3/17/2012 10:01:45 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: God the Judge
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 59:1-17
Message of the verses: In today’s SD we will begin to look at the last part of Psalm 59 as we began it in yesterday’s SD.
“God the Judge” (vv. 10-17): “10 My God in His lovingkindness will meet me; God will let me look triumphantly upon my foes. 11 Do not slay them, or my people will forget; Scatter them by Your power, and bring them down, O Lord, our shield. 12 On account of the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips, Let them even be caught in their pride, And on account of curses and lies which they utter. 13 Destroy them in wrath, destroy them that they may be no more; That men may know that God rules in Jacob To the ends of the earth. Selah. 14 They return at evening, they howl like a dog, And go around the city. 15 They wander about for food And growl if they are not satisfied. 16 But as for me, I shall sing of Your strength; Yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the morning, For You have been my stronghold And a refuge in the day of my distress. 17 O my strength, I will sing praises to You; For God is my stronghold, the God who shows me lovingkindness.”
“10 In his unfailing love, my God will stand with me. He will let me look down in triumph on all my enemies. 11 Don’t kill them, for my people soon forget such lessons; stagger them with your power, and bring them to their knees, O Lord our shield. 12 Because of the sinful things they say, because of the evil that is on their lips, let them be captured by their pride, their curses, and their lies. 13 Destroy them in your anger! Wipe them out completely! Then the whole world will know that God reigns in Israel. Interlude 14 My enemies come out at night, snarling like vicious dogs as they prowl the streets. 15 They scavenge for food but go to sleep unsatisfied. 16 But as for me, I will sing about your power. Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love. For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress. 17 O my Strength, to you I sing praises, for you, O God, are my refuge, the God who shows me unfailing love.” (NLT)
Sometimes I have to go to the New Living Translation in order to better understand the passage that I am reading and that is why I have included both translations today. When you read what David has asked God to do to his enemy’s one must realize that David’s enemies were also God’s enemies, and because the Lord had called David’s line to bring into the world the Messiah, God was going to protect David and his line. Dr. Wiersbe writes “This was not a personal crusade on David’s part, for he asked God to fight the enemy for him (Romans 12:17-21)” “17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. 19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them Back,’’{#De 32:35.} 20 Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads. 21 Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.”
David wanted the Lord to destroy the Gentile nations as seen in verse 13, and his reason was that God’s victories bear witness to those who don’t know Him. However David did not ask God to kill Saul and his men, but to allow their sins to catch up with them and to consume them gradually. Others in Israel would see this and not follow down the same path. Saul and his men would be killed by the Philistines soon after Saul stooped so low as to go to a witch that she might bring up from the dead Samuel who told Saul that he would die the next day. (Now there are some commentators who do not believe that it was actually Samuel that the witch brought up, but what was said about Saul happened.)
I have mentioned that many believers today speak about the love of God, but neglect to talk about the justice of God. God has enemies and there is coming a day when all His enemies will be in the lake of fire. In the mean time we as believers must continue to sew the seed, which is the Word of God, the Gospel, and allow the Lord to do His miraculous work in the hearts of those who hear the Word, though not all people have the same kind of “soil” in their hearts, but we must leave that up to the Lord.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: David prayed for the Lord to deal with his enemies and David did not bring his wrath on them. As I look around this sin cursed world there are many that I see who seem to be enemies to the Lord and enemies to people, but we must pray that God will deal with them in His way and in His time.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Take precautions in my life so that I will be less tempted in certain areas of my life. I desire to continue to grow in my walk with the Lord, and this is done in the same way that I came to know the Lord, by grace through faith. Faith is increased by reading and studying the Word of God.
I desire to continue to learn contentment.
3/17/2012 10:35:16 AM
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