
Meditation on Leviticus 19
“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. 10 And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.” (Lev 19:9-10)
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Meditation on Psalm 56
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me? (Psalm 56)
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Meditation on 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20
“For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? 20 For you are our glory and joy.”
Paul’s words to his beloved brothers and sisters in 1 Thess 2:19-20 are striking. Elsewhere Paul suggests that nothing other than Christ is his hope, his glory, his cause for boasting (Col 1:27; Gal 6:14). Yet here Paul dares to suggest that he boasts in those whom he converted to Christ in Thessalonica. They, he asserts, are his glory and joy. How can both be true? Is Paul here stooping to counting heads, to tallying up the number of baptisms under his belt? This seems unlikely given his apparent lack of concern for such matters, a lack of concern underscored by his apparent forgetfulness of whom or how many he baptized in Corinth (1 Cor 1:14).
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Meditation on Psalm 45:1
My heart overflows with a pleasing theme;
I address my verses to the king;
my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe. (Psalm 45:1)
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A Meditation on Exodus 28:1-4
“Then bring near to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, to serve me as priests—Aaron and Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 2 And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. 3 You shall speak to all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill, that they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him for my priesthood. 4 These are the garments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a coat of checker work, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to serve me as priests. (Exodus 28:1-4)
When YHWH instructs Moses regarding preparations for the ordination of Aaron and his sons as priests, he gives some pretty specific criteria for their official clothing. These are precisely the kinds of details that I usually skip over in my Bible reading, but tonight, thankfully, I didn’t and I received an unexpected blessing. I noticed the emphasis God placed on the glory and beauty of these garments. God told Moses to make holy garments “for glory and for beauty.” YHWH goes on to instruct Moses to speak to “all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill.” God actually had a team of tailors and seamstresses to whom the Spirit had given special skill and artistry for the designing and production of priestly vestments!
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A Meditation on Psalm 25:14
The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him,
and he makes known to them his covenant. (Psalm 25:14)
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