Tag Archives: psalms

Expectation

“When will you comfort me?” Psalm 119:82 NLT

Expectation

“I look to the Lord for help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me.” Micah 7:7

I can’t think of anything much worse than getting the silent treatment, especially getting the silent treatment from God. Sometimes our afflictions come in the form of silence. We cry out, we plead, beg, anguish, and it seems to fall on deaf ears. “Where is that God of yours?” you hear while wondering within yourself, “I don’t know.”

We have the word, we know the promises, we claim the truths and yet we get nothing but silence. What are we to do? When will we receive our comfort? The Psalmist went through this awful silence, and he didn’t seem to like it much either. There is an answer, and we do have a choice.

The real answer comes in the waiting. The Psalmist knew that God would comfort him, that wasn’t the issue. The issue was when? It seems that this waiting is usually the problem with us. There is a reason for the silence, though. We can be sure God is not ignoring us, mocking us, playing games, or tricking us. He does care. (1 Peter 5:7, Psalm 55:22)

Do we trust what God is doing? Do we trust him in the silence, while we wait for his answer? Micah 7:7 says we can be certain he will hear us. Certain! Right now if you are experiencing the silence, you simply need to be reminded of who God is and how he feels about you. If you believe the Bible is infallible, then you must take the truth that he does care, and wrap it up in your heart like a treasure. Hold on to that during the silence. He will sustain the righteous. Hold on to that during the silence. Truth; hold on to it, stay in it, remind yourself of it, and do not give in to doubt and unbelief that threatens your security in Christ!  The enemy would like nothing more than to get us off the path of trust and into the darkness of doubt. We are rendered ineffective when we are wrecked with unbelief. We cannot help but drip the scent of that poison like garlic cloves hung around our necks. NO! Refuse the unbelief, and embrace the joy of his words to you.

We are called to be active in the waiting. We expect our God to answer, we look for his reply. We don’t stop living life and curl up in a heap while tragedy strikes. We actively trust God and walk in that trust. That is what we are shown throughout the word.

“Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.” Psalm 5:3

“So now, come back to your God…always depend on him.” Hosea 12:6

“The Lord is good to those who depend on him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.” Lamentations 3:25-26

“But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.” Romans 8:25

Lastly, we wait with confidence. When we trust someone, we have confidence in them. We know they will come through for us, and that encourages and motivates us. We have confidence in God because of his word that has proven true over and over again in the lives of millions throughout the centuries. Is it even logical to doubt now? When we consider the stars, the heavens, the earth, and all of creation so well designed, does it really seem reasonable to doubt that God will take care of our situation, silent or not?

“Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.” Psalm 27:14

We wait expectantly for him to answer, we know he hears us and sustains us in the silence, we have confidence in him, and we live like we believe what he says!

When the answer comes, when the words are spoken softly to your heart, when understanding is clarified, you can rest assured it was in Gods perfect timing, and not a moment too soon.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, I thank you for the silent times, when you have allowed me to learn to wait on you. Thank you for developing a deeper level of trust and confidence in you. Thank you for increasing my faith. I confess my times of unbelief and doubting to you, and ask that you remind me of who you are and how you care for me. Combat the lies of the enemy that tell me you’ve abandoned me with the truth that you are sustaining me. Make that truth real in my heart and open my eyes to see you clearer in my circumstances. Teach me to trust while I am waiting on you.

Idols and Adultery

“Those who wander from your commands are cursed.” Psalm 119:21 NLT

 Idols and Adultery

“Woe to them, because they have strayed from me! Destruction to them, because they have rebelled against me! I long to redeem them but they speak lies against me. They do not cry out to me from their hearts, but wail upon their beds.” Hosea 6:13-14

Oh Israel, you’ve done it again. You’ve left your God in the dust to follow after your own lusts and desires. You have committed idolatry and adultery against your Redeemer.  Does this sound at all familiar with the modern day church? How long does God put up with this nonsense? If you have ever sat down and read through the book of Hosea you have likely noticed the theme: Adultery. God even commanded the prophet Hosea to marry a prostitute, Gomer, to signify this relationship between Israel and Himself.

Harsh

Not only do we see the adultery of the nation of Israel, we see the consequences of their choices. They knew the truth, yet they chose to ignore it. God declares

Woe to them

Destruction to them

My anger burns against them

I will come upon them like a lion

I’m getting the idea that God takes things like adultery/idolatry very seriously. No, I am not talking about a physical adultery, though that is a very serious sin for sure. Rather, I am referring to the adultery of wandering away from our first love, our True Love and making relationships with other lovers. (Idols)

Some of the more common idols today:

Work

Kids

Church Ministry

Finances

Health

Food

It’s easy to get out of balance; serving the service rather than the One we seek to serve.

Are we wailing to God with our mouths, but not with our hearts? (Hosea 6:14) We must stay in the word to keep our hearts pure, keep Jesus on the throne where He belongs, and keep our priorities straight.

God makes it clear; those who wander from his commands will suffer the consequences.

“After desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death.” James 1:15

When our eyes wander from the truth of God’s word, we lose our focus and if it is not regained we can quickly fall into sin.(Idolatry, pride, unbelief…) God disciplines those he loves, and he loves His children! Sometimes he will allow us to suffer the consequences of our choices during our times of wandering.

We would do well to learn a lesson from Israel instead of rebuking them; mean while acting like we would never do the same things. The truth is we probably commit idolatry more times than we realize. We need to heed the warning given to us by the Psalmist:

God does not tolerate willful disobedience, and he will deal with it.

If you have a known act of rebellion in your heart, won’t you allow God to deal with it today? Be thankful if you have not come under major consequences yet, consider that God’s mercy.

 If you’re contemplating sin, run from it! The desire itself could bring forth the act, and sin will always lead to death of some kind. Confess, repent, and be renewed.

Are you counted among the cursed or the committed?

Prayer

Jesus, I confess my idolatrous heart to you. I realize that many times throughout the day I lose sight of you and focus on myself, my needs, what I need to get done, and who or what is bothering me at any given moment. I confess my attitude and ask you to make me whole again through your word. Don’t let me wander from your commands and fall into the deadly consequences of sin! Keep me from judging the actions of my brothers and sisters in Christ, and help me focus on my own heart and relationship with you. Keep me committed to your word.

Balancing Act II

“Righteous are you, O Lord, and your laws are right. The statutes you have laid down are righteous.” Psalm 119:137-138 NIV

Balancing Act II

As important as it is to stay balanced through our studies in the word of God, it is also important to stay balanced in our everyday life. When we are unbalanced with our nutrition we become vitamin deficient. When we have an unbalanced activity level our muscles atrophy. If we have two vehicles and we only focus on maintaining one of them, the other one will fail to work properly. If we play too much and refuse to work, the bills won’t get paid. Balance is necessary everywhere.

I wanted to get more specific with this issue of balance. I have a confession to make; I raise my hand in guilt. I become easily side-tracked, like a cat with cat-nip. Throw me a toy (said theological debate) and I chase like a cat rabid for a fix. Come back to me a few days later and I’m tired, cranky, drained, emotional, and no better off than when it started. God whispers to my heart, balance, you’ve lost your balance child.

Sigh

Yes, I’ve done it again. Next time I will keep my mouth shut, live peaceably with all people…and all that good stuff.

Oh look, is that cat-nip?! Chases toy….

We all have our hang ups, our vices, our debates or truths we hold dear and defend. God help those who get in the way! We can be ravenous about our beliefs. Give a group of believers some tricky subjects and watch the blood flow:

Tongues

Prophecies

Tribulation/End Times

Sports

Politics

Ding! Let’s get ready to rumble folks!

It’s downright ugly what we do to each other over such issues. God is righteous, or just. His word is right. Why do we act like unrighteous heathens quarreling like rabid animals over things that cause strife and divisions? Is it edifying, does it build up the church, does it draw us to love and good works? Is this how we are communicating with each other?

Balance

How easy it is to lose focus!

My Pastor said something in his sermon today that clarified the issue for me.

Just because it’s important, doesn’t mean we need to focus on it.

Think about that for a minute. Example: Should I devote my life to figuring out what day Jesus will return? Well, it is important isn’t it? Yes, but is it our focus to try to figure out the exact date? No. It’s our greater focus to live for him now, while there is still time, and live in anticipation for his return, whenever that may be.

God’s righteous word is full of important issues. All of them worthy of our attention, but are we to lose sight of the big picture and focus on one particular item alone? Who’s to say which subject is more important than the next? Isn’t that more or less up to the individual preference? One person loves all things Old Testament, another loves all things end times….both important, but neither to be weighed as more important than the other.

Is it ok to discuss these issues? Of course! Argue, fight, get hurt feelings, lose relationships, and attack people over them? No!

When engaging in discussion, we should always consider:

Does it edify the brethren?

Does it honor God?

Am I speaking truth as best as I understand it as laid out in God’s word?

Usually the best option is to agree to disagree and move on. It really is the spiritually mature choice. Our faith is best lived out, not blared out through verbal attacks.

“Run after mature righteousness-faith, love, peace -joining those who are in honest and serious prayer before God. Refuse to get involved in inane discussions; they always end up in fights. God’s servants must not be argumentative, but a gentle listener and a servant who keeps cool…” 2 Timothy 2:23-24 MSG

As we balance out our daily Bible study, let us also balance out our daily communication with our sisters and brothers in Christ. The next time that hot debate topic comes up, whether it is about religion or politics, food, television, books, or sports, why don’t you consider the Psalmists view of Gods character first and how you can be a reflection of that in your conversation.  Are we displaying a balanced mature faith by living righteously?

We live righteously by following a righteous word.

Balance

Prayer

Thank you for your righteousness, for being a just and holy God. Thank you for being perfectly balanced, and for walking on this earth in human form, demonstrating what it means to be perfect. I know I fall so short of that standard, but I want you to continue to change my heart and make it clean. I want to be balanced in my words and actions, as well as my prayer and Bible study. Jesus, continue to purge the bad habits from my life! Before I sleep tonight, reveal to me any unbalanced ways that need healing, and restore them. Let this truth be on my heart as I sleep tonight, your statutes are righteous! I want to be righteous like you!

Balancing Act

“Let my tongue sing about your word, for all your commands are right.” Psalm 119:172 NLT

Balancing Act

I have been wearing corrective lenses since I was in kindergarten. I remember the first time I wore them to school I was miserably teased. Throughout my growing up years I would continue to be teased for things such as my weight, glasses, and acne. I basically grew up with a distorted view of myself. God said one thing in his word, but I saw myself in a completely different way, based on the experiences my life had taught me. My focus was blurred.

Once I got to my early teens I recognized the need to lose weight or be condemned to a life as an outcast (in my mind that was my reality). What started off as diet and exercise developed into bulimia and self-mutilation; even attempted suicide. It took years of struggling with insecurity and doubt before I finally began to grasp how God made me truly was wonderful. It’s only been in the last couple of years that I have accepted my physical appearance and weight. I spent many hours in Psalm 139 pouring over passages about being fearfully and wonderfully made, but it never sank into my heart, it was a truth that remained in my head. As long as my focus remained on myself and my imperfections, I remained out of balance.

In much the same way we easily become out of balance when we approach the word of God. We often focus on our favorite passages and stay there. For some it’s Isaiah, some it’s Psalms, some it’s the Gospels. It’s easy to become out of balance when we don’t take in the word as a whole, how it was intended to be taken in. How many times have you seen a random verse be taken and used to support an idea you know to be contrary to the word of God as a whole?

Balance! We need balance!

I have been immersed in Psalm 119 for almost a year now, and surely over a year by the time this project is complete, and throughout this time I have not remained solely in this chapter or even this book. I have kept myself growing and learning through the resources of several other studies in other books of the Bible. God’s word was intended to be read as a whole, taken in as a whole, absorbed as a whole, and we often get confused when we take bits and pieces and build ideas and philosophies off of them. Let’s face it; there wouldn’t be dozens, if not hundreds of different religious denominations if there weren’t people interpreting Scriptures differently, with different focuses.

Psalm 119 is clear about one thing. Our focus should always be the word, not a chapter, or a verse, or even a book. Obviously we cannot read all of scripture at once, and sometimes “reading through the Bible in a year” type plans can be a little dry and aren’t necessarily for everyone (though I recommend doing it at least once), but we can certainly stay balanced in our studies by not focusing solely on one passage over and over in our personal time. Doing so is like allowing our spiritual lenses to become blurry and distorted.

The Psalmist declares “…all your commands are right.”

”All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable…” 2 Timothy 3:16

The word is right, the word is just, all the word profits, and the best way to stay balanced as a believer and continue to mature is to keep searching and learning and exploring passages new and fresh. Ask the Spirit to lead us to uncharted territory, books we’ve never read (Hezekiah anyone?!) or doctrines we’ve never studied. If nothing else, we can understand why we believe what we do even better, but as we search deeper into the word of God we will only be scratching the surface. We will discover the clever ways he has tied in his Old Testament prophecies, illustrations and stories with the coming of Jesus; we will see treasures never before uncovered due to apathy of what we didn’t know or fear of what we might not understand. There is enough in the righteous word of God to study for a lifetime! You might spend 30 days in this Psalm 119 devotional, and then move on to a Gospel, or perhaps an obscure Old Testament prophet! Be daring and try something new! You’ll be simply amazed at the intricacies of his word, and compelled to worship even more when you see every infinite detail! Truly you will want to let your tongue sing about the word!

Prayer

Lord, I ask that you keep me balanced as I spend time in your word. Keep me in your truth, guide me in your righteous word, and lead me in the studies you want me to participate in. Show me where I have been unbalanced in my spiritual life, perhaps focusing too much on one thing while neglecting something else. As I continue to walk in your ways today, convict me of any area that needs the corrective lens of your Holy Spirit to redirect my focus.

Affliction: My Teacher

 “It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.” Psalm 119:71 (NIV)

Affliction: My Teacher

“I never knew the meaning of God’s word until I came into affliction. I have always found it one of my best teachers.” –Martin Luther

It has been said that Psalm 119:71 is the Old Testament equivalent of Romans 8:28 which tells us, “All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.” Affliction often catapults us into God’s word to find comfort, understanding, answers, to make sense of our circumstances, or to find wisdom to make the next major decision. Without that painful affliction we would not have experienced that faith deepening moment with which God spoke clarity into our hearts. I would venture to say that affliction may even be one of our greatest teachers-often bringing us closer to Christ than any other situation could. In fact, our sanctification often comes through our deepest pains. We need to be at a place of trust where we can say with joy and confidence, “It was good for me to be afflicted!”

No one looks forward to pain or affliction, and certainly we don’t ask that God shower afflictions on us in order to draw us closer to Him, but we can be certain that when we do experience painful circumstances that God is most definitely working them in a systematically ordered way for our greatest good, that we might better learn His decrees. Ask God to open your heart to the character he wants to build in you, and the blessing he wants to bestow on you or others through your trials. You may never fully understand, but you can find rest in trusting His Divine wisdom.

Afflicted in My Conviction

 “…In faithfulness you have afflicted me.” Psalm 119:75 (NIV)

Afflicted in My Conviction

“So they hid from the Lord God among the trees.” Genesis 3:8

The first man and woman had committed the first act of willful disobedience to a direct command of God. Their heavenly Father came down from His throne to have a conversation with his children, and they knew they had to answer for their choice. Their first reaction: hide!

When we are willfully making choices that go against what God has made clear to us in His word we often find ourselves in a cycle of avoidance. Our prayer life gets a bit stale, and our Bible gets dusty. We avoid our Father because we feel something called “guilt”. God chooses to allow us to feel guilt as a divine means of convicting our hearts of sin and drawing us back to fellowship with Him. However, if your guilt leads you to shame, self-condemnation, despair, or hopelessness, then you are experiencing the guilt of the Enemy, who masks God-given guilt for a counterfeit guilt meant to tear down and destroy your soul.

If you are avoiding fellowship with God ask yourself if the guilt you are experiencing is God-given and necessary to convict you of sin that separates you from Him. If you have confessed all known sins and are still experiencing guilt, know that it’s merely a tactic of Satan to draw you into yourself and keep your focus off of the forgiveness God wants you to experience. God given guilt will always lead to repentance and renewed fellowship with Him!

… On Psalm 91:1

Verse 1. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High.
“What intimate and unrestrained communion does this describe!-the Christian in everything making known his heart, with its needs and wishes, it’s thoughts and feelings, its doubts and anxieties, its sorrows and its joys, to God, as to a loving friend. And all is not on one side. This Almighty Friend has admitted his chosen one to his ‘secret place.’ It is almost too wonderful to be true. it is almost too presumptuous to entertain. But He Himself permits it, desires it, teaches us to realize that it is communion to which he calls us. ‘The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him.’ And what is this ‘secret’? It is that in God which the world neither knows, nor sees, nor cares to enjoy. It ishis mind revealed to those who love him, his plans, and ways (‘He made known his ways to Moses‘, Ps 103:7), and thoughts opened to them. Yea, and things hid from angels are manifest to the least of his friends (1 Pe 1:12). He wishes us to know him, and by His Word and by his Spirit he puts himself before us. Ah! it is not his fault if we do not know him. It is our own carelessness.” Mary B. M. Duncan, in “Under the Shadow”, 1867

-Charles Spurgeon, (The Treasury of David Vol 5, p 85)

Charles Spurgeon on Psalm 91:7

Verse 7. A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand.‏

“So terribly may the plague rage among men that the bills of mortality may become very heavy and continue to grow ten times heavier still, yet shall such as this Psalm speaks of survive the scythe of death. It shall not come nigh to thee. It shall not be so near as to be at thy side, and yet not nigh enough to touch thee; like a fire it shall burn all around, yet shall not the smell of it pass upon thee. How true is this of the plague of moral evil, of heresy, and of backsliding. Whole nations are infected, yet the man who communes with God is not affected by the contagion; he holds the truth when falsehood is all the fashion. Professors all around him are plague smitten, the church is wasted, the very life of religion decays, but in the same place and time, in fellowship with God, the believer renews his youth, and his soul knows no sickness. In a measure this also is true of physical evil; the Lord still puts a difference between Israel and Egypt in the day of his plagues. Sennacherib’s army is blasted, but Jerusalem is in health.
‘Our God his chosen people saves
Amongst the dead, amidst the graves.'”

-Charles Spurgeon (Treasury of David, Vol 5-pp77-78)

1. The Mind: “Give me understanding…” Psalm 119:34

Worship:  Our minds matter in worship, because worship is honoring God for who He is, and in order to do that we must understand something about His wonderful attributes…Without a mental understanding of God’s attributes worship becomes only an emotional binge in which we indulge our feelings.

Faith:  Our minds matter for faith, because faith is believing and acting on the promises of God, and in order to believe God’s promises we must understand what they are. Apart from a right use of the mind, faith becomes only a feeling or, worse yet, wishful thinking.

Sanctification: Our minds matter for growth in holiness, which is what we are chiefly concerned about in this psalm, because growth is holiness (sanctification) is not a matter of emotions or simply following a formula for living-the two most popular approaches to sanctification today-but rather knowing what God has done in us when He joined us to Christ, and then acting on it because there really is no other way for us to act.

Guidance: Our minds matter in seeking personal guidance as to how we should live and what decisions we should make, because the principles by which we must be guided are in the Bible….To be guided by God we need to study to understand God’s Word and then apply it’s principles. That cannot be done without thinking.

Evangelism: Our minds matter in evangelism, because if a person must have faith to be saved and if faith is responding to the Word of God and acting on it, then we must present the teaching of the Bible and the claims of Jesus Christ so others can understand them. They must know what they are believing.

Ministry:  Finally, our minds matter in ministry, first, in seeking out a sphere of service (What am I good at? Where do my spiritual gifts lie? What is God leading me to do for Him?) and second, to serve in that sphere well (How should I go about the work I have been given?).

-James Montgomery Boice, An Expositional Commentary on Psalms Vol 3 (pp. 991-992)