SPIRITUAL
DIARY FOR 9/5/2012 8:03:16 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Walking
& Talking
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm
119:41-48
Message
of the verses: We will begin the
eighth lesson of the 119th Psalm in Today’s Spiritual Diary. The 119th Psalm is about the Word
of God, and it is broken up into twenty-two segments of eight verses each and
each of the twenty-two segments begins with a different letter in the Hebrew
alphabet and then each of the eight verses begins with that letter. The author is unknown however some have
speculated that David wrote it.
Vav—Walking
and Talking (vv. 41-48): “41 Vav.
May Your lovingkindnesses also come to me, O LORD, Your salvation according to
Your word; 42 So I will have an answer for him who reproaches me, For I trust
in Your word. 43 And do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, For
I wait for Your ordinances. 44 So I will keep Your law continually, Forever and
ever.
45 And I will walk at liberty, For I seek
Your precepts. 46 I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings And shall
not be ashamed. 47 I shall delight in Your commandments, Which I love. 48 And I
shall lift up my hands to Your commandments, Which I love; And I will meditate
on Your statutes.”
As Dr. Wiersbe begins his commentary
on this section he states that there are different voices in this section
beginning with God speaking to us in verse forty-one. At first glance I must say that I was a bit
surprised by his belief that it is God speaking to us in verse forty-one, but
when you think about it God is the One who speaks to us through all of His
Word, and it is important to meditate upon the Word of God in order for us to
better understand how He is speaking to us.
Just take a moment to think about where we would be without the Word of
God, and I suppose that the first conclusion would be that we would be lost in
our sins with no way of coming to the Lord for we would not know how. God’s Word speaks to us in love and is an
expression of love to us, “The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to
all generations (Psalm 33:11)” Since God’s Word shows love to us we should show
love to our fellow believers and also to the unsaved world, as this is part of
God’s plan for our lives. We see in His
Word that it shares promises to us, and promises to us about the future for His
Word is the word of promise, “"Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to
His people Israel, according to all that He promised; not one word has failed
of all His good promise, which He promised through Moses His servant (Psalm
8:56).” All of God’s promises have their
realization in Jesus Christ “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in
him Amen, unto the glory of God by us (2Cor. 1:20).” We also see in Acts 13:26 that God’s Word is about
His salvation, “’Brethren, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who
fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent.’” We know that
Jesus Christ is the only way for us to receive Salvation “Ac 4:12 “And there is
salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been
given among men by which we must be saved.’”
We also read in Hebrews 1:1-2 these words about God speaking to us, “1 God,
after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in
many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed
heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.” Now we have to ask the question “Are we
listening to Him?”
The
enemy is also speaking (v. 42): “42
So I will have an answer for him who reproaches me, For I trust in Your
word.” We have already seen in this
Psalm that the psalmist is being oppressed by his enemies who have lied and slandered
his name, and we have also learned that they have threatened his life. The Word of God is the weapon that believers
use to fight against the wiles of the enemy as seen in Ephesians 6:17 where we
are told to take up the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. We have also mentioned before that the Lord
Jesus Christ used the Word of God to answer to the temptations of Satan, (Luke
and Matthew chapters 4). Having the Word
of God in our hearts will keep us from sin and we can also use it to fight
against our enemies, those who oppose us or ask us why we believe as we do. “but
sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to
everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with
gentleness and reverence (1Peter 3:15).”
God’s
people speak to the Lord (v.43): “43
And do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, For I wait for Your
ordinances.” When we look at the book of
Nehemiah we find that on many occasions Nehemiah would send up short
“telegraph” prayers to the Lord and these short prayers were based upon the
Word of God that he knew. We need the
Word of God in our hearts in order to pray these short prayers to the Lord, for
the Spirit of God can prompt us to use the Word of God to fight against our
enemies. 25 "These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you.
26 "But the Helper, the Holy
Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and
bring to your remembrance all that I said to you (John 14:25-26).” Dr. Wiersbe points out that “The writer
connected God’s Word with his mouth, because the word ‘meditate’ in the Hebrew
means ‘to mutter.’ The ancient Jews spoke
the Word audibly as they meditated and prayed (Josh. 1:8)”
Our
lives speak for the Lord (vv. 44-45):
“44 So I will keep Your law continually, Forever and ever. 45 And I will walk at liberty, For I seek
Your precepts.” There is a saying that
has been popular for a while that states, “If you talk the talk you must walk
the walk,” and this means that your talk must be backed up by your walk. It is easy to say things, but harder to live
by the things that you say even though the things that you say are true. As believers our walk should be a transformed
life, a life that has been changed from the inside, a life that is pleasing to
the Lord. “13 "You are the salt of
the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty
again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled
under foot by men. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill
cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket,
but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16
"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good
works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:13-16)” Dr. Wiersbe points out “That because we know
and obey ‘the word of truth’ (v.43), we are able to enjoy freedom from the
bondage of sin (v. 45), for it is the truth that makes us free (John 8:32;
James 1:25; 2:12).”
God’s
people speak to others (vv. 46-48):
“46 I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings And shall not be
ashamed. 47 I shall delight in Your commandments, Which I love. 48 And I shall
lift up my hands to Your commandments, Which I love; And I will meditate on
Your statutes.” One of the things that
God has allowed me to do in my walk with Him is to share the Word of God to
those who are in need of it. There have
been times when the Lord will bring into my life someone who is in need of
hearing the Word of God concerning salvation, something that I call a “Divine
Appointment,” and then the Spirit of the Lord will give me the Words to speak
to that person. I was walking in a park
near our house one day and was prompted to speak to a girl who looked like she
was having troubles. We talked for an
hour as we walked and I was able to share with her the truth of God’s Word. I have never seen her since that day, but I
continue to pray for her that the word that I spoke to her will be used by the
Spirit of God to bring salvation to her.
As we learned from the verse in 1 Peter we have to be ready to tell
others of the hope that is in us and that hope that is in us is seen in the
Word of God.
Dr. Wiersbe concludes his
commentary on this section by writing these words, “The basic Christian virtue
(1Cor. 13:13) are seen in those who live by God’s Word: faiths (v.42), hope
(v.43), and love (vv. 41, 47, and 48).
Love is mentioned three times because ‘the greatest of these is love.’”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: There are
times when I am amazed by how Dr. Wiersbe can make the Scriptures come alive
and show things from them that I would not have seen. I think of love that he speaks about here and
desire to do better in this area of my life and that is why once again I am
memorizing the 13th chapter of 1Corinthians.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
Trust the Lord to allow me to have a profitable time at a Bible Study
that I am going to go to this morning for the first time.
Memory
verses for the week: 1Cor. 13:1-2
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.
9/5/2012
9:09:23 AM
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