Usually, my title comes from the "WORD" portion of my journal. However, today I chose a title based more on the second section instead. Also, perhaps you wonder why certain words seem to be highlighted in different colors throughout this blog or anyone of my blogs. I have sought to link some words to definitions and videos for clarification or edification. Let me know if they actually work in the comment section below the body of my blog.
October 25, 2020
Worship
in the WORD
|
Ps
31 For
the director of music. A psalm of David. 31
In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me
in your righteousness. 2 Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be
my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. 3 Since you are my rock and
my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. 4 Free me from the
trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge. NIV |
Ps 31 For
the choir director: A psalm of David. 31 1
O Lord, I have come to you for protection; don’t let me be disgraced. Save
me, for you do what is right. 2 Turn your ear to listen to me; rescue me
quickly. Be my rock of protection, a fortress where I will be safe. 3 You are
my rock and my fortress. For the honor of your name, lead me out of this danger.
4 Pull me from the trap my enemies set for me, for I find protection in you
alone. Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®,
copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of
Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved. |
|
Ps 31 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. 31 In thee, O LORD, do I
put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness. 2 Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily:
be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me. 3 For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead
me, and guide me. 4 Pull me out of the net that they have laid
privily for me: for thou art my strength. KJV |
Ps 31 Into
Your Hand I Commit My Spirit To
the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. 31 In
you, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in
your righteousness deliver me! 2 Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily! Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save
me! 3 For
you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and
guide me; 4 you take me out of the net they have hidden for me, for you are
my refuge. ESV |
A. Verse 1: Action
B. Verse 2: Appeal
C. Verses 3 & 4: Acknowledge
D. Verse 5:
Abandon
II. Help! – vv. 9-20
III. Hail – vv. 21-22
IV. Heart – vv. 23-24
I. Hope – vv. 1-8
C. Verse 3 & 4: Acknowledge
Coming off verse two in which he appeals to the Lord to be
his “rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me,” David follows with an
acknowledgment, argument, and another appeal.
3 Since you
are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. 4
Free me from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge. NIV('84)
At first glance, this seems illogical
or presumptuous. However, for the believer, this is neither absurd nor
arrogant. It is the logic of faith and
the lucidity of prayer.
Be
Thou to me a Rock . . . for Thou art a
Rock.’ Is that not illogical? No, for notice that little word, to me’—be Thou
to me what Thou art in Thyself, and hast been to all generations.’ That makes
all the difference. It is not merely Be what Thou art,’ although that would be
much, but it is be it to me,’ and let me have all which is meant in that great
Name.
(from
Expositions of Holy Scripture, by Alexander MacLaren, PC Study Bible formatted
electronic database Copyright © 2012 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
As followers of Christ, we are to acknowledge and
appropriate God’s promises based on the person of God. He knows our needs
before we ask, and all things are done according to His sovereign plan.
However, God has also ordained that one of the means in which He will
accomplish this is prayer.
In verse 3, we also see David’s confidence that God will
answer the plea he made in verse 2. He is so confident in God that he prays
from the standpoint of fulfillment. And he argues from this fact for specific
needs. I see this in the use of the word “since” (NIV) or “for” (ESV). Based upon the fact that God is his “rock”
and “fortress,” David appeals to Him “lead and guide” (v 3). This argument is
most clearly expressed by the wording found in the KJV, “therefore
for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me.”
To be clear, I don’t mean that David is arguing or making
demands of God. I’m speaking of a logical argument: “Since You are this, please
do that.” David had meditated on the implications of God being His “rock of
refuge, a strong fortress” (NIV). I wonder how often we do that. And if we do,
are our prayers bordering on the bold side or belligerent? Are they prayed in
confidence or crassness? And if we don’t meditate on
them, why don’t we? Perhaps it is because we take things for granted with our
God. Wouldn’t another word for that be the word “presumptuous”?
Worship in Witness:
I’m not going to say much here tonight as I write. Prayer has
been a particular issue with me over my lifetime as a Christian. It was often
seen as a duty. Even worse than this, it was usually performed out of
superstition. What do I mean by this? When I have skipped my time in prayer in
the past, and something bad happens later on that day, I’d tell myself, “it’s
because you didn’t pray.” Therefore, my prayers were prayed more out of fear of
punishment than a desire for communing with my Father in heaven. I was
motivated more by horror than to make much of His holiness! Whether out of duty
or the fear of danger, my prayers were not honoring God. They were done more in
the spirit of the Pharisee than as a child of God.
My present circumstances have set me out on a journey to
learn more about the meaning of prayer. Not the method so much, but the
attitude and content of prayer. One thing that has “wowed” me lately is the
thought that the Sovereign God would deign to incorporate prayer into His
design for accomplishing His will in the world. That, to me, is one of the
prime motives for praying. Certainly not the only one, or the highest one, but
indeed the most humbling one. To participate in the plans of God through prayer
staggers the mind. It keeps me from praying, “my will be done on earth.” It
instructs me that my “daily bread” comes ultimately by His design. It reminds
me that sin is a defiance of His perfect will. It directs me to seek His
deliverance and not my own. Are not these the essence of what the Lord taught
us in His model prayer? So I ask Him to “fill me with His Spirit, lead and
guide me, and teach me to pray.”
Worship in Promise, Poetry, and Praise:
https://loosehim.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/img_3287.jpg
Lord, in this lonely place
I long to see Your face
So I come before
Your throne
of grace
For Your mercy Lord, I plead
To find the strength that I need
To Your will alone
may
I concede
As I walk this path of sorrow
Future fears may I not borrow
But in Your hands
place my every tomorrow
— Amen
When searching for a song to sing, I “happened” to be
listening to music playing on Spotify. I had been listening to a particular
playlist I had chosen. However, as happens from time to time on Spotify, it
diverged from my selected list. Instead, it began to play songs by Fernando
Ortega. I had just copied and pasted the verse from Hebrews 4:16 a minute or so
before when the song “Pass Me Not” began to play. I didn’t pay much attention
at first but then the words to the second verse jumped out to me, and I decided
right there and then to use this as my worship song. I loved Fernando’s version, but it was an abbreviated version of the song. Sounds Like Reign (←click on the link if you want to watch it) sung a version I
really liked. However, they left out the verse I had been attracted to in the
first place. I finally settled on the video listed below. It is longer than
these other versions because it has an instrumental portion between the third
and fourth verses. However, it includes scripture to read during the interlude.
Pass Me Not by Frances J. Crosby as sung by Red
Mountain Church
1. Pass me not, O gentle Savior,
hear my humble cry;
while on others thou art calling,
do not pass me by.
Refrain:
Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry;
while on others thou art calling,
do not pass me by.
2. Let me at thy throne of mercy
find a sweet relief,
kneeling there in deep contrition;
help my unbelief.
(Refrain)
3. Trusting only in thy merit,
would I seek thy face;
heal my wounded, broken spirit,
save me by thy grace.
(Refrain)
4. Thou the spring of all my comfort,
more than life to me,
whom have I on earth beside thee?
Whom in heaven but thee?
(Refrain)
Lyrics: https://www.elyrics.net/read/h/hymn-lyrics/pass-me-not-o-gentle-savior-lyrics.html
Video: https://youtu.be/yjRv2oUOGHE
Some Further Notes & Quotes:
Appendix Notes
The psalmist in dire affliction appeals
to his God for help with much confidence and holy importunity, and ere long
finds his mind so strengthened that he magnifies the Lord for his great
goodness. Some have thought that the occasion in his troubled life which led to
this psalm, was the treachery of the men of Keilah, and we have felt much
inclined to this conjecture; but after reflection it seems to us that its very
mournful tone and its allusion to his iniquity demand a later date, and it may
be more satisfactory to illustrate it by the period when Absalom had rebelled,
and his courtiers were fled from him, while lying lips spread a thousand
malicious rumours against him. It is perhaps quite as well that we have no
settled season mentioned, or we might have been so busy applying it to David’s
case as to forget its suitability to our own. -Spurgeon.
(from Barnes’ Notes, Electronic
Database Copyright © 1997-2014 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
[Str. II. Ver. 3. For Thou art
my rock and my fortress.—Perowne: “This has been called illogical. But is it so
illogical as it seems? The Psalmist prays, ‘Be Thou to me,’ or rather ‘become
to me, prove Thyself to be, my rock and house of defence; for I know that Thou,
and Thou only, art my refuge.’ This is the logic of the heart, if not of the
intellect; the logic, it may be added, of every prayer of faith.”—Wilt lead me
and guide me.—Perowne: “The futures here and in the next verse are not to be
rendered as imperatives. They express the strong hope and confidence that it
will be done according to his faith and his prayer.”
Lange, J. P., Schaff, P., Moll,
C. B., Briggs, C. A., Forsyth, J., Hammond, J. B., … Conant, T. J. (2008). A
commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Psalms (p. 218). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible
Software.
