A Just Throne, a Gracious Throne (Ps. 99:4-9)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/28/2012 9:41:40 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Psalm 99 PT-2

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Psalm 99:4-9

            Message of the verses:  We will continue to look at the 99^th Psalm in Today’s Spiritual Diary, picking up with verse four.

            A Just Throne (vv. 4-5):  “4 The strength of the King loves justice; You have established equity; You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob. 5 Exalt the LORD our God And worship at His footstool; Holy is He.”

            According to Deuteronomy 17:14-20 it was God’s plan all along to have a king in Israel, one whom He chose, one who would rule in righteousness and in justice.  David was the man that God chose to be king over Israel, and his sons would rule after him.  We know that the Lord Jesus Christ is the son of David and He will one day rule over all the earth from Jerusalem, and we know that when He rules over all the nations of the world He will rule in justice and righteousness.  It is very interesting that God has Moses write about a king to come and rule over Israel so many years before God chose David to begin the dynasty over first all of Israel, and then just Judah and Benjamin.  The reason I say this is because when the people cried out to Samuel to give them a king God was not happy with this but He allowed them to have a king.  I believe that the first king over Israel, Saul, was a man after the people’s heart while David was a man after God’s own heart as the Scriptures state.  Sometimes the worst thing we can get is an answer to a prayer that is not in line with what God desires for you, and this was the case with Israel in wanting a king and getting Saul.

            The word “footstool” in verse five is seen in different places in the Scriptures.  God has called the earth His footstool, and it can also mean the Ark of the Covenant as seen in 1Chronicles 28:2.  The sanctuary of God is seen as the footstool in Psalm 132:7, and also in Isaiah 60:13, along with Ezekiel 43:7, then the city of Jerusalem is also called the footstool,” How the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion With a cloud in His anger! He has cast from heaven to earth The glory of Israel, And has not remembered His footstool In the day of His anger.”  (Lam. 2:1)  We see in Isaiah 66:1 and Matthew 5:35 these words, “Thus says the LORD, "Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest?”  “or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING.” 

            Dr. Wiersbe writes, “Note that verse 5 is the central verse of the psalm and emphasizes the three major themes of the psalm:  God’s holiness and our privilege and responsibility to worship Him and exalt Him (see vv. 3 and 9).”

            A Gracious Throne (vv. 6-9):  “6 Moses and Aaron were among His priests, And Samuel was among those who called on His name; They called upon the LORD and He answered them. 7 He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud; They kept His testimonies And the statute that He gave them. 8 O LORD our God, You answered them; You were a forgiving God to them, And yet an avenger of their evil deeds. 9 Exalt the LORD our God And worship at His holy hill, For holy is the LORD our God.”

            I always enjoy reading the psalms that go back and speak of things that happened before they were written and this is the case in this last section too.  I also enjoy reading the psalms that have to do with the future, and many of them point to the reign of Jesus Christ on the earth, and we can even see the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in Psalm 22. 

We see in the Old Testament that there were priests who ministered before the Lord in either the tabernacle or in the temple.  The high priest was the only one who could go into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement to apply the blood on the Ark of the Covenant, however according to “Hebrews 4:16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”  How is this made possible?  Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and because of this all who have accepted Him as their Lord and Savior are now priests and that is why we can come to God.  Re 1:6 “and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father-to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” Re 5:10 “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth." Re 20:6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.”

Dr. Wiersbe writes “To the lost sinner, God’s throne is a throne of judgment, but to the believer, it is a throne of grace (Heb. 4:14-16), and we can come to Him with our worship and praise as well as our burdens and needs.

“How should we respond to this kind of a God who sits on this kind of a throne?  We must worship Him (vv. 5, 9), praise and exalt Him (vv. 3, 5, 9), and remember that He is holy (vv. 3, 5, 9).  We must pray to Him and seek to glorify His name by our obedience and service.  The next psalm describes all of this and climaxes the ‘royal psalm’ series.”

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Praying to God in times of need, and continue to pray to God is something that I can take out of not only this passage, but also from the message that was given at our church last evening.  The text of that message was Luke 18:1-8 and verse one states, “Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart.”  Praying and not loosing heart is at times, a difficult thing to do.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Praying in difficult times.

Memory verses for the week:  2Peter 1:1-3:  1. Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:  2. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge God and Jesus our Lord; 3. Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

6/28/2012 11:10:08 AM

An Awesome Throne (Psalm 99:1-3)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/27/2012 8:32:58 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Psalm 99 PT-1



Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Psalm 99:1-3



            Message of the verses:  In today’s Spiritual Diary we will begin looking at Psalm 99 by looking at several introductions from different Bible Commentators, and then begin to look at the psalm itself.



            “This may be called THE SANCTUS, or, THE HOLY, HOLY, HOLY PSALM, for the word "holy" is the conclusion and the refrain of its three main divisions. Its subject is the holiness of the divine government, the sanctity of the mediatorial reign. It seems to us to declare the holiness of Jehovah himself in #Ps 99:1-3; it mentions the equity of the king whom the Lord had appointed, as an illustration of the Lord’s love of holiness, or more probably it describes the Lord as himself the king, in #Ps 99:4-5, and it then sets forth the severely righteous character of God’s dealings with those favored persons whom in former times he had selected to approach him on behalf of the people, #Ps 99:6-9. It is a hymn fitted for the cherubim who surround the throne, who are mentioned in #Ps 99:1; it is a Psalm most fitting for saints who dwell in Zion, the holy city, and especially worthy to be reverently sung by all who, like David the king, Moses the lawgiver, Aaron the priest, or Samuel the seer, are honored to lead the church of God, and plead for her with her Lord.”  (Charles H. Spurgeon)



            “The theme of this psalm is summed up in its last phrase; ‘holy is the Lord our God’ (v. 9). The psalmist encourages praise to the king for His holiness (vv. 3, 5, 9), which is the utter separateness of God’s being from all other creatures and things, as well as His moral separateness from sin.  The psalmist also exults in the truth that such a holy God has had an intimate saving relationship with Israel throughout her history (vv. 6-9)”  (The John MacArthur Study Bible)



            “This is the sixth of the ‘royal psalms’ (93, 95-100), all of which magnify the sovereign rule of Jehovah the King.  Like 93 and 97, it opens with ‘The Lord reigns,’ and it emphasizes that Jehovah is exalted above all the nations (v. 2) and not just Israel.  The psalmist describes the throne of the Lord and encourages the people to exalt the Lord as they worship Him (vv. 5, 9).”  (Warren Wiersbe)



            An Awesome Throne (vv. 1-3):  “1 The LORD reigns, let the peoples tremble; He is enthroned above the cherubim, let the earth shake! 2 The LORD is great in Zion, And He is exalted above all the peoples. 3 Let them praise Your great and awesome name; Holy is He.”



            When I was studying the attributes of God one of the authors that I was reading stated that the holiness of God was an attribute of God but it seems to stand above the others or it seemed to be the leading or head attribute of God.  As a human being who has studied the Bible for many years I find that the holiness of God is so great and high above any human that it is hard to imagine that God would even think about humans, and yet because of His love for us that He not only thinks about us but sent His One and only Son to die in our place so that we might spend eternity with Him to serve and adore Him.  Dr. Wiersbe points out that “The word ‘holy’ means ‘separate, set apart, totally different.’  God’s nature is ‘wholly other’ yet He was willing to dwell with His people and meet their needs.”

            We know from reading Scripture that not only does God dwell in heaven, but was also enthroned on the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies of the sanctuary on Mount Zion.  Both Isaiah and Ezekiel saw the throne of God in heaven and Moses knew about it too, for it was Moses whom God used to build the tabernacle where God reined.

            The psalm also speaks of the power of God as seen in verse one.  God surely is great in Zion and not only that but one day all peoples will bow before the Lord, not just those in Israel.

            We will see the name LORD seven times in this psalm.



            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Knowing that the Lord reigns in heaven gives me great confidence that He is in charge of all that is going on today and everyday on earth.  Knowing that His Holy Spirit lives in me also gives me great confidence that He will lead me and guide me each day.



My Steps of Faith for Today:  To abide in the vine so that the Lord will teach me and guide me to do what He has planned for me to do from eternity past.  (Ephesians 2:10 and John 15)



Memory verses for the week:  2Peter 1:1-3:  1. Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:  2. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3. seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” 



6/27/2012 9:23:30 AM

             

A Joyous Celebration and A Glorious Expectation (Ps. 98:4-9)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/26/2012 8:59:38 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Psalm 98 PT-2



Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Psalm 98:4-9



            Message of the verses:  In the last SD we looked at the introductions from several Bible Commentators for Psalm 98 and then we looked at the first three verses of the psalm.  Today we will look at the remaining verses.



            A Joyous Celebration (vv. 4-6):  “4 Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises. 5 Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, With the lyre and the sound of melody. 6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn Shout joyfully before the King, the LORD.”

            Dr. Wiersbe states that this section is similar to what the prophet Isaiah wrote about when he spoke about the Exodus of Israel from Egypt.  We know from the reading of many different Scriptures from the OT that Israel’s worship of the Lord was made up of singing to the Lord along with joyful praises given to the Lord.  Let’s look at one of the passages that speaks of this type of worship to the Lord by Israel:  “10 Now when the builders had laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD according to the directions of King David of Israel. 11 They sang, praising and giving thanks to the LORD, saying, "For He is good, for His lovingkindness is upon Israel forever." And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the LORD because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. 12 Yet many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ households, the old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many shouted aloud for joy, 13 so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the shout of joy from the sound of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard far away.”  (Ezra 3:10-13)

            I can look at the celebration that the psalmist is writing about and also think of a time in the future when the Lord Jesus Christ will return to earth, which is described in the 19^th chapter of the book of Revelations, and once He finishes separating the sheep from the goats, and the temple is then built and the earth is restored by the Lord, He will begin to reign in Jerusalem and all the earth will worship and celebrate having the Lord on the throne.  I believe that there will be the kind of celebration that is written by the psalmist at that time.



            A Glorious Expectation (vv. 7-9):  “7 Let the sea roar and all it contains, The world and those who dwell in it. 8 Let the rivers clap their hands, Let the mountains sing together for joy 9 Before the LORD, for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness And the peoples with equity.”

            In Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary on this section he states that this section also points to the second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, but also speaks of when the Lord delivered Israel from the time they spent in Babylon. 

            In the first section of this psalm we saw the psalmist write about the Lord as Deliverer and then King, and now he writes about the Lord as the Judge of all the earth, the One who will judge the world with righteousness.  When I think of righteousness I cannot help but think of what I believe is the most unfair, but also the best trade that can be given.  I am speaking of when the Lord Jesus died on the cross and took my sin upon Him and in exchange for my sin He gave me His righteousness so that when God sees me He sees the righteousness of Jesus Christ.  It cannot get any better than that.

            We see in this section great praise given to the Lord from not only the people on the earth, but also from God’s creation as well, as we see the rivers and seas clap their hands in praise to the Lord along with the singing of the mountains.  One of the most peaceful things a person can encounter is going to the seashore and listen to the waves come in, and in this the sea is praising the Lord according to the psalmist.



            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I realize that we live in a world that is cursed from the fall of man, but according to what Paul wrote to the Romans one day that curse will be gone and the earth is waiting for that to happen.  22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”  (Romans 8:22-26)  One day soon we will see the Lord come in the clouds to receive His bride and take her to heaven and then in a short time after that He will return to earth with His bride and we will rule and reign with the Lord on this earth for 1000 years.  We will see the curse lifted from the earth as the Lord will remake the earth into something that will be similar to when He first created the earth.  All the earth at that time will praise the Lord.  What a day that will be.



My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to abide in the vine in order to produce the fruit that God has prepared for me to produce in eternity past.



Memory verses for the week:  2Peter 2:1-3:

1.     Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who have received a faith of the same kind as our, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:  2. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus, our Lord; 3. seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His glory and excellence.

6/26/2012 9:36:37 AM

A Marvelous Salvation (Ps. 98:1-3)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/25/2012 9:37:37 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Psalm 98 PT-1



Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Psalm 98:1-3



            Message of the verses:  In today’s SD we will begin to look at Psalm 98 by looking at several introductions from different Bible commentators in order to better understand what this psalm is all about.



            “TITLE AND SUBJECT. — This sacred ode, which bears simply the title of "A Psalm," follows fitly upon the last, and is evidently an integral part of the series of royal psalms. If #Ps 97:1-12 described the publication of the gospel, and so the setting up of the kingdom of heaven, the present Psalm is a sort of Coronation Hymn, officially proclaiming the conquering Messiah as Monarch over the nations, with blast of trumpets, clapping of hands, and celebration of triumphs. It is a singularly bold and lively song. The critics have fully established the fact that similar expressions occur in Isaiah, but we see no force in the inference that therefore it was written by him; on this principle half the books in the English language might be attributed to Shakespeare. The fact is that these associated Psalms make up a mosaic, in which each one of them has an appropriate place, and is necessary to the completeness of the whole, and therefore we believe them, to be each and all the work of one and the same mind.  Paul, if we understand him aright, ascribes #Ps 95:1-11 to David, and as we believe that the same writer must have written the whole group, we ascribe this also to the son of Jesse.  Whoever that may be, the song is worthy to rank among the most devout and soul stirring of sacred lyrics.”  (Charles H. Spurgeon)



            “Like the surrounding psalms, this psalm proclaims the excitement and joy of the whole earth over the rule of the Lord in the kingdom. This psalm is given over entirely to praise, with only a brief mention of the wicked.”  (The John MacArthur Study Bible)



            “From this psalm Isaac Watts fond the inspiration for his popular hymn ‘Joy to the World,’ often classified as a Christmas carol but more accurately identified as a ‘kingdom hymn.’  Watts described Christ’s Second Advent and not His first, the Messianic kingdom and not the manger.  The parallels to 96 are obvious but the psalms are not identical.  This psalm was written to praise the Lord for a great victory over Israel’s enemies (‘salvation,’ vv. 1-3), perhaps the victory of the Medes and Persians over Babylon (Dan. 5) that led to the return of the Jewish exiles to their land (Ezra 1).  Some of the vocabulary in the psalm reflects the language of Isaiah the prophet, who in chapters 40-66 of his book wrote about the ‘exodus’ of the Jews from Babylon (44:23; 49:;13; 51:3; 52:9-10; 59:16; 63:5).  But the psalm also speaks of a future judgment (vv. 7-9).  The psalmist saw in the destruction of ancient Babylon a picture of God’s judgment of end-time Babylon (Rev. 17-18).”  (Warren Wiersbe)



            A Marvelous Salvation (vv. 1-3):  “1 A Psalm: O sing to the LORD a new song, For He has done wonderful things, His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him. 2 The LORD has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations. 3 He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.”

            In verse one we see the psalmist writing about a new song that is to be sung to the Lord for something new that the Lord has done.  What God has done for Israel demands a new song from His people. We know that God is Spirit and does not have a body so the things described at the end of verse one are metaphorical as they describe God with “His holy arm” that gained victory for Him.  Verse two speaks of salvation and some people have a hard time understanding salvation being seen with God as a warrior, but we have spoken about this in earlier Spiritual Diaries.  Paul wrote that the wages of sin is death so someone has to die for sin and at the cross it was Jesus Christ taking the Holy wrath of His Father in order to pay for the sins of those who would come to Him in repentance asking for His salvation.  We see God’s love at the cross, but we also see God’s wrath and judgment at the cross.  The Greek word that is translated “Propitiation” was used in Greek writings to mean “the satisfaction of an angry god.”  God was angry with sin and is always angry with sin, but Christ’s death on the cross satisfied the anger of God and so He no longer looks at those who have accepted the death of Christ as payment for their sins in anger but He sees them the same way that He sees His Son.  This is also a part of what the term Justification means that Paul writes about in the book of Romans.  Justification is a legal term and some think that it means “just as if I never sinned,” but the meaning is deeper than that for we are looked upon by God as always being perfect.

            Verse two goes on to talk about what God has not only done for Israel, but for the nations too.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “What God did for Israel was a witness to the Gentile nations and a vivid demonstration of His faithfulness to His covenant and His love for His chosen people.”  “It appears that the psalm points ahead to the return of Jesus Christ.”  This is seen in verse three.



            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  This morning as I was putting on my “Spiritual Armor” and got to the helmet of salvation I was reminded of the need to put it on when times are not so good so that I can think about the wonderful salvation that God in His great love provided for me at the cruel cross where Jesus took my place.  Salvation is something that I am so thankful for, something that I could never earn, and something that I do not deserve, but something that God has given to me.  It is good to think about one’s salvation a lot in order to be thankful for this wonderful gift.



My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.      Proverbs 3:5-6

2.     Philippians 4:11b

3.     Ephesians 6:10-18

4.     John 15:1-8

Memory verses for the week:  2Peter 1:1-3

1.     Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:  2. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord; 3. seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

6/25/2012 10:56:17 AM 

The Lord is Exalted over His Enemies, False gods, and His People (Ps. 97:3-12)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/24/2012 8:01:10 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Psalm 97 PT-2



Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Psalm 97:3-12



            Message of the verses:  In the last SD we began to look at Psalm 97 as we looked at the first two verses and also several introductory commentaries by different Bible Commentators.  We will pick up at verse three in today’s SD.



            The Lord Is Exalted over His Enemies (vv. 3-6):  “3 Fire goes before Him And burns up His adversaries round about. 4 His lightnings lit up the world; The earth saw and trembled. 5 The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the LORD, At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. 6 The heavens declare His righteousness, And all the peoples have seen His glory.”



            We see in verses 3-5 a storm, and this is not the first time we have seen a storm in Scripture, for we can see a storm back when the Lord took Israel out of Egypt in the Exodus (Psalm 68:7-8): “7 O God, when You went forth before Your people, When You marched through the wilderness, Selah. 8 The earth quaked; The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God; Sinai itself quaked at the presence of God, the God of Israel.”  When Israel was at Mt. Sinai there was also a storm going on and the writer of the book of Hebrews picks up on it when he writes, “18 For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, 19 and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them. 20 For they could not bear the command, "IF EVEN A BEAST TOUCHES THE MOUNTAIN, IT WILL BE STONED." 21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, ‘I AM FULL OF FEAR and trembling.’” 

            Storms also look to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth, for Jesus said "For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.’”  (Matthew 24:27) 

            We read the following in Deut. 4:24, “’For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.’”  The lightning and the fire reminds of this verse along with Hebrews 12:29 where it says, “For our God is a consuming fire.”  In the past we have mentioned that because justice is one of the attributes of God that His justice (Judgments) brings glory to God.  The phrase “Lord of all the earth” is only seen in four OT places.  Joshua used that when Israel crossed the Jordan River (Joshua 3:11, 13), and Zechariah uses it in 4:14; 6:5.  Jesus used this title of God in Luke 10:21 “At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, "I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.”



            The Lord is Exalted over the False Gods (vv. 7-9):  “7 Let all those be ashamed who serve graven images, Who boast themselves of idols; Worship Him, all you gods. 8 Zion heard this and was glad, And the daughters of Judah have rejoiced Because of Your judgments, O LORD. 9 For You are the LORD Most High over all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods.”



            Israel knew that idols were something that they should not worship, for they knew that the Lord was the One true God who created the earth and all of the other planets and stars.  In the ancient times of the Near East, nations believed that when one nation conquered another it was because their “gods” were stronger than those of the defeated nations, but this surely was not the truth.  Babylon conquered Judah because God planned for this to happen and wrote about it in the Scriptures many times.  God even wrote as to how long Israel would be in captivity, when they would return and who would allow them to return.  Isaiah 44:28 says  “It is I who says of Cyrus, ’He is My shepherd! And he will perform all My desire.’ And he declares of Jerusalem, ’She will be built,’ And of the temple, ’Your foundation will be laid.’"  Isaiah goes on to write in chapter 45 that Cyrus would not only allow Israel go back to Jerusalem, but would also conquer other nations, and it was Cyrus who conquered Babylon.  Daniel chapter five speaks of the Medes and Persians conquering Babylon in one night.

            Dr. Wiersbe writes of idols, “People may not bow down before ugly man-made idols today, but there are certainly plenty of false gods for them to worship—money, power, possessions, sex, pleasures, recognition—for whatever people serve and sacrifice for, that is what they worship (Matt. 4:10).”



            The Lord Is Exalted among His People (vv. 10-12):  “10 Hate evil, you who love the LORD, Who preserves the souls of His godly ones; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked. 11 Light is sown like seed for the righteous And gladness for the upright in heart. 12 Be glad in the LORD, you righteous ones, And give thanks to His holy name.”  (NASB)  “10 You who love the LORD, hate evil!  He protects the lives of his godly people and rescues them from the power of the wicked. 11 Light shines on the godly, and joy on those whose hearts are right. 12 May all who are godly rejoice in the LORD and praise his holy name!”  (NLT) 



            As believers in Jesus Christ we are to love the Lord and we are to hate evil.  God has given great mercy and love to those who are His and therefore we are to love and worship the Lord.  Jesus stated that this was the greatest commandment in all of Scripture to love the Lord with all of your heart, soul, and mind, and then went on to say that the second greatest commandment was to love one’s neighbor like he loved himself.  Out of these two commandments flows the Ten Commandments, and out of the Ten Commandments flows all the other commandments in Scripture.  Loving the Lord and our neighbor pictures the cross, for the vertical post pictures loving the Lord and the horizontal beam pictures loving your neighbor, and this is a difficult thing to do even impossible without the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  When Jesus was on the earth He spoke to the storm and it stopped, and when Balham’s donkey started talking it was because she was obeying the Lord in talking to Balham.  We can see a storm and a donkey obey the Lord without hesitation, but how about man? 

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “The image in verse 11 is that of the sower; the Lord plants light like seeds so that His people will not always walk in darkness and what He plants will eventually bear fruit.  ‘Sowing’ is a frequent metaphor in Scripture for the deeds of both God and people.  The psalm begins with a universal revelation of God’s glory (vv 2-6), with dramatic flashes of lightning, but it ends with His light quietly shining on the paths of His people---“God’s people have their dark days when life is difficult, but there are always seeds of light and joy to accompany us along the way.  Is there any reason why we should not be rejoicing now?”



            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I think that those seeds of light come from the reading of the Word of God.  Romans 12:2 speaks of renewing our minds so that we can know and do the will of God, and this can only happen when our minds are filled with the Word of God.



My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to abide in the vine, and this means to memorize the Word of God as I abide in the Vine.



Memory verses for the week:  2Peter 1:1-3

1.     Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, but the

 Righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:  2. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3. seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

6/24/2012 9:16:22 AM   

The Lord Is Exalted on His Throne (Ps. 97:1-2)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/23/2012 10:34:00 AM

My Worship Time                                                                     Focus:  Psalm 97 PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Psalm 97:1-2

            Message of the verses:  We will begin to look at Psalm 97 in today’s Spiritual Diary by looking at several introductions from different Bible Commentators in order to get understanding as to what this psalm is about and how we will be able to apply it to our lives in order to bring glory to Jesus Christ.

            “This psalm dwells upon the same subject, and is set to the same tune, with the foregoing psalm. Christ is the Alpha and the Omega of both; they are both penned, and are both to be sung to his honour; and we make nothing of them if we do not, in them, make melody with our hearts to the Lord Jesus. He it is that reigns, to the joy of all mankind (#Ps 97:1); and his government speaks.”  (Matthew Henry)

            “As the fast Psalm sung the praises of the Lord in connection with the proclamation of the gospel among the Gentiles, so this appears to foreshadow the mighty working of the Holy Ghost in subduing the colossal systems of error, and casting down the idol gods.  Across the sea to maritime regions a voice cries for rejoicing at the reign of Jesus (#Ps 97:1), the sacred fire descends (#Ps 97:3), like lightning the gospel flames forth (#Ps 97:4), difficulties vanish (#Ps 97:5), and all the nations see the glory of God (#Ps 97:6). The idols are confounded (#Ps 97:7), the church rejoices (#Ps 98:8), the Lord is exalted (#Ps 98:9). The Psalm closes with an exhortation to holy steadfastness under the persecution which would follow, and bids the saints rejoice that their path is bright, and their reward glorious and certain. Modern critics, always intent upon ascribing the psalms to anybody rather than to David, count themselves successful in dating this song further on than the captivity, because it contains passages similar to those which occur in the later prophets; but we venture to assert theft it is quite as probable that the prophets adopted the language of David as that some unknown writer borrowed from them. One psalm in this series is said to be "in David," and we believe that the rest are in the same place, and by the same author. The matter is not important, and we only mention it because it seems to be the pride of certain critics to set up new theories; and there are readers who imagine this to be a sure proof of prodigious learning. We do not believe that their theories are worth the paper they are written upon.”  (Charles H. Spurgeon)

            “The psalmist, though recognizing the Lord’s universal rule at the present (v. 9), anticipates a new coming of the Lord to judge the earth.  The imagery of the Lord’s presence may, in fact, be the basis of some NT passages’ descriptions of the second coming (cf. Mat.24; Rev 19).  Special emphasis is also placed on the Lord’s totally righteous judgments on the world in His kingdom, as well as His obliteration of false religions.”  (The John MacArthur Study Bible)

            “The psalm is picked up the theme in 96:13 and described the King coming to judge His enemies and reward His people.  In 95, the emphasis was on God’s people, and 96 focused our attention on the nations of the world.  This psalm combines both themes and tells us that Jehovah is ‘the Lord Most High’ in heaven (v. 9 NASB) who has all things under His control.  Believers today see Jesus as God’s exalted King (see Acts 2:32-33; 5:31; Eph 1:17-23; Phil. 2:5-11; Heb. 1:3; 1Peter 3:22; Rev. 3:21).”  (Dr. Warren Wiersbe)

            The Lord Is Exalted on His Throne (vv. 1-2):  “1 The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice; Let the many islands be glad. 2 Clouds and thick darkness surround Him; Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.”

            It was the job of Israel to let the light of the Lord shine through them in Old Testament times, and now it is the job of the Church today to let the light of the Lord to shine throughout the entire world.  There are times, in fact many times, in our lives when we find it hard to believe that God reigns over all the earth, but the fact of the matter He does and He is sitting on His throne at this very moment reigning over all of the earth.  “Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.”  (Rev. 19:6)  Now what are the reasons that we have a hard time believing that the Lord reigns on the earth all of the time?  I suppose that the reason that many people think of is that there is so much injustice going all around the world.  This is true, for there is injustice going on all around the world all of the time.  Let’s look at a favorite verse of many people to help us better understand this:  Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”  This verse is directed to believers stating that God causes ALL things to work together for good to those who are His own.  All is a very small word, but has a very big meaning for all means everything, which means there is nothing that we can think of that can happen to us that is not in the scope of the word all in this verse.  One of the things that are involved in that word all is the crucifixion of Jesus Christ; in fact I believe that is right in the center of the “alls” of life.  If God, (and He can) use the worst thing that has ever happened on planet earth to turn out to be the best thing that ever happened on planet earth to work out for good, then nothing else can even come close to God using all things to work together for good for His children.

            This psalm starts out in darkness which is seen in verse two, but will end in light for those who are righteous in verse eleven.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “Though His throne is surrounded by clouds and darkness, and we do not fully understand the mysteries of His providence, we know that His throne rests on righteousness and justice and that ‘the Judge of all the earth [will] do right (Gen. 18:25).”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Knowing that God reigns and will always reign give comfort to my heart, and so I can rejoice in this wonderful truth. 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to abide in the Vine in order to trust that the Lord will cause me to do the works that He planned for me to do before the earth was made.

Memory verses for the week:  2Peter 1:1-3  “Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

            To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:  2. Grace and peace be multiplied to you by the knowledge of God and of Jesus, our Lord; 3.  Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by it is own glory and excellence.”

6/23/2012 11:44:47 AM

Healing a Deaf Man (Mark 7:31-37)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR6/22/2012 9:06:07 AM

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Healing a Deaf Man

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Mark 7:31-37

            Message of the verses:  In today’s SD we will finish looking at chapter seven of Mark, the chapter that I have been looking at this month.  The main title of this section from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary is entitled “Healing the Gentiles,” and it actually covers Mark 7:24-8:9, but we will save that portion from chapter eight until July.

            Healing a deaf man (vv. 7:31-37):  “31 Again He went out from the region of Tyre, and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of Decapolis. 32  They brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they implored Him to lay His hand on him. 33  Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; 34  and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He said to him, "Ephphatha!" that is, "Be opened!" 35  And his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was removed, and he began speaking plainly. 36  And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it. 37  They were utterly astonished, saying, "He has done all things well; He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.’”

            Jesus remains in Gentile territory even though he has moved from Sidon to the Sea of Galilee to a place called Decapolis or Ten Towns.  This was like a miniature Rome and Marks readers would be familiar with it which may be the reason that this miracle is only found in the book of Mark. 

            The man that Jesus was about to heal could not hear and could not speak properly and so the way Jesus heals him is different than the way that he healed others.  We can see the great compassion of Jesus in the way that He heals this man for the man could not hear, but he could feel the touch of Jesus and that is how He healed Him, with touch.  This healing along with other healings was actually the touch of the Creator, for in some cases new parts of the bodies had to be created.  In this case this man’s ears and tongue had to be made well and they were.  This, of course, for Jesus was not difficult, but what was difficult for Him was to see the awful results of what sin has done to the people on planet earth and also the planet itself.  We see a word in verse thirty-four that is translated “sigh” and that same word is used in the book of Romans chapter eight in two different verses.  “23  And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.”  The word is translated “groan” in this verse.  “26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”  “Groanings” is the noun form of this word used in Romans 8:26. 

            Again we see that Jesus asks the people not to tell everyone about what happened, but again they did not follow what He asked them.  The people were happy and joyful to see the great miracles that Jesus did while in their towns, but Jesus had gone away to get some much needed rest and relaxation.  He did not get that but because of His great love for the people He healed all of those who were in need of physical healing, but we wonder how many were seeking the spiritual healing that sin has caused.

            One more thing before we conclude this section and that is the word “Ephphatha” and this is an Aramaic word that means “be opened, be released.”  Jesus did just that as He opened up his ears and released his tongue so that the man was completely healed.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I think about physical healing that I suppose all people are in need of from time to time, and how important that is, but the more important is the spiritual healing that only Jesus can do.  Jesus sighted when He saw the results that sin had on planet earth and its inhabitants, and the question I have to ask myself is does sin affect me in the same way when I sin or when I see the results of sin.  To have the wonderful compassion that Jesus has is truly a great gift from God.

My Steps of Faith for Today: 

·        Continue to remain in the Vine.

·        Continue to work on my memory verses in order to be transformed by the renewing of my mind so that I can discern the will of the Lord for my life and to triumph over sin.

Memory verses for the week:  2Peter 1:1-3:

1. Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness

of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3. seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.”

6/22/2012 10:04:23 AM

Casting out a Demon (Mark 7:24-30)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/21/2012 7:20:02 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Casting out a Demon

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Mark 7:24-30

            Message of the verses:  “24 Jesus got up and went away from there to the region of Tyre. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know of it; yet He could not escape notice. 25 But after hearing of Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet. 26 Now the woman was a Gentile, of the Syrophoenician race. And she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 And He was saying to her, "Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs." 28 But she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children’s crumbs." 29 And He said to her, "Because of this answer go; the demon has gone out of your daughter." 30 And going back to her home, she found the child lying on the bed, the demon having left.”

            We have seen in the last couple of Spiritual Diaries that the Lord Jesus confronted the Scribes and Pharisees who were teaching that their traditions were more important that the Word of God.  Jesus explained to His disciples the meaning of the parable that He had told to the Scribes and Pharisees stating that Truth had to reign over traditions and in doing this he was showing them that there was no difference between Jews and Gentiles for all are sinners and in need of a Savior.  Now to show His disciples that what He was teaching them is true they leave and go to Tyre and Sidon where the Gentiles would be ministered to.  “This is the only recorded instance of our Lord actually leaving Palestine.”  (Warren Wiersbe)

            Jesus and His disciples were going to Tyre and Sidon to get away from the crowds at Capernaum.  It was a distance of about 40 miles and it must have taken them a few days of walking to get there.  However even in this land of the Gentles people had heard of Him, and I suspect that this trip was similar to the trip that we read about in John Chapter four where Jesus said that He had to go through Samaria.  The reason He said this was because He had to talk to the woman at the well, and He had to tell her about her need for the Savior.  I have to believe that everything that Jesus did while on planet earth was planned, for He said that He was doing the will of the Father, and talking to this Syrophoenician woman was part of the Father’s plan.

            We will see in this section great faith by this woman and we will see that she overcomes many great obstacles that were in her way.  She must have had a great love for her daughter along with her faith in Jesus and the two of them caused her to overcome her obstacles and see her daughter healed by getting rid of the demon that lived in her.

            I want to list some of the obstacles that this woman faced, and the first one was that she was not a Jew, but a Gentile.  The second was that she was a woman and not a man, for men dominated in that society.  Satan was another obstacle in her path, for one of his demons had control of her daughter’s life.  The disciples of Jesus were another obstacle, for they wanted to get rid of her right away.  We see that it seems that Jesus was even one of her obstacles, for at the beginning it looks like He did not want to talk to her.

            This woman’s faith was very strong, and she was determined to receive from Jesus what she wanted, and what she wanted was worth going after.  This story is also told in the book of Matthew and there we will find more details than Mark gives.  “21 Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed." 23 But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, "Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us." 24 But He answered and said, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." 25 But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, "Lord, help me!" 26 And He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs." 27 But she said, "Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table." 28 Then Jesus said to her, "O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed at once.”  (Matthew 15:21-28)  In verse 22 we see the woman call Jesus “Son of David,” when she begins to talk to Him, and then in verse 25 we see that the woman calls Jesus “Lord” and asks Him to help her.  The phrase “take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” seems a bit harsh, but Dr. Wiersbe points out that Jesus is actually saying “the little pet puppies,” something that gives to us new meaning.  The “children were the Jews, and the little puppies were the Gentiles.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “She accepted her place, she believed His Word, and she persisted in her plea; and Jesus not only met her need, but commended her for her faith.”  We see in verse 28 that Jesus said to her “O Woman your faith is great.”  Two things are very interesting here and that is that Jesus only said this about a person’s faith two times in the Scriptures and both of them were Gentiles.  The other being the Roman centurion in Matthew 8:5-13.  The other interesting thing is that Jesus healed both people from a distance and Dr. Wiersbe points out that this suggests the spiritual distance between Jews and Gentiles at that time was also great. 

            Dr. Wiersbe concludes his commentary on this section with these words:  “Great faith is faith that takes God as His Word and will not let go until God meets the need.  Great faith can lay hold of even the slightest encouragement and turn it into a fulfilled promise.  ‘Lord, increase our faith.’”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  “Lord increase my faith.”

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Lord as I desire to abide in You and be taught and used by You I pray that You will increase my faith that my faith may be as strong as the woman’s faith was in this story.

Memory verses for the week:  2Peter 1:1-3:

            Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

            To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.  2. Grace and peace by multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3. seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.”

6/21/2012 8:32:25 AM