Psalms 11&12, Acts 1 The Sovereign plans of God at work

Psalm 11

Rather than completely despairing and giving up because of the hopelessness of the situation, David remembers that God is Sovereign.  He is in control and will bring about justice in due course.  He remembers that God is righteous and loves justice.

Psalm 12

The word of man & the Word of God contrasted:

The word of man is full of lies, full of flattery and deception.  It boasts and thinks it will triumph through its own tongue.

The Word of God responds to the groaning of the needy and the (presumably) faint voice of the weak.  It is flawless and is like silver refined 7x in the clay furnace.

Acts 1

Jesus told the apostles about the kingdom of God.  They were told not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for God's promised gift, the Holy Spirit.  He reminded them they were not to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority, but they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them and would be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

We have received God's Holy Spirit and so are to be His witnesses with His Holy Spirit to the ends of the earth.

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We are told:
A) The Authority of God the Father - is supreme.  He has His own authority and will decide for Himself what is right and when.
B) The agency of God the Holy Spirit - will bring power to God's witnesses as they witness to Him to the ends of the earth.
C) The activity of Jesus, the Son of God - on earth at this time came to an end physically during this incident.  He ascended from earth to heaven, but will come back in the same way His disciples saw Him leave into heaven.

As a believer, I must be certain of these three facts about the Persons of the Trinity.  God is supreme, I need His Spirit's power in taking His message worldwide and one day, Jesus will return in the same way He left.  They shape who I am and all that I believe, which inevitably must affect my behaviour.

During the waiting period before the Holy Spirit came upon them, they gathered together and prayed.  They also realised that there needed to be a replacement in the apostles for Judas who had departed them, and so they chose one.

For the disciples, there must have been a sense that something significant was now about to happen.  Jesus had promised it - He had suggested this was going to be a significant time in their ministry, particularly as they were going to receive God's power, which they had seen powerfully displayed in the resurrection.  So, they took time to spend with God praying about it and thus preparing for it.  The choice of a new leader was about the leadership and also strategy for the coming activities - it was realising that to go forward the right people needed to be in place, commissioned by God.

Judas was someone who had experienced Jesus close at hand & seen who He was.  Yet, still he betrayed Him.  Jesus' brothers did not believe in Him (John 7:5) yet had now changed and were there with the apostles praying.  They had come to see who Jesus was and had believed in Him.  Judas is a real warning of the dangers of being close to Jesus and still rejecting Him.  Jesus' brothers (and Peter) are an encouragement that no matter what people's responses to Jesus may be now, there is always hope that they may turn and change, turning and learning to follow Jesus.