Monthly Archives: October 2015

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Psalm 130

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Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD; O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.   If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?  But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared.  I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.  My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.  O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.  He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins. (NIV)

This is the 11th psalm of the fifteen Song of Ascents psalms

And not only did he redeemed Israel from all their sins, but also all who believe in Christ.

As I was studying A.W. Tozer’s book Knowledge Of The Holy I was impressed by his last chapter The Open Secret. The open secret that he discusses in this chapter is how the Christian can bring back the departed glory that is missing in the church today. I believe he starts in the right direction with the statement “Any forward step in the Church must begin with the individual.” The open secret is simple “acquaint thyself with God”. He has given us the realm of nature which we can experience his created power; however, as we see from Psalm nineteen the knowledge that man receives from the nature (natural revelation) only points him to God. Only by studying his Word daily can we experience the true fellowship with God that our spiritual nature seeks. Do not allow the things and the events of this world take away time from his Word. Open the scriptures and acquaint thyself with God. This is the best self-help book available. Heed the advice that Paul gave Timothy in II Timothy three:

But abide thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. And that from a babe thou hast known the sacred writings which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness. That the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.

Stay in God’s Word daily and you will find that your life will become complete.

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Psalm 129

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Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say: many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me.  The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows.  The Lord is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.  Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.  Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up:  Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand; nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom.  Neither do they, which go by say, the blessing of the LORD, be upon you: we bless you in the name of the Lord. (KJV)

This is the 10th psalm of the fifteen Song of Ascents psalms

Sometimes we seem to forget verse four, “but the LORD is righteous” when we look at the events around us. As Psalm 128 explains we need to have the fear of the Lord and be walking in his ways to be blessed; here the psalmist warns against making this saying “The blessing of the LORD be upon you; we bless you in the name of the LORD.” to those who oppress Israel and hate Zion. To fear God is to acknowledge God’s love and future desires for Israel. Therefore keep your eyes on Israel because that is the nation that God in using to determine the Second Coming of his Son.

Roman 3:5, 6 “But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man)  God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?” (KJV)   I learned these verses many years ago from a pastor who corrected me one day about the way I preached. One thing he told me to always to remember was the Lord is righteous. These verses in Romans could also read “is it right to do wrong so that right outcome can be achieve? God forbid! Since the Lord is righteous, he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked. Knowing this we must concluded with the words of Solomon from Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14 “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.  For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.”

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Psalm 128

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Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in his ways.  For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.  Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.  Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord.  The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.  Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children, and peace upon Israel. (KJV)

This is the ninth psalm of the fifteen Song of Ascents psalms

The opening verse leads us back to Psalm one and focus on our walk with God, which I believe, is the main theme of the Book of Psalms. To determine whether your walk is “the way of righteous or the way of the wicked” asks yourself these two simple questions: do I fear the Lord and do I desire to walk in his ways? The first question “do I fear the Lord” cannot be answered until you define what this phase means to you. One of the ways I have found helpful in defining this phase is looking at it use in the scriptures. To fear the Lord means to walk in his ways. How do we walk in his ways? Paul tells Timothy to study to show thyself approved unto God a workman that needs not be ashamed, righty dividing the word of truth. Therefore, the first step involves studying. The second step in serving the Lord is to serve him. By performing a word search on the “fear of God” in the Bible and studying the scriptures associated with the “fear of God” you will soon realize that this phase is also tied to the phase “and walk in his ways”. The third step in fearing the Lord is to shun or stay away from evil.

In Proverbs, the fear of the Lord is associated with:

  • the beginning of wisdom and knowledge
  • those who shun and hates, evil behavior, pride, arrogance and perverse speech
  • adds length to life
  • a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death.
  • teaches a man humility
  • being kept safe from evil.

This leads to the second question of the desire of my walk. In Psalms one we are told not to associate our walk in this world with the ungodly, the sinner, or the scornful. Our walk is to be a walk that focuses on God’s Word and using it as the center of our daily meditating. This meditation will lead us to live a Christ-center life. As the words from the hymn Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus by Helen Lemmel which was inspired by the words from a Gospel tract written by Lillias Trotter:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.

So too will the desires of this world slowly vanish from our life and be replaced by the desires to do His will.

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Psalm 127

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Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman wake but in vain.  It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.  Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. (KJV)

This is the eighth psalm of the fifteen Song of Ascents psalms

 

The focus of this Psalm is on the theme of building. Verse one starts out with a bold statement states that the Lord must be the master builder. As I read this Psalm, I reflect on how this Psalm is used in seminars to teach biblical principles on how to build successful lives and families. If you perform, a Google search on the phase “how to build successful lives and families” and you will get over 426,000,000 hits. However, as I read this verse I reflect back on Genesis chapter eleven where mankind as a whole stated, “come let us build a city, and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven, and let us make us a name; lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth”. So what did God do? He confused the language of men and scattered them abound. However, a simple review of history will reflect that the theme of making us a name has been goal of humankind ever since this event. If you Google the phase “Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain” you will get over 694,000 hits. As I look at the websites, they use these verses to support an important part of their ministry, or belief system. However, as I study Genesis chapter eleven on how God separated the nations throughout the whole planet I see how he used one family to create a nation that he would use to provide salvation to humanity. In Genesis chapter, twelve we read about the call of Abram. Abram was called to leave and follow the direction of God. God promise to bless him and make his house great. The key principle found in this Psalm is that you must make the Lord the builder and caretaker of your life.