SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
04/04/2012 7:45 AM
My Worship Time Focus: My God Reigns
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 68:19-35
Message of the verses: In today’s SD we will look at the next main point under the outline from Warren Wiersbe’s commentary and see if we can finish the commentary on Psalm 68. He wrote the following in his introductory commentary to aid his readers in understanding this psalm: “The psalm is a jubilant hymn of praise to Jehovah in which the nation of Israel gives four expressions of triumph through their God.”
Our God Is Dwelling with Us (vv. 19-27): “19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, The God who is our salvation. Selah. 20 God is to us a God of deliverances; And to GOD the Lord belong escapes from death. 21 Surely God will shatter the head of His enemies, The hairy crown of him who goes on in his guilty deeds.
“22 ¶ The Lord said, "I will bring them back from Bashan. I will bring them back from the depths of the sea; 23 That your foot may shatter them in blood, The tongue of your dogs may have its portion from your enemies." 24 They have seen Your procession, O God, The procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary. 25 The singers went on, the musicians after them, In the midst of the maidens beating tambourines. 26 Bless God in the congregations, Even the LORD, you who are of the fountain of Israel. 27 There is Benjamin, the youngest, ruling them, The princes of Judah in their throng, The princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.”
David sees the Lord God who dwells on Zion as a blessing to those who were in danger, and those who were burdened, for He is the God of Salvation. David is praising the Lord for His goodness to His people for keeping Israel from danger, escaping death as they fight against their enemies, which is who David is describing in verse 21, “The hairy crown” speaks of young warriors who were fighting against Israel.
God’s enemies may try to flee but He will bring them back so that they will be destroyed. God will bring them back from the tops of the mountains and from the depths of the sea, from the east (Bashan) and from the West (the sea). Amos speaks of a similar thing in Amos 9:1-3, “1 ¶ I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said, "Smite the capitals so that the thresholds will shake, And break them on the heads of them all! Then I will slay the rest of them with the sword; They will not have a fugitive who will flee, Or a refugee who will escape. 2 "Though they dig into Sheol, From there will My hand take them; And though they ascend to heaven, From there will I bring them down. 3 "Though they hide on the summit of Carmel, I will search them out and take them from there; And though they conceal themselves from My sight on the floor of the sea, From there I will command the serpent and it will bite them.” We can rest assured that none of the enemies of the Lord will escape when it comes time for their judgment. In verse 23 we see David speaking of the dogs having a portion of the enemies, and this not so pretty of a picture depicts a complete kind of judgment on an enemy as the dog’s lick up the blood of the enemy. This happened to the famous Jezebel when she was killed as seen in 2Kings 9:30-37.
Dr. Wiersbe writes “The King now receives the homage of His people who gladly say, ‘My God, My King’ (vv.24-27). Both men and women, lay people and priests, join in praising the Lord. Zion was situated at the border of Judah and Benjamin; David came from Judah and King Saul from Benjamin. As the youngest of the sons of Jacob, and perhaps as the tribe of Israel’s first king Benjamin leads the procession along with the leaders of Judah (representing the southern tribes), and the leaders of Zebulun and Naphtali (the northern tribes). Israel is a united people, praising the Lord. ‘Fountain of Israel’ (v. 26) refers to the Lord (NASB, and see 36:9) or the patriarchs, especially Jacob (AMP).”
Our God Receives Universal Tribute (vv. 28-35): “28 Your God has commanded your strength; Show Yourself strong, O God, who have acted on our behalf. 29 Because of Your temple at Jerusalem Kings will bring gifts to You. 30 Rebuke the beasts in the reeds, The herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples, Trampling under foot the pieces of silver; He has scattered the peoples who delight in war. 31 Envoys will come out of Egypt; Ethiopia will quickly stretch out her hands to God.
“32 ¶ Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth, Sing praises to the Lord, Selah. 33 To Him who rides upon the highest heavens, which are from ancient times; Behold, He speaks forth with His voice, a mighty voice. 34 Ascribe strength to God; His majesty is over Israel And His strength is in the skies. 35 O God, You are awesome from Your sanctuary. The God of Israel Himself gives strength and power to the people. Blessed be God!”
“ 28 Summon your might, O God. Display your power, O God, as you have in the past. 29 The kings of the earth are bringing tribute to your Temple in Jerusalem. 30 Rebuke these enemy nations- these wild animals lurking in the reeds, this herd of bulls among the weaker calves. Make them bring bars of silver in humble tribute. Scatter the nations that delight in war. 31 Let Egypt come with gifts of precious metals; let Ethiopia bow in submission to God.
“32 ¶ Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth. Sing praises to the Lord. Interlude 33 Sing to the one who rides across the ancient heavens, his mighty voice thundering from the sky. 34 Tell everyone about God’s power. His majesty shines down on Israel; his strength is mighty in the heavens. 35 God is awesome in his sanctuary. The God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!” (NLT)
We will see when we look at Isaiah 2:1-4 and Revelations 21:24 that this section of Psalm 68 has prophetic overtones as it describes the Gentile nations submitting to Jehovah, the God of Israel. “1 ¶ The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2 Now it will come about that In the last days The mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it. 3 And many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths." For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 4 And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war.” “24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.” I believe that the verses in Isaiah speak of the 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ on the earth, while the verse in Revelations speaks of the eternal kingdom of God. That verse is difficult to understand.
We know that there will be no peace on earth until the Prince of Peace reigns in Jerusalem which will take place after the tribulation period, which is described in Revelations 6-19. At that time there will be peace on earth for Satan will be bound along with his demons, and Christ will reign from Jerusalem and any wickedness will be dealt with instantly. The question is do you want to be a part of this kingdom? Do you want to reign with Jesus Christ in His earthy kingdom? You can if at this moment you confess that you are a sinner and then trust the Lord Jesus Christ as you personal Savior and Lord believing that He is the One who died in your place on the cross to take away yours sins. Just tell Him this and you too will be born from above and will have eternal life in Christ.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Knowing that Jesus Christ is in charge and will take care of my future and that I will be a part of His kingdom on earth ruling and reigning with Him gives me faith to believe that He will take care of me today and every day.
My Steps of Faith for Today: In all of life’s ups and downs I know that my Savior is in control and will continue to teach me contentment as I go through these ups and downs of life.
My prayers go up to the Lord for my mother who is sick and in the hospital. She is in the same hospital where she gave birth to me 65 years ago today and I pray that God will bring her back to good health soon.
4/4/2012 8:45:36 AM
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