© Matthew Tuel — 2025
Psalm 18:6 (NET, 2nd Ed.)
6 In my distress I called to the LORD;
I cried out to my God.
From his heavenly temple he heard my voice;
he listened to my cry for help.
1st Peter 3:8-12 (NET, 2nd Ed.)
Suffering for Doing Good
8 Finally, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, affectionate, compassionate, and humble. 9 Do not return evil for evil or insult for insult, but instead bless others because you were called to inherit a blessing. 10 For
the one who wants to love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from uttering deceit.
11 And he must turn away from evil and do good;
he must seek peace and pursue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer.
But the Lord’s face is against those who do evil.
Psalm 19:12 (NET, 2nd Ed.)
12 Who can know all his errors?
Please do not punish me for sins I am unaware of.
2nd Kings 5:15-27 (NET, 2nd Ed.)
15 He and his entire entourage returned to the prophet. Naaman came and stood before him. He said, “For sure I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel! Now, please accept a gift from your servant.” 16 But Elisha replied, “As certainly as the LORD lives (whom I serve), I will take nothing from you.” Naaman insisted that he take it, but he refused. 17 Naaman said, “If not, then please give your servant a load of dirt, enough for a pair of mules to carry, for your servant will never again offer a burnt offering or sacrifice to a god other than the LORD. 18 May the LORD forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to worship, and he leans on my arm and I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the LORD forgive your servant for this.” 19 Elisha said to him, “Go in peace.”
When he had gone a short distance, 20 Gehazi, the prophet Elisha’s servant, thought, “Look, my master did not accept what this Syrian Naaman offered him. As certainly as the LORD lives, I will run after him and accept something from him.” 21 So Gehazi ran after Naaman. When Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from his chariot to meet him and asked, “Is everything all right?” 22 He answered, “Everything is fine. My master sent me with this message, ‘Look, two servants of the prophets just arrived from the Ephraimite hill country. Please give them a talent of silver and two suits of clothes.’ ” 23 Naaman said, “Please accept two talents of silver. He insisted, and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, along with two suits of clothes. He gave them to two of his servants and they carried them for Gehazi. 24 When he arrived at the hill, he took them from the servants and put them in the house. Then he sent the men on their way.
25 When he came and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” He answered, “Your servant hasn’t been anywhere.” 26 Elisha replied, “I was there in spirit when a man turned and got down from his chariot to meet you. This is not the proper time to accept silver or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, sheep, cattle, and male and female servants. 27 Therefore Naaman’s skin disease will afflict you and your descendants forever!” When Gehazi went out from his presence, his skin was as white as snow.
With Calvin, we see who we can call out to in times of need. The past few days we've seen where joy and satisfaction come from, but what happens when we are without either? When we are in a time of suffering and distress? Logically, we should seek those things from the source: God.
With Spurgeon, we see another warning that our sins will find us out. That's how omniscience and omnipresence works, God knows all of our thoughts, and sees all of our actions. He knows what we think, let alone what we do. Nothing is hidden from Him. Yet, even though he sees all of our actions and knows our innermost thoughts, the sins we think we can hide from others, he still forgives us.