Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Monday, October 14, 2024
Sunday, October 13, 2024
Saturday, October 12, 2024
Friday, October 11, 2024
Psalm 81 comments
Psalm 81:1 ¶
«To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of Asaph.» Sing
aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. 2 Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel,
the pleasant harp with the psaltery. 3
Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our
solemn feast day. 4 For this was
a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob. 5 This he ordained in Joseph for a
testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a
language that I understood not. 6
I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from
the pots. 7 Thou calledst in trouble,
and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved
thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.
John Gill wrote that Gittith, a
musical instrument taken from the town of Gath. This Psalm, it is said, was
written as a commemoration of Exodus in particular to be sung at solemn occasions.
God was the strength of Israel, as He is the
Christian’s strength. We should rejoice in Him always.
Leviticus 23:24 Speak unto
the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the
month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy
convocation.
Although there are many different opinions on verse 5 perhaps this
has to do with the fact that people had not heard God speak like He did to the
Hebrews before in a new written language which I discussed in Exodus and
through fire and the sound of a trumpet and many other ways. The languages that
God used to lead the Hebrews was something unknown before that time.
He gave them their alphabet
some have written. When
Moses came down the mountain with the Ten Commandments that may be the
beginning of the alphabet that we use, the precursor to it. God created the writing that contrasted with the pictograms of
hieroglyphics and cuneiform writing that dominated the ancient world. From
China, Sumeria, and Egypt to the civilizations of the ancient Americas pictures
were used to convey ideas and history and as representations of things
worshipped. The basic units of writing, the letters, become symbols for ideas
rather than pictures representing things to be worshipped as idols. ‘A’,
instead of a symbol for a bull or an ox, is Aleph in Hebrew and Alpha in Greek,
and ‘A’ for modern purposes. A good study for this is Marc A. Ouaknin’s Mysteries of the Alphabet. This could be
part of God drawing a people out of a world of idolatrous pictures to be adored
and turning their writing into ideas to be expressed by symbols.
Exodus
20:18 ¶ And all the people saw the
thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain
smoking: and when the people saw it,
they removed, and stood afar off. 19 And
they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God
speak with us, lest we die. 20 And Moses
said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear
may be before your faces, that ye sin not. 21
And the people stood afar off, and
Moses
drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
But God’s Law, given to Moses, was also a new language which while
men may have known God’s standard from the beginning as Genesis and Job seem to
suggest and we have discussed it was codified and “written in stone”. See my
commentaries on Genesis and Job.
Pots in this
context were the baskets where the bricks were put that the Hebrews had to make
that they were forced to carry. For Meribah see;
Exodus 17:4 And Moses cried
unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready
to stone me. 5 And the LORD said unto
Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and
thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon
the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water
out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the
elders of Israel. 7 And he called the
name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children
of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or
not?
Psalm 81:8 ¶
Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt
hearken unto me; 9 There shall no
strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god. 10 I am the LORD thy God, which brought
thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. 11 But my people would not hearken to my voice;
and Israel would none of me. 12 So I
gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own
counsels. 13 Oh that my people had
hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways! 14 I should soon have subdued their enemies, and
turned my hand against their adversaries. 15
The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but
their time should have endured for ever. 16
He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with
honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.
If the Israelites will just listen to God, if
they will just listen. They were told not to worship foreign gods, not the God
who led them out of Egypt. For strange as foreign see;
The word stranger is used to denote a foreigner,
an alien to a people, who lives among that people.
Genesis
15:13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a
surety that thy seed shall be a stranger
in a land that is not theirs, and
shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
Genesis
17:12 And he that is eight days old
shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is
born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of
thy seed.
Leviticus
24:22 Ye shall have one manner of law,
as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the
LORD your God.
Jacob put away his strange gods.
Genesis
35:1 ¶ And God said unto Jacob, Arise,
go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that
appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. 2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to
all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be
clean, and change your garments: 3 And
let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who
answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.
4 And they gave unto Jacob all the
strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in
their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. 5 And they journeyed: and the terror of God was
upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the
sons of Jacob.
Remember
the Law given to Moses;
Exodus
20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods
before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto
thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or
that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor
serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of
the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that
hate me; 6 And shewing mercy unto
thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
See
verse 12 and how God will give people over to their own delusions. See the
religious history of mankind summarized by Paul in Romans.
Romans 1:16 ¶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ:
for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the
Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For
therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is
written, The just shall live by faith. 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in
unrighteousness;
19 ¶ Because that which may be known of God is
manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20 For the invisible things of him from the
creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are
made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 21 Because that, when they knew God, they
glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their
imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became
fools, 23 And changed the glory of the
uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and
fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness
through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between
themselves: 25 Who changed the truth of
God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator,
who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26 For
this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did
change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural
use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working
that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their
error which was meet. 28 And even as
they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a
reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 29 Being filled with all unrighteousness,
fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder,
debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud,
boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers,
without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32 Who knowing the
judgment of God, that
they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but
have pleasure in them that do them.
If the Israelites had obeyed
God would have done good things for them as He says here in this Psalm. Let
this be a warning to you that your life will go much better, even though you
will have persecution and tribulation just by virtue of living in a fallen
world in a fallen body, but life will go much better and the Lord God will
bless you if you obey Him and stay close. Let God speak to you through His word
daily and often and do what you understand from the Bible what God wants you to
do. Praise God and don’t make the mistake of the Israelites in ignoring His
admonitions and commands on your life.
Thursday, October 10, 2024
Wednesday, October 9, 2024
2Samuel, chapter 14, comments
2Samuel 14:1 ¶ Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that
the king’s heart was toward Absalom. 2
And Joab sent to Tekoah, and fetched thence a wise woman, and said unto
her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on now mourning
apparel, and anoint not thyself with oil, but be as a woman that had a long
time mourned for the dead: 3 And come to
the king, and speak on this manner unto him. So Joab put the words in her
mouth. 4 And when the woman of Tekoah
spake to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, and did obeisance, and
said, Help, O king. 5 And the king said
unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, I am indeed a widow woman,
and mine husband is dead. 6 And thy
handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the field, and there
was none to part them, but the one smote the other, and slew him. 7 And, behold, the whole family is risen
against thine handmaid, and they said, Deliver him that smote his brother, that
we may kill him, for the life of his brother whom he slew; and we will destroy
the heir also: and so they shall quench my coal which is left, and shall not
leave to my husband neither name nor remainder upon the earth. 8 And the king said unto the woman, Go to thine
house, and I will give charge concerning thee. 9 And the woman of Tekoah said unto the king,
My lord, O king, the iniquity be on me, and on my father’s house: and
the king and his throne be guiltless. 10
And the king said, Whosoever saith ought unto thee, bring him to
me, and he shall not touch thee any more. 11
Then said she, I pray thee, let the king remember the LORD thy God, that
thou wouldest not suffer the revengers of blood to destroy any more, lest they
destroy my son. And he said, As the LORD liveth, there shall not one
hair of thy son fall to the earth. 12
Then the woman said, Let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak one
word unto my lord the king. And he said, Say on. 13 And the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou
thought such a thing against the people of God? for the king doth speak this
thing as one which is faulty, in that the king doth not fetch home again his
banished. 14 For we must needs die, and are
as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth
God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be
not expelled from him. 15 Now therefore
that I am come to speak of this thing unto my lord the king, it is
because the people have made me afraid: and thy handmaid said, I will now speak
unto the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his
handmaid. 16 For the king will hear, to
deliver his handmaid out of the hand of the man that would destroy me
and my son together out of the inheritance of God. 17 Then thine handmaid said, The word of my lord
the king shall now be comfortable: for as an angel of God, so is my lord
the king to discern good and bad: therefore the LORD thy God will be with thee.
18 Then the king answered and said unto
the woman, Hide not from me, I pray thee, the thing that I shall ask thee. And
the woman said, Let my lord the king now speak. 19 And the king said, Is not the hand of
Joab with thee in all this? And the woman answered and said, As thy soul
liveth, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to the left from
ought that my lord the king hath spoken: for thy servant Joab, he bade me, and
he put all these words in the mouth of thine handmaid: 20 To fetch about this form of speech hath thy
servant Joab done this thing: and my lord is wise, according to the
wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the
earth.
Joab contrives a plan to convince David to
want Absalom in his presence. This episode with the woman of Tekoah’s audience
with the king is evidence of David’s mild manner with his subjects. He is
clearly very patient with common people. It isn’t until the back and forth
progresses to a point that he realizes that Joab has instigated this. David is
being pressured to ease the banishment imposed on his son. It doesn’t take much
because David loves him.
2Samuel 14:21 ¶ And the king said unto Joab, Behold now, I have done this thing: go therefore, bring the young man Absalom again. 22 And Joab fell to the ground on his face, and bowed himself, and thanked the king: and Joab said, To day thy servant knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, my lord, O king, in that the king hath fulfilled the request of his servant. 23 So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. 24 And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, and let him not see my face. So Absalom returned to his own house, and saw not the king’s face. 25 But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. 26 And when he polled his head, (for it was at every year’s end that he polled it: because the hair was heavy on him therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels after the king’s weight. 27 And unto Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter, whose name was Tamar: she was a woman of a fair countenance.
Notice that Absalom named his daughter after
his beloved sister. Absalom was a handsome man with thick hair that was polled
or cut every year as it was so heavy. Polled used to mean that as well as the
meaning in farming it has now regarding removing horns from cattle or that the
cattle were bred not to have horns.
Absalom still did not get what he wanted, to
be restored to David’s favor in that he would be allowed to return to Jerusalem.
However, he has a good life, is well-respected and admired for his looks like a
Hollywood celebrity today, and he is blessed although he will deny that
blessing in his death as we will see. Perhaps his sons do not survive or in his
bitterness he denies his sons’ inheritance but we’ll discuss that when we come
to it.
2Samuel 18:18
Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a
pillar, which is in the king’s dale: for he said, I have no son to keep my name
in remembrance: and he called the pillar after his own name: and it is called
unto this day, Absalom’s place.
The problem with Absalom is that now he has
an ambition probably stoked by resentment and hatred he learned in Geshur, as I
referred to previously.
2Samuel 14:28 ¶ So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and saw not the king’s face. 29 Therefore Absalom sent for Joab, to have sent him to the king; but he would not come to him: and when he sent again the second time, he would not come. 30 Therefore he said unto his servants, See, Joab’s field is near mine, and he hath barley there; go and set it on fire. And Absalom’s servants set the field on fire. 31 Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom unto his house, and said unto him, Wherefore have thy servants set my field on fire? 32 And Absalom answered Joab, Behold, I sent unto thee, saying, Come hither, that I may send thee to the king, to say, Wherefore am I come from Geshur? it had been good for me to have been there still: now therefore let me see the king’s face; and if there be any iniquity in me, let him kill me. 33 So Joab came to the king, and told him: and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom.
Absalom is held in a sort of internal exile.
He uses an indirect route to his father the king through the commanding
general, Joab. But Joab is reluctant to get involved so Absalom takes an extreme
measure by setting a field of Joab’s on fire. Joab was not a poor man, one
would think, so this field probably just meant an income for him when the barley
would be sold. Any way this annoyed the daylights out of him which is what
Absalom wanted, causing Joab to confront him and come to him directly. Finally,
Joab conducts a reconciliation between Absalom and the king. But now the
trouble with Absalom really begins.
Tuesday, October 8, 2024
Monday, October 7, 2024
1Timothy, chapter 4, comments
1Timothy
4:1 ¶ Now the Spirit speaketh expressly,
that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to
seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2
Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot
iron; 3 Forbidding to marry, and
commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received
with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. 4 For every creature of God is good, and
nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: 5 For it is sanctified by the word of God and
prayer.
He
is talking about God’s Spirit, the very mind of God, not the human spirit. For contexts where the Spirit of God or the spirit of man
can be synonymous with the mind of God or man please see the following;
Romans 8:27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what
is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh
intercession for the saints according to the
will of God.
1Corinthians 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Ephesians 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Philippians 1:27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh
the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may
hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in
one spirit, with one mind striving together for the
faith of the gospel;
2Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit
of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
God is warning
us through Paul that in the end times, called the latter times here,
Christians will depart from the simple faith in Christ and cling to seducing
spirits, disembodied minds of an evil nature perpetuating the doctrines of
devils. Paul explains what that means, them speaking lies in hypocrisy with a
seared conscience shut to the truth. They will preach things like abstaining
from marriage and abstaining from either flesh in particular or perhaps this is
a reference to strict diets that try to adhere to the Law given to Moses.
A certain group of Christians has
forbidden their priests to marry. This began officially in the 12th
century. The Christian bishop or pastor, as discussed previously, is at liberty
to take a wife and there is no restriction against doing so.
It should
also be pointed out that there are no dietary restrictions under New Testament
Christianity other than the eating of blood. This admonition is here before the
Law given to Moses, within that Law for the Hebrews (Leviticus 3:17), and after
that Law for the Gentile church (Acts 15:20). All food is sanctified by the
word of God plainly read and prayer if received with a thankful heart. Remember
what the Lord told Peter in Acts, chapter 10, about not calling unclean that
which God has cleansed.
Acts
10:9 ¶ On the morrow, as they went on
their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to
pray about the sixth hour: 10 And he became
very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a
trance, 11 And saw heaven opened, and a
certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the
four corners, and let down to the earth: 12 Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts
of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. 13 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter;
kill, and eat. 14 But Peter said, Not
so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. 15 And the voice spake unto him again the second
time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. 16 This was done thrice: and the vessel was
received up again into heaven.
These
restrictions, these impositions on the body of Christ, are called doctrines of
devils. These restrictions make a church a cult rather than the church of
Christ.
1Timothy
4:6 ¶ If thou put the brethren in
remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ,
nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast
attained. 7 But refuse profane and old
wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. 8 For bodily exercise profiteth little: but
godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now
is, and of that which is to come. 9 This
is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. 10 For therefore we both labour and suffer
reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men,
specially of those that believe. 11
These things command and teach. 12
Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers,
in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 13 Till I come, give attendance to reading, to
exhortation, to doctrine. 14 Neglect not
the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on
of the hands of the presbytery. 15
Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy
profiting may appear to all. 16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the
doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and
them that hear thee.
Paul wrote
to the Corinthian church;
1Corinthians 4:17 ¶ For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus,
who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into
remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every
church.
Paul’s desire is for Timothy to nourished in God’s words
of faith and belief and the good doctrine that he has been taught and has understood,
the meaning of attained, Biblically, in this particular context.
Psalm 139:6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is
high, I cannot attain unto it.
Proverbs 1:5 A wise man will hear, and will increase
learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
He warns Timothy about profane and old wives’ fables
telling him to prefer to exercise himself unto godliness. Jewish fables
and mythologies, Gnostic heresies about good and evil gods and demiurges, and
Greek and Roman stories about the gods, magic, witchcraft, all things that
create a mystical illusion opposed to the simplicity of the gospel of Christ and
ultimately God’s sovereignty over all matter and energy and events proceeding
from them are in opposition to the gospel and are not good doctrine.
The contrast here is not to denigrate the value of physical
exercise but in the long view of eternity it is of little value compared to the
exercise of spiritual wisdom. Godliness will bless you in this life as my study
on Proverbs makes very clear and the promise of eternal life with our Creator
is of far more value than tending to our physical existence, particularly obsessively.
Paul reinforces that this is indeed the truth and worthy of being accepted by
the hearer.
Psalm 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD
will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk
uprightly. 12 O LORD of hosts, blessed is
the man that trusteth in thee.
1Peter 3:10 For he that will love life, and see good days,
let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: 11
Let him eschew evil, and do good; let
him seek peace, and ensue it.
While a brisk walk may be good for you in this life it
pales in comparison to what is promised in the two passages I just quoted.
An important note in verse 10 is that Paul has suffered
and been spoken ill of for believing and trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ who
is the Saviour of the whole world but especially of those who will believe and
have faith in Him. Like a gift at Christmas that the recipient refuses to open and
tosses in the fire salvation will do no good to the one who refuses to receive
the Lord.
Paul
desires that Timothy command and teach these things Paul has taught him. He
also is to not let himself be held in contempt because he is a young man. He is
to be an example to the believers over which he has spiritual oversight in word,
behavior, in love of the brethren, in purity, in faith, and spirit.
Conversation typically refers to our behavior.
Galatians
1:13 For ye have heard of my conversation
in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the
church of God, and wasted it:
Ephesians
2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation
in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh
and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Paul gives
him three tasks to do until Paul comes to visit. He is to read the scriptures. This
is fundamental to our walking closer with God. See how a king was commanded to
do so under the Law.
Deuteronomy
17:18 And it shall be, when he sitteth
upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a
book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read
therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God,
to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: 20 That his heart be not lifted up above his
brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand,
or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and
his children, in the midst of Israel.
We need to
read the Bible and let God speak to us through His words, which are very
important to Him.
Psalm
138:2 I will worship toward thy holy
temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou
hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
He is to
exhort; encouraging, preaching, convicting his congregations of sin and leading
them by example. He also must study because doctrine, particularly good
doctrine is fundamental to a preacher’s role as a leader of men and women in Christ.
Timothy has
had hands laid on him by the elders and Paul confirming the authority he bears
and the gifts that God has given him and he should not neglect these gifts. We
all have gifts to exercise for God. All of us have been given something that we
can use for God and we must not neglect that gift. The gift that qualified
Timothy for the ministry must not be forsaken, but exercised constantly.
Finally,
Paul tells Timothy to think about what Paul has said. He is to meditate on
these things, giving himself 100% completely to them, letting his light shine
before everyone who sees him. They should see his dedication and see what God
is doing in his life and work.
If he will
just do this he will not only save himself but those who hear him, in this
context, from all of the contradictions of false doctrine, fables and
mythologies, ungodliness, and the pollution of the world. There is no
indication in this passage that Timothy’s eternal salvation is dependent upon
his works. This is an admonition that has immediate and very temporal consequences.
Sunday, October 6, 2024
Saturday, October 5, 2024
Friday, October 4, 2024
Thursday, October 3, 2024
Psalm 80 comments
Psalm 80:1 ¶
«To the chief Musician upon Shoshannimeduth, A Psalm of Asaph.» Give
ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that
dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth. 2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir
up thy strength, and come and save us. 3
Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be
saved. 4 O LORD God of hosts, how long
wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people? 5 Thou feedest them with the bread of tears;
and givest them tears to drink in great measure. 6 Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours:
and our enemies laugh among themselves. 7
Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall
be saved.
Here is another Psalm that may have been
written in the time of David’s Asaph prophesying a future time of torment and
judgment. Shoshannimeduth, according to Gill, refers to some musical
instrument unknown to us today. We can pray a modified version of this prayer
in our times of distress.
God is the Shepherd of Israel and He is our
Shepherd in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Matthew 26:31
Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this
night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock
shall be scattered abroad.
John 10:11
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
1Peter 2:25
For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the
Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
1Peter 5:4
And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of
glory that fadeth not away.
Notice the reference between the cherubims.
Exodus 25:22
And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above
the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the
testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the
children of Israel.
1Samuel 4:4
So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark
of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and
the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the
covenant of God.
Clearly this is a time of great distress for
Israel. It is a plea for temporal salvation from a terrible fate on this earth.
If God would just turn to them they know they would be saved from it. If He
would stir up His strength before the tribes mentioned here representing all
Israel they would be saved.
Psalm 4:6 ¶
There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up
the light of thy countenance upon us.
Who among us who has suffered great loss or
endured a terrible trial has not eaten the bread of tears or drank tears
metaphorically? In another place the Holy Spirit speaks of God feeding someone
with judgment.
Ezekiel 34:16
I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven
away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which
was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with
judgment.
Psalm 80:8 ¶
Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen,
and planted it. 9 Thou preparedst room
before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.
10 The hills were covered with the
shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.
11 She sent out her boughs unto the sea,
and her branches unto the river. 12 Why
hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by
the way do pluck her? 13 The boar out of
the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it. 14 Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look
down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine; 15 And the vineyard which thy right hand hath
planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself. 16 It is burned with fire, it is
cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance. 17 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right
hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself. 18 So will not we go back from thee: quicken us,
and we will call upon thy name. 19 Turn
us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
Israel is likened to a vine and a vineyard.
Isaiah 5:1 ¶ Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my
beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very
fruitful hill:…7 For the vineyard of the
LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant:
and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but
behold a cry.
Isaiah 27:2 In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of
red wine. 3 I the LORD do keep it; I
will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.
Jeremiah 2:21 Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a
right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange
vine unto me?
Hosea 10:1 ¶ Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth
fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased
the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images.
This speaks about the Exodus and driving out
of the idol and devil worshipping, child sacrificing Canaanites. This talks
about God’s planting of Israel in the land promised to them and about the
judgment that He inflicted on them for their apostasy through agents such as
the Assyrians and the Babylonians, metaphorically, with types such as the boar and
the wild beast.
Consider for us how God delivered the Christian
from the clutches of Satan and his or her own sin nature and then an eternity
of unquenchable suffering. Then, if we turned our back on God and walked in the
way of the heathen world He allowed us to suffer and see the hedges He had
placed around us be broken down. When we repent we plead for God to turn back
to us and deliver us from our self-inflicted sorrows. We are always saved but
He will deliver us out of our temporal distresses in many cases as we repent of
our preferred wickedness. This is a great prayer and contemplation for a
Christian who realizes how far they have strayed from the fold of God and
yearns for His sweet mercy.