David Bahn – Reflections

Today’s readings are Romans 1:26-32; Judges 19; 20; 21. I’ll be away for the next few weeks. I will, however, attempt to post a link to the readings for the 49 Week Bible Challenge so you can follow the plan easily. During this time there will be no audio versions of these blog posts.

Judges 21:25

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Our guide in Uruguay was bragging on the progressive character of the nation. Indeed, Uruguay has long been one of the most socially progressive nations in South America. It was the first country in the world to fully legalize and regulate recreational marijuana (2013), and it has permitted no-fault divorce since the early twentieth century. Uruguay recognized women’s political rights in its 1917 constitution, implemented national suffrage by decree in 1932, and women voted in national elections beginning in 1938, making it one of the earliest adopters in the region. The country legalized abortion 2012, and in 2025 it became one of the first in Latin America to legalize euthanasia. Uruguay is often cited as the most secular country in Latin America.

Quite a source of social pride! And a sad commentary about what happens when people abandon God. A society without God loses its moral compass. When “everyone does what is right in his own eyes,” human selfishness takes over. Judges 19 is a biblical picture of what happens when God’s word is ignored. Accountability collapses, power is misused, and people are treated as objects.

Today’s readings from Judges 19–21 show with sobering force that the wages of sin is death. This is not only true of the pagan nations, but of Israel itself. These chapters remind us that no one stands righteous on their own; we all stand in need of a Savior.

These are deeply sorrowful chapters in the story of God’s people. Yet even here, God’s patience, grace, and mercy shine through. He did not sweep Israel away in judgment but remained faithful to his promise to redeem his people – a promise fulfilled in Christ.

Today’s readings are Romans 1:1-25; Habakkuk 2; Psalm 106; Jeremiah 13. I’ll be away for the next few weeks. I will, however, attempt to post a link to the readings for the 49 Week Bible Challenge so you can follow the plan easily. During this time there will be no audio versions of these blog posts.

Romans 1:16-17

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

The gospel changes lives. It changes rebellious and wayward lives to obedient and humble lives. It changes people from asleep to the goodness of God to awake to his tender mercies. It brings life from death.

The law may quell disobedient behavior for a time. Shame may stifle immodesty. Fear may hem in temptation’s abandonment.

But love, grace, mercy, and kindness brings us God’s peace and joy, for it brings us to faith. The Gospel is the power of God for salvation for all who believe. It’s a gift of faith from first to last. Because we believe we share the message of Jesus. Through that sharing others are brought to faith in Jesus. Salvation is from faith for faith.

I hope somehow to have passed this on to family, friends, church members, neighbors, and as many others who will listen to me speak of Jesus’ love and forgiveness, life and salvation.

Today’s readings are 2 Corinthians 13; Deuteronomy 19; Lamentations 3. I’ll be away for the next few weeks. I will, however, attempt to post a link to the readings for the 49 Week Bible Challenge so you can follow the plan easily. During this time there will be no audio versions of these blog posts.

Lamentations 3:16-24

He has made my teeth grind on gravel,
    and made me cower in ashes;
¹⁷ my soul is bereft of peace;
    I have forgotten what happiness is;
¹⁸ so I say, “My endurance has perished;
    so has my hope from the Lord.”

¹⁹ Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
    the wormwood and the gall!
²⁰ My soul continually remembers it
    and is bowed down within me.
²¹ But this I call to mind,
    and therefore I have hope:

²² The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
    his mercies never come to an end;
²³ they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
²⁴ “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
    “therefore I will hope in him.”

The message of Lamentations 3 is confusing, but the foundational truths are profoundly important. On the one hand Jeremiah describes God as causing his teeth to grind on gravel. God is pictured as a bear lying in wait and a lion in hiding ready to tear him apart. These are not the actions of a meek and mild Jesus.

It is vital to keep in mind that God’s truest intention is mercy. His alien work is judgment. And his proper work is compassion. God’s absolute prerogative is to weigh the actions and thoughts of man. We do not have the right to call him into question. It is he who judges, properly, justly, and finally.

God’s proper and greater work is that of compassion. That’s why Jeremiah – after recounting all the hard things God has visited on him – speaks of God’s great mercy and compassion. He writes, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; ²³ they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Whatever trouble we may face and however we may wonder about God’s treatment of us, we can come back to God’s steadfast love, merch, and faithfulness.

This is all most fully seen in the life and death of Jesus. He was sorely afflicted by God (cf. Isaiah 52:13). Yet on the third day Jesus stood vindicated for his faith in his Father, and his faithfulness in humble obedience.

So we say,  “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, therefore I will hope in him” – no matter what may come.”

Today’s readings are 2 Corinthians 11; Genesis 3; Ecclesiastes 10. I’ll be away for the next few weeks. I will, however, attempt to post a link to the readings for the 49 Week Bible Challenge so you can follow the plan easily. During this time there will be no audio versions of these blog posts.

2 Corinthians 11:14

And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

Satan is a wiley foe. We must be ever aware of his schemes. He will even disguise himself as an angel of light – a messenger from God. But we must test every teaching against the truth of God’s word. Nothing else if infallible.

Today’s readings are 2 Corinthians 10; Jeremiah 9; 1 Chronicles 12; 14. I’ll be away for the next few weeks. I will, however, attempt to post a link to the readings for the 49 Week Bible Challenge so you can follow the plan easily. During this time there will be no audio versions of these blog posts.

2 Corinthians 10:17-18

“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” ¹⁸ For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

Some people like to boast of their ancestry. Others boast about their alma mater. Some will boast about their children’s achievements. Still others about their football team.

Let’s let this simple word guide us today and every day: Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord!

Years ago Pastor Stephen DeMik preached on Thanksgiving Eve at St. John about being thankful. His point was right on – and is properly related to boasting in the Lord. For we should be thankful not only for the things we have, but to the One who is the source of all good things. Thanks be to God this Thanksgiving Day – and every day.

Today’s readings are 2 Corinthians 9; Psalm 112; Nehemiah 5. I’ll be away for the next few weeks. I will, however, attempt to post a link to the readings for the 49 Week Bible Challenge so you can follow the plan easily. During this time there will be no audio versions of these blog posts.

2 Corinthians 9:8

God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

This is one of my favorite Bible verses. And then the follow-up: You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God (2 Corinthians 9:11). Imagine this: Our wealth is given us so that we may be generous which will result in thanksgiving to God. That would mean that we are either causes for thanks, or thankful. May it be so – not only this Thanksgiving season, but every day of the year.

Today’s readings are 2 Corinthians 8; Exodus 16; Ezra 2. I’ll be away for the next few weeks. I will, however, attempt to post a link to the readings for the 49 Week Bible Challenge so you can follow the plan easily. During this time there will be no audio versions of these blog posts.

2 Corinthians 8:1-5

We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, ² for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. ³ For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, ⁴ begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— ⁵ and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.

Do you consider it a privilege to give an offering to the Lord? The people of the churches of Macedonia did. They “begged to be able to participate in the offering for the relief of the saints.

Next time you have the opportunity to give for the Lord’s work, consider it a privilege. That’s what it is!

Today’s readings are 2 Corinthians 7; 2 Chronicles 33; Ecclesiastes 4. I’ll be away for the next few weeks. I will, however, attempt to post a link to the readings for the 49 Week Bible Challenge so you can follow the plan easily. During this time there will be no audio versions of these blog posts.

2 Corinthians 7:10

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

There is a difference between being sorry you got caught and having to suffer the consequences for it, and being sorry that you did something wrong and hurtful to others, yourself or offensive to God.

On the other hand, while fear should not be the primary motivator for obeying God, it is a secondary one. Sometimes fear is the only thing that keeps us in line with God’s will and God’s ways.

Godly sorrow leads us to true repentance and faith. That is the latter kind and it is produced only by the influence of the Holy Spirit. Such sorrow that leads to repentance and faith also leads us to life in all its fullness. This is a gift from God and a blessing for which we can be truly thankful.