Jun 9, 2022
2SAMUEL 5-6:
General Abner defected to David, but it cost
him his life on the same day at the hands of Joab, the commander of
David's forces and the brother of the slain Asahel. One result was
also that Ishbosheth was murdered by two army captains who thought
that they would be rewarded for doing David a favor.
PSALM 109a:
If
you feel that you are surrounded by people who gang up against you
and slander you, then this is the psalm for you. One of the verses
in this psalm was quoted by Peter about Judas in Acts 1. You are
certainly given permission by this Psalm to pray for vindication
and justice, but contrast this with what Romans 12 says about
praying for your enemies— which we also read today. Note this: In
the NLT, verses 6 through 19 contain a long quote of slander
against the Psalm-writer, David. Or, in GNT, those verses are part
of David’s prayer for vindication.
Re-reading ROMANS 12:
Chapter 12 marks the beginning of the practical
part of Paul’s letter to the Roman Christians. This part packs a
big punch, and verses 1-2— which form the topic sentence for this
section, are must-memorize verses. If everything that Paul said
before now is true, then THIS is the logical and appropriate
response of how we are to live. This is how we ought to respond to
God's wonderful kindness to us. And these two verses reveal a major
truth about how the transformation of our minds takes place, and
what must happen if we are to discern God's will in our
decisions.
NLT Translation notes:
Ps.
109:20 May those curses become the LORD’s punishment for my
accusers who speak [such] evil of me.
30
But I will give repeated thanks to [You//the]
LORD,
praising [You/him] to
everyone.
31
For [You stand//he stands] beside the needy,
ready to save them from those who condemn
them.
====
Rom.
12:1 And so [/therefore], dear brothers and sisters, I plead with
you to give your bodies to God because of all [the merciful things]
he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the
kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship
him.
[See the GNT translation notes for how we
translated verses 1-2 into Indonesian.]
3
Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give
each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you
really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring
yourselves by the [true beliefs//faith] God has given
us.
6 In his grace, God has given us different
gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the
ability to prophesy, speak out with as much [belief//faith] as God
has given you.
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.