SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/11/2012 9:00:44 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Change & Changeless
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Psalm 119:89-96
Message of the verses: “89 ¶
Lamedh. Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven.
90 Your faithfulness
continues throughout all generations; You established the earth, and it stands.
91 They stand this day according to Your
ordinances, For all things are Your servants. 92 If Your law had not been my delight, Then I
would have perished in my affliction. 93 I will never forget Your precepts, For
by them You have revived me. 94 I am Yours, save me; For I have sought Your
precepts. 95 The wicked wait for me to destroy me; I shall diligently consider
Your testimonies. 96 I have seen a limit to all perfection; Your commandment is
exceedingly broad.”
Dr. Wiersbe
writes the following at the end of his introductory commentary on this section
of Psalm 119:89-96: “The psalmist made
some wonderful affirmations, which if heeded, will anchor us to the eternal and
enable us to be used of God during these turbulent times.” Change and changeless is the theme of this
section and change is something that most people do not want, for they love to
stay in their “comfort zone.” Change is
something that God will bring into our lives in order to get us moving for the
cause of Christ, whether it is a change that will cause some kind of trouble in
our live where we will then be forced to look up in order to began to grow
again in our walk with the Lord which will then bring glory to the Lord. However if we do not change we will not grow
in the Lord for Paul writes these words to show us the need for change: “2Co
3:18 But we all, with unveiled face,
beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to
glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”
God’s Word is settled (v. 89): “. Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled
in heaven.”
The Word of God has been under
attack since Satan first said to Eve, “Indeed, has God said.” In the United States today, a country that
was founded on the principles of Scripture, and people first came here in order
to get away from a society where there was religious persecution, we are now
almost as the same place where the people were when they first came here from
Europe and it is because the Word of God is under attack, but the Word of God
is settled in heaven and will never change.
These people who are attacking the Word of God will change their minds
in a hundred years or so when they have to stand before their maker. Dr. Wiersbe writes “Though born in eternity,
God’s Word is rooted in history and speaks to every generation that will
listen.” “Build your life on the Word of
God and you will weather all the changes of life!”
God is faithful (v. 90a): “90
Your faithfulness continues throughout all generations.”
Psalm 90 speaks about the
eternal God and the changes of life, but God does not change and God is always
faithful to His children. When we read
in the Scriptures that God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob we remember
that these three men were very different, and yet God is still their God despite
their differences, and this gives us confidence that we can commit ourselves,
our children, our grand-children, and great grand-children to God who is
faithful and changeless.
God’s creation is established (vv. 90b-91): “You established the earth, and it stands. 91 They stand this day according to Your
ordinances, For all things are Your servants.”
In God’s Word we learn of the
creation of earth along with all of the stars and we also learn that until God purifies
the earth and all the stars with fire that His creation will stand. Genesis speaks of God’s creation and that God
created the earth by His Word as He spoke it into existence and 2Peter 3 along
with Revelations 21-22 speak of God un-creating the worlds and then creating a
new heaven and earth along with the New Jerusalem.
In the book
of Matthew, Jesus says as He speaks of the end times states “Mt 24:22 "Unless those days had been cut short,
no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be
cut short.”
God’s peace is available (vv. 92-95): “. 92 If Your law had not been my delight, Then I
would have perished in my affliction. 93 I will never forget Your precepts, For
by them You have revived me. 94 I am Yours, save me; For I have sought Your
precepts. 95 The wicked wait for me to destroy me; I shall diligently consider
Your testimonies.”
The Bible is a book not to be
read in order for us to escape the reality of life, but a book to go to in
order to be strengthened as we go through changes that we face. Dr. Wiersbe points out that “The verb ‘sought
out’ in verse 94 means ‘to consult, to inquire, to beat a path, to read
repeatedly.’ Here is a believer who beat
a path to the Bible, read it over and over, studied it, and when he had to make
a decision, consulted it carefully.
Philosophies change, political expedients fail, promises and contracts
are broken, but the Word of God still stands.”
God wants us to get out of our rut (v.
96): “96 I have seen a limit to all
perfection; Your commandment is exceedingly broad.”
96 ¶ I see the limits to everything human, but the
horizons can’t contain your commands! (Message)
I think
that the Message helps us to understand this verse better, for we can see that there
is really no perfection outside of God and His Word. What we do as humans is limited because of
our limited minds, strength, and ability, but God is all powerful, and all wise.
Solomon
wrote the following many times in the book of Ecclesiastes “Vanity of vanities,
all is vanity!” In writing this he was
speaking of human achievements, but at the end of the book he got it right when
he wrote, “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His
commandments, because this applies to every person.”
Dr. Wiersbe
concludes his commentary on this section by writing “Why should God’s people
stay in a rut when the Word of God is so boundless and there are no limits to
what He can do! We may not like all the
changes going on in the world, but we need not be frustrated and afraid. Although the news coverage was not as good,
the situation was not much different in the days of the apostles, and they
turned the world upside down! God is on
the throne; He holds the world in His hands; His promises can never fail; so, let’s
get moving.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I suppose that I am a person that likes
change more than most people do, and I suppose that is the way that God made
me, but to realize that change in my life is in the control of my Savior is the
best news that I can have.
My Steps of Faith for
Today: Contentment in changes is
something that I must learn, and the study of God’s Word is the best way to
learn it.
Memory verses for the week:
1Cor. 13:1-4
1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do
not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know
all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith so as to remove
mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and surrender my
body to be burned, but do not have love it profits me nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love
does not brag and is not arrogant,
9/11/2012 10:28:13 AM
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