February 21, 2022: Day 40 – I Corinthians 12-16 and Psalm 44

We finish up I Corinthians by beginning in chapter 12 which addresses spiritual gifts.  We are looking at spiritual gifts in our Sunday School class.  Paul addresses them a number of times in these last chapters, but chapter 12 contains the image of the body and the importance of each body part in the working of the body.  This is an image that is used consistently to describe the church, and it is an important one.  All parts of the body need to work together in order for the body to work well.  If one part is in pain, the whole body feels it.

Chapter 13 is the love chapter and it gives us a beautiful description of the love that we ought to have for one another.  Normally the entire chapter is read at weddings.  Chapter 14 continues with the gifts and focuses on speaking in tongues and prophecy.  Within the Presbyterian Church there is no strong movement for those who consider speaking in tongues an important spiritual gift.  My personal stance is that since it is mentioned in Scripture then it is still a spiritual gift, I just don’t have it.  Paul makes it very clear how that gift is to be used and it is in a very limited fashion.  It is important to follow Scripture in all things, including this one.

Chapter 15 is a crucial chapter in understanding the importance of the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead.  We believe in the resurrection of the body, for without that belief then our testimony is in vain.  It is a vital part of what we believe and something that we cannot just gloss over.  We have to understand that our Christian faith has to include the belief in the resurrection of the dead.  The final chapter contains greetings from Paul and an encouragement to the people of the church to continue giving financially to the cause of the poor and to Paul’s work as well.  There is a minor theme throughout Paul’s letters where he encourages his churches to continue in their giving to his work.

Psalm 44 contains a number of musically rich content.  In the title it states that it is for the director of music and it has the term Selah in the midst of it, which basically means a break or a chorus in the Psalm.  Remember these were written to be sung to stringed instruments and other types of instruments.  It wasn’t meant to be spoken.