SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/8/2012
9:17:17 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm 146
PT-1
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 146:1-6
Message of
the verses: We will continue to do as we have been doing
through most of the book of Psalms by looking at several introductions by
different Bible Commentators in order to better understand the psalm that we
are about to study. In the introduction
to the last psalm (145) we learned that all the remaining six psalms would be
considered “praise psalms.”
“This and all the rest of the psalms that follow
begin and end with Hallelujah, a word which puts much of God’s praise into a
little compass; for in it we praise him by his name Jah, the contraction of
Jehovah. In this excellent psalm of praise,
I. The psalmist engages himself to praise
God, #Ps 146:1, 2.
II. He engages others to trust in him, which
is one necessary and acceptable way of praising him.
1. He shows why we should
not trust in men, #Ps 146:3, 4.
2. Why we should trust in
God (#Ps 146:5), because of his power in the kingdom of nature (#Ps 146:6), his
dominion in the kingdom of providence (#Ps 146:7), and his grace in the kingdom
of the Messiah (#Ps 146:8,9), that everlasting kingdom (#Ps 146:10), to which
many of the Jewish writers refer this psalm, and to which therefore we should
have an eye, in the singing of it.”
(Matthew Henry)
“DIVISION: & etc. We are now among the Hallelujahs.
The rest of our journey lies through the Delectable Mountains. All is praise to
the close of the book. The key is high pitched: the music is upon the high
sounding cymbals. O for a heart full of joyful gratitude, that we may run, and
leap, and glorify God, even as these Psalms do.
Alexander thinks that this song may be
regarded as composed of two equal parts; in the first we see the happiness of
those who trust in God, and not in man (#Ps 146:1-5), while the second gives
the reason drawn from the Divine perfections (#Ps 146:5-10). This might suffice
for our purpose; but as there is really no break at all, we will keep it
entire. It is "one pearl," a sacred censer of holy incense, pouring
forth one sweet perfume.” (Charles H.
Spurgeon)
“The last five psalms are the ‘Hallelujah Psalms’ that
focus our attention on praising the Lord.
This psalm begins with a vow to praise God throughout life. The next psalm tells us it is ‘good and pleasant’
to praise the Lord, and 148 reminds us that when we praise God, we join with
all creation , for heaven and earth praise Him.
In 149, God’s people are admonished to worship joyfully, and the last
psalm tells us where and why and how ‘everything that has breath’ should praise
the Lord. These five psalms are a short
curse in worship, and God’s people today would do well to heed their
message. Sanctuaries are turning into
religious theaters and ‘worship’ is becoming more and more entertainment. The author of this psalm understood that God
was not just a part of life but the heart of life. Paul had the same conviction (Phil. 1:21;
Col. 3:4).” (Warren Wiersbe)
“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain (Phil. 1:21).”
“When Christ, who is our life, is
revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory (Col. 3:4).”
Life Means Praising God (vv. 1-2): “1 ¶
Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul! 2 I will praise the LORD while I live; I will
sing praises to my God while I have my being.”
I have mentioned in earlier Spiritual Diaries that Warren
Wiersbe’s insight into the Word of God has been something that I can praise the
Lord for. It is said of him that he puts
the cookies on the shelf where you can reach them. There are times when I read his commentary
that I have to share exactly what he has written, and this is one of those
times. “To receive the gifts and ignore
the Giver is the essence of idolatry. The
writer promised God he would praise Him all of his life, and certainly this is
wise preparation for praising Him for eternity (104:33). To live a life of praise is to overcome
criticism and complaining, to stop competing against others and comparing
ourselves with them. It means to be
grateful in and for everything (1Thes. 5:18; Eph. 5:20) and really believe that
God is working all things together for our good (Romans 8:28). A life of praise is free from constant
anxiety and discouragement as we focus on the Lord, who is mentioned eleven
times in this psalm.”
After reading this I not only agree with it, but am a bit
convicted by what I have read and have a desire to seek to praise the Lord
more, knowing that it will be a wonderful part of what I do in heaven.
Life Means Trusting God (vv. 3-6): “3 Do
not trust in princes, In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation. 4 His spirit departs, he returns to the earth;
In that very day his thoughts perish. 5 How blessed is he whose help is
the God of Jacob, Whose hope is in the LORD his God, 6 Who made heaven and earth, The sea and all
that is in them; Who keeps faith forever;”
In the first part of this section of Psalm 146 we hear
the psalmist telling his readers not to trust in man, for there is no salvation
in man. When we look at the history of
Israel, right from the beginning when Abraham was called as the father of
Israel we see time and time again that they put their trust in Egypt. Both Abraham and Isaac went down to Egypt
because their faith was weak. They were
trusting in men and not in the God who called them. I suppose we do this today in the United
States, and perhaps it is done in other countries as well. It seems that believers are more comfortable
with having leaders who are believers, but they are still men, and God is in
control of all leaders, for He is the One who puts them into power, and so are
faith should be in the Lord and not in the leaders. We must remember that God is in control of
all things and has a plan that no one will ever stop even though there are any
times when we don’t understand it, but we still need to trust the Lord.
We see in the fifth verse the last of twenty-five beatitudes
that are found in the book of psalms. (Warren Wiersbe) We also read about the God whom we are to put
are trust in. We are to trust in the God
of Jacob as seen in verse five. After
reading the commentary from Dr. Wiersbe on the God of Jacob I was greatly encouraged,
for when we look at the life of Jacob we can understand how the Lord can help
people who are weak like me. “Jacob was
far from being perfect, yet God honored his faith and helped him in times of
need. Jacob trusted God’s promises, for
his hope was in the Lord, but too often he depended on his own schemes to see
him through.” (Warren Wiersbe)
Our God is not only the God of Jacob, but verse six tells
us that He is the God who created the heavens and the earth. This tells us of the power and wisdom that
God possess and is a part of His attributes, and character. Stop and think about creation, the creation
that is described in the pages of Scripture, especially in Genesis chapters one
and two. We see these words “God said”
eight times in regard to how God created what He created:
“Ge 1:3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and
there was light.
Ge 1:6 Then God said, "Let there be an expanse in the
midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters."
Ge 1:9 Then God said, "Let the waters below the heavens
be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so.
Ge 1:11 Then God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation:
plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their
kind with seed in them"; and it was so.
Ge 1:14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse
of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs
and for seasons and for days and years;
Ge 1:20 Then God said, "Let the waters teem with swarms of
living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the
heavens."
Ge 1:24 Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth living
creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth
after their kind"; and it was so.
Ge 1:26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image,
according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over
the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’”
When we see these words “God said” we know that this is
the Word of God, and Hebrews 4:12 states that the Word of God is powerful, and
so when we look at how God created this universe we understand that God is all
powerful. A Good One to have on your side
and to put your trust in. I know that there are people today that state that
the world was created in a different way that what we see in these eight verses, but think about what their real
motives are when trying to discredit the creation that is spoken of in the
Scriptures. Their motive is that if you
can take God out of the creation of the universe then you don’t have to answer
to Him. Wrong! We are told in the Scriptures that all people
will someday have to bow down before the Lord.
We also see in verse six that God is the God who keeps
faith forever. God is the covenant
keeping God. God made a covenant through
the blood of Jesus Christ that is found in the New Testament, which means “New
Covenant.” We know that God is the God
who will keep His covenants that He has made, including the covenant that He
made with Abraham in Genesis 15. That
covenant is a covenant God made with the people of Israel, and one day the Lord
Jesus Christ will come back to planet earth and sit on the throne of David and
reign on earth for 1000 years. God Keeps
His Covenants.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I am amazed at
when my prayers that I pray before beginning to study the Word of God are
answered in the portion that I am studying.
My prayer before beginning today’s SD was confessing to the Lord that
there are times when my devotions are more duty than doing them out of love for
God and so my prayer was to make sure that I am in a relationship with my Lord
and not in a religion. Christianity is a
relationship with the Living God and not a religion. The section that I copied from Warren Wiersbe
on the first point from this psalm was an answer to my prayer.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Praise is powerful! Continue to learn contentment. Continue to have my mind transformed by the
Word of God.
Memory verses for the
week: Psalm 130:1-7
1 Out of the debts I cried to You, O LORD. 2 Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my
supplications. 3 If You, Lord should
mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared.
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in His Word
do I hope. 6 My soul waits for the Lord
more than the watchman for the morning; indeed more than the watchman for the
morning. 7 O Israel, hope in the LORD;
For with the Lord there is lovingkindness, and with Him is abundant redemption.
12/8/2012 10:57:43 AM
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