3/11/2012 8:11:05 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: Walk by faith not by sight
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 56:5-13
Message of the verses: In yesterdays SD we began Psalm 56 and I wish to repeat the last sentence of Dr. Wiersbe’s introduction in order to better follow what will be written this morning: “In the midst of peril and fear (vv.3, 4, 11), David lifted three requests to the Lord and the Lord answered.” We looked at the first request yesterday.
“Deliver Me from Stumbling” (vv. 5-11): “5 All day long they distort my words; All their thoughts are against me for evil. 6 They attack, they lurk, They watch my steps, As they have waited to take my life. 7 Because of wickedness, cast them forth, In anger put down the peoples, O God!
“8 You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book? 9 Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call; This I know, that God is for me. 10 In God, whose word I praise, In the LORD, whose word I praise, 11 In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
Just another word of review, and that is this psalm was written, along with Psalm 34, when David went to the Philistine town of Gath and actually played crazy in order not to be killed by the Philistines. 1Samuel 21:10-22:1gives the story of the background.
We can see in verses 5-7 that David had a target on his back, for his enemies were watching him, making sure that he would not do anything that would cause more suspicion. David went there because he thought that Saul would not look for him, but he was walking by sight and not by faith. Dr. Wiersbe writes “Faith is living without scheming.” David was scheming in order to hide from Saul when he should have prayed to the Lord to see where He wanted him to go.
In verses 8-9 we see that David’s prayer to rid the enemies of Israel was a prayer that perhaps David prayed because he was tired of being in exile, which lasted for ten years, but the Lord knew all of David’s wonderings and was preparing him to be the rightful king that He had him anointed for years earlier when he was just a young man, perhaps a teenager. God was keeping all of David’s tears in a bottle, as sign that the Lord knew all that David was going through and would keep him from harm.
“Deliver Me so I can Praise You” (vv. 12-13): “12 Your vows are binding upon me, O God; I will render thank offerings to You. 13 For You have delivered my soul from death, Indeed my feet from stumbling, So that I may walk before God In the light of the living.”
Dr. Wiersbe explains the phrase “light of the living” “Light of the living’ cal also be translated ‘light of life,’ as the phrase used by Jesus in John 8:12. As we follow the Lord Jesus today, we enjoy fullness of life and the glorious light of His presence. We walk in the light.”
It was David’s desire to praise the Lord as seen in this section. David desired and vowed to make a thank offering to the Lord when his days of exile were over, and part of a thank offering can be shared with his family once it was offered.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: It is my desire to serve the Lord and to walk in His light, but like David there are times when I walk by sight and not by faith, and then like David I have to talk to the Lord and tell Him the error of my ways, even though I know that He already knows it. Walking by faith and not by sight is not an easy thing to do for there are times when I think that I can operate on autopilot, know what I think I am to do, when the Lord wants me to go in another direction.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1. Walk by faith and not by sight.
2. Trust the Lord to guide my steps.
3. Give myself to the Lord for worship and for service.
4. Do better in my prayer life.
5. Continue to learn contentment.
3/11/2012 8:39:29 AM
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