Ezekiel 38, 39
Psalm 145
Revelation 20

SOAP - Our gracious and compassionate Lord

Scripture: Psalm 145:8-13
The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. All you have made will praise you, O Lord; your saints will extol you. They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, so that all men may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations.

Observation
To me, God often seems really mean in the old testament. He seems quick to anger, very harsh, jealous and totally lacking compassion. He seems obsessed with Israel and hateful toward everyone else. I don't like thinking of God that way. That's not the God I know. Here is a psalm, from old testament times, which is full of praise. Did David write it? Whoever wrote it calls God gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. That is the God I know. How come He comes across as being to harsh when I read parts of the old testament? That is something that was a HUGE challenge for me a few years back when I was baptized and starting trying to get back into church. It's not the same challenge now but it's still pretty confusing. I do love the psalm though... the God I know is definitely gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love, good to all. Thanks God for the love and grace you give us.

Application
I'm not really sure what to say for application. I want to remember that God is gracious and compassionate. I don't want the things I read in the old testament to cause me to back away from God. Seems like this is a good chance to rely on God. I'm going to try to make sure I start my reading each day with a pray, remembering the MANY blessings in my life, and reminding myself that God is so very kind.

Prayer
Dear Lord. Thank you for the blessings I have in this life. I don't deserve any and yet I have so many. I don't really even know what to say to you when I really acknowledge all that you have given me. Thank you definitely doesn't feel like enough. I wish I could promise to live every day, all for you, and I will try but I have plenty of evidence that I will fail. I love you Lord. And I'm sorry that I sometimes when I read stuff it makes me think you have been mean. Thank your for the psalm we read today. Lord thank you again for the many blessings you've given me and please help me as I try to live my life for you, serving you in all that I do. Amen.

Some general thoughts on today's scripture:

1 - For some reason it's always kinda disturbing to me when scripture makes it sounds like God is purposefully making one group of people behave badly toward another. Whoever Gog is, it sounds like God is planning to make them bad. He's controlling them and having them attempt to destroy Israel. It's hard cause I have no doubt that there is a God. And I have no doubt that He is good. The God I see depicted in so much of the old testament seems more like a jealous brat, like a three year old that didn't get their way. That's not the God I know. I've tried to ignore that that last few days and just pick some scripture and focus on something good, but it's managed to creep into my mind and I can't ignore it now. Why was God so mean? I get that the people were horrible to him, but still. It's confusing. I'm thinking this old testament stuff needs a bit of prayer included with my reading time.

2 - Like the Psalm. It's full of good stuff... a nice break from Ezekiel and Revelation.

3 - And Revelation wasn't quite as weird today. I like the thought of all those who have sacrificed their lives for Christ being with him and reigning for 1000 years. I'm not sure what it's meant to symbolize, but it does sound nice.