PSALM 42
Deep desire to know God intimately verse 1- 3
As the hart pants after the water brooks
so pants my soul after YOU – O God
My soul thirsts for God
for the LIVING God
When shall I come
and appear before God?
My tears have been my meat day and night
while they continually say to me
Where is your God?
Remembering the past times of worship verse 4
When I remember these things
I pour out my soul in me or I had gone with the multitude
I went with them to the house of God with the voice of joy and praise
with a multitude that kept holy day
Chorus verse 5
Why are you cast down
O my soul?
Why are you disquieted in me?
Hope you in God – for I shall yet praise HIM
for the help of HIS countenance
Cast down state leads to prayer verse 6- 8
O my God
my soul is cast down within me
THEREFORE, will I remember YOU from the land of Jordan
and of the Hermonites – from the hill Mizar
Deep calls to deep at the noise of YOUR waterspouts
all YOUR waves and YOUR billows are gone over me
Yet the LORD will command HIS loving-kindness
in the daytime – and in the night HIS song
shall be with me – and my prayer
to the God of my life
Cast down state leads to questions verse 9- 10
I will say to God my rock
WHY have YOU forgotten me?
WHY go I mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?
As with a sword in my bones
mine enemies reproach me
while they say daily to me
WHERE is your God?
Chorus verse 11
Why are you cast down
O my soul?
Why are you disquieted in me?
Hope you in God
for I shall yet praise HIM
WHO is the health of my countenance – and my God
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
:1 “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God.” (The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982). Pants – 6165 עָרַג [ʿarag /aw·rag/] v. A primitive root; TWOT 1691; GK 6864; Three occurrences; AV translates as “pant” twice, and “cry” once. 1 (Qal) to long for, pant after. (James Strong, Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2001).
DEVOTION: I can remember working out and preparing to run a marathon. I would run miles a day in an attempt to do what some feel is silly and others think is downright stupid! That is run 26.2 miles! During those hours of training and developing the stamina to endure I panted many times and desired for water and rest. It was all to accomplish a goal and to finish a task that was set before me.
As I look at this psalm I see a similar picture of a person desiring to know and to achieve a goal that is set before them. To know God and to be as intimate and personal as possible. To stretch and strain to grow in the truths of God’s word and way. Like a deer that is stretched to its limits and approaches the coolness of water for refreshment and renewal so our soul is stretching to know God and His ways. No matter how agonizing or exhausting it may be the soul is going to stretch to know his Lord. Today are you thirsty and desirous to know God and His ways? Have you taken time to be satisfied in His presence?
CHALLENGE: Come to the streams of living water today and be refreshed in the truths of God’s words! (Dr. Brian Miller – board member)
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 4 When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I have gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday. (2287 “holyday” [chagag] means to walk in procession, to celebrate a pilgrim’s feast, to kee a day or period of time set aside for feasting and joyful celebration; sometimes involving pilgrimage, or hold a festival)
DEVOTION: The LORD wanted the children of Israel to celebrate special occasions together. HE set up their schedule for celebrating during the year with holy days that honored HIM.
So when the children of Israel were together during those special occasions to remember the LORD and HIS blessings toward them it was supposed to be a time of rejoicing in the mercies of the LORD to all HIS people.
We remember that Jesus went to a celebration with Mary and Joseph and stayed behind to question the religious leaders of the time in the Temple. They came back and he told them that HE had to be about HIS Father’s Business.
We have to do the same. David poured out his soul to the LORD in the house of the LORD. We have the opportunity to pour out our soul to the LORD each day in our own homes.
We need to have a devotional life that is pleasing to the LORD. We need to be willing to pour out our soul to the LORD during a time when we have our devotions each day. We need to pour out our soul when we have times of family devotions. We need to be able to pour out our soul at Prayer Meetings in our church.
God wants us to be honest with HIM each time we take the time to talk to HIM whether at home or on the road or in a church. HE wants to hear from us regarding what is going on in our life. HE loves us and HE wants us to share our joy and praise, as well as, our challenges each day.
CHALLENGE: The children of Israel had special times of year when they celebrated in the Temple but they also had times of worship each Saturday. We need to worship the LORD with our praise and with the pouring out our soul to the LORD!
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: 7 “Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of your waterspouts: all your waves and your billows are gone over me.” (“Deep,” 8415 תְּהֹום [tâhowm],deep, depths, deep places, abyss, the deep, sea. 1a deep (of subterranean waters). 1b deep, sea, abysses (of sea). 1c primeval ocean, deep. 1d deep, depth (ofriver). 1e abyss, Sheol. [Strong, J. (2001). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software]).
DEVOTION: This first psalm in the second book of psalms reflects a time of despair in the life of the psalmist. He recalls that his response should be to remember God and to praise Him for the way God has helped him in the past. Yet the despair is real and is threatening to drag him under! The deep waters are a metaphor for the despair that he is going through, and yet he says that God is able to hear him cry out to Him even there.
The idea of the deep originated with the flood, as God opened up the deep waters (Genesis 7:11), when all life was destroyed by the waters except for Noah and his family. Death and the grave are associated with flooding waters, and what the psalmist is likely thinking of. Yet God in His grace reverses this association when He allows the Israelites to cross the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21-22) and again when He allows them to cross the Jordan River (Joshua 3:16). In both cases God acts to restrain the activity of the water, and causes it to form walls on both sides of the people as they cross over. God shows His people that He is present even in the deep and is able to rescue them.
God wants to hear from us no matter where we are. God listened to Noah (Genesis 8) and Jonah (Jonah 2) in the midst of the waters, and answered their prayers. He does not promise to take us away from the deep, but help us through it!
CHALLENGE: Do you think that God cannot hear you right now where you are? There is no pit so deep that God is not deeper still (Corrie Ten Boom). Cry out to God!
(Dr. Marc Wooten – board member)
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 8 Yet the LORD will command HIS lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night HIS song shall be with me, and my prayer to the God of my life. (6680 “command” [tsavah] means to give an order, instruct, to charge someone to do something, to appoint, to lay charge upon, commission, appoint, or ordain)
DEVOTION: We need to have confidence in the LORD that HE will share HIS lovingkindness with us any time of day. HE is never absent from our life. HE is our personal Savior from our sins and HE is there to help us sin less.
We need to sing HIS praises all day long. Our enemy, the devil, wants us to think that the only time that we should praise HIM is during a worship service in church. That is wrong thinking. We need to make sure that we have an attitude of praise every moment of every day and when that is not happening, we need to pray like David that the LORD will restore that attitude in us.
There should be a song on our heart twenty-hour hours a day. We need to realize that HE is with us every moment of every day and when we are going through a hard time we need to turn to HIM and pray for the restoration of our heart of praise.
We need the joy of the LORD at all times. HE will give it to those who are confessed up and living the life that HE wants us to live. We will not be perfect but forgiven for our sins and HE will bless us daily.
CHALLENGE: The joy of the LORD is something we need and should have each day that we live until we see HIM face to face.
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: 11 Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope you in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God. (3444 “health” [y@shuw’ah] means salvation, deliverance, welfare, prosperity, or victory)
DEVOTION: Have you ever visited the ocean? Have you ever gone into the water to have the waves pull you down? The waves are strong. It seems that they have control over your body rather than you do. Life is full of waves.
Life can get anyone down. People let others down. Finances can be bad. Gas prices can go up. It seems sometimes that if we keep our eyes on the world, circumstances get us down. Friends can get you down or at least those you think are friends. Enemies really want to get you down and put you down. David had problems with both. We are going to have problems with both also.
Sometimes we have to speak to ourselves about the state of our inner man. The author of this psalm was talking to himself. The Psalmist was struggling with his relationship with God. He had people wondering where his God was. He was wondering the same thing. Then he remembered that he had nothing to worry about. His God was his hope. Hope for the present and future is found in the LORD. HE will be our side during the storms of life and HE has reserved a place in Heaven for us because our relationship with HIS Son, Jesus Christ.
Our God was the one we would praise because of HIS help and HIS presence in our life. The second chorus changes the ending. It changes from the help of HIS presence to the salvation or victory in his own presence because of the LORD being there in time of need.
Do we realize that in our darkest hours, the LORD is near? HE IS!!! We have VICTORY!!! We have HOPE!!! We should be full of PRAISE!!!
CHALLENGE: Our responsibility is to understand the LORD better each day. We are to worship HIM not a translation or teacher of the Bible. We need to be thirsty!!!
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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)
Prayer for help verse 8
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
House of God verse 4
Voice of joy and praise verse 4, 11
Kept holy day verse 4
Praise verse 5, 11
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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign) verse 1- 6, 8- 11
Living God verse 2
House of God verse 4
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal) verse 8
Lovingkindness verse 8
Song verse 8
Rock verse 9
Praise God verse 11
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)
Land of Jordan verse 6
Hermonites verse 6
Hill Mizar verse 6
Enemy verse 9, 10
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Reproach believers verse 10
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Thirst for God verse 2
Tears verse 3
Voice of joy and praise verse 4, 11
Cast down verse 5, 6, 11
Disquieted verse 5, 11
Hope verse 5, 11
LORD’S presence verse 5
Loving-kindness verse 8
Song verse 8
Prayer verse 8
God of my life verse 8
God my rock verse 9
Health verse 11
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Chief Musician Maschil verse 1
A psalm of the descendants of Korah
Appear before God
Tears are my meat day and night
Question:
Where is your God?
Why are you cast down, O my soul?
Why are you disquieted in me?
Hope in God
Help of HIS countenance
Soul cast down within me
Remember LORD from the land of Jordan
Question: Why have YOU forgotten me?
Question: Why go I mourning because of
the oppression of the enemy?
Enemies daily say to me:
Where is your God?
Question: Why are you cast down O my soul?
Question: Why are you disquieted within me?
Hope you in God
I will praise HIM
God is the health of my countenance
HE is my God
House of God verse 4
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
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QUOTES regarding passage
42:9–11. In his prayer (v. 8) he asked God why he had to continue suffering physically (on bones, see comments on 6:2) and emotionally (going about mourning) under oppression (cf. 43:2). He reminded the Lord that his enemies taunted his faith continually (cf. 42:3). In this way he hoped to motivate the Lord to answer. (Ross, A. P. (1985). Psalms. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 826). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
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The cascades, cataracts, and waves were His and the psalmist had nothing to fear. This reminds us of the night Jesus walked on the water and frightened His disciples, yet He was in full command of the situation (Matt. 14:22–33). God was in command (v. 8; see 33:9; 44:4; 71:3; 91:11), a new day would dawn, and the situation would look different. Like David’s storm experience recorded in Psalm 29, see God on His throne and anticipate the glory and peace after the storm. Believers today remember that the waves of God’s wrath went over Jesus on the cross when He experienced His Calvary “baptism” (Matt. 20:22; Luke 12:50). Meanwhile, God can give us “songs in the night” as we wait for the dawning of a new day (77:4–6; Job 35:10; Matt. 26:30; Acts 16:25). (Wiersbe, W. W. (2004). Be worshipful (1st ed., p. 163). Colorado Springs, CO: Cook Communications Ministries.)
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42:8 The Lord will command His lovingkindness. This statement of confidence interrupts his laments (cf. their continuance in vv. 9, 10), providing a few gracious gulps of divine “air” under the cascading inundations of his trials and tormentors. ( MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Ps 42:8). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
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8. The gloomy prospect begins again to brighten, by a ray of hope shooting through it; and the prophet returneth to his rest and confidence in the mercy of God, determining, not only to give him thanks in the day of prosperity, but, as Paul and Silas afterwards did, to sing his praises at midnight in adversity and affliction. (Horne, G. (1856). A Commentary on the Book of Psalms (p. 166). New York: Robert Carter & Brothers.)
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8 Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and min the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.
Will command, i.e. will effectually procure or confer upon me, as this verb is used, Lev. 25:21; Psal. 7:6, &c. The verb is future, but some render it by the time past, the Lord hath commanded; making this rehearsal of his former experiences of God’s goodness his argument to support himself, and to prevail with God in prayer; which may seem to suit best with the foregoing and following verses. But we must remember that David’s hopes and fears were strangely mixed, and his expressions of them are commonly interwoven in the same Psalm, and sometimes in one and the same verse, as it is here, ver. 5, 11. And therefore there is no necessity of departing from the proper signification of the verb. His loving-kindness, i.e. his blessings, the effects of his loving-kindness, which God is oft said to command, as Deut. 28:8; Psal. 133:3. And in the night; both day and night, i.e. continually. His song shall be with me, i.e. I shall have constant matter of singing and praising God for his loving-kindness. My prayer shall be unto the God; and therefore I will boldly and believingly direct my prayers to him, of whose readiness to hear and help me I have had such ample experience. The God of my life; the giver and preserver of my life from time to time. (Poole, M. (1853). Annotations upon the Holy Bible (Vol. 2, p. 68). New York: Robert Carter and Brothers.)
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Ver. 8. Yet the Lord will command his loving-kindness in the day-time, &c.] Which is a tender affection in God towards his people, springs from his sovereign will and pleasure, is from everlasting, is ever the same, never removes from them, and is better than life; the effects of which are all spiritual blessings, grace, and glory: and this the Lord commands when he sends it forth with power, makes a clear manifestation and home application of it to them; when he commands his covenant, or bestows covenant-blessings on them; when he commands his strength, or gives them strength to bear up under afflictions; when he commands deliverances for Jacob, or works salvation for them; and when he commands blessings temporal and spiritual on them, especially life for evermore; see Psal. 111:9 and 68:29 and 44:4 and 133:3 and this is done in the day-time; either, as some interpret it, in a fit and seasonable time, in God’s appointed time, who has his set time to favour his people, and shew his loving-kindness to them; or openly and publicly, so as themselves and others may see the salvation of the Lord; or continually; for mercy, goodness, and loving-kindness, follow them all the days of their lives; yea, are from everlasting to everlasting: and these words may be read either in the past tense, as some do, yet the Lord hath commanded, &c. and so respect what had been, and relate to the former experiences and manifestations of the love of God, with which the psalmist encourages himself under his present afflictions; or in the future, as in our version; and so they are an expression of faith as to what would be hereafter, that the Lord would appear again, and shew him his face and favour. And in the night his song shall be with me; signifying hereby, that he strongly believed he should have occasion of singing praise to God in the night-season, though he was now in such mournful circumstances: he calls it his song: that is, the Lord’s song; because the matter of it are his loving-kindness, and the blessings springing from it; because the Lord himself is the subject of it; his perfections, his works, his salvation and glory; and because he gives songs in the night, and puts them into the mouths of his people; see Isa. 12:2; Job 35:10 and the psalmist says it would be with him, in his heart, and in his mouth, and be his constant companion wherever he was, lying down, or rising up; and that in the night; either figuratively understood of affliction and distress, out of which he would be delivered, and so be compassed about with songs of deliverance; or literally, it being a time of leisure to call to mind the salvation and mercies of the day, and be thankful for them; see Psal. 77:6 and 119:62; Acts 16:25. And my prayer unto the God of my life; natural, spiritual, and eternal; being the author, giver, and preserver of each; and this is no inconsiderable mercy, to have such a God to pray unto in a time of distress; as well as in a time of salvation, to go to, and make known requests with thanksgiving; which seems to be intended here, since it is joined with a song. Prayer and praise go together, the object of which are not lifeless idols, that cannot save; but the living God, who is a God hearing and answering prayer, and does not despise the prayer of the destitute. The prayer of the psalmist follows. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 3, pp. 704–705). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
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8. “Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime.” Come what may there shall be “a certain secret something” to sweeten all. Lovingkindness is a noble life-belt in a rough sea. The day may darken into a strange and untimely midnight, but the love of God ordained of old to be the portion of the elect, shall be by sovereign decree meted out to them. No day shall ever dawn on an heir of grace and find him altogether forsaken of his Lord: the Lord reigneth, and as a sovereign he will with authority command mercy to be reserved for his chosen. “And in the night.” Both divisions of the day shall be illuminated with special love, and no stress of trial shall prevent it. Our God is God of the nights as well as the days; none shall find his Israel unprotected, be the hour what it may. “His song shall be with me.” Songs of praise for blessings received shall cheer the gloom of night. No music sweeter than this. The belief that we shall yet glorify the Lord for mercy given in extremity is a delightful stay to the soul. Affliction may put out our candle, but if it cannot silence our song we will soon light the candle again. “And my prayer unto the God of my life.” Prayer is yoked with praise. He who is the living God, is the God of our life, from him we derive it, with him in prayer and praise we spend it, to him we devote it, in him we shall perfect it. To be assured that our sighs and songs shall both have free access to our glorious Lord is to have reason for hope in the most deplorable condition. (Spurgeon, C. H. (n.d.). The treasury of David: Psalms 27-57 (Vol. 2, p. 274). London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers.)
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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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Titus 3
Those who believe in God should be careful to maintain good works.
INSIGHT
It is difficult for us to separate our hope of heaven from our good works. We instinctively feel that we must be good to get to heaven. While God certainly wants us to live good lives, none of us can live a life good enough to get to heaven. One sin disqualifies us, and everyone has sinned more than once. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us . . . that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (vv. 5, 7). Salvation is a gift. (Quiet Walk)
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CONFESSING CHRIST
Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. 1 John 4:15
John’s whole case is that you cannot believe that Jesus is the Son of God unless God dwells in you and you in God; that is his argument. “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” And the way in which God dwells in us is by the Holy Spirit. So we can say that the people who do confess that Jesus is the Son of God have the Holy Spirit already within them. Or to put it another way, they cannot believe that Jesus is the Son of God without possessing the Holy Spirit
Now this is a doctrine that is common to the whole of the New Testament. The apostle Paul puts it like this: “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory…. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:7-8, 10).
You see, the whole case can be put like this: Even the princes of this world, the great men of the world, looked at Jesus of Nazareth and saw nothing but a man, a carpenter. They may have regarded Him as a kind of unusual religious genius, but they did not know He was the Lord of glory. Why not? Well, says Paul, because they had not received the Holy Spirit. But you and I, he says to the Corinthians, we understand these things, we believe them. Why? Because God has revealed them to us by His Spirit, the Spirit who searches all things, “yea, the deep things of God.”
A Thought to Ponder: God has revealed “the deep things of God” to us by His Spirit
(From The Love of God, pp. 119-120, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
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Global Conflict Centers on God’s People
“God that made the world…hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.” (Acts 17:24, 26)
The foundation for global conflict lies in God’s promise to Abraham: “I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:2-3). The son of promise (Isaac) and the son of the bondwoman (Ishmael) are at the crux of the issue (Galatians 4:22-31). In eternity’s eyes, all the petty politics and power plays of the nations are “dust of the balance” (Isaiah 40:15).
Anyone familiar with biblical history will know that God dealt with the nations of the world as tools of influence, reward, and punishment to Israel. After Abraham generated the beginnings of Israel’s enemies through Ishmael, and Jacob began another line of enmity through Esau, the stories of the Canaanite conquest under Joshua and the subsequent 400 years of the time of the Judges relate the conflicts that culminated in the united kingdom under Saul, David, and Solomon.
Nearly half of the remaining Old Testament records the efforts by God to deal with Israel and Judah after the civil war begun by Solomon’s son, Rehoboam. That concluded with the Assyrian captivity and disbursement of the northern 10 tribes and the 70-year captivity of Judah under Babylon.
The nearly two millennia from Abraham to the coming of the Messiah have been followed by two millennia of a spiritual “déjà vu” through the church the Lord Jesus started. God’s promise is that both Israel and the church will find satisfaction and success when He returns to finalize and fulfill the promise made to Abraham so long ago.
(HMM III, The Institute for Creation Research)
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It would seem that it is Christ’s own fulfilling of the law that is imputed and then conveyed to us by the Holy Spirit as righteousness, even as it is by Christ’s death on the cross that we are declared righteous. We need Christ’s righteousness for both our justification and our sanctification. …. Reconciliation, in part, happened by the non-imputation of sin to believers. But the other part, which is just as necessary, is the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to them. …. Christ was “made…to be sin (2 Cor. 5:21) in that, as our sacrifice, he bore the full penalty of our sin. (p. 144, GOD in the Whirlwind by David Wells)
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When the Syrians threaten Elisha, they are struck blind.
INSIGHT
We often have no idea what is going on around us in the spiritual realm. Spiritual battles explode before our very eyes, but we neither see them nor hear them (Daniel 10:13). Guardian angels minister to our needs (Hebrews 1:14). We entertain angels “unwittingly” (Hebrews 13:2). How real and alive is the spiritual realm; yet without the Scriptures, we would know little about it. The Syrian army is camped around Dothan, but Elisha is not concerned because an army of the angels of the Lord encircles the horizon. We walk by faith and not by sight. (Quiet Time)
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Without a Friend
Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother far away. PROVERBS 27:10
We’ve never had so many options for connecting with people—mail, email, phone, text-messaging, even Internet video. Yet recent findings reported in the American Sociological Review show that the number of people who claim to have no one to confide in on important matters is up from 10 percent to 25 percent since 1985.
True friendship—what’s happened to it?
Some people, of course, claim to have a multitude of friends. One college student said, “You go on some people’s online profiles, and they say they have a thousand friends. Truth is, they probably don’t even know half of them.”
So these days, in this high-tech, low-touch culture, is genuine friendship even necessary? More specifically, once you’re married and settled as a couple, is there still a great need for you to maintain friendships?
Hopefully, your best friend is the person you’re sharing this devotional moment with. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. But husbands and wives both need at least one close Christian friend of the same sex. It’s also important for you to have at least one other couple you can share with—mutual friends you can turn to for fellowship and accountability.
Barbara and I have a handful of true friends upon whom we frequently lean for counsel, advice and balance. We’ve discussed everything from discipling our children to finances, areas of struggle, managing pressure, and the seasons of life.
As you look at today’s culture of high-tech communication, one of the greatest needs you have is to be connected to some true friends—kindred spirits, followers of Jesus Christ who will tell you what you need to hear—friends who won’t hesitate to weep with you or bring comfort or encouragement (or even correction) in a time of need. (Moments with You Couples Devotional by Dennis and Barbara Rainey)
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