3/13/2012 10:01:47 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: Exalting the Lord
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 57:6-11
Message of the verses: We began Psalm 57 yesterday and covered the introduction and also the first section, verses 1-5 and today we want to look at the remaining two sections. Dr. Wiersbe write the following at the end of his introduction: “From his difficult experience in Gath, David shares with us some responsibilities (and privileges) believers have every day.”
“Each Day is a Day of Praise” (vv. 6-11): “6 They have prepared a net for my steps; My soul is bowed down; They dug a pit before me; They themselves have fallen into the midst of it. Selah. 7 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises! 8 Awake, my glory! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. 9 I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to You among the nations. 10 For Your lovingkindness is great to the heavens And Your truth to the clouds. 11 Be exalted above the heavens, O God; Let Your glory be above all the earth.”
One of the hymns that I like so well is a part of this psalm and is entitled “Be Exalted,” and you can see that it comes from verse eleven.
“I will give thanks to Thee
O Lord among the people
I will sing praises to Thee
among the nations
For Thy steadfast love is great
It is great to the heavens
And Thy faithfulness,
Thy faithfulness to the clouds
“Be exalted, O God, above the heavens
Let Thy glory be over all the earth
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens
Let Thy glory be over all the earth
“Be exalted, O God, above the heavens
Let Thy glory be over all the earth
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens
Let Thy glory, let Thy glory
Let Thy glory be over all the earth.”
O Lord among the people
I will sing praises to Thee
among the nations
For Thy steadfast love is great
It is great to the heavens
And Thy faithfulness,
Thy faithfulness to the clouds
“Be exalted, O God, above the heavens
Let Thy glory be over all the earth
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens
Let Thy glory be over all the earth
“Be exalted, O God, above the heavens
Let Thy glory be over all the earth
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens
Let Thy glory, let Thy glory
Let Thy glory be over all the earth.”
Dr. Wiersbe writes this about the order of this psalm: “In verses 1-5, the order is prayer (v.1), witness (vv. 2-3) and a description of the enemy (v.4), followed by the refrain, but in this section the order is the enemy (v. 6), witness to the Lord (vv. 7-8), and praise (vv. 9-11), with praise as the emphasis.”
Now that we know the order we will look at these verses and tie the in with praise. We can see in verse six that David is comparing his enemies with hunters who were hunting him as their prey. Then, because of his confidence and faith in the Lord David has great reason to praise the Lord in verses 7-11. David had been through many difficult situations and his confidence and faith in the Lord had grown and so he knew that he could praise the Lord even while in this difficult situation. When you read about David’s experiences in 1Samuel, experiences of being on the run we do not get all of what was going on inside of David’s heart. When we read the psalms that go along with this ten year period of being on the run we can better understand how much David learned and leaned upon the Lord during this difficult time in his life. We see this time of testing that turns into trusting not only in David’s life, but also in Abraham’s life and Moses’ life and also in the life of Joseph. We can even see a wilderness testing for our Lord Jesus Christ from Mark1 and also the 4th chapters of Matthew and Luke.
Let us talk about “My heart is steadfast” and the word steadfast. Dr. Wiersbe states “that a steadfast heart is a heart that is fixed on the Lord’s promises and not wavering between doubt and faith (Ps. 51:10; 108:1; 112:7; 119:5). This same word is used to describe the constancy of the heavenly bodies (Ps. 8:3; 74:16).”
The prayer is a prayer that seems to last throughout the day as it begins by David actually praising the Lord at dawn. I know that there is a verse in 1Thes. that tells us to “pray without ceasing” which in theory is probably what David was doing. I believe the this verse means to have an attitude of prayer all of the time which is what David was doing at this time.
“Each Day Is a Day of Exalting the Lord” (vv. 5 & 11): “5 Be exalted above the heavens, O God; Let Your glory be above all the earth. 11 Be exalted above the heavens, O God; Let Your glory be above all the earth.”
These two verses are the refrain of Psalm 57 and “they call upon the Lord to manifest His greatness in such a way that people had to say, ‘This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.’”
Dr. Wiersbe writes these concluding words at the end of his commentary, “If we are praying, trusting, and praising the Lord, we should have no problem exalting His name in all that we say, do, and suffer.” “The elements of prayer, praise, and a desire for God to be magnified will transform any cave into a Holy of Holies to the glory of God.”
As I look at the life of David I am able to see why David is a man after God’s own heart, and a man that I have great admiration for.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I want to focus in on “a steadfast heart” in this section. This has spoken to my heart because I believe that a person who has a desire to have contentment must have a heart that is steadfast in the Lord, believing all of the promises that are found in the Word of God, and not being what James calls as a double minded man.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1. I desire to have a steadfast heart in the Lord.
2. I desire to continue to learn contentment.
3/13/2012 11:23:03 AM
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