Morning Musings: Ecclesiastes 9:11

“Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Thanks to the influence of Eastern religious movements in this country, we have a fairly common phrase for when something unfortunate has happened to someone.  It comes in many forms, but the simplest (and cleanest) statement is this: “That’s Karma.”   Read the rest…

O God of Vengeance?

I was reading the other day in Psalm 94 and I came across something that really caught my eye.  In the first verse, the psalmist proclaims this: “O Lord, God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, shine forth!”

O God of vengeance?  I can think of a lot of things for which to praise the Lord.  I could praise Him for His goodness, His love, His mercy, His compassion, His justice, His righteousness, His faithfulness, His generosity, His protection, His plans, His gentleness, His care, and I could probably keep going here for a while.  You may want to go get a sandwich and come back.

The point is: There are lots of things for which we could easily offer praise to God.  Vengeance doesn’t usually (or ever) fall on that list.  Why would the psalmist offer praise like this as the start of his poem and why would that particular song get picked up for the collection of sacred songs that were counted as Scripture?   Read the rest…