1SAMUEL 9-10:
In yesterday's reading, Samuel was formally made a judge, and then he led the people of Israel into victory over the Philistines. But when Samuel was old and after the appointment of his two sons as judges in his place, his sons perverted justice for bribes. So the people asked to have a king. God had already long ago said this would happen, in fact, this idea was in Hannah’s prayer. Samuel was displeased, not for the sake of his sons, but because the people were rejecting God as their king.

PSALM 95:
This is a gem among the psalms. Note the exuberance of worship in this psalm! And this is balanced by reverence to God. The last half of this psalm is quoted in full in Hebrews and is an important topic in that New Testament book.

ROMANS 3b:
In Romans chapter 3 Paul refutes important misunderstanding and wrong teaching in the process of resoundingly proving that Jews cannot save themselves by their own power by means of fulfilling the Law. (In his use of the term ‘the Law’, Paul was following the custom of including other Old Testament books.) In the verses he quoted, he made it very that not even one person can claim to be righteous in God's sight. So God has provided another way to become right in His sight, which is actually foretold in the Law and Biblical prophetic writings.

NLT Translation notes:
Rom. 3:21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him[, and this way is not based on// without keeping] the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Mosesi and the prophets long ago.
[The Greek says “apart from the Law,” so NLT’s translation is technically possible, but I think it is saying something Paul is NOT saying and is doctrinally defective. In most of my suggested changes to the NLT text, I am concerned with clear communication, here however I am concerned with avoiding misunderstanding that would lead to wrong teaching.]
22 We are made right with God by [fully believing//placing our faith] in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
[Here is an excellent example of the point I keep harping on. Note that using the verb form ‘believe’ instead of the abstract noun form makes it clear that the same word is used later in the verse. Cohesion of ideas makes better understanding. Secondly, it is easier for people to ‘do’ a verb than it is to ‘do’ an abstract noun. It is easier to ‘practice’ something than it is to ‘make a practice of’ something. It is easier to ‘eat’ apples than it is to ‘practice the consumption of’ apples.]
27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on [fully believing//faith].
[Notice again the cohesion of the verb ‘believe’ in 26-31.]
28 So we are made right with God [by our fully believing//through faith] and not by obeying the law.]
29 After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the [non-Jews//Gentiles]? Of course he is.
30 There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by [believing in that message (the Good News)//fully believing//faith], whether they are Jews or [non-Jews//Gentiles].
31 Well then, if we emphasize [fully believing//faith], does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have [fully believe//faith] do we truly fulfill the law.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

1SAMUEL 7-8:
Having won the war with Israel, the Philistines thought their idol Dagon had given them victory. The ark of God was put in Dagon's temple. Then God not only proved that He is greater than Dagon by what happened in the temple, but He also struck the Philistines in all five of their territories with plagues of death, tumors, and rats ravaging the land. The Philistine fortune tellers and priests devised a creative plan to test if these disasters had happened on their own, or because of God's hand was against them. In the story it is clear that the Philistine people knew about the plagues God used against the Egyptians. Once again, God proved that He is God. For any any agnostic or atheist in the audience, this seems to me to be the kind of story that no one would have just made up, especially if you compare this with literature of the same age.

PSALM 94:
This is a psalm of trust in the face of injustice. The psalmist asks for God’s vengeance on arrogant and evil leaders. Those who take advantage of others are called ‘stupid fools’. There is a parable that forms an interesting parallel: Luke 12:20, where God says to the rich man, “You fool, this very night your soul will be required of you.”

ROMANS 2:25—3:
In chapter 2 of Romans, Paul warned of a coming judgment of God, where God will judge everyone's secret life. The trouble is, however, that we all will be judged guilty of sin. Paul has shown us that it doesn't matter if you are Jew or non-Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, we all need a radical transformation. We need to become a ‘true Jew’, which is “one whose heart is right with God].” What each one of us needs is “a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit.” Paul calls this “circumcision of the heart.”

NLT Translation notes:
Rom 3:21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him[, and this way is not based on// without keeping] the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Mosesi and the prophets long ago.

[The Greek says “apart from the Law,” so NLT’s translation is technically possible, but I think it is saying something Paul is NOT saying and is doctrinally defective. In most of my suggested changes to the NLT text, I am concerned with clear communication, here however I am concerned with avoiding misunderstanding that would lead to wrong teaching.]
22 We are made right with God by [fully believing//placing our faith] in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
[Here is an excellent example of the point I keep harping on. Note that using the verb form ‘believe’ instead of the abstract noun form makes it clear that the same word is used later in the verse. Cohesion of ideas makes better understanding. Secondly, it is easier for people to ‘do’ a verb than it is to ‘do’ an abstract noun. It is easier to ‘practice’ something than it is to ‘make a practice of’ something. It is easier to ‘eat’ apples than it is to ‘practice the consumption of’ apples.]
27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on [fully believing//faith].
[Notice again the cohesion of the verb ‘believe’ in 26-31.]
28 So we are made right with God [by our fully believing//through faith] and not by obeying the law.]
29 After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the [non-Jews//Gentiles]? Of course he is.
30 There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by [believing in that message (the Good News)//fully believing//faith], whether they are Jews or [non-Jews//Gentiles].
31 Well then, if we emphasize [fully believing//faith], does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have [fully believe//faith] do we truly fulfill the law.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

1SAMUEL 5-6:
Yesterday we saw the touching way that God revealed to Samuel how to listen for God's voice, and at the same time how He again warned Eli of impending disaster. Eli was incredibly able to recognize the way the Lord works, but at the same time was unconcerned about how God's words applied to him. Let us not be like him! Observe this link to Romans: God's judgment will come to us just as surely as it did to Eli's sons.

PSALM 93:
Like the Gettysburg Address, sometimes the noblest thoughts are best expressed with brevity.

ROMANS 2b:
In yesterday's reading, Paul continued to prove that man is not “basically good” (which one keeps hearing in Hollywood films and on the television). Not only are we sinful, but we tend to be self-righteous— which in itself is sinful. The ‘bad news’ is compounded in these additional points: “A day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. … There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil— especially for the Jews, but also for the non-Jews.”

Verse 12 is difficult so I suggest reading verse 12 from the PET before picking up reading at verse 13.
Rom. 2:12 PET So people who already know the Law and break it are just the same as those who've never heard about the law and commit sin. Sinners who don't know the Law will be destroyed. Similarly, people who already know the Law and commit sin will be judged according to the law.

NLT Translation notes:
Ps. 93:5 NLT Your royal laws cannot be changed. [Holiness, O Lord, aptly adorns your house forever.//Your reign, O LORD, is holy forever and ever.]
[Using NLT’s version, the listener will likely misunderstand ‘holy’ as ‘wholy’.]
[NET] Holiness aptly adorns your house, O Lord, forever.//
[HCSB] holiness is what makes your house beautiful for days without end.//
[GW] holiness is the beauty of Your house for all the days to come.]
====
Rom. 2:9 There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil—[especially for the Jews, but also for the non-Jews//for the Jew first and also for the Gentile].
10 But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who do good—[especially for the Jews, but also for the non-Jews//for the Jew first and also for the Gentile].
12 [CEV [Non-Jewish people//Those people} who don't know about God's Law will still be punished {and destroyed} for {the wrong they have done//what they do wrong}. And the Law will be used to judge everyone who knows what it says.//PET So people who already know the Law and break it are just the same as those who've never heard about the law and commit sin. Sinners who don't know the Law will be destroyed. Similarly, people who already know the Law and commit sin will be judged according to the law.//When the [non-Jews//Gentiles] sin, they will be destroyed, even though they never had God’s written law. And the Jews, who do have God’s law, will be judged by that law when they fail to obey it.]
[The NLT starting with a ‘When’ phrase makes this sound like sudden destruction from God would come on non-Jews during their lives on earth. The original does not start with a ‘When’ phrase but with a ‘therefore/so’. The PET starts with a sentence of implicit information based on the grammatical parallelism of the Greek.]
14 Even [non-Jews//Gentiles], who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it.
24 No wonder the Scriptures say, “The [non-Jews//Gentiles] blaspheme the name of God because of you.”
25 The Jewish ceremony of circumcision has value only if you obey God’s law. But if you don’t obey God’s law, you are no better off than an uncircumcised [non-Jews//Gentile].
26 And if the [non-Jews//Gentiles] obey God’s law, won’t God declare them to be his own people?
27 In fact, uncircumcised [non-Jews//Gentiles] who keep God’s law will condemn you Jews who are circumcised and possess God’s law but don’t obey it.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.