SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/9/2012 9:47:37 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm 125 PT-1
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Psalm 125:1-2
Message of the verses: We will begin to look at the 125th
Psalm by looking at several introductions from different Bible Commentators in
order to help us to better understand this psalm and in order to help us to
apply the applications of this psalm to our lives by the power of the Holy
Spirit.
Matthew Henry says that this 125th Psalm can be
summed up from two verses from the book of Isaiah, “10 Say to the righteous that it will go well
with them, For they will eat the fruit of their actions. 11 Woe to the wicked! It will go badly with him,
For what he deserves will be done to him.”
(Isaiah 3:10-11)
“A Song of Degrees. Another step is taken in the ascent,
another station in the pilgrimage is reached: certainly a rise in the sense is
here perceptible, since full assurance concerning years to come is a higher
form of faith than the ascription of farther escapes to the Lord. Faith has
praised Jehovah for past deliverances, and t, ere she rises to a confident jury
in the present and future safety of believers. She asserts that they shall
forever secure who trust themselves with the Lord. We can imagine the pilgrims
chanting this song when perambulating the city walls.
“We do not assert that David
wrote this Psalm, but we have as much ground for doing so as others have for
declaring that it was written after the captivity. It would seem provable that
all the Pilgrim Psalms were composed, or, at least, compiled by the same
writer, and as some of them are certainly by David, there is too conclusive
reason for taking away the rest from him.”
“Three kinds of people are
mentioned in this psalm: those who trust
the Lord (v. 1), who are also called righteous and good (vv. 3-4); those who compromise
with the enemy (v. 3); and those who deliberately go on the wrong path (v.
5). We could probably call them the
faithful, the backslidden, and the apostate.
This psalm was probably composed during the post-exilic period of Ezra
and Nehemiah. Nehemiah mentions all
sorts of people who made his work difficult for him, beginning with Shemiah,
the ‘secret informer,’ and Noadiah, the hireling prophetess (Neh. 6:10-14). Eliashib was a compromising high priest (Neh.
13:4-9), and one of his grandsons married into the family of an enemy of the
Jews (Neh. 13:28). There were also many
unnamed Jewish men who entered into mixed marriages that were contrary to God’s
Law (Neh. 13:1-9, 23-31; Ezra 9-10).
Thank God for the faithful who believe God and obey His Word! The psalm names the benefits that faith and
faithfulness bring to God’s people.”
(Warren Wiersbe)
Faith Keeps Us Standing (vv 1-2)
“1 ¶ «A Song of Ascents.» Those who trust in the
LORD Are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever. 2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the
LORD surrounds His people From this time forth and forever.”
The psalmist is making a word picture describing those of
faith, for they are like Jerusalem, for Jerusalem was built upon a hill with a
solid rock foundation with hills around it to aid in the defense of the city. We can look at this word picture and compare
it to the believer today for when we listen to what the Lord Jesus said in
Matthew we get a picture similar to these two verses. “24
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them,
may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 "And the rain fell, and the floods came,
and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for
it had been founded on the rock. (Matthew 7:24-25) Jesus will answer the question as to who this
Rock is when He quotes an OT verse, “Mt 21:42
Jesus *said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures, ’THE
STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone; THIS
CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’?” Paul picks up on this statement , “For no man
can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (1Corn. 3:11)
Peter speaks of the same thing in 1Petter 2:4-8, “4 ¶ And coming to Him as to a living stone which
has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God,
5 you also, as living stones, are being
built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For this is contained in Scripture:
"BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO
BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED." 7 This precious value, then, is for you who
believe; but for those who disbelieve, "THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS
REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone," 8 and, "A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF
OFFENSE"; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and
to this doom they were also appointed.”
Like Jerusalem, people of faith cannot be moved, “I have set
the LORD continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be
shaken.” (Psalm 16:8) “For the king
trusts in the LORD, And through the lovingkindness of the Most High he will not
be shaken. (Psalm 21:7) “He only is my
rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.” (Psalm 62:6)
The Apostle Paul teaches us that are wonderful standing if
in God’s grace, “1 ¶ Therefore, having
been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 through whom also we have obtained our
introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope
of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2) “It
was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not
be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” (Gal.
5:1) Not only do we, as believers stand
in God’s Grace, but we also stand by faith, “Quite right, they were broken off
for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith.” (Romans 11:20A) We also take our stands on the truths of the
Word of God as Paul writes, “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the
traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from
us.” (2Thes. 2:15) In this verse Paul is speaking of the Old
Testament when he writes “the traditions which you were taught,” and he speaks
of the New Testament when he writes “by letter from us,” for Paul’s letters
that are in the NT were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Paul also writes that as believers are stand
is also in the will of God, “Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave
of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that
you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.” (Col. 4:12)
This is a wonderful prayer for us
to pray for other believers. Paul shows
us that it is God who enables us to stand when he writes, “Now He who
establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, & Not that we
lord it over your faith, but are workers with you for your joy; for in your
faith you are standing firm.” (2Cro
1:21, 24) Now it is because that God
enables us to stand, we are also able to accomplish the work that He wants us
to do, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the
Lord.” (1Cor. 15:58) Dr. Wiersbe concludes this section by writing
“When we begin to trust ourselves or other people, and we bypass the Lord, then
we begin to waver, stumble, and fall.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I am not sure that the psalmist had all of
these things in mind when he penned these two verses, but by looking at these
NT verses we can learn a lot about our faith, who are faith is in, and also who
we stand in and how we can pray for others, along with better understanding how
we can accomplish the work that God has for us to accomplish. I have said in earlier SD’s that when I look
at Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for
good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.,” that
God has chosen, not only those He will save in eternity past, but has also
assigned work for us to accomplish for His glory.
My Steps of Faith for
Today: I desire to accomplish the
work that God has ordained for me to accomplish in order to bring glory to my
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Memory verses for the week:
1Cor. 13:8-10
8 Love never fails, 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 For we know in
part, and we prophecy in part, 10 but
when the perfect comes the partial will be done away.
10/9/2012 10:56:38 AM
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