Saturday 23 July 2016

PSALM 40 From Waiting to Worshipping

Psalm 40:1-3 NIV
I waited patiently for the LORD;
   he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
   out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
   and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth,
   a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear 
   and put their trust in the Lord.

Waiting on the Lord is an act of prayer
  Worshipping the Lord is an act of prayer.
From waiting to worshipping is progression in prayer.
The prayer of faith and hope and trust can lead to the
prayer of waiting. It is an active prayer which we make
before our creator.  It is the prayer of the redeemed.
The prayer of the redeemed is heard by the Lord of the universe.
In spirit and Truth, the new song in our mouth is a hymn to God
A gracious and powerful work of the Holy Spirit
lifts our prayer from waiting to worship.

Psalm 40:7-8 NIV
Then I said ,"Here I am, I have come-
  it is written about me in the scroll.
I desire to do your will, O my God;
 your law is within my heart.

Psalm 40:7 is quoted in Hebrews 10:7

Hebrews 10:7 NIV
Then I said, "Here I am-- 
  it is written about me in the scroll--
I have come to do your will. O God."

Hebrews 10:10 NIV
And by that will, we have been made holy through the
 sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Hebrews 10:19-23 NIV
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter
the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new 
and living way opened for us through the curtain,
that is, his body,  and since we have a great high priest
over the house of God,  let us draw near to God  with a 
sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts
sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and
having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us 
hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for 
he who promised is faithful.

In the power of the Spirit we engage with our Creator
and with our Redeemer.

Psalm 40:16 NIV
But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in You.


Monday 18 July 2016

PSALM 40 From Celebration to Adoration


Psalm 40:3   New International Version
"He put a new song in my mouth,"
Who did that ?......God !
It is divine action which animates our song
and fills our hearts with praise.
3  He put a new song in my mouth,
    a hymn of praise to our God.
    Many will see and fear
    and put their trust in the LORD.

This is revival. Our Spirit filled worship will inspire many
"to fear God and put their trust in Him"
Again it is divine action which causes our own hearts
to love and to trust in our LORD.
We will urgently turn aside from all that is false.
8  I desire to do your will, O my God
    your law is within my heart.
We realize in our own heart that God's law is the will of God.
That is what is in His heart for us !
When that realization informs our desire, then our celebration
moves to adoration, for the God whose heart is for us.

Psalm 149:3-4 NIV
3 Let them praise his name with dancing
  and make music to him with tambourine and harp
4For the LORD takes delight in his people;
  he crowns the humble with salvation.
5 Let the saints rejoice in this honour
   and sing with joy on their beds.

We each have our own experience of prayer, praise and thanksgiving
but when we come to celebrate in our hearts,(on our beds or in public)
 are we conscious of moving from celebration to adoration ?
To celebrate is to mark something with festivity and rejoicing,
to publicly rejoice, to observe and honour enthusiastically with joy.
At a celebration today, we have balloons and streamers, disco lights
and happy music. We show our happiness publicly .
To celebrate is to have a party. Celebration is an expression of
gladness and joy made publicly with others who are happy
for the same reason .
To move from a heart felt experience of joyful celebration into
a heartfelt experience of adoration is a conscious move from
one experience of joy and love to a changed experience of
joy and love, great affection and ardent love, this is an internal experience,
made even greater in the realization that it is shared by all around us.
Shared adoration is possible when all present love. hold precious,
and revere our God, and are in complete harmony in worship
of God-with-us, God-for-us, our Creator and Redeemer.
Psalm 40:16 NIV
But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation always say,
"the LORD be exalted.

Friday 1 July 2016

PSALM 39 The Humility of God

Psalm 113 NKJV

4 The LORD is high  above all nations,
   His glory above the heavens.

5 Who is like the LORD our God,
   Who dwells on high.

6 Who humbles himself to behold
   the things that are in the heavens
   and in the earth.

7 He raises the poor out of the dust
   And lifts the needy out of the ash heap.

Greed, envy, violence, selfishness, injustice, oppression, intolerance,
and the lack of law and order do ensure that there are still poor and needy
people in our time, in our town and not far away.

Psalm 39:4-6 NKJV
4  LORD, make me to know my end,
    And what is the measure of my days,
    That I may know how frail I am.

5  Indeed, You have made my days as hand breadths,
    And my age is nothing before You:
    Certainly every man at his best state
    is but a vapour.

6  Surely every man walks about like a shadow;
    Surely they busy themselves in vain;
    He heaps up riches,
   And does not know who will gather them.

When we see our limitations,
we are at the  beginning, of wisdom and humility.
We are present to God. to God's heart of wisdom love and humility.
May God's heart of wisdom, love and humility be in us.
It is the heart of God to humble himself.
It is the heart of God to raise the poor and needy
right out of their poverty and need.

We really need humility,
if we intend to engage ourselves in those things
which are the will of God,
those very things which are in our God's  heart.

Lord please grant us the wisdom love and humility
which we need to be the people You want us to be.  Amen