Psalm 118: 1-4
O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good: because His mercy endureth for ever.
Let Israel now say, that His mercy endureth for ever.
Let the house of Aaron now say, that His mercy endureth for ever.
Let them now that fear the LORD say, that His mercy endureth for ever.
Psalm 117.
O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise Him, all ye people.
For His merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD.
There will come a time when literally all the people of the earth will praise the Lord. Rebellion will be quickly squelched. People from all nations will come to Jerusalem, where Jesus will reign over the entire earth for a thousand years.
The peace for which mankind yearns will exist, because Jesus will be King of Kings.
Psalm 116:15-19.
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.
O LORD, truly I am Thy servant; I am Thy servant, and the son of Thine handmaid: Thou hast loosed my bonds.
I will offer to Thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the Name of the LORD.
I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all His people,
In the courts of the LORD’S house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.
Why is the death of a believer precious to God? I think it is because that soul is now completely redeemed, forever safe in the arms of the One Who sacrificed His Son for just that purpose.
Lately, it seems heaven is becoming more and more populated with people I have known and loved. I look forward to the reunion that will take place when I enter heaven. First, I will see Jesus! After a few million years, nothing in our time, I will be reunited with family members: Dad, Mom, my brother; babies that Mom miscarried over 76 years ago; grandparents I don’t remember because they went to heaven when I was only a baby; and grandparents I knew and loved. And then, of course, countless friends. No wonder heaven has no time limits! God knew we would spend all of eternity having conversations with countless people whose lives met with ours, however briefly. What a glorious day that will be!
The psalmist ends this psalm by repeating his determination to perform his worship of praise and thanksgiving in front of God’s people, as we also should do.
Finally, Verse 15 always makes me think of this wonderful poem written by James Weldon, performed here by the amazing Wintley Phipps: Go Down, Death.
What I have for you this morning is one of my favorites from David Phelps:
Have a blessed Sunday!
January is coming to an end. This is the final Saturday of the month. It’s been mild, weather-wise, since our snowfall last week. Temps have even bumped the 50s, and most of the snow is gone. There will very likely be more snow next month, for those who love the stuff 🙂
We’re starting to collect all our tax info for the year. Terry likes to get it done earlier rather than later. So he tried printing off a document, and the printer wouldn’t print. Sigh. I went through all my normal “fixit” procedures, but got nowhere. Finally decided to turn off everything and then reboot, which usually works when all else fails.
Then I read something that suggested the reboot should include the router. Huh. Never thought of that. So I also turned off the router. When I turned it all back on, still no results. Now I’m not just sighing. I’m praying for two things: That God would control my temper; that He would also show me what to do. The printer worked when printing documents generated by the printer itself. It just wasn’t communicating with the computer.
I talked it over with Terry, and he decided to check all the connections once more, paying special attention to the router because obviously the printer was working, just not communicating with the computer.
A few minutes later he came into the living room waving a paper triumphantly! Success!!
“What did you do?” says I
“Dunno,” says he. ”Just took a wire out and put it back in, and badabing! Things started working!”
The moral of the story? Check your router connection early in the process.
I’d just like to mention here that the most complicated and irritating document I have to access every year is the US Army 1099R. First, I have to change the password. That involves answering personal questions like “What was your first girlfriend’s name?” If you get it wrong, you have to start the WHOLE ENTIRE process over again–and you can get it wrong if you fail to capitalize the first letter of the name. Once you get the questions answered, then you have to tapdance through a veritable minefield of other information before they finally let you access the ONLY document you need. By the time I finally have it printed out, I need ice cream. Or a donut. Or at least a small piece of chocolate. Seriously. Aggravates the FIRE out of me! Every other document that I access online is a piece of cake.
Did you notice how often all the forbidden foods get mentioned in relation to tax documents and especially Army tax documents?
In closing, I played one of those silly name game things last night. I loved the result:
My motto is, “They told me I couldn’t. That’s why I did!”
Psalm 116: 12-14.
What shall I render unto the LORD for all His benefits toward me?
I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the Name of the LORD.
I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all His people.
In verse 12, the psalmist asks how he can possibly repay the Lord for all His benefits. My mind immediately went to one of my favorite verses: Micah 6:8. ”What has the Lord required of thee, O man, but that thou live justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God.”
That is the answer to our questions about how to show God our love and appreciation for His mercy and blessings.
Verse 13 declares that we are to take (drink, enjoy, savor) the “cup” of salvation. Finally, in verse 14, we are to live godly in front of our friends and neighbors, showing them the love of God through our behavior.
Someone once said that we are to live our lives in such a way that, if someone accuses us of wrongdoing, no one will believe it.
Psalm 116:6-11.
The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and He helped me.
Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.
For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.
I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.
I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted:
I said in my haste, All men are liars.
Psalms 113-118, as I have said before, are known as the Egyptian Hallel psalms. I should have mentioned earlier that the word Hallel simply means praise. These songs were sung at the Passover in commemoration of God’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt.
Because they are poetry, they tend to be dramatic and emotional in their language. I think they are beautiful, and studying them has opened up a new understanding for me. They’re not terribly long, and they are meant to be read/sung all together. They were not necessarily marked as individual psalms in the orginal text. The translators divided them arbitrarily, possibly for clarity.
The verse I keep seeing in neon lights this morning is v. 14: ”I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.”
“By a man’s walk is understood his way of life: some men live only as in the sight of their fellow men, having regard to human judgment and opinion; but the truly gracious man considers the presence of God, and acts under the influence of His all-observing eye.”
Spurgeon
There are, of course several possible applications of this verse. One is prophetic, as Jesus contemplated His coming trial and death. He was going to bear it in a way that honored the Father. And He did. His grace under pressure is incredible. His compassion for the thief who acknowledged Him as Savior, as they both suffered in agony, is a mark of His work of mercy.
Another application applies to all who claim to be followers of Christ. If we say it, then we need to follow our words with our behavior. To say we follow Him, but live in whatever way we choose, is to NOT follow Him. Our lives are to be marked with grace, truth, mercy, and strength. If you were to go read the story of His arrest, trials, persecution, and execution, you will not find a single flaw in His character–in spite of the fact that He was innocent of every charge brought against Him.
Psalm 116:1-5.
I love the LORD, because He hath heard my voice and my supplications.
Because He hath inclined His ear unto me, therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live.
The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.
Then called I upon the Name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech Thee, deliver my soul.
Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.
As another one of the Egyptian Hallel Psalms (Psalms 113-118), sung by Jesus with His disciples on the night of His betrayal and arrest (Matthew 26:30 and Mark 14:26), we can say with G. Campbell Morgan: “Whatever the local circumstances which gave rise to this song, it is evident that all its rich meaning was fulfilled, when in the midst of that little company of perplexed souls, the shadows of the One Death already on Him, Jesus sang this song of prophetic triumph over the sharpness of the hour of passion to which He was passing. He has made it over to all His own as their triumph song over death.”
BlueLetterBible
Can you imagine what it must have been like to sing with Jesus? On the eve of His death, He led the disciples in the tradition of singing Ps. 113-118, The Egyptian Hallel psalms. I like to imagine what His voice was like. I think He was a lead singer, with a rich, musical tone. Of course, He could sing any part He wanted. He could have sung a quartet with Himself without recording tracks 🙂
Consider the third verse: “The sorrows of death compassed Me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon Me: I found trouble and sorrow.”
Jesus knew what He was facing. He understood the physical agony, and especially the moment at which the Father would no longer be able to look at the Son as He became sin for us.
These psalms, the Egyptian Hallel psalms, are touching my heart and soul in a whole new way as I study them, understanding the story behind them, and the prophetic aspect of them. I can’t encourage you strongly enough to read through all of them at one sitting, Ps. 113-118. You will be blessed.
Psalm 115: 3-9.
But our God is in the heavens: He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased.
Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not:
They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not:
They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.
They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.
O Israel, trust thou in the LORD: He is their help and their shield.
From the beginning, Israel had been tempted away from the worship of the true God by the idolatry they saw all around them. I remember thinking, when I was still very young, that it was silly to worship something you had made yourself.
When God commaded Israel to “have no other gods” before Him, he made it crystal clear that idolatry was not to be tolerated. Still, while God was giving this command to Moses, the Israelites melted down their gold and created a golden calf to “worship.” I think they didn’t actually worship that calf. I think they used it as an excuse for behavior that was lewd, ungodly, and for which they would pay a steep price.
They were satisfying a lust of the flesh.
The verses I’ve highlighted this morning are quite detailed in describing the futility of woshiping idols created with one’s own hands. Still, even the wise King Solomon followed his wives and concubines into idolatry, polluting the land with places of worship for a variety of gods and the evil practices that were involved in their worship.
Never think for a moment that we don’t have idols of our own. We may not deliberately think of them as idols, but by definition, anything that is more important than God in your life is an idol. In the New Testament, we see Pharisees who worship their own “perfect” behavior while castigating the poor man who could not afford all that they had. Lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and pride of life–all are idols. Holding one’s self above anyone else is pride. Pornography is an idol. Money can become an idol.
The music that I love can become an idol. Even that which is not intrinsically evil can become that which we worship above God Himself.
We were running just a tad late this morning, so I decided to post this afternoon instead.
I was nervous. I was scheduled to play the offertory at church. This would be the first time in several years since I’d done so, never have done it at Calvary. One of the things we are encouraged to do in the piano program I’m taking is to play for others. I’ve been working on a pretty arrangement of the hymn Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee in the setting of Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring. The arrangement is by Cindy Berry.
I felt confident as I began to play, but the underlying nerves were there. Then, it was time to turn the page, and I totally flubbed it! Silly thing wouldn’t stay where it belonged! But do you know what happened as I continued? The nerves went away! I thought, “Well, I’m glad that’s over with!” and continued to the end of the piece with no further trouble. Thank You, Lord, for those who were praying for me. It wasn’t perfect, but my spirit settled down and I was calm for the rest of the song.
After the service, a young friend was talking with me about her anxiety. I shared with her that God knew we would be fearful people, and that there are 365 passages in the Bible having to do with fear. That’s one for every day of the year!
My favorite: II Tim. 1:7. “God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power; and of love; and of a sound mind.”
I also love Isaiah 41:10 “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness.”
Aren’t you thankful for the precious promises of God!
Linda's Bible Study 