SPIRITUAL
DIARY FOR 4/17/2012 10:01:01 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Worship
Pt-1
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 75 PT-1
Message
of the verses: Today we will begin the 75th Psalm
as we will be half way through the book of Psalms at the completion of this
study in Psalm 75. We will begin by
looking at several introductions to this psalm by different commentators.
“In this psalm, the believing
community asserts that, in spite of physical, moral, and societal turmoil, God
never loses control of the universe. He
gives stability to earthly life, and He will judge the wicked at the
appropriate time. Structurally, the
psalm revolves around 3 metaphors; pillars of the earth (v.3); horns (vv. 5, 6,
11); and God’s cup of wrath (v.8).” (The
John MacArthur Study Bible)
“This psalm by Asaph may be read as
the ‘digest’ of a worship service called to thank the Lord for what He had done
for His people. Because of the warning
against boasting (vv. 4-7), some students associate the psalm with King
Hezekiah and Jerusalem’s deliverance from the Assyrian invaders (Isa.
36:3-7). They also associate 76, 77, and
78 with that great event. Sennacherib’s
officers certainly boasted about their achievements, but when the right time
came, God destroyed the Assyrian army encamped around Mt. Zion. The tune ‘Destroy Not’ is used with 57, 58,
and 59. Now let’s go to the worship
service.” (Dr. Warren Wiersbe)
I realize that when I look at
different commentators that there will sometimes be a difference of opinion as
to what is in that particular portion of Scripture, but this is not really a
problem to me because I think that it is good to look at different points of
view as long as that point of view does not go against the most important
things that the Bible teaches about, like salvation, the trinity, and other
important things like that. I do not
read any commentators who would go against these important teachings of the
Bible.
We
Begin with an Invocation of Praise (v. 1):
“1 For the choir director; set to Al-tashheth. A Psalm of Asaph, a
Song: We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks, For Your name is near; Men
declare Your wondrous works.”
When we desire to worship the
Lord we must remember that true worship always centers on the Lord and never
centers on us, on our personal problems, or even our felt needs. When we praise the Lord we must have an
understanding of His attributes, for to know the attributes of God is to better
know God. In Chip Ingram’s book entitled
“God as He Longs for You to See Him” he writes about the goodness of God, the
sovereignty of God, the holiness of God, the wisdom of God, the Justice of God,
the love of God, and the faithfulness of God.
This is not an exhaustive list of His attributes, but it does help in
understanding who God is and that is most important when it comes to worshiping
God. Dr. Wiersbe writes “Though God
wants us to bring our burdens to Him and seek His help; worship begins with
getting our eyes of faith off the circumstances of life and focusing them on
the Lord God Almighty.” God knows all
about our circumstances, but the better that we know God the more we understand
about God the more we will realize that God knows and understands our
circumstances perfectly and will handle them in a way that will be good for us
and bring glory to our Lord Jesus Christ.
We
Hear the Lord’s Message (vv. 2-5): “2
“When I select an appointed time, It is I who judge with equity. 3 “The earth
and all who dwell in it melt; It is I who have firmly set its pillars. Selah. 4
“I said to the boastful, ’Do not boast,’ And to the wicked, ’Do not lift up the
horn; 5 Do not lift up your horn on high, Do not speak with insolent pride.’”
2 “At the set time that I appoint
I will judge with equity. 3 When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants, it
is I who keep steady its pillars. Selah 4 I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’
and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn; 5 do not lift up your horn on
high, or speak with haughty neck.”’ (ESV)
We must hear the message of the
Lord, either given to us in word, song or hearing His Word preached to us in
order for the Lord to hear our praises given to Him. We see in these four verses two messages
given from the Lord, one to the believers and one to those who are not
believers, who are wicked and proud.
We see in verses two and three a
message of encouragement to those who belong to the Lord, for in them He
affirms to them that He is in control and that He is always on time even though
there are times when we think that He is late.
One of the things that I love about reading the stories of when Jesus
was on planet earth is to see that He was never in a hurry, but that He was
never late. I think of the story of
Lazarus who became very sick and his sisters sent for Jesus so that He may heal
him. Jesus deliberately waited until
Lazarus had died before He came to him and his sisters, but He was not late, He
was on time to fulfill what He had planned to do for Lazarus and for those who
saw it and for those who still read about it.
It was in the plan of God to raise Lazarus from the dead after being
dead for a number of days, he was in the grave so long that his sisters told
Jesus that there will be a bad smell coming from his decaying body when they
opened the grave, but still Jesus was right on time. Jesus told Mary and Martha that He was the
resurrection and the life and then He raised Lazarus from the dead, something
that would happen to Him in a few short days, and something that will happen to
all who name the name of Jesus as their Lord when He comes in the clouds at
what is called the rapture. Yes Jesus
will be on time when He comes to the clouds in the skies and a trumpet will
sound and the dead in Christ will be raised and we who are alive at that time
will be changed on the way up to meet Jesus and will be with Him forever.
The psalmist has a message to
those who are filled with pride, those who are lifted up and are boastful. His message is not to be filled with pride,
for pride comes before a fall. Last
night in my journey through the Scriptures this year I was listening to the
book of Esther, and in that book there is a very proud man, and his great pride
came right before his fall, a fall in which he was lifted up on a gallows where
his dead body was hanged for all to see.
Haman was a man who was doing something that God had promised to Abraham
a very long time ago not to do. God told
Abraham that He would bless those who bless him, and those who would curse him
He would curse. Haman hated Mordecai
because he was a Jew and had planned to kill all of the Jews just because they
were Jews. He came into the king’s
palace to ask the king if he could hang Mordecai on the gallows he had made and
found out that the king had been reading about the good deed that Mordecai had
done for the king a while ago and now the king wanted to show his appreciation
to him for that deed. Haman thought that the king was speaking about him and
told the king that he should have this man be put on the kings horse and
someone lead the horse around the city telling others that this is what the
king did for those he liked. The problem
(pride) was that Haman had to lead Mordecia around the city and then a few
hours later in this story Haman would be hanged on the gallows he had made for
Mordecai. God hates pride, for when we
are prideful we are dishonoring Him and lifting ourselves up.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I want to remember that God is always on time
and that I am to worship the Lord by praising who He is, and knowing who He is
can be found in His Word by looking at His attributes. Pride is something I am not to have.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: Worship
the Lord in Spirit and in truth. Trust
the Lord to care for me and never be late, even though at times I think He is
late. Continue to learn contentment.
4/17/2012
11:35:02 AM
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