Friday 28 November 2014

PSALM 118:6 According to Paul

Hebrews   13:6   NIV
God has said,
"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
So we say with confidence
"The LORD is my helper; I will not be afraid
What can man do to me?

PSALM 118:6 NIV
5 In my anguish I cried to the LORD
        and he answered  by setting me free.
6 The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid
        What can man do to me ?

PSALM 117 (118) Septuagint.
   The Lord is my helper;
   and I will not fear what men shall do to me.

Psalm 118: 8-9 NIV
8   It is better to take refuge in the LORD
        than to trust in man.
9   It is better to take refuge in the LORD
        than to trust in princes.

With Paul we say;-"The LORD is my helper".

PSALM 116:10 According to Paul

Amos 3:8 KJV
The lion hath roared who will not fear ?
The Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy ?

Psalm 116:10 KJV
I believed, therefor I have spoken:

Psalm 115  (116)  The Septuagint Brenton's translation.
I believed, wherefore I have spoken:

2nd Corinthians 4;13 Good News Bible
13 The scripture says, "I have spoken because I believed."
In the same spirit of faith, we also speak because we believe.

2nd Corinthians 4:13 Jerusalem
13 But as we have the same spirit of faith
     that is mentioned in scripture--
14" I believed, and therefor I spoke"--
       we too believe and therefore we too speak ,
      knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus to life
      will raise us up with Jesus in our turn,
      and put us by his side and you with us.

Paul's take on Psalm 116:10 is revealed in the New Testament
and is therefore the inspired word of God.
This passage is therefore worth our close and careful attention.

Wednesday 26 November 2014

PSALM 116 Sons of the Resurrection.

Psalm 116:17 KJV
I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving
And will call upon the name of the Lord.

It is about prayer. The human experience of gratitude
is close to prayer. the experience of heartfelt gratitude
takes us even farther but heartfelt thanksgiving is
another step again !
Calling upon the name of the Lord,
with heartfelt thanksgiving..... is grace in prayer.

 Psalm 116; 14, 18-19 RSV.
14   I will pay my vows to the LORD
       in the presence of all the people.
18   I will pay my vows to the LORD
       in the presence of all his people
19   in the courts of the house of the LORD
       in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD.

Luke 20:37-38  NKJV
37   But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage
       that the dead are raised, when he called the LORD
       "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob"
38   For he is not the God of the dead but of the living,
       for all live to him.

So when we offer the sacrifice of  thanksgiving in the presence
of ALL his people, in the courts of the house of the LORD
to whom all men are alive and present,
"we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses"
                                                                     Hebrews 12:1 NKJV 

Psalm 116: 9   I will walk before the LORD
                         In the land of the living.

We realize that in walking before the LORD
we are compassed about with the household of God.

Now you are no longer strangers or guests,
but fellow citizens of the holy people:
you are of the household of God.
                                                      EPHESIANS 2:19
                                                      CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY BIBLE
                                                      THIRTY-SEVENTH EDITION

Every time we sing this Psalm,
we sing twice "I will pay my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people."
It is true:-
" A psalm a day helps you work rest and pray."
Psalm 116 reminds us that we work, rest and pray
as members of the household of God.

indeed our fellowship is with the Father
and with his Son Jesus Christ.                1 John 1:3  ESV

Saturday 22 November 2014

PSALM 115 Remember God's Presence.

Psalm 115:4  RSV
Their idols are silver and gold, the works of men's hands.

People still put their trust money and financial speculation.
They make desirable property and fashionable possessions
the focus of their efforts, and they make social status the
desire of their hearts.  These idols have been around for many
generations and continue to appeal to self centered, self indulgent
folk
.
Psalm 115:9-11 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
9 O Israel, trust and take refuge in the LORD !
   ( Lean on, rely on, and be confident in Him !)
   He is their Help and their Shield.
10 O house of Aaron ( the priesthood )
         trust in and lean on the LORD
   He is their Help  and their Shield.
11 You who ( reverently ) fear the LORD,
   trust in, and lean on the LORD !
   He is their Help and their Shield.

Those who fear the LORD enough to put their trust
in His will and purpose, can truly say
"His steadfast love endures forever"   (Psalm 118:4)
Because those who have put their trust in Him--in everyday life--
have found that "He is their Help and Shield" Psalm 115:11
and that He blesses them and their households.

We need to be among those who can say
"I shall pass my life in the presence of Yahweh,
in the land of the living."  Psalm 116:9  NJB

Mine to walk at ease, enjoying the Lord's presence
in the land of the living.    Psalm 114:8  Knox translation.

Remember God's presence.

Psalm 145:5-6  NIV
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob
whose hope is in the Lord his God.
The  Maker of heaven and earth
the sea and everything in them--
the LORD who remains faithful forever.

No empty theory here. The person who's Hope and Help is,
 in practice, and on an ongoing basis,
  the Lord our God,
is remarkably blessed.

Psalm 115 ESV
May you be blessed by the LORD,
    who made heaven and earth!

                       AMEN.

Monday 10 November 2014

PSALM 114 Who God Is.

Psalm 114 NLT
1     When the Israelites escaped from Egypt--
       when the family of Jacob left that foreign land--
2     The land of Judah became God's sanctuary
       and Israel became His kingdom.

Psalm 114 is about very dramatic events.
A whole nation finds freedom from enslavement and
oppression,--- from humiliation to renewed life.
They experience the sort of transformation of circumstances
which is beyond our own strength---which , in fact,
can only be brought about by the One who can transform
impossible situations.
It is the testimony of many Christians that the LORD our God
has delivered us personally , transformed our circumstances
and renewed our lives.

To praise God and praise His Holy Name, with all our heart,
we need in our own heart, a really motivating appreciation
of who God is and what He has done for us.
The Children of Israel had just shared such an experience.
To truly engage in heartfelt praise and worship,
we need , in our own heart; the love of God,
the fear of God, and a need, always,
to know His presence.

Psalm 114: 7-8 NLT
7     Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the LORD
       at the presence of the God of Israel.
8     He turned the rock into pools of water
       yes springs of water from solid rock.

John 3:16 KJV
3     For God so loved the world,
       that he gave his only begotten Son,
       that whosoever believeth in him ,
       should not perish, but have everlasting life.

He has made our hearts His sanctuary.
And the body of Christ His Kingdom.

Saturday 8 November 2014

PSALM 113 Know the only true God.

John 17:3 ESV 
And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Psalm 113:1-3  ESV
1     Praise the LORD!
       Praise , O servants of the LORD,
       praise the name of the LORD!

2     Blessed be the name of the LORD
       from this time forth and for ever more!

3     From the rising of the sun to its setting,
       the name of the LORD is to be praised.

From psalm 112, we know that those who
delight in doing the will of God ,
also Praise the LORD.

From Psalm 113 we realize that those who
praise the name of the LORD, and bless the name of the LORD,
are those who have personal experience of the praiseworthy attributes,
praiseworthy nature, and praiseworthy deeds of the LORD our God.
We can and do testify to God's character, God's reputation, and God's name.
We praise the name of the LORD
at all times of day, now and always.  

Tuesday 4 November 2014

PSALM 112 The blessings of the righteous.

In 2nd Corinthians ch1 v12 , the apostle Paul quotes from
The Septuagint Psalm 111    ( 112 in Hebrew )  verse 3
"Glory and riches shall be in your house"
Paul says "Our glory ( Our boast - in modern translations )
is in this; the witness of our conscience.

By  delighting in the precepts of the Lord,
the righteous become more Godly.
So for us, obedience to the Lord is not an imposed burden
but a power which transforms our hearts.

Obedience to the will of God is to let oneself be filled
with the tenderness, forgiveness, generosity, justice,
kindness, love and mercy of the living God.

Psalm 112:1 NCV  
Blessed is the man who fears the LORD,
who greatly delights in his precepts