Day 7/19 – The Fruit of Sin

Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man by Walter A Henrichsen (“Walt”)
The Fruit of Sin
Day Two Hundred

“Then they said to one another, ‘In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he besought us and we would not listen; therefore is this distress come upon us.”‘ Genesis 42:21

The sons of Jacob, because of envy, sold their brother Joseph into slavery. Joseph was 17 when brought as a slave to Egypt, and 30 when Pharaoh made him Prime Minister of the country. Add to this seven years of plenty, during which Joseph prepared the country for famine, and you find that Joseph had been in Egypt for over 20 years before again seeing his brothers.

The brothers, sent by their father Jacob to buy grain, did not recognize Joseph. Joseph tested them to see if they had changed, and this statement in Genesis 42 is their response. They had waited over 20 years for God to punish them for their sin. Twenty years they lived with a guilty conscience, bracing themselves for what they believed would be the sure retribution of God.

When you live with unconfessed sin, refusing to make it right, not only do you carry the burden of guilt, you have no ability to determine if adversity is God’s discipline or not. With Joseph and his brothers, what they experienced was not God’s discipline, but they had no way of making this determination. Sin confuses you, preventing you from properly evaluating Providence; proper evaluation can only come when you confess your sin and do all in your power to make it right.

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Psalm 23-25 Acts 21:18-40 (New King James Version)

Psalm 23-25
The Lord the Shepherd of His People
A Psalm of David.
23
The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not [a]want.
2
He makes me to lie down in [b]green pastures;
He leads me beside the [c]still waters.
3
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
4
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
6
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will [d]dwell in the house of the Lord
[e]Forever.
The King of Glory and His Kingdom
A Psalm of David.
24
The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell therein.
2
For He has founded it upon the seas,
And established it upon the [f]waters.
3
Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or who may stand in His holy place?
4
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor sworn deceitfully.
5
He shall receive blessing from the Lord,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6
This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him,
Who seek Your face. Selah
7
Lift up your heads, O you gates!
And be lifted up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
8
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
The Lord mighty in battle.
9
Lift up your heads, O you gates!
Lift up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
10
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
He is the King of glory. Selah
A Plea for Deliverance and Forgiveness
A Psalm of David.
25
To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
2
O my God, I trust in You;
Let me not be ashamed;
Let not my enemies triumph over me.
3
Indeed, let no one who [g]waits on You be ashamed;
Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.
4
Show me Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
5
Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day.
6
Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses,
For they are from of old.
7
Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions;
According to Your mercy remember me,
For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.
8
Good and upright is the Lord;
Therefore He teaches sinners in the way.
9
The humble He guides in justice,
And the humble He teaches His way.
10
All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth,
To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.
11
For Your name’s sake, O Lord,
Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.
12
Who is the man that fears the Lord?
Him shall [h]He teach in the way He chooses.
13
He himself shall dwell in [i]prosperity,
And his descendants shall inherit the earth.
14
The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him,
And He will show them His covenant.
15
My eyes are ever toward the Lord,
For He shall [j]pluck my feet out of the net.
16
Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me,
For I am [k]desolate and afflicted.
17
The troubles of my heart have enlarged;
Bring me out of my distresses!
18
Look on my affliction and my pain,
And forgive all my sins.
19
Consider my enemies, for they are many;
And they hate me with [l]cruel hatred.
20
Keep my soul, and deliver me;
Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You.
21
Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
For I wait for You.
22
Redeem Israel, O God,
Out of all their troubles!
Footnotes:
• Psalm 23:1 lack
• Psalm 23:2 Lit. pastures of tender grass
• Psalm 23:2 Lit. waters of rest
• Psalm 23:6 So with LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg.; MT return
• Psalm 23:6 Or To the end of my days, lit. For length of days
• Psalm 24:2 Lit. rivers
• Psalm 25:3 Waits for You in faith
• Psalm 25:12 Or he
• Psalm 25:13 Lit. goodness
• Psalm 25:15 Lit. bring out
• Psalm 25:16 lonely
• Psalm 25:19 violent hatred

Acts 21:18-40
18 On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. 19 When he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law; 21 but they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. 22 [a]What then? The assembly must certainly meet, for they will hear that you have come. 23 Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have taken a vow. 24 Take them and be purified with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads, and that all may know that those things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing, but that you yourself also walk orderly and keep the law. 25 But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and decided [b]that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from [c]sexual immorality.”
Arrested in the Temple
26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having been purified with them, entered the temple to announce the [d]expiration of the days of purification, at which time an offering should be made for each one of them.
27 Now when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, 28 crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, the law, and this place; and furthermore he also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” 29 (For they had [e]previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.)
30 And all the city was disturbed; and the people ran together, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple; and immediately the doors were shut. 31 Now as they were seeking to kill him, news came to the commander of the [f]garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. 32 He immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down to them. And when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 33 Then the commander came near and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and he asked who he was and what he had done. 34 And some among the multitude cried one thing and some another.
So when he could not ascertain the truth because of the tumult, he commanded him to be taken into the barracks. 35 When he reached the stairs, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob. 36 For the multitude of the people followed after, crying out, “Away with him!”
Addressing the Jerusalem Mob
37 Then as Paul was about to be led into the barracks, he said to the commander, “May I speak to you?”
He replied, “Can you speak Greek? 38 Are you not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a rebellion and led the four thousand assassins out into the wilderness?”
39 But Paul said, “I am a Jew from Tarsus, in Cilicia, a citizen of no [g]mean city; and I implore you, permit me to speak to the people.”
40 So when he had given him permission, Paul stood on the stairs and motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, saying,
Footnotes:
• Acts 21:22 NU What then is to be done? They will certainly hear
• Acts 21:25 NU omits that they should observe no such thing, except
• Acts 21:25 fornication
• Acts 21:26 completion
• Acts 21:29 M omits previously
• Acts 21:31 cohort
• Acts 21:39 insignificant