SPIRITUAL DIARY
FOR 11/20/2012 1:35:28 PM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm 137
PT-2
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 137:5-9
Message of
the verses: We will continue looking at Psalm 137 in today’s
SD.
Memory Can Build Character: (vv. 5-6):
“5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, May my right hand forget her skill. 6
May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth If I do not remember you, If I do
not exalt Jerusalem Above my chief joy.”
It is believed that this psalm was written after the
return of the Jewish people to their land, but the author of this psalm states
that while he was in Babylon that he remembered Jerusalem and even vowed to God
that if he forgot Jerusalem that God could punish him because of the breaking
of the vow.
Psalm 90:12 states, “So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of
wisdom.” The psalmist was doing
this and we also should do this. The
psalmist had a long time to remember things that perhaps he could have done to
prevent the nation of Israel to fall to the Babylonians. It did not happen but it was not too late for
the psalmist. I think the quote from the
old Scottish preacher comes into play here, “The successful Christian life is a series of new
beginnings.”
Memory Can Encourage Faith (vv. 7-9): “7 Remember, O LORD, against the sons of Edom
The day of Jerusalem, Who said, "Raze it, raze it To its very
foundation." 8 O daughter of Babylon, you devastated one, How blessed will
be the one who repays you With the recompense with which you have repaid us. 9
How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones Against the
rock.”
7 O LORD, remember what the Edomites did
on the day the armies of Babylon captured Jerusalem. “Destroy it! ‘they
yelled. “Level it to the ground!’’ 8 O Babylon, you will be destroyed. Happy is the one who pays you back for what
you have done to us. 9 Happy is the one who takes your babies and smashes them
against the rocks!” (NLT)
I suppose that many people over the years have had
trouble with these three verses, but they probably took them out of context and
even did not realize what these verses mean for after all they are in the Holy
Scriptures and therefore we have to look at them to see what we can learn from
them.
Dr. Wiersbe states that the Law of God is “lex talionis” or the law of
retaliation—and retaliation is not revenge. “In short, the punishment must fit
the crime.” When we read from Deut.
19:16-21 these words “Eye for eye,
tooth for tooth” we probably get the meaning of that verse wrong. What this means is that the punishment should
fit the crime. If a man knocks someone’s
tooth our and does so in a crime then his tooth must be knocked out too. You cannot kill the man for knocking out
someone’s tooth. The following came from my Spiritual Diary
from June 3, 2009 from Deuteronomy 19:15-21, “Moses then speaks of how the
punishment shall fit the crime by repeating a statement he spoke earlier in
Exodus 21:23-25, “23 “But if there is
any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, 24 eye
for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound
for wound, bruise for bruise.” There is
a Latin phrase that speaks of this “lex
talionis” which is the Latin for ‘The law of retaliation.’ If a person goes into a store and shop lifts
something he should not receive the same punishment of a person who rapes
someone and the same in reverse is true. Warren Wiersbe writes, “Jesus exhorted
us not to practice personal revenge but to leave such matters in the hand of
God (Romans 12:17-21). We’re to imitate
the Master and return good for evil, love for hatred, and sacrifice for
selfishness (1 Peter 2:11-25).”
The psalmist knew from the prophets that Edom and Babylon
were to be destroyed by the God of Israel, and so he prayed that this would
come about. We could be living in a time
when the countries that surround Israel along with those a bit further away
will be destroyed by the Lord. Ezekiel
38 and 39 speak of this, and just as Edom and Babylon were destroyed in
fulfillment of the prophecies found in the OT prophets so these nations listed
in Ezekiel 38-39 will be destroyed by the Lord.
The Lord used Babylon to judge Israel for her sins, but
the Babylonians went too far and now the psalmist is praying that they too will
receive the same thing to them as they did to Israel. When Jerusalem was being destroyed by Babylon
the Edomites, who came from Jacob’s brother Esau, Edom was calling for Babylon
to do more. One day all the wrongs that
have been done to those persecuted in the Church will be made right, “9 When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw
underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word
of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; 10 and they
cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from
judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" 11
And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they
should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants
and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be
completed also. “
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I have to admire
Joel Rosenberg from what he wrote on his blog today about not only praying for
Israel as she goes through this time of trouble that we should also pray for
those living in Gaza too. Joel is over
there in Israel and is seeing the war first hand as to what is going on. He is praying for souls of unbeliever on both
side of the war and I admire him for that.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Continue to
learn contentment and also to continue to have my mind transformed by the Word
of God.
Memory verses for the
week: Psalm 130:1-5
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 supplication.
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.
11/20/2012 2:43:39 PM
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