i talk to many people who tell me they can't believe in the God of the Old Testament because He seems like a power-monger, out to condemn and destroy. i find myself gently pushing back and asking "have you read the Old Testament"? i ask because that is not the image i get from the Hebrew Scriptures, at all. in fact, i find that most people's opinion's of the scriptures are shaped more by word of mouth--what they've heard the bible says--rather than by personally reading for themselves. broad sweeping generalizations could be made about any of us, if we looked solely at one incident in our lives . . . without understanding the context for our actions, or getting to know us one-on-one. genuine investigation is always the benchmark of true discovery, and is also the best remedy for misinformation that leads to divisive generalizations. scripture is an experience we cannot depend on generalizations to define for us. it is a personal invitation to experience God's word for ourselves . . . "taste and see that the LORD is good."
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
16 All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
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