SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
7/8/2012 7:41:26 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm 103 PT-2
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 103:6-18
Message of the verses: We will continue to look at Psalm 103 this morning, as in the last SD we began to look at the first section of the psalm along with several introductions from different Bible commentators.
National Praise to the Lord (vv. 6-18): “6 The LORD performs righteous deeds And judgments for all who are oppressed. 7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel. 8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. 9 He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. 10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. 13 Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. 14 For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust. 15 As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. 16 When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, And its place acknowledges it no longer. 17 But the lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children, 18 To those who keep His covenant And remember His precepts to do them.”
This is such a refreshing psalm, and it has so much information in it that makes a persons heart glad whenever one reads it. It encourages my soul and causes me to want to praise the Lord for all of His goodness and grace.
As soon as man and woman sinned we see that the Lord came to them with the skins of an animal, thus having to shed the blood in order to get the skins that He gave to them. I believe that this animal was a lamb or sheep. We see God’s plan to save people and as we read through the OT we see that there is a line that will led to the birth of Messiah. We can read of this line in Luke’s Gospel as he gives the line from Jesus all the way back to God. When God called Abraham the nation of Israel was beginning, and it began with a miracle son born to Abraham and Sarah. The nation of Israel was surely blessed of God and the nation of Israel would give us the Word of God as God gave His Law to Moses along with all that we read in the books of Genesis to Deuteronomy. The nation of Israel would give to the world the Messiah who would come through the line of King David. Because of all of these blessings that God gave to Israel, Israel was obligated to express their praise and thanksgiving to the Lord. We see in verse six that Jehovah was their righteous Deliverer, and this does not just mean when He delivered them from Egypt, but throughout their history. We see in verse seven that the Lord gave guidance to Israel, as He first did this through Moses, and later on through the Judges, kings and prophets. When we look at Moses we see that he knew why God was doing what He was doing, while the people just knew what He was doing. The reason was that Moses had an intimate relationship with the Lord, Moses knew the Lord in a personal way, while the children of Israel did not know Him that way, and most of them probably did not want to know Him that way.
When we look at verses eight through twelve we see the things that Moses knew when he was with the Lord on Mt. Sinai, things that we can read about when we read Exodus 33:12-13 and 34:5-9. One of the attributes that I am learning that God has is His compassion, and because Israel had sinned against the Lord on different occasion’s compassion was something that they would need, and verse eight states that the Lord is compassionate. God forgave their sins because one day the Lord Jesus would come to earth to die for their sins, for those in the OT looked forward to the coming of Messiah to die for their sins, while we in the NT age look back at the cross where Jesus died for our sins. Dr Wiersbe writes, “The picture in verses 8-12 is that of a courtroom in which God is both judge and prosecuting attorney. He has all the evidence He needs to condemn us, but He does not prolong the trial. When the judge is your Father, and when Jesus has died for your sins, there is full and free forgiveness available to all who will ask for it. If God gave us the punishment we deserved, we would be without hope (Ezra 9:13). The punishment that we deserve was given to Jesus (Isa. 53:4-6).”
We see that in verses 11-12 that David uses some terms to describe God’s love and forgiveness that we can understand. His love is higher than the heavens are to the earth, and when He forgives our sins they are as far from us as the east is to the west. I for one am glad that David did not say from the north to the south, for that is 12,500 miles, but when we try to find out how far the east is from the west it cannot be known. David may have been thinking of the Day of Atonement when the sin was placed on a goat who was released in the wilderness, symbolically bearing Israel’s sins far away. John describes this in John 1:29, “The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Dr. Wiersbe writes, “But we must remember that it is not God’s love or pity that saves us, but God’s grace (Eph. 2:8-10), for grace is love that has paid the price. Were it not for the death of Christ on the cross, there could be no forgiveness of our sins. Yes, God is like a tender Father, but His pity is not a shallow sentimental feeling. A Holy God demands that His law be satisfied, and only His perfect Son could provide that satisfaction (Rom. 3:19-31).” The question is “are we worth saving?” For we are only grass that grows us and quickly fades away, however the Lord our “formation” because it was God who formed us out of the dust and He even watches over us while we are in the womb. What a wonderful God we serve! David goes on to say that God will bless the children’s children, of all who fear the Lord and who kept His precepts. Dr. Wiersbe writes in conclusion to his commentary on this section, “Believers today have already been blessed ‘with every spiritual blessing …in Christ’ (Eph. 1:4), and as we trust Him and obey His will, He meets our every need.” Believers today are very rich and the book of Ephesians tells of all the riches we have. Dr. Wiersbe entitles his commentary on Ephesians “Be Rich.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I have been reminded of many things that God has done for me in this section of Psalm 103, and also from reading the commentary from Dr. Wiersbe and It makes me thankful for what the Lord has done for me, and it makes me thankful that I can read good things from Warren Wiersbe whom I have a great deal of respect for as a person and as a Bible commentator. I don’t want to take for granted the wonderful things that the Lord has done for me.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Continue to abide in the Vine so that I will be filled with the Spirit of God and do the things that He has for me to do, things that He has planned for me to do in eternity past.
Memory verses for the week: 2Peter 1:1-5
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. 4. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
5. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge,
7/8/2012 9:04:12 AM
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