SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/18/2012 9:20:48 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm 115 PT-1
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Psalm 115:1-8
Message of the verses: In Today’s SD we will begin to explore the
115th Psalm by looking at several introductions to this psalm by a
number of different Bible Commentators.
“In the
former psalm the past wonders which God had wrought were recounted to his
honour, and in the present psalm he is entreated to glorify himself again,
because the heathen were presuming upon the absence of miracles, were
altogether denying the miracles of former ages, and insulting the people of God
with the question, "Where is now their God?" It grieved the heart of
the godly that Jehovah should be thus dishonored, and treating their own
condition of reproach as unworthy of notice, they beseech the Lord at least to
vindicate his own name. The Psalmist is evidently indignant that the
worshippers of foolish idols should be able to put such a taunting question to
the people who worshipped the only living and true God; and having spent his
indignation in sarcasm upon the images and their makers, he proceeds to exhort
the house of Israel to trust in God and bless his name. As those who were dead
and gone could no longer sing psalms unto the Lord among the sons of men, he
exhorts the faithful who were then living to take care that God is not robbed
of his praise, and then he closes with an exulting Hallelujah. Should not
living men extol the living God?”
(Charles H. Spurgeon)
“Psalm
113-118 comprise a rich 6-psalm praise to God commonly called the ‘Egyptian
Hallel’ (‘hallel’ meaning praise in Heb.).
“This
praise psalm appears to be antiphonal in nature, following this outline and
pattern: 1) the people (vv. 1-8); 2) the priests (vv. 9-11); 3) the people (vv.
12-13); 4) the priests (vv. 14-15); and 5) the people (vv. 16-18). Verses 4-11 are very similar to Ps
135:15-20. It has been suggested that
this psalm is post-Exilic (cf. v. 2) and could have first been sung at the
dedication of the second temple (cf. Ezra 6:16).” (The John MacArthur Study Bible)
“The Lord
had given His people a great victory, and they wanted to acknowledge it before
their pagan neighbors and give God the glory.
If their neighbors had visited the returned exiles and seen their
rebuilt temple, they would have asked ‘Where is your god?” There were no idols in the temple or in the
city (See Acts 17:16 for contrast.) The
question gave the Jews the opportunity to contrast the false gods of their
neighbors with the true and living God of Israel. This psalm was written as a litany, with the
leaders opening in verse 1. The people
responded in verses 2-8, the choir in verses 9-11, and the people again in
verses 12-13. The priests or the choir
spoke in verses 14-15, and the people closed the litany in verses 16-18. 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 God He is.” (Warren Wiersbe)
The Reigning God (vv. 1-3): “1 ¶
Not to us, O LORD, not to us, But to Your name give glory Because of
Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth. 2
Why should the nations say, "Where, now, is their God?" 3 But our God is in the heavens; He does
whatever He pleases.”
The nations
that surrounded Israel asked the question “Where, now, is their God?” The answer that God is in the heavens reigning
upon His holy throne. What does the God
of Israel do? He does whatever he wants
to do is the answer, and what He does is righteous and loving. It is because of God’s great love for Israel
that He made a covenant with them and chose them (See Deuteronomy 7:7-11).
The
Living God (vv. 4-8): “4 Their idols are silver and gold, The work of
man’s hands. 5 They have mouths, but
they cannot speak; They have eyes, but they cannot see; 6 They have ears, but they cannot hear; They
have noses, but they cannot smell; 7
They have hands, but they cannot feel; They have feet, but they cannot
walk; They cannot make a sound with their throat. 8 Those who make them will
become like them, Everyone who trusts in them.”
One does
not have to read too much of the Old Testament to discover that God does like
those who worship idols. God is a
jealous God and wants all worship to belong to Him, and the reason is that He
deserves all worship and praise and honor and glory. In verse eight we read that those who worship
the idols that are made by human hands will become like them, and this is what
the children of Israel saw when they were exiled to Babylon, and they did not
like that at all, and so when they came back to their land that God had given
to them they did not want to worship idols anymore. They were cured of bending down to a man made
idol, but the religious system by the Jews that was in place when the Lord
Jesus Christ was on earth was almost as bad as the worship of idols and He told
the Pharisees and other leaders this on many different occasions.
At this
time I want to quote from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary: “God is a Spirit and does not have a body
(John 4:24), so when writers in Scripture speak about His eyes, ears, hands,
and feet and so on, they are using what theologians call ‘anthropomorphisms’ (anthropo = human; morphos = form, shape). This
is a literary device which uses human characteristics to describe divine
attributes. God uses the known to teach
us the unknown and the unknowable. This
section is repeated in 135:15-18.
Because the dead idols lacked the attributes of the living God, they
were unable to do either good or evil, yet the people worshiped them!”
Dr. Wiersbe
takes a section in his commentary to explain each of the parts of the body that
the psalmist uses in this psalm and I think that it is important to see this
and so I will use it here, but first I want to quote the last paragraph in his
commentary on this section.
“But the
greatest tragedy is not what the idols cannot do but what they can do to the people who worship
them. We become like the God we worship.
As we worship the true and living God, He transforms our ears to hear
His truth and the cries of those in need.
He give us eyes to see His Word and His world and the path He wants us
to walk. Our ‘spiritual senses’ develop
and we become more mature in Jesus Christ (Heb. 5:10-14). But those who worship false gods loose the
use of their spiritual senses and become blind to the light and deaf to God’s
voice.”
“No Mouths—They cannot speak to their
people, make covenants, give promises, guidance, or encouragement. Our God speaks to us!
No eyes—They offer their followers no
protection or oversight. Our God’s eyes
are upon us (32:8; 1Peter 3:12) and we can trust Him.
No ears—No matter how much the
idolaters pray, their gods cannot hear them!
Remember Elijah on Mt. Carmel (1Kings 18:20ff). Our God’s eyes are upon us and His ears open
to our cries (34:15).
No noses—This speaks of God receiving
our worship (Gen 821) and being pleased with what we bring Him. (See John 12:1-8; Eph. 5:2; Phil. 4:18.)
No hands—The workers who hands made the
idols have more power than the idols they call ‘gods.’ Our God is able to work for us as we seek to
serve Him. His fingers made the universe
(8:3) and His arm brought salvation (Isa. 53:1). (See also Isa. 41:10, 13)
No feet—The people had to carry their
idols (Isa. 46:1-7; Jer. 10:1-10), but our God carries us and walks with us.
(See Isa. 41:10, 13.) “
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I suppose that there are not a lot of people
who bow down to the idols that the psalmist is writing about in Psalm 114, but
that does not mean that there are no idols in the lives of many people today,
including believers, including me, for anything that comes between God and me
is an idol, and needs to be dealt with.
Is the TV an idol? I suppose it
is at times. Are certain hobbies becoming
idols? This could be true too. There are many idols that can be found in
this high technological world that we live in that can take up too much of our
time, and by God’s grace I will deal with all of the idols in my life.
My Steps of Faith for
Today: Deal with the idols that by
continue to stay in the Word of God, and to abide in the Vine to see what the
Lord has for me to do.
Memory verses for the week:
2Peter 1:8-10
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 in blind
or short-sighted, having forgotten his purifications 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
your practice these things, you will never stumble.
8/18/2012 11:00:40 AM
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