1 Samuel 11-12; Psalm 96; Romans 4:1-17

 May 23: I see a theme of acceptance running through these three passages: Saul accepted as king by the people, the Jews' mission to promote acceptance of the Lord by the nations, the acceptance of Paul by Christ. What are some wholesome things that make a man acceptable to his peers that shine through these accounts?

1. Zeal: Saul's decisive action shamed his peers and drew them to him, which is not only how he became accepted as Israel's first king, but how the nation became united and defeated their oppressors.
2. Worship and holiness in truth: the Psalmist praises God accurately, with knowledge of His works and no fear of the idols of other nations. He's an apologist for God, and urges others to submit to Him. As Psalm 33:1 says, "Praise is comely for the upright."
3. Faithfulness and competence: Paul demonstrates both clarity in his reasoning and a deep understanding of the Scriptures. He handles the truth faithfully, putting things that are clear to any honest reader together with things that are undeniable though implied to form a tight argument for justification through faith alone.

How many men have I known who are amiable but empty? Flattering and agreeable but not sincere? We may be bluffed into enjoying and even temporarily admiring such people, but there's an agenda behind then that is not wholesome and not grounds for true friendship.

1 Samuel 11-12: The turning point in Israel’s acceptance of Saul as king was his victory over the Ammonites. What made it possible? The Holy Spirit’s inspiration - we know from James 1:20 that the “wrath o man worketh not the righteousness of God,” but after the Spirit came upon Saul, his “anger was kindled greatly.” The unusual act of cutting a yoke of oxen in pieces, therefore, was a Spirit-inspired reaction, reminding them of their method of covenant-making. (See Genesis 15:8-21) All the tribes had a responsibility to defend Jabesh-Gilead; and Saul’s courage in reminding them, galvanizing them to action, demonstrated that he was the kind of leader they were looking for (See 1 Samuel 8:20). However, although a king had been prophesied in the Law, they were asking too early, and as a result, followed the pattern in Stephen’s sermon in Acts 7: the second Man, the second Adam, was the man of God’s choosing.

Psalm 96: The Jews were said to not be an evangelistic people: they didn’t go out and actively proselytize, though some came to them and became proselytes. In light of this Psalm, is that according to God’s will? There’s no express “Great Commission” of the Old Testament, but this song seems to imply that the Jews knew they had a responsibility to declare Him to the nations and make worshipers of Jehovah out of idolaters.

Romans 4:1-17: The way that Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, explains Old Testament narrative, should be part of our reasoning when choosing a translation of the Bible. All of this shows the extremely precise logic and it doesn’t take too much imagination to picture it being marred by a muddy translation. The words “impute,” “nation,” “transgression” are so important in this chapter: members of the church are not members of Israel, but we are also considered children of Abraham, and inheritors of the unconditional promises to him by faith, illustrated by his being accounted righteous for believing God before his circumcision so that no one would get the idea circumcision itself saved him. Likewise Christians are saved, then baptized based on that salvation, that no one gets the idea that works of righteousness which we have done are the basis of our salvation. What, then, is the significance of the phrase, “where no law is, there is no transgression?” (v. 15) In the previous chapter (v. 9), Paul summarizes the argument of Romans 1:18-3:20: “we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin.” It is when God is known and His Law is known that one can transgress; otherwise sin is in ignorance, as Paul said that his blasphemy and persecution of Christians was shown mercy because it was in ignorance. (1 Timothy 1:13)