Thy word have I hid in mine heart. [Ps 119.11]

Psalm 119.11 KJV

Thy word have I hid in mine heart,

that I might not sin against thee.

 

When I was a kid I memorized this verse. Helped a lot that musician Dan Whittemore has a song about it, which he played at our church, and I still own a cassette of that album. Years later I discovered a hymn which also has it as its chorus; one of my professors loved to sing it in chapel for us, once a semester. (Brilliant guy, lovable character, but terrible singing voice. He sounded like Chewbacca from Star Wars. Still, God listens to the heart, not the vocal cords.)

In context this verse comes from Psalm 119, the longest psalm (and chapter) in the bible. It’s a massive acrostic. It starts with eight verses which each begin with א/alef, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet; then the next eight verses begin with the next letter, ב/bet, and so on through the whole alphabet. Only the 1949 Knox Bible (a Roman Catholic translation of the Vulgate, in which Psalm 119 is numbered 118), kept it an acrostic.

Psalm 119 is dedicated to the Law of Moses, and how great and useful it is. It’s a psalm Christians tend to skip. We quote this verse, and a few other memorable verses like it, and ignore the rest. It’s because this passion for the Law… honestly, bugs Christians a little. Too many dispensationalists among us think the Law was nullified by Jesus, so we can ignore it, except for maybe the 10 commandments, plus that one command against homosexuality. We figure grace cancels out the rest. So reading Psalm 119 weirds Christians out, because we look at the psalmist’s passionate love for the Law, and we don’t share that love, and think he’s being kinda gross about it.

But verse 19 is fine. It uses the synonym אִמְרָה/imráh, “utterance, speech, word.” And the bible is God’s word, right?—and we revere the bible. So we’re good… so long that we never read the verse in context and find out the psalmist really means the Law.

Prayers we don’t expect answers to.

When I talk about people who don’t expect God to answer, I’m not necessarily speaking of hypocrites. There are those.

Hypocrites would be the people who offer prayers instead of help; those who wish people to be warm and well fed but won’t offer clothes and food. Jm 2.15-16 Or politicians offer “thoughts and prayers” after a mass shooting, instead of writing laws to control guns. I also wonder how often they actually follow up with prayer—and that’s why they never expect God to answer; they never spoke to him in the first place.

Nope, today I mean the people who don’t believe prayer works. They do pray, but they never, ever expect God to answer. Sometimes because they figure God stopped answering once the bible was complete—so from now on, if you have any God-questions, direct ’em towards the bible, not the Almighty.

And sometimes—and probably more often—they claim prayer doesn’t work that way. They say prayer is meant to be unidirectional. The purpose of prayer isn’t to communicate with God; it’s not to ask him anything, or ask him for anything. Those who make requests of God misunderstand its purpose, get their hopes up that God might hear ’em, but only set themselves up for disappointment. Because God’s not gonna answer them. That’s not why we pray.

Okay, so why do we pray? Well, they explain, that’s the religion. We’re told to pray. Christians pray. If you don’t pray, you’re not following the religion. But don’t expect anything out of the prayer itself; expect it out of the obedience. God wants us to pray, so we do; we’re obedient. That’s the point.

So when they pray, they go through all the motions of talking to God. They address God, praise him, lift up people they think God might want to see us lift up, talk about their own personal religious improvement, add a lot of pious-sounding things which God might like to hear, invoke Jesus’s name, and say Amen. For all the world it looks like they talked to God.

But no, not really. It’s entirely ritual. Or, as any reasonable onlooker might conclude, pure hypocrisy.

No, seriously. If we’re going through all the motions of talking to God, but we’re not really talking to God; we’re just going through the motions because we need to fulfill a religious duty, how is it not hypocrisy? And y’might recall the one thing which, in the gospels, pissed off Jesus more than anything, was hypocrisy. Why on earth would hypocrisy, in any form, be a legitimate part of Jesus’s religion?

“You spawn of vipers!”

Matthew 3.7-8, Luke 3.7-8A.

In Mark we only see John the baptist’s appearance, plus the obligatory reference to that Isaiah passage about preparing the Lord’s way and making his paths straight. Is 40.3 In the other synoptic gospels we see the same thing… plus a bit where John rebukes some of the people who aren’t all that repentant; who’ve come to the desert to gawk at him.

Because of the time Matthew and Luke spend on this bit, you might get the wrong idea—that this was all John taught. That his only purpose was to denounce popular Jewish culture for being hypocritical and only worthy of God’s wrath. You’d especially get this wrong idea if your favorite preachers taught this was John’s main purpose—and likewise teach it’s their main purpose. This is how dark Christianity perpetuates itself.

But this is not John’s main purpose, nor his main message. Preparing the Lord’s way does not consist of raging against all the evil and corruption in the world. It’s doing as John usually did: Telling people their sins are forgiven, and baptizing them so they can follow the LORD anew. We Christians are supposed to do this too.

And when the religious snobs come to visit our churches and meetings, and complain we’re not doing it in a manner which pleases them, then we can respond to ’em like John did.

Matthew 3.7-8 KWL

7Seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees

coming to his baptism,

John told them, “Spawn of vipers!

Who whispered to you² to flee the coming wrath?

8So produce the worthy fruit of repentance!”

Luke 3.7-8 KWL

7So John said to the crowds

coming out to be baptized by him, “Spawn of vipers!

Who whispered to you² to flee the coming wrath?

8ASo produce the worthy fruit of repentance!”

Christianity is meant to be a lifestyle of repentance. And by “repentance” I don’t mean feeling remorseful and guilty all the time, constantly apologizing for all our past misdeeds, constantly apologizing for others’ many and egregious misdeeds. (I mean, there’s obviously a time to tell American Indians you’re dreadfully sorry for your white ancestors murdering their ancestors, or looking the other way as your ancestors moved onto their stolen land… and a time not to. True of other such atrocities.) Christianity isn’t supposed to be about continuously beating ourselves up for being dirty sinners. Some churches do that, and they’re absolutely wrong to. Properly, repentance is about going the other way. You used to run towards sin; now go the other way. You used to rush towards evildoing and revenge and trolling; now go the other way. You used to embrace insults and trash talk and sarcasm; now go the other way.

Used to, right? If not, maybe you’d better start producing the worthy fruit of repentance.

Ahab meets Elijah.

1 Kings 18.16-20.

Look for a moment at the drought Elijah called down from Ahab ben Omri’s perspective.

Some oddly-dressed prophet from an old tribal religion you don’t practice, shows up and declares the rain will stop till he says otherwise. Then he leaves for parts unknown… and the drought happens. Your god Baal-Hadad, who specializes in weather—his idols even hold a lightning bolt!—can’t undo it. You’re a polytheist—you never believed Elijah’s god isn’t real; he’s just not your favorite. ’Cause the LORD’s worship only involves moral behavior and barbecuing animals, but Baal’s worship includes freaky ritual temple sex, and your wife’s really into it. But it’s kinda obvious the LORD actually does control weather better than the Baals, so you bite the bullet and start looking for Elijah. Hard. But he’s gone. It’s like he was raptured. (Not yet though.)

As you’re sending messengers to every country round about, the wife starts killing the LORD’s prophets—either because the LORD won’t let ’em turn the water back on, or petty revenge. Plus you’ve managed to terrorize your butler into thinking he’s dead meat if he knows anything, but won’t tell. (As it turns out Obadiah does know things. Lots of things.)

And then Elijah just shows up. Just as you’re scrounging for grass to feed what’s left of your dehydrating, hungry herds.

What do you do in this situation? Right: You cut his bloody head off, mount it on a pole, and display it in Samaria for all to see and fear. This is what happens to those who defy their king. It’s what any good tyrant would do.

Yet somehow Elijah manages to mouth off to Ahab a bit, then orders the king—yep, a subject who could command a king to do stuff, and the king obeyed—to bring 850 of his gods’ prophets to כַּרְמֶ֑ל/Kharmél (“fertile garden,” KJV “Carmel”), a limestone mountain range on the Mediterranean coast, near Haifa. In Arabic it’s known as جبل الكرمل/Jabál Mar Ilyás, “Mount Saint Elijah.”

1 Kings 18.16-20 KWL

16Obadiah went to give the message to Ahab,

and told him.

Ahab went to give the message to Elijah.

17When Ahab happened to see Elijah,

Ahab said to him, “Is this you?¹

—making trouble for Israel?”

18Elijah said, “I don’t make trouble for Israel;

that’s you¹ and your¹ father’s house,

by you² abandoning YHWH’s commands

and walking behind the Baals.

19Now, reach out:

Bring me, from all Israel, at Mount Karmél,

450 of Baal’s prophets,

and 400 of Asherah’s prophets

who feed at Jezebel’s table.”

20Ahab reached out to all Israel’s descedants,

and gathered the prophets at Mount Karmél.

“Jezebel’s table” means Jezebel personally financed them. The king and queen of Sidon were automatically the head priests of Baal-Hadad and Asherah, respectively. If Ahab and Jezebel were duplicating this setup in Ephraim, he’d be in charge of Baal’s worship, which’d include the prophets; she’d be in charge of Asherah’s.

Kharmél was 72km away from the prophets’ comfortable home in Samaria, and a bit of a climb. (I took a bus there; that’s the way to go.) And I’m pretty sure the Baalite prophets had no interest in traveling up a mountain just to hear a solitary prophet of the LORD call ’em rude names.

How’d Elijah get away with all this? My guess is after three years of begging Baal to please produce water, any water, Ahab had finally lost patience with his useless god. The LORD knew this, and timed things to correspond with Ahab’s shaken faith. The king was finally open to hearing Elijah out, instead of simply having the prophet drawn and quartered. “Here’s your opportunity,” the Holy Spirit told his prophet; “don’t waste it.” So Elijah didn’t.

Fasting for answers.

Whenever we fast, prayer needs to be a part of it.

Yes, fasting helps us develop spiritual maturity; yes, fasting increases our self-discipline and self-control; yes, fasting shows our commitment to God (assuming we are doing it for God, and not because we have an ulterior motive to lose a pound or two). Yes, it has its spiritual benefits. But its point is the hardcore pursuit of God, whom we love more than calories. So we should be talking with him throughout.

And in the scriptures, when we see people fast, that’s what they’re doing: Talking with God. Usually because they have a dire need or have a serious question, and want God to help or answer ’em. And that’s fine; God wants us to bring our questions and needs to him.

First thing is to not bring public attention to your fasting, lest you want God to ignore your requests because you’re really just fasting for the attention.

Matthew 6.16-18 NLT

16“And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. 17But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. 18Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”

Forget the burlap and ashes; yes I know people in the Old Testament did it, but they didn’t know any better. Cancel any lunch or dinner dates—don’t do that thing where you go to them anyway, but conspicuously don’t eat; that’s hypocrisy too. Go through your day as usual, but instead of eating, pray. Seek God’s aid and answers.

John the baptist’s appearance in Josephus.

During the Jewish War of 66-70CE, a Pharisee militia leader named Joseph bar Matthew, based on his own wonky studies of the End Times, came to the conclusion the commanding general on the Roman side, Titus Flavius Vespasianus (whom historians call “Vespasian”) was Messiah. Or at least that’s what Joseph told Vespasian after he was captured.

Vespasian was amused, and kept Joseph around as a slave and translator. That is, till he realized he had a really good chance to be emperor, seized it, and left Joseph in Judea with the new commanding general, his son Titus Flavius Vespasianus Junior (“Titus”). Titus is the guy who had Jerusalem burnt down and the temple destroyed in 70, and nine years later became emperor himself. He freed Joseph, and after gaining Roman citizenship, Joseph renamed himself Flavius Josephus after Titus’s family.

We best know Josephus as an historian, mainly for two of his Greek-language books: The Jewish War, a history from Herod the Worst to the end of the war, and his memories of it; and Jewish Antiquities, a history of Israel and Judea. It’s in The Jewish War, book 18, where he makes mention of John the baptist in a chapter about Herod Antipas’s war with Aretas, king of Arabia. (My translation.)

116Some of the Judeans are thinking Herod’s army’s destruction was from God, and rightly so—as punishment for his revenge on John, called “the baptist.” 117Indeed Herod murdered this good man. John was commanding the Judeans to be virtuous towards one another and pious towards God. He was using baptism to help them understand, for this ritual washing was acceptable to God—it will appear to him, not like a certain sin-offering, nor a prayer one could use, but like purifying the body. Therefore before one could be righteous, a soul was cleaned out. 118Those who gathered together to hear John were pleased at much of the teachings they heard. Herod feared John’s strongly persuaded people, lest some of them trigger a revolt, for everyone accepted and followed John’s counsel. Herod considered it better to do this before some new follower of John came to imagine a change in the system, and try something. 119On Herod’s suspicion, John was preemptively made a prisoner, and sent to the fortress Maherús to kill him. In the Judeans’ opinion, the destruction of the army became God’s punishment; he wanted to do evil to Herod.

We have no idea whether Josephus ever read the gospels, all of which had been written by the time of the war. Clearly he didn’t believe Jesus is Messiah… although some overzealous Christian got hold of Antiquities book 18, and altered the one passage which had anything to say about Jesus. Probably he found it blasphemous. Well now it’s not; it now says this, and is obviously not Josephus.

63At this time comes Jesus, a wise man—assuming it’s right to say “man,” for he’s a doer of paradoxical works; a teacher of people who are pleased to get the truth, who drew many Judeans and many Greeks. This man is Christ. 64On the evidence of the head men among us, Pilate ordered him to the cross. Not that those who first loved him stopped following, for he appeared to them alive again on the third day. The divine prophets had foresaid this, and other countless wonderful things about him. To this day the “Christians,” named for him, have not fallen as a tribe.

So it’s not outside the realm of possibility the bit about John the baptist was also altered, or inserted by Christians who wanted to make sure one of our prophets is in Josephus’s history.

Virtual churches.

Back in 2020, before there were COVID vaccines and the pandemic was still raging, we Californians were voluntarily isolating ourselves, and a lot of churches switched to online services. Mine did. Our pastor would record his sermon from his office or from home. The musicians would record their worship music separately. It’d all get edited together, then uploaded to YouTube so people could watch it Sunday morning.

Or Sunday night. Or Monday morning. Or whenever they got round to watching it. That’s the nice thing about videos of a church service: You can watch them whenever you want. However you want: If there’s a particular song you’re so very tired of, you can skip it! If the worship team has the bad habit of repeating the chorus 30 times at the end, you can skip past the last 29 repeats. If the pastor spends the first 15 minutes of any sermon talking about football, especially if he roots for the wrong team, skip that too. If he speaks too slow, crank it up to double speed! If she speaks too fast, you can even slow her down a little (and it’ll have that fun side effect of making her sound a little bit drunk). And if you wanna watch all the sermons in a series at once, you can binge-watch ’em.

Obviously there are downsides to “virtual church.” You can’t be there to participate. If the pastor says, “Turn to your neighbor and pray for them,” you can’t. If they’re having holy communion, you can pause the video and dig around your pantry for saltines and grape-flavored Kool-Aid so you can take ’em in sync with the recording, but it’s still not the communal ritual it’s meant to be. There are no real live Christians to interact with; just a service. And the real live Christians are the point.

This is why a lot of churches back then refused to move their services online, and insisted on having in-person church services, dangerous virus or no dangerous virus. Like the snake-handlers, they insisted God would honor their faith, and protect ’em despite their irresponsible behavior. Bluntly, a lot of ’em weren’t actually doing it because the church is people, and they didn’t want take the people out of their services. They were doing it ’cause they wanted to give the middle finger to the government for making ’em do anything they didn’t wanna. This jerk-like attitude managed to alienate a whole lot of people, who wouldn’t come back to their churches after the quarantines lifted. But y’know, sometimes no one in their churches did catch the virus: It hadn’t spread to them yet, or those who were most likely to spread it wore masks and gloves and sanitized themselves. Still wasn’t wise.

Well, once the quarantines lifted, and people came back to the in-person services… a lot of people stayed home. Because watching church on the internet is so convenient.