Exodus 20:1-2, 13
And God spoke all these words, saying, "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ... You shall not murder"
Leviticus 19:17-18 "You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.Lord, there have been a few neighbors in my life that downright refused to reason frankly with me. How can I be expected to put up with their unwillingness to see the reasonableness of my suggestions? You are telling me that I am only responsible for my own attitudes and words? That I am to approach each situation with an attitude of love, grace, and service that flows out of the well of Your love for me? This is a hard teaching, Lord, I need the Holy Spirit.
Psalm 119:108-109
Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O LORD, and teach me Your rules. I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget Your law.
Lord, how precious it is, to be able to come to You, freely offering praise to You and to Your name, without compulsion, not of duty but of gratitude, love and joy. You have transformed me from a dirge of rebellion into a hymn of praise. You have opened the eyes of my heart to see Your glory shining all around me in creation and in the advancing Your Kingdom.
You teach me and reveal Yourself to me through Your word and law, showing me where life is to be lived but always allowing me to choose to obey. There are times, Lord, when I am awestruck to think that the Master of the Universe would have the grace to allow me to freely choose a life of joy or a death by self.
Psalm 78:65-72
Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a strong man shouting because of wine. And he put his adversaries to rout; he put them to everlasting shame. He rejected the tent of Joseph; he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loves. He built his sanctuary like the high heavens, like the earth, which he has founded forever. He chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds; from following the nursing ewes he brought him to shepherd Jacob his people, Israel his inheritance. With upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand. Lord, in all this, there is the confidence of knowing that all is under Your foot. That even the apostasy of the church does not sully the beauty and purity of the Bride of Christ. That Your Church will prevail and will spread the message of Your glory and the directive to love our neighbors into all nations. That we are seated at Your right hand even now and serve as Your Ambassadors of Reconciliation. Thank You for those faithful teachers and leaders who guard and encourage the flock.
Psalm 78:56-64
Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God and did not keep his testimonies, but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers; they twisted like a deceitful bow. For they provoked him to anger with their high places; they moved him to jealousy with their idols. When God heard, he was full of wrath, and he utterly rejected Israel. He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh, the tent where he dwelt among mankind, and delivered his power to captivity, his glory to the hand of the foe. He gave his people over to the sword and vented his wrath on his heritage. Fire devoured their young men, and their young women had no marriage song. Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation.What are the idols of the church today, Lord? Pride? Fame? Wealth? Acceptance? Choice? Self? Greed? Sexual iniquity? Possessions? Gossip? Anger? Celebrities? A partial listing. All these and more are what we turn to to find solace and freedom from our mundane lives. Where Oh where is the urge to turn to You and Your peace?
Psalm 78:40-55
How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert! They tested God again and again and provoked the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember his power or the day when he redeemed them from the foe, when he performed his signs in Egypt and his marvels in the fields of Zoan. He turned their rivers to blood, so that they could not drink of their streams. He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them, and frogs, which destroyed them. He gave their crops to the destroying locust and the fruit of their labor to the locust. He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamores with frost. He gave over their cattle to the hail and their flocks to thunderbolts. He let loose on them his burning anger, wrath, indignation, and distress, a company of destroying angels. He made a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death, but gave their lives over to the plague. He struck down every firstborn in Egypt, the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of Ham. Then he led out his people like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. And he brought them to his holy land, to the mountain which his right hand had won. He drove out nations before them; he apportioned them for a possession and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.How can the church forget Your mighty hand in delivering us from the bondage of sin and death? Is it that we never truly believed that we were slaves to sin? Do we not recognize that only the obedience of Jesus Christ on the cross is our salvation? How can we not be on our knees without ceasing in praise for Your love, grace and mercy?
Psalm 78:32-39
In spite of all this, they still sinned; despite his wonders, they did not believe. So he made their days vanish like a breath, and their years in terror. When he killed them, they sought him; they repented and sought God earnestly. They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer. But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues. Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant. Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath. He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again.When catastrophe strikes, the church prays. When the sun shines, the church deserts You for the gods of the culture. The faith of the church cannot endure the lures and siren calls of the world, it is weak and spineless with no resistance against mammon and the gods of the age.
Psalm 78:17-31
Yet they sinned still more against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert. They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved. They spoke against God, saying, "Can God spread a table in the wilderness? He struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people?" Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of wrath; a fire was kindled against Jacob; his anger rose against Israel, because they did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power. Yet he commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven, and he rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven. Man ate of the bread of the angels; he sent them food in abundance. He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens, and by his power he led out the south wind; he rained meat on them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the seas; he let them fall in the midst of their camp, all around their dwellings. And they ate and were well filled, for he gave them what they craved. But before they had satisfied their craving, while the food was still in their mouths, the anger of God rose against them, and he killed the strongest of them and laid low the young men of Israel.Israel, delivered from bondage in Egypt, quickly forgot that they had been redeemed from slavery by Your grace and mercy, testing You for trivialities and the materialisms of Egypt. Give us the garlics and leeks, forgetting the toil and labor. In like manner, the church lifts up their voices crying for worldly goods, decrying the transformation of their retirement funds; we forget the sin and death from which we have been lifted, give us our garlics and leeks.
Exodus 20:1-2, 12
And God spoke all these words, saying, "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ... "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
Colossians 3:20
Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.Obey is to hearken, to listen to, to look up to, to follow, to observe my parents in all things. And it means that I am to teach my children to do likewise. For it is in the doing and observing that I learn to honor and respect others, this is where You teach me the fundamentals of relationships. This is the laboratory where I learn to trust and to be trustworthy, and where I learn to keep my word and expect others to do likewise. This is the nucleus of society called family.
Psalm 119:104
Through Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.
Lord, it is when I follow Your rules that Your words are sweeter than honey in my mouth. I have to be reminded that when I am not obedient to You, Your words serve as a reminder of how sweet life could have been. Then that knowledge brings sorrow and repentance to my heart, then that understanding brings revulsion to my soul, then Your law serves to convict me of my errors and return my eyes to You. Then the honey returns to my mouth and I can again sing with that joy that comes from Your presence.
Psalm 119:103
How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!Sweetness, Lord, true sweetness. Even honey cloys and loses its appeal when I have too much. But Your words never cloy, never lose their appeal, always leave me satisfied as with a drink of cool water on a hot day but eager for another sip. Only Your word has that power to satiate and to build thirst at the same time. Sweeter, far sweeter than honey to my lips.
Psalm 78:12-16
In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan. He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap. In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light. He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers.You delivered Your people, Israel, by Your mighty hand, a demonstration of Your power and of Your love for the people of Your Covenant. You delivered us, the Bride of Christ by a demonstration of Your power over death and sin and through Your love for the people of Your New Covenant.
To be continued next week
Psalm 78:9-11 The Ephraimites, armed with the bow, turned back on the day of battle. They did not keep God's covenant, but refused to walk according to his law. They forgot his works and the wonders that he had shown them.Your heart must break at the state of the church today. Those preaching and living different gospels are rampant throughout the land. Any other gospel is preach but the Gospel, the word taught is not Your Word, and the gods worshiped are not You. How long will You withhold Your wrath?
Psalm 78:4-8 We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.Lord, there are those whom You have called to be teachers with a special gifting to impart Your knowledge and wisdom. But there are also all the rest of us, filled with Your Holy Spirit and called to share the stories of how You have worked and continue to work in our lives. Bless all of us with the passion to declare Your greatness.
Psalm 78:1-3 A Maskil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us.Oh, Lord, the things that I have known, that I learned at my mother's knee and from my father as he led his family. These are the understandings that guide and shape my life today, they are the parables that reveal You to me, the foundations of Your Word that provide stability and structure in my life today.
Thank you, Lord for parents who recounted Your mighty works in their lives so that their children would know You. Lord, forgive me for I have not done that at all. Do not let my children suffer as a result of my sin.
Exodus 20:1-2, 8
And God spoke all these words, saying, "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ... Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."
Isaiah 58:13-14 "If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
Is there a fine line between spending Lord's Day afternoon in my garden because it needs to be weeded and spending that same afternoon nurturing and cherishing the plants and produce that the Lord has blessed me with? No, the line is not fine, it is broad, black and easily observable by me. Am I there because those weeds are getting ahead of me and I didn't have or take the time during the week to get rid of those nuisances, so, forgive me, Lord, but Your Day is a weeding day. Or am I on my knees thanking the Lord for the life of each plant, anticipating the bounty that He will provide in the harvest, looking for the interplay between weed and plant to see the beauty of His creation? Do I see my garden as a place of communion with the Lord of the Creation to be savored for a time, or as a place of drudgery that needs to be done so I can go take a Sunday afternoon nap. One honors, one dishonors. It is my choice.
Psalm 119:103-104 How sweet are your Words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through your Precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.Not cloying, Lord, but rich and nourishing with an aftertaste of joy bringing Your peace to my soul. Your Words lay out the Way Everlasting before me, warning against the rocks and roots that would cause me to stumble, while illuminating life in Your Kingdom. Your Words brings wisdom and understanding, they are my lamp and map, a very hedge about me in the presence of my enemies keeping my feet from all false paths. Praise You, my Lord and Savior.
Psalm 119:97-102 Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts. I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word. I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me.I wish! I hunger for these statements to be true. Lord, when will I become so one with You that Your Word is my meditation all day long? I know that Your Instructions are always with me, but I don't always listen.
I do have more understanding than all the influences of the world -- when I meditate upon and consider Your testimonies. I do see the pitfalls of the age-old wisdom of the culture when measured against Your Wisdom -- if I do so!
Your Rules are my guide, they place my feet securely upon Your Path, they keep me from stumbling into evil and re-offending. You are ever at my side.
Psalm 77:16-20 When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid; indeed, the deep trembled. The clouds poured out water; the skies gave forth thunder; your arrows flashed on every side. The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook. Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen. You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.You do lead Your people by the hand gently and securely through the wilderness and through the sea on dry land. As we get ourselves into these entanglements, You are there to lift us up and set our feet back on the straight and narrow path that leads to life in the Kingdom. Praise You, Lord and Master of all.
Lord, bless those who vex me, bring showers of goodness upon them.
Psalm 77:10-15 Then I said, "I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High." I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples. You with your arm redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph. SelahLord, lead me in the restoration of these relationships. Show me what steps and actions I need to take to once again be able to enjoy all the pleasures of kinship in the Body of Christ.
Help Betty and I to remember and share the countless evidences of Your love in our lives together. Let this be our theme, Lord, to ponder upon and meditate on Your mighty deeds that have worked to make two one.
Psalm 77:7-9
"Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable? Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?" SelahHow good it is to remember Your work in my life and to know that You have been watching over my steps all the days of my life. My earliest memories of learning to read through family prayers and the old KJV Bible that Betty found. There it is, tattered with loose pages, but an Ebenezer to remind me of Your Goodness and Faithfulness.
Psalm 77:1-6
To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph. I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me. In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted. When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I consider the days of old, the years long ago. I said, "Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart." Then my spirit made a diligent search:There are relationships in my life, Lord, that I do not understand. Have I offended? Do I need to seek forgiveness? Are there acts of love and grace that I need to extend? Sins of omission or commission that I am guilty of and have been found wanting in loving my brother? Let me not be found guilty of hindering the advance of the Kingdom.
Exodus 20:1-2, 7
And God spoke all these words, saying, "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ... You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
Numbers 30:2
If a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.Am I a man of my word? Is my yea, yea and my nay, nay? Do I profane the Name of the LORD by breaking my promises? Is it not implicit in my claiming to be a follower of Christ, a Christian, that I should be considered as one who is faithful to not dishonor the Name of the LORD?
Psalm 76:10-12
Surely the wrath of man shall praise you; the remnant of wrath you will put on like a belt. Make your vows to the LORD your God and perform them; let all around him bring gifts to him who is to be feared, who cuts off the spirit of princes, who is to be feared by the kings of the earth.Lord, I come before You in humility and repentance, seeking Your face, knowing that the gift You desire from me more than any other is my obedience to Your word. This is my living sacrifice, my act of spiritual worship, a sacrifice holy and acceptable to You.
Psalm 76:4-9
Glorious are you, more majestic than the mountains of prey. The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil; they sank into sleep; all the men of war were unable to use their hands. At your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both rider and horse lay stunned. But you, you are to be feared! Who can stand before you when once your anger is roused? From the heavens you uttered judgment; the earth feared and was still, when God arose to establish judgment, to save all the humble of the earth. SelahIt is hard to remember, in these times of trial and turmoil, that You are Supreme, that You are on the throne and that all things are under Your control. I find myself despondent and filled with anxiety, I have taken my eyes off You and let them focus on the attacks of the Evil One. But You allow and forbid, all is at Your beck and call.
Your anger, LORD, is an irresistible force, Your judgments are immutable, there are none who can stand against the righteousness of Your anger and judgments. All creation fears You and Your majesty.
Psalm 76:1-3
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.
In Judah God is known; his name is great in Israel. His abode has been established in Salem, his dwelling place in Zion. There he broke the flashing arrows, the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah
How great is Your Name in all the earth, in how many ways is it revealed? Through the Creation, by Your Word, in the Cross, in the Resurrection, as You stand at the Father's right hand to administer justice and righteousness, in my transformed life.
Psalm 75:9-10
But I will declare it forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. All the horns of the wicked I will cut off, but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.You are the LORD of justice, righteousness, love and mercy for ever and ever. You gather Your people as a hen gathers its chicks and shields from all harm and injustice. You are love and light. I will praise You for all eternity.
Psalm 75:2-8
"At the set time that I appoint I will judge with equity. When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants, it is I who keep steady its pillars. Selah I say to the boastful, 'Do not boast,' and to the wicked, 'Do not lift up your horn; do not lift up your horn on high, or speak with haughty neck.'" For not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes lifting up, but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another. For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.Praise You, LORD, that it is You that executes judgment. You are the just One, there is nothing but justice in Your pronouncements. You pass sentence and reward according to Your infallible wisdom. You cannot be bribed, You cannot be swayed by cleverly phrased interpretations of Your Word. You are that against which all else must be measured.
Psalm 75:1
To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song. We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds.Yesterday was the Day of Remembering, the Lord's Day, Your Day. A day to be spent in recounting Your greatness and praising Your goodness. A Day of the gathering of your peoples to worship You in prayer, song and word. We meditate on your beauty, dwell on Your grace and tell all of Your mercy. Your Day and a day for no other purpose but to seek Your face.
Exodus 20:1-2, 4-6
And God spoke all these words, saying, "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ... You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.Your love is steadfast to those who love You and keep Your commandments. Let nothing come between You and me, nothing that takes the focus of my worship off You and on to anything else. Help me, guide me, convict me, quicken my conscience if I begin to stray from steadfast worship of You and You alone.
Psalm 119:92-94
If Your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. I will never forget Your precepts, for by them You have given me life. I am Yours; save me, for I have sought Your precepts.
I am Yours, O Lord, I have heard Your voice and it has brought me into life. In Your law, I have life everlasting, in Your word is relief from affliction and absence of cares; Your precepts are the uplifter of my head.
Praise You, my Lord and Master, my Savior and Redeemer, my Brother.
Psalm 74:18-23
Remember this, O LORD, how the enemy scoffs, and a foolish people reviles your name. Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild beasts; do not forget the life of your poor forever. Have regard for the covenant, for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence. Let not the downtrodden turn back in shame; let the poor and needy praise your name. Arise, O God, defend your cause; remember how the foolish scoff at you all the day! Do not forget the clamor of your foes, the uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually!
Remember Your people, LORD, cover us from those minions of the Evil One who preach another gospel. Strengthen Your Church! Build up your Body! Fill us with Your Spirit to stand strong and resist the devil so that he will flee from us. Help us to remember that when we seek You, You will be found.
