12/13/2011 2:18:22 PM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm 1 PT-3
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 1:4-6
Message of the verses: We will begin the last section of Psalm 1 which is the last two verses of the Psalm. Dr. Wiersbe entitles this last section “The Person Who Needs a Blessing (vs. 4-6).” “4 ¶ The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. 6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish.”
Let’s begin by looking at how John the Baptist used the images of tree, fruit and also chaff to describe unbelievers from Matthew’s Gospel 3:7-12: “7 ¶ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 "Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; 9 and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ’We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. 10 "The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 "As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 "His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.’”
John says that the chaff will be burned up with fire, and this pictures hell, which is where those who have not accepted the Lord’s forgiveness will end up.
This last part of Psalm one is speaking about ungodly people, people that we as believers have an opportunity to wittiness to for the sake of the Gospel. When we think about chaff and how close it is to the grain, the part that is used for food, the part that does not get thrown into the fire we can think that in the illustration of wheat and chaff that the believers are the wheat, close to the chaff and therefore close to having an opportunity to speak to them about the Lord.
There is a parable in the book of Matthew where the Lord Jesus tells about a farmer who has planted his wheat and then an enemy comes out to his field and plants a weed called darnel which looks just like wheat until it grows into maturity and then there are no heads of wheat on it. The servants of the farmer wanted to go out and try and pull the weeds out, but the farmer said no because they might pull out some of the wheat and thus destroy it. There is coming a day when the Righteous Judge will separate the wheat from this darnel, the sheep from the goats, and the trees from the chaff and there will be no unbeliever who will be able to stand.
Dr. Wiersbe speaks of the word “know” that is found in verse six where it says “the Lord knows the way of the righteous” and has this to say about that word: “The verb know in verse 6 doesn’t mean that God is aware of them intellectually and has the godly in his mind. Rather, it means that God has chosen them and providentially watched over them and brought them finally to His glory. The word ‘know’ is used, as in Amos 3:2, to mean ‘to chose, to enter into covenant relationship with, to be personally acquainted with.’”
We see that this Psalm starts out with blessing, but it ends up with the ungodly to be cursed. As believers we have great opportunity to pass on the blessing that we have received from the Lord when He saved us and pass on that blessing. “3 ¶ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10 with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him 11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, 12 to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. 13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.” (Blessing from the Lord as told about in the letter to the Ephesians, 1:3-14)
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Sometimes when we receive gifts or blessing we don’t want to share them with others, but that is not what a believer should do, for believers are to share the blessings and gifts from the Lord so that they do not become idols in their lives. I need to practice the passing on of blessings to others in my life.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1. Pass on the gifts that the Giver has given to me so that I can be a better steward of the things that the Lord has blessed me with.
2. Continue to learn contentment.
12/13/2011 2:57:02 PM
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