Walking and Talking (Ps. 119:40-48)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/5/2012 8:03:16 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Walking & Talking

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Psalm 119:41-48

 

            Message of the verses:  We will begin the eighth lesson of the 119^th Psalm in Today’s Spiritual Diary.  The 119^th Psalm is about the Word of God, and it is broken up into twenty-two segments of eight verses each and each of the twenty-two segments begins with a different letter in the Hebrew alphabet and then each of the eight verses begins with that letter.  The author is unknown however some have speculated that David wrote it.

 

            Vav—Walking and Talking (vv. 41-48):  “41 Vav. May Your lovingkindnesses also come to me, O LORD, Your salvation according to Your word; 42 So I will have an answer for him who reproaches me, For I trust in Your word. 43 And do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, For I wait for Your ordinances. 44 So I will keep Your law continually, Forever and ever.

    45 And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Your precepts. 46 I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings And shall not be ashamed. 47 I shall delight in Your commandments, Which I love. 48 And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments, Which I love; And I will meditate on Your statutes.”

 

            As Dr. Wiersbe begins his commentary on this section he states that there are different voices in this section beginning with God speaking to us in verse forty-one.  At first glance I must say that I was a bit surprised by his belief that it is God speaking to us in verse forty-one, but when you think about it God is the One who speaks to us through all of His Word, and it is important to meditate upon the Word of God in order for us to better understand how He is speaking to us.  Just take a moment to think about where we would be without the Word of God, and I suppose that the first conclusion would be that we would be lost in our sins with no way of coming to the Lord for we would not know how.  God’s Word speaks to us in love and is an expression of love to us, “The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations (Psalm 33:11)” Since God’s Word shows love to us we should show love to our fellow believers and also to the unsaved world, as this is part of God’s plan for our lives.  We see in His Word that it shares promises to us, and promises to us about the future for His Word is the word of promise, “"Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised; not one word has failed of all His good promise, which He promised through Moses His servant (Psalm 8:56).”  All of God’s promises have their realization in Jesus Christ “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us (2Cor. 1:20).”  We also see in Acts 13:26 that God’s Word is about His salvation, “’Brethren, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent.’” We know that Jesus Christ is the only way for us to receive Salvation “Ac 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.’”  We also read in Hebrews 1:1-2 these words about God speaking to us, “1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.”  Now we have to ask the question “Are we listening to Him?”

 

            The enemy is also speaking (v. 42):  “42 So I will have an answer for him who reproaches me, For I trust in Your word.”  We have already seen in this Psalm that the psalmist is being oppressed by his enemies who have lied and slandered his name, and we have also learned that they have threatened his life.  The Word of God is the weapon that believers use to fight against the wiles of the enemy as seen in Ephesians 6:17 where we are told to take up the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.  We have also mentioned before that the Lord Jesus Christ used the Word of God to answer to the temptations of Satan, (Luke and Matthew chapters 4).  Having the Word of God in our hearts will keep us from sin and we can also use it to fight against our enemies, those who oppose us or ask us why we believe as we do. “but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence (1Peter 3:15).”

 

            God’s people speak to the Lord (v.43):  “43 And do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, For I wait for Your ordinances.”  When we look at the book of Nehemiah we find that on many occasions Nehemiah would send up short “telegraph” prayers to the Lord and these short prayers were based upon the Word of God that he knew.  We need the Word of God in our hearts in order to pray these short prayers to the Lord, for the Spirit of God can prompt us to use the Word of God to fight against our enemies. 25 "These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. 26  "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you (John 14:25-26).”  Dr. Wiersbe points out that “The writer connected God’s Word with his mouth, because the word ‘meditate’ in the Hebrew means ‘to mutter.’  The ancient Jews spoke the Word audibly as they meditated and prayed (Josh. 1:8)”

 

            Our lives speak for the Lord (vv. 44-45):  “44 So I will keep Your law continually, Forever and ever.  45 And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Your precepts.”  There is a saying that has been popular for a while that states, “If you talk the talk you must walk the walk,” and this means that your talk must be backed up by your walk.  It is easy to say things, but harder to live by the things that you say even though the things that you say are true.  As believers our walk should be a transformed life, a life that has been changed from the inside, a life that is pleasing to the Lord.  “13 "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:13-16)”  Dr. Wiersbe points out “That because we know and obey ‘the word of truth’ (v.43), we are able to enjoy freedom from the bondage of sin (v. 45), for it is the truth that makes us free (John 8:32; James 1:25; 2:12).”

 

            God’s people speak to others (vv. 46-48):  “46 I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings And shall not be ashamed. 47 I shall delight in Your commandments, Which I love. 48 And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments, Which I love; And I will meditate on Your statutes.”  One of the things that God has allowed me to do in my walk with Him is to share the Word of God to those who are in need of it.  There have been times when the Lord will bring into my life someone who is in need of hearing the Word of God concerning salvation, something that I call a “Divine Appointment,” and then the Spirit of the Lord will give me the Words to speak to that person.  I was walking in a park near our house one day and was prompted to speak to a girl who looked like she was having troubles.  We talked for an hour as we walked and I was able to share with her the truth of God’s Word.  I have never seen her since that day, but I continue to pray for her that the word that I spoke to her will be used by the Spirit of God to bring salvation to her.  As we learned from the verse in 1 Peter we have to be ready to tell others of the hope that is in us and that hope that is in us is seen in the Word of God. 

            Dr. Wiersbe concludes his commentary on this section by writing these words, “The basic Christian virtue (1Cor. 13:13) are seen in those who live by God’s Word: faiths (v.42), hope (v.43), and love (vv. 41, 47, and 48).  Love is mentioned three times because ‘the greatest of these is love.’”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  There are times when I am amazed by how Dr. Wiersbe can make the Scriptures come alive and show things from them that I would not have seen.  I think of love that he speaks about here and desire to do better in this area of my life and that is why once again I am memorizing the 13^th chapter of 1Corinthians. 

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to allow me to have a profitable time at a Bible Study that I am going to go to this morning for the first time.

 

Memory verses for the week:  1Cor. 13:1-2

 

1 ¶  If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2  If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

 

9/5/2012 9:09:23 AM

 

           

 

Ending Well (Ps. 119:33-40)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/4/2012 9:31:00 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                          Focus:  Ending Well

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Psalm 119:33-40

 

            Message of the verses:  We will be looking at the fifth section of Psalm 119 today as we journey through this longest chapter in the entire Bible remembering that in the original Hebrew language each of the verses I n this section begins with the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and in this section that is “He.”

 

             “He”—Ending Well (vv. 33-40):  “33  He. Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, And I shall observe it to the end. 34 Give me understanding, that I may observe Your law And keep it with all my heart.

    35 Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it. 36 Incline my heart    to Your testimonies And not to dishonest gain.

    37 Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, And revive me in Your ways.

    38 Establish Your word to Your servant, As that which produces reverence for You.

    39 Turn away my reproach which I dread, For Your ordinances are good.

    40 Behold, I long for Your precepts; Revive me through Your righteousness.”

 

            We can see from verse 33 that it was the desire of the psalmist to end well, and there are examples in Scripture of those who began and ended well.  We read these words in 2Timothy 4:6-8 concerning the apostle Paul:  “6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”  In the gospel of John we read that Jesus finished well too as we will see from John 17:4, “"I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.’”

            There are those we can think of in the Scriptures that did not finish well, but they all started well and a good beginning should lead to a good ending.  Think about the following who did not finish well, Lot, Samson, King Saul, Ahithophel, and Demas.

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “The psalmist wanted to end well (v. 33), but ending well is the consequence of living well.  What are the essentials for a consistent life that ends well?”

 

            Learning (vv.33-34):  “33  He. Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, And I shall observe it to the end. 34 Give me understanding, that I may observe Your law And keep it with all my heart.”

            Our learning must begin by praying for spiritual enlightenment so that we can have an understanding of what is in the Word of God.  This means more than just reading it for we are to learn what is in it by memorizing parts of it and then meditating on what we have memorized.  The Word of God is alive and it is sharper than any two edged sword, and we want it to become alive in our hearts so that we will know what it takes to please our heavenly Father.  Just as children learn how to understand what makes their parents happy we need to learn what makes our Father happy and this means we must learn about His character which is found in the pages of Scripture.  We need inner illumination to discover what it means to do this and that begins with “Teach me” but it must be balanced with “Give me understanding.”  Both of these must lead to obedience.  Notice the verses listed above about Jesus’ ending and Paul’s ending.

 

            Obeying (v. 35:  “    35 Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it.”

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “What we learn with our mind and apprehend with our heart must motivate the will to do what God commands.  But our obedience cannot be that of a slave obeying a master in order to avoid discipline.  It must be the obedience of a grateful child who delights to please his or her parents.” 

            We are to do the will of our Father from our hearts “not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, (Eph. 6:6).”  Psalm 40:8 says, ‘”I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.’”  John 8:29 says “"And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.’”  John 7:17 teaches us that if we want to know God’s truth, we must be willing to obey God’s will, “"If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself.”

 

            Delighting (vv. 36-37):  “36 Incline my heart to Your testimonies And not to dishonest gain.  37 Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, And revive me in Your ways.”

 

            The apostle John writes something similar in 1 John “15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”  (AV) 

In both of these passages we see the word “eyes” and what we look at is important to what we delight in.  If we keep our eyes and mind on the things of the Lord and delight in them then when temptation comes we will focus on the Word of God like the Lord Jesus did in Matthew chapter four and be able to overcome the temptation. 

In the book of Genesis we see that Abraham looked for the heavenly city and ended well while Lot looked at Sodom and ended badly.  Dr Wiersbe says “What the heart loves and desires, the eyes will see.  To have one eye on the world and the other on the Word is to be double-minded, and God does not bless double-minded people (James 1:5-8).” 

 

Fearing (vv. 38-39):  “38 Establish Your word to Your servant, As that which produces reverence for You.  39 Turn away my reproach which I dread, For Your ordinances are good.”

 

            When we fear the Lord that fears conquers all other fear, but when we fear man we are in bondage and defeat, “25 The fear of man brings a snare, But he who trusts in the LORD will be exalted (Pr. 29:25)” As we read through this psalm we see that the psalmist was not afraid of his enemies, but afraid of displeasing His Lord, something that is a good lesson to learn.  We are to do as the psalmist and trust the promises of the Lord and then allow the Lord to take care of our enemies as the psalmist did.  Earlier this morning I was reading a part of a chapter on prayer, prayer in the life of D. L. Moody and Moody’s prayer life was a life of trusting in the Lord for the answers to the things that came his way.  Moody is a man that I would like to learn from and be like for he was a man that was used by the Lord and even after his death in 1899 is still being used by the Lord all around the world.

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “Our faith is tested by the promises of God and our faithfulness is tested by the precepts of God, and both are important.”

 

            Longing (v. 40):  “    40 Behold, I long for Your precepts; Revive me through Your righteousness.”

 

            What the psalmist was longing for is recorded in this psalm as he longed for a deep understanding of God’s truth along with the day when God’s salvation would be revealed “I long for Your salvation, O LORD, And Your law is my delight (V. 174).”  Paul also longed for this as we read the following in Romans 8:18-23:  “18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21  that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.”

            As the psalmist had his longings fulfilled with the Word of God so we too can do this.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have been looking forward to studying this psalm for a long time and the reason is that it speaks about the Word of God, something I desire to learn more about and this psalm seems to be a key in a better understand of God’s Word.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to abide in the Vine, to study God’s Word and to trust God in all the circumstances of life.

 

Memory verses for the week:  1Cor. 13:1-2

 

1.      If I speak with the tongues of men and angles, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging symbol.  2. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

 

 

9/4/2012 10:35:50 AM

 

 

 

 

Daleth-Down but Not Out (Ps. 119:25-32)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/3/2012 8:39:31 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                      Focus:  Psalm 119-PT-5

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Psalm 119:25-32

 

            Message of the verses:  We continue in our long look at the 119^th Psalm in Today’s Spiritual Diary by looking at the fourth section in the psalm.

 

            Daleth—Down but Not Out (vv. 25-32):  “25 Daleth. My soul cleaves to the dust; Revive me according to Your word.  26 I have told of my ways, and You have answered me; Teach me Your statutes.  27 Make me understand the way of Your precepts, So I will meditate on Your wonders.  28 My soul weeps because of grief; Strengthen me according to Your word.  29 Remove the false way from me, And graciously grant me Your law.  30 I have chosen the faithful way; I have placed Your ordinances before me.  31 I cling to Your testimonies; O LORD, do not put me to shame!  32 I shall run the way of Your commandments, For You will enlarge my heart.”

 

            We saw in yesterday’s SD that at the end of the section we were looking at (vv. 17-24) that the psalmist was delighting in the Word of God, and now at the beginning of this section he is down.  In our walk with the Lord we have spiritual highs and lows.  When Jesus took Peter, James, and John on the mountain they saw the Lord transfigured and He was speaking to Moses and Elijah about His upcoming death on the cross.  It was a spiritual high for His disciples seeing all of this, but the next day they were back down from the mountain and were encountered with a boy who was possessed with a demon that their fellow disciples could not cast out of him.  We have situations just like this in our walk with the Lord so we can listen to the counsel of Andrew Bonar who said “We must be as watchful after the victory as before the battle.”  I wish that I would have had this advice many years ago when my son went through a very dangerous heart surgery which left me on top of the world because of the success of it, but that summer was one of the worst times spiritually that I ever experienced.

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “When he found himself down, the psalmist knew what to do—he prayed!”

 

            “Revive me” (vv. 25):  “My soul cleaves to the dust; Revive me according to Your word.”

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “His enemies were slandering his name (v. 23), restricting him (v. 61), lying about him (v. 69), causing him to suffer (v. 83) and be despised (v. 141), and even threatening his life (v. 109), so it is no wonder that he felt like an insect in the dust.” 

            In 2Cor. 1:3-11; 12:1-10 the apostle Paul encourages his readers showing them that when we seem to be at our worst, the Lord comes along with the very best and in doing this He gives us His much needed grace. 

            I want to give the definition of the word “revive” that the NASB uses in verse 25, while the NIV uses the words “preserve my life.”  “To live, have life, remain alive, sustain life, live prosperously, live for ever, be quickened, be alive, be restored to life or health.”  The Hebrew word is “chayah khaw-yaw’” and it is used 262 times in the OT (KJV) and here is how the KJV translates it:  “AV-live 153, alive 34, save 13, quicken 14, revive 12, surely 10, life 9, recover 8, misc 9; 262”

            Dr Wiersbe point out that “there is much more involved in this request.  It involves saving his life, of course, but also invigorating him and breathing new life within him.”  We will see that the psalmist prayed this prayer often and we will find out that the Lord answered him each time.  (Verses 25, 37, 40, 40, 88, 93, 107, 149, 154, 156, and 159.)

 

            “Teach Me” (vv. 26-27):  “26 I have told of my ways, and You have answered me; Teach me Your statutes.  27 Make me understand the way of Your precepts, So I will meditate on Your wonders.”

            While walking on my treadmill yesterday I was listening to a sermon by John MacArthur in which he was speaking about prayer, and that prayer is the highest form of worship.  He was talking about different prayers that are found in Scripture and states that many times we think of God as the One who moves at our beckon call, while in reality God desires us to be conformed to what He wants us to be and when this happens we will begin to pray the things that God desires in our hearts and He will answer those prayers.  The psalmist knew this for he was not thinking “How can I get out of this trouble,” but was thinking “What can I get out of this experience,” as he did not want to waste his sufferings (James 1:2-8):  “2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

            We are all in the school of life, as was the psalmist, and wanted to learn from the school of life and pass all of the tests that are given in that school.  We see from the verses in James that we are to ask wisdom from the Lord and He will give it to us.

 

            “Strengthen Me” (Vv. 28-30:  “28 My soul weeps because of grief; Strengthen me according to Your word.  29 Remove the false way from me, And graciously grant me Your law. 30 I have chosen the faithful way; I have placed Your ordinances before me.   

            Our Pastor was speaking on “Copy-Cat” Christianity in the service last evening and he was speaking about some of the mega-churches, the feel good churches who do not preach the whole counsel of God.  He ask a question that seems to go along with this section, He asked if difficult persecution came to our country would these feel good mega churches be able to stand.  We see in this section and throughout the psalm that the psalmist was being persecuted for his beliefs and yet he did not wish to destroy those who were persecuting him but he wept over them and turned them over to God.  The psalmist wanted strength, strength according to the Word of God to continue to live for the Lord and to magnify His Word.  The psalmist mentions grace in verse 29, and he learned that was all that he needed, something that Paul speaks about:  “And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”  Dr. Wiersbe writes “When we find ourselves pressured by the enemy, our first response is usually to pray that God will change them, when perhaps our best response would be that God would change us and enable us to overcome.”

 

            “Defend me” (vv 31-32):  “31 I cling to Your testimonies; O LORD, do not put me to shame!  32 I shall run the way of Your commandments, For You will enlarge my heart.”

            The psalmist is saying that he did not want to bring shame upon the Lord, and this would happen if he was put to shame because of his relationship with the Lord so he turned the situation over to the Lord by faith. 

            Paul instructs us not to think up clever ways or clever schemes to slander our enemies, for if we do that the Lord will not be able to defend us:  “17 Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. 19 Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord. 20 “BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD." 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

            As believers we are to hold to the truth of the Word of God and we are to trust His promises even though at times we want to go out on our own and take matters into our own hands, but will latter realize that this is not the way to go.  Dr. Wiersbe concludes by saying:  “Faith delivers us from the confinement of the enemy’s plots and sets us free to enjoy a larger place.  He has gone from biting the dust (V.25) to running freely in the way of the Lord.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I see many things happening in our country that I do not agree with, and yet I suppose if I were the Lord I would have judged our country more harshly and earlier that He is doing now, for I do believe that the Lord is judging us.  Billy Graham said to an audience many years ago that if God did not judge the United States that He would have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorra.  I have to trust the Lord to do what He knows is best, and not to get so angry over the people who are destroying our country.  I will have to admit that this is hard for me to do, but these lessons in Psalm 119 are helping me. 

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord and lean upon His Word.

 

Memory verses for the week:  1Corinthians 13:1-2

 

1 ¶  If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2  If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

 

9/3/2012 10:18:58 AM

 

 

Gimel-"We Need God's Word" (Ps. 119:17-24)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/2/2012 7:14:44 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Psalm 119- PT-4

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Psalm 119:17-24

 

            Message of the verses:  In Today’s SD we will look at Psalm 119:17-24, which is the third section on this longest psalm.  Each of the eight verses will begin with the third letter of the Hebrew alphabet.  You can refer to the introduction SD for Psalm 119 to better understand about this psalm.

 

            Gimel—We Need God’s Word! (Vv. 17-24):  “17 Gimel. Deal bountifully with Your servant, That I may live and keep Your word.

18 Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law.

19 I am a stranger in the earth; Do not hide Your commandments from me.

20 My soul is crushed with longing After Your ordinances at all times.

21 You rebuke the arrogant, the cursed, Who wander from Your commandments.

22 Take away reproach and contempt from me, For I observe Your testimonies.

23 Even though princes sit and talk against me, Your servant meditates on Your statutes.

24 Your testimonies also are my delight; They are my counselors.”

 

            We see from verses 17 and 23 that the psalmist is calling himself a servant of the Lord and there are others who have been called the servant of the Lord in the Scriptures.  Moses, Joshua, David, Daniel, James Paul and Timothy are all called servants of the Lord.  As born-again believers we too can be servants of the Lord for in God’s Word He gives us directions to do the things that He has called us to do making us His servants.

 

            In verse eighteen we see one of the most quoted verses in all of God’s Word for in this verse we see the psalmist asking the Lord to open His eyes in order to understand the wonderful things that are in His Word.  God’s Word is spiritual and in order for His children to understand what is in His Word our spiritual eyes must be opened.  Let’s look at two other verses from the Bible that speak of this:  “17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, (Eph. 1:17-18).”

            As believers we must keep our eyes open when we read God’s Word and not have our eyes opened to the evil things that are around us “15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever, (1John 2:15-17).”

 

            Once we become believers in Jesus Christ we become strangers upon this earth because this world is no longer our home.  Peter writes these words to his readers, “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as aliens, (1Peter 1:1a).  Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul, (1Peter 2:11).”  Because we are strangers or aliens on this earth we need the direction of our Lord and He will give us direction from His Word as we read, study, meditate and practice it in our walk with Him.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “The laws for driving in Great Britain are different from the laws in the United States and it is dangerous to confuse the two.  God’s people are being led on the narrow road that leads to life, while the people of the world are on the broad road that leads to judgment (Matt. 7:13-14).—If we take time to meditate on the Word and seek the Lord, He will show us the path of Life (16:11).”

 

            As believers we serve a different Master than the children of the world, and the psalmist calls the children of the world arrogant in verse 23.  It has happened throughout all history that the children of the world have persecuted the children of the light.  Even our Lord was persecuted, and killed by these people of the world.  The question may arise as to how one goes from being a child of this world, of which we are all born into.  The answer is that first of all we must recognize that because we are children of the world that we are sinners and because we are sinners we need a Savior, and the good news, the best news is that God has provided a Savior for us, the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s One and only Son.  When Jesus Christ was put upon the cross He became sin for us that we may obtain His very own righteousness.  Those dark hours that Jesus spent upon the cross were the time when His Father was taking out His wrath upon His Son as He suffered and paid the price for my sins and for all who come to Him in repentance of their sins.  When those dark hours ended the Lord stated that it was finished, meaning paid in full.  For those who are still a part of this world take the time to confess that you are a sinner and ask the Lord to come into your life and to forgive your sins and He will do that.  You will receive a new birth, and a new life, and also a new destination, Heaven.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I suppose it is easier to have one’s eyes on the wrong places than any other time in the history of the world as things like smart phones, computers and TV sets bring the world right in front of us to see.  Lord keep my eyes upon Your Word and not upon the world.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Stay in the Word of God, abide in the Vine.

 

Memory verses for the week:  1Corinthians 13:1-2

 

1 ¶  If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2  If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.   

 

9/2/2012 8:19:46 AM

Beth "It Takes Time to be Holy" (Ps. 119:9-16)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/1/2012 12:01:17 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Psalm 119-PT-3

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Psalm 119:9-16

 

            Message of the verses:  In Today’s SD we will look at the next section in the 119^th Psalm, the second of twenty-two sections.

 

            Beth—Take Time to Be Holy (vv. 9-17):  “9 Beth. How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word.  10 With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wander from Your commandments.  11 Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You. 12 Blessed are You, O LORD; Teach me Your statutes.  13 With my lips I have told of All the ordinances of Your mouth. 14 I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, As much as in all riches. 15  I will meditate on Your precepts And regard Your ways.16  I shall delight in Your statutes; I shall not forget Your word.

 

            The psalmist really packs a lot of spiritual truth in this small section of Psalm 119, as I am sure he does in each section.  He begins this section by asking a question, and directs the question to the young men, but it is applicable to everyone who reads it.  He ended the last section with the answer to the question in this section:  “8 I shall keep Your statutes; Do not forsake me utterly!”  We can see that verse 145 is similar to verse 8:  “I cried with all my heart; answer me, O LORD! I will observe Your statutes.”  The psalmist is determined to keep the statutes of the Lord, and this will keep his way pure.  

            In verse fifteen we see that the psalmist is determined to meditate upon the Word of God and in verse sixteen he determines to delight in the Word of God and not to forget it.  You have to memorize the Word of God before you meditate upon it and you cannot forget it if you desire to meditate upon it.  The apostle Paul knew that this was a difficult thing to accomplish, for it is easier to make a promise than to keep that promise.  We see in Romans 7:14-25 these very famous words written by the apostle Paul about himself:  “14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. 16 But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. 17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 18  For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20  But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22  For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23  but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.”  Dr. Wiersbe writes “Paul learned, as we must also learn, that the indwelling Holy Spirit enables the child of God to fulfill God’s righteousness in daily life (Romans 8:1-11).  We must live according to God’s Word which means, cultivation a heart for God. Paul called this ‘seeking the things that are above’ (Co. 3:1).”  Before we leave this though I want to share Romans 8:1-11 because it is a very important section of Scripture:  “1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5  For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”

 

            We can see from verse ten that we need a heart that seeks God, for by seeking God our feet will not stray from Him.  Dr. Wiersbe states “Such a heart will see Him in all of life, learn more about Him, fellowship with Him, and glorify Him in all that is said and done.”  It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to do these things for as Paul has written in the verses above that we are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit and so by being in the Spirit, the Spirit will enable us to accomplish these things. 

            Verse eleven teaches us that we must spend time in His Word, and by doing this we will not sin against the Lord.  This is not our promise to the Lord, but the Lord’s promise to us as His children that He will give us victory over sin.  In both Luke, and Matthew chapters 4 and Mark chapter one we see the Lord Jesus using the Word of God to fight against the arrows that Satan was shooting against Him. 

            According to verse 12, “Blessed are You, O LORD; Teach me Your statutes,” we need a thankful heart and a teachable spirit, and this will enable us to learn from the Lord.  One thought here and that is that we have to be careful as to whom we are learning form.  Ephesians teaches us that the Pastors who have been called by the Lord are to teach us in order for us to do the work of the Lord.  This is how it works in a NT church, for God will call a Pastor, equip Him through the Word and the Spirit so that he can teach the flock what the Spirit has taught him.  A word of caution and that is we should know the Word of God to make sure that what is being taught to us is true, for we are to be like the Bereans who search the Scripture to make sure what Paul was teaching them was true.  Dr. Wiersbe also adds the caution:  “But unless the truth we hear moves from the head (and the notebook) into the heart, written there by the Spirit (2Cor. 3:1-3), and then to the will, we have not really learned the Word or been blessed by it.  The blessing comes, not in hearing the Word, but in doing it (James 1:22-25).”

            According to verse thirteen we are to tell others in order to enrich them with the spiritual treasures we have learned.  A few months back a dear and precious friend of mine died, and I remember him for his love of the Lord and his desire to tell others about the Lord.  Willard died in a hospital in Brazil, and even on his death bed he was witnessing to his nurse.  Willard would send me the most encouraging emails by telling me to keep those nuggets coming to him as I would send some of my Spiritual Diaries to him.  I can say that I truly miss this wonderful man of God.

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “To treasure any possession above the Word of God is idolatry and leads to trouble.”  We see examples of those in the OT who did not do this and it caused them trouble, men like Lot, Achan, King Saul, and then in the NT Ananias and Sapphira found in Acts 5.  However there were men from both the OT and NT who were on the positive side of this, Abraham, Moses, Mary of Bethany (Mark 14:3-9), and Paul (Phil. 3:1-11),

 

            Dr. Wiersbe concludes his commentary on this section with these words, “Whatever delights will capture our attention and we will think about it and meditate on it.  This is true of God’s Word.  In this psalm, delighting in the Word, loving the Word, and meditation on the Word are found together (vv. 15-16, 23-24, 47-48, 77-78, 97-99), and they should be found together in our hearts and lives.  We must take time to be holy.”

            Take Time to be Holy is the name of a song that is packed full of wonderful truths from the Word of God.  I think that the song should be entitled “It Takes Time to be Holy.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I must remember that it truly does take time to be holy, and also remember the word that were written in yesterday’s SD “the successful Christian life is a series of new beginnings,” for there are times when I fall and have to begin again.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To get the Word of God from my mind into my heart in order for it to become real in my life as I seek to live my life to the glory of God.

 

9/1/2012 1:13:37 PM