SPIRITUAL DIARY
FOR 12/8/2012 9:17:17 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm 146
PT-1
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 146:1-6
Message of
the verses: We will continue to do as we have been doing
through most of the book of Psalms by looking at several introductions by
different Bible Commentators in order to better understand the psalm that we
are about to study. In the introduction
to the last psalm (145) we learned that all the remaining six psalms would be
considered “praise psalms.”
“This and all the rest of the psalms that follow
begin and end with Hallelujah, a word which puts much of God’s praise into a
little compass; for in it we praise him by his name Jah, the contraction of
Jehovah. In this excellent psalm of praise,
I. The psalmist engages himself to praise
God, #Ps 146:1, 2.
II. He engages others to trust in him, which
is one necessary and acceptable way of praising him.
1. He shows why we
should not trust in men, #Ps 146:3, 4.
2. Why we should
trust in God (#Ps 146:5), because of his power in the kingdom of nature (#Ps
146:6), his dominion in the kingdom of providence (#Ps 146:7), and his grace in
the kingdom of the Messiah (#Ps 146:8,9), that everlasting kingdom (#Ps
146:10), to which many of the Jewish writers refer this psalm, and to which
therefore we should have an eye, in the singing of it.” (Matthew Henry)
“DIVISION: & etc. We are now
among the Hallelujahs. The rest of our journey lies through the Delectable
Mountains. All is praise to the close of the book. The key is high pitched: the
music is upon the high sounding cymbals. O for a heart full of joyful
gratitude, that we may run, and leap, and glorify God, even as these Psalms do.
Alexander thinks that this song may be
regarded as composed of two equal parts; in the first we see the happiness of
those who trust in God, and not in man (#Ps 146:1-5), while the second gives
the reason drawn from the Divine perfections (#Ps 146:5-10). This might suffice
for our purpose; but as there is really no break at all, we will keep it
entire. It is "one pearl," a sacred censer of holy incense, pouring
forth one sweet perfume.” (Charles H.
Spurgeon)
“The last five psalms are the
‘Hallelujah Psalms’ that focus our attention on praising the Lord. This psalm begins with a vow to praise God
throughout life. The next psalm tells us
it is ‘good and pleasant’ to praise the Lord, and 148 reminds us that when we
praise God, we join with all creation , for heaven and earth praise Him. In 149, God’s people are admonished to
worship joyfully, and the last psalm tells us where and why and how ‘everything
that has breath’ should praise the Lord.
These five psalms are a short curse in worship, and God’s people today
would do well to heed their message.
Sanctuaries are turning into religious theaters and ‘worship’ is
becoming more and more entertainment. The
author of this psalm understood that God was not just a part of life but the
heart of life. Paul had the same
conviction (Phil. 1:21; Col. 3:4).”
(Warren Wiersbe)
“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain (Phil.
1:21).”
“When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will
be revealed with Him in glory (Col. 3:4).”
Life Means Praising God (vv. 1-2): “1 Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my
soul! 2 I will praise the LORD while I live; I will sing praises to my God
while I have my being.”
I have mentioned in earlier
Spiritual Diaries that Warren Wiersbe’s insight into the Word of God has been
something that I can praise the Lord for.
It is said of him that he puts the cookies on the shelf where you can
reach them. There are times when I read
his commentary that I have to share exactly what he has written, and this is
one of those times. “To receive the
gifts and ignore the Giver is the essence of idolatry. The writer promised God he would praise Him
all of his life, and certainly this is wise preparation for praising Him for
eternity (104:33). To live a life of
praise is to overcome criticism and complaining, to stop competing against
others and comparing ourselves with them.
It means to be grateful in and for everything (1Thes. 5:18; Eph. 5:20)
and really believe that God is working all things together for our good (Romans
8:28). A life of praise is free from
constant anxiety and discouragement as we focus on the Lord, who is mentioned
eleven times in this psalm.”
After reading this I not only agree
with it, but am a bit convicted by what I have read and have a desire to seek
to praise the Lord more, knowing that it will be a wonderful part of what I do
in heaven.
Life Means Trusting God (vv. 3-6): “3 Do not trust in princes, In mortal man, in
whom there is no salvation. 4 His spirit
departs, he returns to the earth; In that very day his thoughts perish. 5 How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, Whose hope is in the
LORD his God, 6 Who made heaven
and earth, The sea and all that is in them; Who keeps faith forever;”
In the first part of this section of
Psalm 146 we hear the psalmist telling his readers not to trust in man, for
there is no salvation in man. When we
look at the history of Israel, right from the beginning when Abraham was called
as the father of Israel we see time and time again that they put their trust in
Egypt. Both Abraham and Isaac went down
to Egypt because their faith was weak.
They were trusting in men and not in the God who called them. I suppose we do this today in the United
States, and perhaps it is done in other countries as well. It seems that believers are more comfortable
with having leaders who are believers, but they are still men, and God is in
control of all leaders, for He is the One who puts them into power, and so are
faith should be in the Lord and not in the leaders. We must remember that God is in control of
all things and has a plan that no one will ever stop even though there are any
times when we don’t understand it, but we still need to trust the Lord.
We see in the fifth verse the last
of twenty-five beatitudes that are found in the book of psalms. (Warren
Wiersbe) We also read about the God whom
we are to put are trust in. We are to
trust in the God of Jacob as seen in verse five. After reading the commentary from Dr. Wiersbe
on the God of Jacob I was greatly encouraged, for when we look at the life of
Jacob we can understand how the Lord can help people who are weak like me. “Jacob was far from being perfect, yet God
honored his faith and helped him in times of need. Jacob trusted God’s promises, for his hope
was in the Lord, but too often he depended on his own schemes to see him
through.” (Warren Wiersbe)
Our God is not only the God of
Jacob, but verse six tells us that He is the God who created the heavens and
the earth. This tells us of the power
and wisdom that God possess and is a part of His attributes, and
character. Stop and think about
creation, the creation that is described in the pages of Scripture, especially
in Genesis chapters one and two. We see
these words “God said” eight times in regard to how God created what He
created:
“Ge 1:3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and
there was light.
Ge 1:6 Then God said, "Let there be an expanse in the
midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters."
Ge 1:9 Then God said, "Let the waters below the heavens
be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so.
Ge 1:11 Then God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation:
plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their
kind with seed in them"; and it was so.
Ge 1:14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse
of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs
and for seasons and for days and years;
Ge 1:20 Then God said, "Let the waters teem with swarms of
living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the
heavens."
Ge 1:24 Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth living
creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth
after their kind"; and it was so.
Ge 1:26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image,
according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over
the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’”
When we see these words “God said”
we know that this is the Word of God, and Hebrews 4:12 states that the Word of
God is powerful, and so when we look at how God created this universe we
understand that God is all powerful. A
Good One to have on your side and to put your trust in. I know that there are
people today that state that the world was created in a different way that what
we see in these eight verses, but think
about what their real motives are when trying to discredit the creation that is
spoken of in the Scriptures. Their
motive is that if you can take God out of the creation of the universe then you
don’t have to answer to Him. Wrong! We are told in the Scriptures that all people
will someday have to bow down before the Lord.
We also see in verse six that God is
the God who keeps faith forever. God is
the covenant keeping God. God made a
covenant through the blood of Jesus Christ that is found in the New Testament,
which means “New Covenant.” We know that
God is the God who will keep His covenants that He has made, including the
covenant that He made with Abraham in Genesis 15. That covenant is a covenant God made with the
people of Israel, and one day the Lord Jesus Christ will come back to planet
earth and sit on the throne of David and reign on earth for 1000 years. God Keeps His Covenants.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I am
amazed at when my prayers that I pray before beginning to study the Word of God
are answered in the portion that I am studying.
My prayer before beginning today’s SD was confessing to the Lord that
there are times when my devotions are more duty than doing them out of love for
God and so my prayer was to make sure that I am in a relationship with my Lord
and not in a religion. Christianity is a
relationship with the Living God and not a religion. The section that I copied from Warren Wiersbe
on the first point from this psalm was an answer to my prayer.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Praise is
powerful! Continue to learn
contentment. Continue to have my mind
transformed by the Word of God.
Memory verses for the
week: Psalm 130:1-7
1 Out of the debts I cried to You, O
LORD. 2 Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my
supplications. 3 If You, Lord should
mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared.
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul does
wait, and in His Word do I hope. 6 My
soul waits for the Lord more than the watchman for the morning; indeed more
than the watchman for the morning. 7 O
Israel, hope in the LORD; For with the Lord there is lovingkindness, and with
Him is abundant redemption.
12/8/2012 10:57:43 AM
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