SPIRITIUAL DIARY
FOR 7/11/2012 7:52:08 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm PT-2
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 104:10-23, 27-30
Message of the verses: In Today’s SD we will continue to look at Psalm 104, a psalm that talks about creation. We looked at several introductions to the psalm yesterday along with looking at the first paragraph.
The Generosity of Our God (vv. 10-23, 27-30): “10 He sends forth springs in the valleys; They flow between the mountains; 11 They give drink to every beast of the field; The wild donkeys quench their thirst. 12 Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; They lift up their voices among the branches. 13 He waters the mountains from His upper chambers; The earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works. 14 He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the labor of man, So that he may bring forth food from the earth, 15 And wine which makes man’s heart glad, So that he may make his face glisten with oil, And food which sustains man’s heart. 16 The trees of the LORD drink their fill, The cedars of Lebanon which He planted, 17 Where the birds build their nests, And the stork, whose home is the fir trees. 18 The high mountains are for the wild goats; The cliffs are a refuge for the shephanim.“19 He made the moon for the seasons; The sun knows the place of its setting. 20 You appoint darkness and it becomes night, In which all the beasts of the forest prowl about. 21 The young lions roar after their prey And seek their food from God. 22 When the sun rises they withdraw And lie down in their dens. 23 Man goes forth to his work And to his labor until evening.--
27 They all wait for You To give them their food in due season. 28 You give to them, they gather it up; You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good. 29 You hide Your face, they are dismayed; You take away their spirit, they expire And return to their dust. 30 You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the ground.”
When people look at creation there are some that believe that God created everything that can be seen and then because of man’s sin He just withdrew from what is happening on planet earth lets the earth and all that is in it kind of run down like a clock or watch that is not powered by electricity or a battery. Of course there as some who believe that this was just an accident that we evolved from lower beings. However neither of these “theories” is correct for God is in control of all things, and is constantly at work according to the tenses of the verbs that we find in this passage. We see in this section that God has given water for the animals to drink and also for humans to drink, and we see that God has provided food for both animals and humans to eat. I have mentioned in earlier SD’s that this would be understood to be “common grace,” for God gives food to those who are believers and those who are not. When man fell into sin in the garden God told Adam that he would have to work hard in order to get his food, and getting food has always taken a great deal of work since the fall of man. Even with the advanced technology we have today it still takes a great deal of work to grow food, and to do work in order to buy food.
We see in this passage that God provides wine, oil, and bread which were the three basics in the life of the people in biblical days. Now I must mention that the wine was diluted with water and that drunkenness was not acceptable. (See Judges 9:13, and Eccl. 10:19.) Dr. Wiersbe writes “wine, oil, and water are symbols of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18; John 7:37-39; Zech. 4:1-7), and bread speaks of the nourishing Word of God (Matt. 4:4). God has written spiritual truths into the very world of nature.”
Now we have to look at the days, and nights, and the seasons of the year, for without these there could not be fruitfulness on earth, so the psalmist praises the Lord for the sun and moon. Without these cycles things would grind to a halt. When I was younger there was a popular song that came out and the words to that song came from the book of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 as Solomon wrote the following: “1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.”
Dr. Wiersbe writes “All of creation looks expectantly to the Lord to provide what it needs (vv. 27-30), and He does so generously. However, people made in the image of God think they can ‘make it’ alone. Yet God provides the very breath in our nostrils, and when He turns it off we die (Gen. 2:7; Eccl. 12:7). On the first day of creation, the Holy Spirit brooded over the waters (Gen. 1:1-2), and that same Spirit also provides life and power to the church, God’s ‘new creation.’ Mankind has learned to control a great deal of nature, but the issues of life and death are still in the hands of God. How generous He is to a world that ignores Him, and rebels against Him, and rarely gives thanks for His generous gifts. (Ponder Job 34:14-15; Acts 17:25-28; Col. 1:17)”
Job 34:14-15, “14 “If He should determine to do so, If He should gather to Himself His spirit and His breath, 15 All flesh would perish together, And man would return to dust.”
Acts 17:25-28 “nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; 26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ’For we also are His children.’”
Col. 1:17 “17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I try and begin my prayers by confessing to the Lord any sin that I have committed against Him in order to have sweet fellowship with Him, and then the next things that I do is to praise the Lord for some of the attributes that He has, things like God’s holiness, goodness, compassion, all knowledge, all wisdom, all power, that He is everywhere, that He is Love and that He is just. I need to praise the Lord for all the provisions that He has provided for me and praise Him for the very air that I breathe. As I read through this psalm and the other Scriptures I am convicted that I need to praise the Lord for all things He has done for me, but most of all for the great salvation that He has provided for me by His Son as He purchased me by dying on the cross in order to pay for my sins. Halleluiah What A Savior!
My Steps of Faith for Today: To praise the Lord for all that He has done for me.
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 we can 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,
7/11/2012 8:46:57 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment