SPIRITUAL
DIARY FOR 9/29/2012 9:01:13 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm
120
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm
120:1-2
Message
of the verses: Before we look at
Psalm 120 I want to look at some of the points that Warren Wiersbe brings up
about this section of psalms that he calls “The Pilgrim Psalms (120-134).
I mentioned in an earlier SD that
these psalms (120-134) are called Psalms of Ascent, and were sung by families
as they made their way up to Jerusalem, (for if you are going to get to
Jerusalem you always have to go up), on their way to one of the three feasts
that they were required to attend, (I believe that the men were required to attend
these three feasts). Passover was in the
spring, and Pentecost was in the early summer and Tabernacles was in the
autumn.
Dr. Wiersbe points out that these 15
psalms were most likely in a hymnal and that the pilgrims would sing them on
their way up to Jerusalem. He states
that ten of the psalms were anonymous, and that David wrote four of the psalms,
122, 124, 131, & 133, Solomon wrote Psalm 127.
Dr. Wiersbe states “Three special
themes are repeated: (1) the afflictions that Israel experienced at the hands
of the other nations, (2) the gracious way God cared for and protected His
chosen people, and (3) the blessing of being in Jerusalem.” As one looks at the history of the nation of
Israel as written in the OT we find that Israel had suffered contempt and scorn
and they were near extinction, that there were traps set against them and they
suffered bondage and affliction. These
things are all spoken of in this set of psalms to remind the people of who they
were and how the Lord has truly cared for them in spite of all of their sin
that they have committed against the Lord.
I think that it is important for us
to look at a long paragraph that Dr. Wiersbe wrote as he concludes his
introductory commentary on this section of psalms and although we will probably
not get through the entire 120th Psalm today it is important to
understand what he writes here.
“Under the leadership of Moses, the
Israelites were a nomadic people for forty years. But after they settled in Canaan, the Lord
required them to go to Jerusalem three times a year. This reminded them that, spiritually
speaking, they were still a pilgrim people and needed to depend on the
Lord. ‘For we are aliens and pilgrims
before you,’ said David (1Chron. 29:15; and see Pss. 84:5-7 and 119:19 and
54.) Too many believers today want to be
‘settlers,’ not pilgrims and strangers (Heb. 11:8-10, 13-16; 1Peter 1:1;
2:11). We are happy to settle down in
our comfort zones and live as though Jesus never died, Jesus is not coming
again, and our lives will never end. We
are guilty of what Eugene Peterson calls ‘the tourist mindset,’ content to make
occasional brief visits with the Lord that are leisurely and entertaining, all
the while conforming to this world and enjoying it. (See A
Long Obedience in the Same Direction, IVP, p. 12.) Our citizenship is in heaven (Luke 10:20;
Phil. 3:20; Heb. 12:22-24), and that should make a difference in our lives on
earth. We need to ‘feel temporary’ as we
make this pilgrim journey called life.”
Psalm 120: “1 A Song of Ascents: In my trouble I cried
to the LORD, And He answered me. 2 Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips,
From a deceitful tongue. 3 What shall be given to you, and what more shall be
done to you, You deceitful tongue? 4 Sharp arrows of the warrior, With the
burning coals of the broom tree.
“5 Woe is me, for I sojourn in Meshech, For
I dwell among the tents of Kedar! 6 Too long has my soul had its dwelling With
those who hate peace. 7 I am for peace, but when I speak, They are for war.”
In
his introduction to this Psalm Warren Wiersbe points out that the author of
this psalm must have been in the same boat as the author of Psalm 42, and that
is neither of them would be able to come to the feast and go to the sanctuary
of the Lord in Jerusalem and because of this they were both saddened. There were people who were making life
difficult for both the authors of Psalms 42 and 120 preventing them from
attending the feast.
He
states “The psalm reminds believers today that worship is a privilege and the
blessings we receive must be shared.
When we find ourselves experiencing distress and disappointment, we have
three responsibilities to fulfill if our burdens are to become blessings.”
We Must Pray (vv. 1-2): “In my trouble I cried to the LORD, And
He answered me. 2 Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, From a deceitful
tongue.”
We
will just look at this first section of Psalm 120 in Today’s SD because of all
the time that I had to spend on the introduction to this section of psalms and
also the introduction to this psalm.
I
like the NASB and have used it ever since I became a believer in 1974. I like it because it is easier to read than
the KJV, but the biggest reason that I like it is because I believe that it is
the most accurate translation that is available. I know that the ESV, which is relatively new,
is accurate, but old habits are hard to break.
In this first verse we see that the NASB says that the psalmist has
cried out to the Lord, and Dr. Wiersbe points out that this verb tense can be
combined so that the psalmist could actually be saying “I have in the past
cried out to you and now I cry out to you again.” The psalmist could be stating that because he
had cried out to the Lord in the past and the Lord had answered his prayer that
now he is crying out to the Lord again, for he is in trouble again and needs
the help of the Lord. Now I think at
this time we must remember that when we pray to the Lord we can get one of
three answers, yes, no, or wait.
The
psalmist was not complaining of this trouble he is in, but he is praying about
the trouble that he is in and shares his troubles with those who will read this
psalm. Being a believer we are not to
hide our troubles, but to share them with people of like faith that we can
trust in order to pray about them for us and not to tell everyone they know
about our troubles. I have heard that we
are to go to the throne with our troubles and not to the phone, but I think
that it is good to tell those we can trust and that they will not go to the
phone with our troubles. Solomon speaks
of a rope that has three sections to it making it stronger, and this is helpful
to know when we are telling others about our troubles that are in need of
prayer. In the prayer meeting that we
have at our church we have a bulletin with people’s prayer request on it and
then at the end of the first part of the service there can be things added to
this bulletin and they we break up into three groups where we can share things
with a smaller group and then we pray about those things
Back
to the psalmist who states that the Lord has answered his prayer in verse two
and now asks the Lord to deliver him from those who were lying about him, for
those who had a deceitful tongue. This
was the problem that probably kept him from going up to the temple for one of
the feasts and he was saddened that he could not go.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I suppose that one of the things that I like
least is to have someone lie about me or to me and so I can understand why the
psalmist was upset. In my memory verses
from 1Corinthians thirteen, I read in verse five these words “(Love) does not
take into account a wrong suffered.” I
suppose that I am going to have to have a better understanding of this part of
verse five to make a conclusion as to exactly what this means, but I do think
of our Lord and how he prayed to His Father to forgive those who had crucified
Him for they did not know what they were doing.
Steven did the same thing. This
takes a lot of love to do something like this.
My Steps of Faith
for Today: Contentment is something that I desire to
learn more of and to be more content.
Memory
verses for the week: 1Cor. 13:1-7
1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of
angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging
cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of
prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith so
as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give all my possessions to feed
the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it
profits me nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind, and is not
jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly,
does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong
suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth, 7
bears all things believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
9/29/2012
10:31:56 AM
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