July 9, 2009

Texts:
Exodus 29 and 30
Psalm 18

Exodus:
On one hand, these passages seem unrelated to my life. I don't ever sacrifice animals or grain on altars. But reading this passage made me think of the effort the Israelites had to undertake to worship. Daily sacrifices of lambs and yearly "day of atonement" or "Yom Kippur". (More details about Yom Kippur, a holy day still celebrated today in Judaism, will come in Leviticus).

And perhaps our faith should require more sacrifice. Not of livestock, necessarily. But of our time and convenience.
I suspect that if this is the first time you've committed to daily bible reading, you might be getting the sense of the sacrifice required in your schedule to make it work.

What else could we sacrifice for God?

Notice also that in order to enter God's presence, Aaron and his sons had to wash their hands and feet, or else they would die. (30:17-21) How often do the practices of your faith feel connected to life and death? Is it a good thing?

Psalms:
This psalm is attributed to David after his success in battle against Saul. The psalmist calls on the Lord for deliverance. The Lord delivers. The psalmist then connects the deliverance with his own righteousness.
This is a common theology operating in the world--if I do well, God will be on my side.

As we'll find when we get to the story of David, however, David doesn't always act righteously. He, like the rest of us, is an imperfect human being. Remember this psalm when we get to the story of David and Bathsheba. Do you think his theology changed after that experience? Do you think he went back to this psalm often?