Various Articles
“Take silver and gold, make an ornate crown and set it on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Then say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the LORD. Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the LORD, and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne. Thus, He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices” Zechariah 6:11-13
Whenever I read this I can’t help but hear a rallying voice, the type of speech given in a movie right before they enter the final battle for the fate of the universe or something equally important. It just strikes me in that way. In a way, that’s what this section is. It’s written from a leader of the church to a member. Like how a leader tells his troops an inspiring thing before the battle. For Timothy and us, every day is a battle.
Vigilance is ever needed in that deception comes in many forms. Personal and group familiarity with truth is essential in avoiding last-day deception. There is never a good time to be lax in study and application of the word of God in that the enemy ever waits to exploit our weakness. Standing firm and always holding on are the watchwords for the people of God. Given the resources of truth and the Spirit of God, we have the essential weapons, but they must ever be appropriated into our lives, individually and as the church.
Psalm 101 speaks of integrity. It’s pretty clear-cut, in the ESV version, the Psalm is even called “I will walk with integrity”. The way it’s put there speaks to me, it isn’t saying “I should”, there is no question in that statement, “I will walk with integrity”. I’ll wrap back to the part about integrity later.
First, I want to focus on a phrase. Throughout the whole Psalm, the phrase that we read over and over is “I will”. Throughout the world, and even in myself, I don’t hear that sort of conviction in daily life. “I will” is substituted for “I might”, “I could”, etc. These all convey a sense of being able to back out. Even the term “I can” lacks the certainty that “I will” has. “I can” can mean that you can but lack the conviction to do it. And taking it a step further, even the phrase “I will” can lack conviction. For example “I will go take out the trash” or “I will drive you to school”. In Psalm 101 it’s a much different form of “I will” from those.
So we have conviction, but for what? As said before with the heading, integrity. When I search for the definition of the word “integrity”, I get this in response, “integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.” I think this definition has been generalized for the public and for the rest of the world. The word moral can be subjective in exactly what it entails. I think we as Christians have a great example of what to look for in integrity though, Psalm 101. It lays out our “moral principles” pretty well throughout it. Which I think makes it a great thing to read and study.
As I said at the start, I would challenge you to read Psalm 101 again. But this time, focus on the conviction behind it, and look at the integrity it talks about. Take it one line at a time and dwell on what is said.
© Philip Kirkpatrick, 2024
This also plays into something called a logical fallacy. A logical fallacy is an illogical argument in its simplest form. In this case, it’s an Ad Hominem fallacy. This logical fallacy can be used to state that someone who may typically not have good ideas, someone young and inexperienced in this case, can’t come up with good ideas. The Ad Hominem Fallacy in other words; it is an attack against the person, not the argument or idea they are proposing. So in the case of someone young, it’s saying you can’t dismiss it simply due to age.
If ever someone needed mercy and forgiveness, it was the apostle Paul. His own descriptive words convey his guilt: blasphemer, persecutor, and violent aggressor. Completely misguided in his religious zeal, he violently opposed God’s own Son. But, great as his guilt was, “the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus.” Grace far outweighted guilt.
The reality of aging is the growing list of those who have preceded us in death. From my current vantage point, it is staggering to consider all those who have died that I have known. And, there will be more. For that reason, these precious words from 1 Thessalonians 4 take on greater meaning and assurance.
Paul would later remark to this church which had brought him such joy: “for now we really live, if you stand firm in the Lord” 1 Thessalonians 3:8. Those whom we are related to in the faith should similarly bring such joy to us, and especially those whom we have personally assisted in growth. Our greatest joy should be found in those we mentor/disciple.
Have you ever felt like you don’t know what to do in life? You feel like you need a book of instructions to take with you everywhere you go? Well, there may not be any instruction manuals available, but the Bible as our guide is. In 1 Timothy chapter 2, Paul lists these sets of rules that we should live by, either through worship, or living through daily life.
My 3-year-old son made the joyful revelation when talking and making faces at his baby cousin this summer - “If I’m happy at her, she’s happy at me!” Life isn’t quite always like this, but typically, if you speak kindly to someone, you are much more likely to get a positive response from them whether it is a kind word back or help in an area you are looking for.
Judy Hopps, from the movie Zootopia, is a good example of how your mentality can help you stand firm or be swayed. Judy is a small bunny whose childhood dream was to become a cop. She worked her hardest to pass from the police academy. She continued to work towards her strong desire to do good even when everyone around her didn’t think she could do it.
Psalm 94 uses some harsh language at the start of the Psalm. To start, the psalmist calls God: “God of Vengeance” and is asking God to let His vengeance come down on the wicked. The psalmist also calls upon God to have judgment upon those who are proud. This Psalm calls upon God’s justice against the wicked. It even ends with saying that God will destroy the wicked because of their sin. This paints a rather harsh and commanding picture of God’s character. This is similar to Psalm 7 where it displays that God will sharpen His sword against those who do not repent. 2 Chronicles, it shows that God sent Egypt to rise up against King Rehoboam due to his sinful ways.
