The Daily Bible Readings for Tuesday, October 12, 2021

 

The Daily Bible Readings
Tuesday, October 12, 2021
Psalm 39; Job 28:12—29:10; Revelation 8:1-5
with commentaries from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible

Introduction

In today’s lectionary readings, our psalm is a Psalm of David, though it cannot be connected to any specific point in his life. It is possible that it was from his last few years of life. David began this psalm by recounting his prayer—asking God’s help in not speaking foolishly or sinfully when the wicked are before him. Our reading in Job makes the point that men search hard and are willing to endure danger for the sake of the riches of this earth, but all of that is easy compared to the search for wisdom. Job explains how hard it was to find wisdom and then asks the logical question: Where then does wisdom come from? In our reading in the Book of Revelation, the seven-sealed scroll is completely opened, and immediately there is silence in heaven. Everything becomes deathly still in heaven. In place of the choruses of the elders, the cries of the angels and the multitudes, all is quiet. Our verse of the day is an appeal to hear and receive the wisdom of parents.

Today’s Verse of the Day:
Proverbs 1:8-9

Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.

I've noticed that when we are young we tend to feel like our parents don't really understand what we are going through or are slightly or completely out of touch with our culture; and therefore can't really offer us any wisdom or advice. As I've grown older, I can now better understand the true wisdom of this very famous proverb.

There is a certain wisdom that you receive simply by staying alive and paying attention to the things that go on around you. I call it, "the wisdom of age" or "the wisdom of experience". We are all collecting this wisdom as we grow older and experience more of life. I believe this type of wisdom to be very powerful and should be given high consideration. Our parents will always have more of this type of wisdom than we will, and consequently, we should always have a high level of respect for our parents wisdom. Beyond this, in most cases, our parents have a unique interest in our welfare.

Today’s Lectionary Readings:
From the Psalter
Psalm 39
Worn Down by the Blows of Your Hands

1 I said, “I will watch my ways
     and keep my tongue from sin;
  I will put a muzzle on my mouth
     while in the presence of the wicked.”
2 So I remained utterly silent,
     not even saying anything good.
  But my anguish increased;
3    my heart grew hot within me.
  While I meditated, the fire burned;
     then I spoke with my tongue:

4 “Show me, Lord, my life’s end
     and the number of my days;
     let me know how fleeting my life is.
5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
     the span of my years is as nothing before you.
  Everyone is but a breath,
     even those who seem secure.

6 “Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom;
     in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth
     without knowing whose it will finally be.

7 “But now, Lord, what do I look for?
     My hope is in you.
8 Save me from all my transgressions;
     do not make me the scorn of fools.
9 I was silent; I would not open my mouth,
     for you are the one who has done this.
10 Remove your scourge from me;
      I am overcome by the blow of your hand.
11 When you rebuke and discipline anyone for their sin,
      you consume their wealth like a moth—
      surely everyone is but a breath.

12 “Hear my prayer, Lord,
      listen to my cry for help;
      do not be deaf to my weeping.
   I dwell with you as a foreigner,
      a stranger, as all my ancestors were.
13 Look away from me, that I may enjoy life again
      before I depart and am no more.”

Commentary

Verses 1-6: If an evil thought should arise in the mind, suppress it. Watchfulness in the habit, is the bridle upon the head; watchfulness in acts, is the hand upon the bridle. When not able to separate from wicked men, we should remember they will watch our words, and turn them, if they can, to our disadvantage. Sometimes it may be necessary to keep silence, even from good words; but in general we are wrong when backward to engage in edifying discourse. Impatience is a sin that has its cause within ourselves, and that is, musing; and its ill effects upon ourselves, and that is no less than burning. In our greatest health and prosperity, every man is altogether vanity, he cannot live long; he may die soon. This is an undoubted truth, but we are very unwilling to believe it. Therefore let us pray that God would enlighten our minds by his Holy Spirit, and fill our hearts with his grace, that we may be ready for death every day and hour.

Verses 7-13: There is no solid satisfaction to be had in the creature; but it is to be found in the Lord, and in communion with him; to him we should be driven by our disappointments. If the world be nothing but vanity, may God deliver us from having or seeking our portion in it. When creature-confidences fail, it is our comfort that we have a God to go to, a God to trust in. We may see a good God doing all, and ordering all events concerning us; and a good man, for that reason, says nothing against it. He desires the pardoning of his sin, and the preventing of his shame. We must both watch and pray against sin. When under the correcting hand of the Lord, we must look to God himself for relief, not to any other. Our ways and our doings bring us into trouble, and we are beaten with a rod of our own making. What a poor thing is beauty! and what fools are those that are proud of it, when it will certainly, and may quickly, be consumed! The body of man is as a garment to the soul. In this garment sin has lodged a moth, which wears away, first the beauty, then the strength, and finally the substance of its parts. Whoever has watched the progress of a lingering distemper, or the work of time alone, in the human frame, will feel at once the force of this comparison, and that, surely every man is vanity. Afflictions are sent to stir up prayer. If they have that effect, we may hope that God will hear our prayer. The believer expects weariness and ill treatment on his way to heaven; but he shall not stay here long : walking with God by faith, he goes forward on his journey, not diverted from his course, nor cast down by the difficulties he meets. How blessed it is to sit loose from things here below, that while going home to our Father's house, we may use the world as not abusing it! May we always look for that city, whose Builder and Maker is God.

From the Books of Wisdom
Job 28:12—29:10
Where is Wisdom Found?

12 But where can wisdom be found?
      Where does understanding dwell?
13 No mortal comprehends its worth;
      it cannot be found in the land of the living.
14 The deep says, “It is not in me”;
      the sea says, “It is not with me.”
15 It cannot be bought with the finest gold,
      nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
16 It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir,
      with precious onyx or lapis lazuli.
17 Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it,
      nor can it be had for jewels of gold.
18 Coral and jasper are not worthy of mention;
      the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.
19 The topaz of Cush cannot compare with it;
      it cannot be bought with pure gold.

20 Where then does wisdom come from?
      Where does understanding dwell?
21 It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,
      concealed even from the birds in the sky.
22 Destruction and Death say,
      “Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.”
23 God understands the way to it
      and he alone knows where it dwells,
24 for he views the ends of the earth
      and sees everything under the heavens.
25 When he established the force of the wind
      and measured out the waters,
26 when he made a decree for the rain
      and a path for the thunderstorm,
27 then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
      he confirmed it and tested it.
28 And he said to the human race,
      “The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
      and to shun evil is understanding.”

1 Job continued his discourse:

2 “How I long for the months gone by,
     for the days when God watched over me,
3 when his lamp shone on my head
     and by his light I walked through darkness!
4 Oh, for the days when I was in my prime,
     when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house,
5 when the Almighty was still with me
     and my children were around me,
6 when my path was drenched with cream
     and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil.

7 “When I went to the gate of the city
     and took my seat in the public square,
8 the young men saw me and stepped aside
     and the old men rose to their feet;
9 the chief men refrained from speaking
     and covered their mouths with their hands;
10 the voices of the nobles were hushed,
      and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.

Commentary

Verses 28:12-19: Job here speaks of wisdom and understanding, the knowing and enjoying of God and ourselves. Its worth is infinitely more than all the riches in this world. It is a gift of the Holy Ghost which cannot be bought with money. Let that which is most precious in God's account, be so in ours. Job asks after it as one that truly desired to find it, and despaired of finding it any where but in God; any way but by Divine revelation.

Verses 28:20-28: There is a two-fold wisdom; one hid in God, which is secret, and belongs not to us; the other made known by him, and revealed to man. One day's events, and one man's affairs, have such reference to, and so hang one upon another, that He only, to whom all is open, and who sees the whole at one view, can rightly judge of every part. But the knowledge of God's revealed will is within our reach, and will do us good. Let man look upon this as his wisdom, To fear the Lord, and to depart from evil. Let him learn that, and he is learned enough. Where is this wisdom to be found? The treasures of it are hid in Christ, revealed by the word, received by faith, through the Holy Ghost. It will not feed pride or vanity, or amuse our vain curiosity. It teaches and encourages sinners to fear the Lord, and to depart from evil, in the exercise of repentance and faith, without desiring to solve all difficulties about the events of this life.

Verses 29:1-10: Since the three friends have nothing more to say, Job proceeds to show that in the past he had indeed tried to fear God and avoid wrongdoing. So close was his fellowship with God in those days that he could call it friendship. He was blessed with family happiness and prosperity. He was one of the city elders and was highly respected by the whole community.

From the Apocalypse of John
Revelation 8:1-5
The Saints’ Prayers Before God

8:1 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.

3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

Commentary

The seventh seal is opened. There was profound silence in heaven for a space; all was quiet in the church, for whenever the church on earth cries through oppression, that cry reaches up to heaven; or it is a silence of expectation. Trumpets were given to the angels, who were to sound them. The Lord Jesus is the High Priest of the church, having a golden censer, and much incense, fullness of merit in his own glorious person. Would that men studied to know the fullness that is in Christ, and endeavored to be acquainted with his excellency. Would that they were truly persuaded that Christ has such an office as that of Intercessor, which he now performs with deep sympathy. No prayers, thus recommended, was ever denied hearing and acceptance. These prayers, thus accepted in heaven, produced great changes upon earth. The Christian worship and religion, pure and heavenly in its origin and nature, when sent down to earth and conflicting with the passions and worldly projects of sinful men, produced remarkable tumults, here set forth in prophetical language, as our Lord himself declared, Luke 12:49.

Today’s Lectionary Readings are selected from the Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, a three-year cyclical lectionary. We are currently in Year B. Beginning with the first Sunday of Advent in 2021, we will be in Year C. The year which ended at Advent 2020 was Year A. These readings complement the Sunday and festival readings: Thursday through Saturday readings help prepare the reader for the Sunday ahead; Monday through Wednesday readings help the reader reflect and digest what they heard in worship. Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org. The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle, and Gospel lessons are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Commentaries from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible.

The Morning Prayer for Tuesday, October 12, 2021

 

The Morning Prayer
Tuesday, October 12, 2021

Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us.
Matthew 6:12, GNT

Lord our God, we thank you for the great light you send throughout the world to let us know that you forgive, that no sin is too great for you to forgive. Grant that people may cry out, "Have mercy on me, O God!" Give them the spirit of prayer in their hearts to call, "Father, forgive us our sins." Send your Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth and humility, and then forgive their sins. Wherever a soul is sighing, wherever someone is calling to you, hear him. May our prayers come before your throne. Hear and answer us. We have so much on our hearts that we cannot rightly express it all. We pray for others too. Father, forgive them. Clear away all the obstacles so that your judgment can be merciful toward those whom you forgive. Be with us. May we be a church community of Jesus Christ, washed in his blood, with strength to face every bitter outburst of the world's fury and still forgive. May our prayer remain, "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us." Amen.

Verse of the Day for Tuesday, October 12, 2021

 

Verse of the Day
Tuesday, October 12, 2021

Proverbs 1:8-9

Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.

I've noticed that when we are young we tend to feel like our parents don't really understand what we are going through or are slightly or completely out of touch with our culture; and therefore can't really offer us any wisdom or advice. As I've grown older, I can now better understand the true wisdom of this very famous proverb.

There is a certain wisdom that you receive simply by staying alive and paying attention to the things that go on around you. I call it, "the wisdom of age" or "the wisdom of experience". We are all collecting this wisdom as we grow older and experience more of life. I believe this type of wisdom to be very powerful and should be given high consideration. Our parents will always have more of this type of wisdom than we will, and consequently, we should always have a high level of respect for our parents wisdom. Beyond this, in most cases, our parents have a unique interest in our welfare.

Read all of Proverbs Chapter 1

Listen to Proverbs Chapter 1

Scripture from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.