Book of Psalms

Does This World Overwhelm You

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

A Prayer When Overwhelmed

Book of Psalms Chapter 61

That word overwhelmed means we have been crushed by something violent and weighty, that covers or encompasses us.
To be submerged, to be engulfed, to be defeated, to be overthrown, to be overpowered.

We cannot escape the demands of everyday life!

At every stage of our time upon this earth pressures exist that cause us problems.

We still live in a cursed world.

Satan spends every moment of time he has left to trip up Christians and cause us to fail in serving the Lord.

It seems that the more we claim the Lord Jesus Christ the worst our problems are, and this is true because the world hates Christians because the world hates the Lord Jesus Christ.

Joh_7:7  The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.

Joh_15:18  If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

Life’s burdens can be tough to carry everyday if we try to do it alone!

Many times life’s burdens are just too tough for us to carry and we will feel “overwhelmed” by them.

As Christians God has given us every tool to use to never be “overwhelmed” in this world.

That first tool is prayer!

David wrote this Psalm while he was in a period of extreme stress.

David’s son Absalom was trying to kill him and replace him as King of Israel.

David knew he could not endure in his own strength and he cried out to God.

What are the steps we must take for relief?

1) We must cry out to God and beg Him to hear our prayer.
2) We must tell God and show God, that we want to live with Him forever.
3) We must approach God boldly in prayer being humble when we get there. We must never be afraid to go to God for help!
4) We must make a renewed commitment to praise God and we must fulfill our promises to Him each and every day.

It seems that David could no longer withstand the pressures of life, and there are many who have felt this way during their lifetime.

This world of today is taking its toil on people even today in our own nation.

The suicide rate in the United States has risen to its highest point in more than 80 years.

Here is something to think about, the suicide rate has increase every year that President Biden has been in office!

When David felt this kind of pressure he cried out to the Lord and begged Him to hear him.

David knew he could not endure the pressures on his life in his own strength!

Neither can we!

*Psa 61:1  To the chief Musician upon Neginah, A Psalm of David. Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer.

That word Neginah means this Psalm was to be accompanied by stringed instruments.

Probably soft music in the background so the music did not interfere with the words of this Psalm.

Listen to David in this Psalm and we can see his urgency.

I will be quiet honest with you. I do not know how people deal with their stress without the Lord Jesus Christ.

Where can we go in times of trouble, but to the Lord.

Today we see that many cannot deal with the stresses of this world and they choose suicide rather than asking for God’s help.

The only help for the weary soul is a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Hebrew word used for this word “cry” is “rinnah” and this word expresses a shrill, a piercing cry for help, a desperate cry for help.

This world has no answers to this sort of stress!

David begs God and uses the Hebrew word Elohim, the Supreme God, the Triune God, the God of All Power.

Obviously, this is a song of exile, David is far from the city he loves, Jerusalem.

David left Jerusalem to keep from warring with his son Absalom.

According to the Word of God, Jerusalem is to be a city of peace and God tells us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

In the time of David, he considered the sanctuary of God to be in Jerusalem and it was.

It was the place of the “Mercy Seat” where a soul could approach God.

For David the center of the universe is being in Jerusalem!

The world will find this out when the Lord Jesus Christ rules this earth from Jerusalem for a Millenium.

Jerusalem will be the center of this universe we live in until it is replaced with the New Jerusalem which will then be the center of all God’s creation.

Today, if you are a child of God, the sanctuary of God is within us.

We are the Temple of God where He dwells!

Wherever God reveals Himself, He can still reach us with the riches of His “grace”!

David shows the world that no matter where we are located, even at the end of the earth, we can still cry out to God and He will hear us!

*Psa 61:2  From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 

When we feel lost and far away from God, we need to call on His name and He will hear us.

There is no saddening time greater than a feeling of loneliness!

It is not God’s hearing us that is so important, it is how we are living our lives.

If we are not living according to the Word of God, then God might not answer our prayer.

Psa 66:18  If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: 
Psa 66:19  But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. 
Psa 66:20  Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.

Much of the time we must first ask for forgiveness of some sin we are trying to hold on to, before the Lord will accept our prayer and give His answer.

When we ask to be led to the “Rock that is higher than I”, it means lead me to a place I cannot reach without God’s help.

That “Rock” is God Himself.

Psa 62:2  He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.

Psa 62:6  He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.
Psa 62:7  In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. 
Psa 62:8  Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.

That Rock is the place strength, the place of faithfulness, and the unchangeableness of Jehovah.

The more we say this and it comes from our heart, the more confidence we will have in our God, and it does not matter what our enemies attempt to do, they will fail.

God is our refuge that we can trust because God is our salvation!

We can trust the Lord at all times, God is always faithful to those who love Him!

We can never be very far from God even when we feel like we are!

The Holy Spirit lives within every child of God.

He can become silent when we have quenched the Spirit and a prayer of forgiveness will solve this issue.

When we are spiritually far away from God we will not feel His presence.

It is at these times that we will feel overwhelmed by this world!

Through the power of God we can handle every pressure and every circumstance in this life!

*Psa 61:3  For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. 

Through the power of God we can certainly handle every circumstance of this life because we do not have to handle it because God will handle it for us.

God will fight all our battles if we live for Him!

We must look beyond ourselves and our own pitiful strength to the strength of the Almighty God which is endless.

We must look to the “Rock” that is higher than we are!

It is a fact that God will be our refuge when the weight of this wicked world tries to rob us of our peace!

The strength to endure trials and temptations and the wickedness of this evil world comes from being in God’s presence!

We are in God’s presence everytime we bend our knees and pray, and spend some time with God, through the Lord Jesus Christ.

If we are unable to bend our knees then we can pray standing up but we must be humble before the Lord.

When we are going through intense pressure we sometimes neglect the House of God and we dont pray as much as we should and both of these things are wrong. Both of these things will quench the Holy Spirit.

These are the times we need God the most.

Being in God’s presence must be the most important priority of our lives!

Php 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. 

We can find that shelter we need when we gather together with others in God’s House.

*Psa 61:4  I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah. 

The Tabernacle was not in Jerusalem at this time so David was not speaking of the Tabernacle of Moses.

2Ch_1:3  So Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for there was the tabernacle of the congregation of God, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness.

David was speaking of a “spiritual abiding” in the presence of the Lord all his days he had left, and after his death to pass on into God’s Heavenly Home.

This is what we all crave. To be with God in His House when He calls us home!

The Lord Jesus teaches us of this fact.

Joh 14:1  Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 
Joh 14:2  In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 

Psa 23:6  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Hiding under God’s Wings is a sure place of safety!

Now we do not know if God has wings or not, but the “Mercy Seat” of God had the wings of the two Heavenly Angels, the Cherubim which was the seat of God upon this earth.

It is at the “Mercy Seat” where we will find the protection of the Almighty Living God.

We find shelter from the dangers and the pressures of this life when we abide in the presence of the LORD.

When we abide in the presence of the LORD we can be sure that He hears our prayers!

*Psa 61:5  For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name.

As David poured out His heart to God, he felt the assurance that he was in the presence of God.

Php 4:6  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 
Php 4:7  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 

There was no doubt in David’s mind that God had heard his prayer and had accepted David’s vows.

At this time David had perfect peace in his soul.

David was assured that he would return to Jerusalem and sit on the throne as King of Israel.

Israel is still the heritage of the Lord.

Rom 9:4  Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; 
Rom 9:5  Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen. 

We know the importance of King David sitting on the throne of Israel because we know that the Lord Jesus Christ is that actual true heritage and he came from the family of David.

Jesus also explained this to the woman from Samaria.

Joh 4:21  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 
Joh 4:22  Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 
Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 
Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

God promised to give this heritage to all those who trusted in His name.

1Pe 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 
1Pe 1:4  To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 

This is the promise God made to David.

The land of Canaan is the inheritance of the Jewish people, but this land is also a picture of the New Heaven.

It is the New Heaven that will be the permanent home of all those who believe the truth of God!

This is the inheritance that is eternal!

1) We see that when we stay close to the Lord we will be safe in the shelter of God’s wings and He will answer our prayers.

2) We see that God has offered a glorious inheritance and the brightest future imaginable. We are going to live in the New Jerusalem with Him.

2Co 5:1  For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 

David knew he would live a full life.

2Sa 7:12  And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. David called on the Lord to keep His promises.

*Psa 61:6  Thou wilt prolong the king’s life: and his years as many generations. 
Psa 61:7  He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him. 

It takes a true committment to the truth of God to please Him.

David began to remember the promises God had made to him while he was still on this earth.

David called upon God to keep the promises that He had made.

God could not establish the Kingdom of David, if He allowed David to die at the hands of Absalom.

At least not in a way where we could understand it.

God promised David an everlasting dynasty.

2Sa 7:16  And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.

We should give some thought to this. If God has called us to a certain thing and we answer that call, then God is not likely to to take our life before we can accomplish what God has called us to do.

God wants us to live long happy lives!

Pro 3:1  My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: 
Pro 3:2  For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. 

God has the power to deliver us from all the hazards of this world if He so chooses.

Any lack of faith is the same as calling God a liar!

David’s life would extend far beyond his days upon this earth through his royal line.

David’s ultimate descendant would be the Messiah who will sit upon David’s throne throughout eternity.

Luk 1:32  He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 
Luk 1:33  And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. 

This throne is a picture of the sovereign power and the divine dignity as the Supreme Ruler of all God’s creation.

This takes place when the Lord Jesus comes down to live amongst His people.

We should understand that this Psalm is not a prayer.

This Psalm is an appeal to God’s promise and God’s purpose.

It would be hard to hope for the future if we have not lived long enough to know the true meaning of our future.

No one can live forever upon this earth except as living on through his descendants.

But we can live eternally in Heaven because we will live a life through the eternity of our Savior. We will be like Him!

The Lord Jesus cannot ever die because He is God!

Joh_11:25  Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

If Absalom had replaced David as king of Israel then the promise made to David would be broken.

David’s Throne had already been promised to another, Solomon.

Keep in mind that David had another son by Bathsheba whose name was Nathan. Mary the mother of Jesus came through the line of David through Nathan his son.

God had already decided that the Messiah would come by one of the sons of Bathsheba.

Everything is OK until we get to King Josiah and this is where the confusion starts.

King Jesus will be in the line of King David.

*Psa 61:8  So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows. 

It takes a true committment to the truth of God to please Him.

It takes a true committment to praise God and we must keep the vows we have made to Him.

We sometimes say things in our prayers that we do not know how to keep.

King David is in Heaven today giving God the praise that He deserves!

Before David went to Heaven, he looked forward to going back home and completeing the vows that he had made.

Prayers that are made in confidence will surely be answered.

In order for us to live long lives we need to praise the Lord and trust every word He has given to us.

The longer we live, the longer we have to offer up praise to the Lord.

God has promised us great things concerning the Millennial Kingdom and our life in the New Jerusalem.

Jesus Christ will live forever and we can live with Him if we make a true committment to Him.

We must realize that God is worthy of our worship and praising God must be a central part of our worship.

When we take time to read this wonderful Book of Psalms we will see that they exalt the name of the Lord.

An important part of being a Christian is praising our Savior and to attend and to participate in church worship.

Eph 3:21  Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. 

If we are not honoring the Lord we are not fulfilling our purpose.

These things are important in our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ!

It is the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Rock that is higher than we are.

Amen

Trials and Tribulations

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Fear in the Midst of Trials

Book of Psalms 56

We must remember we live in a cursed world because of sin.

We must remember sin is everything that goes against the Word of God.

The greatest sin of all is to not believe in the work that the Lord Jesus Christ has completed for our salvation.

When do we have the most fear? When we are in the midst of our daily trials.

Things that devastate us can come to us at any moment.

The death of a loved one.

A terrible sickness, such as cancer or a heart attack.

Today it seems like half the world is trying scam us out of the things we have no one really cares as they say they do.

A car wreck can set us backwards financially and I could go on because there are so many problems that come upon us, just unexpectedly.

In the Book of Job we see these words: Job 14:1 Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.

This still describes our world today. This still describes humanity today but even worse.

Most of our hardships are the result of trouble finding us.

Many of our hardships are of our own making.

We know the Job was the most upright man on earth in his day and all his children died in one day because of a tornado like wind.

Robbers came and stole many of his animals.

Lightning killed the rest of his animals.

Job got up one morning as usual and was a rich man, at the end of that day Job was heartbroken and a poor man and he had done nothing to cause all these things to happen.

But it is still a fact that many of our problems come from our own actions.

We are still our own worst enemy.

David did this very thing.

When David was on the run from King Saul, who was trying to kill him.

David was innocent of any wrongdoing toward Saul but this did not stop Saul from trying to kill him.

David had gone to the Philistine city of Gath to seek refuge from Saul.

David thought that Saul would never look for him there.
The Philistines were Israel’s sworn enemy.
Saul had declared David to be his enemy.
David hoped that the King of Gath would help him because they were both the enemies of King Saul.

Keep in mind that David had been the one to kill Goliath and Goliath had family members who still lived in Gath.

Goliath had four brothers and many family members there.

David was even carrying the sword of Goliath.

We can only imagine his thought process at this time.

The truth is that David’s logic was flawed. He went to the world when he should have gone to Jehovah.

After all he was a man after God’s own heart.

It is certain that we all make mistakes that can cause us harm!

The advisors of King Achish were convinced that David was still a threat to the Philistines so suddenly David was in grave danger.

We know from previous lessons that David put on a show of being crazy and it saved his life.

1Sa 21:10 And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.
1Sa 21:11 And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?
1Sa 21:12 And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath.
1Sa 21:13 And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.

Unwise decisions will most always get us into trouble!

If we are close to God, then we will find it easier to go to Him when trouble comes to us!

*Psa 56:1 To the chief Musician upon Jonathelemrechokim, Michtam of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath. Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me.
Psa 56:2 Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High.

We know that trouble is usually accompanied by more trouble and we know we need help, but we forget that we are a child of God and we think the world can solve our problems, when the world is the cause of most of our problems.

This world is a wicked and evil place, and has no intention of solving anybody’s problems, but the rich who simply want more riches.

We should be crying out to the Lord and we should be crying out for His mercy even if we have to beg God for mercy, because we know God is merciful or we would not know anything about Him.

That phrase “would swallow me up” simply means that this world will walk all over us, trample on us, or crush us and we all know this is true because we live it every day and we see it getting worse, especially for the child of God, but we have a merciful God who will remove some of these things or He will go through them with us.

How did God describe Himself to Moses?

Exo_34:6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,

Deu_4:31 (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.

God does not change, so He is the same God to all those who love Him today.

God will not allow our enemies to swallow us up or walk all over us, if we go to Him in prayer trusting in Him.

David was under daily attacks so much so, that he could not find rest.

David explained these things to the Most High God, Jehovah, and he realized he needed God more than ever and just as we all do.

*Psa 56:3 What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.
Psa 56:4 In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.

This is the only place in the Bible where we read that David might be afraid of any man.

The way this verse reads is “When the day comes that I feel fear stealing over me, by an act of will, I will put my trust in thee”.

We must be more like David and never be afraid of what man can do to us!

We already know that if we die today, we will wake up in Heaven and will be far better off.

In all danger, in all trouble, whatever happens, whatever we think is going to happen, we can always trust the Lord for the right outcome.

We cannot say we are Christians and then, not trust that God will always do the right thing for us.

This is the only way we will ever overcome our fears.

If we stay close enough to the Lord in our lifestyle and prayers, we will seldom fall into the traps of this world.

David was going to be the next King of Israel and he needed to learn on God’s training ground.

God’s training ground can be tough most of the time.

God will fulfill every promise He makes to us.

We can be secure in God’s plans for our life! There are no human beings who can overrule God’s purpose for our life!

*Psa 56:5 Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil.
Psa 56:6 They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul.

To me this sounds just like our own government today.

In verse five we see one of the things that happens so much today.

Evil people take our Constitution and twist the words that we have had for many years into another meaning that was never intended by its writers.

In fact, people are listening just to see if we say something that can be twisted into some other meaning, things we never intended to say.

They will use these twisted meanings to plot against us.

This happened to David.
This happens to good politicians today.
These things happen to us.

If you are a Christian, people will try to twist your words to have an evil meaning because this is what they do to the Word of God every day.

These are what can be called a verbal ambush.

Our news sources do this all day long so that we cannot get the real truth but only someone’s twisted version of their political views.

It should be alright to have a different point of view from someone else without it causing a war between them.

No matter our circumstances, we can trust the Lord to help us if we love Him and trust Him.

When we cry out to the Lord, He will hear us!

We must understand that no one makes us sin! No one can be the cause of our sin but us!

We have a sin nature that cannot be overcome without the help of the Lord Jesus Christ.

God went to great lengths in order to rescue us from our sin nature!

Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Rom 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.

It is true that fear is one of the most powerful emotions we face today, but it should not be that way.

What are we afraid of?

Fear can cause us to act differently than we normally act.

Many just run off and hide when they should just go to the Lord.

God is certainly greater than any force upon this earth.

The way to defeat fear is by faith in the promises of the Word of God!

Heb 13:6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

No one can escape the “judgment” of God especially those who try to use sin to defeat Him.

*Psa 56:7 Shall they escape by iniquity? in thine anger cast down the people, O God.

The problem with most sinners is that they think they can escape the wrath of God.

They do not believe in Hell and they do not think the Bible is a Divine book.

Isa 28:14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
Isa 28:15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:

Again I can only think of the America of today when I read those words “for we have made lies our refuge and under falsehood have we hid ourselves”.

We have the lies of our own government.
We have the lies of Meta and Google and other tech suppliers.
We have the lies of our financial services.
We have the lies of our News Sources.

Isa 28:18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.

David was bold enough to ask God to deal with His enemies.

We can be sure that all the enemies of God will see His wrath at a time of His choosing, but sometimes we need God to do something sooner and He promises us His help on a daily basis, after all we have Heavens Angels with us at all times.

Psa 55:23 But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.

Another thing David did was to ask God to keep a record of all these things.

We should know that God keeps a record of all our doings!

Psa 139:2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.

David certainly did not realize that so many things of his life would be placed in the Bible for us all to read.

I am sure there are many things that he would rather not be made so public.

*Psa 56:8 Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?
Psa 56:9 When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.

We can be sure that the Lord will not allow His enemies to get by with their evil deeds. His enemies are also our enemies!

There is no one upon the face of this earth that can escape the “judgment” of God!

We can be sure that the Lord is angry at those who cause harm to God’s people, but it is a righteous anger.

God does see our pain!

We might ask ourselves, why would God display the life of David before us?

We are not very old before we learn that bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people.

Mat_5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Human life is described as a form of wandering and tears.

Life is represented is a scene of unending struggle.

Life can be more than just wandering and tears!

We know that that are some pleasures in this life, such as a good marriage, children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.

The knowledge of God and our Savior makes this life a whole lot better and there are no words to describe our future life for eternity.

The same Bible that tells us of the sorrows of this life also tell us of the wonderful things that are going to happen after this life is over.

The Bible does speak of these problems David had in his life, but the Bible also keeps a very accurate record of all those things and I believe that it is true that God puts our tears in a bottle.

These things are told to us to show that our God is a caring God. He cares about us and what we are going through.

God may have placed the life of David in the Bible for us to see, but God keeps complete records of each and every one of us with Him at all times.

God knows what we are going through!

We may not understand why bad things happen to us, but the Lord promises to open our eyes to the truth once we get to Heaven and we will understand the reasons why.

Some of these things are a test of our faith and our patience.

Those who reject the Lord but have their own gods believe that we are supposed to suffer.

We must realize that evwen today, none of us have suffered as our Savior did to provide our means for salvation.

Almost the entire life of the Lord Jesus was filled with sorrow.

The Lord Jesus also shed tears, but He did not shed tears at His crucifixion!

He shed tears for us!

The Lord Jesus Christ also sheds tears for those who do not believe Him!

As Christians, we must realize that we have enemies in this world and even enemies that we do not know about.

Our own government has placed us on the terrorist lists.

The white Christian has become the enemy because those true to the Lord will fight against abortion, will fight against the LBGTQ movement, and will fight against immorality of all kind.

The Lord is on our side.
The Lord sees our pain.
The key to success is faith in the truth of God!

The truth is when we suffer the Lord suffers with us.

God will never forget the suffering of His people!

Our tears surely are God’s treasures.

Psa 126:5 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
Psa 126:6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

We have so many things that we need to give God the praise for!

*Psa 56:10 In God will I praise his word: in the LORD will I praise his word.

Some say, “just what is so important about the Bible”?

Let us first put it bluntly.

Pro 13:13 Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.

Those that reject any part of the “Word of God” bring destruction upon themselves!

The unbeliever cannot escape his future tragedy unless they accept the Word of God as the truth of life!

The unbeliever cannot escape the truth of God by ignoring the Word of God or by despising the Word of God.

They will suffer throughout eternity for neglecting the Messiah who came to this earth to save them!

Pro 14:9 Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour.

Those who choose to go their own way will end up in destruction!

Pro 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

What we see in this Psalm is that David’s faith had conquered any fear that he had.

God gave us His Words so that we could know right from wrong!

As loving and merciful as God is, He will not tolerate disobedience!

The Word of God allows us to see the true meaning of righteousness and points to the fact that God will always be faithful to His Word!

When we give praise to the Word of God we are giving praise to Elohim the triune God.

When we give praise to the LORD we are praising “YAHWEH” (Jehovah) the great “I AM” of the Bible.

We know of many false gods and not a single one of them show the mercy and love that Jehovah shows to those who believe Him.

In this passage we see the government of Jehovah combined with the Elohim of our creation!

Only Elohim does whatever He wants to, anytime He wants to, and in any way that He wants to do it.

But it is only His mercy that brings His “grace” to those that believe Him!

We should be more like David here when he says in the attribute of the “Justice of God”, I will praise His Word and in the attribute of the “Mercies of God” will I praise His Word.

It does not matter if we are suffering adversity or living in prosperity, whether we receive evil of good things at the hand of the Lord, we should praise Him because He is the Almighty Living God.

It is the Word of God that denotes the “Grace” and the “Goodness” of the covenant that God makes with us because of Jesus Christ!

*Psa 56:11 In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.

David knows his deliverance is forthcoming so he praises God in advance for this deliverance.

Since we know the promises of God, we should all do this!

Sometimes we forget to offer thanksgiving to our God. We take Him for granted.

It is our duty to offer thanksgiving to the Lord!

1Th 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

It is our duty to pray with thanksgiving!

Php 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Php 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

It is our duty to offer thanksgiving to God for our victory in Jesus.

2Co 2:14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.

It is our duty to thank God for His Word!

1Th 2:13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

As David was suffering in his misery and pleading with God for help, he was also praising God for the vows God has made to each believer.

The Lord has made certain promises to us about the things that cause us trouble.

Psa 50:14 Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:
Psa 50:15 And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

*Psa 56:12 Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee.

When the Lord gives us victory then how can we not praise Him?

We must understand that because God is in control the things that happen to us then whatever comes to us must be included in the plan of God for us, and it will be good for us in the end.

This being true and it is, then we have no cause to fear the problems that come before us.

We must rest upon the promises of God and we must trust in God’s timing.

We must offer sacrifices of praise to God consistently!

When we make vows to the Lord, we are creating debts that must be paid.

Many times when a serious problem comes before us, we will go to the Lord and make great promises to the Lord, if He will solve that issue before us, but when He has done what we ask Him to do, we forget to keep our promises which is the same as a vow.

David promised God that he would never forget.

David promised to be a vessel of praise especially in the worship services.

Since this thing happened to David while he was young, we can also see in the Book of Psalms and God used David to write so many of them.

We must never forget to give God the glory and the praise for the things we know He has done for us especially since God has delivered our soul from death.

*Psa 56:13 For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?

When we have genuine faith, we can certainly thank God even before He acts.

We can consider something done although it has not been done yet.

Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

For instance we know we are saved and the Lord has already built us a home in glory but He has not placed us in it yet.

We know the rapture is a true event, but it just has not taken place yet.

We know we are saved; we do not have to ask to be saved again.

We know we have been delivered; we do not have to ask God to be delivered again.

We know we are a child of God and we know that God puts His children first, we do not have to ask for the favors of the redeemed, they are already ours.

We are in the family of God.

As far as those vows are concerned, we should never make a promise that we cannot keep or we do not intend to keep.

Ecc 5:4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.
Ecc 5:5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.
Ecc 5:6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?

God is faithful to us, even when we act foolishly or make unwise decisions.

When we walk in the wisdom of the Word of God which was given to us by God the Holy Spirit, we can avoid these mistakes that our flesh makes.

Even when we fail to follow the Lord, He is still faithful to us and He still keeps His promises to help us.

1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

When that path to escape comes, we need to take it simply because God provided it!

2Ti 2:13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

God can only be God, He cannot be something He is not like we humans do.

It is simply not in His character and the more we learn about Him from the Book we call the Bible, which is actually the Revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the better we will know Him.

Joh_14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Amen

It is Jehovah Who Chose Zion

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Praise of Mount Zion

Book of Psalms Chapter 48

As we watch what is going on in Israel today, we might ask ourselves how many times have efforts been made to destroy Israel and annihilate the Jewish people but they have failed every time.

We know that Hitler had six million Jews slaughtered.

God has made certain promises to Israel and God has never broken a promise He has made to anyone!

One man wrote, that the story of Mount Zion in the Bible is both miraculous and awe-inspiring.

The events that took place on and around this mountain shaped the course of history and the development of Christianity.

In the Bible, this mountain is mentioned numerous times, and the importance of Zion should not be underestimated.

That word Zion is used one hundred and fifty-three times in the Old Testament.

Many times it is called the city of the Lord in both the New and the Old Testaments

In most countries one city will stand out as the grandest and the most important.

When we mention Zion, we can be talking about the city of Jerusalem, or we can be talking about Mount Zion which is a hill just outside the gates of the Old City of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is the city in Israel where people would travel to to worship God.

In fact, Jerusalem was called the city of God.

Psa_46:4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.

Psa_87:3 Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah.

Since God does not change then Jerusalem is still the city of God because God chose Jerusalem.

Isa_60:14 The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

In this Psalm we will see the greatness of Jehovah and the glory of His city Zion

*Psa 48:1 A Song and Psalm for the sons of Korah. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.
Psa 48:2 Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.

The most common use for the word Zion was to refer to the city of God in what some call the New Age.

The Book of Isaiah says: Isa 1:27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.
Isa 1:28 And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.

This verse in the Book of Isaiah is referring to the return of the Lord.

Isaiah also writes of the birth of Christianity: Isa 28:16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

Psalms two says: Psa 2:6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
Psa 2:7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

Psalms 132:13 says For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation.
Psa 132:14 This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.

We can see that some of these verses refer to New Jerusalem and some the Old Jerusalem, but they both say Zion.

The proof is seen in the Book of Hebrews: Heb 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

We see the Church is not a building, but is the general assembly of those who are Born Again.

Rev 14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.

In Isa 33:5 it says: The LORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.

This will take place at the return of the Lord.

Zion stood for the capital of Judah: Amo 6:1 Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!

We should clearly understand that Jerusalem will be the capital of this world just as it is the capital of Israel.

Psa 87:1 A Psalm or Song for the sons of Korah. His foundation is in the holy mountains.
Psa 87:2 The LORD loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
Psa 87:3 Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah.

Psa 87:5 And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her: and the highest himself shall establish her.

We can see that God has some major plans for Jerusalem or Zion.

God’s presence on this mountain made it a special place in the time of Jesus and when Jesus returns, He will first put His feet down on the Mount of Olives and then He will establish Jerusalem as His capital city as He will rule the world from Jerusalem for one thousand years.

King Jesus will be praised in the city of our God!

Jerusalem will be remade into a beautiful city.

*Psa 48:2 Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.

I have never been to Israel so I have never seen the city of Jerusalem except in pictures, but I will see it one day because I am listed as a resident of the New Jerusalem where my home is located.

Jerusalem is a lovely sight to behold.

It is the fact that God spent some time in Jerusalem that makes it a special place, and the fact that when the Living God returns, He will set His throne in Jerusalem for one thousand years.

It is this same fact that makes Jerusalem to be a holy city.

Lam 2:15 All that pass by clap their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?

Jerusalem will one day soon become the city of peace and a most beautiful place when the Lord Jesus Christ returns.

Jerusalem will then become the joy of the whole earth.

Few today believe these things but this does not make it any less true. I know I believe.

Zec 14:9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
Zec 14:10 All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king’s winepresses.

Isa 2:1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
Isa 2:2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
Isa 2:3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Isa 2:4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

There is only one Great King and that is King Jesus.

Just to the north of the city will be the citadel of King Jesus.

*Psa 48:3 God is known in her palaces for a refuge.

When Israel was on the side of Jehovah, He defended Jerusalem.

When Israel was going the ways of the world, then Jehovah allowed the destruction of Jerusalem.

We know that Jerusalem was destroyed two times.

First by Nebuchadnezzar and once by Rome.

The Gentiles have ruled Jerusalem far too long and King Jesus will soon sit on His throne and there will be no more destruction of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem’s palaces will be defended by God Himself.

On May 14, 1948, God proved to the world that he was not done with Israel.

The enemies of Israel were taken aback by this happening and they immediately tried to drive Israel into the Mediterranean Sea.

They have failed every time they have tried because God is known in her palaces.

Jehovah is Zion’s Protector and the world is finding this out, just as the enemies of Israel found this out many times.

Here in America today, our government has forgotten that it is not the nation that makes the people but the people who make the nation.

When God is honored in the palace, He will be worshipped in the home.

When the Atheist make the laws there will be masses who rise up against those laws as we see in America today.

That big push to get America into socialism is a push for the downfall of America.

America stands as the last wall to conquer so the world will have a one world government.

Less than fifty percent of those who say they are Christians believe in our Divine Creator and these are the same ones who regularly attend Church services.

These are the ones in the family of God and will be welcomed into Heaven.

All the rest believe in some form of evolution and these are those who rarely attend Church.

These are the goats who will be separated from the sheep and will hear the words of Jesus when He says. “I never knew you.”

*Psa 48:4 For, lo, the kings were assembled, they passed by together.
Psa 48:5 They saw it, and so they marvelled; they were troubled, and hasted away.
Psa 48:6 Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail.

The nations of this world will come against the Church and this is in its beginning.

The nations of this world will come against Israel and we see this at its beginning.

God will protect His children from this wicked world.

It will be similar to the time of Sennacherib when one hundred and eighty-five thousand men of the Assyrian Army went to sleep and never woke up again upon this earth but woke up in Hell.

2Ki 19:35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.

Sennacherib’s problem was that he was so full of pride he thought he could defeat God.

This is the same problem that Satan has; he is so full of pride that he will challenge God.

In the days of Armageddon these things will be similar but it will be on a much larger scale!

The protective hand of God will remain on Jerusalem and the things that are allowed to happen to Jerusalem will be just as the Bible describes.

In this instance described in Verse five, they will look upon the defenses of Israel and decide to leave without firing a shot, out of fear.

Isa 33:3 At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered.

Most all of us know that when that mother begins delivering her child, she can do nothing else but endure the pain.

*Psa 48:7 Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.

Tarshish was seaport on the coast of Spain about twenty-five hundred miles west from Israel.

There were mighty merchant vessels located here than could sail in almost any storm but the winds from the East coming across the Mediterranean would wreak havoc on these ships.

Just as the largest, and strongest ships were no match for those storms from the east, the most powerful militaries of this world are no match to the power of God.

Job 27:21 The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place.

Isa 27:8 In measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it: he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind.

I believe the United States Navy got a taste of the East wind when they tried to set up a temporary dock to unload those ships trying to bring aide to Gaza. They were no match for those same east winds.

A news source wrote:[O]n May 25, heavy sea states caused four US Army vessels operating in support of that pier operations to become beached. Two vessels were beached in Gaza near the base of the pier and two were beached near Ashkelon in Israel,” Singh said in a statement on Wednesday. “US personnel on those vessels were evacuated.

That pier cost 320 million tax payer dollars, but it could not hold up to those east winds on the Mediterranean Sea.

I believe that God had something to do with it!

Jer 18:17 I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.

The most powerful navy in this world had only one answer for this wind and it was to retreat.

*Psa 48:8 As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish it for ever. Selah.

The world has seen God’s defense of Jerusalem many times and the truth of God’s Word teaches us God’s relationship with this Holy City of Jerusalem.

We know that God never changes and He gives us His warnings in the Books of the Prophets and the Book of Revelation.

1) The city of the Lord, “Elohim” speaks of God’s unlimited power and when Jehovah is used, God is teaching us of His protection of Jerusalem because of His covenant with Israel.

Those covenants will be fulfilled!

2) The city of the Lord of Hosts teaches us that our God is the Commander of a mighty army of angels that no man can overcome.

l2Ki 6:16 And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
2Ki 6:17 And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

This is when the enemy of Israel came to stop Elisha as Elisha represented the Church.

3) The city of God teaches us that Jerusalem is the city where God had His Temple, the place where He met with the people of Israel.

We know that in the Middle East, the city of Jerusalem was a great prize and many nations have tried to take it away from Israel just as they are doing today.

The fact remains that spiritually speaking, Jerusalem is a picture of the true Jerusalem in Heaven and we will see this great city one day soon.

And Israel will be saved.

Heb 8:8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
Heb 8:9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.

This scripture is in the process of beginning today.

*Psa 48:9 We have thought of thy lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple.

If you know the Lord in your heart then you have felt His Love.

I would not be here today if God had not thought of me.

I know that God loves me because He created me and He is still working on me.

We know these words were sung by the sons of Korah.

They could not sing about the love of God unless they had felt the love of God.

God’s “grace” comes to us because of His loving kindness.

God’s “mercy” comes to us because of His loving kindness.

I can praise and glorify God because He has shown me His loving kindness.

God Himself says all those who do not believe that He exists are fools and worthless.

Psa 14:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

If you know the loving kindness of God then you will praise Him.

*Psa 48:10 According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of righteousness.
Psa 48:11 Let mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of thy judgments.

God’s name is Elohim.

Elohim is in the plural form because God is a Trinity which is better said Triunity.

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit show the divine nature of God.

It is because of God’s name that we can praise Him.

When we understand that God is One in essence we can praise Him unto the ends of the earth.

Jas 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

There are still some in the Church that do not accept the Triunity of God.

These three persons are equal in authority, but God the Father is recognized as supreme yet each person stand equal in every respect.

1Co 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
1Co 8:7 Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.

While Sennacherib could not over power and take Jerusalem, he had already taken over many of the unwalled cities.

If he defeated Jerusalem, he would have defeated all the nation of Israel.

These would be the daughters of Judah. These daughters of Judah could certainly rejoice because God had executed His “judgment” on the Assyrians.

They could now walk around without worrying about being captured by the enemy.

*Psa 48:12 Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof.
Psa 48:13 Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following.

Now we get to a theme of our lesson which is deliverance.

Jerusalem had been delivered from her enemy without firing a shot.

A person could not walk around Jerusalem without noticing that Jerusalem was a well-fortified city.

1) Towers were the tallest structures in the city and were placed in prime locations so the watchmen could see for miles and the warriors were protected against the enemy.

2) Bulwarks were steep embankments outside the walls of Jerusalem. The enemies had to first get by them before they could attack the city.
There would be some of the military located there.

3) Palaces: For the devout Jews there was one thing only that made Zion glorious and it was that Jehovah dwelt there.
One of those palaces would be the Temple in that day and Zion’s hill was the mountain of God’s holiness.

When the Jews were faithful to Jehovah no enemy could overcome them and Jehovah would keep His covenant with them.

*Psa 48:14 For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.

Because God is our God forever, He will guide us through this life until our death.

Of all the people upon this earth God is the God of the Jew and the God of the Church.

We should understand the Lord’s unfailing love God has for His people; it is never ending!

Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen

The Bridegroom and the Bride

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Psalm of the Great King

Book of Psalms Chapter 45

Psalm forty-five invites us into the lavish royal wedding where the King and His bride symbolize the deep, committed relationship between God and His people.

Psalms forty-five paints a picture of divine love, encouraging us to incorporate the same principles of truth, humility, and justice that this King exemplifies.

Not everyone agrees but the truth of Psalms 45 is the truth of King Jesus and the Church, the Bride of Christ.

That word “Maschil” would mean that this Psalm is a song of instruction requiring the sons of Korah to choose the most qualified singers.

That word “Shoshannim” would describe the saints of God, the Bride of Christ, the beautiful virgins, lilies.

We know the Holy Spirit is the author of all the Word of God and He says this is a “Song of loves”.

This Psalm describes the love the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Messiah has for the Church, the Bride of Christ.

Remember the words of the Lord Jesus Christ: Luk_24:44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that “all things” must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

The Church will be with our Lord Jesus at the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Rev_19:9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, “These are the true sayings of God”.

This verse supports the fact that the Holy Spirit and God the Father are the same person.

Psalm 45 invites us to the royal wedding where our King and His bride symbolize the deep, committed relationship between God and His people.

This Psalm paints for us a picture of divine love, reminding us to embody the same principles of truth, humility, and justice that the King Jesus has shown to us.

Chapter 45 and verse 1

*Psa 45:1 To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, for the sons of Korah, Maschil, A Song of loves. My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

That word “Mashil” means that this is a Psalm of instruction of a serious matter.

That word “Shoshannim” describes the Bride of Christ as lilies. but we know that King Jesus is the lily of the valley.

The Lily of the Valley represents purity and innocence, the true life of Jesus Christ.

He represents the virtue and beauty found in salvation.

2Co_11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from “the simplicity that is in Christ”.

The Lily of the valley symbolizes the renewal of life and the rebirth of the child of God.

The Lily of the valley represents the arrival of a fresh start and a new beginning.

The Lily of the valley symbolizes happiness, good fortune, and joy in the Lord Jesus.

The Lily of the valley is associated with the love and romance of the Messiah and His Church, the delicate nature of true love.

All these things come to us by the Lord Jesus Christ!

That word “inditing” means that the Holy Spirit has committed all these words in writing, dictating what shall be written with special instructions.

2Ti_3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

The salvation offered by the Lord Jesus Christ is the greatest of all gifts that are given to undeserving humans.

*Psa 45:2 Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.

Matthew Henry writes that the Lord Jesus is the great favorite of Heaven.

Jesus is fairer than all the children of mankind.

God has done more for Jesus than He has for all mankind and because of this, He will show kindness to mankind for Christ’s name’s sake.
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Pro 22:11 He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend.

The Lord Jesus is full of “grace” and this “grace” is for the Church.

Joh 1:16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
Joh 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Joh 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

God the Father has blessed God the Son with an everlasting Kingdom.

So let us read what God the Holy Spirit has given to us.

*Psa 45:3 Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty.

There is no one mightier than the Lord Jesus Christ!

All the tools of our great King are to be used for truth and righteousness.

Even God’s “judgment” is done in righteousness.

Honor and majesty are the Divine attributes of God’s representative and “He will pass these things down to His children”.

He will have a never-ending fellowship with all His loyal subjects!

We know that truth and righteousness have practically disappeared in America today and from all the other nations of this world and it is this reason that God will make all things new. A new Heaven and a new Earth.

Our King will return to earth this time as a man of war and He will not be excused from this field of battle by the law which says:

Deu 24:5 When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business: but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken.

This Bridegroom, King Jesus, will not abide by this Scripture because He will immediately go to war and He will take His bride with Him.

Salvation is not about the law; salvation comes only by the “Grace of God”!

*Psa 45:4 And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.

When the Lord returns to claim His bride, we will see our victorious warrior face to face and He will be clothed in majesty.

The Lord Jesus will defend truth and righteousness to a world that has none.

We see these things disappearing from our societies today.

No ruler can conquer a nation to win their souls. Jesus will war for truth, meekness, and righteousness.

The Lord Jesus does not war out of arrogance and greed or a thirst for power, as we see today.

Satan has a campaign against the truth of God that is going full force and it is just a matter of days that the Antichrist will step out unto the world scene to take charge of this campaign against the truth of God.

We must not forget that we are already in the army of God and we are to resist Satan, the Devil, and his forces and the greatest battle with Satan will be the Lord’s.

This is why we are to wear the armor of God daily even in our homes where Satan is trying to destroy our families.

This is why we carry the Sword of the Spirit in us at all times. In our heart and in our minds.

Eph_6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

The Lord Jesus Christ will crush His enemies with His mighty double-edged sword!

Rev 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

Every nation will bow before our Lord and Savior, the Holy King from Heaven.

*Psa 45:6 Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.

Immediately we see that this King, this Messiah, this Bridegroom, is none other than God Himself and this will never change!

This throne is the throne of God and not the throne of David or any other king.

No one can sit upon the throne of God, but God Himself.

How do we know that this King is God?

Heb 1:8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
Heb 1:9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

The Bible will never contradict itself!

So we see that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are all involved in this passage of Scripture.

One God in three persons!

*Psa 45:7 Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Psa 45:8 All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.

This royal Bridegroom, His personal beauty, the justice of His government, the success of His arms, the magnificence of His court, is the One of whom Divine Blessing will be on forever and ever.

The Lord Jesus Christ loved righteousness and this is the way He lived and the way we are to live.

The Lord Jesus Christ hates wickedness and will have no part in it and it should be the same for every child of God.

2Pe 3:17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
2Pe 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

The Lord Jesus Christ conformed to the will that God the Father had for Him, except for one instance when He took upon Himself all of our sin from Adam’s sin unto the last Christian to be saved, when He took upon Himself all the sin of the world and took that sin down to Hell where it belongs, and God has forgiven all the sin of this world and we can see just how sinful this world has become.

This one act caused the death of our Savior, but He did not stay dead!

It is this resurrected Savior who is the Bridegroom!

Salvation is also being in the will of God.

1Ti_2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

Because our Lord Jesus Christ was perfect in His character in every way, because of His holiness, God has anointed His Messiah with the “oil of gladness” above all things that He has created.

The fragrance and the splendor of Emmanuel showing His perfection, renown heroism, splendor of royalty, Divine majesty, this is the Savior who reached way down to pull me out of the cesspool of sin, just before I went under.

Our Lord Jesus Christ at one time gave up all these things to save a sinner like me and many more did come to know the truth of the Triune God.

All the spices identify this Bridegroom in His office as our High Priest.

The fragrance of the myrrh points to our Savior as the Bridegroom to the Church, the Bride of Christ.

The myrrh and aloes point to the death of our Savior.

The home of our Savior is the most elegant of all places and is called Heaven.

Yes, Heaven is a real place!

So let us look at this Bride.

*Psa 45:9 Kings’ daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.

Do we really know just how blessed we really are?

Do we realize that the Bride of Christ will sit at the right hand of the Bridegroom as He sits as the sovereign King of all this Universe.

It is this Mighty King who laid down His life just we could live with Him throughout eternity.

Life in this present world is far to discouraging, plagued by trials, by difficulties, and struggles that never seem to end but this marriage to the Lamb of God will allow us to have a little bit of joy now, because we know we will live with Him forever.

When we realize just how short our lives are and how long eternity is, it will seem like we are almost there.

Even one thousand years when this Bridegroom will sit as King of this world does not seem to be a long time.

Jer 23:5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
Jer 23:6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

We sit here today knowing that day Jeremiah speaks of could begin at any moment.

Until this time comes, we are to be busy with the work that the Lord has given to us all.

*Psa 45:10 Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house;
Psa 45:11 So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him.

We should understand that every privilege we have because of our Savior has their own responsibilities.

These responsibilities are spelled out for us in the Book of Romans.

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

We must leave everything behind and choose our Bridegroom.

We may have to give up all our old friends.
We may have to give up our father’s family and our mother’s family or all our family.

The Bridegroom will not accept us unless we put Him first in our lives!

We must be completely devoted to the Bridegroom.

Gen 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

The Bridegroom must be first in our lives.

The Church is beautiful only because our sins have been forgiven and we are new persons in Christ Jesus.

Our sins are behind us and the Bridegroom has given us a fresh start to a new life.

Our reason for living is now to honor and glorify our Lord and Savior.

1) We should be able to see that the Bridegroom desires us to be with Him. He is not willing to share us with anything else!
2) We must be totally devoted to Jesus Christ because he is the Lord of our lives. We should live for Him because He died for us.

Eph 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
Eph 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
Eph 5:24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

In return for our devotion to the Bridegroom there will be great gifts given to the Bride.

*Psa 45:12 And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour.
Psa 45:13 The king’s daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold.
Psa 45:14 She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee.
Psa 45:15 With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the king’s palace.

1) The Bride of Christ will be exalted before all nations.
2) The Bride of Christ will be dressed in the most perfect and glorious clothing. She will be transformed into the image of Christ. Eph 4:24
3) The Bride of Christ will be presented to the Bridegroom and be wed while wearing fine garments. Rev 19:7-8
4) Pure, holy companions will accompany the Bride of Christ. (Old Testament believers)
5) The Bride of Christ will know the greatest gladness and joy possible living in the presence of King Jesus. Rev 22:3

What will be the King’s reward?

*Psa 45:16 Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth.
Psa 45:17 I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever.

Because of His submission to his Father’s will, our Bridegroom will be exalted throughout eternity.

Php 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Php 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
Php 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
Php 2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

1) The King will father many royal sons and daughters who will be princes and princesses.

This generation of royal descendants will reign with Christ on this present earth in the one thousand years He will reign on this earth but also throughout eternity on the New Earth.

2) The King will be honored and praised forever and ever. His name will be above every name.

Every knee will one day soon bow to Jesus Christ and every tongue will confess Him as Lord.

If we live faithfully for Jesus, He will richly reward us.

There is no better day than today to give your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ!

Amen

Rest in Jesus

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Rest in the Lord

Book of Psalms Chapter 37

Last week we studied a Psalm of David he wrote while in his twenties.

This week we study a Psalm of David written while he was in his sixties approaching the end of his life.

He had been through many wars.
He had experienced the results of his sin with Bathsheba who was now his wife and the mother of Solomon.

At this time David was doing a lot of meditating on rest much like all of us that have reached these same years in our own lifetime.

That word “rest” has more than one meaning.

Most people look at “rest” as to stop doing any work at all. Our bodies are at rest when they cease to move.

What did the Lord Jesus say about rest?

Mat 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Mat 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Our Lord Jesus says, “if we will submit to His teaching, we will find true rest”.

It takes far less labor to work in the toils of righteousness than it takes to live a sinful unrighteous life.

We could say our nation is at rest because we are not at war with any other nation but I do not feel at rest because of all the things happening in our world.

I think our leaders could do more to protect us from the turmoil that is certainly coming to our nation because of the lack of true leadership in the government that is now in place.

Jehovah told Israel that they could find rest when they reached the promised land.

Deu 12:9 For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the LORD your God giveth you.
Deu 12:10 But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the LORD your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety;

We know that this rest did not come until the time of King Solomon the son of David and it did not last long and Israel is not at rest even today.

There is another place where it says that Israel had rest for eighty years but even this is not a long time.

It is nothing like the rest that is promised to the Body of Christ when we reach Heaven, the true Promised Land.

This is the place where we can find rest for our souls.

Heb_4:9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

Rev 7:14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Rev 7:15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
Rev 7:16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
Rev 7:17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

These things sound like rest to me.

Even though the burdens of righteousness are not as heavy as the burdens of being in sin, there is true rest coming to us when we get to Heaven.

Let us begin our lesson today:

*Psa 37:1 A Psalm of David. Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
Psa 37:2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.

Many a Christian today suffers while the wicked seem to prosper as they live in sin.

Our lesson today has some answers to this question of; “why do bad things happen to good people while the bad people seem to prosper”.

David wrote this Psalm when he was living in his later years after seeing many things throughout his life.

Last week’s lesson David was a young man probably in his twenties.

Today David was in his late sixties when he wrote this Psalm.

David had been King of Israel for more than thirty years and had witnessed many things in his lifetime.

Most of us, who have called upon the name of Christ, realize that our lives were in turmoil until we placed our trust in our Savior.

One of the things we have realized is that we cannot overlook the presence of evildoers in our world.

They are bent upon our destruction.

Even in the United States that we love, Christians are now considered to be as bad as terrorists.

We will have to deal with the personal wrongs committed against us by ungodly people!

The Holy Spirit says, “fret not thyself because of evil doers”.

We must not wear ourselves out because of these things. Their day of grief is certainly coming.

To fret also means, besides stop worrying, we should not be murmuring or complaining to God or to each other about these things.

To fret is an inward ailment that affects our bodies and our souls.

The Lord tells us to not get upset because of these wicked people.

We must not let our emotions get the best of us.

We will become angry at the injustice of their successes.

The Holy Spirit reminds us that they will not endure and Judgment Day was coming to them.

As far as King David, he had realized that all his old enemies were now gone or dead and it was he who was prosperous as King of Israel they who suffered.

Mighty things happen in our lives when we trust in the Lord.

*Psa 37:3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

The most crucial decision we can make in our lifetime is to trust in the Lord and do good.

Our faith in the Lord can cure any ailment!

Our faith in the Lord has placed us on the winning side.

When we yield to fear we cannot do good, and when we put our effort into doing good, we will not yield to fear.

Working for God will keep our minds occupied.

The Holy Spirit teaches us:

Php_4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Again for the Jews they could dwell in the land God had promised to them.

For the Body of Christ it is Heaven that has been promised to us.

We are only strangers and pilgrims on the land called earth.

Everything we invest our time and our money in will fade away but the blessings we receive from the Lord are everlasting.

As we grow in our faith, we will find that there is immense pleasure in serving our Lord and Savior.

*Psa 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

We just cannot allow this world we live in to rob us of the joys of serving the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is a fact that the more faith we have in the Lord the more blessings we can earn here upon this earth but even more of the treasures of Heaven.

Joy is mentioned as part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Gal_5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Eph_5:9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)

For the Body of Christ it is simple. If we have the Holy Spirit living within us then we are to follow in His ways and not our own ways.

We can see how those that are determined to go their own ways are destroying our nation today.

Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

If we delight ourselves in the Lord, He promises to answer our prayers.

For those who cannot ever seem to get a prayer answered, this is a very important part of this lesson today.

It takes a full commitment to the Lord to get our prayers answered.

*Psa 37:5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
Psa 37:6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

To commit to the Lord is to place our lives in His hands and get busy serving Him.

This means all our cares, all our necessities, all our business, and all our wants, are we to give to the Lord so He can manage our lives according to the Word of God.

When we are facing severe trials, many of us falsely conclude that God is judging us just as we read in the Book of Job but this is not true.

A child of God has already been judged and determined to be a child of God.

If we commit ourselves to the Lord, He will answer our prayers and when the world attacks us, He will vindicate us.

As things get worse for the Christian, the best thing we can do is to remain close to God and continue to serve Him.

The fight with wickedness belongs to the Lord.

We are to be obedient Christians and stand our ground upon the truth of the Word of God

Our time upon this earth is growing short.

What did the Holy Spirit tell Timothy?

2Ti 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
2Ti_3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

Then Paul told Timothy to just continue serving the Lord.

We must simply understand that everything happening in our world is going on according to the plan of God but we should remember that God is not the cause of these evil things but He does allow these things happen according to His plan.

No one can stop God’s plan and no one can change God’s plan!

These things of God will become as visible to mankind as the light of the sun at noonday.

Righteousness will win in the end!

The truth of God will become so clearly seen it will make the Atheists cry, but they still will not come to the Lord, but will hate Him even more.

For God will send to them a loss of memory and they will rebel against each other.

It will be the same for all false religions.

Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Rom 1:19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Rom 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Nothing changes for the Christian as we are to patiently wait upon the Lord and rest in the truth of the Word of God.

*Psa 37:7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

We are never to complain about the way the Lord deals with this ungodly world, even though some of our family members are in that group.

We can teach them the plan of salvation, but they have to make their own minds up about salvation.

The Body of Christ is to quietly submit to the entire will of God and patiently wait upon His help.

To rest in the Lord is to place ourselves into the hands of God and be useful.

Remember that there is no one who can remove us from the hand of God and God will never cast us away.

Isa 30:15 For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.

Israel would not do this and it cost them dearly, but the Body of Christ must not be like Israel.

Our strength comes by being obedient to this passage as our time grows short.

It does not matter as we see the rich get richer.

It does matter that our confidence remains in the truth of the Word of God!

Ecc 5:8 If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they.

It is hard to see the corruption going on in our own nation and the only tools we have are our prayers and our vote.

Obeying the Word of God must still be our goal remembering that our prayers are the greatest tool we have.

Come voting time we are to vote according to the truth of the Word of God, but it is God who will put our next president in place for His own reasons and our job remains for us to be obedient to all the Word of God.

1) We must trust in the Lord.
2) We must delight in the Lord.
3) We must commit ourselves to the Lord.
4)We must focus on the Lord and His faithfulness rather than upon the ways of this wicked world.

God has already judged them and they will find out that Hell is a real place.

We may get disheartened in what we see of the wicked side of our world while many of us struggle every day, but this is not the attitude God wants from His people and we must be obedient to the Lord.

*Psa 37:8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
Psa 37:9 For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.

Discontent is not only foolish but it can be dangerous because it could lead us to deny God’s providence.

We see many so-called Christians today who have joined the evildoers because they are not content with the Word of God and the actions of God.

If we dwell upon the prosperity of evildoers, we are apt to envy them and envy leads to strife, division, and hatred.

Jas 3:16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

It is foolish to rage against the ungodly whom we see prosper, since they will certainly be cut off eventually.

I can tell you that it makes me mad every time I see where a super-rich person gives billions to charity, when that charity supports wickedness, when if it were given to a wise church and maybe souls could be saved.

They would be better off if they gave that money to pay down our national debt rather than just throw it away to support apostasy.

We can see that we are taught to live in inner peace even though we see all this wickedness in our nation and in this world.

The truth is that God will deal with the wicked and God will take care of His children.

Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Mat 6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Jesus says we have more important things to concentrate on than the wickedness of this world.

*Psa 37:10 For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.

We should ask ourselves why in the world would we be envious of wicked and evil people.

We must never allow the prosperity of the wicked prevent us from living a higher standard established by Jesus Christ Himself.

What is the truth of each Christian?

*Psa 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
Psa 37:24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.

God blesses the righteous, He does not bless the wicked!

God has put every good person in a particular course of life and we must travel that course with the wisdom from Heaven.

If we remember those first baby steps when our children began to walk, we should understand the walk of a baby Christian.

One step in the wrong direction can cause them to fall.

It is the same for the baby Christian.

It is not long before a small child can walk with confidence.

That babe in Christ can soon walk in confidence when they walk in the wisdom from Heaven.

God orders and establishes the details of everyone of His children.

Pro 16:9 A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.

We live in a world that is getting more dangerous every day.

We must be aware of these things but we are not to be too concerned about these things.

As Christians we may not always have what we want but we find out that we have enough when we trust in the Lord.

*Psa 37:25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

Most all of us can relate to this verse because we have seen many things as we have aged.

It is true that we have never seen the righteous deserted by God.

God will never forsake His children!

I see a lot of people standing on the side of the road begging but in many case today this is a business operated to make money and it has caused harm to some that were really in need.

I not seen where any of these were Christians because a true Church will help the needy in that Church.

Because God is merciful then we are to be merciful if we want to be like Him.

*Psa 37:26 He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.

As Christians we are not to hoard anything that the Lord has loaned to us.

Everything we have was given to us by the Lord and we are to share some of these things with others if there is a need.

By helping others we bring God’s blessings not only upon ourselves but also our children who follow in our footsteps.

The truth is it is better to be righteous than to have any of the world’s possessions.

*Psa 37:27 Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.
Psa 37:28 For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.

The greatest blessing we can get after our salvation is that we will live forever in a place so wonderful that we do not have the words to describe it.

This is the promise we receive from the almighty living God.

The Lord loves justice and He will see that those who abuse His children will be punished.

In fact this verse says that the children of the wicked will be cut off.

It is far better to be walking with Jesus Christ than to be walking in step with the world.

God will never abandon those who walk with His Son!

Nothing in this world can over power the Almighty God!

All those who reject the Lord Jesus Christ have no protection and will certainly perish in God’s judgment.

The children of God will be enjoying the inheritance that God has prepared for them.

*Psa 37:29 The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.

We can rest assured in the truth of the Word of God.

When we love the Word of God and hide it in our hearts, we will find the strength to resist the strong pull of our flesh to turn to worldly things.

In fact we will find out that our own flesh is the greatest enemy we have to face throughout our lifetime.

We cannot be perfect as long as we are in this body of flesh but we can live a life of righteousness if we depend upon the Lord to walk with us all our days.

Amen

Seeking the Lord

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Seek the Lord

Book of Psalms Chapter 34

In Psalms 34 we have another psalm of David. We know that David wrote more of the Psalms than any other writer, keeping in mind that all Scripture is given to us by the Holy Spirit.

This psalm is another psalm that David wrote while he was fleeing from King Saul who was trying to kill David because Jehovah had selected David to be the next King of Israel.

We should understand that when the word “bless” is spoken in reference to the Lord’s blessing to His people, it means the bestowing His loving kindness, His grace, His favor, and His mercy.

When the word “bless” is spoken in respect to our blessing the Lord, then it is much different.

We should ask ourselves how we can bless the God of all creation.

We must understand that all blessings are in the Lord Jesus Christ!

When Jesus Christ is not in your heart you cannot be a true blessing to anyone!

Jesus Christ is our blessedness!

We have nothing worthwhile to offer anyone if we cannot offer them an opportunity to meet Jesus Christ!

It is not enough to see the hand of Jesus Christ as He touches our lives with His mercy and His “grace”, but Jesus Christ must be seen as that blessing sent from God!

Psa 31:7 I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;
Psa 31:8 And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room.

David was a man of war all his days even though his heart belonged to Jehovah.

With his reputation it was hard for David to be a witness for the truth about Jehovah.

This is one of the reasons David was not allowed to build the first Temple and his son Solomon had to build it.

The one thing David had that most of us do not have was a talent to sing and make and play instruments of music and write songs.

The Lord Jesus Christ is certainly worthy of our praise just as Jehovah was in the time of David.

I believe David understood these things which is why he could write so many of the Psalms.

Let us begin:

Psa 34:1 A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed. I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

If you know the story of David then you have read of the day, he had foolishly showed himself mad in consequence of what he had heard the servants of Abimelech say.

We will notice that Achish and Abimelech are one and the same king of the Philistines.

We should also note that this place called Gath was the home of Goliath and the family of Goliath and David was foolish to ask for help in this place.

When David realized this, he began to act like he had gone mad and Achish sent him away unharmed rather than kill him.

1Sa 21:13 And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.
1Sa 21:14 Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me?
1Sa 21:15 Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?

It was not this king of the Philistines that David needed it was Jehovah God whom David needed.

God had already done many important things for David therefore David declared that he would bless the name of the Lord all his days.

We are a blessing to the Lord when we worship Him with all our heart.

We cannot leave the Lord out of our lives and expect to have joy in this corrupt world.

I can tell you from the experience of missing the worship services I have missed these past few weeks, that there is only misery out in this world and joy comes only by the Lord Jesus Christ.

*Psa 34:2 My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

To be honest, how many of us understood about our soul until we met Jesus?

David began to realize that is praise and worship of the Lord would be noticed by those around him.

When David pick up his harp and began to praise and worship Jehovah there were many ears that heard his singing.

Just as we can find comfort in these same Psalms today, those that traveled with David could find comfort in his singing.

Remember those who were with David were those who were the outcasts of society.

Jer 9:24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.

There is nothing in this world that we owe our allegiance to other than our Savior!

Psa 5:11 But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
Psa 5:12 For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.

It is far easier to lead someone to the Lord if you are joyful in your salvation.

It is easy to bless the Lord when everything is going our way.

We can also be a blessing to the Lord when we explain to Him all our troubles and have faith that He will solve those issues for us.

Faith is the key to our relationship with our Heavenly Father!

David was on the run from a government who was trying to kill him, but he knew that he must be a blessing to the Lord during those times also.

No matter what we are going through, it is not time to quit on God!

We do this if we have moved away from the Lord because we will have quenched the Holy Spirit who lives within us.

1Th 5:15 See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
1Th 5:16 Rejoice evermore.
1Th 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
1Th 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
1Th 5:19 Quench not the Spirit.

Even on a difficult day we are never alone if we are a “Born Again” child of God!

Eph 5:20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

We are never to feel hopeless because we are never hopeless if we belong to Jesus Christ!

We are to be an encouragement to those around us at all times because we all need encouragement from time to time.

A joyful believer is a powerful tool in the hands of God!

A believer who is going through terrible things is also a powerful tool if they still show faith in the Living God.

*Psa 34:3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.

We may not be able to lead everyone we meet to the Lord so that they can be saved, but we can surely invite them to our place of worship so they will see others who worship the Lord and are a blessing to Him.

When we “magnify” the Lord we proclaim His greatness.

There are times we are to be alone when we bless the Lord and there is nothing wrong with this.

The Lord tells us to get in our closet so we can meet face to face with Him.

The truth is that God’s praises just sound best when those praises are in concert with others!

We should understand that David was no longer welcome to worship in the Tabernacle.

If David wanted to worship in concert with others, then he would have to be the example in the Cave at Adullam with many who did not know the Lord but there were probably some that did.

When David picked up his harp and bellowed out these Psalms that we have today, there were many others in that cave with him who could relate to his sorrows and learn the truth of Jehovah.

Most of these men were outlaws for one reason or another.

We must understand that the Lord wants us to gather in His name and worship Him in a congregation.

Heb_10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Those who do not see the “Day of the Lord” approaching are not concerned with our world today but those who do know that now is not the time to give up on the Lord should gather more often and not less often.

David was burdened down with all his fears because he had not given those fears to the Lord, but when he did, David found his Deliverer.

The same Deliverer we have today.

*Psa 34:4 I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

Just what is fear?

The Bible says that there is only one creature that was made that had no fear.

Job 41:33 Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear.

This verse is speaking of the Leviathan.

All others are afraid of something in this world from time to time.

David admits to his fears.

Our fears come from a conscious sense that we are sinners.

We should understand that David had already faced a lion and defeated it.
David had already faced a bear and defeated it.
David had already faced Goliath and defeated him.
David had done these things before the age of twenty.
At this time David was fleeing for life from an unstable king and a government trying to destroy him because it did not want David to be king.

This sounds familiar to what we are seeing today in our own nation and our own government.

We would not think of David as a man full of fears, yet he professed he had more than one fear to the Lord.

If we belong to the Lord there is nothing in this world that we should fear!

Rom 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

If we have these fears then we certainly need to talk to the Lord.

*Psa 34:5 They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.
Psa 34:6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

The very first thing we must do, is to take our eyes off the fears of this world and look to Jesus.

The Lord Jesus said: Joh_8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

David began to realize that he was not in a hopeless situation when he put his faith in Jehovah.

Eyes that were darkened with doom did suddenly sparkle with new courage, hope, and joy.

It is called seeing the Light of Jesus.

Those in that cave with David could also see these things in David.

Our life and our actions are our greatest witness to the life of a Christian.

David had never known the shame of defeat and he would not feel that shame as long as he depended upon God.

Today, when we depend upon the Lord Jesus Christ to lead us, He will always lead us to victory.

The Lord Jesus will never lead us to a defeated life.

1Co_15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

There are only two things that can happen when we call upon the Lord in our fears.

1) He will just remove that obstacle in our path.
2) He will go with us every step of the way. We never have to face our fears alone!

David wanted those with him to know that there was no mistake to who deserved the credit for our victories.

We do not have it in us to be victorious over the things of this world!

Victory can only come if we cry out to the Lord and place our faith in Him!

It is only by the faithfulness and the power of the Almighty God that we can have victory and live in victory throughout eternity.

We are all poor unless we know the riches of a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

All those in that cave with David could relate to the things David was singing about.

What is the truth?

*Psa 34:7 The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

All throughout the Old Testament we read about the “Angel of the Lord”. In fact, fifty-six times we can see this exact phrase.

This angel of the Lord is that being who appears as Jehovah’s representative in His dealing with mankind until the time of Jesus Christ.

What was the job of this angel? He protects all those who have a reverent fear of Jehovah God.

He is like an army encamping around each believer.

He was in fact the Captain of the angelic host.

Jos 5:13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?
Jos 5:14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?
Jos 5:15 And the captain of the LORD’S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.

This Captain of the LORD’s host can be no other than the Lord Jesus Christ because no angel will allow us to worship them but Lucifer and this is not Lucifer. There is not one thing holy about Lucifer!

We know that the omnipotent Son of God can immediately and single-handedly overcome all our enemies.

The truth is that our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ does supernaturally protect all those who have that reverent fear of Him.

There is an angel near us at all times!

The Lord is always willing and able to help us!

Psa 9:10 And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.

*Psa 34:8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

What is the first step to a blessing from God? Simply trust in Him.

There is no other way of really knowing how good, Good is!

It is like the Word of God. We are not to sample part of the Word of God and just keep the part we like.

We cannot just sample God’s goodness!

In reality we are to take every action necessary to receive all that God promises to all those who trust Him.

To trust the Lord is to accept all of Him.

To reject any part of the Lord is to accept none of Him.

When we study the Word of God, we will see that God is truly good!

To trust is to run to the Lord for the protection that can come from nowhere else.

What is the next step to a blessing from God?

*Psa 34:9 O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.

We must have a reverent fear of God but we must also have a godly fear.

After all He is all powerful and it is only, He who can supply our wants.

We must have a sense of gratitude for what the Lord has already done for us.

When we accept the salvation gift from the Lord, we must know that we are just getting started in a life that is close to God.

The Apostle Paul wrote:

Php_3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

There is nothing in our past life that is worth clinging too.

We have seen in this lesson that these words of David, applied to David and all of Israel, but they also apply to every Christian today.

Salvation and life eternal are the greatest gifts that the Lord can offer to us, but these thing are just the beginning of the blessings that the Lord promises to all those who trust Him.

Faith is still the key to our life long relationship with our Heavenly Father through the Lord Jesus Christ!

*Psa 34:10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.

The mother and father of that cub did provide all things necessary for the early life of that lion cub.

Those cubs will reach a point when those parents will quit providing for that cub and they will have to provide for themselves and many days they will go hungry until they become proficient to provide for themselves.

Even the strongest lion will suffer and want for a time and maybe many times.

This is true for all the animal world, but this is not true for all of us who seek to get closer to the Lord.

This is a powerful statement. “they that seek the Lord shall not want for any good thing.”

1) God does not provide bad things. Those come from Satan.

2) Those that seek the Lord shall not want for any good thing. Those good things that the Lord has approved as good for us.

When we see the word Lord in all capital letters we know this is YAHWEH, Jehovah the absolute God of all creation.

Exo 3:13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?
Exo 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
Exo 3:15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

As David found the right place in the cave of Adullam, he would sing these Psalms with all his heart and all those near to him would listen for they were as near death as was David.

Just as they found the words of these Psalms to be comforting, so can we here today.

If we truly wish to taste the goodness of the Lord ourselves then we must trust Him including all the words He has given to us.

It is the atoning blood of Jesus Christ that will keep us from seeing the wrath of this powerful, Almighty God.

It is this same Lord who will carry us through the storms of this life we live today.

We must also understand that we have greater needs than food, shelter, and clothing.

Only the Lord knows our needs and our deepest needs are spiritual.

When we have the gift of salvation provided for us by the Lord Jesus Christ, we also have a relationship with God the Father and when we have God, we have all we need.

2Co_3:5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;

David became the most beloved King of Israel and David’s rag tag bunch of outlaws became a mighty army because of the sweet Psalmist of Israel.

2Sa_23:1 Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said,

It will remain the same for the Church today if we continue to seek the Lord Jesus Christ!

Amen

Praise God For His Help

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Praise God For His Help

Psalm 146

A wise man once wrote “it is a blessing to know that I am on the Lord’s side but it is an even greater blessing to know that the Lord is on my side”.

The Apostle Paul wrote:

Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not “with him” also freely give us all things?

The more we know about the ways of our God, the less we have to worry about our future!

In the time of the Apostle Paul there were many mysteries of the “Gospel” but there are no mysteries of salvation today.

God has made salvation a simple thing!

We absolutely cannot allow false teaching and even more false religions to confuse the simplicity of the plan of God.

Satan has tried to do this throughout history but when God sent His Son, salvation became a simple thing.

2Co 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

Help came from on High!

God did not save us and then just go off and leave us.

Until we reach our heavenly home God will help us.

We need to praise God for all His help!

*****Psa 146:1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul.
Psa 146:2 While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.

The Bible is the best commentary of itself and the Bible says that “Praise” is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to the Lord.

“Heb 13:15 “By him” therefore “let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God” continually, “that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”

Our praise to God must be “by Him”, the Lord Jesus Christ our Mediator.

Our praise to God is the only thing we can offer here on Earth that will continue when we get to Heaven, so while we are still living we need to be continually praising the Lord!

Continually means without pausing.

Continually means without ceasing.

It is God who creates the fruit of our lips:

Isa 57:19 I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.

God creates peace, reconciliation and pardon by His “Grace”.

It is from these things that “Fruit” will burst forth from our lips.

It is also these same things that will be our greatest help from others in this world until we get home.

Pro 12:14 A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth: and the recompence of a man’s hands shall be rendered unto him.

Praising the Lord will take our mind off our problems and our own shortcomings and we can just give them to God!

Our praise will lead us to others who also offer praise to the Lord.

Praise will cause us to appreciate all the things that God has done for us already.

Praise takes our focus off this world so we can focus on heavenly things.

Praise will prepare our hearts to receive the love of God, the power of the Holy Spirit, through the salvation plan given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ.

How can we not praise the Lord the rest of our days here on Earth?

How can we not praise the Lord for His help because we cannot trust this world we live in to be much help to us?

*****Psa 146:3 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.

It is probable that this Psalm was also written by King David and what does this king say?

David was king and the head of what in history has proved to have been be a good government but David says we cannot place our trust in the rulers of government nor the people that live in this world.

Even in America, so many have been raised up to depend on the government and our leaders who have caused this to happen, take political advantage of them and keep them dependent and even their children, who grow up not encouraged to do better for themselves.

Not only that, but our government insist on allowing and even encouraging strangers to come into America, not those seeking to be a benefit, but those who will seek to be dependent on the government all their days and the days of their children.

This is a government seeking to be in control of it’s people and not a government that serves it’s people.

We absolutely cannot trust these leaders, these princes!

Psa 118:8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
Psa 118:9 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.

Mankind will never evolve to a point where it can provide salvation to all the people.

This is the theory of evolution at work.

We are not evolving we are in fact d-volving!

2Ti 3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

The gap between those that do right and those that do wrong is ever widening!

All those that have made a life of deceiving others and have reaped the benefits of that life to a point that they cannot or they refuse to recover themselves from that life and encourage others into the same errors.

These are those that will reach God’s deadline while they yet live!

2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

There is no real help that can come from these princes in this life and no help at all in our future life!

Those that trust in man will suffer the curse of God.

Jer 17:5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.

It is those that trust in the Lord who will receive the blessings of God!

Jer 17:7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.

Even if you could find the best man on this Earth, he would still be just a man!

*****Psa 146:4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

There are some very important things that we must realize before we die.

Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

There has never been a time of evolution of mankind!

God made man from the elements of this Earth and then God breathed into man the spirit of life.

These things take place at conception and each individual becomes a living soul!

Each and everyone that comes into this world will exit this world the very day God has written down on His calender!

Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

There are things we can do to extend our days but God still knows the exact day of our death and He has been preparing us for that day all the days that we live.

When that day comes certain things happen:

Ecc 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

That body will return to the elements it was made from and that spirit of life will return to the God who gave it!

This is the history of mankind but not of animal kingdom:

Ecc 3:21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?

Evolution has never been a part of mankind nor that of animal life!

Job 27:3 All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;

All these things have taken place just so the soul of each human has the opportunity to decide it’s fate.

Because on the day of death all our thoughts, all those things we wanted to accomplish in this life will end!

It is that eternal living soul that will live on, either in Heaven with God the owner of that soul or in the Hell and the Burning Lake of Fire that was prepared for Satan and those that place there trust in him!

We can know as we were known:

1Co 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

Or we can suffer in Hell wishing we had done differently:

Luk 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

Who are those that rejoice? Those that have a personal relationship with their Creator!

*****Psa 146:5 Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:
Psa 146:6 Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:

The only way of true happiness is to rely on the same God that Jacob did!

Other humans cannot bring us to this point of happiness even that one we love the most.

There is not one powerful man on this Earth that can provide what we need for true happiness.

Our happiness can only come from the God that helps us.

Our happiness can only come from our Creator!

The God of Jacob is God’s covenant name in Christ Jesus.

Luk 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luk 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

Our source of true happiness can come only by the Lord Jesus Christ!

Col 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
Col 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

It is the Lord Jesus who is happy to help us in our present life but also our only hope for the future of the eternal living soul!

Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

God will always be true to His nature.

God will always be true to His promises.

God will always be true to His Word.

God will always be true to His personal relationship with each of us.

Because God will always be true to His Son!

And on a sad note to those that reject God’s Son, God will also, always be true in His “Judgment”!

*****Psa 146:7 Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners:

Since the time of Adam, the Bible states that “Mankind”, was created to be responsible for his own actions.

God judged Adam for his sin but before this took place, God had already judged Lucifer and the fallen angels.

2Pe 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

God judged the people of this Earth in the time of Noah.

God judged the people at the Tower of Babel.

God judged the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

God judged the Southern Kingdom of Israel.

God judged the early Church, remember Ananias and Sapphira.

And God will judge the people of this present age!

Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

Why has God always done this?

Rom 1:19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

All people no matter who they are will come under the judgment of God.

Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, “but after this the judgment”:

All those that surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ will be immediately judged and justified but the Bible tells us of two more judgments.

1) There is the “Judgment Seat of Christ”.

The Bible says:

2Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

The is the judgment of the believer.

This not a judgment for salvation.

Joh 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

This is a judgment for what each believer has accomplished since being in the family of God.

1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

2) There is the “White Throne Judgment”.

This is the judgment of the unbeliever.

Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

We have a righteous Judge who will see that the oppressed will be vindicated.

Rom 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

The Lord does much more than just bring justice to this world.

All food comes from God!

All those that are oppressed and all those that are starving can also find help from our merciful God!

God would not say this if it were not true, they need to call on His name.

There is no one that has reached so low in this life that they are out of the reach of the loving arms of Jehovah God!

There are also many who live today who are bound not only by chains, but also by disease, also by unsound and unhealthy bodies, who are weak and feeble and the Lord can also break the chains of these miseries.

Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

But there are even more things that Jehovah God will do!

*****Psa 146:8 The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous:

Blindness in the Bible is portrayed as those who are morally and spiritually ignorant of the truth of God!

Isa 59:9 Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.
Isa 59:10 We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.

But only Jehovah God can not only open the eyes of the spiritually blind, He can also open the eyes of those who are physically blind. Those that are born blind and those that become blind by accident.

There is no case of blindness that cannot be overcome by the Lord!

It is also the Lord God Almighty who can raise us up from our lowest point of depression.

So many of our young people are taking their own lives today because they do not see another way out of this depressed world.

There are evil men who take advantage of those young minds and convince them of a false path to Heaven but the only sure path and out of all misery is the Lord Jesus Christ!

Php 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Php 3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

Who are God’s favorite people? Those that do things the right way!

The righteous are only those that are obedient to the Word of God!

There is only one commandment that has fit this world we live in from the time of Adam until the Lord takes us all home to be with Him!

Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecc 12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

*****Psa 146:9 The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.

There are too many people in this world who feel like they have been abandoned by mankind. These are not just the oppressed who slip over our national borders but even some here in America who are truly trying to escape oppression and depression.

There are many who come for the right reasons and many who come for the wrong reasons.

Even Jesus turned away those that just wanted a handout!

Joh 6:26 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.

To seek God just to get our wants supplied is selfishness and gross sin!

To seek any nation only to have your needs supplied is wrong.

A government that provides needs just to make it’s people more dependent on those needs is also evil!

God is interested in that stranger who is seeking a better life.

God does not forbid us to seek happiness but we are to seek it in the proper way. That way begins with seeking the Lord!

It is to the true stranger that God will send the Holy Ghost along with God’s people bringing the “Gospel” of Jesus Christ.

It is also the fatherless who can find the true Father in Heaven.

It is the widow who can find the true Bridegroom.

Jehovah God is the only true Friend to all those who have no earthly protector!

Jas 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

There is no one who still lives that cannot have a Friend in Heaven if they truly seek the Lord!

Joh 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Joh 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Joh 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

It is Jehovah, the true God that will reign forever!

*****Psa 146:10 The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD.

When the Lord Jesus Christ returns to this Earth, He will establish Himself as King in Jerusalem!

Luk 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
Luk 1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

It is the covenants that God has made that will insure that there will be a literal and physical return of Christ Jesus to establish His Kingdom.

The Jews will be gathered:

Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

The Jews will be converted:

Zec 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

There will then be a time of peace that this world has never known since the time of Adam:

Mic 4:2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Mic 4:3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Mic 4:4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.

Only believers will enter into this Kingdom:

Psa 24:3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?
Psa 24:4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

Jesus Christ will rule as King:

Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isa 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

And King David will be Christ’s Regent:

Amo 9:11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:

And Jerusalem will then be the center of the world:

Zec 8:3 Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.

This Kingdom on Earth will last for 1000 years but King Jesus will reign forever!

This Kingdom on Earth will end because the Heaven and the Earth will be judged because they were the domain of Satan’s rebellion against God!

2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

The eternal state of the Redeemed will then begin:

Heb 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

God does not leave any doubt of His future plans.

It is our generation that now have the duty of giving this message to this lost world!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

Praising God For His Compassion

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Praise God For His Compassion

Psalm 145

In the Bible we can see compassion in words such as “pity”, “mercy”, “love”, and some others.

Compassion is a loving feeling for others and is best exhibited by the things that God has done for all people.

Lam 3:22 It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
Lam 3:23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

It is this attribute of God that we fail to learn the most.

The compassion of our God can be seen in every book of the Bible and compassion is also required of each of us!

Mic 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

In this verse it lists three things that are required of each of us that know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior.

1) We are to do justly. We are to walk according to the truth of God.

We are to be honest, be fair in our dealings with others, and have integrity.

2) We are to love mercy. As the Lord has been merciful to each of us we are to also be merciful to others.

We are to have compassion not only on all our brothers and sisters in Christ, but we are to have compassion on all other human beings.

3) We are to walk humbly with our God.

We are to live in obedience to the Word of God and have a personal relationship with Him.

We will never walk with God without a firm belief in the “Gospel” of the Lord Jesus Christ!

We are to live, act, and behave according to the entire written Word of God, rightly divided!

Why? Because this is the thing that God has done!

Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

Let’s Begin:

*****Psa 145:1 David’s Psalm of praise. I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.
Psa 145:2 Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.

We see that it was King David that wrote this Psalm or maybe this was King David’s favorite Psalm of praise or both.

David was king of Israel at this time and Israel was therefore ruled by David’s government.

What we see is that David was not praising his own government but he was praising the fact that we are all to be under the government of the true King. That would be King Jesus!

This is where the governments of this world fail!

To “extol” is to exalt and to magnify.

David wrote these words in another Psalm:

Psa 68:4 Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him.

David was king of Israel but his personal King was Jehovah!

We may live under the rule of man-made governments but if we do not acknowledge the absolute government of Jehovah God and be devoted to His rule, then we will fail in this life.

All governments that do not acknowledge the true God of this universe are failing governments.

The government of God refers to the “Providence of God”!

It is Jehovah God who provides the needs of this entire world at His own will(discretion) and is continuously preparing this world according to His own use.

Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

To bless God is to praise God with a personal relationship with Him.

That word “forever” means our relationship with God can never end and when we add “and ever” it means we have made a covenant with our own selves just as God made a covenant with Himself.

So whatever happens on any day or whatever our circumstances, it should be our goal to be a blessing to the Lord!

In other words it should be our goal to bless the Lord eveyday and every hour of each day, because these are the days the Lord has given to us.

And for those that reject the idea of praise we should keep in mind, praising the Lord is the one thing we can do now after we are saved, that we will continue to do when we get to Heaven.

There will be no need of prayer in Heaven, we will be in the presence of God.

There will be no need of hope in Heaven, our hopes will be fulfilled.

There will be no need of “faith” in Heaven, because we will have made it home.

But there will be a continuous want to praise in Heaven!

*****Psa 145:3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.
Psa 145:4 One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.

We already know we have a great big God who is great in all His power and in all His ways!

The ways of God are past finding out by any man!

We should also know then that we should have great praise for our great God!

Praise is not praise unless it comes from the heart and great praise can only come from a fervent heart!

No matter what this secular world says, it is only the wonderful message of God’s work, God’s creation, and God’s deliverance, that has been declared from the time of Adam and Eve.

Isa 38:18 For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
Isa 38:19 The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.

The truth of God has been passed down since the beginning of time and it is now our job to continue to do so.

It is only the living that can praise God!

It is only the living who can pass the Word of God from one generation to another!

I only began living when I was “Born Again” into the family of God!

*****Psa 145:5 I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.
Psa 145:6 And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.
Psa 145:7 They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.

Remember David was King of Israel but David was speaking of the honor and majesty of our God and our King.

We must feel the same. Even though all generations are to praise the Lord and speak of His ways, in our day we should be at the head of the line and jumping at the chance to declare the wondrous works of God.

Like David we will also find it hard to find the right words to describe the majesty of the Lord.

How can we describe the “One” that died for our sins, He had none of His own?

How can we describe the “One” that rose from the grave on the third day because He is not bound by death?

How can we describe our “Mediator” between us and a Holy God?

How can we describe the “One” who sent His own Spirit to abide in each believer?

How can we describe the “One” who has placed His own Church in the midst of this world to tell about His wondrous works until He returns to take us all home?

What we should be asking is, “how can we be so silent” in not speaking of the majesty of our Lord?

We can be sure if anything bad happens in this world or in the lives of certain people they will immediately blame the Lord for their misfortune.

The world will call all bad things an “act of God”.

Even insurance companies write this phrase into their policies.

Horrible news will always spread faster than the Word of God.

As the Church we must tell of the wonderful works of God, because God does not do bad things.

The world may talk about the bad things because they are to blind to see the wonder of the God of salvation!

2Co 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Those that do not know the Savior can only speak of what this world has done for them but at some point they will always look back and say, “the world has not done very much”.

Those that come to know the Lord as Savior and Redeemer will speak of the great goodness of the Lord all the days they have come to know true life.

Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles wrote:

Php 3:7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Php 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Php 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

How can we not sing of the righteousness of God?

How can we not understand the “Grace of God”?

*****Psa 145:8 The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.
Psa 145:9 The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.
Psa 145:10 All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee.

What is the nature of our Savior?

If we refer back to the time of Moses we find that Moses made a certain request of the Lord.

Exo 33:18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.

God told Moses no human could see the glory of God and live.

Exo 33:20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

But God said to Moses, I can show you my “Goodness” by my “Grace”.

Exo 33:19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.

What was shown to Moses?

Exo 34:6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
Exo 34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

King David had finally realized these same things that Moses had seen.

If you surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ, you will come to know these very same things!

God has much more “Grace” than He has “wrath”!

Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
Rom 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Lord is good to all His creation and even Satan could not deny this!

Job 1:9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
Job 1:10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

God is good to all mankind!

Mat 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Kindness is the law of God’s providence.

God created our world so that we might live in happiness.

God may have cursed this world after the sin of Adam but God also provided a cure for that curse.

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

Our Creator is always delicate with His creations.

Our Provider is always willing to display His kindness.

Our Savior is always ready to forgive!

God does not create disease.

God does not ever promote misery.

God hates pain as much as we do.

God is life and the giver of eternal life because God hates death.

Those that end up in Hell will be there because they chose to be there!

The saints of God already know these things and that is why we can bless the Lord.

Remember we bless the Lord when we have a close and personal relationship with His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ!

How can we not speak of the glory of our God?

*****Psa 145:11 They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power;
Psa 145:12 To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.

This is the job we have to do after we have accepted the truth of God!

To the Church, we know that this would be the Second Coming of Christ, the Messiah.

To the Jew, this will be the most important time in their existence, the coming of the Messiah!

Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isa 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

The theme of the Old Testament is this fact that this kingdom will be established on this Earth by the Messiah, a Son of David, as written in the Davidic Covenant!

2Sa 7:12 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
2Sa 7:13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.

2Sa 7:16 And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.

That Child to be born was the Lord Jesus Christ in His humanity, 100% Human.

That Son to be given was the Lord Jesus Christ in His deity, 100% God!

Immanuel means God with us:

Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

The suffering Messiah and the reigning Messiah are One and the Same, the Almighty Living God!

The suffering Messiah:

Isa 53:12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

The reigning Messiah:

Isa 52:13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.

We are to speak of the “Gospel” of Jesus Christ and included in that message we are to teach of the Second Coming of Christ.

This will be an everlasting kingdom!

*****Psa 145:13 Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.

When David realized all these things it brought him closer to God.

When we realize the truth of the “Gospel” it will draw us closer to the truth of God and it will also bring us peace in this life.

God has governed His creation since it’s beginning and many of this world will get a full view it’s Creator on this Earth for 1000 years.

But only those that have accepted the truth of God will be a part of God’s everlasting kingdom which will not be on this Earth, at least as we know it now.

Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Rev 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Everyone will get the opportunity to live in the city of God!

This Messiah, who will reign with all authority, will also come down off that throne to personally hold up all those that fall.

*****Psa 145:14 The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.

All those who look to the Lord for help “with faith” will be raised up to be with the Lord.

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

God is always willing to lift those up that call upon His name, while they yet live!

*****Psa 145:15 The eyes of “all” wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.
Psa 145:16 Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.
Psa 145:17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.

All those that fall.

All those that are bowed down because of their burdens.

All those that wait upon the Lord.

As children who look to our earthly fathers in a time of need, so should we “all” look to the Lord who is not only our Creator but who is also our Provider!

God will open up His hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing!

Psa 107:9 For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

It is only the Lord Jesus Christ who is the source of true satisfaction!

The creature can only find satisfaction in the Creator!

Whether we understand it or not, whatever God does is always the right thing to do!

Psa 33:4 For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth.

God said it was the right thing for Him to do to bring tribulation to all those that rejected His Church!

2Th 1:6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;

BUT, God’s justice will always be in harmony with God’s “Mercy”!

Psa 85:10 Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Psa 85:11 Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

In God’s government, promises made are always promises that are kept!

God is always closest to those that love Him!

*****Psa 145:18 The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, “to all that call upon him in truth”.

What is the facts of God’s Word?

God will never leave praying men and women, who truly confess the Lord Jesus Christ, to battle this world alone!

Psa 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

God is always “very present” in our times of trouble.

Formal prayers and false professions of sin will never bring anyone into communion with the Lord!

We must remember there are some things that God hates.

Pro 6:16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
Pro 6:17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
Pro 6:18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
Pro 6:19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

Jesus said that He was the truth and God expects us to come to Him in truth.

It is only these that know the truth and confess the truth that God will answer!

*****Psa 145:19 He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.

What is the will of God?

1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

How does the will of God fit into our prayer life?

1Jn 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
1Jn 5:15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

God will fulfill the desire of all those that respect and esteem His name and His Word!

We must remember, It is God who listens and it is God who will send salvation.

God has never trusted these things to any part of His creation.

It is God who came Himself to save us and it is that same personal God who will hear us and who will deliver us from all our troubles!

Why? Because we serve a compassionate and loving God!

*****Psa 145:20 The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.

To preserve means God will save all of His children from death and destruction but notice it is only those that love Him.

Heaven and Hell are both eternal realities!

There are two ways to travel in this world!

1) There is the humanistic approach that says that all religious beliefs must pass the test of human reasoning and the findings of science. Therefore if Christianity that does not adapt to the modern world then it must not exist.

They insist that the Bible is not infallible and it is only a record of the experiences of others.

The Bible disputes this line of thinking:

2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

2) Then there is the right way.

Jer 6:16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.

Salvation came to the Church by the “Apostles Doctrine”.

Act 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
Act 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

We must continue steadfast in the Apostles Doctrine in order for the Church to continue to grow!

There is only one pathway to Heaven!

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, “I am the way”, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

ALL other paths lead to Hell!

This is why the world hates the Lord Jesus Christ and reject His truth!

*****Psa 145:21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and “let all flesh bless his holy name for ever” and ever.

King David said it does not matter what all others are going to do but with my mouth I will speak praise to the Lord.

David said, I’m doing it now and I will do it forever.

It does not matter from what background we come from!

Every race, every sinner, and from every generation, young and old, we need to unite behind the Word of God and glorify the only Savior of our world.

We should be doing this same thing that King David said.

We need to praise the Lord!

We need to praise Him now and we need to praise Him forever and ever!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

The Attributes Of God

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Praise God For His Attributes

Psalm 139

An attribute can be said as something that belongs to someone.

The attributes of God are things that belong to Him and Him only!

Let’s look at a few things we can attribute to God that only He has.

**1) God is spirit.

This does not mean that God is “a spirit”!

God does not have a physical form but “as spirit” God is everywhere. God cannot be limited.

God has substance but not in the material forms that we understand.

Joh 4:24 God a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

God is Spirit, just as God is Light and just as God is Love!

God does not have a physical form and it is sinful to make any likeness of Him.

Exo 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

This attribute is best described as the Omnipresence of God!

None of God’s created creatures possess this attribute and that includes Satan.

**2) God is self-existent.

Exo 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

God is independent of any part of His creation.

Joh 5:26 “For as the Father hath life in himself”; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;

Everything that lives is dependant on something or someone to exist and have life, but God is independent of such things.

**3) God is immutable which means God is perfect.

God is devoid of any and all change.

Mal 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not;

Jas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, “with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning”.

This is why the love of God and the promises of God are all certain!

**4) God is “One” God!

The essence of God cannot be divided!

The Lord alone is God, He is not a composite and cannot be divided into parts.

Jas 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

God is “One” in essence but God is “Three” in respect to persons!

God has 3 substances with each substance having the same essence of God, and each having the same fullness of God!

God merely makes Himself known in 3 different ways.

Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

In this passage we have the Lord Jesus Christ speaking of the Holy Spirit, and the Father.

All three in total unity!

All 3 having the same authority!

Joh 5:21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
Joh 5:22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
Joh 5:23 That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

Mat 12:31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.

Look at the prophecy of the Messiah in the Book of Isaiah:

Isa 48:16 Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, “there am I”: and now “the Lord GOD”, and “his Spirit”, hath sent “me”.

We are all to be baptized in the name of the “One” God but also in all His essence!

Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

**5) God is TRUTH!

We can only see things as they really are by looking at our world through the Holy Ghost Inspired Word of God!

Rom 3:3 For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
Rom 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

**6) God is Love!

God’s love is not some emotional impulse. God’s love is rational and is the voluntary affection from our Creator!

Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

**7) God is Holy.

Holy means set apart. God is totally set apart from all His creation.

God is the moral and ethical standard for all His creation.

Isa 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

God expects us to exert every effort to be as holy as He is!

There are so many others.

God is eternal.
God is immense.
God is great in all ways.

**8) God is omniscient. God knows all things.

God knows all things that exist.
God knows all the variables of things that exist and all things that have not yet occurred.
God knows all future events.
God knows all these things at the same time.

God’s knowledge is immediate, simultaneous, actual, complete and is according to reality.

**9) God is omnipotent. God is all powerful!

God’s power cannot be overcome by any part of His creation!

God is full of mercy.
God is full of grace.
God is just and the justifier of all His creation.

Psalms 139 will tell us much about our God so let’s begin.

*****Psa 139:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.

We see we have another Psalm of David that is given to the chief Musician.

It can be said that the true Chief Musician is our Lord Jesus Christ.

There are things that we know about our own selves that we would never tell to anyone, even the ones we love and trust the most but there is absolutely nothing that can be kept hidden from God.

If we accept this one thing then our conversations with God can be open and real!

No pretended god can know anything about us but the God of truth can understand all our ways because He knows everything that can be known about each of us and He understands our thoughts because He has searched us.

God has given us His Word so we are then able to also know about Him.

It should be very clear from this passage that God has known us even before we were ever born and one of the attributes of God is that God can never forget anything that He knows.

Remember God does not forget our sin, God chooses to not remember our sin against us.

We are pardoned as if that sin never existed!

God said this to Jeremiah:

Jer 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

God had plans for Jeremiah before he was born and God has a plan for each of us even before we ever exist.

*****Psa 139:2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.

You see God has personal knowledge of each of us. God sees every move we make. God sees us when we are sitting quietly and God notices us when we stand back up while knowing every thought that makes us do the things we do.

God even knows the thoughts we think even before we ever think them!

God may seem to be far off but He is never very far from those He loves!

It is important for us to realize just how much God knows about each of us.

God has personal knowledge because God wants us all to have a very personal relationship with Him!

*****Psa 139:3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

When I was in Vietnam we would occasionally surround a village for several days and we would keep a close eye on everyone and everything that went on in that village.

The Vietcong had such a fear-hold on many villages that by observing we could sometimes tell if that village was helping the enemy.

The presence of God always has us surrounded and God is observing our every move and God is very acquainted with all our ways.

God may be just observing our reaction to the things that our enemy, the Devil is causing to happen.

We must remember these words:

1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, “who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able”; but will with the temptation “also make a way to escape”, that ye may be able to bear it.

If God were not acquainted with all our ways, He could not be ready to provide that means of escape from our enemy!

*****Psa 139:4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.

God knows every word I will speak before I even speak them.

That’s the reason God cautions us to think about what we are about to say, before we speak them.

Sometimes when we speak, what we say can be misinterpreted, but God always knows the true meaning of what we say.

God even knows the reason behind the words we are about to say. God is never surprise at what comes out of our mouths!

For this reason we need to include in our prayers that God will guide the things we say.

Psa 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

Our words begin in our heart, so when our hearts are right with God, it will also show up in the words that come out of our mouths.

*****Psa 139:5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.

God knows the past, the present, and the future and He knows all these things at the same time because God is not bound by the restraints of time.

Behind us God has recorded our sins.

Upon the acceptance of Jesus Christ, “by Grace”, God has blotted out His remembrance of those sins.

And before us, when God has us within His loving hands, God is recording our deeds so He can give us the proper reward.

What did David say about all these things?

*****Psa 139:6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

It is a foolish thing for us to think we will ever grasp the enormous power of our God!

Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

How very precious was the day that our Lord Jesus was crucified and the veil of the Temple was rent into, just so we can have access “at any time” into the throne room of our Father in Heaven!

Until we get to Heaven we will never understand why our Creator would even want to be so close to sinners such as we are!

The theme of these first 6 passages has been the Omniscience of God.

Now we will spend some time seeing the Omnipresence of God.

*****Psa 139:7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
Psa 139:8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
Psa 139:9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Psa 139:10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

What is the truth of the omnipresence of the Lord? There is no one on this earth that can escape the observation of the Almighty God and this includes Satan, the Devil!

God is present everywhere!

Jer 23:24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.

God is very near to us at all times!

We do not have to wait until the White Throne of judgement because we can be judged now, while we are living.

We do not have to wait until we get to Heaven for safety, God has surrounded us by His Heavenly host and they will guard us against the evils of Satan!

We do not have to wait for God’s inspiration, God is close enough that we can ask for His wisdom on a personal level!

We do not have to wait till we get to Heaven to go before God, God is available to us at any moment of the day!

God dwells in the hearts of those that love Him and God is as close as a silent thought!

If God could be limited by any distance or by any means then God could not be perfect in His divine being!

When we ascend to Heaven either by death or by Rapture, we will find God sitting on His throne.

If we have chosen the wrong path and end up in Hell, we will find that, part of the torment, is that though the Lord is near, we will never find His comfort.

Those that strap on bombs to kill God’s people see this truth immediately at their death as they join all those others that have rejected the truth!

Though we travel in a mighty space ship, we can never go beyond the reach of God’s presence!

Though we seek the depth’s of the uncharted seas to escape, we will find the Lord is already there and even in that place we can know the salvation of the Lord.

Heb 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

There is no darkness that can escape the Shekinah Glory of God!

*****Psa 139:11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
Psa 139:12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

By definition darkness is the absence of light.

Spiritual darkness is chaos, a world without the presence of God.

Darkness is also the curse of Hell the outer darkness of the Bible!

Mat 8:12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Darkness in truth is far away from the “Grace” of God but is also being in the midst of the “Ultimate Wrath” of God!

Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

In this life, darkness may be our oppressor and our enemy, but darkness can never shut me out from the presence of my God.

Evil is said to dwell in darkness but it is impossible for anything to be hidden from the sight of God!

To the Lord, darkness is just another part of the day that He created back in the Book of Genesis.

Job 22:13 And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?
Job 22:14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.
Job 22:15 Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?

There is no evil that can hide from God and there is no darkness where we cannot reach out to Our Savior, while we are still living!

These things relate to the Omnipresence of God.

*****Psa 139:13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.

God does not just dwell in His children:

Joh 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

God does not just just keep a watchful eye on us.

Job 34:21 For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings.

God is the possessor of our most secret parts!

That word “reins” actually means the kidneys in the lower part of the back. The Hebrews believed this to be the seat of all our desires and all our longings.

In this verse it probably means the most hidden and vital portion of our true being, the seat of our affections and our passions!

Every new mother today wants to get an ultra sound, to get some picture of their unborn child but the pure truth is that only God knows what we will be be like before we are even born!

Even before we are born we are under the control of God!

Jer 1:5 “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee”; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

*****Psa 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
Psa 139:15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Psa 139:16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

The word “wonderfully” means “differently”!

Each baby that is born is designed to be like other humans.

Gen 1:24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature “after his kind”, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

But, every human being is uniquely different from all others in details!

That word “fearfully” means that every human being from the time of birth will live all his days seeking his Creator because he is born with the knowledge of a Creator.

Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Solomon wrote these words:

Ecc 7:29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; “but they have sought out many inventions”.

Our soul knows the truth, it is our flesh that is blinded by Satan!

2Co 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

We exists as flesh and bones in the eyes of other humans, but God’s greatest creation is the entire human being!

Not one scientist since the beginning of time has been able to completely explain the miracle of child birth along with the DNA structure and the other things that make humans unique in this world.

In fact most scientist have given up trying to explain the Creation of God and just say the human race just evolved by some accident.

How were we made?

Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

God first made the elements of the earth, and then God formed man from those elements and only after God breathed into man the breath of His life was man a complete human being.

It is from Adam and Eve that our world has been populated by all other humans!

That phrase “substance, yet being unperfect” means the “embryo”.

God is watching over each and every embryonic human from the the very moment of conception!

There is no act of evolution going on at any time in the life of the human being from the point of conception till the death of that individual.

There are those that say that embryo may not reach perfection for 9 months but the truth is that from the moment of conception until delivery that embryo it is a human being and has a God given eternal soul!

That word “continuance” means that God over seeing the development of that soul and all the substance of that human all the days of his or her life!

That word “fashioned” has the meaning that each and every embryo is fashioned in the same way as Adam!

When we realize that our entire creation came about by the design of God, it’s Creator, we will then begin to understand the thoughts of our God!

1Co 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

*****Psa 139:17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
Psa 139:18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

Anthropology is the science of studying man and is almost in its entirety based on the theory of evolution.

Man can never be understood when we use evolution as the guideline!

Some old scientist such as Isaac Newton, and Kepler and Maxwell understood and bragged on the fact that God knew their thoughts but there not many around today who will actually say this.

It is only God who knows everything about us as mankind and as individuals!

God knows each of us individually!

God thinks on us as individuals!

A thought is an operation of the mind. It should bring us great pleasure in knowing that the thoughts of God are on each one of us all the time.

It should also bring comfort to us knowing that God is not thinking of evil things about us or to do to us!

Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

God simply tells us what will happen if we follow certain paths in our lifetime and God then points out the proper way to avoid all those evil things.

God teaches us His thoughts so we can think more the same way that He does!

Psa 40:5 Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

If God’s thoughts of us are innumerable, then we must be on the mind of God continuously!

We know that the main thought of God concerns His love for us and that love will never end!

God may limit His acts of creation and His acts of wrath, but God will never limit the power and thoughts of His love for each of us individually.

We absolutely cannot make God stop loving us!

BUT, we will miss out on God’s rewards by not thinking the same way that He does!

If our own thoughts are on the Lord when we go to sleep, then when we awake we will know that God has sustained us through the night or we will wake up in His presence!

No matter where we are we will always be with Him in His thoughts and one day face to face.

These things relate to the Omnipotence of God.

*****Psa 139:19 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.
Psa 139:20 For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.
Psa 139:21 Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
Psa 139:22 I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.

God will always do the right thing!

We can be sure that the crimes we commit before our righteous Judge will not go unpunished!

If God’s wrath is stirred because of some evil, we can be sure that God will remove that evil thing from His sight!

What does God expect of us?

2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

Just as God will one day remove Himself from all evil, God expects us to do the same thing during our lifetime!

God has proclaimed the sentence of death to all unbelievers and the sentence of life to all that accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior!

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

We can be sure that God will slay all wicked things!

Even though the liberals do not agree the Word of God says what it says!

This evil world will always speak against the Lord Jesus Christ and they would remove His name entirely if they could.

This world is all about going their own way and rejecting the purposes of Christ Jesus.

This world ignores the providence of God.

This world strives to remove the commandments of God.

This world is striving to remove God’s people, but if this world will be patient God will do this thing Himself and this world can then come face to face with the God they hate so much!

God teaches us to hate the works of this world but God teaches us not to hate the people themselves.

The Apostle Paul had these same feelings as did David and most of us will also.

Rom 9:1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
Rom 9:2 That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
Rom 9:3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:

The Lord Jesus gave us this command:

Mat 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Mat 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

It is the Lord who will deal with all those that are wicked and evil:

Rom 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Rom 12:20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
Rom 12:21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

It is alright to be angry with those that hate God, but it is only God who knows His creation best!

*****Psa 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
Psa 139:24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Here again is some other things we need to include in our prayers.

We need to be saying:

“Search Me Lord”

“Know My Heart”

“Know My Thoughts”

We cannot lose our salvation. If God is powerful enough to save us then God is certainly powerful enough to keep us saved!

We should not have a problem then asking the Lord to search out any sin, minor or major, that we can repent of “while we are still living”.

We should not want any one thing to come between us and our God!

When we are going through something in our lives that we do not understand, we can be sure that God is trying to remove that thing from us, so He can reward us even greater!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

The Greatness of God

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Praise God For His Greatness

Psalm 135

The English word “greatness” can mean many things.

The word “greatness” is used 32 times in the KJV Bible.

The Hebrew word “rob” which is translated into our English word “greatness” on some occasions is actually used 150 times in the Old Testament.

Greatness is describes as:

1) A Large amount, we have a great big God.

2) A high degree, we have a God that sets the highest standards of morality.

3) A high rank, we have a God who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

4) A high intellect, our God knows everything that can be known.

5) A high power, nothing in this world can compare to the power of our God.

In the Book of Psalms God’s greatness is described this way:

Psa 145:3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and “his greatness is unsearchable”.

We should have great praise for our Great God because His greatness is unsearchable!

No one but Jesus knows just how great is our God!

There is no part of the Lord’s greatness that is not worthy of our praise!

6) Our God is most excellent in His greatness!

Psa 150:2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to “his excellent greatness”.

There is nothing in this Universe that has a more excellent greatness than our God!

7) Our God is complete because our God is perfect!

It takes a perfect God to bring a perfect salvation!

Heb 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

Let’s Begin:

*****Psa 135:1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the name of the LORD; praise him, O ye servants of the LORD.
Psa 135:2 Ye that stand in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God,
Psa 135:3 Praise the LORD; for the LORD is good: sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant.

What is the reality of our God? The reality of God is that “He is much more greater then our own finite minds can even comprehend”!

God keeps teaching us that when we are in the house of God we need to have a hallelujah time!

Church is not to be some boring, quiet, solemn place!

There is no doubt that that there nations such a China, and North Korea and Iran along with many others where Christians live in fear of their lives and may worship trying to avoid punishment from oppressive governments or even more oppressive false religions but even when these gather together, they need to gather in joy and not in fear.

When the servants of the Lord gather they are to sing hallelujah to Jehovah.

God has revealed to the world His holy nature.

God has revealed to the world His perfect love beginning with Creation and by His Providence.

God has revealed to the world the only means of salvation by His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Surely we can praise the name of Jehovah!

Surely we can praise Jehovah-Jireh, the God that provides.

Or we can praise Jehovah-Nissi, the Lord our banner, the banner of the Christian is the Tri-Une God, Jehovah.

Or we can praise Jehovah-Shalom, the God that brings peace into our hearts.

Or we can praise Jehovah-Shamma, the God who is always present in our lives.

Or Jehovah-Tsidkenu, The Lord Our Righteousness, because our own righteousness is as filthy rags.

Or Jehovah-Sabbaoth, The Lord of all the Angelic hosts of Heaven.

Or Jehovah-Macaddeshcem, The Lord our Sanctifier.

And there is still Jehovah-Rapha, the God that heals and Jehovah-Rohi, the God who is our Shepherd.

When we stand in the House of God, or even in the courts of the House of God surely we can praise Him!

We can sing hallelujah to Jehovah because of all these things, because Jehovah is the God who saves!

The Bible says:

Psa 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

There is great pleasure that comes from praising our God in every House that wears the Banner of the Lord Jesus Christ!

*****Psa 135:4 For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure.

What is choice? Choice is the voluntary act of selecting between two or more things that which is most preferred.

Why did God choose Jacob?

Deu 7:8 But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Deu 7:9 Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
Deu 7:10 And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.

God chose Jacob whose children are called Israel, because He loved them.

What are the facts?

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

God chose Jacob because He had sworn to keep His oath.

God made an oath to His Son, The Messiah, The Lord Lord Jesus Christ, that He would save all that had “Faith” in Him as God and believed on His Son.

Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Rom 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

This is the same as Abraham and is included in the same oath made to Abraham:

Gal 3:7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
Gal 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
Gal 3:9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

God will keep this oath, this covenant, with all that love Him and who keep His commandments because God made this covenant with His Son!

Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Just as the true Israel, is God’s peculiar treasure then the Church is also God’s peculiar treasure!

1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
1Pe 2:10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Tit 2:15 These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

God chose this method of fulfilling His salvation plan and this plan has not changed nor will it ever change until it is no longer necessary.

God treasures all those that place their trust in Him and God gives His love and His mercy to all those that believe upon Him!

Jesus said it is a very sad thing that so many will get the opportunity to choose, but will simply not choose or choose the wrong path trying to obtain salvation.

Rev 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

This is why Jehovah is such a great God!

*****Psa 135:5 For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.

We need to praise God for the God given ability to choose.

We need to praise God because of His “greatness”!

We must have the right view of God in order to serve Him!

If we cannot accept that Jehovah God is far greater in power and in all other things, above any other so-called god then we will not have the right view of Christianity!

If we are wrong in this then we are wrong in all things!

God is great in His being.

God is great in His perfections.

God is great in His creation.

God is great in His providence.

God is great in all His Words.

And God is great in the “Gospel”, His plan of salvation!

God does what He pleases and God is pleased with everything that He does!

*****Psa 135:6 Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.
Psa 135:7 He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.

God does not just do what He pleases on this Earth, God does as He pleases throughout all His creation which is our entire Cosmos or some would say throughout our Universe.

That word cosmos describes our Universe as an orderly system,” as it is” and “is not in chaos” as is taught by the theory of evolution.

God is pleased with His cosmos!

Those vapors, describe what is now known in science as the hydrological cycle.

The evaporation of water from the oceans, transported inland by our great atmospheric circulation, with electricity that activates condensation and precipitation and this is also part of God’s clean air filtration system.

Jer 10:13 When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.

Lightning is not just some lawless force of nature but is actually part of the wonderful machinery God uses to provide much of our needs!

It took a great big God to bring such order throughout all His creation!

Our universe is not in chaos but is in the orderly control of it’s Creator!

God is also great in His providence.

*****Psa 135:8 Who smote the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and beast.
Psa 135:9 Who sent tokens and wonders into the midst of thee, O Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his servants.

God is great in what He can do for mankind.

God gives us many great examples by what He has formerly done with the nation of Israel.

The last plague that came on Pharaoh and Egypt is now celebrated as the Passover.

It was this plague that convinced Pharaoh that he needed to let the children of Israel leave Egypt.

It was the death of the firstborn child that brought deliverance to the people of God.

This is remind us all that it was the death of God’s only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ that has brought deliverance to all of God’s people.

We can just imagine how Egypt was horrified by the greatness of God’s power!

We should also be humbled by the fact that this instant was a reminder to Israel of the providence of God.

Those “tokens” were the plagues and there were 10 plagues recorded that went against Egypt but these are our evidence of the providence of God.

Those “wonders” were judgments and reminders to Egypt that they were serving false gods.

And God did all these things in full view of the Egyptians by the hand of Moses, a servant of the God of Israel, Jehovah the Tri-Une God.

It was not just Pharaoh nor just the people of Egypt that witnessed these things, it was also the false priests and false prophets of the multiple gods of Egypt.

It is Jehovah God who can humble any nation He so chooses!

*****Psa 135:10 Who smote great nations, and slew mighty kings;
Psa 135:11 Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan:
Psa 135:12 And gave their land for an heritage, an heritage unto Israel his people.

There is no nation, no matter their military power that can turn the hand of God away.

Israel was a ragtag band of escaped slaves with only Moses who had some military training, yet those nations of Canaan Land never had a chance of defeating them.

Sihon was a man of great courage and a mighty military leader but He fell by the hand of God.

Og was not only a mighty military man but was also gigantic in his size and his stature and ruled 60 city states but he and his army fell by the hand of God.

Even when the other nations pooled all their armies and all their resources together, they could not stand against the hand of God.

It is no different today and even the mighty war machine of America can not stand against a nation that God chooses to defeat them because it is Jehovah God who will fight for His cause against all enemies.

It is by the hand of God that any nation can hold to their lands.

It is Jehovah God that gave the land called Palestine to the children of Israel. This is their heritage and their land and not for anyone else to question!

To the Church we also have a goodly heritage!

Rev 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

These things can only happen because our God is “Great”!

*****Psa 135:13 Thy name, O LORD, endureth for ever; and thy memorial, O LORD, throughout all generations.

When Moses was at the “burning bush” he asked God what was His name.

God said:

Exo 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
Exo 3:15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

**1) God first said Moses, I Am That I AM.

This name speaks of the providence of God.

This is God’s absolute control of the Universe. God is independent of His creation. God is independent of all life because God is life itself.

God is complete in Himself!

God is absolute!

The Lord Jesus said:

Joh 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

The Lord Jesus is the absolute image of the invisible God!

Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power,

**God next said, I Am The LORD. (Jehovah) The Supreme God.

The self-existing, eternal God!

His name is Wonderful!

Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

God’s name is eternal and God’s name will never change!

Once we come to know the LORD, then we can never forget Him!

It is Jehovah, Elohim who created our universe and abides over it!

Gen 2:4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,

It is this same Jehovah, Elohim who will judge this Earth and all who dwell on it!

*****Psa 135:14 For the LORD will judge his people, and he will repent himself concerning his servants.

Who are “Jehovah’s people”?

They are the “elect”, they are the “chosen”, they are “the called” of God.

Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

We all know that the wages of sin are death:

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Once we become the chosen people of God, His people, we have already been judged and the LORD has repented from this sentence of death.

Rom 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Only Jehovah has the power to save His people!

*****Psa 135:15 The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
Psa 135:16 They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not;
Psa 135:17 They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths.
Psa 135:18 They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them.

Silver and Gold are valuable commodities in today’s world but to shape them into an image to worship is like taking a dead metal and trying to make it have life.

Whatever is fashioned from dead metals come from the imagination of the man who is forming it.

It takes a fool to worship man-made objects as a god!

Rom 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Rom 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
Rom 1:23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
Rom 1:24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Rom 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

What can an idol do for you?

You can ask your idol any question you may have but you will get no answer, they cannot communicate with you.

You may ask your idol to watch over you today but they cannot see.

You can speak to your idol with great worshipping words or in times of troubles but they cannot hear you.

An idol is already dumb as death. All idols are made from something that God has made but they can never have life in themselves.

There is no sign of life in an idol and neither can there ever be!

All those that worship idols will become just like the idols they choose to worship.

What is an Atheist? Those who worship themselves.

Those who worship themselves are just as blind and insensitive as an idol!

They refuse to hear or see what God has to say because they have placed themselves above all others especially above God!

When we place ourselves above the Word of God, we then become idols ourselves!

Everyone that trust in their own selves are blind fools according to the Word of God!

Atheists and Idol worshipers are one and the same they pride themselves in their great wisdom, they boast of their higher learning and they think that they are evolving into a god themselves.

It’s easy to see why God says they are fools, but God also says this:

1Co 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Not one of us are born saved! Salvation comes only by the Lord Jesus Christ!

When you are justified you will not have a problem praising the Lord.

*****Psa 135:19 Bless the LORD, O house of Israel: bless the LORD, O house of Aaron:
Psa 135:20 Bless the LORD, O house of Levi: ye that fear the LORD, bless the LORD.
Psa 135:21 Blessed be the LORD out of Zion, which dwelleth at Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.

That word “house” as used in this passage means a family of ancestors.

The descendants of Israel would be all 12 of the tribes of Israel.

Israel is still the chosen nation of God and will continue to fulfill the purpose God has for them!

**The house of Israel has no excuses for not blessing the Lord!

Amo 5:4 For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:

**The house of Aaron are all the descendants of Aaron who were elected to perform the duties of the high priesthood.

The High Priests were to be the leaders, the teachers, and the example of the worship of Jehovah and therefore above all others.

Psa 115:10 O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.

**The house of Levi was the specially elected servants of the Lord.

Deu 10:8 At that time the LORD separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day.
Deu 10:9 Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren; the LORD is his inheritance, according as the LORD thy God promised him.

**The house of Levi had no excuses for not blessing the Lord!

Those that fear the Lord are the wisest people on this Earth!

Pro 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Isa 11:3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:

**Those that fear the Lord have no excuses for not blessing the Lord!

Zion is the place where Jerusalem had it’s beginning, as a strong hold and became the city of David.

2Sa 5:7 Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David.

Zion is the place where the Temple was first built and the place where King Jesus will rule.

Psa 2:6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
Psa 2:7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

Zion then was the symbol for the entire nation of Israel.

Amo 6:1 Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!

Zion is the city of God.

Isa 28:16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

Zion also refers to heavenly Jerusalem.

Heb 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,

Zion is the the place where at the Second Coming of Christ, He will redeem Israel.

Rev 14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.

It is Zion where this world will see the perfection and the beauty of God!

Psa 50:2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.

All those that know of Zion have no excuse for not blessing the Lord!

Zion dwells at Jerusalem!

Just as Jerusalem will soon be the dwelling place of God among His chosen nation, then Jesus Christ is the dwelling place of the Church and we will all gather in the city of King Jesus one day soon!

Until that day we need to have a Hallelujah time and just praise the Lord!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!