Sunday, April 30, 2023
Saturday, April 29, 2023
Friday, April 28, 2023
Thursday, April 27, 2023
Matthew chapter 16 comments
Matthew 16:1 ¶ The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. 3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.
Here, Jesus really mocks the religious elite’s sarcastic
questioning. They wanted a magic trick but He gave them wisdom. Notice how He
refers to Jonah (Jonas from Greek) and his three days in the whale’s belly.
Remember back in chapter 12 in His encounter with the scribes and Pharisees.
He’s already been over this ground with them.
Matthew 12:40 For as Jonas
was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man
be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Matthew 16:5 ¶ And when his
disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. 6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and
beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. 7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It
is because we have taken no bread. 8
Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little
faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? 9 Do ye not yet understand, neither remember
the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many
baskets ye took up? 10
Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye
took up? 11 How is it that ye do not
understand that I spake it not to you
concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the
Pharisees and of the Sadducees? 12 Then
understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of
bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
Here is an example of how Jesus and the Bible use typology to
describe something. Jesus has likened the leaven of bread to the doctrine of
the religious elite. What does leaven do? Yeast, as a biological leavening
agent eats sugar and secretes carbon dioxide, important for bread makers, and alcohol,
important for beermakers. But this leaven makes the flour something different
from what it was. It is a pollutant, a necessary pollutant, for us to enjoy
bread. But when comparing leavened to unleavened bread God has used the
typology of corruption previously.
Matthew 13:33 Another
parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a
woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
Paul will use a similar point about corruption using a Greek word
for adulterated wine, kap-ale-yoo-o.
2 Corinthians 2:17 For we
are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of
God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
Another issue is presented here regarding the numbers of food
before and the baskets leftover. Jesus is pointing to this as having some
deeper significance. This is worth considering as I have previously talked
about the possible meaning of the numbers regarding the leftover food.
Matthew 16:13 ¶ When Jesus
came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom
do men say that I the Son of man am? 14
And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some,
Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I
am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and
said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed
art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto
thee, but my
Father which is in heaven. 18
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will
build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will
give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever
thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt
loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 20
Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was
Jesus the Christ.
Peter makes the acknowledgment that Christ is the Son of God,
which is God walking in the flesh on the earth. Jesus also uses the phrase Son
of man. Jesus, the Messiah, is fully God and fully man. The Son of man
is a reference to His being the Messiah.
As I said before the phrase Son of man links Christ to
Daniel 7:13.
Daniel 7:13 I saw in the
night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man
came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they
brought him near before him.
It is the Messiah in His human form as fully man just as He is
fully God as the Son of God.
Jesus Christ is the only time that God has come to earth to live
in human flesh. This is the importance of the phrase the only begotten Son
of God.
John 1:18 No man hath seen
God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he
hath declared him.
John 3:18 He that believeth
on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already,
because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Remember that Adam was the son of God, lowercase ‘s’.
Luke 3:38 Which was the son
of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the
son of God.
Remember that when a song says, “God’s one and only son.”
Alexander the Great had himself declared the son of God or the gods in Egypt
and Augustus Caesar, nephew and adopted son of Julius Caesar signed his
documents Deus Fide, the son of god or a god. They were fakes. Jesus was the
only begotten of the Father in His humanity.
The son of a king came in the name of the king and had, in effect,
the authority of the king. What you did to the son you did to the king and how
you obeyed the son was how you obeyed his father.
As I said in my commentary on Genesis about the ancient world, “that
the son, due to his position in the family, represented the father and, in
fact, was regarded in authority and importance the same as the father if even
in fact he did not have the actual legal power of the father or if at that time
could dispose of his family’s goods as the father could, that is, until the
father’s death at which time the son took the father’s place.”
Christ’s church is built on this declaration, that He is the Son
of the living God. It is not built on Peter even though there is an interplay
between the meaning of Peter’s name both from the Greek (Petros) and Aramaic
(Cephas) words meaning rock. This is a clever play on words that the Holy
Spirit uses to refer to Peter’s confession of faith.
In any event, Christ is the Rock, not Peter. Read Deuteronomy,
chapter 32 for several instances of Rock, uppercase R.
Deuteronomy 32:4 He is the
Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and
without iniquity, just and right is he.
Then, see what Paul said;
1 Corinthians 10:4 And did
all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that
followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
In
Genesis, Lot
sat in the gate indicating that he had become a judge in Sodom to judge
disputes and help manage the city’s affairs. Sitting in the gate as a position
of judgment is defined in the Bible. It was a place to meet with the elders of
a city.
Deuteronomy 21:19
Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out
unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;
It was a place of
the king’s authority.
2Samuel 15:2
And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it
was so, that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment,
then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy
servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.
2Samuel 19:8
Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told unto all the
people, saying, Behold, the king doth sit in the gate. And all the people came
before the king: for Israel had fled every man to his tent.
1Kings 22:10
And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat each on his
throne, having put on their robes, in a void place in the entrance of the gate
of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.
The mention of the
gate is equivalent to the deciding of judgment.
Amos 5:15 Hate
the evil, and love the good, and establish
judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious
unto the remnant of Joseph.
The gates of hell then is a reference to the judgments of
Hell not some huge set of physical doors.
Verse 19 is a problem for a lot of people but it would be clearer
if we accepted that we do not direct heaven or change God’s orders like some
kind of pagan Egyptian priest who would cajole or even threaten their gods.
What the apostles will do is ordained in Heaven.
Let’s start with the keys of the kingdom of heaven. In
Luke 11 knowledge is likened to a key.
Luke 11:52 Woe unto you,
lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in
yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is the key to the kingdom of Heaven as
John Gill declared. The apostles and disciples of Christ were entrusted with
that key. That entry to the kingdom of Heaven is based on one’s acceptance of
the gospel, and belief in it. Peter is not the doorkeeper to Heaven, who
determines who gets in as in popular mythology. What is loosed is doctrine, not
sins. The context of John 20:23 shows that the apostles then have received the
Holy Ghost. The interpretation of the Scripture, the expression of the gospel,
of Christian doctrine is given to these people to spread the faith of Christ.
Then, Jesus charged them that they tell no one that He is the
Messiah. John Gill noted that Jesus’ ministry and miracles must be sufficient
proof that Jesus is the Messiah and that it would not be useful to provoke the
scribes and Pharisees or the Roman authorities before the appointed time.
Matthew 16:21 ¶ From that
time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto
Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes,
and be killed, and be raised again the third day. 22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him,
saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee
behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the
things that be of God, but those that be of men.
This shows how the Fundamentalist doctrine that in the
Old Testament the Jews were looking forward to the Cross is wrong. Actually,
they did not understand Isaiah 53. Their confusion persisted until an eleventh
century rabbi nicknamed Rashi developed the idea that rather than being about a
singular man the chapters in Isaiah about the Messiah were actually about the
suffering Jewish people as a group thereby totally confusing the Jews with
regard to Christ.
We must keep in mind that the Bible says explicitly
that the passage in Isaiah was talking about Christ.
Acts 8:26 ¶ And the angel
of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the
way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. 27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of
Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians,
who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to
worship, 28 Was returning, and sitting
in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. 29
Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this
chariot. 30 And Philip ran thither to
him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what
thou readest? 31 And he said, How can I,
except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up
and sit with him. 32 The place of the
scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and
like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: 33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken
away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the
earth. 34 And the eunuch answered
Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself,
or of some other man? 35 Then Philip
opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.
Jesus’ Jewish followers literally had no clue what He
was talking about when He referred to His impending agony on the Cross or
understood anything about His Resurrection.
Mark
9:9 And as they came down from the
mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had
seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead. 10 And they kept that saying with themselves,
questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean…31 For he
taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the
hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall
rise the third day. 32
But
they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.
Luke
18:31 ¶ Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto
them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the
prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. 32 For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles,
and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: 33 And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the
third day he shall rise again. 34 And
they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them,
neither knew they the things which were spoken.
John
20:9 For as yet they knew not the
scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.
Jesus rebukes Peter for wishing what
Satan did back in chapter 4 that He should not go to the Cross. Satan offered Him
a crown to subvert His mission while Peter says this out of his love and
respect for his rabbi.
Matthew 4:8 Again, the
devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the
kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9
And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall
down and worship me. 10 Then saith Jesus
unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord
thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
An offence is a stumbling block, something in the way.
1 Peter 2:8 And a stone of
stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being
disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.
Matthew 16:24 ¶ Then said
Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose
it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain
the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in
exchange for his soul? 27
For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his
angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. 28 Verily I say unto you, There be some standing
here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in
his kingdom.
Christ then lays out, after rebuking Peter, the most basic demands
made on His disciples. They were clearly looking at things from too temporal
and too worldly a perspective. The true Christian must deny himself; his sin,
his ungodliness, his worldliness, even his own righteousness.
1John 2:15 Love not the
world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. 16 For
all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and
the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust
thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
The Christian must not seek worldly wealth but focus on treasure
in heaven.
Matthew 6:19 ¶ Lay not up
for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and
where thieves break through and steal: 20
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor
rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your
heart be also.
The Encyclopedia Britannica online notes that crucifixion, the
reference to the cross, was not used first by the Romans. But the Persians, the
Carthaginians, and the Seleucids also used that horrific form of execution.[1] The
point here is that the suffering and persecution Christ’s followers faced was
something they should embrace as a badge of their obedience to Him, following
their rejection of the demands that Self makes or rather putting God first over
Self. The third step after denying one’s self and taking up one’s cross of
persecution and suffering, is to openly follow Christ.
If a man or a woman tries to save themselves by pursuit of the
approval of mankind, the pursuit of sin, the pursuit of worldliness, the
exaltation of their self apart from God they will lose that life they hold most
precious in eternity. But whomever dies in the service of Christ will ensure
their life everlasting with Him in eternity.
Remember Matthew 10:38,39 as the disciples were sent out on a
perilous mission?
Matthew 10:38 And he that
taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and
he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
Consider this in Revelation.
Revelation 12:11 And they
overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and
they loved not their lives unto the death.
What good would it do us get everything this world had to offer; pleasure,
success, wealth, and power and then lose our souls in eternity? What is
something so valuable in this world, in this finite life that is receding from
you every moment that is worth your eternal soul?
Verse 27 is one of those verses that gives a broad explanation of
something that is described elsewhere in more detail. Notice how the following in
Revelation depicts the end of history in general terms while the rest of
Revelation is more specific as to events.
Revelation 11:18 And the
nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they
should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the
prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and
shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
Now notice these references later in Matthew;
Matthew 24:30 And then
shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the
tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Matthew 25:31 ¶ When the
Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then
shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Matthew 26:64 Jesus saith
unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see
the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of
heaven.
Verse 27 speaks of Christ’s return in the glory of God the Father with
His angels. Verse 28, though, speaks of those standing with Him who will see
Him coming in His kingdom, which is clearly a reference to what happens in
chapter 17. He says that He will return with His angels to judge the world and
that, truthfully, there are disciples standing there who will see Him in His glorified
state.
So, in chapter 16, Jesus begins at Caesarea Philippi with a question
for His disciples. Who do men say that I, the Messiah, am? Then He expounds on
His coming Crucifixion and Resurrection, which Peter objects to, and which requires
a rebuke from Christ. Christ then goes on to explain the level of commitment a
disciple of His will need in the coming years. He reveals His inevitable return
to judge the world and then says that selected disciples will see Him as He is
in His kingdom. This will happen next.
[1] Encyclopedia Britannica online,
“crucifixion; capital punishment,” https://www.britannica.com/topic/cross-religious-symbol (accessed 4.24.2023).
Wednesday, April 26, 2023
Tuesday, April 25, 2023
Monday, April 24, 2023
Sunday, April 23, 2023
Saturday, April 22, 2023
Friday, April 21, 2023
1Samuel 5 comments
1Samuel 5:1 ¶ And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod. 2 When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. 3 And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again. 4 And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him. 5 Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon’s house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.
Dagon, a god of the Philistines, is first mentioned in Judges.
Judges 16:23 Then the lords
of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto
Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson
our enemy into our hand.
Strong’s dictionary says that Dagon was a Philistine god of
fertility with the face and hands of a man and the tail of a fish. John Gill
reported that Dagon morphed into Marnas, the lord of men. Since all of these
ancient manifestations of Satan are interconnected we can see Gill go on in his
commentary, which is free online in the public domain, to say, “and Diodorus Siculus relates that Derceto, a goddess
of Ashkelon, another of the five principalities of Palestine, its face was
human, and the other part of its body resembled a fish; and the same Lucian
says of the Syrian goddess; and Cicero testifies, that the Syrians
worshipped a fish, and Porphyry says they will not eat any; and Gaza being
a maritime city, a sea port, this might be their sea god in this form: but Ben
Gersom in the above place says, it was in the form of a man; and
Sanchoniatho making mention of Dagan, a brother of Saturn, Philo Byblius,
who translated his history into Greek, interprets it by Siton, which signifies
corn, deriving it from Dagan, which so signifies; as if this deity presided
over corn, as Ceres in other nations, and Jupiter Frumentarius, or Aratrius;
yea, he says he invented corn and the plough…”
The Philistines have taken the Ark of God to
Ashdod. Ashdod was a major Philistine city on the Mediterranean Sea, west of
Jerusalem. The ancient city lay a few miles Southeast of modern Ashdod, the
sixth largest city in Israel.
The head and hands of Dagon, the man part, are
taken off and only the fish remains. This may have signified, underscored, how
helpless Dagon was in the face of God’s power. Taking care not to step on a
threshold seems to have been an issue in the ancient world.
Zephaniah 1:9 In the same
day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their
masters’ houses with violence and deceit.
The Chinese purportedly have a superstition of not stepping on a
door threshold as it represents life and stepping on it means someone in the
house will die as a result. It clearly has a religious significance in the
Bible as the intent in Zephaniah seems to indicate bad intent.
1Samuel 5:6 ¶ But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof. 7 And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god. 8 They sent thereforeand gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither. 9 And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts. 10 Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people. 11 So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. 12 And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven.
Emerods are
mentioned previously;
Deuteronomy 28:27 The LORD
will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the
scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.
Strong’s says that the word means hemorrhoids. That dictionary
also calls it tumors. In any event this is a nasty plague and very miserable. Tumors
might be a good interpretation of emerods in that the Bubonic Plague has as its
symptoms painful swelling of the lymph glands called a Bubo and people can die
very quickly from the onset of the symptoms. Hemorrhoids alone don’t usually
kill people, but only make them miserable. They are painful but not deadly.
Either way you look at it the Philistines were encouraged by God to return the
Ark of God to the people of God.
Deadly destruction and that it slay us not do
not seem to indicate just a plague of painful piles.
Thursday, April 20, 2023
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
Monday, April 17, 2023
Sunday, April 16, 2023
Saturday, April 15, 2023
Friday, April 14, 2023
Thursday, April 13, 2023
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
Psalm 30 comments
Psalm 30:1 ¶ «A Psalm and Song at the dedication of the house of David.» I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. 2 O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. 3 O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. 4 Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. 5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
Extol means to lift up in praise which is contrasted with the Lord
lifting up David in saving him from his enemies. Here also in verse 1 we see
how a Psalm is linked as synonymous with a Song in the introduction. Remember
also Psalm 18.
Psalm 18:1 «To the chief
Musician, A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who spake unto the LORD
the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of
all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said,» I will love thee, O
LORD, my strength.
Many times after this a Psalm will be called a Song.
Some Jewish commentators, because David did not build the Temple
himself but Solomon did, suggest that this is a dedication of David’s dynasty
to purge it from sin after Absalom’s rebellion. The conspirators were destroyed
and the civil war ended. David cried out to God and God delivered him from the
grave.
Verse 5 can be thought of prophetically of the sorrows of life and
the joy of resurrection or the rapture of the church although we must be
careful of the order of things in verses 4 and 5 as the church is delivered
from God’s wrath upon the earth. This is a hymn of praise and thanksgiving we
can remember in times of difficulty.
Psalm 30:6 ¶ And in my
prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. 7
LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou
didst hide thy face, and I was troubled. 8 I cried to thee, O LORD; and unto the LORD I
made supplication. 9 What profit is
there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee?
shall it declare thy truth? 10 Hear, O
LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be thou my helper. 11 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into
dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; 12 To the end that my glory may sing
praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee
for ever.
At the height of David’s glory and power he declared that he would
never be moved from it and in that pride he experienced great trouble. He
acknowledged that God had made him what he was and when it seemed like God had
turned away from him David was worried. He cried to God what good is it to you
if your anointed dies. He pleaded for mercy and God responded favorably. David
is one very thankful king.
This would be a positive prayer for us to adapt to our situation
in times of great stress, coming to God in our humility putting our pride
aside.
Tuesday, April 11, 2023
Monday, April 10, 2023
Sunday, April 9, 2023
Saturday, April 8, 2023
Thursday, April 6, 2023
Wednesday, April 5, 2023
Psalm 29 comments
Psalm 29:1 ¶ «A Psalm of David.» Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength. 2 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. 3 The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters. 4 The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. 5 The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn. 7 The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire. 8 The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory. 10 The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever. 11 The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.
For verse 1 consider these cross-references.
Psalm 68:32 ¶ Sing unto
God, ye kingdoms of the earth; O sing praises unto the Lord; Selah:
Psalm 96:7 Give unto the
LORD, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the LORD glory and strength. 8 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his
name: bring an offering, and come into his courts. 9 O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness:
fear before him, all the earth.
David’s praise of God continues and for verse 2 see when him using
this phrasing in another place when he brought the ark to Jerusalem;
1Chronicles 16:28 Give unto
the LORD, ye kindreds of the people, give unto the LORD glory and strength.
29 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto
his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the
beauty of holiness.
For verses 3 through 9 David makes a statement about the power of
God’s voice. We already know that His voice can convict men and women of their
sin against Him just by asking a question.
Genesis 3:8 And they heard
the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and
Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the
trees of the garden.
In these verses in Psalms we hear of the power of God’s spoken
words on creation. See some more cross-references to this thought.
Psalm 18:13 The LORD also
thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals
of fire.
Job 37:2 Hear attentively
the noise of his voice, and the sound that goeth out of his mouth. 3 He directeth it under the whole heaven, and
his lightning unto the ends of the earth. 4
After it a voice roareth: he thundereth with the voice of his
excellency; and he will not stay them when his voice is heard. 5 God thundereth marvellously with his voice;
great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.
We must always remember that God spoke the universe into
existence, the uni-verse, one spoken sentence.
Genesis 1:3 ¶ And God said,
Let there be light: and there was light.
For verses 5 and 6 you can view a YouTube video the US Geological
Survey puts out with how trees move in an earthquake. Lebanon we know and you
have heard of the cedars of Lebanon. They are also called the Cedars of God and
those extensive forests covered ancient Lebanon. Only the Kadisha Valley and a
few other places speak of the great forests that covered Mount Lebanon.
Strong’s says that Sirion is the name given to Mount Hermon
by the Sidonians.
It is interesting in verse 9 that David makes the declaration that
God directly causes the hinds to give birth to their young. This is an
important point that is reflected most obviously in Job.
God’s sovereignty, His power over the physical world is abundantly
clear. We discussed this in our study of
Job, particularly chapter 38. God is given credit in a several places for power
over life an death and over conception and birth. I think of passages in Genesis
we’ve talked about like;
Genesis 30:1 ¶ And when
Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said
unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. 2
And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God’s
stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?
It is God who decides which of the prey animals the lion will take
regardless of their prowess. It is God who causes animals and humans to conceive
and give birth. It is not simply just a “natural” occurrence.
So, David knows that God is in control. He strengthens His people
and gives them peace.
Tuesday, April 4, 2023
Monday, April 3, 2023
1Samuel 3 comments
1Samuel 3:1 ¶ And the child
Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was
precious in those days; there was no open vision. 2 And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was
laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not
see; 3 And ere the lamp of God went out
in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid
down to sleep; 4 That the LORD
called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I. 5 And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am
I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went
and lay down. 6 And the LORD called yet
again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I;
for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD,
neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him. 8 And the LORD called Samuel again the third
time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst
call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child. 9 Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down:
and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy
servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10 And the LORD came, and stood, and called as
at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant
heareth.
What does the word precious mean in this context? As we
know it means valuable, of great price, and rare, which makes it of even more
worth. There are no prophets at this time receiving communications from God. He
has chosen Samuel to carry on His work in this time. Eli, as much a
disappointment to God as he was, knew that God Himself had spoken to Samuel and
that He was not speaking to Eli or others.
1Samuel 3:11 ¶ And the LORD
said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of
every one that heareth it shall tingle. 12
In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have
spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end. 13 For I have told him that I will judge his
house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made
themselves vile, and he restrained them not. 14
And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli’s
house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever. 15 And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened
the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision.
16 Then Eli called Samuel, and said,
Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I. 17 And he said, What is the thing that the
LORD hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it not from me: God do so
to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me of all the things
that he said unto thee. 18 And Samuel
told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the
LORD: let him do what seemeth him good.
God tells Samuel He is about to do something that will stun
people, horrify them, and make them amazed as we will see. Samuel was afraid to
tell Eli the vision but when he does Eli accepts God’s judgment and makes that
great proclamation It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good.
1Samuel 3:19 ¶ And Samuel
grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the
ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan even
to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of
the LORD. 21 And the LORD appeared again
in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the
LORD.
The Lord did all that He said He would. And all the people of
Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was God’s chosen
prophet. And in Shiloh God made Himself apparent to Samuel.