SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
5/31/2012 8:51:02 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Be Humble
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 1Peter 5:5-7
Message of the verses: My Spiritual Diaries have taken a new course for a little bit as I study some passages in the NT. My desire is to finish studying the book of 1Peter which I began sometime in 2003, but did not finish my study. I seemed to need a break from the book of Psalms as I have been studying it since December of 2011.
In Dr. Warren Wiersbe commentary on First Peter, which he entitles “Be Hopeful” he writes the following from the twelfth chapter, which he entitles “From Grace to Glory, “ Peter knew that a ‘fiery trial’ was about to occur, and he wanted the entire church family to be prepared. As he closed his letter, Peter gave the church three important admonitions to obey if they were to glorify God in this difficult experience.”
Be Humble (1Peter 5:5-7): “5 ¶ You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”
“5 ¶ Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” (ESV)
I wrote in yesterday’s SD about a crisis that I was and to some degree am still facing, and for reasons only known to the Lord, and I suppose that His providence has a lot to do with it, this portion of Scripture seems to follow well with what I wrote about in yesterday’s SD. I can say that I am thankful for the Lord guiding me to this passage on this day. I have been mentioning in my “Steps of Faith for Today” that my desire is to remain or abide in the Vine, and when I do this the Lord has promised to bring into my life what He desires that will help me grow and bring glory to the Lord.
When we look back at earlier verses in 1Peter we will see that Peter writes about submission, being submissive to government authorities in 1Peter 2:13-17, and then he writes about slaves being submissive to their masters in 1Peter 2:18-25. Since we live in a world where there are not a lot of slaves this passage can surely apply to workers being submissive to their bosses. Peter writes about wives being submissive to their husbands in 1Peter 3:1-7, and now he writes about younger people being submissive to their elders and actually writes about all believers be submissive to God and to each other. I know that this can be scary stuff to be submissive to others, but I believe that there is a wonderful example in the trinity. Was not the Lord Jesus Christ submissive to His Father in coming to earth to purchase those who would believe by paying for their sins? Was not the Holy Spirit submissive to the Lord Jesus Christ in being such a wonderful part of all who believe in Jesus Christ by bringing them into the Church? When we study the trinity we realize that it is a difficult subject to wrap our arms around, for we worship One God in three persons. It is something we have to take by faith. However we know that the Three Persons who make up the trinity are all God and One is not more God than the other even though there is submission involved in the trinity.
Now just because a believer is older in age does not mean that he is more mature in the Lord. Dr. Wiersbe writes “Too often there is a generation war in the church, with the older people resisting change, and the younger people resisting the older people!” I know that this statement is true for I found it necessary to leave a church after being there for over 32 years and the reason that I felt it necessary to leave was for reasons that Dr. Wiersbe stated.
What is the solution to this difference of opinions between the younger believers and the older generation? The solution is twofold and begins with having all believers both young and old being submissive to each other and the second thing is that all should be submissive to God. Humility is the answer and when we look at the example of Jesus Christ laying aside His outer garments to wash the feet of His disciples we get a picture of what true humility is. When we read Philippians 2:5-11 we see what true humility is: “5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (ESV) Dr. Wiersbe writes “Humility is not demeaning ourselves and thinking poorly of ourselves. It is simply not thinking of ourselves at all!” I have also heard that a good definition of humility is “power under control.” When we look at the humility of Jesus Christ from the passage in Philippians we can surely see that.
How can we truly be submissive to other? First we have to be submissive to God. Peter along with James in James 4:6 quotes Proverbs 3:34 in order to defend his point. God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to those who are humble. We don’t see the word “grace” in the OT too often. In the NASB95 version the word “grace” is found only eight times, and in the AV it is found 37 times. Dr. Wiersbe writes “It takes grace to submit to another believer, but God can give that grace if we humble ourselves before Him.”
What is the antidote to pride? It is grace, and we receive that grace when we yield ourselves to the Lord. We will see an evidence of that grace in us when we yield to others, something in and of ourselves is a difficult thing to do.
I want to go to a verse that helps me in circumstances like we are discussing from this passage and that is Colossians 2:6, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,.” Now let us look at Ephesians 2:8-9 which tells us how we were saved and then we can apply those verses to Colossians 2:6 to see how were to walk: “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Paul is saying that our salvation is a gift of God given to us by God so that we have nothing to boast about. God gives us the faith in order for us to believe the grace is a gift from God. How then are we to live the Christian life? We live it by grace through faith. Grace is God giving us something we can never earn and we don’t deserve, but God gives it to us. Dr. Wiersbe writes that “submission is an act of faith. We are trusting God to direct in our lives and to work out His purposes in His time.” We see a connection with submission, grace and faith. Humanly speaking it is a great risk to be submissive to others, but this is where it takes faith to obey the Lord. We have examples other than Jesus that are found in the Scriptures to give us encouragement. Moses is a good example for God led him into the wilderness and he was submissive to the Lord for 40 years before He used Moses to led Israel out of Egypt. Joseph was submissive to the Lord for over 13 years as He taught Joseph how to rule in Egypt. David ran from Saul for ten years, hiding in caves and writing many psalms before the Lord placed him on the throne of Israel. They all were submissive to the Lord as the Lord humbled them before lifting them up. “6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time.” (1Peter 5:6)
Dr. Wiersbe writes “One of the benefits of this kind of relationship with God is the privilege of letting Him take care of our burdens Unless we meet the conditions laid down in 1Peter 5:5-6, we cannot claim the wonderful promise of 1Peter 5:7. The word translated ‘care’ (AV) means anxiety, the state of being pulled apart.’ When circumstances are difficult, it is easy for us to be anxious and worried; but if we are, we will miss God’s blessing and become poor witness to the lost. We need His inward peace if we are going to triumph in the fiery trial and being glory to His name.”
This next statement from Dr. Wiersbe is very important to remember: “According to 1Peter 5:7, we must once and for all give all of our cares—past, present, and future—to the Lord. We must not hand them to Him piecemeal, keeping those cares that we think we can handle ourselves. If we keep ‘the little cares’ for ourselves, they will become big problems! Each time a new burden arises, we must by faith remind the Lord (and ourselves) that we have already turned it over to Him.”
At the end of his commentary on this section Dr. Wiersbe explains how God shows His love and care for us when we give our cares to Him. “(1) He gives us the courage to face our cares honestly and not run away (Isa. 41:10. (2) He gives us the wisdom to understand the situation (James 1:5). (3) He gives us the strength to do what we must do (Phil. 4:13). And (4) He gives us the faith to trust Him to do the rest (Psalm 37:5). Some people give God their burdens and expect Him to do everything! It is important that we let Him work in us as well as work for us so that we will be prepared when the answer comes, ‘Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee’ Psalm s55:22).”
My Steps of Faith for Today: I wish once and for all give all of my burdens, past, present, and future to the Lord, and pray that the Spirit of God will remind me when I want to take care of them by myself. I believe that if I remember that Jesus is the Vine and I am the branch and I submit to Him in order for Him to produce fruit through me then I will remember to cast my cares on Him.
My Steps of Faith for Today: “casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”
5/31/2012 11:01:47 AM
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Jesus Stills the Storm (Mark 6:45-56)
SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
5/30/2012 8:22:27 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The stilling of the storm
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Mark 6:45-56
Message of the verses: In the SD that was done yesterday we looked at the last main point from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary on Mark and covered the first sub-point under it. He calls this last main point “The Unbelief of His Disciples” and we looked at “The feeding of the 5,000” yesterday. Today we move on to the last twelve verses in the sixth chapter of Mark.
The stilling of the storm (vv. 45-56): “45 ¶ Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away. 46 After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray. 47 When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. 48 Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night He *came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them. 49 But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out; 50 for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and *said to them, "Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid." 51 Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, 52 for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened. 53 When they had crossed over they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored to the shore. 54 When they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, 55 and ran about that whole country and began to carry here and there on their pallets those who were sick, to the place they heard He was. 56 Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured.” (NASB 95)
When we look at this section of Scripture along with companion passages from Matthew and John we see some very powerful miracles done. Jesus walking on the water is seen in this section, while Peter walking on the water is seen in the other gospels. We also see the calming of the storm by Jesus and in John ‘s Gospel we see a miracle that is not seen in any of the other Gospels, and that is that as soon as Jesus got into the boat they immediately got to shore. I have often wondered if it was because Peter had influence in Mark’s Gospel that the incident of Peter walking on the water and then losing faith and was about to drown before Jesus saved him, was not covered by Mark. When I think of that part of the story I think that there were twelve men in the boat, but only Peter had enough faith to get out of the boat and walk on the water. Just think that there are only two men who have walked on water, Jesus and Peter.
Why Jesus sent His disciple away is a question that we do not have an answer to, but we know that it was in the will of Jesus to send them out into the storm. Perhaps it was because the crowds were trying to take Jesus and make Him their king for reasons stated in yesterday’s SD, or perhaps it was a lesson in faith because of the spiritual high that they were on after being sent out to do miracles and preach and also to be a part of the feeding of the 5000. Jesus had His reasons and they are always perfect. Jesus spent much time praying for them before He came to them.
This is a good time to write how much this passage means to me. I once heard a missionary friend of mine preach a sermon on this passage along with the companion passages found in the other Gospels. He entitled his message “Blessings in the Storms of Life,” and the message to me was like the Lord preaching it to me. There was a great crisis in my life, a crisis that still affects me some nine years later, but God has plans for me in that crisis to bring about blessings and it was from that message that I knew that God was at work in this crisis. My friend had six points to his message that day and although I don’t remember all of them, though I have a copy of the message on tape, I do remember that Jesus sent His disciple out into the storm and then He prayed for them while they were in the storm. Jesus then came to them in the storm and calmed the storm, and then Jesus got them to the place where He had told them to go, but they were not able to get there on their own. As I went through the first part of this crisis the Lord saw fit for me to tell some of my neighbors how they can gain eternal life and I saw 18 people accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. One of them is now with the Lord in heaven. That blessing is still going on as there have been others who have gotten saved since that time. What a blessing the Lord gave to me in a great crisis. I took some time to disciple these people that the Lord saved and I believe that most of them are walking with the Lord at this time.
Dr. Wiersbe writes on spiritual highs, which is what the disciples of Jesus were on before He sent them out into the storm. “They were on a ‘spiritual high’ and this in itself was dangerous. It is good to be on the mountaintop if you don’t get careless and step off a cliff. Spiritual blessings must be balanced with burdens and battles; otherwise, we may become pampered children instead of mature sons and daughters.” Dr. Wiersbe also points out of another storm found in Mark 4:35-41 that Jesus saw His disciples through. He then points out something interesting and that is when we look at the book of Acts we do not find persecution begin until after 5000 people had been saved. Perhaps the disciples remembered and were encouraged as they thought about this incident and how the Lord saw them through this storm.
Dr. Wiersbe writes “Each new experience of testing demands of us more faith and courage. In that first storm experience, the disciples had Jesus in the boat with them; but this time, He was on the mountain praying for them. He was teaching them to live by faith. (For that matter, even when He was in the ship with them, they were still afraid!) The scene illustrates the situation of God’s people today: We are in the midst of this stormy world, toiling and seemingly ready to sink, but He is in glory interceding for us. When the hour seems the darkest, He will come to us—and we will reach shore!” After reading then the writing these words from Dr. Wiersbe I can assure you that they are true because of the crisis I was in and in some degree am still in.
What does this mean: “and He intended to pass by them.” Jesus wanted them to recognize Him, and He wanted them to invite Him into the boat, and He wanted them to trust His so that their faith would be increased.
Verse 52 states: “for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.” I mentioned yesterday that this verse sticks out to me like no other verse in this entire chapter. What is it all about? “The miracle of the loaves and fishes had made no lasting impression on them. After all if Jesus could multiply food and feed thousands of people, then surely He could protect them in the storm. Even a disciple of Jesus Christ can develop a hard heart if he fails to respond to the spiritual lessons that must be learned in the course of life and ministry.” (Warren Wiersbe)
Let’s look at these miracles in view of Psalm 23 verses one and four: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” These two verses show us that Jesus brings protection and provision to those who are His own and these two miracles that Jesus did in the last part of Mark 6 show us this.
In the last few verses we see that Mark ends this chapter on a positive note as he writes about what Jesus did for the people that were at Gennesaret, as He healed their sick, all of their sick.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I mentioned the fond memories that I have from this section of Scripture and the Lord Jesus Christ has given provision and protection to me through the crisis. Protection from the crisis does not mean that it was life threatening to me in a physical sense. God is faithful!
My Steps of Faith for Today: My desire is to remain (abide) in the Vine so that I can be used of the Lord.
5/30/2012 9:35:44 AM
5/30/2012 8:22:27 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The stilling of the storm
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Mark 6:45-56
Message of the verses: In the SD that was done yesterday we looked at the last main point from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary on Mark and covered the first sub-point under it. He calls this last main point “The Unbelief of His Disciples” and we looked at “The feeding of the 5,000” yesterday. Today we move on to the last twelve verses in the sixth chapter of Mark.
The stilling of the storm (vv. 45-56): “45 ¶ Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away. 46 After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray. 47 When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. 48 Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night He *came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them. 49 But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out; 50 for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and *said to them, "Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid." 51 Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, 52 for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened. 53 When they had crossed over they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored to the shore. 54 When they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, 55 and ran about that whole country and began to carry here and there on their pallets those who were sick, to the place they heard He was. 56 Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured.” (NASB 95)
When we look at this section of Scripture along with companion passages from Matthew and John we see some very powerful miracles done. Jesus walking on the water is seen in this section, while Peter walking on the water is seen in the other gospels. We also see the calming of the storm by Jesus and in John ‘s Gospel we see a miracle that is not seen in any of the other Gospels, and that is that as soon as Jesus got into the boat they immediately got to shore. I have often wondered if it was because Peter had influence in Mark’s Gospel that the incident of Peter walking on the water and then losing faith and was about to drown before Jesus saved him, was not covered by Mark. When I think of that part of the story I think that there were twelve men in the boat, but only Peter had enough faith to get out of the boat and walk on the water. Just think that there are only two men who have walked on water, Jesus and Peter.
Why Jesus sent His disciple away is a question that we do not have an answer to, but we know that it was in the will of Jesus to send them out into the storm. Perhaps it was because the crowds were trying to take Jesus and make Him their king for reasons stated in yesterday’s SD, or perhaps it was a lesson in faith because of the spiritual high that they were on after being sent out to do miracles and preach and also to be a part of the feeding of the 5000. Jesus had His reasons and they are always perfect. Jesus spent much time praying for them before He came to them.
This is a good time to write how much this passage means to me. I once heard a missionary friend of mine preach a sermon on this passage along with the companion passages found in the other Gospels. He entitled his message “Blessings in the Storms of Life,” and the message to me was like the Lord preaching it to me. There was a great crisis in my life, a crisis that still affects me some nine years later, but God has plans for me in that crisis to bring about blessings and it was from that message that I knew that God was at work in this crisis. My friend had six points to his message that day and although I don’t remember all of them, though I have a copy of the message on tape, I do remember that Jesus sent His disciple out into the storm and then He prayed for them while they were in the storm. Jesus then came to them in the storm and calmed the storm, and then Jesus got them to the place where He had told them to go, but they were not able to get there on their own. As I went through the first part of this crisis the Lord saw fit for me to tell some of my neighbors how they can gain eternal life and I saw 18 people accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. One of them is now with the Lord in heaven. That blessing is still going on as there have been others who have gotten saved since that time. What a blessing the Lord gave to me in a great crisis. I took some time to disciple these people that the Lord saved and I believe that most of them are walking with the Lord at this time.
Dr. Wiersbe writes on spiritual highs, which is what the disciples of Jesus were on before He sent them out into the storm. “They were on a ‘spiritual high’ and this in itself was dangerous. It is good to be on the mountaintop if you don’t get careless and step off a cliff. Spiritual blessings must be balanced with burdens and battles; otherwise, we may become pampered children instead of mature sons and daughters.” Dr. Wiersbe also points out of another storm found in Mark 4:35-41 that Jesus saw His disciples through. He then points out something interesting and that is when we look at the book of Acts we do not find persecution begin until after 5000 people had been saved. Perhaps the disciples remembered and were encouraged as they thought about this incident and how the Lord saw them through this storm.
Dr. Wiersbe writes “Each new experience of testing demands of us more faith and courage. In that first storm experience, the disciples had Jesus in the boat with them; but this time, He was on the mountain praying for them. He was teaching them to live by faith. (For that matter, even when He was in the ship with them, they were still afraid!) The scene illustrates the situation of God’s people today: We are in the midst of this stormy world, toiling and seemingly ready to sink, but He is in glory interceding for us. When the hour seems the darkest, He will come to us—and we will reach shore!” After reading then the writing these words from Dr. Wiersbe I can assure you that they are true because of the crisis I was in and in some degree am still in.
What does this mean: “and He intended to pass by them.” Jesus wanted them to recognize Him, and He wanted them to invite Him into the boat, and He wanted them to trust His so that their faith would be increased.
Verse 52 states: “for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.” I mentioned yesterday that this verse sticks out to me like no other verse in this entire chapter. What is it all about? “The miracle of the loaves and fishes had made no lasting impression on them. After all if Jesus could multiply food and feed thousands of people, then surely He could protect them in the storm. Even a disciple of Jesus Christ can develop a hard heart if he fails to respond to the spiritual lessons that must be learned in the course of life and ministry.” (Warren Wiersbe)
Let’s look at these miracles in view of Psalm 23 verses one and four: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” These two verses show us that Jesus brings protection and provision to those who are His own and these two miracles that Jesus did in the last part of Mark 6 show us this.
In the last few verses we see that Mark ends this chapter on a positive note as he writes about what Jesus did for the people that were at Gennesaret, as He healed their sick, all of their sick.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I mentioned the fond memories that I have from this section of Scripture and the Lord Jesus Christ has given provision and protection to me through the crisis. Protection from the crisis does not mean that it was life threatening to me in a physical sense. God is faithful!
My Steps of Faith for Today: My desire is to remain (abide) in the Vine so that I can be used of the Lord.
5/30/2012 9:35:44 AM
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Jesus Feeds The 5000 (Mark 6:30-45)
SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
5/29/2012 10:20:10 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The feeding of the 5000
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Mark 6:30-44
Message of the verses: In his commentary on Mark 6:30-56 Dr. Wiersbe entitles his main point “The Unbelief of His Disciples.” This entire chapter focuses in on unbelief and we have mentioned in earlier SD’s how powerful unbelief can be. When a person becomes a believer in Jesus Christ they receive Him by grace through faith, accepting Him as their Savior and Lord. When people reject Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord they are called unbelievers and we pointed out that there are only two types of people on planet earth, those who believe and those who do not believe and so both belief and unbelief are very powerful entities. John the Baptist has this to say about those who believe and those who don’t: “"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."
“30 ¶ The apostles *gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught. 31 And He *said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while." (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.) 32 They went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves.” (Mark 6:30-32)
In the last SD from Mark 6 we remarked that Mark has a favorite way of writing and we called it a sandwich because he begins a story and then in the middle of it brings another story in and then goes back to finish the first story. After Jesus visited Nazareth for the second time and was amazed again at the unbelief of those whom He grew up with Mark begins the story of Jesus sending out the twelve disciples to go into the surrounding towns and villages to teach about the kingdom of God. This was kind of like a trial run for when Jesus would go back to His Father the disciples would be going out to preach and teach all around the known world. Of course the apostle Paul would be a part of this group who would turn the world upside down by their teaching about the way of salvation through the resurrected Lord.
When His disciples came back to Him, Jesus wanted them to get away for a little R & R or rest and relaxation. This is needed for people who have had a difficult task to perform or else they can become burned out. I remember at my work that I was in charge of a job that was new and I worked a lot of overtime to accomplish the job. When the job was accomplished I was very tired from all of the stress of accomplishing the job and so I took my family on a vacation for a couple of weeks in order to get away and rest. Jesus wanted a do a similar thing for His disciples because the work of the ministry is difficult and they needed a rest, but it did not happen. Dr. Wiersbe writes “Having experienced interruptions many times in my own life and ministry, I marvel at His patience and grace! What an example for us to follow.”
“33 The people saw them going, and many recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the cities, and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things. 35 When it was already quite late, His disciples came to Him and said, "This place is desolate and it is already quite late; 36 send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat." 37 But He answered them, "You give them something to eat!" And they *said to Him, "Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread and give them something to eat?" 38 And He *said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go look!" And when they found out, they *said, "Five, and two fish." 39 And He commanded them all to sit down by groups on the green grass. 40 They sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. 41 And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves and He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them; and He divided up the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied, 43 and they picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces, and also of the fish. 44 There were five thousand men who ate the loaves.” (Mark 6:33-45)
I want to remark on the word “eat” for it is found in verse 32 showing that the disciples along with Jesus did not have time to eat because they were so busy, and then we also see this word in verses 36 and two times in verse 37 when the subject was on the crowd not having anything to eat and also on Jesus telling them to give them something to eat.
At the beginning of this story we saw that Jesus send His disciples out to the towns and villages in order to show compassion on them because His disciples were to teach them about the kingdom of God and now in this section we see the crowds coming to Jesus and Jesus saw them as “sheep without a shepherd,” but His disciples saw them as a problem or even a nuisance and thus they wanted Him to send them away so that they could get something to eat. There was a lesson here for Jesus disciples and according to verse 52 they did not learn that lesson, “for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.” I have read or listened to this chapter many times in the past month or so and verse 52 stands out to me like none of the other verses. Jesus sends His disciples out to teach and to tell others about the kingdom of God, but He also empowers them to do miracles, even to raise the dead. I think that it is in Luke’s Gospel that we learn from those Jesus had sent out that they tell Him that even the demons obeyed their commands. They were doing powerful miracles, but when it came to this crowd they wanted Jesus to send them away. I have thought about this section of Scripture many times and what I came up with is that Jesus wanted His disciples to step out in faith and do something that they were empowered to do when He sent them out, but none of them believed that they could do anything like that. I wonder if there is something in my life that the Lord wants me to do for the cause of Christ that because of unbelief I am not doing.
The disciples looked at the problem in two different ways, first they suggested sending them away to buy food for themselves, and second to raise the money to buy the food. Dr. Wiersbe writes “With that kind of approach, they would have made ideal committee members! Someone has defined a committee as a group of people who individually can do nothing and collectively decide that nothing can be done.” Jesus looked at this as an opportunity to seek help from His Father so that His Father would be glorified. Dr. Wiersbe writes “An effective leader is someone who sees potential in problems and is willing to act by faith. Acting on the basis of human wisdom, His disciples saw the problem but not the potential. How many times God’s people have complained, ‘If we only had enough money, we could do something!’ Two hundred pence (denarii) would be the equivalent of a year’s wages for the average laborer! The first step is not to measure our resources, but to determine God’s will and trust Him to meet the need.”
In John’s Gospel we learn that it was Andrew who found the young man with the food and brought it to Jesus and then Jesus multiplied the fish and the loaves in order to feed 5000 men along with women and children. How thoughtful it was for the young man to bring his lunch and how generous it was of him to give it to Jesus. Jesus is the creator of all the universe and so it would have been not problem for Him to multiply the fish and the loaves through the power of the Holy Spirit who was also part of the creation.
We also find out from John’s Gospel that the people did appreciate the miracle, and even wanted to make Him king at this point, but they missed the spiritual message. They must have thought that to have a King who could provide food for an army and raise the dead when someone gets killed that they could surely defeat the Romans. His enemies must have thoughr about this too.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Lord please don’t let my faith waver and allow me to bring something small to You that You can use for the cause of Christ and the Glory of the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Remain or abide in the Vine so that I can be used by the Lord to glorify the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit.
5/29/2012 11:19:41 AM
5/29/2012 10:20:10 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The feeding of the 5000
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Mark 6:30-44
Message of the verses: In his commentary on Mark 6:30-56 Dr. Wiersbe entitles his main point “The Unbelief of His Disciples.” This entire chapter focuses in on unbelief and we have mentioned in earlier SD’s how powerful unbelief can be. When a person becomes a believer in Jesus Christ they receive Him by grace through faith, accepting Him as their Savior and Lord. When people reject Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord they are called unbelievers and we pointed out that there are only two types of people on planet earth, those who believe and those who do not believe and so both belief and unbelief are very powerful entities. John the Baptist has this to say about those who believe and those who don’t: “"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."
“30 ¶ The apostles *gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught. 31 And He *said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while." (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.) 32 They went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves.” (Mark 6:30-32)
In the last SD from Mark 6 we remarked that Mark has a favorite way of writing and we called it a sandwich because he begins a story and then in the middle of it brings another story in and then goes back to finish the first story. After Jesus visited Nazareth for the second time and was amazed again at the unbelief of those whom He grew up with Mark begins the story of Jesus sending out the twelve disciples to go into the surrounding towns and villages to teach about the kingdom of God. This was kind of like a trial run for when Jesus would go back to His Father the disciples would be going out to preach and teach all around the known world. Of course the apostle Paul would be a part of this group who would turn the world upside down by their teaching about the way of salvation through the resurrected Lord.
When His disciples came back to Him, Jesus wanted them to get away for a little R & R or rest and relaxation. This is needed for people who have had a difficult task to perform or else they can become burned out. I remember at my work that I was in charge of a job that was new and I worked a lot of overtime to accomplish the job. When the job was accomplished I was very tired from all of the stress of accomplishing the job and so I took my family on a vacation for a couple of weeks in order to get away and rest. Jesus wanted a do a similar thing for His disciples because the work of the ministry is difficult and they needed a rest, but it did not happen. Dr. Wiersbe writes “Having experienced interruptions many times in my own life and ministry, I marvel at His patience and grace! What an example for us to follow.”
“33 The people saw them going, and many recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the cities, and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things. 35 When it was already quite late, His disciples came to Him and said, "This place is desolate and it is already quite late; 36 send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat." 37 But He answered them, "You give them something to eat!" And they *said to Him, "Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread and give them something to eat?" 38 And He *said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go look!" And when they found out, they *said, "Five, and two fish." 39 And He commanded them all to sit down by groups on the green grass. 40 They sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. 41 And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves and He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them; and He divided up the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied, 43 and they picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces, and also of the fish. 44 There were five thousand men who ate the loaves.” (Mark 6:33-45)
I want to remark on the word “eat” for it is found in verse 32 showing that the disciples along with Jesus did not have time to eat because they were so busy, and then we also see this word in verses 36 and two times in verse 37 when the subject was on the crowd not having anything to eat and also on Jesus telling them to give them something to eat.
At the beginning of this story we saw that Jesus send His disciples out to the towns and villages in order to show compassion on them because His disciples were to teach them about the kingdom of God and now in this section we see the crowds coming to Jesus and Jesus saw them as “sheep without a shepherd,” but His disciples saw them as a problem or even a nuisance and thus they wanted Him to send them away so that they could get something to eat. There was a lesson here for Jesus disciples and according to verse 52 they did not learn that lesson, “for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.” I have read or listened to this chapter many times in the past month or so and verse 52 stands out to me like none of the other verses. Jesus sends His disciples out to teach and to tell others about the kingdom of God, but He also empowers them to do miracles, even to raise the dead. I think that it is in Luke’s Gospel that we learn from those Jesus had sent out that they tell Him that even the demons obeyed their commands. They were doing powerful miracles, but when it came to this crowd they wanted Jesus to send them away. I have thought about this section of Scripture many times and what I came up with is that Jesus wanted His disciples to step out in faith and do something that they were empowered to do when He sent them out, but none of them believed that they could do anything like that. I wonder if there is something in my life that the Lord wants me to do for the cause of Christ that because of unbelief I am not doing.
The disciples looked at the problem in two different ways, first they suggested sending them away to buy food for themselves, and second to raise the money to buy the food. Dr. Wiersbe writes “With that kind of approach, they would have made ideal committee members! Someone has defined a committee as a group of people who individually can do nothing and collectively decide that nothing can be done.” Jesus looked at this as an opportunity to seek help from His Father so that His Father would be glorified. Dr. Wiersbe writes “An effective leader is someone who sees potential in problems and is willing to act by faith. Acting on the basis of human wisdom, His disciples saw the problem but not the potential. How many times God’s people have complained, ‘If we only had enough money, we could do something!’ Two hundred pence (denarii) would be the equivalent of a year’s wages for the average laborer! The first step is not to measure our resources, but to determine God’s will and trust Him to meet the need.”
In John’s Gospel we learn that it was Andrew who found the young man with the food and brought it to Jesus and then Jesus multiplied the fish and the loaves in order to feed 5000 men along with women and children. How thoughtful it was for the young man to bring his lunch and how generous it was of him to give it to Jesus. Jesus is the creator of all the universe and so it would have been not problem for Him to multiply the fish and the loaves through the power of the Holy Spirit who was also part of the creation.
We also find out from John’s Gospel that the people did appreciate the miracle, and even wanted to make Him king at this point, but they missed the spiritual message. They must have thought that to have a King who could provide food for an army and raise the dead when someone gets killed that they could surely defeat the Romans. His enemies must have thoughr about this too.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Lord please don’t let my faith waver and allow me to bring something small to You that You can use for the cause of Christ and the Glory of the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Remain or abide in the Vine so that I can be used by the Lord to glorify the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit.
5/29/2012 11:19:41 AM
Monday, May 28, 2012
People who Flourish (Psalm 92:12-15)
SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
5/28/2012 9:46:25 AM
My Worship Time Focus: A Flourishing people
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 92:12-15
Message of the verses: In Today’s SD we will be looking at the last main point from the 92nd Psalm. Dr. Wiersbe writes at the end of his introductory commentary these words: “The psalm describes the characteristics of believers who trust a sovereign God.”
A Flourishing People (vv. 12-15): “12 The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree, He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 13 Planted in the house of the LORD, They will flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They will still yield fruit in old age; They shall be full of sap and very green, 15 To declare that the LORD is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”
“12 But the godly will flourish like palm trees and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon. 13 For they are transplanted to the LORD’s own house. They flourish in the courts of our God. 14 Even in old age they will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green. 15 They will declare, “The LORD is just! He is my rock! There is no evil in him!’’”
I think that these verse describe a person who has come to know the Lord, realizing that they were born into sin as all people are, and realizing that they sin as all people do, and realizing that they can do nothing on their own to take care of the sin problem and so they fall on their face before God and confess their sinfulness to Him asking for His great mercy. People in the OT times who were believers looked forward to the Messiah coming to take away their sins, while people in the NT era look back to what Jesus Christ has done for them on the cross to take care of their sin problem. In both eras the sinner had to confess his sin before the Lord asking Him to save them and then just as a person is saved, by grace through faith, they are to walk. “6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.” (Col. 2:6-7) These two verses go along with the verse in Psalm 92, for they are both speaking about spiritual growth in the believer as they picture trees with the right food and sunshine to make them grow, which is what we need as believers to grow up in the Lord. We need the right food which is the Lord of God, and we need the sunshine which is the Son of God. At times the “sap” mentioned here can represent the Holy Spirit which will produce fruit in the life of the believer (see John 15). It is so important for the believer to grow once they have been born again into the kingdom of God and that is one of the purposes for my Spiritual Diaries that I may grow in the Lord as I study His Word each day.
Dr. Wiersbe compares the people from verse seven with the people from verses 12-13 when he writes: “The word ‘flourish’ in verse 7 means ‘to be conspicuous, to shine,’ while the word in verses 12-113 means ‘to be vigorous, to flourish richly.’ The stately date palm and cedar were highly valued by people in the Near East, the psalm for its fruit and the cedar for its wood. Both were appreciated for their beauty, and both trees can survive for many years. Not all godly people live long; some, like Robert Murray M’Cheyne and David Brainerd, die very young. But generally speaking, those who obey God avoid a great deal of danger and disease that can cause an early death.”
One of the things that I often think about is to finish strong in my walk with the Lord, not to ever be satisfied with not continuing to grow in the Lord, but to continue to study the Word of God as long as I am able to.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I have to remember that the spiritual walk with the Lord is a marathon and not a short 100 meter race, and I also need to remember what an old Scottish preacher said many years who Dr. Wiersbe quotes many times in the different books that he has written, and that is “The secret to the Christian life is a series of new beginnings.”
My Steps of Faith for Today: To abide (remain) in the Vine.
5/28/2012 10:26:05 AM
5/28/2012 9:46:25 AM
My Worship Time Focus: A Flourishing people
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 92:12-15
Message of the verses: In Today’s SD we will be looking at the last main point from the 92nd Psalm. Dr. Wiersbe writes at the end of his introductory commentary these words: “The psalm describes the characteristics of believers who trust a sovereign God.”
A Flourishing People (vv. 12-15): “12 The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree, He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 13 Planted in the house of the LORD, They will flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They will still yield fruit in old age; They shall be full of sap and very green, 15 To declare that the LORD is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”
“12 But the godly will flourish like palm trees and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon. 13 For they are transplanted to the LORD’s own house. They flourish in the courts of our God. 14 Even in old age they will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green. 15 They will declare, “The LORD is just! He is my rock! There is no evil in him!’’”
I think that these verse describe a person who has come to know the Lord, realizing that they were born into sin as all people are, and realizing that they sin as all people do, and realizing that they can do nothing on their own to take care of the sin problem and so they fall on their face before God and confess their sinfulness to Him asking for His great mercy. People in the OT times who were believers looked forward to the Messiah coming to take away their sins, while people in the NT era look back to what Jesus Christ has done for them on the cross to take care of their sin problem. In both eras the sinner had to confess his sin before the Lord asking Him to save them and then just as a person is saved, by grace through faith, they are to walk. “6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.” (Col. 2:6-7) These two verses go along with the verse in Psalm 92, for they are both speaking about spiritual growth in the believer as they picture trees with the right food and sunshine to make them grow, which is what we need as believers to grow up in the Lord. We need the right food which is the Lord of God, and we need the sunshine which is the Son of God. At times the “sap” mentioned here can represent the Holy Spirit which will produce fruit in the life of the believer (see John 15). It is so important for the believer to grow once they have been born again into the kingdom of God and that is one of the purposes for my Spiritual Diaries that I may grow in the Lord as I study His Word each day.
Dr. Wiersbe compares the people from verse seven with the people from verses 12-13 when he writes: “The word ‘flourish’ in verse 7 means ‘to be conspicuous, to shine,’ while the word in verses 12-113 means ‘to be vigorous, to flourish richly.’ The stately date palm and cedar were highly valued by people in the Near East, the psalm for its fruit and the cedar for its wood. Both were appreciated for their beauty, and both trees can survive for many years. Not all godly people live long; some, like Robert Murray M’Cheyne and David Brainerd, die very young. But generally speaking, those who obey God avoid a great deal of danger and disease that can cause an early death.”
One of the things that I often think about is to finish strong in my walk with the Lord, not to ever be satisfied with not continuing to grow in the Lord, but to continue to study the Word of God as long as I am able to.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I have to remember that the spiritual walk with the Lord is a marathon and not a short 100 meter race, and I also need to remember what an old Scottish preacher said many years who Dr. Wiersbe quotes many times in the different books that he has written, and that is “The secret to the Christian life is a series of new beginnings.”
My Steps of Faith for Today: To abide (remain) in the Vine.
5/28/2012 10:26:05 AM
Sunday, May 27, 2012
An Overcoming People (Psalm 92:6-11)
SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
5/27/2012 7:41:00 AM
My Worship Time Focus: An Overcoming People
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 92:5-11
Message of the verses: We began our journey through Psalm 92 in yesterday’s SD by looking at several introductions and then looking at the first five verses. We will continue looking at the psalm in today’s SD.
An Overcoming People (vv. 6-11): “6 A senseless man has no knowledge, Nor does a stupid man understand this: 7 That when the wicked sprouted up like grass And all who did iniquity flourished, It was only that they might be destroyed forevermore. 8 But You, O LORD, are on high forever. 9 For, behold, Your enemies, O LORD, For, behold, Your enemies will perish; All who do iniquity will be scattered. 10 But You have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil. 11 And my eye has looked exultantly upon my foes, My ears hear of the evildoers who rise up against me.”
“6 Only a simpleton would not know, and only a fool would not understand this: 7 Though the wicked sprout like weeds and evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever. 8 But you, O LORD, will be exalted forever. 9 Your enemies, LORD, will surely perish; all evildoers will be scattered. 10 But you have made me as strong as a wild ox. You have anointed me with the finest oil. 11 My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies; my ears have heard the defeat of my wicked opponents.” (NTL)
We see a shift in the writing of the psalmist for he now speaks of the enemies of the Lord, which are also enemies of God’s people. We see the word “senseless” and “simpleton” used in verse six from the two translations that I have used. In the Hebrew English dictionary the word means stupid or brutish and the opposite of this would mean refined. In verse seven we see that this person does not live too long for he is described as grass and weeds while when we look ahead to verse 12 we see “The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree, He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.”
Next the psalmist speaks of the Lord being on high forever, certainly not like the senseless man who is like a weed. Then the psalmist speaks of the enemies of the Lord perishing, and one day this will be the case of all of God’s enemies who are the believer’s enemies as well.
In verse ten the psalmist uses the word “horn” and that word symbols power and God will give his people power to overcome their foes. (Luke 1:69; 1Sam. 2:1, 10; Psalms 75:4-5, 10; 89:17.)
We also see the psalmist writing about oil, fresh oil in verse ten. Dr. Wiersbe points out: “Oil was used to anoint special people—kings, priests, and prophets—but the anonymous psalmist rejoiced because the Lord had anointed him with fresh oil. He may also have been speaking for all Israel and praising God for a special victory He had given them. God wants his people to be overcomers and this comes when first we are worshipers.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: It will be a wonderful day when the Lord gets rid of all of His enemies, but in the mean time I must become a better worshiper so that I can also be a better overcomer.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I desire to be a better prayer warrior.
5/27/2012 8:17:11 AM
5/27/2012 7:41:00 AM
My Worship Time Focus: An Overcoming People
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 92:5-11
Message of the verses: We began our journey through Psalm 92 in yesterday’s SD by looking at several introductions and then looking at the first five verses. We will continue looking at the psalm in today’s SD.
An Overcoming People (vv. 6-11): “6 A senseless man has no knowledge, Nor does a stupid man understand this: 7 That when the wicked sprouted up like grass And all who did iniquity flourished, It was only that they might be destroyed forevermore. 8 But You, O LORD, are on high forever. 9 For, behold, Your enemies, O LORD, For, behold, Your enemies will perish; All who do iniquity will be scattered. 10 But You have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil. 11 And my eye has looked exultantly upon my foes, My ears hear of the evildoers who rise up against me.”
“6 Only a simpleton would not know, and only a fool would not understand this: 7 Though the wicked sprout like weeds and evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever. 8 But you, O LORD, will be exalted forever. 9 Your enemies, LORD, will surely perish; all evildoers will be scattered. 10 But you have made me as strong as a wild ox. You have anointed me with the finest oil. 11 My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies; my ears have heard the defeat of my wicked opponents.” (NTL)
We see a shift in the writing of the psalmist for he now speaks of the enemies of the Lord, which are also enemies of God’s people. We see the word “senseless” and “simpleton” used in verse six from the two translations that I have used. In the Hebrew English dictionary the word means stupid or brutish and the opposite of this would mean refined. In verse seven we see that this person does not live too long for he is described as grass and weeds while when we look ahead to verse 12 we see “The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree, He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.”
Next the psalmist speaks of the Lord being on high forever, certainly not like the senseless man who is like a weed. Then the psalmist speaks of the enemies of the Lord perishing, and one day this will be the case of all of God’s enemies who are the believer’s enemies as well.
In verse ten the psalmist uses the word “horn” and that word symbols power and God will give his people power to overcome their foes. (Luke 1:69; 1Sam. 2:1, 10; Psalms 75:4-5, 10; 89:17.)
We also see the psalmist writing about oil, fresh oil in verse ten. Dr. Wiersbe points out: “Oil was used to anoint special people—kings, priests, and prophets—but the anonymous psalmist rejoiced because the Lord had anointed him with fresh oil. He may also have been speaking for all Israel and praising God for a special victory He had given them. God wants his people to be overcomers and this comes when first we are worshipers.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: It will be a wonderful day when the Lord gets rid of all of His enemies, but in the mean time I must become a better worshiper so that I can also be a better overcomer.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I desire to be a better prayer warrior.
5/27/2012 8:17:11 AM
Saturday, May 26, 2012
A Worshiping People (Psalm 92:1-5)
SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
5/26/2012 10:36:32 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Worshiping the Lord
Bible Reading &Meditation Reference: Psalm 92:1-5
Message of the verses: In Today’s SD we will begin to look at Psalm 92 by looking at several introductions from various Bible Commentators to help us in the understanding of this psalm.
“TITLE — A Psalm or Song for the Sabbath day. This admirable composition is both a Psalm and a Song, full of equal measures of solemnity and joy; and it was intended to be sung upon the day of rest. The subject is the praise of God; praise is Sabbatic work, the joyful occupation of resting hearts. Since a true Sabbath can only be found in God, it is wise to meditate upon him on the Sabbath day. The style is worthy of the theme and of the day, its inspiration is from the "fount of every blessing"; David spake as the Spirit gave him utterance. In the church of Christ, at this hour, no Psalm is more frequently sung upon the Lord’s day than the present. The delightful version of Dr. Watts is familiar to us all —
"Sweet is the work, my God, my King,
To praise thy name, give thanks, and sing;
To shew thy love by morning light,
And talk of all thy truth at night."
“The Sabbath was set apart for adoring the Lord in his finished work of creation, hence the suitableness of this Psalm; Christians may take even a higher flight, for they celebrate complete redemption. No one acquainted with David’s style will hesitate to ascribe to him the authorship of this divine hymn; the ravings of the Rabbis who speak of its being composed by Adam, only need to be mentioned to be dismissed. Adam in Paradise had neither harps to play upon, nor wicked men to contend with.” (Charles H. Spurgeon)
“This psalm expresses the exuberance of the psalmist as he recognizes that God is merciful in salvation, great in His works of creation, just in His dealings with the wicked, and faithful in prospering His children.” (John MacArthur Study Bible)
“The major theme is the sovereign rule of God, as stated in verse 8, which is the central verse of the psalm. It proclaims that God is most high (KJV), He is high (NASB), and He is exalted forever (NIV). The covenant name Jehovah (LORD) is used seven times; Elyon (Most High) is found in verse 1 and Elohim in verse 13. The inscription relates the psalm to the Sabbath Day worship at the sanctuary. During the week, a lamb was sacrificed each morning and another in the evening, but on the Sabbath Day, those sacrifices were doubled (Ex. 29:38-46; Num. 28:1-10). Because our God reigns supremely and always will, we can be the people of God that He wants us to be. The psalm describes the characteristics of believers who trust a sovereign God.” (Warren Wiersbe)
A Worshiping People (vv. 1-5): “1 ¶ «A Psalm, a Song for the Sabbath day.» It is good to give thanks to the LORD And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; 2 To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning And Your faithfulness by night, 3 With the ten-stringed lute and with the harp, With resounding music upon the lyre. 4 For You, O LORD, have made me glad by what You have done, I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands. 5 How great are Your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep.”
“1 ¶ A psalm. A song to be sung on the Sabbath Day. It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to the Most High. 2 It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning, your faithfulness in the evening, 3 accompanied by the ten-stringed harp and the melody of the lyre. 4 You thrill me, LORD, with all you have done for me! I sing for joy because of what you have done. 5 O LORD, what great works you do! And how deep are your thoughts.” (NLT)
Psalm 92 begins with worship, and part of my Spiritual Diaries is for the purpose of worship for it begins with “My Worship Time.” Dr. Wiersbe writes “Worship ought to be the natural outflow of a heart that love the Lord and appreciates who He is and what He has done for His People.” When I begin my prayers before looking into the Word of God to work on my Spiritual Diary I begin with confessing any sin to the Lord in order to have fellowship with the Lord, and then the next thing I do in my prayer is to worship and praise the Lord for His attributes. To begin with the Lord is holy, and no other person is holy like the Lord. Next I think of His goodness, for no one is as good as the Lord. Next comes wisdom, for God is all wise. God is all powerful so that no one can overpower the Lord and because He is all powerful He can do the things that are part of His wisdom. God is in all places at all times so nothing can be done with the knowledge of the Lord. God is love and God is just and for this I worship the Lord. God turned His back on the Lord Jesus Christ while He was upon the cross in order to have His justice satisfied (propitiation). We also see His great love at the cross for it was His love for us that took the Lord Jesus Christ to the cross. Michael Card in one of his songs that he wrote has a line in it that speaks of Christ’s love and in that song he writes that Christ would have not needed the nails to hold Him on the cross for His love would have held Him there.
We see in this section of Psalm 92 that the psalmist is worshiping the Lord; he is giving thanks by singing praises in the morning and then thanking God in the evening for His faithfulness. We can worship the Lord through our singing whether or not we have instruments to go along with are singing or not. Dr. Wiersbe writes “Whether we are stirred by the creation around us or the Scriptures before us, we have every reason to worship and praise God, for He is reigning above us!”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: It is a good thing to praise the Lord, to worship the Lord for who He is and what He has done for me. May I never forget it.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Worship the Lord.
5/26/2012 11:42:17 AM
5/26/2012 10:36:32 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Worshiping the Lord
Bible Reading &Meditation Reference: Psalm 92:1-5
Message of the verses: In Today’s SD we will begin to look at Psalm 92 by looking at several introductions from various Bible Commentators to help us in the understanding of this psalm.
“TITLE — A Psalm or Song for the Sabbath day. This admirable composition is both a Psalm and a Song, full of equal measures of solemnity and joy; and it was intended to be sung upon the day of rest. The subject is the praise of God; praise is Sabbatic work, the joyful occupation of resting hearts. Since a true Sabbath can only be found in God, it is wise to meditate upon him on the Sabbath day. The style is worthy of the theme and of the day, its inspiration is from the "fount of every blessing"; David spake as the Spirit gave him utterance. In the church of Christ, at this hour, no Psalm is more frequently sung upon the Lord’s day than the present. The delightful version of Dr. Watts is familiar to us all —
"Sweet is the work, my God, my King,
To praise thy name, give thanks, and sing;
To shew thy love by morning light,
And talk of all thy truth at night."
“The Sabbath was set apart for adoring the Lord in his finished work of creation, hence the suitableness of this Psalm; Christians may take even a higher flight, for they celebrate complete redemption. No one acquainted with David’s style will hesitate to ascribe to him the authorship of this divine hymn; the ravings of the Rabbis who speak of its being composed by Adam, only need to be mentioned to be dismissed. Adam in Paradise had neither harps to play upon, nor wicked men to contend with.” (Charles H. Spurgeon)
“This psalm expresses the exuberance of the psalmist as he recognizes that God is merciful in salvation, great in His works of creation, just in His dealings with the wicked, and faithful in prospering His children.” (John MacArthur Study Bible)
“The major theme is the sovereign rule of God, as stated in verse 8, which is the central verse of the psalm. It proclaims that God is most high (KJV), He is high (NASB), and He is exalted forever (NIV). The covenant name Jehovah (LORD) is used seven times; Elyon (Most High) is found in verse 1 and Elohim in verse 13. The inscription relates the psalm to the Sabbath Day worship at the sanctuary. During the week, a lamb was sacrificed each morning and another in the evening, but on the Sabbath Day, those sacrifices were doubled (Ex. 29:38-46; Num. 28:1-10). Because our God reigns supremely and always will, we can be the people of God that He wants us to be. The psalm describes the characteristics of believers who trust a sovereign God.” (Warren Wiersbe)
A Worshiping People (vv. 1-5): “1 ¶ «A Psalm, a Song for the Sabbath day.» It is good to give thanks to the LORD And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; 2 To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning And Your faithfulness by night, 3 With the ten-stringed lute and with the harp, With resounding music upon the lyre. 4 For You, O LORD, have made me glad by what You have done, I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands. 5 How great are Your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep.”
“1 ¶ A psalm. A song to be sung on the Sabbath Day. It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to the Most High. 2 It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning, your faithfulness in the evening, 3 accompanied by the ten-stringed harp and the melody of the lyre. 4 You thrill me, LORD, with all you have done for me! I sing for joy because of what you have done. 5 O LORD, what great works you do! And how deep are your thoughts.” (NLT)
Psalm 92 begins with worship, and part of my Spiritual Diaries is for the purpose of worship for it begins with “My Worship Time.” Dr. Wiersbe writes “Worship ought to be the natural outflow of a heart that love the Lord and appreciates who He is and what He has done for His People.” When I begin my prayers before looking into the Word of God to work on my Spiritual Diary I begin with confessing any sin to the Lord in order to have fellowship with the Lord, and then the next thing I do in my prayer is to worship and praise the Lord for His attributes. To begin with the Lord is holy, and no other person is holy like the Lord. Next I think of His goodness, for no one is as good as the Lord. Next comes wisdom, for God is all wise. God is all powerful so that no one can overpower the Lord and because He is all powerful He can do the things that are part of His wisdom. God is in all places at all times so nothing can be done with the knowledge of the Lord. God is love and God is just and for this I worship the Lord. God turned His back on the Lord Jesus Christ while He was upon the cross in order to have His justice satisfied (propitiation). We also see His great love at the cross for it was His love for us that took the Lord Jesus Christ to the cross. Michael Card in one of his songs that he wrote has a line in it that speaks of Christ’s love and in that song he writes that Christ would have not needed the nails to hold Him on the cross for His love would have held Him there.
We see in this section of Psalm 92 that the psalmist is worshiping the Lord; he is giving thanks by singing praises in the morning and then thanking God in the evening for His faithfulness. We can worship the Lord through our singing whether or not we have instruments to go along with are singing or not. Dr. Wiersbe writes “Whether we are stirred by the creation around us or the Scriptures before us, we have every reason to worship and praise God, for He is reigning above us!”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: It is a good thing to praise the Lord, to worship the Lord for who He is and what He has done for me. May I never forget it.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Worship the Lord.
5/26/2012 11:42:17 AM
Friday, May 25, 2012
Only God can Give the Satisfied Life (Psalm 91:14-16)
SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
5/25/2012 10:15:15 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Love for God—the Satisfied Life
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 91:14-16
Message of the verses: We will continue with the last section of Psalm 91 in today’s SD by looking at the last three verses of the psalm.
Love for God—the Satisfied Life (vv. 14-16): “14 "Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. 15 "He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. 16 "With a long life I will satisfy him And let him see My salvation.’”
“14 The LORD says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. 15 When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. 16 I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.’’” (NLT)
We see in the NLT that God is the One who is speaking at this point of the psalm. We also see the word loved in verse fourteen, and that it is not the usual word for love found in the OT. “02836 ^קשׁח^ chashaq \@khaw-shak’\@
a primitive root; v; {See TWOT on 773}
AV-desire 3, set his love 2, filleted 3, log 1, delight 1, in love 1; 11
1) (Qal) to love, be attached to, long for
2) (Piel) fillet
3) (Pual) fillet”
Dr. Wiersbe writes of this word: “The word translated ‘love’ is not the usual word but one that means ‘to cling to to cleave, to be passionate.’ It is used in Deuteronomy 7:7 and 10:15 for the love Jehovah has for His people Israel. (See John 14:21-24.): “21 "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him." 22 Judas (not Iscariot) *said to Him, "Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?" 23 Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. 24 "He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.” “7 "The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.” “"Yet on your fathers did the LORD set His affection to love them, and He chose their descendants after them, even you above all peoples, as it is this day.” (Deu. 7:7 & 10:15)
We see blessings in this psalm that the Lord gives to His people as the Lord will deliver His people in times of trouble and set them on high. This setting on high reminds me of Psalm 40:2 “He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.” I admit that the circumstances are not exactly the same, but in both verses we see that the psalmist is being blessed by the Lord by setting them on a higher place (spiritually). We also see the blessing of companionship, for when we are a believer in Jesus Christ we always have someone to talk to, someone who loves us. Dr. Wiersbe writes about the word “salvation” that we see in verse 16: “The salvation mentioned at the end of the psalm may mean help and deliverance during life, as in 50:23 or the joy of beholding the glory of God after a long and satisfied life. To the Jewish people living a long life and seeing one’s children grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, was the ultimate of blessing in this life.” “It’s one thing for doctors to add years to our life, but God adds life to our years and makes that life worthwhile.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I like what Dr. Wiersbe compares at the end of his commentary, when he speaks about the difference of added years that doctors can provide with the years that the Lord provides. The Lord gives us productive years, years filled with joy and the Holy Spirit knowing that as we yield to His will that we will be doing the things that are important which will make a difference in other people’s lives.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I desire to remain in the Vine as the Lord Jesus spoke of in the 15th chapter of John. Abiding or remaining in the Vine will produce fruit in my life, fruit that the Lord planed for me to accomplish for His glory in eternity past. (Eph. 2:10)
5/25/2012 10:54:28 AM
5/25/2012 10:15:15 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Love for God—the Satisfied Life
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 91:14-16
Message of the verses: We will continue with the last section of Psalm 91 in today’s SD by looking at the last three verses of the psalm.
Love for God—the Satisfied Life (vv. 14-16): “14 "Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. 15 "He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. 16 "With a long life I will satisfy him And let him see My salvation.’”
“14 The LORD says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. 15 When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. 16 I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.’’” (NLT)
We see in the NLT that God is the One who is speaking at this point of the psalm. We also see the word loved in verse fourteen, and that it is not the usual word for love found in the OT. “02836 ^קשׁח^ chashaq \@khaw-shak’\@
a primitive root; v; {See TWOT on 773}
AV-desire 3, set his love 2, filleted 3, log 1, delight 1, in love 1; 11
1) (Qal) to love, be attached to, long for
2) (Piel) fillet
3) (Pual) fillet”
Dr. Wiersbe writes of this word: “The word translated ‘love’ is not the usual word but one that means ‘to cling to to cleave, to be passionate.’ It is used in Deuteronomy 7:7 and 10:15 for the love Jehovah has for His people Israel. (See John 14:21-24.): “21 "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him." 22 Judas (not Iscariot) *said to Him, "Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?" 23 Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. 24 "He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.” “7 "The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.” “"Yet on your fathers did the LORD set His affection to love them, and He chose their descendants after them, even you above all peoples, as it is this day.” (Deu. 7:7 & 10:15)
We see blessings in this psalm that the Lord gives to His people as the Lord will deliver His people in times of trouble and set them on high. This setting on high reminds me of Psalm 40:2 “He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.” I admit that the circumstances are not exactly the same, but in both verses we see that the psalmist is being blessed by the Lord by setting them on a higher place (spiritually). We also see the blessing of companionship, for when we are a believer in Jesus Christ we always have someone to talk to, someone who loves us. Dr. Wiersbe writes about the word “salvation” that we see in verse 16: “The salvation mentioned at the end of the psalm may mean help and deliverance during life, as in 50:23 or the joy of beholding the glory of God after a long and satisfied life. To the Jewish people living a long life and seeing one’s children grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, was the ultimate of blessing in this life.” “It’s one thing for doctors to add years to our life, but God adds life to our years and makes that life worthwhile.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I like what Dr. Wiersbe compares at the end of his commentary, when he speaks about the difference of added years that doctors can provide with the years that the Lord provides. The Lord gives us productive years, years filled with joy and the Holy Spirit knowing that as we yield to His will that we will be doing the things that are important which will make a difference in other people’s lives.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I desire to remain in the Vine as the Lord Jesus spoke of in the 15th chapter of John. Abiding or remaining in the Vine will produce fruit in my life, fruit that the Lord planed for me to accomplish for His glory in eternity past. (Eph. 2:10)
5/25/2012 10:54:28 AM
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Peace from God-the Protected Life (Psalm 91:5-13)
SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
5/24/2012 8:53:24 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Peace from God—the Protected Life
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 91:5-13
Message of the verses: In yesterday’s SD we looked at the introduction and first main section of Psalm 91, and we will continue to look at Psalm 91 in today’s SD.
Peace from God—the Protected Life (vv. 5-:13): “5 You will not be afraid of the terror by night, Or of the arrow that flies by day; 6 Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon. 7 A thousand may fall at your side And ten thousand at your right hand, But it shall not approach you. 8 You will only look on with your eyes And see the recompense of the wicked. 9 For you have made the LORD, my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place. 10 No evil will befall you, Nor will any plague come near your tent. 11 For He will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your ways. 12 They will bear you up in their hands, That you do not strike your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread upon the lion and cobra, The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.”
“5 Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. 6 Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. 7 Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you. 8 Just open your eyes, and see how the wicked are punished. 9 If you make the LORD your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, 10 no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home. 11 For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. 12 They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. 13 You will trample upon lions and cobras; you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!” (NLT)
Dr. Wiersbe writes on this section by saying “This paragraph emphasizes that we need not be afraid because the Lord and His angels watch over us.” In yesterday’s SD we learned about the “hidden life,” and if in our hidden life we think about the Lord and His Word and desire for the Lord to work through us by the power of the Holy Spirit then when we come to dangers in our life we will be prepared. Romans 12:1-2 gives insight into this by stating first of all that we are to give ourselves to the Lord as a “living sacrifice” which is holy and acceptable to the Lord. Verse two states that we are not to be “conformed to this world,” but we are to be “transformed by the renewing of our minds.” The word transformed is the word “metamorphoo” and we get the English word “metamorphosis” from this word. The meaning of this word in the Greek is as follows “1) to change into another form, to transform, to transfigure 1a) Christ appearance was changed and was resplendent with divine brightness on the mount of transfiguration.” How does this work? We give ourselves to the Lord as a living sacrifice and we study and memorize His Word, which is what the Holy Spirit uses to change our lives into a life like Jesus Christ: “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.” (Romans 8:29) We will then be empowered to do the works that God planed for us to do in eternity past: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10) In studying the book of Mark recently and looking at the baptism of Jesus Christ I learned that at the time of His baptism that the entire trinity was there and it was at this time that the Holy Spirit took over the life of Jesus so that He would be able to do the work that His Father had planned for Him to do. As I look at this I see that believers today are to follow that pattern that is to be filled with the Holy Spirit in order to do the work that the Father has planned for us to do that were planned from eternity past. This is all a part of the “hidden life.”
Verse six may refer to the burning rays of the sun: “Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.” (NASB) Verses seven and eight make us think of a battle scene, and when one looks at the covenant promises that are found in Lev. 26:8 and also Deut. 32:30 it is possible this is what the psalmist is thinking of when he wrote this. Verse eight could refer to what the children of Israel saw in the eyes of the Egyptians who had just lost their firstborn who died on the night of the first Passover. It could also refer to the dead bodies of the Egyptians who washed up on the shores of the Red Sea after they were drowned when the waters came crashing down on them.
We know that verses 11-12 were quoted by Satan as he tempted Jesus. Dr. Wiersbe writes: “Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness and the Lord responded with Deuteronomy 6:16. If the Father had commanded Jesus to jump from the temple pinnacle, then the angels would have cared for Jesus, but to jump without the Father’s command would have been presumption, not faith, and that would be tempting the Father. In Scripture, the lion and serpent (cobra) are images of Satan.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I need the power of the hidden life in my life each and every day. This can only happen by constant study of God’s Word, giving myself to the Lord, and being filled with the Holy Spirit to do the work that the Lord has for me to do. I am to “remain” in the Vine so that I can be empowered to do the work God has planned for me to do.
My Steps of Faith for Today: To remain in the Vine!
5/24/2012 9:38:24 AM
5/24/2012 8:53:24 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Peace from God—the Protected Life
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 91:5-13
Message of the verses: In yesterday’s SD we looked at the introduction and first main section of Psalm 91, and we will continue to look at Psalm 91 in today’s SD.
Peace from God—the Protected Life (vv. 5-:13): “5 You will not be afraid of the terror by night, Or of the arrow that flies by day; 6 Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon. 7 A thousand may fall at your side And ten thousand at your right hand, But it shall not approach you. 8 You will only look on with your eyes And see the recompense of the wicked. 9 For you have made the LORD, my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place. 10 No evil will befall you, Nor will any plague come near your tent. 11 For He will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your ways. 12 They will bear you up in their hands, That you do not strike your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread upon the lion and cobra, The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.”
“5 Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. 6 Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. 7 Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you. 8 Just open your eyes, and see how the wicked are punished. 9 If you make the LORD your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, 10 no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home. 11 For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. 12 They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. 13 You will trample upon lions and cobras; you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!” (NLT)
Dr. Wiersbe writes on this section by saying “This paragraph emphasizes that we need not be afraid because the Lord and His angels watch over us.” In yesterday’s SD we learned about the “hidden life,” and if in our hidden life we think about the Lord and His Word and desire for the Lord to work through us by the power of the Holy Spirit then when we come to dangers in our life we will be prepared. Romans 12:1-2 gives insight into this by stating first of all that we are to give ourselves to the Lord as a “living sacrifice” which is holy and acceptable to the Lord. Verse two states that we are not to be “conformed to this world,” but we are to be “transformed by the renewing of our minds.” The word transformed is the word “metamorphoo” and we get the English word “metamorphosis” from this word. The meaning of this word in the Greek is as follows “1) to change into another form, to transform, to transfigure 1a) Christ appearance was changed and was resplendent with divine brightness on the mount of transfiguration.” How does this work? We give ourselves to the Lord as a living sacrifice and we study and memorize His Word, which is what the Holy Spirit uses to change our lives into a life like Jesus Christ: “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.” (Romans 8:29) We will then be empowered to do the works that God planed for us to do in eternity past: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10) In studying the book of Mark recently and looking at the baptism of Jesus Christ I learned that at the time of His baptism that the entire trinity was there and it was at this time that the Holy Spirit took over the life of Jesus so that He would be able to do the work that His Father had planned for Him to do. As I look at this I see that believers today are to follow that pattern that is to be filled with the Holy Spirit in order to do the work that the Father has planned for us to do that were planned from eternity past. This is all a part of the “hidden life.”
Verse six may refer to the burning rays of the sun: “Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.” (NASB) Verses seven and eight make us think of a battle scene, and when one looks at the covenant promises that are found in Lev. 26:8 and also Deut. 32:30 it is possible this is what the psalmist is thinking of when he wrote this. Verse eight could refer to what the children of Israel saw in the eyes of the Egyptians who had just lost their firstborn who died on the night of the first Passover. It could also refer to the dead bodies of the Egyptians who washed up on the shores of the Red Sea after they were drowned when the waters came crashing down on them.
We know that verses 11-12 were quoted by Satan as he tempted Jesus. Dr. Wiersbe writes: “Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness and the Lord responded with Deuteronomy 6:16. If the Father had commanded Jesus to jump from the temple pinnacle, then the angels would have cared for Jesus, but to jump without the Father’s command would have been presumption, not faith, and that would be tempting the Father. In Scripture, the lion and serpent (cobra) are images of Satan.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I need the power of the hidden life in my life each and every day. This can only happen by constant study of God’s Word, giving myself to the Lord, and being filled with the Holy Spirit to do the work that the Lord has for me to do. I am to “remain” in the Vine so that I can be empowered to do the work God has planned for me to do.
My Steps of Faith for Today: To remain in the Vine!
5/24/2012 9:38:24 AM
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Faith in God-The Hidden Life (Psalm 91:1-4)
SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
5/23/2012 10:35:48 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Faith in God—The Hidden Life
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 91:1-4
Message of the verses: Today we will begin to look at Psalm 91 by looking at several introductions from different Bible Commentators.
“This Psalm is without a title, and we have no means of ascertaining either the name of its writer, or the date of its composition, with certainly. The Jewish doctors consider that when the author’s name is not mentioned we may assign the Psalm to the last named writer; and, if so, this is another Psalm of Moses, the man of God. Many expressions here used are similar to those of Moses in Deuteronomy, and the internal evidence, from the peculiar idioms, would point towards him as the composer. The continued lives of Joshua and Caleb, who followed the Lord fully, make remarkably apt illustrations of this Psalm, for they, as a reward for abiding in continued nearness to the Lord, lived on "amongst the dead, amid their graves." For these reasons it is by no means improbable that this Psalm may have been written by Moses, but we dare not dogmatize. If David’s pen was used in giving us this matchless ode, we cannot believe as some do that he this commemorated the plague which devastated Jerusalem on account of his numbering the people. For him, then, to sing of himself as seeing "the reward of the wicked" would be clean contrary to his declaration, "I have sinned, but these sheep, what have they done?"; and the absence of any allusion to the sacrifice upon Zion could not be in any way accounted for, since David’s repentance would inevitably have led him to dwell upon the atoning sacrifice and the sprinkling of blood by the hyssop.
“In the whole collection there is not a more cheering Psalm, its tone is elevated and sustained throughout, faith is at its best, and speaks nobly. A German physician was wont to speak of it as the best preservative in times of cholera, and in truth, it is a heavenly medicine against plague and pest. He who can live in its spirit will be fearless, even if once again London should become a lazar-house, and the grave be gorged with carcasses.” (Charles H. Spurgeon)
“This psalm describes God’s ongoing sovereign protection of His people from the ever-present dangers and terrors which surround humanity. The original setting may be that of an army about to go to battle. Most of the terrors mentioned in this psalm are left undefined, no doubt intentionally, so that no kind of danger is omitted from application. Believers in every age can read this psalm to learn that nothing can harm a child of God unless the Lord permits it. However, in light of the many references in the Psalms to the future messianic kingdom (cf. especially Pss 96-100), this psalm must be read as being literally fulfilled then. (John MacArthur Study Bible)
“Psalm 90 focuses on dealing with the difficulties of life, but the emphasis in this psalm is on the dangers of life. The anonymous author (though some think Moses wrote it) warns about hidden traps, deadly plagues, terrors at night and arrows by day, stumbling over rocks, and facing lions and snakes! However, in view of terrorist attacks, snipers, reckless drivers, exotic new diseases, and Saturday night handgun specials, the contemporary scene may be as dangerous as the one described in the psalm. The saints who abide in Christ (vv. 1, 9) cannot avoid confronting unknown perils, but they can escape the evil consequences. Moses, David, and Paul, and a host of other servants of God, faced great danger in accomplishing God’s will, and the Lord saw them through. However, Hebrews 11:36 cautions us that ‘others’ were tortured and martyred, yet their faith was just as real. But generally speaking, walking with the Lord does help us to detect and avoid a great deal of trouble, and it is better to suffer in the will of God than to invite trouble by disobeying God’s will (1Peter 2:18-25). The psalmist described the elements involved in living the life of confidence and victory.” (Dr. Warren Wiersbe)
Faith in God—the Hidden Life (vv. 1-4): “1 ¶ He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!" 3 For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper And from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.”
“1 ¶ Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 This I declare about the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. 3 For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. 4 He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.” (NLT)
The psalmist seems to be speaking about the cherubim that are in the Holy of Holies when he writes about hiding in the shadows of the Almighty. God will at times hide us in times of trouble in order to teach us while we are hidden so that He can then send us out to do the work that He has for us to do. Dr. Wiersbe writes “The most important part of a believer’s life is the part that only God sees, the ‘hidden life’ of communion and worship that is symbolized by the Holy of Holies in the Jewish sanctuary (Ex. 25:18-22; Heb. 10:19-25).
The safest place that we can find is in a shadow, if that shadow is the shadow of the Almighty. Jesus spoke in the book of Matthew and also in Luke about how protected the wings of a mother hen are to her children: “"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.” “34 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it!”
Now let is talk about the different names of God that are written in this section in order to better understand what the author is saying. In verse one we read: “1 ¶ He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” Most High is the word Elyon and this name is also found in Genesis 14:18-20, “18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. 19 He blessed him and said, "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand." He gave him a tenth of all.” Almighty is the word “Shaddai” and this is speaking of the all-sufficient God and He is adequate for all situations. Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless. (Genesis 17:1) In verse two we see the word LORD and this is Jehovah and speaks of God being the covenant keeping One who is always faithful to His promises. We also see the word “God” in verse two and this is the word “Elohim” meaning the powerful God whose greatness and glory surpass anything we can imagine. Dr. Wiersbe writes “This is the God who invites us to fellowship with Him in the Holy of Holies.”
I want to quote what Dr. Wiersbe has to say about the word “bulwark” or “rampart” that we find in verse four. “Some translations give ‘bulwark’ or ‘rampart’ instead of ‘buckler.’ The Hebrew Word means ‘to go around’ and would describe a mound of earth around a fortress. But the message is clear: those who abide in the Lord are safe when they are doing His will. God’s servants are immortal until their work is done (Romans 8:28-39)”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I want to take another angle at what Dr. Wiersbe wrote in his commentary “This hidden life of worship and communion makes possible the public life of obedience and service.” I truly believe that this is true and when I have great hidden communion with my Lord it has a great affect on my public life. The other angle comes from a statement that I heard a while back from a former Pastor who said that a lady gave him a framed quotation that went something like this: “When your are alone, what you are doing is who you really are.” When I am alone I want to be doing things that are pleasing to the Lord and not displeasing to the Lord.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to fill me and guide me, especially when I am along.
5/23/2012 11:58:59 AM
5/23/2012 10:35:48 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Faith in God—The Hidden Life
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 91:1-4
Message of the verses: Today we will begin to look at Psalm 91 by looking at several introductions from different Bible Commentators.
“This Psalm is without a title, and we have no means of ascertaining either the name of its writer, or the date of its composition, with certainly. The Jewish doctors consider that when the author’s name is not mentioned we may assign the Psalm to the last named writer; and, if so, this is another Psalm of Moses, the man of God. Many expressions here used are similar to those of Moses in Deuteronomy, and the internal evidence, from the peculiar idioms, would point towards him as the composer. The continued lives of Joshua and Caleb, who followed the Lord fully, make remarkably apt illustrations of this Psalm, for they, as a reward for abiding in continued nearness to the Lord, lived on "amongst the dead, amid their graves." For these reasons it is by no means improbable that this Psalm may have been written by Moses, but we dare not dogmatize. If David’s pen was used in giving us this matchless ode, we cannot believe as some do that he this commemorated the plague which devastated Jerusalem on account of his numbering the people. For him, then, to sing of himself as seeing "the reward of the wicked" would be clean contrary to his declaration, "I have sinned, but these sheep, what have they done?"; and the absence of any allusion to the sacrifice upon Zion could not be in any way accounted for, since David’s repentance would inevitably have led him to dwell upon the atoning sacrifice and the sprinkling of blood by the hyssop.
“In the whole collection there is not a more cheering Psalm, its tone is elevated and sustained throughout, faith is at its best, and speaks nobly. A German physician was wont to speak of it as the best preservative in times of cholera, and in truth, it is a heavenly medicine against plague and pest. He who can live in its spirit will be fearless, even if once again London should become a lazar-house, and the grave be gorged with carcasses.” (Charles H. Spurgeon)
“This psalm describes God’s ongoing sovereign protection of His people from the ever-present dangers and terrors which surround humanity. The original setting may be that of an army about to go to battle. Most of the terrors mentioned in this psalm are left undefined, no doubt intentionally, so that no kind of danger is omitted from application. Believers in every age can read this psalm to learn that nothing can harm a child of God unless the Lord permits it. However, in light of the many references in the Psalms to the future messianic kingdom (cf. especially Pss 96-100), this psalm must be read as being literally fulfilled then. (John MacArthur Study Bible)
“Psalm 90 focuses on dealing with the difficulties of life, but the emphasis in this psalm is on the dangers of life. The anonymous author (though some think Moses wrote it) warns about hidden traps, deadly plagues, terrors at night and arrows by day, stumbling over rocks, and facing lions and snakes! However, in view of terrorist attacks, snipers, reckless drivers, exotic new diseases, and Saturday night handgun specials, the contemporary scene may be as dangerous as the one described in the psalm. The saints who abide in Christ (vv. 1, 9) cannot avoid confronting unknown perils, but they can escape the evil consequences. Moses, David, and Paul, and a host of other servants of God, faced great danger in accomplishing God’s will, and the Lord saw them through. However, Hebrews 11:36 cautions us that ‘others’ were tortured and martyred, yet their faith was just as real. But generally speaking, walking with the Lord does help us to detect and avoid a great deal of trouble, and it is better to suffer in the will of God than to invite trouble by disobeying God’s will (1Peter 2:18-25). The psalmist described the elements involved in living the life of confidence and victory.” (Dr. Warren Wiersbe)
Faith in God—the Hidden Life (vv. 1-4): “1 ¶ He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!" 3 For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper And from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.”
“1 ¶ Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 This I declare about the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. 3 For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. 4 He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.” (NLT)
The psalmist seems to be speaking about the cherubim that are in the Holy of Holies when he writes about hiding in the shadows of the Almighty. God will at times hide us in times of trouble in order to teach us while we are hidden so that He can then send us out to do the work that He has for us to do. Dr. Wiersbe writes “The most important part of a believer’s life is the part that only God sees, the ‘hidden life’ of communion and worship that is symbolized by the Holy of Holies in the Jewish sanctuary (Ex. 25:18-22; Heb. 10:19-25).
The safest place that we can find is in a shadow, if that shadow is the shadow of the Almighty. Jesus spoke in the book of Matthew and also in Luke about how protected the wings of a mother hen are to her children: “"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.” “34 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it!”
Now let is talk about the different names of God that are written in this section in order to better understand what the author is saying. In verse one we read: “1 ¶ He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” Most High is the word Elyon and this name is also found in Genesis 14:18-20, “18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. 19 He blessed him and said, "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand." He gave him a tenth of all.” Almighty is the word “Shaddai” and this is speaking of the all-sufficient God and He is adequate for all situations. Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless. (Genesis 17:1) In verse two we see the word LORD and this is Jehovah and speaks of God being the covenant keeping One who is always faithful to His promises. We also see the word “God” in verse two and this is the word “Elohim” meaning the powerful God whose greatness and glory surpass anything we can imagine. Dr. Wiersbe writes “This is the God who invites us to fellowship with Him in the Holy of Holies.”
I want to quote what Dr. Wiersbe has to say about the word “bulwark” or “rampart” that we find in verse four. “Some translations give ‘bulwark’ or ‘rampart’ instead of ‘buckler.’ The Hebrew Word means ‘to go around’ and would describe a mound of earth around a fortress. But the message is clear: those who abide in the Lord are safe when they are doing His will. God’s servants are immortal until their work is done (Romans 8:28-39)”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I want to take another angle at what Dr. Wiersbe wrote in his commentary “This hidden life of worship and communion makes possible the public life of obedience and service.” I truly believe that this is true and when I have great hidden communion with my Lord it has a great affect on my public life. The other angle comes from a statement that I heard a while back from a former Pastor who said that a lady gave him a framed quotation that went something like this: “When your are alone, what you are doing is who you really are.” When I am alone I want to be doing things that are pleasing to the Lord and not displeasing to the Lord.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to fill me and guide me, especially when I am along.
5/23/2012 11:58:59 AM
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
The Future is Our Friend if we are Believers (Psalm 90:13-17)
SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
5/22/2012 9:55:16 AM
My Worship Time Focus: We Are Believes and the Future is Our Friend
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 90:13-17
Message of the verses: We will look at the last section of Psalm 90 this morning.
We Are Believes and the Future is Our Friend (vv. 13-17): “13 Do return, O LORD; how long will it be? And be sorry for Your servants. 14 O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. 15 Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us, And the years we have seen evil. 16 Let Your work appear to Your servants And Your majesty to their children. 17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; And confirm for us the work of our hands; Yes, confirm the work of our hands.”
“13 O LORD, come back to us! How long will you delay? Take pity on your servants! 14 Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. 15 Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery! Replace the evil years with good. 16 Let us, your servants, see you work again; let our children see your glory. 17 And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful!” (NLT)
We began looking at this psalm by saying that life was a school, and at times is a difficult school as we are at times disciplined by the Lord in order to make us more like our Lord Jesus Christ. Dr. Wiersbe writes that “in spite of the ‘black border’ around this psalm, the emphasis is on life and not on death. The past and present experiences of life prepare us for the future, and all of life prepares us for eternity.
Let’s contrast verses 7-12 with verses 13-17 to see the differences in them. What we will see is that the closing prayer emphasizes God’s compassion and unfailing love, it will show His desire to give us joy and satisfaction, even in the midst of life’s troubles, and His ability to make life count for eternity. Dr. Wiersbe writes “When Jesus Christ is your Savior and Lord, the future is your friend.”
7 ¶ We wither beneath your anger; we are overwhelmed by your fury. 8 You spread out our sins before you- our secret sins-and you see them all. 9 We live our lives beneath your wrath, ending our years with a groan. 10 Seventy years are given to us! Some even live to eighty. But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away. 11 Who can comprehend the power of your anger? Your wrath is as awesome as the fear you deserve.12 Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.” (NLT)
13 O LORD, come back to us! How long will you delay? Take pity on your servants! 14 Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. 15 Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery! Replace the evil years with good. 16 Let us, your servants, see you work again; let our children see your glory. 17 And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful!” (NLT)
There is a great deal of difference from the psalmist in these two sections of Psalm 90.
It is possible that verse fourteen refers to the manna that the Lord gave Israel for forty years as they wondered through the wilderness. This gave physical satisfaction to them, but Jesus Christ is the bread of life who can spiritually sustain us especially if we feast upon His Word in the mornings so that we will be sustained throughout the day. Dr. Wiersbe points out that “The nourishment of the Word enables us to be faithful pilgrims and successful learners.”
Moses is writing about the sorrows that the children of Israel had as they wondered throughout the wilderness for forty years, but Moses also knew that the glories of heaven will far outweigh the sorrows that we go through on this earth. “16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. 17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2Cor. 4:16-18)
10 ¶ After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. (1Peter 5:10) Peter is saying that although we suffer here on earth we will be compensated in heaven, and this is what Moses is saying. 24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.” (Hebrews 11:24-26) Although the work that Moses did seemed to not be rewarded at the time that he did them, he knew that they would not go unnoticed by God. Moses gave up a lot in order to get a lot more, as the verses in Hebrews testify.
Dr. Wiersbe concludes his commentary by saying “Life is brief, so Moses prayed, ‘Teach us.’ Life is difficult, and he prayed, ‘Establish the work of our hands.’ God answered those prayers for Moses, and He will answer the for us. The future is your friend when Jesus is your Savior and Lord.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I want to remember that the future is my friend especially when life does not seem too good for me. Being filled with the Spirit of God to do the work of God will bring me to greater blessings and happiness as I live on this earth.
My Steps of Faith for Today: My prayer is that the Holy Spirit will work through me this day so that whatever I do will bring honor and glory to my Lord.
5/22/2012 11:35:57 AM
5/22/2012 9:55:16 AM
My Worship Time Focus: We Are Believes and the Future is Our Friend
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 90:13-17
Message of the verses: We will look at the last section of Psalm 90 this morning.
We Are Believes and the Future is Our Friend (vv. 13-17): “13 Do return, O LORD; how long will it be? And be sorry for Your servants. 14 O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. 15 Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us, And the years we have seen evil. 16 Let Your work appear to Your servants And Your majesty to their children. 17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; And confirm for us the work of our hands; Yes, confirm the work of our hands.”
“13 O LORD, come back to us! How long will you delay? Take pity on your servants! 14 Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. 15 Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery! Replace the evil years with good. 16 Let us, your servants, see you work again; let our children see your glory. 17 And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful!” (NLT)
We began looking at this psalm by saying that life was a school, and at times is a difficult school as we are at times disciplined by the Lord in order to make us more like our Lord Jesus Christ. Dr. Wiersbe writes that “in spite of the ‘black border’ around this psalm, the emphasis is on life and not on death. The past and present experiences of life prepare us for the future, and all of life prepares us for eternity.
Let’s contrast verses 7-12 with verses 13-17 to see the differences in them. What we will see is that the closing prayer emphasizes God’s compassion and unfailing love, it will show His desire to give us joy and satisfaction, even in the midst of life’s troubles, and His ability to make life count for eternity. Dr. Wiersbe writes “When Jesus Christ is your Savior and Lord, the future is your friend.”
7 ¶ We wither beneath your anger; we are overwhelmed by your fury. 8 You spread out our sins before you- our secret sins-and you see them all. 9 We live our lives beneath your wrath, ending our years with a groan. 10 Seventy years are given to us! Some even live to eighty. But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away. 11 Who can comprehend the power of your anger? Your wrath is as awesome as the fear you deserve.12 Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.” (NLT)
13 O LORD, come back to us! How long will you delay? Take pity on your servants! 14 Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. 15 Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery! Replace the evil years with good. 16 Let us, your servants, see you work again; let our children see your glory. 17 And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful!” (NLT)
There is a great deal of difference from the psalmist in these two sections of Psalm 90.
It is possible that verse fourteen refers to the manna that the Lord gave Israel for forty years as they wondered through the wilderness. This gave physical satisfaction to them, but Jesus Christ is the bread of life who can spiritually sustain us especially if we feast upon His Word in the mornings so that we will be sustained throughout the day. Dr. Wiersbe points out that “The nourishment of the Word enables us to be faithful pilgrims and successful learners.”
Moses is writing about the sorrows that the children of Israel had as they wondered throughout the wilderness for forty years, but Moses also knew that the glories of heaven will far outweigh the sorrows that we go through on this earth. “16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. 17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2Cor. 4:16-18)
10 ¶ After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. (1Peter 5:10) Peter is saying that although we suffer here on earth we will be compensated in heaven, and this is what Moses is saying. 24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.” (Hebrews 11:24-26) Although the work that Moses did seemed to not be rewarded at the time that he did them, he knew that they would not go unnoticed by God. Moses gave up a lot in order to get a lot more, as the verses in Hebrews testify.
Dr. Wiersbe concludes his commentary by saying “Life is brief, so Moses prayed, ‘Teach us.’ Life is difficult, and he prayed, ‘Establish the work of our hands.’ God answered those prayers for Moses, and He will answer the for us. The future is your friend when Jesus is your Savior and Lord.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I want to remember that the future is my friend especially when life does not seem too good for me. Being filled with the Spirit of God to do the work of God will bring me to greater blessings and happiness as I live on this earth.
My Steps of Faith for Today: My prayer is that the Holy Spirit will work through me this day so that whatever I do will bring honor and glory to my Lord.
5/22/2012 11:35:57 AM
Monday, May 21, 2012
Use Your Time Wisely (Psalm 90:3-12)
SPIRIRUAL DIARY FOR
5/21/2012 8:58:39 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Use your time wisely
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 90:3-12
Message of the verses: In yesterday’s SD we began to look at Psalm 90 by looking at the first two verses and also looking at several introductions to the Psalm. In Dr. Wiersbe’s introduction he wrote the following at the end of his introduction: “Life was not easy for Moses, but he triumphed, and in this psalm he shared his insights so that we, too, might have strength for the journey and end well.”
We are Learners and Life Is Our School (vv. 3-12): “3 You turn man back into dust And say, "Return, O children of men." 4 For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it passes by, Or as a watch in the night. 5 You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep; In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew. 6 In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew; Toward evening it fades and withers away. 7 For we have been consumed by Your anger And by Your wrath we have been dismayed. 8 You have placed our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your presence. 9 For all our days have declined in Your fury; We have finished our years like a sigh. 10 As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away. 11 Who understands the power of Your anger And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You? 12 So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.”
According to Acts 7:22 we learn this about Moses, “Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds.’” Moses was educated in the best place on earth at that time, and yet he learned much more when he began to walk with the Lord that all he had learned from his education in Egypt. Dr. Wiersbe points out: “In the school of life (v. 12), we need to learn two important lessons: life is brief and passes swiftly (vv. 4-6), so make the most of it; and life is difficult and at times seems futile (vv. 7-11), but this is the only way to mature. Were there no sin in the world, there would be no suffering and death; but people made of dust defy the God of the universe and try to repeal the inexorable law of sin and death, ‘For dust you are, and to dust you shall return; (Gen. 1:19NKJV).” He goes on to write, “The school of life is preparation for an eternity with God, and without Him, we cannot learn our lessons, pass our tests, and make progress from kindergarten to graduate school!”
We see in verse four something similar that is written in 2Peter 3:8 “But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.” I have heard many people take this verse and say that the Lord may not return for thousands of years because a thousand years is like a day in the site of the Lord. I disagree with their logic completely, for what both Moses and Peter are saying is that God is outside of time, for it was God who made time whenever he made the earth and placed the earth in rotation around the sun making one year and the earth’s rotation makes up one day. God made all of that but He lives outside of time and to Him a day is like a thousand years.
I have heard that life is like a roll of toilet paper, for when you get to the end of it, it goes a lot faster, and that is true, for the older you get the faster life seems to pass, but God is in eternity and is eternal and so life never ends for Him for He has been around forever, something that is hard to understand.
Moses gives illustrations of how fast life fades by using nature, how fast grass can disappear once it begins to grow. (vv. 4-6) Dr. Wiersbe writes “In the school of life, those students learn the most who realize that the dismissal bell rings when they least expect it!”
Verses 7-11 are Moses’ writings about what happened at Kadesh Barnea which is found in Numbers chapters thirteen and fourteen, and of course that is when Israel wanted to send out spies to look at the Promised Land and ten of them came back with a bad report and so God made Israel march around in the wilderness for forty years until all those who were over twenty years old died in the wilderness. If there were one million people who came out of Egypt there would have been 70 funerals a day for forty years. Joshua and Caleb were the only two people from the older generation who went into the Promised Land, for they were the two spies who believed that God could use Israel to defeat those who lived in the Promised Land. What Moses was saying is that if the children of Israel marched around the wilderness for forty hears those who were twenty at the time of this great sin would be sixty years old when they would need to conquers the Promised Land and a person is fortunate to live 70 years and perhaps 80 years.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I suppose that the timing of this Psalm is great for it was on this day ninety years ago that my mother was born, and so today she celebrates he 90th birthday. Ninety years is a long life, but to God it is only a few seconds, and to us who are alive now it does not seem that long. The important thing is to learn the things that the Lord wants to teach us in our stay on earth so that when eternity begins for us we will have some jewels in our crowns that we can place at the feet of Jesus.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Use my time wisely.
5/21/2012 10:56:26 AM
5/21/2012 8:58:39 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Use your time wisely
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 90:3-12
Message of the verses: In yesterday’s SD we began to look at Psalm 90 by looking at the first two verses and also looking at several introductions to the Psalm. In Dr. Wiersbe’s introduction he wrote the following at the end of his introduction: “Life was not easy for Moses, but he triumphed, and in this psalm he shared his insights so that we, too, might have strength for the journey and end well.”
We are Learners and Life Is Our School (vv. 3-12): “3 You turn man back into dust And say, "Return, O children of men." 4 For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it passes by, Or as a watch in the night. 5 You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep; In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew. 6 In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew; Toward evening it fades and withers away. 7 For we have been consumed by Your anger And by Your wrath we have been dismayed. 8 You have placed our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your presence. 9 For all our days have declined in Your fury; We have finished our years like a sigh. 10 As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away. 11 Who understands the power of Your anger And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You? 12 So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.”
According to Acts 7:22 we learn this about Moses, “Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds.’” Moses was educated in the best place on earth at that time, and yet he learned much more when he began to walk with the Lord that all he had learned from his education in Egypt. Dr. Wiersbe points out: “In the school of life (v. 12), we need to learn two important lessons: life is brief and passes swiftly (vv. 4-6), so make the most of it; and life is difficult and at times seems futile (vv. 7-11), but this is the only way to mature. Were there no sin in the world, there would be no suffering and death; but people made of dust defy the God of the universe and try to repeal the inexorable law of sin and death, ‘For dust you are, and to dust you shall return; (Gen. 1:19NKJV).” He goes on to write, “The school of life is preparation for an eternity with God, and without Him, we cannot learn our lessons, pass our tests, and make progress from kindergarten to graduate school!”
We see in verse four something similar that is written in 2Peter 3:8 “But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.” I have heard many people take this verse and say that the Lord may not return for thousands of years because a thousand years is like a day in the site of the Lord. I disagree with their logic completely, for what both Moses and Peter are saying is that God is outside of time, for it was God who made time whenever he made the earth and placed the earth in rotation around the sun making one year and the earth’s rotation makes up one day. God made all of that but He lives outside of time and to Him a day is like a thousand years.
I have heard that life is like a roll of toilet paper, for when you get to the end of it, it goes a lot faster, and that is true, for the older you get the faster life seems to pass, but God is in eternity and is eternal and so life never ends for Him for He has been around forever, something that is hard to understand.
Moses gives illustrations of how fast life fades by using nature, how fast grass can disappear once it begins to grow. (vv. 4-6) Dr. Wiersbe writes “In the school of life, those students learn the most who realize that the dismissal bell rings when they least expect it!”
Verses 7-11 are Moses’ writings about what happened at Kadesh Barnea which is found in Numbers chapters thirteen and fourteen, and of course that is when Israel wanted to send out spies to look at the Promised Land and ten of them came back with a bad report and so God made Israel march around in the wilderness for forty years until all those who were over twenty years old died in the wilderness. If there were one million people who came out of Egypt there would have been 70 funerals a day for forty years. Joshua and Caleb were the only two people from the older generation who went into the Promised Land, for they were the two spies who believed that God could use Israel to defeat those who lived in the Promised Land. What Moses was saying is that if the children of Israel marched around the wilderness for forty hears those who were twenty at the time of this great sin would be sixty years old when they would need to conquers the Promised Land and a person is fortunate to live 70 years and perhaps 80 years.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I suppose that the timing of this Psalm is great for it was on this day ninety years ago that my mother was born, and so today she celebrates he 90th birthday. Ninety years is a long life, but to God it is only a few seconds, and to us who are alive now it does not seem that long. The important thing is to learn the things that the Lord wants to teach us in our stay on earth so that when eternity begins for us we will have some jewels in our crowns that we can place at the feet of Jesus.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Use my time wisely.
5/21/2012 10:56:26 AM
Sunday, May 20, 2012
God Is Our Home (Psalm 90:1-2)
SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
5/20/2012 7:19:39 AM
My Worship Time Focus: God is our home
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 90:1-2
Message of the verses: In today’s SD we will begin to look at Psalm 90 which is the first psalm of the forth and last book that make up the book of Psalms. We will look at several introductions from different Bible commentators to aid us in our understanding of Psalm 90.
“TITLE: A Prayer of Moses the man of God. Many attempts have been made to prove that Moses did not write this Psalm, but we remain unmoved in the conviction that he did so. The condition of Israel in the wilderness is so preeminently illustrative of each verse, and the turns, expressions, and words are so similar to many in the Pentateuch, that the difficulties suggested are, to our mind, light as air in comparison with the internal evidence in favour of its Mosaic origin. Moses was mighty in word as well as deed, and this Psalm we believe to be one of his weighty utterances, worthy to stand side by side with his glorious oration recorded in Deuteronomy. Moses was peculiarly a man of God and God’s man; chosen of God, inspired of God, honored of God, and faithful to God in all his house, he well deserved the name which is here given him. The Psalm is called a prayer, for the closing petitions enter into its essence, and the preceding verses are a meditation preparatory to the supplication. Men of God are sure to be men of prayer. This was not the only prayer of Moses, indeed it is but a specimen of the manner in which the seer of Horeb was leant to commune with heaven, and intercede for the good of Israel. This is the oldest of the Psalms, and stands between two books of Psalms as a composition unique in its grandeur, and alone in its sublime antiquity. Many generations of mourners have listened to this Psalm when standing around the open grave, and have been consoled thereby, even when they have not perceived its special application to Israel in the wilderness and have failed to remember the far higher ground upon which believers now stand.
“SUBJECT AND DIVISIONS: — Moses sings of the frailty of man, and the shortness of life, contrasting therewith the eternity of God, and founding thereon earnest appeals for compassion. The only division which will be useful separates the contemplation #Ps 90:1-11 from the #Ps 90:12-17 there is indeed no need to make even this break, for the unity is well preserved throughout.” (Charles H. Spurgeon)
“The thrust of this magnificent prayer is to ask God to have mercy on frail human beings living in a sin-cursed universe. Moses begins the psalm with a reflection on God’s eternality, then expresses his somber thoughts about the sorrows and brevity of life in their relationship to God’s anger, and concludes with a plea that God would enable His people to live a significant life. The psalm seems to have been composed as the older generation of Israelites who had left Egypt were dying off in the wilderness. (Nu. 14)” (The John MacArthur Study Bible)
“This is the oldest psalm in The Psalms and it was written by Moses, the man of God (Josh. 14:6; Ezra 3:2). It deals with themes that began with the fall of our first parents and will continue to be important and puzzling until the return of our Savior: eternal God and frail humans, a honly God and sinful man, life and death, and the meaning of life in a confused and difficult world. It’s possible that Moses wrote this psalm after Israel’s failure of faith at Kadesh Barnea (Num. 13-14), when the nation was condemned to journey in the wilderness for forty years until the older generation had died. That tragedy was followed by the death of Moses’ sister Miriam (Nu. 20:1) and his brother Aaron (Num. 20: 22-29), and between those two deaths, Moses disobeyed the Lord and struck the rock (Num. 20:2-13). How did Moses manage to become a ‘man of God’ after forty years in pagan Egypt that ended in failure, forty years in Midian and as a humble shepherd, and forty more leading a funeral march through the wilderness? Life was not easy for Moses, but he triumphed, and in this psalm he shared his insights so that we too, might have strength for the journey and end will.” (Dr. Warren Wiersbe “Be Exultant”)
We Are Travelers and God Is Our Home (vv. 1-2): “1 ¶ «A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.» Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. 2 Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.”
I believe it is a wonderful experience to go through the entire Bible in order to study each verse that it contains. I knew from reading the Psalms on many different occasions that Moses had written on of the psalms, but I did not realize the background in which he had written this psalm. It truly must have been difficult for Moses to travel those forty years in the wilderness knowing that every person who was above twenty years old would die along the way. If there were two million Israelites who left Egypt and this would include all the women and the children, there would be around 140 deaths a day over the period of forty years. “The wages of sin is death.”
Dr. Wiersbe writes that in “Numbers 33 names of forty-two different places Israel camped during their journey, but no matter where Moses lived, God was always his home. He ‘lived in the Lord.’ He knew how to ‘abide in the Lord,’ and find strength, comfort, encouragement and help for each day’s demands. Moses pitched a special tent outside the camp where he went to meet the Lord (Ex. 33:7-11). This is the Old Testament equivalent of the New Testament admonition, ‘Abide in me’ (see John 15:1-11). We must all make the Lord ‘our dwelling ‘ (Psalm 91:9).” The Greek word used as “abide” can also mean to “remain.”
The children of Israel lived in tents as they made their way across the wilderness and when Paul writes to the Corinthians he says, “1 ¶ For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, 3 inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. 4 For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.”
Moses uses the word “Elohim” for God in these two verses, and that name means “strength and power.” Moses speaks of God making the mountains, something that the heathens of Moses’ time was a symbol of that which was lasting and dependant, but to the children of Israel the mountains spoke of the everlasting God.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Moses was a great man of God, a man that the Jews still look to with high regard. Moses will bring out in this psalm things that I as a believer need to be reminded of, and that is the shortness of life. Tomorrow my mom will turn 90 years old, and that is quite a milestone, but as I look back it doesn’t seem like a very long time compared to eternity.
My Steps of Faith for Today: That I would be taught by the Lord through our Pastor as He breaks the bread of life today at our church.
5/20/2012 8:13:32 AM
5/20/2012 7:19:39 AM
My Worship Time Focus: God is our home
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 90:1-2
Message of the verses: In today’s SD we will begin to look at Psalm 90 which is the first psalm of the forth and last book that make up the book of Psalms. We will look at several introductions from different Bible commentators to aid us in our understanding of Psalm 90.
“TITLE: A Prayer of Moses the man of God. Many attempts have been made to prove that Moses did not write this Psalm, but we remain unmoved in the conviction that he did so. The condition of Israel in the wilderness is so preeminently illustrative of each verse, and the turns, expressions, and words are so similar to many in the Pentateuch, that the difficulties suggested are, to our mind, light as air in comparison with the internal evidence in favour of its Mosaic origin. Moses was mighty in word as well as deed, and this Psalm we believe to be one of his weighty utterances, worthy to stand side by side with his glorious oration recorded in Deuteronomy. Moses was peculiarly a man of God and God’s man; chosen of God, inspired of God, honored of God, and faithful to God in all his house, he well deserved the name which is here given him. The Psalm is called a prayer, for the closing petitions enter into its essence, and the preceding verses are a meditation preparatory to the supplication. Men of God are sure to be men of prayer. This was not the only prayer of Moses, indeed it is but a specimen of the manner in which the seer of Horeb was leant to commune with heaven, and intercede for the good of Israel. This is the oldest of the Psalms, and stands between two books of Psalms as a composition unique in its grandeur, and alone in its sublime antiquity. Many generations of mourners have listened to this Psalm when standing around the open grave, and have been consoled thereby, even when they have not perceived its special application to Israel in the wilderness and have failed to remember the far higher ground upon which believers now stand.
“SUBJECT AND DIVISIONS: — Moses sings of the frailty of man, and the shortness of life, contrasting therewith the eternity of God, and founding thereon earnest appeals for compassion. The only division which will be useful separates the contemplation #Ps 90:1-11 from the #Ps 90:12-17 there is indeed no need to make even this break, for the unity is well preserved throughout.” (Charles H. Spurgeon)
“The thrust of this magnificent prayer is to ask God to have mercy on frail human beings living in a sin-cursed universe. Moses begins the psalm with a reflection on God’s eternality, then expresses his somber thoughts about the sorrows and brevity of life in their relationship to God’s anger, and concludes with a plea that God would enable His people to live a significant life. The psalm seems to have been composed as the older generation of Israelites who had left Egypt were dying off in the wilderness. (Nu. 14)” (The John MacArthur Study Bible)
“This is the oldest psalm in The Psalms and it was written by Moses, the man of God (Josh. 14:6; Ezra 3:2). It deals with themes that began with the fall of our first parents and will continue to be important and puzzling until the return of our Savior: eternal God and frail humans, a honly God and sinful man, life and death, and the meaning of life in a confused and difficult world. It’s possible that Moses wrote this psalm after Israel’s failure of faith at Kadesh Barnea (Num. 13-14), when the nation was condemned to journey in the wilderness for forty years until the older generation had died. That tragedy was followed by the death of Moses’ sister Miriam (Nu. 20:1) and his brother Aaron (Num. 20: 22-29), and between those two deaths, Moses disobeyed the Lord and struck the rock (Num. 20:2-13). How did Moses manage to become a ‘man of God’ after forty years in pagan Egypt that ended in failure, forty years in Midian and as a humble shepherd, and forty more leading a funeral march through the wilderness? Life was not easy for Moses, but he triumphed, and in this psalm he shared his insights so that we too, might have strength for the journey and end will.” (Dr. Warren Wiersbe “Be Exultant”)
We Are Travelers and God Is Our Home (vv. 1-2): “1 ¶ «A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.» Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. 2 Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.”
I believe it is a wonderful experience to go through the entire Bible in order to study each verse that it contains. I knew from reading the Psalms on many different occasions that Moses had written on of the psalms, but I did not realize the background in which he had written this psalm. It truly must have been difficult for Moses to travel those forty years in the wilderness knowing that every person who was above twenty years old would die along the way. If there were two million Israelites who left Egypt and this would include all the women and the children, there would be around 140 deaths a day over the period of forty years. “The wages of sin is death.”
Dr. Wiersbe writes that in “Numbers 33 names of forty-two different places Israel camped during their journey, but no matter where Moses lived, God was always his home. He ‘lived in the Lord.’ He knew how to ‘abide in the Lord,’ and find strength, comfort, encouragement and help for each day’s demands. Moses pitched a special tent outside the camp where he went to meet the Lord (Ex. 33:7-11). This is the Old Testament equivalent of the New Testament admonition, ‘Abide in me’ (see John 15:1-11). We must all make the Lord ‘our dwelling ‘ (Psalm 91:9).” The Greek word used as “abide” can also mean to “remain.”
The children of Israel lived in tents as they made their way across the wilderness and when Paul writes to the Corinthians he says, “1 ¶ For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, 3 inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. 4 For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.”
Moses uses the word “Elohim” for God in these two verses, and that name means “strength and power.” Moses speaks of God making the mountains, something that the heathens of Moses’ time was a symbol of that which was lasting and dependant, but to the children of Israel the mountains spoke of the everlasting God.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Moses was a great man of God, a man that the Jews still look to with high regard. Moses will bring out in this psalm things that I as a believer need to be reminded of, and that is the shortness of life. Tomorrow my mom will turn 90 years old, and that is quite a milestone, but as I look back it doesn’t seem like a very long time compared to eternity.
My Steps of Faith for Today: That I would be taught by the Lord through our Pastor as He breaks the bread of life today at our church.
5/20/2012 8:13:32 AM
Saturday, May 19, 2012
More on God's Faithfulness (Psalm 89:39-52)
SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
5/19/2012 8:48:07 AM
My Worship Time Focus: More on God’s Faithfulness
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 89:39-52
Message of the verses: In today’s SD we will continue looking at Psalm 89, remembering that we are looking at this psalm by looking at it through the prism of God’s faithfulness.
God Is Faithful in His Chastening (vv. 39-45): “39 You have spurned the covenant of Your servant; You have profaned his crown in the dust. 40 You have broken down all his walls; You have brought his strongholds to ruin. 41 All who pass along the way plunder him; He has become a reproach to his neighbors. 42 You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries; You have made all his enemies rejoice. 43 You also turn back the edge of his sword And have not made him stand in battle. 44 You have made his splendor to cease And cast his throne to the ground. 45 You have shortened the days of his youth; You have covered him with shame. Selah. “
I want to look at these verses in whole by the covenants that the Lord had made with Israel. We know that the first covenant that the Lord made with Israel was through Abraham and that can be found in two places, Genesis 12:1-3 and also in Genesis 15:18-21. When Israel was about to cross over the Jordan River to take possession of the Promised Land we read in Deuteronomy 28 of another covenant that God made with Israel, and this one unlike the other two was a conditional covenant which is at times called the Palestinian Covenant. In that unconditional covenant we find that the Lord told the children of Israel that if they obeyed the Lord and kept His laws that He would bless them, but if they disobeyed God’s law then the covenant stated that the Lord would remove them from His land. Now we move to 2Samuel 7 where the Lord makes an unconditional covenant with David stating that there would always be one of David’s sons on the throne. Here we see the problem that Ethan, the author of Psalm 89 saw, and that was that if Israel was defeated then how could there be one of David’s sons on the throne? What I see here is that God did not supersede His unconditional covenant with His conditional covenant, for it was because of Israel’s sin in breaking the unconditional covenant that they were defeated by Babylon. The two unconditional covenants are still intact for it is because of God’s faithfulness that He will fulfill those covenants, for Jesus Christ is now on the throne in heaven ruling over all the earth and will someday soon return to take up His father David’s throne in Jerusalem and rule all the earth from there for 1000 years, and this will fulfill both of the unconditional covenants that God made with Israel, and David.
Let’s us look back at verse 37 “"It shall be established forever like the moon, And the witness in the sky is faithful." Selah.” Dr. Wiersbe writes “The ‘witness’ in verse 37 is probably the Lord Himself in heaven, but the constancy of the heavenly bodies is also a witness to the faithfulness of the Lord’s promises (Genesis 8:20-22; Jer. 31:35-36; 33:19-26).”
Dr. Wiersbe goes on to say “Ethan told the Lord what He had done to Judah’s anointed king, the descendant of David. The Lord was angry with the kings because of their sins, especially idolatry (v. 38), so He permitted the Babylonians to come and ravage the land, destroy Jerusalem, and burn the temple, (v. 40-41). To Ethan, the Lord was actually aiding the enemy! (vv. 42-43). But the glory had once more departed from the temple (v. 44; see 1Sam. 4:21-22; Ezek. 8:1-4; 9:3; 10:4, 18; 11:22-23) because the leaders had turned their backs on the Lord and turned to idols. I appears that verse 45 applied especially to King Jehoiachin, who was but eighteen years old when he became king and reigned for three months and ten days (2Kings 24:8). He became a captive in Babylon for thirty-seven years.”
God’s Faithfulness Will Never Cease—Wait for Him (vv. 46-52): “46 How long, O LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like fire? 47 Remember what my span of life is; For what vanity You have created all the sons of men! 48 What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah. 49 Where are Your former lovingkindnesses, O Lord, Which You swore to David in Your faithfulness? 50 Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your servants; How I bear in my bosom the reproach of all the many peoples, 51 With which Your enemies have reproached, O LORD, With which they have reproached the footsteps of Your anointed. 52 Blessed be the LORD forever! Amen and Amen.”
As we begin this last section it is good to note that this is the last section in the third book of the book of Psalms. Psalms is made up of four books and with this last section we have covered the first three books of Psalms with one more to cover which contains sixty Psalms in it and has the longest chapter in the book in the entire Bible, Psalm 119 which has 176 verses and will take many days to discover what gems we will be able to mine there.
I see a flavor of Job in verses 46-48, and perhaps Ethan had read the book of Job before writing Psalm 89. We also see in these verses that Ethan asks a question that he probably already knew the answer too and that question is “How Long.” The answer to that question is found in Jeremiah 25:1-14 and 29:4-14. How long will Israel be in exile? Jeremiah writes that it will be for seventy years.
In verse forty-nine Ethan looks back and asks the Lord what had happened to His lovingkindness, and the Lord’s lovingkindness had not changed, but Judah’s love for the Lord had waned. Dr. Wiersbe writes these insightful words, “Lik any good parent, God shows His love to His children either by blessing their obedience or chastening them for their disobedience, but in either situation, He is manifesting His love.”
We see in verses 50-51 that Ethan looks around and sees the reproach of the enemies. The nation had been taken into exile and the beloved city of Jerusalem was devastated along with the temple of the Lord, and worst of all the glory of the Lord had departed from the temple and would not return until the Lord Jesus Christ would enter into the temple, but what He saw was displeasing to Him. Many would think that the god’s of the Babylonians were more powerful than the God of Israel, and that is not and never will be true.
As when will looked at the last verse in Psalm 72, which was the end of book three in the book of Psalms and found out that it was not really a part of Psalm 72 we see that verse 52 is not really a part of Psalm 89. Dr. Wiersbe writes as he conclude his commentary on this section “no matter how much we suffer because of the sins of others, and no matter how perplexed we may be at the providential workings of the Lord, we should still be able to say by faith, ‘Praise the Lord! Hallelujah!’ And our fellow sufferers ought to respond with, ‘Amen and amen! So be it!’
“That’s the way of trust—faith in the faithfulness of the Lord.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: It is wonderful to remember the great promises of the Lord, especially when trouble comes, and there are great friends of mine who are going through some deep waters so I will pray that I will be able to comfort them with these great promises from God’s Word.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust that the Lord will give me the courage and strength to tell others of the wonderful truth of becoming a born-again believer in Jesus Christ for there are only two kinds of people on this earth, those who believe and those who do not believe: “"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.’” (John 3:36)
5/19/2012 10:15:06 AM
5/19/2012 8:48:07 AM
My Worship Time Focus: More on God’s Faithfulness
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 89:39-52
Message of the verses: In today’s SD we will continue looking at Psalm 89, remembering that we are looking at this psalm by looking at it through the prism of God’s faithfulness.
God Is Faithful in His Chastening (vv. 39-45): “39 You have spurned the covenant of Your servant; You have profaned his crown in the dust. 40 You have broken down all his walls; You have brought his strongholds to ruin. 41 All who pass along the way plunder him; He has become a reproach to his neighbors. 42 You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries; You have made all his enemies rejoice. 43 You also turn back the edge of his sword And have not made him stand in battle. 44 You have made his splendor to cease And cast his throne to the ground. 45 You have shortened the days of his youth; You have covered him with shame. Selah. “
I want to look at these verses in whole by the covenants that the Lord had made with Israel. We know that the first covenant that the Lord made with Israel was through Abraham and that can be found in two places, Genesis 12:1-3 and also in Genesis 15:18-21. When Israel was about to cross over the Jordan River to take possession of the Promised Land we read in Deuteronomy 28 of another covenant that God made with Israel, and this one unlike the other two was a conditional covenant which is at times called the Palestinian Covenant. In that unconditional covenant we find that the Lord told the children of Israel that if they obeyed the Lord and kept His laws that He would bless them, but if they disobeyed God’s law then the covenant stated that the Lord would remove them from His land. Now we move to 2Samuel 7 where the Lord makes an unconditional covenant with David stating that there would always be one of David’s sons on the throne. Here we see the problem that Ethan, the author of Psalm 89 saw, and that was that if Israel was defeated then how could there be one of David’s sons on the throne? What I see here is that God did not supersede His unconditional covenant with His conditional covenant, for it was because of Israel’s sin in breaking the unconditional covenant that they were defeated by Babylon. The two unconditional covenants are still intact for it is because of God’s faithfulness that He will fulfill those covenants, for Jesus Christ is now on the throne in heaven ruling over all the earth and will someday soon return to take up His father David’s throne in Jerusalem and rule all the earth from there for 1000 years, and this will fulfill both of the unconditional covenants that God made with Israel, and David.
Let’s us look back at verse 37 “"It shall be established forever like the moon, And the witness in the sky is faithful." Selah.” Dr. Wiersbe writes “The ‘witness’ in verse 37 is probably the Lord Himself in heaven, but the constancy of the heavenly bodies is also a witness to the faithfulness of the Lord’s promises (Genesis 8:20-22; Jer. 31:35-36; 33:19-26).”
Dr. Wiersbe goes on to say “Ethan told the Lord what He had done to Judah’s anointed king, the descendant of David. The Lord was angry with the kings because of their sins, especially idolatry (v. 38), so He permitted the Babylonians to come and ravage the land, destroy Jerusalem, and burn the temple, (v. 40-41). To Ethan, the Lord was actually aiding the enemy! (vv. 42-43). But the glory had once more departed from the temple (v. 44; see 1Sam. 4:21-22; Ezek. 8:1-4; 9:3; 10:4, 18; 11:22-23) because the leaders had turned their backs on the Lord and turned to idols. I appears that verse 45 applied especially to King Jehoiachin, who was but eighteen years old when he became king and reigned for three months and ten days (2Kings 24:8). He became a captive in Babylon for thirty-seven years.”
God’s Faithfulness Will Never Cease—Wait for Him (vv. 46-52): “46 How long, O LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like fire? 47 Remember what my span of life is; For what vanity You have created all the sons of men! 48 What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah. 49 Where are Your former lovingkindnesses, O Lord, Which You swore to David in Your faithfulness? 50 Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your servants; How I bear in my bosom the reproach of all the many peoples, 51 With which Your enemies have reproached, O LORD, With which they have reproached the footsteps of Your anointed. 52 Blessed be the LORD forever! Amen and Amen.”
As we begin this last section it is good to note that this is the last section in the third book of the book of Psalms. Psalms is made up of four books and with this last section we have covered the first three books of Psalms with one more to cover which contains sixty Psalms in it and has the longest chapter in the book in the entire Bible, Psalm 119 which has 176 verses and will take many days to discover what gems we will be able to mine there.
I see a flavor of Job in verses 46-48, and perhaps Ethan had read the book of Job before writing Psalm 89. We also see in these verses that Ethan asks a question that he probably already knew the answer too and that question is “How Long.” The answer to that question is found in Jeremiah 25:1-14 and 29:4-14. How long will Israel be in exile? Jeremiah writes that it will be for seventy years.
In verse forty-nine Ethan looks back and asks the Lord what had happened to His lovingkindness, and the Lord’s lovingkindness had not changed, but Judah’s love for the Lord had waned. Dr. Wiersbe writes these insightful words, “Lik any good parent, God shows His love to His children either by blessing their obedience or chastening them for their disobedience, but in either situation, He is manifesting His love.”
We see in verses 50-51 that Ethan looks around and sees the reproach of the enemies. The nation had been taken into exile and the beloved city of Jerusalem was devastated along with the temple of the Lord, and worst of all the glory of the Lord had departed from the temple and would not return until the Lord Jesus Christ would enter into the temple, but what He saw was displeasing to Him. Many would think that the god’s of the Babylonians were more powerful than the God of Israel, and that is not and never will be true.
As when will looked at the last verse in Psalm 72, which was the end of book three in the book of Psalms and found out that it was not really a part of Psalm 72 we see that verse 52 is not really a part of Psalm 89. Dr. Wiersbe writes as he conclude his commentary on this section “no matter how much we suffer because of the sins of others, and no matter how perplexed we may be at the providential workings of the Lord, we should still be able to say by faith, ‘Praise the Lord! Hallelujah!’ And our fellow sufferers ought to respond with, ‘Amen and amen! So be it!’
“That’s the way of trust—faith in the faithfulness of the Lord.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: It is wonderful to remember the great promises of the Lord, especially when trouble comes, and there are great friends of mine who are going through some deep waters so I will pray that I will be able to comfort them with these great promises from God’s Word.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust that the Lord will give me the courage and strength to tell others of the wonderful truth of becoming a born-again believer in Jesus Christ for there are only two kinds of people on this earth, those who believe and those who do not believe: “"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.’” (John 3:36)
5/19/2012 10:15:06 AM
Friday, May 18, 2012
God is Faithful to His Covenant-Trust Him (Psalm 89:19-37)
SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
5/18/2012 8:20:57 AM
My Worship Time Focus: God is Faithful to His Covenant—Trust Him
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 89:19-37
Message of the verses: In the last SD we began to look at Psalm 89 by looking at the first main point along with several introductions from different Bible Scholars including Warren Wiersbe who wrote the following at the end of his commentary: “The psalm gives us four assurances about the faithfulness of the Lord.”
God Is Faithful to His Covenant—Trust Him (vv. 19-37): “19 ¶ Once You spoke in vision to Your godly ones, And said, "I have given help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people. 20 "I have found David My servant; With My holy oil I have anointed him, 21 With whom My hand will be established; My arm also will strengthen him. 22 "The enemy will not deceive him, Nor the son of wickedness afflict him. 23 "But I shall crush his adversaries before him, And strike those who hate him. 24 "My faithfulness and My lovingkindness will be with him, And in My name his horn will be exalted. 25 "I shall also set his hand on the sea And his right hand on the rivers. 26 "He will cry to Me, ’You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.’ 27 "I also shall make him My firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth. 28 "My lovingkindness I will keep for him forever, And My covenant shall be confirmed to him. 29 "So I will establish his descendants forever And his throne as the days of heaven. 30 "If his sons forsake My law And do not walk in My judgments, 31 If they violate My statutes And do not keep My commandments, 32 Then I will punish their transgression with the rod And their iniquity with stripes. 33 "But I will not break off My lovingkindness from him, Nor deal falsely in My faithfulness. 34 "My covenant I will not violate, Nor will I alter the utterance of My lips. 35 "Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David. 36 "His descendants shall endure forever And his throne as the sun before Me. 37 "It shall be established forever like the moon, And the witness in the sky is faithful." Selah.”
God is speaking in this section of the psalm, and He is speaking about David and his reign, and how He chose David to rule over Israel. I first want to go back to the end of the book of Genesis in order to see what Jacob had to say about his son Judah. “10 "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.” (Genesis 49:10) “Judah was the royal tribe of which the King of Kings would come from and so the description of the king of beasts was a good one. In the book of Revelations John describes Jesus as both a lion and also a lamb. All of the kings of Judah came from the line of David to which God had given him a covenant that this would happen.” (I wrote these word on 02/11/2008 in my SD commenting on Genesis 49:8-12) As the Bible give a line from the time that sin entered the universe through Adam and Eve to when the Lord Jesus would come to earth we see in Genesis 49:10 that the line goes through the tribe of Judah, and then in 2Samuel 7 that the line then goes through David and will continue through the line of David until Jesus Christ is born. In the book of Matthew we see the genealogy of Jesus Christ from His birth back to Abraham. Many scholars believe that this is the line from David through Joseph who is the step father of Jesus Christ. We also see another genealogy in the book of Luke and this goes all the way back to Adam, and there are many Bible scholars who believe that this is the genealogy from Mary back to another son of David, Nathan. Matthews goes back to David’s son, Solomon. There was a great sin committed by one of the kings that came from David through Solomon, and I must confess that I do not remember which one it was, but that sin was so awful that many believe that is why there are the two lines from the two Gospel accounts and Mary’s line comes through Nathan, while Joseph’s line comes through Solomon.
God tells a short version of David’s calling and his rule in this section of Scripture and I want to briefly comment on some of these verses. Dr. Wiersbe’s title for this main point is important for the covenant that God made with David was not broken at the time when Babylon captured Judah so they can trust the Lord to fulfill that covenant in spite of Judah being captives in Babylon.
In verses 19-24 we see that God chose David to rule Israel and that He would be faithfulness will be with David. I want to put in a note from Charles H. Spurgeon on verse 25 at this point:
““Ver. 25. I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers. He shall reach far beyond the little rivers which stand for boundaries in Palestine; he shall by his power embrace all lands from sea to sea. He shall have his hand in the ocean and his right hand in earth’s mightiest streams. As monarchs hold in their hands a globe to set forth their dominion over the earth, he shall grasp the far more unconquerable sea, and be Lord of all. This power is to be given him of the Lord, and is to be abiding; so we understand the words "I will set." The verse has in it a voice of good cheer concerning sailors, and all dwellers on the waters; the hand of Jesus is over them, and as he found his first apostles by the sea, so we trust he still finds earnest disciples there.
“EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.
“Ver. 25. I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers. That is, he should reign from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates; figuratively expressed by his left hand being extended to the sea, and his right hand to the rivers. A similar expression is used, according to Curtius, by the Scythian ambassadors to Alexander. "If," said they, "the gods had given thee a body as great as thy mind, the whole world would not be able to contain thee. Thou wouldst reach with one hand to the east, and with the other to the west." —Kitto’s Pictorial Bible.
“Ver. 25. I will set his hand also in the sea and his right hand in the rivers. A certain artist was in the habit of saying that he should represent Alexander in such a manner, that in one hand he should hold a city and from the other pour a river. Christ is represented here as of immense stature, higher than all mountains, with one hand holding the earth, and the other the sea, while from Eastern sea to Western he extends his arms. —Le Blanc.”
In verse 27 we see that although David was the eight son of Jessie he was the first born of the Lord, the highest king upon the earth. David reigned from the Mediterranean Sea on the West to the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers on the East. (“"I will fix your boundary from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.’ (Exodus 23:31”).
Dr. Wiersbe writes “It was David’s close relationship to the Lord and his desire to exalt the Lord along that made him a success (v. 26).”
I think that in understand verses 28-37 we need to understand that it is God who made this covenant with David and it would be up to God to make sure that this covenant was fulfilled. In the Scriptures we see conditional covenants, and unconditional covenants that God makes. The covenant that He made with Abraham was unconditional and so was this covenant that He made with David, and even though the offspring of David would sin, God would punish them for their sin, “But I will not break off My lovingkindness from him, Nor deal falsely in My faithfulness. 34 "My covenant I will not violate, Nor will I alter the utterance of My lips.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: What do all of these things have to do with me as I live in the year 2012? I would say that they have a lot to do with me because it was from the offspring of David that Jesus Christ was born, and it is because of the birth, death, resurrection, ascension, and calling by the Holy Spirit to me that I have become a child of God. It was all a part of God’s plan. As I look at Romans 8:28 in view of the covenant that God made with David I can see that God used all things to work together for good in spite of sinful men. I once heard John MacArthur say that the reason that God works with sinful men is because that is all that He has to chose from.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Praise the Lord for the unconditional covenant that He made with David.
5/18/2012 9:25:04 AM
5/18/2012 8:20:57 AM
My Worship Time Focus: God is Faithful to His Covenant—Trust Him
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 89:19-37
Message of the verses: In the last SD we began to look at Psalm 89 by looking at the first main point along with several introductions from different Bible Scholars including Warren Wiersbe who wrote the following at the end of his commentary: “The psalm gives us four assurances about the faithfulness of the Lord.”
God Is Faithful to His Covenant—Trust Him (vv. 19-37): “19 ¶ Once You spoke in vision to Your godly ones, And said, "I have given help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people. 20 "I have found David My servant; With My holy oil I have anointed him, 21 With whom My hand will be established; My arm also will strengthen him. 22 "The enemy will not deceive him, Nor the son of wickedness afflict him. 23 "But I shall crush his adversaries before him, And strike those who hate him. 24 "My faithfulness and My lovingkindness will be with him, And in My name his horn will be exalted. 25 "I shall also set his hand on the sea And his right hand on the rivers. 26 "He will cry to Me, ’You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.’ 27 "I also shall make him My firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth. 28 "My lovingkindness I will keep for him forever, And My covenant shall be confirmed to him. 29 "So I will establish his descendants forever And his throne as the days of heaven. 30 "If his sons forsake My law And do not walk in My judgments, 31 If they violate My statutes And do not keep My commandments, 32 Then I will punish their transgression with the rod And their iniquity with stripes. 33 "But I will not break off My lovingkindness from him, Nor deal falsely in My faithfulness. 34 "My covenant I will not violate, Nor will I alter the utterance of My lips. 35 "Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David. 36 "His descendants shall endure forever And his throne as the sun before Me. 37 "It shall be established forever like the moon, And the witness in the sky is faithful." Selah.”
God is speaking in this section of the psalm, and He is speaking about David and his reign, and how He chose David to rule over Israel. I first want to go back to the end of the book of Genesis in order to see what Jacob had to say about his son Judah. “10 "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.” (Genesis 49:10) “Judah was the royal tribe of which the King of Kings would come from and so the description of the king of beasts was a good one. In the book of Revelations John describes Jesus as both a lion and also a lamb. All of the kings of Judah came from the line of David to which God had given him a covenant that this would happen.” (I wrote these word on 02/11/2008 in my SD commenting on Genesis 49:8-12) As the Bible give a line from the time that sin entered the universe through Adam and Eve to when the Lord Jesus would come to earth we see in Genesis 49:10 that the line goes through the tribe of Judah, and then in 2Samuel 7 that the line then goes through David and will continue through the line of David until Jesus Christ is born. In the book of Matthew we see the genealogy of Jesus Christ from His birth back to Abraham. Many scholars believe that this is the line from David through Joseph who is the step father of Jesus Christ. We also see another genealogy in the book of Luke and this goes all the way back to Adam, and there are many Bible scholars who believe that this is the genealogy from Mary back to another son of David, Nathan. Matthews goes back to David’s son, Solomon. There was a great sin committed by one of the kings that came from David through Solomon, and I must confess that I do not remember which one it was, but that sin was so awful that many believe that is why there are the two lines from the two Gospel accounts and Mary’s line comes through Nathan, while Joseph’s line comes through Solomon.
God tells a short version of David’s calling and his rule in this section of Scripture and I want to briefly comment on some of these verses. Dr. Wiersbe’s title for this main point is important for the covenant that God made with David was not broken at the time when Babylon captured Judah so they can trust the Lord to fulfill that covenant in spite of Judah being captives in Babylon.
In verses 19-24 we see that God chose David to rule Israel and that He would be faithfulness will be with David. I want to put in a note from Charles H. Spurgeon on verse 25 at this point:
““Ver. 25. I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers. He shall reach far beyond the little rivers which stand for boundaries in Palestine; he shall by his power embrace all lands from sea to sea. He shall have his hand in the ocean and his right hand in earth’s mightiest streams. As monarchs hold in their hands a globe to set forth their dominion over the earth, he shall grasp the far more unconquerable sea, and be Lord of all. This power is to be given him of the Lord, and is to be abiding; so we understand the words "I will set." The verse has in it a voice of good cheer concerning sailors, and all dwellers on the waters; the hand of Jesus is over them, and as he found his first apostles by the sea, so we trust he still finds earnest disciples there.
“EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.
“Ver. 25. I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers. That is, he should reign from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates; figuratively expressed by his left hand being extended to the sea, and his right hand to the rivers. A similar expression is used, according to Curtius, by the Scythian ambassadors to Alexander. "If," said they, "the gods had given thee a body as great as thy mind, the whole world would not be able to contain thee. Thou wouldst reach with one hand to the east, and with the other to the west." —Kitto’s Pictorial Bible.
“Ver. 25. I will set his hand also in the sea and his right hand in the rivers. A certain artist was in the habit of saying that he should represent Alexander in such a manner, that in one hand he should hold a city and from the other pour a river. Christ is represented here as of immense stature, higher than all mountains, with one hand holding the earth, and the other the sea, while from Eastern sea to Western he extends his arms. —Le Blanc.”
In verse 27 we see that although David was the eight son of Jessie he was the first born of the Lord, the highest king upon the earth. David reigned from the Mediterranean Sea on the West to the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers on the East. (“"I will fix your boundary from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.’ (Exodus 23:31”).
Dr. Wiersbe writes “It was David’s close relationship to the Lord and his desire to exalt the Lord along that made him a success (v. 26).”
I think that in understand verses 28-37 we need to understand that it is God who made this covenant with David and it would be up to God to make sure that this covenant was fulfilled. In the Scriptures we see conditional covenants, and unconditional covenants that God makes. The covenant that He made with Abraham was unconditional and so was this covenant that He made with David, and even though the offspring of David would sin, God would punish them for their sin, “But I will not break off My lovingkindness from him, Nor deal falsely in My faithfulness. 34 "My covenant I will not violate, Nor will I alter the utterance of My lips.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: What do all of these things have to do with me as I live in the year 2012? I would say that they have a lot to do with me because it was from the offspring of David that Jesus Christ was born, and it is because of the birth, death, resurrection, ascension, and calling by the Holy Spirit to me that I have become a child of God. It was all a part of God’s plan. As I look at Romans 8:28 in view of the covenant that God made with David I can see that God used all things to work together for good in spite of sinful men. I once heard John MacArthur say that the reason that God works with sinful men is because that is all that He has to chose from.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Praise the Lord for the unconditional covenant that He made with David.
5/18/2012 9:25:04 AM
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