Do You Complain or Do You Lament? Lamentations 1:1.

Do you know the difference between a lament and a complaint? Modern English dictionaries may show little distinction, but Old Testament scholars argue a Biblical lament is more than just a complaint. “A complaint is an accusation against God that maligns His character, but a lament is an appeal to God based on confidence in His character.”*

I first ran across this distinction in a book by Jamie Winship:

“Complaint is the bitter howl of unbelief in any benevolent God … a distrust in the love-beat of the Father’s heart … Lament is a cry of belief in a good God, a God who has His ear to our hearts, a God who transfigures the ugly into beauty.” –Jamie Winship, quoting Ann Voskamp, in his book, LIVING FEARLESS.

Consider the question posed in the title above: do you complain or do you lament? We all have problems. We all face challenges and many of them feel unfair, undeserved, and extremely painful. When you face problems, do you complain or do you lament?

Think about the last time disaster struck. How did you react? Be honest.

Did you unleash on the world around you, on your family, on your friends, and on God, a “bitter howl of unbelief”?

Did your words sound like those of someone who does not believe in a good God, a loving God?

Did you doubt God? Listen to  yourself as you suffer. Do you sound like one who does not trust the “love-beat of the Father’s heart”?

The alternative to such a bitter complaint is to react with a lament. A lament does not mean you ignore the suffering. A lament is crying out to God about your hurt. But your heart and your words are those of one who still believes in a good God. You pray, you complain, you shed tears—but you also know that God “has his ear to your heart.” God is going to take this ugly, horrible problem and transform it into a thing of beauty. When you lament, you suffer, you cry, and you hurt, but you never lose faith.

If a complaint is shaking an angry fist at God, a lament is crawling into God’s arms to weep with him.

Jeremiah, “the weeping prophet,” wrote Lamentations—five chapters of bitter reports about God and the circumstances he had allowed Israel to experience. The people had been kidnapped, Solomon’s temple destroyed, Jerusalem looted and everything of value stolen. Jeremiah had to live through this time of humiliation, destruction, and despair. And Jeremiah had a lot to say about it. As you might imagine, one who earns the name “weeping prophet” is not one to hold back:

“How does the city sit solitary that once was full of people? … The Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity … Jerusalem hath grievously sinned, therefore she is removed … the enemy hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things … Behold, O Lord, I am in distress, my bowels are troubled, mine heart is turned within me, for I have grievously rebelled. Abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is death” Lamentations 1:1,5,8,10,20.

Jeremiah then makes it personal, arguing God has made him old, broken his bones, smashed his teeth, waited like a bear to ambush him, and fired arrows into his heart, Lamentations 3:4-16.

Jeremiah weeps, certainly. But he does not lose his faith. In chapter three, he remembers that God is his only hope:

“I have hope. We are not consumed. His compassions fail not. Thy mercies are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion … therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good to them that wait for him, to the soul that seeks him … Though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion … For he does not afflict anyone willingly” Lamentations 3:21-25,32-33.

It is easy to parrot the popular verse, “His mercies are new every morning.” But could you say it after all that Jeremiah had been through, convinced God had not only driven Israel nearly to destruction, but had attacked Jeremiah’s health personally? That, my friends, is a lament: cry out to God, but do so without losing faith in him.

“His mercies are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness” Lamentations 3:23.

Lord, teach us to pray with faith: to lament rather than complain.

AΩ

*From the excellent article: https://www.ntwrightonline.org/five-things-to-know-about-lament/

Selfishness vs. Enlightened Self-Interest. Ecclesiastes 6:7.

Have you ever run across the “professional-student,” a college student who is too indecisive to complete a degree and has been hanging around the campus taking classes for five, six, or even ten years? He is older than everyone else but because the money never runs out he can avoid committing to a course of study. As long as Mom keeps writing tuition checks, he will stay in school–where he will never have to grow up and take on responsibilities.

But when the money does finally run out, he will wake up hungry and will have to get a job.

Hunger gives clarity.

“He that laboreth, laboreth for himself, for his mouth craveth it of him” Proverbs 16:26.

Proverbs says the worker works for himself, because he is hungry. Is it selfish to work all day in the garden, the orchard, or the fishing hole because you are starving? Of course not. Consider a more modern translation:

“A worker’s appetite motivates him because his hunger urges him on” Proverbs 16:26.

Hunger is a compass. It is one of those things in life that can provide direction. Hungry people don’t sit around “gazing at their navels.” Hungry people do not have the luxury of asking existential questions about how to spend their time or what their dreams and goals ought to be. Hungry people know exactly what they need: they need food.

“All a man’s labor is for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied” Ecclesiastes 6:7.

Solomon says we spend our whole lives acquiring food that we stuff into our pie holes. And we are never full, or at least not for long! But that is a good thing. Hunger gives us direction. How do you find your life’s work? Find something people will pay you to do. If you have choices, be thankful and keep working while you seek additional wisdom and direction. But if you have an interest that society will not pay for, perhaps that interest is only a hobby.

God uses our hunger to guide us to meaningful work.

If you love singing but have a terrible voice, have fun singing and consider it a hobby. Find another way to make a living. If you love woodworking, but you keep getting fired from construction jobs, take that as a sign. Go find a job you can do successfully. God put you here to make a contribution—and if you are making a valuable contribution, someone will pay you for your work. And that’s how you know you are doing something of value to the world—the world pays you to do it. In other words, when you find the work that is right for you, that work will put food on your table.

Karl Marx says that capitalism is selfish, because employers “exploit” employees to make more money. But this is a mischaracterization: both parties are in this thing to make money. We do not act selfishly, but out of “enlightened self-interest.”*

Marx, the founder of Communism, famously lived over thirty years on the handouts of his friend Friedrich Engels.** Because Marx was not forced by hunger to secure a paying job, he was free to spend his time writing about economics–a pursuit that would not have put food on his table.

We call the world’s default economic system the free-market system. This familiar system allows people to negotiate the purchase and sale of goods and labor at whatever prices the market will bear. It’s what you and I participate in every day. People around the world have done business this way for thousands of years. It is the economic system in the Bible.

But Marx condemned this time-tested system as “capital-ism,” a word he invented that seems to imply we worship money (capital). Marx—again, a man who never knew hunger—wrote that the workers of the world should unite around a market controlled by the state, which he called “commune-ism” (sounds a bit like worship of the state?). Communism was a terrible idea, mankind’s greatest failure of the 20th century, as I have discussed elsewhere.***

The BLACK BOOK OF COMMUNISM estimates that over 94 million people have been killed by Communist governments, including 65M in China and 20M in the USSR. For every life taken by Nazis, Communists have taken at least five. (Yet Marx calls our system as selfish.)

Once Engels began supporting Marx and the writer no longer had to earn money from his work each day, Marx spent all his time writing about economics. What was the result of his work? Nearly 100 million deaths at the hands of Communist governments. Marx would have made a greater contribution to society if he had remained a journalist writing about lost dogs and housefires for German newspapers, and satisfying his hunger with his own labor.

“A worker’s appetite motivates him because his hunger urges him on” Proverbs 16:26.

Welcome the opportunity to rely on your own two hands. To pay your own way and be self-reliant. God uses hunger to guide people to work that is of value to society. If society is paying for your work, then you are making a valuable contribution.

AΩ
* “Enlightend Self-Interest” is a term coined by Edmund Burke, based on a concept observed in de Tocqueville’s DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. De Tocqueville saw the way American villagers worked together to achieve common goals, and this notion of work that benefits both the community and the individual became known as “enlightened self-interest.”

** It is often said that Marx never held a job. But he had worked as a journalist in Germany, making money from his newspaper stories. Then in 1849, he moved to London where he held no jobs between 1849 and his death in 1883.

*** For more on Communism, consider: https://dadsdailydevotionals.com/2024/07/02/incentive-1-corinthians-97-10/ and https://dadsdailydevotionals.com/2024/07/11/whats-wrong-with-communism-1-corinthians-910/

We Need Friends and Family. Proverbs 14:4.

When you have a houseful of children it is easy to daydream of a life alone. All the rooms are clean and Mom slips into a bubble bath whispering the old slogan, “Calgon, take me away!” People are tough.

In Jean Paul Sartre’s play NO EXIT, the characters, now dead and condemned to hell, realize they will be trapped in a room together for eternity. I once played Garcin, and will never forget his line to sum it all up:

“Hell is … other people.”

Yes, people will drive you crazy! But the challenge is worth it.

“Where no oxen are, the stall is clean, but much increase comes by the strength of the ox” Proverbs 14:4.

I like a clean house. But when it is not clean, I comfort myself with this verse. I might look into my son’s room, where he once found a dead dove rotting in a vest pocket two weeks after dove season had ended, and I remember: much increase comes by the strength of the ox. Or I might paraphrase, thinking, much benefit comes to me from these messy children. It is worth it. I would rather live in a messy house with family than a clean house alone. Family is worth it. Friends are worth it.

“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow, but woe to him that is alone when he falleth, for he has no one to lift him up. If two lie down together, they can keep warm. But how shall one be warm alone? And though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not easily broken” Ecclesiastes 4:9-12.

There are many reasons to maintain relationships. Businesses are more efficient when labor is divided among employees. Partnerships can take advantage of each one’s strengths. No one can do it all, but when we work together, we can achieve great things.

When I was a child I read a book about a boy who loved running. The narrator described him as a “lone wolf,” and I internalized that. I wanted to be that boy—an endurance runner who did not need friends. Then on television I heard the phrase “strong, silent type” and I internalized that too. Later, I ran across a John Wayne film called THE QUIET MAN, and that became my goal.

But if you know me, you know how comical these goals are. “Strong, silent type”? I’ve never been silent in my life. And I was more likely to go to the moon than be the Quiet Man. And that ‘lone wolf’ thing? God has blessed me with a lifetime of deep, rewarding friendships. In spite of my misguided goal of silent solitude, God gave me a mouth I could barely tame and a stable of friends I would not trade for anything. Sure, solitude may yield a clean house or a clean car. But French fries under the car seat are worth it. A pile of dirty dishes is worth it. Sartre was wrong. Hell is not other people. In fact, some theologians actually believe hell is the opposite: a place of utter solitude.

Remember:

Two are better than one, for they have a good return on their labor. Ecclesiastes 4:9.

We need friends and we need family.

You need friends and you need family.

AΩ

P.S. For those who agree, yet struggle with loneliness, consider: relationships thrive on honest communication and time together. Do things. Make memories. If you are shy, you will have to walk by faith and push yourself. Sometimes that means taking a risk, introducing yourself. It may seem awkward at first. Be patient. It won’t always be awkward. Push yourself. Meet people. Talk. Have the courage to be vulnerable. For others out there, the best advice may be to FORGIVE. Relationships require selflessness, forgiveness, and humility. Nothing will leave you isolated more than a life of pride. All of this takes hard work. People are messy. Nothing is ever perfect. But it is worth it. We were made for COMMUNITY. We were made to exist IN RELATIONSHIPS. Nothing in your life–literally, NOTHING–matters more than relationships.

Understand Old Testament Wrath in Light of Luke 20:38 and Ezekiel 33:11.

Reading Old Testament highlights can give the impression God loves to pour out his wrath. In fact, there is a popular notion that the God of the Old Testament is different from the God of the New Testament. Some personify it: God the Father is angry and full of wrath, but God the Son is merciful and compassionate. Such a view makes it difficult to read the Old Testament. You must overcome this if you are going to know God’s word.

The Bible contradicts the idea that God changes between the testaments:

“I am the Lord and I do not change” Malachi 3:6.  

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” Hebrews 13:8.  

It may surprise you, but the God of the Old Testament is full of compassion. For example, Psalm 136 repeats twenty-six times the refrain: “His lovingkindness is everlasting” Psalm 136:1-26.

Similarly, Jesus, the “God of the New Testament,” will bring a sword of judgment when he returns, Revelation 19:15.

God is one. God the Father is as compassionate as Jesus—and Jesus is as holy and full of wrath as God the Father.

But does God enjoy pouring out his wrath? No.

“‘As I live,’ declares the Lord, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their wicked ways and live’” Ezekiel 33:11.

God is full of compassion, as Jesus demonstrated by loving children, healing the sick, and dying on the cross. That is God’s personality, John 1:18. And Jesus takes no pleasure in the deaths of the wicked, but wants them to repent and live. God is one. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, are one and share both ‘Old Testament’ holiness and ‘New Testament’ compassion.

Nevertheless, it is easy for readers of some of these “wrath highlights” to think the Old Testament is the story of a God of anger:

In Genesis, God sent a flood to wipe out most of humanity, Genesis 6:7.

Later, God sent fire to wipe out the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, Genesis 19:24-29.

Still later, God sent a death angel to slay the first-born of Egypt, Exodus 12:29.

God even judged his own people, causing the earth to open up and swallow those who questioned the authority of Moses, Numbers 16:31-35.

And as if that were not enough, God sent his people into the Promised Land with orders to kill the pagans living there, Deuteronomy 20:16-18.

Even the worship songs in the Book of Psalms include such notions: “May the desert tribes kneel before him, and may his enemies lick the dust” Psalm 72:9. That does seem an odd song lyric, to a modern ear:

May His enemies lick the dust!

But today’s readers are trapped in today’s culture. The Bible record is thousands of years old, yet we evaluate it through a 21st-century lens. We bring modern, Western notions of justice, fairness, and right and wrong to the Bible (an ancient, Eastern text) then we accuse God of wrongdoing when his actions confuse us.

If you are committed to a position of skepticism, I may not be able to help you. But if you love God and are simply looking for answers, here are some thoughts:

First, give God the benefit of the doubt. Pray and ask Him to help you understand—but realize that you also need to be willing to trust Him. You need to accept that his ways are higher than our ways, Isaiah 55:9. (And remember that thousands of years passed between some of these judgments. God pours out so much more mercy than wrath.)

Second, remember that God is holy. He wants holiness for his people. He cannot tolerate sin. But some sins are far worse than others[1], and the sins of Noah’s time are the kinds of sins God will not overlook forever, but will punish.

Third, try to look at death from God’s perspective. God is eternal. He exists outside of time. Our finite lives are infinitely short to Him. Heaven is your real home—and that home will last forever. Whether you get to heaven now or fifty years from now will not be as big a deal looking back from heaven as it seems to be from earth. For example, if your life or mine were tragically cut short, it is likely neither of us would choose to leave heaven and return to earth. As Paul said, it’s better there: “To die is gain … I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better indeed” Philippians 1:21-23.

To die is gain. It is better there.

When Jesus talked about heaven, he pointed out that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are there–and they are still alive! Heaven is the place where no one is dead:

“Those who are considered worthy to take part in … the resurrection from the dead … can no longer die … but in the account of the burning bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob [speaking in the present tense] …

He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him, all remain alive” Luke 20:34-38.

When you read about Old Testament judgments, remember this: God is holy, which means He is “separate from” us. And because he wants us to also be holy, he sometimes removes the most unholy from among us. But rather than see them die, God wants them to repent. He “takes no joy in the death of the wicked,” but when they refuse to repent and instead cling to wickedness, God will remove them, Ezekiel 33:11. He separates us from those who would destroy us and destroy our attempts to live holy lives. That separation often comes through death–but how serious is death when to God “all remain alive”? Death is not the same tragedy to God that it appears to us. Because “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him, all remain alive.”

Dear God, teach us to trust you. May we read the Bible with faith in you, never forgetting that your lovingkindness is everlasting. That you are compassionate. That you love us the way Jesus loved the children, the sick, the downtrodden. Fill us with faith and make us holy, and remind us that to you, “all remain alive.”

AΩ

* Another verse indicating that God does not enjoy judgment and would prefer NOT to exercise his wrath is Lamentations 3:33–“He does not enjoy bringing affliction or suffering on mankind.”

[1] The notion that all sins are equal is called “Sin-leveling” and it is unbiblical. Read more here: https://dadsdailydevotionals.com/2024/03/27/sin-leveling-luke-1013-14/

The Queen of Sheba: A Skeptic Convinced. 2 Chronicles 9:1-8.

Pictured–audio cover of a recent novel. I have not read the book but I enjoyed a different book by this author.

One couple I know recently decided the earth was flat. That shocked me. Perhaps it shouldn’t have. But at the time, the odd conspiracy theory had not really caught on. I was shocked. How could two people who grew up in my world—members of my “tribe”—wake up one morning and decide the earth was flat? I was shocked by the way these two Christian adults had suddenly begun to doubt this long-established truth of science (a truth proven during every lunar eclipse) and many truths like it.

When he was inaugurated king, Solomon hit the ground running. God blessed his kingdom from day one, and amazing things began to happen. Solomon had a cavalry of soldiers on horseback and on chariots, 1 Kings 9:22 and 2 Chronicles 8:6. He built ships and launched a navy, 1 Kings 9:26-27. He dedicated entire cities to single tasks: storage cities, chariot cities, and “cities of the horsemen” 2 Chronicles 8:6. He built an ivory throne, overlaid with gold, with six steps leading up to it, two carved lions on each side of each step leading up to the throne (24 lions total), and “there was not the like made in any kingdom” 2 Chronicles 9:17-19. Then every third year, Solomon’s ships came home laden with gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks, 2 Chronicles 9:21. He even had “forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen” 1 Kings 4:26.

As God had promised, He also made Solomon wiser than everyone. “He was wiser than all men,”1 Kings 4:31, “speaking three thousand proverbs,” and speaking on all matters of nature, animals, plants, “beasts, fowl, creeping things, and fish” 1 Kings 4:31-33.

“And King Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom that God had put into his heart” 2 Chronicles 9:22-23.

When King Solomon’s fame began to circle the globe, kings and dignitaries traveled from far and wide to see for themselves. But there were doubters. One of those skeptics was the Queen of Sheba. She rounded up her men and set off on a quest. She had to know the truth.

The queen was on a mission.

“She came to prove [test] Solomon with hard questions … and Solomon answered all her questions … and when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built, and the meat on his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, his cupbearers also and their apparel … there was no more spirit left in her. And so she said to the king:

‘It was a true report which I heard in my own land of thine acts and of thy wisdom. But I did not believe it until I came and saw for myself. And behold, I was not told the half of it. For thou exceedest the fame that I heard.  Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, who stand continually before thee and hear thy wisdom. And blessed be the Lord thy God who delighted in thee to set thee on his throne, to be king for the Lord thy God, because thy God loved Israel….” 2 Chronicles 9:1-8.

This is an amazing story. Not because of Solomon’s wealth. And not because of Solomon’s wisdom.

This is an amazing story because the skeptic allowed herself to be convinced.

How often do you see that? Often we are so committed to our point of view that we commit acts of intellectual dishonesty. We ignore persuasive evidence because we are unwilling to be persuaded. Sometimes we are suffering a problem not of logic, but of the will. It is not a failure of the evidence, but a failure of the WILL. We are unwilling to be persuaded. We have closed our mind.

The Queen of Sheba was not that kind of skeptic. When she saw Solomon’s wealth, his gold, his palace, his army, perhaps his zoo filled with apes and peacocks, and when she listened to his broad understanding of a wide range of subjects, she was persuaded.[1] The queen was not unwilling to believe, but merely wanted some evidence. Jesus honored her for her faith:

“The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation and shall condemn it. For she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and behold, one greater than Solomon is here” Matthew 12:42.

Jesus then mentions the city of Ninevah, explaining that the entire city repented at the preaching of Jonah, but the religious leaders of Jesus’ day would not repent at the preaching of Jesus.

The religious leaders were skeptics who were UNWILLING to change their minds. This was not a failure of the evidence, but a failure of the WILL.

We must not be like the Pharisees.

Skepticism is warranted at times, but skepticism that refuses to honestly consider evidence is willful blindness.

We must seek God by faith, and we must open our minds to both evidence and the voice of the Holy Spirit. When making decisions about conspiracy theories, politics, medical care, or Bible interpretation, or anything else, examine the evidence for yourself. And be humble and honest with yourself.

Sometimes it is okay to change your mind, particularly when you are trading skepticism for faith!

AΩ

[1] According to Jewish tradition—and some Christian scholars—Solomon married the Queen of Sheba and she is the bride portrayed in the Song of Solomon. The Bible does not speak to this matter with certainty, so we will never know. But it is an intriguing possibility. See Song of Solomon 1:5-6. The unknown bride either has “black” skin (as translated in the KJV) because she is Ethiopian, or the bride has “dark” skin (NIV) which is merely tanned skin from working in the vineyard. Much of this is interesting conjecture, though an honored tradition in the Talmud and among many Christians.

Building Temples and Building Homes. 2 Chronicles 7:1-3.

Pictured: “Topping Out Bear Stearns, New York City,” image copied from https://millersamuel.com/with-a-flag-an-i-beam-and-a-christmas-tree-the-party-is-just-getting-started/

I grew up in a boomtown. During my childhood, Houston was America’s fastest growing city.[1] One day my friends and I might be in a field flipping over scrap wood to find snakes, and a year later it would be a 10-story IRS building. One day, a field of dewberry vines, next day a Savings and Loan. These overnight transformations were amazing. I would stand over my bike thinking: last year I caught that turtle over there and no one cared—and now that exact spot is a bank vault that I can’t enter. I’m an OUTSIDER now! How did that happen?

When Solomon built Israel’s first temple, the project was immense, requiring over seven years of construction, 1 Kings 6:38. Solomon drafted 30,000 men to work in rotating shifts of 10,000 at a time, 1 Kings 5:13-14. (Imagine it: 10,000 men working at one time.)

The cedar and stone building and its exquisitely crafted contents were covered in enormous quantities of precious stones, gold, silver, and bronze. King David had provided 3,750 tons of gold and 37,500 tons of silver, plus brass and iron in such abundance it was not measured, 1 Chronicles 22:14.

The temple included doors and walls covered in sheets of gold. Inside were columns, candles, altars, tables, and statues of extreme artistry. Out of respect, there were no hammers or ‘power tools’ on site, 1 Kings 6:7. Everything was cut and carved off-site, then transported to the location. It was a quiet workplace, one with a certain reverence.

However, for seven years it remained a construction site. There would have been dirt and dust and men going to and fro with wheelbarrows or carts toting materials here and there. A few might be sitting in the shade taking a break, wiping off the sweat, getting a drink. Talking and laughing in a casual way. After all, it was a construction site. The thing about a construction site—one day it’s just bare land. Then one day, everything changes.

When construction was finished, Solomon made some speeches, praised the Lord, and prayed a prayer of dedication.

“Now, when Solomon made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices and the glory of the Lord filled the house. And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled the house.

[Suddenly, the priests have become OUTSIDERS? How does that happen?]

“And when the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces toward the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the Lord saying For He is good, for His mercy endures forever” 2 Chronicles 7:1-3.

“And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings … twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred and twenty-thousand sheep” 1 Kings 8:63. And Solomon feasted the nation of Israel for seven days, 2 Chronicles 7:8.

A transformation had taken place.

For seven years, construction workers climbed all over the place like ants. Now suddenly, the place is holy. The priests can’t even enter. The “Most Holy Place” is actually so holy that only the high priest can enter—and only one day a year. What happened to the casual construction site?

What happened to the common construction materials— wood, stone, and precious metals— that have now become sacred?

The people obeyed God, made sacrifices, performed rituals, God was pleased, and “the glory of the Lord filled the house of God” 2 Chronicles 5:14. That changes everything.

Solomon built the temple according to God’s instructions, and then “the glory of the Lord” filled the place and transformed what had once been common into something sacred.

It is the blessing, the presence, the GLORY OF GOD that makes the ordinary sacred. It is God who takes a wasteland and makes a temple.

Here’s an Unexpected Application

Can you imagine how this temple story applies to marriage?

One day two people have a casual conversation: Hi, how are you? Nice to meet you. Where are you from? Months or years later, the two have fallen in love and want to build a life together.

Is it possible to take common relationship materials—wood, stone, precious metals—and transform them into something sacred? I believe it is. Are you building a temple for the entire nation? No. But a marriage is the inauguration of a new enterprise—a new family. I believe God wants to bless marriages the way he blessed the temple: to fill the home—the couple—with His glory.

How?

Pursue God’s plan every step of the way. Seek Him as if you were the construction foreman building Solomon’s Temple—because that is exactly what you are doing. Your home, your marriage, will be a sanctuary, a temple of sorts, for your family, for your children. Seek God’s plan in the remote, tricky areas such as career, residence, and financial decisions. But also seek him in the more obvious things, such as the fight for Biblical purity both before and during marriage.

Abstinence is a difficult challenge, but it is a training ground for the future. Remember, you are building a family, launching a great institution. It merits seriousness, discipline, and self-control.

In addition, nothing more closely reflects an understanding of Old Testament law and holiness like the struggle for abstinence before marriage, and monogamy during marriage. Where a single man and woman may have once flirted and otherwise encouraged the more benign affections of the opposite sex, the married man and woman have built something sacred. Like the holy temple, outsiders are not allowed into that place.

Married people understand: something changes. You no longer engage in casual teasing and affection with members of the opposite sex. You do not flirt. That part of you is now inside a temple of sorts, protected behind walls (rings) of gold and reserved for only one person.

Is it hard? Of course it’s hard! But when you succeed[2], you will know that you have honored God as Solomon honored him while building the temple. God will bless your holiness by rewarding your marriage with the presence and the blessings and the Glory of God.

The critical moment of both these events–the dedication of the temple and the dedication of a home– is that moment of transformation.

One day you are looking at piles of common construction materials, the next day it is too holy to enter.

So also with a marriage: one day you are looking at two people just having a casual conversation. The next day they are the leaders of an all-new enterprise: a family that never before existed on earth.

That is a holy thing that God ordained long before he allowed Solomon to build him a temple.

God loves marriages and wants to bless them.

May we bring him our very best!

AΩ

[1] Check out this 1981 NY Times article quoting my old friend (my parents’ friend), J.L. Taylor: https://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/16/us/houston-fastest-growing-big-city-showing-signs-of-having-hit-prime.html

[2] Of course, in every failure, there is grace! God is bigger than our biggest sins. Confess it, leave it behind, and move forward in holiness.

Jesus Showed Up at the Same Place Thousands of Years Apart. 2 Chronicles 3:1-2.

When I was a small child, my family visited both the White House and Mount Vernon, George Washington’s home in Virginia. The White House impressed me only with its officialdom. We were part of a guided tour, trapped behind red velvet ropes. It was like walking through a modern-day office building but with quality art on the walls.

Mount Vernon was different. It was personal. I remember being in a daze thinking about the first president:

George Washington touched this doorknob. George Washington walked up these stairs. His hand may have held this banister. George Washington looked out of this window. George Washington sat on this couch. I was deeply moved.

When history gets out of the textbooks and into your heart, it can be amazing. And few things are as moving as being there.

One of the most amazing places in Biblical history is Mount Moriah. Talk about “being there”–Mount Moriah is one of the most important places in the Bible. A child who knew the stories could walk around that mountaintop in a daze for hours…

“Moriah” means “chosen by Jehovah” because God chose this mountain four thousand years ago. In 2,000 B.C., the region appears to have been a wilderness. God sent Abraham and Isaac on a fifty-mile journey when he asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mount Moriah. Just as Abraham was about to do it, “trusting God to raise [Isaac] from the dead” (Hebrews 11:19), the angel of the Lord stopped him, saying “now I know that you fear God because you have not withheld your only son from me” Genesis 22:12.

Why does the angel refer to God as ME? Because this angel is the pre-incarnate Christ. It’s Jesus! Abraham then spotted a ram in the bushes, sacrificed the ram, and named the place—named the mountain—“Jehovah Jireh.” That led to the expression “in the mount of the Lord it will be provided” or “in the mount of the Lord, God will see to it” Genesis 22:14.

–And that is exactly what happened: on this very mountain, God provided. On this very mountain, God saw to the salvation of his children.

“Jesus … stopped Abraham a short distance from where He would be crucified two thousand years later in Jerusalem. Isaac lay on the altar when the voice of the person he prefigured [symbolized] called out from heaven. Abraham and Isaac heard from the individual who would later die for their sins, fulfilling what they were only prefiguring”[1]

Did you catch that?

Abraham, symbolizing God the Father, placed his son Isaac, symbolizing Jesus, on the altar. And that altar was erected atop Mount Moriah, where Jesus would be crucified some two thousand years later.

There is some controversy about the location. Solomon’s Temple was built on Mount Moriah (2 Chronicles 3:1), and the temple remains a known location today. Jesus was crucified on a hill outside of town, outside the city walls (John 19:17-20). That hill was called Golgotha. But topographical maps can clear up this apparent contradiction: the entire area is Mount Moriah. The temple is inside the walls of Jerusalem, but the ridge of Mount Moriah continues outside the walls where the Golgotha peak rests. The point is, God did not send Abraham to just any mountain to perform a bit of ‘street theater’ acting out a prophetic sacrifice play. God sent Abraham to the EXACT SAME MOUNTAIN to demonstrate what God would one day do for his people–on that mountain.

This amazing bit of symbolism can be summed up in the words of Abraham. Before Abraham and Isaac reached the mountaintop, Isaac said “here’s the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the offering?” and Abraham answered, “God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering” Genesis 22:7-8. That is a prophetic statement of exactly who Jesus turned out to be: God provided Jesus as the sacrificial lamb for us. “the Son of Man (gave) His life a ransom for many” Mark 10:45.

God himself will provide a lamb.

AΩ

[1] https://www.scottlapierre.org/mount-moriah-and-golgotha/ Consider this excellent article in order to explore the third bit of symbolism at Mount Moriah. I have simplified the matter by not discussing David’s sinful census, the plague that followed, and the fact that the death angel stopped at the threshing floor of Araunah—which was also located on Mount Moriah.

The Inauguration and the Wisdom of Solomon: 2 Chronicles 1:8-10.

One of my friends from law school founded a politically oriented non-profit and was invited to attend the inauguration this week. He took his three teenaged children and his mother and even the kids seemed to understand that this was the trip of a lifetime. I have followed his posts on Facebook, and Jonathan, wearing his flag bow tie and his flag scarf (not at the same time) could not have been more thrilled.

As one of our nation’s most-celebrated national events, the inauguration of the president of the United States is attended with a great deal of pomp and circumstance. The president-elect begins the day at a “morning prayer service” at a Washington D.C. church. Then his team moves to the Washington Mall for the formal inauguration—or the Capitol Rotunda, if the events are moved indoors.

Former presidents will be there. All of the movers and shakers in Washington—from both sides of the aisle—will make an appearance, as will numerous state governors and state legislators. There will be celebrities and business leaders, such as the clutch of billionaires at this week’s event that the media labelled the “Broligarchy” (Musk, Bezos, et al).

There is music and famous musicians, both pop and classical, there are speeches, there is the president-elect taking an oath with his hand on a Bible (usually!). There are homilies and blessings from pastors, rabbis, and clerics of various faiths. There are numerous prayers: as many as three invocations to begin the event and three benedictions to end it. During this week’s inauguration—which happened on Martin Luther King Day—Americans heard a benediction that included a lengthy passage of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

When most of the official actions have concluded, the now sworn-in president gives a speech, followed by a choreographed exit with family and friends, and a mostly warm goodbye to the former president and first lady now leaving office. The rest of the day is a blur of balls and parties that continue the celebration long into the night.

But here’s what you may never see at an inauguration: a president asking God for wisdom as King Solomon did.

For what you might call Solomon’s inauguration, he took all of Israel’s leaders to the ark of God at Gibeon: officers, generals, judges, governors, and the leaders and fathers of the nation. Solomon then “offered a thousand burnt offerings” upon the bronze altar, 2 Chronicles 1:6. That night God appeared to Solomon and said, “Ask, what shall I give thee” 2 Chronicles 1:7. Solomon’s response is worth noting.

“Now God, I am but a little child and know not how to go out or come in” (1 Kings 3:7) … “yet you have made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude. Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can judge this your people that are so numerous?” 2 Chronicles 1:8-10.

Isn’t that a great prayer by a leader? It takes true wisdom to recognize your need for wisdom. And you probably remember how God answered Solomon’s prayer:

God said because you did not ask for riches or honor, or long life or the death of your enemies, but for wisdom, I will give you greater wisdom than any man before or after. And I will also give you riches and honor and long life if you will obey me, 2 Chronicles 1:11-12, and 1 Kings 3:14.

It is remarkable that the young king had the wisdom to ask for wisdom. But notice also his humility: “I am but a little child” and don’t know what I’m doing (1 Kings 3:7). This humility is particularly remarkable considering what Solomon has already achieved in his first days in office. This man has already brought swift justice to several who deserved it, and several Solomon knows his father intended to punish, but could not for political reasons.

Just after Solomon took the throne, his older brother Adonijah launched his second attempt to take the crown. Solomon had him executed that very day, 1 Kings 2:24. Later that day, Solomon deposed Abiathar the priest (who traitorously supported Adonijah) and sent him home to be a farmer, 1 Kings 2:26. Then—also on the same day—Solomon sent his men to capture and execute David’s military leader Joab, who had murdered his betters. He “fell upon two men more righteous and better than he” Abner and Amasa, 1 Kings 2:31-32. Finally, Solomon summoned Shimei who had bitterly cursed David years before. Solomon told Shimei he could live but must never leave Jerusalem on pain of death. Shimei said that was a fair punishment (but he left Jerusalem three years later and was quickly put to death).

The point is, Solomon entered office a wise, decisive leader. He took swift, bold action in putting to death both his father’s enemies and his own. He did not even spare his own brother. Solomon could have patted himself on the back and called himself a great leader filled with wisdom. Instead, when God essentially told him to “make a wish,” Solomon immediately asked for wisdom. That is amazing—and again, indicates the man already possessed a great deal of wisdom.

“Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you, love her, and she will watch over you. The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get wisdom” Proverbs 4:6-7.

Dear God, Convince us! Convince us that wisdom is worth more than riches, than honor or wealth or long life. Please give us the wisdom to know how deeply we need wisdom! Make us wise enough to pray like Solomon—for more wisdom. Bless our nation with leaders like Solomon, who are humble enough to ask you for wisdom.

AΩ

Talk to God Honestly. The Psalms of Asaph.

God wants us to talk to him honestly, to speak the truth of our situation and our feelings to him. And in response, God speaks to us with honesty. As the old saying puts it, this is not religion but a RELATIONSHIP. Like any other relationship, your relationship with God grows through honest communication. David set an example of honest communication with God for Asaph and his other songwriters. Asaph’s songs contain honest words from man to God and from God to man.

GOD:

“Hear, my people, and I will speak. Every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds in the mountains and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine and everything in it. Do you think I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? … You thought I was the same as you, that I was altogether such a one as thyself” Psalm 50:7,10-13,21.

MAN:

“Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing I desire on earth more than you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my inheritance forever” Ps. 73:25-26. “Oh, God, why have you cast us off? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?” Ps.74:1. “We thank you, God. We thank you … I will sing praises to the God of Jacob forever” Ps. 75:1,9.

“God, you are more glorious and excellent than all the beautiful mountain ranges” Ps. 76:4. “In times of trouble, I sought the Lord. I remembered God. My spirit was overwhelmed. I am so troubled I cannot speak … Is his mercy clean gone forever? … The thunder of your voice was in heaven, your lightning lit up the world” Ps. 77:2-4,8,18,20.

“God, will you be angry forever? Help us and deliver us. Purge away our sins, for the sake of your own reputation. Why should the heathen say, ‘Where is their God?’ … We are your people and the sheep in your pasture” Ps. 79:5,9-10,13. “Listen to us, God. Turn us back to you. Turn us back. Help us repent. Cause your face to shine on us and our lives will be saved” Ps. 80:1,3,7,19. “Defend the poor and the fatherless. Do justice for the afflicted and the needy” Ps. 82:3.

“Keep not your silence, O God” Ps. 83:1.

GOD:

“You called in your trouble and I delivered. Hear, O my people, and I will report to you … I am the Lord, thy God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it … with honey from the rock I will satisfy you” Ps. 81:7-8,10,16.

Dear Lord, teach us to come to you often and talk to you honestly. To express all our struggles, concerns, worries, fears—to be completely open with you about everything. Help us to choose faith, and to listen to you. Give us a deeper love for your word every day, a love for the word and the insight to interpret it accurately and honestly.

AΩ

Give God Your Heart and Every Emotion You Find Therein. Psalm 88: a Paraphrase.

Psalm 88.

—By Heman, son of Korah, of the tribe of Levi, servant to King David.

Oh, God who saves! I’ve been crying to you day and night! Listen to me! My soul is filled with trouble. I can feel my life slipping toward the grave. I’m as good as dead. Might as well call the coroner. It’s over for me. I’m weak and broken all over. God, do you really want me to die? Is it my time already? Because you’ve abandoned me to death. What are you doing to me? Look at me, look at my health: are you trying to destroy me?

And now you’ve even taken my friends away from me. I am cut off from everyone. They all hate me. My eyes are red with weeping. I’ve called on you. I’ve stretched my hands out to you. Save me, God! I can’t praise you from the grave, can I? But I can praise you here! If only you’ll save me. God, I come to you. I keep coming to you, every day, every morning! Why do you cast me away? Why do you hide your face from me? I’m afflicted. I’m suffering. I have anxiety and fear and worry and dread. And my prayers are just bouncing off the ceiling. Meanwhile, my enemies surround me like deep waters. I am drowning in their lies and betrayal. And my friends are nowhere to be found.

Desperately, I remain alone.

I am alone. Psalm 88:1-18.

We do not know the details of Heman’s suffering, but he was in the middle of something terrible. A note in my study Bible points out that this is one of the few psalms “that gives no answer or expression of hope”[1]

It is entirely negative. Psalm 88 is a LAMENT, a complaint to God without one note of hope or faith. Is that allowed? Shouldn’t Heman have added something positive at the end of his song of lament?

I know that for me, even while writing the most bitter journal entry or written prayer, I cannot finish without restating my own faith and re-affirming my hope in God.

Why does Heman just leave it there: “Desperately, I remain alone.” What a sad ending to a chapter in the Bible. Heman should have at least added a few praise Gods, right?

No. Heman is being honest. He does not feel it. He is being HONEST with God. He is being real. Telling it like it is. His feelings are ugly and raw, so his prayer is ugly and raw.

And you know what? God can take it.

God would rather we speak to him honestly than add religious-sounding words that do not come from the heart.

God described David as a man with a heart like God’s. And David was honest with God, no matter the situation. David’s psalms bear witness to his intimate and vulnerable relationship with God. This warrior of a man was able to strip off all his defenses, all his walls, and talk to God honestly. And David seems to have taught that to the singers and songwriters who worked for him. Heman, as a son of Korah, learned that lesson well. In Psalm 88, Heman shows us how to talk to God:

Talk to God HONESTLY. Be vulnerable. Share your emotions. Weep if you feel it. Be angry at God if you feel it. But come to God honestly. Bring him your true heart and all the emotions you find inside it. Wrap your heart up like a messy, emotional gift, and hand it over to God in the most honest way you can.

That is how we relate to God. That is how you build a relationship with the sovereign creator of the entire universe: hand him your heart.

AΩ

[1] Chronological Life Application Study Bible, King James Version, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, 1988, p581 n.Ps 88:1ff.