3/19/2012 9:55:44 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: 12 With God’s help we will do mighty things.
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 60
Message of the verses: Today’s SD will begin to look at the first part of Psalm 60.
“Abandonment—A Troubled People (vv. 1-5): “1 ¶ «For the choir director; according to Shushan Eduth. A Mikhtam of David, to teach; when he struggled with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and Joab returned, and smote twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.» O God, You have rejected us. You have broken us; You have been angry; O, restore us. 2 You have made the land quake, You have split it open; Heal its breaches, for it totters. 3 You have made Your people experience hardship; You have given us wine to drink that makes us stagger. 4 You have given a banner to those who fear You, That it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah. 5 That Your beloved may be delivered, Save with Your right hand, and answer us!”
“1 ¶ For the choir director: A psalm of David useful for teaching, regarding the time David fought Aram-naharaim and Aram-zobah, and Joab returned and killed 12,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. To be sung to the tune “Lily of the Testimony.’’! You have rejected us, O God, and broken our defenses. You have been angry with us; now restore us to your favor. 2 You have shaken our land and split it open. Seal the cracks, for the land trembles. 3 You have been very hard on us, making us drink wine that sent us reeling. 4 But you have raised a banner for those who fear you- a rallying point in the face of attack. Interlude 5 Now rescue your beloved people. Answer and save us by your power.” (NLT)
The first verse gives the background for the occasion of writing this psalm and we see that David and the army of Israel were in Syria fighting there when the Edomites came and attacked Israel so David sent Joab who was the commander of his army back to fight the Edomites while David stayed in Syria to fight against the Syrians. The valley of Salt is below the Dead Sea.
In verses 2-5 we see how upsetting it was for the people of Israel to be defeated by Edom, but because David was a man of faith and because David knew the covenant that God had made with Israel to protect Israel, David rallied around his faith in the Lord and trusted Him for victory. Verse four speaks of a banner and we find this is the name of the Lord, Jehovah Nissi—the Lord our Banner as found in Exodus 17:15. “Moses built an altar and named it The LORD is My Banner.”
“Encouragement—A Triumphant Message” (vv. 6-8): “6 ¶ God has spoken in His holiness: "I will exult, I will portion out Shechem and measure out the valley of Succoth. 7 "Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim also is the helmet of My head; Judah is My scepter. 8 "Moab is My washbowl; Over Edom I shall throw My shoe; Shout loud, O Philistia, because of Me!’”
“6 ¶ God has promised this by his holiness: “I will divide up Shechem with joy. I will measure out the valley of Succoth. 7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh, too. Ephraim, my helmet, will produce my warriors, and Judah, my scepter, will produce my kings. 8 But Moab, my washbasin, will become my servant, and I will wipe my feet on Edom and shout in triumph over Philistia.’” (NLT)
It is not told to us when David got this message from the Lord, but we know that David was a man of prayer and he also had one of the priests with him and so it is possible that when David heard of the attack of the Edomites that he asked the Lord how he was to respond and this was the answer he got from the Lord so David then sent Joab to fight against Edom.
We see in these verses a description of the land of Israel, a land that God had given to Israel. We see how the Lord divided up the land of Israel and these verses speak of Ephraim being the helmet for Ephraim was a strong tribe called to defend Israel and Judah was the tribe where the kings would come from, David being the first king out of the tribe of Judah. Genesis 49:10 says, “"The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” This was a prophecy given to Jacob from God. Jacob was about to die when he blessed all of his sons and the two sons of Joseph telling them about the future of their tribes. We see here that Messiah (Shiloh) would come from the tribe of Judah.
God describes Moab as a washbasin and Edom would be nothing more than a servant who cleaned dirty shoes. It must be remembered that Moab was the nation where David’s great-grandmother Ruth came from. See the last part of Ruth chapter 4.
“Enablement—A Trustworthy Lord” (vv. 9-12): “9 Who will bring me into the besieged city? Who will lead me to Edom? 10 Have not You Yourself, O God, rejected us? And will You not go forth with our armies, O God? 11 O give us help against the adversary, For deliverance by man is in vain. 12 Through God we shall do valiantly, And it is He who will tread down our adversaries.”
“9 Who will bring me into the fortified city? Who will bring me victory over Edom? 10 Have you rejected us, O God? Will you no longer march with our armies? 11 Oh, please help us against our enemies, for all human help is useless. 12 With God’s help we will do mighty things, for he will trample down our foes.”
Verse nine speaks of a fortified city, and this could be Petra which was the capital of Edom. This city was a city that was greatly fortified and it gave the Edomites a reason to brag about it, but God still destroyed them and one of the reasons was because of their arrogance. In the book of Revelations we see that God is going to hide Israel and many Bible Commentators believe that the place where this will be is in the city of Petra.
David believed that God would bring victory to Israel for David was not trusting in humans, but in the Lord.
I have mentioned that the background for this psalm is found in 2Samuel 8:1-14 and in verse thirteen of that section we read the following: “So David made a name for himself when he returned from killing 18,000 Arameans in the Valley of Salt.” It is not impossible that David was beginning to become proud and perhaps the Lord was using the defeat that came from Edom as something to humble him, but David being a man after God’s own heart would begin again to trust in the Lord as we see in these last verses of Psalm 60.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I want to focus in on the highlighted area from verse twelve which says “With God’s help we will do mighty things.” God has to be the One who does His work through us in order for God to be glorified. As a believer in Jesus Christ I have to totally depend upon the Holy Spirit of God to do something that will count for God and by doing things that count for the Lord He will then award me a crown or crowns when I get to heaven which the Bible says that all who receive these crowns will put them at the feet of Jesus Christ, for without Jesus Christ there would be nobody in heaven to receive any crowns. I must remember that I cannot do things on my own that will count for the Lord. David knew this.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I want to remember that I am a channel that the Lord uses to do His work through me. I want to continue to learn contentment.
3/19/2012 10:50:33 AM
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