Month: August 2016

 

Psalm 98: 2 “The Lord has made known His salvation; His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations.”

Dear God,

I give You praise this morning.  I love You, and will joyfully serve You,  and I give praise because You have heard my confession and filled me with the Holy Spirit – otherwise this joy would not now have filled me today.  I determine as in, Psalm 100: 2, 3 “Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing.  Know that the Lord, He is God; it is He who made us, and not we ourselves.”   All Your creation responds to Your word of power; the sea roars above the inhabitants of the deep; the sky glows and twinkles and envelopes the birds and flying insect; the earth, rocks and plant life, can provide a home for animals and creatures, and food for them and man; whilst all the animals and bird life that dwell thereon respond to their creator (especially the birds in joyous notes.)  It is only the crowning creation, mankind for the main, who despite being made in Your image, often do not respond to their Creator, and give expression in joyous praise and thanks.  Psalm 98: 7, 8 “Let the sea roar, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell in it; let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills be joyful together before the Lord.”  For the people who do not acknowledge or love You, it seems like they are missing out, for they have not found,  how very soul satisfying it is to express  joy and thanks; as I am this morning; to the One who gave us life, and has put His laws of life within us

We have the assurance that You are a patient God, who wants all humans on earth to taste of Your goodness and be satisfied, “For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.” Psalm 100: 5

I imagine You patiently long for we people of earth to be true and reconciled to You, through the sacrifice of Your Son Jesus Christ, and to be redeemed by Him at His second coming.  Yet there comes a time when You say enough to sin and what it is doing to all creation, by bringing judgements or a stop to the usual proceedings of the rebellious wicked.

It is due to Your great love, that there are many prophetic warning and inspired words designed to tell us what is ahead; and how to prepare our life for climatic events.  Also we are told of the signs that will foretell the soon coming of our Saviour, including the false teachings and happenings that are designed to deceive all peoples about Jesus and end time events.  Psalm 98: 9 “For He is coming to judge the earth, with righteousness He shall judge the world, and the peoples with equity.”

Not only do I thank You for all creation, and give You my thanks and praise this morning, I also, ask that You search my heart and prepare me for the soon coming of My Redeemer.

Amen

 

Psalm 96: 2 “Sing to the Lord, bless His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.”

Dear God,

I delight to spend this special time with You again and recommit my heart and life to You.  My spirit soars, as I read that many of the same ideas that are in my mind, have been written in some of the Psalms.  I also am filled with joy about Your love, and to know, love and reverence You.  With these experiences, it is often hard to comprehend that the whole world does not share these sentiments.

From observation, I see that when people uplift and give glory to You, they much more appreciate other people and what they bring to the individual experience of the one who did the uplifting.  I wonder then why I so often keep quiet and do not tell others about Your glorious self, character and works.  Please forgive me, and fill me with all that is needful for me to be as You want, as were the psalmist and other pro-claimers about Your gifts, restorative and healing deeds. For when we do uplift You, we cannot help sing with the writer, V 3 “Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among the peoples.”

By what You have revealed of Yourself, we have a personage description and history about Your doings and our greatest need of a Savour.  We can only know and appreciate a little of Your character and glories  as the Almighty, Majestic God and the I AM, as well as the Creator of all things, V 6 “Honour and Majesty are before Him; strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.”  I imagine You as surrounded by light, and the beauty of bright gold and colours, which would bring me to my knees in deep reverence, V9 “Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!  Tremble before Him, all the earth.”

I appreciate that such an experience would leave an impact that it would barely fade in the mind over long intervening period, and again I wonder how we keep silent about You in all area’s and facets of work that we know about.

Recently I have been taught that it is so good for the mind to be appreciative, as well as learn some of the statements and promises from scripture.  Psalm 96:  12, 13 “Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it.  Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord.  For He is coming to judge the earth.  He shall judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with His truth.”

I am thankful for the revealed works and patience of You my God, and again choose You as my forever God.

Amen

 

Blessed is the man You instruct, O Lord, and teach out of Your law.”

Dear God,

Thank You for my life, but most of all for Your love which formed me in my mother’s womb, and has sustained me all the while, within my personal experience upon a portion of Your creation = earth, within a vast universe, beyond human knowledge.  Despite what many would think, as the Creator, You own all this creation, which was perfect from Your hands, until on this earth Satan got Adam to sin, and ever since perfect creation became afflicted by sin and death.  But the ramifications of sin go further than the sin affected earth, for we have and continue to spew poisonous gases into the atmosphere, and have left garbage circulating in the skies.

Ever since Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, people throughout the generations, have mostly continued in sinful, rebellion against God, and most have not loved You as God, or reverenced You as their Creator.  The writer of Psalm 94, bemoans what the wicked were doing at that time, and it is obvious that the wicked have not departed from amongst us in these times, and his words are still pertinent, V3 “Lord, how long will the wicked triumph?”  Apparently in Old Testament times the wicked boasted about themselves, ’killed widows, strangers and fatherless’; it is not a surprise that all of these activities are an issue in the world during our time as well!  The wicked went a step further and mocked God, V7 “Yet they say, ‘The Lord does not see, nor does the God of Jacob understand.”  For those who take the time to research into Your interventions in answer to earnest prayers have found, there are many records of amazing answers that defy the physical laws of nature or chance.  Please open the eyes of many unbelievers and mockers of this world, so they are given a chance to believe in You and accept Your love.  V8, 9 “Understand, you senseless among the people; and you fools, when will you be wise?  He who planted the ear, shall He not hear?  He who formed the eye, shall He not see?”

I believe that it is You God, who is the source of all true wisdom and knowledge as well as knowing the future, which is evidenced by the fact that Your prophecies and predictions have always been true and have occurred as foretold.  All of us, including the unbeliever, should take note of V10 “He who instructs the nations, shall He not correct, He who teaches man knowledge?”  As years go on, man’s knowledge increases, but we are told, there is so much more that we do not know about the human body, nature and the universe.   And many are chasing around after many things, and never feel appreciated or truly fulfilled and happy.  V11 “The Lord knows the thoughts of man, and they are futile.”

After reading Your word today, it seems like when we acknowledge that You are Almighty God and that all of the universe was created at Your command, we can only be humble and teachable by You, realizing, V12 “Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O Lord, and teach out of Your law.”

Amen

Psalm 94: 19 “In the multitudes of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul.”

Dear God,

Again I am thankful for another new day, and for my life and the strength to enjoy it; and the ability to do the daily tasks.  I reflect upon the situations facing many of the psalmist’s in the day of their writing, and they were ever fraught with real personal and corporate dangers, as they, as a nation were often in combat or subject to attacks from their enemies.  The majority of them needed to keep flocks and grow crops to feed themselves, family and workers; all of which was hard; especially if the adult men were away fighting or in the case of having marauding soldiers plundering the crops, or even their capturing their families.

In such a time of constant danger, those who knew You had developed a deep consciousness about You, Almighty God and Protector, as well as their constant dependence upon their Creator and provider for mankind and the earth.  Sadly though, as for us today, many had denied or lost sight of the reality that there is a Power greater than them; whom I believe created us all and oversees the affairs on earth, and who knows the number of hairs upon each head.  For all man upon the earth at any time, whether in peace, the ravages of war or any danger, with a believing heart have found by experience that we are given great comfort and peace.  Such peace and comfort is especially significant when we stop in prayer and cry out in emotional anguish or for protection from/in danger; or for needed sustenance and provision for our needs.

To love and appreciate You, naturally brings forth words of thanks and praise, for all the good things that come from You, the God of our salvation, Psalm 95: 1, 2 “Oh come, let us sing to the Lord!  Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.  Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.”  For You God, have shown us, that You can and will care for us as part of Your creation.  That thought and knowledge, brings reassurance and comfort to me, again today, V4, 5 “In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights of the hills are His also.  The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.”

In the light of His majesty and power, I see my insignificance and cannot keep from bowing before my God in worship and adoration.  V6, 7 “O come, let us 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.”

To think, that it is You God, Almighty who calls heaven Your home, who cares and provides for, this little sinful human, the ‘sheep’ of Your pasture and hand!  Again I believe that all praises and thanks must be given to You, and not to a person or happenstance originating from earth.

Amen