“Psalm 102 PT-2” (Ps. 102:12-22)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/5/2012 6:40:43 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                   Focus:  “Psalm 102 PT-2”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Psalm 102:12-22

 

            Message of the verses:  In Today’s SD we will pick up looking as Psalm 102, where we looked at the first eleven verses yesterday of Psalm 102 after looking at several introductions to the psalm.

 

            The Unchanged Covenant of God (vv. 12-22):  “12 But You, O LORD, abide forever, And Your name to all generations. 13 You will arise and have compassion on Zion; For it is time to be gracious to her, For the appointed time has come. 14 Surely Your servants find pleasure in her stones And feel pity for her dust. 15 So the nations will fear the name of the LORD And all the kings of the earth Your glory. 16 For the LORD has built up Zion; He has appeared in His glory. 17 He has regarded the prayer of the destitute And has not despised their prayer. 18 This will be written for the generation to come, That a people yet to be created may praise the LORD. 19 For He looked down from His holy height; From heaven the LORD gazed upon the earth, 20 To hear the groaning of the prisoner, To set free those who were doomed to death, 21 That men may tell of the name of the LORD in Zion And His praise in Jerusalem, 22 When the peoples are gathered together, And the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.”

 

            As we look at this portion of Psalm 102 we must remember that we are looking at this psalm from the prospective that it was written after the Jewish people had returned to their land from their captivity in Babylon.  There were three different dispersions from Judah to Babylon with the first in 605 BC and then the last in 586 BC and I believe the middle one was in 597 BC.  God had made it clear to the Jewish people through the prophet Jeremiah that their captivity would be 70 years and made it clear through the prophet Isaiah that Cyrus the king of Persia would be the one to allow the Jews to return to Jerusalem, and then later on there would be other kings who would allow more people to leave.  When you read the first two chapters of Nehemiah you will see that he along with Ezra led more Jewish people back to Israel.  The psalmist must have been one of the captives who were led back to Jerusalem.

 

            When we read the word “But You, O Lord,” in the 12^th verse we see a change in the direction in which the psalm is going, for the psalmist turns from the problems that he is facing to behold by faith the Lord who is enthroned in heaven.  One of the things we know about the Lord is that He is unchangeable, and for that we can praise Him as the psalmist does. 

 

            We see in verse 15 that the psalmist writes that one day the nations (Gentiles) will fear the name of the LORD, even all the kings of the earth, and in verse 21 all men will praise the name of the Lord who will be in Jerusalem.  (I believe that the psalmist is speaking of the 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ upon the earth.) 

 

            The people of Israel knew the covenant that God had made with them when He brought them out of Egypt and there were both blessings and curses involved in that covenant.  When you read the 9^th chapters of Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah you will see that all of these men knew that Israel deserved their captivity because they had failed to keep the covenant that God had given them.  The people had disobeyed the Lord and worshiped idols for many years, and in Judah’s case it was the 50+ years of Manasseh that was the straw that broke the camel’s back, for even though at the end of his life he came to know the Lord, he was probably the most evil king to ever reign in Judah.  He did not follow after his father Hezekiah who was one of Judah’s best kings.

 

            Israel returning to their land was a very important time in the history of the Jewish people, for this showed that God was not done with them, for He had made a covenant with Abraham, and renewed it with Isaac, and then with Jacob and said that He would bless those who blessed Israel and those that cursed them would be cursed.  That covenant is still intact and the result of it shows that on May 14, 1948 that Israel once again became a nation.  Here is what the prophet Isaiah said about that:  “Isa 66:8 “Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons.”  This is exactly what happened to Israel on May 14, 1948 as she became a nation in one day.  We also see that as a result of Israel returning to their land after their captivity in Babylon that even though they did not have complete control of their land they were there and because they were there the King of Kings and Lord of Lords was born in Bethlehem. 

 

            We will take up the rest of Psalm 102 in tomorrow’s SD, (Lord Willing)

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I know that there are many times in my life that I have trouble resting on the promises of God, for life does not seem to me like some of His promises will come about, but one thing that I have to remember is the unchangeableness of God.  It was looking dark for the psalmist when he penned Psalm 102, but as I look back I see that God worked it all out and now I see Israel back in their land and this was one of the most important things to happen in the history of mankind.  This shows me that God will keep His promises, and that God is in control and also that God does not change.  I change but God does not.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I want to abide in the Vine, to remain in the Vine so that I can produce the fruit that He has planed from me to produce.  I want to be faithful to abide in the Vine.

Memory verses for the week:  2Peter 1:1-4

1. Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

            To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:  2. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord, 3. seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

 

7/5/2012 7:45:50 AM

 

 

“Psalm 102 PT-1” (Ps. 102:1-11)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/4/2012 7:23:18 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                   Focus:  “Psalm 102 PT-1”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                   Reference:  Psalm 102:1-11

 

            Message of the verses:  In Today’s SD we will begin to look at Psalm 102 by looking at several introductions to the psalm by different Bible commentators and then begin to look at the psalm.

 

            “SUBJECT: This is a patriot’s lament over his country’s distress. He arrays himself in the griefs of his nation as in a garment of sackcloth, and casts her dust and ashes upon his head as the ensigns and causes of his sorrow. He has his own private woes and personal enemies, he is moreover sore afflicted in body by sickness, but the miseries of his people cause him a far more bitter anguish, and this he pours out in an earnest, pathetic lamentation.  Not, however, without hope does the patriots mourn; he has faith in God, and looks for the resurrection of the nation through the omnipotent favour of the Lord; this causes him to walk among the ruins of Jerusalem, and to say with hopeful spirit, "No, Zion, thou shalt never perish. Thy sun is not set for ever; brighter days are in store for thee." It is in vain to enquire into the precise point of Israel’s history which thus stirred a patriot’s soul, for many a time was the land oppressed, and at any of her sad seasons this song and prayer would have been a most natural and appropriate utterance.

 

            “TITLE: A prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the Lord. This Psalm is a prayer far more in spirit than in words.  The formal petitions are few, but a strong stream of supplication runs from beginning to end, and like an under-current, finds its way heavenward through the moanings of grief and confessions of faith which make up the major part of the Psalm. It is a prayer of the afflicted, or of "a sufferer," and it bears the marks of its parent age; as it is recorded of Jabez that "his mother bore him with sorrow," so may we say of this Psalm; yet as Rachel’s Benoni, or child of sorrow, was also her Benjamin, or son of her right hand, so is this Psalm as eminently expressive of consolation as of desolation. It is scarcely correct to call it a penitential Psalm, for the sorrow of it is rather of one suffering than sinning. It has its own bitterness, and it is not the same as that of the Fifty-first. The sufferer is afflicted more for others than for himself, more for Zion and the house of the Lord, than for his own house. When he is overwhelmed, or sorely troubled, and depressed. The best of men are not always able to stem the torrent of sorrow. Even when Jesus is on board, the vessel may fill with water and begin to sink. And poureth out his complaint before the LORD. When a cup is overwhelmed or turned bottom over, all that is in it is naturally poured out; great trouble removes the heart from all reserve and causes the soul to flow out without restraint; it is well when that which is in the soul is such as may be poured out in the presence of God, and this is only the case where the heart has been renewed by divine grace. The word rendered "complaint" has in it none of the idea of fault-finding or repining, but should rather be rendered "moaning," — the expression of pain, not of rebellion. To help the memory we will call this Psalm THE PATRIOT’S PLAINT.”  (Charles H. Spurgeon)

 

            “The non-specific superscription is unique to this psalm which highlights the thoughts of one who is afflicted (cf. Pss 22, 69, 79, 102, 130, 142), perhaps expressing exilic lament (cf. Pss 42, 43, 74, 79, 137).  Like Job, whose troubles were not the result of God’s judgment for personal sin, the psalmist cries out in pain.  His only relief comes from refocusing on sovereign God and His eternal purposes.  Messianic over are present as Heb. 1:10-12 quotes Ps 102:25-26.”  (The John MacArthur Study Bible)

 

            “This is both a penitential psalm (see 6) and a Messianic psalm (vv. 25-27 = Heb. 1:10-12).  The anonymous author probably wrote it long after the destruction of Jerusalem (vv. 8, 14, 16), about the time he thought Jeremiah’s prophecy of the seventy-year captivity was about to be fulfilled (v. 13; Jer. 25:11-12; 29:10 see Dan. 9:2).  According to the title the psalmist was afflicted and faint (61:2; 77:3; 142:3; 143:4) and burdened to present his complaint (‘Lament,’ (NIV) to the Lord.  He was groaning in distress (vv. 2, 5) and weeping over the ruins of Jerusalem (v. 9).  His opening prayer in verses 1-2 draws from a number of other psalms, giving us an example of what it means to pray the Word of God. (See 18:16; 27:9; 31:2; 37:20; 59:16; 69:17: 88:2.)  As believers face and deal with painful crises that come to us, if we are to overcome and glorify God, we must keep three assurances before us.”  (Warren Wiersbe)

 

            The Changing Circumstances of Life (vv. 1-11):  “1 A Prayer of the Afflicted when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the LORD. Hear my prayer, O LORD! And let my cry for help come to You. 2 Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress; Incline Your ear to me; In the day when I call answer me quickly. 3 For my days have been consumed in smoke, And my bones have been scorched like a hearth. 4 My heart has been smitten like grass and has withered away; Indeed, I forget to eat my bread. 5 Because of the loudness of my groaning My bones cling to my flesh. 6 I resemble a pelican of the wilderness; I have become like an owl of the waste places. 7 I lie awake, I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop. 8 My enemies have reproached me all day long; Those who deride me have used my name as a curse. 9 For I have eaten ashes like bread And mingled my drink with weeping 10 Because of Your indignation and Your wrath, For You have lifted me up and cast me away. 11 My days are like a lengthened shadow, And I wither away like grass.”

 

            As one of the commentators said this psalm reminds me a bit of the book of Job in that there is much distress and suffering by the psalmist just as there was by Job.

 

            Dr. Wiersbe quotes the Greek philosopher Heraclitus in his commentary on this psalm, and he is credited with saying “There is nothing permanent except change.”  Sometimes changes are good and sometime changes are bad, but change is something that takes place in our lives from the time we are born until the time that we die.  It is good to serve a God who does not change, who is always the same.  We read in the 7^th chapter of Jeremiah that the people of Judah did not believe that God would have Jerusalem destroyed, would not allow His people to be taken into captivity, would not allow His temple to be destroyed, and yet it happened, all of it happened.

 

            Dr. Wiersbe writes the following about change:  “There are the normal changes of life, from birth to maturity to death, but there are also providential changes that God sends for our good and His glory.”  As already stated God does not change, but it is good for us to change and to have the providential changes that God brings into our lives for without them we would all end up in the place that was prepared for the fallen angles.  Paul writes that we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God, and yet God can bring about a change in our hearts and in our eternal destination because of what Jesus Christ has done for us on the cross.

 

            Dr. Wiersbe goes on to write “The psalmist recorded his personal plight in a series of vivid pictures.  With his days as flimsy and temporary as drifting smoke, and his frame burning with fever (31:10; 32:3; 42:10), he was like a man in a furnace.  His heart was like the cut and withered grass (vv. 4, 0; 90:4-5; Job 19:20; Lam. 3:16), paining him so much that he forgot to eat.  When he did eat, the food tasted like ashes and his drink like tears.  Therefore, he became a living skeleton that could only groan because of his wretched situation (v.5).  He compared himself to the unclean birds that lived solitary lives amid the ruins of the city.  He was awake all night, a lonely man, like a sparrow bereft of his mate and chirping his lament on the roof.  It was as if God’s hand picked him up and threw him on the trash heap, like a piece of discarded junk.  Like the evening shadows as the sun goes down his life kept changing, but his days had no substance.  Then the darkness fell and the long hard night lay before him.”  This is not a pretty picture that is painted here for the psalmist.    7/4/2012 8:26:41 AM   7/4/2012 1:16:19 PM

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I know that many people do not like change, but I think that we all need to change, and what I am talking about is good change.  Let’s look at the kind of change that, as believers in Jesus Christ we need to go after.  Here is our ultimate goal:  “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.”  (Romans 8:29)  Here is where we started from “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  (Romans 3:23)  How do we get from the place where we started to the place where we need to get to?  “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (2 Peter 3:18); “Study to show yourself approved to God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”  (2 Tim. 2:16)  Heb 10:25  not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”  “2 Co 3:18  But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”  I am sure that there are many more verses that I could look at, but I hope that this will stimulate others to dig for more.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I desire to stay close to the vine so that I can learn more about my Lord and Savior and to learn what He desires me to accomplish for the cause of Christ.

 

Memory verses for the week:  2Peter 1:1-4

 

1.      Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of

Our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:  2. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3. seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and righteousness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.  4. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them we may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

 

7/4/2012 1:37:24 PM

 

“Psalm 101 PT-2” (Psalm 101:3-8)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/2/2012 7:39:47 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                   Focus:  “Psalm 101 PT-2”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                     Reference:  Psalm 101:3-8

 

            Message of the verses:  In the last SD we looked at several introductions to Psalm 101 and then looked at the first two verses of the psalm, and in today’s SD we will continue looking at Psalm 101.  Dr. Wiersbe wrote the following at the end of his introductory comments on Psalm 101 “We could accurately call this psalm ‘Leadership 101’ because in it David spells out the essentials for successful leadership in the work of God.”

 

            Discernment (vv. 3-5):  3 I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not fasten its grip on me. 4 A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will know no evil. 5 Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; No one who has a haughty look and an arrogant heart will I endure.”

 

            The first part of verse three is a good verse to remember and to put on your TV, for we see many worthless things on our TV’s.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “The heart and the eyes work together, for what the heart loves; the eyes will seek and find (Ecc. 2:10; Jer. 22:17).”  Looking at worthless things means more than just seeing them with our eyes, but with our hearts also, so when one looks at this in the realm of leadership we would not want a leader whom we are under to think about doing things that are against what the Bible teaches.  A leader who has an unbiblical vision is not the kind we desire to follow.

 

            The things that David is writing about in these verses are not the qualities that one wants in a leader, and are not the qualities that we see in David.  Although we know the sins that David committed, for they are right there in the Word of God for all to see we also know that his heart was right before the Lord, for he was a man after God’s own heart.  Who would want a leader with a perverse heart, or one who desires to do evil?  Who would want a leader who desires to slander his neighbor?  Who wants a leader with a haughty or arrogant heart?  When we look at the life of Jesus we know that He was a humble man, and people came to Him for this very reason.  The Pharisees were proud and haughty people, just the opposite of Jesus.  Dr. Wiersbe writes that “faithless people are apostates, people who have abandoned God’s way for their own way and the world’s way.”  I have heard the statement that a good leader always has to realize that they are second in command, and by knowing that they are second in command, means that they know that God is in command.

 

            Decision (vv. 6-8):  “6 My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; He who walks in a blameless way is the one who will minister to me. 7 He who practices deceit shall not dwell within my house; He who speaks falsehood shall not maintain his position before me. 8 Every morning I will destroy all the wicked of the land, So as to cut off from the city of the LORD all those who do iniquity.”

 

            “We have moved from the leader’s heart to the leaders eyes, and now we look at the leader’s will.  The repeated ‘I will’ statements in the psalm give evidence of David’s determination to serve God and God’s people successfully and be a man of decision.  He would not make excuse and he would not delay making decisions.” (Warren Wiersbe)

 

            A leader has to make tough decisions and in order to make these decisions a good leader must have people around him to aid in making a good decision, and they must be people of good integrity, those who follow the Lord.  I suppose that when we look at the leadership that surrounded David we could question the integrity of Joab, but even Joab did not want David to number the fighting men in Israel.

 

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “Deception is the devil’s tool, and Satan goes to work whenever a lie moves in (2 Cor. 11:1-3).”  “1 I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness; but indeed you are bearing with me. 2 For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. 3 But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.”

 

            In the Eastern nations the kings would often give out justice in the mornings and so David promised to hear the cases in the morning and do justice after hearing the cases.  What a far cry from what is going on in our country today when we look at the way it takes so long to hear cases and to execute justice. 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Was David successful in doing all that was right to do?  The answer is surely no, but David was a man who when confronted with the truth that he had done something wrong would not run from that truth, but would confess his sins and seek the Lord for forgiveness and that is a wonderful example to follow.

 

My Steps of Faith For today:  I desire to continue to learn the memory verses that I have determined will be helpful in my walk with the Lord.  I want to memorize them so that then I can meditate on them.

 

Memory verses for the week:  2Peter 1:1-4:

 

            1. Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

            To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3.seeing that his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakes of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

 

7/2/2012 8:51:45 AM