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Showing posts from October, 2019
Psalm 16:4    Keep away from them!      It is estimated that, at the time of David, the heathen nations may have worshipped up to 30,000 different gods or idols. There is no satisfaction in such idolatry for these false deities have nothing to offer but pain and sorrow.  In truth, every one of them is an invention of the Satan and most are organised and empowered by demons. Thus, instead of condemning their followers we should pray for them and feel some pity for their journey to “truth” will be a bitter disappointment and will lead to increasing frustration and sorrow. Libations are mentioned in this verse; these embrace any offering or outpouring to a god, including water, wine, corn and blood.  The latter was particularly unpalatable in David’s day because certain gods demanded the blood of human sacrifice. Note that David warns us here by declaring, “I will not offer libations to such gods OR TAKE UP THEIR NAMES ON MY LIPS.” He pointedly refused to say their names or to give t
Psalm 16:3    True nobility      The Apostle Paul’s introduction in his letter to the Romans is addressed,  “To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be His holy people.”  Romans 1:7. In a similar vein, here in verse 3 of Psalm 16, David identified holy people in the land while he was alive. I Peter 2:9-12 refers to such people as,  “Chosen People, a Royal Priesthood, a Holy Nation, a People belonging to God.”  Wow! Noah, Abraham, Job, David himself, Hezekiah – there’s quite a list in the Old Testament of those qualified as holy. What does it mean?  Holy means to be consecrated or dedicated to God, set apart for Him and free from defilement. David is able to identify such people living in his land and he calls them the true nobility, the true royalty, for they acknowledge the Lord as King and seek to serve and obey Him and Him alone.  They are set apart for His service. This is unusual talk from a King!  The nobility usually comes from those who are born or appointed to
Psalm 16:2    You are my Lord       This verse has to be repeated, I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you, I have no good thing.”   The Lord is the Lord, that is irrefutable, but is He my Lord?  David affirms that he trusts in and serves one Lord only, this is personal, no other being is worthy of worship, praise and service. When asserting that,  “apart from you, I have no good thing,”  what is he saying?  Well, let us make a list! The Lord’s words are truth, they are good.                Every other voice is affected by sin. The Lord’s heart is pure, it is good.                            All other hearts are evil. The Lord’s intentions are right, they are good.          Every other being is deceived. The Lord’s power is absolute, it is good.                    All other powers are secondary. The Lord’s love is selfless, it is good.                          All other love is self-interested. The Lord’s knowledge is complete, it is good.           All oth
Psalm 16:1    Positivity      This beautiful Psalm of David describes the blessings of the righteous, their confidence, security and all-encompassing sense of well-being. Here David’s heart is full, he knows that he is safe, that all good things come from the Lord at all times and in all places, and his response is simply joy and thanksgiving. He spares one verse (4) for those who “run after other gods”, but the main point of the Psalm is to reinforce the happy state of mind of those who worship the true God, whose spirits are at rest in the comforting presence of the Lord.  What can the Satan or the world offer that remotely compares to this? We all need these times of reflection, of thanksgiving, when we weigh up our blessings and lay down our woes. This is not possible for human beings unless they have full confidence and trust in the Lord, no one or no thing can compare with Him.  The “power of positivity” is a much-vaunted phrase from the so-called wise of this world.  It
Psalm 15:2-5    In conclusion   “Whoever does these things will never be shaken.”  It’s a bit humbling to read these words and discover that the key to a powerful Christian life is not so much about amazing encounters with the Holy Spirit as it is about faithful, moral obedience to God’s will! Let’s just review the list one more time.  God says I will never be shaken if my walk is blameless, if no one can point the finger of blame at me and say, “Call yourself a Christian!” My thoughts and actions are to be holy and right before the Lord. If I am never to be shaken, God’s truth will be in my heart and on my lips. I will pursue truth, and love truth, and so will never speak ill of others or gossip about them. I will be a man who loves all people and cares for them, and will never say anything that could be used against them.  Never being shaken means that I will love God so much that anyone who hates Him, ignores Him, blasphemes Him or belittles Him, who lives by evil practices
Psalm 15:2-5   Obedience by faith    David lists the characteristics and qualities that are evident in people who live on God’s holy mountain, close to His heart. How do we measure up? ·        Their walk is blameless ·        They do what is righteous ·        They speak the truth from the heart ·        Their tongues utter no slander ·        They do no wrong to a neighbour ·        They cast no slur on others ·        They despise vile people ·        They honour those who fear the Lord ·        They keep an oath, even when it hurts, and do not change their minds ·        They lend money to the poor without interest ·        They do not accept a bribe against the innocent David’s list has nothing to do with sacrifices and ceremonial religion.  There is no mention of the rites and laws of Judaism, there are no commandments or creeds; instead he lists the moral characteristics of a righteous man or woman, one who is reverent before God and without fault
Psalm 15:1  Verse 1 - again!      One day all of the tabernacle and temple Sanctuaries will be joined in one great throng before the throne of God. This is Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the new Jerusalem. The Ark of the Covenant has been replaced with a new covenant and all who stand on the mountain have been made perfect through the blood of the Lamb. David’s longings will have found their ultimate fulfilment!  Who can claim to be a living tabernacle of a Holy God? Who has the right to worship in God’s Holy Temple?  Who dares to dream of that heavenly Mount Zion? The passage in Hebrews 12 tells us; “ The church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven,  the righteous made perfect, those whose faith is in Jesus the mediator of a new covenant and in His sprinkled blood.”  The Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5 that it is those to whom God has given the Holy Spirit, guaranteeing what is to come.  Who is a true believer? Well, you will know for the Spir
Psalm 15:1  The Sanctuary       Before we leave this subject, perhaps we can expand it a little bit more?  The word temple does not appear in the New Testament Greek when describing a spiritual relationship with God even though it is in many of our Bibles!  The correct translation of the Greek word is Sanctuary. A Temple is a man-made building that encloses courts where even the heathen may gather, the inner Sanctuary is open only to priests and the Holy of Holies has been opened to us by our one High Priest, the Lord Jesus. Each individual believer who makes his or her life a holy, dwelling place for Jesus Christ is a Sanctuary. It is necessary to go to the Laver of confession and cleansing before entering His intimate presence for sin cannot dwell there. In the inner Sanctuary there is a lampstand, a table of shewbread and an altar of prayer. Inside the Holy Place, where God lives by His Holy Spirit, we find the Ark of His Covenant promises supported by His Law. The commandments
Psalm 15:1   Mount Zion      And now to David’s second question.  “Who may live on Your holy mountain?”  The Apostle Paul hints, in the passage in 2 Corinthians 5:1-5, of a groaning, a yearning to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling.  While the tabernacle or tent is an earthly habitation, there is a heavenly mountain, a holy place where we are called to dwell with our King. In David’s day, the holy mountain was Zion where the ark became stationary, it came to rest and the priests and Levites were in permanent occupation. As believers we inherit this glorious promise from Hebrew 12:22-24.  22  But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly,   23  to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,   24  to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood
Psalm 15:1   The earthly tent     Let’s go back to the two opening questions; firstly, note that David does not say, “Who may enter or who may visit Your sacred tent?”  He asks who may dwell in that sacred tent, in other words, who may consider it to be their home? Who can dwell with God? This, as we have seen, would be considered nonsensical by his contemporaries who had no ambition to live in the sacred tent nor did they consider this a legal possibility. It was a place for religion, not a place for comfortable habitation. I guess many think of churches as buildings where religious ceremonies are transacted, unfortunately these buildings rarely suggest that they might be a suitable place where one may meet with God. But then our God declares candidly that He does not dwell in buildings made with hands! Acts 7:48. A tabernacle or tent is a moveable object, it is a picture of the people of God in this world. Today the tent is represented by every individual member of the church of
Psalm 15:1   Who may dwell?        Well, after the sombre content of Psalm 14 and its portrayal of the wicked; this next Psalm of David lifts our spirits and turns our attention to more glorious things. But not without a degree of controversy! The Psalm begins with two questions, addressed to the Lord: - 1.       Who may dwell in Your sacred tent? 2.       Who may live on Your holy mountain? Before we take these questions one at a time, let’s quickly give a simple and literal answer. No one can dwell in the Lord’s sacred tent and no one can live on His holy mountain!    Well, at least no one could do either of these things in David’s day. The sacred tent was, of course, the tabernacle constructed by Moses when the Israelites wandered in the desert and which went ahead of them into the Promised Land. Priests alone were allowed to enter the inner room of the sacred tent and even they were only permitted to do so under a strict timetable and for ceremonial purposes. The Hol
Psalm 14:7b      J acob and Israel       This Psalm ends with an enigma; David is confident that the people of the land will be restored and this will be the Lord’s doing; He will bring them back to Himself. He will wrestle control and power from the hands of the wicked and return it to the upright.  Truth, justice, morality and righteousness will prevail; these are all evidences of the restorative power of God. When the Lord restores His church, evil is driven out, man’s authority is diminished, relationships are repaired, love and truth prevail. Sometimes it is necessary to have those uncomfortable conversations, to stop overlooking sinful and disruptive behaviour and to stand up for holiness.  The Satan flees when his schemes come crashing down and the presence of the Lord is restored. “So,” says David, “Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!”  What does he mean? Aren’t Jacob and Israel one and the same? Jacob means “he grasps the heel”, this was a Hebrew idiom for “he deceives.”
Psalm 14:7a    Salvation from Zion     In David’s mind the source of all trouble in Israel is the wicked. They are his true enemies because they are the spiritual enemies of His God. It is not His political foes, his warring family members or the armies of the surrounding nations. No, his battle ground is primarily the hearts and intentions of the wicked for these are the enemies of God and they are present in all of the other battles he is waging.  The same analysis confronts the Church of Jesus Christ today; we can end up wrestling with so many issues, but our real enemy is the Satan and those who do his bidding. As the Apostle Paul reminds us,  “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  Ephesians 6:12. The Gospel is good news for those who are bound by evil and those who are the victims of evil, Christ did not die to reso
Psalm 14:6   The Lord our refuge    The weak and the helpless cannot defend themselves. Wicked people abuse them and plunder them as they follow their evil and selfish inclinations, which is the converse of true righteousness which reveals itself in love and concern for others. No matter how correct our theology or conscientious our religious fervour, true righteousness is revealed in selflessness.  How do evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor? The text correctly reads,  “You have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is his refuge.”  In other words, the weak and helpless find their counsel in the Lord who is their refuge, but the wicked pour scorn and ridicule upon such dependence for they trust only in themselves.  The wicked despise our reliance on God, they scoff at our moral obedience, they laugh at our purity and accuse us of needing a crutch. They “rubbish” the claims of God’s Word and haughtily deny that they need spiritual help and guidance. In their a
Psalm 14:5   Overwhelmed with dread          So we come to verse 5 and the conclusion that, for many wicked people, there comes a realisation that wickedness creates a deep negativity within themselves. That dread and fear of accountability is numbed by drugs, alcohol, material possessions, power and even more perverted and violent behaviour, but the dread never goes away. Although they could never admit it, many know that God is present in the company of the righteous. Even if you choose to live in darkness you will be aware that somewhere, beyond the horizon, light shines.  Let’s just stop and take this in! The Psalm is actually saying that deep within the souls of the wicked there is a terror, never publicly acknowledged, that there is accountability; they harbour terror that there is a God, that actions carry consequences and that wickedness is not what man was born for.  That inner disquiet is fuelled by one thing only, it is that God is seen to be present in the company of t
Psalm14:4         100 today!         This is the 100th post on this site and a big thank you to the few people who read my ramblings.  You bless me because I have to write this and my faith its boosted as a consequence. I pray that you are blessed too. It’s a controversial point that the Psalm makes in verse 4; the suggestion is that even the most wicked believe in something. There is a hint in the Psalms that deep within the psyche of all men, is an awareness that good exists, that creative power is inherent in the universe, that we all must worship something.  Man is made that way, which makes the iniquity of the wicked even more vile because they are knowingly testing God, rebelling against God and defying His existence.  I hope we are all being honest with ourselves here?  How many of us are willing to admit that we are lured into doing wrong even when a voice screams within us, “Don’t do it!” We entertain that lurid thought or say those cruel words or carry out the carefull
Psalm14:2-3     There's One!        David now takes the viewing position of the Lord as He looks down from heaven on all mankind.  What is His conclusion as He views the activities of those who were made to be the peak of His creation?  It isn’t good! Just as it was in the days of Noah, there is nothing and no one who pleases Him.  King David was obviously at a low point in Israel’s spiritual journey, surrounded by pagan tribes and nations, he realises that he lives amongst an ungodly people. He can only see wickedness and evil at large; where are the men and women who seek after God and who truly understand what relationship with Him means? Elijah had a similar experience when he cried to the Lord,  “The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left and now they are trying to kill me too.”  1 Kings 19:10.  Maybe you and I can identify with these men. There are times when we tear our hair
Psalm 14:1        "Nabal"          This Psalm begins with a rather iconic statement that has been shouted from pulpits down the ages and levelled at all who deny the existence of God.  “The fool says in his heart, there is no God.”  Well such a pronouncement is foolish, certainly, but the Hebrew text doesn’t literally translate, “Anybody who doesn’t believe in God is an idiot!” The word fool here is “nabal”, the name given to a wicked, surly, mean man whose story is found in 1 Samuel 25. His wife Abigail told David,  “His name means Fool, and folly goes with him.”  Nabal means a morally deficient person, one who justifies his actions by saying there is no God. A wicked man or woman is “nabal” because they think they can do as they like, they think there is no one to account to, they do not believe that they will be judged for their behaviour. Thus David, the author of the Psalm, goes on to say,  “They are corrupt, their deeds are vile.”  Such is “nabal”; the NIV footnote
Psalm 13: end     Sing praise            Sometimes people are in such a dark place that they are unable to recall the good times. God seems so far away that they remain convinced that He has deserted them. There are others, who enter such a dark pit of despair that they can do nothing for themselves and are unable to react rationally to words and thoughts of encouragement. That is when we have to pray their prayers for them, to stand in the gap, to trust in the Lord’s unfailing love and sing praise on their behalf. We cannot allow the enemy to say, “I have overcome him,” or “I have overcome her.” We cannot allow the forces of evil and those infestations of darkness to gloat and celebrate their foul deeds. This is our warfare, in such situations we must cry, “I trust in your unfailing love. My friend cannot trust right now but I can. My heart rejoices in Your salvation and in all that you are going to do for my brother / sister.” Sing praise, dear friends. Sing praise for the Lord
Psalm 13:5-6     Recollection         There is an answer. Heaven does not remain silent. David’s experience, as described in this song, must have unfolded over weeks, maybe months or even longer. It is summarised in just a few verses and the literal rendition of the first part of verse 5 is in the past tense.  “But I have trusted in your loving kindness.”   He then goes on to say, in the future tense, “ My heart will rejoice exuberantly in Your salvation! I shall sing to the Lord …..” In other words, David is in an extreme place, a place where death beckons, where his enemies are hoping to trample him down and where God seems to have deserted him. In this darkest hour he recalls,  “I have trusted in your loving kindness.”  This is so important, for when everyone and everything is against us, we must stop and bring to mind the times when we were surrounded by blessing and God’s love and kindness were a rich part of our experience. For many, their first introduction to Jesus Chris
Psalm 13:3-4     T he step of death      Psychologists have their theories of course, as to how to deal with the anguish in our minds.  Common sense says that it is better to confront a problem than to just let it fester. However, David’s answer, first of all, is to cry out to the Lord God. “ Look on me and answer, give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death, and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall.” When David starts talking about sleeping in death it is natural to assume that he is suffering from a physical sickness, however, those who have been troubled by severe depression and mental anguish will know that the sleep of death can appear to be a way out, a potential solution to the darkness of living. We long for light, we long to see clearly, we long to escape this dark, impenetrable tomb that has entrapped us and from which we see no deliverance.  This spiritual anguish may have many sources but the depth and severity of it are c
Psalm13:2      Wrestling with thoughts  “How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart?”  Well, we’ve all been there haven’t we?  Someone said something, someone slighted us, someone passed on a bit of gossip and we are implicated. A hurt takes root and starts to grow in stature.  A throw-away comment begins to develop like a cancer deep within. We wake in the night musing over it and it flashes into our consciousness throughout the day.  We wrestle over a situation, over a broken promise or friendship and there is a deep sorrow within. Taking counsel with ourselves is something we all do; some are quick to express their feelings and thoughts, others let them fester and gnaw away, whilst there are those who bury the matter quickly and carry on as if nothing ever happened. Whichever way you look at it this process of taking counsel with our inner-most being can be a painful process. It is when we are vulnerable in this way that the Satan’s envoy
Psalm 13:1       “How long?”     David clearly felt forgotten, abandoned and alone. This state of mind had obviously persisted for some while. Gone were the days of joyful celebration and personal well-being. Gone were the moments of enlightenment in the Lord’s presence and the wonderful intimacy of being close to Him. The Holy Spirit, it seemed, had deserted him and David was bereft and forsaken and empty of all that had made his life good. Mental and spiritual depression are closely related, and the former can be treated by dealing with the latter. God never deserts any one of us but there are times when circumstances draw us away from Him and we sink into despair, then we realise that the problem is deeply rooted. We may have drifted away from the Lord and the former joys have left us. On other occasions it seems as if He has drifted away from us and despite our best efforts the yawning chasm between heaven and earth is insurmountable. Isn’t it reassuring to know that God does