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Showing posts from November, 2017

God's Great Love!

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Psalm 108 A song. A psalm of David. 1  My heart, O God, is steadfast;      I will sing  and make music with all my soul. 2  Awake, harp and lyre!      I will awaken the dawn. 3  I will praise you,  Lord , among the nations;      I will sing of you among the peoples. 4  For great is your love,  higher than the heavens;      your faithfulness  reaches to the skies. 5  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;      let your glory be over all the earth. We see David's determination to praise God in this psalm.  He says, "I will sing and make music", "I will awaken the dawn", "I will praise you Lord", "I will sing of you".  For David praising God with all of his heart was not just emotional it was willful and intentional.  You get the feeling that nothing was going to stop David from praising the Lord.   And for David, praising God was a way of life . He started his day (I will awaken the dawn) with praise.  He praised God among hi

Wandering in the Desert With No Place to Go!

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Psalm 107 1  4  Some wandered in desert  wastelands,      finding no way to a city  where they could settle. 5  They were hungry  and thirsty,      and their lives ebbed away. 6  Then they cried out  to the  Lord  in their trouble,      and he delivered them from their distress. 7  He led them by a straight way      to a city  where they could settle. 8  Let them give thanks  to the  Lord  for his unfailing love      and his wonderful deeds  for mankind, 9  for he satisfies  the thirsty      and fills the hungry with good things. The psalmist in Psalm 107 gives four scenarios in people come to the end of their rope and cry out to God. The first one is a person wandering in the desert, with no way to get to the city and get the help they need, as they waste away.  It is important to understand the sense of the word "wandered" in this text.  One commentator puts it this way, "Their passage through the wilderness was not a journeying, such as when m

Your Trials Will Go Away, But God's Love Endures Forever!

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Psalm 106 1  Praise the  Lord Give thanks to the  Lord , for he is good; his love endures forever. 2  Who can proclaim the mighty acts  of the  Lord      or fully declare his praise? 3  Blessed are those who act justly,      who always do what is right. 4  Remember me,   Lord , when you show favor  to your people,      come to my aid  when you save them, 5  that I may enjoy the prosperity  of your chosen ones,      that I may share in the joy  of your nation      and join your inheritance  in giving praise. 6  We have sinned,  even as our ancestors  did;      we have done wrong and acted wickedly. One of the most popular mantras in the psalms is "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever." If you read this whole psalm, you will see it is in the context of a recounting of Israel's history. It recalls God's faithful acts of redemption for His people.  But, it also recounts how many times Israel did not remember what God

Why God Loves All Nations!

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Psalm 105 1  Give praise to the  Lord ,  proclaim his name;      make known among the nations what he has done. 2  Sing to him,  sing praise to him;      tell of all his wonderful acts. 3  Glory in his holy name;      let the hearts of those who seek the  Lord  rejoice. 4  Look to the  Lord  and his strength;      seek his face  always. One thing you will find consistent throughout the Old Testament is God's love for the "nations".  It is important to know that this word in the New Testament is translated in the Greek, "panta te ethnes".  In the New Testament it is used often but most significantly in the Great Commission where Jesus says, "Go and make disciples of "all nations"." So if it is clear God wants to reach all nations (i.e. for God so loved the world), how do we do that?  Psalm 105 has some clues. "Give praise and proclaim his name".  Part of giving praise is proclaiming all the wonderful thin

Who Created You and All That Exists?

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Psalm 104 1  Praise the  Lord , my soul. Lord  my God, you are very great;      you are clothed with splendor and majesty. 2  The  Lord  wraps  himself in light  as with a garment;      he stretches  out the heavens  like a tent 3       and lays the beams  of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds  his chariot      and rides on the wings of the wind. 4  He makes winds his messengers,      flames of fire  his servants. 5  He set the earth  on its foundations;      it can never be moved. 6  You covered it  with the watery depths  as with a garment;      the waters stood  above the mountains. 7  But at your rebuke  the waters fled,      at the sound of your thunder  they took to flight; 8  they flowed over the mountains,      they went down into the valleys,      to the place you assigned  for them. 9  You set a boundary  they cannot cross;      never again will they cover the earth. The psalmist describes God by the power he exhib

Is the God of the Old Testament Different than the God of the New Testament?

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Psalm 103 Of David. 1  Praise the  Lord ,  my soul;      all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 2  Praise the  Lord ,  my soul,      and forget not  all his benefits— 3  who forgives all your sins      and heals  all your diseases, 4  who redeems your life  from the pit      and crowns you with love and compassion, 5  who satisfies  your desires with good things      so that your youth is renewed  like the eagle’s. 6  The  Lord  works righteousness      and justice for all the oppressed. 7  He made known  his ways  to Moses,      his deeds  to the people of Israel: 8  The  Lord  is compassionate and gracious,      slow to anger, abounding in love. 9  He will not always accuse,      nor will he harbor his anger forever; 10  he does not treat us as our sins deserve      or repay us according to our iniquities. 11  For as high as the heavens are above the earth,      so great is his love  for those who fear him; 12  as far as the east is from the west