SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/29/2012 9:01:13 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm 120
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Psalm 120:1-2
Message of the verses: Before we look at Psalm 120 I want to look at
some of the points that Warren Wiersbe brings up about this section of psalms
that he calls “The Pilgrim Psalms (120-134).
I mentioned
in an earlier SD that these psalms (120-134) are called Psalms of Ascent, and
were sung by families as they made their way up to Jerusalem, (for if you are
going to get to Jerusalem you always have to go up), on their way to one of the
three feasts that they were required to attend, (I believe that the men were
required to attend these three feasts).
Passover was in the spring, and Pentecost was in the early summer and
Tabernacles was in the autumn.
Dr. Wiersbe
points out that these 15 psalms were most likely in a hymnal and that the
pilgrims would sing them on their way up to Jerusalem. He states that ten of the psalms were anonymous,
and that David wrote four of the psalms, 122, 124, 131, & 133, Solomon
wrote Psalm 127.
Dr. Wiersbe
states “Three special themes are repeated: (1) the afflictions that Israel
experienced at the hands of the other nations, (2) the gracious way God cared
for and protected His chosen people, and (3) the blessing of being in
Jerusalem.” As one looks at the history
of the nation of Israel as written in the OT we find that Israel had suffered
contempt and scorn and they were near extinction, that there were traps set
against them and they suffered bondage and affliction. These things are all spoken of in this set of
psalms to remind the people of who they were and how the Lord has truly cared
for them in spite of all of their sin that they have committed against the
Lord.
I think
that it is important for us to look at a long paragraph that Dr. Wiersbe wrote
as he concludes his introductory commentary on this section of psalms and
although we will probably not get through all of the 120th Psalm
today it is important to understand what he writes here. “Under the leadership of Moses, the
Israelites were a nomadic people for forty years. But after they settled in Canaan, the Lord
required them to go to Jerusalem three times a year. This reminded them that, spiritually speaking,
they were still a pilgrim people and needed to depend on the Lord. ‘For we are aliens and pilgrims before you,’
said David (1Chron. 29:15; and see Pss. 84:5-7 and 119:19 and 54.) Too many believers today want to be ‘settlers,’
not pilgrims and strangers (Heb. 11:8-10, 13-16; 1Peter 1:1; 2:11). We are happy to settle down in our comfort
zones and live as though Jesus never died, Jesus is not coming again, and our
lives will never end. We are guilty of
what Eugene Peterson calls ‘the tourist mindset,’ content to make occasional
brief visits with the Lord that are leisurely and entertaining, all the while conforming
to this world and enjoying it. (See A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, IVP,
p. 12.) Our citizenship is in heaven
(Luke 10:20; Phil. 3:20; Heb. 12:22-24), and that should make a difference in
our lives on earth. We need to ‘feel
temporary’ as we make this pilgrim journey called life.”
Psalm 120: “1 ¶
«A Song of Ascents.» In my trouble I cried to the LORD, And He answered
me. 2 Deliver my soul, O LORD, from
lying lips, From a deceitful tongue. 3
What shall be given to you, and what more shall be done to you, You
deceitful tongue? 4 Sharp arrows of the
warrior, With the burning coals of the broom tree.
“5 ¶ Woe is me, for I sojourn in Meshech, For I
dwell among the tents of Kedar! 6 Too
long has my soul had its dwelling With those who hate peace. 7 I am for peace, but when I speak, They are
for war.”
In his
introduction to this Psalm Warren Wiersbe points out that the author of this
psalm must have been in the same boat as the author of Psalm 42, and that is
neither of them would be able to come to the feast and go to the sanctuary of
the Lord in Jerusalem and because of this they were both saddened. There were people who were making life
difficult for both the authors of Psalms 42 and 120 preventing them from
attending the feast.
He states “The
psalm reminds believers today that worship is a privilege and the blessings we
receive must be shared. When we find
ourselves experiencing distress and disappointment, we have three
responsibilities to fulfill if our burdens are to become blessings.”
We Must Pray (vv. 1-2): “In my trouble I cried to the LORD, And
He answered me. 2 Deliver my soul, O
LORD, from lying lips, From a deceitful tongue.”
We will
just look at this first section of Psalm 120 in Today’s SD because of all the
time that I had to spend on the introduction to this section of psalms and also
the introduction to this psalm.
I like the
NASB and have used it ever since I became a believer in 1974. I like it because it is easier to read than
the KJV, but the biggest reason that I like it is because I believe that it is
the most accurate translation that is available. I know that the ESV, which is relatively new
is accurate, but old habits are hard to break.
In this first verse we see that the NASB says that the psalmist has
cried out to the Lord, and Dr. Wiersbe points out that this verb tense can be
combined so that the psalmist could actually be saying “I have in the past
cried out to you and now I cry out to you again.” The psalmist could be stating that because he
had cried out to the Lord in the past and the Lord had answered his prayer that
now he is crying out to the Lord again, for he is in trouble again and needs
the help of the Lord. Now I think at
this time we must remember that when we pray to the Lord we can get one of
three answers, yes, no, or wait.
The
psalmist was not complaining of this trouble he is in, but he is praying about
the trouble that he is in and shares his troubles with those who will read this
psalm. Being a believer we are not to
hide our troubles, but to share them with people of like faith that we can
trust to pray about them for us and not to tell everyone they know about our
troubles. I have heard that we are to go
to the throne with our troubles and not to the phone, but I think that it is
good to tell those we can trust and that they will not go to the phone with our
troubles. Solomon speaks of a rope that
has three sections to it making it stronger, and this is helpful to know when
we are telling others about our troubles that are in need of prayer. In the prayer meeting that we have at our
church we have a bulletin with people’s prayer request on it and then at the
end of the first part of the service there can be things added to this bulletin
and they we break up into three groups where we can share things with a smaller
group and then we pray about those things.
I think that it can be taken a step further if the request is something that
one does not want a large group to know about.
Back to the
psalmist who states that the Lord has answered his prayer in verse two and now
asks the Lord to deliver him from those who were lying about him, for those who
had a deceitful tongue. This was the
problem that probably kept him from going up to the temple for one of the
feasts and he was saddened that he could not go.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I suppose that one of the things that I like
least is to have someone lie about me or to me and so I can understand why the
psalmist was upset. In my memory verses
from 1Corinthians thirteen, I read in
verse five these words “(Love) does not take into account a wrong suffered.” I suppose that I am going to have to have a
better understanding of this part of verse five to make a conclusion as to
exactly what this means, but I do think of our Lord and how he prayed to His
Father to forgive those who had crucified Him for they did not know what they
were doing. Steven did the same
thing. This takes a lot of love to do
something like this.
My Steps of Faith for
Today: Contentment is something that
I desire to learn more of and to be more content.
Memory verses for the week: 1Cor. 13:1-7
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 if I 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,
5 does not act unbecomingly, does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not
take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but
rejoices with the truth, 7 bears all things believes all things, hopes all
things, endures all things.
9/29/2012 10:31:56 AM
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