“The Day of Deliverance” (Ps. 77:13-20)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/23/2012 10:56:02 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                      Focus:  “The Day of Deliverance”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                   Reference:  Psalm 77:13-20

 

            Message of the verses:  In Today’s SD we will look at the last section of Psalm 77 and again I want to insert what Dr. Wiersbe has written at the end of his introductory commentary in order to better understand this psalm.  “In this psalm, he described how he moved from disappointment and despair to confidence that the Lord would care for His people.”

 

            The Day of Deliverance (vv. 13-20):  “13 Your way, O God, is holy; What god is great like our God? 14 You are the God who works wonders; You have made known Your strength among the peoples. 15 You have by Your power redeemed Your people, The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah. 16 The waters saw You, O God; The waters saw You, they were in anguish; The deeps also trembled. 17 The clouds poured out water; The skies gave forth a sound; Your arrows flashed here and there. 18 The sound of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; The lightnings lit up the world; The earth trembled and shook. 19 Your way was in the sea And Your paths in the mighty waters, And Your footprints may not be known. 20 You led Your people like a flock By the hand of Moses and Aaron.”

 

            “13 O God, your ways are holy.  Is there any god as mighty as you? 14 You are the God of great wonders!  You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations. 15 By your strong arm, you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.  Interlude 16 When the Red Sea saw you, O God, its waters looked and trembled!  The sea quaked to its very depths. 17 The clouds poured down rain; the thunder rumbled in the sky.  Your arrows of lightning flashed. 18 Your thunder roared from the whirlwind; the lightning lit up the world!  The earth trembled and shook. 19 Your road led through the sea, your pathway through the mighty waters- a pathway no one knew was there! 20 You led your people along that road like a flock of sheep, with Moses and Aaron as their shepherds.”  (NLT)

 

            We see a change at this point in this psalm as Asaph does not use words like “I” and “my” but he now speaks of the Lord using “You” and “Yours.”  He began to look to the Lord and away from himself in trying to solve the circumstances that he found himself in.  The circumstances did not change but the way that he looked at them did change.  Dr. Wiersbe writes these wise words:  “When we look at our circumstances, we focus on ourselves and see not hope, but when we look by faith to the Lord, our circumstances may not change but we do.” 

 

            When we read verses 13-15 we can see that Asaph looked up by faith and he rejoiced in the greatness of our God.  He writes that God’s ways are always holy and goes on to say that God is great and He works great wonders.  In showing the greatness and great wonders of the Lord Asaph then looks back to the Exodus from Egypt which truly show the awesomeness of the Lord.  We have mentioned before in commenting on this psalm that it is good to look back at how the Lord has worked in your life, and mentioned that it is good to remember how the Lord brought you along in order to save you.  I know personally that I can think of things back when I was twelve years old that the Lord was using in my life to bring me into a saving knowledge of the Lord.  I did not get saved until I was almost 27 years old, but looking back there were many things that the Lord was doing to prepare me for salvation. 

 

            As Asaph looks at the Exodus he may have been asking himself would God go to all of that care in bringing Israel out of Egypt and put them into the Promised Land to completely destroy them?  He would only have to look back at some of the promises that God gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob along with David to see that God still has plans for Israel.  This is, of course, still true today as God has brought Israel back into their land for the third time and all of the promises that I am writing about that were given to the people of Israel are still promises that will be fulfilled as when the rapture of the Church takes place God will once again focus in on the nation of Israel.  There are seven more years left on the prophecy from Daniel chapter nine that have not been fulfilled and as soon as the antichrist signs a defense pack with Israel that will usher in the last seven years of Daniel’s prophecy which we call the tribulation.  Well I don’t want to get too far off the track here but prophecy is the tool that the Lord used to draw me to Himself and I have always loved to study it.

 

            We as believers look back to Calvary where the Lamb of God gave His life for us.  When Israel came out of Egypt the celebration of Passover began as a lamb had to die in order to shed its blood and then put on the doorposts of the houses of the children of Israel so that the death angel would pass over their house.  The Passover lamb was killed at 3:00 in the afternoon the very same time that Jesus died for our sins as He was our Passover Lamb.  The Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world as John the Baptist said before the baptism of Jesus.  Because of the death of Jesus Christ we as believers have a wonderful future.  When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper we look back at the death of Jesus and we should also look forward to His coming again to take us to be with Him.

 

            We see in verse 20 that Asaph sees the Lord as our Shepherd who leads His flock.  Moses and David were Shepherds and the Lord has used them in a mighty way.  I suppose that when Moses and David were shepherding their flocks that it was wonderful training for them to shepherd the people of God.  Jesus stated that He was our Shepherd and Peter picks up on this in the fifth chapter of Peter’s first letter calling Jesus the Great Shepherd.

 

            Dr. Wiersbe writes in the conclusion of his commentary with these words:  “Asaph had some struggles during this difficult period in his life, but in the end he knew he could trust the Lord to work out everything for good, and like an obedient sheep, he submitted to the Shepherd.  That is what we must do.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  God’s Word is always on time for the situations that come along in my life and that is surely true today and I am always thankful for the Word of God and how the Holy Spirit speaks to my heart through it.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to trust the Lord in the circumstances of life so that as I trust Him more and more He will guide me beside the still waters and feed me from His Word.  I desire to continue to learn contentment through the circumstances of life. 4/23/2012 11:30 AM

 

“Asaph Makes a Decision” (Ps. 77:10-12)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/22/2012 8:50:00 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                      Focus: “Asaph Makes a Decision”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Psalm 77:10-12

 

            Message of the verses:  We will take up where we left off from yesterday’s SD when we looked at the introduction and the first nine verses of Psalm 77.  Dr. Wiersbe wrote the following at the end of his introduction:  “In this psalm, he described how he moved from disappointment and despair to confidence that the Lord would care for His People.”

 

            The Dawn of Decision (vv. 10-12):  “10 Then I said, "It is my grief, That the right hand of the Most High has changed."  11 I shall remember the deeds of the LORD; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. 12 I will meditate on all Your work And muse (ponder) on Your deeds.”

            “10 And I said, “This is my fate; the Most High has turned his hand against me.’’  11 But then I recall all you have done, O LORD; I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago. 12 They are constantly in my thoughts.  I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works.”

 

            Whenever we come to a crisis in life there are times when we feel sorry for ourselves and we wonder how the Lord could allow such things to come into our lives.  We read in 1Thes. 5:16-22 the following words that Paul penned in order to help us in times of trouble:  “16 Rejoice always; 17  pray without ceasing; 18  in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 19 Do not quench the Spirit; 20 do not despise prophetic utterances. 21 But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; 22 abstain from every form of evil.”  When we read these words and do as the psalmist did and remember what the Lord has already done for us and promised to continue to do, like the best thing that has ever happened to us, the salvation of our souls, and the promise of eternal life in heaven with the Lord.  When we think on these things then it is like shaking ourselves out of the pity we are in and again begin to trust the Lord.

 

            We read in verse ten that Asaph wrote “It is my grief, that the right hand of the Most High as changed,” but this is not true for God does not change and this was evidence that Asaph was feeling sorry for himself, for it says in 1Samuel 15:29 “"Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.’”  However Asaph was right when he abandoned his former posture of doubt and determined to see the matter through no matter what happened.  When he decided to begin to meditate on the former things that God had done this was the beginning of having his mind changed to the right things.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  What I have learned from this section is very important, and that is that when trouble comes and trouble seems to know where I live lately, I am to give thanks, rejoice because of the fact that God is in control, and God does not change His mind, so the things that I read in the Scriptures are true and trustworthy.  Then I am to think about the things that God has done in the past, especially the day when I was saved from my sin and my sins and turned to the Lord seeking His mercy and grace, confessing my sins before Him and inviting Him into my life to be my Savior and Lord.  I can think of how the Lord has used me to tell others about His saving grace and they too have become believers.  I can think about His promise to never leave me nor forsake me and to one day take me home to be with Him forever.  What wonderful promises to behold.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To truly be a thankful person.  To be a person who trusts the Lord fully knowing that He never changes.  To remember that the crisis of life help me to grow in my walk with the Lord and teach me contentment.

 

4/22/2012 9:26:01 AM

             

 

           

 

“The Darkness of Despair” (Ps. 77:1-9)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/21/2012 9:57:09 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                     Focus:  “The Darkness of Despair”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                       Reference:  Psalm 77:1-9

 

            Message of the verses:  We will begin to look at Psalm 77 in today’s SD, and will begin by looking at several introductions from different commentators.

 

            This psalm illustrates one cure for depression.  The psalmist does not explain the cause of his despair, but he definitely locked into gloom.  When he thought about God, it only caused him to complain bitterly.  But beginning in v. 10, the psalmist’s mood starts to change because he commits himself to focusing on God’s goodness and past acts of deliverance.  His lament then changes into a hymn of praise.”  (The John MacArthur Study Bible)

 

“This appears to be a companion to psalm 74, which also lamented the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of Israel.  Both deal with the Lord’s apparent rejection of His people (74:12-15; 77:16-19).  When Jerusalem fell, many Jews were slain and many were taken captive to Babylon.  Asaph may have been in Jeremiah’s ‘circle’ and left behind to minister to the suffering remnant (Jer. 30-40).  But Asaph himself was suffering as he lay in bed at night (vv. 2, 6) and wrestled with the meaning of the terrible events he had witnessed. In this psalm, he described how he moved from disappointment and despair to confidence that the Lord would care for His people.”  (Dr. Warren Wiersbe)

 

The Darkness of Despair (vv. 1-9):  “1 For the choir director; according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph:  My voice rises to God, and I will cry aloud; My voice rises to God, and He will hear me. 2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; In the night my hand was stretched out without weariness; My soul refused to be comforted. 3 When I remember God, then I am disturbed; When I sigh, then my spirit grows faint. Selah. 4 You have held my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak. 5 I have considered the days of old, The years of long ago. 6 I will remember my song in the night; I will meditate with my heart, And my spirit ponders: 7 Will the Lord reject forever? And will He never be favorable again? 8 Has His lovingkindness ceased forever? Has His promise come to an end forever? 9 Has God forgotten to be gracious, Or has He in anger withdrawn His compassion? Selah.”

 

“1 For Jeduthun, the choir director: A psalm of Asaph. I cry out to God; yes, I shout.  Oh, that God would listen to me! 2 When I was in deep trouble, I searched for the Lord. All night long I prayed, with hands lifted toward heaven, but my soul was not comforted. 3 I think of God, and I moan, overwhelmed with longing for his help.  Interlude 4 You don’t let me sleep.  I am too distressed even to pray! 5 I think of the good old days, long since ended, 6 when my nights were filled with joyful songs.  I search my soul and ponder the difference now. 7 Has the Lord rejected me forever?  Will he never again be kind to me? 8 Is his unfailing love gone forever?  Have his promises permanently failed? 9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?  Has he slammed the door on his compassion?  Interlude” (NLT)

 

We see Asaph unable to sleep in the first two verses of this psalm and then he will move into remembering the good old days in verses 3-6, and will finally find himself questing God in verses 7-9.  We see from the NLT that Asaph reports that he is too distressed to even pray, where the NASB does not say pray but speak.  I think that there are times in a person’s life when he could be in a position where he is unable to pray because of dread and then I have to remember what Paul wrote to the Romans in Romans 8:26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;.”

 

Asaph was a man of God who sang songs in the temple and led the worship in the temple, and now he has seen something that has caused him to even lose confidence in God for a short while.  Perhaps Asaph was thinking that God had let His people down, but the truth of the matter is that God was fulfilling His covenant that He had made with Israel, in that if Israel sinned that God would not bless them, but allow them to be captured by other nations.  This may have been the background for this psalm.  Does this mean that God does not love His people?  11 My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD Or loathe His reproof, 12 For whom the LORD loves He reproves, Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.”  (Proverbs 3:11-12)

 

I will quote from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary at this time because his commentary is so good and understandable.  “It’s isn’t a sin to question God, for both David and Jesus asked the Lord the same question (Psalm 22:1; Matt. 27:46), but it is a sin to demand an immediate answer or to suggest that God needs our counsel (Rom. 11:33-36).  Asaph asked six questions, all of which dealt with the very character and attributes of God.

“Has He rejected us?  No!  He is faithful to His Word (Lam. 3:31-33).

“Will He ever again show favor to Israel?  Yes!  (Ps. 30:5. Isa. 60:10.

“Has His unfailing love vanished forever? No! (Jer. 31:3)

“Have His promises failed? No! (1Kings 8:56)

“Has He forgotten to be gracious? No! (Isa. 49:14-18)

“Is He so angry, He has shut up His compassions? No! (Lam. 3:22-24)

“It has well been said that we should never doubt in the darkness what God has told us in the light, but Asaph was about to do so.  No matter what His hand is doing in our lives, His heart has not changed He still loves us and always will.”

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  In a small way I can understand the feelings that Asaph is having, and I suppose all those who name the name of Christ are put through difficult situations, sometimes because we need discipline from the Lord and other times we are in a “Job” moment where God is doing something in our lives to continue to make us more like Jesus Christ.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to trust the Lord in the good times and in the not so good times, and continue to seek to learn contentment as I walk with the Lord.

 

4/21/2012 11:12:49 AM

 

“Fear and Obey the Lord” (Ps. 76:7-12)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/20/2012 10:41:37 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                      Focus:  “Fear and Obey the Lord”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  Psalm 76-PT-2

 

            Message of the verses:  In yesterday’s SD we learned as part of the introduction that Dr. Wiersbe said the following “Asaph shares four basic truths about Jehovah God.”  We looked at the first truths about Jehovah God yesterday and we will look at the next two in this SD.

 

            God Wants Us to Fear Him (vv. 7-9):  “7 You, even You, are to be feared; And who may stand in Your presence when once You are angry? 8 You caused judgment to be heard from heaven; The earth feared and was still 9 When God arose to judgment, To save all the humble of the earth. Selah”

            7 No wonder you are greatly feared!  Who can stand before you when your anger explodes?  8 From heaven you sentenced your enemies; the earth trembled and stood silent before you. 9 You stand up to judge those who do evil, O God, and to rescue the oppressed of the earth.  Interlude.  (NLT)

 

            We see that the psalmist writes about the fear of the Lord in verses 7, 8, 11, and 12, but what exactly is the fear of the Lord.  A. W. Tozer writes “No one can know the true grace of God who has not first known the fear of God.”  Dr. Wiersbe points out that “God’s people love Him and rejoice in Him, but they also ‘worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling’ (Psalm 2:11).  Jesus Christ paid for the sins of those who will trust Him as their Savior and therefore they need not fear Him in the same way that those who have not trusted Him.  To believers fearing the Lord means the reverential awe, the respect and veneration that can only belong to God.

 

            God was patience with the army of Sennacherib who had blasphemed Him up to a point and then judgment came upon them as seen in verse 8. 

 

            There is a question asked in verse seven that is also asked in Revelations 6:17 and also Psalm 130:3 and the answer is given in Ezra 9:15:  “"O LORD God of Israel, You are righteous, for we have been left an escaped remnant, as it is this day; behold, we are before You in our guilt, for no one can stand before You because of this.’”

 

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “According to verses 9 and 10, God’s judgments accomplish at least three purposes:  they bring glory to God as they reveal His justice and holiness; they punish the wicked for their evil deeds; and they bring salvation those who trust the Lord (See 72:4)”

 

            God Wants Us to Obey Him (vv. 10-12):  “10 For the wrath of man shall praise You; With a remnant of wrath You will gird Yourself. 11 Make vows to the LORD your God and fulfill them; Let all who are around Him bring gifts to Him who is to be feared. 12 He will cut off the spirit of princes; He is feared by the kings of the earth.”  (NASB)

            “10 Human defiance only enhances your glory, for you use it as a weapon. 11 Make vows to the LORD your God, and keep them.  Let everyone bring tribute to the Awesome One. 12 For he breaks the pride of princes, and the kings of the earth fear him.” (NLT)

 

            We see in verse ten that man’s wrath brings praise to God.  I suppose that this does not seem right to some people who have read this but never the less it is true.  While studying the attributes of God I learned that all of God’s attributes bring glory to Him.  It is easier to see how the attributes of goodness, and love bring glory to God, but harder to see how God’s justice bring glory to Him. 

 

            While studying this subject of the attributes of God I came across something that at first was hard for me to understand, but after thinking about it for a while it seems that the Holy Spirit of God has made it clear to me.  When a believer in Jesus Christ dies we read that those remaining are not to grieve as those who have no hope grieve.  Unbelievers who die have no hope, but believers are transported right to be with the Lord for “6 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord- 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight- 8 we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:6-7).”  It is easy to believe that when a believer dies that they bring honor and glory to the Lord, but harder to believe that when an unbeliever dies that they too bring glory to the Lord.  However this is true for the reason that God’s justice brings glory to Him just as God’s love and goodness bring glory to Him.  The justice and judgment of a believer has been taken out on Jesus Christ on the cross for them, while the justice and judgment of God is taken out on the unbeliever who has not accepted God’s grace through Jesus Christ and must pay for their own sins.

 

            Dr. Wiersbe concludes his commentary by writing “The psalm begins at Jerusalem and its environs (vv. 1-6), then moves to the entire land of Israel (vv. 7-9), and now it reaches the whole earth (v. 12).  There will be a day when the rulers of the earth will bow to Jesus Christ and worship Him as King of Kings (Isa. 2:1-4; 11:1ff. Rev. 19:11-16).” 

 

            For those who obey the Lord they will receive eternal life, and will not encounter the wrath of God like the army of the Assyrian’s did when the angel of the Lord killed 185,000 in one moment.  We must remember that God is not a God who desires to get even like we humans tend to do, but God is a God who is completely Holy and cannot stand for sin and therefore has to judge sin one way of the other.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The more that I study about God the more I see His holiness and the more I see my sin in all of its ugliness.  Then the more I am amazed by the grace of God. 

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to learn more about our glorious God, and continue to learn contentment that causes me to trust the Lord more and more with whatever He brings into my life.

 

4/20/2012 11:36:30 AM

 

"“Knowing & Trusting the Lord” (PT-1 Psalm 76)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/19/2012 8:14:02 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                             Focus: “Knowing & Trusting the Lord”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  Psalm 76 PT-1

 

            Message of the verses:  We will begin looking at several introductions to Psalm 76 in order to better understand what the psalm is all about.

 

            “This psalm teaches that God is willing to use His great power for His people.  Some commentators, including the editors of the LXX, have suggested that this psalm was written to celebrate the destruction of Sennacherib’s Assyrian army in 701 B.C. as well as the subsequent assassination of Sennacherib himself (vv. 5-6; cf. 2Ki. 18, 19; Isa. 36-37).  The psalm also includes eschatological overtones (especially vv. 8-12), when Jehovah will defeat His enemies and bring them into judgment.”  (The John MacArthur Study Bible)

 

            “The background of this psalm is probably God’s judgment of the Assyrian army as recorded in Isaiah 37-38 and 2 Kings 18-19.  Other ‘Zion’ psalms include 46, 48, 87, 126, 132, and 137.  But the emphasis in this psalm is on the God who accomplished the victory and not on the miracle itself.  God’s might works reveal the greatness of His character and His power (75:1).  Sennacherib’s officers boasted of their king and his conquests, but their dead idols were no match of the true and living God (115:1-18).  Asaph shares four basic truths about Jehovah God. (Dr. Warren Wiersbe)

 

            God Wants Us to Know Him (vv. 1-3):  “1 For the choir director; on stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph, a Song: God is known in Judah; His name is great in Israel. 2 His tabernacle is in Salem; His dwelling place also is in Zion. 3 There He broke the flaming arrows, The shield and the sword and the weapons of war. Selah.”  (NASB95)  “1 TO THE CHOIRMASTER: WITH STRINGED INSTRUMENTS. A PSALM OF ASAPH. A SONG: In Judah God is known; his name is great in Israel. 2 His abode has been established in Salem, his dwelling place in Zion. 3 There he broke the flashing arrows, the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah” (ESV)

 

            In 722 B. C. the Assyrians captured the northern tribes of Israel, which had been divided from Judah since Solomon’s son became king in Judah.  The northern kingdom was very ungodly and in all of its history had never had a godly king.  Their religious system did not follow the Law of God and so many godly people left the northern kingdom and came to Judah where they could worship the Lord in the way that the Lord had set up in His Law.  We see in verse one that this is spoken of when we read that “In Judah God is known; his name is great in Israel,” and then in verse two we see that God’s abode is in Jerusalem in the temple that Solomon had built.

 

            It has always been the desire of God to have all people’s know Him, and Israel was chosen to make God’s name known to others around Israel.  One of the ways that God was known by the peoples around Israel was through His mighty power and in 701 B.C. the Assyrian’s were ready to attack Jerusalem and they were bragging about their god’s and saying that Judah’s God was weak.  The angel of the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrian’s in one night and later on their king was killed in the temple of his god by his sons.

 

            Jesus said to the woman at the well that “Salvation is of the Jews.”  The Bible was written by the Jews and Jesus Christ, the Son of God was born into the family of David who was surely Jewish.  In order to truly know the God of the Universe one must accept His Son as their Saviour and Lord, the One who paid for the sins of the world while suffering and dying on the cross.

 

            God Wants Us to Trust Him (vv. 4-6):  “4 You are resplendent, More majestic than the mountains of prey. 5 The stouthearted were plundered, They sank into sleep; And none of the warriors could use his hands. 6 At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob, Both rider and horse were cast into a dead sleep.”  (NASB)  “4 Glorious are you, more majestic than the mountains of prey. 5 The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil; they sank into sleep; all the men of war were unable to use their hands. 6 At your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both rider and horse lay stunned.”  (ESV)

 

            God wants us to trust Him, and King Hezekiah, along with the prophet Isaiah, and the elders of Judah trusted that God would keep Jerusalem safe from the invading Assyrians.  When you read the story in Isaiah’s account and the account in 2 Kings you will find that Hezekiah was in a most difficult situation as the officers of the Assyrian army came and read a letter to the people of Jerusalem stating what they would do to them.  In that letter they were blaspheming the God of Jacob and so when the letter was given to King Hezekiah he laid the letter down before the Lord and prayed to the Lord:  “14 Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. 15 Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said, "O LORD, the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 “Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. 17  "Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands 18  and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. 19 “Now, O LORD our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God."  (2Kings 19:14-19)

 

            When I was a new believer in the Lord I went to our church one day for something, I don’t remember exactly what it was, but while there we happened to come into the office of our Pastor who was laying sheets of paper on the floor of his office.  I have always thought that he was doing like Hezekiah did in laying his prayer requests out before the Lord.

 

            We see in the account of Hezekiah that he put his faith in the living God in this very hard situation and God answered His prayers and saved Jerusalem.  I think of the three men in the book of Daniel who told the king of Babylon who was about to put them into a fiery furnace to kill them because they would not worship him, and they told him that their God was able to save them from the furnace, but if He chose not to do so He was still God.  He chose to save them from the furnace.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I had to trust God in order to know Him, for when I was an enemy of God far from Him, He saved me and I became His child.  I know that there will be difficult times for me in which I must continue to trust the Lord whom I now know and by trusting Him it will bring honor and glory to Him.

 

            Hezekiah had a remarkable faith and I desire to have such a faith as that, trusting the Lord in difficult situations.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to trust the Lord and as I trust the Lord He will continue to teach me contentment.

 

4/19/2012 9:16:21 AM  

"“Application, Praise and Fear” (Ps.75:6-10)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/18/2012 9:07:32 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                               Focus:  “Application, Praise and Fear”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                     Reference:  Psalm 75:6-10

 

            Message of the verses:  In today’s SD we will look at the remaining verses in Psalm 75.  Dr. Wiersbe writes that Psalm 75 is a picture of a worship service.

 

            We Apply God’s Message Personally (vv. 6-8):  “6 For not from the east, nor from the west, Nor from the desert comes exaltation; 7 But God is the Judge; He puts down one and exalts another. 8 For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, and the wine foams; It is well mixed, and He pours out of this; Surely all the wicked of the earth must drain and drink down its dregs.”

           

             In the book of James we read these words:  “22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”  We can go into our church service and hear the Word of God preached and are convicted of something knowing that we should change a pattern in our life and then come out of the service and not change a thing and this would be wrong, the service would do us little good in our walk with the Lord. 

           

            Dr. Wiersbe writes about the word “exaltation” which in some translations is translated “lifting up” or “promotion” and the word speaks of God delivering His people from trouble and setting them free.  We have read in the previous of the arrogant people lifting themselves up and this will bring judgment from the Lord.  Peter writes the following:  “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time (1Peter 5:6).” 

           

            As the Jewish people read this psalm they would understand that they could not find anyone from the directions given in verse six that would do what God does.  The north is not mentioned because the enemies of Israel are to the north. 

           

            We know that there are some examples in the Scriptures of God delivering different people and then exalting them.  Joseph was humbled and then exalted in Egypt.  Daniel was humbled and exalted in Babylon, and David was humbled and exalted in Israel.  What about our Lord? Was He not humbled while here on earth and is now exalted on High in heaven.  “5  Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6  who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7  but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11)

           

            We read in verse eight about a cup and this is also mentioned in other parts of the Bible and it speaks of the wrath of God.  One thing to take away from this is that when Jesus was praying in the garden of Gethsemane He asked His Father to remove the “cup” from Him if it were possible, but then said not His will be done but the will of His Father be done.  The “cup” was the cup of the wrath of God’s wrath that Jesus drank for all who believe in Him, but those who do not accept the truth that Jesus drank that cup for them will then have to drink their own cup of God’s wrath and that will be terrible to drink.

 

            We close with Praise and the Fear of the Lord (vv. 9-10):  “9 But as for me, I will declare it forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. 10 And all the horns of the wicked He will cut off, But the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.”

 

            Asaph has made a decision to obey the Lord and tell others about Him.  We see this in verse nine when he writes “as for me.”  I remember when I first became a believer in Jesus Christ and how everything was so new to me and what a joy I had and the first thing that I wanted to do was to tell others about what I had received.  My wife and I began a Bible Study in that first year and although I did not know much about the Bible I wanted to tell others what I did know.  We used a series of tapes to help in our teaching.  I remember that the Lord blessed us with over a hundred different people who attended that Bible study over the few years we had it going.  I still have the desire to tell others about the Lord and what the Lord had done for me in saving me and in leading me for the last 38 years.  When you have something good you want to share it with others so they too can have something good.

 

            God is called the God of Jacob in this psalm and in eight other times in the psalms.  If one realizes anything about the man Jacob they may wonder why God would be desired to be called “The God of Jacob.”  God changed Jacobs’s life so much that in the last part of Jacob’s life he was a true man of God and so God receives all the glory in the changes that took place in the life of Jacob and deigns to be called “The God of Jacob.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have been reminded not only to learn the wonderful things from the Scriptures but to put them into practice and then when the Lord gives me the opportunity to tell others I am to do that with great job.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To be a hearer of the Word of God and also to be a doer of the Word of God.  To continue to learn contentment.

 

4/18/2012 10:10:52 AM