November 10th

Leviticus 25:1-26:13, Mark 16:1-20, Psalm 33:1-11

If I’m being honest I really struggled today, Leviticus has not been easy but then my head wasn’t there and the two just made for mud soup! But then one verse jumped off the page and slapped me around the face:

“you will lie down and no-one will make you afraid. I will remove savage beasts from the land and the sword will not pass through you country.” Lev 26:6

Kind if what I needed to hear really.This verse falls within a whole section headed “reward for obedience” and details the fact that God will look after the people.

Psalm 33 fits in with this, it is a psalm of praise, giving God glory for all that he has done for the Psalmist. It could be just like any of our worship songs, really going for it to give glory to God the father. On this occasion all about the acts of creation and this helps the people to see the reward that God will give. When the Psalm and the reward passage are held together then this is a God that we can trust.

But the people might be forgiven for having just half an eye on all the punishment that God has wielded on the Egyptians and Aaron’s sons. He was a God of Justice and when people went astray they were not allowed to get away with it. So when we read this passage how do we feel? There is one big thing that falls into place. The thing that tells us once and for all that this is the God we can trust forever. The death and resurrection of Christ, when God came to earth and place himself on the cross, this is the God who will never turn his back on his people, who will fulfil the Leviticus promise, that when we are obedient to his way his hand will be upon us.

So whatever is going on today, know that the God of the resurrection, who defeated death for all time, has his hand upon you and that you can lie down and never be afraid.