SPIRITUAL DIARY
FOR 11/1/2012 11:12:49 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm 133
PT-1
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 133:1
Message of
the verses: In Today’s SD we will begin to look at Psalm
133 by looking at several introductions from different Bible commentators.
The
Excellency of Brotherly Love
“We
cannot say too much, it were well if enough could be said, to persuade people
to live together in peace. It is good for us, for our honour and comfort; and
brings constant delight to those who live in unity. The pleasantness of this is
likened to the holy anointing oil. This is the fruit of the Spirit, the proof
of our union with Christ, and adorns his gospel. It is profitable as well as
pleasing; it brings blessings numerous as the drops of dew. It cools the
scorching heat of men’s passions, as the dews cool the air and refresh the
earth. It moistens the heart, and makes it fit to receive the good seed of the
word, and to make it fruitful. See the proof of the excellency of brotherly
love: where brethren dwell together in unity, the Lord commands the blessing.
God commands the blessing; man can but beg a blessing. Believers that live in
love and peace, shall have the God of love and peace with them now, and they
shall shortly be with him forever, in the world of endless love and peace. May
all who love the Lord forbear and forgive one another, as God, for Christ’s
sake, hath forgiven them.” (Matthew
Henry)
“We
see no reason for depriving David of the authorship of this sparkling sonnet.
He knew by experience the bitterness occasioned by divisions in families, and
was well prepared to celebrate in choicest Psalmody the blessing of unity for
which he sighed. Among the "songs of degrees," this hymn has
certainly attained unto a good degree, and even in common literature it is
frequently quoted for its perfume and dew.
In this Psalm there is no wry word, all is "sweetness and
light," — a notable ascent from Psalm 110 with which the Pilgrims set out.
That is full of war and lamentation, but this sings of peace and pleasantness.
The visitors to Zion were about to return, and this may have been their hymn of
joy because they had seen such union among the tribes who had gathered at the
common altar. The previous Psalm, which sings oh for the covenant, had also
revealed the centre of Israel’s unity in the Lord’s anointed and the promises
made to him. No wonder that brethren dwell in unity when God dwells among them,
and finds his rest in them. Our
translators have given to this Psalm an admirable explanatory heading,
"The benefit of the communion of saints." These good men often hit
off the meaning of a passage in a few words.”
(Charles H. Spurgeon)
“David
was king of Judah and Benjamin and ruled in Hebron for seven-and-a-half
years. He inherited a divided nation and
almost a civil war, but then the Lord gave him a united kingdom (2Sam. 5;
1Chron. 12:38-40). He could well have
written this psalm when he began his reign in Jerusalem. The people usually journeyed to Jerusalem in
family groups (see Luke 2:42-52), so this psalm perfectly suited the
situation. It applies to individual
believers and churches today, for we also have our ‘family quarrels’ and need
to learn to walk together in love.
Maintaining the spiritual unity of God’s people is the work of every
believer, with the help of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:1-6), and three ministries
of the Spirit are illustrated in this psalm.”
(Dr. Warren Wiersbe)
We Are Born of the Spirit (v.1): “1 A Song of Ascents, of David: Behold, how
good and how pleasant it is For brothers to dwell together in unity!
David states that it is good and it
is pleasant for brothers to live together in unity, but as we look through the
Scriptures we see that this is a difficult and probably an impossible thing to
do without the help of the Holy Spirit of God, and even then when sin raises
its ugly head it makes it difficult. I have heard before that the middle letter
of sin is the letter “I” and that speaks of selfishness. We always want our own ways because of being
selfish, and wanting to have our own needs met.
Cain killed Able because of being jealous of him, Abraham and Lot had
their arguments, Joseph’s brothers hated him and they could not get along with
each other. Aaron and Miriam fought with
Moses over leadership, David had troubles with his own children, and then when
we look at the New Testament we see that the disciples of Jesus would argue
about who was the greatest, and then from the book of Acts we see a problem
arose between Paul and Barnabas about John Mark, and they split up and went
their separate ways. We see in the
letters to the Corinthians that they were divided over who was the best
teachers, and the story goes on and on.
The Jewish people had common ground
in that they were all children of Abraham, and they all worshiped the same God,
and they were all brothers and sisters.
New Testament believers all have the Holy Spirit in them, have the same
Savior and Lord, they are all going to the same heavenly city, and there are
other different things we have in common, like having spiritual oneness in
Christ, “1Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a
manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all
humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in
love, 3 being diligent to
preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one
body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling;
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all
and through all and in all. (Eph. 4:1-6)
“26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For
all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is
neither male nor female; for
you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are
Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.
The world we live in today is much
different than the world of even 100 years ago, and one of the things that has
made it change is technology. People don’t
have to go far for all the answers that they think that they need for
everything is right at their fingertips with the invention of the “smart
phone.” We can charge things using them,
we can pay bills using them, and we can look up address and even have them
direct us to the place we want to go.
Many people have Bibles on their smart phones, and so they can look for
answers to questions they have about spiritual things using their smart phones. What we may be missing in this day of the
smart phone is being with people in the way that the New Testament Church is
designed to be, and thus we miss the unity that is so beneficial to have. Another thing that these smart phones have
done is to help make the older generation useless. Let me explain what I see is happening to the
younger generation because of this great technology. In the older generations people use to look
up to the older people for knowledge, and the Bible teaches this, but in
today’s generations all the knowledge is on the smart phones and so the
knowledge is not needed from the older generation and this makes them in a
sense useless. In a sermon I heard early
last year the Pastor said that all ages of people are beneficial in the church. He went on to talk about each age group and
when he got to the older age group he stated that we need them to tell the
younger age groups of the mistakes that they have made so that they would not
make them. Some people laughed at this
which upset the Pastor and he then said that he was very serious about this.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: As I
think about a wonderful “full communion” service that is to happen in the
church I attend this coming Sunday I desire to prepare myself for this service
by looking back on what my Lord did for me on the cross to provide for me
salvation. He did this for all who will
call upon His name for salvation and for unity.
“11 ¶ "I am no longer in the
world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy
Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even
as We are.
20 "I do not ask on behalf of these alone,
but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You,
that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent
Me. 22 "The glory which You have
given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so
that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have
loved Me.” (John 17:11; 20-23)
My Steps of Faith for Today: Unity along
with contentment and also being transformed by the renewing of my mind are my
steps of faith for today.
Memory verses for the
week: Psalm 130:1-2
1 Out of the debts I cried to You, O
LORD. 2 Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ear be attentive the voice of my
supplications.
11/1/2012 12:20:56 PM
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