The Upper Room Daily Reflections: daily words of wisdom and faith in Nashville, Tennessee, United States from Monday, 15 May 2017 through Sunday, 21 May 2017Posted: 15 May 2017 10:01 PM PDT-------
"Accepting Trauma" for Sunday, 21 May 2017
Today’s Reflection:
ACCEPTING MY TRAUMA is not the same as saying God put the trauma in my life so I would learn these lessons; that’s just another way of saying God causes evil, which is completely antithetical to what I believe about God. And, to be sure, many people who have rich, God-filled lives did not experience trauma; trauma isn’t the only path to peace. My point is that I don’t believe trauma has to be the end of the story. It is only one chapter of the book that is our lives. And it can lead to places of profound joy if we are willing to be still, speak our truth, and experience God’s healing grace. [Kristen E. Vincent, Beads of Healing]
From page 113 of Beads of Healing: Prayer, Trauma, and Spiritual Wholeness by Kristen E. Vincent. Copyright © 2016 by Kristen E. Vincent. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question:
What would it take for your to speak your truth? What would be the benefit in doing so?
Today’s Scripture:
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. [John 14:16, NRSV]
This Week: pray for your enemies. -------
"Thin Places" for Saturday, 20 May 2017
Today’s Reflection:
In the overhead leafy bower, I watched sun rays dance in the dappled air. Birdcalls seemed louder there. A cold artesian spring fed a nearby stream. In March and April rare white violets covered the brook’s banks. … While there, I felt a deep connection to the Lord God. No one told me, but I knew the first time I wandered into this place that it was “holy ground.”
The Celtic tradition has a phrase for places like this; they are called “thin places.” In simple terms “thin place” describes a spot where the veil separating heaven and earth is like a porous net. “Thin place” experiences have been so powerful that I have discovered memories of them can provide ports during stressful, stormy days.
O God, may we willingly step into our particular woods, stand still, breathe deep, and open our spirits to you. May we become thin-place people leaking Love to those who need it. Amen. [Nell E. Noonan, Not Alone: Encouragement for Caregivers]
From pages 96-97 of Not Alone: Encouragement for Caregivers by Nell E. Noonan. Copyright © 2009 by Nell E. Noonan. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://bookstore.upperroom.
Today’s Question:
Pray the prayer included in today’s excerpt. O God, may we willingly step into our particular woods, stand still, breathe deep, and open our spirits to you. May we become thin-place people leaking Love to those who need it. Amen.Today’s Scripture:
If you love me, you will keep my commandments.[John 14:15, NRSV]
This Week: pray for your enemies.
"God Does Not Give Up on Us" for Friday, 19 May 2017
Today’s Reflection:
“DO NOT BE AFRAID,” just like “you are forgiven,” are needed
companions throughout our lives. We strive to be faithful followers, to be strong and bold in vocation. But sometimes, strength wavers. Sometimes, boldness weakens or mutates into arrogance. By and large, those experiences come because of fear.“Do not be afraid” can fade into the background all too quickly when tragedy or injustice or downright ignorance holds sway.
But God does not give up on us. God does not strip us of our calling in those times when we realize that even having nothing to fear but fear itself still leaves us with a considerable antagonist to face. Rather, God calls us out — out of sin, out of fear — and gives us the possibility of a new day.[John Indermark, Do Not Live Afraid]
From Do Not Live Afraid: Faith in a Fearful World by John Indermark. Copyright © 2009 by John Indermark. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://bookstore.upperroom.
Today’s Question:
When are you afraid?Today’s Scripture:
For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. [1 Peter 3:17, NRSV]
This Week: pray for your enemies."Praying the Psalms" for Thursday, 18 May 2017
Today’s Reflection:
Jesus himself, hanging on the cross, cried out the words of Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (v.1), and ever since Christians have seen in the Psalms intimations of Jesus’ life.
When I sing to my daughter before bed “The King of Love My Shepherd Is,” I’m using a song based on Psalm 23 to tell her about Jesus, who, as she already knows, is the shepherd of Psalm 23. The Psalms point forward to Jesus; Jesus fulfills the Psalms. Through the Psalms, Jesus can be our Teacher. [L. Roger Owens, What We Need Is Here]
From page 42 of What We Need Is Here: Practicing the Heart of Christian Spirituality by L. Roger Owens. Copyright © 2015 by L. Roger Owens. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://bookstore.upperroom.
Today’s Question:
Do you turn draw upon the Psalms as a resource during your prayer time?
Today’s Scripture:
But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you….[1 Peter 3:14-15, NRSV]
This Week: pray for your enemies
"The Highest Form of Prayer" for Wednesday, 17 May 2017
Today’s Reflection:
PRAYER IS NOT bending God to my will but bringing my will into conformity with God’s so that God’s will may work in and through me. … Prayer is not bending the universe to your will, making God a cosmic bellhop for your purposes; prayer is cooperating with God’s purposes to do things you never dreamed you could do.The highest form of prayer comes in Jesus’ words in Gethsemane: “Yet not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). Jesus did not say, “Your will be borne,” which is how we often translate it. He said, “Your will be done,” which implies a cooperation with an outgoing, redemptive will that desires our highest good.[E. Stanley Jones, How to Pray]
From pages 15-16 of How to Pray by E. Stanley Jones. Copyright © 2015 by the E. Stanley Jones Foundation. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question:
Where do you see yourself cooperating with God’s purposes?
Today’s Scripture:Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me.[Psalm 66:20, NRSV]
This Week: pray for your enemies.
"Movement and Prayer" for Tuesday, 16 May 2017
Today’s Reflection:
GOD CALLS EACH OF US to joy. “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Phil. 4:4), Paul says. I keep nearby when I pray a picture of Saint Francis who took Paul’s injunction quite literally. His feet are off the ground, his arms are extended to the sky as he jumps in freedom and joy. The picture portrays a man who worships with his body, who loves the creation, and who is not afraid to let the joy of the body show.Receptivity, self-offering, gratitude, and joy—the four prayers I would embody.
I stood in my room and began to experiment with gesture and movement. What felt comfortable? What seemed natural? What gestures and movements could express my prayer, desire, and intention to live these four prayers?
The process of developing body-prayer movements was like trying on shoes—some looked nice but didn’t fit. Some gestures seemed like they would be perfect but felt awkward. I had to find the movements that were right for me—no one else could do this work.
Fortunately, it didn’t take long. I wove the four gestures into a kind of dance and then repeated them over and over, sometimes changing the order. They became the chords on which I improvised a song of prayer with my body. Though it felt strange, I knew this could become part of my prayer.
TRY THIS:
Find a place where you can be alone, and begin to experiment with gestures that express the shape of life and prayer you long for. Why did you choose the gestures you chose? What do they mean to you?[L. Roger Owens, What We Need Is Here]
From pages 80-81 of What We Need Is Here: Practicing the Heart of Christian Spirituality by L. Roger Owens. Copyright © 2015 by L. Roger Owens. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question:
Experiment with gestures as you pray.
Today’s Scripture:
I will come into your house with burnt offerings; I will pay you my vows,
those that my lips uttered and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.[Psalm 66:13-14, NRSV]
This Week: pray for your enemies.
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"Cross-Cultural Rules" for Monday, 15 May 2017
Today’s Reflection:
MY DECISION TO STUDY in France my junior year of college was pivotal. In France, I endured my most sustained experience with vulnerability, that wonderful tutor of our adult years, by trying to live immersed in the language. …
My cross-cultural rules were straightforward: Avoid compatriots and other English speakers. Avoid speaking my own language. Find groups in the host culture and participate in them as much as my outsider status allows. Avoid bashing the host culture and be generous to my own. Avoid groups of foreigners who like to engage in such bashing. Speak the new language as much as possible. Because I couldn’t speak the new language conversationally and avoided speaking my own, I found myself doing a lot of listening and cultural observation. This was not a bad thing.
Later, after spending more time in other cultures, I added another rule: Whatever I think I understand about a culture or group after spending extensive time there, ditch it. Whatever grasp I think I have on the culture after one year, I should be prepared to totally turn it on its head in the second year.[Dee Dee Risher, The Soulmaking Room]
From page 59 of The Soulmaking Room by Dee Dee Risher. Copyright © 2016 by Dee Dee Risher. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question:
Why did the author let go of what she learned her first year in a different culture?Today’s Scripture:
Bless our God, O peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard,
who has kept us among the living, and has not let our feet slip.[Psalm 66:8-9, NRSV]
This Week: pray for your enemies.
"Cross-Cultural Rules" for Monday, 15 May 2017
Today’s Reflection:
MY DECISION TO STUDY in France my junior year of college was pivotal. In France, I endured my most sustained experience with vulnerability, that wonderful tutor of our adult years, by trying to live immersed in the language. …My cross-cultural rules were straightforward: Avoid compatriots and other English speakers. Avoid speaking my own language. Find groups in the host culture and participate in them as much as my outsider status allows. Avoid bashing the host culture and be generous to my own. Avoid groups of foreigners who like to engage in such bashing. Speak the new language as much as possible. Because I couldn’t speak the new language conversationally and avoided speaking my own, I found myself doing a lot of listening and cultural observation. This was not a bad thing.
Later, after spending more time in other cultures, I added another rule: Whatever I think I understand about a culture or group after spending extensive time there, ditch it. Whatever grasp I think I have on the culture after one year, I should be prepared to totally turn it on its head in the second year.[Dee Dee Risher, The Soulmaking Room]
From page 59 of The Soulmaking Room by Dee Dee Risher. Copyright © 2016 by Dee Dee Risher. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question:
Why did the author let go of what she learned her first year in a different culture?Today’s Scripture:
Bless our God, O peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard,
who has kept us among the living, and has not let our feet slip.[Psalm 66:8-9, NRSV]
This Week: pray for your enemies.
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Did You Know?
In need of prayer? The Upper Room Living Prayer Center is a 7-day-a-week intercessory prayer ministry staffed by trained volunteers. Call 1-800-251-2468 or visit The Living Prayer Center website.-------
This week we remember: Isidore the Farmer (May 15).
Isidore the Farmer
Did You Know?
In need of prayer? The Upper Room Living Prayer Center is a 7-day-a-week intercessory prayer ministry staffed by trained volunteers. Call 1-800-251-2468 or visit The Living Prayer Center website.-------
This week we remember: Isidore the Farmer (May 15).
Isidore the Farmer
May 15
Isidore was a farm worker who was born in Madrid, Spain. His whole life was spent working on the farm of the same wealthy landowner. He and his wife Maria had one child, who died in childbirth. (Isidore's wife also became a saint.) They suffered the hardships of poverty, but were always generous to those who had less then themselves. Isidore was faithful in attending to worship and prayer daily.
His witness to us is in the ordinariness of his life, a faithful life used by God to its fullest.
If Isidore had taken the spiritual type test he probably would have been a Lover. St. Isidore's feast day is May 15.
Image is 18th centure, anonymous.
Isidore was a farm worker who was born in Madrid, Spain. His whole life was spent working on the farm of the same wealthy landowner. He and his wife Maria had one child, who died in childbirth. (Isidore's wife also became a saint.) They suffered the hardships of poverty, but were always generous to those who had less then themselves. Isidore was faithful in attending to worship and prayer daily.
His witness to us is in the ordinariness of his life, a faithful life used by God to its fullest.
If Isidore had taken the spiritual type test he probably would have been a Lover. St. Isidore's feast day is May 15.
Image is 18th centure, anonymous.
-------
Lectionary Readings:
Sunday, 21 May 2017
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
Lectionary Readings:
Sunday, 21 May 2017
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
Acts 17:22-31
Psalm 66:8-20
1 Peter 3:13-22
John 14:15-21
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The Scripture Texts:
Acts 17:
22 Sha’ul stood up in the Council meeting and said, “Men of Athens: I see how very religious you are in every way! 23 For as I was walking around, looking at your shrines, I even found an altar which had been inscribed, ‘To An Unknown God.’ So, the one whom you are already worshipping in ignorance — this is the one I proclaim to you.
24 “The God who made the universe and everything in it, and who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in man-made temples; 25 nor is he served by human hands, as if he lacked something; since it is he himself who gives life and breath and everything to everyone.
26 “From one man he made every nation living on the entire surface of the earth, and he fixed the limits of their territories and the periods when they would flourish. 27 God did this so that people would look for him and perhaps reach out and find him although in fact, he is not far from each one of us, 28 ‘for in him we live and move and exist.’ Indeed, as some of the poets among you have said, ‘We are actually his children.’ 29 So, since we are children of God, we shouldn’t suppose that God’s essence resembles gold, silver or stone shaped by human technique and imagination.
30 “In the past, God overlooked such ignorance; but now he is commanding all people everywhere to turn to him from their sins. 31 For he has set a Day when he will judge the inhabited world, and do it justly, by means of a man whom he has designated. And he has given public proof of it by resurrecting this man from the dead.”
Psalm 66:8 Bless our God, you peoples!
Let the sound of his praise be heard!
9 He preserves our lives
and keeps our feet from stumbling.
10 For you, God, have tested us,
refined us as silver is refined.
11 You brought us into the net
and bound our bodies fast.
12 You made men ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water.
But you brought us out
to a place of plenty.
13 I will come into your house with burnt offerings,
I will fulfill my vows to you,
14 those my lips pronounced and my mouth spoke
when I was in distress.
15 I will offer you burnt offerings of fattened animals,
along with the sweet smoke of rams;
I will offer bulls and goats. (Selah)
16 Come and listen, all you who fear God,
and I will tell what he has done for me.
17 I cried out to him with my mouth,
his praise was on my tongue.
18 Had I cherished evil thoughts,
Adonai would not have listened.
19 But in fact, God did listen;
he paid attention to my prayer.
20 Blessed be God, who did not reject my prayer
or turn his grace away from me.
1 Peter 3:13 For who will hurt you if you become zealots for what is good? 14 But even if you do suffer for being righteous, you are blessed! Moreover, don’t fear what they fear or be disturbed, 15 but treat the Messiah as holy, as Lord in your hearts;[1 Peter 3:15 Isaiah 8:12-13] while remaining always ready to give a reasoned answer to anyone who asks you to explain the hope you have in you — yet with humility and fear, 16 keeping your conscience clear, so that when you are spoken against, those who abuse the good behavior flowing from your union with the Messiah may be put to shame. 17 For if God has in fact willed that you should suffer, it is better that you suffer for doing what is good than for doing what is evil.
18 For the Messiah himself died for sins, once and for all, a righteous person on behalf of unrighteous people, so that he might bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh but brought to life by the Spirit; 19 and in this form he went and made a proclamation to the imprisoned spirits, 20 to those who were disobedient long ago, in the days of Noach, when God waited patiently during the building of the ark, in which a few people — to be specific, eight — were delivered by means of water. 21 This also prefigures what delivers us now, the water of immersion, which is not the removal of dirt from the body, but one’s pledge to keep a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah. 22 He has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God,[1 Peter 3:22 Psalm 110:1] with angels, authorities and powers subject to him.
John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commands; 16 and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another comforting Counselor like me, the Spirit of Truth, to be with you forever. 17 The world cannot receive him, because it neither sees nor knows him. You know him, because he is staying with you and will be united with you. 18 I will not leave you orphans — I am coming to you. 19 In just a little while, the world will no longer see me; but you will see me. Because I live, you too will live. 20 When that day comes, you will know that I am united with my Father, and you with me, and I with you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me, and the one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”
John Wesley's Notes-Commentary:
Acts 17:22-31
Verse 22
[22] Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
Then Paul standing in the midst of the Areopagus — An ample theatre; said - Giving them a lecture of natural divinity, with admirable wisdom, acuteness, fulness, and courtesy. They inquire after new things: Paul in his divinely philosophical discourse, begins with the first, and goes on to the last things, both which were new things to them. He points out the origin and the end of all things, concerning which they had so many disputes, and equally refutes both the Epicurean and Stoic.
I perceive — With what clearness and freedom does he speak! Paul against Athens!
Verse 23
[23] For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
I found an altar — Some suppose this was set up by Socrates, to express in a covert way his devotion to the only true God, while he derided the plurality of the heathen gods, for which he was condemned to death: and others, that whoever erected this altar, did it in honour to the God of Israel, of whom there was no image, and whose name Jehovah was never made known to the idolatrous Gentiles.
Him proclaim I unto you — Thus he fixes the wandering attention of these blind philosophers; proclaiming to them an unknown, and yet not a new God.
Verse 24
[24] God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
God who made the world — Thus is demonstrated even to reason, the one true, good God; absolutely different from the creatures, from every part of the visible creation.
Verse 25
[25] Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
Neither is he served as though he needed any thing — or person - The Greek word equally takes in both.
To all — That live and breathe;-in him we live; and breathe - In him we move. By breathing life is continued. I breathe this moment: the next is not in my power: and all things - For in him we are. So exactly do the parts of this discourse answer each other.
Verse 26
[26] And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
He hath made of one blood the whole nation of men — By this expression the apostle showed them in the most unaffected manner, that though he was a Jew, be was not enslaved to any narrow views, but looked on all mankind as his brethren: having determined the times - That it is God who gave men the earth to inhabit, Paul proves from the order of times and places, showing the highest wisdom of the Disposer, superior to all human counsels.
And the bounds of their habitation — By mountains, seas, rivers, and the like.
Verse 27
[27] That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
If haply — The way is open; God is ready to be found. But he will lay no force upon man; they might feel after him - This is in the midst between seeking and finding. Feeling being the lowest and grossest of all our senses, is fitly applied to the low knowledge of God; though he be not far from every one of us - We need not go far to seek or find him. He is very near us; in us. It is only perverse reason which thinks he is afar off.
Verse 28
[28] For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
In him — Not in ourselves, we live, and move, and have our being - This denotes his necessary, intimate, and most efficacious presence. No words can better express the continual and necessary dependence of all created beings, in their existence and all their operations, on the first and almighty cause, which the truest philosophy as well as divinity teaches.
As certain also of your own poets have said — Aratus, whose words these are, was an Athenian, who lived almost three hundred years before this time. They are likewise to be found, with the alteration of one letter only, in the hymn of Cleanthes to Jupiter or the supreme being, one of the purest and finest pieces of natural religion in the whole world of Pagan antiquity.
Verse 29
[29] Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
We ought not to think — A tender expression especially in the first per son plural. As if he had said, Can God himself be a less noble being than we who are his offspring? Nor does he only here deny, that these are like God, but that they have any analogy to him at all, so as to be capable of representing him.
Verse 30
[30] And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
The times of ignorance — What! does he object ignorance to the knowing Athenians? Yes, and they acknowledge it by this very altar.
God overlooked — As one paraphrases, "The beams of his eye did in a manner shoot over it." He did not appear to take notice of them, by sending express messages to them as he did to the Jews.
But now — This day, this hour, saith Paul, puts an end to the Divine forbearance, and brings either greater mercy or punishment. Now he commandeth all men every where to repent - There is a dignity and grandeur in this expression, becoming an ambassador from the King of heaven. And this universal demand of repentance declared universal guilt in the strongest manner, and admirably confronted the pride of the haughtiest Stoic of them all. At the same time it bore down the idle plea of fatality. For how could any one repent of doing what he could not but have done?
Verse 31
[31] Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
He hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world — How fitly does he speak this, in their supreme court of justice? By the man - So he speaks, suiting himself to the capacity of his hearers.
Whereof he hath given assurance to all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead — God raising Jesus demonstrated hereby, that he was to be the glorious Judge of all. We are by no means to imagine that this was all which the apostle intended to have said, but the indolence of some of his hearers and the petulancy of others cut him short.
[10] For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.
Proved us — As it were in a burning furnace; and with a design to purge out our dross.
Verse 11
[11] Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins.
Net — Which our enemies laid for us.
Verse 12
[12] Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.
To ride — To use us like slaves.
Verse 15
[15] I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. /*Selah*/.
I will go — One speaks in the name of all the rest.
Incense — With the fat of rams, which is no less pleasing to God than incense.
Verse 18
[18] If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
Iniquity — Any sin.
In heart — If my heart had been false to God, although I might have forborne outward acts. If I had been guilty of that, by heart was set upon sin, or I desired only that which I resolved in my heart to spend upon my lusts.
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[22] Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
Then Paul standing in the midst of the Areopagus — An ample theatre; said - Giving them a lecture of natural divinity, with admirable wisdom, acuteness, fulness, and courtesy. They inquire after new things: Paul in his divinely philosophical discourse, begins with the first, and goes on to the last things, both which were new things to them. He points out the origin and the end of all things, concerning which they had so many disputes, and equally refutes both the Epicurean and Stoic.
I perceive — With what clearness and freedom does he speak! Paul against Athens!
Verse 23
[23] For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
I found an altar — Some suppose this was set up by Socrates, to express in a covert way his devotion to the only true God, while he derided the plurality of the heathen gods, for which he was condemned to death: and others, that whoever erected this altar, did it in honour to the God of Israel, of whom there was no image, and whose name Jehovah was never made known to the idolatrous Gentiles.
Him proclaim I unto you — Thus he fixes the wandering attention of these blind philosophers; proclaiming to them an unknown, and yet not a new God.
Verse 24
[24] God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
God who made the world — Thus is demonstrated even to reason, the one true, good God; absolutely different from the creatures, from every part of the visible creation.
Verse 25
[25] Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
Neither is he served as though he needed any thing — or person - The Greek word equally takes in both.
To all — That live and breathe;-in him we live; and breathe - In him we move. By breathing life is continued. I breathe this moment: the next is not in my power: and all things - For in him we are. So exactly do the parts of this discourse answer each other.
Verse 26
[26] And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
He hath made of one blood the whole nation of men — By this expression the apostle showed them in the most unaffected manner, that though he was a Jew, be was not enslaved to any narrow views, but looked on all mankind as his brethren: having determined the times - That it is God who gave men the earth to inhabit, Paul proves from the order of times and places, showing the highest wisdom of the Disposer, superior to all human counsels.
And the bounds of their habitation — By mountains, seas, rivers, and the like.
Verse 27
[27] That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
If haply — The way is open; God is ready to be found. But he will lay no force upon man; they might feel after him - This is in the midst between seeking and finding. Feeling being the lowest and grossest of all our senses, is fitly applied to the low knowledge of God; though he be not far from every one of us - We need not go far to seek or find him. He is very near us; in us. It is only perverse reason which thinks he is afar off.
Verse 28
[28] For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
In him — Not in ourselves, we live, and move, and have our being - This denotes his necessary, intimate, and most efficacious presence. No words can better express the continual and necessary dependence of all created beings, in their existence and all their operations, on the first and almighty cause, which the truest philosophy as well as divinity teaches.
As certain also of your own poets have said — Aratus, whose words these are, was an Athenian, who lived almost three hundred years before this time. They are likewise to be found, with the alteration of one letter only, in the hymn of Cleanthes to Jupiter or the supreme being, one of the purest and finest pieces of natural religion in the whole world of Pagan antiquity.
Verse 29
[29] Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
We ought not to think — A tender expression especially in the first per son plural. As if he had said, Can God himself be a less noble being than we who are his offspring? Nor does he only here deny, that these are like God, but that they have any analogy to him at all, so as to be capable of representing him.
Verse 30
[30] And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
The times of ignorance — What! does he object ignorance to the knowing Athenians? Yes, and they acknowledge it by this very altar.
God overlooked — As one paraphrases, "The beams of his eye did in a manner shoot over it." He did not appear to take notice of them, by sending express messages to them as he did to the Jews.
But now — This day, this hour, saith Paul, puts an end to the Divine forbearance, and brings either greater mercy or punishment. Now he commandeth all men every where to repent - There is a dignity and grandeur in this expression, becoming an ambassador from the King of heaven. And this universal demand of repentance declared universal guilt in the strongest manner, and admirably confronted the pride of the haughtiest Stoic of them all. At the same time it bore down the idle plea of fatality. For how could any one repent of doing what he could not but have done?
Verse 31
[31] Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
He hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world — How fitly does he speak this, in their supreme court of justice? By the man - So he speaks, suiting himself to the capacity of his hearers.
Whereof he hath given assurance to all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead — God raising Jesus demonstrated hereby, that he was to be the glorious Judge of all. We are by no means to imagine that this was all which the apostle intended to have said, but the indolence of some of his hearers and the petulancy of others cut him short.
Psalm 66:8-20
Verse 10[10] For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.
Proved us — As it were in a burning furnace; and with a design to purge out our dross.
Verse 11
[11] Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins.
Net — Which our enemies laid for us.
Verse 12
[12] Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.
To ride — To use us like slaves.
Verse 15
[15] I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. /*Selah*/.
I will go — One speaks in the name of all the rest.
Incense — With the fat of rams, which is no less pleasing to God than incense.
Verse 18
[18] If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
Iniquity — Any sin.
In heart — If my heart had been false to God, although I might have forborne outward acts. If I had been guilty of that, by heart was set upon sin, or I desired only that which I resolved in my heart to spend upon my lusts.
1 Peter 3:13-22
Verse 13
[13] And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?
Who is he that will harm you — None can.
Verse 14
[14] But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;
But if ye should suffer - This is no harm to you, but a good.
Fear ye not their fear — The very words of the Septuagint, Isaiah 8:12,13. Let not that fear be in you which the wicked feel.
Verse 15
[15] But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts — Have an holy fear, and a full trust in his wise providence.
The hope — Of eternal life.
With meekness — For anger would hurt your cause as well as your soul.
And fear — A filial fear of offending God, and a jealousy over yourselves, lest ye speak amiss.
Verse 16
[16] Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.
Having a good conscience — So much the more beware of anger, to which the very consciousness of your innocence may betray you. Join with a good conscience meekness and fear, and you obtain a complete victory.
Your good conversation in Christ — That is, which flows from faith in him.
Verse 17
[17] For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.
It is infinitely better, if it be the will of God, ye should suffer. His permissive will appears from his providence.
Verse 18
[18] For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
For — This is undoubtedly best, whereby we are most conformed to Christ. Now Christ suffered once - To suffer no more.
For sins — Not his own, but ours.
The just for the unjust — The word signifies, not only them who have wronged their neighbours, but those who have transgressed any of the commands of God; as the preceding word, just, denotes a person who has fulfilled, not barely social duties, but all kind of righteousness.
That he might bring us to God — Now to his gracious favour, hereafter to his blissful presence, by the same steps of suffering and of glory.
Being put to death in the flesh — As man.
But raised to life by the Spirit — Both by his own divine power, and by the power of the Holy Ghost.
Verse 19
[19] By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
By which Spirit he preached - Through the ministry of Noah.
To the spirits in prison — The unholy men before the flood, who were then reserved by the justice of God, as in a prison, till he executed the sentence upon them all; and are now also reserved to the judgment of the great day.
Verse 20
[20] Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
When the longsuffering of God waited — For an hundred and twenty years; all the time the ark was preparing: during which Noah warned them all to flee from the wrath to come.
Verse 21
[21] The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
The antitype whereof — The thing typified by the ark, even baptism, now saveth us - That is, through the water of baptism we are saved from the sin which overwhelms the world as a flood: not, indeed, the bare outward sign, but the inward grace; a divine consciousness that both our persons and our actions are accepted through him who died and rose again for us.
John 14:15-21
Verse 15
[15] If ye love me, keep my commandments.
If ye love me, keep my commandments — Immediately after faith he exhorts to love and good works.
Verse 16
[16] And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
And I will ask the Father — The 21st verse, John 14:21, shows the connection between this and the preceding verses.
And he will give you another Comforter — The Greek word signifies also an advocate, instructer, or encourager.
Another — For Christ himself was one.
To remain with you for ever — With you, and your followers in faith, to the end of the world.
Verse 17
[17] Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
The Spirit of truth — Who has, reveals, testifies, and defends the truth as it is in Jesus.
Whom the world — All who do not love or fear God, cannot receive, because it seeth him not - Having no spiritual senses, no internal eye to discern him; nor consequently knoweth him.
He shall be in you — As a constant guest. Your bodies and souls shall be temples of the Holy Ghost dwelling in you.
Verse 18
[18] I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
I will not leave you orphans — A word that is elegantly applied to those who have lost any dear friend.
I come to you — What was certainly and speedily to be, our Lord speaks of as if it were already.
Verse 19
[19] Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
But ye see me — That is, ye shall certainly see me.
Because I live, ye shall live also — Because I am the living One in my Divine nature, and shall rise again in my human nature, and live for ever in heaven: therefore ye shall live the life of faith and love on earth, and hereafter the life of glory.
Verse 20
[20] At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
At that day — When ye see me after my resurrection; but more eminently at the day of pentecost.
Verse 21
[21] He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
He that hath my commandments — Written in his heart.
I will manifest myself to him — More abundantly.
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