Psalm 117:1-2 A Hymn By Anonymous
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Psalm 117:1-2 Millifulous Millennial Ecumenical Acclamations
The other day we looked at two psalms in one day. Today we make up for it by only looking at two verses! (I didn’t pick the readings!)
It is the shortest chapter of the Bible. And it’s also plum dab in the middle of the Bible.
Psalm 117 is another Hallel psalm, though, obviously, a short one. It was probably also sung after a meal. Maybe a long meal.
The psalmist begins with a call to praise the Lord (v. 1a). Who is supposed to worship Him? All the nations (v. 1b). Why would the psalmist call on all nations to worship the Lord? He knew it wouldn’t happen. Mostly Jews only would hear the call anyway. So why did he exhort all the nations to praise the Lord? Because this psalm looks forward to the end times and the millennial rule of Christ when all nations and all their leaders will bow to Christ. All nations will ultimately worship Christ (cf. Is. 18:7. Zech 14:16; see Addendum To The End)!
God’s hesed is massive (v. 2a, do you know what hesed is yet?). He loves us a lot. He loves His nation, Israel.
His unadulterated, pure veracity will last forever throughout eternity (v. 2b). For that, He should be praised (v. 2c)!
Proverbs 15:22-23 Constantly Consulting Consultants
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If you don’t ask anyone for advice, you can fail miserably (v. 22a). In fact, if you do ask for advice, you can still fail miserably but your chances are better for success. Better to ask for a lot of advice (v. 22b).
If you are really looking for answers, use Google. Well, they didn’t have Google or Bing or Yahoo in biblical times. And it won’t always give you the most wise answer anyway. But when you locate it, you are generally very happy. Like when an author finds just the right designation, or appellation . . . that is, word! Later, we’ll learn that, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter” (Prov. 25:2).
Ronald Reagan was asked during a presidential debate if he was too old to be president. He answered, “I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience . . . .” He won the election in a landslide. That was “an apt answer” (v. 23a). It caused joy even in his rival who laughed along with everyone else.
“How delightful is a timely word” (v. 23b). Indeed.
By the way, it was Reagan’s chief consultant who wrote that line for him.