Friday, September 7, 2012

Heth-God Is All We Need (Psalm 119:57-64)


SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/7/2012 7:36:53 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                     Focus:  God Is All We Need

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Psalm 119:57-64

 

            Message of the verses:  We will look at the eight section of Psalm 119 in Today’s Spiritual Diary.

 

            Heth:  God Is All We Need (vv. 57-64):  “57 ¶  Heth. The LORD is my portion; I have promised to keep Your words.

    58 ¶  I sought Your favor with all my heart; Be gracious to me according to Your word.

    59 ¶  I considered my ways And turned my feet to Your testimonies. 60  I hastened and did not delay To keep Your commandments.

    61 ¶  The cords of the wicked have encircled me, But I have not forgotten Your law.

    62 ¶  At midnight I shall rise to give thanks to You Because of Your righteous ordinances.

    63 ¶  I am a companion of all those who fear You, And of those who keep Your precepts.

    64 ¶  The earth is full of Your lovingkindness, O LORD; Teach me Your statutes.”

 

            As believer’s in Jesus Christ today we need to realize that God is all that we need, and in the great times of trouble that the world is in at this time we as believers need to call out to God for our help and not turn to the idols that some of us cling to such as depending on our stocks and bonds and other forms of money, or spending too much time watching our TV’s and not enough time in our Bible’s.  When we look at the OT we see that there were many times when Israel was in trouble that they would turn to the worship of idols, such as the time when Elijah was on the earth and there was a great drought and the children of Israel turned to Baal, the Canaanite storm god.  It did not work then and it will not work now, for God is all we need.

 

            God is our portion (vv.57-58):  ““57 ¶  Heth. The LORD is my portion; I have promised to keep Your words.58 I sought Your favor with all my heart; Be gracious to me according to Your word.”

 

            The psalmist is speaking of the dividing up of the land from back in the book of Joshua, but we learn there that the priests and the Levites did not receive a portion of land like the other tribes did and so the psalmist is saying that the Lord is his portion. God being the portion of the psalmist is not new for we can see it also in the book of Jeremiah (the priest called to be a prophet), (Jeremiah 10:16; 51:19 and Lam. 3:24).  Dr. Wiersbe writes “Believers today have a rich spiritual inheritance in the Lord Jesus Christ, for God’s fullness is in Him and we are ‘complete in him’ (Col. 2:9-10).  He is our life (Col. 3:4) and our ‘all in all’ (Col.3:11).  Because we are in Him, we have ‘all things that pertain to life and godliness’ (2Peter 1:3).  Our riches in Christ are revealed in the Word, which is our ‘spiritual bankbook,’ and His wealth can never diminish.”  As believers these gifts that come from the Lord are not a loan, but given to us through God’s grace and mercy and we cannot repay God for them, “33 ¶  Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! 34  For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? 35  Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? 36  For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

            God is our Master (vv. 59-61):  “59 ¶  I considered my ways And turned my feet to Your testimonies. 60  I hastened and did not delay To keep Your commandments.”      

God owned the Land of Israel and if Israel would obey the terms of the covenant then God would bless them in the land, but if they did not and turn to idols then God would chasten them, first in their land and then in the land where He sent them.  This went on for many years after 70 A.D. but God was faithful to His promises and in 1948 brought the Jews back to their land as the OT prophets had prophesied that He would. 

            Dr. Wiersbe in speaking of NT believers says “Our minds belongs to Him (‘I considered my ways’) and our feet belong to Him (turned my steps’).  Our time belongs to Him and we must not delay obeying His will (v.60).  In ancient days, no servant could say ‘No,’ no servant could linger or postpone doing the master’s will, and no servant could give excuses or say ‘I forgot.’  The servant’s responsibility is to hear the master’s orders, remember them, and obey them immediately.”

 

            God is our greatest joy (vv. 61-64):    61 ¶  The cords of the wicked have encircled me, But I have not forgotten Your law.62  At midnight I shall rise to give thanks to You Because of Your righteous ordinances. 63 I am a companion of all those who fear You, And of those who keep Your precepts. 64 The earth is full of Your lovingkindness, O LORD; Teach me Your statutes.”

 

            As believers our greatest joy should be to know the Lord, to love Him, hear His voice, and obey His will for think about what we were before we knew the Lord and where we were headed without the Lord and now we have a new life and are headed to a new place because of what the Lord has done on our behalf.

            The psalmist shows us that praying to the Lord was better than sleep as he wakes up early in order to talk to the Lord, and even does it in the middle of the night.  The psalmist speaks of being with people of like faith and what a joy that is, although sometimes when things are not going right with others there is not that joy.  I have heard the statement “To live above with the saints we love, Oh that will be glory, but to live below with the saints we know, well that’s another story.”  It should not be this way for we all have the same Lord who has done the same wonderful thing for us in giving us His great salvation. 

            Dr. Wiersbe concludes with these words, “In spite of the disobedience of mankind and the ravages of sin that destroy God’s creation, the earth is still full of God’s lovingkindness, and though we are pilgrims and strangers on this earth, God is our home (90:1) and we have nothing to fear.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Remembering the things that the Lord has accomplished for me should bring me great joy and for this reason I am to praise the Lord for His wonderful works that He has done for me.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Remembering from yesterday’s SD that anger, just anger, along with love is anguish, and it is anguish that is better than just anger.

 

Memory verses for the week:  1Cor. 13:1-2

 

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.

 

9/7/2012 8:36:37 AM  (Happy B-Day to SS)        

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