“And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, ‘If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the LORD’s …’” Judges 11:30-31. Much speculation has been given to whether or not would have given his daughter as a human sacrifice—and how would God have been pleased with such a burnt offering? Or did she remain ever a virgin instead? All this takes the focus off the terrible state of God’s leader seeking to make a deal with God—like someone with little faith might try to manipulate Him! God is not like the genie in Disney’s Aladdin, who could be tricked into giving more wishes. Nor is He a senile grandfather who’s forgotten that He’s already given his grandkids dollar bills. Rather, submitting to the sovereign and omnipotent Creator, we trust that there’s nothing He needs from us (Acts 17:24-27), and yet He is good and works for our good. We must not be like kids vowing to care for a puppy with promises they will never keep if only their father will buy it for them, but rather know that our heavenly Father knows best and will answer us with whatever is best for us. 

“Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress” Judges 10:14. Refusing to cry out to God for deliverance, His people turned to Abimelech as a type of worldly insurance policy to keep other nations from oppressing them. After they’d destroyed themselves from within, there was still no mention of His people admitting their sin and seeking salvation from God for another 68 years. Our longsuffering and long-forsaken God rightly told them to turn to the Baals they had been serving. What if God said that to us? What if the people He had bought with His blood were to recognize that the dis-tress they had been suffering was due to compromising with the culture around us? What if the Abimelech we had put over us was to blend in with the world to keep from being persecuted by it? What if God’s answer to us was to let the gods whom we have chosen save us? His people of old bore the fruit of repentance first. Putting away their foreign gods, they “served the LORD.” This is our way forward as well. As dug in as God seemed to be, He “became impatient over the misery of Israel” and raised a savior up. Will whom you serve save you?

“Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness” Psalm 29:2. “Why does God need us to praise Him?” the skeptic questions. “Is His ego so fragile?” No, just the opposite. God doesn’t need anything from us (Acts 17:24-27), but rather it is us who need to praise Him—give praise to Someone greater than ourselves. Speaking first of God’s glory, strength, and holiness, this psalm, full of praise, ends with an enthroned God benevolently blessing His people. Called also “The Song of a Thunder-storm” because of the seven references to God’s voice accomplishing great deeds, we’re reminded of how God spoke creation into existence (Genesis 1:3) with the breath of His mouth (Psalm 33:6). Here, however, His voice is over the waters, powerful, and full of majesty. It breaks the cedars, flashes forth flames of fire, shakes the wilderness, and makes deer give birth. In control of all aspects of life that seem completely out of control, He is God in the storms of life. And, like Jesus awaking from sleep in the bottom of our boat to calm that storm, God is and always has been in complete control of the wind and waves. What size faith does He find in us?

“Peter began to say to him, ‘See, we have left everything and followed you’” Matthew 10:28. Had they? A great argument could be made for their discipleship. Working at their livelihood of their family’s business in their boat when they were called, James and John “left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed” Jesus. Passing by Levi at his solid, government job of tax-collecting, Jesus invited and the man “rose and followed him.” No excuses and full devotion. That’s what the rich, young man was unwilling to do. Instead, he went away “disheartened” and “sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” Stumbling blocks in the way, he left because this life he couldn’t leave. Today we straddle the fence. We identify with the disciples when we have left very little and shake our heads at the rich young man while still clutching our possessions. The rewards for leaving things of this life for Jesus’ sake and the gospel are still in effect, but we have deceived ourselves that our minor discomforts and annoyances we’ve endured to attend worship and serve with the church when it’s been convenient make us a disciple. Does Jesus tell us there’s more to being His follower?

“The LORD is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed. Oh, save your people and bless your heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever” Psalm 28:8-9. Containing the typical elements found in lament psalms: invocation, a plea for help, a complaint, a petition for justice for the wicked, a hymn of praise, and an expression of confidence in God’s response, the one missing element is a confession of sin. Sometimes a context of what is going on that prompted the psalm helps deepen our understanding of an event, but not knowing the specific struggle that David is reacting to may help us to apply this lament to the challenges that we face. After calling out to God and asking Him not to judge him with the wicked, David gives praise to God and asks that God be the strength, savior, and shepherd of His people. Though king, David sees himself as merely the sovereign God’s representative. This can be seen when, fleeing from Absalom, he asks for the ark to be returned to Jerusalem where God would let him see it again if He found favor with David. How we could learn from this—that it is the Lord’s church and we are only representatives entrusted to do His will.