SPIRITUAL
DIARY FOR 8/12/2012 7:18:34 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm
113 PT-3
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm
113:7-9
Message
of the verses: We will look at the
last three verses in Psalm 113 in Today’s SD, remembering the words that Warren
Wiersbe wrote at the end of his introductory commentary on this psalm: “The psalm opens and closes with ‘hallelujah’
(‘praise Jehovah’) and gives us three wonderful reasons for praising the
Lord.” We will look at the third reason
for praising the Lord that comes from Psalm 113 today.
God’s
Love Is the Kindest (vv. 7-9): “7 He
raises the poor from the dust And lifts the needy from the ash heap, 8 To make
them sit with princes, With the princes of His people. 9 He makes the barren
woman abide in the house As a joyful mother of children. Praise the LORD!”
I want to quote ten verses from
2Samuel, chapter 2 which goes along with the verses seen here in Psalm
113: “1 Then Hannah prayed and said, "My heart
exults in the LORD; My horn is exalted in the LORD, My mouth speaks boldly
against my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation. 2 “There is no one
holy like the LORD, Indeed, there is no one besides You, Nor is there any rock
like our God. 3 “Boast no more so very proudly, Do not let arrogance come out
of your mouth; For the LORD is a God of knowledge, And with Him actions are
weighed. 4 “The bows of the mighty are shattered, But the feeble gird on
strength. 5 “Those who were full hire themselves out for bread, But those who
were hungry cease to hunger. Even the barren gives birth to seven, But she who
has many children languishes. 6 “The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down
to Sheol and raises up. 7 “The LORD makes poor and rich; He brings low, He also
exalts. 8 "He raises the poor from
the dust, He lifts the needy from the ash heap To make them sit with nobles,
And inherit a seat of honor; For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’S, And
He set the world on them. 9 “He keeps the feet of His godly ones, But the
wicked ones are silenced in darkness; For not by might shall a man prevail.
10 "Those who contend with the LORD
will be shattered; Against them He will thunder in the heavens, The LORD will
judge the ends of the earth; And He will give strength to His king, And will exalt
the horn of His anointed.’” These ten
verses come from the mother of Samuel, Hannah, and they are also quoted by Mary
when she praises the Lord over the conception of Jesus which are seen in Luke
1:46-55. “46 And Mary said: "My
soul exalts the Lord, 47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. 48 “For
He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; For behold, from this
time on all generations will count me blessed. 49 “For the Mighty One has done
great things for me; And holy is His name. 50 “AND HIS MERCY IS UPON GENERATION
AFTER GENERATION TOWARD THOSE WHO FEAR HIM. 51 “He has done mighty deeds with
His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. 52
“He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And has exalted those who were
humble. 53 “HE HAS FILLED THE HUNGRY WITH GOOD THINGS; And sent away the rich
empty-handed. 54 "He has given help to Israel His servant, In remembrance
of His mercy, 55 As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and his descendants
forever." 56 And Mary stayed with her about three months, and then
returned to her home.”
Let us think about some of the women
that are found in Scripture who were barren until the Lord opened up their
wombs. The first would be Sara, the wife
of Abraham who gave birth to Isaac at the age of ninety. Then we think of Rebekah, the wife of Isaac
who was barren until she became the mother of Jacob and Esau. Jacob was the father of the twelve tribes of
Israel, but his favorite wife Rachel was barren for a long time until she gave
birth to Joseph, whom God used to protect Israel when they first arrived in
Egypt. We have seen the story of Hannah
who was the mother of Samuel, the priest and prophet of Israel, along with
being a judge in Israel. In the New
Testament we see the familiar and similar story of Elizabeth who became the
mother of John the Baptist the forerunner of Jesus Christ.
Let us think a moment about the
words “ash heap” that are found in verse seven, and we will find this concept
in the book of Job, chapter two and verse eight, “And he took a piece of broken
pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes.” The ash heap was where the ashes were and the
sun would warm the ashes during the day and this would keep the poor people
warm during the night. It was a place
where few people wanted to visit because of the poverty found there. Our God visits places like this for Psalm 113
speaks of this.
Dr. Wiersbe writes the following as it
speaks of the love of God, “The love of God and the grace of God make our God
stoop to our level, especially when He sent Jesus Christ to become one of us
and die for us on the cross (Phil. 2:1-11).
In John 8:6 and 8 and 13:1-11, Jesus stooped to forgive a sinful woman
and to wash His disciples’ feet. But His
greatest demonstration of grace was when He died for us on the cross. He condescended to become like us that we
might become like Him (1Cor. 1:26-29; Eph. 2:1-10). One day the Lord will visit ‘barren Israel’
and bless the nation with many children (Isa. 54:1-3; 66:8-11). No matter how dark the day or impossible the
circumstances, our God is able to do the impossible (Eph. 3:19-20).”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I am
thankful that the Lord stooped down and saved me from the ash heap of
life. The psalmist writes in 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. 3 He put a new song in my
mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear And will trust in
the LORD. 4 How blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, And has not
turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood. 5 Many, O LORD my
God, are the wonders which You have done, And Your thoughts toward us; There is
none to compare with You. If I would declare and speak of them, They would be
too numerous to count.” Yes, I am
thankful to the Lord for saving me and this I will praise Him for throughout
eternity.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
I desire to abide in the vine as seen in John chapter fifteen, so that I
can get my marching orders from the Lord in order to do the works that He has
planned for me to do in eternity past.
(Eph 2:10)
Memory
verses for the week: 2Peter 1:1-10
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, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in
your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness,
and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and
are increasing, they render your 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 his purification from his former sins. 10
Therefore brethren, be all the more diligent to make sure of His calling and
choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;
8/12/2012
8:02:34 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment