Psalm 43 – “Declare me innocent, O God. Defend me against these ungodly people. Rescue me from these unjust liars. For you are God, my only safe haven. Why have you tossed me aside?” (43:1-2).

“Send out your light and your truth; let them guide me. Let them lead me to your holy mountain, to the place where you live” (43:3).

“Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Savior and my God!” (43:5).

Psalm 44 – “O God, we have heard it with our own ears – our ancestors have told us of all you did in their day, in days long ago” (44:1).

“They did not conquer the land with their swords; it was not their own strong arm that gave them victory. It was your right hand and strong arm and the blinding light from your face that helped them, for you loved them” (44:3).

“But now you have tossed us aside in dishonor. You no longer lead our armies to battle  . . . You have butchered us like sheep and scattered us among the nations” (44:9-11).

We are now an object of scorn. “All this has happened though we have not forgotten you. We have not violated your covenant. Our hearts have not deserted you” (44:14-17).

“Wake up, O Lord! Why do you sleep? Get up! Do not reject us forever. Why do you look the other way? Why do you ignore our suffering and oppression? We collapse in the dust, lying face down in the dirt. Rise up! Help us! Ransom us because of your unfailing love” (44:23-26).

I love the spirit of this psalm. There are a number of times in Scripture when God’s faithful nag him a bit after praying and working earnestly to no avail: Moses, when his people fall into great unfaithfulness and Moses seems to put the burden on God and beseeches Him to save them for the sake of His own reputation. Jesus words on the cross in Matthew.

Psalm 45 – “Beautiful words stir my heart. I will recite a lovely poem about the king, for my tongue is like the pen of a skillful poet” (45:1).

“Put on your sword, O mighty warrior! You are so glorious, so majestic! In your majesty, ride out to victory, defending truth, humility, and justice” (45:3-4).

“You love justice and hate evil. Therefore God, our God, has anointed you, pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else” (45:7).

“At your right side stands the queen, wearing jewelry of finest gold from Ophir! Listen to me, O royal daughter; take to heart what I say. Forget your people and your family far away. For your royal husband delights in your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord” (45:10-11). The wedding of the queen – or one of them – is celebrated.

She is told, “your sons will become kings like their father. You will make them rulers over many lands. I will bring honor to your name in every generation” (45:16-17).

Introduction to the Gospel of Matthew: Matthew is the first of the “synoptic” gospels; synoptic here means that the three have a “common” eye or view of something. Originally Matthew was seen to have been the first of the three to have been written but modern biblical scholars tend to think that Mark came first and that some other source, called the “Quelle” or Q source of Jesus’ saying and teachings was also used by Matthew and Luke.

Matthew 1 – The genealogy of Jesus is presented, but only back to Abraham, not to Adam as Luke will do.  Matthew was likely put together for mostly Jewish converts, not pagan, so the ancestry is more significant back to the root of the Jewish people – Abraham.

Matthew traces Jesus’ genealogy – it’s interestingly divided into three sets of fourteen generations: from Abraham to David; from David to the Babylonian exile [Jehoiachin]; and from the exiled king Jehoiachin to Jesus, the Messiah.  There is a lot of Jewish numerology in these six sets of seven.

Jesus’ mother Mary is betrothed to Joseph and found to be with child.  Luke also shows us Joseph’s part in the story, his response to his betroths’ pregnancy.  He decides to divorce her quietly but when the angel of the Lord appears in a dream, he changes his mind since the pregnancy is seen to be by means of the Holy Spirit in fulfillment of the prophesy of Isaiah.

Joseph is reassured by the angel of the Lord to stand by Mary, that the “scandal” that she has opened them to is really the redemptive work of God requiring their cooperation and faith.  Joseph obeys, thus also following the example of Abraham and Mary, his wife.