I have known well meaning people who claim to be Christian to pray like this !!! I have taught that these prayers were valid in David's time because Jesus had not come yet and because of that man had a hard heart ! When Jesus came and died for us and sent His Holy Spirit to live inside of us, Our hearts become softer the longer we walk with Him. In the New Testament Romans 12:19 Paul tells us, " ... for it is written, vengeance is mine; I will repay saith the Lord." It is hard at times because the unsaved still have a hard heart and hurt us even if they do not know it. We should always pray for protection from our enemies. God will ALWAYS take care of His children just as a good parent would always protect their children.
This psalm is almost all about David asking and begging for vengeance against his enemies. This was written during the time that King Saul was chasing David and trying to kill him. Twice David had the opportunity to Kill Saul. However he did not because he knew that no one was to harm God's anointed. This truth is still valid today ! There is a joke that says every Christian has the same thing for lunch after church .... roast preacher. This is verbally attacking God's anointed ! We should all be very careful. God's anointed is not only preachers. Any Spirit filled Christian that has been sent by God to do a job has been anointed !
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Psalm 34
" A Psalm of David when he pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed." This is the heading of the 34 Psalm. If you remember the story, David was running for his life from King Saul and ran to the Philistines (the Jew's enemy). When David was brought to Abimelech, he knew he was in danger...so pretended to be a mad man ! Abimelech was so disgusted that he sent David away.
Psalm 34 can be broken down into two parts : Verses 1 - 10 are David praising God and verses 11 - 22 are teaching about God. This can be seen in verses 1 and 11. " I will bless the Lord at all times..." (verse 1 ). " Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord." ( verse 11 ) This is a very important spiritual lesson : Praise brings down the blessing and power of God ! That is why every good prayer, church meeting, bible study, and meeting of Christians should ALWAYS open with praise for Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit !!
There is one other verse I want to draw your attention to. Verse 18 says " The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit." This is also stated in the Beatitudes. To have a broken heart means to repent from your sins and to feel how much that hurts and separates us from God. A contrite spirit means a humble spirit. To be sorrowful and to rely totally and completely on God ! I do not know about you, but I need to learn this. I just when I think i got it... I realize I am just starting to feel the pain. When I think about how much pain it causes God, I think about His Son dying for us !!! Now that is pain.
Psalm 34 can be broken down into two parts : Verses 1 - 10 are David praising God and verses 11 - 22 are teaching about God. This can be seen in verses 1 and 11. " I will bless the Lord at all times..." (verse 1 ). " Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord." ( verse 11 ) This is a very important spiritual lesson : Praise brings down the blessing and power of God ! That is why every good prayer, church meeting, bible study, and meeting of Christians should ALWAYS open with praise for Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit !!
There is one other verse I want to draw your attention to. Verse 18 says " The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit." This is also stated in the Beatitudes. To have a broken heart means to repent from your sins and to feel how much that hurts and separates us from God. A contrite spirit means a humble spirit. To be sorrowful and to rely totally and completely on God ! I do not know about you, but I need to learn this. I just when I think i got it... I realize I am just starting to feel the pain. When I think about how much pain it causes God, I think about His Son dying for us !!! Now that is pain.
Sunday, January 15, 2017
Psalm 33
When you read this psalm there are a number of things that jump out at you. First, this is one of the few psalms, up to this point, that are ALL praise and worship of God. Secondly, this is the first psalm where a musical instrument is mentioned out right. Lastly, this is the first psalm that we do not know who the author is. It may have been David, but when you notice the different "feel" of this psalm, I am not convinced it was written by David.
" By the word of the Lord the Heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth." (Verse 6) This is a spiritual lesson we should all use when praising God ! Always recount the things He has done for you or has done. This shows God that we know it was and is Him that keeps us. Here the author starts at the very start by letting God see that he is aware That He created the Heaven, the earth, and all that is in, on, or under them is !!! The author goes on to give the very definition of worship ! "Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him" (Verse 8) In Jewish writing if they want to make a point, they repeat it. Here we can see that he repeats the same line with different words ! He makes it very clear that fear and awe mean the same thing. This is important for us when we are told to fear the Lord. It means to stand in awe of God, not to cower in the corner !!
This psalm closes with " For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name." (Verse 21) The same is true for Christians today ! If you are a born again follower of Jesus, you have placed your life in this world and the next in His hand ! That means you have trusted in the Lord. When you have done this your heart will ALWAYS rejoice. The new testament calls it a peace that surpasses all understanding. It is also a fruit of the Spirit. Thank you Jesus for all you have done and giving us the opportunity to trust in You !!!
" By the word of the Lord the Heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth." (Verse 6) This is a spiritual lesson we should all use when praising God ! Always recount the things He has done for you or has done. This shows God that we know it was and is Him that keeps us. Here the author starts at the very start by letting God see that he is aware That He created the Heaven, the earth, and all that is in, on, or under them is !!! The author goes on to give the very definition of worship ! "Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him" (Verse 8) In Jewish writing if they want to make a point, they repeat it. Here we can see that he repeats the same line with different words ! He makes it very clear that fear and awe mean the same thing. This is important for us when we are told to fear the Lord. It means to stand in awe of God, not to cower in the corner !!
This psalm closes with " For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name." (Verse 21) The same is true for Christians today ! If you are a born again follower of Jesus, you have placed your life in this world and the next in His hand ! That means you have trusted in the Lord. When you have done this your heart will ALWAYS rejoice. The new testament calls it a peace that surpasses all understanding. It is also a fruit of the Spirit. Thank you Jesus for all you have done and giving us the opportunity to trust in You !!!
Sunday, January 8, 2017
Psalm 32
Some say this is a psalm of instruction and others say it is a psalm of repentance. I think they are both right, we can not try to put God's word into a nice neat little box! As an example, in the first verse David says," Blessed is he whose transgressions is forgiven, whose sin is covered." David is instructing us that if we confess our sin to God we will be blessed and forgiven. ALSO he is showing us that he has sinned and has his sin covered. So in the first verse we can see BOTH repentance and instruction. This pattern can be seen throughout this psalm.
To make his point stronger David tells us in verse three," When I kept silent, my bones grew old..." Here David is telling us about his sin with Bathsheba. He had hid it well from everyone. No one knew of his sin, yet inside even his bones were hurting him ! That is exactly how it is for followers of Jesus. We can sin but the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin and we feel miserable UNTIL we confess our sin and ask for forgiveness ! Here again David is confessing AND instructing.
This psalm concludes by saying that all men sin and great sorrow will be on the ungodly, but he who trust in the Lord shall have mercy surrounding him. This is because Jesus has taken all of our sin upon himself and has paid for that sin ! But the only people who will be shown mercy are those who believe in their heart and confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord !!!
To make his point stronger David tells us in verse three," When I kept silent, my bones grew old..." Here David is telling us about his sin with Bathsheba. He had hid it well from everyone. No one knew of his sin, yet inside even his bones were hurting him ! That is exactly how it is for followers of Jesus. We can sin but the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin and we feel miserable UNTIL we confess our sin and ask for forgiveness ! Here again David is confessing AND instructing.
This psalm concludes by saying that all men sin and great sorrow will be on the ungodly, but he who trust in the Lord shall have mercy surrounding him. This is because Jesus has taken all of our sin upon himself and has paid for that sin ! But the only people who will be shown mercy are those who believe in their heart and confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord !!!
Sunday, January 1, 2017
Psalm 31
Set up in classic prayer format, this psalm of David shows his reliance on God and God's answer ! The first three versus praise God for who He is to David. " For you are my rock and my fortress; Therefore, for your names sake, lead me and guide me." Throughout this psalm David lays it all out for God about how he is worthless, hated, despised, hunted, and forgotten...yet right up front he acknowledges God as his rock and tells God how important He is to David. This reliance on Gog is made very plain in verse 5, " Into your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth"
After David takes most of the psalm to lay out how unworthy he is and how hated he is...he then asked God for His help and protection. NOT for David's sake but for God's name sake !! He then ends the psalm with praise for God and thanks for answered prayer !! The last verse of this psalm says, "Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the Lord." From this verse we can learn a couple of things. First, David has faith that God is going to answer his prayer ! Secondly, we learn that all of this applies ONLY to those who hope in the Lord. Are you saved ? Then these promises apply to and for you ! If you are not saved, God loves you but will not save you until you acknowledge and give your live to Jesus. THEN every promise in God's word will apply to You. The choice has always been up to You !!!
After David takes most of the psalm to lay out how unworthy he is and how hated he is...he then asked God for His help and protection. NOT for David's sake but for God's name sake !! He then ends the psalm with praise for God and thanks for answered prayer !! The last verse of this psalm says, "Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the Lord." From this verse we can learn a couple of things. First, David has faith that God is going to answer his prayer ! Secondly, we learn that all of this applies ONLY to those who hope in the Lord. Are you saved ? Then these promises apply to and for you ! If you are not saved, God loves you but will not save you until you acknowledge and give your live to Jesus. THEN every promise in God's word will apply to You. The choice has always been up to You !!!
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