Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Faith Keeps Us Standing (Psalm 125:1-2)


SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/9/2012 9:47:37 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                     Focus:  Psalm 125 PT-1

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Psalm 125:1-2

 

            Message of the verses:  We will begin to look at the 125th Psalm by looking at several introductions from different Bible Commentators in order to help us to better understand this psalm and in order to help us to apply the applications of this psalm to our lives by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

Matthew Henry says that this 125th Psalm can be summed up from two verses from the book of Isaiah, “10  Say to the righteous that it will go well with them, For they will eat the fruit of their actions. 11  Woe to the wicked! It will go badly with him, For what he deserves will be done to him.”  (Isaiah 3:10-11)

 

“A Song of Degrees. Another step is taken in the ascent, another station in the pilgrimage is reached: certainly a rise in the sense is here perceptible, since full assurance concerning years to come is a higher form of faith than the ascription of farther escapes to the Lord. Faith has praised Jehovah for past deliverances, and t, ere she rises to a confident jury in the present and future safety of believers. She asserts that they shall forever secure who trust themselves with the Lord. We can imagine the pilgrims chanting this song when perambulating the city walls.

“We do not assert that David wrote this Psalm, but we have as much ground for doing so as others have for declaring that it was written after the captivity. It would seem provable that all the Pilgrim Psalms were composed, or, at least, compiled by the same writer, and as some of them are certainly by David, there is too conclusive reason for taking away the rest from him.”

 

“Three kinds of people are mentioned in this psalm:  those who trust the Lord (v. 1), who are also called righteous and good (vv. 3-4); those who compromise with the enemy (v. 3); and those who deliberately go on the wrong path (v. 5).  We could probably call them the faithful, the backslidden, and the apostate.  This psalm was probably composed during the post-exilic period of Ezra and Nehemiah.  Nehemiah mentions all sorts of people who made his work difficult for him, beginning with Shemiah, the ‘secret informer,’ and Noadiah, the hireling prophetess (Neh. 6:10-14).  Eliashib was a compromising high priest (Neh. 13:4-9), and one of his grandsons married into the family of an enemy of the Jews (Neh. 13:28).  There were also many unnamed Jewish men who entered into mixed marriages that were contrary to God’s Law (Neh. 13:1-9, 23-31; Ezra 9-10).  Thank God for the faithful who believe God and obey His Word!  The psalm names the benefits that faith and faithfulness bring to God’s people.”  (Warren Wiersbe)

 

Faith Keeps Us Standing (vv 1-2)

“1 ¶  «A Song of Ascents.» Those who trust in the LORD Are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever. 2  As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the LORD surrounds His people From this time forth and forever.”

The psalmist is making a word picture describing those of faith, for they are like Jerusalem, for Jerusalem was built upon a hill with a solid rock foundation with hills around it to aid in the defense of the city.  We can look at this word picture and compare it to the believer today for when we listen to what the Lord Jesus said in Matthew we get a picture similar to these two verses.  “24  "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25  "And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. (Matthew 7:24-25)  Jesus will answer the question as to who this Rock is when He quotes an OT verse, “Mt 21:42  Jesus *said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures, ’THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone; THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’?”  Paul picks up on this statement , “For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”  (1Corn. 3:11)  Peter speaks of the same thing in 1Petter 2:4-8, “4 ¶  And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, 5  you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6  For this is contained in Scripture: "BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED." 7  This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, "THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone," 8  and, "A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE"; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.”

Like Jerusalem, people of faith cannot be moved, “I have set the LORD continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” (Psalm 16:8)  “For the king trusts in the LORD, And through the lovingkindness of the Most High he will not be shaken. (Psalm 21:7)  “He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.”  (Psalm 62:6)

The Apostle Paul teaches us that are wonderful standing if in God’s grace, “1 ¶  Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2  through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2)  “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”  (Gal. 5:1)  Not only do we, as believers stand in God’s Grace, but we also stand by faith, “Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith.”  (Romans 11:20A)  We also take our stands on the truths of the Word of God as Paul writes, “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.”  (2Thes. 2:15)  In this verse Paul is speaking of the Old Testament when he writes “the traditions which you were taught,” and he speaks of the New Testament when he writes “by letter from us,” for Paul’s letters that are in the NT were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  Paul also writes that as believers are stand is also in the will of God, “Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.  (Col. 4:12)   This is a wonderful prayer for us to pray for other believers.  Paul shows us that it is God who enables us to stand when he writes, “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, & Not that we lord it over your faith, but are workers with you for your joy; for in your faith you are standing firm.”  (2Cro 1:21, 24)  Now it is because that God enables us to stand, we are also able to accomplish the work that He wants us to do, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”  (1Cor. 15:58)  Dr. Wiersbe concludes this section by writing “When we begin to trust ourselves or other people, and we bypass the Lord, then we begin to waver, stumble, and fall.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am not sure that the psalmist had all of these things in mind when he penned these two verses, but by looking at these NT verses we can learn a lot about our faith, who are faith is in, and also who we stand in and how we can pray for others, along with better understanding how we can accomplish the work that God has for us to accomplish.  I have said in earlier SD’s that when I look at Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.,” that God has chosen, not only those He will save in eternity past, but has also assigned work for us to accomplish for His glory. 

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I desire to accomplish the work that God has ordained for me to accomplish in order to bring glory to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

 

Memory verses for the week:  1Cor. 13:8-10

 

8 Love never fails, if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away, if there are tongues they will cease, if there is knowledge it will be done away.  9 For we know in part, and we prophecy in part, 10  but when the perfect comes the partial will be done away.

 

10/9/2012 10:56:38 AM

 

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