Read the Bible with Me!

Welcome to the Pauline Family's "Year of the Bible"! I'm reading the Bible clear through this year, and I invite you to read along with me. But first, let us pray: 

My God, I adore and thank your loving and wise Providence, manifested on every page of Sacred Scripture. You have always been close to sinful and erring humanity, and have indicated the way and given hope. Amid the shadows of error and corruption, you kindled the light of your truth; amid universal corruption, you are the Just One; amid so much idolatry, humanity in every corner of the earth has cultivated a sincere worship of you.
Let my reading today increase my trust in your goodness, your mercy, and your unfailing faithfulness.

Today's chapters are 1 Kings 1-3 and (for Lent) Psalm 44.

We start a new book today (yay!), which will take us through the long, mostly sad story of David's succession. It begins with Solomon being chosen over his elder brother (that theme again! this time assisted by some palace intrigue) as King. 

There's an interesting detail in 1 Kings 2:19 with regard to Solomon and his mother Bathsheba (yes, that Bathsheba). When she went to her husband, King David, to ask a favo, she did him homage before approaching the king. But when she went into King Solomon's presence to ask a favor on behalf of Adonijah, it was the king who "stood up to meet her and paid her homage." He called for a throne to be brought in for her and placed at his right hand, where she sat down next to him. Bathsheba, as the Queen Mother, was the most powerful woman in the land. As Queen Mother, Bathsheba is a "type" (a prophetic foreshadowing) of Mary, the Queen Mother of Christ the King.

Psalm 44 is a lament which begins with an overview of the people's history and the way God established the nation, which is now inexplicably beset with disaster. Notice how it appeals to God's own sense of honor in begging him to restore his people. With its affirmation "You are my king and my God," it is a suitable accompaniment as we begin the First Book of Kings.

Start reading 1 Kings here and Psalm 44 here.

If you are looking for a solid but approachable companion to the Bible, I can wholeheartedly recommend A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament by John Bergsma and Brant Pitre. Although the authors are top-level Scripture scholars, they write for "real" readers. Notes include recent findings from archaeology and ancient manuscripts, and how each book of the Bible has been understood by the Church Fathers and used in Liturgy.