Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 91
1 He who takes refuge in the shelter of the Most High
will be safe in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 He will say to the Eternal, “My shelter, my mighty fortress,
my God, I place all my trust in You.”
3 For He will rescue you from the snares set by your enemies who entrap you
and from deadly plagues.
4 Like a bird protecting its young, God will cover you with His feathers,
will protect you under His great wings;
His faithfulness will form a shield around you, a rock-solid wall to protect you.
Psalm 91 is a beautiful psalm of trust in God. But how does God take care of all His people, all at the same time? Well, keep reading because Psalm 91 is one of just a few places in Scripture that describe what we might call “guardian angels” (Exodus 23:20; Psalm 43:3). Though rare, these passages teach that God is not alone in maintaining and protecting His creation and His people. He has made a host of heavenly messengers ready to do His bidding, and His bidding is often to guard His people throughout their lives and protect them—sometimes from dangers they are not even aware of.
5 You will not dread the terrors that haunt the night
or enemy arrows that fly in the day
6 Or the plagues that lurk in darkness
or the disasters that wreak havoc at noon.
14 “Because he clings to Me in love,
I will rescue him from harm;
I will set him above danger.
Because he has known Me by name,
15 He will call on Me, and I will answer.
I’ll be with him through hard times;
I’ll rescue him and grant him honor.
16 I’ll reward him with many good years on this earth
and let him witness My salvation.”
24 The day came when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took Jeconiah (son of Jehoiakim), king of Judah, into exile along with the princes of Judah and the artisans and skilled laborers from Jerusalem. Sometime after they arrived in Babylon, the Eternal showed me a vision: I looked and saw two baskets of figs placed in front of His temple. 2 One basket was filled with very good figs, freshly ripened, while the other was filled with very bad figs, too rotten to eat.
In 597 b.c. the dreaded King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has Jehoiachin, king of Judah, deported to Babylon. Along with the king, he takes many skilled laborers and craftsmen to help with the great building projects of his empire. While the loss of powerful and talented men is a tragedy, it will not be the end of Judah’s troubles. The prevailing thought of those who remain in Jerusalem is that they have indeed avoided God’s judgment while those in exile are being punished. This shortsighted perspective is corrected by a vision given to Jeremiah.
Eternal One: 3 Jeremiah, what do you see?
Jeremiah: Figs, both good and bad. The good ones are very good, but the bad ones are so rotten they cannot be eaten.
4 At this, the word of the Eternal came to me.
Eternal One: 5 This is what the Eternal God of Israel says: “These good figs are like those who have been taken into exile from Judah, the ones I have sent to Chaldea. 6 And even though they are in captivity, I will watch over them. I will look out for their good. And one day, I will bring them home. Then I will rebuild them and not tear them down; I will plant them anew and not uproot them. 7 I will give them a new, intense desire to know Me because I am the Eternal One. They will be My people, and I will be their God because they will return to Me completely.
8 “But the bad figs that are so rotten they cannot be eaten are like King Zedekiah of Judah, his leaders, and the citizens of Jerusalem—those who are left behind in Judah and those who escaped to Egypt. So I, the Eternal One, will deal with them like the rotten figs they are. 9 I will make them a horror to the watching world, a disgrace and a lesson for all to learn, an object of scorn and cursing wherever I scatter them. 10 I will send war, famine, and disease against them until they are completely destroyed in the very land I gave to them and their ancestors.”
43 The crowd began cheering and discussing this amazing healing and the power of God, but Jesus turned to His disciples.
Jesus: 44 Listen. Listen hard. Let these words get down deep: the Son of Man is going to be turned over to the authorities and arrested.
45 They had no idea what He meant by this; they heard the words but missed the meaning, and they felt too afraid to ask Him to explain further.
46 Later the close followers of Jesus began to argue over the stupid and vain question, “Which one of us is the greatest disciple?”
47 Jesus saw what was going on—not just the argument, but the deeper heart issues—so He found a child and had the child stand beside Him.
Jesus: 48 See this little one? Whoever welcomes a little child in My name welcomes Me. And whoever welcomes Me welcomes the One who sent Me. The smallest one among you is therefore the greatest.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.