Author: Dave Dishman (Page 309 of 459)

Sometimes the varied descriptions of God found in the Bible give me a headache.

A few days ago I read the oft-quoted statement, God is love, found in 1 John 4:8. Then today I opened up the good book to discover this psalmist’s prayer: The Lord is a God who avenges. O God who avenges, shine forth.

Interesting juxtaposition—love and vengeance.

Many people I come across want to throw out the inconvenient descriptor of God (avenger) and hold tightly to the popular (lover). Clinging to the idea that God is all love feels better and in truth, allows for less thought and less inconvenient life change.

But what if the point is that I don’t get to choose?

To decide that God is all love, but to ignore God the avenger, is to create a god in my own image. I must weigh and consider all the scriptures reveal to me about the Lord. I don’t have the luxury to pick and choose. Wrestling with this breadth is more challenging and actually, much more interesting.

The Bible intersperses wonderful promises—God is love—with potent warnings—The Lord is a God who avenges. Clearly, the Lord desires for me to struggle with both.

Chew the cud, ponder, and take time to consider all you discover about the Lord in scripture. God is so much more than you or I comprehend. Deeper and more complicated.

More terrible—and more wonderful.

Psalm 94 in week forty-eight of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Camille Brodard

For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar (Psalm 138:6).

The theme rises from the pages of scripture again and again, like a steady drip from a corroded faucet. Over and over passages remind me of the disdain the Lord holds for the prideful, the arrogant, and the haughty.

The Lord knows the haughty from afar. Sort of like that distant cousin who lives across the country, the one you just heard about at Thanksgiving, who then faded into your recesses of thought until next year.

You know your cousin, but only from afar.

I keep haughty people I know at a distance. Not my cousins (many of whom are delightful), but old friends and acquaintances, people who I found unpleasant to spend time with due to their haughty attitudes towards me and others. I don’t hate them—I just don’t see any need to waste time with them. I choose to know them from afar.

Is this the attitude of the Lord toward the haughty? Is this the attitude of the Lord towards me, if I choose to live among the arrogant?

If so, better to stand in the anonymous ranks of the lowly, seen and looked upon by the Lord. Better to be remembered, than left to my own devices by my Creator.

Psalm 138 in week forty-seven of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Alex Iby

My young nephew corrected me after I commented on something I thought was ridiculous. He told me, Uncle Dave, we don’t say the s-word.

I thought the s-word I shouldn’t say around him was sh*t, but turns out the offending s-word was stupid. Being a good uncle I complied, choosing to substitute ludicrous, moronic, and idiotic—both making my point and improving his vocabulary.

To my surprise I found the psalmist called someone stupid. How great are your works, O Lord! Your thoughts are very deep! The stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot understand this. For though the wicked sprout like grass and the evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever.

In various places in scripture I’m reminded how nature reveals the Lord’s work. Most everyone I know, when standing under a vast, starlit sky on an inky dark night, sense something grander than themselves. But not everyone. Some people refuse to acknowledge the Most High.

The opposite of stupid exists. The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon…they still bear fruit in their old age; they are ever full of sap and green. Full of sap—ready to burst—filled with life and energy. The way of the Lord yields ample fruit and generous living.

Don’t choose stupid. In fact, call it out, even if you use different words for young ears. The problem, of course, isn’t speaking the word stupid, it’s living a life of stupid. May the Lord point stupid out in my life as well, so that I enjoy a life green and full of sap.

Psalm 92 in week forty seven of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Oskari Manninen

It’s always easier to hide. I would much rather hide than face a difficult situation.

Daniel tells of a future where a leader violently opposes the work and people of the Lord. Daniel’s prophecies make my head spin, trying to keep up with all the possibilities. It makes for interesting reading, if not necessarily a lot of clarity.

According to Daniel, this blasphemous leader shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant. In other words, he will pull people away from the right path with misleading words and false promises.

But there’s a way to resist—those who know their God shall stand firm and take action.

How do I hold out against false promises? How do I take action against ways counter to my faith? By knowing God. How do I know God? By reading and studying and understanding his Word.

Best wishes fail to hold up under intense pressure. I cannot build a foundation of faith by listening to sermons and reading books. While this is helpful, it’s not fundamental, and I say this as a person who gives sermons and writes books.

Time in the Word, pondering what I’m taking in, and looking to apply what I learn, gives the Spirit room to work in my life and builds that sure foundation. Nothing else substitutes.

Daniel 11 in week forty six of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Sixteen Miles Out