Digging in Deeper: Judges 19:22

“As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, worthless fellows, surrounded the house, beating on the door.  And they said to the old man, the master of the house, ‘Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him.'”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

For Israelites who were later being told this story as part of their people’s dark past, these words would have been chilling even before the narrative of what comes next.  This whole situation would have left them shuddering in terror.  This would have been a story you didn’t tell your children, but waited until they were a bit older and could handle it.  Even now, this isn’t somewhere I’d point my boys to read just yet. Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Psalm 130:4

“But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

The fear of the Lord is a poorly understood concept even among His people.  This is quite simply because we think about fear only in a single sense: terror.  To be afraid of something isn’t good.  Thus, while perhaps we should fear the Lord because we’re told to do so over and over and over again in the Scriptures, this isn’t something that ultimately draws us closer to Him.  We fear Him so that we’ll do what He says.  Once we develop the pattern of doing what He says, then we begin to grow closer to Him, at which point we don’t need to fear Him any longer.  The logic here seems just about airtight…and it’s just about completely wrong. Read the rest…