"Teach me, O Lord, the way of your 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 your commandments, for therein do I delight."
If we want to gain understanding, we should ask the Lord to teach us. We never need to reach a point in our lives when we do not need to be taught, especially the Lord's "statutes." We need to read our Bibles. We will never reach a time in our lives when we have learned all that we need to know about the Bible. The Bible is our depository of knowledge of the Lord and His ways. We ignore the Bible to our spiritual peril. This is why the Psalmist wrote that he would keep the Lord's statutes "unto the end." We should note that the writer was not going to be half-hearted about the Lord's statutes, for he wrote that he would keep them with "my whole heart." Do we really take what we read in our Bibles to heart? The scriptures should be read with the idea that we are not just obtaining biblical knowledge, but that the scriptures are going to make a difference in how we live our lives. For example, the Bible teaches us to love God and to love people. Do we really observe this admonition with our whole hearts? The Bible teaches us to worship the Lord. Do we keep this admonition with our whole hearts, or do we just sing hymns, give our offerings, and hear the preaching of the word in a half-hearted manner? Do we read our Bibles and pray in a half-hearted manner. We really need to stop and think seriously about this admonition. In verse 35, we learn that we should not just observe the scriptures, but that we are to delight in the Lord's statutes. This means, among other things, that we should be delighted to live the Christian life and not live the Christian life grudgingly. We should be delighted that the Lord loves us and wants to be involved in our lives. We should be delighted that the Lord has provided the Bible for us to read and study. We should be delighted that we have a fellowship of Christian brothers and sisters with which to share life. We should be delighted that the Lord takes an interest in our lives. We should be delighted that we are saved and are going to heaven. There is really no end to this list. What we need to ask ourselves if we are delighted, or grudging in our manner of living? These three powerful verses should be read seriously and observed seriously. (I know that they made me stop and think about my own life. I hope that they will also make you stop and think about your life.) Bro. Joe
0 Comments
"The stone which the builder rejected is become the head stone of the corner. 23. This is the Lord's doing: it is marvelous in our eyes. 24. This is the day which the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." "And (Jesus) beheld them, and said, What is this that is written. The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner?"
Jesus quoted the first part of this psalm to those who questioned Him about His authority. This is one of the obvious fulfillments of the prophecies about Jesus. It was the cornerstones that "were laid so as to give strength to the two walls with which they connected." (Vines Expository Dictionary). Jesus is the Cornerstone between the Old and New Testaments. Jesus is the Cornerstone of history. Jesus fulfilled all that came beforehand and all that would come afterward. Evidently, the stone which became the cornerstone, was the stone that was rejected in the rest of the building, but it became the stone which gave strength to the surrounding walls. It is Jesus who holds the Old and New Testaments together. It is Jesus Who gives strength to our lives and holds our lives together. It is interesting that when the Son of God came to earth, He was rejected. The Jews did not want a simple carpenter to be the long-awaited Messiah, but that is exactly Who He was and is. He is the One who holds history together. This seems like so much religious talk to the world at large, but that it is exactly how God planned it from the beginning. We should take this personally, for Jesus is also the cornerstone of our lives. If we are to have eternal life, and live with Him in heaven forever and ever, we will accept Jesus as our Savior - our real Cornerstone. He is the cornerstone of history, but He is also the cornerstone of individual lives. When history has run its course, it will be ultimately fulfilled in Jesus. For that reason, Jesus should be the Cornerstone of your life. It is Jesus Who can hold your life together here and hereafter. Bro. Joe "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to your word. 10. With my whole heart have I sought you; O help me not wander from your commandments. 11. Your word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against you."
The three verses printed above are loaded with good advice for all people. (They are addressed to a "young man," but I was impressed with them, and I am definitely not a young man. lol) Verse 9 tells us how to "cleanse" our way. The advice is that we can cleanse our way by taking heed to God's word. If we ignore God's word, it will be impossible for us to "cleanse (our) way." We need a revival in our churches of Bible reading. How much time do you spend in God's word? The Bible is our basic text book, and we ignore it to our own peril. It is "Basic Instruction for Living Eternally." The Bible is not a coffee table decoration; rather, it is required reading for a Christian. Verse 10 tells us how to seek the Lord: "I have sought you with my whole heart." We need to put our hearts in the business of living the Christian life. We need to read the Bible wholeheartedly. We need to attend our churches wholeheartedly, We need to pray wholeheartedly. We need to love Jesus wholeheartedly. We need to love people wholeheartedly. I think by now you get the idea of how we should seek the Lord. Put your whole heart into the enterprise and you will see a difference in your quality of life. Verse 11 tells us that we should "hide the word of God in our hearts." We do not read and study the Bible for information alone. We read the Bible to draw us closer to the Lord and to each other. When I met my late wife Mary Alice Ezell, I was impressed with how much she knew about the Bible. A young lady said to me years ago, "I wish I knew the Bible like your wife." I told her that she could if she would read it like she does. Mary's Bible reading made a difference in her life because she read it wholeheartedly. This is good advice and could make a difference in your life if you will take it to heart. Bro. Joe "The Lord guards the inexperienced; I was helpless, and He saved me. 7.Return to you rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you. 8. For you, Lord, rescued me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. 9. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living."
The Bible does not tell us who wrote this Psalm. He could have been a king who had been through a rough period in is life, for he wrote: "I was helpless and the Lord saved me." The thing that impressed me was that the writer was grateful for the Lord's deliverance. Surely, we can identify with his sentiment. We all stand in need of deliverance, and we should be grateful to the Lord, Who, alone, can give us the genuine deliverance that we need. In verse 7, he confessed that the Lord had been good to him. Understand this, whatever the Lord has allowed in our lives He allowed it for our own good. It might not have seemed true at the time, but it was true. We need to remember the admonition given in Romans 8:28: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." In verse 8a, he wrote: :"For you, Lord have rescued me from death.." Perhaps the Lord had rescued him from death in battle. We don't know that it was, but he gave the Lord the credit for it. We probably do not know how many times the Lord has delivered us from death. I know that in Christ, He delivers us from eternal death when we put our faith in Christ. The Lord is in the business of life. John 10:10 reminds us about this: "The thief comes not, but to steal and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, that that they might have it more abundantly." In verse 8b, he wrote: "(He has rescued) my eyes from tears." He did not mean that he never cried, but the Lord had delivered him from sorrow in his trouble. He delivers us from sorrow in our trouble by His loving presence.. When King David, faced the giant Goliath, he was not afraid because he knew that the Lord was with him. When I have faced moments when I might die, I was not sorrowful because of my own strength, but in the strength of the Lord Who was present as my comfort. I am not bragging about that, I am praising the Lord for delivering me in times when sorrow could have consumed my life. He delivered the Psalmist in his time of sorrow,, and He will deliver you. Rejoice in the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life. In verse 8b, he wrote; (He has rescued),:my feet from stumbling." .It is possible that the Lord helped him to stay on his feet in battle. We are not our strongest when we are on our backs. I know that the Lord has kept me from stumbling many times. I do not think that the Psalmist meant that he never stumbled, but when he was in dire straits, the Lord delivered Him. I do know when in our own weakness, we stumble, the Lord Who could have kept us from stumbling, in His great forgiveness, will reach down and lift us back to our feet. Even His discipline brings us back to our feet. The question that this passage brings us to in our lives is that we are not alone in traveling this rough path of life. Pause and thank, and praise, God for His deliverance! Bro. Joe "What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me? 13. I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. 14. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all His people. 15. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His people."
The Hebrew word that is translated "render" in verse 12 means to "return" or to "repay." The Psalmist felt indebted to the Lord, and wondered how he could repay Him. Of course there is no way that we can literally repay the Lord, but there are things that we can do in return for all of His benefits. Some of those are listed here, and reveal to us the Psalmist's answer to his question. First, he said that he would "take the cup of salvation." He knew that the Lord loved Him and wanted to save Him. As I see this, the Psalmist just surrendered to the Lord's love, and lived his life in a pleasing way to the Lord. We repay the Lord by accepting His love for us, and living to please Him. Today, we say that we repay the Lord by accepting, by faith, the salvation that He offers through His Son Jesus! Second, he said that he would "call upon the name of the Lord." He would repay the Lord by going to Him prayer. Someone once wrote that "when all else fails pray." The best way to express that is "before all else fails pray." I think that this is what the Psalmist was doing. He wanted to stay in communication with the Lord. There are two things that the people of God will do if they want to live victoriously: They will read the word of God, and they will pray. "Take it to the Lord in prayer" is not just good advice; it is necessary advice. Third, he said: "I will pay my vows unto the Lord in the presence of His people." This promise frankly gave me some pause. What does it mean to "pay our vows"? It can mean a lot of things, including tithing. I take it to mean, among other things, that the Psalmist would not be afraid to testify about his devotion to the Lord in front of people. He would repay the Lord by not being ashamed of his faith. He would not be intimidated by the people who made fun of him because of his faith. We learn from this wise Psalmist that if we want to please the Lord, we can accept the salvation that He offers through Jesus, live for Him and not be ashamed to claim His love and His benefits. We can call upon Him often in prayer, and we can testify about all of His benefits to us. (I pray that I did some justice to these profound verses.) Bro. Joe "I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people, and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations. 4. For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth reaches unto the clouds. 5. Be thou exalted, O God above the heavens; and thy glory above all the earth. 6. That thy beloved may be delivered save with thy right hand and answer me."
In the text printed above, David gives three reasons why he praised the Lord. Verse 3 tells that David would praise the Lord "among the people, and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations." (He certainly did this in his Psalms.) We should not be ashamed to praise the Lord in front of all the world. ' In verse 4a, David declared: "For thy mercy is above the heavens..." What we know about the history of David in the Bible is that he needed God's mercy. Frankly, what we know about our own histories is that we also need God's mercy. We should praise Him for His mercy, for without His mercy we would be doomed eternally. I remember the old song: "It's me, It's me O Lord, standing the need of prayer." (After "prayer" we can add "mercy....") In verse 4b, David declared that he would praise God because of His truth: "....and thy truth reaches unto the clouds (skies)." It is in the Lord that we find real truth about our world and about ourselves. The Bible tells us that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) That is the truth, and because of this truth we need a Savior. That is why Jesus came into the world, died on the cross, arose from the grave and ascended to the Father. I need Jesus. You need Jesus. All of the world needs Jesus. That is the ultimate truth of the Bible. It is certainly worthy of our praise! Verse 5 gives us another reason to praise the Lord: "Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth." David praised God because of His transcendence. God is the highest power in all of the universe. We should certainly lift up our hearts, voices and hands to the Almighty God of the universe. We need to ask ourselves if we really realize the greatness of God, and do we praise Him in His greatness? Of course, these are not all of the reasons for praising the Lord. I don't think there is a complete list for praising Him. Let's just praise Him! Bro. Joe First, David made it clear that he was not ashamed to praise the Lord in his heart and with the world. "Glory you in His Holy Name; let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord, 4. Seek the Lord, and His strength: seek His face evermore."
The Psalmist continued his words of praise in vss. 3-4. He reminded us to "glory in His Holy Name." The word that is translated "glory" can also be translated as "honor." We are to honor the Holy Name of God. This means, among other things, that we are not to take the name of God lightly. In Exodus 20:7 we are told not "to take the name of the Lord in vain." in our vernacular, this means that we are not to take the name of God lightly. This means more than not using the swear word that is used today. It literally means that we are not to take God Himself lightly. Why? "For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes His Name in vain." We should take this into consideration when we are singing praise to His Name in our worship services. We are actually not praising God when we take His Name lightly. In the latter part of verse 3, we are reminded that when we seek the Lord we should do it rejoicing: "Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord." We are not to just rejoice, but to do it from our hearts. This means that we are to really rejoice, not just say words of rejoicing, but to really rejoice. Seeking the Lord is serious business, but it is also joyful business. We need to be filled with Joy when we remember that the Lord lets us seek Him. He doesn't have to let us seek Him, but because He loves us, God wants us to seek Him. He knows that seeking Him is the best that we can do for ourselves. Praising the Lord is not a bland thing. In verse 4, we are told to "Seek the Lord and His strength, seek His face evermore." We derive our real strength from God. When we "seek His face" we are amassing His strength for our lives. Whenever I am privileged to preach the gospel, I remind myself that I do not do it from my own strength. If I preach from my own strength, I am not giving a congregation the best that I can give. In fact if I do it from my own strength I am not really giving them anything. When you teach your Sunday School class from your own strength, you are not giving people what they need. When you sing a solo in a church worship service from your own strength, you are not giving the people the best that you can give. We derive our strength to serve God by "seeking His face" in praise every day. We need to ask ourselves when we offer praise to God, are we really praising Him or just going through the motions? Selah Bro. Joe "O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon His Name: Make known His deeds among the people. 2. Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him: tell ye of His wonderful works."
When I read the text printed above, I knew that I had to write about it. The verses suggested to me that they tell us how to praise God. First, we praise the Lord by giving thanks to Him. Those of us who believe in Him, worship Him, and serve Him should be the most thankful people in the world. The God of the Bible is great and his message of love to us is truly magnificent. Which leads me to ask: how thankful are you? Give some thought to this question! Thankfulness naturally leads to praise. Second, we praise the Lord by making "known His deeds among the people." The deeds that the Psalmist, who was a Jew were all of the wonderful deeds that were done in the Old Testament up to his time. For example, he could tell of the Jews deliverance from Egypt, and all of the miracles that the Lord did at that time. We can tell about Jesus dying on the cross in order for us to be saved from our sins. If you will think about it, we have a lot that we can tell about what the Lord has done for us. Third, we praise the Lord by singing: "Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him. When we sing hymns during our church worship services, we're not displaying our singing talents, but we are singing praise to God. We need to pay attention to the words that we are singing, and sing them to Him. This will certainly add meaning to our singing, and will be a real blessing to us. Take these verses to heart and really praise the Lord. Bro. Joe "No one who acts deceitfully will live in my palace; the one who tells lies will not be retained here to guide me. 8. Every morning I will destroy all the wicked of the land, wiping out all evil doers from the Lord's city."
In this "Song of Praise" David moves to those who will be retained in his service. He was careful with whom he surrounded himself with in his palace. These verses should cause us to think of our Christian service. Verse 7a reminds us that David would not surround himself with deceitful people. He gave us clue of this in verse 6: "My eyes favor the faithful of the land so that they may sit down with me. The one who follows the way of integrity." I'm certain that there were many people who wanted to be included in David's service but not just anyone would do. He wanted to be surrounded by people who had integrity. For the most part, those who served him were loyal and were men of integrity. Some slipped through the net - so to speak, but those were not his close lieutenants. (Yes, I include Joab in this, though he was rough around the edges, he stayed loyal to David.) Verse 7b reminds us that David wanted people around him who were truthful: "The one who tells lies will not be retained here to guide me." David wanted people around him who would tell him the truth. (It would be preferable if our presidents were surrounded by people like this.) For example, Joab was not afraid to tell David the truth. The prophet Nathan told David the truth. (See 2Samuel 12:1 and verses following.) We know about David's lapses and failures, but his advice here is good advice for us in our lives and in our Christian service. Verse 8 closes the "Song of Praise" with this statement: "Every morning I will destroy all the wicked of the land, wiping out all evil doers from the Lord's city." David wanted the kingdom of Judah to be filled with pure people. This was a good aim. We should have the same aim for our lives, the community where we live, and etc. We can do this, not by military means, but by being examples in our lives and in our churches. Bro. Joe "I will destroy anyone who secretly slanders his neighbor; I cannot tolerate anyone with haughty eyes or an arrogant heart. 6. My eyes favor the faithful of the land so that they may sit down with me. The one who follows the way of integrity may serve me."
In the first part of verse 5, David declares that he will not have anything to do with "anyone who secretly slanders his neighbor." David did not want anything to do with gossips. People who spread gossip do not mean anything well for anyone. David knew that when someone said something to him about someone else, he did not know whether or not it was true. The nature of gossip is that a tale about someone else can be true or false. Gossip destroys lives and it destroys churches; therefore, we should follow David's example. In the second part of verse 5, David declared that he would "not tolerate anyone with haughty eyes or an arrogant heart." David wanted to avoid people who were falsely proud and who were arrogant. Today we would refer to these people as "stuck up and overbearing." I don't think David was referring here to people who were confident. I think he was referring to people who thought too much of their own opinions, and who were arrogant in expressing them. i think that the warning for us in this verse is that we need to be aware of our attitudes in our relationships with people. Verse 6 reminds us that we should seek relationships with people who faithfully serve the Lord, and who are people of integrity. These are the people whose words one can trust. In other words, David did not need people around him who were unfaithful to their faith, and who were not people of integrity. We need to seek to be that kind of people. Surely, we want for people to trust our words, and to know that we are people of integrity. The word that we would use for these people is "trustworthy." We should seek to be trustworthy people on whom other people can truly depend. These verses are loaded with good advice for us, and we need to seriously seek to be the kind of people David referred to in them. (May their tribe increase.....) Bro. Joe |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
All
Archives
September 2021
|