God is always With Us; God Made Us Wonderfully (Ps. 139:7-18)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/23/2012 11:08:05 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Psalm 139 PT-2

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                               Reference:  Psalm 139:7-18

 

            Message of the verses:  We will continue looking at the 139^th Psalm in Today’s Spiritual Diary.

 

            God Is with Us Constantly—We Cannot Escape Him (vv. 7-12):  “7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. 9  If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. 11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night," 12 Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.”

 

            We begin this section by seeing that God’s omnipresence is seen in this section, which of course is one of the attributes of God.

            I can’t help but think that the prophet Jonah should have read this psalm before he decided that he could run away from God, but if he did read it he surely forgot it and tried to run away from God anyway.  He went from a bad situation to a worse situation, and then back to a bad situation.

            God does not want us to try and run from Him, but he wants us to have His best, and running away is not what we should do.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “We need God’s presence with us if we want to enjoy His love and fulfill His purposes.”

 

            God Made Us Wonderfully—We Cannot Ignore Him (vv. 13-18):  “13 For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. 15  My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; 16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. 17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.”

           

            Dr. Wiersbe points out that this is one of the greatest passages in literature about the miracle of human conception and birth.  A friend of mine has just welcomed another grand-child into the world earlier this week and he told me that you can never get over the wonderful miracle of birth.  Eugene Petersen states “In the presence of birth we don’t calculate—we marvel.”  I think this is what my friend was doing.

            We have a huge problem in our world and that is abortion, I have heard that there are around 50 million abortions a year that happen around the world.  When one looks at this passage and thinks about the great marvel of conception and then the way that the baby is formed inside the mother’s womb and then to think that someone could stop that life because of convenience sake is unthinkable for abortion stops a beating heart. 

In verse 13 we see the word “woven” and this word means woven together, for the Lord causes all to be woven together in the exact way that He desires for them.  David stated that God is everywhere, and that is because He is Spirit and so it should be no surprise to us to see that He is involved in all processes of forming our bodies while in our mother’s womb. 

God did more than design our bodies for He also planed out and He determined our days.  This is an interesting subject for us to look at, one that I am sure has different opinions, but I surely agree with Dr. Wiersbe, and that should come at no great surprise.  He states, “This probably includes the length of life (Job. 14:5), ‘Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with You; And his limits You have set so that he cannot pass.’  And the tasks He wants us to perform (Eph. 2:10; Phil 2:12-13), “10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.’  ‘12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.’  This is not some form of fatalism or heartless predestination, for what we are and what He plans for us come from God’s loving heart (Psalm 33:11) and are the very best He has for us (Rom. 12:2) “2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.’ –How can we ignore God when He has given us such a marvelous body and planned for us a wonderful life?  Life is not a prison, it is an exciting pilgrimage, and the Lord has prepared us for what He prepared for us.”

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Much to think about from these two sections, and much to praise the Lord about from these two sections too.  To think that God formed me in my mother’s womb, and to think that He planned all my days with things to do that will bring glory to Him is overwhelming to me.  I have said before that Ephesians 2:10 is a verse with great meaning to me because in it I see that God has planned in eternity past works for me to do, and I desire to do all those works.  Sin can hinder my path, but there is forgiveness with the Lord as seen in my memory verses for this week.  I think that God can cause some of His children to leave this earth before they finish their course as evidenced from the story in Acts chapter 5, and what Paul wrote to the Corinthians in first Cor. 11, but as Dr. Wiersbe states “If we live foolishly, we might die before the time God has ordained, but God’s faithful children are immortal until their work is done.”  

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to learn contentment, and continue to be transformed by the renewing of my mind. 

 

Memory verses for the week:  Psalm 130:1-5

 

            1 Out of the debts I cried to You, O LORD.  2 O Lord, hear my voice!  Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.  3 If You, Lord should mark iniquities, O Lord who, could stand?  4 But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.

            5 I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in His Word do I hope.

 

11/23/2012 12:39:52 PM

 

“God Knows Us Intimately—We Cannot Deceive Him (Ps. 139 vv. 1-6)”

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/22/2012 10:42:27 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Psalm 139 PT-1

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Psalm 13:1-6

 

            Message of the verses:  Today we will begin to explore Psalm 139, one of the gems of the entire Bible.  We will look at several different Bible Commentators views on their introduction to this psalm and then begin to look at the psalm.

 

            “Some of the Jewish doctors are of opinion that this is the most excellent of all the psalms of David; and a very pious devout meditation it is upon the doctrine of God’s omniscience, which we should therefore have our hearts fixed upon and filled with in singing this psalm.  (Matthew Henry)

 

            “One of the most notable of the sacred hymns. It sings the omniscience and omnipresence of God, inferring from these the overthrow of the powers of wickedness, since he who sees and hears the abominable deeds and words of the rebellious will surely deal with them according to his justice. The brightness of this Psalm is like unto a sapphire stone, or Ezekiel’s "terrible crystal"; it flames out with such flashes of light as to turn night into day. Like a Pharos, this holy song casts a clear light even to the uttermost parts of the sea, and warns its against that practical atheism which ignores the presence of God, and so makes shipwreck of the soul.

 

            “TITLE: To the Chief Musician: The last time this title occurred was in #Ps 109:1-31. This sacred song is worthy of the most excellent of the singers, and is fitly dedicated to the leader of the Temple Psalmody, that he might set it to music, and see that it was devoutly sung in the solemn worship of the Most High. A Psalm of David: It bears the image and superscription of King David, and could have come from no other mint than that of the son of Jesse. Of course the critics take this composition away from David, on account of certain Aramaic expressions in it. We believe that upon the principles of criticism now in vogue it would be extremely easy to prove that Milton did not write Paradise Lost. We have yet to learn that David could not have used expressions belonging to "the language of the patriarchal ancestral house." Who knows how much of the antique speech may have been purposely retained among those nobler minds who rejoiced in remembering the descent of their race? Knowing to what wild inferences the critics have run in other matters, we have lost nearly all faith in them, and prefer to believe David to be the author of this Psalm, from internal evidences of style and matter, rather than to accept the determination of men whose modes of judgment are manifestly unreliable.”

 

            “What we think about God and our relationship to Him determines what we think about everything else that makes up our busy world—other people, the universe, God’s Word, God’s will, sin faith and obedience.  Wrong ideas about God will ultimately lead to wrong ideas about who we are and what we should do, and this leads to a wrong life on the wrong path toward the wrong destiny.  In other words, theology—the right knowledge of God—is essential to a fulfilled life in this world.  David contemplated God and wrote for us a psalm whose message can only encourage us to be in a right relationship with Him.”  (Warren Wiersbe)

 

            “This intensely personal Davidic psalm expresses the psalmist’s awe that God knew him, even to the minutest detail.  David might have remembered the Lord’s words, ‘the LORD looks at the heart’ (1Sam. 16:7).  The exact occasion is unknown.”  (The John MacArthur Study Bible)

 

            “God Knows Us Intimately—We Cannot Deceive Him (vv. 1-6)”  “1 For the choir director. A Psalm of David:  O LORD, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. 3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all. 5 You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.”

 

            As I look at these verses I can see some of the attributes that God possesses.  God is all knowing as seen in verse one.  God is present everywhere as seen in verse two.  We also see God’s wisdom in verse two.  Verse three shows God’s power and knowledge.  Verse four shows that God knows everything, while verse five shows His power and omnipresence.  Knowledge is seen in verse five.

            Verse one contains the word “searched,” and this verb means to “examine with great care.”  I suppose the concept can be seen from the following portion of Scripture, “8  "Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 “When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ’Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’”  (Luke 15:8-9)  The woman in this story looked intently for her coin.  God knows us in an intimate way for David states that God has searched him and He knows David.  You can’t, so to say, “pull the wool over” God, for He knows all things.  Adam and Eve tried to do this, Cain tried to do this, and we even see from the story of David and Bathsheba that David tried to do this.  They all failed because God knows all things and He knows all people.  Some people do not have enough faith to believe this, but for God this is no problem.  Look at how God created the earth and the rest of the universe; He did it by His Word, so how big of a problem is it for God to know all people? 

            We see the word “understand” in verse two and Dr. Wiersbe states that this word “means ‘to distinguish and discern with insight’ and not just gather raw data.”

            In verse three (NASB) we see the word “scrutinize,” and this word means to winnow grain, you have to look carefully to make sure there is none of the straw in the wheat.  One more word to look at from verse 23, “23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts.”  Search means to test metal.  When I worked at my job in the foundry of an Automobile company it was my job to make sure that the metal that was produced was in proper specification and so we would takes samples to test the metal and make sure it is the proper specification.  There were different processes to check the metal, some took a bit longer than others.  The best way was to use a spectrometer, and this would take a small sample and burn it and then the spectrometer would use light to see what the metal contained.  God does not need a spectrometer to search our hearts for He knows all things.  We can see that God knows us intimately by looking at verses 1, 2, 4, and 23.  The writer to the Hebrews states, “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. (NASB)  No creature has any cover from the sight of God; everything lies naked and exposed before the eyes of him with whom we have to deal.”  (Philips) 

            Not only does God know all of us but He knows what is best for all of us too, and He can guide us, but we must be willing to let Him do this, we must understand that our ways are not God’s ways unless we submit to God so that He will show us His perfect way.  I know that as a believer that I fail at this but then I remember the saying of the old Scottish preacher who said, “The successful Christian life is a series of new beginnings.”  Verse five says that God enclosed us from the front and behind and this word means that God is guarding us like a valuable possession, for we are valuable to Him.

            Just as David was overwhelmed over how God knows and cares for us, we to should be and praise Him because of this.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have often quoted verses 23-24 in my Spiritual Diaries because I desire to have the Holy Spirit search my heart to make sure that there are no sinful ways in my heart, so that I can have sweet fellowship with my Heavenly Father.  Our family read this psalm to our dying mother close to when the Lord transported her spirit to heaven.  I asked to have verse 16b at my father’s funeral, “And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.”

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Praise the Lord for His watch care over me as seen in this section of Psalm 139, and praise Him for His wonderful knowledge, as He intimately knows and cares, and guides me all of the time.

 

Memory verses for the week:  Psalm 130:1-5

 

            1 Out of the debts I cried to You, O LORD.  2 Lord hear my voice!  Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.  3 If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord who could stand?  But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.

            5 I wait for the Lord, My soul does wait, and in His Word do I hope.

 

11/22/2012 12:08:36 PM    

 

A Psalm about Prayer (Ps. 138:1-8)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/21/2012 9:52:12 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Psalm 138 PT-1

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Psalm 138:1-8

 

            Message of the verses:  We will begin looking at the 138^th Psalm in Today’s Spiritual Diary by looking at different commentators introduction to this psalm.

 

            “This psalm is generally thought to have been written by David upon his being advanced to the throne; on account of which he praises the Lord, who had supported him under many exercises, and had made good his promise to him, at least in part; and he firmly believed the accomplishment of the rest, that he would perfect what concerned him, #Ps 138:8. It seems as if this psalm was composed between his being king over Judah and over all Israel. Though Theodoret understands the psalm as a thanksgiving of the Jews upon their return from Babylon, which David prophesied of. The Syriac version calls it a thanksgiving with a prophecy; as indeed it is a prophecy of the Messiah’s kingdom, and of the calling of the Gentiles in the latter day, as appears from #Ps 138:4.”  (John Gill)

 

            “TITLE: A Psalm of David. This Psalm is wisely placed. Whoever edited and arranged these sacred poems, he had an eye to apposition and contrast; for if in #Ps 137:1-9 we see the need of silence before revilers; here we see the excellence of a brave confession. There is a time to be silent, lest we cast pearls before swine; and there is a time to speak openly, lest we be found guilty of cowardly not confessing. The Psalm is evidently of a Davidic character, exhibiting all the fidelity, courage, and decision of that King of Israel and Prince of Psalmists. Of course the critics have tried to rend the authorship from David on account of the mention of the temple, though it so happens that in one of the Psalms which is allowed to be David’s the same word occurs. Many modern critics are to the word of God what blowflies are to the food of men: they cannot do any good, and unless relentlessly driven away they do great harm.

 

“DIVISION: In full confidence David is prepared to own his God before the gods of the heathen, or before angels or rulers (#Ps 138:1-3); he declares that he will instruct and convert kings and nations, till on very highway men shall sing the praises of the Lord (#Ps 138:4-5).  Having thus spoken, he utters his personal confidence in Jehovah, who will help his lowly servant, and preserve him from all the malice of wrathful foes.”  (Charles H. Spurgeon)

 

“This is the first of eight psalms attributed to David.  They form a special collection just before the five ‘Hallelujah Psalms’ that climax the book.  The psalm probably grew out of the opposition of the neighboring nations when David became king of a united Israel (2Samuel 5; 8:1-14).  It was God’s plan that David reign over Israel (v.8), but the Jebusites, Philistines, and Moabites wanted a divided Israel with a weak leader.  David knew God’s will, prayed for God’s help (v.3), trusted God for victory (vv. 7-8), and defeated the enemy.  The psalm does not mention the Lord until verse 4, but it is obvious that Jehovah is the object of David’s prayers and praise.  The psalm helps us understand better what really happens when God answers prayer.”  (Dr. Warren Wiersbe)

 

Answered Prayer Glorifies God’s Name (vv. 1-3):  “1 A Psalm of David: I will give You thanks with all my heart; I will sing praises to You before the gods. 2  I will bow down toward Your holy temple And give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name. 3 On the day I called, You answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul.”

David’s desire was to glorify the Lord which is expressed in this section of this psalm.  Even though we don’t see the word God here we do know that David is writing about God when he uses the word “You.”  In verse two we see the words Holy Temple and we know that David had died before the temple was built by his son Solomon, but this could be translated tabernacle, and so David was speaking about the tabernacle and not the temple.

In writing on verse two Dr. Wiersbe states that the third line in verse two in the KJV and the NKJV “so as not to give the impression that God’s Word is greater than God’s character and reputation (‘name’).  The meaning seems to be: ‘I trusted your promises and prayed, and the Lord answered above and beyond anything that He promised.”  This reminds us of Ephesians 3:19-20, “19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.” 

 

Answered Prayer Gives Witness to the Lost (vv. 4-5):  “4 All the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, O LORD, When they have heard the words of Your mouth. 5 And they will sing of the ways of the LORD, For great is the glory of the LORD.”

A friend of mine was helping to coach his son’s little league team and the coach of the team revealed that he was unhappy at his job.  My friend told him that he would pray for him.  A few weeks went by and then the coach told my friend that out of the blue he was able to change his job.  This answer to my friend’s prayer was a wonderful witness to this man.  David’s prayers were also a witness to the surrounding Gentile nations as can be seen in 2Samuel 5:11&12, “11 Then Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David with cedar trees and carpenters and stonemasons; and they built a house for David. 12 And David realized that the LORD had established him as king over Israel, and that He had exalted his kingdom for the sake of His people Israel.”  We read in the life of David that Hiram was a good friend of David’s and so David could be a good witness to him.

David writes that all the kings of the earth will give thanks to the Lord, and this could be a prophetic statement for we read the following in Revelations 21:24, “The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.”  This part of the book of Revelations is about the eternal kingdom of God, and this all happens after this present world has been destroyed, (2Peter 3:10).  There is a New Jerusalem that comes down from God and it is unknown whether it is placed upon the new earth or is suspended in space or if it sits upon the earth, but at any rate the kings of the earth will bring glory to the Lord.

 

Answered Prayers Accomplishes God’s Purposes in Our Lives (vv. 6-8):  6 For though the LORD is exalted, Yet He regards the lowly, But the haughty He knows from afar. 7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me. 8 The LORD will accomplish what concerns me; Your lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.”

We know that the Lord is the highest of the high and that He is the greatest of the great, and yet the Lord still “regards the lowly.”  “5  For He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. 6  But one has testified somewhere, saying, "WHAT IS MAN, THAT YOU REMEMBER HIM? OR THE SON OF MAN, THAT YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT HIM? 7  "YOU HAVE MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS; YOU HAVE CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR, AND HAVE APPOINTED HIM OVER THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS; 8  YOU HAVE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET." For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. 9  But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.”  Hebrews 2:5-9 which speaks of the lowliness of Jesus.  Jesus is the highest of the high and the greatest of the great, but Jesus was more humble than anyone ever born to woman.  I can’t comprehend how the Lord Jesus Christ could be beaten by the very people that He created.  Jesus had power under control something that very few men can handle.  I suppose I do know the answer to this question is LOVE.  “4 ¶  Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5  does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6  does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7  bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”  (1Cor. 13:4-7)  Look at these verses and you see Jesus Christ in them for Jesus is patient, kind, not jealous, does not brag, is not provoked, He did not take into an account the sufferings of wrong He went through, He never rejoiced in any unrighteousness, but He did rejoice in the truth.  Jesus bore all things, believed all things, He hoped all things and He surely endured all things.  Since I have again memorized this 13^th chapter of 1Corinthians I could not help but see that God is love as this chapter describes God’s love. 

Dr. Wiersbe concludes his commentary with these words, “It has well been said that the purpose of prayer is not to get man’s will done in heaven but to get God’s will done on earth, and this was demonstrated in David’s life.”

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today: I have been a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ for almost 39 years and can still say that prayer is a complicated adventure, something that I still don’t fully understand, but continue to learn more about it.  I realize that to tack on “in Jesus’ name, Amen,” does not assure me of having a positive answer to my prayer.  I have learned that my prayer must be in the will of God so that it will bring glory to God.  I have learned that I am to pray about things that the Lord has already promised in His Word.  (Look at the first 23 verses of Daniel chapter nine.)  I have learned that I have to have a short list with the Lord in order for God to hear my prayers.  I have learned that I am to treat my wife in a godly manner to have my prayers answered.  My prayers must be sincere.  I have learned that God wants me to pray Scripture back to me.  I have learned that prayer is a privilege and that my prayers should reflect that and that I should be passionate in my prayers.  But there is still much more to learn about prayer.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Be passionate in my prayer.  Be more content in my life, and be transformed by His Word.  “Establish my footsteps in Your word, And do not let any iniquity have dominion over me.”  (Psalm 119:33)

 

Memory verses for the week:  Psalm 130:1-5

 

            1 Out of the debts I cried to You, O LORD.  2 Lord hear my voice!  Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.  3 If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?  4 But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.

            5 I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in His Word do I hope.    11/21/2012 11:48:29 AM

 

 

 

 

Memory Can Build Character and Encourage Faith (Ps. 137:5-9)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/20/2012 1:35:28 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Psalm 137 PT-2

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Psalm 137:5-9

 

            Message of the verses:  We will continue looking at Psalm 137 in today’s SD.

 

            Memory Can Build Character:  (vv. 5-6):  “5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, May my right hand forget her skill. 6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth If I do not remember you, If I do not exalt Jerusalem Above my chief joy.”

 

            It is believed that this psalm was written after the return of the Jewish people to their land, but the author of this psalm states that while he was in Babylon that he remembered Jerusalem and even vowed to God that if he forgot Jerusalem that God could punish him because of the breaking of the vow. 

           

            Psalm 90:12 states, “So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.”  The psalmist was doing this and we also should do this.  The psalmist had a long time to remember things that perhaps he could have done to prevent the nation of Israel to fall to the Babylonians.  It did not happen but it was not too late for the psalmist.  I think the quote from the old Scottish preacher comes into play here, “The successful Christian life is a series of new beginnings.”

 

            Memory Can Encourage Faith (vv. 7-9):  “7 Remember, O LORD, against the sons of Edom The day of Jerusalem, Who said, "Raze it, raze it To its very foundation." 8 O daughter of Babylon, you devastated one, How blessed will be the one who repays you With the recompense with which you have repaid us. 9 How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones Against the rock.”

7 O LORD, remember what the Edomites did on the day the armies of Babylon captured Jerusalem. “Destroy it! ‘they yelled.  “Level it to the ground!’’  8 O Babylon, you will be destroyed.  Happy is the one who pays you back for what you have done to us. 9 Happy is the one who takes your babies and smashes them against the rocks!”  (NLT)

 

            I suppose that many people over the years have had trouble with these three verses, but they probably took them out of context and even did not realize what these verses mean for after all they are in the Holy Scriptures and therefore we have to look at them to see what we can learn from them.

           

            Dr. Wiersbe states that the Law of God is “lex talionis” or the law of retaliation—and retaliation is not revenge. “In short, the punishment must fit the crime.”  When we read from Deut. 19:16-21 these words “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth” we probably get the meaning of that verse wrong.  What this means is that the punishment should fit the crime.  If a man knocks someone’s tooth our and does so in a crime then his tooth must be knocked out too.  You cannot kill the man for knocking out someone’s tooth.    The following came from my Spiritual Diary from June 3, 2009 from Deuteronomy 19:15-21, “Moses then speaks of how the punishment shall fit the crime by repeating a statement he spoke earlier in Exodus 21:23-25, “23 “But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”  There is a Latin phrase that speaks of this “lex talionis” which is the Latin for ‘The law of retaliation.’  If a person goes into a store and shop lifts something he should not receive the same punishment of a person who rapes someone and the same in reverse is true. Warren Wiersbe writes, “Jesus exhorted us not to practice personal revenge but to leave such matters in the hand of God (Romans 12:17-21).  We’re to imitate the Master and return good for evil, love for hatred, and sacrifice for selfishness (1 Peter 2:11-25).”

 

            The psalmist knew from the prophets that Edom and Babylon were to be destroyed by the God of Israel, and so he prayed that this would come about.  We could be living in a time when the countries that surround Israel along with those a bit further away will be destroyed by the Lord.  Ezekiel 38 and 39 speak of this, and just as Edom and Babylon were destroyed in fulfillment of the prophecies found in the OT prophets so these nations listed in Ezekiel 38-39 will be destroyed by the Lord. 

           

            The Lord used Babylon to judge Israel for her sins, but the Babylonians went too far and now the psalmist is praying that they too will receive the same thing to them as they did to Israel.  When Jerusalem was being destroyed by Babylon the Edomites, who came from Jacob’s brother Esau, Edom was calling for Babylon to do more.  One day all the wrongs that have been done to those persecuted in the Church will be made right, “9 When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; 10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" 11 And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also. “

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have to admire Joel Rosenberg from what he wrote on his blog today about not only praying for Israel as she goes through this time of trouble that we should also pray for those living in Gaza too.  Joel is over there in Israel and is seeing the war first hand as to what is going on.  He is praying for souls of unbeliever on both side of the war and I admire him for that.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to learn contentment and also to continue to have my mind transformed by the Word of God.

 

Memory verses for the week:  Psalm 130:1-5

 

            1 Out of the debts I cried to You, O LORD.  2 Lord, hear my voice!  Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.  3 If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?  4 But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared.

            5 I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, And in His Word do I hope.

 

11/20/2012 2:43:39 PM  

Memory Can Open Wounds (Ps. 137:1-4)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/19/2012 11:10:02 AM

 

My Worship                                                                                       Focus:  Psalm 137 PT-1

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Psalm 137:1-4

 

            Message of the verses:  Today we will begin to look at Psalm 137 by looking at several introductions from different Bible Commentators.

 

            “This plaintive ode is one of the most charming compositions in the whole Book of Psalms for its poetic power. If it were not inspired it would nevertheless occupy a high place in poesy, especially the former portion of it, which is tender and patriotic to the highest degree. In the later verses (#Ps 137:7-9), we have utterances of burning indignation against the chief adversaries of Israel, — an indignation as righteous as it was fervent. Let those find fault with it who have never seen their temple burned, their city ruined, their wives ravished, and after children slain; they might not, perhaps, be quite so velvet mouthed if they had suffered after this fashion. It is one thing to talk of the bitter feeling which moved captive Israelites in Babylon, and quite another thing to be captives ourselves under a savage and remorseless power, which knew not how to show mercy, but delighted in barbarities to the defenseless. The song is such as might fitly be sung in the Jews’ wailing place. It is a fruit of the Captivity in Babylon, and often has it furnished expression for sorrows which else had been unutterable. It is an opalesque Psalm within whose mild radiance there glows afire which strikes the beholder with wonder.”  (Charles H. Spurgeon)  I am not sure what the meaning of word “opalesque” is but perhaps it means that the psalm is opal like. 

 

            “Remember and forget are used a total of five times in these nine verses.  The American humorist Elbert Hubbard said, ‘A retentive memory may be a good thing, but the ability to forget is the true token of greatness.’  Sometimes we must remember to forget.  A Jew, probably a Levite, wrote this psalm after he had returned home from Babylon with the remnant in 536 B. C. Twenty years later Babylon was destroyed.  The psalmist was with a group of former exiles (note the ‘we’ and ‘us’ in vv 1-4), recalling some of their experiences, and from this encounter with the pat, he learned some lessons about the human memory, himself, and the Lord.”  (Dr. Warren Wiersbe)

 

            Memory Can Open Wounds (vv. 1-4):  “1 By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down and wept, When we remembered Zion. 2 Upon the willows in the midst of it We hung our harps. 3 For there our captors demanded of us songs, And our tormentors mirth, saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion." 4 How can we sing the LORD’S song In a foreign land?”

 

            We see the Jews in Babylon because they had disobeyed the Lord and now the Lord had to discipline them by allowing the Babylonians to capture their city of Jerusalem and to trash the temple and the entire city.  To smash their babies against the walls in order to stop the growth of the children of Israel, and then they remembered that they were transported to the city of Babylon away from all that was dear to them.  They were now asked by their captors to sing songs for their entertainment, but they refused to do so.  Dr. Wiersbe states “How tragic it is today when music stars use ‘Amazing Grace’ or ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ to entertain pagan crowds that know neither the Lord nor His grace.  What did Jesus say about throwing valuables to dogs and pigs (Matthew 7:6)?”  The songs that they wanted to hear were their religious songs for after all they had brought their harps with them.  The Jews did not have it in their heart to sing their songs away from their homes in Israel.  As I think back on the history of the children of Israel and how long they were away from their land I remember what they used to say when they sat down to eat their Passover meal and they would say “next year in Jerusalem.”  That next year came in 1948 when Israel was made a nation again in one day as Isaiah 66:8 predicted.  Today they are again in a fight for their lives as the terrorists are once again trying to kill all the Jews, but God has promised to protect His people and in the end all Israel will be saved.

            I am sure that all of us have had memories that we have a hard time remembering like the psalmist writes about, but the best thing to do is not to bury them.  Dr. Wiersbe gives this advice, “Denial usually makes things worse.  But the fact that the exiles could talk about these painful things indicates that they were facing them honestly and learning how to process this pain in a mature way.  It takes time for broken hearts to heal, and Jesus can heal them if we give Him all the pieces (Ps. 147:3; Luke 4:18).”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Giving our painful memories to the Lord is sometimes hard to do as for some strange reason we want to hold on to them.  Perhaps we want to nurture a grudge about our memories and not want the Lord to handle our pain, but want the person to suffer who wronged us.  This will probably hurt us more than it does the person who did us wrong.  We must remember that God can heal all of our hurts and bring peace to our troubled hearts if we give our troubles to Him.  God is just and will one day right all the wrongs that have happened to His children.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Contentment in the Lord to handle all the wrongs that people have done to me is something that I still need to learn.  I suppose it is a lifelong process.  I desire to have my mind transformed from the inside out through the living Word of God.

 

Memory verses for the week:  Psalm 130:1-5

 

            1 Out of the debts I cried to You, O LORD.  2 Lord, hear my voice!  Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.  3 If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?  4 But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.

            5 I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in His Word do I hope.

 

11/19/2012 12:34:52 PM  

"The Redeemer-He Brings Us Out" and more from Ps. 136:10-25

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/18/2012 9:48:41 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Psalm 136 PT-2

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  Psalm 136:10-25

 

            Message of the verses:  As we look at the next part of Psalm 136 we would do good to remember what Dr. Wiersbe wrote at the end of his introductory commentary “The focus is on giving thanks to God for who He is and what He has done for His people.”  With that said we will look at the second main point in this psalm.

 

            The Redeemer—He Brings Us Out (vv. 10-12):  “10 To Him who smote the Egyptians in their firstborn, For His lovingkindness is everlasting, 11 And brought Israel out from their midst, For His lovingkindness is everlasting, 12 With a strong hand and an outstretched arm, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”

           

            We move from creation right to the time when God brought Israel out of the land of Egypt by great power and strength as He destroyed the land of Egypt, the army of Egypt and the god’s of Egypt.  The psalmist speaks of the death of the first born of the Egyptians and in doing this we must remember that God did not harm the first-born of Israel because of the blood of the lambs that were slain on their behalf.  The Passover was the birthday of the nation of Israel, before that they were a family, starting out as a very small family, but because of the promise of God they are now a nation.  The Passover is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ and what He did for us on the cross.  We saw the power of God greatly in the Exodus but even greater at the cross of Christ.

 

            The Shepherd—He Brings Us Through (vv 13-16):  “13 To Him who divided the Red Sea asunder, For His lovingkindness is everlasting, 14 And made Israel pass through the midst of it, For His lovingkindness is everlasting; 15 But He overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 16 To Him who led His people through the wilderness, For His lovingkindness is everlasting;”

            I have always loved to study history, especially the history of Israel, and this psalm is a study of the history of the nation of Israel.

            The psalmist remembers the crossing of the Red Sea on dry ground and the drowning of Pharaoh in the Red Sea, and then speaks of the wondering of the children of Israel in the wilderness.  It was during this time in the wilderness that God took Israel to Mt. Sinai where the Law was given to them and also the tabernacle was built.  Dr. Wiersbe writes, “The nation needed the discipline of the law and the delight of worship before they were ready to enter Canaan and take the land.”

            We know that Israel sinned greatly in the wilderness and God disciplined them by causing them to walk around for the next 38 years, making a total of 40 years until all of the first generation had died, with the exception of Caleb and Joshua.  The Lord led them for forty years by fire at night and a cloud in the day time.  The Lord Jesus now leads His children every day.

 

            The Conqueror—He brings us In (vv. 17-22):  “17 To Him who smote great kings, For His lovingkindness is everlasting, 18 And slew mighty kings, For His lovingkindness is everlasting: 19 Sihon, king of the Amorites, For His lovingkindness is everlasting, 20 And Og, king of Bashan, For His lovingkindness is everlasting, 21 And gave their land as a heritage, For His lovingkindness is everlasting, 22 Even a heritage to Israel His servant, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”

            In this section we see the Lord as the Conqueror who uses Israel to capture kings on the East side of the Jordan River, and giving that land to Ruben, Gad, and the half tribe o Manasseh.  The men from these tribes would go to the other side of the Jordan in order to help Israel defeat the people in the Promised Land.  We must remember that the land is the Lords, but He gave it to Israel as an inheritance.

            As we look at how this section applies to our lives I will quote from Dr. Wiersbe, “Believers today have been delivered from sin through faith in Christ and are now in the ‘kingdom of the Son of His love (Col. 1:13).  Canaan is not a picture of heaven, for there will be no wars in heaven.  It pictures our present inheritance in Jesus Christ, and inheritance that we claim as we walk by faith and defeat Satan and his forces that want to keep us in bondage and spiritual poverty.  This is the theme of Hebrews 1-3.”

 

            The Deliver—He Brings us Back (vv. 23-25):  “23 Who remembered us in our low estate, For His lovingkindness is everlasting, 24 And has rescued us from our adversaries, For His lovingkindness is everlasting; 25 Who gives food to all flesh, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 26 Give thanks to the God of heaven, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”

            This section describes the book of Judges where the Lord brought seven nations into the land of Israel to discipline them because they had turned to idols for their worship instead of the Lord.  The book of Judges is a very depressing book, for it begins on a high note and then even though there are peaks and valleys in the book the peaks become lower all the time and the valleys become lower all the time until we read these words at the end of the book:  “Jud 21:25  In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”  Such a sad ending to this book when it could have been a time of growth and prosperity for Israel, but was not as Israel chose sin over obedience.

            Dr. Wiersbe writes the following, “This is no way to live in the wonderful land God had given them, but it describes many professed believers today.  When things are going well, they forget the Lord, but when things grow worse, they turn to Him for help”  When I look at the culture in our country today I am shocked, and frightened as to what will happen to it.  It surely reminds me of the book of Judges.  We as members of the Church in the United States have in some ways been content with the good things that have been given to us by living here, and have forgotten for the most part the things of the Lord.  As I read through the book “Implosion” by Joel Rosenberg I have to agree with him that the only way our nation will be saved is that the Church will be given another “Great Awakening,” like the two others in our past. 

            This psalm ends on a high note as we are to give thanks to the God of heaven.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I want to be committed to praying for a Holy Spirit Revival in our land even if we don’t get one I believe that all of us in the Church should be praying for one.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to learn contentment, and be transformed by the renewing of my mind through the Word of God.

 

Memory verses for the week:  Psalm 130:1-5

 

            1 Out of the debts I cried to You, O LORD.  2 Lord, hear my voice!  Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.  3 If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?  4 But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared.

            5 I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in His Word do I hope.

 

11/18/2012 11:05:50 AM