Psalm Eleven

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/29/2011 6:40:39 AM

 

 

My Worship Time                                                                     Focus:  Psalm 11

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Psalm11

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 For the choir director. A Psalm of David: In the LORD I take refuge; How can you say to my soul, "Flee as a bird to your mountain; 2 For, behold, the wicked bend the bow, They make ready their arrow upon the string To shoot in darkness at the upright in heart. 3 If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?"  4The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD’S throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. 5 The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, And the one who loves violence His soul hates. 6 Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup. 7 For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; The upright will behold His face.”

 

            It is unknown as to what time in David’s life that he wrote this psalm, but there was some kind of a crisis, and in this particular crisis in the life of David he chose not to run, but to put his trust in the Lord to take care of it while staying put.  There were other times in the life of David when it was a good chose to run, like when he was living with Saul and Saul tried to kill him, which would put David on the run for about ten years, and that was a wise choice too.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “Whatever the crisis, the psalm teaches us that we must choose between fear (walking by sight) or trust (walking by faith), listening to human counsel or obeying the wisdom that comes from the Lord (James 1:5).”

 

            What David Should Do (v.1): “1 For the choir director. A Psalm of David:  In the LORD I take refuge; How can you say to my soul, "Flee as a bird to your mountain.” When writing about this psalm John MacArthur spoke of consolers who were involved in decisions that were being made that took place and thus this psalm was written.  We see that in verse one where David’s consolers were telling him to leave, yet David did not want to leave, but to trust the Lord to care for this crisis while staying put.  David was the leader of God’s people and had a responsibility to care for them and therefore did not want to leave Jerusalem.

 

            What the Enemy Does (v. 2):  “2 For, behold, the wicked bend the bow, They make ready their arrow upon the string To shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.”  We see in this verse that the consolers were consoling David that there were enemies who were ready to shoot arrows at him, but this was probably a metaphor and not real arrows.  There was probably a secret plan to do harm to David, but David chose to stay and face the crisis, and what we can be sure of is that David got counsel from the Lord to stay and not flee.

 

            What Can the Righteous Do? (v. 3):  “3 If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?’”  The answer to that question is to lay the foundations again, for there are times when that is the only thing left to do and we see evidences of that in Scripture.  We see in the book of 1Samuel and chapter 12 that Samuel laid again the foundation of the covenant and we also see in the book of Ezra that he laid the foundation of the temple again. Jesus spoke of troubles that were in the churches that are described in Revelations 2-3 and gave advice to take care of those troubles, and this too speaks of laying again the foundations and gets going on the right track again.  As believers we seem to get off track and need to examine ourselves to make sure we have our foundations laid properly.   

 

            What God Will Do (vv. 4-7):  “4 The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD’S throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. 5 The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, And the one who loves violence His soul hates. 6 Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup. 7 For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; The upright will behold His face.”

            In an earlier SD I spoke of a song that I heard many years ago that was written about different characters in the Bible and the chorus went something like this “He didn’t look down, He didn’t look around, He just looked up, up, up” and then repeated those lines again.  The point is that David did not look down or around, but he looked up to get his help from the Lord who was and is in His holy temple. 

            We see here that the Lord will test both the righteous and the wicked, and we can be sure that the wicked will fail, but the righteous should trust the Lord and thus pass the test, and this will bring glory to the Lord as we saw recently in the book of Job.

            In verse six we see different ways that the Lord uses in judgment against the wicked, the first is like what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah.  The second is burning heat from a desert, and this could be a picture of hell, as hell will surely be hot, and the last is a picture of drinking from a cup and we can assume that will be poison.

              We see in verse seven that those who are the Lord’s own will someday see His face.  When we see a person’s face it means we have access to that person.  This will be a great day when we look upon the face of our Lord.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  When crisis come into my life I have to look up and not look down or look around and by looking up I can trust that the Lord will give me the guidance that I am in need of.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.       Continue to trust the Lord to guide me.

2.       Continue to seek to learn contentment.

 

12/29/2011 7:28:34 AM

 

           

Psalm Ten

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/28/2011 8:49 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Psalm 10

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Psalm 10

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble? 2  In pride the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised. 3  For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire, And the greedy man curses and spurns the LORD. 4  The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him. All his thoughts are, "There is no God." 5  His ways prosper at all times; Your judgments are on high, out of his sight; As for all his adversaries, he snorts at them. 6  He says to himself, "I will not be moved; Throughout all generations I will not be in adversity." 7  His mouth is full of curses and deceit and oppression; Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness. 8  He sits in the lurking places of the villages; In the hiding places he kills the innocent; His eyes stealthily watch for the unfortunate. 9  He lurks in a hiding place as a lion in his lair; He lurks to catch the afflicted; He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his net. 10  He crouches, he bows down, And the unfortunate fall by his mighty ones. 11  He says to himself, "God has forgotten; He has hidden His face; He will never see it."

    “12 ¶  Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up Your hand. Do not forget the afflicted. 13  Why has the wicked spurned God? He has said to himself, "You will not require it." 14  You have seen it, for You have beheld mischief and vexation to take it into Your hand. The unfortunate commits himself to You; You have been the helper of the orphan. 15  Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer, Seek out his wickedness until You find none. 16  The LORD is King forever and ever; Nations have perished from His land. 17  O LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear 18  To vindicate the orphan and the oppressed, So that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror.”

 

            In the John MacArthur Study Bible there is a note telling that Psalms 9 & 10 used to be one Psalm but now they are split between 9 & 10, and the reason they used to be on is that they are very similar, as they speak of the enemies of Israel.  Psalm nine speaks of those from the outside while psalm 10 speaks of enemies on the inside, those who claim to know God, but don’t and have no fear of God or of the last judgment that will come from God at the end of time as we know it now.  The Bible calls this judgment the “Great White Throne Judgment,” and it is found in Revelations 20:11ff.

 

Questioning God (v. 1):  “1 Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?”

            The psalmist is wrestling with the same old question that many people have wrestled with for many years and that is why to the wicked prosper and why do those who follow the Lord become afflicted by the wicked.  Isn’t God going to do something about all of this?  We see this in other parts of the Bible, this same question being asked, for we saw it in the book of Job when we studied Job.  We know that God has a special part of His heart for the orphans and for the widows and yet there are times when they too are afflicted and so the psalmist asks this age old question in verse one.

Rejecting God (vv. 2-13):

We will see four statements in these verses that will express what those rejecting God believe and because of this belief it will determine how they behave in their lives.

 

            “There is no God” (vv.2-4 NASB) “2 In pride the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised. 3  For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire, And the greedy man curses and spurns the LORD. 4  The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him. All his thoughts are, "There is no God.’”

            I have mentioned in an earlier SD that Dr. Wiersbe’s commentaries use the King James Bible and I have always used the NASB and in his commentary on this section he wants his readers to see verse four in the NASB because of the statement at the end of verse four:  “There is no God.”

            I have also mentioned that the reason that many people of this age flock to the theory of evolution is that by believing this lie they take God out of the picture and become their own gods doing what they want, not fearing any judgment, well the psalmist is speaking of people who are doing the same kind of thing in his day.

            We see that these evil and wicked people live only for their self, and have no fear of God or what they do to other people as long as it causes gain for them. This sounds all too familiar as we look at the world around us today.

            “I shall not be moved” (v.5-7):  “5 His ways prosper at all times; Your judgments are on high, out of his sight; As for all his adversaries, he snorts at them. 6  He says to himself, "I will not be moved; Throughout all generations I will not be in adversity." 7  His mouth is full of curses and deceit and oppression; Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness.”

            Let us look at two passages of Scripture to help understand these verses above:  “10  For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, 13  which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. 14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. 16 For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.”  (1Cor. 2:10-16)  This passage shows that unconverted man has no knowledge or understanding of the Word of God, or the ways of God and that is the problem with these people in Psalm 10.

            These people of Psalm 10 misunderstand God, especially that God is longsuffering, and because He is longsuffering they think He will not act at all.  “Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil.”   (Eccl. 8:11) 

            One of these days these people will wake up and see that the longsuffering of God is over and then their peace and prosperity will end very suddenly.

            “God will not judge me” (vv. 12-13):  “12 Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up Your hand. Do not forget the afflicted. 13 Why has the wicked spurned God? He has said to himself, "You will not require it.’”

“12 Arise, O LORD!  Punish the wicked, O God!  Do not ignore the helpless! 13  Why do the wicked get away with despising God?  They think, “God will never call us to account.’” (NLT)

In these verses we see the psalmist crying out for help to God and we also see three names for God in these verses:  God: Jehovah, the God of the covenant, and El and Elohim, the God of power.  I would like to say here that it would be a wonderful study to know all the names that are used for God throughout the Bible and by knowing this it will enhance our prayer life, for like the psalmist in these verse we could cry out to God by using His names that fit into what we are praying about.

Dr. Wiersbe writes:  “The Lord will keep His covenant promises to His people, and there will be a day of reckoning when sinners will be judged by a righteous God.  ‘Arise, O God’ take us back to Numbers 10:35 and the triumphant march of Israel.”

 

Trusting God (vv.14-18)

The psalmist shows his great trust in God in this last portion of this psalm and has full confidence that God will answer his prayers about the wicked, for he knows that God is on His throne and has everything under control.  Dr. Wiersbe writes, “The Lord may not explain to us why some people seem to get away with their evil deeds, but He does assure us that He will judge sinners and ultimately defend His own.  In this paragraph, the Lord answers all four of the statements of the wicked that are quoted in verses 2-13.”

            God sees what is going on (v. 14):  “14 But you see the trouble and grief they cause.  You take note of it and punish them. The helpless put their trust in you.  You defend the orphans.”

            In verses 8-11 we saw that the wicked boast that God does not know what is going on, but He does see the trouble and the grief that the wicked are causing. 

            God judges sin (v. 15):  “15 Break the arms of these wicked, evil people!  Go after them until the last one is destroyed.”

            This answers the false claim of verses 12-13.  God will answer this prayer, for He is bound by His Word, and although the answer may not come in the timeframe we want it to come God will answer this prayer and God will judge sin.

            God is King (v. 16):  “16 The LORD is king forever and ever!  The godless nations will vanish from the land.”

            The wicked claim that there is no God (vv.1-4) but that is not the truth, for the truth is that God is and He rules over all.

            We know that this prayer was answered for there were many nations that have vanished from their lands since the writing of this psalm, and we know according to the prophecies of the Bible that God will do this in the end times and the reason is that He is King and rules over His kingdom.

            God defends His own people (vv. 17-18):  “17 LORD, you know the hopes of the helpless.  Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them. 18 You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so mere people can no longer terrify them.”

            In verse verses 5-7 the wicked claim that they will not be moved, but God has other plans for them.  God hears the prayers of those who are being persecuted and He see their plight, He also gives strength to their hearts to enable them to go through trials (see Romans 8:28).  He will eventually judge the wicked, those who have abused them.  Paul writes in Philippians 3:20-21 these words, “20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; 21  who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”  This is a wonderful promise for all believers, especially in times of trouble. 

            Yes God will one day judge all of the wickedness that has gone on during the history of wickedness upon this earth, and God will take His children to be with Him to live forever, and these are two great promises we can hold onto.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I know that the promises of God are true and that one day God will judge the wicked, and when He does that it will not be in the sense of getting even with them, but God is just and His justice will be seen in that day when the White Throne Judgments take place (Revelation 20:11-15).  I believe it is Ezekiel who said that God gets no pleasure from the judgment of the wicked, and I suppose that waiting on God to judge the wicked is a part of learning to be content, knowing that God is in control and will keep His Word.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.      Continue to learn contentment, knowing that one day all wrongs will be made right by God.

 

 

12/28/2011 10:08:15 AM  

              

Psalm Nine

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/27/2011 9:03:09 AM

 

 

My Worship Time                                                                     Focus:  Psalm 9

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Psalm 9

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 For the choir director; on Muth-labben. A Psalm of David:  I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders. 2 I will be glad and exult in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High. 3 When my enemies turn back, They stumble and perish before You. 4 For You have maintained my just cause; You have sat on the throne judging righteously. 5 You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name forever and ever. 6 The enemy has come to an end in perpetual ruins, And You have uprooted the cities; The very memory of them has perished. 7 But the LORD abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment, 8 And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity. 9 The LORD also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, A stronghold in times of trouble; 10  And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.

    “11 Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion; Declare among the peoples His deeds. 12 For He who requires blood remembers them; He does not forget the cry of the afflicted. 13  Be gracious to me, O LORD; See my affliction from those who hate me, You who lift me up from the gates of death, 14 That I may tell of all Your praises, That in the gates of the daughter of Zion I may rejoice in Your salvation. 15 The nations have sunk down in the pit which they have made; In the net which they hid, their own foot has been caught. 16 The LORD has made Himself known; He has executed judgment. In the work of his own hands the wicked is snared. Higgaion Selah. 17 The wicked will return to Sheol, Even all the nations who forget God. 18 For the needy will not always be forgotten, Nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever. 19 Arise, O LORD, do not let man prevail; Let the nations be judged before You. 20 Put them in fear, O LORD; Let the nations know that they are but men. Selah.”

 

            Dr. Wiersbe points out that the word “Muth-labben” means the death of a son, but does not know exactly why it is in this psalm.  John MacArthur writes “The new element of this title lit. reads ‘Death of a Son.’  Many conjectures have arisen about this puzzling phrase, but it is safest to regard these words as designating a particular tune.” 

            We see praise and prayer in this psalm and now we will look at it in the same way that we have been looking at it in the other psalms, that is by using the outline from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary.

 

            Personal Praise:  God Saves the King (vv. 1-8):  “1 For the choir director; on Muth-labben. A Psalm of David: I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders. 2 I will be glad and exult in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High. 3 When my enemies turn back, They stumble and perish before You. 4 For You have maintained my just cause; You have sat on the throne judging righteously. 5 You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name forever and ever. 6 The enemy has come to an end in perpetual ruins, And You have uprooted the cities; The very memory of them has perished. 7 But the LORD abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment, 8  And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity.”

 

            It was the desire of David to praise the Lord for victory over the nations that have attacked Israel.  David did not want to receive the glory, but to give glory to the Lord for these victories and so David praises the Lord in this section.  David desired to tell everyone about the wonderful works that the Lord has done. 

            We see in verses 3-6 that David is describing the victory the Lord has given Israel in earlier battles.  We see the highlighted words “You Have” six times in verses three through six stating what the Lord has done.  What was the reason that God gave David and Israel these victories?  It was because God wanted David to remain king over Israel and He wanted to accomplish His purposes in this world.  David’s line would bring about the Messiah and therefore God would protect David and also protect Israel in order to bring the Messiah into the world.

            We also see in these verses a picture of when God will bring about victory in the final judgment of this world.  Paul actually used verse eight when speaking to those at Athens as found in Acts 17:31.

 

            National Praise:  God Shelters the People (vv. 9-20).  Dr. Wiersbe writes that “the focus now centers on the people of the land, whom David calls the oppressed (v-9), the humble (’afflicted’v-12), and the needy and the poor (v-18).  These are the faithful worshipers of the Lord who have been persecuted, abused, and exploited by local rulers for being true to the Lord.  David praises the Lord for His faithfulness in caring for His sheep.”

            The refuge—God will not forsake them (vv. 9-10).  “9  The LORD also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, A stronghold in times of trouble; 10  And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.”

            While David was in the wilderness hiding from Saul he would find refuge in a stronghold, but as we see in verse ten the best refuge was in the Lord as David speaks about the name of the Lord.  God forsook His Son so that He would not forsake His children.

            The avenger—God will not fail them (vv.11-17):  “11 ¶  Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion; Declare among the peoples His deeds. 12  For He who requires blood remembers them; He does not forget the cry of the afflicted. 13  Be gracious to me, O LORD; See my affliction from those who hate me, You who lift me up from the gates of death, 14  That I may tell of all Your praises, That in the gates of the daughter of Zion I may rejoice in Your salvation. 15  The nations have sunk down in the pit which they have made; In the net which they hid, their own foot has been caught. 16  The LORD has made Himself known; He has executed judgment. In the work of his own hands the wicked is snared. Higgaion Selah. 17  The wicked will return to Sheol, Even all the nations who forget God.”

            In verse twelve where it speaks of requiring blood is speaking of an investigation of murder, and though many murders are not solved here on earth God will eventually take care of those who have committed these crimes.  God will fight the battles of His people. 

            We see in verse fourteen that David wants to tell every one of all of God’s praises and also about His salvation.  Israel was called to accomplish this to tell the world about God and His salvation.

            In verses 13-17 we see a suffering remnant praying to the Lord that He would take them from the gates of death and put them at the gates of Zion (v-14).  These people also ask the Lord to catch their enemies in their own traps and finally consign them to the grave.  The word “Higgaion” could mean “meditation,” or it may refer to a solemn sound on the accompanying instruments.”  (From Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary”

            The conqueror—God will not forget them (vv. 18-20):  “18  For the needy will not always be forgotten, Nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever. 19  Arise, O LORD, do not let man prevail; Let the nations be judged before You. 20  Put them in fear, O LORD; Let the nations know that they are but men. Selah.”

            We can see in these verses that the Lord will one day Arise and take care of the nations, that is those who oppose Him and He will judge them He will put them in fear, for they are only dust, but most of the time they do not realize that they are but dust and frail.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I was watching a news broadcast last evening, I just happened to turn it on and the subject was about how in many places in the world the “Christians” and also the Jewish people were be persecuted by radical Muslims.  Many have died because of this persecution.  As I look at these verses in this psalm I know that one day all of this will end and those who are doing the persecution will have to answer to the Lord.  When one reads the 38^th and 39^th chapters of Ezekiel one will see that one day God will judge those who are doing this persecution.  Joel C. Rosenberg has written a number of novels that are based on Biblical prophecy and one of them is entitled “The Ezekiel Option,” and in that novel the prophecy of Ezekiel 38-39 is explained very well.  It was a great read.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.       Trust that the Lord will take care of those who are persecuting His children, giving them what they deserve.

2.       Continue to learn contentment.

 

12/27/2011 10:14:46 AM 

Psalm 8

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/26/2011 8:44:29 AM

 

 

My Worship Time                                                                     Focus:  Psalm 8

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Psalm 8

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 For the choir director; on the Gittith. A Psalm of David. O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens! 2 From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength Because of Your adversaries, To make the enemy and the revengeful cease.  3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; 4  What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? 5 Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! 6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, 7 All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field, 8 The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas. 9 O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth!”

 

            First we will look at the word “Gittith” and see that Dr. Wiersbe says that this word means “winepress” and may identify a vintage tune as are Psalms 81 and 84.  He calls this psalm a nature psalm as are psalms 19, 29, 65, and 104, but it is also a Messianic psalm (Matthew 21:16; Hebrews 2:6-8; 1Corinthians 15:27; and Ephesians 1:22).   In this Psalm we see that David is amazed at the God of creation who is glorified through His great and glorious creation, but the question is, is God glorified through man here on earth.  David wonders why God even pays attention to mankind here on earth.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “The answer to the question ‘What is man?’ is ultimately answered by Jesus Christ, the ‘Last Adam,’ through who we regain our lost dominion.”

            He writes “That God, in His remarkable condescension, should focus attention on us is proof of our dignity as creatures made in the image of God.  The grandeur of men and women is found only there.  Apart from knowing God, we have no understanding of who we are or what we are to do in this great universe.”

 

            God Created Us (vv. 1-2, 5a):  “1 For the choir director; on the Gittith. A Psalm of David. O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens! 2 From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength Because of Your adversaries, To make the enemy and the revengeful cease.  5 Yet You have made him a little lower than God.”

 

            We see the word “splendor” in verse one and in the AV it is translated as “glory.”  The first verse speaks of the glory and majesty of God, a subject that could be written about for a very long time, longer than we have here.  God’s glory is a very important subject in the Word of God.  We see in the 33^rd chapter of Exodus that Moses desired to see the glory of the Lord, and God had to put Moses in the cleft of a rock, with his face hidden so that God’s glory would not kill him.  I believe that when God’s glory is identified in Scripture that in some way it speaks of light, a very bright light that is brighter than the sun.  We remember in Matthew 17 when the Lord Jesus was on the Mt. of transfiguration that His glory was seen by some of His disciples.  Jesus Christ had to hide His glory when He came to earth and that is part of what He gave up for the time when He was on earth:  “4 "I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. 5 “Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was” (John 17:4-5).  Man can give glory to the Lord, but there is a part of God’s glory that is perfect and cannot be added too.  This is a subject for another time and another SD.

            In verse one we see the words “Our Lord” and Dr. Wiersbe writes that this “is a threefold confession of faith: there is but one God, all people were created by God, and the Jewish people in particular are ‘His people and the sheep of His pasture’ (100:3).

            We now move to verse two and this verse speaks of God’s immanence {describes God as existing in and extending into all parts of the created universe}.  Verse two is quoted by Jesus in Matthew 21:16 which take place right after He cleanses the temple.  God is so great that He can entrust His praise to infants and children and He still will not be robbed of His glory. We see this in different parts of the Scripture like when Moses was a baby and even then God showed His purpose for him, as He did when Samuel was a baby, and what about Jesus when He was born as a baby.  We know that God did not need us, but He created us and He prepared a wonderful world for us to live in.  I like what the Westminster Catechism states that our purpose is to “glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”  I am afraid that not all of mankind will do this and so it is up to us to tell them how they can glorify God and enjoy Him forever, and that is through a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

            God Cares for Us (vv. 3-4):  “3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; 4  What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him?”

            I am part of a Bible Study learning about creation from Genesis chapter one and in verse 16 we read “God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also.”  We see that it kind of sounds like an afterthought, that is God making the stars also, and we see in verse three of Psalm 8 that this was all done with the “fingers” of God.  There are billions of galaxies in the heavens containing billions of stars and Scripture say that they were made with the fingers of God.  What does this mean to me when I read about it?  First of all I see that in Psalm 19 we see that all of these stars bring glory to God.  Next I read about God taking six days to created the earth and all that is on it and as I look at the creation taking six day and the fact that man was created last I see that it took God that amount of time to prepare the earth for man and that makes me feel very special.

            David wonders who or what man is that God should think of him.  I believe that this surely is speaking of man in his sinfulness that David is writing about, and yet it was through man (actually woman) that God brings His Son into the world in order to save sinful man and that is a wonder all of its own.

 

            God Crowns Us (vv. 5-8):  “5 Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! 6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, 7 All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field, 8 The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas. 9 O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth!”

 

            Let us first look at the Hebrew word that is used here in verse five that is translated as “God” in the NASB and “angels” in the AV.  The word is “elohim” and it can mean angelic creatures (Hebrews 2:7), but in this passage Dr. Wiersbe states that it definitely means “God.”

            Now let’s look at what the evolutionists try and tell us compared to what God is telling us in this passage.  They say that man is a little higher than animals, when they are actually a little lower than God.  Why does God say this?  As stated above God took six days to get the earth ready for man to be created and man was the only creature that God made that is created in the image of God, surely not the animals were created like this, only man was created in the image of God and that is why we are so special. 

            Mankind through Adams’s sin has lost the right to rule over the world and the animal kingdom but when we see Jesus coming to earth He did rule over Adman’s lost race.  We see this in different parts of the Gospels like ruling over beasts in Mark 1:13; 11:1-7; and the fowl in Luke 22:34; and the fish in Luke 5:4-7, and today we know that Jesus Christ is on the throne in heaven and according to 1Cor 15:27 and Eph. 1:22 all things are under His feet, and that phrase according to Dr. Wiersbe means “completely subjected to Him.”

            Dr. Wiersbe writes in conclusion to this wonder psalm the following:  “To summarize:  God the Father created us to be kings, but the disobedience of our first parents robbed us of our crowns.  God the Son came to earth and redeemed us to be kings (Rev. 1:5-6), and today the Holy Spirit of God can empower us to ‘reign in life by one, Jesus Christ’ (Rom. 5:17).  When you crown Jesus Christ Lord of all, you are a sovereign and not a slave, a victor and not a victim.  ‘O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth!’”   

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Today’s lesson from Psalm 8 gave me a new purpose in my life as I think of God creating me to bring honor and glory to Him and in doing this it will help me to learn something that I have been trying to learn for many years and that is to say with the Apostle Paul “I have learned to be content.”

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.       To continue to learn contentment.

 

12/26/2011 10:07:41 AM

             

Psalm Seven

SPIRITURAL DIARY FOR 12/25/2011 7:37:23 PM

 

 

My Worship Time                                                                     Focus:  Psalm 7

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Psalm 7

 

            Message of the verse:  “1 A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning Cush, a Benjamite. O LORD my God, in You I have taken refuge; Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me, 2 Or he will tear my soul like a lion, Dragging me away, while there is none to deliver. 3 O LORD my God, if I have done this, If there is injustice in my hands, 4 If I have rewarded evil to my friend, Or have plundered him who without cause was my adversary, 5 Let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it; And let him trample my life down to the ground And lay my glory in the dust. Selah. 6 Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; Lift up Yourself against the rage of my adversaries, And arouse Yourself for me; You have appointed judgment. 7 Let the assembly of the peoples encompass You, And over them return on high. 8 The LORD judges the peoples; Vindicate me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me. 9 O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; For the righteous God tries the hearts and minds.

    “10 My shield is with God, Who saves the upright in heart. 11 God is a righteous judge, And a God who has indignation every day. 12 If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready. 13 He has also prepared for Himself deadly weapons; He makes His arrows fiery shafts. 14 Behold, he travails with wickedness, And he conceives mischief and brings forth falsehood. 15 He has dug a pit and hollowed it out, And has fallen into the hole which he made. 16 His mischief will return upon his own head, And his violence will descend upon his own pate. 17 I will give thanks to the LORD according to His righteousness And will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.”

 

            We will start off with the word Shiggaion and tell you that the meaning is not really known, but it could mean a passionate psalm with strong emotion.  It is used here and in Habakkuk 3:1 and nowhere else in Scripture.

            Dr. Wiersbe says that the theme of Psalm 7 is God’s vindication of His servant and judgment on his enemies.  He also writes “The psalm described four different judgments.”

            This has to be an early Psalm of David as it is about one of the men under Saul who was telling lies about David and in the process making Saul’s hatred of David grow, and so Saul would hunt David more and more.  David knew that this Benjamite was lying about him and so he writes this psalm speaking to the Lord about Cush, the Benjamite.

 

            Other People Judge us Wrongly:  (vv.1-2):  “1 A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning Cush, a Benjamite. O LORD my God, in You I have taken refuge; Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me, 2 Or he will tear my soul like a lion, Dragging me away, while there is none to deliver.”

            We see in verse one (NASB) that David uses a plural reference to those who were pursuing him and in verse two he uses the word “he” speaking of Saul who is the one who is pursuing David.  In this we can see that David was being judged wrongly.  David knew that Saul’s judgment of him was wrong and so he cried out to the Lord about being falsely accused.  When people judge us wrongly we first should cry out to the Lord, but we must make sure that we are innocent before doing this.

 

            We Judge Ourselves Honestly:  (vv.3-5):  “3 O LORD my God, if I have done this, If there is injustice in my hands, 4 If I have rewarded evil to my friend, Or have plundered him who without cause was my adversary, 5 Let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it; And let him trample my life down to the ground And lay my glory in the dust. Selah.”

            David is making sure that he has done nothing wrong and if he did do something wrong then he asks the Lord to have his enemies trample him to the ground.  David knew that he was innocent but we know that David was not sinless, as we are not sinless, and David was not claiming to be sinless.  David was stating that he was sinless in his motives and actions. 

            As we remember the life of David at this time period we know that David had two opportunities to kill Saul, but he could not do so because he could not kill the Lord’s anointed, and so this was reason enough to have a clear conscience when it came to the things of Saul. 

 

            God Judges Sinners Righteously (vv. 6-13):  “6 Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; Lift up Yourself against the rage of my adversaries, And arouse Yourself for me; You have appointed judgment. 7 Let the assembly of the peoples encompass You, And over them return on high. 8 The LORD judges the peoples; Vindicate me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me. 9 O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; For the righteous God tries the hearts and minds. 10 My shield is with God, Who saves the upright in heart. 11 God is a righteous judge, And a God who has indignation every day. 12 If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready. 13 He has also prepared for Himself deadly weapons; He makes His arrows fiery shafts.”

 

            I have had people do me wrong on more than one occasion and when this happens I have a desire to handle the situation on my own without consulting the Lord, and then I begin to think about it and at that point trust the Lord to handle the situation.  This is a hard thing to do, but we can see in this section that David asks the Lord to do to these men, Saul and his men who are wronging David, what should be done to them as punishment from the Lord.  Now when this tape of things happens to me and I allow the Lord to handle it then it will be done right even though I have to remember that it will be done on the Lord’s timetable and that takes patience.  In the end all the wrongs that were done to David and also the wrongs that are done to the Lord’s children will be made right and we can see this in this section.  God does know about the wickedness that goes on each day and there is much wickedness that goes on.  He allows sinners to reap the sad consequences of their sins day after day; however when these men continue to be rebellious God may send special judgment when His longsuffering has run its course. 

 

            Sin Itself Judges Sinners Ultimately (vv. 14-17):  “14 Behold, he travails with wickedness, And he conceives mischief and brings forth falsehood. 15 He has dug a pit and hollowed it out, And has fallen into the hole which he made. 16 His mischief will return upon his own head, And his violence will descend upon his own pate. 17 I will give thanks to the LORD according to His righteousness And will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.”

 

            Let us take a look at James 1:13-15 to help us understand this section better:  “13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”  This is an example of how pregnancy is used in Scripture as an image of sin.  Sin will eventually destroy the sinners who do not repent to the Lord and turn from their sins.  The Bible says that “The wages of sin is death,” the wages of sin is always death.  God told Adam that when he would eat of the forbidden fruit he would die, and as soon as he ate of it he died spiritually and eventually physically. 

            Friedrich von Logau writes, “Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small.”  We read in the Scriptures that the same day that the Holy Spirit left Saul He came upon David.  Now that does not mean that Saul was not a believer because in the OT the Holy Spirit did not come upon those who were believers the same way that He does to those of us who are living after the cross. 

            My wife is reading the book of Psalms too as she read the book of Job, and she pointed out a quote from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary that is fitting especially for this time of the year:  “for what every reason God chose to make man as he is—limited and suffering and subject to sorrows and death—He had the honesty and the courage to take His own medicine.”  I know that today is Christmas but the reason for Christmas was to bring God’s Son into the world in order to (as Dorothy Sayers put it in the quote I just made) to take His own medicine.

            David speaks at the end of this psalm about sinners being judged and so the reason for the paragraph that is above this one is to say that there is only two ways sinners are going to be judged through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for those who accept it or by each sinner that refuses this pardon to be judged for their own sin.  Which will you choose?

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Christmas day 2011 is a reminder to everyone that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, to do as Dorothy Sayers writes, to take His own medicine.  I am thankful for the reminder of what this day means, to give me something that I will never deserve as a free gift, and that is the best Christmas present that anyone can ever have.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.       Make sure that when I ask the Lord to avenge those who have wronged me that I am innocent.

2.       Trust the Lord to take care of all those who avenge me in His own way and in His own time knowing He will do it the best way it can be done.

3.       Continue to learn contentment.

 

12/25/2011 8:50:48 PM