SPIRITUAL
DIARY FOR 10/7/2012 8:09:47 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm
123 PT-1
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm
123:1-4
Message
of the verses: We will begin this SD
by taking a look at several introductions to Psalm 123 in order to better
understand what this psalm is saying, and what it will say to us.
“A Song of degrees. We are climbing.
The first step (Ps. 120) saw us lamenting our troublesome surroundings, and the
next saw us lifting or eyes to the hills and resting in assured security; from
this we rose to delight in the house of the Lord; but here we look to the Lord
himself, and this is the highest ascent of all by many degrees. The eyes are
now looking above the hills, and above Jehovah’s footstool on earth, to his
throne in the heavens. Let us know it as "the Psalm of the eyes". Old
authors call it Oculus "Sperans," or the eye of hope. It is a short
Psalm, written with singular art, containing one thought, and expressing if in
a most engaging manner. Doubtless it would be a favourite song among the people
of God. It has been conjectured that this brief song, or rather sigh, may have
first been heard in the days of Nehemiah, or under the persecutions of
Antiochus. It may be so, but there is no evidence of it; it seems to us quite
as probable that afflicted ones in all periods after David’s time found this
psalm ready to their hand If it appears to describe days remote from David, it
is all the more evident that the Psalmist was also a prophet, and sang what he
saw in vision.” (Charles H. Spurgeon)
“It is not until we read verse 4
that we discover the burden of the writer:
the constant persecution of the people of Israel, being treated with
scorn and contempt. In Psalm 124, Israel
was almost swallowed up, drowned, and imprisoned in a trap. Captivity is the theme of 126, and 129
compares their suffering to a farmer plowing their backs. Has any nation ever suffered the way Israel
has suffered? Of course, God’s people
today are also suffering because of their commitment to Christ (John
16:30). According to missiologists, more
Christians were martyred in the twentieth century than in all the previous
centuries combined! Some students assign
this psalm to the time of King Hezekiah, when the Assyrians were attacking
Jerusalem and making humiliating speeches about the Jews (Isa. 36-37). But during the post-exilic years, Israel also
suffered the ridicule and scorn of their Gentile neighbors (Neh. 2:19; 4:1-4,
4ff). This psalm speaks about the God
who is enthroned in heaven whose hand would work for His people, and you find
both of these themes in Ezra and Nehemiah.
The ‘hand of God’ is found in Ezra 7:6, 9, 28; 8:18, 22, 31 and Nehemiah
2:8, 18. ‘The God of heaven’ is
mentioned in Era 1:2; 5:11-12; 6:9-10; 7:12, 21, 23 and Nehemiah 1:4; 2:4. The psalm begins in the first person
singular, (I, my), but then changes to the plural (we, our, us). Perhaps this was a communal prayer, begun by
a priest or Levite (v. 1), continued by a choir (v. 2), and closed by the
congregation (vv. 3-4).
“When we find ourselves among the
slandered, ridiculed, and persecuted, where do we turn for help? The psalm gives three answers to that
question.” (Dr. Warren Wiersbe)
We
Look by Faith to God’s Throne (v. 1):
“1 A Song of Ascents: To You I lift up my eyes, O You who are enthroned
in the heavens!”
What is it when we think of God’s
throne? How do we picture it in our
minds? How important is the truth of God
sitting on His throne to us? We are told
that God is Spirit and therefore we cannot see Him, and that is why the Father
sent His Son to be the Savior of the World.
Jesus told His disciples on the night that He would be betrayed that if
anyone saw Him they saw the Father and we are also told in the 7th
chapter of the book of Acts these words by Steven as he was about to die from
being stoned: “55 But being full of the
Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus
standing at the right hand of God; 56
and he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of
Man standing at the right hand of God.’”
When we think about the throne of
God we have to think about power for God is all powerful and as He sits on His
throne this demonstrates all the power of heaven.
When we think of the throne of God
we also think about God’s grace. “14
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the
heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do
not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who
has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us
draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy
and find grace to help in time of need.”
(Hebrews 4:14-16)
Dr. Wiersbe writes “The life of
faith begins by looking to the Lord by faith and trusting Him for salvation
(Isa. 45:22) The life of faith continues as we keep our eyes of faith on Jesus
(Heb. 12:2), and it will climax with faith becoming sight and we’ll see Jesus
in His glory (1John 3:1-3).”
Let’s look at the verses that are
mentioned in this paragraph in the order that they are mentioned.
“’Turn to Me and be saved, all the
ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other.’” (Isaiah 45:22)
“12 Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the
author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the
cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of
God.” (Hebrews 12:2)
“1 See how great a love the Father
has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are.
For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2
Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we
will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see
Him just as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies
himself, just as He is pure.” (1John
3:1-3)
We
Look by Faith to God’s Hand (v. 2):
“2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, As
the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes look to the LORD
our God, Until He is gracious to us.”
The psalmist introduces us to the
hands of God by talking about how a servant deals with a master. The servants during this time (according to
Dr. Wiersbe) would watch the hands of their masters in order to get hand
signals from them in order to do what their master wanted them to do. I have seen this portrayed in different
movies from this time period. We can
also see that the hands of the master provide for their servants, for all that
the servant has has been provided by their master. We also know that the master’s hands as they
protect the servant. And so it is with
our God’s hands for as believers we receive direction, provision, and
protection from the hands of our Gracious Heavenly Father.
We
Look for God’s Mercy and Grace (vv.3-4):
“3 Be gracious to us, O LORD, be gracious to us, For we are greatly
filled with contempt. 4 Our soul is greatly filled With the scoffing of those
who are at ease, And with the contempt of the proud.”
Grace is God giving us what we do
not deserve and cannot ever earn, and mercy is God holding back from us what we
do deserve.
When we read through the books of
Ezra and Nehemiah (I have Spiritual Diaries on these two books posted on my
blog), we find that these were very difficult times for the 50,000 Jews who
came back from Babylon to rebuild the city and also the temple of God. They were persecuted by their neighbors
because they were Jews and this comes right from Satan. However God promised Abraham these promises,
“1 Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your
relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you;
2 And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing;
3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who
curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.’”
This is one of my great fears as our
country goes down the road to destruction and that is if God does not give unto
us another great revival that we will be a nation that curses the Jews and
therefore we will be cursed. Our
government had changed its views on how we deal with Israel from when Israel
first became a nation in 1948 and this is one of the last steps that Scripture
speaks of on a downward spiral towards destruction. Paul writes these words that also speak of
how a nation or even individuals falls, “19 because that which is known about
God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His
invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly
seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without
excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give
thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart
was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the
glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and
of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the
lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored
among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and
served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26
For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women
exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27 and in the same
way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in
their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and
receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. 28 And just as
they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a
depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29 being filled with all unrighteousness,
wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are
gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors
of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy,
unloving, unmerciful; 32 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.” (Romans 1:19-32)
The nations that were giving all
these problems to the Jews when they came out of Babylon were judged by the
Lord, and every nation that has done evil to the Jews or will do evil to the
Jews just because they are Jews will suffer the same fate.
As believers in Jesus Christ we
ought to thank God everyday for His wonderful grace and mercy. Dr. Wiersbe concludes his commentary with
these words, “There is grace available at the throne of grace from the God of
all grace, so lift your eyes of faith to Him.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I am
thankful for God’s grace and mercy for without it my fate would be in the
burning fires of Hell. I am thankful for
the Lord Jesus Christ who provided salvation for me.
Even though I believe that our
nation could implode in the near future my prayer is that God will be gracious
to us and provide another “Great Awakening” for us as He did before both the
Revolutionary War and the Civil War.
Please pray to this end!
My Steps of Faith for Today:
Continue to seek to learn contentment from the Lord.
Memory
verses for the week: 1Cor. 13:8-10
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 For we know in part and we prophecy in
part, 10 but when the perfect comes the partial will be done away.
10/7/2012
9:16:58 AM
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