PSALM 43
LORD asked to deliver the Psalmist verse 1
Judge me – O God – and plead my cause against an ungodly nation
O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man
Psalmist asks questions of LORD verse 2
For YOU are the God of my strength
WHY do YOU cast me off?
WHY go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
Psalmist wants to be lead by LORD’S light and truth verse 3
O send out YOUR light and YOUR truth – let them lead me
let them bring me to YOUR holy hill
and to YOUR tabernacles
Psalmist will worship the LORD verse 4
THEN will I go to the altar of God
to God my exceeding joy
yea – to the harp will I praise YOU
O God my God
Chorus of the Psalm verse 5
WHY are you cast down – O my soul?
WHY are you disquieted within me?
HOPE 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 “Vindicate me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!” 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. 1A (Qal). 1A1 to strive. 1A1A physically. 1A1B with words. 1A2 to conduct a case or suit (legal), sue. 1A3 to make complaint. 1A4 to quarrel. 1B (Hiphil) to contend against. James Strong, Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2001).
DEVOTION: Taking courage from the refrain in 42:11, the psalmist now calls upon God: “Vindicate me, O God.” The word for “vindicate” is a legal term, calling for judgment. Next, the psalmist wants God to be his defense attorney: “Plead my cause against an ungodly nation.” The “ungodly nation” is a nation of covenant breakers, namely, the Jews. The parallel line continues: “Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!” The word for “man” may be a collective noun and thus be equivalent to “men.” These enemies are “deceitful and unjust” in their attacks upon the psalmist (42:3; 42:10). (The Preacher’s Commentary Series, 336.)
The Apostle John also called Christ to be the defense attorney in 1 John 2:1. As they men recognized the intolerance of people and systems of government so we need to be prepared to call upon our advocate and attorney to hear and defend us when either the government or Satan himself seeks to accuse or present allegations against us. We have the best defense team in the world!
CHALLENGE: When accusations are presented against you do not be afraid to go to your advocate to represent you! He is as close as a prayer away! (Dr. Brian Miller – board member)
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 2 For YOU are the God of my strength WHY do YOU cast me off? WHY go I mourning because ofthe oppression of the enemy? (4581 “strength” [ma’owz] means fortress, hold, something or someone turned to for assistance or security, protection, a defense, place of refuge, or protection)
DEVOTION: Too often even those who claim Christ as their personal Savior chose to try to fight the devil in their own strength. It doesn’t work but some keep trying.
One of the things that genuine Christians need to learn is to look to the LORD for fighting their battles. HE is stronger than any enemy we face. It is sad to fail the LORD because we are depending on ourselves to win the battle.
We have genuine enemies, just like David did in his time period. Some of the enemies are fellow human beings but they are just being used of the devil to discourage us from trusting in the LORD for victory each day of our lives.
We need to be more like David in turning our battles over to the LORD and watching HIM win the victory. HE is more able to win than we are in all our battles with the enemy.
The world, the flesh and the devil are giving us a hard time and so we need to make sure that we turn them over to the LORD in prayer and watch HIM work.
CHALLENGE: Are we trusting in the LORD or in our own power to defeat our enemies? If so, let’s start trusting the LORD more and ourselves less!
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: 3 O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles. (216 “light” [‘owr] means light of day, light of life, light of instruction, dawn, day-break, or lightning)
DEVOTION: One of the best illustrations I heard many years ago was of a man asking the gaslight on the streets what he was doing. The answer was “knocking holes in the darkness.” The Word of God does just that. For those who want to understand the Word of God and in so doing understand the God of the Bible, they need a flame to be lit in their heart. Once the flame is lit understanding comes and they can serve the LORD with their body, soul and spirit. They can be totally dedicated to the service of the LORD.
This is the finish of the last psalm. There were three stanzas to this prayer. Here the Psalmist is looking to God to send him direction in life. He wants to be lead by the LORD in the right direction. He wants to be lead to the holy hill of the LORD to worship.
These three stanzas move from despair to hope. The human author was in captivity and wanted to get back to the Promised Land. He wanted the LORD to help.
Too often we don’t want the hard way, we would like the easy way of life. The easy way is for those who are on the wrong path. We need to seek direction from the LORD. HIS direction is manifested in HIS Word. As we study the Word we receive more leading in the right direction. Follow the leading of the LORD. Is HIS Word leading us to realize that HE is our exceeding JOY?
The other word that is used in this verse is TRUTH. The Word of God is truth. There is absolute truth in our world. It is found in the Word of God. God has a standard that we need to follow. The first message of truth is the GOSPEL. Jesus died on the cross for our sins. HE was buried and HE rose on the THIRD DAY. We can serve a risen Savior. That is truth. Let the LORD lead you in the right direction.
CHALLENGE: When we feel cast down it is time to look to the LORD for guidance. Hope is promised in a world that seems hopeless. The LORD is still on the throne, no matter what the television news says to discourage us.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 4 THEN will I go to the altar of God to God my exceeding joy yea – to the harp will I praise YOU, O God my God (1523 “exceeding joy” [giyl] means rejoicing, the feeling of great joy or pleasure, to leap, gladness, or to shout in exultation)
DEVOTION: One of the characteristics of genuine believer is to have the “joy of the LORD” at all times. That doesn’t mean that we will always have a smile on our face but we will have one in our heart and most of the time show it on our face.
Here we find a musician making a song for worship in the Temple that will give God the glory and produce rejoicing in our hearts and voices.
We need to be individuals who have trusted Jesus as our personal Savior and realize that we have something to smile about and not only that but we can show joy in our voice and in our actions, so that, others see that having the LORD produces a lasting joy that no one or nothing can take from us.
Too often we look at our circumstances instead of the LORD. It is way too easy to have a long face rather than a joyful face.
What do people see in our face when they meet us? Our prayer should be that they can see the “joy of the LORD” most of the time. This should especially be true during a worship service in church.
Too often there are very long faces in church when people are trying to worship the LORD. HE wants us to have joy!!
CHALLENGE: Make sure you show the joy of the LORD today to someone who looks like they have sucked sour lemons for a while!
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:5 “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, Who is the health of my countenance, and my God.” (“Cast down,” 7817 שָׁחַח [shachach], 1 to bow, crouch, bow down, be bowed down. 1a (Qal). 1a1 to be bowed down, be prostrated, be humbled. 1a2 to bow (in homage). 1a3 to bow (of mourner). 1a4 to crouch (of wild beast in lair). 1b (Niphal) to be prostrated, be humbled, be reduced, be weakened, proceed humbly, be bowed down. 1c (Hiphil) to prostrate, lay low, bow down. 1d (Hithpolel) to be cast down, be despairing. [Strong, J. (2001). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software].
DEVOTION: This is another psalm of lament, where the psalmist is admitting to a time when he feels defeated before God. There are times in life when we all struggle in our walk with God, because we feel as though He is far off and we are left alone. This feeling of despair may be the result of our feeling inadequate for the situation we find ourselves in, or may be the consequence of sensing our separation from God as a result of our sins. It can also be rooted in our own feelings of inferiority, as we compare ourselves with others who are better off than we are. We have the feeling that our prayers are “bouncing off of heaven” rather than being answered by God.
The psalmist points out that the key is to take our focus off of ourselves and transfer it back to God. Rather than have a pity party, we need to refocus on God and His greatness. It is exactly in such times that we need to consciously praise God, both for who He is and for what He has done in the past.
When we find ourselves in times of despair, we frequently need the mentoring of another Christian believer to help us regain perspective. God does not intend for any of us to go through the Christian life alone, and we need the fellowship of other believers to strengthen and encourage us. Having a godly friend who will listen to us and empathize helps us redirect our thoughts toward God. This psalm then is a shared psalm, a song to be sng among the community of believers so that they would be reminded of their need for one another.
CHALLENGE: Are you in need of encouragement today? If so, spend time with God, thanking Him for all He has done in your life. Is God calling you to be an encouragement to someone else today? If so, give that person a call or a visit and let them know that you are thinking of them. (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)
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)
Plead verse 1
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
Holy hill verse 3
Tabernacles verse 3
Altar of God verse 4
Harp verse 4
Praise verse 4, 5
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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, 2, 4, 5
Altar of God verse 4
God is exceeding joy to believer verse 4
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)
Ungodly nation verse 1
Enemy verse 2
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Ungodly verse 1
Deceitful verse 1
Unjust verse 1
Enemy verse 2
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Judge verse 1
Plead verse 1
Deliverance verse 1
Strength verse 2
Cast off verse 2
Mourning verse 2
Light verse 3
Truth verse 3
Lead verse 3
Worship verse 3, 4
Joy verse 4
Praise verse 4, 5
Cast down verse 5
Disquieted verse 5
Hope verse 5
Health verse 5
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Chief Musician : Maschil verse 1- 5
Wants to be judged of God
Wants God to plead his cause
Wants God to deliver him
Strength comes from God
Oppression of enemy
Wants LORD to send light and truth
Praise God
Soul cast down
Disquieted
Hope in God
Praise God
God health of his countenance
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
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QUOTES regarding passage
So, the chief refrain (5), at its third appearance, can take up the brave words of 42:5, 11 with a different tone, confident rather than doggedly defiant. Homeward bound or not, the poet can praise God as his ‘exceeding joy’ and—not merely his help, which is too weak a word—his ‘salvation’. Outwardly nothing has changed: but he has won through. (Kidner, D. (1973). Psalms 1–72: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 15, p. 185). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
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As his hope, his never-failing hope, v. 5. Here, as before, David quarrels with himself for his dejections and despondencies, and owns he did ill to yield to them, and that he had no reason to do so: Why art thou cast down, O my soul? He then quiets himself in the believing expectation he had of giving glory to God (Hope in God, for I shall yet praise him) and of enjoying glory with God: He is the health of my countenance and my God. That is what we cannot too much insist upon, for it is what we must live and die by. (Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 805). Peabody: Hendrickson.)
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43:5. The refrain from Psalm 42:5, 11 is repeated here. The psalmist found encouragement for his downcast and disturbed soul in the hope (confidence) that he would yet praise the Lord. (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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Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance, and my God.” The word “help” can be translated “health.” When by faith we see the face of God smiling upon us (Num. 6:22–27), our own countenance brightens up and becomes spiritually healthy. We know God is for us, that God will set us free and guide us to His holy city, where we shall worship Him and sing His praises. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning” (30:5, nkjv). (Wiersbe, W. W. (2004). Be worshipful (1st ed., pp. 164–165). Colorado Springs, CO: Cook Communications Ministries.)
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5. “Why art thou cast down, O my soul?” If God be thine, why this dejection? If he uplifts thee, why art thou so near the ground? The dew of love is falling, O withering heart, revive. “And why art thou disquieted within me?” What cause is there to break the repose of thy heart? Wherefore indulge unreasonable sorrows, which benefit no one, fret thyself, and dishonour thy God? Why overburden thyself with foregodings? “Hope in God,” or “wail for God.” There is need of patience, but there is ground for hope. The Lord cannot but avenge his own elect. The heavenly Father will not stand by and see his children trampled on for ever; as surely as the sun is in the heavens, light must arise for the people of God, though for awhile they may walk in darkness. Why, then, should we not he encouraged, and lift up our head with comfortable hope? “For I shall yet praise him.” Times of complaint will soon end, and seasons of praise will begin. Come, my heart, look out of the window, borrow the telescopic glass, forecast a little, and sweeten thy chamber with sprigs of the sweet herb of hope. “Who is the health of my countenance, and my God.” My God will clear the furrows from my brow, and the tear marks from my cheek; therefore will I lift up my head and smile in the face of the storm. The Psalm has a blessed ending, such as we would fain imitate when death puts an end to our mortal existence. (Spurgeon, C. H. (n.d.). The treasury of David: Psalms 27-57 (Vol. 2, p. 294). 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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Paul urges Philemon to have mercy on his runaway slave, Onesimus, who has become a Christian.
INSIGHT
If anyone is a servant of Christ, he cannot be a tyrant to men. Jesus taught forgiveness, compassion, and gentlenessÑnot harshness, anger, and retribution. Paul urges Philemon to forgive, receive, and restore his runaway slave, Onesimus, as a brother in Christ, now that he has become a Christian. The fact that this letter has been preserved indicates Philemon’s favorable response. Although we do not have slaves today, our employees, co-workers, associates, and neighbors deserve respect from us. Service to Christ requires a forgiving spirit. (Quiet Walk)
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THE APOSTOLIC WITNESS
And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:14-16
The apostolic witness is most important. What is it? John, in effect is putting it like this: “The important thing is to know God. But how can I know God? ‘No man hath seen God at any time.’ But we have seen and do testify that Jesus is the Son of God.” That is the statement.
Notice how he puts it. He had not had a vision. What then? Thank God, “we have seen.” He said it all in his introduction: “That which…we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life…That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you,” said John. No man has seen God, but we have seen Jesus, and Jesus said, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (See John 14:9).
In other words, the apostolic vision on which my faith is grounded is this: It is a belief in that which the apostles tell us they saw, and the explanation of their understanding of what they saw is found in the four Gospels. The statements in the Gospels are not simply objective statements; they are statements plus interpretation, and at long last modern man has come back to see that. They used to contrast John with Matthew, Mark, and Luke. They said that John preached, but that Matthew, Mark, and Luke just gave the facts. But they now have to admit that what all four wrote was facts plus interpretation. Like John, the men who wrote the first three Gospels believed and understood that Jesus is the Son of God and the Savior of the world. They saw and testified; in other words, they saw, and they expounded.
A Thought to Ponder
The explanation of the apostles’ understanding of what they saw is found in the four Gospels. (From The Love of God, p. 125, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
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The Danger of Willful Sin
“Because he hath despised the word of the LORD, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.” (Numbers 15:31)
Under the Mosaic law, there was ample provision for forgiveness of sins committed unintentionally. “If any soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering. And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly…and it shall be forgiven him” (Numbers 15:27-28). However, as in our text, it was altogether different for one who deliberately disobeyed God’s law. One who would so despise God’s commandment was to be put to death.
In this Christian dispensation, many would say that this harshness of God’s law has been replaced by His love. There is abundant pardon for all, since Jesus died for all our sins. Now all we need is to confess our sins and He will forgive us (1 John 1:9). But, “if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins…He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God?” (Hebrews 10:26, 28-29).
Even assuming this warning applies specifically only to those who have willfully renounced faith in Christ, the question still remains whether one with true saving faith will willfully sin against the known will of God as revealed in His Word. “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4). Only God knows the heart, but those “Christians” who deliberately reject and disobey His Word should at least “examine [them]selves, whether [they] be in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5). (HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)
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True Worshipers
True worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth. John 4:23
She finally had the chance to visit the church. Inside, in the deepest part of the basement, she reached the small cave or grotto. Candles filled the narrow space and hanging lamps illuminated a corner of the floor. There it was—a fourteen-pointed silver star, covering a raised bit of the marble floor. She was in Bethlehem’s Grotto of the Nativity—the place marking the spot where according to tradition Christ was born. Yet the writer, Annie Dillard, felt less than impressed, realizing God was much bigger than that spot.
Still, such places have always held great significance in our faith stories. Another such place is mentioned in the conversation between Jesus and the woman at the well—the mountain where her “ancestors worshiped” (John 4:20), referring to Mount Gerizim (see Deuteronomy 11:29). It was sacred to the Samaritans, who contrasted it to the Jewish insistence that Jerusalem was where true worship occurred (v. 20). However, Jesus declared the time had arrived when worship was no longer specific to a place, but a Person: “the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth” (v. 23). The woman declared her faith in the Messiah, but she didn’t realize she was talking to Him. “Then Jesus declared, ‘I, the one speaking to you—I am he’ ” (v. 26).
God isn’t limited to any mountain or physical space. He’s present with us everywhere. The true pilgrimage we make each day is to approach His throne as we boldly say, “Our Father,” and He is there. (By John Blasé, Our Daily Bread)
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Daily Hope
Today’s Scripture
Isaiah 53
Sometimes that which is old and precious in our sight is suddenly removed and we grieve over the loss and destruction that occurs. This happened in April of 2019 when the Notre Dame Church in Paris suddenly became susceptible to destructive fires and the 850-year-old church suffered immense damage. The beauty and magnificence of the building was consumed in flames and the world mourned its devastation.
Israel certainly had experienced many times in their history when suddenly they had been confronted with broken dreams and forced relocations. For example, Abraham was told by God to move away from family and to go where He wanted him to go; Joseph deceitfully and violently was sold into captivity; the exodus from Egypt in the middle of the night followed by the wanderings of the people in the desert for forty years and finally, the captivity into Assyria and Babylon. As we look back, we see God had a plan and purpose for each of these events.
Isaiah prophesied that the Savior would be a man acquainted with grief, rejected and despised (v. 3). Even though He sought to instruct and lead people to His heavenly Father, they rebuffed and wounded Him in their denunciation of His love. His bruising, stripes and bearing of man’s sins were all part of what had to happen so that we could be restored to fellowship with Him.
Freda Hanbury Allen writes, “The love of God a prefect plan is planning now for thee, it holds “a future and a hope,” which yet thou canst not see. Though for a season, in the dark, He asks thy perfect trust, E’en that thou in surrender “lay Thy treasure in the dust,” yet He is planning all the while, unerringly He guides the life of him, who holds His will most dear than all besides.”
This week as you celebrate Thanksgiving consider that God has a plan that may include some pain, sorrow or uncertainties but He is working it for good. “I know the plans which I am planning for you, plans of welfare and not of calamity, to give you a future and a hope” Jeremiah 29:11.
With an Expectant Hope, Pastor Miller
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Live for others while on earth you live
Give for others what you have to give;
Flowers do not hoard their sweet perfume,
Nor withhold the glory of their bloom.
Sunshine helps to melt the winter’s snow,
Timely rains compel the grain to grow;
So a smile can banish grief and care,
And a kindly word encourage prayer.
William Runyan
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Israel is delivered from Aram.
INSIGHT
While we must be careful about “spiritualizing” what we read in the Old Testament and making it say something it doesn’t, there is at least an excellent illustration in the defeat of the Aramean army relating to the message of the Gospel today. The lepers are lost and starving and come upon abundance adequate for their own welfare as well as the welfare of all others. They realize it is wrong to keep it to themselves, and they go out to tell others. The same is true of the Gospel of Christ. Those of us who have had our needs met by Him cannot be satisfied keeping it to ourselves — we must tell others. (Quiet Walk)
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THE PRAYER FOR POWER
Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.
Exodus 33:13-15
In Moses: prayer he prayed for power. God said to Moses, “My presence shall go with thee, and I will give you rest.” And Moses said to God, “If thy presence, go not with me, carry us not up hence.”
This prayer for power is always in evidence in the history of the church prior to revival. This is the end of which the intercessors always become most conscious, and there are many reasons for this. [Moses’ prayer included] the Israelites “awareness of the magnitude of the problem confronting them, the strength of the enemy that they were going to meet, the powerful nations in the land of promise” the Amalekites and others; and the tremendous task of occupying a land. Here they were, just a kind of nomadic people traveling along like this, and they were going to settle a land and conquer it and make their homes there. And suddenly they became aware of the immensity of the problem.
I have to emphasize this because to me there is nothing so tragic about our position today as the obvious failure of so many people to realize the magnitude of the problem that confronts us. If we only realized the magnitude of the problem, there would be no need to urge prayer for revival. But our eyes seem to be shut. “Everything is going well,” we say. “Look at the reports. Marvelous. Look at the activities. Is all not well?”
A Thought to Ponder: Prayer for power is always in evidence in the history of the church prior to revival. (From Revival, p.180, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
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He That Is Spiritual
“But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.” (1 Corinthians 2:15)
The word rendered “spiritual” is the Greek word pneumatikos, from which theologians have coined the term “pneumatology,” the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Thus, a “spiritual” person is one who is not only born again spiritually through faith in Christ and the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, but also tries diligently to follow the leading of the indwelling Spirit and to understand and obey the precepts of the Bible inspired by Him.
A spiritual person will have “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16), able to judge all things by spiritual standards and biblical revelation. He or she will “walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit,” knowing that “to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:4, 6). As such, spiritual believers prayerfully make decisions seeking God’s will; they are “led by the Spirit of God” (Romans 8:14). And since they “walk in the Spirit,” they “shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).
They will often and repeatedly be “filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18) for Christian service. Furthermore, they will manifest “the fruit of the Spirit” in their lives and personalities—that is, “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22-23).
Yet, while “he that is spiritual” is thereby able to discern and evaluate all things by such divine standards, he will find himself often misunderstood by unsaved relatives and acquaintances, for “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: . . . because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).
Nevertheless, “he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Galatians 6:8). (HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)
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