SPIRITUAL
DIARY FOR 9/30/2012 7:54:52 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
Psalm 120 PT
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Psalm 120:3-7
Message
of the verses: In today’s SD we will
continue our look at the 120th Psalm, remembering the words that
Warren Wiersbe wrote at the end of his introductory commentary, “When we find
ourselves experiencing distress and disappointment, we have three
responsibilities to fulfill if our burdens are to become blessings.” We look at the first responsibility in
yesterday’s SD which is to pray and this covered the first two verses.
We
Must Trust God (vv. 3-4): “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.” “3 O deceptive tongue, what will God do to
you? How will he increase your
punishment? 4 You will be pierced with sharp arrows and burned with glowing
coals.” (NLT)
It is the belief of Warren
Wiersbe that these two verses are the answer to the prayer that the psalmist
had prayed to the Lord. The Lord is
telling the psalmist that He would care for those who are lying about him and
that is very good advice for us today if this same thing is happening to
us. We tend to want to take care of
these types of problems in our own way, in our own strength, but the Lord wants
us to allow Him to work these things out in His own way and in His own
time. Paul was hard on the Corinthians
when he scolded them for going to court when matters should have been handled
inside the church, for he told them that one day they would be judging angels.
The imagery that is used in this
section is also used in other places in the Scriptures such as Psalm 55:21;
57:4; 59:7; 64:3-4; Prov. 16:27; 25:18; 26:18-19; Jer. 9:3, 8; and in James
3:6: “And the tongue is a fire, the very
world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles
the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by
hell.”
Dr. Wiersbe writes “The broom
tree is a desert shrub that affords shade (1Kings 19:4), and its roots can be
made into excellent charcoal.” He goes
on to write “There is so much godless speech in our world today that believers
must be careful what they hear and how it affects them. We must not only turn away our eyes from
beholding vanity (119:37) but also turn away our ears from hearing
foolishness.” When we are slandered and
lied about, we must leave the matter with the Lord and trust Him to work.”
We
Must Patiently Endure (vv. 5-7): “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.” “5 How I suffer in far-off Meshech. It pains me to live in distant Kedar. 6 I am
tired of living among people who hate
peace. 7 I search for peace; but when I speak of peace, they want war!” (NLT)
The places that the psalmist
speaks of in this sections were thousands of miles apart and what he is talking
about here is that the Jewish people that he was living with were acting like
the Gentiles who lived in Meshech and Kedar for they were the ones who were
slandering him and this was even more upsetting to him because the Jewish
people were to follow the covenant that was given to them in the Word of
God. Meshech was located in Asia Minor
which is Northwest of Israel, and Kedar was from the descendants of Ishmael who
was Abraham’s son by Hagar.
In today’s world believers must
not only live with unbelievers, but they also live with those who profess to be
believers but act like unbelievers. The
Bible teaches us not to be married to unbelievers, but if a person is married
when they are an unbeliever and then becomes a believer then they will be
living with an unbeliever and they are not to just leave their unbelieving
spouse, but gently begin to witness to them showing the great changes that have
happened to them.
In Paul’s writings he at times
shamed the believers he was writing to by telling them that they were acting
like “Gentiles” meaning unbelievers. We
can see this in 1Cor. 5:1, 12-23; Eph. 4:17; Col. 4:5; 1Thess. 4:12; 1Tim
3:7).
We can see from this section that
the psalmist was a peacemaker and he was trying to encourage his godless Jewish
neighbors to be peaceable, however they were not really interested in doing
this, but want to wage war. Dr. Wiersbe
writes “After over fifty years of ministry, I am convinced that most of the
problems in families and churches are caused by professed Christians who do not
have a real and vital relationship to Jesus Christ. They are not humble peacemakers but arrogant
troublemakers. Until God changes them or
they decide to go elsewhere, the dedicated believers must be patient and
prayerful. This is the way Joseph dealt
with his brothers in Canaan and his false accusers in Egypt. It is also the way David dealt with King Saul
and Jesus dealt with His enemies (1Peter 2:18-25). “18 Servants, be submissive to your masters
with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those
who are unreasonable. 19 For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience
toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. 20 For what
credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with
patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently
endure it, this finds favor with God. 21 For you have
been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you
an example for you to follow in His steps, 22
WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; 23 and while being reviled, He did not revile in
return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to
Him who judges righteously; 24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body
on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His
wounds you were healed. 25 For you were continually straying like sheep, but
now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life: One can never go wrong when one’s spiritual
meaning for life is to be more like Jesus as is seen in verses 21-23 of 1 Peter
2. What is seen there is humility, and that is power under
control for Jesus could have instantly gotten rid of His enemies, but then He
would not have been qualified to die for my sins and yours and that was the
very reason He came to earth.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
Contentment and humility are seen in the verses from 1 Peter 2 and these
are good examples to follow by the power of God’s Holy Spirit.
Memory
verses for the week: 1Cor. 13:1-8
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 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.
8 Love never fails, but if there are
gifts of prophecy they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will
cease; if there is knowledge it will be done away.
9/30/2012
8:47:12 AM
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