PSALM 119: 153- 160 RESH
Psalmist believes the LORD can rescue him verse 153- 154
Consider mine affliction – and DELIVER ME
for I do not forget YOUR law
PLEAD MY CAUSE and deliver me
quicken me according to YOUR word
Psalmist believes wicked are far from rescue verse 155
Salvation is FAR from the wicked
for they seek not YOUR statutes
Psalmist believes the LORD will show mercy verse 156
Great are YOUR tender mercies – O LORD
quicken me according to YOUR judgments
Psalmist confirms his faithfulness to LORD verse 157
Many are my persecutors and mine enemies
YET do I not decline from YOUR testimonies
Psalmist grieves over sin and sinners verse 158
I beheld the transgressors – and was grieved
BECAUSE they kept not YOUR word
Psalmist reaffirms his love for the LORD verse 159
Consider how I love YOUR precepts – quicken me – O LORD
according to YOUR loving-kindness
Psalmist believes God’s Word is true verse 160
YOUR word is true from the beginning
and every one of YOUR righteous judgments
endures forever
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
:154 “Plead my cause and redeem me; revive me according to YOUR word.”
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982).
Plead – 7378 רִיב [riyb, ruwb /reeb/] v. A primitive root; TWOT 2159; GK 8189; 67 occurrences; AV translates as “plead” 27 times, “strive” 13 times, “contend” 12 times, “chide” six times, “debate” twice, and translated miscellaneously seven times. 1 to strive, contend. James Strong, Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2001).
DEVOTION: As a Pastor I often am confronted with issues and life situations that are beyond my expertise and knowledge. I am trained in biblical and theological issues but often the issues that confront us are legal, emotional and relational. Now while I understand that the Word of God has answers to all those areas we are unprepared, at times, for life’s events.
The world in which we live in is increasingly unmindful of God’s word and law. In the midst of the confusion and uncertainty we like the psalmist can call upon the Lord to intercede and bring deliverance. He alone is able to answer and give wisdom to people in deep distress.
Perhaps today you are one that needs the wisdom of God and like the psalmist you are crying out for the Lord to contend and defend you. Cry out to the Lord knowing that He hears you and will give you strength and wisdom.
CHALLENGE: Revival of spirit comes by dependence upon the Lord and His word! Check your actions and attitude next to the Word and then stand upon it. (Dr. Brian Miller – board member)
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 155 Salvation is far from the wicked: for they seek not YOUR statutes. (3444 “Salvation” [yashuw‘ah] means help, deliverance, save, prosperity, victory, a means of preserving from harm or unpleasantness, that which is delivered, or victory.)
DEVOTION: All those who reject Jesus Christ are on their way to an eternity in the lake of fire or hell with the devil and his evil angels. This is what the Bible teaches throughout the Old Testament and New Testament.
Those who reject Jesus Christ have all been given an opportunity to become a believer but have rejected HIM throughout the world. It is hard for us to understand but the LORD informs us that everyone who has ever lived has had an opportunity to accept or reject Jesus Christ.
Those of us that accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior have the opportunity to share this truth with all those they know. It is our responsibility. HE will use others and because of that we will lose the blessing of seeing those around us become followers of Jesus Christ.
The children of Israel were to share the message of salvation in the Old Testament to those around them and if they became a believer they would go to heaven just like the children of Israel.
We know that most people reject the message we present but that is no excuse for us not trying. We have to set an example for them to see that Christians are not perfect but forgiven.
CHALLENGE: Our responsibility is there for us to obey or disobey. We need to realize that God wants us to be a witness to those around us.
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: 156 Great are YOUR tender mercies, O LORD, quicken me according to YOUR judgments. (2416 “quicken” [chay] means to live, to be alive, to stay alive, to revive, to keep in the state of having life or being alive, sometimes with the implication of preserving the life.)
DEVOTION: We find that once we become a believer we have times of revival and during these times we want to share the GOOD NEWS with everyone we meet. However, we also have times when we are not as excited about our salvation and we just live our life as if the message is not important to share with others.
God wants the children of Israel to be good witnesses for HIM and HE wants us to be good witnesses for HIM today.
If we understand that judgment is coming to all those who reject the message of salvation through Jesus Christ then we should understand that many of the people we say we love are going to spend eternity in a place called HELL.
We should as the children of Israel should want to share the truth of the message of salvation to those around them, so that, we can stand before the LORD on judgment day and give a report of our sharing the message that everyone needs to know.
It is not hard to witness but we have to say the first words to get the message out of our mouth into the ears of those who need to hear it.
God is full of tender mercies and we should be full of them as well. Sharing the truth of the Word of God is one way we show others we have mercy toward them.
CHALLENGE: Has the LORD shown you HIS tender mercies? If so, we need to share with others the truth of the Word of God.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 158 I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved; because they kept not thy word. (5354 “grieved” [nawkat] means loathe, feel a disgust, abhor, or weary.)
DEVOTION: This is the twentieth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. What makes us unhappy with people? Is it their language? Is it their actions? Is it their attitude toward us? What should it be that makes us unhappy?
The Psalmist was disgusted that those who were his enemies were not concerned with the Word of God. They were not concerned with what was going to happen to them because of their unbelief. They thought their life was good without the LORD. This made him unhappy.
In fact, he had to watch them each day act in a way that was displeasing to the LORD. He hurt his heart. He had to watch them cause problems for the followers of the LORD.
We are in the same world. We have individuals who think that it is great to put down anyone who is a follower of the LORD. They enjoy it. Our newspapers say nothing when something happens to those who are servants of the LORD but make fun of them. We have someone who plays sports in the news that claims faith in Jesus Christ and tries to honor him on the playing field. What does the press and those in our society do? They make fun of his actions. They make fun of his faith. It should disgust us. We should speak up.
The problem is that most believers just hide and say nothing. We should not only be disgusted but say something to those who are making fun of a fellow believer.
CHALLENGE: Speak up for your faith. Speak up for fellow believers when we have opportunity. Be part of the revival of defending follow believers in front of the world.
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: 160 Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever. (571 “true” [‘emeth] means firmness, faithfulness, sureness, reliability, stability, or continuance.)
DEVOTION: This verse emphasizes “quicken me” or revival. The psalmist is praying for revival. The psalmist wants the LORD to be his lawyer and plead his cause. He is presently being afflicted.
The wicked seem to be winning. He wants the LORD’S mercy. He wants the LORD to consider how much he loves HIS Word. The psalmist believes that the Word of God will endure forever. It will have continuance. It was given in the beginning and will continue forever. Everything else has an ending.
Not only was it from the beginning, it was firm. God’s Word is sure. God’s Word is reliable. Our world wants us to believe that there is no such thing as absolute TRUTH. The Bible tells us that there is. Which should we believe?
There is ABSOLUTE TRUTH and it is only found in the BIBLE and in agreement with the Word of God. All that the Bible teaches is faithful. God is ordering our world according to HIS absolute power that is manifested in HIS Word.
When the Bible says it – I need to believe it – and that should settle it. We need absolute trust in the Word of God to guide us in our daily living. Today we have emergent pastors who don’t believe in the inerrancy of the Scripture. They are spread their false teaching in their church and on our airwaves. It is sad that the world doesn’t believe the Word of God but it even sadder when those who profess faith to not believe the Word of God.
Basics of the faith need to be believed. The Bible is TRUTH. JESUS is the only way to heaven. There is a LAKE OF FIRE that will hold those who are without Christ for eternity.
CHALLENGE: Don’t support those who are enemies of the Word of God. Don’t watch them on television. Don’t buy their books. Encourage others to avoid them. I am!!!
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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Law verse 153
Word verse 154, 158, 160
Statutes verse 155
Judgments verse 156, 160
Testimonies verse 157
Precepts verse 159
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
One who pleads our cause verse 154
One who delivers verse 154
One who quickens verse 154
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal) verse 156, 159
Tender mercies verse 156
Righteous judgments verse 156, 160
Loving-kindness verse 159
Word is true verse 160
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Persecutors verse 157
Enemies verse 157
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Forgetting the Word of God verse 153, 158
Wicked verse 155
Not seeking Word of LORD verse 155, 158
Persecutors of believers verse 157
Transgressors verse 158
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Affliction verse 153
Deliverance verse 153, 154
Quicken (Revive) verse 154, 156, 159
Salvation verse 155
Not decline from God’s testimonies verse 157
Love the Word of God verse 159
Truth verse 160
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
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DONATIONS:
Remember that all donations to Small Church Ministries are greatly appreciated. The treasurer will send a receipt, at the end of the year unless otherwise requested. Please be sure to make check out to “Small Church Ministries.” The address for the treasurer is P.O. Box 604, East Amherst, New York 14051. A second way to give to the ministry is through PayPal on the website: www.smallchurchministries.org. Also, if you can support this ministry through your local church please use that method. Thank you.
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QUOTES regarding passage
Revive me, for your Word can be trusted (vv. 159–160). “The sum of your word is truth” (v. 160, nasb).and this means all of it can be trusted. The totality of God’s written revelation is not just true—it is truth. To love the Word is to obey it, and to obey it is to receive life from it. The Bible is not a magic book that conveys divine life to anyone who picks it up and reads it. God’s living Word communicates His life and power to those who read it, meditate on it, and obey it because they love God and His Word. When Jesus raised the dead, it was through speaking the Word (Luke 7:11–17; 8:40–56; John 11:38–44; see John 5:24), and His Word gives us life today when we find ourselves in the dust (v. 25). (Wiersbe, W. W. (2004). Be exultant (1st ed., pp. 138–139). Colorado Springs, CO: Cook Communications Ministries.)
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Ver. 160. Thy word is true from the beginning, &c.] Every word of promise God made from the beginning of the world, and in any period of time; as to Adam, to Abraham, to the Israelites, or to any other person or persons; was true in itself, and faithfully performed, not one ever failed; particularly the promise concerning the Messiah, made to Adam in Eden; and which has been spoken of by all the prophets which have been since the world began, Gen. 3:15; Luke 1:70. Or it may be rendered, as the Targum, “the beginning of thy word is truth:” which a man finds to be so as soon as ever he enters upon the reading of it. Some refer this to the first chapter of Genesis; others to the first part of the decalogue, concerning the unity of God and his worship; so Aben Ezra, and R. Jeshua, as cited by him, and Jarchi; the same is mentioned by Kimchi as one of the senses, though the first he gives is agreeable to our version: but there is no need to restrain the sense to those particulars, or to the first part of the Scriptures, since the whole is truth; and the meaning may be, the sum of thy word is truthi: so the word here used is sometimes taken for the sum of any thing, Numb. 26:2 and 31:26 all that is contained in the word of God is truth; its promises, precepts and doctrines, histories, prophecies and proverbs, all the sayings of it are faithful and true. And every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever; every precept of the word, and doctrine of it; see ver. 152 and Psal. 19:8, 9. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 4, pp. 237–238). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
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160. The sweet singer finishes up this section in the same way as the last by dwelling upon the sureness of the truth of God. It will be well for the reader to note the likeness between verses 144, 152, and the present one. “Thy word is true.” Whatever the transgressors may say, God is true, and his word is true. The ungodly are false, but God’s word is true. They charge us with being false, but our solace is that God’s true word will clear us. “From the beginning.” God’s word has been true from the first moment in which it was spoken, true throughout the whole of history, true to us from the instant in which we believed it, ay, true to us before we were true to it. Some read it, “Thy word is true from the head;” true as a whole, true from top to bottom. Experience had taught David this lesson, and experience is teaching us the same. The Scriptures are as true in Genesis as in Revelation, and the five books of Moses are as inspired as the four Gospels. “And every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.” That which thou hast decided remains irreversible in every case. Against the decisions of the Lord no writ of error can be demanded, neither will there ever be a repealing of any of the acts of his sovereignty. There is not one single mistake either in the word of God or in the providential dealings of God. Neither in the book of revelation nor of providence will there be any need to put a single note of errata. The Lord has nothing to regret or to retract, nothing to amend or to reverse. All God’s judgments, decrees, commands, and purposes are righteous, and as righteous things are lasting things, every one of them will outlive the stars. “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” God’s justice endureth for ever. This is a cheering thought, but there is a much sweeter one, which of old was the song of the priests in the temple; let it be ours, “His mercy endureth for ever.” (Spurgeon, C. H. (n.d.). The treasury of David: Psalms 111-119 (Vol. 5, pp. 415–416). London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers.)
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160. The sum is literally ‘the head’; hence av, ‘from the beginning’. Coupled with ‘from’, this word can indeed mean the beginning (e.g. Isa. 40:21; Prov. 8:23); but here it only says ‘the head of thy word’. In this kind of phrase it means, as in rsv, the sum (cf. e.g. 139:17); and its use as an equivalent to ‘a census’ in Exodus 30:12; Numbers 1:2, etc., shows that ‘the sum of’ is not a way of saying ‘by and large’, but rather, ‘every part of’. (Kidner, D. (1975). Psalms 73–150: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 16, p. 464). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
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153–60 The lament intensifies as the psalmist prays for deliverance, mercy, and life. The strophe is united by a repetition of reʾēh (“look,” v. 153; “see,” v. 159), ḥayyēnî (“preserve [renew] my life,” vv. 154, 156, 159), rabbîm (“great,” v. 156; “many,” v. 157), and the use of the particle kî (“for,” vv. 153, 155, 158) before a statement of loyalty to God’s law or absence thereof. The psalmist prays that the Lord will see how great his devotion to him has been and that his life will be preserved.
The psalmist affirms his loyalty to the Lord in contrast to the godless. The protestation of innocence is not to be understood as an expression of pride but rather as an appeal to God’s fatherly heart: “I have not forgotten your law” (v. 153), “I have not turned from your statutes” (v. 157), and “see how I love your precepts” (v. 159). The godless haunt him. They flaunt the commandments of the Lord: “for they do not seek out your decrees” (v. 155); “for they do not obey your word” (v. 158). More than that! As he looks at them, he again affirms his innocence in that he has purposefully avoided their influence (cf. 1:1). They are “the faithless”; that is, they are people who have broken the covenant relationship and whose words and acts are unreliable (cf. 25:3; Isa 48:8; Jer
5:11; Mal 2:10–11). That is what the psalmist means when he says that he has looked on the “faithless with loathing” (v. 158; cf. 139:21).
The psalmist’s protestation of innocence, the reminder of his affliction, and the mention of the perfidy of the wicked are to move God to action. There is the deep cognizance that only the Lord can “deliver” (v. 153) and “redeem” (v. 154). Therefore he hands over his case to him, praying for the Lord to “defend my cause.” The verb “defend” (rîḇāh) as well as the noun “cause” (rîḇ) represent a technical legal jargon (35:1; 43:1; 74:22), often used by the prophets as God’s covenant prosecutors (cf. Hos 4:1). The Lord alone can vindicate (cf. 43:1). The very nature of the psalmist’s existence is in jeopardy. Therefore he repeatedly prays that the Lord will preserve his full enjoyment of covenant life (vv. 154, 156, 159; cf. vv. 25, 37, 40, 50, 88, 93, 107, 149).
The ground for the redemption is the covenant relationship. Renewal of life is God’s gracious “promise” (v. 154). It is to this effect that he reminds the Lord of his “compassion” (raḥamîm, v. 156; cf. 69:16; 103:13; 106:45; Neh 9:19, 27, 31). His “love” (ḥeseḏ, v. 159; cf. v. 88) is a “just” (“according to your laws” or “according to your justice,” v. 156; cf. v. 149) response to his servant. “Many” (rabbîm) are the adversaries (v. 157), but God’s “compassion” is also “great” (rabbîm, v. 156).
The strophe concludes on an asseveration of God’s fidelity in his word. The expression “all your words” (v. 160) is an idiomatic rendering of the MT (lit., “the head of your word”), which means “from the beginning God’s word is true [ʾemeṯ ‘faithful’],” even as his “laws” (mišpāṭ the MT is sing. but pl. in a number of MSS, the LXX, Syr., Targ.) are forever “righteous” (ṣeḏeq; cf. vv. 7, 62, 164). The fidelity and righteousness of his word sustain the psalmist in believing that the Lord will vindicate him. He rests his case with the Lord (cf. v. 154). (VanGemeren, W. A. (1991). Psalms. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (Vol. 5, p. 761). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
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153–160 Resh. Three reliable things. The reliable psalmist who does not forget the word (153), the reliable Lord (154, 156, 159) and the reliable word which never changes (160). But human reliability cannot be taken for granted. Life is marked by suffering and the eroding presence of wicked and faithless (‘treacherous’) people. Life needs constant renewal which depends on the Lord’s love, promise and decision. This reiterated prayer for renewal constitutes the heart of the section.
153–154 (A1) See my need. Defend my cause. The psalmist is suffering accusation. Redeem (like near, 151) belongs to the next-of-kin vocabulary: the ‘redeemer’ identifies with his troubled kinsman, takes and discharges all his debts, undertakes all his needs. Within this troubled situation fidelity to the word continues. 155 (B1) The wicked. Those who dissociate from the word can expect no divine saving intervention. 156–157 (C) Many compassions. Many foes. Compassion is the readily moved love of the Lord. Great is the same word as many. His love runs to meet us and is equal to every threat. 158 (B2) The treacherous. Unreliable with people, they have no commitment to the word. 159–160 (A2) See my love. Warned by the experience of those who ignore the word (158) and can expect no deliverance (155) the psalmist affirms his love for the word and the word’s eternal truth. (Carson, D. A., France, R. T., Motyer, J. A., & Wenham, G. J. (Eds.). (1994). New Bible commentary: 21st century edition (4th ed., p. 571). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press.)
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FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
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When I came to know the Lord through the ministry of an independent Bible church I heard very little about Lent. As I attended Bible and Baptist churches, the impression was given that people who observed Lent were trying to earn their way into heaven. Observing Lent just wasn’t taught in the Bible!
My new post explains why I think differently about Lent today, touching on the history of its observance, its basis in biblical principles, and how it can be observed properly.
The question is whether observing Lent is consistent with Biblical teaching. Jesus and Paul obviously don’t tell us to practice a 40-day period of self-denial and reflection before Easter—they tell us about cruciformity, that our lives should be centered on and modeled after the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Can participation in Lent draw us nearer to our crucified and risen Lord?
With the atrocious war raging in Ukraine, this year more than ever we need to acknowledge our sin, give thanks for our salvation in Christ, and ask God to show mercy to this broken world. I hope this new post will help you as you anticipate Easter this year. (Dr. David Turner)
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Daily Hope
Today’s Scripture
Leviticus 5-7
The law in the United States has come under scrutiny. Pressure for it to be reviewed and changed has been demanded. The police and security have come to be analyzed in almost every situation. Between cell phone cameras and video recordings, we have become a nation constantly under investigation.
The law that God gave to the people of Israel was clearly stated and not up for review. The Lord gave the law to Moses and the priests and religious leaders were to enforce it whenever they were called upon to examine a case.
Today’s chapters in Leviticus cite situations where people have committed wrongs either intentionally or unintentionally. Whatever the sin or the severity of that sin, God demanded that the person who had violated the law, had to bear his own guilt.
Whether rich or poor, deliberate or unintended, an offering to remove the guilt was prescribed. The intent was to remove any evil or sin that would block fellowship with God. Therefore, the rituals of purification and the compensation of wrong done to neighbors’ property or livestock was written for their instruction and implementation.
Sin was offensive to God, necessitating death. God required a pure and costly offering to atone or cover the sin. The priest was to stir up the fire on the altar so that the sacrifice could be burned. Believers are royal priests today (1 Peter 2:9) and the flame of service to God needs to be blazing to burn the leaven (sin) out of our lives. Paul instructed Timothy “to stir up” the gift within himself (2 Timothy 1:6). Let us offer ourselves as nothing less than “living sacrifices, holy, acceptable” (Romans 12:1) to the Lord and His work.
With an Expectant Hope,
(Pastor Miller – Board Member of Small Church Ministries)
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Tia Nowak writes (NY): I’m sorry but I have to rant on this. <![if !vml]>
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<![endif]>For the love of God, DO NOT BE RUDE to the gas station attendants!!! Today when I went to fill up my tank and I was talking about the prices going up, the guy was like “Wow! I wish I had more customers as nice as you! You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve been yelled at today. People have been so rude to me all shift!” Believe me guys, I have a minimum wage job and I’m probably even more stressed out and frustrated about these high prices more than anybody out there!!! But it’s not like it’s the ____ gas attendants fault!! And it’s not like it’s a cashier at a grocery store’s fault that food prices are so high either. Be a decent human being for God sake because us low-paid workers are the ones that are going to suffer these inflation prices the worst!!! We understand the stress of filling up our tanks more than anybody else in the world right now so these people don’t need your _____-talking and rudeness on top of it!!! <![if !vml]><![endif]><![if !vml]><![endif]> (Good comment except for two words_
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STALIN’S HOLODOMOR OF UKRAINE (Friday Church News Notes, March 4, 2022, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The following is excerpted from Scott Johnson, “Ukrainian Contexts,” Powerlineblog.com, Feb. 27, 2022: “Vladimir Putin and others insist on our understanding the rape of Ukraine in a certain context. The context consists of components including the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the expansion of NATO into Eastern Europe, and Putin’s high anxiety. If anyone has supplied the context from Ukraine’s perspective, I missed it. I doubt that it’s ancient history in Ukraine. Ukraine’s subjugation by the Soviet Union was an unhappy experience. Although he chides Stalin for being too generous with Ukraine, Putin thinks that Stalin was quite a guy. He has sought to rehabilitate his reputation. He seeks to restore the glory of Stalin and the Soviet Union under his rule. Ukrainians see Stalin in a somewhat different context. They recall that Stalin inflicted the so-called Holodomor (“hunger extermination”) on them in 1932-1933. Stalin of course did what he could to suppress the story. … The terror famine is one of the horrors of the twentieth century. … Robert Conquest was the first historian I know of to reconstruct the story, as he did in The Harvest of Sorrow (1987). Conquest implied that Stalin killed 5.5 million ethnic Ukrainians out of a population of 34.1 million at the beginning of the trouble, or 16 percent. … Most recently, Anne Applebaum reconstructed the story in Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine (2017). According to Applebaum, Stalin’s terror famine killed nearly 4 million Ukrainians. Applebaum explained that the numbers have been difficult to calculate because the Soviet system tried to cover up the famine immediately after it happened, even going to the extent of covering up and hiding a census that was taken in 1937 (because it showed the large numbers of deaths). Putin’s anxiety to the contrary notwithstanding, you can see why Ukrainians might not want to be colonized again by Russia or to become Putin’s subjects.” (Way of Life Literature)
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The births of John and Jesus are foretold.
INSIGHT
How do you think you would feel if you were suddenly in the presence of an angel?
If you’re like the biblical characters, you would feel . . . afraid. Scripture recounts several instances of human beings coming face-to-face with supernatural beings. Most of those occasions were frightening — even terrifying — to the persons involved.
But God’s messengers understand our fear. And they do their best to assuage it. When Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary, he saw her troubled look and said, “Do not be afraid.”
That’s what God says to us throughout our lives. Drawing us into His holy presence, He reassures us that we need not fear. God loves us, Christ died for us, and God has a plan for our lives. So, we approach with extreme confidence. (Quiet Walk).
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WHAT WE SEE ABOUT OUR LORD HIMSELF
For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. John 17:8
Notice what we see here about the Lord Himself. Here He is praying for His followers—not only for those immediately of His own time, but for all those who are going to believe in Him throughout the centuries, and therefore for us. Let us look at Him as He thus prays; let us look at certain things that stand out very clearly about His person.
Notice His claims. He says, for instance, “They . . . have known surely that I came out from thee.” Here is One who appears to be just a man. He is to be taken by cruel people in apparent helplessness and weakness and is to be crucified on a cross. Yet He speaks of Himself as One who has come from God. Here is another great assertion of His unique deity: He is proclaiming that He is the eternal Son of God come from heaven to earth to dwell among men. He repeats it by saying, “Thou didst send me.” He is not One who has just been born like everybody else—He has been sent by God into this world.
Then in verse 10 He does not hesitate to say, “I am glorified in them”—a tremendous assertion that He is not only man, He is the Son of God, verily God Himself, and that as He is the glory of the Father, so the disciples are to be His glory. He has glorified the Father, and He is glorified in them by what they are going to be and what they are going to do. You notice our calling, you notice that we, as Christians, have the privilege of being men and women in Him—that through us the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is glorified.
A Thought to Ponder: He is praying for all those who are going to believe in Him throughout the centuries, and therefore for us.
(From Safe in the World, pp. 15-16, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones).
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A Time to Die
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2)
In the first eight verses of Ecclesiastes 3 there is a remarkable listing of 28 “times” arranged in 14 pairs of opposites (e.g., “a time to be born and a time to die”). Every timed event is planned by God and has a “purpose” (v. 1), and everything is “beautiful” in God’s time for it (v. 11).
Although it is beyond our finite comprehension, it is still bound to be true that the infinite, omnipotent God “worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” (Ephesians 1:11). Even when in our time we may not understand how a particular event can be purposeful or beautiful, we can have faith that if it occurs in God’s time for it, it is (Romans 8:28).
The time of our birth is, of course, not under our control, but we can certainly have a part in determining the occurrence of all the other 13 “times,” even the time of death. With the exception of those still living at the time of Christ’s return, each of us will eventually die. God has appointed a time for each individual, and it is wrong for him or her to shorten that time (by suicide or careless living, which can never be part of His will for any of us).
We should say with David, “My times are in thy hand” (Psalm 31:15), and seek to live in ways pleasing to Him as long as He allows us to live. We should pray that, when our time is finished, He will enable us to die in a manner that will be “beautiful in his time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
Not one of us knows when that ordained “time to die” may be for us, so we must seek daily to “walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time” (Colossians 4:5). (HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)
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Unshakable Faith
Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. Luke 12:15
Kevin walked into the nursing facility after his dad passed away to pick up his belongings. The staff handed him two small boxes. He said he realized that day that it really didn’t take an abundance of possessions to be happy.
His dad, Larry, had been carefree and always ready with a smile and an encouraging word for others. The reason for his happiness was another “possession” that didn’t fit into a box: an unshakable faith in his Redeemer, Jesus.
Jesus urges us to “store up . . . treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:20). He didn’t say we couldn’t own a home or buy a car or save for the future or have numerous possessions. But He urged us to examine the focus of our hearts. Where was Larry’s focus? His heart was set on loving God by loving others. He would wander up and down the halls where he lived, greeting and encouraging those he met. If someone was in tears, he was there with a comforting word or listening ear or heartfelt prayer. His mind was focused on living for God’s honor and the good of others.
We might want to ask ourselves if we could be happy with fewer things that clutter and distract us from the more important matters of loving God and others. “Where [our] treasure is, there [our] heart will be also” (v. 21). What we value is reflected in how we live. (By Anne Cetas (Our Daily Bread Ministries)
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What Do Fig Trees Do?
“Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.” (James 3:12)
The answer to these rhetorical questions obviously is “No.” A fig tree cannot become an olive tree in one growing season, or in a million of them. Nor can a grapevine evolve into a fig tree, no matter what happens to it (grafts, mutations, chemicals, radiations, anything).
In the very first chapter of the Bible, each kind of plant God created was given the genetic information by its Maker to “reproduce” only its own “kind” of plant, not to diverge into some other kind, although its offspring could develop into many varieties of the parental kind (but even that only within strict limits). The same was true with the animals. Ten times in Genesis 1, God, in five verses, tells us that each created kind of plant and animal was coded to reproduce just its own kind (Genesis 1:11-12, 21, 24-25).
Just in the event that some skeptic might reject Genesis 1 as factual, the same theme is reiterated in the New Testament, not only in our text but in Paul’s great chapter on death and resurrection. “God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed its own body. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds” (1 Corinthians 15:38-39).
This biblical truth is confirmed by every scientific observation ever made on plants and animals—whether living, dead, or fossilized. No one has ever seen a frog evolve into a prince, or a vine into an olive tree, either in the present or in the fossil record of the past. “I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that man should fear before him” (Ecclesiastes 3:14). (HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)
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