lord, how your servant has been mocked,
how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the nations,
51 the taunts with which your enemies, Lord, have mocked,
with which they have mocked every step of your anointed one.52 Praise be to the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen.
When There Is No Escape
The power of the psalms is that they teach us to pray through our emotions. They don’t lie or obfuscate—they honestly give vent to all the emotions of human experience, even despair.
Psalm 88 is a scream of despair from a man who finds no way out, no escape.
Why should we pray like this? Because these screams, if kept inside, will poison our souls. We need to give voice to them and give them over to God.
“I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
my eye grows dim through sorrow.”
How can you pray more honestly today?
Psalm 88 [ESV]
1 O Lord, God of my salvation,
I cry out day and night before you.
2 Let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my cry!3 For my soul is full of troubles,
and my life draws near to Sheol.
4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
I am a man who has no strength,
5 like one set loose among the dead,
like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom you remember no more,
for they are cut off from your hand.
6 You have put me in the depths of the pit,
in the regions dark and deep.
7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah8 You have caused my companions to shun me;
you have made me a horror to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
9 my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call upon you, O Lord;
I spread out my hands to you.
10 Do you work wonders for the dead?
Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah
11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
12 Are your wonders known in the darkness,
or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?13 But I, O Lord, cry to you;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 O Lord, why do you cast my soul away?
Why do you hide your face from me?
15 Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.
16 Your wrath has swept over me;
your dreadful assaults destroy me.
17 They surround me like a flood all day long;
they close in on me together.
18 You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;
my companions have become darkness
Jerusalem, God's City
The psalmist loves God’s city—Jerusalem, founded on Mount Zion—and he knows to be from Jerusalem and to grow up in God’s city is a blessing and a privilege that those born in the surrounding nations do not have.
“Glorious things of you are spoken,
O city of God.”
Lord, help me to love your things—your Church and your Word—the way the psalmist loves your City.
Psalm 87 [ESV]
1 On the holy mount stands the city he founded;
2 the Lord loves the gates of Zion
more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.
3 Glorious things of you are spoken,
O city of God. Selah4 Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon;
behold, Philistia and Tyre, with Cush—
“This one was born there,” they say.
5 And of Zion it shall be said,
“This one and that one were born in her”;
for the Most High himself will establish her.
6 The Lord records as he registers the peoples,
“This one was born there.” Selah7 Singers and dancers alike say,
“All my springs are in you.”
Because I Want to Walk in the Right Way
This psalm is a cry for help from God, but the psalmist is wise enough to know that his problems are deeper and greater than the problem of malevolent enemies; the psalmist also knows that he needs the Lord’s guidance in life, and that left to his own devices, he will choose the wrong way and walk in the way that leads to death.
That is to say, even if we had no external problems, we’d still have the internal problem of disordered desire and disunited heart that results from spiritual rebellion.
“Teach me your way, O Lord,
that I may walk in your truth;
unite my heart to fear your name.”
Lord, save me from mine enemies.
Lord, make me one today, all the way through—give me integrity.
And, Lord, show me the way I should walk, because I want to walk in the right way.
Amen.
Psalm 86 [ESV]
1 Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
2 Preserve my life, for I am godly;
save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God.
3 Be gracious to me, O Lord,
for to you do I cry all the day.
4 Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
listen to my plea for grace.
7 In the day of my trouble I call upon you,
for you answer me.8 There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
nor are there any works like yours.
9 All the nations you have made shall come
and worship before you, O Lord,
and shall glorify your name.
10 For you are great and do wondrous things;
you alone are God.
11 Teach me your way, O Lord,
that I may walk in your truth;
unite my heart to fear your name.
12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name forever.
13 For great is your steadfast love toward me;
you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.14 O God, insolent men have risen up against me;
a band of ruthless men seeks my life,
and they do not set you before them.
15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me;
give your strength to your servant,
and save the son of your maidservant.
17 Show me a sign of your favor,
that those who hate me may see and be put to shame
because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
That Glory May Dwell in Our Land
(Every day in May, I’ll be posting a brief reflection on a daily psalm. I explain more here.)
The story of Israel is a story of God’s faithfulness despite his people’s faithlessness.
The psalmist looks back on previous times when God was merciful toward Israel and prays for those times to happen again. (Note that Israel is often poetically called “Jacob” in the Bible, referring back to the patriarch from whom the nation took its name.)
What I love about this psalm is the confident way the psalmist reminds the Lord of his commitment to his people—his khesed, an unstranslatable Hebrew word that means something like “generosity+steadfast loyalty+promise-keeping+mercy”.
The psalms teach us how to pray, and it would be good for us today to pray in the same way:
Lord, remember your commitment to your people and revive again.
“Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land.”
Psalm 85 [ESV]
1 Lord, you were favorable to your land;
you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You forgave the iniquity of your people;
you covered all their sin. Selah
3 You withdrew all your wrath;
you turned from your hot anger.4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
and put away your indignation toward us!
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
6 Will you not revive us again,
that your people may rejoice in you?
7 Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,
and grant us your salvation.8 Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;
but let them not turn back to folly.
9 Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,
that glory may dwell in our land.10 Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;
righteousness and peace kiss each other.
11 Faithfulness springs up from the ground,
and righteousness looks down from the sky.
12 Yes, the Lord will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness will go before him
and make his footsteps a way.
A Psalm a Day in May
White Rock Lake. 21 April 2021. 7:14 AM.
2021—The Year of Paul
This year at Munger we’re studying the life and writings of the Apostle Paul, and the plan is for us to have read through Acts and all Paul’s letters by the end of the year. I’m also preaching on Acts and Paul throughout the year (at least until Advent 2021).
The problem is that we read through the letters faster than I can adequately preach through them!
For example, we’ve been reading through Philippians (4 times over the past month), but I am not close to being done preaching through Philippians.
(I’m sorry I haven’t been able to keep up a regular blogging schedule through Philippians, by the way.)
My Own Personal Daily Reading Plan: One Psalm a Day, Every Day
In April 2020, we started a reading plan in the Psalms at Munger, one psalm a day. I’ve continued doing that reading plan, and am now in my 3rd sequence—I’ve gotten a lot out of reading one psalm a day (for 150 days), and then starting over again. I particularly like seeing my notes and markings from the previous times I’ve read through. Also, I appreciate the simplicity of one psalm a day, every day.
My Bible Reading Plan for May
For May, I’m not ready to begin a new Pauline letter, as I’m planning on continuing to preach through Philippians. So, to allow us to catch up, I’d like to invite you to jump in to reading the Psalms along with me—one psalm a day.
We’re going to start at Psalm 85 tomorrow (May 1), because that’s where I personally am in my own daily reading.
We’ll finish with Psalm 115 on Memorial Day, May 31.
(We’ll start reading Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians on June 1.)
What to Expect
If you are on my daily Bible mailing list, for the month of May I’ll post a brief devotional thought on that day’s psalm each day at 3:30 AM, and mail it directly to your inbox at 4:00 AM.
Feel feel to unsubscribe if this doesn’t work for you—I know what it’s like to get unwanted email!
Looking forward to reading along with you.
Without Grumbling or Arguing
Paul tells the Philippians to:
“do everything without grumbling or arguing” [2:14]
Why?
“so that you may become blameless and pure” [2:15].
Here’s the point:
Our thoughts and actions are shaping us into the kinds of people we are becoming. Don’t feed the wrong fire today.
Philippians Week 2 Day 2
"Slaves of Christ Jesus"
In the first sentence of the letter, Paul writes:
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus. [Philippians 1:1]
The word translated here “servants” is also the word for slaves. (Spelled in English letters, it would be douloi.)
In the status-conscious world of 1st century Greco-Roman culture, to call yourself a servant or slave would seem crazy. And that’s exactly Paul’s point: in Christ, our old ways of gaining status or identifying ourselves have been changed. Paul is therefore proud to be a servant of Christ Jesus, and he wants the Philippians to feel the same way.
Philippians Week 2, Day 1
Paul and His Enemies
Philippians Week 1 Day 3
No Confidence in the Flesh
3 Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. 2 Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. 3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— 4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law,faultless.
7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Following Paul’s Example
15 All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Go Down to Go Up
Philippians: Week 1 Day 2
Christ's Example of Humility
2 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Lights in the World
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 17 Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.
Timothy and Epaphroditus
19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. 20 For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel. 23 I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, 24 and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.
25 I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, 26 for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. 27 Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious.29 So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, 30 for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.
Paul describes this beautiful arc of Jesus, whereby he goes down before God exalts him:
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Go down to go up. Cross before Crown.
How can you break through a barrier or obstacle today by imitating Jesus and allowing humility to take you low, putting yourself in the position for God to lift you up?
P.S. Bonus—C.S. Lewis on “The Diver”
“In the Christian story God descends to re-ascend.
He comes down; down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity; down further still…to the very roots and seabed of the Nature He had created.
But he goes down to come up again and bring the whole ruined world up with Him.
One has the picture of a strong man stooping lower and lower to get himself underneath some great complicated burden.
He must stoop in order to lift, he must almost disappear under the load before he incredibly straightens his back and marches off with the whole mass swaying on his shoulders.
Or one may think of a diver, first reducing himself to nakedness, then glancing in mid-air, then gone with a splash, vanished, rushing down through green and warm water into black and cold water, down through increasing pressure into the death-like region of ooze and slime and old decay;”
He touches the bottom, and pushes off.
“Then up again, back to color and light, his lungs almost bursting, till suddenly he breaks surface again, holding in his hand the dripping, precious thing that he went down to recover.”
-C.S. Lewis, Miracles
We Begin Philippians Today!
We’re doing something different this time at Munger:
We’re going to read Philippians through 4 times over.
The Bible is meditation literature, and it offers its treasures up to those who read it over and over and over.
Philippians is a beautiful, sweet little letter, written by Paul of Tarsus during his time of Roman house arrest (AD 60-62?), addressed to a church he founded in the Macedonian Roman colony of Phillipi over a decade earlier.
It’s worth re-reading and memorizing, if you’re up for it. We’ll be reading through it once a week for the next 4 weeks. Philippians is 4 chapters long, so we’ll read one chapter a day, Monday-Thursday, use Friday as a catch-up day, and take the weekends off. Use your scripture journal to make notes and jot down thoughts and questions. (Pick up a scripture journal at church, or order one here.)
Let’s go!
Philippians Week 1, Day 1:
Paul is writing to the church in Philippi from house arrest in Rome. He notes that even the members of the Imperial Guard (v. 13, lit., “praetorium”) know that he is innocent of any crime and merely imprisoned because he preached about Christ. Although Paul’s situation is serious, he shows no anxiety over it: “to live is Christ and to die is gain” (v. 21). In other words, no matter what happens, it will be good.
What if you lived that like today?
In light of the message of Easter, how else could we live?
No matter what happens, it will be okay.
The Strange Ending of the Book of Acts
Luke doesn’t give us a neat conclusion to the Book of Acts, but rather this open-ended final paragraph:
30 For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. 31 He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance! [Acts 28:30-31]
What are we supposed to make of this? I think Ben Witherington’s case is persuasive:
[T]he book’s ending makes much better sense if Acts is some sort of historical work, meant to chronicle not the life and death of Paul but the rise and spread of the gospel and of the social and religious movement to which the gospel gave birth. In particular, it is meant to chronicle the spread of the good news from Jerusalem to Rome, from the edge of the Empire to its very heart. Rome was not seen in Luke’s day as the ends of the earth, so the reader would know very well that the mission and task of spreading the gospel to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8) were still ongoing in his own day, but it was critical for that further spread of the gospel that the message reach the heart and hub of the Empire, from which it could indeed spread to the ends of the earth.
The open-mindedness that the modern reader senses in the ending of Acts is intentional. Luke is chronicling not the life and times of Paul (or any other early Christian leader), which would have a definite terminus, but rather a phenomenon and movement that was continuing and alive and well in his own day….
However things ultimately turned out for Paul (and it is my view that he was released from house arrest but was later taken captive again and executed during the reign of Nero, probably during the Neronian crackdown following the fire in AD 64), Luke’s main concern is to leave the reader a reminder about the unstoppable word of God, which no obstacle—not shipwreck, not poisonous snakes, not Roman authorities—could hinder from reaching the heart of the Empire, and the hearts of those who dwelled there.”
Acts doesn’t come to a neat end because the story is still going, and you and I are a part of it.
“From Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”.
Amen
Paul's Arrival in Rome
I find it fascinating to consider that these Roman Christians who come out of the city to meet Paul have already received and read Paul’s letter to them, which was written a few years earlier.
Acts 28:11-16
11 After three months we put out to sea in a ship that had wintered in the island—it was an Alexandrian ship with the figurehead of the twin gods Castor and Pollux. 12 We put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days.13 From there we set sail and arrived at Rhegium. The next day the south wind came up, and on the following day we reached Puteoli. 14 There we found some brothers and sisters who invited us to spend a week with them. And so we came to Rome. 15 The brothers and sisters there had heard that we were coming, and they traveled as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. At the sight of these people Paul thanked God and was encouraged. 16 When we got to Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him.
Paul Gets Snakebit
Acts 28:1-10
28 Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta.2 The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. 3 Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. 4 When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. 6 The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead; but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.
7 There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and showed us generous hospitality for three days. 8 His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on himand healed him. 9 When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured. 10 They honored us in many ways; and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies we needed.
The Shipwreck
The Storm
13 When a gentle south wind began to blow, they saw their opportunity; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. 14 Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island. 15 The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along. 16 As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboatsecure, 17 so the men hoisted it aboard. Then they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Because they were afraid they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along. 18 We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. 19 On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.
21 After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. 22 But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. 23 Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me 24 and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ 25 So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. 26 Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”
The Shipwreck
27 On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land.28 They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feet deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet deep. 29 Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight. 30 In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow.31 Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.” 32 So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away.
33 Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. “For the last fourteen days,” he said, “you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven’t eaten anything. 34 Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.” 35 After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. 36 They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves. 37 Altogether there were 276 of us on board.38 When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.
39 When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could. 40 Cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach. 41 But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf.
42 The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. 43 But the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. 44 The rest were to get there on planks or on other pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land safely.
Travel in the Ancient World Was Dangerous and Difficult
Paul is now being sent to Rome, to stand trial before Caesar Nero. Luke is obviously a firsthand witness to these events—note the “we” pronouns—and this passage just reminds me how dangerous and difficult were sea voyages in the ancient world. Because it is getting along in the fall and winter is approaching (note the remark about Yom Kippur, which is always in the fall of the year), they need to take that into account when it comes to planning their travels. Unfortunately, as we will see, shipwreck was a constant threat.
It Is Always the Resurrection that Makes People Upset
Note that it is only when Paul mentions the Resurrection that Festus interrupts:
24 At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning is driving you insane.” [Acts 26:24]
Folks are okay with Jesus as teacher, but it is Jesus as God, Jesus as Resurrected Lord, that’s what puts folks off.
Of course, it is Jesus as God and Jesus as Resurrected Lord who actually saves us.
Why did and do folks have such a problem with the Resurrection?
Paul Before Another King Herod
Luke is very deliberately showing that what happened to Jesus is also happening to Paul—Paul even stands trial before a (different) King Herod. I think the point is that Jesus told us to take up our crosses and follow him, and here we see how Paul is following in his footsteps. When similar (though of course different) events happen to us, we should not be surprised,
P.S. Be sure to read the Wikipedia article about Herod Agrippa II, the Herod in today’s passage.
Paul is Sent to Caesar
The photo above is of yers truly on our 2019 Israel trip standing under a Roman aqueduct in Caesarea Maritime, where the events of today’s scripture reading took place. The overwhelming impression I drew from visiting sites like this in the Holy Land was, “This stuff actually happened!”
Acts 25:1-12
25 Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went up from Caesareato Jerusalem, 2 where the chief priests and the Jewish leaders appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul. 3 They requested Festus, as a favor to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way. 4 Festus answered, “Paul is being held at Caesarea, and I myself am going there soon. 5 Let some of your leaders come with me, and if the man has done anything wrong, they can press charges against him there.”
6 After spending eight or ten days with them, Festus went down to Caesarea. The next day he convened the court and ordered that Paul be brought before him. 7 When Paul came in, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him. They brought many serious charges against him, but they could not prove them.
8 Then Paul made his defense: “I have done nothing wrong against the Jewish law or against the temple or against Caesar.”
9 Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?”
10 Paul answered: “I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. 11 If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”
12 After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”