Leviticus Nine / Psalm Nine

Leviticus 9

My notes: "On the eighth day following the week of consecration, the priests begin their official duties. They offer up special sacrifices for the people that the glory of the Lord may appear. Indeed, the whole purpose of the sacrificial system is revelation, the assurance that God is with his people. However, God's presence is never assumed to be a coefficient of the ritual performed; it is always viewed as an act of his grace."

Here's a little riff off of that passage (I doubt it reflects that passage): We worship God, but it is by His grace that he hears us. It is by His grace that sacrificed God Jesus for our sins. He didn't sacrifice His Son so that we would worship Him. Our salvation is God's gift to us - it is up to us to accept that gift.

Psalm 9

God's Power and Justice

This is pretty neat: My notes: "Pss 9 and 10 are to be read as a unit for several reasons . . . In Hebrew, they generally follow an alphabetic acrostic pattern in which every other verse begins with a successive letter of the alphabet beginning with the first leter in 9.1 and the final letter in 10.17. " Pretty neat. Sometimes I wished I had studied all of these languages so I could see all the little nuances.

1 - 2 "I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart"

3 - 10 Thanksgiving for God is a righteous judge

11 - 12 A call for praise: "Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion. Declare his deeds among the peoples. (I looked up Zion in Wikipedia - it is "is often used metaphorically, to symbolize Jerusalem and the Promised Land come, in which God dwells among his chosen people")

15. Again, "the nations have sunk into the pit that they made." Ain't that always the way?

20. "Put them in fear, O Lord; let the nations know that they are only human." It's time for people to remember that they aren't in charge - that God is.