Luke 24:25-27 “Then he said upon them, O fools and so slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets he expounded unto them in all scriptures the things concerning himself.
One of my Old Testament teachers told us that if he could ever be at any event in the past this walk with these two disciples and the Lord would be this event. To hear the Lord expound upon all the scriptures relating to him from the writings of Moses and all the prophets would also make his heart burn within him as it would reveal all the scriptures about the Lord. In Luke twenty-four verse forty-four the Lord again reinforces the scriptures by stating these are the words that I spoke unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which was written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. In second Peter chapter one verses fifteen through twenty-one Peter explains that even with his eyewitnesses of the Lord’s ministry and even his experience he shared with the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration, we have the more sure word of prophecy to place our faith on the Lord. These verses show how important it is to hide God’s Word in your heart to be the light unto my feet and a lamp unto my path as I go on our journey on this earth.
With this knowledge of how important the writings of the Old Testament were in revealing the Lord to the world on His first coming how much more such we look to the scriptures for understanding His second coming. Peter writes in his second epistle chapter three how he write these words to stir up your pure minds concerning the writings of the prophets as well as the commandment given to the apostles of the Lord concerning His second coming. He warns us as believers that in the last days there will be a rejection of the return of the Lord. But this is not the case for the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens and earth will pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.
Just as the scriptures were not really understood concerning the Lord’s first coming by the Jewish nation until their fulfillment by the Lord’s ministry, death, and resurrection; so are the scriptures concerning His second coming by the world today. We need therefore to heed the warning of the Lord found in Matthew chapter twenty-four verse forty-four of being ready for His return, for we don’t know the hour of His return but it could come at any moment.
41 Let thy steadfast love come to me, O LORD, thy salvation according to thy promise.
42 then shall I have an answer for those who taunt me, for I trust in thy word.
43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for my hope is in thy ordinances.
44 I will keep thy law continually, for ever and ever.
45 and I shall walk at liberty, for I have sought thy precepts.
46 I will also speak of thy testimonies before kings and shall not be put to shame.
47 for I find my delight in thy commandments, which I love.
48 I revere thy commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on thy statutes.
As I reflect upon these verses this morning I am reminded of the Lord’s reminder to us in Matthew chapter six verses twenty-five and twenty-six. “Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, what you will wear. Is life not more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more valuable than they are? As I look at these verses in relationship to verse forty-three of this psalm I am reminded of the song Standing on the Promises of Christ My King.
The words of this song reflects the truth of the words that Paul wrote about in Romans chapter eight verse thirty-eight and thirty-nine of the true relationship that a Christian can experiences with Christ in their life. “For I am convinced that neither death or life, neither angels or demons, neither the present or the future, nor any power, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
33 Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.
34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
35 Make me to go in the path of thy commandments, for therein do I delight.
36 Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness!
37 Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy ways.
38 Establish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to fear.
39 Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good.
40 Behold, I have long after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness. (KJV)
These verses reinforce how important a daily walk with the Lord in his Word is to the Christian life. We can turn to self help books, or to daily devotional guides, or even to a website just like this one to help us on our journey through life; however, these are just the seasoning for our daily meal. The real meal a Christian needs is God’s Word. The beauty of the scripture in a believer’s life is that the hiding of the Word in your heart it will influence your daily decisions. In verse 34 the psalmist is asking the Lord to give him understanding of the law, so that he could observe with his whole heart. In verse 36 the psalmist is requesting the Lord to incline his heart toward the testimonies of the Lord, so he would not have covetousness.
These verses are reinforced by I John 2:15 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” Verse 37 reinforces these verses from I John, “Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy ways.” reminds me of one of the songs I learned early in my Christian life “Turn your eyes Upon Jesus”. Just hiding the refrain of this song in your heart will help reinforce these scriptures in your daily life.
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.
Let your heart be like David’s “A man after God’s own heart”
25 My soul cleaves to the dust; revive me according to thy word!
26 When I recount my ways, thou didst answer me; teach me thy statutes!
27 Make me understand the way of thy precepts, and I will meditate on thy wondrous works.
28 My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to thy word!
29 Put false ways far from me; and graciously teach me thy law!
30 I have chosen the way of faithfulness, I set thy ordinances before me.
31 I cleave to thy testimonies, O LORD; let me not be put to shame!
32 I will run in the way of thy commandments when thou enlargest my understanding!
It Takes Time
One of the hardest aspects of our human existence is learning to wait. We live in the present, having the experience of our past to guide us, but wanting our perceived future to be happening around the next corner. Growing in the faith and knowledge of our Lord and Savior takes time. It is a process of a daily study of the scriptures and then applying these truths to our daily experiences. To make this growing process even harder is we have to unlearn a lot of our experiences from the past. This is what Saul of Tarsus (Paul) had to do before the Lord could use him.
Galatians 1:15-18 “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen: immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me, but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him for fifteen days.
Saul was a Pharisee, considering zeal of the righteousness of the law, blameless. But these things that were gain to him was counted as lost for Christ. His new righteousness was found in Christ through faith. I believe a lot of this revelation came to him in the time of his aloneness in Arabia where he had a time of self examination of all his past experience and his new experience that he had on the road to Damascus. This alone time with the scriptures and looking at our life experiences will open the door for the Holy Spirit to reveal truth to us. It does not happen overnight. Waiting for the Lord to open our understanding into the happening issues of our life takes time. This time might be a few days, or it could be years.
So, cherish the quiet time you can get from studying the Bible and reflect on these words day and night. These times will help you get through the trouble times we will face. And as Paul states in Philippians four let your mediations focus on whatsoever things are true, whatsoever, things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. And the peace of God shall be with you. This peace is wonderful, for it has been the guiding force for most of my life.
17 Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live and observe thy word.
18 Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
19 I am a sojourner on earth; hide not thy commandments from me!
20 My soul is consumed with longing for thy ordinances at all times.
21 Thou dost rebuke the insolent, accursed ones, who wander from thy commandments.
22 take away from me their scorn and contempt, for I have kept thy testimonies.
23 Even though princes sit plotting against me, thy servant will meditate on thy statutes.
24 Thy testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors. (KJV)
As I study the life of Paul I realize had much knowledge he had of the Torah, the Prophets and the Writing (our Old Testament) that he acquired in his early training as a Pharisee. However, he also was probably trained in all the traditions of the elders, which Jesus preached against as setting aside the commandments of God in order to keep the traditions of the elders (Mark 7:1-23). It was only after Paul’s encounter with Christ that he approached and applied his knowledge of the scriptures in a different matter. He found the key to understanding them in Jesus. I believe it was these three quiet years in Paul’s life that he searched the scriptures (our Old Testament) and let the Holy Spirit open his heart truly understand all the references of Christ found in Torah, the Prophets, and the writings.
By studying the lives of the Old Testament saints, we can see how God prepares those that he uses for the work of His ministry before they are even aware that God is going to use them. A great example of this is Moses. He was educated in all the learning the Egyptians and was a man of power in words in deeds. However, it took forty years in the wilderness and the becoming a shepherd before God approached him to the task of leading Israel for the next forty years. It was also during these last forty years that God inspired Moses to give us the Pentateuch. When we study Paul we realized that God had the same plan for him as he had for Moses. Not only did Paul have the role of the apostle to the Gentiles, but he also wrote thirteen epistles, and possibly the book of Hebrews which guide the church through his ministry and for the last two thousand years.
In II Timothy 2:15 Paul tells Timothy to study to show himself approver unto God as a workman that needed not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Paul realized how important this quiet time was in the scripture. I have a note in my Bible that I made many years ago. As I study the scriptures in my later years I realized that my views are not changing but growing as the Holy Spirit opens up the meaning of the scriptures as I seek to know more about Jesus and His love. It is in these still quiet moments as we let the things of earth grow strangely dim and we seek to let the Holy Spirit speak to us that the peace of God that passes all understands enters into our live.
9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to thy word.
10 With my whole heart I seek thee; let me not wander from thy commandments!
11 I have laid up thy word in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.
12 Blessed be thou, O LORD; teach me thy statutes!
13 With my lips I declare all the ordinances of thy mouth.
14 In the way of thy testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate on thy precepts and fix my eyes on thy ways.
16 I will delight in thy statutes; I will not forget thy word. (NIV)
As a young man, we must heed the call of God. This concept of God’s desire seems to get lost in our everyday routine of living. If we are not careful Satan, the cares of this world, or the desires of this world will rob us of a desire that God wants for us in our life. In the devotion for June 11 in his book, My Utmost for His Highest Oswald Chambers writes:
The questions that truly matter in life are remarkably few, and they are all answered by these words— “Come to Me.” Our Lord’s words are not, “Do this, or don’t do that,” but— “Come to me.” If I will simply come to Jesus, my real life will be brought into harmony with my real desires. I will actually cease from sin and will find the song of the Lord beginning in my life.
This is what David is writing here in these eight verses in this second section of Psalm 119. As I look back on my life as well as the lives of other Christians I know or have known; I realize that it was not our seeking after God that brought God in our lives, but it was the way that we responded to the seeking God as we opened our hearts and let him enter our inmost place to dwell. Once we open this door and receive Him then the true transformation of bringing our life into harmony with His desires for us will take place and we can then experience the peace that passes understanding in our life.
How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding his daily walk according to God’s Word and seeking Him with my whole heart. I will not wander away from His commandments, statutes, ordinances, testimonies or precepts. Instead, I will delight in them and declare them to the world as I strive to be godly witness to this transforming power of God in my own life.
1 Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD!
2 Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart,
3 who also do no wrong but walk in his ways!
4 Thou hast commanded thy precepts to be kept diligently.
5 O that my ways may be steadfast in keeping thy statutes!
6 Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all thy commandments.
7 I will praise thee with an upright heart, when I learn thy righteous ordinances.
8 I will observe thy statutes; O forsake me not utterly! (NIV)
One of the great pleasures I have discovered in retirement is I now have the time to enjoy reading. I love collecting books that adds spiritual depth to my daily Bible studies. One of my favorite places to go on this quest to find new books to add to my library are the Goodwill stores around my location. I have been amazed at how many wonderful books ends up at these stores. Several months ago, I picked up the book title “Experiencing The Word New Testament”. What catch my eye about this book was the subtitle “with notes by Henry Blackaby” who wrote the book Experiencing God. I had already read some of his works, so I knew this would be a great book to add to my library. Like many books this one was presented to Brad and Kim and Family by Kenny on Thanksgiving 2006. The sad story about this book was that it looked like it was brand new and had never been used. That is now not longer the case, as it is now one of the many references books that I use as I study the Bible daily.
What is so wonderful about this book is the godly advice that Dr. Blackaby gives to the students of God’s Word as they study New Testament from this “The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)”. Dr. Blackaby uses seven themes to help the readers experience God in their everyday living experiences. These seven themes are: Seek relationship with God first, tune your heart to hear God’s voice, live the Word through experience, surrender your rights, know God’s will by knowing God’s heart, obey, obey, and keep on obeying, relax and let your witness happen naturally. These seven themes will help keep the student’s focus of studying the New Testament on living a life that truly seeks to experience God in every aspect of their daily living. These themes are like the nine themes that David writes about in Psalm 119. These nine themes are: law, precepts, testimonies, commandment, ordinances, promises, statues, way, and word of the LORD. There are one hundred and seventy-six verses in this psalm. They are divided into twenty -two section (a section for each letter of the Hebrew language) with eight verses in each section.
By focusing on these nine key words the reader of the first eight verses of Psalms one hundred and nineteen can gain a better understanding of how to walk daily in this world. These verses apply to those who’s desire is to walk in the way of the blameless. These verses describe the one who walks in the law of the Lord, who keep his testimonies, who walk in his ways, who keep his precepts as well as his statues, while focusing on his commandments and his righteous ordinances. This is the person who will be blessed by the Lord as they seek him with a whole heart. So, as you look at your daily schedule, remember to look up and realize that the God who lives way up there in the sky desires to be your personal Savior. The key to this wonderful life is to trust Him and walk in His way.
Psalm 1:6a For the Lord knows the way of the righteous.
Galatians 1:15, 16a But when He who set me apart, even from my mother’s womb, and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His son in me that I might preach Him among the Gentiles.
Paul in the first chapter of Galatians reveals how he believed that God had set him apart at birth to be the apostle to the Gentiles. This belief that God sets aside individuals for His purpose to represent Him and deliver His message to the world was something that he was taught very early in his childhood and then as he continue his training as a Pharisee. From his studies of the Torah Paul learned of the calling of Noah, Abraham, Joesph, Moses, Josuha, Samuel, David, and all of the other men and women that God had called and used. As Paul studied the Torah (our Old Testament) he saw the ways that God called these individuals into His service. After his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus he looked upon his calling as well as the calling of the other apostles the same way that God had called these saints found in the Torah.
Paul extended this belief that God has given to us as believers a calling just as He gave His calling the Paul and the other apostles. In I Corinthians 12:28 “And God hath set some in the church, first as apostles, secondarily as prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracle, then gifts of healing, helps, government, diversities of tongues.” In other words, God has given us as believers gifts for his purpose. However, Paul gives us these words of warning about these gifts or callings that God has given us in I Corinthians 12:31. This is the important verse that Paul introduces us to the great love chapter of the Bible, I Corinthians chapter thirteen which is the true way of God. We are to earnestly to covet the best gifts that God has given us, and yet Paul in the great love chapter shows us the more excellent way. This is the way of the righteous these who walk in the way that God loves. So, if your calling is like the great calling of calling of Hannah (I Samuel 2:21), or like the widow of Zarephath (I Kings 17:9) God will bless you in all that you do. So whatsoever you do in word or deed do it upon the Lord.
Genesis 2:17 “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth on Him, shall not perish but have everlasting life.”
These two verses gives to mankind a simple instruction. The first was not heeded and led to sin entering into the human race. The second was the simple instruction that Christ explained to Nicodemus’s two questions that he ask Jesus in John chapter three. The first question was “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb?”. Jesus answer was “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the spirit is Spirit.” When Jesus stated this to Nicodemus he asked Jesus this question “How can these things be”? Jesus reply to Nicodemus “Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know and testify that we have seen; and ye received not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you heavenly things?” Then Jesus told him of the way he was going to die. Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so the Son of man will be lifted up. Jesus not only portrayed the promise seed to Eve, the promise to Abraham, the promise son to David, and the promise Messiah to Israel, but also the fulfillment of this prophecy of Moses.
Jesus answered Nicodemus questions with this simple answer; that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Adam eat the fruit and when he did; it not only led to his death but passed this sentence on to all of his offsprings. However, there is another decision each individual must make and that is a spiritual decision. That decision was illustrated in Numbers 21:5-9 when the children rebelled against Moses and the LORD sent fiery serpents among them. To survive the bite all that they had to do was to look upon the cross to life. Jesus gave this same teaching to Nicodemus. Just as the Israelites were saved from death by looking to serpent on the cross, we can save our life by looking to Jesus’s death on the cross. Just as Adam made a decision and death passed upon the human race, you can make the decision to believe on Jesus to have eternal life.
1 Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high-sounding cymbals.
6 Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. (KJV)
Reading this psalm, I hope you will stop and realized that everything in your world is not “All about me”. However, as you look at this psalm you will see that we are to praise the Lord. As you look at these verses you will get the picture of a modern church service:
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet
praise him with the harp and lyre
praise him with tambourine and dancing
praise him with the strings and flute
praise him with the clash of cymbals
praise him with resounding cymbals
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD
Why Praise God?
For his acts of power. For his surpassing greatness. What is this surpassing greatness? Paul answers this in Ephesians 1:3-14. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ: even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love: having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved: in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, making known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him unto a dispensation of the fullness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth; in him, I say, in whom also we were made a heritage, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who worked all things after the counsel of his will; to the end that we should be unto the praise of his glory, we who had before hoped in Christ: in whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation,– in whom, having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is an earnest of our inheritance, unto the redemption of God’s own possession, unto the praise of his glory.”
As I finish another reading of the Psalms and Proverbs today, I realize that this month is almost over another month is almost upon me. A few years ago, I seasoned my daily readings with the daily devotional by Charles Swindoll title Wisdom for the Way. I found this devotional at the Goodwill store where I buy some of my books. On the inside cover I discovered these words “For Lindsey From the Craig’s May 2001”. The subtitle of this devotional is Wise Words for Busy People. How this book came from the Craig’s to Lindsey and then to me is a mystery, but as I look to the surpassing greatness of God, I realize how God can use a book to influence a person.
On page 62 of this devotional Charles Swindoll starts off the reading by writing “The only way we can come to terms with reality-is by trusting God, regardless.” As I continue to read this devotional, I noticed there were only two paragraphs. The first paragraph that centered on the words I and me. It is a matter of if I am trusting him, or if I do or don’t allow God in my world as I face each and every issue in my daily routine. The second paragraph centers on the word we. We can’t wait for conditions to be perfect, instead we must go on trusting. This gift of the Craig’s to give Lindsey was probably given as a treasure to help her along the way is an example of their trusting God to work in her life. Sometimes it might appear that we have fail, however because of the surpassing greatness of God their gift might produce fruit elsewhere. As this simple devotional starts with an individual, the end result because of the surpassing greatness of God will be a group result.
Verse six “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.” forces the reader to one conclusion and that is we are to praise the Lord. The journey that begins with the first breathe that a child takes at birth to the last breath we take before we pass from this life to eternity must include the process of praising the Lord.
The posting of this last Psalm happens to fall today on Thanksgiving. For the last one hundred and fifty days I have posted a daily psalm on my website for my children and grandchildren to know how to truly walk with the Lord. I am so thankful for having such a wonderful Savior in my life. As I look back on the seventy plus years I have been on this earth and have seen the many blessings I have received I realize that I have been truly blessed.
I have also realized that there were periods in my life when I chose to live my live my way and the Lord will let me to a point. However, for those who know Jesus as their Lord and Savior and have kept his Word and not denied His name, he will keep from falling. This is illustrated by David being dismissed from the Philistine’s army to fight against Saul and his own nation (I Samuel 29:4). As I look back at times in my life as well as the life of other Christians I know or have known; it was not our seeking after God that brought God in our lives, but it was the way that we responded to the seeking God as we opened the door to our heart and let him enter our inmost place to dwell. As I look to one of the psalms that all believers must hide in their heart it is Psalm fifty-one. This psalm makes us realize that once we open the door that the Lord has provided for repentance and return to the relationship that Lord Desire of us; then the true transformation of bringing our life into this harmony with His desires will take place and we can experience the peace that passes understanding in our life
My 5 Daily Psalms 