The Seven Streams Method

Psalms 62-68 We are in the Wisdom Stream today using the Modern English Version. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Streams | Donate Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis

"Lord God, we will praise you all our lives and and do so with all our breath and that being a present far too small, we will continue to praise you for eternity.  Amen."   some of the Psalms we read today are the all time classics that comfort souls throughout the world and throughout all time.  

62 - David has trust, rest, peace and salvation in God alone. Nothing else brings him such relief as the Life-Giver Himself; His God.  David's troubles merely pressed him further into a deeper faith.  David had no confidence in man or fellowship or contacts; "connections" as the phrase is used today.  This all was vapid to David.  Even power and wealth - David saw through it as the road to nothing that appealed to David as having eternal value.  David saw God as ever merciful and fair, and David was resolved to be of the same spirit for David always trusted in God

63 - David is in the wilderness and he is so trained in his heart to desire God that his thirst for Him is his top reminder as he is hunting for water.  How many of us in this situation would be thinking, "hey God, y'trying to kill me? Am I supposed to dry up and blow away? really? Let's get some water to me or me to some water or something, huh!!?"  No David thinks, "God I long to be secure in you and with you as much as I want water in a desert."  This is David's devoted heart.  This Psalm probably accompanies his season of hiding out from Absalom. He is distressed but confident that he will be restored. David's words for God are akin to what we see in one searching the earth over to find a lost loved one.  It's a touching passage of Scripture. 64 - David is praying earnestly for protection from enemies and their plots to ruin him.  These evil men use words and weapons and are calloused by evil and their commitment to be evil.  David wants God to shoot them down. David simply wants them gone and away. David knows that God delivers and watches over the steadfast. 65 - There is a rhapsody of worship, praise and thanksgiving as all the earth is blessed as far as David can see.  The harvest is come in, is still coming in; the fields, oceans, orchards - there is abundance and shouts of joy are going up.  All this bounty is simply indicative of the salvation God grants. 66 - This Psalm is a song that is sung even today.  God is calling for worship from all the earth.  All are to sing and rejoice, in all the nations. God has blessed in so many ways and tales of his deliverance are retold.  This calls for us to bring our offering and our lives to God.  He is good, He saves, He hears, He has mercy and will not turn us away.  This is cause for coming to Him in worship, is it not? 67 - This Psalm is an inspiration for missions to be launched into all the earth for God wants His praises and name to be across the earth.  In doing this God blesses the nations of the earth, the peoples of the earth as well as those who take His Name to all the earth. 68 - God and His victorious army is marching.  The enemies will scatter as God rises up.  Those who are deserted/orphaned God will place in families.  God meets all needs and provides for this who are with Him in His cause.  There is so much to tell of the God; our God who advances. He is as majestic as the mountains in all their splendor.  God will be victorious and all the people of the earth (those who fight Him as well as those who fight for Him) will pay Him tribute.  Singers sing and dancers dance before the Lord.  Great kings are drawn to the Lord.  There is never too much that can be said about the wonders of God and the deeds and service He warrants from people coming from so many nations to come and worship in Israel where He dwells.

I Kings 1-3 We are in the Nation Stream today and we say goodbye to King David. We are reading from the Modern English Version this week. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Streams | Donate Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis

"Lord we ask for your wisdom too.  Thank you for granting what is right to those who ask.  Amen." Kings is good especially for noting dates and chronology. It is the history that is concurrent (much of it is anyway) with Chronicles.  Chronicles is written from the perspective of the south where the Temple and Jerusalem was.  Kings is written in the north and mostly of the activity there.  We see the phrase, "seek the Lord" in Chronicles about two dozen times where in those same stories found in Kings, that phrase is not in the literature.  So Kings [after the split in ch. 12] and the story of the north Kingdom is narrating the lives of these tribes gone deliberately pagan, whereas in Chronicles narrating the life in the south, there are at least periods of reform and an attempt to follow God. Of the 20 kings of the northern Kingdom from 930 - 722 B.C. none were descendants of David. Whereas in the south, 19 of the 20 kings were descendants of David. 

1 - Kings opens with David being nearly out of time and it is getting nervy in Jerusalem as Solomon is to be the king in succession, but Adonijah thinks he should be king. Adonijah's older brothers Absalom, Amnon, and an obscure brother "Chiliab" were all dead so Adonijah assumed it was all his now. Some prominent people sided with Adonijah, but the vital leaders did not. Adonijah became pompous and forceful and started parading and making sacrifices and struck up the party as if he were already the king. In another part of town, Bathsheba; Solomon's mother, and Nathan met with David to insist that David assert what ought to be done and make the declaration openly about who should follow him as King. So David makes it plain (also in I Chr. 22:6-10). Zadok the priest ("zadok" means 'righteous' in Hebrew) was the priest that anointed Solomon. The parade and music for Solomon was thunderous in comparison. Adonijah's group then heard it and scattered as Adonijah was now fearful for his life. Solomon was gracious here and let Adonijah go free...at least here anyway.

2 - David gives his final charge to Solomon --> to follow the Lord completely. He also warns Solomon of a few men in the country who have rebellious hearts.  David then departs this world and Solomon is king outright.  Adonijah had survived trying to take the throne, but his request to have his father's nurse as a wife gets him executed. Abiathar the Priest is exiled and relieved of duty.  Joab, also in another intriguing story, is executed at Solomon's orders for not being wholeheartedly yielded to David and the throne.  Looking back, Joab was zealous for the King but his zeal got ahead of his wisdom when he jumped in too quickly with Adonijah and his "FAD" [king For-A-Day.] Shimei also had to die. He had cursed King David during Absalom's rebellion. Solomon was lenient at the outset but Shimei's undoing came when he couldn't adhere to Solomon's final warning and orders to him. Shimei is executed. Solomon is now king uncontested by rivals or rebels. 3 - Solomon married and brought an Egyptian wife to Jerusalem. It was a political move that was a "headwater issue" that would, in time, turn him astray from his faith (I Ki. 11:1 - Solomon, HOWEVER loved many foreign women...). Here he is just starting out and in his first season as King, this is his first recorded stunt. As one wise preacher has said in his observations of life, "the death of many endeavors is programmed right into the birth of it." It's an interesting item of concern for sure.  The Temple is not built and it needs to be - as David had urged Solomon (that is mentioned in Chronicles, not Kings).  So Solomon is making a sacrifice one evening and the Lord appears in a dream and grants Solomon his request for wisdom to govern.  Jesus said "ask and you shall receive" almost 1000 years after this but this same trinity/God is granting requests long before it is articulated by our Savior in the flesh.  And Solomon receives! -his wisdom is put to the test when two unsavory mothers come to him both claiming that the live baby is theirs and the dead one is the other's. What to do.                    It's an unfortunate issue in life that the person who cares least about what is right is often the one in charge. For example, at a troubled school in a distressed area, who is in charge in the classroom? The student who wants to learn and grow, the teacher who can't get kids to behave anyway, or the deviant student who brought a weapon to school?  It's obvious and it's sad who's in charge.  In a strained relationship, who is in control of it, the one who wants to preserve it or the one who doesn't care about it?! It's also unfortunate that the one who doesn't care rules the atmosphere via the  mental vandalism of it. Well here the woman who crushed her baby in her sleep wants the other baby to die since she is jealous and a lecherous woman anyway.  How does Solomon reveal the truth? His offer brings out her reaction of urging Solomon, "go ahead and cut it in half" is what gave her away.  Solomon employs his wisdom and his ruling leaves the whole nation in awe.  

Exodus 30-33 We are in the World Stream as God continue to give Moses instructions. We are reading from the Modern English Version this week. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Streams | Donate Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis

Lord Jesus, there is such a disturbing disparity between your glory and your desire for us against the behavior we witness at the first sign that people feel discouraged or bored or perplexed.  Let us be like Moses who wants you and to know you and to be with you more than life itself.  Amen.

The directions involved for the Tabernacle and the articles within continue here.  What started five chapters back is still going on.  If it helps to keep oriented, the Directions for the Tabernacle encompass ch's. 25-31 of Exodus.  The orders are all given, it's time for Moses to return to the people and guess what is going on . . . 

30 - The description resumes today with the Altar of Incense. Keeping the big picture, we are inside the Holy Place; a 30' X 15' sectioned off area that is inside the "courtyard" of the entire 150' X 75" area that has a 12' high curtain of goat hair surrounding everything. Back in this Holy Place are four items: the Altar of Incense, the Golden Table, on that is the Bread of the Presence (of the Lord), and the Golden Lampstand.  The Altar of Incense was most holy to the Lord and incense was to be burning on it continually and for all generations.  The insinuation was that the Lord is sweet to us and He is always here. -a 1/2 shekel offering was to be made by all unto God for atonement.  Everyone 20 and older must take part in this. -a large Bronze Basin was to be built, placed and filled with water.  Aaron and his sons were to wash hands and feet before coming into the tent or near the altar. Coming in dirty meant death - so this is a memo they best adhere to ... along with the rest of them! -As for the anointing oil, here it is in our terminology: it is 12+1/2 lbs. of Myrrh, 6+1/4 lbs. of cinnamon, 6+1/4 lbs. of cane, 12+1/2 lbs. of cassia, mixed together with a gallon of pure olive oil. Pardon the crass visual but a 5-gallon bucket is not big enough to mix this in. Imagine the aroma as this is expertly mixed and then dabbed upon the tent, the fabrics, the ark, the utensils, the altars and the basins.  'Ever walk into a place and react, "wow, it stinks in here!" Well, entering the House of God had the opposite effect. All inhaled and thought, "wow, I love this place!" This and the Incense that was compounded with frankincense and ground and them placed in front of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting was a very sacred commodity.  All research even today shows that an aroma is the greatest trigger of memory. They were to associate this overwhelming sweet savor with the presence of God, and to never forget how sweet it is to be with God 31 - Two men, Bezalel and his "right hand man" Oholiab, are to lead in the building of everything that has been prescribed for building and making in this last five chapters. They were the chief artisans for the Tabernacle and everything was to be made exactly according the "blueprints" that God has been giving to Moses for much of the last 40 days since Moses was called into God's presence to note all this. -The stern reminder to remember the Sabbath is laid down. And God is not doing this to be a bully-to-fools-who-stacks-up-rules.  He wants people to be refreshed and rested not always working themselves into a stupor and then living in a stupor. This pleases no one; not even the workaholic who can't get himself to pull away and rest a bit. 32 - This golden calf scene is a mess!  The people are wondering where Moses is as he is on Sinai in a cloud, surrounded by fire and taking notes. Moses was in a VERY intense lecture series! But when it approaches 40 days with Moses away, the people revert and dive right back into worship of "the cow".  The 'bull' was the principle god of Egypt, names "Apis".  This was also the illicitly instituted false god of the northern kingdom 4-5 centuries later from 930 - 722 B.C.  Egypt worshiped the cow because it gave beef, bones for tools, milk, fertilizer, horns for decoration, leather, and the cow provided strength for plowing. This was what Israel was immersed in for 400 years in Egypt. Some muse that the Israelites can't be blamed for being oriented as such, but honestly! -after seeing the dozens of miracles since the plagues, the Exodus, the water, the fire, the cloud, the manna, the quail - this rebellion is inexcusable. They were carrying on like a alcohol party gone amok after midnight on a weekend in a pagan university town where stolen furniture was thrown into heap and burned and all the kooks are half-dressed and dancing in circles around it.  Aaron's explanation is as preposterous as their behavior!  Moses' plea with God [both times] is admirable; the mark of a true leader. Nonetheless there is punishment to be administered and 3,000 Israelites die for this shameful pagan revelry. 33 -  After all this, it's time to move on.  God gives assurance of destiny, family security, victory, provision and blessing BUT their attitude must be dealt with first.  There must be complete repentance. -The Lord would meet with Moses the way any true-hearted Believer ought desire to speak with God.  Face-to-face, [look again at Exo. 33:11]. This is virtually the most astonishing verse in the whole Old Testament from Creation in Genesis 1 to Malachi 4 written some 3600 years later!. God and Moses had a most endearing and historical conversation and assured him that He would be with him wherever he traversed. Moses revered the Presence of God most of all. Moses would go when God moved.  Moses would not move on alone; with Him only.  How about us???  

I Corinthians 7-9 We are in the Church Stream today reading from the New International Version. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Streams Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis 7 - The Corinthians had questions about marriage. It was a racy town with an ungodly heritage, and sexual matters in the region of Corinth were anything but healthy and resolved.  The Christians needed to know how to handle issues within this realm and Paul set things straight right here.  In the matter of sex - if you are to leave it alone (because you are single) then leave it alone. If engaged, get it going and marry and don't play games or defraud or be cruel but be availed and surrendered to each other within the "bedroom".  Separating and divorcing is not OK. In other words, don't be playing "musical spouses". Paul's advice is just smart, healthy and best.  The most important aspect of one's life is that they live like a Believer; because we are!  Slave/Free, circumcised/or not, it's all immaterial. We are Christ's!  And about the married, the virgins, Paul has very good advice and we best listen to all of it.  Some groups have created marriage rules and forbidden marriage to certain people unless there is approval from a church committee. This is not a good thing. Some forbid marriage altogether based upon occupation or calling. There are pros and cons regarding this and the discussion is still open. It's best to listen to the Lord and do what the Spirit tells each person in any circumstance.

8 - the issue with the meat sacrificed to idols (and remember, in the Greek, "idol" means "a nothing") it is most important that we not be offensive or ebullient toward anyone else. We are to build eachother up and not be trying to "teach it to others" or, as the phrase goes, "stick to the other"    as if we were touting that we've gotten over the past but "youuuuu" are still hung up or reacting to what others used to be or used to be doing.  It's nothing to be ugly or judgmental about. Drop these peripheral matters as quickly as possible and be peaceable and promote Church unity and encouragement. 9 - Paul was paid for his ministry in Philippi. Here in Corinth, however, as in Ephesus and in Thessalonica, he was not, but supported himself through other means of a trade that he had learned prior.  Paul wanted to be doing more that was asked of him and not to be demanding or even needing to ask for support. He also did not want to set an example that may be abused later by the slovenly or even false teachers who might even remotely think, "I'll give you faith, but you're going to pay me for it."  Are ministers worthy of their hire? absolutely. But Paul is just laying this principle out so to make certain that there is not a hint of greed or selfishness that goes along with serving the Lord. -Paul asserts that we are free in Christ and are to use that freedom to promote Christ and never to abuse the concept of freedom in that the exercise thereof may jeopardize others finding freedom in Christ also.  He also reminds us that this faith, this discipleship we live requires discipline. The Thread through the Streams In Exodus we read of the details details details required for the altar, the courtyard, the oil, the garments and the priests and more. This all pertained to God's house. They give attention to all this and God says, "Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God."  These details mattered!  -In II Sam. there was a matter that needed to be dealt with cc. the Gibeonites from something that happened long ago.  David had some final words, this is vital! He built an altar and there was a detail that best be deleted when he took a census against better judgment and theological wisdom.  These details matter. -David was fastidious to list his woes to God in these Psalms. These are confessions. We need to do the same and lay our concerns before God; EACH one and let him handle the details v.s. us living in neurotic denial and reactionary behaviors that are detrimental to our faith. -Jeremiah opens with "cursed are those who do not obey the terms of the covenant." Each part mattered and they had long become sloppy in Jerusalem. And refusal to mind the details let to rampant sin that only became worse and worse. -Hosea basically itemizes the sins of Israel.  The riot act is being read to them and they have no argument -in Mark, Jesus was asked four distinct questions and Jesus answered them line by line and decoded the true / ill intent of their hearts.  He then turned and warned the crowd against following the teaching of the leaders in Jerusalem during that time.  Not only were the rules these false teachers laying out extremely detailed and burdensome, they were just plain wrong. -I Cor. 7-9 gave a goldmine list of details for marriage, status, freedom, attitudes, tenants for moving from a pagan world to the Christian world and how to manage the many phases that people found themselves in, payment to minsters, personal freedoms and more.  Hey, thank God for Paul and God using him so distinctively.

Mark 12-13 We are in the Christ Stream and reading from the New International Version this week. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Streams Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis

Lord Jesus, just as you ARE the revelation of God, your words are revelation to us. You just simply tell us what we need to know.  As you told your disciples in John, "i call you friends", we are assured that there is no truer friend than you.  We are grateful.  Amen.

12 - The parable of the vineyard, wherein the tenants who were entrusted to care for it, figures prominently since Matthew/Mark/Luke all include this parable. When the Son comes on behalf of the owner and they kill Him too, it's a "dead" giveaway that Jesus is talking about the leaders of Jerusalem who have been entrusted to be the ones to spiritually care for Israel and her people. For the Israeli Nation were the Light to the Gentiles. This "vineyard" figures in religious history to heal and refresh the nations. The leaders are in charge and they are derelict and they know it and this story hits them in the heart; "ka-zing!" and they don't like it.  If it was false, they wouldn't care, but since it's true, they want Him arrested. Notice that they don't arrest Him however because, like Saul 1000 years ago, they care about public opinion - and this is their chief concern.

-Know that the question about paying taxes to Caesar is coming from people who detest Caesar. Again, it was another trick question.  They forget who they are fooling with, don't they? He throws it right back at them and they at least have the courtesy to be amazed with everyone else.  A subtle hint that reflects to today in a not so gentle manner is the clear insinuation that the government is not to be making dictates about religion, religious activity, or the religious convictions of people. -The "Marriage at the Resurrection" question serves a few purposes in Jesus' bloc of teaching here. There are a few "faiths gone awry" in this world that have man made ideas about family on earth and what family in heaven is and they project the lust-driven opinions of earth onto what life in heaven is going to be.  This is wrong.  When Jesus replies that we will be like the angels in heaven, it is a comment that eternally echoes both forward and backward in time.  The Sadducees asked this question about marriage in the resurrection when they flatly did not believe in the resurrection!!  The construction of the question is absurd to begin with: A widow marrying the next brother and then the next brother working through a whole family of seven brothers ... come on guys, eeeesh! They needed to get their act together and try following Jesus instead of trying to frustrate Jesus. They were in GREAT error. -Just a tip here: when someone asks "which commandment is the greatest?" it's a clear clue that they likely aren't obeying the commandments nor do they care to. Though this particular inquisitor may have asked with a clear conscience.  But in general, it's as dumb as asking which holes in the boat should we patch before we launch? the ones in the front or the rear?...or portside? which?  Either ALL the holes are patched or the boat is going to the ocean floor, ding-bat!  What kind of question is this?  Jesus constructed a rather cordial and pertinent reply and after that --> no one  d a r e d  ask him any more questions. Their plans were revealing their bleak hearts and not getting Jesus in any trouble like they had hoped. -the remainder of ch. 12 was further revelation of the teachers of the law and their dubious agenda, their hypocrisy, their arrogance, selfishness, crime and cruelty. Jesus nailed them. And He was telling this to the whole crowd.  Pretty gutsy of Jesus. 13 - Jesus gave signs and told us what was going to happen: imminently in Jerusalem and eschatalogically [End Times matters] for the earth and in history.  Jesus warns of deceivers, false messiahs,  wars, earthquakes, famines, persecution, worldwide evangelism along with family strife, distress like the world has never known, there will be signs in the skies, and the Return of Christ Jesus will be a giant event.  Amid all the cataclysmic events, know that the Word of the Lord will stand fast and hold true.    And finally be reminded that no one knows or even can know the day or hour that Christ will return.  So pay attention. And like the occupation of a watchman whose job is to WATCH. We too must watch for the Return of Christ.   Come Lord Jesus.

Hosea 13-14 Today we finish the book of Hosea in the Exile Stream. We are reading from the New International Version this week. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Streams Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis

Lord we hear your heart today in this - Hosea's finale~  You so long to bless and heal and be with and shower good upon your own.  May we be a people who hear and obey and let you touch our lives.  Amen. We finished the words of Hosea today.  He began his ministry around 760 B.C. and prophesied to the northern Kingdom until it's final end in 722 B.C.   He lived in the north and, by God's command, lived in and among the Israelites; a nation turned completely pagan.  Hosea knew the pain that this paganism was causing God. The adultery hit home even for him as his wife was committed to adultery as a lifestyle.  He had seen seven kings come and go. All were wretched.

13 - The people of the north had been so regal (until rebelling). Ephraim was a noteworthy place - once upon a time it was noteworthy for a good reason - now it is noteworthy for a bad reason. The Kingdom splitting was the occasion for calf worship to be instituted. [This was ca. 160 years before Hosea showed up.]  Jeroboam wanted all loyalty to be up north and away from the Temple. <--[This was the late 900's B.C.] About two generations later, King Ahab added Baal worship to the calf worship. The calf worship started the spiritual bleeding whereas with the Baal worship, an artery had been "nicked".  The story of Ahab doing this is told in I Kings 16:30-33. Ahab had been gone for just over a century now and Israel was about to bleed out and be a lifeless place. The death of a nation is at hand. And this is what Hosea is speaking to to begin the reading today.  They will be pounced as if by a wild animal, the wells will go dry, even the babies will draw no compassion from the hoards that will pour in to kill everything they see.

14 - It has been a terrible 200 years for Israel.  "The curtain" is about to be drawn. Not much good at all if any has come out of a land that has dedicated itself to being rebellious to the Lord, to the south, to the Temple and all else that God stands for. The Assyrians are coming. Israel will be decimated. This is where rebellion ends up 100% of the time when God is being rebelled against.  Does that make God mean? Not at all. Listen to the beauty of what God wants to do with His people. Were His people to repent, all would be forgiven. And He still beckons them to repent!  Their gracious God would heal them and their wayward hearts. They would be loved and know love.  Wow, were they to listen to God -the wonders and rejuvenation, the communication with God, the fruitfulness - good heavens what can happen at the hands of a loving God!  God wants them to walk again; walk with Him. This invitation stands for all of us.

Jeremiah 11-14 We are in the Prophetic Stream reading from the New International Version.   7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Streams Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis Jesus, we feel pressed to pray for Jeremiah and provide hospitality or give him a break somehow. Let us take that same sentiment and provide it as support to those who serve you today. Increase our faith and service Lord.  Amen Come this chapter, Josiah has recently died and the reforms he instituted are reverting fast as the people are diving back into idolatry.  It's not good.  The first wave of the Babylonian invasion is less than five years out and the false prophets are crooning about security and riches and that all is well while they are hypocritical and two-faced as a hyena wearing three halloween costumes.

11 - The title of this chapter -from any angle you view it- is basically, "The Covenant is Broken".  To put it in today's terms. Your daddy has given you a vehicle, it has a lifetime warranty, bumper to bumper 100% insurance coverage 'forever'. You've been granted a gas card to swipe at any station in the world. Maintenance is also "on the house". It's the most beautiful car you ever saw. It is far beyond better than what you were hoping to get. All that's required is that you drive sensibly, safely, share rides with those who need it as time affords and go to church on Sunday.  Easy enough? Well in chapter 11 of Jeremiah, you've been pulled over for driving 85 is a 35 mph zone [AGAIN!], you are inebriated, it's a 7 passenger car and you have 12 people in it -no one has a seatbelt on, music is blaring and you can't even hear the policeman trying to ask for your license and registration. You think you should be let off because your daddeo is mayor and you insist you be allowed to drive on and instead you are forced to get out for a DUI test. The others in the car start plotting that they should burn the police car because their "fun" has been interrupted. btw, this is the 60th time you have been pulled over in similar fashion.

[Jeremiah is the policeman here and the people in the car are the residents of Jerusalem about 610-609 B.C.  Make sense?!] 12 - Jeremiah's prophetic heart for ministry is being tested here as he notes the disparaging difference between his situation [as he is loathed for speaking while he serves God] against the way the wicked are thriving and prospering.  It's a legitimate question. These same people who are smack-mouthed about God since they don't mean their vows and their hearts are far gone astray,--> these same people are also wanting to kill Jeremiah for exhorting them. God's reply is sobering and ... well, it is what it is.  No one is going to get away for their turning away from God in a cavalier manner. 13 - The story is told straight-forward and it is easy to interpret. The linen belt is Jerusalem and Judah. They were beautiful, decorative and helpful - but are now soiled, ugly and useless.  Also, Judah is going to be smashed the way a loud-mouthed drunk late on a weekend night gets pummeled for shooting off his mouth.   Captivity is coming for these people.  It's like the whole nation is going to jail !  Apparently they are virtually impossible to "scare straight" so they will be "doing time" in the Babylonian Big House. 14 - There is a drought. The famine is going to get worse. The enemy is armed and is coming.  It is awful and it will be more awful before Jerusalem falls silent!  Still Jeremiah prays for this people.  He cares for them in this manner and in the continuing prayer (that goes into ch. 15).  Jeremiah is sounding sort of like Jesus languishing that he would like to gather Jerusalem in his arms but they wouldn't.  Jeremiah's prayer here is spot-on accurate theology.  He has the wherewithall to utter, "Oh Lord Our God ... our hope is in you.  He may have been the only one in the city praying this but Jeremiah is stallwart in heart to articulate his prayer as he does. Jeremiah is committed beyond what most all Christians today understand commitment.

Psalms 55-61 We are in the Wisdom Stream and using the New International Version this week. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Streams Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis

Thank you Lord for being with us, for hearing us, for stepping in for us and defending us even and especially when things are at their worst. You truly are our Savior.  Amen   Today's run of Psalms is like trouncing through a jungle, escaping the lion to encounter the huge snake, then running into an angry gorilla, and then the demented explorer who sic's the blood-thirsty warriors on you so you run to a "Tarzan vine" that allows you to swing over and narrowly escape across the pirhana-infested river so you can have a moments rest with ... the Lord!  "whew"  Somehow the Lord brought David through harrowing times like this for years on end. 55 - David is pleading for a reply and some relief. He is in anguish, and distraught with terror and worse. Things are bad. Oh, would he love to fly away. David longs to flee back to the desert - probably because it reminds him of peaceful sheep tending during his youth. His prayer for the destruction of his enemies is warranted. And what is compounding matters is that the enemy in this case was once a close companion and believer along with David as they worshiped together - that was then. Now he's turned on David.  Honestly it sounds like Ahithophel the wretch whom we [red] read about last week. This cut David deep. II Samuel 15 is the narrative that triggered this particular prayer from David.  Amazing that David ends this Psalm, "cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain ... as for me, I trust in you." 56 - This Psalm corresponds with the story from I Sam. 21 when David was being "held" in Gath.  He is being resourceful, thinking quickly on his feet so to speak. And it is of note that his most intense interaction during this time in Gath is with his God.  The timing is intriguing (since you asked!), David is frightened in Gath; I Samuel 21:10-15. He prays this Ps. 56 here, then he escapes unscathed and then prays Psalm 34 to give thanks for delivery.  He is walking with God whatever "jungle" he finds himself in, doesn't he? 57 - David is hiding in a cave when he writes this Psalm - I Sam. 22 coincides with this prayer. I Sam 24 and 26 are similarly tense for David and David is saying in so many words, "God all I have is you. I cannot count on anyone else."  Interesting that David killed a lion and a bear perhaps in this same region and he likens those who are chasing him now to lions and ravenous beasts [MEN this time!] whose teeth are actual spears and arrows.  Still David's heart is steadfast on God, he is praising, knows of God's great love and David is in worship. 58 - David is especially bothered that the judges and rulers of this era are akin to poison on the land. He wishes that they would befallen upon their own wickedness and things would change quickly. He wants them to have no descendants to carry on the wrong doing.  They were as dangerous for the country of Israel as a lion prowling through a village with children playing outside. David just wants all the rulers who have a corrupted soul to vanish and David uses colorful illustrations to portray the depth of his desire to see them gone. 59 - This Psalm and I Sam.19 is the concurrent literature.  Saul tried to drill David through with a spear (for Saul, btw, this was an "indoor sport" that he was quite unsuccessful at).  Again, the spear stuck in the wall and David fled for his life.  So Saul sent soldiers after David. It was a recurring game of tag where 'winner takes all'. We remember the crazed excitement of playing tag as children, don't we?  Well this is just as exciting and it is gone way past being a game. Losing/getting caught was not an option. Yet David is very much on the run and very much filled with faith and trust.  David prays for deliverance and that is what happens.  The "howling dogs" are not victorious. David is victorious because his God is. 60 - was written during a moment when the battles David was embroiled in were not going so well. Thankfully it was a brief enough stint and God responded quickly to David's discouraged cry.  II Sam. 8 -somewhere during this chapter- was the setting of the prayer of David here. And God responded as we can see in II Sam. 8:14 wherein God granted victory to David wherever he went. 61 - The Psalm opens with a song that is sung even today. You probably remember the melody. .It is most likely that David wrote this when he was "in flight", far from home, and running from the pesky Absalom who had gone evil as a maniac.  David longed to be home in the house of God and in worship there again.  It would come. David's faith was anchored forever.  It's interesting, whether we realize day to day or not, but our prayers and the Psalms are basically assisting us to walk with God like David did.  He is a sterling example for this. We need to be spending our lives in the Psalms.

II Samuel 21-24 We are in The Nation Stream and finishing the book of II Samuel. We are reading from the New International Version. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Streams Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis

Dear Lord, we see the greatest of Kings in essence getting his house or rather his soul in order as he is preparing to depart and "be gathered to his people". May we be souls who have the wisdom to number our days and make sure they count for Christ and His Kingdom.  Amen.

21 - This chapter wraps up the 9 chapters straight of troubles that sprung up in David's life since the Bathsheba incident. Virtually all of this is in-house trouble.  It's painful problems that were at an anguish level for David. Life was always turbulent for David since he defeated Goliath. That is the price of leadership. But this last 9 chapters hit close to home since his since was within his own home, among his own home and against his own. One might call the long season of David's life "when pain hits home."  The incident of the Gibeonites and avenging the wrong done to them to end the famine was simply awful stuff. That's one thing about the Bible - it doesn't gloss over how bad things can get as consequence of breaking a treaty before God or from breaking faith with God. The Philistines took one last swipe at David and his kingdom. It's legendary as giants came forth and Davids' army struck and finished them all off.

22 - David is sharing one of his last Psalms as he looks back on his life. God has always been faithful. Though David has erred on occasion - David, however, always had unfailing trust in God's care and David was always grateful knowing that God always took care of him.  It's placement here has us looking back over David's life which is among the richest of lives ever lived.  The adventure, the battles and struggles, the triumphs and devotion, the dark nights his soul walked through, the worship and exultation - this life is what has comprised the best of children's stories that inspire all ages for 3,000 years. 23 - This is David's last Psalm and it is an epochal rendition of God's majestic work of making the Kingdom of Israel.  God has been just. His Covenant is righteous. And God's Kingdom will grow eternally.  The list of names of great men and their deeds is like an all=star cast of the superhero movie to end all debates about who is the greatest. It's really quite something! 24 - The census that was taken at the end of David's life is an issue of puzzlement and discussion that will go on long after today.  To add to a sense of understanding of this reading I Chronicles 21 is the parallel story of this event.  All David's life he trusted in God alone. This seemed to indicate that, since he was in war much of his life, it was his thinking and orientation so he calculated that he needed some numbers to be assured that the kingdom that had expanded under his reign was sufficient. Satan had urged this census be taken and David complied. Joab was right to question the deed but David prevailed. He got his numbers but there was a plague that swept through in exchange for this faithless deed done with fleshly intent. The reaction of David and the stopping of the plague was classic David  - though his action was not right initially, his reaction was proper; to commemorate and remember and build an altar to God. Solomon later built the Temple in this same place (II Chr. 3:1)!  It's marvelous to step back and ponder this, the hand of God that oversees even during and through unfortunate events.

Exodus 27-29 We are in the World Stream today reading more about the construction the altar, tabernacle, etc. from the New International Version. 7streamsmethod.com | @7StreamsMethod | @serenatravis | #7Streams Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis

Dear Lord prepare us for our meeting with you. The beauty of what is coming together in this reading today is simple and intricate and beautiful; beautiful as meeting you daily as we prepare to meet you face to face one day.

27 - Here we find the description of the bronze altar and the court of the Tabernacle. The altar was 15' X 15' and 9' high. The details for the courtyard that would encircle the Tabernacle are many. The court was 150' X 75'.  The linen curtains and loops and poles and lamps is rather interesting. There are helpful drawings and illustrations if searching then on the internet helps you see it better. "Tabernacle in the wilderness" should take you enough options.

28 - The garments for the priests; Aaron and his sons were of vital importance. The included the ephod (the breastpiece), there were gems within the garments.  The outfits were symbolic, precise, intricate, and beautiful - even inspiring. This was such a significant element of their worship. I may seem hard to grasp for many today when the dresscode has degraded to "hey, wear whatever!"  But Jesus told one parable where those who attended a wedding were expelled from the event for having the wrong outfit on.  This was also illustrative of paradise where those who are clothed in Christ are the only ones allowed to enter. Anyone else with any other outfit is cast into outer darkness.  My husband and I may have a better insight into this as we work in Hollywood and it is crucial that every woman at every event be found in a unique dress. To be seen in any way similar to another woman's outfit is a perceived nightmare. The opposite rule goes for men - they must all look identical in black tuxedos/white shirt/black bowtie. To be seen in any variance of this is an extreme taboo.  Dressing for God matters FAR more. So it may require some mental effort, but understanding and seeing the priests outfits for the deep meaning that they carried is a rich endeavor. 29 - The consecrating of the Priests was the setting aside these men / their lives unto ministry was a grave matter (deathly serious) <-- if we may embrace a tone of such.  They were to have their outfits and to wear them properly.  They were not to be slapped on and then take a dumb stumble into the courtyard for some yaha time with God before the people. Heavens no. This was as serious as the nation's very existence.  If this stuff didn't matter, then nothing else mattered...and vice versa.  There were sacrifices to me made and they were to be folllowed to the "T".  There was food to be prepared and that must be done in a flawless manner also.  Why all this detail in today's reading? This is all described here and then it is described again in Exodus 35-40 as they are building it. We may look at this and, putting our thinking today against the mindset in the Sinai, only to be thinking now, "heard that before - got it the first time."  This repetition only asserts the extreme importance - it is not a laborious repeat.    The TAbernacle was a foreshadow, a "likeness" of something heavenly.  The reminder to look back on this in Hebrews 8:5 is intriguing.  The significance of being right before a glorious God never goes away.  It's similar to the issue that arrives in construction. Get the blueprints done perfectly, follow them precisely and comprehensively, build it properly and the final product is eternally right.  This matters to all involved in any construction project. and to the occupants that shall reside/and/or work there later? .  How could anything we do be of greater importance that what God wants built. Does precision and beauty and strength and value matter to God. You bet you life it does.  Listen again to the final verse today - God does this "that He might dwell among them for He is the Lord their God."   Nothing matters more than this!