Psalm 95
Sing praise to the LORD verse 1- 2
O come – let us sing unto the LORD
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation
let us come before HIS presence with thanksgiving
and make a joyful noise unto HIM with psalms
Reason to sing praises to the LORD verse 3- 5
For the LORD is a great God – and a great King above all gods
in HIS hand are the deep places of the earth
the strength of the hills is HIS also
the sea is HIS – and HE made it
and HIS hands formed the dry ground
Worship the LORD by listening to HIM verse 6- 11
O come – worship and bow down
let us kneel before the LORD our maker
for HE is our God
and we are the people of HIS pasture
and the sheep of HIS hand
Today if you will hear HIS voice – harden not your heart
as in the provocation
and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness
when your fathers tempted ME – proved ME
and saw MY work
forty years long was I grieved with this generation
and said – It is a people that do err in their heart
and they have not know MY ways
to whom I swore in MY wrath that
they should not enter into MY rest
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 1 O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. (7321 “make a joyful noise” [ruwa‘] means to split the ears, shout, blow an alarm, cry aloud, make a joyful noise, shout for joy, or triumph.)
DEVOTION: I like to sing but my singing is a shout of joy that is off key. I can tell when music is not right but not like my son-in-law who is music director at his church. He knew right away what was wrong with the praise team. I knew something was wrong but he put his finger on it.
The LORD wants us to praise HIM whether our voice is good or bad. We are to let the world know that we serve a God who wants us to sing. We serve a God who wants us to express thanksgiving. We serve a great God.
Our God created the world and all that was in it in six days. HE created man and woman. HE married one man to one woman to start the human race. Our responsibility is to worship HIM. We are to kneel down before HIM.
The children of Israel were in the wilderness for forty years because the failed the test the LORD sent their way. They tempted or tested God by murmuring and complaining. They proved HIM. And they saw HIS work but still didn’t follow HIM. Their judgment was that they would not enter into HIS rest.
When we make a shout for joy because we are grateful for our great salvation, we need to split others ears. The world should hear how glad we are that we are followers of the LORD. The psalmist wants the people to worship the LORD with this kind of enthusiasm. He commands them to realize that the LORD has given them blessings to shout about.
HE is their King. HE is their God. HE is their LORD. They are HIS people. They are HIS sheep. With all this in mind, they would worship with their whole heart.
When we enter the church to sing praises to the LORD do we see this kind of enthusiasm? Should we see this kind of enthusiasm? Do we manifest this type of enthusiasm? The answer should be YES!!!! Why don’t we? The reason is given in the psalm as well – an erring heart. There are many people coming to worship the LORD who are not prepared to give their all to the LORD. It is sad but true. We can account for ourselves alone. How is our singing? Do we realize all that the LORD has done for us? HE is our Rock!!!!
CHALLENGE: Our goal should be to praise the LORD daily with our singing. We should especially manifest our love for the LORD during worship services in our local church.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 6 “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the
LORD our Maker.” The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982). Bow down – 3766 כָּרַע [karaʿ /kaw·rah/] v. A primitive root; TWOT 1044; GK 4156; 36 occurrences; AV translates as “bow” 14 times, “… down” 12 times, “fell” twice, “subdued” twice, “brought low” once, “couched” once, “feeble” once, “kneeling” once, and “very” once. 1 to bend, kneel, bow, bow down, sink down to one’s knees, kneel down to rest (of animals), kneel in reverence. 1A (Qal). 1A1 to bow. 1A2 to bow down, crouch. 1A3 to bow down over. 1A4 to tilt, lean. 1B (Hiphil) to cause to bow. James Strong, Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2001).
DEVOTION: How do you worship? The psalmist as he concludes this first section of Psalm 95 calls for the people to worship and he exhorts them to bow down and to kneel before the Lord! That is a strange act for many Protestant believers, and yet it should not be all that peculiar. If we step into the presence of a king or royal person it has always been the proper etiquette to kneel, curtsy or bow. If Jesus is truly King of Kings and Lord of Lords why not bow in humble adoration to the Most Holy One? As you worship the Lord during this Passion Week may you bow down in a humble, reflective attitude whether it be in posture or in the heart.
CHALLENGE: In the midst of preparing for Easter celebrations take time to bow before the Lord who provided salvation to all who call upon His name! (Dr. Brian Miller –board member)
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: 7 For HE is our God; and we are the people of HIS pasture, and the sheep of HIS hand. Today if you will hear HIS voice. (3117 “Today” [yowm] means daily, day, daylight, heat, a unit of time from sunset until the next sunset)
DEVOTION: This Psalm is one that praises the LORD for all HE has done for HIS people who were the children of Israel in the Old Testament. They had the responsibility to worship HIM on a regular basis. They chose in the wilderness not to follow HIS instructions and spent forty years wandering because of their lack of obedience.
One of key elements in our worship of the LORD is that HE is the CREATOR of the universe. Everything was created for HIS glory. We exist for HIS glory if we are true followers of HIM. HE has never left HIS creation in the hands of humans. HE is still in control.
We should be able to claim the same testimony of the author of this Psalm. HE is our God. We are HIS people. We are in HIS pasture. We are HIS sheep.
So we need to be willing to hear him when HE speaks through HIS Word to us on a daily basis. Each day we can hear HIM speak if we are willing to listen. Too often even believers don’t take the time to spend with HIM to listen to what HE has to say to us each day through HIS Word, the Bible.
CHALLENGE: What did God have to say to you today through the reading of HIS Word? Are you and I listening?
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness. (4808 “provocation” [mariybah] means Meribah (a fountain flowing from a rock in the desert of Sin on the Heroopolitan gulf, strife, contention, quarrel, or provocation)
DEVOTION: It is thought that verses 8-11 show a change of speaker. Also, it is thought that the verses should be in quotation marks as it is the comment of God.
This is the place where the children of Israel were not happy with what the LORD was doing with them because of their disobedience. They looked at all the problems regarding the entering of the Promised Land. They looked at the size of the people. They looked at the walls of the cities. They looked at all the things that were scary regarding the promised land.
We are not to look at those things like the children of Israel did but to look at the LORD and trust HIM to get us through anything that HE allows in our life. HE is able to defeat any foe whether big or small.
HE wanted the children of Israel to trust HIM but they only murmured and complained and HE told them that their children were going to enter and not them. HE didn’t like their attitude.
HE doesn’t like our attitude if we doubt HIS ability to give us victory in trying circumstances. HE wants us to trust HIM and allow HIM to lead us in the right direction and trust HIM to give us the victory.
Our battles here on the earth are real each day. They might be small battles but they are still battles and we need to turn them over to the LORD and not complain if they look too big for us.
CHALLEGE: God wants us to trust HIM in the small battles as well as the big ones. How are you doing with your battles each day? Are you trusting HIM and turning them over to HIM?
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: 10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known MY ways. (5354 “grieved” [naqat] means to loathe, feel a loathing, to find repugnant, or to feel disgust)
DEVOTION: Can you image God feeling disgust with the children of Israel. HE had done great things for them. HE had shown HIS power in the land of Egypt. HE had shown HIS power in the crossing of the Red Sea. HE had provided for them HE had promised them the land they were going to. HE had showed HIS power to it many times but they still didn’t believe HE was able to do what HE said HE would.
So, we find a whole generation wandering in the wilderness instead of in the land of Promise that was filled with milk and honey and other good things for them. It was a lack of trust. They were so long worshiping false gods that they didn’t trust the True God of the universe.
We say to ourselves we would never do that and yet we do. Not on the same scale but we are individuals who don’t trust the LORD to take care of all our needs. We think that we have to do it ourselves and at times ask for HIS help.
This is a wrong attitude toward God. HE wants us to bring EVERY NEED to HIM in prayer and watch HIM work. HE will show us what we need to do and what we need to make sure that we are following HIS lead in our life.
HE wants to work together with HIS people. HE wants to show them what HE expects of us. We are to be faithful and HE will honor that in our life.
Are we making the LORD sad with our actions today? Are we allowing HIM to lead us in the direction HE wants us to go?
CHALLENGE: Let us not have an attitude that we can do a better job than the LORD. Let us not think that we can move ahead of the LORD. Our responsibility is to trust in the LORD with all our heart, soul and body each day.
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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
Sing verse 1
Joyful noise verse 1, 2
Thanksgiving verse 2
Psalms verse 2
Worship verse 6
Bow down verse 6
Kneel verse 6
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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, 3, 6
Rock of our salvation verse 1
God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign) verse 3, 7
LORD is a great God verse 3
King verse 3
Creator and Owner of verse 4, 5
deep places and hills
sea and dry land
LORD our maker verse 6
Hear HIS voice verse 7
Tempted by Israel to prove HIMSELF verse 9
Wrath of 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)
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
False gods verse 3
Hardened hearts verse 8
Provocation verse 8
Day of temptation verse 8
Tempting God verse 9
Grieve God verse 10
Err in the heart verse 10
Not knowing God’s ways verse 10
No rest verse 11
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins
Joyful noise verse 1, 2
Salvation verse 1
Thanksgiving verse 2
Worship verse 6
Kneel verse 6
Sheep verse 7
Hear HIS voice verse 7
Rest verse 11
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
People of HIS pasture verse 7
Sheep of HIS hand verse 7
Fathers verse 9
Tempted God verse 9
Proved God verse 9
Saw the work of God verse 9
Forty years in wilderness verse 10
Not enter the promised land verse 11
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
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DONATIONS:
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QUOTES regarding passage
From primitive times the Christian church has widely used this psalm (known as the Venite, from the Latin for ‘O come’) as a call and guide to worship. Its austere conclusion balances the exuberant opening with the same realism as that of the prophets with their call to match fine gestures with fine deeds. This abrupt change of tone led Wellhausen and others to analyse the psalm into two unrelated fragments; but most recent scholars see it as a unity, perhaps composed for the Feast of Tabernacles, when God’s people re-lived, in token, their time of encampment in the wilderness. Its closest companion is Psalm 81, where again the voice of God breaks in, presumably through a priestly or prophetic singer, to challenge Israel with the claims of the covenant.
But Hebrews 3:7–4:13, expounding our psalm, forbids us to confine its thrust to Israel. The ‘Today’ of which it speaks is this very moment; the ‘you’ is none other than ourselves, and the promised ‘rest’ is not Canaan but salvation.
The lxx ascribes the psalm to David, but here it outruns the Hebrew text, which leaves it anonymous like its immediate companions. Hebrews 4:7 quotes it as the word of God ‘in David’ (not ‘through David’, which is rsv’s interpretation), but this need mean no more than ‘in the Psalter’.25 (Kidner, D. (1975). Psalms 73–150: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 16, pp. 375–376). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
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95:3–5. God is worthy of the joyful praise mentioned in verses 1–2 because of His majesty. He is the great King (cf. 98:6; 99:4; and comments on 5:2) over all gods. Mentioning these gods (idols) does not acknowledge their reality. It is a statement of God’s sovereignty and superiority over every force, real and imagined. Everything in Creation—including things the pagans venerated as gods—the Lord made, and therefore He has power over it all. (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. 862). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
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95:3 a great King above all gods. This is a poetic way of denying the existence of other gods (cf. 96:5), which existed only as statues, not persons (cf. Jer 10:1–10). (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Ps 95:3). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
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7. For he is our God. Not only the God whom we worship as the true God, but One who has revealed himself to us as our God. We worship him as God—as entitled to praise and adoration because he is the true God; we worship him also as sustaining the relation of God to us, or because we recognize him as our God, and because he has manifested himself as ours.
And we are the people of his pasture. Whom he has recognized as his flock; to whom he sustains the relation of shepherd; who feeds and protects us as the shepherd does his flock. See Notes on Ps. 79:13; comp. Ps. 23:1–3.
And the sheep of his hand. The flock that is guided and fed by his hand.
To day if ye will hear his voice. His voice calling you; commanding you; inviting you; encouraging you. See this passage explained in the Notes on Heb. 3:7–11. The word to-day here means the present time; now. The idea is, that the purpose to obey should not be deferred till to-morrow; should not be put off to the future. The commands of God should be obeyed at once; the purpose should be executed immediately. All God’s commands relate to the present. He gives us none for the future; and a true purpose to obey God exists only where there is a willingness to obey now,—to-day;—and can exist only then. A purpose to repent at some future time, to give up the world at some future time, to embrace the Gospel at some future time, is no obedience,—for there is no such command addressed to us. A resolution to put off repentance and faith, to defer attention to religion till some future time, is real disobedience,—and often the worst form of disobedience,—for it is directly in the face of the command of God. “If ye will hear.” That is, If there is a disposition or willingness to obey his voice at all; or, to listen to his commands. See Notes on Heb. 3:7. (Barnes, A. (1870–1872). Notes on the Old Testament: Psalms (Vol. 3, pp. 38–39). London: Blackie & Son.)
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7. “For he is our God.” Here is the master reason for worship. Jehovah has entered into covenant with us, and from all the world beside has chosen us to be his own elect. If others refuse him homage, we at least will render it cheerfully. He is ours, and our God; ours, therefore will we love him; our God, therefore will we worship him. Happy is that man who can sincerely believe that this sentence is true in reference to himself. “And we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.” As he belongs to us, so do we belong to him. “My Beloved is mine, and I am his.” And we are his as the people whom he daily feeds and protects. Our pastures are not ours, but his; we draw all our supplies from his stores. We are his, even as sheep belong to the shepherd, and his hand is our rule, our guidance, our government, our succour, our source of supply. Israel was led through the desert, and we are led through this life by “that great Shepherd of the sheep.” The hand which cleft the sea and brought water from the rock is still with us, working equal wonders. Can we refuse to “worship and bow down” when we clearly see that “this God is our God for ever and ever, and will be our guide, even unto death”?
But what is this warning which follows? Alas, it was sorrowfully needed by the Lord’s ancient people, and is not one whit the less required by ourselves. The favoured nation grew deaf to their Lord’s command, and proved not to be truly his sheep, of whom it is written, “My sheep hear my voice”: will this turn out to be our character also? God forbid. “To day if ye will hear his voice.” Dreadful “if.” Many would not hear, they put off the claims of love, and provoked their God. “To-day,” in the hour of grace, in the day of mercy, we are tried as to whether we have an ear for the voice of our Creator. Nothing is said of to-morrow, “he limiteth a certain day,” he presses for immediate attention, for our own sakes he asks instantaneous obedience. Shall we yield it? The Holy Ghost saith “To-day,” will we grieve him by delay? (Spurgeon, C. H. (2009). The treasury of David: Psalms 88-110 (Vol. 4, pp. 166–167). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.)
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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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From Cher Elliott (NY): WAKE UP AMERICA
There was a chemistry professor in a large college that had some exchange students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab, the professor noticed one young man, an exchange student, who kept rubbing his back and stretching as if his back hurt. The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country’s government and install a new communist regime.
In the midst of his story, he looked at the professor and asked a strange question. He asked: Do you know how to catch wild pigs?
The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line.
The young man said that it was no joke. You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come every day to eat the free corn.
When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming.
When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence.
They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side.
The pigs, which are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat that free corn again.
You then slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd. Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom.
They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity.
The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening in America.
The government keeps pushing us toward Communism/Socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tax exemptions, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs, etc. while we continually lose our freedoms, just a little at a time.
One should always remember two truths: There is no such thing as a free lunch, and you can never hire someone to provide a service for you cheaper than you can do it yourself.
If you see that all of this wonderful government “help” is a problem confronting the future of democracy in America, you might want to send this on to your friends. If you think the free ride is essential to your way of life, then you will probably delete this email. But, God help us all when the gate slams shut!
Quote for today:
“The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a living are now outnumbered by those who vote for a living.”
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A SEED OF LIFE
Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:3
The change in my disposition does not mean that I have a greater intellect now than I had before. No, I have exactly the same intellect, the same mind. But because the disposition governing it is changed, my mind is operating in a different realm and in a different way, and it seems to be a new mind. And it is exactly the same with the feelings. A man who used to hate the Gospel now loves it. A woman who hated the Lord Jesus Christ now loves Him. And likewise with the will: The will earlier resisted, it was obstinate and rebellious; but now it desires, it is anxious, it is concerned about the Gospel.
The next thing that we say is that it is a change that is instantaneous. Now do you see the importance of differentiating between generation and coming to birth? Generation, by definition, is always an instantaneous act. There is a moment, a flash, in which the germ of life enters, impregnates; that is one instantaneous action. In other words, there are no intermediate stages in regeneration. Life is either implanted or it is not; it cannot be partly implanted. It is not gradual. When I say that it is instantaneous, I am not referring to our consciousness of it, but to the thing itself, as it is done by God. The consciousness, of course, comes into the realm of time, whereas this act of germination is timeless, and that is why it is immediate.
So the next thing is that generation, the implanting of this seed of life and the change of the disposition, happens in the subconscious, or, if you prefer, in the unconscious. Our Lord explained that fully to Nicodemus (John 3). It is a secret, inscrutable operation that cannot be directly perceived by us; indeed, we cannot even fully understand it. The first thing we know about it is that it has happened, because we are conscious of something different, but that means that we do not understand it and that we really cannot arrive at its secret.
A Thought to Ponder
The will earlier resisted, it was obstinate and rebellious;
but now it is concerned about the Gospel.
(From God the Holy Spirit, p. 81, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
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Lot’s Fateful Choice
“And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere….Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.” (Genesis 13:10-11)
Some otherwise righteous folks are unable to handle wealth. Lot and Abram had become so wealthy “that they could not dwell together” (Genesis 13:6), and Lot fell into the classic temptation—loving “all that is in the world” (1 John 2:16).
Beginning by pitching “his tent toward Sodom” (Genesis 13:12), Lot later “dwelt in Sodom, and his goods” (Genesis 14:12). And even though he was “vexed” by the “filthy” behavior of those with whom he was living (2 Peter 2:7-8), Lot finally “sat in the gate of Sodom”—a Hebrew idiom for holding a political place of power in the city (Genesis 19:1).
We are told that Lot was a just and righteous man (2 Peter 2:7-8). But ungodly choices always produce tragic results. When the angels arrived to bring God’s judgment, his children had intermarried with Sodomites and had been lost (Genesis 19:12-14). His wife wouldn’t leave (Genesis 19:26), and his wealth was destroyed with the destruction of the cities.
Lot’s reputation and eternal place in Kingdom history are equally tragic. Although rescued by the angels, his legacy is “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32). Although granted his wish to live in a “little” city (Genesis 19:20), his daughters corrupted themselves with him, and the pagan nations of Moab and Ammon were the result (Genesis 19:30-38). Although we will see Lot in heaven, he became the epitome of one whose works are “burned,” and he is saved, “yet so as by fire” (1 Corinthians 3:13-15). Even small ungodly choices can cause us to lose “a full reward” (2 John 1:8).
(HMM III, The Institute for Creation Research)
Genesis 28
Jacob dreams of angels and heaven.
INSIGHT
Jacob’s dream — in which he sees the angels ascending and descending the ladder to heaven — seems to be a turning point in his life. It appears to be the point at which he receives a personal relationship with the Lord. Jacob’s life after this encounter was not flawless. But God was able to use him in a central role to fulfill ancient promises.
So, too, we must have a personal relationship with God through Jesus, His Son, and our Savior, before we can experience the work of God in us and through us. Do you know Jesus personally? If not, why not receive Him as your Savior and Lord now? (Quiet Walk)
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God sends a message of hope and restoration to Israel.
INSIGHT
Through the prophets, God has been warning Judah for many years to turn from idolatry to serve Him only. Finally, her sin has compounded to the point that judgment is no longer avoidable if God is to be true to His Word. But although destruction overtakes Judah, there is hope on the horizon. Jeremiah writes: “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (vv. 22-23). (Quiet Walk)
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GOD’S OMNISCIENCE
Great is our LORD, and of great power: his understanding is infinite. Psalm 147:5
Another of God’s great attributes is His omniscience. God knows all things, and His knowledge is always absolute knowledge. It is perfect knowledge, a complete knowledge of everything.
There are very many statements of this, of course, in the Scriptures. Take, for instance, Psalm 147:5: “His understanding is infinite.” Then in Proverbs 15:3 we read, “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.”
The Bible tells us quite a lot in detail about this knowledge, this omniscience of God. For instance, it tells us about God’s knowledge of nature: “He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names” (Psalm 147:4). But let me give you another example. Do you remember those tender words of our Lord in which He tells us that not a single sparrow falls to the ground without our Father’s knowing it (Matthew 10:29)? Everything in the realm of nature is known by God. It is quite inconceivable to us, but the Bible asserts this is true of God. Look up into the heavens on a starry night and see all that multiplicity of stars. He knows them, every one, and He has a name for every one. There is nothing in creation but that God knows it in that intimate and personal sense.
But we are obviously more interested in God’s knowledge of us and of our human experience. Psalm 139 is very eloquent here. The psalmist says, “Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off” (verse 2). My very thought! He knows all about me. “Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways” (verse 3). Indeed, he goes further in verse 4 and says, “For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.” What an exact and detailed knowledge God has of us!
A Thought to Ponder: God knows all things, and His knowledge is always absolute knowledge. (From God the Father, God the Son, p. 63, by Dr. Martyn Lloud-Jones)
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Faith
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12)
Scripture teaches that “by grace are ye saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8), and that faith (or belief, same word) in the substitutionary work of Christ on the cross is essential to salvation (John 3:15-18, etc.). But faith does not stop there; it grows as a Christian matures. Let us look at some of the characteristics of a growing faith in God.
One who has accepted God’s gracious offer of forgiveness and salvation, one who, by faith, has found God trustworthy, comes to trust Him and His promises in other areas as well. Paul, who had been sorely persecuted for his faith, claimed, “Nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day” (2 Timothy 1:12). God will faithfully fulfill His promises, and we can have faith that He will.
The great heroes of faith, some of whom are listed in Hebrews 11, all had one thing in common. They dared to trust God for great things, even impossible things, and moved out on that basis. Consider Joshua: “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days” (Hebrews 11:30). Joshua was confronted with an impossible problem but dared to trust God for a solution.
Then there is the mature faith that can “rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him” (Psalm 37:7) in the face of hardship and opposition. “For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD . . . shall inherit the earth” (v. 9).
At every stage of our Christian lives, God allows us opportunities to exercise and expand our faith. Remember, “without faith it is impossible to please him” (Hebrews 11:6). (JDM, The Institute for Creation Research)
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