Praising through the Problems of Life

Psalm 23:1-3
{A Psalm of David.} "Jehovah is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside still waters.He restoreth my soul; he leadeth me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake." (Darby translation)

David's Psalms have always been of great comfort to me, but they especially minister when I'm going through trials. I remember pondering them even when I was a teenager, when I felt that my adolescent world was caving in. The Psalms are timeless, even though written in ancient times, they are just as relevant today. When I get to heaven, I would be thrilled for a chance to meet David and discuss his beautiful words. But even more important, I will get to look upon the face of the One whom David wrote about, and never have to go through trials again. What a day to look forward to!

In the book Streams in the Desert, I read one post about how David had to go through many difficult times in order to write those words which have encouraged millions. It was not easy for him to go through all of that, but that was God's way of getting these beautiful messages of hope to us. God worked the hardest things in David's life to the good for all the believers who have received God's written Word. For March 19, the devotion declares that if David had not gone though those trials we would have not received the blessing they provide.

"One stinging sparrow spared would have been one blessing missed and unclaimed. One difficulty or danger escaped-- how great would have been our loss! The thrilling psalms where God's people today find expression for their grief or praise might never have been known." from Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman in the updated version edited by James Reimann, Zondervan Publishing House, 1997, page 121.

This morning when I had my time with God, I hunkered down in Psalm 40:1-3. I remember being drawn to this verse many years ago.

{To the chief Musician. Of David. A Psalm.} "I waited patiently for Jehovah; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. And he brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock; he hath established my goings: And he hath put a new song in my mouth, praise unto our God. Many shall see it, and fear, and shall confide in Jehovah." (Darby translation)

A few notes on some of the words:

The name Jehovah is one of the many names for God. It means "God in covenant relationship to those whom He has created. Jehovah means the Eternal, the Immutable One, He who WAS, and IS, and IS TO COME." (note Bullinger Companion Bible, Appendix 4)

I waited patiently: In the Hebrew this means "in waiting I waited." Bullinger, note Psalm 40:1

The words for pit of destruction and the miry clay: In the KJV it is called a horrible pit, meaning "state of sin and death which God alone can save a man" Miry clay means "The pit of perdition and the mud of corruption" (Dake Study Bible, note on Psalm 40:2)

I never realized before the meaning of the pit and the miry clay. I thought it just meant being in a bad situation. But the true meaning reveals where we all start out. The Apostle Paul says of the unregenerate man:

"that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world." Ephesians 2:12 emphasis mine

Only God can reach down, in His tender mercy and pull each one of us out of that pit by His marvelous quickening by the Spirit. And that is what He does for each one who receives His gift of eternal life. But wait, there's more! He also sets our feet upon a rock.

The word for rock is "sela." It means "fortress, a refuge and security" notes from Bullinger Companion Bible on Psalm 40:2, Deuteronomy 32:13
It would be an amazing study to find all the references in the Bible to God being our rock and our fortress.

The result of all these things is a heart filled with gratitude: "And He hath put a new song in my mouth, praise unto our God."(Ps. 40:3) This new song will also be sung in heaven when time in human history has ended and Christ once again rules the planet. After the Lamb of God takes the scroll (the deed to planet earth that He won back at the cross), this will be the scene in heaven:

8 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying:
​
​​“You are worthy to take the scroll,
​​And to open its seals;
​​For You were slain,
​​And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
​​Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
10 ​​And have made us king and priests to our God;
​​And we shall reign on the earth.” Revelation 5: 8-10

If we will be praising Him throughout eternity, doesn't it make sense to praise Him now for the trials and difficulties of life? It sometimes is not easy for me to automatically do this, but I know when I do, it takes the focus off of me and my little problems and back rightfully on God. I feel a sense of relief knowing that I am known by My Maker.

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

The Best Commentary on Scripture...

"The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times." Psalm 12:6

I reacquainted myself with a tried and true method of Bible study this week. I usually like to just read in a variety of different books of the Bible every day, and eventually make my way through the whole Bible as often as I can. It is my habit every morning: read the Bible as I sip my morning coffee. Lately I added daily journaling to this habit, and writing down whatever Bible verses spoke to me each day.

One of the books I have been reading in is the Gospel of John. When I got to Chapter 7, it dawned on me that this gospel is so rich, so loaded, I wanted to slow down and look into some of the verses deeper. I have an excellent resource to do just that called Nelson's Cross Reference Guide to the Bible edited by Jerome Smith. I love everything about this resource: even down to the fine paper it is printed on. Keyed to the King James Version of the Bible, it breaks the Bible down into cross references for the whole Bible, book by book, line by line. Sometimes there are multiple references given even for just one word or phrase in one verse of Scripture.

I have explained this before, but a big stumbling block for me in my days of questioning God as a young woman dealt with the issue of fairness. How could God ever be fair when some people went to hell, I reasoned. This really tripped me up. It was not until I started to read the gospel of John that I started to find answers to this and many other questions. One day I came across this statement in John 7:17: "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine..."

Suddenly I had an answer to my question! If a man was willing to know, God would make sure that person got to know! Now, back in reference to the cross reference guide, I decided to look up some of the cross references for that verse, and it was so edifying! Scripture commented on, and reinforced Scripture. As a friend of mine says, "The Scriptures are so consistent."

"If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine..." For the two little words "shall know" in John 7:17, here were some of the corresponding verses:

John 3:21 "But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God."

Psalm 25:9 "The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way."

Proverbs 3:32 "For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the righteous." (Froward means "those who turn aside"- Companion Bible, E.W. Bullinger, p.869)

Daniel 12:10 "Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand."

Hosea 6:3 "Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth."

I wrote down all these verses in my journal, and when I got to the Hosea 6 passage, I was intrigued to discover more about what Scripture said about "following on to know the Lord."

Here were some of the verses that speak of "following on" to know Him:

Proverbs 23:12 "Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge."

Daniel 11:33 "And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days."

Matthew 24:13 "But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." (delivered- Bullinger, Companion Bible, p. 1365.)

Luke 8:15 "But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience." (keep it-"hold it fast"-Companion Bible, Bullinger, p.1455)

John 8:31 "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed"

John 15:9-10 "As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love."

Years ago, when I was confused, I would get a commentary when I found a verse of Scripture that I did not understand. Today I find this a much better way to "get the sense" of the Word as in when Ezra the priest gave the Jewish people the Book of the Law.

Nehemiah 8:2-3
And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.

Nehemiah 8:8-10
So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law. Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

The Desire of All Nations...Accept No Substitutes

Psalm 50: 10
"For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills."

The animal kingdom, just like the masses of unreached humanity who inhabit Planet Earth, all are longing for One Person. They just don't know who that Person is. If they did, they would bow before Him. But Scripture assures us that one day, all people will do so, whether they are in heaven, on earth, or under the earth. For in the second chapter of Philippians, the Apostle Paul tells us the greatness of Christ's condescension. Our Lord, who had always been with the Father in all His glory, at a moment in time limited Himself to come and share in our humanity, not only for time, but for all eternity. After presenting the perfect sacrifice of Himself upon the cross, atoning for the sins of all mankind, He was raised from the dead and glorified by the Father. Paul then says:

Philippians 2: 9-11

"Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

As I was reading in Haggai the other day, I was struck by one of the many names of our Lord. He is called the Desire of All Nations. Haggai 2: 6-7 says "For thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; 'and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,' says the LORD of hosts."

According to the Companion Bible edited by E.W. Bullinger,(Kregel Publications) the shaking referred to in this verse will occur in the time period known as the Great Tribulation. Already the earth is shaking with more frequent intensity than in generations past. According to this article from the U.K., earthquakes are dramatically on the rise. http://earth.webecs.co.uk/ A chart at this link shows the dramatic rise just from 1973 to 2006. Yesterday, a 7.0 shook near the Aleutian islands in Alaska. It was possible that this quake could have generated a tsunami, but thankfully it did not.

This time of great turmoil is rapidly approaching, but Haggai assures us that people will come to recognize that Christ is the desire of all people. Bullinger says in his notes on Haggai 2:7 that the desire "refers to Him Who alone can satisfy the desire of all nations." In the Septuagint, Jesus Christ in this verse is referred to "the elect of all the nations." He is the only one who will be able to bring true peace to this planet, and restore it, eventually, to a sinless paradise. For one to read this, and not know what the Great Tribulation is, it was described by Jesus in this way in the Gospel of Matthew:

Matthew 24: 21-27
"For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened. Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect."

"See, I have told you beforehand. Therefore if they say to you, 'Look, He is in the desert!' do not go out; or 'Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be."

Christ warned that "many" would come in His name. But before He actually returns, there will be a false Christ who will say that he can solve all the problems of the world and the world will be amazed by him. He will come in and make a 7 year peace treaty with the nation of Israel. For the first half, 3 1/2 years, Israel will have peace, but it is a false peace. Suddenly, in the middle of this period, this deceiver, called the Antichrist, will break the treaty and that is when the Great Tribulation will break out in full. He will attack Israel with ferocity and finally, all the nations of the world will stand against the tiny land of Israel. Why? In Psalm 2, in its entirety says:

"Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, "Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us." He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, And distress them in His deep displeasure: "Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion." "I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.' Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, And rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him."

What does it mean to Kiss the Son? Simply to believe on Him, that He accomplished the atonement for your sins upon the cross, and that God raised Him from the dead as I Corinthians 15: 1-7 tells us:

"Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles."

Put your faith in the true Desire of All Nations and please remember, don't accept a substitute.

I am Undone

God has been showing me the depths of my depravity lately. The words of Isaiah come to mind when He saw the Lord on His throne, "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the KIng, the Lord of hosts." (Is. 6:5)

Bullinger in the Companion Bible says that this is figure of speech called ecphonesis,which is an "outburst of words,prompted by emotion." About the word "undone", he says: "The essence of true conviction is a concern for what I AM, not for what I have done or not done."

Why did Jesus come down here for us? Did we deserve Him to come? I only know about myself. Romans 3:10 says "As it is written, 'There is none righteous, no, not one..."This verse and the following ones give me a sense of understanding about the human condition. Why do I look to people for help when the Word of God makes clear that leaning upon the flesh for help is like leaning on a sharp stick.

Rom. 3: 12 says"They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no not one." The word for unprofitable means worthless.

By myself I am worthless. There was not one shred of goodness in me that caused Christ to come down from His glory in heaven. Yet He valued us. He placed our needs higher than His own and humbled Himself more than any other man ever in human history. (Phil. 2:5-11) It is for this reason that we bow in awe before Him.

As Thanksgiving day approaches, I give thanks to the Lord that even though there was not one thing to commend Him to save me, He gladly bore all my sin and even though I was undone before Him. For me and all others who have believed on Him that He states about us now that: "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us."

Thank you Jesus for this above all else this Thanksgiving!

Too busy to sit at Jesus feet?

Today I was having a wonderful time with the Lord. I am reading through my Bible and finally have arrived in the New Testament. I am in Matthew right now and I try to get 5 chapters a day in. Well, I have these wonderful reference Bibles (the Hebrew Greek Key Study Bible edited by Spiros Zodhiates, Th.D and the Companion Bible edited by E.W.Bullinger). Maybe you are just supposed to read when you read, but I like to read the notes and look up meanings of words, to try and get the sense (Neh.8:8)
Well, there I am and I start feeling this pressure to hurry up and just get through the readings. Like, I have so many IMPORTANT things to do, like work on my writing.
Whoa! Am I going to be like those with indignation at the breaking of the alabaster box and say "Why this waste?(of time- Mark 14:3-9) As if time with the Lord is a waste.
"If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer." (Martin Luther) What a contrast to me when I can barely get 15 minutes for prayer in!
Maybe we think we have advanced in our present state. But when I get too busy for the things of the Lord, than I am too busy. Is Facebook, emails, writing submissions, and all the clamor of the world more important than my relationship with the Lord of this Universe?
The Lord has given me so very much wonderful teaching and resources to know Him better. I have been given much, so much will be required.(Luke 12:48) Oh God, let me remember that nothing in this world will matter one day but what I did with what You gave me.
To quote the chorus of a beautiful old Twila Paris song:
He Is no Fool
If He Would Choose
To Give the Thing He Cannot Keep
To Buy What He Can Never Lose
To See a Treasure in One Soul
That Far Outshines the Brightest Gold
He Is no Fool, He Is no Fool