SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/20/2012 10:00:47 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm 116 PT-1
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 116:1-4
Message of the verses: In Today’s SD we will begin to explore what
is in Psalm 116, and the first thing we will do is look at several
introductions from different Bible Commentators. John MacArthur, in his Study Bible writes the
following from the introduction of Psalm 113:
“Psalms 113-118 comprise a rich 6-psalm praise to God commonly called
the ‘Egyptian Hallel’ (‘Hallel’ meaning praise in Hebrew).” We will better be able to understand Spurgeon’s
note after reading MacArthur’s note.
“This is a continuation of the
Paschal Hallel, and therefore must in some measure be interpreted in connection
with the coming out of Egypt. It has all the appearance of being a personal
song in which the believing soul, reminded by the Passover of its own bondage
and deliverance, speaks thereof with gratitude, and praises the Lord
accordingly. We can conceive the
Israelite with a staff in his hand singing, "Return unto thy rest, O my
soul," as he remembered the going back of the house of Jacob to the land of
their fathers; and then drinking the cup at the feast using the words of #Ps
116:13, "I will take the cup of salvation." The pious man evidently
remembers both his own deliverance and that of his people as he sings in the
language of #Ps 116:16, "Thou hast loosed my bonds"; but he rises
into sympathy with his nation as he thinks of the courts of the Lord’s house
and of the glorious city, and pledges himself to sing "in the midst of
thee, O Jerusalem." Personal love fostered by a personal experience of redemption
is the theme of this Psalm, and in it we see the redeemed answered when they
pray, preserved in time of trouble, resting in their God, walking at large,
sensible of their obligations, conscious that they are not their own but bought
with a price, and joining with all the ransomed company to sing hallelujahs
unto God.” (Charles H. Spurgeon)
“This is an intensely personal ‘thank
you’ psalm to the Lord for saving the psalmist from death (116:3, 8). The occasion and author remain unknown,
although the language used by Jonah in his prayer from the fish’s stomach is
remarkably similar. While this appears
to deal with physical death, the same song could be sung by those who have been
saved from spiritual death.
I.
The Lord’s Response to the Psalmist Prayer for
Deliverance from Death (116:1-11)
II.
The Psalmist’s Reaction to God’s Deliverance of
Him from Death (116:12-19)” (The John
MacArthur Study Bible)
“At a time when the psalmist was ‘at
rest’ (v. 7), unscrupulous men whom he had trusted
lied about him (v. 11) and created trouble for him. In fact, their deception almost cost him his
life (vv. 3-4), but he called on the Lord and was saved from death (vv.
1-2). The psalm is very personal, with ‘I,’
‘my,’ and ‘me’ used over thirty times.
In expressing his praise to the Lord, the writer borrowed from other
psalms, especially 18, 27, 31, and 56, and it appears the he knew the texts of
King Hezekiah’s prayer (Isa. 37) and his psalm of thanksgiving (Isa 38). As the psalmist reflected on his
life-threatening experience, he discovered several reasons why the Lord God
delivers people from danger and death.”
(Warren Wiersbe)
God Answer His Children’s Prayers (vv.
1-4): “1 ¶ I love the LORD, because He hears My voice
and my supplications. 2 Because He has
inclined His ear to me, Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live. 3 The cords of death encompassed me And the
terrors of Sheol came upon me; I found distress and sorrow. 4 Then I called upon the name of the LORD:
"O LORD, I beseech You, save my life!’”
As I look
at verse one I would have to say that one of the reasons that I love the Lord
is because He hears me and He hears the praise that I offer Him, and He hears
the prayers that I lift up to Him. There
are times, especially when I am alone in my car when I just talk to the Lord
about the things that are going on in my life and I know that He listens to me,
and that He cares about the things that are going on in my life, when perhaps
no one else even knows about them or cares about them, but the Lord does, and
as I says in verse two “He inclined His ear to me,” for this is so very
important to me that God listens to me.
I am only one person on this planet of over seven billion people, yet I
know that God hears my prayers, for He is that great and powerful, along with
being wise and loving, and yet He is just and as I look around this world today
I know that this world is not only in need of the love of God, but is also in
great need of the justice of God. One day,
and I think it will be soon that the following words from Revelations 15:1 “Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and
marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in
them the wrath of God is finished.”
Verse three
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 suppose that I have only had one time in my
life when I thought that I was going to die, and for that matter if my sister
had not pulled me up out of the water I would have drowned, for I had just came
up for the third time and I had never even had my head under water, so I
suppose that I would have drowned.
Perhaps the psalmist is speaking of a spiritual moment when he came to
know the Lord in a personal way, and I can surely understand that situation.
In verse
four the psalmist again asks the Lord to save His life and we will find out
that this is what the Lord did for him.
We see in this and many other situations like it in the OT that people
went through difficult situations and were saved from them by the Lord so that we
who live in our day and age can read about them and have the confidence that
God will do the same for us too. Paul
writes about this when he says, “Ro 15:4
For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our
instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the
Scriptures we might have hope.” “Now
these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our
instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” (1Cor. 10:11)
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I really have a hard time understanding how
people can live their lives without the hope that is found in the Word of
God. It greaves me to see people try and
answer the problems of life with the constant help that is found in the Word of
God. The psalmist had the right approach
as we see in these first four verses and that is to call upon the Lord for whom
he knew he would get an answer. When one
thinks about it the person who has put his trust and faith in the risen Lord,
the worst thing that can happen to him is that he will die, and then the best
thing will happen to him, and that is absent from the body means you are
present with the Lord.
My Steps of Faith for
Today: Continue to Abide in the
Vine. (John chapter 15)
Memory verses for the week:
2Peter 1:8-11
8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they
render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord
Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these
qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten the purification from his
former sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain
about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things,
your will never stumble, 11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal
kingdom or our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.
8/20/2012 11:26:19 AM
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