SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/30/2012 7:54:52 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm 120 PT
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Psalm 120:2-7
Message of the verses: In today’s SD we will continue our look at
the 120th Psalm, remembering the words that Warren Wiersbe wrote at
the end of his introductory commentary, “When we find ourselves experiencing
distress and disappointment, we have three responsibilities to fulfill if our
burdens are to become blessings.” We
look at the first responsibility in yesterday’s SD which is to pray and this
covered the first two verses.
We Must Trust God (vv. 3-4): “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.”
“3
O deceptive tongue, what will God do to you? How will he increase your punishment? 4 You will be pierced with sharp arrows and burned with glowing coals.” (NLT)
It is the belief of Warren Wiersbe
that these two verses are the answer to the prayer that the psalmist had prayed
to the Lord. The Lord is telling the
psalmist that He would care for those who are lying about him and that is very
good advice for us today if this same thing is happening to us. We tend to want to take care of these types of
problems in our own way, but the Lord wants us to allow Him to work these
things out in His own way and in His own time.
Paul was hard on the Corinthians when he scolded them for going to court
when matters should have been handled inside the church, for he told them that
one day they would be judging angels.
The imagery that is used in this
section is also used in other places in the Scriptures such as Psalm 55:21;
57:4; 59:7; 64:3-4; Prov. 16:27; 25:18; 26:18-19; Jer. 9:3, 8; and in James
3:6: “And the tongue is a fire, the very
world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles
the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by
hell.”
Dr. Wiersbe writes “The broom tree
is a desert shrub that affords shade (1Kings 19:4), and its roots can be made
into excellent charcoal.” He goes on to
write “There is so much godless speech in our world today that believers must
be careful what they hear and how it affects them. We must not only turn away our eyes from beholding
vanity (119:37) but also turn away our ears from hearing foolishness.” When we are slandered and lied about, we must
leave the matter with the Lord and trust Him to work.”
We Must Patiently Endure (vv. 5-7):
“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.”
“5 ¶ How I suffer in far-off Meshech. It pains me to live in distant Kedar. 6 I am tired of living among people who hate peace. 7 I search for peace; but when I speak of peace, they want war!” (NLT)
The places that the psalmist speaks
of in this sections were thousands of miles apart and what he is talking about
here is that the Jewish people that he was living with were acting like the
Gentiles who lived in Meshech and Kedar for they were the ones who were
slandering him and this was even more upsetting to him because the Jewish
people were to follow the covenant that was given to them in the Word of
God. Meshech was located in Asia Minor
which is Northwest of Israel, and Kedar was from the descendants of Ishmael who
was Abraham’s son by Hagar.
In today’s world believers must not
only live with unbelievers, but they also live with those who profess to be
believers but act like unbelievers. The
Bible teaches us not to be married to unbelievers, but if a person is married
when they are an unbeliever and then becomes a believer then they will be
living with an unbeliever and they are not to just leave their unbelieving spouse,
but gently begin to witness to them showing the great changes that have
happened to them.
In Paul’s writings he at times
shamed the believers he was writing to by telling them that they were acting
like “Gentiles” meaning unbelievers. We
can see this in 1Cor. 5:1, 12-23; Eph. 4:17; Col. 4:5; 1Thess. 4:12; 1Tim
3:7).
We can see from this section that
the psalmist was a peacemaker and he was trying to encourage his godless Jewish
neighbors to be peaceable, however they were not really interested in doing
this, but want to wage war. Dr. Wiersbe
writes “After over fifty years of ministry, I am convinced that most of the
problems in families and churches are caused by professed Christians who do not
have a real and vital relationship to Jesus Christ. They are not humble peacemakers but arrogant
troublemakers. Until God changes them or
they decide to go elsewhere, the dedicated believers must be patient and
prayerful. This is the way Joseph dealt
with his brothers in Canaan and his false accusers in Egypt. It is also the way David dealt with King Saul
and Jesus dealt with His enemies (1Peter 2:18-25). “18
Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to
those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. 19 For this finds favor, if for the sake of
conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly.
20 For what credit is there if, when you
sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do
what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with
God. 21 For you have been called for this purpose,
since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in
His steps, 22 WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR
WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; 23
and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering,
He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges
righteously; 24 and He Himself
bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to
righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. 25 For you were continually straying like sheep,
but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life: One can never
go wrong when one’s spiritual meaning for life is to be more like Jesus and is
seen in verses 21-23 of 1Peter 2. What
is seen there is humility, and that is power under control for Jesus could have
instantly gotten rid of His enemies, but then He would not have been qualified
to die for my sins and yours and that was the very reason He came to earth.
My Steps of Faith for
Today: Contentment and humility are
seen in the verses in 1Peter 2 and these are good examples to follow by the
power of God’s Holy Spirit.
Memory verses for the week:
1Cor. 13:1-8
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,
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.
8 Love
never fails, but if there are gifts of prophecy they will be done away; if
there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge it will be done away.
9/30/2012 8:47:12 AM
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