SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/23/2012 10:01:59 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm 107 PT-1
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Psalm 107:1-16
Message of the verses: I am trying to make a practice of beginning my
Spiritual Diaries while in the Psalms to look at different Bible Commentators
at the beginning of the psalm that I am studying in order to get a good idea on
what the psalm is all about. I have
access to several different Bible Commentators from recourses that I have at
home along with some on the Bible Program that I use.
“SUBJECT,
etc. This is a choice song for the redeemed of the Lord (#Ps 107:2). Although
it celebrates providential deliverances, and therefore may be sung by any man
whose life has been preserved in time of danger; yet under cover of this, it
mainly magnifies the Lord for spiritual blessings, of which temporal favours
are but types arid shadows. The theme is thanksgiving, and the motives for it.
The construction of the psalm is highly poetical, and merely as a composition
it would be hard to find its compeer among human productions. The bards of the Bible hold no second place
among the sons of song.
“DIVISION. The psalmist commences
by dedicating his poem to the redeemed who have been gathered from captivity,
#Ps 107:1-3; he then likens their history to that of travellers lost in the
desert, #Ps 107:4-9; to that of prisoners in iron bondage, #Ps 107:10-16; to
that of sick men, #Ps 107:17-22; and to that of mariners tossed with tempest,
#Ps 107:23-32. In the closing verses the judgment of God on the rebellious, and
the mercies of God to his own afflicted people are made the burden of the song,
#Ps 107:33-42; and then the psalm closes with a sort of summing up, in #Ps
107:43, which declares that those who study the works and ways of the Lord
shall be sure to see and praise his goodness.”
(Charles H. Spurgeon)
“The opening line of Pss. 105-107, ‘Oh
give thanks to the Lord,’ links together this trilogy of songs which praise God
for His goodness, and mercy to Israel.
Most likely this psalm has a post-Exilic origin (cf. 107:3). The psalm
develops two main themes: 1) praising God for His continual deliverance
(107:4-32), and 2) remembering God’s response to man’s obedience/disobedience
(1-7:33-42).” (The John MacArthur Study
Bible)
“The emphasis in 105 is on Israel’s
exodus from Egypt and in 106 on God’s longsuffering care of His people. This psalm focuses on the Lord’s redemption
of the nation from captivity in Babylon (vv. 2-3). While the circumstances described in the
psalm could be experienced by almost anyone, they especially apply to what
Israel had to endure while in captivity.
The word ‘redeemed’ is often used in Isaiah to describe this great deliverance
(Isa. 35:9; 43:1; 44:22-23; 48:20; 62:12).
Note the words describing their plight:
adversity (v.2), trouble and distress (vv. 6, 13, 19, 28), misery (vv.
10, 26, 39), labor (v. 12), oppression (v. 39), and sorrow (v.39). The psalmist begins by urging us to give
thanks to the Lord for His goodness and mercy (lovingkindness), and he closes
by exhorting us to be wise and learn from the mistakes of other people (v.
47). The people described in this psalm
needed God’s help, either because of their own folly or because of
circumstances beyond their control, and they called on the Lord and He
delivered them. Five specific situations
are described involving people who lose something valuable.” (Warren Wiersbe)
When You Lose Your Way (vv. 4-9)
“1 ¶ Oh give thanks to the
LORD, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, Whom He
has redeemed from the hand of the adversary 3
And gathered from the lands, From the east and from the west, From the
north and from the south. 4 They
wandered in the wilderness in a desert region; They did not find a way to an
inhabited city. 5 They were hungry and
thirsty; Their soul fainted within them. 6
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He delivered them out
of their distresses. 7 He led them also
by a straight way, To go to an inhabited city. 8 Let them give thanks to the LORD for His
lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men! 9 For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, And
the hungry soul He has filled with what is good.”
Dr. Wiersbe did not include the
first three verses in his commentary, but I have decided to include them. We see that verse one begins the same way
that the last two psalms did, giving thanks to the LORD for His goodness, for
one of the attributes of God is that He is good, and He is love as the psalmist
includes in verse one. We see in verses
2-3 that this psalm focuses on the Lord’s redemption of the nation from
captivity in Babylon as Dr. Wiersbe wrote in his introduction.
Now we will look at verses
4-9: In our world today as seen in the
first gulf war it only took minutes for Iran to send a missile into Israel, but
when Cyrus decided to send the Jews back to their land after 70 years of
captivity it was a long and dangerous trip as we see from the writings of Ezra
and also Nehemiah. Ezra did not even ask
the king for support, since his trust was in the Lord, and this was an example
of great trust for he was carrying a lot of gold and silver articles to worship
the Lord in the temple that would be built.
Verses 4-9 speak of the perils that these people went through in their
return to Israel from Babylon. In their need
the would cry out to the Lord for His help as they traveled through the
wilderness to get to their new home in Jerusalem, although some of the older
people who returned were born in Israel and returning to it in this exodus from
Babylon. It was because God provided for
their needs when they were in need that we read in verses 8-9 that they gave
thanks to the Lord. Verses eight and
nine are verses that I memorized a long time ago, probably over thirty years
ago and they are very meaningful to me.
When You Lose Your Freedom (vv. 10-16):
“10 ¶ There were those who
dwelt in darkness and in the shadow of death, Prisoners in misery and chains,
11 Because they had rebelled against the
words of God And spurned the counsel of the Most High. 12 Therefore He humbled their heart with labor;
They stumbled and there was none to help. 13
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He saved them out of
their distresses. 14 He brought them out
of darkness and the shadow of death And broke their bands apart. 15 Let them give thanks to the LORD for His
lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men! 16 For He has shattered gates of bronze And cut
bars of iron asunder.”
We can see from verses 10, 14, and
17 that these people were in prisons and it was because of their rebellion
against the Lord, and this is a good description of those who went into exile
in Babylon from Judah as we can see in 2Chronicles 36:15-23, “15 The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word
to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His
people and on His dwelling place; 16 but
they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed
at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, until
there was no remedy. 17 Therefore He
brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans who slew their young men with
the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man
or virgin, old man or infirm; He gave them all into his hand. 18 All the articles of the house of God, great
and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the
king and of his officers, he brought them all to Babylon. 19 Then they burned the house of God and broke
down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire
and destroyed all its valuable articles. 20
Those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and
they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of
Persia, 21 to fulfill the word of the
LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the
days of its desolation it kept sabbath until seventy years were complete.
“22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of
Persia-in order to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah-the
LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a
proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,
23 "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia,
’The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and
He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
Whoever there is among you of all His people, may the LORD his God be with him,
and let him go up!’’”
Dr. Wiersbe writes “Anyone who rejects
God’s message of life in Christ is imprisoned in sin, and only Jesus can set
him or her free (Luke 1:79; 4:18ff).”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: The
psalmist writes that it is good to give thanks to the Lord, and for His loving
kindnesses. I have to admit that this is
one of the things that I need to be better at.
I have little trouble praying that the Lord would help me in certain situations,
but neglect at time to praise Him for His lovingkindness in answering my
prayers.
I want to add in this section a
quote from a man who once ran for President of the United States, who is a
former governor of the state of Arkansas, and most importantly is a believer. After the tragic killing of many people in
Colorado last week former Governor Huckabee made the following statement on his TV show that he has on the Fox News Network
: ““Ultimately,”
Huckabee concluded, “We don't have a crime problem or a gun problem – or even a
violence problem. What we have is a sin problem. And since we ordered God out
of our schools and communities, the military and public conversations, you
know, we really shouldn't act so surprised when all hell breaks loose.” I agree with this statement whole heartily!
My Steps of Faith for Today: 8 Let them give thanks to the LORD for His
lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men! 9 For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, And
the hungry soul He has filled with what is good.”
Memory verses for the week: 2Peter 1:1-7
1.
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 the knowledge of God and of Jesus our
Lord, 3. seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining
to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His
own glory and excellence. 4. For by
these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them
you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption
that is in the world by lust.
5.
Now for this reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral
excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6. and in your knowledge
self-control, and in your self-control perseverance, and in your perseverance
godliness, 7. and in your godliness brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly
kindness, love.
7/23/2012 11:21:44 AM
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