G‘day! Partakers Christian podcasts of Bible Teaching, Bible Readings, Worship, Prayer and Church History on Podbean to help enable and encourage you! Come listen and interact.
Episodes
15 hours ago
15 hours ago
Resh
153 Look upon my suffering and deliver me, for I have not forgotten your law. 154 Defend my cause and redeem me; preserve my life according to your promise. 155 Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek out your decrees. 156 Your compassion is great, O LORD; preserve my life according to your laws. 157 Many are the foes who persecute me, but I have not turned from your statutes. 158 I look on the faithless with loathing, for they do not obey your word. 159 See how I love your precepts; preserve my life, O LORD, according to your love. 160 All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.
Once again the Psalmist is in danger of losing his life! He is seeking to be delivered from his pains and rescued! He is one of God's servants and seeks to show that by remembering God's law, God's words and behaving as one of God's servants, devoted in fear, reverence and love of Almighty God! And because he hasn't forgotten God's law, he pleads for God to consider and remember him. He is not so distracted by his own problems, that he has forgotten the beauty of God and God's Law! He is faithful to God, because he knows that God is faithful to him!
His persecutors are surrounding him, circling with menace so the Psalmist asks for his God to be his advocate, his redeemer! The Psalmists enemies are spouting lies, ensnaring, oppressing and committing perjury against him, so he calls for his advocate and defender! He also asks that his Almighty God preserve him according to God's own promise. He knows that God always fulfils his promises to those who follow him. The promises of God are as a soft healing balm to the frustrations and wounds of the Psalmist.
And while the Psalmist has a hope in his God, those who persecute, oppress and endanger him are bound for destruction! These wicked oppressors can never find salvation because they are removed from God, ignore God's decrees and commit blasphemous acts in defiance of God's decrees! The Psalmists persecutors are only interested in their own wisdom instead of seeking the wisdom of God.
In contrast to these wicked people, the Psalmist has not strayed from God's righteous statutes! He knows Almighty God is compassionate, a great help in times of trouble and preserver of life - nothing can happen to the Psalmist unless God allows it, and God wont do that because of His tremendous promises found in His Law. The mercies of the Lord endure forever and ever - they are innumerable, immeasurable, immense, tender and true.
When he sees the wicked persecuting oppressors disavowing God, actively being wicked in disobedience, the Psalmist is full of righteous indignation and loathing! In contrast to the unrighteous who are against him, is the Psalmist who loves God's precepts, commands and Law. He knows that the Lord's anger is slow to burn and that the Lord is quick to love those who actively follow him. All of God's words are true, all of God's laws are righteous, exclaims the Psalmist! All of them from beginning to end and from top to bottom! This was a man willing to stand up for God with zeal, passion and righteous indignation - even if it cost him his very life!
How are you doing in your appreciation for what God has done for you? How are you doing when the world around through the media or people you know, seek to discredit your Christian belief in Almighty God? Are you sometimes filled with zealous indignation when Christians and Christianity are perjured against in the media or your workplace? Who is your advocate before God that defends you, wants to redeem you, deliver you from your enemies and those who would seek to bring you down and cause you to lose heart? As Christians, Jesus Christ is our advocate before God the Father. Do you know the promises of God, which can be found in the Bible? Read the Bible and when praying, have your Bible open and tell God what you are reading! All of Scripture, the Old Testament and the New Testament, is reliable and true- from beginning to end - just as the Psalmist exclaims for the portion that he had at the time.
In doing so, you develop an intimacy with God the Father, through God the Son in the power of God the Holy Spirit who lives inside you! This engenders a love for all of the Bible and not just your favourite parts! Be prepared to worship God in all manner of styles and not just your favourite style. Yet sometimes we have those in the church who like to discourage, perjure and hyper-criticize. No need to go far to find other Christians perjuring and espousing misleading words against us - particularly in the area of worship! Too many Christians today are perjuring others, being one-dimensional in their acts of church worship, short in their bible reading and are living stunted Christian lives because of it.
Just because another person experiences the Holy Spirit in a way different to you, doesn't invalidate that way, but rather reflects the unique way God the Holy Spirit is working in the life of that person! Rejoice when that other person is worshipping Almighty God, even if the style of worship is not your own particular choice! Don't restrict the Holy Spirit's activity in your own life and do not grieve Him by trying to restrict and criticise His activity in another Christian's life - to do is blasphemous and to call unclean that which is clean! Go and rejoice in the freedom of the Gospel for all people to worship in Spirit and truth and in many different styles - reflecting the manifold mercies of an ever-gracious God! A God who is gracious to save and merciful to be worshipped and adored! A jealous God worthy of zealous followers!
Right mouse click or tap here to save this Podcast as a MP3.
2 days ago
2 days ago
QOPH
145 I call with all my heart; answer me, O LORD, and I will obey your decrees. 146 I call out to you; save me and I will keep your statutes. 147 I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word. 148 My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises. 149 Hear my voice in accordance with your love; preserve my life, O LORD, according to your laws. 150 Those who devise wicked schemes are near, but they are far from your law. 151 Yet you are near, O LORD, and all your commands are true. 152 Long ago I learned from your statutes that you established them to last forever.
Here the Psalmist starts this section with two impassioned calls or loud cries! These are not necessarily loud audible cries but rather the inner desires of the heart and a bending of the will calling out to God. The first time is for God to hear him! His whole begin - body, mind and soul - are crying out go God, pleading with Him with full mental, emotional and spiritual energy. These are impassioned pleas. And the Psalmists knows that God will hear him, particularly if he is listening out for the Lord to speak, hence the being obedient to the decrees of Almighty God! Our Psalmist, David, is determined to live a life that is pleasing to God. To life a life that is worthy of being called God's servant.
Not only was it impassioned prayer, but also it was prayer borne out of determination. He knows his need to be rescued, so he cries out to the one who can save him - Almighty God. As a result of being saved by God, the Psalmist pledges to be obedient to God the rescuer. The Psalmist promises to follow God's instructions and statutes in full obedience. Now for the third time, the Psalmist mentions that he has cried, pleaded, begged passionately for God. The Psalmist's prayers are frequent, intense and strong. So strong are his desires are that the moment he awakes, he is in prayer. A key element of his prayers is hope. Here the Psalmist David has put his hope in God and God's word. God is faithful, as the Psalmist has said throughout, and God's words are also faithful and true - they can be relied upon to encourage and give hope. So intense is his prayer life, that not only is he up early in the morning, but late at night he can be found to be mediating on the promises that God has made! The Psalmist's prayers were all day long! From before dawn till after dusk! He prayed to and worshipped His God all day and with great fervour and eagerness! He knows God will hear his voice, his pleadings as he maintains an attitude of hope, worship and adoration.
And to reaffirm that, he knows that God is a great God of love and a God of great love! Here in verse 149, it's an audible prayer, not through any merit of his own, but of the merits of God! This God is loving, kind and preserver! This God fulfils the promises He makes! He gives strength in order to overcome the burdens faced by the Psalmist! When the Psalmist is faced with death, the God he serves, gives more life! WOW! The Psalmist doesn't concentrate on himself or his own voice, but rather on this God and His voice, particularly His voice as seen in the laws.
He will be rescued before his enemies can kill him. These wicked people are the opposite of the Psalmist. Where the Psalmist is close to God, listening to God with open obedience and hoping in God's promises, the scheming enemies are far away from God, from God's laws even though they are near to the Psalmist. His enemies are only after mischief and troublemaking, not for the things of God!
Yet as near as his enemies are, the Psalmist knows that God is even closer! His God is watching over him, to preserve, love and watch over. God's commandments are true, worthy of obedience and trustworthy. God is near, He is true and the Psalmist is safe. This loving and living God sees His servants under oppression and burdened and draws even closer to them to give them aid, assistance, comfort and encouragement. No wonder the Psalmist is keen to be obedient to his Worthy God!
In verse 152, we get the idea that the Psalmist, David, is now an old man when writing this. Long ago in his youth, he learnt God's word and the stories, commandments, testimonies of God and those who followed God. The Psalmist built upon this rock, this established base and is seeking earnestly to live a life of utter obedience to this living God - a living God who does not and cannot change! WOW!!
This is an encouragement to us! How is our prayer life? Is it only on Sundays during church that we seek to connect with God? This God we pray to, seek to worship and obey, is worthy of our attention all day, every day! Are you burdened with something and feeling weighed down? Then ask and implore your God to take your burden, give you extra strength and vitality! He is true! He has promised! He will do it, if you allow Him to. Pray in the morning and the evening! Worship Him with a life of obedience to Him! Pray with your Bible open and let Him speak to you through it. The Bible is trustworthy and so is the God who gave it!
Right mouse click or tap her to save this Podcast as a MP3.
3 days ago
3 days ago
Tsadhe
137 Righteous are you, O LORD, and your laws are right. 138 The statutes you have laid down are righteous; they are fully trustworthy. 139 My zeal wears me out, for my enemies ignore your words. 140 Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them. 141 Though I am lowly and despised, I do not forget your precepts. 142 Your righteousness is everlasting and your law is true. 143 Trouble and distress have come upon me, but your commands are my delight. 144 Your statutes are forever right; give me understanding that I may live.
The very first word in the NIV translation introduces the dominant theme in this stanza. It's about God and things being ‘right' or ‘righteous'. Cast your eyes over verses 137, 138, 142 and 144. Then, looking at them more closely, we get to see something like this. v137. God is righteous. ‘Righteous are you, O Lord. This may be understood in terms of God's relationship with his people. He keeps his promises. He provides for their needs. He is faithful in all his deeds and ways. He always does what is right, for God cannot deny himself; God cannot lie; God cannot break his word, once given. Verse 140 reads, ‘Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them.' God is righteous. He's consistent. If that is true, then what flows from God is also righteous.
Verse 137 again, ‘You are righteous, O Lord, and your laws are right.' God gave his Law through Moses. The detailed laws within it were designed to shape the crowd of people who escaped from slavery in Egypt, into a coherent nation fit to live in the Promised Land, where they would show the rest of the world what the LORD was really like. At least, that was the intention, but its working out fell short of God's wishes, because his people were not altogether co-operative.
Verse 138 has a similarly high view of God's statutes - another word describing the detail of God's Law. ‘The statutes you have laid down are righteous; they are fully trustworthy.' They flow from God, therefore they are as dependable and effective as God himself is. If God said it, then you can rely on it.
Verse 144 suggests the permanence of what God has said. ‘Your statutes are for ever right; give me understanding that I may live.' Most of what has occupied his thought in this Psalm was written well before he was born, some of it many centuries before, yet he sees it as still relevant to him, because it flows from the righteous God. In an earlier stanza, verses 89-90, he has already written, ‘Your word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. Your faithfulness continues through all generations.'
The Lord isn't fickle or capricious, saying one thing now and a totally different thing a little later. You can build your life on God's word, just as Jesus spoke of the wise and foolish builders in Matthew 7. Wise people always build on the truth that the Lord Jesus brought to us. And he, as Hebrews 13:8 tells us, ‘is the same yesterday and today and for ever.' And, finally, in verse 142, he comes back to the Lord himself, commenting, ‘Your righteousness is everlasting and your law is true.' It all starts with the Lord, filters down through his Law - his word for his People - which, in turn shapes them to demonstrate what kind of a God he is.
Let's remind ourselves once more, of 2 Timothy 3:16-17, ‘All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man (or woman) of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.' So, that is the thrust of this passage for those of us who have committed our lives to Christ and are listed among his people. We have the word of God to a much greater extent than the psalmist did, in that we have both Old and New Testaments. If we don't have an appetite to read and hear it, ask the Holy Spirit to make us hungry for it.
If our lives are being shaped mostly by influences drawn from this world in which we live, let's open ourselves up to the Lord through Scripture, and ask the Holy Spirit to use it to make us more like the Lord himself, to whom we owe everything spiritually. If our reading of life's negative experiences causes us to doubt the goodness and love of God, let's soak our minds in the glorious truth of a passage like Romans chapter 8. If we have doubts about our salvation let's give ourselves, this Easter, to reading in the Gospels the four accounts of Jesus death and resurrection. And so the list could go on, but it's time to close. I leave you with one of Scripture's famous 3:16s - Colossians 3:16, ‘Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.' The Lord be with you.
Right mouse click or tap here to save this Podcast as a MP3.
4 days ago
4 days ago
Pe
129 Your statutes are wonderful; therefore I obey them. 130 The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. 131 I open my mouth and pant, longing for your commands. 132 Turn to me and have mercy on me, as you always do to those who love your name. 133 Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me. 134 Redeem me from the oppression of men, that I may obey your precepts. 135 Make your face shine upon your servant and teach me your decrees. 136 Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed.
Today we are looking at the Hebrew letter ‘PE', which makes us consider the role of the word of God in bringing understanding to our minds, moral and spiritual direction to our lives, and heart satisfaction in our relationship with the Lord. To ease us into this, we look elsewhere in Scripture first. In Numbers 6:24-26, we read of the Aaronic Blessing. As the High Priest of the people of Israel, Aaron was instructed to bless them in the Name of the Lord. ‘The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face towards you and give you peace.' It's my feeling that this priestly blessing was in the psalmist's mind when he wrote this stanza, PE. ‘Turn to me and be gracious to me' (132). The NIV reads ‘have mercy on me.' Older translations use ‘be gracious' but it amounts to the same, as both words imply acceptance, forgiveness and peace with God. Then, in verse 135, he says, ‘Make your face shine upon your servant'. So, asking God to turn towards him, to be gracious to him, to make his face shine upon him?
I'm sure you can see the connection between this Psalm and that Blessing. How is the Christian equivalent of that blessing conferred upon us today? It's done by the Holy Spirit through the word of God, the words of Scripture. Many church services include or conclude with these very words of Scripture, spoken as a ‘benediction' or ‘announcement of blessing from the Lord' upon his people. It also happens in our personal lives. As we read, believe, and respond to the wonderful words of God, we receive a rich blessing upon ourselves. The very first verse picks this up, ‘Your statutes are wonderful; therefore I obey them.' The last verse takes a different but related line, ‘Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed.' Here's a man who really does understand the way in which the Lord confers his blessing upon his believing people, and grieves that there are those who profess to belong to the Lord but refuse to obey his word. Let's make sure that isn't true of any of us!
Now let's see how God's word brings his blessing, as we explore these verses. It begins by bringing understanding. Verse 130, ‘The unfolding of you words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.' By ‘simple' he is not describing those with what we would call ‘learning difficulties', but those whose understanding has not yet matured enough for them to be fully aware of God's will and ways. Where there's a willingness to learn about spiritual matters, the word of God will bring what the psalmist calls ‘light'. This is a process which combines insight and wisdom. We gain further insight into the Lord and his ways with humankind; into the realm of spiritual realities and experience; into the whole meaning of Jesus and his work of redemption; into what it means to live by the Spirit, and so on. We also receive the gift of wisdom, which enables us to apply what we know through insight to our lives in this world. That way we can live to the praise and glory of God.
Scripture also gives us direction. It shows us the right way to live, morally and spiritually. That affects our attitudes towards other people and our relationships with them. We live by the combination of the grace and truth that was evident in the Lord Jesus. God's word also helps us pick our way through the moral maze life of the 21st - what to avoid and what to be involved with. Verse 133, ‘Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.'
Finally, Scripture also enables us to enjoy heart-satisfaction in our relationship with the Lord. In verse 131 he is ‘longing for (the Lord's) commands' and describes himself ‘panting' like a thirsty animal. In verse 134 he wishes to be free from the force of human opinions and pressure, so that he can respond fully to the Lord. In verse 135 he is looking for a shining sense of God's presence, as he responds to what the Lord shows him in his word. This is the language of a truly devotional life; a servant of God who wants to walk closely with the Lord and to enjoy his presence.
To see a New Testament example of how all this fits together, read Luke 24:13-35 when you can, and see how what's written there can be true for us, as we walk through life in close fellowship with our risen Lord Jesus. Take note of verse 32, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?' The LORD bless you and keep you!
Right mouse click or tap here to save this Podcast as a MP3.
5 days ago
5 days ago
Ayin
121 I have done what is righteous and just; do not leave me to my oppressors. 122 Ensure your servant's well-being; let not the arrogant oppress me. 123 My eyes fail, looking for your salvation, looking for your righteous promise. 124 Deal with your servant according to your love and teach me your decrees. 125 I am your servant; give me discernment that I may understand your statutes. 126 It is time for you to act, O LORD; your law is being broken. 127 Because I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold, 128 and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path.
Three times in these 8 verses you'll find the words ‘your servant'. They are in verses 122, 124 and 125. That gives a flavour to this section of the psalm. He knows that he has been called in his personal life and, probably, in a public role to serve the Lord. He feels the cost of doing that and appeals to the Lord for help in various ways. All true believers in Jesus today are called to serve the Lord. It begins with simply the way we live. That means that our lifestyle, our priorities and our values about what is right and wrong, will often bring us into conflict with people living and working around us.
Should the Lord call us into a specific role in serving Him, in our local church perhaps, or in the wider world through a Christian mission or agency, the pressure will come in a different way, from those who object to the work we are doing in the name of Christ. Like the psalmist we, too, must turn to the Lord for his comfort and strengthening in the situation. In the first two verses here, he is concerned for his own well-being. ‘I have done what is righteous and just; do not leave me to my oppressors. Ensure your servant's well-being; let not the arrogant oppress me.' He is suffering from ‘people-pressure' and he's not too keen on it.
But we take note of the fact that he's not engaging with them in a war of words but, rather, he's turned to the Lord with an urgent plea for His help. He's resorted to prayer, rather than to disputation, as the best way of dealing with the problem. That's a good example to follow. Our arguments will tend to harden people in their opposition. Sometimes it will even give them some satisfaction to know that they've got to us. Like Jesus before his enemies, we will find that being silent before them but verbal towards God is usually the best way of handling the matter. After all, the Spirit of God can reach those parts in people that none of us can get to!
As we move on, it's clear that he is being called to endure, to keep going, while the Lord is actually handling the situation for him. God's timing and the servant's wishes do not coincide. The Lord seems to be hanging about - why doesn't He get on with it? ‘My eyes fail, looking for your salvation.' And, in verse 126, a wake-up call to the Lord, ‘It is time for you to act, O Lord!' His impatience, on the one hand, is due to his humanity. He's sharing with us the stress we all feel when our prayers are not being answered with the degree of urgency we feel the case merits.
On the other hand, he has a genuine concern, that those who profess to be God's people are actually flouting - breaking - His Law. Now, whatever happens, or doesn't happen to him personally, surely that situation needs to be addressed! So, in verses 127-128 we read, ‘Because I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold, and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path.' That kind of love for the Lord and his word runs through the whole of this challenging psalm.
In fact, it will be found everywhere in Scripture. Devotion to the Lord is expressed by a desire to live His way and to please Him. The Apostle Paul prayed for the Christians at Colosse that they might, ‘live a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way.' You'll find that in Colossians 1:10. Before we leave this servant of the Lord, let's have a look at verse 124. ‘Deal with your servant according to your love.' That's a confident request, rooted in his experience of what God is like. To use a New Testament expression, he knows that ‘God is love', therefore all His dealings with us spring from that love, are informed and shaped by that love, and are working towards the best possible end for us. At present, it seems He is working along a strange route and to a different timetable, but in the end, all will be well. Remember, ‘Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.'
Right mouse click or tap here to save this Podcast as a MP3.
6 days ago
6 days ago
Samekh
113 I hate double-minded men, but I love your law. 114 You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word. 115 Away from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commands of my God! 116 Sustain me according to your promise, and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed. 117 Uphold me, and I will be delivered; I will always have regard for your decrees. 118 You reject all who stray from your decrees, for their deceitfulness is in vain. 119 All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross; therefore I love your statutes. 120 My flesh trembles in fear of you; I stand in awe of your laws.
Just as the Psalmist is single-minded regarding God, obeying God and keeping God's law, so there are others who are unstable and are in two minds about how to act! The Psalmist compares the stability and reliability of God's word with the instability and fluctuations of those who are unstable in their commitment to God and God alone. Even his own thoughts when he strays, are the product of a mind that is having wayward thoughts. The Psalmist knows that only God's word and God's wisdom can provide a solid basis for making decisions, whether moral, private or public. We get the sense that he is fighting a battle within himself, to control his thoughts and thinking patterns - that when his old ways of thinking habitually take over, he hates it.
He goes on to cry out to God that God alone is his rescuer, refuge and protector! He cannot rely on his own intellect and man-made wisdom to do that for him, but rather, he relies on God's word and God's wisdom to reveal God as his protector and shelter! Then in verse 115, we see that he has a battle not only within himself, but also those who would seek him harm. These people are taunting, tempting and seeking to destroy him. Perhaps they are mocking him for his belief in God's words and wisdom, which is why he retorts by saying he wants to keep the commandments of his protecting God.
With God at his side, the Psalmist knows that no harm can come to him. He has a personal relationship with this God and the Psalmist seeks to follow closely. The taunts of his enemies are nothing and the Psalmist takes refuge in the wisdom of His All-knowing God. His God has promised to sustain him, maintain his life! The Psalmist has put all his hopes in and on this great God whom he desires to know more and more. He knows God's promises are true, unlike those made by his enemies. God will not forsake him, even when all other people do. When he is in trouble, to whom does he turn? Does he turn to his enemies and surrender? Does he rely on his own wisdom and guile to escape the clutches of those who would do him harm? No! The Psalmist knows that God Himself will deliver him from the clutches of evil, and that by paying regard to God's decrees and God's wisdom, there will be an escape for him! He doesn't want to obey mere man but rather be obedient to this great God whom he loves, cherishes, adores and has promised to deliver him from evil and those who do evil!
Those who reject God and God's ways, will be rejected by God Himself! They are living a life of deceit, double-mindedness and fluctuating morals - God will reject them because they have paid Him no heed. They have relied on their own wisdom and guile to survive - but not for much longer! For the Psalmist knows that this God rules the earth and all those who do wicked and are not in relationship with Him, will be lost forever. The Psalmist knows that it is by his God's twin actions of mercy and grace that he will be delivered and because he loves this God, he also loves all that God has commanded to be done. He is in fear of this awesome, all-powerful God and is in awe of the wisdom given in the laws and commandments of this God.
Those that rely on their own wisdom, own imagination, own power will be as dust in the wind - but those that fear the Lord, accept His wisdom and commandments, will be delivered, rescued and be alive forever - just like the Psalmist says! I don't know about you, but I face a constant battle to be obedient to God and His wisdom. When we are tempted to sin, we are given two choices - either sin or not sin. We hop from one leg to the other, not knowing which leg to stand on. By continuing to ponder the temptation, we fall into a double-minded state. We can choose to either obey God or disobey Him.
Our 3 enemies surround us: satan, the world and our old nature. We are to be over-comers of these enemies and not in our own strength, wisdom or guile. If we put our trust in anybody or anything but God the Holy Spirit to help us overcome the temptation to sin, we will fall into that trap of double-mindedness that the Psalmist talks about. We too will then be jumping from one leg to other, not knowing how to stand. We can overcome our enemies and temptations by asking God the Holy Spirit to help us escape the trap and by also having a reverent fear of God. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom cries the writer of Proverbs. It is a fear borne out of respect rather than dread. It is a fear borne from being in total awe! So lets go, not hopping from one leg to the other or from one thought to other, but rather get to know God's word intimately, be stable in your thinking and in your fearful desire to please this awesome God of grace and mercy, who delivers, rescues, protects and shelters! And it is in this God, that I take rest in my new nature given to me when I became a Christian and letting Him fight the battles for me. Thank you.
Right mouse click or tap here to save this Podcast as a MP3.
7 days ago
7 days ago
Nun
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. 106 I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws. 107 I have suffered much; preserve my life, O LORD, according to your word. 108 Accept, O LORD, the willing praise of my mouth, and teach me your laws. 109 Though I constantly take my life in my hands, I will not forget your law. 110 The wicked have set a snare for me, but I have not strayed from your precepts. 111 Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart. 112 My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end.
As he walks in the darkness with a lamp to show him where to tread and which path to follow, the Psalmist here is reflecting on just how God's word leads, guides and keeps him on the path of staying right with, and obedient to, Almighty God. Many is the path the Psalmist would have trodden in the dark when tending sheep when he was a shepherd boy, being careful not to fall into any holes.
Now, he says just how brightly shining God's word is, to guide, steer and keep him on the narrow spiritual path! The light of Scripture and God's Law, commands and statues not only give guidance on how to live, but also direct and guide every action! God's word, says the Psalmist, is a light and lamp through the dark time he spoke of earlier. The tiniest light affects even the darkest night. It would also have been after having renounced all earthly wisdom that the Psalmist David could be guided by heavenly wisdom seen in the Law!
With a lamp to direct his footsteps and a light to guide his path, the Psalmist resolved boldly before God, that he will follow the righteous laws as laid down. The lamp and the light are to show God's moral guidance! They are to show a way forward and not backwards! By going backwards, the Psalmist knows he will fall into darkness and ways that are disobedient to God! So he relies on the Law and God's commandments to show him the way up the narrow path of obedience to God. He offers himself to the service of God and is willing to fully committed to following where God leads and be obedient to Him.
With his desire to keep God's laws, the Psalmist is embracing what God commands wholeheartedly and single-mindedly. And how does he achieve this? Is this achievable by using his own strength and guile? No! its due only to God's grace and power that the Psalmist can hope to achieve his goal and fulfil his oath. He knows that even though he suffers for his obedience, the Lord has promised to save and rescue him, according to His promises!
Again, the Psalmists relies on God's promises to save, secure and rescue him. In response to be rescued the Psalmist offers praises and a willingness to be taught! With praises of a teachable person, God is asked to accept the Psalmist' sacrifice. Nothing was more important to the Psalmist than to know how God wanted him to behave in all situations and God's laws, statutes, precepts and commandments enable the Psalmist to exercise Godly obedience in all situations - both private and public. He has sought to do this, despite sufferings, persecutions, having his very life threatened and being in constant danger of his enemies.
Despite all that, God's laws are imprinted on the Psalmist's heart and engraved on his mind - he does not forget! He is then able to overcome the traps, lures, snares and temptations laid out in wait for him, by his enemies. Knowing God's precepts on his heart and mind, allow the Psalmist to avoid such traps, shining the lamp and light of God's word on the path ahead. His persecuting enemies seek to destroy and kill him, but they are eluded by the Psalmist Godly guile and knowledge.
For the Psalmist knows that God's laws are everlasting to everlasting and they bring him true joy. The testimonies he has read in the history of his people about how they overcame in order to be obedient to God are a joy to him. Provided the Psalmist possessed this everlasting joy, he could leave all other pleasures such as music, gold, jewels, riches, honours, wealth and family behind. God and being obedient to God through God's laws were the Psalmists utmost joy and goal - with a lamp and light to show the way forward!
How is your lamp showing? How is your walk of obedience to, and service of, God going? It is when we are struggling with temptations and sins, that we need the Holy Spirit to help us overcome. So often, I know, we try in our own strength to overcome temptations and fail. We succumb to the tempters traps and disobey God. Much to the pleasure of our goading enemies. Jesus when in the last night before his arrest, trial and death, endured supreme temptations to just give up. But He didn't, because like the Psalmist, His supreme joy was found to be obedient to the Father! Where is your supreme joy found? Is it found in your wealth, possessions, sexual activity, friends or family? Or is your supreme joy, like the Psalmist and Jesus, found in obedience to God and service to Him and His people? Remember that we have a helper who dwells inside us - God the Holy Spirit! He will help you through temptations and snares and give you the grace freely to do so.
Finally, when you do sin, having fallen for the lure or trap of the enemy, then be quick to ask forgiveness for your sin. The longer you leave it, the more it will fester, turn poisonous and gives the enemy, satan, an opportunity to accuse you. Ask forgiveness from God, accept His grace, move on and ask the Holy Spirit to fill you anew and help you. Read Psalm 51 and Psalm 32 if you want to know how the Psalmist did it! Remember, that temptation itself is not a sin - even Jesus was tempted many times and yet He never sinned! Thank you.
Right mouse click or tap here to save this Podcast as a MP3.
Saturday Feb 15, 2025
Saturday Feb 15, 2025
Mem
97 Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. 98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. 99 I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. 100 I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts. 101 I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word. 102 I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me. 103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 104 I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.
Here the Psalmist declares his love for God's commandments, law and wisdom! It's now not merely delight but he has moved on to a kind of spiritual ecstatic love! So much so, that the Psalmist meditates on God's law all the time, letting what God has revealed in His written word to permeate the Psalmist's whole thinking! And of course, meditating in this sense is not just sitting around and thinking - meditating in the biblical sense is always focussed on God and then acting out what has been learnt from God! The Psalmist knows that action has its beginning in the thought process and is the culmination of meditating.
This action involves the Psalmist being wiser than his enemies! Because he relies on what God has said, and obeys what God has said, the Psalmist can avoid the traps of his enemies. The Psalmist knows that God will protect him! The Psalmist is endeavouring to live a life worth of His God - a life of total obedience and worship - so by having God's commands with him all the time, helps him achieve this twin aim. And its not only his enemies that he is wiser than - it is also his teachers! Its not that these teachers were fools - they were not! Its also not that they couldn't be trusted! They could!
But the study of God's word and meditating upon it, leads to wisdom and fear of the Lord. He doesn't just accept what those around him and teach him say. He tests and approves their teaching in comparison with what he finds in the Law. Think not that the Psalmist is boasting, because he is not! Rather, he is accepting the teaching from God's word with a child-like desire to grow in knowledge and obedience of Almighty God. He builds up God and God's Law and not himself. This has also led him to be more obedient than his elders. God's precepts and commandments are a priority in the life of the Psalmist! He exudes ecstatic love for God and for God's law, precepts, statutes and commandments. And this ecstatic desire has produced dividends!
The Psalmist feet have been on the path of obedience and right living! He is following God intimately! Every footstep he takes is carefully chosen so that his feet stay away from the paths of evil! Nothing could persuade or seduce him away from following God's path closely. So intimate is he with God's commandments and statutes that he has not departed from them! The path of obedience to God may not have been the easiest path for the Psalmist to take, but it was the right path because it showed obedience to Almighty God, the greatest teacher of all in verse 102! This intimacy of relationship between the Psalmist and God is sweet. The Psalmist loves to read the words of God and exclaims that it is even sweeter when he speak the words of God! While God's commands are to be sweet to the ears, eyes and intellect, it is only surpassed in sweetness when talked about and put into action.
The Psalmist knew that if he only gained a head knowledge of obedience to God, then he would stray away from God, so he puts into practice in his life what God has taught him to do. This is for the Psalmist to live a life of total and utter obedience to the great God he worshipped and adored. Try as they might, his enemies cannot seduce him away from this obedience to his God! This life of total obedience to God, was mirrored in the life of Jesus Christ. Many times he was tempted to give in, walk the easy path and live a life unworthy of God.
While we know the Psalmist, David, did sin, we know for sure that Jesus Christ did not. The life of Jesus Christ portrays an unparalleled intimacy with God and an ecstatic desire to be obedient to God. Jesus could have said no to the cross, but he did not. When Jesus Christ died on that cross, it was part of His total obedience to God. He could have given into Satan's temptations but we know that He did not. He had faith that His Father would raise him to life again 3 days later - and He was! Jesus was intimate with the Scriptures, as was the Psalmist David.
How are you doing? Are there areas in your life where you are not obeying God and are being seduced away from Him? How is your intimacy with Him? Do you have an ecstatic relationship with the Bible, God's written word, as the Psalmist did? Why not pray and ask the Holy Spirit to develop this spiritual ecstasy within you, to read the Bible and follow it closely. So we wrap up with wise words from the Apostle Paul, writing in Ephesians 5:15-16 "Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil."
Right mouse click or tap here to save this Podcast as a MP3.
Friday Feb 14, 2025
Friday Feb 14, 2025
Lamedh
89 Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. 90 Your faithfulness continues through all generations; you established the earth, and it endures. 91 Your laws endure to this day, for all things serve you. 92 If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. 93 I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life. 94 Save me, for I am yours; I have sought out your precepts. 95 The wicked are waiting to destroy me, but I will ponder your statutes. 96 To all perfection I see a limit; but your commands are boundless.
From languishing in the pit of despair in the previous section, the Psalmist here starts with a bang - "Your word, O Lord, is eternal, it stands firm in the heavens" WOW! While in the pit, he was being tossed and turned like a small boat on a stormy sea! Now he has focussed on a steady rock - God's word! It is ordered, steadfast, secure and timeless! In his times of trouble, he turns his attention from himself and his troubles to something much more certain - the Lord and his promises, judgements, orders, decrees, laws and statutes. God's promises are so certain, assured, and secure that the Psalmist places his whole hope in them! Secure in the Psalmist's mind and heart is the knowledge that God will rescue him as promised!
He goes on in the next verse to continue the WOW factor! The Psalmist knows that God's faithfulness is unchangeable, timeless and persevering! Look here at the correlation between God's word and God's work! Just as He is faithful throughout time to all generations, so He created the whole world at a single command, and it too endures! Just as the earth endures having been established by God's powerful words, so too do God's laws endure with precision. God's word sustains all of creation and all things made are to serve almighty God.
For the Psalmist this signifies that serving God means to obey God and live a life of service to God. The Psalmist learns to obey, by studying what God has instructed and learning from the lessons of the past from his ancestors and ancient Israel. This same word preserves the Psalmist. It is his utter delight. It is his succour, help and source of joy! Cogitating upon and remembering God's law is his way of being sustained. For without it, the Psalmist would be dust at the bottom of the pit - extinguished, lifeless, maligned and afflicted.
The Psalmist, David, lifts his mind to heaven and sees the consistency and constancy of God's dwelling place! There is his only hope, and that hope was found in God alone through God's word because unlike him, God is not perishable! He reflects on how God's truths, precepts and instructions have been a source of comfort, joy and encouragement to him to keep going! Without them, he would have just given up and let his persecutors malign him further. Because of this hope, the Psalmist reaches out to God to save him, because he knows that only God can rescue him! He reaches out to God through God's own precepts, law and word!
The Psalmist's salvation can only come from God and he acknowledges that God is his only hope as discovered through God's teachings and through the knowledge of how God handled the Psalmist's ancestors. While his persecutors wait for him, laying traps to ensnare and take his life, the Psalmist is taking comfort through what he knows about God through the word. He ponders them, recalls them, brings to mind the promised made by God and the righteous laws given so that he can live a right life for God. David doesn't worry what mere humans can do to him! No! He gets stuck in to getting to know God better and strengthening his relationship with God! That is what matters to him - being close to God, studying God and becoming closer to God through pondering God's word and God's decrees.
Then finally, the Psalmist concludes that all is meaningless and limited apart from God and God's utterances. God's commandments and laws bring freedom and hope! While all things visible have a degree of perfection, they are also temporary, unstable and narrow. Through the trials of life, the only hope that sustained him was God's ways and God's word. Its perfection is its glory! By acknowledging that he falls far short of God's holiness and glory, does he continue in the knowledge that his salvation can only come from God. Its not his own perfection he seeks as a means to being rescued, but to God's perfection! Not his own strength but God's strength to save!
How are you doing and what do you do when the trials of life hit you with a bang? Do you go into your shell and take pity on yourself? Do you think God doesn't care about you and your situation? Its all very well saying you are on God's side when things are going well, but life here on earth just isn't like that! That is not reality! Reality is that God wants to help you, He has promised to help you, promised to sustain you and promised to be in relationship with you! Are you worrying and burdened? Then tell God about them, and cast your burdens upon Jesus and let him take the load! Are you serving God and God's people and yet feeling weak? Pray and ask God to empower you with the Holy Spirit, so that you do things using His inexhaustible energy and indefatigable power! Where does your help come from? It comes from God and from pondering what He has said in the Bible, helping to build your relationship with Him!
Right mouse click or tap here to save this Podcast as a MP3.
Thursday Feb 13, 2025
Thursday Feb 13, 2025
Kaph
81 My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word. 82 My eyes fail, looking for your promise; I say, "When will you comfort me?" 83 Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget your decrees. 84 How long must your servant wait? When will you punish my persecutors? 85 The arrogant dig pitfalls for me, contrary to your law. 86 All your commands are trustworthy; help me, for men persecute me without cause. 87 They almost wiped me from the earth, but I have not forsaken your precepts. 88 Preserve my life according to your love, and I will obey the statutes of your mouth.
Here the Psalmist is fading. He is languishing in desperation, worn out and expiring. You can feel his weakness as he pitifully cries out that he is wilting under pressure and his eyes are failing due to darkness overpowering him. You can sense the life draining out of him as he pitifully cries out to God. But yet... Yet the Psalmist, despite being in such desperate condition, continues to have a twin hope. A yearning for salvation brings about a hope in God's word. The Psalmist knows that salvation will come to him, because God has promised it and God always keeps His promises. David knows God will rescue him because God never disappoints! When desire is exhausted and extinguished, then a certain and sure hope takes over to lift the Psalmist back up again.
With weakened eyes the Psalmist seeks comfort and ease. The picture of wineskins being smoked is perhaps strange to us in the 21st century world. But for David they were an explicit illustration of his condition. Wineskins when empty were hung up in the tent and when smoke filled the tent as it often did, the wineskins grew haggard, wrinkled from the heat and blackened with soot. It's a picture of David's face. He is no longer the ruddy-faced shepherd of his youth. He feels decrepit, wrinkled, haggard and gloomy. His body was feeling listless and dilapidated. He had endured persecution, undergone the torment of slanderous lies being told about him and his character blackened as if with soot.
And yet... and yet he still had hope, a glimmer of anticipation - he does not forget God's decrees and statutes. This is his way of reaching out to hold God's hand through this time. He is waiting for his God to deliver & rescue him, to realise the hope he had placed in Jehovah God. David was getting edgy and fed up! He has placed his grievances against others into the court of the Lord and was waiting for justice to be done! He wants his persecutors punished according to God's law! His persecutors were digging him many pits to which to trap and bury him. They were contravening God's law with jesting, arrogance and a haughty step.
But David's enemies had forgotten that while they were his enemies, they were also enemies of God! God who had decreed and given commandments to be followed! David had followed God's commands so would be rescued from his tormentors. David had not forgotten about God and what God had promised him. God will help him and David is stretching out his hands for help. And isn't this last verse more than delightful.
It is not only the Psalmist saying spare or preserve my life. We get a sense it is more a case of "Give me life!" The Psalmist is not seeking merely survival but wanting a full life restored to him. And he knows that this God he follows and serves will grant him new life! David will live again! God has promised it! WOW! Despite what he is going through, David knows he will have new life! This new life will see David continue to exhibit a life worthy of God as he follows God's commands in a dynamic relationship. What God has said, David will do. David was assuredly a man after God's own heart.
How are you doing right now? Are you feeling as David was? Confused, aged, drying up, wrinkled and lacking energy - physically and/or spiritually? Are people mocking you and jeering you because of the faith you have in Jesus Christ? Take heart for God is watching, protecting and will rescue you. Stay faithful to Him despite all the opposition you are enduring and the Great God whom you seek to serve will come to your aid. Don't give into the doubters by compromising yourself but hold true to God and His word. If you are the subject of abuse, injustice or any kind of wrongdoing, take your case to God in prayer! Let the God of justice help you, give you counsel through the Bible and minister to you. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you comfort, for that is one of his names - the Comforter. Whatever you are going through reach out and touch God's hand that is outstretched to you. Reach out in gratitude to the great God and as an act of gratitude, seek to serve a holy life worthy of being called His servant. Thank you.