O Lord, my God,
you are magnificent
beyond anything I could imagine!
Your majesty is renown
throughout the earth
and above the heavens.
With faith as simple as a child’s,
I raise the banner of your Name
and your enemies must flee into shadow.
Late in the afternoon his disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy something to eat.” But Jesus said, “You feed them.” “With what?” they asked. “We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!”
One of the more famous stories about Jesus is the feeding of the five thousand. By that time, Jesus was well into his ministry. Crowds flocked to him to hear his message and to seek healing.
You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
“Like mother, like daughter.”
Save me from my enemies, Lord!
My foes chase me like hungry lions,
eager to shred my flesh and devour me.
You are my refuge, Almighty One.
Give me justice because of my righteousness.
For if I am guilty of wicked deeds—
if I have injured the innocent
or lied to my friends
or stolen from the weak—
then my enemies would be right to buckle my knees and bring me down,
to spill my blood and smear my reputation
until I am a foul smell in my community.
“You must worship no other gods, for the LORD, whose very name is Jealous, is a God who is jealous about his relationship with you.”
Jealousy carries a negative connotation. We blame the “green-eyed monster” for inciting quarrels and sabotaging relationships. We lose our peace to compulsive ruminations, and a friend may become our enemy overnight. Jealousy robs us of dignity and can drive away the people we love most.
It may come as a shock, then, to discover that jealousy is an important attribute of God.
