SPIRITUAL
DIARY FOR 8/20/2012 10:00:47 AM
My
Worship Time Focus: Psalm
116 PT-1
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference:
Psalm 116:1-4
Message
of the verses: In Today’s SD we will
begin to explore what is in Psalm 116, and the first thing we will do is look
at several introductions from different Bible Commentators. John MacArthur, in his Study Bible writes the
following from the introduction of Psalm 113:
“Psalms 113-118 comprise a rich 6-psalm praise to God commonly called
the ‘Egyptian Hallel’ (‘Hallel’ meaning praise in Hebrew).” We will better be able to understand
Spurgeon’s note after reading MacArthur’s note.
“This is a continuation of the
Paschal Hallel, and therefore must in some measure be interpreted in connection
with the coming out of Egypt. It has all the appearance of being a personal
song in which the believing soul, reminded by the Passover of its own bondage
and deliverance, speaks thereof with gratitude, and praises the Lord
accordingly. We can conceive the
Israelite with a staff in his hand singing, "Return unto thy rest, O my
soul," as he remembered the going back of the house of Jacob to the land
of their fathers; and then drinking the cup at the feast using the words of #Ps
116:13, "I will take the cup of salvation." The pious man evidently
remembers both his own deliverance and that of his people as he sings in the
language of #Ps 116:16, "Thou hast loosed my bonds"; but he rises into
sympathy with his nation as he thinks of the courts of the Lord’s house and of
the glorious city, and pledges himself to sing "in the midst of thee, O
Jerusalem." Personal love fostered by a personal experience of redemption
is the theme of this Psalm, and in it we see the redeemed answered when they
pray, preserved in time of trouble, resting in their God, walking at large,
sensible of their obligations, conscious that they are not their own but bought
with a price, and joining with all the ransomed company to sing hallelujahs
unto God.” (Charles H. Spurgeon)
“This is an intensely personal
‘thank you’ psalm to the Lord for saving the psalmist from death (116:3,
8). The occasion and author remain
unknown, although the language used by Jonah in his prayer from the fish’s
stomach is remarkably similar. While
this appears to deal with physical death, the same song could be sung by those
who have been saved from spiritual death.
I.
The
Lord’s Response to the Psalmist Prayer for Deliverance from Death (116:1-11)
II.
The
Psalmist’s Reaction to God’s Deliverance of Him from Death (116:12-19)” (The John MacArthur Study Bible)
“At a time when the psalmist was
‘at rest’ (v. 7), unscrupulous men whom he had trusted
lied
about him (v. 11) and created trouble for him.
In fact, their deception almost cost him his life (vv. 3-4), but he
called on the Lord and was saved from death (vv. 1-2). The psalm is very personal, with ‘I,’ ‘my,’
and ‘me’ used over thirty times. In
expressing his praise to the Lord, the writer borrowed from other psalms,
especially 18, 27, 31, and 56, and it appears the he knew the texts of King
Hezekiah’s prayer (Isa. 37) and his psalm of thanksgiving (Isa 38). As the psalmist reflected on his
life-threatening experience, he discovered several reasons why the Lord God
delivers people from danger and death.”
(Warren Wiersbe)
God
Answers His Children’s Prayers (vv. 1-4):
“1 I love the LORD, because He hears My voice and my supplications. 2
Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I shall call upon Him as long
as I live. 3 The cords of death encompassed me And the terrors of Sheol came
upon me; I found distress and sorrow. 4 Then I called upon the name of the
LORD: "O LORD, I beseech You, save my life!’”
As I look at verse one I would have
to say that one of the reasons that I love the Lord is because He hears me and
He hears the praise that I offer Him, and He hears the prayers that I lift up
to Him. There are times, especially when
I am alone in my car when I just talk to the Lord about the things that are
going on in my life and I know that He listens to me, and that He cares about
the things that are going on in my life, when perhaps no one else even knows
about them or cares about them, but the Lord does, and as it says in verse two
“He inclined His ear to me,” for this is so very important to me that God
listens to me. I am only one person on
this planet of over seven billion people, yet I know that God hears my prayers,
for He is that great and powerful, along with being wise and loving, and yet He
is just and as I look around this world today I know that this world is not
only in need of the love of God, but is also in great need of the justice of
God. One day, and I think it will be
soon that the following words from Revelations 15:1 “Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and
marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in
them the wrath of God is finished.”
Verse three reminds me of Psalm 40: 2
“He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He
set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.” I suppose that I have only had one time in my
life when I thought that I was going to die, and for that matter if my sister
had not pulled me up out of the water I would have drowned, for I had just came
up for the third time and I had never even had my head under water, so I
suppose that I would have drowned.
Perhaps the psalmist is speaking of a spiritual moment when he came to
know the Lord in a personal way, and I can surely understand that situation.
In verse four the psalmist again
asks the Lord to save His life and we will find out that this is what the Lord
did for him. We see in this and many
other situations like it in the OT that people went through difficult situations
and were saved from them by the Lord so that we who live in our day and age can
read about them and have the confidence that God will do the same for us
too. Paul writes about this when he
says, “Ro 15:4 For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our
instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the
Scriptures we might have hope.” “Now
these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our
instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” (1Cor. 10:11)
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I really
have a hard time understanding how people can live their lives without the hope
that is found in the Word of God. It
greaves me to see people try and answer the problems of life with the constant
help that is found in the Word of God.
The psalmist had the right approach as we see in these first four verses
and that is to call upon the Lord for whom he knew he would get an answer. When one thinks about it the person who has
put his trust and faith in the risen Lord, the worst thing that can happen to
him is that he will die, and then the best thing will happen to him, and that
is absent from the body means you are present with the Lord.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
Continue to Abide in the Vine.
(John chapter 15)
Memory
verses for the week: 2Peter 1:8-11
8
For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither
useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind
or short-sighted, having forgotten the purification from his former sins. 10
Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling
and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, your will never
stumble, 11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom or our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.
8/20/2012
11:26:19 AM
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