RickJW

Nehemiah feels a very strong connection with his fellow Israelites in Jerusalem. When he gets the news from his brother, Hanani, that the rebuilding of Jerusalem has been not only stopped, but the progress that had been made was being undone by the Samaritans, he is wrought with emotion, "he sat down and wept". He prays to God for four months, he fasts and weeps because he is looking for a way that he can help rebuild the "city where my fathers are buried". Finally, he is moved, by God, to request of the King to let him return and rebuild Jerusalem, a request that the King grants, and asks only how long will it take. No, it is not excessive. The Lord delights in our humbleness, in our recognizance of His ultimate superiority. The fact that Nehemiah prayed for four months before approaching the King shows that he was exercising patience and perseverance in his prayers - he avoids the mistake that Joshua made, in taking Ai so soon after God granted victory over Jericho, before God had commanded him to proceed to the next conquest in their taking of the promised land.

According to the lesson text: "There is no free middle ground where we are independent." Our natural leaning is towards sin, we must work to be free from sin. There are many reasons why man looks for this nonexistent middle ground - in American culture, for example, the lifestyle of the 'self-made' man, or woman, is aspired to. We find it hard to acknowledge help from others that has gotten us to our station in life, and especially hard to acknowledge an invisible God. We also find it very necessary to get along with everyone, so much so that we may abandon our values for sake of agreement with another person. It seems that there is no longer an objective truth, tolerance and support of each other's views has become of paramount importance today. Are we truly loving our neighbor, if we let him go on believing something that will cause him eternal suffering?

Good doctrine, that is, teaching which truly adheres to the spirit and intention of the Word of God, should affect our lives in a positive way. We should find our selves inspired and filled with desire to do God's commandments to us. The defeatist doctrines mentioned in this part of the lesson will leave us discouraged and wondering why do we other. Thus, we should honor, and spread good doctrine, after all, the spreading of the Word is a big part of our responsibility to God. We should seek to do that which hallows, or honors and glorifies God's name. We should avoid doctrine that does not conform to God's intentions in what is written in the Bible.

By being obedient, either to God or to Satan, we are said to be slaves to one or the other. I think that the classification of being in slavery to either sin or righteousness is to make us aware that it is not our will that is the major player. We must place ourselves under God's will, and surrender as slaves to Him, or we will go on sinning. Our doing acts of righteousness can be either an outward sign of our faith in and slavery to God, or they can be shows intended to give the impression thereof. We must examine our motives and be sure that we are truly acting in faith, and not trying to curry favor with God. We must make a conscious effort to break our bondage to sin. Obeying the teachings in the Bible, especially the teaching that we should study, meditate, and pray the Scripture, is a way that I have found very helpful in breaking the cycle of sin.

I often feel urges to sin during the day (or night!) - to 'offer members of my body' to sin, or to God, is to make the choice to do Satan's desire or God's desire. Most times I will recite a Psalm or two or three when confronted with an 'opportunity' to sin. There are times when I don't catch myself in time, and then need to repent of a sin, such as cursing the driver who just cut me off in traffic. I find that if I spend more time in prayer and in reading and meditating on the Word, the occurrences of this type of 'knee-jerk' sinful reaction decrease.

If we allow ourselves to be drawn to sin, we are, in Paul's words, 'obdeient to sin', and sin is reigning over us. Satan has taken control of our will, and we commit sin after sin after sin. It is as an addiction to us. We must trust in God, meditate on the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, to strengthen our will so that we overcome the reign of sin.

Daniel's essential prayer was for the return of the Israelites to Jerusalem, and the forgiveness of their sins. In order for his prayer to be heard and answered, Daniel had to assume the sins of the nation as if they were his own sins. He bases his argument on God's promises and history with Israel, how in the past He brought them out of Egypt, for example - this was referred to as 'precedent' in the lesson text. Saving the Israelites from slavery in Egypt brought glory to God, and freeing them from Babylonian rule would glorify Him once more. These acts were done by God in His righteous mercy, not because of any action on the part of the Israelites, they did not in any way 'earn' these benefits from God. God is also identified with Israel - their sins against their God brought scorn on themselves, and upon God as well. Deliverance by God would erase that scorn. God's answer to this prayer was the decree by the Persian leader that allowed the Jews to return to their homeland. Not all did return, this resulted in a purification of the Jews in Israel - the wheat returned to Jerusalem, while the chaff remained in Babylon.

Daniel was sent by God, he had a mission as a prophet. Daniel was even given leadership positions under the Babylonian captors of the Jews. He knew that he had a special relationship with God, and with his gifts, he was also given responsibilities to the Israelites - as well as to God. He, Daniel, feels that he is a part of the body that is the Israelite people, and therefore, he is a part of the people who have sinned against their God. We must learn from this if we would intercede on the behalf of our family, church, city or nation, that we are not apart from the problem, but are a part of the problem - and by performing intercession we become part of the solution. This compares with Jesus seeking forgiveness for His people, in that Jesus took on their burdens and suffering. Jesus' last thoughts as He died on the cross were for forgiveness of the very people who had Him put to death. As Jesus lead a life that was free from sin, Daniel had also lived a life that was righteous.

Daniel prays in complete, utter humility. He prepares himself by fasting, dressing in sack cloth, and with ashes. Israel has done wrong, this is why God let the Assyrians conquer the north, and the Babylonians take the south. In captivity, they have not repented, or in anyway 'earned' favor with God - it is by God's grace and justice, that He keeps to His promise to return the Jews to their land after 70 years of punishment. Daniel is coming to God to intercede for all Israel, and takes a very humble stance in his prayer. He confesses to the sins of Israel, much as Christ suffers for the sins of all mankind on the cross. When we take it upon ourselves to intercede for others, we must be sure that we are in a right relationship with God. We must have our own houses in order, first. We can not presume that by praying for others that we will make things right between us and the Lord.

Daniel found his encouragement from his study of Scripture, specifically Jeremiah, in which it is said that the exile of the Israelites will last for seventy years. This period of time is almost over. Daniel has enjoyed favor with the Babylonian rulers during the exile, for example, he was able to persuade them to change the food given to him and his fellow Jews, so that it would not go against their teachings. In spite of his being captive by these people who did not share his beliefs in God, he was able to prosper and attain high positions in the government. He also had an active prayer life, and knew that God had not forsaken him, but faithfully answered Daniel's prayers. These things all worked together to build Daniel's faith in God and confidence that his prayers would be answered.

I tend to think that Paul means that we should 'consider' ourselves dead to sin, and alive to Christ. If we truly have faith and trust in God, it is not a matter that we need to convince ourselves of. If we have given ourselves over to Christ, while we may be tempted to sin, we will be strong enough not to give in.

Our 'body of sin' is made powerless, not through any action on our part, but by our faith in God. We, as men (and women) are powerless to resist sin, except through our faith in God, through His grace.

By our being baptized into Christ, we are united with Him. We are united with His death, which was a historical, physical event. He is talking about two deaths: the death of Christ on the cross, and the death of our 'old man', or sinful nature, when we accept Christ as our saviour. We must embrace Christ's death through our faith.

The petition at the end of this psalm, where David prays that God will search his heart and try his thoughts is difficult for those of us who are not ready to place our complete trust in the Lord. To be honest, I vacillate between being honest in praying this request, and not being able to pray this request. Times when I feel, or have been told, that I am 'mean' or 'evil', I have prayed for God to search my heart, and "see if there be any wicked way in me". This was the first psalm I committed to memory in my return to a Christ-filled life, it's been a part of my prayers and meditations for about six months now. I am making progress, I think, in living more of a life that glorifies God, but I haven't felt any overwhelming revelation... yet. I do believe that it is absolutely necessary for one to pray this type of prayer to be a genuine Christian. Whether we use the exact words from one translation or another, or use our own words is immaterial. In fact it is probably better to meditate on the concepts, and express our feelings in our own way. I try to do both, and to leave a lot of silence as I consider just what I am asking, this holds true for any prayer.

That God's hand is upon us from the moment of conception, and in fact, His knowledge and plans for us have always existed in Him, are to many of us incomprehensible. 'Such knowledge is too high' for us, we 'cannot attain unto it'. This is as encouraging to me as the facts that the very hairs on my head are numbered by Him, and that not a sparrow falls that God does not know about. If the one who created all that exists can take the time and effort to know me, my thoughts, my words, my actions; this is truly wonderful news! While in the midst of the universe, in my city, even on my block, I may feel insignificant, but God is always there for me, ready to listen to any prayer I may have, whether it be praise, thanksgiving, a request, He is happy just to hear me recite a psalm, to let Him know that my thoughts occasionally turn to Him. Young parents to be should also be encouraged, should feel a sense of great responsibility, to raise their children to be good Christians.

In order for Paul's symbolism to work, baptism by immersion must be in view. Being 'buried in Christ' through baptism then is reflected by being placed under the baptismal waters. Being raised from the dead with Christ would correspond to coming up out of the waters.

In verse 5, God's hand is working to keep the psalmist on course, on the narrow path; in verse 10, we see that God's hand is always there, no matter where travel - even to the most distant places on earth. I believe God's hand has been with me many times during my life, though I can't say I have physically 'felt' His touch.

As discussed in the Excursus, there are several types of baptism available and acceptable today. My background is that of an Infant-baptized Protestant, baptism by sprinkling. As a returning Christian, after many years away from the Church, I have not decided whether or not, and if yes, how I would want to be baptized. So, given the above, I feel that my first baptism was a form of promise, by my parents to raise me in a Christian home (which they did - although Dad did have a falling out with our church and pretty much stopped going when I was 9 or 10 years old). It may well have united me with Christ - many of the values remained with me, though I did have a number of favorite ways to sin during my non-church-going years. If I was to be baptized again, having 'come back to Christ' in a way, I feel that this new baptism would symbolize my union (reunion?) with Christ, and would reinforce or strengthen that union.

People sometimes feel that God is overpowering in His knowledge and intimacy with them, they want to be able to get away, be out of His view for a time. They may imagine that they can hide from God, or hide something that they have done from Him. Have I felt this way? That I had done something that I wish the Lord did not know about? Sure, many times.

We move to being under the headship of Christ when we are baptized. The physical act of baptism is symbolic of our having accepted Christ as our saviour, although it could also be thought of as a consummation of our being united with Christ. So, yes, we must do something to change from having Adam as our head to having Christ as our head. It is the old man, Adam, which died with Christ. For us, that means that it is the old man, or Adam, within us that died with Christ. Our new self emerges once we accept Christ's death as the payment of our debt for sin.

Adam, as the first human being, represents all humankind, since from him we all are descended. Christ is the head of all who have faith in Him, and assent to the substitutionary sacrifice of the Son of God, from which we, by God's grace, enjoy forgivness of our sins. If we do not accept Christ as our representative, head, intercessor, and mediator, His death is meaningless to us, and therefore, we will not enjoy God's forgivness of our sins.

Paul is saying that, although sin existed, and was sin, it was not a case of man deliberately going against an established law, as, until Moses brought the Ten Commandments down from Sinai, there was no established law. Adam and Eve did, however, disobey a direct command from God when they ate of the tree on knowledge of good and evil. According to the lesson text, the law was given to Moses so that sin would be more visable, and stand out from righteousness. Trespass increases, with the law in place, because people then know that it is wrong to do that which is forbidden by the law. Paul is saying, then, that sin certainly existed, even though not codified in the law, but it was not counted as a deliberate trangression.

In modern day life, there are many examples in which one person represents, or acts for a group - for example, the foreman of a jury, the steward of a union shop, and government leaders - mayors of cities, governors of states, presidents of nations. In these examples, the representative is tied to the group he represents in differing degrees, that is he may or may not act as the group wishes him to act, and with varying degrees of opportunity and consequences for acting contrary to the group's wishes. For example, a jury foreman could not report a verdict opposite to that which the full jury came to. There are generally two-way obligations between the group and the representative. In the case of a nation's leader - democratically elected - the leader is obligated to act according to the will of the majority, and the people are obligated to follow the leader into war if necessary.

Hezekiah tells the Lord, in prayer, that he has been a faithful servant, devoted to God, and did what was good in God's eyes, in other words, he has been a righteous leader and person. It is important that we be righteous if we would have our prayers answered - this may not mean sin-free, since man can never be absolutely free from sin - but, by having faith in God, belief in the substitutionary sacrifice in the death of Jesus, and recognizing our sinful nature, and confessing those sins, being repentant of them, we may be credited as being righteous by God.

From the lesson text, reconciliation is the "exchange of hostility for a friendly relationship". This means, that while once the reconciled parties had been adversaries, they are now living in a peaceful relationship. It was necessary for man to be reconciled with God to escape the wrath of God and eternal torment for man. As man still has a sinful nature, it is necessary for Jesus to continue His work. Jesus continues to serve us by being there for us as intercessor in our prayers. He is the mediator between us and God.