You probably have been noticing that the name for God keeps changing in the Genesis readings. The change reflects the different authors of the accounts as I mentioned on January 1. The accounts have been merged and one can tell who is writing by looking God’s name. This merging makes for a somewhat repetitive account of the events. I like to think of it like a television show that has two main characters and we are seeing the scenes from each of their perspectives. There are slight variations in their accounts and so when we are reading the details sometimes don’t line up, but this is always true when more than one perspective is considered. We see this in the stories in Genesis 7 and 8. The amount of time that passed during the flood varies between the accounts. What we can gather from both accounts is that Noah, his family and the animals spent a long time in the ark on the water and it was not a pleasant voyage.

In our society we seem to have a fit after even a day of inconvenience. We are amazed when people are able to tolerate unpleasantness for any length of time. Our attention span is short and we are shocked when we see that some circumstances are still present after 6 months, a year or more. Needless to say, I am sure most of us would find being cooped up in a floating menagerie, being buffeted by wind and waves, with no port to bring relief, unpleasant at least and possibly unbearable. While the scriptures don’t say it, I am sure that from time to time Noah wondered what God had gotten him into. He was fine doing what God asked before he realized just what a commitment he was making. But after spending weeks and months in the ark he was probably wishing he had thought ahead and maybe had reconsidered.

God, on the other hand, was working through his anger at humankind. At least that is my take on the reading. The most significant passage that indicates this take to me is verse 8:1 “But God remembered Noah…” Even then God took His time making the earth suitable for Noah, his family, and the animals to come out of the ark.

Can you imagine how Noah felt after the dove stopped returning to the ark?  Did his wife and children start complaining, “How much longer?” We have to admire Noah’s patience and faithfulness to wait until the God said it was all right to leave.

God recreated the world and placed Noah, his family, and all of those animals on it to be fruitful and multiply. And Noah thanked God for taking care of him. He built an altar and sacrificed each of the clean animals in gratitude. As the smoke arose it finally reached God’s nose. Everyone loves the smell of meat roasting on the grill and God is no exception. Breathing in that wonderful aroma prompted God to promise never to destroy the earth and its living creatures again, even though humankind is prone to evil.

We are taking a brief break from Matthew to start reading the first two Psalms. The Psalms are songs that express joy, faith, despair, confusion: basically every emotion a person may experience. By reading the psalms we are allowed to move from where we are now (particularly if this is a negative place) to a place of acceptance and faith. We are able to remember that God is with us in the midst of the wilderness and will see us through to the end. We are encouraged to persevere.

Psalm 1 is a beautiful song of encouragement. It advises us to keep the faith even when we are tempted to do the wrong thing. We may be hearing bad advice or make wrong decisions or be ridiculed for not following the crowd, but the psalm insists that we will be happy if we follow the Lord. The way that we can follow the Lord is by meditating on His word day and night.

While we consider all the scriptures to be the word of God, Psalm 1 speaks solely of the law of the Lord. At the time the psalms were written the scriptures consisted of the first five books, the Torah, which contain the law God gave to Moses. These were the essential writings for the Jewish for the time of the Old Testament. By the New Testament times the prophets were also included but not for everyone. The law remained the constant guide for all sects of the Jewish faith.

Psalm 1 encourages us to read and meditate on the scriptures often. In our day, we often consider our schedules too hectic to take time to read and think about God’s word. But it is exactly because we live hectic lives that we NEED the scriptures to ground us. The scriptures are like an ever-flowing stream of life and nurture. Just as the stream nourishes the strong tree that stands beside it, the scriptures make us strong in the face of wickedness, temptation and ridicule. We are able to stand firm even in the midst of the winds of change.

Psalm 2 is one of the messianic psalms. While it certainly can be applied to David, it also can be applied to Jesus. God is sovereign. God is in charge. The rulers of the earth may think they are in control, but it is just an illusion. Jesus is the victor, the chosen one of God, His begotten son. “Blessed are those who take refuge in him.”