Vs. 4-“Blessed is that person who makes the Lord their trust…”
Who have you been trusting in? How has that been working for you? Well, if you have been trusting in anything or anyone more than the Lord, then you are not blessed according to this verse of the Bible. The world wants us to trust in it. Obama and many others want us to trust in the government. There is always someone or something advertising its wares and ways that can be trusted to make everything all right. Don’t believe them. If we are trusting in anything other than the Lord we have put our hopes in a bag full of holes. Money can’t buy us blessing, secure protection, love from God, or peace, joy, kindness, humility, or any other heavenly gift. Only a solid relationship with Jesus can do these and many more benefits. Jeremiah 31: 1-6 at least, reminds us of our God’s faithful, steady, constant love. There is no one who is more loving toward us, good in all their doings, and extremely wise and powerful as the Lord our God.
There may be people in your life who have the power to help you in certain situations, but they lack the love or will to do so. Still again, there may be others around you who want to help you with all their hearts, but they lack the power to do it. Not so with Jesus, He has the love and the power to do anything that is according to His will for those who trust in Him. He promises to love us and always do what is right for our lives in every situation. And without fail he will show Himself mighty if He is our only trust.
Vs. 4b-“…and does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.”
When dealing with Scripture, the purest and deadliest form of “pride” is anyone or anything that says, “Don’t listen to God or His word, we have a better way.” If you ever hear this idea, whether directly or implied by someone, run for your life. This is “pride” about to try and take you down an evil road. Any idea that lifts itself above the teachings of the Bible is evil. There is a saying that goes like this, “To l-i-v-e backwards is e-v-i-l.” I don’t think this is a coincidence. To put our trust in anyone or anything other than the Lord is living backwards according to the maker of heaven and earth.
The word teaches us to, “Let God be true and every man a liar.” For example, this means if the word tell us not to partake in sex outside of marriage (fornication, sexual immorality, adultery), but the world promotes it as a “do what ever your heart tells you, go ahead and enjoy it, you only live once.” Someone is lying and you had better believe it’s not God. These are “the proud who turn aside to lies.” You can go with the culture and be judged as evil along with it, or you can believe God and follow Him. You can’t do both and expect to be blessed or rewarded with good.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
Psalm 40 Sketch Notes-Vs. 3
Vs. 3- “He has put a new song in my mouth—Praise to our God;”
I’ve always had a song in my mouth since my youth. The only problem is it sounded like this, “Me, me, me, me, me, meee.” But ever since the Lord has shown Himself faithful to the one who cries out for Him, my tune has changed. Now the song I sing goes more like this, “Him, Him, Himmm.” There’s nothing like being pulled out of a pit, a place where we are stuck, to be rescued by the Lord is an exhilarating experience; to finally shed a bad habit, bad relationship, a betrayal, a depression, or a gut-wrenching grief is to have a new song on your lips. The freedom of these just mentioned will cause a new song to rise up in your heart, a song caused by the goodness and power of the Lord. This is what “praise” really means. To sing toward the One who has just proven themselves to hear, care, and answer as only a Savior (Hero) can.
My “new song of praise” sounds like this today, “Oh, thank you Lord, for the grace to be clean and sober for 4 years now. Oh, thank you Lord, that by your grace I haven’t viewed pornography in just as many years. Oh, thank you Lord, You have turned my house into a home where love abounds, instead of evil. Oh, thank you Lord, I have been surrounded with good people in my life, instead of evil workers. Oh, thank you Lord, my future with you gets brighter and brighter because You are my strength and my shield…etc. Now that’s a song of praise to our God. As you walk with the Lord your song should sound a lot like mine because He is faithful to those who walk with Him.
Vs. 3b- “Many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord.”
Whether you realize it or not, you are surrounded by people who are watching you because you claim to be a Christian. They know you from your past life of sin and trouble. And they are watching to see if this new life is going to stick. They will watch and see if Jesus works for you. And if you continue to follow Jesus, and as your life begins to change for the better, they will realize there is a God in heaven and He really helps people on earth. In many cases, that will cause them to have a holy fear of not knowing Him like they should. This is the beginning of wisdom. This is the time when God can say, “Yes, I am real and I do want you to know Me, just like your friend there your watching me bless. I will love you and save you and turn your life around too, if you’ll trust Me…,” or something very similar to that. How many of us have seen God work in the lives of others and it made us want it that much more? If you are following Christ best you can, then by default you are a walking billboard for Him. And people will read you and believe that Christ is real and who He says He is, and it just might make them want Him too.
I’ve always had a song in my mouth since my youth. The only problem is it sounded like this, “Me, me, me, me, me, meee.” But ever since the Lord has shown Himself faithful to the one who cries out for Him, my tune has changed. Now the song I sing goes more like this, “Him, Him, Himmm.” There’s nothing like being pulled out of a pit, a place where we are stuck, to be rescued by the Lord is an exhilarating experience; to finally shed a bad habit, bad relationship, a betrayal, a depression, or a gut-wrenching grief is to have a new song on your lips. The freedom of these just mentioned will cause a new song to rise up in your heart, a song caused by the goodness and power of the Lord. This is what “praise” really means. To sing toward the One who has just proven themselves to hear, care, and answer as only a Savior (Hero) can.
My “new song of praise” sounds like this today, “Oh, thank you Lord, for the grace to be clean and sober for 4 years now. Oh, thank you Lord, that by your grace I haven’t viewed pornography in just as many years. Oh, thank you Lord, You have turned my house into a home where love abounds, instead of evil. Oh, thank you Lord, I have been surrounded with good people in my life, instead of evil workers. Oh, thank you Lord, my future with you gets brighter and brighter because You are my strength and my shield…etc. Now that’s a song of praise to our God. As you walk with the Lord your song should sound a lot like mine because He is faithful to those who walk with Him.
Vs. 3b- “Many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord.”
Whether you realize it or not, you are surrounded by people who are watching you because you claim to be a Christian. They know you from your past life of sin and trouble. And they are watching to see if this new life is going to stick. They will watch and see if Jesus works for you. And if you continue to follow Jesus, and as your life begins to change for the better, they will realize there is a God in heaven and He really helps people on earth. In many cases, that will cause them to have a holy fear of not knowing Him like they should. This is the beginning of wisdom. This is the time when God can say, “Yes, I am real and I do want you to know Me, just like your friend there your watching me bless. I will love you and save you and turn your life around too, if you’ll trust Me…,” or something very similar to that. How many of us have seen God work in the lives of others and it made us want it that much more? If you are following Christ best you can, then by default you are a walking billboard for Him. And people will read you and believe that Christ is real and who He says He is, and it just might make them want Him too.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Psalm 40 Sketch Notes
Psalm 40 Study Notes
1. Waiting on the Lord means to serve Him with gladness, to attend to Him, to lean upon Him, think of Him, sing to Him, trust in Him, talk to Him, praise Him for His blessings already, dwell upon His kindness, gentleness, love and faithfulness, in other words to fill your heart and mind with His love, answered prayers, commitment to you, and never-ending help for you.
2. To wait patiently means to stand firm in these just mentioned no matter what is going on around you. Patience means while trouble is happening we shall not be moved, shaken, or stirred out of place. Patience is a quiet, steadfast resolve to trust that He knows and cares and is already moving on the matter because we asked for His help and He loves us so much He can’t sit by without guiding us through.
3. “He inclined to me and heard my cry.” Inclined means to lean toward, to stoop down, to have His attention. When we cry out to Him we know that we have His attention. And with His attention comes His help. I have heard people say, “God only helps those who help themselves.” This is not true. God helps those who call to Him for help and He does it gladly because HE loves us dearly and we have proved our love and trust of Him by our prayer for help. He absolutely loves us to trust Him.
4. “He brought me out of a horrible pit.” The pit is where I can only see walls around me. I seem to have fallen into something and need help getting out. The pit is a low place, below the level of my privileges as a child of God. We have to be thrown “down” to be in a pit. We can also fall into a pit or sometimes we choose to jump in on our own when we do things against His will. The only way out is up. So, we must look up to the heavens to call for a rope.
5. “Out of the miry clay.” The miry clay is slippery substance. The more you try to get out on your own the more slippery and stuck we get. We can’t walk rightly in the slippery mud and continue to fall on our faces; we get bogged down in slimy things and need help to get out. If we’re not careful we may give up and try and make the pit our home. We’ll try and just live our lives without freedom in the low, slippery places of life, and may even try to pull others down into the pit with us so we will be more comfortable in our misery. When all along we should be looking up and calling to the One who has the high ground and the strength to pull us out.
6. “And set my feet upon a rock.” God not only pulls out of the pit when we call for His rope, He makes sure to place us way away from the mud on solid rock. He gives us a firm foundation that is not easily shaken or moved. A strong surface for our feet which steady’s the rest of our movements. We can now continue our journey because of the solid ground; His word is our solid ground. We can walk safely through His word like a huge, green lush meadow we can live free in. (The Rock is Jesus, solid people in the church, a descent job, school, phone numbers of ladder people, definitely His word, and His love and guidance which is promised to those who will trust Him.) What else? “Jesus is our firm foundation; I know that His love is true… Jesus is our firm foundation; I will trust in his holy word, I will trust in His holy word…”
1. Waiting on the Lord means to serve Him with gladness, to attend to Him, to lean upon Him, think of Him, sing to Him, trust in Him, talk to Him, praise Him for His blessings already, dwell upon His kindness, gentleness, love and faithfulness, in other words to fill your heart and mind with His love, answered prayers, commitment to you, and never-ending help for you.
2. To wait patiently means to stand firm in these just mentioned no matter what is going on around you. Patience means while trouble is happening we shall not be moved, shaken, or stirred out of place. Patience is a quiet, steadfast resolve to trust that He knows and cares and is already moving on the matter because we asked for His help and He loves us so much He can’t sit by without guiding us through.
3. “He inclined to me and heard my cry.” Inclined means to lean toward, to stoop down, to have His attention. When we cry out to Him we know that we have His attention. And with His attention comes His help. I have heard people say, “God only helps those who help themselves.” This is not true. God helps those who call to Him for help and He does it gladly because HE loves us dearly and we have proved our love and trust of Him by our prayer for help. He absolutely loves us to trust Him.
4. “He brought me out of a horrible pit.” The pit is where I can only see walls around me. I seem to have fallen into something and need help getting out. The pit is a low place, below the level of my privileges as a child of God. We have to be thrown “down” to be in a pit. We can also fall into a pit or sometimes we choose to jump in on our own when we do things against His will. The only way out is up. So, we must look up to the heavens to call for a rope.
5. “Out of the miry clay.” The miry clay is slippery substance. The more you try to get out on your own the more slippery and stuck we get. We can’t walk rightly in the slippery mud and continue to fall on our faces; we get bogged down in slimy things and need help to get out. If we’re not careful we may give up and try and make the pit our home. We’ll try and just live our lives without freedom in the low, slippery places of life, and may even try to pull others down into the pit with us so we will be more comfortable in our misery. When all along we should be looking up and calling to the One who has the high ground and the strength to pull us out.
6. “And set my feet upon a rock.” God not only pulls out of the pit when we call for His rope, He makes sure to place us way away from the mud on solid rock. He gives us a firm foundation that is not easily shaken or moved. A strong surface for our feet which steady’s the rest of our movements. We can now continue our journey because of the solid ground; His word is our solid ground. We can walk safely through His word like a huge, green lush meadow we can live free in. (The Rock is Jesus, solid people in the church, a descent job, school, phone numbers of ladder people, definitely His word, and His love and guidance which is promised to those who will trust Him.) What else? “Jesus is our firm foundation; I know that His love is true… Jesus is our firm foundation; I will trust in his holy word, I will trust in His holy word…”
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