SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
7/5/2012 6:40:43 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm 102 PT-2
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 102:12-22
Message of the verses: In Today’s SD we will pick up looking as Psalm 102, when we looked at the first eleven verses of Psalm 102 after looking at several introductions to the psalm.
The Unchanged Covenant of God (vv. 12-22): “12 But You, O LORD, abide forever, And Your name to all generations. 13 You will arise and have compassion on Zion; For it is time to be gracious to her, For the appointed time has come. 14 Surely Your servants find pleasure in her stones And feel pity for her dust. 15 So the nations will fear the name of the LORD And all the kings of the earth Your glory. 16 For the LORD has built up Zion; He has appeared in His glory. 17 He has regarded the prayer of the destitute And has not despised their prayer. 18 This will be written for the generation to come, That a people yet to be created may praise the LORD. 19 For He looked down from His holy height; From heaven the LORD gazed upon the earth, 20 To hear the groaning of the prisoner, To set free those who were doomed to death, 21 That men may tell of the name of the LORD in Zion And His praise in Jerusalem, 22 When the peoples are gathered together, And the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.”
As we look at this portion of Psalm 102 we must remember that we are looking at this psalm from the prospective that it was written after the Jewish people had returned to their land from their captivity in Babylon. There were three different dispersions from Judah to Babylon with the first in 605 BC and then the last in 586 BC and I believe the middle one was in 597 BC. God had made it clear to the Jewish people through the prophet Jeremiah that their captivity would be 70 years and made it clear through the prophet Isaiah that Cyrus the king of Persia would be the one to allow the Jews to return to Jerusalem, and then later on there would be other kings who would allow more people to leave. When you read the first two chapters of Nehemiah you will see that he along with Ezra led more Jewish people back to Israel. The psalmist must have been one of the captives who were led back to Jerusalem.
When we read the word “But You, O Lord,” in the 12th verse we see a change in the direction in which the psalm is going, for the psalmist turns from the problems that he is facing to behold by faith the Lord who is enthroned in heaven. One of the things we know about the Lord is that He is unchangeable, and for that we can praise Him as the psalmist does.
We see in verse 15 that the psalmist writes that one day the nations (Gentiles) will fear the name of the LORD, even all the kings of the earth, and in verse 21 all men will praise the name of the Lord who will be in Jerusalem. (I believe that the psalmist is speaking of the 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ upon the earth.)
The people of Israel knew the covenant that God had made with them when He brought them out of Egypt and there were both blessings and curses involved in that covenant. When you read the 9th chapters of Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah you will see that all of these men knew that Israel deserved their captivity because that had failed to keep the covenant that God had given them. The people had disobeyed the Lord and worshiped idols for many years, and in Judah’s case it was the 50+ years of Manasseh that was the straw that broke the camel’s back, for even though at the end of his life he came to know the Lord, he was probably the most evil king to ever reign in Judah. He did not follow after his father Hezekiah who was one of Judah’s best kings.
Israel returning to their land was a very important time in the history of the Jewish people, for this showed that God was not done with them, for He had made a covenant with Abraham, and renewed it with Isaac, and then with Jacob and said that He would bless those who blessed Israel and those that cursed them would be cursed. That covenant is still intact and the result of it shows that on May 14, 1948 that Israel once again became a nation. Here is what the prophet Isaiah said about that: “Isa 66:8 “Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons.” This is exactly what happened to Israel on May 14, 1948 as she became a nation in one day. We also see that as a result of Israel returning to their land after their captivity in Babylon that even though they did not have complete control of their land they were there and because they were there the King of Kings and Lord of Lords was born in Bethlehem.
We will take up the rest of Psalm 102 in tomorrow’s SD, (Lord Willing)
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I know that there are many times in my life that I have trouble resting on the promises of God, for life does not seem to me like some of His promises will come about, but one thing that I have to remember is the unchangeableness of God. It was looking dark for the psalmist when he penned Psalm 102, but as I look back I see that God worked it all out and now I see Israel back in their land and this was one of the most important things to happen in the history of mankind. This shows me that God will keep His promises, and that God is in control and also that God does not change. I change but God does not.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I want to abide in the Vine, to remain in the Vine so that I can produce the fruit that He has planed from me to produce. I want to be faithful to abide in the Vine.
Memory verses for the week: 2Peter 1:1-4
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. 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.
7/5/2012 7:45:50 AM
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