BibleScribbler

Coffee, a Bible, and a Napkin to Scribble On

Peaceful as a Weaned Baby

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[1] O LORD, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
[2] But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.

(Psalm 131:1-2 ESV)

The picture here is awesome. God’s peace, the calm and quiet soul at peace, is like a baby that doesn’t have to cry for milk anymore. A weaned baby eats and is full, is still. Still with its mother, just sitting.

I remember with each of our kids the feelilng my wife felt when our kids were weaned and just sat with her. They were no longer whining or rooting for milk, they were just sitting and holding on and happy to be held by their mommy.

The person at peace and full of the Lord doesn’t have to worry about things that are too lofty for them, like if Obama is going to invade Texas, or the next crazy germ to break out somewhere. He doesn’t have to demand gifts from the Lord or raise his eyes up above what he currently has to demand more.

A weaned child sitting in her mother’s arms asking for a bunch of stuff that the mother knows better about is just a spoiled brat. There is no peace there.
A weaned child sitting and enjoying the shear fact of being with her momma brings joy to them both. How much more-so with our Lord!

Denominations, Politics, and Greasy Beards

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A Song of Ascents. Of David.

[1] Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers dwell in unity!
[2] It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down on the collar of his robes!
[3] It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the LORD has commanded the blessing,
life forevermore.

(Psalm 133 ESV)

Fellowship, unity, brotherly peace, is like dew on Aaron’s beard! Let’s talk about that nasty example for a little bit.

When a priest or king was anointed, ancient Jews would pour oil on his head. Oil was a symbol of God’s presence and power upon a person. (I’m trying hard to not use the word SPIRIT because they didn’t use that word much in the OT when they talked about God’s presence, but it’s the same thing.)

Oil on the head was a sign of someone being set apart to be an intercessor, a priest, between God and Man. Someone that was a priest would enjoy the phenomenal privilege of interacting both with God in the Temple or the Tabernacle and people out in their daily life. This was where Heaven invaded and overlapped Earth.

Aaron was the first such priest. He was the brother of Moses and he began the line of the Levitical priesthood. When Aaron was ordained a priest, it was almost as big of a deal as the giving of the Ten Commandments or the Red Sea parting. When Aaron was made a priest, God was saying “This is how we are all going to talk to each other, and Aaron is going to go first.”

SO what is it like when brothers dwell together in unity? It’s like God has created a new way to communicate with His people, and He is establishing that way and blessing it so much that it’s dripping off a guy’s beard! God wants to interact with us so much! God wants to have a conversation, a community of people together in peace and harmony with each other!

A Flock of Limping Sheep

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So yesterday a friend and I were talking and he told me about in Ps. 23 it says that God MAKES me lie down in green pastures. He said that the only way to make a sheep lie down was if the shepherd would take his hook, grab a back leg, and BREAK the sheep’s leg! Then with a broken leg the sheep would lie down and not run off so much.

hmmm, I think, that’s crazy.

So then I do some research. Turns out it’s a true practice of shepherds all over the world!

If a sheep wanders off too much, to protect it from getting lost or eaten or whatever, the shepherd will actually snap one of its legs! Then, since the thing can’t walk without great pain, he has to carry it around everywhere he goes. He puts it down in the green pasture, he sits it by some water, he picks it up when there is danger and puts it in a safe place. Then after a time of being held by the shepherd for so much, and being weakened and limping from the permanent injury, the sheep stays close to the shepherd the rest of it’s life.

This plays out in a hundred ways: The closeness Jacob felt to God that was consummated in him being cripled and needing a staff to lean on for the rest of his life. The fact that once our leg is broken, we are no longer fit for the sacrifice, but that doesn’t matter, because the One who is worthy of being our sacrifice was already sacrificed for us. The whole fact that God does a lot of things that look bad in the eyes of the world but are really life-saving in the spiritual realm.

I guess the balance here is to not go the wrong way and think of God as a school principle or whatever, watching us, hoping to get us when we sin or wander off. He wants us close to Him.

Psalm 30.5 For His anger is but for a moment, and His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.