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March 19

Reading 1 - Leviticus 27

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v.2 - It seemed that the vow involved a ritual part of a practical giving to the Lord. Jacob's vow in Gen.28:20-22 involves him giving a tenth part of everything to God. If you make the vow, it must be kept up - Deut.23:21-23, Ecc.5:4,5. Vows had another aspect though - in the same way as a covenant, they were two-way. God vowed as well. Consider these vows - each starts with "If ..." - Num.21:2, Jud.11:30, 1Sam.1:11.
Peter Cresswell
v.14-25 Our houses, lands, cattle, and all our substance, must be used to the glory of God. It is acceptable to Him that a portion be given to support His worship, and to promote His cause.
Peter Cresswell

A summary of the different vows in the chapter

1 - 2 He that makes a singular vow must be the Lord's
3 - 8 The estimation of the person
9 - 13 of a beast given by vow
14 - 15 of a house
16 - 27 of a field, and the redemption thereof
28 - 29 No devoted thing may be redeemed
30 - 34 The tithe may not be changed

27:3 - 8 It is interesting that the value of the vow that the person gives is determined by both the age and sex of the individual. Notice also the degree of difference between male and female changes through age. Between the ages of 5 and 20 the female is estimated at 50% of the male but in the other two groups she is estimated as 60% of the male. I don't know why this is.
27:9 - 10 That the vow should not be altered is caught in the language of Ecclesiastes 5:4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. The vows of the field and its increase is a very practical way in which the Israelite could give to his God. The priests had no inheritance. They 'lived of the temple' to use Paul's words. The extent to which Israel were not willing to make vows affected the wellbeing of the priesthood. This has its counterpart in our lives today. We can dedicate ourselves to our God in service to our brethren and sisters. The extent to which we do this affects the well being of our brethren and sisters
Peter Forbes

:14 The fact that the priest was to put a value on the man's house when he had 'sanctified it to God' shows that when things are given to God it is only a gift when it actually costs us something. It would be all well and good saying that we had given something to God whilst we retained exclusive use of it. That would be no sacrifice. The giving has to be honest unlike Ananias and Sapphira who wanted to appear generous but in reality were selfish. [Acts 5]
Peter Forbes
:34 Again a final confirmation that the whole of Leviticus was given at Sinai before Israel commenced their journey toward the land of Canaan.
Peter Forbes

Reading 2 - Psalms 140, 141 & 142

To Listen
140 v.4 - Is this our prayer - or are we so complacent with life that we feel protected by mans devices? Our 20th century existence is geared more and more towards insurance and assurances of our well-being and protection and security. But we are not secure and we are not protected by the machinations of man and we do well to remember that. Ps.17:8,9, 37:32-40, 71:4, Prov.18:5
Peter Cresswell
141:2 - This represents a recognition on behalf of David that not all sacrifice is acceptable to God - clear from the very beginning when Cain's sacrifice was not acceptable. The state of heart is what makes our petitions agreeable to God. We know David acheived this state of heart, but I personally find great comfort in the fact that he still needed to make this kind of request of God.
Peter Cresswell

Psalm 140 The evil man of this Psalm is not simply someone who happens to do evil things. He is one who plans evil and sets about achieving evil ends. In sharpening his tongue (v3) he calculates what to say. This is why the psalmist says (v4) 'purposed' to do evil.

Psalm 141 The linking of prayer with incense (v2) is seen elsewhere in Scripture (Luke 19-10 Rev 5:8 8:3 ) Reflecting on the incense we remember that it had to be carefully prepared according to God's instructions - so our prayers cannot be offered haphazardly. When Nadab and Abihu offered 'strange fire' (Numbers 26:21) died.

Psalm 142 The title of this Psalm tells us that it was written by David when he was fleeing from Saul - in the cave - despite being fearful of Saul and anxious about his future he took time out to instruct others - 1 Samuel 22:1-2 and Psalm 34:11-22 (this Psalm was written at this time - see the title)
Peter Forbes

141:3 the idea of keeping the door of our lips speaks to us about the importance of the way in which we speak. Solomon also [Ecclesiastes 5:2] says similar things. The tongue is a little member [James 3:5] yet it can get us into a terrible amount of trouble!
Peter Forbes

140:3 'The poison of asps is under their lips' is quoted Romans 3:17 and contrasts with Song of Solomon 4:11 where the bride's lips drop as an honeycomb. We have to decide whether we have poison or the honeycomb at our lips. We cannot have both.

141:3 In asking that God would 'keep the door of my lips' the Psalmist recognises the problems he has with his words. So should we. It is the cry of the wise man also (Ecclesiastes 5:2)

142:2 So when David was before Achish he 'poured out his complaint' - do we ever complain to God? Is it right to complain to God? Psalm 102 (title) is another occasion when a man complained. On both occasions the prayer was heard.
Peter Forbes

Reading 3 - Luke 10

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v. 3 - Here is the practical outworking of our argument above from the Psalms. Here is a real situation we are in every day - we the lambs are forced to spend our days amongst the wolves - but let us remember that there is work to do for God in these circumstances. The labourers are few, each one must do his bit towards the final harvest. This must surely bring about sooner the day when it is decreed to send Jesus back. Matt.24:14. But beware of the wolves. Ps.22:12-21, Zeph.3:3, Mt.7:15, 10:16,22, John 10:12, 16:2, Acts 20:29
Peter Cresswell
v.38 This meeting with Mary and Martha was in Bethany which was their home. [John 11:1] From the chronology of the gospel records it is probable that the meeting described here in Luke 10:38 was the time of the raising of Lazarus. It follows, therefore, that the unique section in Luke from this point to the triumphal entry Luke 19:28. relates to events which took place between the raising of Lazarus as recorded in John 11 and Jesus return to Bethany as recorded in John 12.
Peter Forbes
10:30-37 The parable of the 'good Samaritan' is often used to justify the doing of 'good works' - works of kindness. Whilst it is clearly the case that the servant of God should seek to help those who are encountered whoa re in trouble this is not the message of the parable. The parable was spoken because a man wanted to ;justify himself' (10:29). The parable teaches who the neighbour is. This relates to the question the man asked.
Peter Forbes
:20 Jesus' words to the jubilant disciples are sobering. We may be very pleased with what we have done for God. However that is less important that where our names are recorded. It will all be in vain unless our names are written in heaven. All we will receive, if our names are not 'written in heaven' will be 'the praise of men' (John 12:43)
Peter Forbes
WHO IS MY NEIGHBOUR?

Jesus answered the question, "Who is my neighbour?" by telling the parable of the good Samaritan. He needed to illustrate the way we love our neighbours as ourselves. The Samaritan was an enemy of the Jews, so the parable would have made the expert of the law who asked the question break out into a sweat as he heard the good nature of his enemy. And even at the end of the parable he still couldn't bring himself to name the Samaritan. When Jesus asked which of the people he had described was a neighbour to the wounded man, "The expert in the law replied, 'The one who had mercy on him!'" The hateful feelings ran very deep - even though the Samaritan was his neighbour and needed to see the compassion of the one who had asked the question.

Our attitude toward our neighbours needs to run deeper than just our feelings. As Christians we need to do more than just the norm for the people around us. Jesus asked us to do more - not just to love the people who love us or to be kind to the people who are kind to us, but like the good Samaritan, to go the extra mile even for the people you hate.

"Go and do likewise."
Robert Prins