SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/16/2012 7:38:38 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm 114 PT-2
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Psalm 114:2a
Message of the verses: In Today’s SD we will look at the second
verse of this wonderful, short psalm that was probably written after the Jews
returned from the Babylon captivity. The
psalm is about the Exodus and was probably read before the Passover meal while
Psalms 115-118 were read after the Passover meal. Dr. Wiersbe writes at the end of his
introduction ‘the psal is about God and reveals His gracious relationship to His
own people.”
God Is with Us (v. 2a): “2 Judah became His sanctuary, Israel, His
dominion.” This is the entire verse, but
in this section we will just look at the first half.
When God brought Israel out of
Egypt He separated Israel from Egypt, but He also separated Israel unto
Himself. Israel belonged to the Lord as
they were His people and His treasure and His inheritance. Dr. Wiersbe points out that “Judah” and “Israel”
refer to the whole nation and not to the two kingdoms that formed after the
death of Solomon. We know that after the
tribes conquered the Promised Land that eventually the temple of the Lord was
built by Solomon and remained in Jerusalem until the Babylonians destroyed it
in 586 BC. This temple had the presence
of the Lord in it, unlike the empty temples of the nations around it. We see in the book of Ezekiel that the glory of
the Lord left the temple before it was destroyed and then the glory of the Lord
was presence in the Lord Jesus Christ when He came. God does not dwell in houses any more as
Steven reported to those who were about to kill him in Acts 7:48-49, but God,
in the person of the Holy Spirit does dwell in His people today, (1Cor.
3:16-17; 6:19-20; 2Cor. 6:14-18: Eph. 2:19-22).
We also know that Jesus is “Immanuel, God with us. In Jeremiah 31:31 and following Jeremiah prophesied
that God would be with His people in a new way and the author of the Hebrews
picked up on this.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: In his commentary on the books of Ruth and
Ester Dr. Wiersbe asks a question at the end of one of the chapters “If the
Holy Spirit was taken out of the Church in the United States today would it
make a big difference in the way we are?
Unfortunately the answer that he gave was no, and this saddens me. The Holy Spirit is in all believers to help
the believer grow in the Lord, to guide them and to help them understand the
Bible, the key to our spiritual growth.
I believe that the Holy Spirit guides us into doing the work that was
set aside in eternity past by God the Father, and for this God will receive
glory from those works we do.
My Steps of Faith for
Today: Continue to abide in the Vine
and to be available to do the work of the Lord that the Holy Spirit directs me
to do for the cause of Christ.
8/16/2012 8:02:37 AM
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