"Importance of Prayer" (Ps. 28:1-9)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/19/2012 7:25:36 AM

 

 

My Worship Time                                                                           Focus:  “Importance of Prayer”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                       Reference:  Psalm 28:1-9

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 A Psalm of David: To You, O LORD, I call; My rock, do not be deaf to me, For if You are silent to me, I will become like those who go down to the pit. 2 Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry to You for help, When I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary. 3 Do not drag me away with the wicked And with those who work iniquity, Who speak peace with their neighbors, While evil is in their hearts. 4 Requite them according to their work and according to the evil of their practices; Requite them according to the deeds of their hands; Repay them their recompense. 5 Because they do not regard the works of the LORD Nor the deeds of His hands, He will tear them down and not build them up.

    “6 Blessed be the LORD, Because He has heard the voice of my supplication. 7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, And with my song I shall thank Him. 8 The LORD is their strength; And He is a saving defense to His anointed. 9 Save Your people and bless Your inheritance; Be their shepherd also, and carry them forever.”

           

            David finds himself in trouble again, but as for the particular time it is not known, but he has evil people around him and also has people who have come to him and were nice, but had in their hearts to do harm to him.  This is the last of the “Sanctuary Psalms” that were mentioned in the last two SD’s.  Dr. Wiersbe writes that “this psalm teaches us some important lessons about prayer and patience.”

 

            The Problem of Unanswered Prayer (vv. 1-5):  “1 A Psalm of David: To You, O LORD, I call; My rock, do not be deaf to me, For if You are silent to me, I will become like those who go down to the pit. 2 Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry to You for help, When I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary. 3 Do not drag me away with the wicked And with those who work iniquity, Who speak peace with their neighbors, While evil is in their hearts. 4 Requite them according to their work and according to the evil of their practices; Requite them according to the deeds of their hands; Repay them their recompense. 5 Because they do not regard the works of the LORD Nor the deeds of His hands, He will tear them down and not build them up.”

 

            In these verses we see that David was crying out to the Lord, but the Lord did not answer, nor did David think that He was around.  It has been written that God’s delays are not God’s denials and David was learning the importance of that as seen in verse one where He asks the Lord not to be deaf to him.

           

            We also see in the section that David was in trouble with those who were speaking peace to him, but it was evil that they truly wanted for him.  David felt as if he were in the place of the dead and that is why the Lord was not answering him.  David was lifting his requests towards God’s sanctuary, but still was getting no answer.  The word requite that is translated in verse four is translated in the KJV as:  “give, put, deliver, made, set.”  4 Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavors: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert (AKJV).”  Now we cannot conclude that David’s prayer was not a personal prayer of revenge, but a prayer that is a call for God to fulfill His covenant and to bring righteousness and peace to the land. 

           

            These enemies of Israel needed to be judged, yet God was delaying the answer to David’s prayer, and was doing nothing about David’s righteous request.  David after all was Israel’s anointed king, but we may need to be reminded that the Father allowed His own Son to be unjustly treated while He was on earth. 

 

            The Joy of Unbounded Praise (vv. 6-7):  “6 Blessed be the LORD, Because He has heard the voice of my supplication. 7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, And with my song I shall thank Him.”

           

            As I read and study the Psalms I am, and it seems that I always have been amazed in how fast the scene changes in many of the psalms and this one the scene changes quickly and dramatically, going from sobbing to singing.  We see the reason for the change in verse seven:  “My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped.”  Dr. Wiersbe writes “Faith moves the hands of God, and God’s hands control the universe.”  David knew this wonderful truth and it is demonstrated in this psalm.

           

            David was surely not ashamed to praise the Lord for the answer to his prayer, “Blessed be the LORD, Because He has heard the voice of my supplication.”  Dr. Wiersbe writes, “How wonderful that David turned a painful experience into a song of praise to the Lord and that he left behind a witness that has encouraged other believers for centuries.”

 

            The Promise of Undeserved Blessing (vv. 8-9):  “8 The LORD is their strength; And He is a saving defense to His anointed. 9 Save Your people and bless Your inheritance; Be their shepherd also, and carry them forever.”

           

            David now encourages his “flock” that is Israel, for Israel are God’s people and God had chosen David to lead His people.  David really looked upon himself as a shepherd who cares for his flock that God had given to him.  Sometimes the faithful shepherd has to carry his lambs “Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes (Isa. 40:11).”

           

            The Lord has invested much in Israel, and believer’s today should be very thankful for Israel and one reason is that “Salvation is of the Jews (John 4:22).”  Israel has been a blessing to the entire world, and yet in this day and age many people are against the nation of Israel and many have forgotten the tragedy of those six million Jews who were murdered just because they were Jews.  After the prayer of Daniel in Daniel chapter nine we see the answer to his prayer that was sent to him by the angel Gabriel, and in that answer we see one of the most incredible prophecies that are found in all of Scripture.  Part of that prophecy speaks of all of the trouble that the people of Israel will have after the rejection of their Messiah and as one looks down the corridors of time they can see that Israel has always been in trouble.  The movie “Fiddler on the Roof” depicts some of the troubles that the Jews went through.  In Ezekiel 36-37 we see that God would call His people back to their land and this happened after WWII on May of 1948.  Ezekiel prophecies that when Israel comes back that the last thing that would happen to them would be spiritually, that they would then seek their God and Paul writes in Romans that “all Israel will be saved,” showing that there is coming a day when all Israel will come to know their Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.

           

            David realized that Israel was a special people and he praised the Lord for the people of Israel, and so do I.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It was 38 years ago a week from today that I came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior and Lord, what a wonderful day that was.  I was in Florida on a vacation and staying with a friend of mine where I began to listen to some taped messages by a man named Hal Lindsey who was talking about Israel and how the fact that Israel was now back in their land and would usher in the times of the end as we now know it.  I was very frightened about how the world was going to end, and what he was saying all made sense to me, and that was because I had just become a new believer and had the Holy Spirit living in me to aid me in understanding the Scriptures.  Daniel chapter nine was explained in one of those messages and it must have been at that time when Christ came into my life and so that chapter has always been special to me.  One thing that happened to me during that trip was that after God saved me he cleaned up my mouth and gave me a love for Israel, which I still have today.  I guess a lot of things changed on that wonderful day.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.     Trust the Lord even when my prayers are not answered right away or at all because the Lord is in control and will always work things out for my good and His glory even when I don’t seem to understand it at the time.

2.     Continue to learn contentment.

 

1/19/2012 8:34:25 AM   

I have been mentioning the issues that are going on with my wife in earlier SD's.  Today there was another issue that caused her much pain and suffering as a result of the surgery.  Today the Lord answered our prayers in a very special way, and the first words to come out of my mouth was "Praise the Lord."  This psalm encouraged me very much, and I am thankful that David went through what he did so that I could read this Psalm this morning.  "Praise the Lord!!"

  

"Whom Shall I Fear" (Psalm 27:1-14)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/18/2012 9:03:27 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  “Whom Shall I Fear”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                     Reference:  Psalm 27:1-14

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 A Psalm of David: The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread? 2 When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell. 3 Though a host encamp against me, My heart will not fear; Though war arise against me, In spite of this I shall be confident. 4 One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple. 5 For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock. 6 And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me, And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.

    “7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice, And be gracious to me and answer me. 8 When You said, "Seek My face," my heart said to You, "Your face, O LORD, I shall seek." 9 Do not hide Your face from me, Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not abandon me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation! 10 For my father and my mother have forsaken me, But the LORD will take me up. 11 Teach me Your way, O LORD, And lead me in a level path Because of my foes. 12 Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries, For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence. 13 I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. 14 Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.”

 

            We see in verse four that David speaks of the tabernacle of the Lord, or the house of the Lord and we mentioned yesterday that Psalms 26-28 are psalms that speak of the house of the Lord.  This has been one of my favorite psalms and therefore I am happy to be able to look at it more closely today.

 

            Warren Wiersbe writes that in the Septuagint the title says that this psalm was written before David was anointed and he believes that the psalm was written while David was on the run from King Saul.  He goes on to write:  “In this psalm, David teaches us that when we know the Lord and trust Him, He helps us overcome the fears that can paralyze our lives.”

 

            Fear of Circumstances (vv. 1-6):  “1 A Psalm of David: The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread? 2 When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell. 3 Though a host encamp against me, My heart will not fear; Though war arise against me, In spite of this I shall be confident. 4 One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple. 5 For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock. 6 And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me, And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.”

 

             David’s circumstances were probably hiding out from Saul with his men, perhaps in a cave or some other place, even in a tent, but in these six verses we see that David did not fear his circumstances.  Dr. Wiersbe writes, “The secret of David’s public confidence was his private obedience:  he took times to fellowship with the Lord and get directions from Him.  David knew that the most important part of his life was the part that only God could see, and this was one priority he would not negotiate.”  This statement goes along with the words of verse four “One thing.” 

           

            David was not oblivious to his circumstance, but David chose to look up to the Lord for His help and for His protection from these circumstances.  I remember a song that I have written about in an earlier SD that has the words “he didn’t look down, he didn’t look around he just looked up, up, up. He didn’t look down in deep despair, he didn’t look around to a world of care, he just looked up and God was with him there.”  David could have been singing this song.

           

            David examined his circumstances from heavens point of view:  “1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart (Heb. 12:1-3).”  We see in verse two that Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith, and we remember that chapter eleven was all about faith and so when we read in verse one about the “sin which so easily entangles us” we must conclude that that sin is a lack of faith, and yet we can trust the Lord to perfect that faith, and we can see in Psalm 27 that David had great faith in the Lord to take care of the circumstances that he was facing.

           

            David speaks of the Lord as being his “light” and this is the first time in the Scriptures that light is used of God.  “John 8:12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.’”  This is one of the seven great “I Am” statements in the book of John.  Remember when Moses was on the mountain looking at the bush that was on fire but was not consumed and he ask God what His name was so that he could tell the children of Israel as God was sending him to them, and God said “I Am that I Am tell them that “I Am” is sending you.”  When Jesus was saying “I Am the light of the world” He was saying that He is God.  David knew that God was light so he did not need to fear any darkness.

           

            In verse two we see the confidence that David had in God by saying that when the evildoers came close to him that God would cause them to stumble and fall.

           

            Verse three shows more of David confidence in the Lord and also shows that David did not fear his enemies, but we know that David did fear the Lord.

            We have already looked at verse four but I want to take a moment to focus in on how Dr. Wiersbe describes the word “beauty:”  “The word beauty in verse four means not only the glory of God’s character but also the richness of His goodness and favor to His people (16:11; 90:17; 135:3).” 

           

            Verse five speaks of God concealing David in His temple and in the near east during these times that David was living is when a person came into a tent as a guest of someone the host was responsible to take care of the safety of that person and David knew that God would care for Him for David had in a sense gone into the tent of God even while in the wilderness by meditating on God’s Word and God’s character as we see from the word “beauty.”  David had confidence in the Lord to care for him.

           

            Verse six shows that David could not wait to get back to where the tabernacle was to offer his sacrifices to the Lord.

 

            Fear of Failure (vv. 7-10):  “7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice, And be gracious to me and answer me. 8 When You said, "Seek My face," my heart said to You, "Your face, O LORD, I shall seek." 9  Do not hide Your face from me, Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not abandon me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation! 10 For my father and my mother have forsaken me, But the LORD will take me up.”

           

            It is because this section is difficult to understand that I am going to quote what Dr. Wiersbe writes in his commentary from this section:  “David’s confidence in the Lord didn’t prevent him from being concerned about himself, for he knew he was a sinner and a man of clay.  It’s one thing to behold the Lord in the sanctuary and quite something else to see the enemy approaching on the battlefield.  What if there was something wrong in David’s life and the Lord abandoned him in the midst of the battle?  When David cried out, God answered him in his heart and said, ‘Seek my face’ (See 24:6; 105:4; Deut. 4:29; 1Chron. 7:14; Hos. 5:15).  When the Lord’s face ‘shines upon us’ (Num. 6:22-27), it means He is pleased with us and will help us; when His face is turned from us, He is displeased (66:16-18; 14:3-7), and we must search our hearts and confess our sins (139:23-24).  David’s parents never abandoned him (See 1Sam. 21:3-4).  His statement was a familiar proverb.  God cares for us as a father and mother care for their children (Isa. 49:15; 63:16); and though it’s unlikely that parents would abandon their children, it certain that God never forsakes His own (Heb. 13:5-6).”

 

            Fear for the Future (vv. 11-14):  “11 Teach me Your way, O LORD, And lead me in a level path Because of my foes. 12 Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries, For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence. 13 I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. 14 Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.”

           

            Perhaps David wrote this section after the battle was won, and yet David still knew that the enemy was out there ready to attack again and so he still needed the goodness of the Lord.  Scottish preacher Andrew Bonar wrote “Let us be as watchful after the victory as before the battle.” These are very wise words, and something to keep in the back of your mind the next time you have a spiritual victory, for it is in that time when the enemy is most likely to attack.  When my son was born he had a bad heart and had to go through several operations, but the most difficult operation was the open heart surgery that he had when he was 18 months old.  I believe it was May 7, 1980 he had the surgery where they cut his heart in to and placed a Teflon patch in his heart and also a patch in a valve.  You can imagine how much prayer was going up for him before, during, and after the surgery.  Seven days later he was home walking around having the time of his life. In five days he is to turn 33 years old and his heart is still working fine, and he and his wife have three children of their own.  My point is telling this story is that the summer following his surgery was probably the worst time spiritually that I have ever had and one thing that I have learned from that is the wise words of Andrew Bonar to be as watchful after the victory as before the battle, and we can see that David knew this too.

           

            David knew that the goodness of the Lord was always with him even after a great victory when he sought the goodness of the Lord He would not leave him but continue with him.  David may have said the words of verse fourteen to his men after the victory was secure in order to prepare them for the next battle. 

           

            I know that perhaps one of the hardest things to do is to wait on the Lord, especially for someone who seems always to be in a hurry, but waiting on the Lord is always best, for the Lord is never in a hurry, but He is always on time.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I write about learning contentment most every day and a large part of learning contentment is waiting on the Lord, something I have also been learning but something that has been difficult for me to learn.  With God’s grace I will continue to learn to wait on the Lord and to continue to learn contentment.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.     Continue to lean to wait on the Lord and to learn contentment.

 

1/18/2012 10:24:58 AM

 

5/4/2025 10:29 AM  My son is still doing well and has one son who is ready to graduate from High School.  This Psalm fits into what has just happened with my wife who on this past Tuesday had surgery for cancer.  Her surgery like my son’s 45 years ago went well, and now I must remember to follow the advice of Andrew Bonar so that I don’t have the same kind of trouble that I had 45 years ago.

             

             

"Clear the Charge" (Ps. 26:1-12)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/17/2012 7:49:56 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                 Focus: “Clear The Charge”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                     Reference:  Psalm 26:1-12

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 A Psalm of David: Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, And I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. 2 Examine me, O LORD, and try me; Test my mind and my heart. 3 For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, And I have walked in Your truth. 4 I do not sit with deceitful men, Nor will I go with pretenders. 5 I hate the assembly of evildoers, And I will not sit with the wicked.

    “6 I shall wash my hands in innocence, And I will go about Your altar, O LORD, 7 That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving And declare all Your wonders. 8 O LORD, I love the habitation of Your house And the place where Your glory dwells. 9 Do not take my soul away along with sinners, Nor my life with men of bloodshed, 10 In whose hands is a wicked scheme, And whose right hand is full of bribes. 11 But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity; Redeem me, and be gracious to me. 12 My foot stands on a level place; In the congregations I shall bless the LORD.”

 

            In his introduction to Psalm 26 Dr. Wiersbe points out that Psalms 26, 27, and 28 are all psalms that have to do with the love that David has for God’s sanctuary.  We know from Scripture that David had it in his heart to build a temple for the Lord in Jerusalem and when he told this to Nathan the prophet the Lord came to Nathan and told him that David’s son would be the one to build the temple, but that God would build a dynasty for David.  David had shed too much blood to build the temple, but through all of the victories that David had he had accumulated a lot of spoils and it was with these spoils that Solomon would use to build the temple for the Lord.

           

            When David would go to the tabernacle he would see people there who were not sincere in heart or in their worship of the Lord and some of these men were openly disobedient and spread lies about the king.  “It was this situation that led to the writing of this psalm.  In it David makes three requests of the Lord.”  (Warren Wiersbe)  We will look at these three requests as we look at Psalm 26.

 

            Vindicate me (v.1):  “Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, And I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.”

           

            As I look over the words of this psalm I am reminded of Psalm 1 when the Psalmist tell us not to walk, stand, or sit with the wicked and in verse four David says that he does not sit with evil doers and in verse eleven David says that his walk will be in integrity.  In verse twelve David says that his foot will stand on a level place.

           

            David writes of those who are evildoers in verses 4-5 and also 9-10.  There were men like this in David’s time and there are still men like this in our day.  The Lord describes them in His parable about the wheat and the tares. They are also described in Matthew 7:15 and Acts 20:26-31 as wolves in sheep’s clothing.

           

            In the KJV the word is translated “Judge” while in the NASB the word is translated “Vindicate,” and it means “give me justice, defend my reputation.  We know from looking at the life of David that he was a man of integrity.  “4 “As for you, if you will walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you and will keep My statutes and My ordinances, 5 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, just as I promised to your father David, saying, ’You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’”  (1Kings 9:4-5)  This was the Lord speaking to Solomon when he had first become king of Israel.  Dr. Wiersbe writes about integrity:  “Integrity means wholeness of character, an undivided mind and heart, completely devoted to the Lord.”

                       

            He goes on to speak of David asking the Lord to vindicate him:  “When your character and conduct are attacked, it isn’t wrong to vindicate yourself, as Paul did (2 Cor. 10-12), or to ask the Lord to vindicate you.  We aren’t just defending ourselves; we’re defending the name of the Lord whom we serve.  Our vindication is ‘for his name’s sake’ (23:3; 25:11).”

 

            Examine Me (vv. 2-8):  “2 Examine me, O LORD, and try me; Test my mind and my heart. 3 For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, And I have walked in Your truth. 4 I do not sit with deceitful men, Nor will I go with pretenders. 5 I hate the assembly of evildoers, And I will not sit with the wicked.  6 I shall wash my hands in innocence, And I will go about Your altar, O LORD, 7 That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving And declare all Your wonders. 8 O LORD, I love the habitation of Your house And the place where Your glory dwells.”

           

            We looked at David’s examination of himself in Psalm 18:20-24 and made the comment that it was the honest testimony of a real man of God.  When we look at the word examine it means to prove and was a word that was used in the examination of metals in order to determine their value.  It can also mean the removing of dross.  I worked at a foundry and it was part of my job to insure the quality of the cast iron that I made and so every half an hour we had a sample of the metal sent into the lab to make sure the quality of it was good enough to make quality parts.  This was a very large foundry and we would melt upwards to 3000 tons of cast iron per day.  It was also part of my job to make sure that the slag (dross) did not get into the furnaces that were used to keep the iron molten before it was poured into the molds.  This process began when the “runners” were built out of refractory and as long as that process was good the slag “dross” would go into the water and the iron would go into the furnace.

           

            David examined his life and also asked the Lord to examine his life to make sure that his life was pleasing to the Lord.  We mentioned Psalm one where the psalmist wrote not to walk, stand, or sit in the presence of those who were evildoers.  David must have known about that psalm as seen in those words in this psalm describing that he would not do such a thing.  David would not associate with those unrighteous people while worshiping the Lord and that is fine.  As believers we are to be in the world but not of the world.  We are to tell others who are of the world how to not be of the world while they are in the world.  We are to witness to unbelievers but not to associate with those who are sinful in the assembly of the righteousness.  Paul wrote to the Corinthians about this when they had this all wrong, for there was a man in their local assembly who was sleeping with his father’s wife (not his mother) and the Corinthian’s were proud of the grace that they were giving him.  Paul tells them that they were not to put up with this in the church.  It was different when this happens in the world, although we know it is wrong most of the time we can do little about it, but in the church we can do something about it.  David knew the difference.

           

            In verse two we see the words heart and mind and these refer to kidneys and heart in the original.  The kidneys being the seat of emotions, while the heart the place of moral decision.  David asks the Lord to examine both.

           

            Verse three speaks of the lovingkindness of the Lord and David’s life was motivated and controlled by God’s love and truth.  We know that the Lord was faithful to His covenant and that David was faithful to the Lord.  We know that David, like all of us, occasionally fell, but the habitual bent on life was toward the Lord and His Word. 

           

            We have already addressed verse four when talking about David not being involved with the evildoers who came to the tabernacle and this is also spoken of in verse five.

           

            In verse six David is speaking of self-examination something Paul writes about in 1Cor. 11:28 “But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.  29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.  30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.”

           

            In verse seven we see that after David has been examined and has fellowship with the Lord he will praise the Lord.  David was an emotional worshiper and we can see this when he brought the ark to Jerusalem that he was dancing before the Lord. 

           

            There are two more sections of Scripture concerning our examination before the Lord and in Psalm 139:23-24 we see that we are to ask the help of the Holy Spirit in our examination:  “23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”  Paul writes to the Corinthians in his second letter to them and in the last chapter these words:  “5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-unless indeed you fail the test? 6 But I trust that you will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test.”

           

            Verse eight speaks of David’s love for the house of the Lord.  This may refer to the Ark of the Lord in Jerusalem or where the Lord dwells in heaven, or perhaps both. 

 

             “Redeem Me (vv. 9-12):  9 Do not take my soul away along with sinners, Nor my life with men of bloodshed, 10 In whose hands is a wicked scheme, And whose right hand is full of bribes. 11 But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity; Redeem me, and be gracious to me. 12 My foot stands on a level place; In the congregations I shall bless the LORD.”

            In this section David asks the Lord to redeem him and to be gracious to him.  David knew that he was a sinner (Psalm 51), but David also knew that there was forgiveness in the Lord (Ps. 51)  David did not want to worship with those who were not true worshipers, but he knew in his heart that there would come a day when the wicked would be separated from the righteous forever and he would dwell with the Lord forever.  David’s desire was to walk with integrity before the Lord and he knew that when you begin to hang around with those who were not believers that he could become like them and therefore he did not want to do that.  “1Co 15:33 Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals.’”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  There was a lot of “testing” that was talked about in this Spiritual Diary, and just as the iron had to be tested on a consistent basis at my job it is good to have consistent testing before the Lord as I desire to walk with integrity before the Lord. 

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.     Psalm 139:23-24.

2.     1Cor. 11:28.

3.     Romans 12:1-2.

4.     Ephesians 6:10-18.

5.     Proverbs 3:5-6.

6.     Phil. 4:11b.        

 

1/17/2012 9:30:33 AM

             

.

            

"Trusting the Lord" (Ps. 25:8-22)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/16/2012 8:15:26 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                Focus:  “Trusting the Lord”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                     Reference:  Psalm 25:8-22

 

            Message of the verses:  “8 Good and upright is the LORD; Therefore He instructs sinners in the way. 9 He leads the humble in justice, And He teaches the humble His way. 10 All the paths of the LORD are lovingkindness and truth To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies. 11 For Your name’s sake, O LORD, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great. 12 Who is the man who fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way he should choose. 13 His soul will abide in prosperity, And his descendants will inherit the land. 14 The secret of the LORD is for those who fear Him, And He will make them know His covenant.

    15 My eyes are continually toward the LORD, For He will pluck my feet out of the net. 16 Turn to me and be gracious to me, For I am lonely and afflicted. 17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged; Bring me out of my distresses. 18 Look upon my affliction and my trouble, And forgive all my sins. 19 Look upon my enemies, for they are many, And they hate me with violent hatred. 20 Guard my soul and deliver me; Do not let me be ashamed, for I take refuge in You. 21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, For I wait for You. 22 Redeem Israel, O God, Out of all his troubles.”

 

            Our God Can Be Trusted (vv. 8-14): “8 Good and upright is the LORD; Therefore He instructs sinners in the way. 9 He leads the humble in justice, And He teaches the humble His way. 10 All the paths of the LORD are lovingkindness and truth To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies. 11 For Your name’s sake, O LORD, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great. 12 Who is the man who fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way he should choose. 13 His soul will abide in prosperity, And his descendants will inherit the land. 14 The secret of the LORD is for those who fear Him, And He will make them know His covenant.”

           

            David takes some time now to meditate on the character of the Lord.  This is a wonderful thing to do for by doing it one can understand that God is a God that can be trusted, for after all David was in trouble for that was the reason for this psalm, and David had to know in his mind that he could trust the Lord whom he was praying to.  As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ we too need to realize that He can be trusted to care for us even if we go through difficult times in life and to understand His character will give us the confidence to continue to trust in the Lord in all circumstances of life. 

           

            In verse nine of this psalm in the KJV the word “meek” is used while in the NASB the word “humble” is used.  The Hebrew/English dictionary says that the word means poor, humble, meek, or lowly and is translated as meek 13 times in the KJV version of the Bible.  When one thinks of a person who is meek one often times thinks the person is weak.  Jesus described Himself as being meek and we never think of Jesus as being weak.  The word can describe a horse that has been broken, a soothing wind on a hot day, or a healing medicine and none of these describes weakness.  Meekness is power under control.  When we think of Jesus being meek we know that Jesus Christ, the second person of the Godhead had the power to speak and the universe came into existence, and yet here He was walking on earth as a man having all of that power under control at the will of His Father in order to humble Himself: “He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”  What a wonderful Savior!

           

            In verse eight we see that David describes the Lord as good and upright.  Goodness is one of the attributes of God and He can only do good for that is part of His character.  The verse goes on to talk about grace and mercy for it is only by grace and mercy that the Lord can instruct sinners in His way.  What a comforting thought that is.

           

            In verse nine we learn how it is that the Lord can teach and lead a person and the means of this is to be humble before the Lord and then He will teach and lead you.

           

            “God can bet trusted to guide those who obey His Word (v.10), for a willingness to obey is the first step toward spiritual understanding:  “"Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth’” (John 17:17).

           

            In verse eleven we see the need for repentance of our sins for this will bring about forgiveness. Forgiveness happened at the cross when the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins. Repentance is recognizing that a person has sinned, and therefore agrees with the Lord that the sin is wrong.  David realizes that his sins are many and so the need for repentance is also great.

           

            We see in verse twelve that the Lord will instruct those who fear Him.  Again we are not talking about fear as being dread, but fear is that of a child being fearful of a parent and wanting to please the parent because of the love the child has for them. “I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.”  (Psalm 32:8)

           

            In verse fourteen we see how important it is to obey the Lord and to trust Him and we have already seen the need to fear Him.  The result will be good for your family, they will benefit this as they see how you love and trust the Lord they too will begin to do this.  I read a story of one of the early Puritans who lived back in the 1700’s and they followed their family down through the years and it was reported that there were many doctors and Pastors and even senators.  The story tracked another family who did not fear the Lord and it told of the millions of dollars that were spent on that family to house many of the offspring in the jails and prisons. 

           

            Verse fourteen in the NLT reads as follows: “The LORD is a friend to those who fear him.  He teaches them his covenant.”  In the NASB we see the word secret and this word means “intimate conversation, plans and purposes.”  John 15:15 reads as follows "No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.”  The last part of verse fourteen in Psalm 25 goes along with the last part of John 15:15 in that Jesus speaks of telling His disciples (friends) what the Father has made known to Him and that would be what was written in the NT written by them.  The end of verse fourteen reads as follows “And He will make them know His covenant.”

 

            Trusting God Brings Us Victory (vv. 15-22):

 

            We see in this section that the psalm again turns into another direction, the direction it was at the beginning and that is of prayer.  David speaks of the dangerous enemies that he is facing, the distressing emotions that were within him because of these outside troubles, so his troubles were within and without.  Dr Wiersbe writes:  “But he wouldn’t mention them to the Lord if he didn’t believe the Lord could help him!”  What were the enemies that God helped him to conquer?”

 

            Danger (v. 15):  “15 My eyes are continually toward the LORD, For He will pluck my feet out of the net.”     David knew that his enemies were trying to set traps for him but trusted that the Lord would see him through these obstacles. 

 

           

Loneliness (v.16):  “16 Turn to me and be gracious to me, For I am lonely and afflicted.”  David was a leader and there were times in his life when he had to make decisions as a leader that could cause him to become lonely.  Being a leader can cause you to make decisions that are in the will of God, but will cause alienation between you and your family or you and your friends.

 

A broken heart (v.17):  “17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged; Bring me out of my distresses.”  David could have sat down and felt sorry for himself, but instead he turned to the Lord with his troubles asking that God bring him out of his distresses.  His troubles were enlarged and so he needed a big God.  This was a critical point in his life and it can be in ours when troubles come, for we can turn to God or turn away from God.

 

Regrets (v. 18):  “18 Look upon my affliction and my trouble, And forgive all my sins.”  We have already talked about the sin that David knew about and yet here he mentions it again which seems to show his regret.  We have all sinned and have had regrets because of the sin and at times Satan will accuse us of those sins, bring them up, but if we have confessed them to the Lord His Word says, “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us (Ps. 103:12)” I for one am glad that it is as far as the east is from the west and not as far as the north is from the south.  That is only 12,500 miles, but it is endless from east to the west.

 

Fear (vv.19-20): “19 Look upon my enemies, for they are many, And they hate me with violent hatred. 20 Guard my soul and deliver me; Do not let me be ashamed, for I take refuge in You.”  It is not clear what situation David was in but there was fear in his heart and not only fear for his life, but fear that he would bring disgrace on the name of the Lord.  This was greatly troubling to him. 

 

Despair (vv. 21-22):  21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, For I wait for You. 22 Redeem Israel, O God, Out of all his troubles.”  To wait on the Lord means to have hope in the Lord and one thing David did not want to lose was his hope in the Lord, for that would mean to surrender the future to the enemy, and that only destroys the meaning of the present.  We can see that in verse twenty-two “We are never alone in our trials, for as members of God’s believing community, we have encouragement for one another.  Our brothers and sisters around the world are also suffering trials (1Peter 5:9), so we are not alone.”

 

“David survived his trials and was able to write Psalm 26:12—‘My feet stand on level ground; in the great assembly I will praise the Lord’ (NIV).  May we follow his example.”  (Warren Wiersbe)

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  This psalm has spoken to my heart because of what I am going through at this time of my life and so it has caused my faith in the Lord to increase because of what I have seen in the life of David in this psalm, and how with the help of the Lord has overcome the difficulties he went through.

 

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.     Trust the Lord in times of trouble knowing that He will help.

2.     Continue to have a fear of the Lord.  For when I fear the Lord I need not fear anything else.

3.     Continue to learn contentment through the circumstances of life.

 

1/16/2012 10:03:27 AM

               

 

           

           

Update on my Wife's surgery.

 My wife got home from the hospital after a long day and a half in the hospital in which she underwent a 4 hour surgery to help rid her body of cancer.  Praise the Lord that the surgeon was happy with the results of her surgery.  We knew in advance that there were three possible ways that this would turn out.  The third one we did not want at all, and the second one was better than the third one, but the best was the first result, and Praise the Lord that is what happened.  She is in a lot of pain but that is getting better and so all in all we are very pleased with her results so far, and pray that the Lord will give us great wisdom for further treatment.  Please continue to pray for her body to heal.  Thanks in advance.