"The Generosity of Our God" (Ps. 104:10-23, 27-30)

SPIRITIUAL DIARY FOR 7/11/2012 7:52:08 AM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Psalm PT-2



Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Psalm 104:10-23, 27-30



            Message of the verses:  In Today’s SD we will continue to look at Psalm 104, a psalm that talks about creation.  We looked at several introductions to the psalm yesterday along with looking at the first paragraph.



            The Generosity of Our God (vv. 10-23, 27-30):  “10  He sends forth springs in the valleys; They flow between the mountains; 11 They give drink to every beast of the field; The wild donkeys quench their thirst. 12 Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; They lift up their voices among the branches. 13 He waters the mountains from His upper chambers; The earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works. 14 He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the labor of man, So that he may bring forth food from the earth, 15 And wine which makes man’s heart glad, So that he may make his face glisten with oil, And food which sustains man’s heart. 16 The trees of the LORD drink their fill, The cedars of Lebanon which He planted, 17 Where the birds build their nests, And the stork, whose home is the fir trees. 18 The high mountains are for the wild goats; The cliffs are a refuge for the shephanim.“19 He made the moon for the seasons; The sun knows the place of its setting. 20 You appoint darkness and it becomes night, In which all the beasts of the forest prowl about. 21 The young lions roar after their prey And seek their food from God. 22 When the sun rises they withdraw And lie down in their dens. 23 Man goes forth to his work And to his labor until evening.--

            27  They all wait for You To give them their food in due season. 28 You give to them, they gather it up; You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good. 29 You hide Your face, they are dismayed; You take away their spirit, they expire And return to their dust. 30 You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the ground.”



            When people look at creation there are some that believe that God created everything that can be seen and then because of man’s sin He just withdrew from what is happening on planet earth lets the earth and all that is in it kind of run down like a clock or watch that is not powered by electricity or a battery. Of course there as some who believe that this was just an accident that we evolved from lower beings.  However neither of these “theories” is correct for God is in control of all things, and is constantly at work according to the tenses of the verbs that we find in this passage.  We see in this section that God has given water for the animals to drink and also for humans to drink, and we see that God has provided food for both animals and humans to eat.  I have mentioned in earlier SD’s that this would be understood to be “common grace,” for God gives food to those who are believers and those who are not.  When man fell into sin in the garden God told Adam that he would have to work hard in order to get his food, and getting food has always taken a great deal of work since the fall of man.  Even with the advanced technology we have today it still takes a great deal of work to grow food, and to do work in order to buy food.

            We see in this passage that God provides wine, oil, and bread which were the three basics in the life of the people in biblical days.  Now I must mention that the wine was diluted with water and that drunkenness was not acceptable. (See Judges 9:13, and Eccl. 10:19.)  Dr. Wiersbe writes “wine, oil, and water are symbols of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18; John 7:37-39; Zech. 4:1-7), and bread speaks of the nourishing Word of God (Matt. 4:4).  God has written spiritual truths into the very world of nature.”



            Now we have to look at the days, and nights, and the seasons of the year, for without these there could not be fruitfulness on earth, so the psalmist praises the Lord for the sun and moon.  Without these cycles things would grind to a halt.  When I was younger there was a popular song that came out and the words to that song came from the book of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 as Solomon wrote the following:  “1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.”

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “All of creation looks expectantly to the Lord to provide what it needs (vv. 27-30), and He does so generously.  However, people made in the image of God think they can ‘make it’ alone.  Yet God provides the very breath in our nostrils, and when He turns it off we die (Gen. 2:7; Eccl. 12:7).  On the first day of creation, the Holy Spirit brooded over the waters (Gen. 1:1-2), and that same Spirit also provides life and power to the church, God’s ‘new creation.’  Mankind has learned to control a great deal of nature, but the issues of life and death are still in the hands of God.  How generous He is to a world that ignores Him, and rebels against Him, and rarely gives thanks for His generous gifts.  (Ponder Job 34:14-15; Acts 17:25-28; Col. 1:17)”

            Job 34:14-15, “14 “If He should determine to do so, If He should gather to Himself His spirit and His breath, 15 All flesh would perish together, And man would return to dust.”

            Acts 17:25-28 “nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; 26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ’For we also are His children.’”

            Col. 1:17 “17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”



            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I try and begin my prayers by confessing to the Lord any sin that I have committed against Him in order to have sweet fellowship with Him, and then the next things that I do is to praise the Lord for some of the attributes that He has, things like God’s holiness, goodness, compassion, all knowledge, all wisdom, all power, that He is everywhere, that He is Love and that He is just.  I need to praise the Lord for all the provisions that He has provided for me and praise Him for the very air that I breathe.  As I read through this psalm and the other Scriptures I am convicted that I need to praise the Lord for all things He has done for me, but most of all for the great salvation that He has provided for me by His Son as He purchased me by dying on the cross in order to pay for my sins.  Halleluiah What A Savior!



My Steps of Faith for Today:  To praise the Lord for all that He has done for me.



Memory verses for the week:  2Peter 1:1-5

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 we can become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

            5. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge,



7/11/2012 8:46:57 AM



           

The Greatness of Our God (Ps. 104:1-9)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/10/2012 5:53:56 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Psalm 104 PT-1



Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Psalm 104:1-9



            Message of the verses:  In Today’s SD we will begin to look at Psalm 104 by looking at several different Bible commentators introductions to the psalm.  I believe that this is a good way to get an idea of what the psalmist is saying in the psalm.



            “INTRODUCTION TO PSALM CHAPTER 104



   It is very probable that this psalm was penned by the same hand, and at the same time, as the former; for as that ended this begins, with



         "Bless the Lord, O my soul!"



and concludes with it too. The style indeed is somewhat different, because the matter is so: the scope of the foregoing psalm was to celebrate the goodness of God and his tender mercy and compassion, to which a soft and sweet style was most agreeable; the scope of this is to celebrate his greatness, and majesty, and sovereign dominion, which ought to be done in the most stately lofty strains of poetry. David, in the former psalm, gave God the glory of his covenant mercy and love to his own people; in this he gives him the glory of his works of creation and providence, his dominion over, and his bounty to, all the creatures. God is there praised as the God of grace, here as the God of nature. And this psalm is wholly bestowed on that subject; not as Psalm 19, which begins with it, but passes from it to the consideration of the divine law; nor as Psalm 8, which speaks of this but prophetically, and with an eye to Christ. This noble poem is thought by very competent judges greatly to excel, not only for piety and devotion (that is past dispute), but for flight of fancy, brightness of ideas, surprising turns, and all the beauties and ornaments of expression, the Greek and Latin poets upon any subject of this nature.”  (Matthew Henry)



            “In vivid poetic detail, the psalmist sings of the Lord’s creation (cf. Gen. 1, 2; Job 38-41; Pss. 19:1-6; 148:1-6; Pr. 30:4; Is. 40:1-6; Jn. 1:1-3; Rom. 1:18-25; Col. 1:16, 17).  He refers to the original creation (cf. 104:5) without forgetting the fall of man and the cursed earth (104:23, 29, 35). He alternates reciting God’s greatness by 1) personal praise to the Creator (104:1, 2, 5-9, 20-30), and 20 declaring God’s handiwork to his human audience (104: 3, 4, 10-19, 31-35).  The flow of the psalm loosely follows the order of creation as first reported in Gen. 1:1-31 but closes (v. 35) with an allusion to the end time events recorded in Rev. 20-22.”  (The John MacArthur Study Bible)

 

            “This is a magnificent hymn celebrating the glory of the Creator and the incredible greatness of His creation.  Paul may have had this psalm in mind when he spoke to the Athenian philosophers (Acts 17:22-34, especially vv. 24-28), for it presents a God who created and now sustains a beautiful and bountiful world that reflects His glory (v. 31).  The writer of the psalm certainly had Genesis 1 in mind when he wrote, even though he did not follow all six days of creation in detail, nor did he include the creation of man and woman (see. vv. 14, 23).  He began with light (v. 2; Gen. 1:1-5) and continued with the separation of the upper and lower waters (vv. 2-4; Gen 1:6-8) and the separation of land and water (vv 5-9; Gen 1:9-10).  The provision of vegetation is mentioned (vv. 14-17; Gen 1:11-13), as well as the placing of the sun and moon (vv. 19-23; Gen. 1:14-19), and the creation of land and sea creatures (vv. 24-25: Gen. 1:20-28).  The psalm declares that our God is very great (v.1), very wise (v. 24), and very generous (v. 27).  In spite of the fact that creation is in bondage to sin since the fall of man (Rom. 8:18-23), we still live in an amazing universe run by divinely ordained laws that are so remarkable we can send people to the moon and bring them back!  Whether the scientist uses the telescope, the microscope, or the x-ray, he beholds the wonders of God’s creation.”  (Warren Wiersbe)



            The Greatness of Our God (vv. 1-9):  “1 Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty, 2 Covering Yourself with light as with a cloak, Stretching out heaven like a tent curtain. 3 He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters; He makes the clouds His chariot; He walks upon the wings of the wind; 4 He makes the winds His messengers, Flaming fire His ministers. 5 He established the earth upon its foundations, So that it will not totter forever and ever. 6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment; The waters were standing above the mountains. 7 At Your rebuke they fled, At the sound of Your thunder they hurried away. 8 The mountains rose; the valleys sank down To the place which You established for them. 9 You set a boundary that they may not pass over, So that they will not return to cover the earth.”



            It was a little over a year ago while living in Hawaii that I began to study more about the creation due to a discussion that I had with a relative.  We had to agree to disagree that the earth was young, which of course was my view, since that is what I believe the Bible teaches.  At any rate the study of creation begin to cause my spiritual juices to begin to flow, and not it ranks up there with the study of the end times as one of my favorite themes in the Scriptures, so it is with great anticipation that I begin to look at Psalm 104.  I want to comment on verse seven with regard to the psalmist writing “At the sound of Your thunder they hurried away.”  It was in a baseball game that was played in Arlington Texas this past Sunday, July, 8, 2012 that there was such a loud blast of thunder that all of the ball players from both sides along with all the umpires ran off of the field, and headed for cover.  There was no rain, just an extremely loud blast of thunder.  One of the players was quoted as saying that he thought the Jesus was about to return to the earth.



            I think that one of the greatest injustices that is happening in the world today is the study of evolution, something that I have said in earlier SD’s.  It is amazing that one can look at this world, this universe and think that it happened by some kind of an accident.  I attended a men’s breakfast late last year and the speaker commented about a Rolex watch that he was wearing that had been awarded to him, and his remarks were that the watch was a very fine watch, and that one could see that it had to have a designer, for it did not just happen by some kind of cosmic accident.  His point was that this is what the evolutionists are teaching about something this is millions of times more complex than a watch.

            The psalmist begins the psalm with the description of a King so great that He wears light for a robe and has a palace in heaven above the waters (“God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.” Gen. 1:7) God can use the clouds for His chariot and is moved along by the wind.  Verse four speaks of messengers, and these are His angels (“And of the angels He says, "WHO MAKES HIS ANGELS WINDS, AND HIS MINISTERS A FLAME OF FIRE.’” Hebrews 1:7).  We read in verses 6-7a that the earth was covered with water and God spoke and the waters went into the place where God wanted them to go.  Peter writes that the earth was made of water 2Pe 3:5 “For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water.”  I think at times we underestimate the value of water, for our bodies are made up of a great majority of water and we need water.  My wife plants tomato plants most years and it is my job to give them water, and God will turn the water that I give them into tomatoes.  (I suppose some people just look at that as a cosmic accident.)

           

            I want to go back to verse five and talk about the Lord just hanging the earth out in the middle of space.  The verse says that the earth will not totter.  This is a remarkable statement, for the earth is in perfect balance at it travels through space, and if it were not then the people who live on the earth would fly off the earth because of the vibration.  ‘”He stretches out the north over empty space And hangs the earth on nothing.’” (Job 26:7)

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “In all this creative activity, the Lord has revealed Himself in His power and glory.  ‘The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands’ (19:1, NASB).  Day and night, the visible things of creation shout aloud to the inhabitants of the earth that there is a God, that He is powerful and wise, and that all people are accountable to Him (Rom. 1:18-32).  Are the people paying attention?”  Good question!



            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Evolution is something that causes great anger to well up in me because it is a lie and people believe lies so that they do not have to be accountable to God, but the fact remains that all of the people in the world, both those who are dead, alive and yet to be born are accountable to God.  God makes Himself known through His creation but people would rather believe a lie.

            The Heavens declare the glory of God!



My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to abide in the Vine, and continue to study His Word.



Memory verses for the week:  2Peter 1:1-5

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 partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

            5. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge,



7/10/2012 7:23:40 AM

Universal Praise to the Lord (Ps. 103:19-22)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/9/2012 7:05:51 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Psalm 103 PT-3



Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Psalm 103:19-22



            Message of the verses:  We will be looking at the last paragraph in Psalm 103 in Today’s Spiritual Diary.  This will be the third Spiritual Diary from Psalm 103, and it has been a joy to learn more from this psalm that is all about praising the Lord.



            Universal Praise to the Lord (vv. 19-22):  “19 The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all. 20 Bless the LORD, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word! 21 Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, You who serve Him, doing His will. 22 Bless the LORD, all you works of His, In all places of His dominion; Bless the LORD, O my soul!”



            We see from verse nineteen that the Lord rules from His established throne that is in the heavens.  It is interesting that in the early days the space race that happened between the US and the Soviet Union that the US went into space with God’s help, while the Soviet Union went into space to prove that there was no God.  I suppose that in today’s age both the US and Russian officials are doing the same, and that is to prove that there is no God, but David writes that the Lord has established His throne in the heavens.  We see in the last part of verse nineteen that David writes “And His sovereignty rules over all.”  This is quite a statement to make, for it says that God rules over everything, and of course He does do exactly that, for God is sovereign in all that He does, and God is in control of all things.  It has been said that if God was not in control of even one molecule that He would cease to be God.

            David writes about the angels blessing the Lord in verse twenty, and all of the angels who have not gone with Satan, but have stayed true to the Lord do bless the Lord, for God created them to do just that.  We know that Satan swept one-third of the angles away from God and are now serving him, but the Lord said while He was on earth that hell was made for the devil and his angels.  The remaining angels will continue to serve the Lord, doing what the Lord desires for them to do. 

            David speaks of the hosts in verse twenty-one and there are some who believe that he is speaking about the “hosts of heaven,” which would be the sun moon and the stars, all of which God created during the creation week.  Psalm 19 states “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. 2 Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard. 4 Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their utterances to the end of the world. In them He has placed a tent for the sun, 5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber; It rejoices as a strong man to run his course. 6 Its rising is from one end of the heavens, And its circuit to the other end of them; And there is nothing hidden from its heat.”  We see from these verses that the hosts of heaven bring glory to God, they bless His name.  I received an email the other day and in it was a video of a man who was taking about how man is receiving sounds from different stars that are in the sky.  Of course the technology was designed to show that there are other beings that live on different planets and they were listening for sounds from them, but all they got was sounds from different stars.  The man combined the sounds with the sounds of whales and then he added some singing and all of this was praise to the Lord.  The hosts of heaven do indeed praise the Lord.

            I wish to quote Dr. Wiersbe as he ends his commentary on psalm 103.  He writes: “the final shout of praise in the psalm comes, not from angels, but from David the psalmist:  ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul.’  After all redeemed men and women have more to praise the Lord for than do all the angels in heaven and all the galaxies in the universe.

“Nobody in hell blesses the Lord, but every creature in heaven does nothing but bless the Lord.  We who are in this world can enjoy ‘heaven on earth’ as we join them in expressing thanksgiving and blessing to our great God.  Bless the Lord O my soul.”

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I think of the statement that Dr. Wiersbe made when he was saying that men who are redeemed by the grace of God have more to praise the Lord about than the angels and so I want to do that, to praise the Lord for the great salvation that He alone has provided for me.  The angels are not redeemed beings, but I am, I am a child of the King who has been purchased out of the slave market of sin and given new life in Jesus Christ, and therefore I have more to praise the Lord for than all the angels.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  One of the ways that I can praise the Lord is to do the work that He has planned for me to do in eternity past, and this can be done as I abide in the Vine, as I stay in His Word, as I continue to pray and ask the Lord to produce fruit in my life that will bring glory to the Lord.



Memory verses for the week:  2Peter 1:1-5

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 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 we can become partakers of this divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

            5. Now for the very reason also, applying diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence knowledge,



7/9/2012 8:00:01 AM

National Praise to the Lord (Ps. 103:6-18)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/8/2012 7:41:26 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Psalm 103 PT-2



Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Psalm 103:6-18



            Message of the verses:  We will continue to look at Psalm 103 this morning, as in the last SD we began to look at the first section of the psalm along with several introductions from different Bible commentators.



            National Praise to the Lord (vv. 6-18):  “6 The LORD performs righteous deeds And judgments for all who are oppressed. 7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel. 8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. 9 He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. 10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. 13 Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. 14 For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust. 15 As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. 16 When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, And its place acknowledges it no longer. 17 But the lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children, 18 To those who keep His covenant And remember His precepts to do them.”



            This is such a refreshing psalm, and it has so much information in it that makes a persons heart glad whenever one reads it.  It encourages my soul and causes me to want to praise the Lord for all of His goodness and grace.



            As soon as man and woman sinned we see that the Lord came to them with the skins of an animal, thus having to shed the blood in order to get the skins that He gave to them.  I believe that this animal was a lamb or sheep.  We see God’s plan to save people and as we read through the OT we see that there is a line that will led to the birth of Messiah.  We can read of this line in Luke’s Gospel as he gives the line from Jesus all the way back to God.  When God called Abraham the nation of Israel was beginning, and it began with a miracle son born to Abraham and Sarah.  The nation of Israel was surely blessed of God and the nation of Israel would give us the Word of God as God gave His Law to Moses along with all that we read in the books of Genesis to Deuteronomy.  The nation of Israel would give to the world the Messiah who would come through the line of King David.  Because of all of these blessings that God gave to Israel, Israel was obligated to express their praise and thanksgiving to the Lord.  We see in verse six that Jehovah was their righteous Deliverer, and this does not just mean when He delivered them from Egypt, but throughout their history.  We see in verse seven that the Lord gave guidance to Israel, as He first did this through Moses, and later on through the Judges, kings and prophets.  When we look at Moses we see that he knew why God was doing what He was doing, while the people just knew what He was doing.  The reason was that Moses had an intimate relationship with the Lord, Moses knew the Lord in a personal way, while the children of Israel did not know Him that way, and most of them probably did not want to know Him that way. 

            When we look at verses eight through twelve we see the things that Moses knew when he was with the Lord on Mt. Sinai, things that we can read about when we read Exodus 33:12-13 and 34:5-9.  One of the attributes that I am learning that God has is His compassion, and because Israel had sinned against the Lord on different occasion’s compassion was something that they would need, and verse eight states that the Lord is compassionate.  God forgave their sins because one day the Lord Jesus would come to earth to die for their sins, for those in the OT looked forward to the coming of Messiah to die for their sins, while we in the NT age look back at the cross where Jesus died for our sins.  Dr Wiersbe writes, “The picture in verses 8-12 is that of a courtroom in which God is both judge and prosecuting attorney.  He has all the evidence He needs to condemn us, but He does not prolong the trial.  When the judge is your Father, and when Jesus has died for your sins, there is full and free forgiveness available to all who will ask for it.  If God gave us the punishment we deserved, we would be without hope (Ezra 9:13).  The punishment that we deserve was given to Jesus (Isa. 53:4-6).”

            We see that in verses 11-12 that David uses some terms to describe God’s love and forgiveness that we can understand.  His love is higher than the heavens are to the earth, and when He forgives our sins they are as far from us as the east is to the west.  I for one am glad that David did not say from the north to the south, for that is 12,500 miles, but when we try to find out how far the east is from the west it cannot be known.  David may have been thinking of the Day of Atonement when the sin was placed on a goat who was released in the wilderness, symbolically bearing Israel’s sins far away.  John describes this in John 1:29, “The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”  Dr. Wiersbe writes, “But we must remember that it is not God’s love or pity that saves us, but God’s grace (Eph. 2:8-10), for grace is love that has paid the price.  Were it not for the death of Christ on the cross, there could be no forgiveness of our sins. Yes, God is like a tender Father, but His pity is not a shallow sentimental feeling.  A Holy God demands that His law be satisfied, and only His perfect Son could provide that satisfaction (Rom. 3:19-31).”  The question is “are we worth saving?” For we are only grass that grows us and quickly fades away, however the Lord our “formation” because it was God who formed us out of the dust and He even watches over us while we are in the womb.  What a wonderful God we serve!  David goes on to say that God will bless the children’s children, of all who fear the Lord and who kept His precepts.  Dr. Wiersbe writes in conclusion to his commentary on this section, “Believers today have already been blessed ‘with every spiritual blessing …in Christ’ (Eph. 1:4), and as we trust Him and obey His will, He meets our every need.”  Believers today are very rich and the book of Ephesians tells of all the riches we have.  Dr. Wiersbe entitles his commentary on Ephesians “Be Rich.” 



            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have been reminded of many things that God has done for me in this section of Psalm 103, and also from reading the commentary from Dr. Wiersbe and It makes me thankful for what the Lord has done for me, and it makes me thankful that I can read good things from Warren Wiersbe whom I have a great deal of respect for as a person and as a Bible commentator.  I don’t want to take for granted the wonderful things that the Lord has done for me.



My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to abide in the Vine so that I will be filled with the Spirit of God and do the things that He has for me to do, things that He has planned for me to do in eternity past.



Memory verses for the week:  2Peter 1:1-5

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 partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

            5. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge,



7/8/2012 9:04:12 AM

Personal Praise to the Lord (Ps. 103:1-6)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/7/2012 7:36:50 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Psalm 103 PT-1



Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Psalm 103:1-6



            Message of the verses:  We will begin Today’s SD by looking at several introductions to the 103^rd Psalm, and then begin to look at the psalm.



            “This psalm calls more for devotion than exposition; it is a most excellent psalm of praise, and of general use. The psalmist,



   “I. Stirs up himself and his own soul to praise God (#Ps 103:1,2) for his favour to him in particular (#Ps 103:3-5), to the church in general, and to all good men, to whom he is, and will be, just, and kind, and constant (#Ps 103:6-18), and for his government of the world #Ps 103:19.



   “II. He desires the assistance of the holy angels, and all the works of God, in praising him #Ps 103:20-22. In singing this psalm we must in a special manner get our hearts affected with the goodness of God and enlarged in love and thankfulness.”  (Matthew Henry)



            “TITLE: A Psalm of David. — Doubtless by David; it is in his own style when at its best, and we should attribute it to his later years when he had a higher sense of the preciousness of pardon, because a keener sense of sin, than in his younger days. His clear sense of the frailty of life indicates his weaker years, as also does the very fullness of his praiseful gratitude. As in the lofty Alps some peaks rise above all others so among even the inspired Psalms there are heights of song which overtop the rest. This one hundred and third Psalm has ever seemed to us to be the Monte Rosa of the divine chain of mountains of praise, glowing with a ruddier light than any of the rest. It is as the apple tree among the trees of the wood, and its golden fruit has a flavor such as no fruit ever bears unless it has been ripened in the full sunshine of mercy. It is man’s reply to the benedictions of his God, his Song on the Mount answering to his Redeemer’s Sermon on the Mount. Nebuchadnezzar adored his idol with flute, harp, sacbut, psaltery, dulcimer and all kinds of music; and David, in far nobler style awakens all the melodies of heaven and earth in honour of the one only living and true God. Our attempt at exposition is commenced under an impressive sense of the utter impossibility of doing justice to so sublime a composition; we call upon our soul and all that is within us to aid in the pleasurable task; but, alas, our soul is finite, and our all of mental faculty far too little for the enterprise. There is too much in the Psalm, for a thousand pens to write, it is one of those all-comprehending Scriptures which is a Bible in itself, and it might alone almost suffice for the hymn-book of the church.”   (Charles H. Spurgeon) 



            “Psalm 103 and 104 appear as an intentional pair designed to promote the blessing and exaltation of God.  This psalm represents a soliloquy in which David surveys God’s goodness and encourages the angles and the works of God’s creation to join him in divine praise.”  (John MacArthur Study Bible)



            “The Four psalms that close Book Four of the book of Psalms (90-106) emphasize praise to the Lord for several reasons:  His benefits to His people 103), His care of His creation (1-4), His wonderful acts on behalf of Israel (1-5), His longsuffering with His people’s rebellion (106).  There are not requests in this psalm; it is only praise to the Lord.  In studying this psalm, we must remember that God’s blessings on Israel depended on their obedience to His covenant (vv. 17-18), and believers today must also be obedient to God’s will if they would enjoy God’s best (2Cor. 6:14-7:1).  The psalm also admonishes us not to forget the blessings after we have received them and enjoyed them.  ‘In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you’ (1Thes. 5:18 NKJV).  David started with individual and personal praise (vv. 1-6), then moved to national praise (vv. 6-19), and concluded with universal praise (vv. 20-22).”  (Warren Wiersbe)



            Personal Praise to the Lord (vv. 1-6):  “1 A Psalm of David:   Bless the LORD, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; 3 Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; 4 Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; 5 Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle. 6 The LORD performs righteous deeds And judgments for all who are oppressed.”



            As we begin to look at this psalm we need to have a definition of what the word “bless” means when we see it in the Scriptures:  “To ‘bless the Lord’ means to delight His heart by expressing love and gratitude for all He is and all He does.”  (Warren Wiersbe)  I believe we get the word “elegy” from the Hebrew word for bless which means we are to say wonderful things about the Lord.



            There are times when my little grandson Matthew will come up to me and tell me “I love you grandpa, or he will say “you’re the best.”  This is the kind of thing that we, as children of God are to say to Him, not just because He has done something for us, but just because we love Him and desire to bless His heart.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “True praise comes from a grateful heart that sincerely wants to glorify and please the Lord. ‘All that is within me’ means that all of our inner being is focused on the Lord—heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark. 12:28-31).  It also means that we are prepared to obey His will after our praise has ended.”  We will find the word “all” some nine times in this psalm, and from this we can see that we need to have a total commitment to the Lord. 

           

            As we look at verses 3-5 we see six special blessings from the hand of the Lord that David gives to us.  They are forgiveness, healing, redemption, love, satisfaction and renewal.  When we look at the word ”forgiveness” and how it is used in the Scriptures we will see that it only refers to God’s forgiveness of sinners (see verses 10-12 of Psalm 103).  The word translated “iniquity” means:  “perversity, depravity, iniquity, guilt or punishment of iniquity.”  Those who have trusted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior have been forgiven of all of their sins.  We know from reading the story of David that he knew something about the forgiveness of God.  Read both Psalm 32 and 51 to get a picture of this as both psalms were written after David had sinned with Bathsheba.

           

            When we read that God heals every disease (Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness,” Matthew 9:35), we see that He has the power to heal every kind of disease, but God is not obligated to do so.  I believe that if we as believers hold God accountable to heal us that we are putting God into a box and that is not a right thing to do.  When the Church began we saw that the apostles had the power to heal many people and even raise some from the dead.  I believe that these were “sign gifts,” given to the early church in order to show that God is the One behind it.  We read of many times when Paul would heal many people, yet we also read towards the end of his ministry in Philippians 2:25-30 and also in 2Timothy 4:20 that he was unable to heals two of his friends.  In both of these circumstances the Church has been established and so these sign gifts were not necessary any longer.  I am not saying that God does not heal people today; for when I was a new believer a friend explained this to me by telling me “God heals you every time except the last time.”  This has always made good sense to me.

           

            When we look at the word redeem the Jewish people must have remembered when the Lord took them out of Egypt, for they were in great bondage while in Egypt and the Lord redeemed them from the land of slavery to give them a new land that flowed with milk and honey.  We can also look at the word redeem and also the use of the word “pit” found in verse 4 and see that God is the One who redeems us who are about to fall into a pit.  David was familiar with this word pit for he wrote in Psalm 40:2 these words, “He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.”

           

            We see the word crown and we know that David knew something about crowns, for he was king of Israel, “but no crown he ever would compared with God’s lovingkindness and compassion.”

           

            In the KJV of the Bible we read in verse five the word “mouth” “Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”  In the NASB we read “5 Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.”  The Amplified version of the Bible reads, “Who satisfies your mouth [your necessity and desire at your personal age] with good; so that your youth renewed, is like the eagles [strong, overcoming, soaring]! [Isa. 40:31)” Dr. Wiersbe writes “The word translated ‘mouth’ is a bit of a puzzle since it is usually translated ‘ornaments’ or jewelry,’ words that hardly fit this context.  Some students interpret the word to mean ‘duration’ or years’ (seen NASB).  No matter how old we become God can satisfy the needs of our lives and the spiritual desire of our hearts.  The legend about the physical renewal of the eagle is not what David had in mind in verse 5.  Like most birds, eagles do molt and have what seems to be a new lease on life.  But the picture here is that of the believer being strengthened by the Lord even in old age and able to ‘soar’ like the eagle (Isa. 40:31).” 



            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  In yesterday’s SD we looked at the last part of Psalm 102 and in that psalm the psalmist asked the Lord not to take his life from him at an age where he was not old.  In today’s SD we read that David speaks of healing and soaring like an eagle.  Both of these had great meaning to me in what I was going through and I can praise the Lord today.



My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to abide or remain in the Vine in order to get my marching orders from the Lord.  Continue to learn contentment.



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 by 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 glory and excellence.  4.  For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them we can become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.



7/7/2012 9:25:19 AM    

               

The Changeless Character of God (Ps. 102:23-28)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/6/2012 7:31:13 AM

My Worship Time                                                                          Focus:  Psalm 102 PT-3



Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Psalm 102:23-28



            Message of the verses:  In today’s SD we will look at the last six verses from Psalm 102, as we have been looking at this psalm now for three days now.  Dr. Wiersbe believes that the psalm was written during the time when the Jewish exiles returned to Jerusalem sometime around 535 BC.  Dr. Wiersbe wrote the following at the end of his introduction “As believers face and deal with the painful crises that come to us, if we are to overcome and glorify God, we must keep three assurances before us.”  We will look at the third assurance in today’s SD.



            The Changeless Character of God (vv. 23-28):  “23  He has weakened my strength in the way; He has shortened my days. 24 I say, "O my God, do not take me away in the midst of my days, Your years are throughout all generations. 25 “Of old You founded the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. 26 “Even they will perish, but You endure; And all of them will wear out like a garment; Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed. 27 ‘But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end. 28 ‘The children of Your servants will continue, And their descendants will be established before You.’”



            10 And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; 11 they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, 12 like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed.  But you are the same, and your years will have no end.’”  (Hebrews 1:10-12)  This quotation from Hebrews comes from Psalm 102:25-27.  Dr. Wiersbe writes that this quotation “is quoted in Hebrews and applied to Jesus Christ, which reminds us that it is in Him that these promises will be fulfilled.  He is God and He is the same from generation to generation (Heb. 13:5-8).”  “God’s eternality reminds us of our own frailty and the transitory nature of our lives, but it also reminds us that His promises and purposes will be fulfilled.”

            The psalmist must have been in the middle of life and so he asks the Lord not to take him in death this early in life, and perhaps it was because he wanted to see the restoration of Jerusalem.  He then goes on to speak of the Lord being eternal, never dying.  He also speaks of the creation power of the Lord as He created the earth in past times.

            In his closing of this psalm the psalmist’s prayer is to remember the future generations.  He did not see this prayer answered in his generation he surely believed that God would answer this prayer that he was praying.



            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is a good reminder from Dr. Wiersbe that it is God who numbers our days and when our work on this earth is done then he will take us to be with Him, but that time will be determined by the Lord, and as long as we have work to do nothing will stop us from leaving this earth.



My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to remain or abide in the Vine in order to allow the Spirit of God to use me to do the work that He has planned for me to do.



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 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.



7/6/2012 8:18:25 AM

The Unchanged Covenant of God (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, when we looked at the first eleven verses 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 that 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