I overlook the awesome privilege of approaching the Lord of the Universe. I cannot call up any world leader for a conversation, I can’t drive down to Denver and drop in on the governor, and I need an appointment just to see a banker, even though it’s my money in their bank.

But no scheduling necessary with the Lord. The psalmist prayed, Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. If you Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

Such a hopeful perspective, or rather, a hopeful reality. From the Lord we find forgiveness, and thanks to that forgiveness we can, with deference and knowledge of our status, turn our lives in his direction.

Later the psalmist urges us to put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.

We pray to the Lord, then we wait for the Lord to act upon our behalf. No one else may return my calls, but with the Lord I’m never on hold. Out of whatever depths I find myself in, I can cry out to the Lord. My situation may not change to my liking, but I know he hears, and I find that incredibly hopeful.

Psalm 130 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Daniel Burka

It’s easy to prove most anything you want from the Bible. People twist the scriptures, sometimes beyond recognition, to gain status or power or wealth.

Slaveholders during the American Civil War massaged passages to undergird the institution of slavery, while at the same time abolitionists preached liberation texts from the same Bible. The abolitionists hoped to free enslaved men and women, while the slaveholders loved that money.

We can hold the law of God in our hands, but fail to grasp the wisdom within. Or worse, twist the wisdom for our pleasure. Jeremiah confronted the religious elite in his day for doing just that:

How can you say, “We are wise, for we have the law of the Lord,” when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely? The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the Lord, what kind of wisdom do they have?

Handling the scriptures falsely remains a favored path to popularity. Picking certain passages to emphasize i.e. God is love, allows for all types of selfish thinking. If God is indeed love, doesn’t he want me to be happy? Shouldn’t I chase after the relationships and lifestyle and stuff I want?

To do so one must tamp down other teachings on love, i.e. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

The teachings in the Bible push us away from a phone full of selfies. They instead point toward the care and flourishing of others. While searching out truth and persevering in faith, the Holy Spirit uses the Holy Scriptures to move us from bitterness into forgiveness.

Any teaching that tells you different comes from the pen of a lying scribe—and what kind of wisdom it that?

Jeremiah 8 & I Corinthians 13 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Nicolas Thomas

Jeremiah confronted a nation far gone. The chosen people rejected obedience required by a relationship with the Lord and turned enthusiastically to the ways of the world. To wake them up, the Lord put his message into Jeremiah’s mouth:

This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips.

The Lord continued:

The people of Judah have done evil in my eyes. They set up their detestable idols in the house that bears my Name and have defiled it. They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Beth Hinnom to burn the sons and daughter in the fire—something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind.

The stunning reality of his people freely burning their own children alive to appease a demonic deity shocked even the Lord—nor did it enter my mind.

When enough people gain power and leave truth behind atrocities follow. Think of Nazi Germany exterminating Jews, or Mao Zedong’s terrors in China, or chattel slavery in the United States. Millions suffered due to the devaluing of human life and the rejection of basic dignities.

When truth perishes we’re all at risk. From history we learn that no nation or people group is immune to such devastating turns.

Always remember—the Word of God is truth. Cling to that truth. Live the truth found within every day, and speak truth whenever necessary. Because when truth perishes, hope perishes as well.

Jeremiah 7 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Joshua Hoehne