Psalm 22
Key Verse: 24 “(24) For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from Him; But when He (Jesus) cried to Him, He heard.”
Spurgeon Insight: “Never was man so afflicted as our Savior in body and soul from friends and foes, by heaven and hell, in life and death…but Jehovah always loved Him, and in love laid that woe upon Him with a view to His ultimate glory and to the accomplishment of the dearest wish of His heart. Under all His woes our Lord was honorable in the Father’s sight.”[1]
Psalm 22 is a Messianic Psalm. It contemporaneously spoke of real situations which the Psalmist faced. But deeper below the surface it speaks of Jesus the Messiah. It describes His agony on the cross, the Father’s enduring love for Him, and His joy of glorifying the Father in the assembly of God’s people after His resurrection from the dead. All this was prophesied hundreds of years before the first coming of Jesus when He came to die on a cross for the sin of the world, which includes me and you.
Verse 24 communicates a key theme in Psalm 22. Though Jesus absorbed the wrath of God on the cross, the Father was never angry at the Son personally. He was judging humanities sin on the cross, not any sin of Jesus. Jesus was, and is, sinless. The Father felt the Sons affliction. He didn’t abandon the Son. He heard Christ in the midst of His suffering.
Jesus stood in the gap for me and every other human being when He hung on the cross in that spot of horrific suffering, and death. Amazingly, I am allowed to see here a glimpse of the love Jesus has for me when I suffer in this picture of the Father’s love for Jesus as He suffered. As I suffer in this life the love of Jesus never ceases to be mine. He never despises my affliction, as unworthy as it is to be compared to the suffering He endured for me. He never utterly turns His face from me, even when my heart tries to convince me that He does. He always hears me when I cry to Him. He feels my suffering as His own, as the Father felt the suffering of Jesus as His own (Acts 9:4-5). Jesus is that close to you today no matter what you're facing if you are His.
Thank You for the reality of Your love in the hard places, Lord. I thank You for Your comfort. I thank You that, as great as You are, You sympathize with my sorrow in such a way as to feel as if it is Your own. I thank You that You took the wrath of God on my behalf so I can have a relationship of comfort with You, which is totally undeserved on my part! I thank You that when the voice of culture and other people mock the idea of Your reality and allegiance to Your people, it doesn’t change the facts. You’re real, and You’re with me.
[1] Spurgeon. Charles. The Crossway Classic Commentaries: Psalms. Page 86.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Psalm 19 Devotional
Psalm 19
Key Verses: 1, 7, and 14 “(1) The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork…(7) The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple…(14) Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.”
Spurgeon Insight: “Every moment God’s existence, power, wisdom, and goodness are being sounded abroad by the heavenly heralds which shine upon us from above…The practical effect of the Word of God is to turn people to themselves, to their God, and to holiness…Blessed Redeemer, give us now to meditate acceptably upon thy most sweet love and tenderness.”[1]
Creation is telling the world about the awesomeness of God. When we look at the universe and stand in awe it’s message to us is that we should be in even more awe of the One who created the universe. He must be even more beautiful and powerful than the universe or any force of nature if He is it’s Creator! The God of the Bible, Jesus, is the Creator. How awesome must He be!
God’s written Word is as amazing as the created universe. In a world of lies, changing opinions, and uncertainty, God’s Word is sure. It is unchanging, unalterable, perfect, and trustworthy. It has the ability to work within a person to change them from the inside out in cooperation with the work of the Spirit of God.
If the God of creation and the Bible truly are the same God, and they are, I have only one logical way to respond to Him. I am accountable to this awesome God! I want to make sure that I am in good standing with Him. My prayer must be the Psalmists: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight.”
LORD, I pray that you would guide me in my speech that will bring You honor. I pray that you would fill my heart with imaginations that glorify You. I thank you that you are my Redeemer, and that You have redeemed me from the power sin had over my mouth and heart before Jesus came into my life and forgave me. This is my hope based on Your word. I praise You that Your word is “sure.”
[1] Spurgeon. Charles. The Crossway Classic Commentaries: Psalms Pages 65, 68, and 71.
Key Verses: 1, 7, and 14 “(1) The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork…(7) The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple…(14) Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.”
Spurgeon Insight: “Every moment God’s existence, power, wisdom, and goodness are being sounded abroad by the heavenly heralds which shine upon us from above…The practical effect of the Word of God is to turn people to themselves, to their God, and to holiness…Blessed Redeemer, give us now to meditate acceptably upon thy most sweet love and tenderness.”[1]
Creation is telling the world about the awesomeness of God. When we look at the universe and stand in awe it’s message to us is that we should be in even more awe of the One who created the universe. He must be even more beautiful and powerful than the universe or any force of nature if He is it’s Creator! The God of the Bible, Jesus, is the Creator. How awesome must He be!
God’s written Word is as amazing as the created universe. In a world of lies, changing opinions, and uncertainty, God’s Word is sure. It is unchanging, unalterable, perfect, and trustworthy. It has the ability to work within a person to change them from the inside out in cooperation with the work of the Spirit of God.
If the God of creation and the Bible truly are the same God, and they are, I have only one logical way to respond to Him. I am accountable to this awesome God! I want to make sure that I am in good standing with Him. My prayer must be the Psalmists: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight.”
LORD, I pray that you would guide me in my speech that will bring You honor. I pray that you would fill my heart with imaginations that glorify You. I thank you that you are my Redeemer, and that You have redeemed me from the power sin had over my mouth and heart before Jesus came into my life and forgave me. This is my hope based on Your word. I praise You that Your word is “sure.”
[1] Spurgeon. Charles. The Crossway Classic Commentaries: Psalms Pages 65, 68, and 71.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Psalm 1 Devotional
Psalm 1
Key Verses: 1-2 “(1) Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; (2) But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night.”
Spurgeon Insight: “He delights to be in it (the Law) as his rule of life; he delights, moreover, to meditate in it, to read it by day and think upon it by night.”[1]
This Psalm is about two different types of counsel by which a person can live, and the practical results a person can experience from following one or the other. On the one hand the Psalm warns against living life by the counsel of the ungodly, or those who don’t live by God’s wisdom, and have a right relationship with Him. On the other hand the Psalm graphically describes the blessed life a person will enjoy if they turn to God’s law which is found in God’s Word, the Bible.
I have often read this Psalm and took encouragement from it to keep studying the Bible as my guide in life decisions. Reading it over today it stands out to me that being blessed through God’s Word involves a lot more than studying the Bible. The Psalmist doesn’t say that the person who merely reads or studies the Bible will be blessed. He says that it is the person who “delight(s)” and “meditates” on the Law of the LORD who will be blessed. Delighting in God’s Word speaks of taking pleasure in it. Meditating on God’s Word isn’t just reading it, but chewing on it mentally, and I believe, praying over what is found in God’s Word.
So the big application for me is not to stop short with mere Bible reading and expect to be transformed by the Word. I must delight in God’s Word and meditate on God’s Word. Only then will I be the blessed and transformed person glorifying God that this Psalm describes. The ability to do either of these things will take the grace and enabling of the Holy Spirit.
Lord, I pray right now that you would increase delight for your word inside my spirit. Increase my capacity to enjoy it through meditation. My spirit is willing, but my flesh is weak. By Your grace and Spirit accomplish these things in me so I can live the transformed and blessed life You desire to produce in, and through me.
[1] Spurgeon. Charles. The Crossway Classic Commentaries. Psalms. Page 2.
Key Verses: 1-2 “(1) Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; (2) But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night.”
Spurgeon Insight: “He delights to be in it (the Law) as his rule of life; he delights, moreover, to meditate in it, to read it by day and think upon it by night.”[1]
This Psalm is about two different types of counsel by which a person can live, and the practical results a person can experience from following one or the other. On the one hand the Psalm warns against living life by the counsel of the ungodly, or those who don’t live by God’s wisdom, and have a right relationship with Him. On the other hand the Psalm graphically describes the blessed life a person will enjoy if they turn to God’s law which is found in God’s Word, the Bible.
I have often read this Psalm and took encouragement from it to keep studying the Bible as my guide in life decisions. Reading it over today it stands out to me that being blessed through God’s Word involves a lot more than studying the Bible. The Psalmist doesn’t say that the person who merely reads or studies the Bible will be blessed. He says that it is the person who “delight(s)” and “meditates” on the Law of the LORD who will be blessed. Delighting in God’s Word speaks of taking pleasure in it. Meditating on God’s Word isn’t just reading it, but chewing on it mentally, and I believe, praying over what is found in God’s Word.
So the big application for me is not to stop short with mere Bible reading and expect to be transformed by the Word. I must delight in God’s Word and meditate on God’s Word. Only then will I be the blessed and transformed person glorifying God that this Psalm describes. The ability to do either of these things will take the grace and enabling of the Holy Spirit.
Lord, I pray right now that you would increase delight for your word inside my spirit. Increase my capacity to enjoy it through meditation. My spirit is willing, but my flesh is weak. By Your grace and Spirit accomplish these things in me so I can live the transformed and blessed life You desire to produce in, and through me.
[1] Spurgeon. Charles. The Crossway Classic Commentaries. Psalms. Page 2.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)