Journal for Christ: January 2022

Wednesday, January 19, 2022

O Love the LORD, All Ye His Saints!

January 19, 2022

Worship in WORD

Ps 31:23-24

23 Love the Lord, all you his saints!

The Lord preserves the faithful

but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.

24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage,

all you who wait for the Lord!

ESV

Ps 31:23-24

23 Love the LORD, all his faithful people!

The LORD preserves those who are true to him,

but the proud he pays back in full.

24 Be strong and take heart,

all you who hope in the LORD.

The New International Version. (2011). Zondervan.

Ps 31:23-24

23 O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.

24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

KJV

Ps 31:23-24

23 Love the Lord, all you godly ones!

For the Lord protects those who are loyal to him,

but he harshly punishes the arrogant.

24 So be strong and courageous,

all you who put your hope in the Lord!

I. Hope – vv. 1-8

A. Action – v. 1

B. Appeal – v. 2

C. Acknowledge – vv. 3-4

D. Abandon – v. 5

E. Abhor – v. 6

F. Acclaim! – vv. 7-8

II. Help! – vv. 9-18

A. Sorrow – vv. 9-13

1. Soul sickness – vv. 9-10

2. Societal scorn – vv. 11-13

B. Sovereign – vv. 14-18

1. Surrender – vv. 14-15

2. Shine – v. 16

3. Shame – v. 17

4. Silence – v. 18

III. Hail – vv. 19-22

A. God, for His Great Goodness – v. 19

B. God, for His Sheltering Presence – v. 20

C. God, for His Hesed [ds#j# ]#] – V. 21

D. God, Who Hears and Answers His People – v. 22

IV. Heart – vv. 23-24

A. Love – v. 23

B. Long – v.24

Thought flow: Hope→Help!→Hail→Heart

A. Love— v. 23

As David approached the end of his composition of what we call Psalm 31, I think he looked back at the journey he had been through. He reflected on the times of trusting when he found himself experiencing tribulations. Of periods of doubt and depression and feelings of abandonment by those he thought were his friends – and maybe even God Himself. And the goodness and steadfast love of God through it all. Praise and thanksgiving must have filled his heart at this last thought.

And this praise and thanksgiving must have an outlet, for joy restrained dies quickly and is forgotten. Nor can love and gratefulness go unexpressed and be genuine. A believer must express their joy and gratitude verbally or at least conscientiously inside of themselves to make their joy complete and for God to receive the highest glory. Praise should also be shared in the company of other believers. Not only is God exalted, but God’s people are encouraged as well.

But believers are also edified through personal and public praise. And I believe that is what David is doing in verses 23-24. He accomplishes this by employing an exhortation to “Love the Lord.” But wouldn’t “love” be characteristic of God’s saints already? Yes, it should, but I believe he does so because the saints of God can become complacent or forgetful. And the true believer’s life is never static but ever being shaped by the ongoing sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. Here are three reasons why I think God’s people need such exhortations:

1. They can take God’s love for granted or as an entitlement.

2. They can become fearful and forgetful in the face of trials.

3. Though they love, it is never perfect and must continue to grow.

So for at least these three reasons, and maybe especially the third one, David says, “O love the LORD, all ye his saints (KJV).” To illustrate point number three, we can look at what the Apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Thessalonica:

Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more.

1 Thess 4:1 NASU

As you can see from this passage, the Thessalonians were walking in a way that was pleasing to God. Yet Paul exhorted them to “excel still more.” Perhaps David felt it necessary to encourage God’s people to “Love the Lord” amid all the trials and struggles they have and will face in the future. He did this because only a growing love for God will be sufficient to meet them.

And all God’s people realize this is shorthand for the greatest of all commands:

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2F736x%2F85%2F4d%2F35%2F854d3569d0e746455fa3f17a724d3a7c--deuteronomy-.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

Worship in Witness:

The spirit of the saint of God responds with delight to this command. To them (us), it is not a burden to bear but a blessing to enjoy. It is not a drudging duty to perform but a precious privilege to carry out. Ultimately they (we) will respond because of the prior love of God for them (us).

We love because He first loved us.

Worship in Promise, Poem, Prayer, and Praise

ttps://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.-AhjnhgoWHKHVNtvCus5oAHaHa%26pid%3DApi&f=1

A Prayer For Perseverance

Lord,

May my love never grow cold

Nor delight in You grow old

May I never give in

To this world’s pleasure in sin

Help me fight for joy in You

And keep eternity in view

Enduring every trial I face

With Your power, truth, and grace

--Amen

Move My Heart

Heavenly Father,

Who Loved me before the foundations of this world were laid.

Who set Your affection on me before all time.

So move my heart to Love You more and more each day.

May tribulations and troubles not spread fear in my heart and choke out my Love for You.

Or desires for earthly pleasures infiltrate my soul and crowd out my Affection for You.

Remind me again and again when I begin to forget Your Love for me or take It for granted.

Reignite the Passion in my spirit to Love You when It begins to wane and grow cold.

I ask this in the Name of Your Son,

Who Loved me and gave Himself for me.

— Amen

Love The Lord

Verse 1:

Love the Lord your God

With all your heart

With all your soul

With all your mind

And with all your strength [x2]

Chorus 1:

With all your heart

With all your soul

With all your mind

And with all your strength

Love the Lord your God

With all your heart

With all your soul

With all your mind

And with all your strength

Verse 2:

I will serve the Lord

With all my heart

With all my soul

With all my mind

And with all my strength [x2]

Chorus 2:

With all my heart

With all my soul

With all my mind

With all my strength

I will serve the Lord

With all my heart

With all my soul

With all my mind

And with all my strength

Bridge:

I will love You (I will love You)

I will praise You (I will praise You)

I will serve You, Lord (I will serve You)

I will trust You, Lord (I will trust You)

Chorus 3:

With all my heart

With all my soul

With all my mind

And with all my strength

With all my heart

With all my soul

With all my mind

With all my strength

Verse 3:

I will love You Lord

With all my heart

With all my soul

With all my mind (x3)

Writer(s): Lincoln Lee Brewster

AZLyrics L Lincoln Brewster Lyrics

Lyrics: (With some editing and added titles): https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/lincolnbrewster/lovethelord.html

Video: https://youtu.be/EAbeFfsqLdc

For Further Thought or Study

Psalms 31:23

O love Jehovah, all ye his meek ones! In my opinion, the Psalmist does not here exhort the saints to fear and reverence God, as many think, but encourages them to confide in him; or, in other words, to devote themselves wholly to him, to put all their hope in him, and to rely entirely upon him, without seeking to any other. Whence is it that our own fond devices delight us, but because we do not delight in God so much as we ought, and because our affections do not cleave to him? This love of God, therefore, comprehends in it all the desires of the heart. By nature, all men greatly desire to be in a prosperous or happy state; but while the greater number are fascinated by the allurements of the world, and prefer its lies and impostures, scarcely one in a hundred sets his heart on God. The reason which immediately follows confirms this interpretation; for the inspired Psalmist exhorts the meek to love God, because he preserves the faithful, which is as if he had desired them to rest satisfied with his guardianship, and to acknowledge that in it they had sufficient succor. In the meantime, he admonishes them to keep a good conscience, and to cultivate uprightness, since God promises to preserve only such as are upright and faithful.

Tuesday, January 4, 2022

He sees... He Hears... He knows

January 4, 2022

In case you missed reading my last blog. Here is the link to it:

https://journal4christ.blogspot.com/2021/12/hesed-omnipotent-love-that-will-never.html

Just left-click the mouse over the link above then right click and tap "go to https:"

Worship in WORD

Ps 31:21-22

21 Blessed be the Lord,

for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me

when I was in a besieged city.

22 I had said in my alarm,

“I am cut off from your sight.”

But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy

when I cried to you for help.

ESV

Ps 31:19-22

21 Praise be to the Lord,

for he showed his wonderful love to me

when I was in a besieged city.

22 In my alarm I said,

“I am cut off from your sight!”

Yet you heard my cry for mercy

when I called to you for help.

NIV (1984)

Ps 31:18-22

21 Blessed be the LORD: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city.

22 For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.

KJV

Ps 31:19-22

21 Praise the Lord,

for he has shown me the wonders of his unfailing love.

He kept me safe when my city was under attack.

22 In panic I cried out,

“I am cut off from the Lord!”

But you heard my cry for mercy

and answered my call for help.

I. Hope – vv. 1-8

II. Help! – vv. 9-18

III. Hail – vv. 19-22

A. God, for His Great Goodness – v. 19

B. God, for His Sheltering Presence – v. 20

C. God, for His Hesed [ds#j# ]#] – V. 21

D. God, Who Hears and Answers His People – v. 22

IV. Heart – vv. 23-24

Ever feel surrounded? Perhaps it’s the feeling of being surrounded by debt. Everywhere you turn, there seems to be a bill demanding that you surrender your hard-earned money to them. Perhaps it is a work schedule that offers no way of escape for some much-needed R & R., or maybe it’s your children coming at you from all sides wanting your attention or help. Whatever it is, you can definitely identify with the feelings David had who was surrounded by enemies that sought to capture and kill him (inferred from v.21).

And perhaps you responded as David did in verse 22. The encroaching enemy was besieging the fortress David was in. He was cut off from escaping, and he felt as if he was cut off from God as well. And David confesses that he rashly cried out in a state of panic: “I am cut off from Your sight.” Have you ever responded that way?

The word in verse 22 translated “alarm” (ESV, NIV) or “haste” has both meanings at its core.

hasten, flee, fear, be terrified

(from Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Copyright © 1980 by The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. All rights reserved. Used by permission.)

It seemed to David that God couldn’t see him. However, he forgot that the LORD was El Roi – “the God who sees” (Genesis 16:13). Forgetting this, David panicked. Notice here the wonderful anthropomorphic wordplay on the senses. Although he thought God couldn’t “see” him, God still “heard” him. And God did not turn a deaf ear to David but listened to him and took action.

š¹m¹± has the basic meaning "to hear." This is extended in various ways, generally involving an effective hearing or listening

(from Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Copyright © 1980 by The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. All rights reserved. Used by permission.)

We learn that the word “š¹m¹±” is not a mere hearing of David’s pleas from this quote. This is not a mono-directional word (↑), but bi-directional (↑ ↓). So by implication, God not only “heard” ↑ but “answered” ↓ (NLT) David’s “supplications” (KJV) for “help.”

Worship in Witness:

When we think that God doesn’t see the predicaments we find ourselves in, remember that he does, no matter how we feel. We are never out of His “line of sight” nor out of His “earshot.” Isn’t it is ironic then that we who are visible sometimes feel invisible to God, who IS invisible? But the word of God is replete with the promise that God sees us, hears us, and knows our needs.

Here are just a few:

For a man's ways are in full view of the Lord,

and he examines all his paths.

Prov 5:21 NIV

The eyes of the Lord are everywhere,

keeping watch on the wicked and the good.

Prov 15:3 NIV

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;

he delivers them from all their troubles.

Ps 34:17 NIV

Later, David would declare these tremendous truths in Psalm 139:

O Lord, you have searched me

and you know me.

² You know when I sit and when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar.

³ You discern my going out and my lying down;

you are familiar with all my ways.

⁴ Before a word is on my tongue

you know it completely, O Lord.

Ps 139:1-4 NIV

And listen to these words of exhortation by our Lord:

⁶ But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁷ And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Matt 6:6-8 NIV

We must constantly remind ourselves of these things, lest we forget them.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits,

Ps 103:2 ESV

Finally (for I know this journal entry is getting long), I recognize that we are human. And like David (who often wrote of God’s ability to see, hear, and know), we can temporarily forget these “benefits.” But when we do, may the Lord by His Holy Spirit convict us and call to our minds His faithful promises. And when He does, let us cry out for mercy. Even if it is only with the word “Help!” – Amen

Worship in Promise, Poem, Prayer, and Praise

http://www.faiththeevidence.com/uploads/8/5/6/6/8566914/published/psa103.jpg?1563228052

He knows your sorrow

He feels your pain

He’s in your tomorrow

In the sunshine and the rain

He sees your falling tears

He hears your mournful cry

He’s there in all your fears

There, as the answer to the why

Hear Me When I Cry

Hear me when I cry

Hear me when I pray

Hear me when I speak

Hear me when I say

All I want is You, Lord

All I want is You

All I want is You, Lord

All I want is You

And as I cry

and as I pray

And as I long for

You every day

And as I walk

And as I live

And as I seek for

You, my life to give

All I want is You, Lord

All I want is You

All I want is You, Lord

All I want is You

He Knows by Jeremy Camp

All the bitter weary ways

Endless striving day by day

You barely have the strength to pray

In the valley low

And how hard your fight has been

How deep the pain within

Wounds that no one else has seen

Hurts too much to show

All the doubt you’re standing in between

And all the weight that brings you to your knees

[Chorus:]

He knows, He knows

Every hurt and every sting

He has walked the suffering

He knows, He knows

Let your burdens come undone

Lift your eyes up to the one

Who knows, He knows

We may faint, and we may sink

Feel the pain and near the brink

But the dark begins to shrink

When you find the one who knows

The chains of doubt that held you in between

One by one are starting to break free

[Chorus]

Every time that you feel forsaken

Every time that you feel alone

He is near to the brokenhearted

Every tear

[Chorus]

He knows

Songwriters: Jeremy Thomas Camp / Seth David Mosley

Lyrics: https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/jeremycamp/heknows.html

Video: https://youtu.be/OsccUg4TDd8

For Further Thought or Study

I know this quote may seem to have nothing to do with Psalm 31. Yet, I was arrested by Spurgeon’s wording here as he comments on Matthew 6:7-8, which I quoted above in my “Worship in Witness section. And certainly, it is relevant to how I ended that section (i.e., “Help! - Amen).

Matthew 6:7-8

Repetitions we may have, but not “vain repetitions.” Counting beads, and reckoning the time occupied in devotion, are both idle things. Christians’ prayers are measured by weight, and not by length. Many of the most prevailing prayers have been as short as they were strong.