Psalm 12 opens up with David chastising those who use flattery to find a gainful position. I would be curious to see how much of the meaning of this word has mutated through translation. Thus, one would have to consider the difference between complimenting and flattering, based on motivation. Pretty harsh punishment suggestions by David. Poor lawyers. This psalm is not as depressing as the others and seems to sound like David feels well protected behind God.

Matthew 5:21 starts talking about murder, but not only the act of homicide, but even thinking hurtful thoughts. Interesting that it mentions settling matters quickly before a statement of claims is taken to court. I think that the motivation here is the longer something is dragged out, the less chance there is of relationships being patched up. It is important that worship is distraction free, and it can be quite a distraction if one is mulling over his beef with someone. The passage also goes on to talk about adultery and divorce. I can see how one can look with very narrow focus on these passages and construe an idea. However, the way I read them now is like this: Jesus is saying, recall what the law is (i.e. he reinforces the establishment of law) but is now suggesting to people look further along (i.e. understanding of the spirit of the law). As mentioned by a couple of my spiritual peers, the 10 commandments is a "starting point" or minimum level at which the bar is set. God is calling us to a heightened level of perfection in which the law is a foundation. But, as we mature, we tend to live in a higher stratosphere of righteousness and holiness. Regarding divorce, if I look beyond the words, I see that Jesus is reinforcing the sanctity of marriage. "Anyone who divorces his wife , except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress." He did not say (nor did the original law say) "Thou shalt not divorce your wife". Instead, it is worded such that it acknowledges that divorces do happen. People who read just strictly to the old law would see it as a "get out of marriage free" card, merely by presenting a divorce certificate to his wife, probably to pursue an extra-marital endeavor. Jesus enhanced the meaning of this old law by indicating that just reckless treatment of the holy institution has ramifications to more than just the initiator. As well, Jesus interestingly did not say, "except if his wife commits adultery", rather, he coined the term "marital unfaithfulness", would I read to mean any deviation from the true meaning of what marriage was intended to be. Granted, I assume reading this in the original language may help to clarify some things.

Acts 7 covered the stoning of Stephen. Interesting to see how reciting historical passages can incite so much hate and violence; guess it depends on the delivery! The only thing that stuck out was that Stephen called the Sanhedrin a bunch of "stiff-necked people". Is that the same as calling them "fools", which David condemned in his Psalm today? Mmmmm.