Saturday, November 3, 2012

We Are Refreshed by the Spirit (Psalm 133:3)


SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/3/2012 9:36:00 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                               Focus:  Psalm 133 PT-3

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                             Reference:  Psalm 133:3

 

            Message of the verses:  We want to conclude the 133rd Psalm in Today’s SD by looking at the last aspect of the Holy Spirit that is described in this short three verse psalm.  We recently looked at being born of the Spirit and then being anointed by the Spirit and today we will look at being refreshed by the Spirit.

 

            We Are Refreshed by the Spirit (v. 3):  “3  It is like the dew of Hermon Coming down upon the mountains of Zion; For there the LORD commanded the blessing-life forever.”

            "Let my teaching drop as the rain, My speech distill as the dew, As the droplets on the fresh grass And as the showers on the herb.  (Deut. 32:2)

            It is because the nation of Israel was primarily an agricultural people that we see many stories about agricultural stories that reveal spiritual truth in the pages of the Bible, and this is one of them.  When we see from Deuteronomy 32:2 the phrase “My speech distill as the dew” we can see that dew symbolizes the life-giving Word of God.

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “How often we need the refreshment of the Holy Spirit that comes silently but bountifully, like the dew upon the grass!  When things are ‘dry,’ they begin to wither and fall apart, but when the dew comes, it brings new life and things hold together.”  It has been said of travelers that the dew in the Holy Land is at times like a hard rain, and this brings much refreshment to the dry land, refreshment unlike the Holy Spirit brings to believers today and all throughout the age of the Church. 

            Psalm 133:3b has the word “there” in it as the psalmist says “From there the LORD commanded the blessing-life forever.”  Dr. Wiersbe states that the “there” probably refers to two things.  “(1) Zion and Jerusalem, for it is there God commanded His Blessing (132:13-18; Lev. 25:21; Deut. 28:8), for ‘salvation is of the Jews’ (John 4:22); and (2) where there is unity among His people (v.1).  The Holy Spirit is grieved by the sins that bring division (Eph. 5:25-32).  Both images—the oil and the dew—remind us that unity is not something that we ‘work up’ but that God sends down.  When we get to the heavenly Zion (Heb. 12:18-29), there we will enjoy perfect unity ‘life forevermore.’”   This is what we are to strive for while on planet earth, for that is what pleases the Lord.  “Will You not Yourself revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You?”  (Psalm 85:6) 

            When I was a very young believer I heard a statement that went something like this, “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.”  As believers in Jesus Christ we must remember that we have been born of the Spirit, have been anointed by the Spirit and we can be refreshed by the Spirit. 

“I will be like the dew to Israel; He will blossom like the lily, And he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon.”  (Hos. 14:5)  “’For there will be peace for the seed: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce and the heavens will give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things.”  (Zech. 8:12)

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Is it not just like God to bring me to a passage that I was in great need to study because of things that have been going on in my life.  I certainly need the refreshment of the Holy Spirit like the plants need the refreshment from the dew and the Spirit of God is the Person in the trinity to bring that about in my life.  I praise the Lord for this.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to learn contentment.  To continue to have the desire to have my life transformed by the renewing of my mind through the power of the Word of God (Heb. 4:12).  To pray that the Holy Spirit will bring refreshment to my soul as the dew refreshes the plants and the grass in a dry land.

 

Memory verses for the week:  Psalm 130:1-2

 

            1 Out of the debts I cried to You, O LORD.  2 Lord, hear my voice!  Let Your ears be attentive to my supplications.

 

11/3/2012 10:34:59 AM

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