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PSALM 35

David wants the LORD to help                            verse 1- 3 

Plead my cause – O LORD – with them that strive with me

fight against them that fight against me

      take hold of shield and buckler

and stand up for mine help

Draw out also the spear – and stop the way

against them that persecute me

say to my soul – I am YOUR salvation 

David wants the LORD to shame his Enemies    verse 4- 6 

Let them be confounded and put to shame

that seek after my soul

let them be turned back and brought

to confusion that devise my hurt

      let them be as chaff before the wind

                  let the angel of the LORD chase them

      let their way be dark and slippery

                  let the angel of the LORD persecute them 

David states that he did no wrong                       verse 7- 8 

For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit

which without cause, they have dig for my soul

Let destruction come upon him at unawares

let his net that he hath hid catch himself

      into that very destruction let him fall 

David will praise the LORD in victory                verse 9- 10 

And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD

it shall rejoice in HIS salvation

All my bones shall say

LORD – who is like unto YOU

which delivers the poor from him that is too strong,

            for him yea the poor and the needy from him

             that spoils him? 

David prayed and fasted for these individuals    verse 11- 14 

False witnesses did rise up

they laid to my charge things that I knew not

they rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul

BUT as for me – when they were sick – my clothing was sackcloth

I humbled my soul with fasting

      my prayer returned into mine own bosom

I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother

                        I bowed down heavily

as one that mourned for his mother 

Same individuals mistreated David                     verse 15- 16 

BUT in mine adversity, they rejoiced

and gathered themselves together

Yea – the abjects, gathered themselves together against me

            and I knew it not

They did tear me – and ceased not

with hypocritical mockers in feasts

                        they gnashed upon me with their teeth                     

 David wonders about timing of LORD’S action verse 17- 21 

Lord – how long will YOU look on?

            RESCUE my soul from their destructions

my darling from the lions

I will give YOU thanks in the great congregation

I will praise YOU among much people

Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me

neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause

      for they speak not peace

BUT they devise deceitful matters

against them that are quiet in the land

Yea – they opened their mouth wide against me – and said

Aha – aha – our eye has seen it 

David desires actions soon                                   verse 22- 25 

This YOU have seen – O LORD – KEEP not silence – O LORD

            BE not far from me

STIR up YOURSELF – AWAKE to my judgment

even to my cause

                        my God and my Lord

JUDGE me – O LORD my God

according to YOUR righteousness

                        and let them not rejoice over me

                                    let them not say in their hearts

            Ah – so would we have it

                        let them not say

                                    We have swallowed him up    

David will praise the LORD for his justice          verse 26- 28 

Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together

that rejoice at mine hurt

Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor

that magnify themselves against me

Let them shout for joy – and be glad

that favor my righteous cause

Yea – let them say continually

Let the LORD be magnified

      which has pleasure in the prosperity of HIS servant

AND my tongue shall speak of YOUR righteousness

and of YOUR praise all the day long 

COMMENTARY:           

DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers 

:1         “Plead my cause, O LORD, with those who strive with me; Fight against those who fight against me.” The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982). (Fight 3898 לָחַם, לָחַם [lacham /law·kham/] v. A primitive root; TWOT 1104, 1105; GK 4309 and 4310; 177 occurrences; AV translates as “fight” 149 times, “to war” 10 times, “make war” eight times, “eat” five times, “overcome” twice, “devoured” once, “ever” once, and “prevail” once. 1 to fight, do battle, make war. 1A (Qal) to fight, do battle. 1B (Niphal) to engage in battle, wage war. 2 (Qal) to eat, use as food. James Strong, Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2001).

DEVOTION:    Have you ever felt like the entire world was against you? That everywhere you turned the opposition is a step ahead of you and is anticipating your every move. This lament psalm is just for you! David is crying out to the Lord because at least three different enemies hated him and wished his destruction. He prayed to the Lord for Him to fight against these enemies and to defend his position.

David asked the Lord to fight, to overcome the enemies that were opposing him. He is asking the Lord to resist these that were antagonistic towards him. David desired for the Lord to be his champion and to defeat the destroyers, the haters and the unjust accusers that were making his life miserable.

Do you need the Lord to intercede for you in difficult relationships and situations where antagonists do not care about the facts but are intent on destroying your name, testimony and integrity? Like David call out to the Lord to plead your case and have Him fight the battle in front of you. 

CHALLENGE:  It might be that the tension will be thick and the hostility visible but trust Him for the results! (Dr. Brian Miller – board member) 

DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers 

: 3        Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me; say to my soul, I am your salvation. (7291 “persecute” [radaph] means follow after, to cause to suffer, whether physically or emotionally, chase, be hounded, or run after)

DEVOTION:  Those who are trying to follow the LORD will always have those who like to hound them. They will be looking for reasons to say bad things about them. They will never give up because they think that they are better than any believer in our world.

David is tired of these people. He wants the LORD to draw a spear and stop them from giving him trouble. He knows that the LORD is his salvation or deliverer. He is turning his enemies over to the LORD for judgement.

Too often we try to deal with our enemies on our own. There are always people who don’t like those who are trying to serve the LORD faithfully. They are not sinless but they are trying to daily commit their way to the LORD but these individuals don’t give them a break.

This was true of David. There were always fault finders in his life. They were even part of the children of Israel. Too often it is the ones who claim to be followers of the LORD that give those who are following the LORD a hard time.

David wants the LORD to defend him. He wants the LORD to take a spear and stop them from giving him a hard time.

Have we ever thought that the LORD should take a spear and deal with our enemies? It seems that we can think these thoughts at times but we should always leave it to the LORD to do it in HIS timing.

We want as David wanted, the LORD to say to us “I am your salvation.” Our responsibility is to live for the LORD the best we can today and leave those who are against us to HIM to deal with.

CHALLENGE: How is your relationship with the LORD today? Can you be like David and turn your enemies over to the LORD to deal with?

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: 4        Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt. (954 “confounded” [buwsh] means ashamed, put to shame, to be or become characterized by feeling of shame, guilt, embarrassment or remorse, to fail in hope and expectation, humiliate, or make to feel ashamed.)

DEVOTION: David had those who were always giving him a hard time. We will always have those who want to give us a hard time if we are faithfully serving the LORD. It comes with the territory.

We should expect it and remember to turn it over to the LORD every time we feel the pressure of this happening in our lives. We can pray this prayer and let the LORD handle them. HE can handle them better than we can.

Our desire should be that they would be confounded and put to shame because they are not honoring the LORD, not just because they are giving us a hard time.

We can pray with David for them to be turned back and brought to confusion. This is not an evil prayer when we turn our enemies over to the LORD for HIM to deal with them rather than us trying to deal with them ourselves.

Every individual who is doing this to the LORD’S people is doing it because of sin in their life. They don’t want anyone to look good and so they try to make everyone look evil.

Our thoughts should always be for their salvation but we know that some people will never accept Christ because they are fighting HIM so hard. They want to live their life without HIM and any of HIS servants around them.

Pray for their salvation but leave them in the hands of the LORD. Keep focused on service to the LORD and move forward with HIS help.

CHALLENGE: There is always going to be those who don’t like us for our service to the LORD. Accept this fact and move on by giving them over to the LORD to deal with and watch what HE does! 

DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers

: 16      With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth. (2611 “hypocritical” [chaneph] means godless, profane, or irreligious)

DEVOTION:  There are people who are nice to our faces but when they are with another crowd – they put us down. We call them two-faced.  This can even happen in church with people praising the LORD one minute and causing problems the next.

David had this happen to him. He had people he considered his friends but found out that they were plotting against him. He wanted the LORD to deal with these individuals. He didn’t know they were that way. He had many times prayed and fasted for them while they were sick. He wanted deliverance from these “friends.” Too often we look at people that we consider friends and they are really trying to see us fall.

They don’t want to see us prosper. They don’t care about our family. We find ourselves in the same situation as David. What should we do? We should do the same as David did. He gave them over to the LORD to take care of them.

HE will do a better job than we ever could. HE doesn’t want us to become bitter or hold a grudge against them because that hurts us. HE wants us to give them to HIM and let HIM handle them. We need to let go.

Are we willing to do this? Should we be willing to do this? The New Testament tells us to heap “coals of fire” on their heads by showing them love. We are to pray for our enemies. Again, David was leaving them to the LORD. We need to leave them with the LORD. HE has allowed them to give us a hard time for our personal growth.

We can pray and ask the LORD “How long” as David did. We can pray for extra strength during these time periods. We can ask others to pray for us without giving them all the details. The LORD knows how much we can take and HE will limit it to that time period.

Flattery is a lie. Try to be honest with individuals. Don’t say nice things in front of them and then make fun or hurt them behind their back.

CHALLENGE:  If you can’t say nice things don’t say anything at all. Pray about what you are thinking regarding a person. Go and meet with him about an issue you have with him/her.

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:23       Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgment, Even unto my cause, my God and my Lord.”(“Stir up,” 5782                            עוּר [ʿuwr], to rouse, stir up. [Strong, J. (2001). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible                               Software.])

DEVOTION:  This is another imprecatory psalm by David, where he pictures God as sitting back and observing his situation with his enemies and pleads with God for His intervention.  The idea of stirring up is that God is just waiting before He does something, not actively helping His child while he is undergoing defeat by his enemies.

Sometimes we are tempted to see our situation as one where God is not actively involved, since things seem to be going from bad to worse from our perspective.  False accusations, the attacks both physically and verbally, and the betrayal by those who we thought were friends seem to be more than we can bear.  On the other hand, we should remember that Jesus endured all of these things, so that we could be saved.

God tells us to come before Him earnestly in prayer and not lose heart (Luke 18:1-7).  However, God does not always answer our prayers according to our immediate desires or according to our timetable.  Rather, we need to accept what He is doing and continue to praise Him in spite of our circumstances (verse 9).  We should also use these experiences to reflect on whether we ourselves are guilty of doing the same things to others.  Lastly, we should surround ourselves with friends who will hold us accountable and help us to rejoice for the right reasons (verses 27-28).

Are we willing to be patient with God when we pray for His intervention?  Can we trust Him to act at the right time?

CHALLENGE:  In what area(s) do you need to be patient and pray to God to act in His own timing?  Are you surrounding yourself with friends who remind you to praise God and declare His righteousness no matter what you are going through?  Remember that He is not just sitting there waiting; but is working things out according to His plan. (Dr. Marc Wooten – board member)

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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:

BODY

Chastity (Purity in living)

Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking) 

David fasted when friends were ill                    verse 13 

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) 

Whole psalm is a prayer                                         verse 1- 28

David wants LORD to plead his cause                   verse 1

LORD fight against those who fight me                verse 1

Stand up for my help                                              verse 2

Stop the way of those against me                          verse 3

Confound and put to shame those

            that seek after my soul                               verse 4

Let them be chaff                                                    verse 5

Let angel of the LORD chase them                         verse 5

Let their way be dark and slippery                         verse 6

Let angel of the LORD persecute them                  verse 6

They dig a pit for my soul                                  verse 7

Let destruction come on them                           verse 8

Let them fall                                                        verse 8

David prayed for friends that were sick             verse 13 

Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)

Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group) 

          Give thanks                                                         verse 18

          Great congregation                                            verse 18

            Praise among much people                               verse 18

            Let them say continually:

                        Let the LORD be magnified                    verse 27

            Praise all the day long                                        verse 28

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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:

Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)

God the Father (First person of the Godhead) 

LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal)  verse 1, 5, 6, 9, 10,

17, 22, 24, 27

I am your salvation                                               verse 3

Lord – Adonai (Master, Owner)                            verse 17, 22, 23

God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign)                       verse 23, 24

LORD my God                                                        verse 24

Righteous                                                              verse 24, 28 

God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah) 

Angel of the LORD                                                verse 5, 6

Angel of the LORD chase David’s enemies           verse 5

Angel of the LORD persecute David’s enemies    verse 6 

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) 

     Poor                                                                       verse 10

      Needy                                                                    verse 10

      False witnesses                                                      verse 11

      Friend                                                                    verse 14

      Brother                                                                  verse 14

      Mother                                                                  verse 14

      Mockers                                                                verse 16

      Great congregation                                              verse 18

      Enemies                                                                 verse 19

      Those quiet in the land                                         verse 20

      Let them shout for joy and be glad

                  that favor David’s righteous cause           verse 27 

Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels) 

Spoiling poor and needy                                       verse 10

False witnesses                                                       verse 11

Rewarded evil for good                                         verse 12

Spoiling of soul                                                      verse 12

Hypocritical mockers                                             verse 16

Gnashed against David                                          verse 16

Wrongfully rejoice over David                               verse 19

Hate without a cause                                              verse 19

Devising deceitful matters                                      verse 20

Opening mouth wide against God’s servant          verse 21

 

Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins) 

Salvation = Deliverance                                           verse 3, 9

Joyful in the LORD                                                   verse 9

Humble soul with fasting and prayer                     verse 13

Let enemies be brought to confusion                     verse 26 

Israel (Old Testament people of God) 

      David                                                                        verse 1- 28

                  Wants LORD to plead his cause

                  Wants LORD to fight against those who

                              fight him

                  Wants LORD be his help

                  Wants LORD to be against those who

                              persecute him

                  Confound and put to shame those who are

                              seeking my soul

                  Let way be dark and slippery those who

                              are against me

                  Soul joyful in the LORD

                  Humbled soul with fasting and prayer

                  Men rejoiced in my adversity

                  Men gathered themselves against me to

                              tear me

                  Question for LORD:

How long will you look on?

                                    Prays: rescue my soul

                                    Gives thanks

            Opening mouth wide against God’s servant

            Prays LORD will not keep silent    

            Wants LORD to judge him

            Don’t want enemy to rejoice over him

            Let enemies be brought to shame and

                        confusion

            My tongue shall speak of YOUR

                        Righteousness

            Praise all the day long         

 

Church (New Testament people of God)

Last Things (Future Events)

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QUOTES regarding passage

The trial was about to end and the enemy was confident of victory. “Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it” [David’s defeat, v. 21, nasb]. In his imagination, David saw Saul’s men winking at each other arrogantly (Prov. 6:13; 10:10), as if to say, “He’s done for!” They would never accept a truce or even talk about peace, but this was God’s way of judging Saul for his sins and eliminating him from the political equation in Israel. After Saul’s death, David had seven years of trouble with Saul’s son (2 Sam. 1–4), but the Lord eventually solved that problem. David prayed that God would vindicate him, because David’s cause was God’s cause, and the Lord’s reputation was at stake (v. 24). In verse 26, he repeated his request from verse 4 and asked that the enemy be shamefully defeated. David’s desire was that the Lord be magnified in His own way and His own time.

In contrast to the shame of the enemy in their defeat are the joyful shouts of the righteous in David’s victory. Unlike Elijah, who felt he was fighting all alone (1 Kings 19:10–18), David knew that many people in Israel supported him, those who were living “quietly in the land” (v. 20). Even in the darkest days of Israel’s history, there has always been a faithful remnant that stayed true to the Lord and prayed for His will to be done. David closed the psalm with a song of confidence and joy, witnessing to God’s righteousness and power. The word translated “prosperity” (v. 27, kjv) is the familiar Hebrew word “shalom—peace,” which means much more than a mere cessation of hostilities. It carries the idea of wellbeing in every aspect of life, including peace with God, with others, with yourself, and with the circumstances of your life.

David’s experience reminds us of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, who was also hated without a cause (John 15:25) and falsely accused and attacked by those for whom He had shown nothing but kindness and live. God delivered David from his enemies, but the Father “spared not his own son” (Rom. 8:32) but willingly gave Him to die for the sins of the world. (Wiersbe, W. W. (2004). Be worshipful (1st ed., pp. 137–138). Colorado Springs, CO: Cook Communications Ministries.)

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27, 28. As in the earlier parts of the psalm, praise is waiting to break through (cf. verses 9f. and 18). What is more, David has remembered what Elijah in a similar crisis will overlook that he has friends as well as enemies: ‘a mighty throng’ of them (18), whose desire, like the Lord’s delight (27)—it is the same word—is only for his good. (Kidner, D. (1973). Psalms 1–72: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 15, p. 163). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)

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35:27 Cf. Ps 40:16. His servant. Besides being a polite third person reference to the psalmist, the terminology was also used of an OT disciple regarding himself as bound to the Lord. (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Ps 35:27). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.)

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27–28 As David prayeth for himself, so he prayeth for all the favourers of his righteous cause, as the type of Christ, whose Spirit spake by him, for the edification of the church in all times coming. Whence learn, 1. It is one mark of godliness amongst many others, to befriend the cause of Christ, and to further it in the person of his saints, suffering for righteousness, with their best affection; for here they are described by being the favourers of their righteous cause. 2. In the persecution of the godly for the cause of God’s truth and true religion, all the godly are concerned; and as they partake of the sufferings with others under Christ the Head, so shall they partake of the joy of the victory and outgate, which shall be exceedingly joyful at last: let them shout for joy, and be glad, saith the type of Christ, that do favour my righteous cause. 3. The troubles of the godly are not so many but room is left sometimes for prosperity; for God loveth the prosperity of his servants; to wit, as it may conduce to his purpose and their good. 4. When any of the godly are delivered from their persecutors, all the rest of the godly are bound, as they understand it, to set forth the power of God, and his love and bounty, manifested and forthcoming to his people; let them say continually, Let the Lord be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servants. 5. Whatsoever opposition the enemies of Christ and of the godly shall make, Christ shall keep up the open profession of true doctrine, which manifesteth the righteousness of God—leading men to eternal life, and bringing glory to God; for this is the undertaking of the type, and of Christ represented by him, after the hottest contest between him and his wicked enemies: my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness, and of thy praise all the day long. (Dickson, D. (1834). A Brief Explication of the Psalms (Vol. 1, pp. 191–192). Glasgow; Edinburgh; London: John Dow; Waugh and Innes; R. Ogle; James Darling; Richard Baynes.)

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Ver. 27. Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause, &c.] The cause of David was a righteous cause, he having done no iniquity, or anything criminal against Saul his enemy, who persecuted him; and there were some that favoured his cause, as Jonathan, Saul’s son, and a few others of rank and figure; but the greatest part were mean and despicable, 1 Sam. 22:2 and so the cause of Christ and of his people, which is one, is a righteous cause, which no one need to be ashamed of, and is worth suffering for; though those that favour it are for the most part the poor and base and weak things of the world: but when this cause prospers they rejoice and are glad, as they do at the happiness of every particular saint; for if one member is honoured, all the rest rejoice with it. Yea, let them say continually, the Lord be magnified; let them continually ascribe greatness, give honour and glory, to him, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant; meaning either himself, who was a servant of the Lord, not only by creation, but by grace; and who had his times both of temporal and spiritual prosperity; which were owing to the good will and pleasure of God, and to the delight and complacency he had in him, being a man after his own heart, raised up to fulfil his will; and since this prosperity did not arise from any desert of his, he would have all the glory of it given to God: or else he intends the Messiah, his antitype, who, as Mediator, is the servant of the Lord; of his choosing, calling, and sending; whose commands he diligently and faithfully obeyed; from whom he had his work, and also his reward: his prosperity lies in the work of redemption succeeding in his hands; in his exaltation at the right hand of God; and in the spread of his Gospel in the world, and the efficacy of it to the conviction of sinners; and in the establishment and increase of his kingdom and interest; on which account the Lord’s name is to be magnified and glorified, who delights in him as his servant, and in his prosperity; and the rather this is to be done, since the saints have an interest in him as a Prince and a Saviour: or any one of the servants of the Lord may be understood; or however it is applicable to any one of them, who, through the power of divine grace upon them, are made willing to serve the Lord with reverence and godly fear; who are his Hephzi-bah, in whom is all his delight and pleasure; who rejoices over them to do them good: and hence flows all the spiritual prosperity they enjoy, on account of which glory is to be given to God by them and all the saints that know it, Psal. 34:1, 2. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 3, pp. 676–677). London: Mathews and Leigh.)

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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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If you don’t leave your past in the past, it will destroy your future. Live for what today has to offer, not for what yesterday has taken away 

                                             From Sabrena Monroe

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1 Timothy 6
The quest for godliness motivates us to “fight the good fight” faith while we live on earth.

INSIGHT

If any of us could have three wishes, most of us would include wealth as one of those wishes. Everything else being equal, we would rather be rich than poor. Yet that very desire is a snare – so much so that Paul urges Timothy to flee the love of money and “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness” (v. 11). And he adds: “I urge you . . . that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing” (vv. 13-14). If we have wealth, we are to use it compassionately. If we do not have wealth, we are to be content.  (Quiet Walk)

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THE INVISIBILITY OF GOD


No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. 1 John 4:12
Why does God say, “No man hath seen God at any time”? Why does John suddenly introduce this idea of the invisibility of God?
John does not say that we cannot love God except through loving our brethren; that is not his argument. Nor does he say that we can only love God by means of loving our brethren. Rather, he tells us that we are to love God—that we can love God and that we should love Him.
It seems to me that John is here introducing a new theme, a new idea, into his great discussion of the question of loving the brethren. And this new theme I would describe as the theme of assurance of salvation; it is the whole question of our knowledge of God and of the way in which we can know God. In other words, I am suggesting that John here is linking up with that with which he left off at the end of verse 8. Let me reconstruct it to you in this way: “Beloved,” he says, “let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love….No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us” (verses 7-8, 12).
“So,” says John in effect, “it is important that you love the brethren from the standpoint of your own assurance of salvation and from the standpoint of your fellowship with God.” John is more like a poet than a logician. Although he tends to arrive at his position in circles instead of straight lines, though there is something of the mystic in his thinking, nevertheless there is firm logic at the back of it; there is a definite line of reason.
A Thought to Ponder
It is important that you love the brethren from the standpoint of your own assurance of salvation.  (From The Love of God, pp. 76-79, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)

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                                The Marvel of Design

And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marvelled one at another.” (Genesis 43:33)
When creationists calculate the extremely low probability of the chance origin of life, many evolutionists scoff at the calculation, alleging that any one arrangement of the components of a simple, living molecule is just as likely as any other arrangement, so it is no great marvel that the components fell into this particular arrangement.
This is a puerile argument, of course, quite unworthy of the intelligent scientists who use it. There are at best only a few arrangements that will contain the organized information necessary for reproduction, compared to “zillions” of arrangements with no information at all.
This fact is beautifully illustrated in our text. Why should Joseph’s brothers “marvel” when they were seated in chronological order of birth by a host who (presumably) was entirely unaware of that order?
The reason why they marveled was because there are almost 40 million different ways (calculated by multiplying all the numbers, one through 11, together) in which the 11 brothers could have been seated! It seemingly couldn’t happen by chance.
Maybe an evolutionist would not “marvel” that this unique seating arrangement happened by chance, since he somehow believes that far more intricately organized arrangements than this happened by chance to produce our universe and its array of complex systems. Anyone else, however, would immediately have realized this, and so the brothers of Joseph “marvelled one at another.” So also, when we behold the wonders of design in the creation, we should “lift up [our] eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things” (Isaiah 40:26). (HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)

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Powerful and Loving

You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness. Deuteronomy 4:11

In 2020, the Ecuadorian volcano Sangay erupted. The BBC described the “dark ash plume which reached a height of more than 12,000 m.” The discharge covered four provinces (about 198,000 acres) in gray ash and grimy soot. The sky turned dingy and grim, and the air was thick—making it difficult to breathe. Farmer Feliciano Inga described the unnerving scene to El Comercio newspaper: “We didn’t know where all this dust was coming from. . . . We saw the sky go dark and grew afraid.”

The Israelites experienced a similar fear at the base of Mount Sinai, as they “stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire . . . with black clouds and deep darkness” (Deuteronomy 4:11). God’s voice thundered, and the people trembled. It was terrifying. It’s an awesome, knee-buckling experience to encounter the living God.

“Then the Lord spoke,” and they “heard the sound of words but saw no form” (v. 12). The voice that rattled their bones provided life and hope. God gave Israel the Ten Commandments and renewed His covenant with them. The voice from the dark cloud caused them to quake, but also wooed and loved them with tenacity (Exodus 34:6–7).

God is powerful, beyond our reach, even startling. And yet He’s also full of love, always reaching out to us. A God both powerful and loving—this is who we desperately need.

By Winn Collier  (Our Daily Bread)

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In 2011 A team of British scientists developed a sophisticated new camera system that tries to detect if someone is lying. According to an article from BBC News, “The computerized system uses a simple video camera, a high-resolution thermal imaging sensor, and a suite of algorithms.” The new device depends on the fact that we give our emotions away through bodily cues—eye movements, dilated pupils, biting our lips, wrinkling our nose, breathing heavier, swallowing, or blinking.

The researchers conclude, “We bring together all this well-established work on expressions, these recent developments in thermal imaging, techniques for image tracking of subjects, and our new algorithms into one operational system.” However, they also acknowledged that all of these scientific discoveries aren’t 100 percent accurate. When the article was written, they could discriminate between truth and lies in about two-thirds of cases. I don’t know about you but I don’t want this system used unless it is 100% accurate.

Lying is such a problem in our society that researchers are trying to figure out the best way to tell when people are lying as you can tell with both of the stories I have told about research in lying. Being a liar is something that must not be mentioned amongst followers of Christ. We serve a God of truth and must be people of the truth. Look with me again at Exodus 20:16 (You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.). The idea for the Hebrew word false is lying. We should not be a lying witness. This command carries a courtroom feel to it. In the Old Testament, the way someone was accused of wrongdoing was by at least 2 witnesses. At that time in history, they didn’t have DNA or video evidence. The only thing they had was the evidence of witnesses. This made the 9th command very important when it came to proper judgments of allegations against wrongdoing. The people of Israel were to be people who were trustworthy witnesses. They were to not bear false witness against their neighbors. The people of Israel would have interpreted this as not bearing false witness in Israel. Jesus turns this upside down with the parable of the good Samaritan. He tells us that everyone is our neighbor and we are to love our neighbor as ourselves.

What we know from stories in the bible is that people were not always trustworthy witnesses. Look with me at 1 Kings 21:1-2 (Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 2 And after this Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house, and I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money.”). Naboth told Ahab that he wouldn’t give him his vineyard. This made Ahab made. His wife Jezebel created a plan for Ahab to get the vineyard. They had a feist and made Naboth the guest of honor. Then they set him up. Look at 1 Kings 21:13-14 (And the two worthless men came in and sat opposite him. And the worthless men brought a charge against Naboth in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death with stones. 14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned; he is dead.”). Naboth died because Ahab and Jezebel were able to find two men that would lie for them. They bore false witness and it cost Naboth his life.   (Part of a sermon my son Brian preached yesterday)

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WAIT FOR THE LORD

by Anne R. C. Neale

When we need help to whom do we turn too,

We pray to God to help us when we are in need,

But we must be patient; God knows what is best for us,

He’ll answer our prayers in due time, yes, indeed.

God is on time, never too early or too late,

God will give you blessings when He knows it’s the right time,

Then you’ll know the answer came directly for God you see,

He is the only one who can perform miracles, He is God the Sublime.

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The Opened Prison
“The Spirit of the LORD God is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.” (Isaiah 61:1)
The Lord Jesus appropriated this beautiful verse of the prophet Isaiah to Himself, preaching from it one day in the Nazareth synagogue and proclaiming: “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” (Luke 4:21). Note that He came to preach the gospel to the meek, not the arrogant, and to bind up the brokenhearted, not the hardhearted.
He also came to set the captives free. This was not, however, to deliver the Jews from Roman bondage as many had hoped, but a far greater deliverance. In the Hebrew, the phrase “opening of the prison” is only one word (a doubled word), and it occurs only this one time in the Old Testament. When Christ quoted it in the synagogue, He actually expanded and interpreted it as follows: “recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised” (Luke 4:18).
The “prison” that Christ came to open is evidently a spiritual prison, a binding of the soul, a blinding of the mind. “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36)—free from the bondage of sin, translated “out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
There was also another prison, a very real prison, deep in the heart of the earth to which He came. While His body slept in the tomb, His spirit descended into Hades where the spirits of all who had died in faith were awaiting Him, and “when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and . . . ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things” (Ephesians 4:8, 10). (HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)

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After Elijah prophesies drought, the Lord hides him and later uses him to heal a child.
INSIGHT 

Drought is a devastating natural disaster, and when it comes to the children of Israel, it does not come by accident. It is always divine judgment. From the beginning of his reign, Ahab, who is king when Elijah begins his ministry, violates the Lord’s name. He encourages idolatry and the worship of Baal, a pagan god. He “did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him” (1 Kings 16:30). Elijah’s name means “Jehovah is my strength,” and the Lord sets about to prove the significance of Elijah’s name as He brings judgment on Israel and destroys the worshipers of Baal. (Quiet Walk)

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Bouncing Ball

I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity. ECCLESIASTES 2:11

There are seasons in life when our work requires more of us than it does at other times. Tax season for the accountant. Christmas season for the retailer. Whatever your line of work, it likely has a natural rhythm that spikes at certain times.

But increasingly in our success-driven culture, busy seasons have run together into all seasons. We have allowed the pace to perpetuate itself, driving us at full throttle month after month, year after year. Things begin to come totally unraveled at home, in our marriage, in our relationship with our children. It can happen, seemingly, in a blink.

This reminds me of a commencement address attributed to Brian Dyson, who held several senior management positions with Coca-Cola during his long career. He told a class of Georgia Tech graduates, “Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling five balls in the air: work, family, health, friends and spirit. You’re keeping all of these in the air.

“You soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered. It will never be the same.”

You may not get as many pats on the back for being at home to dry the dishes or settle a disagreement or help a child study for a test. You may not receive the same sense of affirmation you feel from accomplishing a work goal or achieving recognition among your peers. But you will be living proof that winning at home first is the key to winning anything of value.

Marriages and families don’t bounce. They shatter. For generations.

DISCUSS

What is your “busy season”? What are the first signs that work is getting out of balance? How can you help each other handle those seasons that demand more of you than usual? (Moments with You Couples Devotional by Dennis and Barbara Rainey)

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OBSTACLES OF REVIVAL

But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 
Galatians 1:8 
Recently, a speaker was about to give an address on a certain religious book which had achieved some notoriety, and he prefaced his remarks by saying something like this. “Now I am going to criticize this book, but I must say this. A friend of mine who saw this man on television said to me, ‘If ever I have looked at, a born again man, there he was.'”
You see, he was suggesting that what is said in the book does not matter! Though the writer denies the teaching of the Scripture and the creeds of his church, though he denies the being of God, the deity of Christ, and all the essentials of Christianity, in spite of that, what is being put first is our subjective feeling “The man looks to me to be a born again man.” So in spite of what he says in his book, “I therefore have a feeling, somehow, that the man is all right after all”!
Now that is the kind of thing that is being said at the present time: “It does not matter what people may teach. Though they may deny the very essence of Christianity, if I like them, if I am attracted to them, if I can talk easily to them, then that is what counts.” 
You can tell whether a man is preaching the gospel or not, or whether he believes the gospel or not, by what he says! It does not matter what he is in his appearance or in his personality…what does he say? Is it the gospel, or something that is passing as gospel, which is not the gospel? 
Then Paul makes it still more explicit: “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed” [v. 8]. Could anything be plainer or stronger?
A Thought to Ponder: You can tell whether a man believes the gospel or not, by what he says! (From Saving Faith, a sermon on Romans 10:3 by Martyn Lloyd-Jones )

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