May 28, 2024
1SAMUEL 18-19:
In
yesterday's story, David showed that he was more concerned with
God's reputation than for his own safety. May we all face our
imposing enemies with more belief in the unseen God than in the
very present enemies!
PSALM 102:
This
psalm starts out like the prayer of anyone in distress and trouble
calling out to God. As we read further, many see parallels with
what our Savior would have prayed in his darkest days on
earth.
ROMANS 6:19—7:
The
last verse of yesterday’s reading shows why it is better to take
what we are given, rather than what we have earned! This is a big
problem for some. My Dad's “having lived a good life” was one of
the biggest blocks to him humbly coming to God and receiving the
gift of eternal life. I don't think he ever understood how God
would not be so impressed by his supposed integrity. The spiritual
reality expressed starting at the beginning of the 6th chapter is a
key to place along with a second key that we will hear about in
today’s chapter.
NLT Translation notes:
Ps.
102:15Then the nations will tremble before [You,//the]
LORD.
The kings of the earth will tremble before
[your/his] glory.
16
For [You//the] LORD will rebuild Jerusalem.
[You/He] will appear in his
glory.
17
[You/He] will listen to the prayers of the
destitute.
[You/He] will not reject their
pleas.
====
Rom. 7:10 and [might as well
as killed me. I died— spiritually speaking.//I died]. So I
discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring
life, brought spiritual death instead.
11
Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the
commands to kill me [— (because I couldn’t keep them)].
15 I don’t really understand [my own
self//myself], for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it.
Instead, I do what I hate.
20
But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing
[the] wrong; it is sin living in me that does
it.
23 But there is another powere within me that is at war with my mind. This
power makes me a slave to the sin that [lives on//is] [0/still]
within me.
[PET 24-25] [So you see how it
[was//is]: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because
of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.///[NLT] 24Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free
me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?
25Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our
Lord[./!] //So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey
God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to
sin.]
[It
seems to me (and I am not alone in this) that reordering Paul’s
words here helps to remove the impression that Paul is
contradicting everything he has said so far about the believer’s
victory over the power of sin. From verse 7 on, Paul is expounding
on verse 5: “When we were controlled by our old
nature,b sinful desires were at work within us, and the
law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful
deeds, resulting in death.” If I am right, then, NLT is wrong to
use the present tense in “you see how it is”. I don’t have a
problem with this connecting phrase showing the logical connection.
I just want to change the verb tense. The Greek only says, “So
then,” which is really enough.
This is a very unfortunate chapter break (not
made by Paul but by Robert Estienne around 1552). This chapter
division has contributed to the wrong understanding of the end of
this chapter. I recommend that everyone always keep reading past
it!]
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.