SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/8/2012 9:08:39 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm 124 PT-1
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Psalm 124:1-8
Message of the verses: We will begin to look at the 124th
Psalm by looking at several different commentaries on the introduction to this
psalm.
“David penned this psalm (we suppose) upon occasion of some
great deliverance which God wrought for him and his people from some very
threatening danger, which was likely to have involved them all in ruin, whether
by foreign invasion, or intestine insurrection, is not certain; whatever it was
he seems to have been himself much affected, and very desirous to affect
others, with the goodness of God, in making a way for them to escape. To him he
is careful to give all the glory, and takes none to himself as conquerors
usually do.” (Matthew Henry)
“A Song of degrees of David. Of course the superfine critics
have pounced upon this title as inaccurate, but we are at liberty to believe as
much or as little of their assertions as we may please. They declare that there
are certain ornaments of language in this little ode which were unknown in the
Davidic period. It may be so; but in their superlative wisdom they have
ventured upon so many other questionable statements that we are not bound to
receive this dictum. Assuredly the manner of the song is very like to David’s,
and we are unable to see why he should be excluded from the authorship. Whether
it be his composition or no, it breathes the same spirit as that which animates
the unchallenged songs of the royal composer.”
(Charles H. Spurgeon)
“The contempt and ridicule of Psalm 123 has now been mixed
with anger (v. 3) and become open hostility.
When David began his reign in Jerusalem, the Philistines attacked him
twice, and the Lord gave David great deliverance (2Sam. 5:17-25). This psalm may have been his song of
thanksgiving to the Lord. Note the ‘flood’
image in 2Samuel 5:20, (20 So David came to Baal-perazim and defeated them
there; and he said, "The LORD has broken through my enemies before me like
the breakthrough of waters." Therefore he named that place Baal-perazim.”),
and 124:4-5 (“4 Then the waters would
have engulfed us, The stream would have swept over our soul; 5 Then the raging waters would have swept over
our soul.’”). However, when Nehemiah and
the people were repairing the walls and gates of Jerusalem, the surrounding
nations ridiculed them (Neh. 2:19-20; 4:1-5) and then threatened to attack them
(Neh. 4:7-23). Nehemiah’s words ‘ Our
God will fight for us’ (Neh. 4:20) reminded us of 124:1-2 and 8. We may not have entire nations and armies
opposing us, but we do face emergencies that are more than we can handle. That is when we turn to the Lord for help,
because He is on our side and helps us with these emergencies.” (Warren Wiersbe)
The Sudden Attack
(vv. 1-2): “1 ¶ «A Song of Ascents, of David.» "Had it
not been the LORD who was on our side," Let Israel now say, 2 "Had it not been the LORD who was on our
side When men rose up against us.”
When we look at the words “rose up against us” we understand
that this was a sneak attack from the enemies of Israel and we can see in verse
one and two that the Lord was on the side of Israel.
Now as we look back at the history of Israel for the very beginning
we see that God had promised Abraham that He would bless those that blessed
Israel, and those that cursed Israel because of who they were, God would curse
them. As we look further into the
history of the nation of Israel we see that both the Assyrians and the
Babylonians did defeat them, the first in 722 B.C. and the second in 586
B.C. Dr. Wiersbe points out that this
was not because God was weaker than the armies of these two nations, “but
because God’s people were great sinners and the Lord had to chasten them. If we are walking with the Lord, we need not
feel unprepared for the enemy’s sudden attacks.”
Israel was worshiping other gods and because our God is a
Jealous God He allowed them to be defeated.
To much is granted, much is required.
To those who have been given much grace much is required of them.
The Deepening Flood
(vv. 3-5): “3 Then they would have
swallowed us alive, When their anger was kindled against us; 4 Then the waters
would have engulfed us, The stream would have swept over our soul; 5 Then the
raging waters would have swept over our soul."
David speaks of the enemy swallowing Israel up and this
image can also be seen in the book of Jeremiah when Babylon was actually doing
this to Israel, “’34 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured me and crushed
me, He has set me down like an empty vessel; He has swallowed me like a monster, He has
filled his stomach with my delicacies; He has washed me away.” “44
"I will punish Bel in Babylon, And I will make what he has swallowed come out of his
mouth; And the nations will no longer stream to him. Even the wall of
Babylon has fallen down!”
The picture of a raging flood coming over Israel is seen in
verse five and John, the author of the book of Revelations also uses this image
in Revelations 12:13-17 “13 And when the
dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who
gave birth to the male child. 14 But the
two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly
into the wilderness to her place, where she *was nourished for a time and times
and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15 And the
serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he
might cause her to be swept away with the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth
opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his
mouth. 17 So the dragon was enraged with
the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the
commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”
The Menacing Beast
(v.6): “6 ¶ Blessed be the LORD, Who has not given us to
be torn by their teeth.”
David may well be speaking of a lion for as a shepherd he
had kill both the lion and the bear. “1Sa
17:34 But David said to Saul, "Your
servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a
lamb from the flock,
1Sa 17:36 "Your
servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised
Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the
living God."
1Sa 17:37 And David
said, "The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw
of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." And
Saul said to David, "Go, and may the LORD be with you." We can see from these verses that David knew
much about the lion and the bear and thus can use this type of image in this
psalm.
He is not the only one who speaks of a lion like this for
Peter writes these words, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary,
the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1Peter 5:8)
Dr. Wiersbe writes, “Like a cunning animal, Satan stalks us and waits
until we have relaxed our guard, and then he pounces. But the Lord is stronger than Satan, and if
we are abiding in Him, we can win the victory.”
The Hidden Trap (vv.
7-8): “7 Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the
snare of the trapper; The snare is broken and we have escaped. 8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.”
I have just finished listening to the book of Acts in my
journey through the Bible this year and there is a story in the twelfth chapter
that gives us a wonderful story that will help us explain these verses. “5 ¶
So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made
fervently by the church to God. 6 On the
very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping
between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door
were watching over the prison. 7 And
behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared and a light shone in the cell;
and he struck Peter’s side and woke him up, saying, "Get up quickly."
And his chains fell off his hands. 8 And
the angel said to him, "Gird yourself and put on your sandals." And
he did so. And he *said to him, "Wrap your cloak around you and follow
me." 9 And he went out and
continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel
was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10 When they had passed the first and second
guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for
them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the
angel departed from him.”
We see from this story that Peter was in a trap for he was
in prison and was about to be killed, but we also see that Peter was sleeping
between two guards that he was chained to.
Satan was behind this, for in the first verses of this section we saw
that John’s brother James had been killed by the sword, and because this
pleased the Jews Herod had also put Peter into jail (the trap), and as we look
at this story we see the angel who actually brings light to the dark prison
cell wakes Peter up and causes him to escape from the trap. The question may arise as to why James had
been killed and Peter released, and the answer may be in two parts. It was obviously God’s will not to save James
from being killed, and it was His will not to have Peter killed at this
time. We see another answer to this
question from the 21st chapter of John Gospel, “18 "Truly, truly, I say to you, when you
were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when
you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you,
and bring you where you do not wish to go." 19 Now this He said, signifying by what kind of
death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He *said to him,
"Follow Me!’” Peter knew this
promise and I believe this is why he was able to fall asleep on the night
before he was supposed to die.
There is more to this story from chapter twelve of Acts, and
it kind of brings about poetic justice in my way of thinking. Herod begins this chapter by having James
killed and trying to kill Peter and as the chapter ends we read these words, “20
¶ Now he (Herod) was very angry with the
people of Tyre and Sidon; and with one accord they came to him, and having won
over Blastus the king’s chamberlain, they were asking for peace, because their
country was fed by the king’s country. 21
On an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his
seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them. 22 The people kept crying out, "The voice
of a god and not of a man!" 23 And
immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the
glory, and he was eaten by worms and died. 24 But the word of
the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.” Satan was using Herod to stop the growth of
the newly formed Church but in the end God had pulled Peter from the trap that
was set for him, and Herod was killed by the Lord, and the Word of the Lord continued
to grow and to multiply.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: “Our help is in the name of the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.” This is verse eight of Psalm 124 and this
verses shows me that if I am to be helped when sudden attacks come upon me that
my help must come from the Lord and that means that I am to be walking with Him
in order to understand more about these attacks and to trust Him to have His
perfect will worked out in my life. The
light of God’s Word has to shine upon me as I study it in order to make sure
that I see the attacks that Satan is throwing at me.
My Steps of Faith for
Today: Trust the Lord to teach me
more of His Word as I listen to it, as I read it, as I study it, as I memorize
it, and as I meditate upon it.
Memory verses for the week:
1Cor. 13:8-10
8 Love
never fails, but 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.
10/8/2012 10:46:16 AM
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