Scott inflates the tired!

[solitarysoul]

Well allo allo!

I thought I'd start a blog here as well.

Keep me in check, I'll be doing my best over the next 150 days to post an entry on each Psalm, 1 per day. I've been reading the Psalms a lot lately and they've helped me a lot with the situations I've been going through.

[solitarysoul]

PSALM 1

1 Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.

2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

The first Psalm is more of an introduction to all the Psalms and especially the first book. It describes the difference in the righteous and the wicked, the God-centered life and the self-centered life. When the Psalm talks about the wicked it is not referring to what we may think of as wicked people, such as murderers, rapists, and terrorists. It is referring to the ungodly, all who do not live a God focused life. They can still believe that God exists and may even go to church and be called Christians, but they do not fully rely on God in their lives. They are those who have ruled God out of their affairs and thinking, even though God is the greatest Being in the universe, the Creator and one whom which all life and existence revolves around, the one who makes sense out of life. The Psalmist meant that to eliminate such a Being from your thinking at any time is to be wicked.

The first two verses describe the God-centered life. It begins with the word "Blessed", which also means "happy", but this is true happiness through the Lord. Notice that on the Sermon on the Mount Jesus began preaching with this same word. This kind of happiness is the true joy that we have through Christ continuously. It cannot be taken. In some versions the actual word "happy" is used. In Matthew 5:3-11 it says, "Happy are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Happy are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Happy are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Happy are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Happy are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Happy are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Happy are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Happy are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Happy are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me."

Then in describing the man's life, unrighteous activities associated with walking, standing, and sitting are mentioned. As we carry on our day-to-day business, we are either walking, standing, or sitting. So if all these actions are performed in an unrighteous manner, one's life is affected entirely.

Don't walk in the counsel of the wicked. Sometimes we allow ourselves to go places and do things that we know we shouldn't do, or we know we should stay away from.

Don't stand in the way of sinners. When we associate with those who continue to practice sin, their influence begins to have an affect on us. We often will not notice ourselves changing, but others can. We become numb to sin, and our presence is the approval of their behavior. Over time we begin to develop the false view that this sinful lifestyle is not a sinful lifestyle at all, but a way to righteousness. Sometimes we may even push others away who notice the truth and try to help us. These are tactics of the devil. Influencing the ignorant human mind to believe that pleasure and happiness always equals righteousness. This of course does not mean that we should stay completely away from these people, we are to spread the gospel. But we need to be careful that we don't start to enjoy being around sinful activities.

Don't sit in the seat of mockers. We would rather sit and watch TV than read the Bible. We would rather joke around with friends than to discuss the gospel. We would rather criticize and insult those who wrong us and make us angry than to love and protect them. We're too tired to get up and do God's work.

Notice that these are progressive in nature, walking, standing, and sitting. We will start by walking towards sin, then we stand there for a while, and then finally we are so comfortable with sin that we sit down and make it a part of our life. We are to minister to the world and be involved in the world, but not to the extent that we are sucked in by the world and it's ungodly sinful ways. It will change us before we know it.

We must “delight in the law of the LORD, and on his law meditate day and night.” How do we get to the point where we desire, more than food, more than pleasure, more than sleep, more than anything else, to delight and meditate on God’s law and word? The best way in my opinion is to discipline ourselves to read. Make yourself sit down and read an hour or however long out of the Bible every day. Then throughout your day think about how your reading relates to your life and surroundings, and apply it to the way you live. We start to see something happening to us spiritually, and before long it becomes second nature to open up the Bible and read it daily. Our sub-conscious mind then also will begin to analyze and think throughout the day about what we have been reading and how it applies to life. We will change in a way that sub-consciously everything we do, think, and say, will be applied and compared to His Word.

“Meditation...is to reading the word what digesting is to eating. Without the slow and lengthened process of digestion, food would not nourish the body; without meditation, the Word read will not nourish the soul." - Jamison-Fausset-Brown

In verse 3 we are given four promises if we read and meditate on the Word.

1. We will be firmly planted. When the storms and challenges come we will not sway in the wind, and surely we will not topple over, because our roots run deep. We will be stable in our journey.

2. We will bear fruit. As we get more into God’s Word we will find Christ’s attributes growing in us. We will become kinder, more patient and understanding, and we will share our testimony with others. We will become faithful and sincere.

3. Our leaf will not wither. Even as we grow old in age, our zeal of youth will always remain with us. Even in our last days we will have the same enthusiasm about our journey as we did when we began.

4. Whatever we do will be successful. This is not the type of success that we may think of, but success as God sees it. God created us to worship Him. As we discipline ourselves to read and do His will, we feel good about ourselves, and this causes us to be more confident in everything we do. Confidence creates success. And when we fail, the Holy Spirit will lead us back to victory.

The Hebrew word for wicked does not mean specifically evil people who engage in all sorts of sinful behavior and activities, but anyone who wrongs God or other people. They can be nice, honest, good, and seem trustworthy, but even some of the most seemingly devoted and generous people can be wicked. The Bible warns us to avoid these people just as much as any other wicked person. Although their intentions may be good, they can easily influence us with their trustworthy appearance, and unknowingly lead us away from God.

Spend intentional and willing time meditating on God’s Word daily and we will find ourselves greatly blessed.

[solitarysoul]

PSALM 2

Click here to read Psalm 2

Psalm 2 is the first Psalm that contains a prophecy about the Messiah, Jesus Christ. It prophesies the coming of the Kingdom of Christ and warns that all those who do not bow to Him will be judged.

The first three verses describe the rebellion against the Lord. It begins with the word "Why?", questioning why the people and the nations rebel against God. Notice that the question is not answered, because there is no logical explanation for why people would rebel against the God of the universe, their Creator and Savior. Before, during, and after Christ's time on Earth, people have united in rebellion against the Lord.

Why do people do this? It is ironic that some can disagree on everything, but then agree to rebel against God, the most foolish mistake anyone can make. According to Peter, this prophecy was partially fulfilled by Herod and Pontius Pilate when they met together to agree to rebel against Jesus. Herod and Pilate had before been enemies, but in Acts 4 Peter recites the first two verses of this Psalm in a prayer and then commented on Herod and Pilate's joining together, indicating that their rebellion against Christ was in part fulfilling this prophecy.

Peter prayed this to comfort Christ's disciples and let them know that God is in control, and that His will had decided beforehand that this should happen.

The rest of the fulfillment of this prophecy is the rebellion of the people and nations of earth during the end times, in the book of Revelation. This Psalm teaches a very good lesson; the lesson that anger is senseless and damages our thinking. Most of the time when we get angry we end up doing things that we later regret. It is so easy to act out of anger and insult or push people away when they wrong us, but this is not Christ-like behavior. It is senseless behavior. It is Satan’s influence, and the more we give in, the more vulnerable we are, and the weaker we are emotionally and spiritually.

Anger damages our thinking. One of my favorite artists, Leonardo da Vinci, was working on his painting "The Last Supper" when he became very angry with a man and lost his temper. He stopped working on his painting to insult and yell at the man. When we get angry this tends to be the "normal" response, because we think it makes us feel better. If someone hurts us our initial reaction is wanting to see them get hurt, to give them a piece of our mind, to make ourselves feel better. But this is revengeful behavior, and it damages us. I was actually reading an article recently about new research that found through a series of experiments that "venting" anger, "getting it off our chest", actually just angers us more. When Leonardo returned to his canvas, he attempted to work on the face of Jesus but he could not manage to handle the fine details with such care because of how upset and frustrated he was. So he finally gave up and left to go find the man he had yelled at, and he asked the man for his forgiveness. The man accepted his apology and Leonardo was able to return to his canvas and complete painting the face of Jesus, feeling much more relieved and relaxed.

In verse 3 the rebels are calling Christ and His commandments "chains", and they want to break free of them. This demonstrates their ignorance. They think that the 10 commandments and Christ's teachings are rules and chains meant to enslave us, but they are in fact teachings and laws of compassion. God knows what we need in order to preserve peace, love, forgiveness, truth, and freedom. We do not. We always think we do, but it is when we take things into our own hands, when we follow our feelings and our anger, that we fail. Man pushes Christ and His teachings away and labels them as “chains to enslave us”, man takes things into his own hands by his own feelings and understanding, and then when he fails he places the blame on God, claiming that "if God loved me He would not allow for this to happen". How foolish and ironic.

Over the past century the 10 commandments have become "outdated", they have been sub-consciously declared as "chains" be society. Even many Christians today openly admit that they believe the 10 commandments are no longer relevant, that they are part of the Old Testament and only applied to those who lived before Christ and the resurrection. But even they miss the critical point that these are teachings and are essential for preserving true love and peace, they are not chains and rules. Notice the damage to our society now as a result of this changed view. The huge drop in moral values, the increase in divorce and violence, rage and profanity. These aren't chains, they're cords of compassion. Without these, the world would be in a state of constant rage and turmoil, chaos. Just look at the difference in the cyber world verses the real world. In the real world we have police and at least some level of these laws of compassion still instated in our society. On the internet it is much more “free”, but it in fact is not freedom at all. People are disgusting and vulgar to one another sometimes at unbelievable levels.

What is furthermore ironic about these unanswered "why?" questions is how similar to me they seem like the common questions a child would ask about existence. Why are we here? Why was the universe created? Why is there suffering in the world? No one can answer these questions with absolute certainty, but notice again in Acts 4 what Peter says about Herod and Pilate in his prayer: "they did what Your power and will had decided beforehand should happen." What Herod and Pilate did was evil, but it was God's will for it to be done. God used their rage for His purpose. They crucified Jesus, but because of that we now have the way to find mercy, through our faith in what Jesus did on the cross for us, and our devotion to following His teachings.

We all need forgiveness. We can't just blame those who wrong us or the evil dictators and murderers who always make the news. We all need to come to the realization that we have all sinned, and in God's eyes we have all equally practiced evil and because of sin we are all wicked. But that is the great wonder of the gospel. We need to realize our own wrongs and love others regardless of what has been done to us, and seek forgiveness and faith in Christ. You’ll never find Christ in the Bible turning a man away saying, “I promised to always love and forgive you, but a lover of me would never betray me in such a manner, so my promise is no longer kept”. No, Christ loves and forgives at no limits, and so should we, because we have all sinned, and we have all done wrong. And your love for Him will show through the way you love and treat others.

Jesus took our sin, rage, and rebellion, and he took the weight of it in His own body on the cross and offered forgiveness to us. Jesus takes all our anger and rage away. So the next time you feel angry at someone and just want to tell them off or let them know how horrible they made you feel, stop and think about how you are denying your Father in Heaven by doing so, and through that faith let Christ take away your rage and anger, and instead treat the person with love and forgiveness.

The next three verses show the Father's response to the rebellion. Acts against the God of the universe are foolish and silly, so God laughs and scoffs at the people of the rebellion. It is not laughter of amusement, but laughter because He knows His ability to destroy any rebellion against Him. He does not judge the rebellious people however, because He is patient and loving, and He gives them the chance to repent. But when God wills for the time to come, He will rebuke them in His anger and terrify them with His wrath.

In the next three verses Christ reveals His connection to the Father. God says to "ask of me". His promises are given through prayer, even those given to Jesus. All Jesus had to do was to pray to the Father from the heart and He was given what He was promised. So also in order for us to be given our promises from God, we are to ask of Him. We can't live a sinful lifestyle and expect God to make everything better for us. We could be active in church and prayer but still have problems with respecting and loving others, and therefore not be living as Christ would. We must truly live for the Father, by living as Christ would, and pray to the Father from the heart to receive our promises from Him.

So Christ would have only needed to ask of God in order to establish His kingdom. Technically then Jesus did not even have to endure the cross in order to be king, but because of His love for us, He made the choice to go through the torment and hatred for our salvation.

Christ's rule will be just. He will "rule with an iron scepter". His commandments will be the law, injustice and immorality will not be tolerated, and the rebellious will be destroyed. They will be dashed "to pieces like pottery."

In the final three verses, the rebels are warned to be wise and repent. They will have no excuse to say they "didn't know" when they are judged, because they have been warned. But God gives them the chance to repent. He offers mercy to everyone, even those who openly rebel against Him. There is no sin too great to be forgiven.

Furthermore God tells them what they are to do to gain repentance.

First of all they are to "serve the Lord with fear". If we truly know and understand God's power and wrath, we would fear Him and want to do as He says, and more importantly want to love Him for what He has done for us. Also notice that the Psalm says to "serve" the Lord with fear. Many people seem to think they are doing God a favor by serving Him, but it is our privilege to serve Him.

Second of all, the rebels are to "rejoice with trembling". By doing this we recognize both God's mercy through rejoicing, and His wrath through "trembling". God loves us however, not hate us. The rebels should rejoice with trembling because they should realize that to rebel against God is ridiculous and foolish, and that there is no way they can win anything of it in the end.

And third of all, the rebels are to "kiss the Son". They are to show their affection and homage to Christ, and submit to Him. And therefore we are to love Jesus, worship Jesus, and serve Jesus.

Notice also though that the final verse says “His wrath can flare up in a moment”. We will never know when it will happen. It could be a thousand years from now, or before you finish reading this article. God gives everyone the chance to repent, but we should never put it off until tomorrow, because the rebellious cannot know for sure that there will be a tomorrow for them.

[solitarysoul]

PSALM 3

Click here to read Psalm 3

Psalm 3 tells the story of how hopelessness in a situation goes to confidence when we put our trust in God. This Psalm discusses the story found in 2 Samuel 15 when David fled from his son Absalom. When David reined over Israel, his son Absalom began to bad-mouth and lie about David in order to gain a following against him. Even some of David's most trustworthy friends joined Absalom. Absalom declared himself as king and David was forced to leave Jerusalem.

This demonstrates that sometimes even the most faithful and devoted of God's children will face very difficult trials. Jesus warned us, "in this world you will have trouble" (John 16:33). Sadly many people weak in their faith seem to think that enduring hardships means God has abandoned them or does not love them. Throughout history some have taught that when you become a Christian you no longer endure hardships and troubles. Not only is this teaching not biblical, but also it is very dangerous, because those young in their faith may become disappointed and fall away. If someone claims to have faith in Christ, but starts to fall away during times of trouble and hardship, it's likely that they never truly had such faith to begin with. True faith is in the heart, not in our words and our performances before others.

David's hardship here was a punishment from God for David's sin with Bathsheba. He had sinned with her several years before, but this shows that sometimes the consequences of sin can still come later in life. And sometimes our hardships are tests for us to learn from; they do not necessarily have to be punishments. We also learn from this story that you reap what you sow. If we hurt another person or make their life harder on them, but we do not willingly go to them with apology and asking of forgiveness, we should not be surprised to see God's justice punish us for it. We too will be hurt or struggle with life. Calling on God and praising Him does not immune us from His justice. Praising God is a matter of true intent from the heart, which is reflected not through our words or performances such as church attendance and Bible reading, but through our actions and behavior. It is reflected through our willingness to love and forgive others regardless of how they may wrong us. If our behavior and actions do not express true love and forgiveness for others, then we can expect to experience God's justice, regardless of how often we say we love Him, how often we pray, how often we read the Bible, etc. Loving Christ is about expressing love, comfort, and forgiveness to the world, including our enemies.

But not only is God a just God, He is also a merciful God. He is with us and is always in control of the situation, even though we will face punishment and hardships. That is the meaning of this Psalm. David first takes matters into His own hands and He feels hopeless. He cannot win back his friends and reputation and rid himself of the pain he experiences. But when he confesses his sins to God and is honest with himself and with God about what he has done, David is forgiven and he looks to God as his Savior, and it turns to a confident situation, because God is in control. We will face trials just as the rest of the world will. What is different is whether or not we take God into consideration when we face these trials. The world experiences trials for punishment and as consequences for their ungodly actions. But the trials that God's children face are for their own good. If we look to God for answers, rather than our own understanding, then the trials we face will strengthen us.

Many people rose up against David, even those who were once close to him. Some of the same who were by David's side rebelled with Absalom, just as some of the same who were with Christ when He came to Jerusalem yelled "Crucify Him!" just a few days later. Do not ever set your full hope on another person or you will become disappointed. No man can be a sturdy enough foundation as Christ. People will often let you down, Christ will not.

A reason this happens is because of our ignorance as humans. No matter what we do or what we promise, we cannot know the future. Have you ever asked a bunch of different friends separately for advice on something, and they all sound very sure and confident in what they tell you to do, yet they each tell you something different? Everyone likes to think they're right, but we're wrong much more often than we like to admit, and sometimes more often than we realize.

The crowds in David's situation began to say that God would not deliver David. They began to speak of God's will and purpose as if they know what it is in this situation. They follow what they feel rather than God's Word and commandments. People commonly speak incorrectly for God, and this is a very serious sin. Throughout much of the book of Job, Job's friends give their own opinions and advice as to why Job is facing such trials, and they incorrectly speak for God. It is important to understand that our feelings are not the same thing as God speaking to us. We may find ourselves saying, "I think this is what God wants me to do", or "I don't feel like this is what God wants for me", but often these are our own opinions and feelings, which we are wrongly attributing to being God's voice. "But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death" (Deuteronomy 18:20). To seek God's guidance and follow His will is to act as Jesus would if He were in your shoes. Give it to Him, and live as though Christ is there by your side guiding you. When others wrong you and upset you, do not hurt and insult them, turn the other cheek and love and forgive them. Do not run away from stressful situations that may cause doubt and fear, but walk through in the path that God gives you. Ask for His guidance and truth and you will have the light to guide you through darkness.

The people criticizing David knew that he was experiencing punishment for his sin, but they were incorrect in saying that God will not deliver David, and they are cruel for it. God is a God of mercy as well, and David was under God's protection because David was sincerely sorry for what he had done, and he trusted God.

It is easy for things to seem hopeless in David's situation. It is natural for us to look at a situation in a worldly way. But when he turns to look to God, the situation becomes hopeful and confident. God is our shield from danger and our source of glory. God is who we can and should put our complete trust in. And not only can we always trust Him, but we can rejoice in times of trouble, because we can know that if we are living in His will, forgiving and loving others for their wrongs against us, and being honest about our wrongs and asking for forgiveness for them, God will pull us through and we will be blessed.

David cried out to the Lord, and we can be sure that God will always hear our cries. Sometimes it may seem as though our prayers are not answered, but this is because the answer simply is not what we expect, so we don't recognize it. If we still have not admitted to our wrong and asked for forgiveness, or if we are still wronging others by not forgiving and loving them for their sins against us, then God's answer to our prayers may simply be "no" because we still yet have much to learn through the trial. But if we are attuned to the Lord's answer, we will be blessed even if the answer is not what we expect. The Lord did not deliver David from the trial, but He did give David peace as he went through the trial.

David said that he could then lie down and sleep, and that he will not fear. This indicates that he has been given peace from the Lord through the situation, because even through the storm he is given confidence and he can sleep peacefully because he knows that God is in control, and God only wants what is best for David.

But we must never stop at any point to think that we can make it on our own. Once the Lord gives us that peace and confidence, we still must rely on Him to receive deliverance. David did not have confidence in himself, he had confidence in God, and he had confidence that God would deliver him. Our deliverance is from the Lord alone; it is not by our works or deeds, not by our confidence and pride in ourselves for reaching such peace through the storm, not by our desire or effort, but by God's grace and mercy alone. From confidence and trust in the Lord alone, David was delivered from the trial, so was Job through His struggles, and so was Jesus during His resurrection from the dead.

As I quoted in my Psalm 2 study, Matthew 5 says repeatedly that we are blessed because of our trials. We are not blessed because we claim to love God or because we may live a good life, we are blessed when we seek God's guidance always, and when we cry out to God and trust in Him and Him alone to guide us through our trials, for then we will have peace and confidence to ride out the storm. In the end of the Psalm, David says, "May your blessing be on your people". Even though we will encounter many hardships and trials through life, God's blessing is always still on us.

Those who joined Absalom considered themselves blessed because they found their own pleasure through causing David to go through this trial. But this is the world's view. These followers and Absalom himself thought he was in God's will by punishing David for his sin, but the feelings they enjoyed as a result was not God speaking to them, it was temptation and deceit from Satan. Both Absalom and his followers placed themselves in the wrong with God as a result, and they too must serve justice.

[solitarysoul]

PSALM 4

Click here to read Psalm 4

Again in this Psalm David turns to God in prayer to seek hope for the future. He again seems as though he thinks things are hopeless at first, but while he is praying he is brought peace. This Psalm is a great example of how we can experience God's presence with us.

If we want to experience His presence, we must seek it by praying, and we must be willing to spend a lot of time alone with God. Sometimes we say we just don't have the time, yet we somehow always seem to find the time to do things we really want to do. The problem isn't time; the problem is when spending alone time with God is not a priority for us. If we make it something we really want to do, we will find the time for it.

It was the ungodly who caused David so much trouble. So David turned to God in his seemingly hopeless situation and asked God to protect the righteous and punish the wicked. It is God's nature to do so, so we are safe in asking such things. We are not safe in asking of something that is not righteous however. If someone makes us angry, and we pray for them as a result of that anger, as if to imply that "God is on my side and needs to show this person what they did to me", our request will not be answered because it is an unrighteous request. It should be loving and forgiving, and we should pray for the truth to be revealed, being open to the possibility that the truth may not be what we ourselves expect, they may in fact be right in what they did to us.

David asks God to relieve him of his distress by asking God to "be merciful," because he knows God is a God of mercy. Everyone needs mercy.

David knows that God hears all prayers, but he wanted a positive response to his prayer, so he asks God to hear his prayer. He wishes to see evidence of his prayer being heard, and for God to deliver him of his troubles. We always desire for our prayers to be answered in the exact way that we asked, as if we know what is best for us. We may even beg and plead and try to persuade God to give us exactly what we ask for, and then if it does not turn out as we had hoped, we lose faith and wonder if God really heard our prayer. But God hears all prayers, sometimes His answer is just “no,” because He knows what is best for us, we do not, and He wants what is best for us.

God responds to David's prayer by stating that man turns God's glory into shame, and loves delusions and false gods. God is saying that the main reason man's prayers are often unanswered is because of our sins, because we go to God asking for things we want, but deep down we still cherish sin in our hearts, or confuse our own feelings and wants for God's wants. We expect God to conform to our standards, rather than changing our way of living and accepting His will and truth, even if it is not what we expect.

So many people say they believe in God and claim to have a spiritual experience and relationship with Him, but in reality they are lying to themselves and others, again confusing their feelings and desires for God's true will. People say a lot of things that they often don't mean. Some may say they are Christians, yet they act toward others out of their feelings, out of anger and revenge, instead of love and forgiveness. Someone may tell someone else they love him or her, yet instead of showing it and actually loving the person, they are more concerned about what the other person is doing for them. Many say they honor and worship God, yet they spend little time doing it. Again we may say we don't have the time, yet we suddenly have time to talk for hours if someone calls on the phone or stops by our house. God is always trying to reach us, but we often times just give Him a busy signal or not answer the door when He comes knocking at our hearts.

David states that the Lord has set us apart for Himself. We are special and important to God. He wants us to spend time with Him so that we will be encouraged and strengthened spiritually. Do you truly love God? If so, what does that mean to you, and how do you show it? To love someone is to give at the total expense of your own sense of need. God did this by giving His one and only Son for us, and always forgiving anyone who will come to Him in their hearts, even those who once openly rebelled against God in hatred. Many people go to church and say they love God, they may even read articles such as this and look to God for their strength and confidence in overcoming their problems. But is this really loving God, or is it a sub-conscious attempt to use God to get what they want? If we truly love God, we will spend time alone with Him giving to Him what He wants, our time, attention, love, and trust, as well as our patience, honesty, understanding, love, and forgiveness for others.

Keep in mind that if we do not live this life, we give God and Christianity a bad name, and the Bible calls these people false prophets and hipocrites. Our true love for the Lord will be expressed in how we welcome and treat others. It does not matter what you tell others, what you read, or where you go. What matters is how you express God's love and teachings to others, through the way you behave and act toward both those who love you and hate you. And someone who truly loves God will always desire to do this regardless of what happens to us in our lives, because it is our privilege to worship and serve the Lord, not a favor for Him, and not simply a resource for the goodness of our own lives. But can the world tell by your behavior that you are one of God's children? According to the Bible, if you are no different from the world in their eyes, then you are not for the Christian God. God does not deceive. If we truly love Him we will be blessed. If we make ourselves and others believe that we love Him, but do not really give Him our love, we will be punished, and God will not deliver us until we learn.

In verse 4 the Hebrew word translated "be angry" actually means to tremble or quake, so this verse is more likely stating to stand in awe before God. Either way, instead of being angry with those who wrong us, or instead of trembling in fear, we should not sin, but stay in silence and at peace. Satan is the “giver” of our feelings of anger and rage, but Satan doesn’t give, he takes. We feel these feelings by allowing Satan to take hold of our love and care for God and the world. When we resort to these feelings and behaviors what we are doing is shutting God out and giving in to the devil's temptations.

If you've ever stayed up all night alone or if you get up very early in the morning, before sunrise, you probably know of the peaceful intimate feeling. David tells us to lay in our beds and commune with our own hearts. Get alone where there is no one around, no distractions, but just you and God, and sit or lay in silence and just be willing to be hushed and allow God to speak to you. I believe that overwhelming feeling of intimacy and peace is God's presence. I’ve watched the sunrise from the Blue Ridge parkway once when alone with God, and the peaceful feeling just made the day seem to go a lot better than normal. You don't have the noise and chaos from the world getting in the way, it's just a clear connection between you and the Lord, and He ministers to you and touches the soul when you seek this presence. It's like meditating.

Being so quiet has its advantages too. We can never be bored during times of solitude if we spend this time examining ourselves, making ourselves right with God, and searching our hearts to confess our sins. I have grown so close to God because I use so much of my time for repentance, confession, prayer, and Bible reading. "Quietude is beautiful, though some cannot abide it, because it reveals their inward poverty" - Anonymous.

We must "offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord" as well. Sometimes to experience the true presence of God it takes more than just the willingness to spend time in prayer and meditation. It takes other sacrifices as well to be able to become more attune to receiving God's message and distinguishing it from our own feelings or Satan's deceptions. Some of these sacrifices include daily and in depth Bible reading, regularly attending church, regularly communicating with other believers about God and His will, and placing our full confidence and trust in God for all of our needs.

We also have to desire to experience this. Simply attending church and saying we believe in God is not enough. God is not going to always barge into our lives in an obvious way giving us these spiritual experiences. Sometimes something may happen to us that is unexpected, and we may just see no other way to go through the situation, or no other way to be happy, but that does not make it God's will for it to be done. An emotional experience is not the same as a spiritual one. God's will is not always a matter of what may seem best for us in our eyes, nor is it a matter of what "just happens" in our lives. God's will is something we experience when we truly desire from the heart to seek His presence and His want for us. And to be able to truly do this, we have to be able to understand God's will and what it means to be right with Him, which requires continuous and in depth Bible reading and meditation, to apply these teachings to our lives.

When we experience His presence we find that we can have more true joy through Him than anything in the world can give. We have to learn to let go of the attractions and pleasures of this world, and truly desire to be right with God, whatever that means for us. Once we do this, possessions, security, and appearances become less important to us, because they are only temporary, and therefore they only give us temporary happiness. Only God can give us continuous joy.

[solitarysoul]

PSALM 5

Click here to read Psalm 5

Like the previous psalm, Psalm 5 is concerning prayer. The first three verses David prays to the Lord for help, and then the rest of the psalm deals with the reasons why David's prayer will be heard and answered as desired. The reasons are because David is praying for things which are in God's will, for the evil and deceitful to be punished.

This psalm implies that these principles can be applied for all prayers, because the reason for David's prayer in this psalm is not stated. So if we pray for things which are in God's will, that prayer will be heard and answered. If we pray to know the truth in a situation for example, sense God is truth and not lie, as long as we listen with an open ear, accepting of whatever the truth may be, even if it is not what we hope for, then we will have the truth given to us. But if say we pray for God to keep our family from discovering something that we are deceiving them about, our prayer will not be heard and answered, because lie and deceit is never God's will. All that we do know about David's prayer is that he is crying for help, and that his problem is on going because he offers his prayer each morning.

David asks God to "give ear to my words", "consider my sighing", and to "listen to my cry". First he prays with his words. When we speak we use reasoning, we think and plan out what we are wanting to ask of God, and through this reasoning sometimes God can lead us into viewing the situation with the right perspective, or even answer our prayer. Next David asks God to consider his sighing. I know for me personally there are times when I am at a loss of words, and I don't even know how to express myself in prayer with words. I've found that sometimes just sitting or laying peacefully thinking about God and Him relieving me of my problems can be a form of prayer as well, because I have often times received answers without speaking a word. Sometimes we can depend on the Holy Spirit to express our prayer through our sighs, groaning, and our weakness. "The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express" (Romans 8:26). And finally, David prayed through cries. Our emotions are often an expression of our desire for something. They can communicate the seriousness of our request. I have a very hard time crying personally. Sometimes I'll be upset and even try to cry but I can't. But during times when I desire something bad enough that I have lost, crying comes too easily, and that communicates that deep desire to God. A loving father cannot resist the cries of His children.

Psalm 4 says that it is good to pray in the evening, because this is a good time for reflection over the day. Psalm 5 states that the morning is also a good time for prayer. Early in the morning before you start your day, the peacefulness of the sunrise is a great time to seek the Lord early when you're alone and it's quiet. It sets the mood for the day and establishes who is sovereign over the day. It really helps to make the day go by a lot better.

After praying, David states four reasons why his prayer will be heard. The first reason is that God hates evil. This implies that David's prayer is a righteous prayer, that he is not asking for God to do anything outside of His will. For a prayer to be heard and answered, it must be consistent with God's nature. It is an insult to God to pray for something unrighteous, and implies that our love is not for God, but for our self-desires.

God hates sin, and takes no pleasure in evil. Sometimes we take this lightly but we must realize this. Some people mistake God's mercy for being tolerance of sin. Some will think that sense God is merciful and loving, and we are just human, that it is ok to pray for a lie to be kept secret, or for God to just let something slide, or for someone we are angry with to be hurt. But these kinds of requests are unrighteous prayers, and are an insult to God's holiness.

David also says that the wicked cannot dwell with God. God cannot tolerate the presence of the unrighteous, or He would not be holy. God is perfection and absolute righteousness. He is too pure and holy to even look at sin. If we live a lie and pray for God to help us through something involving this lie, that's like pulling a shield down between God and us and just talking to a wall. We cannot expect to dwell with God in heaven through ourselves, because we are wicked by nature. But through our belief in Christ our unrighteousness is washed away. This is real belief however, from the heart, not simply claims or believing in our minds. Our behavior and unconditional love for others is what reflects the true belief in our hearts.

The second reason David states that his prayer will be heard is God's grace and guidance for His people. Take note that he states that this is only through God's mercy. We are not able to come to God because we are any better than His enemies, but simply because of God's mercy for those who seek His truth and guidance. Everyone is able receive God's mercy, but we must truly desire it in our hearts to receive it. Remember I said above that our emotions can sometimes reflect the true desire of our hearts. Crying is one way that our desires are revealed if we are deeply hurt by something. Can we honestly say that we would be hurt enough to cry if we found out we were not following God's will and plan for us, even if the truth is not what we expect or hope for?

David also states that his need for being led by the Lord's righteousness was because of his enemies. When we are around the wicked, our chances of sinning are increased. Sometimes just being around those who practice sinful lifestyles can even sub-consciously influence us to sin as well. We may find ourselves telling someone, "no there's no way I'd ever do that", but then if we spend time around those who may practice such sin, it begins to grow on us and we may soon find ourselves thinking instead, "They're doing it, so why shouldn't I?" It is even easier to fall into sin ourselves if those wronging us seem to be gaining the victory, because that just makes us even more angry and upset and it becomes harder to avoid responding to them in the same manner out of those feelings. But it does not matter how wrong someone is or what others do to us, if we respond in an unrighteous manner to those wrongs, we too are wrong.

We should surround ourselves with the right people in order to be sure we stay away from a path of sin, and to fulfill God's purpose and plan for us. We should not only be around people who are like-minded, but those who seek to honor God in their lives. A good friend is someone who will point you to God and His goals for you.

The third reason that David's prayer will be heard is because his enemies are committing acts which must be judged. Instead of being refined by the fire, they are seeking their own desires and preparing themselves for the eternal fire and death. There are seven traits that describe the enemies of David, which symbolize the completeness of their wickedness. David states that not a word from their mouths can be trusted, they have a heart filled with destruction, their throat is an open grave, they have a deceitful tongue, they have many intrigues, they have many sins, and they are in rebellion.

David then asks for God to declare them guilty. Sometimes if we are being wronged it is ok to ask God to declare them guilty if those wronging against us are not doing God's will themselves, as long as we are loving and forgiving of them. We are wrong in asking God to declare others guilty if we too are wronging them or expressing anger toward them. We must forgive them of their wrongs and love them unconditionally, that is regardless of what they do to us.

The fourth reason David's prayer will be answered is because God blesses and protects His people. David says, "But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy." We should always be glad, because we are the people of God. We encounter our hardships and times of trouble of course, but if we truly worship and recognize God and His sovereignty we will have a continuous sense of overpowering joy that cannot be taken from us by any means. Sometimes those of us who have the greatest cause to be joyful are the most upset and hurt, because the world is by default against God and righteousness. But remember that Satan does not attack those who are already his. He attacks those who interfere with his plans and want to follow God's plan. The way to overpower Satan and his plans is not to be angry and resentful toward those who wrong us, but to in fact be loving and forgiving toward them. If we get angry with those who wrong us, we are actually allowed Satan to win, and he's laughing at us about it, because Satan is the source of anger and revenge.

Once not to long ago in response to going a little overboard with something I said to someone, I got a very uncalled for reply in the e-mail listing reasons why this person was angry with me and even resentful toward me. This person told me that I will never again be welcome into their life in any way, and that I am to never try contacting them again. Ironically they finished their e-mail to me by stating that they are praying that God will guide me out of "this path of Satan". What is ironic about this is that the very manner of the e-mail sent to me indicates that they themselves were the one following Satan's influence. Regardless of what someone does to us, if we respond with anger and revenge instead of unconditional love and forgiveness, their wrongs are no longer any of our concern, because we too are just as wrong, if not more. Someone continuing to treat us wrongly is no excuse to not continue to love and forgive them. Changing the way we treat someone as a result of the way they treat us just demonstrates that we do not trust God to handle the situation, and that we think we need to put up our guard and take things into our own hands. We deny this with words of course, because we don't like people to think it's true, but the truth shows through our actions and behavior.

When we respond to someone through this manner instead of love and forgiveness, we too are not only wrong, but also insulting God and giving Him a bad image. God tested that person, and sadly they not only failed, but by holding a grudge and refusing forgiveness, they continue to deny that His will be done. We have to be careful that we do not just declare our love and devotion to God with words and our minds, but that we truly have that love and devotion in our hearts. Over 60% of communication is non-verbal, which means that no matter what we say, the truth is going to show through our actions. The truth is reflected through the way we behave and treat others.

Instead we must remain joyful at all times, love those who wrong us, forgive them for their wrongs against us, and trust God to handle the situation accordingly. If they are wrong in what they do to us, they will receive judgment for it if they do not repent. But if we respond to those wrongs with such actions ourselves, we too must receive judgment, and our prayers become unrighteous prayers and insults to God. They will not be heard and answered. Instead we should have joy through our trials, and remain loving because we are for God. "Rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed" (1 Peter 4:13).

We will face many trials in this life, but we are under God's blessing and shield as long as we look to His purpose and plan, and love and forgive those who wrong us. We always have reason to be joyful because the only trials we face are what God allows us to face, and through faith we will come out stronger than before. The greater the trial, the greater our reward if we keep faith. Even in the worst trouble we can face on earth, our deaths, we can rejoice because it will only result in our eternal joy.

[solitarysoul]

PSALM 6

Click here to read Psalm 6

Psalm 6 is the first psalm with the main theme of repentance and confession of sin. David shows his repentance of his sin by how the psalm expressed his sorrow and hatred over his sin. Like many of David's psalms, this psalm does not mention the particular sin or event that he is praying about. So this is an example of a prayer that we can use during any troubling situation.

David begins by realizing that he deserves to be punished. He asks God to not rebuke him in His anger or discipline him in His wrath. One of the greatest fears of those who truly believe in and love the Lord is that we will be given what we deserve. We have all wronged God, and so we sometimes fear that we will be punished accordingly. God is not man however, He does not carry out His wrath and anger on all who wrong Him. Those who are truly sorry from the heart and come to God seeking forgiveness, not just out of their fear of being punished, but out of their love for pleasing God, are saved.

Too often we tend to take for granted what we have, and it is not until we feel guilty or until we lose something that we come back to God. Sometimes people will get angry at others when they feel guilty for wronging them, but this is defiantly no reason to get angry, because guilt is a way that God speaks to us. God draws us to Him through our guilt of sinning. Even the truest of believers can at times be afraid that God will punish us out of His anger and wrath, so David seeks God's mercy, telling Him that he is faint. It is right to seek God's mercy because God is a merciful God and we need to learn to depend on His mercy as our refuge.

David first asks for God's mercy, and then for healing. It's important that we always do this, because living in such an imperfect ungodly world it is easy to forget that we are all sinners. It is easy to think that we don't deserve the pain and burdens we are experiencing today, but we first must realize that our burdens are often the consequences of our sins, even if we do not see how. When our burdens are not the consequences of our sins, then they are trials, which we learn from to grow stronger. Our burdens and pain should cause us to reflect on our behavior toward others and our attitude of thinking, to search ourselves for our sins. Unfortunately most people seem to only turn to God during times of trouble. So many of us take for granted what we have. When you're struggling financially, think about the millions of people who aren't going to be able to afford any food today. Or the number of people dieing of disease, or without clothing or shelter, or being persecuted and murdered. And often we sit and complain about high gas prices, or maybe car trouble or struggles with relationships.

I randomly had a vision while I was just lying in bed early this morning. For no apparent reason at all, I started to think about people in Africa, and I just suddenly wondered, what if somehow something happened that suddenly caused a poor African boy and I to switch places, to just immediately teleport into each other's homes right now unplanned. How would I feel living in a place where I have to spend every bit of my energy just to survive, and then I still may not. I bet if that happened, most Americans would think the world was over and coming to an end. We wouldn't last a week because we'd be so depressed that we'd sit around and mope in self-pity and say it's all over. And while that's happening, that poor African child would most likely constantly be thankful and very grateful for everything he now has. In fact, he would probably feel so guilty for having all that we have that he'd give most of it away to others.

So it is times when we are in great pain and trouble that we turn to God. Is it any wonder then that God sometimes allows us to go through these situations? I think there's your answer to all those people out there who wonder why a loving God would allow pain and suffering in the world. It's because He wants what is best for us, and He knows what is best for us, but we do not. And what is best for us is to always look to God and put our full trust in Him, but a lot of the time it takes pain and suffering to get us to look to God. Just like a child who may want ice cream before dinner, the child doesn't understand why the parent won't let him, but the parent knows better and wants what is best for the child. That does not mean that the parent does not love the child sense the child isn't happy, it means just the opposite, the parent loves the child because they are looking out for his health. So many people in the world today seem to think that someone loving us is all about them making us happy.

So when God allows us to suffer and go through pain, it is to teach us a lesson so that we may learn from our sins, repent of them, and grow closer to God. I think we'd find that if we spend more time being thankful for what we still have rather than what we've lost, and glorifying God just as much when everything is normal, we'd learn to enjoy life more and become more immune to the devil's tactics and pain he brings among us.

It is important to know the character of God. Many people call themselves Christians and say they worship God, but they don't even seem to know who God is. They seem to sub-consciously develop their own image or idea of God in their minds, and their beliefs become more of a matter of proving to themselves and the world that they are worshipers of Christ, rather than actually getting to know and loving the real true God. They seem to think that if everyone around them believes that they worship God, then that must mean that they do.

David obviously knew the character of God well, because he addresses certain characteristics of God and in a certain order in His prayers. Instead of just looking to God in times of need and asking Him for what we want, a more efficient and loving way of praying is to acknowledge the character of God and apply that to our prayer. When we learn to pray in order to just get to God and grow closer to Him, instead of just praying to be blessed or delivered from pain, we'll soon find that our blessings will in fact increase, and we will have a much more intimate relationship with God. Again, David first seeks God's mercy because it is most important that he is forgiven of his sin. We can't be healed if we haven’t been forgiven, and we can't be forgiven if we don't come forward and honestly acknowledge that we did wrong. If we think we did nothing wrong, then what would we be sorry for? After David seeks God's mercy, he asks for healing and he acknowledges that God's love is unfailing, because that is as well a big characteristic of God. He does not fail or deceive.

In verses 6 and 7 David shows that he really is sorry. Sometimes people will just say they're sorry in order to stop an argument or to make their insults toward someone not look so bad. But a true apology is when we are truly saddened by what we have done. David explains that he has grown weak with sorrow; that he agonizes over what he has done, to express that he truly is sorry for his sin and he isn't just saying so in order to have the pain taken away. God can easily see through our words, He knows all. We can't fool God into thinking we are sorry for something if we really aren't. And sometimes we may even find that that could be the very reason that we continue to suffer without deliverance. We say we're sorry, but deep down we may just be wanting to feel better, in which case we continue to suffer because we have not yet learned our lesson.

David then receives confidence and hope once again because his prayer had been answered. He also tells the evil to get away from him. When we truly repent of a sin, we will do what we can to avoid the things from now on that may cause us to sin again. David mentions that the Lord has heard his weeping and his cry for mercy, and so the Lord accepts and hears his prayer. David can be confident in saying this because he has truly repented from the heart and his prayer and request is a righteous one. He did not lie or ask God to do something out of His will, so therefore because of God's promise to us, David knows that His prayer will be heard.

[solitarysoul]

[Betty]

This is good Scott. We are commanded to forgive. I am thankful however that we are never commanded to "trust" another human. We also do not have to put ourselves in a situation to be hurt over and over again by the same person. You said that we are to have fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ and that is true but Paul said that we are also not to fellowship with a brother or sister who is in open sin. Our forgiveness does not depend on their repentence but our fellowship should.

[solitarysoul]

Thanks
And I understand what you're saying, but I was refering more to the desire for fellowship rather than the act itself. What I mean is that if the person who wrongs us does not accept our forgiveness, that relationship with them would not be mended or re-established, and so we wouldn't be able to fellowship with them. But as far as we are concerned when being wronged, we should always forgive and desire to have fellowship with that person (even tho we might not end up doing so if they don't repent and desire it as well) regardless of what they have done to us or how often they have done it. When the Bible says not to fellowship with those who are in open sin it's refering to how we should not give in to those sins as well or accept what they are doing as being ok. And therefore we would not have the same relationship with them as we would for those who have their heart set on God instead. But what I meant was that we should always desire for the other person to repent and for them to want to have the relationship mended as well. What I was saying was that when someone wrongs us, especially a fellow believer, we should always have the desire to forgive them and come back to fellowship regardless of the circumstances, rather than live in resentment toward them and deny any kind of relationship again.