Author: Dave Dishman (Page 325 of 475)

A week-long party marked the end of years of hope and prayer and hard work. Jewish exiles celebrated the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, destroyed years before. For the longest time the construction looked impossible, and enemies tried to halt the work. Now the builders partied.

The exiles celebrated a miraculous turn of events in their long saga of hopes and disappointments, something they dared not dream as they started. The Lord had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.

The king of Assyria ruled vast lands and peoples. An obscure temple on the edge of his empire normally failed to spark much interest, let alone call for an enormous resource allocation to ensure its reconstruction. His attitude tended toward ignoring such requests. Better to build magnificent works down the street than across the desert.

However, the Lord stepped in and changed the king’s attitude, and created an enthusiastic benefactor. The pagan king went all in, the the temple stood finished in record time, and the party started in Jerusalem.

I often despair over circumstances that look beyond hope, and I worry about people that look beyond change. In doing so, I forget the God of Israel, who changes the attitudes of any he wishes. In my resignation, I forget to pray to our God who holds the hearts of men and women in his hand. I overlook the power of the Lord.

The Lord changes attitudes. It might take years, like rebuilding a temple, but I pray understanding this reality. And when I see evidence of such change, then it’s time to party.

Ezra 6 in week forty-eight of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Sarah Dorweiler

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