“Psalm 116 PT-1” (Ps. 116:1-4)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/20/2012 10:00:47 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                   Focus:  “Psalm 116 PT-1”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                     Reference:  Psalm 116:1-4

 

            Message of the verses:  In Today’s SD we will begin to explore what is in Psalm 116, and the first thing we will do is look at several introductions from different Bible Commentators.  John MacArthur, in his Study Bible writes the following from the introduction of Psalm 113:  “Psalms 113-118 comprise a rich 6-psalm praise to God commonly called the ‘Egyptian Hallel’ (‘Hallel’ meaning praise in Hebrew).”  We will better be able to understand Spurgeon’s note after reading MacArthur’s note. 

 

“This is a continuation of the Paschal Hallel, and therefore must in some measure be interpreted in connection with the coming out of Egypt. It has all the appearance of being a personal song in which the believing soul, reminded by the Passover of its own bondage and deliverance, speaks thereof with gratitude, and praises the Lord accordingly.  We can conceive the Israelite with a staff in his hand singing, "Return unto thy rest, O my soul," as he remembered the going back of the house of Jacob to the land of their fathers; and then drinking the cup at the feast using the words of #Ps 116:13, "I will take the cup of salvation." The pious man evidently remembers both his own deliverance and that of his people as he sings in the language of #Ps 116:16, "Thou hast loosed my bonds"; but he rises into sympathy with his nation as he thinks of the courts of the Lord’s house and of the glorious city, and pledges himself to sing "in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem." Personal love fostered by a personal experience of redemption is the theme of this Psalm, and in it we see the redeemed answered when they pray, preserved in time of trouble, resting in their God, walking at large, sensible of their obligations, conscious that they are not their own but bought with a price, and joining with all the ransomed company to sing hallelujahs unto God.”  (Charles H. Spurgeon)

 

“This is an intensely personal ‘thank you’ psalm to the Lord for saving the psalmist from death (116:3, 8).  The occasion and author remain unknown, although the language used by Jonah in his prayer from the fish’s stomach is remarkably similar.  While this appears to deal with physical death, the same song could be sung by those who have been saved from spiritual death.

I.                 The Lord’s Response to the Psalmist Prayer for Deliverance from Death (116:1-11)

II.               The Psalmist’s Reaction to God’s Deliverance of Him from Death (116:12-19)”  (The John MacArthur Study Bible)

 

“At a time when the psalmist was ‘at rest’ (v. 7), unscrupulous men whom he had trusted

lied about him (v. 11) and created trouble for him.  In fact, their deception almost cost him his life (vv. 3-4), but he called on the Lord and was saved from death (vv. 1-2).  The psalm is very personal, with ‘I,’ ‘my,’ and ‘me’ used over thirty times.  In expressing his praise to the Lord, the writer borrowed from other psalms, especially 18, 27, 31, and 56, and it appears the he knew the texts of King Hezekiah’s prayer (Isa. 37) and his psalm of thanksgiving (Isa 38).  As the psalmist reflected on his life-threatening experience, he discovered several reasons why the Lord God delivers people from danger and death.”  (Warren Wiersbe)

 

            God Answer His Children’s Prayers (vv. 1-4):  “1 I love the LORD, because He hears My voice and my supplications. 2 Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live. 3 The cords of death encompassed me And the terrors of Sheol came upon me; I found distress and sorrow. 4 Then I called upon the name of the LORD: "O LORD, I beseech You, save my life!’”

 

            As I look at verse one I would have to say that one of the reasons that I love the Lord is because He hears me and He hears the praise that I offer Him, and He hears the prayers that I lift up to Him.  There are times, especially when I am alone in my car when I just talk to the Lord about the things that are going on in my life and I know that He listens to me, and that He cares about the things that are going on in my life, when perhaps no one else even knows about them or cares about them, but the Lord does, and as it says in verse two “He inclined His ear to me,” for this is so very important to me that God listens to me.  I am only one person on this planet of over seven billion people, yet I know that God hears my prayers, for He is that great and powerful, along with being wise and loving, and yet He is just and as I look around this world today I know that this world is not only in need of the love of God, but is also in great need of the justice of God.  One day, and I think it will be soon that the following words from Revelations 15:1  “Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished.”

 

            Verse three reminds me of Psalm 40: 2 “He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.”  I suppose that I have only had one time in my life when I thought that I was going to die, and for that matter if my sister had not pulled me up out of the water I would have drowned, for I had just came up for the third time and I had never even had my head under water, so I suppose that I would have drowned.  Perhaps the psalmist is speaking of a spiritual moment when he came to know the Lord in a personal way, and I can surely understand that situation.

 

            In verse four the psalmist again asks the Lord to save His life and we will find out that this is what the Lord did for him.  We see in this and many other situations like it in the OT that people went through difficult situations and were saved from them by the Lord so that we who live in our day and age can read about them and have the confidence that God will do the same for us too.  Paul writes about this when he says, “Ro 15:4 For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”  “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.”  (1Cor. 10:11)

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I really have a hard time understanding how people can live their lives without the hope that is found in the Word of God.  It greaves me to see people try and answer the problems of life without the constant help that is found in the Word of God.  The psalmist had the right approach as we see in these first four verses and that is to call upon the Lord for whom he knew he would get an answer.  When one thinks about it the person who has put his trust and faith in the risen Lord, the worst thing that can happen to him is that he will die, and then the best thing will happen to him, and that is absent from the body means you are present with the Lord.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to Abide in the Vine.  (John chapter 15)

 

Memory verses for the week:  2 Peter 1:8-11

8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten the purification from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, your will never stumble, 11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom or our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.

 

8/20/2012 11:26:19 AM  

 

           

 

 

 

           

 

“Psalm 115 PT-2” (Ps. 115:9-18)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/19/2012 7:32:47 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                   Focus:  “Psalm 115 PT-2”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                   Reference:  Psalm 115:9-18

 

            Message of the verses:  We will continue to look at Psalm 115 in Today’s SD.  Dr. Wiersbe wrote at the end of his introduction these words, “The psalm may have been used at the dedication of the second temple (Ezra 6:16).  It not only tells where the God of Israel is but what kind of a God He is.”   Yesterday we looked at “The reigning God” and also “The Living God.”

 

            The Giving God (vv. 9-15):  “9 O Israel, trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield. 10 O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield. 11 You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield. 12 The LORD has been mindful of us; He will bless us; He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron. 13 He will bless those who fear the LORD, The small together with the great. 14 May the LORD give you increase, You and your children. 15 May you be blessed of the LORD, Maker of heaven and earth.”

                                                                                                                                      

            The returning remnant needed to be assured that God was a giving God, a God who would cause their crops to grow and that their number would increase.  They were indeed a needy people, and God would be their provider.  When you read in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah you will see that the returning remnant would have a revival and that Ezra would stand out in the rain along with the people to listen to the Word of God and to be reminded of the covenant that He had made with Israel, and this would encourage them that God was a giving and caring God who would help them. 

 

            When we see the phrase that God is the maker of heaven and earth we want to remember that this meant that He did not want anyone to worship the heavens as some did, and this goes all the way back to the book of Genesis when God mixed the languages because the people were trying to build a tower that reached into the heavens on the plain of Babel, which would become Babylon.  What they were building were Ziggurats which were towers that reached into the heavens in order to chart the stars so that they would worship the heavens.  This is where astrology had its roots, and it is a worship of the stars, or you could call it idol worship.  You can see the astrology predictions in the news papers of most cities today.

 

            The God Who Deserves Our Praise (vv. 16-18):  “16 The heavens are the heavens of the LORD, But the earth He has given to the sons of men. 17 The dead do not praise the LORD, Nor do any who go down into silence; 18 But as for us, we will bless the LORD From this time forth and forever. Praise the LORD!”

 

            What does it mean to “bless the Lord?”  Dr. Wiersbe states “To ‘bless the Lord’ means to ascribe all glory and praise to Him, to delight His heart with our joyful and willing thanksgiving and obedience. (See 16:7; 26:12; 34:1 100:4; 103:1; 134:2.)  We see the word bless five times in verses 12-15 and as a people we could not live one day without the blessings of God.  I want to add the following to this section about blessing the Lord (4/19/2019 9:54 AM).  I have read a couple of years ago that when we bless the Lord it is the same kind of things that are said at a funeral when the eulogy is given, something is said about the person who has died that is good about them, so when we bless the Lord we are praising Him for His goodness to us.

           

            We see that God made the earth and then He gave it to men and to women in order to meet their needs and to give them work to do, cooperating with Him in the development of His abundant resources (See Genesis 2:8-25). 

           

            Dr. Wiersbe concludes the commentary on this psalm with these words, “The people who worship dead idols are also dead, but we are alive in Jesus Christ and ought to extol the Lord!  After all, if we expect to praise Him forevermore we had better start now and be ready when we see Him!”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I desire to ascribe all glory and praise to God and to delight His heart with my joyful and willing thanksgiving and obedience.   

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To remain in the Vine in order to see what the Lord had planned for me to accomplish for His glory.

 

Memory verses for the week:  2 Peter 1:8-11

 

            8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.  10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain of His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble, 11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord  and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.

 

8/19/2012 8:27:09 AM

 

             

Psalm 115 PT-1 (Ps. 115:1-8)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/18/2012 9:20:48 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Psalm 115 PT-1

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Psalm 115:1-8

 

            Message of the verses:  In Today’s SD we will begin to explore the 115^th Psalm by looking at several introductions to this psalm by a number of different Bible Commentators.

 

            “In the former psalm the past wonders which God had wrought were recounted to his honour, and in the present psalm he is entreated to glorify himself again, because the heathen were presuming upon the absence of miracles, were altogether denying the miracles of former ages, and insulting the people of God with the question, "Where is now their God?" It grieved the heart of the godly that Jehovah should be thus dishonored, and treating their own condition of reproach as unworthy of notice, they beseech the Lord at least to vindicate his own name. The Psalmist is evidently indignant that the worshippers of foolish idols should be able to put such a taunting question to the people who worshipped the only living and true God; and having spent his indignation in sarcasm upon the images and their makers, he proceeds to exhort the house of Israel to trust in God and bless his name. As those who were dead and gone could no longer sing psalms unto the Lord among the sons of men, he exhorts the faithful who were then living to take care that God is not robbed of his praise, and then he closes with an exulting Hallelujah. Should not living men extol the living God?”  (Charles H. Spurgeon)

 

            “Psalm 113-118 comprises a rich 6-psalm praise to God commonly called the ‘Egyptian Hallel’ (‘hallel’ meaning praise in Heb.). “This praise psalm appears to be antiphonal in nature, following this outline and pattern: 1) the people (vv. 1-8); 2) the priests (vv. 9-11); 3) the people (vv. 12-13); 4) the priests (vv. 14-15); and 5) the people (vv. 16-18).  Verses 4-11 are very similar to Ps 135:15-20.  It has been suggested that this psalm is post-Exilic (cf. v. 2) and could have first been sung at the dedication of the second temple (cf. Ezra 6:16).”  (The John MacArthur Study Bible)

 

            “The Lord had given His people a great victory, and they wanted to acknowledge it before their pagan neighbors and give God the glory.  If their neighbors had visited the returned exiles and seen their rebuilt temple, they would have asked ‘Where is your god?”  There were no idols in the temple or in the city (See Acts 17:16 for contrast.)  The question gave the Jews the opportunity to contrast the false gods of their neighbors with the true and living God of Israel.  This psalm was written as a litany, with the leaders opening in verse 1.  The people responded in verses 2-8, the choir in verses 9-11, and the people again in verses 12-13.  The priests or the choir spoke in verses 14-15, and the people closed the litany in verses 16-18.  The psalm may have been used at the dedication of the second temple (Ezra 6:16).  It not only tells where the God of Israel is but what kind of God He is.”  (Warren Wiersbe)

 

            The Reigning God (vv. 1-3):  “1 Not to us, O LORD, not to us, But to Your name give glory Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth. 2 Why should the nations say, "Where, now, is their God?" 3 But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.”

 

            The nations that surrounded Israel asked the question “Where, now, is their God?”  The answer is that God is in the heavens reigning upon His holy throne.  What does the God of Israel do?  He does whatever he wants to do is the answer, and what He does is righteous and loving.  It is because of God’s great love for Israel that He made a covenant with them and chose them (See Deuteronomy 7:7-11).

 

            The Living God (vv. 4-8):  “4 Their idols are silver and gold, The work of man’s hands. 5  They have mouths, but they cannot speak; They have eyes, but they cannot see; 6  They have ears, but they cannot hear; They have noses, but they cannot smell; 7 They have hands, but they cannot feel; They have feet, but they cannot walk; They cannot make a sound with their throat. 8 Those who make them will become like them, Everyone who trusts in them.”

 

            One does not have to read too much of the Old Testament to discover that God does not like those who worship idols.  God is a jealous God and wants all worship to belong to Him, and the reason is that He deserves all worship and praise and honor and glory.  In verse eight we read that those who worship the idols that are made by human hands will become like them, and this is what the children of Israel saw when they were exiled to Babylon, and they did not like that at all, so when they came back to their land that God had given to them they did not want to worship idols anymore.  They were cured of bending down to a man made idol, but the religious system by the Jews that was in place when the Lord Jesus Christ was on earth was almost as bad as the worship of idols and He told the Pharisees and other leaders this on many different occasions.

 

            At this time I want to quote from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary:  “God is a Spirit and does not have a body (John 4:24), so when writers in Scripture speak about His eyes, ears, hands, and feet and so on, they are using what theologians call ‘anthropomorphisms’ (anthropo = human; morphos = form, shape).  This is a literary device which uses human characteristics to describe divine attributes.  God uses the known to teach us the unknown and the unknowable.  This section is repeated in 135:15-18.  Because the dead idols lacked the attributes of the living God, they were unable to do either good or evil, yet the people worshiped them!”

 

            Dr. Wiersbe takes a section in his commentary to explain each of the parts of the body that the psalmist uses in this psalm and I think that it is important to see this and so I will use it here, but first I want to quote the last paragraph in his commentary on this section.

 

            “But the greatest tragedy is not what the idols cannot do but what they can do to the people who worship them.  We become like the God we worship.  As we worship the true and living God, He transforms our ears to hear His truth and the cries of those in need.  He gives us eyes to see His Word and His world and the path He wants us to walk.  Our ‘spiritual senses’ develop and we become more mature in Jesus Christ (Heb. 5:10-14).  But those who worship false gods loose the use of their spiritual senses and become blind to the light and deaf to God’s voice.”

 

            “No Mouths—They cannot speak to their people, make covenants; give promises, guidance, or encouragement.  Our God speaks to us!

 

            No eyes—They offer their followers no protection or oversight.  Our God’s eyes are upon us (32:8; 1Peter 3:12) and we can trust Him.

 

            No ears—No matter how much the idolaters pray, their gods cannot hear them!  Remember Elijah on Mt. Carmel (1Kings 18:20ff).  Our God’s eyes are upon us and His ears open to our cries (34:15).

 

            No noses—This speaks of God receiving our worship (Gen 8:21) and being pleased with what we bring Him.  (See John 12:1-8; Eph. 5:2; Phil. 4:18.)

 

            No hands—The workers whose hands made the idols have more power than the idols they call ‘gods.’  Our God is able to work for us as we seek to serve Him.  His fingers made the universe (8:3) and His arm brought salvation (Isa. 53:1).  (See also Isa. 41:10, 13)

 

            No feet—The people had to carry their idols (Isa. 46:1-7; Jer. 10:1-10), but our God carries us and walks with us. (See Isa. 41:10, 13.) “

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I suppose that there are not a lot of people who bow down to the idols that the psalmist is writing about in Psalm 114, but that does not mean that there are no idols in the lives of many people today, including believers, including me, for anything that comes between God and me is an idol, and needs to be dealt with.  Is the TV an idol?  I suppose it is at times.  Are certain hobbies becoming idols?  This could be true too.  There are many idols that can be found in this high technological world that we live in that can take up too much of our time, and by God’s grace I will deal with all of the idols in my life.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Deal with the idols that by continue to stay in the Word of God, and to abide in the Vine to see what the Lord has for me to do.

 

Memory verses for the week:  2Peter 1:8-10

 

            8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these qualities in blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purifications from his former sins.  10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as your practice these things, you will never stumble.

 

8/18/2012 11:00:40 AM