SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/8/2012 8:38:18 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm 112- PT-2
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 112:2-10
Message of the verses: In Today’s SD we will continue to look at
Psalm 112, beginning with the second verse.
Dr. Wiersbe writes at the end of his introductory commentary on Psalm
112 these words in order to help us understand what this psalm is all
about: “The psalmist describes the
faithful believer in various relationships of life.” We looked yesterday at the faithful believer’s
relationship with the Lord.
Our Relationship to Material Wealth (vv.
3-5, 9): “3 Wealth and riches are in his house, And his
righteousness endures forever. 4 Light
arises in the darkness for the upright; He is gracious and compassionate and
righteous. 5 It is well with the man who
is gracious and lends; He will maintain his cause in judgment.
“9 He has given freely to the poor, His
righteousness endures forever; His horn will be exalted in honor.”
I
wrote yesterday that I thought that the person who wrote Psalm’s 111 & 112
could be the same one who wrote Psalm 119 because of the way he speaks about
the Word of God. Now as I read these
verses they make me think of Proverbs 31 but in the way that a righteous man
lives his life, while Proverbs 31 speaks of how a righteous woman lives her
life.
Now
as we look at this section we must realize that in the OT as we read the
different laws and covenants we find that material wealth was one of the
evidences of the Lord’s blessing on His people as they moved into the Promised
Land. This can be seen in Deut. 7:12 and
following along with chapter 28:1-14.
The NT teachings are different about those who are wealthy are not necessarily
rich in material blessings, but as Paul writes to the Ephesians we are rich
beyond belief in the Lord, and this is the most important kind of
richness. Jesus brought about this
teaching while He was ministering on the earth as seen in Matthew 19:16-30, and
it shocked His disciples who though if the rich, who they thought were blessed
by God the most, would have the hardest time entering into the kingdom then who
could make it. The rich were depending
upon their wealth, and thus did not depend on the Lord, while those who were
poor found it necessary to depend upon the Lord. Now this does not mean that all rich will end
up in hell and all poor will end up in heaven, for the same is true for both
the rich and the poor and that is that they have to confess their sins to the
Lord, telling the Lord that they are bankrupted in getting to heaven on their
own and then fully trust the Lord who has died for their sins to save
them.
We
see that the person who is described in Psalm 112 as being righteous, not acquiring
his wealth in an unlawful way, and then we see that he is a very generous man
with the funds that the Lord has entrusted him with, by helping the poor and
then lending without interest to those who were in need which is seen in the
Law of God. (Deu. 23:19-20) In 2Corinthians chapter nine the apostle Paul
is writing about giving and in verse nine he quotes verse nine of Psalm 112 to
help in his explanation of giving and how it should be done by the believer. Dr. Wiersbe points out that the word “horn”
which is in verse nine speaks of power and dignity, “Because of this man’s
generosity, the Lord allowed hi to be lifted up in the eyes of his peers. As you see this man’s faith in the Lord and
love for those in need, you cannot help but think of the promise in Matthew
6:33.” “"But seek first His kingdom
and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Our Relationship to Circumstances (vv.
6-8): “6 ¶ For he will never be shaken; The righteous
will be remembered forever. 7 He will
not fear evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD. 8 His heart is upheld, he will not fear, Until
he looks with satisfaction on his adversaries.”
Because we live in
a sinful world, a world that is no way near what it was when God created it, we
will from time to time have to suddenly face difficult circumstances. I suppose that we could also call them tests
from the Lord and when this kind of a thing happens we need to be a steadfast
believer who knows that the God we worship is in control of all things and that
He can handle any problem that we face.
I suppose the prime example of this in the OT could be seen by both Job
and Joseph, for both of them suffered much for their faith and yet both of them
had a great faith in God knowing that because for a while (thirteen years in
the case of Joseph) they were in the darkness they both knew that the Lord
would send them light so that they could find their way out of the
darkness. When difficult times come upon
us we need to remember that Satan wants to use these situations in order to
tempt us, but God uses these difficult situations to test us, and His desire
for us is to make us more like Jesus Christ.
One of my favorite verses is 1Cor. 10:13 which says, “There hath no
temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who
will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the
temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” In this verse the word “temptation” can also
mean test or trial. We also see that in
this test or trial that God will send to us a way to bear it or to stand up to
it, and this can be done by God sending
us His light.
Our Relationship to the Wicked (v. 10): “10
The wicked will see it and be vexed, He will gnash his teeth and melt
away; The desire of the wicked will perish.”
In his commentary
on this section Dr. Wiersbe writes the following: “Those who walk with the Lord and live godly
lives are opposed and hated by the wicked, because the good works of the godly
are like lights that reveal the evil in the world.”
I
would like to state an example of this going on in our world today by talking
about Tim Tebow, who is a young man (around 24 years old) who stands up for
what he believe in and does this on the national scene as a football player. He helped take an under-manned team to the
playoffs last year and beat a team that was much better than his. His reward was to be traded to a team in New
York, the media capital of the world where we find that his teammates are
trying to cause him to stumble in his walk with the Lord. We live in a world today where there is very
little shame, a world where not only do people do wrong, but try to get others
to do wrong. Paul writing to the Romans
talks about this in his incitement to the sinfulness of mankind when he writes,
“and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such
things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty
approval to those who practice them.”
I
am sure that the man in Psalm 112 faced the same kind of temptations by wicked
people as Tim Tebow and others do today, but in the end this man knows that God
will judge them when His time is right.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: A couple of days ago I was listening to a
sermon by John MacArthur on the last verse in Mark eight and the first verse in
Mark nine, and it was in that sermon that he spoke about shame, and how shame
in the United States is not seen like it use to be seen. It use to be shameful to dress like some
women dress today and go out into public, it use to be shameful to take the
Lord’s name in vain, and in the same way it use to be thought of when a
righteous person does something good to praise him for it. As I listened to this sermon along with
reading a book by Joel Rosenberg entitled “Implosion,” which speaks of four
possibilities of the implosion of the United States, I greatly fear for the
country that I love. It was back in the
1980’s that Billy Graham was speaking in Calvary, Canada that he stated “If God
does not judge the United States of America soon He will have to apologize to
Sodom and Gomorra.” Things are much
worse in the year we are living in now.
I pray for another
“Great Awaking” to happen in our land before it is too late.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
Pray for Tim Tebow to be able to live out 1Cor. 10:13, and pray for a
great revival to sweep across the Church in America.
Memory verses for the week: 2Peter 1:1-9
1
Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To
those who have received a faith on the same kind as ours, but 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 can become partakers of
the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
5
Now for this very 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. 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 his purification from his former sins.
8/8/2012 10:03:34 AM
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