SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/19/2012 7:32:47 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm 115 PT-2
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Psalm 115:9-18
Message of the verses: We will continue to look at Psalm 115 in
Today’s SD. Dr. Wiersbe wrote at the end
of his introduction these words, “The psalm may have been used at the
dedication of the second temple (Ezra 6:16).
It not only tells where the God of Israel is but what kind of a God He
is.” Yesterday we looked at “The
reigning God” and also “The Living God.”
The Giving God (vv. 9-15): “9 ¶
O Israel, trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield. 10 O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD; He is
their help and their shield. 11 You who
fear the LORD, trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield. 12 The LORD has been mindful of us; He will
bless us; He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron.
13 He will bless those who fear the
LORD, The small together with the great. 14
May the LORD give you increase, You and your children. 15 May you be blessed of the LORD, Maker of
heaven and earth.”
The
returning remnant needed to be assured that God was a giving God, a God who
would cause their crops to grow and that their number would increase. They were indeed a needy people, and God
would be their provider. When you read
in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah you will see that the returning remnant would
have a revival and that Ezra would stand out in the rain along with the people
to listen to the Word of God and to be reminded of the covenant that He had
made with Israel, and this would encourage them that God was a giving and caring
God who would help them. We also read in
those two books that the returning remnant was not too hospitable to strangers
in the land. (Ezra 6:21 and Nehemiah 10:28 show this.)
When we see
the phrase that God is the maker of heaven and earth we want to remember that
this meant that He did not want anyone to worship the heavens as some did, and
this goes all the way back to the book of Genesis when God mixed the languages
because the people were trying to build a tower that reached into the heavens
on the plain of Babel, which would become Babylon. What they were building were Ziggurats which
were towers that reached into the heavens in order to chart the stars so that they
would worship the heavens. This is where
astrology had its roots, and it is a worship of the stars, or you could call it
idol worship. You can see the astrology predictions
in the news papers of most cities today.
The God Who Deserves Our Praise (vv.
16-18): “16 The heavens are the heavens of the LORD, But
the earth He has given to the sons of men. 17
The dead do not praise the LORD, Nor do any who go down into silence; 18 But as for us, we will bless the LORD From
this time forth and forever. Praise the LORD!”
What does it
mean to “bless the Lord?” Dr. Wiersbe
states “To ‘bless the Lord’ means to ascribe all glory and praise to Him, to
delight His heart with our joyful and willing thanksgiving and obedience. (See
16:7; 26:12; 34:1 100:4; 103:1; 134:2.) We see the word bless five times in verses
12-15 and as a people we could not live one day without the blessings of God.
We see that
God made the earth and then He gave it to men and to women in order to meet
their needs and to give them work to do, cooperating with Him in the
development of His abundant resources (See Genesis 2:8-25).
Dr. Wiersbe
concludes the commentary on this psalm with these words, “The people who
worship dead idols are also dead, but we are alive in Jesus Christ and ought to
extol the Lord! After all, if we expect
to praise Him forevermore we had better start now and be ready when we see Him!”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I desire to ascribe all glory and praise to
God and to delight His heart with my joyful and willing thanksgiving and
obedience.
My Steps of Faith for
Today: To remain in the Vine in
order to see what the Lord had planned for me to accomplish for His glory.
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 his purification
from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brethren,
be all the more diligent to make certain of His calling and choosing you; for
as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble, 11 for in this
way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied
to you.
8/19/2012 8:27:09 AM
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