SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
6/18/2012 9:56:20 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm 96 PT-2
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Psalm 96:4-13
Message of the verses: In yesterday’s SD we began to look at Psalm
96 by looking at several introductions to the psalm and also looking at the
first section, (verses 1-3). Dr. Wiersbe
writes the following at the end of his introduction: “The psalm also looks ahead to the kingdom
age when Messiah shall reign and the Gentile nations will worship the God of
Israel. The psalmist gives four commands
to God’s people and backs up each command with a reason for their obedience.”
Praise!
Our God is Great!(vv. 4-6): “4 For great is the LORD and greatly to be
praised; He is to be feared above all gods. 5
For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the
heavens. 6 Splendor and majesty are before
Him, Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.”
We have gone over what an idol
is in earlier SD’s but it is good to remember that an idol is anything that
comes between you and God. The children
of Israel were disciplined severely for their worship of idols and taken out of
their land for 70 years, and after they returned they did not worship idols
again, but the idols that they worshiped before they were taken out of the land
were idols made of wood, and stone, and gold or silver, something that was made
with hands. After making these idols
they would bow down and worship them.
Here the psalmist talks about the idols that the “peoples” worshiped,
which were what I just described, and then he contrasts them with the ONE TURE
GOD, the God who made everything in His creation. Everything we see, whether on this earth or
in the heavens above was made by God in six days between six and seven
thousands years ago, and the last part of His creation was the creation of
man. Nothing has been created since
then! Dr. Wiersbe writes “Both in His
sanctuary in heaven and His sanctuary on earth, God was enthroned in glory and
power. How we ought to praise Him.!”
Worship!
The Lord Is Worthy!(vv. 7-9): “7 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the
peoples, Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. 8 Ascribe to the LORD the glory of His name;
Bring an offering and come into His courts. 9
Worship the LORD in holy attire; Tremble before Him, all the earth.”
Dr. Wiersbe writes “We approach
God only through Christ’s righteousness, but we please God when we are obedient
children.” When the children of Israel
wanted to praise the Lord they lifted up their hands, but when they worshiped
the Lord they bowed down before Him.
“John
15:15 "No longer do I call you
slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called
you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known
to you.” “Ro 8:15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery
leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by
which we cry out, "Abba! Father!"
6/18/2012 4:32:47 PM
When we look at these two verses
above we see that a person who is a born-again can see God as a friend and an
intimate Father, which both of them are true.
However when that is the only way that we look at God we are probably
missing the aspect that God is Holy, and that we as His children are to fear
Him. I am not speaking about the kind of
fear that caused dread in one’s life, but the kind of reverence that one should
have for a parent or grand-parent. The
important point to remember is that God is HOLY!
Rejoice! The King is Coming!(vv. 10-13)
“10 ¶ Say among the nations,
"The LORD reigns; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be
moved; He will judge the peoples with equity." 11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth
rejoice; Let the sea roar, and all it contains; 12 Let the field exult, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy 13 Before the LORD, for He is coming, For He is
coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness And the
peoples in His faithfulness.”
I like the word equity that is
found in verse ten for that means that God will give everyone what they have
coming. Now in the case of those who do
not accept the forgiveness that God offers them through Jesus Christ they will
receive eternity apart from God in the place that the Bible calls Hell. Those who have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ
as Savior and Lord will spend eternity with Him. At the judgment seat of Christ which is
spoken of in Romans and 1Corinthians, believers will be rewarded for their
works that they have done while in the body here on earth and all will be with
equality.
Dr. Wiersbe writes “’The Lord
reigns’ (v. 10; see 93:1) can also be translated ‘The Lord has become King’
(see Revelations 11:17), referring to the day Jesus will sit on David’s throne
and rule over the nations (Luke 1:26-33; Rev. 19:11-16). Only then will there be true justice on the
earth.” Romans 8:18-23 shows us that
the whole creation, which now groans will be set free at the return of Jesus
Christ: “18 For I consider that the sufferings of this
present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be
revealed to us. 19 For the anxious longing
of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility,
not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set
free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the
children of God. 22 For we know that the
whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.
23 And not only this, but also we
ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan
within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of
our body.”
Dr. Wiersbe finishes his commentary
with these insightful words, “The whole creation is on tiptoe to see the
wonderful sight of the sons of God coming into their own (Romans 8:19, Phillips) Rejoice!”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: The
second coming of Jesus Christ to this earth is one of the most beloved subjects
that is in all of the Word of God. We
see bits and pieces of it in the OT, but it is seen in full from the writings
of the NT, especially looking at the event as it will occur in the 19th
chapter of the book of Revelations. In
seeing this I must put into perspective that this world is not my home for I am
just passing through, and while I am hear I want to do the things that God has
prepared from me to do from eternity past.
My Steps of Faith for
Today: I desire to continue to
remain or abide in the Vine in order to be equipped to serve the Lord and to do
what He has called me to do.
Memory verses for the week:
2Peter 1:1-2: Simon Peter, a
bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those
who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our
God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2. Grace
and peace be multiplied to you in knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 6/18/2012 4:56:50 PM
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