A Joyful Psalm (Psalm 16)

SPIRITUAL DIARY  FOR 01-03-2012

 

My Worship Time                                                         Focus:  A Joyful Psalm

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                        Reference:  Psalm 16

 

          Message of the verses:  “1 A Mikhtam of David:  Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You. 2 I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord; I have no good besides You." 3 As for the saints who are in the earth, They are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight. 4 The sorrows of those who have bartered for another god will be multiplied; I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood, Nor will I take their names upon my lips. 5 The LORD is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You support my lot. 6 The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me. 7 I will bless the LORD who has counseled me; Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.

   “8 I have set the LORD continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 9 Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will dwell securely. 10 For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. 11 You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.”

 

          This is a personal and joyful psalm and it is also a “Mikhtam” psalm as are Psalm’s 56-60.  The word is not really understood by Bible scholars so we will leave it at that.  The psalm is also a Messianic psalm as this psalm prophesies the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and it is mentioned two times in the book of Acts, once by Peter (Acts 2:25-28) and then again by Paul in Acts 13:35.

          As far as what occasion that David wrote this psalm it could have been right after he received the news that it would be through his line that Messiah would be born.  We read about this in 2Samuel 7 and some of the wording there is similar to this psalm.

          When I copied this psalm the first time at the top of this page I highlighted the word “my” in order to show that this was a personal psalm for we see my over a dozen times in this psalm along with the words me and I.

Dr. Wiersbe writes “As he praised God for His grace and goodness, David presented three descriptions of the Lord, and all three may be applied to Jesus Christ today.”

 

          The Lord of Life (vv. 1-8):  We see the words “Preserve me” at the very beginning of this psalm and these words do not mean that David is in some kind of trouble like we have seen in some of the earlier psalm, but this simply means that he needed God’s constant care and oversight so that he might bring honor to the Lord and also that he might enjoy every good thing that can be given to him by God.  We know that one of the attributes of God is His goodness and apart from Him we have nothing good.  “Jas 1:17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”   It was on the 28^th of August that I studied this passage in the book of James and the following is how I wrote out this verse with the help of Dr. Wiersbe, “Every gift that God gives us is perfect, and the way that He gives it to us is perfect, and He keeps on giving us gifts all of the time, even when we do not realize that He is giving them to us, and God is not like the moving of the planets and stars, for He never changes because He cannot change for worse because He is holy, and He cannot change for better because He is perfect.”

 

          A good relationship (vv. 1-2):  “Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You. 2 I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord; I have no good besides You.’”

          We have seen in the introduction of this section from the verse in James that the Lord is our highest good and the greatest treasure and the giver of all good gifts, and of course the gift of the Lord Jesus Christ is surely included in those good gifts that God has given to us.  Jesus is the highest privilege in life.  We may think that we have something that is good, however if it doesn’t come from God it is not good:  “For You meet him with the blessings of good things; Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”  (Psalm 21:3; 23:6).

          Dr. Wiersbe writes:  “When Jesus Christ is your Savior (refuge) and Lord you experience God’s goodness even in the midst of trials.  Our relationship to ourselves, our circumstances, other people, and the future depends on our relationship to the Lord.”

 

          A good companionship (vv.3-4):  “3 As for the saints who are in the earth, They are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight. 4 The sorrows of those who have bartered for another god will be multiplied; I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood, Nor will I take their names upon my lips.”

          We see in this portion of Psalm 16 as we have seen in earlier psalms that there are two groups described here and earlier I used John 3:36 to describe them:  “"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.’”  This was as true in the day that David wrote this psalm as it is today for there were some that believed in the Lord then and were saved and some that did not and were not saved, and the same is true for those after the cross, for we know that there are people out there who have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord and some who only speak His name when they are cursing and thus reject Him. 

          Dr. Wiersbe writes “In spite of our faults and failures, believers are God’s elite, His nobility on earth.”  With that said believers are to be the ones who tell others about who Jesus Christ is and what He has done for them.  We are to be salt and light and we are to be in this world but not of this world.  We are the hands and the feet and the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ while we are here on earth, for Jesus told His disciples just before He was going to the cross that it was better that He go away and that there would be more miracles that would be done after He left than if He would have stayed.  Every time someone accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord we see a miracle and we as believers are a part of that miracle when we just tell others the truth about Christ and what He has done for them.

 

          A good stewardship (vv. 5-6):  “5 The LORD is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You support my lot. 6  The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.”

          We know that when Joshua lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land that each tribe was given an inheritance from the Lord but the tribe of Levi and they were the tribe that served at the tabernacle and ate the holy sacrifices, which means that the priests and the Levites had the Lord’s special inheritances.  David now sees himself in that privileged position as seen in verse five of this psalm. Dr. Wiersbe writes “To possess great wealth but not have the Lord is poverty indeed (Luke 12:13-21), and to enjoy the gifts but ignore the Giver is wickedness indeed.  If Jesus is the Lord of our lives, then the possessions we have and the circumstances we are in represent the inheritance He gives us.”

 

          A good fellowship (vv. 7-8):  “7  I will bless the LORD who has counseled me; Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.  8 I have set the LORD continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”

          Dr. Wiersbe suggests that David went to “night school,” because of what is said in verse seven.  The word nigh is plural and this suggests that there were many nights that David went to school, for the word instructs  suggests the hard and difficult times that David went through and this is where the Lord became so very precious to him and taught David the things that he learned from the Lord.  It may have been during this “Night School” that David got the words from the Holy Spirit to write many of his psalms.

          We see the statement “He is at my right hand” and this speaks of the Lord as David’s defender and His advocate. Since the Lord was his defender and guard he had nothing to fear and we can see that this was true in David’s life when he said that he “set the Lord continually before him.

 

          The Conqueror of Death (vv. 9-10):  “9  Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will dwell securely. 10  For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.”

          Paul writes these words in 1Cor. 15:19 “If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.”  1Corinthians 15 is commonly referred to as the “Resurrection Chapter” and it is in this chapter that Paul explains about the resurrection.  This a long chapter with 58 verses in it and I want to go down to the end of the chapter in order to explain or  point out something, “51 ¶  Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52  in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53  For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54  But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. 55  "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" 56  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57  but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

    “58 ¶  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”

          First of all this is one of the sections from the NT that explain what is called the “rapture” of the church.  Rapture is not actually in the Bible but is a Latin word that means to “snatch out,” and that is what the Lord will do at this event called the “Rapture” He will snatch out all believers of the Church age into the clouds and then transport all to heaven.  David was writing of the hope of the resurrection.  The OT does not have a lot to say about the resurrection, but it does speak of it in the books of Job and Daniel.  As we looked at the beginning of 1Cor. 15 and verse 19 we saw little hope but after reading the end part of the chapter we have hope and that hope is in the resurrection, and Jesus Christ was the “first fruit” of the resurrection and therefore because of that we need not fear death for Paul writes “Death is swallowed up in victory ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting.’”

 

          The Joy of Eternity (v.11):  “11 You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.”

          We now that some people make fun of the idea of heaven, one such person was a noted philosopher and Harvard University professor Alfred North Whitehead and he said one day to a friend “As for the Christian theology, can you imagine anything more appallingly idiotic than the Christian idea of heaven?” Well others today and in earlier times make fun of something that they do not know much about and that is heaven.  David is speaking of things that will be going on in heaven, for heaven is a place where God dwells, and the Son of God dwells along with the Holy Spirit and someday all believers will dwell in the new heaven that is described in the book of Revelations.  If you want a good picture of heaven read Revelations chapters four through five and you will see what is going on there.  We will be enjoying the Lord and worshiping Him without things that prohibit us doing so in a perfect way today, things like the flesh, the world system, and being in this body we now have.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “The pleasures of heaven will be far beyond any pleasures we have known here on earth, and as we enjoy the Lord and serve Him, we will not be restricted or encumbered by time, physical weakness, or the consequences of sin.”  That will be a great experience when this happens to all believers.

 

          Spiritual meaning for my life today:  When I look at the death of Jesus Christ on the cross and realize that He did that for me I am truly amazed.  I sometimes miss out on thinking about the resurrection of Jesus from the grave and the importance of it.  I mean I know that He has been resurrected and is now at the right had of the Father, but I think that what I need to do is dwell on the importance of it.  It is in my head, but it needs to be in my heart is what I am saying.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.     Remember the importance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

2.     Romans 12:1-2.

3.     Philippians 4:11b.

4.     Proverbs 3:5-6.

5.     Ephesians 6:10-18.

6.     Psalm 139:23-24.

 

1/3/2012 11:06:05 AM

           

Psalm 15 Truth and other Things

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/2/2012 8:33:51 AM

 

 

My Worship Time                                                                     Focus:  Psalm 15

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Psalm 15

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 A Psalm of David:  O LORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? 2 He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart. 3 He does not slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against his friend; 4 In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honors those who fear the LORD; He swears to his own hurt and does not change; 5 He does not put out his money at interest, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.”

 

            We have looked at three psalms, 10, 12, and 14 that have talked about the wicked and how the wicked live and act, and from these psalms we have realized that this is not the way for believers in the Lord Jesus Christ should live their lives.  In this psalm we are looking at today we will find out how believers should live their lives, and as Dr. Wiersbe writes “It’s important to note that Psalm 15 is not a prescription for being saved but a description of how saved people ought to live if they want to please God and fellowship with Him.  The list contains both positive and negative qualities, and these qualities must be present in all of life at all times.  Believers who would fellowship intimately with God must follow David’s example and meet three personal requirements.”  We will now look at those three personal requirements.

 

            Seeking God’s Presence (v. 1):  “1 A Psalm of David: O LORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill?”

            It is thought that this psalm was written when David successfully brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem and placed it in a tent.  The first attempt failed because he did it man’s way and not the Lord’s way, while with the second attempt David had the Levites carry it with the polls that were designed by the Lord to carry it.

            Mt. Zion was in the city of Jerusalem and this is where the temple of God would dwell, but David was speaking of the heavenly Zion where the Lord dwells and this is how believers today speak of Mt. Zion. “18 For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, 19 and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them. 20 For they could not bear the command, "IF EVEN A BEAST TOUCHES THE MOUNTAIN, IT WILL BE STONED." 21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, "I AM FULL OF FEAR and trembling." 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel. 25 See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven.”  (Hebrews 12:18-25)

            David had the desire to abide in the tent of the Lord and this means “to sojourn as a stranger, while to dwell suggests a permanent residential status, Dr. Wiersbe states that “here the verbs are probably synonymous.  Knowing about eastern hospitality, David wanted to enjoy the benefits of being a resident in God’s house—enjoying God’s fellowship, God’s protection, and God’s provisions. The Word “dwell” in the Hebrew is shakan and gives us the word shekineh, referring to the presence (dwelling) of God’s glory in the sanctuary (Ex. 25:8).”

 

Obeying God’s precepts (vv. 2-5a): We are going to look at three basis areas of life from verse 2—blamesless character, righteous conduct, and truthful conversation.  We are then going to see how they are applied specifically and practically in verses 3-5a.  If we are right in these three basis virtues we can then work them out into every area of our life and thus be obedient to the Lord.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “walk, work, and speak are present participles, indicating that the dedicated believer is constantly obeying the Lord and seeking to please Him.

            Integrity—blameless character (vv. 2a, 4a, 4b):  “2 He who walks with integrity, 4 In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honors those who fear the LORD;”

            We are looking at character in this section as the title suggests, and this means that what we are determines what we do and what we say.  There are a number of verses suggested by Dr. Wiersbe that go along with this, but let’s just look at one Mic. 6:6-8:  “6 With what shall I come to the LORD And bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves? 7 Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8  He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?” 

            When we speak of blameless character we are not speaking of sinlessness, for there is no one on earth that is sinless with of course the exception of the Lord Jesus Christ when He walked on the earth.  When we speak of blamelessness we are speaking of soundness of character, integrity, complete loyalty to God.  We can read in Genesis 6:9b these words, “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.”  There are others like Abraham who God has said this to also. 

            David speaks of integrity and those with integrity will honor those who walk with integrity as we see in Psalm 119:63:  “I am a companion of all those who fear You, And of those who keep Your precepts.”  They will not be deceived by the flatters (Psalm 12:2-3).  They will not be enticed by the sinful (Psalm 1:1).  

            We see in 4a that those with integrity, who have a godly character, will not be taken in by those who are reprobates (troublemakers).  When this goes on in the church there is great confusion it is “Like a muddied fountain and a polluted spring is a righteous man…who compromises his integrity before the wicked.”  (Proverbs 25:26, Amplified)

 

            Honesty—righteous conduct (vv. 2b, 5a, 5b):  “and works righteousness, 5 He does not put out his money at interest, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.”

            People who “work righteousness” are honest in their dealings with others and they are also concerned with making sure that there is justice in their land.  In some countries this is possible because people have a right to vote on things and vote for people who are of good conduct.  This was not true in the time when this psalm was written. 

            In those days however it was part of their Law given by God, that interest was not to be charged to fellow Israelites, and it was also a law that judges were not to be bribed, for “There can be no justice in a society where money tells the court what is right or wrong.”

 

            Sincerity—truthful conversation (vv. 2c, 3-4c):  “And speaks truth in his heart.  3 He does not slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against his friend; 4 In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honors those who fear the LORD; He swears to his own hurt and does not change.”

            All we have to do is look at the American elections to show that lies are so very destructive to a society, for truth is the cement that binds a society together.  Ephesians 4:15 says that we are to speak the truth in love,” for sometimes the truth is hard to take and therefore we need to lovingly tell others the truth, and this can be used to build relationships with others, even non-believers who then can be told the truth of the gospel when a relationship is formed. 

            When truth is a part of our character then we will not likely speak any lies for that could destroy our character.  Jesus spoke of letting your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no.  He is saying that if you always are telling the truth then you need not make a vow when telling the truth for that is a part of your character. 

            We only have to look at the life of our Lord to see how he handled the truth and how His life was of perfect character, something we cannot obtain, but something we can strive for with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in all believers and also by reading God’s Word and listen to it preached by a godly Pastor.

 

Trusting God’s Promise (v. 5c):  “He who does these things will never be shaken.”What does this last portion of verse five mean?  “This means that the godly described in this psalm have security and stability in life and don’t have to be afraid of earthquakes or eviction notices.”

            The word translated “shaken” in the NASB comes from a Hebrew word that refers to a violent shaking.  So we can see that God’s promise to the godly is that they are firmly grounded on His covenant promises and therefore need not fear.  1John 2:17 “The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”

            Let us take a look at a parable from the Gospel of Matthew that is often used to speak to children, and there are even songs that are made up to demonstrate the truth that is seen in this parable, but let us look at it today with a view that as believers we must chose wisely and continue to chose wisely if our lives are going to count for God.   “24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell-and great was its fall."

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I suppose that it is a good thing to have your toes stepped on by the Word of God and by the Spirit of God and that is what has happened to me today.  I need to make better choices in order to have the Lord say to me when I meet Him “Well done my good and faithful servant.”  This is the beginning of a new year and that is one of the reasons that I like this holiday, it is a good time to think about the past and plan anew for the future of this year.  Being a wise man is a good thing to do anytime, but especially starting out a new year.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.       Continue to build my house upon the Rock.

2.       Trust the Lord to guide me each and every day.

3.       Give myself to the Lord for worship and for service.

4.       Continue to learn contentment.

 

1/2/2012 10:26:42 AM

Psalm 14, A Psalm for the Atheists

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 01/01/2012

 

My Worship Time                                                                                 Focus:  Psalm 14

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                  Reference:  Psalm 14

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 For the choir director. A Psalm of David: The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good. 2 The LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men To see if there are any who understand, Who seek after God. 3 They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one.  4 Do all the workers of wickedness not know, Who eat up my people as they eat bread, And do not call upon the Lord? 5 There they are in great dread, For God is with the righteous generation. 6 You would put to shame the counsel of the afflicted, But the LORD is his refuge. 7 Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restores His captive people, Jacob will rejoice, Israel will be glad.”

 

            Sometimes when you look at the briefness of a Scripture Passage before starting to dig into it you think that there is not a lot of learning from such a short passage.  That is not the case with Psalm 14 and for that matter Psalm 53 for they are almost identical and when we get to Psalm 53 there will be little left to talk about after going over Psalm 14 in some detail.

            When April the first rolls around each year we are always trying to fool someone by playing a trick on them.  When someone has asked if the atheists have a holiday people often say that April first is their holiday because of what it says in verse one of this psalm “The fool has said in his heart, ‘there is no God.’”  As I was looking over the commentary from Dr. Wiersbe’s writings on this psalm he picks up on that by outlining this psalm using the characteristics of the “practical atheists.”

            Before doing this we must understand that this psalm goes along with Psalms 10 and 12 as these three psalms present a very vivid picture of the ungodly.  In Psalm 10 we see their proud attitudes, and in Psalm 12 we see their deceitful words, and now in Psalm 14 we will see their corrupt deeds.

           

            Willful Folly—They Ignore God (vv. 1-3):  “1 For the choir director. A Psalm of David: The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good. 2 The LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men To see if there are any who understand, Who seek after God. 3 They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one.”

            We get or English word for fool from a Latin word that means “bellows” and this suggests that the fool is a person who is full of hot air.  However there are three basic words in the Hebrew language for fool.  Kesyl the dull, stupid fool; ewiyl, the unreasonable and perverted fool; and nabal, the bestial person who is like a stubborn animal.  We find the word nabal as our word for fool in Psalm 14.  When we look at the story of Nabal and Abigail in 1Samuel we get the picture of the fool that is being spoken about in Psalm 14, for here is a man who surely lived up to his name for Nabal was a great example of a fool.

            “The American evangelist Billy Sunday used to say that sinners can’t find God for the same reason criminals can’t find policemen—they aren’t looking.”  (From Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary on Psalm 14)  He goes on to say, “Nabal fools are self-righteous and don’t need or want God.  They want to live their own lives the way they please.  Their problem is willful ignorance and not lack of normal intelligence.  But this decision causes sad consequences in both their character and their conduct.  By leaving God out of their lives, they cause their inner person to become more and more corrupt—the heart (v-1), the mind (vv. 2,4), and the will (v-3).”

            The indictment that David gives here by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is universal as we see these words repeated in Paul’s letter to the Romans where he is making the point that all people in this world are guilty before God and the only way that they can ever be saved from their sinfulness is through the grace of God through Jesus Christ and His work on the cross to save sinners. 

            Dr. Wiersbe describes human depravity by writing “Human depravity doesn’t mean that all persons are as wicked as they can be, or that all are equally bad, or that no man or woman can ever do anything good (Luke 11:13).  It simply means that all have a fallen nature they cannot change, and that apart from the grace of God, none can be saved from eternal judgment.”

 

            Sudden Fear—They Meet God (vv. 4-6):  “4 Do all the workers of wickedness not know, Who eat up my people as they eat bread, And do not call upon the Lord? 5 There they are in great dread; For God is with the righteous generation. 6 You would put to shame the counsel of the afflicted, But the LORD is his refuge.”

            Let’s explain the phrase “Who eat up my people as they eat bread,” first of all as we look at this section.  Dr. Wiersbe writes that this phrase is a biblical metaphor for exploiting the helpless and is seen in other places of the Scriptures like Psalm 27:2; 35:25; 55:4; Mic 3:1-3; Lam. 2:16; and see Isa. 3:12, Jer. 10:25; Amos 2:6-8, and Mic. 2:2 And 7:3.

            Dr. Wiersbe quotes a British philosopher Bertrand Russell when asked what he would say if when he died what would he say to God and he replied, “You did not give us sufficient evidence!”  This answer is hard to believe and makes me think of the quote by Billy Sunday that is seen above, and that is that this philosopher was not looking for any evidence that God does exist, and put his blind faith in circumstances like evolution, and not seeing the creation that God has made in things like the heavens for Psalm 19:1 reads as follows, “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.”  There is as much evidence that God created everything in this world of ours and this universe that we live in to hold people accountable to the God who created all of this, but people don’t want to hear this.

            It is not made clear as to what time David was speaking of in verse seven, but to be sure when it does happen the Lord will judge the foolish people that David is writing about in this psalm.

 

            Joyless Future—They Have No God (v. 7):  “7 Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restores His captive people, Jacob will rejoice, Israel will be glad.”

            We know that the salvation of Israel did come out of Zion in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Son of man through David’s line.  We know that in the future that God will restore Israel from captivity and this could very well mean what Paul writes about in “Ro 11:26  and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, ‘THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.’”  This will happen during the tribulation period when all Israel will finally see that Jesus is their Messiah.

            As far as the wicked are concerned Dr. Wiersbe writes, “Those who reject Jesus Christ will spend eternity apart from the Lord and will honestly be able to say in hell, ‘There is no God—here.’”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have always liked the New Year’s holiday because I can look back on the things that happened in the year that just passed and then take time to pray about things that I want to accomplish in the New Year.  Staying faithful to my walk with the Lord by continuing to be ready to accomplish the things that He has for me to do in this New Year and to continue to be faithful in my devotions, posting them on the blog every day.  Most of my goals are in the spiritual realm, because that is the most important part of me and everyone else for we are not human beings walking through a temporary spiritual existence, but we are spiritual beings going through a temporary human experience.

            Psalm 14 shows me how much the Lord loves me by taking me out of the world system that is described here and giving me the salvation that can only come through the grace of God.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.       Trust the Lord will use me to bring glory to His name in 2012.

2.       Continue to learn contentment in 2012.

3.       Continue to grow in the knowledge of the Lord in 2012.

 

 

1/1/2012 9:32:09 AM

  

Psalm Number 13

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/31/2011 3:39:51 PM

 

 

My Worship Time                                                                     Focus:  Psalm 13

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Psalm 13

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 For the choir director. A Psalm of David: How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? 2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? 3 Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death, 4 And my enemy will say, "I have overcome him," And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken. 5 But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. 6 I will sing to the LORD, Because He has dealt bountifully with me.”

 

            This psalm may very well have been written when David was on the run from Saul.  “There is hardly a step between me and death,’” this is from 1Samuel 20:3 when David was about to leave the house of Saul where he had been living.  Before he leaves he speaks these words to his brother in the faith, Jonathan. 

            Dr. Wiersbe writes in the introduction of this psalm:  “By the grace of God, David turned his suffering into songs and left those songs behind to encourage us in our trails (2Cor. 1:2-11).  In this brief psalm, David deals with his feelings, his foes, and his faith.”

 

            The Inward Struggle—His Feelings (vv. 1-2):  “1 For the choir director. A Psalm of David: How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? 2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?”

            David starts out this psalm by asking the question “How long, O Lord” and so do some tribulation saints as the same question of God in Rev. 6:9-10, “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?’”

            If this psalm was written when David was hiding from Saul then there were plenty of times when David must have been wondering about the day when Samuel came and anointed him as the next king of Israel, something that did not happen for many years after that day.  David was probably wondering how long it would be before this would happen, or maybe he began to question God as to if it was going to happen at all.  Joseph was probably asking the same question of God when he was in prison waiting for God to fulfill the promises that He had given to Joseph in a dream.

            We as believers can ask God “How long” if we are in fellowship with the Lord and are not living in sin, but we must remember feelings are not always something we should give into.  Dr. Wiersbe writes, “We must not deny our feelings and pretend that everything is going well, and there is no sin in asking ‘How long?’  But as the same time, we must realize how deceptive our feelings are and that God is greater than our hearts (1John 3:20) and can lift us above the emotional storms of life.”

            The Outward Danger—His Foes (vv. 3-4):  “3 Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death, 4 And my enemy will say, "I have overcome him," And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken.”

            David asks the Lord for three requests:  The first was “Look on me.”  David wanted God to look upon him as David was the servant of God and was in trouble and needed the help and guidance of God. 

            His second request was that the Lord would answer him and also to send some encouragement to David.  It was a dry time in the prayer department for David and he needed some encouragement.  This encouragement was needed in both the spiritual and the physical realm.

            David’s last request is seen from the forth verse where he is concerned about the glory of the Lord, for if David would be die then his enemies would gloat and this would not bring glory to God because it was God who had David anointed to be the king over Israel.

 

            The Upward Look—His Faith (vv. 5-6):  “5 But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. 6 I will sing to the LORD, Because He has dealt bountifully with me.”

            We see this in many of the psalms that David has written, for many of these psalms there is great encouragement at the end of the psalm as there is here.  We see a transition in the psalm indicated by the little word “but,” and this transition is from fear to faith, as David looks up to the Lord in faith.  David was no longer questioning the Lord but he was claiming His promises.  He knew that the Lord was more powerful than His enemies were.  David may have been on a rollercoaster with his feeling, but God was still on His throne and God never changes. 

            As we rely on the Lord it will lead to rejoicing in the Lord and his salvation (Yeshua).  Dr. Wiersbe points out “The word ‘bountiful’ focuses on the goodness of God and His generosity in dealing with His people in grace.”  Then NIV translates it “The Lord has been good to me.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Continue to trust the Lord even when feelings seem to want me to figure out things on my own, like David was trying to do in this psalm.  God is still on His throne and He will never change and all of His promises will come to pass just as He promised they will.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.       Trust the Lord in all aspects of my life.

2.       Continue to learn contentment.

 

12/31/2011 4:44:03 PM 

             

Psalm 12

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/30/2011 7:34:49 AM

 

 

My Worship Time                                                                     Focus:  Psalm 12

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Psalm 12

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 For the choir director; upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David: Help, LORD, for the godly man ceases to be, For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men. 2 They speak falsehood to one another; With flattering lips and with a double heart they speak. 3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, The tongue that speaks great things; 4 Who have said, "With our tongue we will prevail; Our lips are our own; who is lord over us?" 5 “Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy, Now I will arise," says the LORD; "I will set him in the safety for which he longs." 6 The words of the LORD are pure words; As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times. 7 You, O LORD, will keep them; You will preserve him from this generation forever. 8 The wicked strut about on every side When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.”

 

            In his introduction to Psalm 12 Dr. Wiersbe writes that “Our ability to speak and write words is a precious gift of God, and this psalm deals with the right and wrong use of that gift.”

 

            The Righteous—Despairing Words (v.-1):  “1 For the choir director; upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David: Help, LORD, for the godly man ceases to be, For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.”

            We see in this first verse that David is crying out to the Lord that there are not enough godly men in Israel.  This was not the first time that we will see this type of cry from the pages of Scripture, for Elijah thought that he was the only one left in Israel that worshiped the true God, and there are others who thought this too.  Back in Genesis 12:1-3 we see the calling of Abram whose name was later changed to Abraham, and that calling was actually for the nation of Israel and God gave to Abraham a promise saying I will bless those who bless you and those that curse you I will curse and then the Lord adds and all the families of the earth will be blessed by you.  I am sure that David knew this promise that God had given to Israel, and now that David was their leader he must have feared that this was not happening and so he cries out to the Lord about this.

            Dr. Wiersbe makes a statement in his commentary on this verse and I want to quote it here because of the great truth that I find in it:  “One of the tragedies today is that a new generation of believers doesn’t seem to know what it takes to be a godly leader, so they borrow leadership ideas from secular society and all kinds of unequipped and unqualified people to be leaders.”

 

            The wicked—Deceptive words (vv. 2-4):  “2 They speak falsehood to one another; With flattering lips and with a double heart they speak. 3  May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, The tongue that speaks great things; 4  Who have said, "With our tongue we will prevail; Our lips are our own; who is lord over us?’”

            “2 Everyone talks in lie language; Lies slide off their oily lips. They doubletalk with forked tongues. 3 Slice their lips off their faces! Pull The braggart tongues from their mouths! 4 I’m tired of hearing, "We can talk anyone into anything! Our lips manage the world.’”  (Message)

            When we look at these three verses we see that David was frustrated with the use of words that people were using in order to get the things that they want, and David was writing about the ungodly people of his day, and I wonder what he would say about our day.  We live in a day where the “media” doesn’t just report the news but they manipulate the news in order to get people to believe their lies about it. 

            Saul told lies to his leaders about David in order to have them go after him to kill him, and Absalom used flattery to get people to follow him.  The Bible has a lot to say about flattery and none of it is good.  The Hebrew word that is translated as flattery in the KJV of the Bible is used 66 times and I did find “flattering” used in the NT (NASB) four times. 

            The verses have the word tongue in them and James has this to say about the tongue:  “Jas 3:8 But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.”  He has other things to say about the tongue such as “Jas 1:26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.

“Jas 3:5 So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire!

“Jas 3:6  And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.”  What James is saying is that words can cause all kinds of harm and can hurt people, but words can also help people too and that is how we as believers should use our words.

 

            The Lord—Delivering Words (vv. 5-8):  “5 "Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy, Now I will arise," says the LORD; "I will set him in the safety for which he longs." 6 The words of the LORD are pure words; As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times. 7 You, O LORD, will keep them; You will preserve him from this generation forever. 8 The wicked strut about on every side When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.”

            We have seen the words “I will arise” spoken by the Lord in previous psalms and we mentioned its use in Numbers 10:35, “Then it came about when the ark set out that Moses said, "Rise up, O LORD! And let Your enemies be scattered, And let those who hate You flee before You.’”  In psalm 12 God says that He will arise and judge the liars and the deceivers. 

            The word safety in verse five is translated as salvation 32 times in the KJV and it comes from the same Hebrew root as “help” in verse 1 and “deliver” in 6:8, and is the basis for the names “Jesus” and “Joshua” (“Jehovah is salvation”). 

            The way the NASB uses the words “I will set him in safety for which he long” according to Dr. Wiersbe is the proper way to translate it from the Hebrew and he goes on to say, “When God comes to deliver His people, He will ‘cut off’ those who practice flattery and deception (v.3), which means separation from the covenant community (Gen. 17:14), like the separation of the goats from the sheep (Matthew 25:31-33).”

            We know that we can trust the Words of the Lord (“As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times”).  Psalm 19:9-10 reads “9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. 10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.”

            Unlike many people in society who think that the Word of God is useless believers know that the Word of God is true and because it is true it can be trusted, and that makes it worthwhile to continue to study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman who doesn’t need to be ashamed.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “If God’s people saturate themselves with God’s Word, they won’t be seduced by ‘this lying generation.’ When the church adopts the techniques and motives of the world system, the church ceases to glorify the Lord.”

            Dr. Wiersbe writes these words about the last verse of Psalm 12:  “The final verse issues a call to action, for ‘the wicked strut about, and evil is praised throughout the land’ (NLT).  Vileness (‘cheapness’) is promoted and exalted in the media; immorality, brutality, murder, lies, drunkenness, nudity, the love of money, the abuse of authority.  The things that God condemns are now a means of universal entertainment, and the entertainment industry gives awards to people who produce these things.  People boast about things they ought to be ashamed of (Phil. 3:18-19).  Is there a way to restrain and overcome this national decay?  Yes!  God’s people are salt and light (Matt. 5:13016).  If there were more light in the land, there would be less darkness, and if we had more salt, there would be less decay.  As God’s people worship God, pray, and share the Gospel with the lost, more people will trust Christ and increase the salt and light in the land.  We must also share the truth of the Word with the next generation (2Tim. 2:2) and prepare them for the battles and opportunities to come (78:1-8; 102:18).  The church is always one generation short of extinction, so we must be faithful to win the lost and teach the believers, or vileness will conquer the land.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The things that Dr. Wiersbe wrote in the last paragraph are a great challenge to me and by the grace of God I will do my part.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.       Trust the Lord to give me the words to speak and to write in order to challenge the next generation to be faithful to the Lord and to study His Word so that they too can tell others about the saving power of the Lord Jesus Christ.

2.       Continue to learn contentment.

 

 

12/30/2011 9:00:22 AM