Today's Word-2014 - Amazon AWS

TODAY'S WORD 2014 A devotional based on the Greek and Hebrew texts Skip Moen, D. Phil. Copyright 2014 Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®,
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973,
1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission. www.Lockman.org
January 1 A perverse heart shall be far from me; I will know nothing of
evil. Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly I will destroy. Whoever has
a haughty look and an arrogant heart I will not endure. Psalm 101:4-5 ESV Not Knowing Slanders - David declares that he will have nothing to do with evil. Lo ra
eda says the text (verse 4). "Evil I will not know." But of course he
will "know" evil. It's simply impossible to live in this broken world and
not "know" evil. David cannot mean that he will be unaware of evil. What
he means is that he will not know evil experientially. He won't get
involved with it. He won't participate in it. Ah, we all applaud. "Yes, that's right. We won't do anything evil." That
sounds noble. That sounds praiseworthy. The problem is that this high
moral commitment is worthless without simple action steps. Principles
without application are no more valuable than political promises without
follow through. They sound so good but nothing ever changes. King David knows that there must be action application. What does it mean
to have nothing to do with evil? It means to destroy those who secretly
slander a neighbor. Slander is lashon ha'ra, the evil tongue. Read Psalm
52. More damage is done by words than by tactical nukes. Proverbs 18:21
tells us that life and death are in the tongue. When the Lord returns,
lashon ha'ra will no longer be found among men (Zephaniah 3:13). Almost
nothing is more detestable to God than the misuse of speech. Perhaps
that's because God's own speech brings life into being. The power of the
word must not become a vehicle for death. David gives us one clear
application of what it means to avoid evil. Put to an end, cut off,
destroy those who slander. The verb is tsamat. It means to consume, wipe
out, completely silence. What should I do in the face of lashon ha'ra? I
should completely destroy it. David doesn't tell us how that is to be
done. He just makes it clear that we have an obligation to wipe it out.
If you will have nothing to do with evil, then you cannot sit by while
someone else is being slandered. Some things to note. First, the slander is unknown to the neighbor. It is
secretly spoken. You know about it but the victim doesn't. Does that
remove your obligation? Not in the least. In fact, this is the reason to
wipe out the evil words. The victim is being harmed without even knowing.
You and I must rise to the defense. Secondly, we should note that it would
be very easy to simply walk away. "I won't have anything to do with this"
can be converted into "It's none of my business." This is not an attack on
you. So why should you care? But that leaves the evil in place. You are
responsible for what happens to another even if the other person knows
nothing about it. If you want to avoid a perverse heart, you must take up
the cause of the neighbor. To do anything less is to disobey the second
great commandment, "Love your neighbor as yourself." In the end, avoidance
means involvement, quite the opposite of our usual way of thinking. Want
to have nothing to do with evil? Then speak up for the victim. Topical Index: slander, lashon ha'ra, tongue, tsamat, cut off, Psalm 101:5
January 2 A perverse heart shall be far from me; I will know nothing of
evil. Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly I will destroy. Whoever has
a haughty look and an arrogant heart I will not endure. Psalm 101:4-5 ESV Who Is High and Lifted Up? Arrogant - Does your praise and worship music include the words "high and
lifted up"? If so, then you are singing the gaboah. The words for
"majesty" and "dignity" are derived from the root gabah. But the words are
not restricted to the Lord. Kings, trees, mountains, gates and even the
gallows are described as high and lifted up. But when it comes to the
heart, the associations with gabah are not always so positive. Lifting up
the heart is often a description of pride, and in this case, arrogance.
And bad things happen to prideful hearts. That's the etymological theory. Now the application. David notices that
it can all begin with a look! We would probably call it "an air of
superiority." Most of us know exactly what this means even if we can't
quite articulate all the nuances. Why do we know? Because we are skilled
practitioners. We have all at one time or another considered ourselves
superior. We all know just how to communicate our lofty assessment with
the eyes. We all know how to put someone down with just a glance. And the
eyes are merely windows to the heart. No man can portray a haughty look
unless he first has an arrogant heart. So David reduces this honorable ethical principle to its most common
condition. What do you do with your eyes? How do you look upon others?
What do you see? Do you see God's other people, lost and afraid, confused
and in need? Or do you see the resistant perpetrators of Torah-less
living? Do you see broken lives in desperation? Or do you see hard-
hearted stubbornness? Do you see yourself ten years ago? Or do you see
enemies of the truth, willfully ignoring what you now know is the right
way? What do you do with your eyes? Weep or scold? Perhaps the one we must not endure is in the mirror. Is it any wonder that Yeshua amplified this thought with His teaching about
logs and splinters? Today, before you look upon the rest of the hovelled masses, look more
carefully at that person in the mirror. Is there someone there whom you
must not endure any longer? Is there a face that does not radiate
compassion? Would you follow the one you see with joy? Topical Index: arrogant, gevah, gaboah, high, eyes, Psalm 101:5
January 3 My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may
dwell with me; He who walks in a blameless way is the one who will minister
to me. Psalm 101:6 NASB God and Israel The faithful of the land - "The Torah is God's wisdom, and Israel
translates it into real life." ". . . Israel is not merely a nation like
the others, but it is unique in its readiness to manifest God in this world
by adhering to His Torah." "As bearer of the Shechinah [Divine Presence]
on earth, Israel proclaims God's sovereignty until all the nations
recognize His Oneness."[1] Read Rabbi Munk's remarks again. Do you feel joy or insult? Are you
rejoicing that God chose Israel or are you asking yourself, "What makes
them so special that I wasn't included in God's selection? Why should they
think of themselves as the unique bearers of the Divine Presence?" You
see, how you feel about Monk's statements reflects your paradigm about God,
Israel and the nations. For twenty centuries the Church has felt affronted by these claims. For
twenty centuries the Church has shouted, "Who gave you the right to be
God's message bearers to us?" For twenty centuries the Church has
attempted to wrest from the hands of Israel its God and the choice of its
God. Why else would the Church proclaim that it has usurped the role God
Himself gave Israel at Sinai? Why else would the Church reject Torah, the
single most important sign of God's particular favor on this particular
people? Why else if not to shout, "NO! We are the chosen. We are the
privileged. We are the elect. God changed His mind. Israel is nothing
more than a disobedient nation." In the end it's not a matter of proof texts. It's not even a matter
concerning the obvious fact that 85% of the Bible is about Israel (95% if
you read the New Testament as a Jewish document). In the end it's about
paradigms. Your interpretive scheme will dictate what you read. Not the
words, of course, but the meaning you attach to the words. If you think
Israel failed when it rejected the Messiah (of course, not all of Israel
rejected Him, but that's just an annoying difficulty), then you will be
offended by Monk's claim. Your theological backbone will tighten and you
will refuse to be incorporated into the way of life dictated by Torah
because you serve a God who no longer chooses Israel. Your paradigm is
showing, but it won't do any good to try to convince you that it's your
approach that needs re-evaluation. In fact, no one from the Jewish side
will even try to convince you. Why should they? You show no interest in
their way of life-and in the end it's all about just that: the way of
life. If you want to understand why Monk says what he does, you must come over to
the other side and walk around in the shoes of a rabbi for a few years.
Then you might see the difference. When David delights in the "faithful of the land," he is not addressing
modern Christian believers. He is addressing Torah-observant, life long
followers of the Way, those who live in Israel no matter where they happen
to reside because they follow the ways of the God of Israel. What else
could David possibly mean when he adds, "walks in a blameless way"? The
faithful are those of emuna, those who consider God's mitzvot
(commandments) the absolutely certain path of life. They walk tamim
(blamelessly), that is, completely. They do not pick and choose among the
instructions of YHWH. For them it is all or nothing. Do you want to know what that feels like? Give up your alternative
paradigm for awhile and try it. Let action become your entry into a new
way of seeing. Let me know how you're doing in a year. Topical Index: faithful, emuna, blameless, tamim, paradi