SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
8/8/2012 8:38:18 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm
112- PT-2
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference:
Psalm 112:2-10
Message
of the verses: In Today’s SD we will
continue to look at Psalm 112, beginning with the second verse. Dr. Wiersbe writes at the end of his
introductory commentary on Psalm 112 these words in order to help us understand
what this psalm is all about: “The
psalmist describes the faithful believer in various relationships of
life.” We looked yesterday at the
faithful believer’s relationship with the Lord.
Our
Relationship to Material Wealth (vv. 3-5, 9): “3 Wealth and riches are in his house, And
his righteousness endures forever. 4 Light arises in the darkness for the
upright; He is gracious and compassionate and righteous. 5 It is well with the
man who is gracious and lends; He will maintain his cause in judgment.
“9 He has given freely to the poor, His righteousness
endures forever; His horn will be exalted in honor.”
I wrote yesterday that I thought
that the person who wrote Psalm’s 111 & 112 could be the same one who wrote
Psalm 119 because of the way he speaks about the Word of God. Now as I read these verses they make me think
of Proverbs 31 but in the way that a righteous man lives his life, while
Proverbs 31 speaks of how a righteous woman lives her life.
Now as we look at this section we
must realize that in the OT as we read the different laws and covenants we find
that material wealth was one of the evidences of the Lord’s blessing on His
people as they moved into the Promised Land.
This can be seen in Deut. 7:12 and following along with chapter 28:1-14. The NT teachings are different about those
who are wealthy as they are not necessarily rich in spiritual blessings, but as
Paul writes to the Ephesians we are rich beyond belief in the Lord, and this is
the most important kind of richness.
Jesus brought about this teaching while He was ministering on the earth
as seen in Matthew 19:16-30, and it shocked His disciples who though if the
rich, who they thought were blessed by God the most, would have the hardest
time entering into the kingdom then who could make it. The rich were depending upon their wealth,
and thus did not depend on the Lord, while those who were poor found it
necessary to depend upon the Lord. Now
this does not mean that all rich will end up in hell and all poor will end up
in heaven, for the same is true for both the rich and the poor and that is that
they have to confess their sins to the Lord, telling the Lord that they are
bankrupted in getting to heaven on their own and then fully trust the Lord who
has died for their sins to save them.
We see that the person who is
described in Psalm 112 as being righteous, not acquiring his wealth in an
unlawful way, and then we see that he is a very generous man with the funds
that the Lord has entrusted him with, by helping the poor and then lending
without interest to those who were in need which is seen in the Law of
God. (Deu. 23:19-20) In 2 Corinthians chapter nine the apostle
Paul is writing about giving and in verse nine he quotes verse nine of Psalm
112 to help in his explanation of giving and how it should be done by the
believer. Dr. Wiersbe points out that
the word “horn” which is in verse nine speaks of power and dignity, “Because of
this man’s generosity, the Lord allowed him to be lifted up in the eyes of his
peers. As you see this man’s faith in
the Lord and love for those in need, you cannot help but think of the promise
in Matthew 6:33.” “"But seek first
His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Our
Relationship to Circumstances (vv. 6-8):
“6 For he will never be shaken; The righteous will be remembered
forever. 7 He will not fear evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in
the LORD. 8 His heart is upheld, he will not fear, Until he looks with
satisfaction on his adversaries.”
Because we live in a sinful world, a world that is
no way near what it was when God created it, we will from time to time have to
suddenly face difficult circumstances. I
suppose that we could also call them tests from the Lord and when this kind of
a thing happens we need to be a steadfast believer who knows that the God we
worship is in control of all things and that He can handle any problem that we
face. I suppose the prime example of
this in the OT could be seen by both Job and Joseph, for both of them suffered
much for their faith and yet both of them had a great faith in God knowing that
because for a while (thirteen years in the case of Joseph) they were in the
darkness they both knew that the Lord would send them light so that they could
find their way out of the darkness. When
difficult times come upon us we need to remember that Satan wants to use these
situations in order to tempt us, but God uses these difficult situations to
test us, and His desire for us is to make us more like Jesus Christ. One of my favorite verses is 1Cor. 10:13
which says, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man:
but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are
able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be
able to bear it.” In this verse the word
“temptation” can also mean test or trial.
We also see that in this test or trial that God will send to us a way to
bear it or to stand up to it, and this can be done by God sending us His light.
Our
Relationship to the Wicked (v. 10):
“10 The wicked will see it and be vexed, He will gnash his teeth and
melt away; The desire of the wicked will perish.”
In his commentary on this section Dr. Wiersbe writes
the following: “Those who walk with the
Lord and live godly lives are opposed and hated by the wicked, because the good
works of the godly are like lights that reveal the evil in the world.”
I would like to state an example of
this going on in our world today by talking about Tim Tebow, who is a young man
(around 24 years old) who stands up for what he believe in and does this on the
national scene as a football player. He
helped take an under-manned team to the playoffs last year and beat a team that
was much better than his. His reward was
to be traded to a team in New York, the media capital of the world where we
find that his teammates are trying to cause him to stumble in his walk with the
Lord. We live in a world today where
there is very little shame, a world where not only do people do wrong, but try
to get others to do wrong. Paul writing
to the Romans talks about this in his incitement to the sinfulness of mankind
when he writes, “and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who
practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also
give hearty approval to those who practice them.”
I am sure that the man in Psalm 112
faced the same kind of temptations by wicked people as Tim Tebow and others do
today, but in the end this man knows that God will judge them when His time is
right.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: A couple
of days ago I was listening to a sermon by John MacArthur on the last verse in
Mark eight and the first verse in Mark nine, and it was in that sermon that he
spoke about shame, and how shame in the United States is not seen like it use
to be seen. It use to be shameful to
dress like some women dress today and go out into public, it use to be shameful
to take the Lord’s name in vain, and in the same way it use to be thought of
when a righteous person does something good to praise him for it. As I listened to this sermon along with
reading a book by Joel Rosenberg entitled “Implosion,” which speaks of four
possibilities of the implosion of the United States, I greatly fear for the
country that I love. It was back in the
1980’s that Billy Graham was speaking in Calvary, Canada that he stated “If God
does not judge the United States of America soon He will have to apologize to
Sodom and Gomorra.” Things are much
worse in the year we are living in now.
I pray for another “Great Awaking” to happen in our
land before it is too late.
My Steps of Faith
for Today: Pray for Tim Tebow to be able to live out
1Cor. 10:13, and pray for a great revival to sweep across the Church in
America.
Memory
verses for the week: 2Peter 1:1-9
1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and
apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who have received a faith
on the same kind as ours, but 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 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, 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 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
his purification from his former sins.
8/8/2012
10:03:34 AM
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