Day #108 | "Reading the Bible Through the God Lens"

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read 1 Chronicles 16:4-43 and Psalms 96 and 29

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Reading the Psalm of Asaph through the God lens. Out of the three psalms in this reading, I've chosen the first one (in 1 Chronicles 16:8-36) to do a little exercise with. When I am preparing for a sermon, I will typically take the text and work through it three times, using what I call "the God lens," "the human lens," and "the Gospel lens." This is what happens when you go through the Psalm of Asaph in 1 Chronicles 16 with the God lens: (1) God has given good gifts to us, for which we should thank Him (16:8); (2) God is responsive to our call (16:8); (3) Even in the Old Testament, God's heart was for all the peoples of the earth that he had made (16:8); (4) God is worthy of praise (16:9); (5) God is holy (16:10); (6) God does not desire to press us into the dirt to establish his dominance, but in fact God desires that his people would be blessed, be happy, and rejoice (16:10); (7) God offers us his presence, and the strength that comes from him, continuously--he is both all-present and all-powerful, and both of those are attributes that he is willing to exercise on our behalf (16:11); (8) God is able to pass judgment because his wisdom is infinite, nothing is hidden from him, he knows the future, and because he is the designer of this world in which we live our lives: he knows how it is meant to function all together (16:12); (9) Though we are his servants, he treats us as friends (16:13); (10) God has chosen us as his people (16:13); (11) He is faithful to keep his promises, throughout all generations (16:14-18); (12) God protects his people, though we may not always see this on our own (16:19-22); (13) God saves us--but from what? In context, he protects Israel from the surrounding nations (the world). But he also saves us from ourselves, our own sin and brokenness and shame (the flesh). And he also protects us from Satan, who prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour (the devil). So God is the one who saves us from the world, the flesh, and the devil. And nothing else can, except him. (16:23); (14) The so-called gods of other religions can't compare to Yahweh, the one true Creator of heaven and earth. This is one reason why other religions lack the evidential basis of Judeo-Christian revelation, or the staying power, or the fruitfulness seen in societies that adopt its norms. Whether you choose evidentialism, pragmatism, or endurance as a measuring stick of truth, the God of the Bible passes each test (and all of them together in combination) better than any other religious claim--because the gods of the peoples are worthless idols (16:25-26); (15) Some of God's attributes: splendor, majesty, strength, joy, holiness (16:27,29); (16) God calls us to freely approach him, and yet we must do so with respect: this psalm simultaneously calls us to "come before him" in v. 29 and at the same time tells us "tremble" in his presence (16:30); (17) All of creation witnesses to the glory of God! The heavens are glad, the earth rejoices, the sea roars, the field exults, the trees of the forest sing for joy--what about you and me? (16:31-33) (18) Three things to know about God: he comes to judge the earth, he is good, and his steadfast love endures forever (16:33-34); (19) The final verses in 16:35-36 seem like they were added on during the exile, with a plea to gather Israel from among the nations, but they acknowledge an important truth in that God has no beginning and no end: from everlasting to everlasting he is God (16:36).

DO | HOW DO WE RESPOND?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? IN OUR WORSHIP we can take some time to think about God: about who he is, what he is like, what he has done, and how we can know him. We can consider how he has treated us with graciousness and kindness, even though he doesn't need anything from us. We can seek him for his wisdom. We can place our hope on him. And, we can read the Bible through the God lens more often: asking first when we open God's Word, "what can this teach me about him?"

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US TO GOD?

Whether in response to anything pointed out here, or to something else in your Bible reading time, take a few moments before you close up your Bible to pray in response to God. If you need a format for prayer, both the ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication), CALL (Confess, Ask, Love, Listen), and PRAY (Praise, Repent, Ask, Yield) methods are helpful ways to stay consistent.

-Sean