A Psalm for Israel!

Psa 83:1  A Song. A Psalm of Asaph. O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God!
Psa 83:2  For behold, your enemies make an uproar; those who hate you have raised their heads.
Psa 83:3  They lay crafty plans against your people; they consult together against your treasured ones.
Psa 83:4  They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more!”
Psa 83:5  For they conspire with one accord; against you they make a covenant–
Psa 83:6  the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites,
Psa 83:7  Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
Psa 83:8  Asshur also has joined them; they are the strong arm of the children of Lot. Selah
Psa 83:9  Do to them as you did to Midian, as to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon,
Psa 83:10  who were destroyed at En-dor, who became dung for the ground.
Psa 83:11  Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
Psa 83:12  who said, “Let us take possession for ourselves of the pastures of God.”
Psa 83:13  O my God, make them like whirling dust, like chaff before the wind.
Psa 83:14  As fire consumes the forest, as the flame sets the mountains ablaze,
Psa 83:15  so may you pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your hurricane!
Psa 83:16  Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O LORD.
Psa 83:17  Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace,
Psa 83:18  that they may know that you alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth.

God is Powerful!

A Shepherd’s Musings: Week 21 – God is Powerful

One of the major characteristics of a cult is that they humanize God and deify man.  In other words—in their imagination, they make man to be God, and God to be man.  What is your reaction to such thoughts?  One common response would be to say, “I would never do that!”  But don’t you and I to some degree humanize God in our minds when we fail to trust God to follow through with His promises and prophecies?  Regardless of whether we believe it or not, God has the power to carry out what He plans in the ways and time frames He chooses.  An unlikely prophet, by inspiration of God, once said, “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it” (Numbers 23:19)?  God will fulfill His words because He has the character and power to do so. This is clear from His very first act of creation.  God spoke, and creation happened (Genesis 1-2).  Jeremiah marveled at such power, “Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you” (Jeremiah 32:17).  Have you come to Jeremiah’s conclusion?  Are you resting in the truth that God is so powerful that nothing is too hard for Him?

Doubting the power of God results in grave error.  When the Sadducees were disputing with Jesus and trying to show from their human point of view the absurdity of belief in a resurrection, Jesus responded, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God” (Matthew 22:29).  Throughout history many have read the Bible and simply discounted it as false because they could not conceive of a God that powerful. So they explain away the miracles in the Old and New Testaments.  They deify man by trusting their own mind and understanding rather than God’s revelation of Himself. Then they humanize God by making Him less powerful than He really is.  This ought not to be in their lives or in our lives! The Bible reveals God as supremely powerful.  He truly is omnipotent!

The Christian hope of future bodily resurrection after death, when Christ returns, is wholly based upon the power of God.  1 Corinthians 6:14 says, “And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.”   Have you accessed this power of God?  A person can do so by believing the Gospel as Paul says in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.”  Truly, the salvation of man from sin is based upon the power of God!  The disciples of Jesus, being astonished at Jesus’ words concerning how hard it would be for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God, said, “‘Who then can be saved?’ But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible’” (Matthew 19:25-26).  Salvation is possible because God is powerful!

Let’s join the Psalmist in worship of an omnipotent God, “O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God; sing praises to the Lord, to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens; behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.  Ascribe power to God, whose majesty is over Israel, and whose power is in the skies. Awesome is God from his sanctuary; the God of Israel–he is the one who gives power and strength to his people. Blessed be God” (Psalm 68:32-35)!  However, let’s not stop there.  Will you join me in making the commitment expressed in Psalm 71:17-19 to proclaim the power of God to future generations?   “O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come. Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you?”    There is no one more powerful than our Creator God—the Eternal I AM!

With Prayer, Mark                                                       © May, 2011  Scripture quoted: ESV – Emphasis added

Selected Verses on “God is Powerful”

Exodus 14:31, Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.

Exodus 15:6, Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy.

1 Chronicles 29:10-13, Therefore David blessed the LORD in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: “Blessed are you, O LORD, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.

2 Chronicles 20:5-6, And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, and said, “O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you.

Ezra 8:22, For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.”

Psalm 21:13,  Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power.

Psalm 62:11-12, Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For you will render to a man according to his work.

Psalm 147:5, Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.

Luke 5:17,  On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal.

Acts 10:38-41, God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

2 Corinthians 4:6-7, God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

Revelation 4:11, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

Revelation 11:17,  saying, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign.

What we should be doing as we wait for the Lord’s return!

2Pe 3:1  This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder,
2Pe 3:2  that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles,
2Pe 3:3  knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.
2Pe 3:4  They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”
2Pe 3:5  For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God,
2Pe 3:6  and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.
2Pe 3:7  But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
2Pe 3:8  But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
2Pe 3:9  The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
2Pe 3:11  Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,
2Pe 3:12  waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!
2Pe 3:13  But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
2Pe 3:14  Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.

NOT SETTING DATES!

God is Wise

A Shepherd’s Musings: Week 19 & 20 – God is Wise

Recently I had the privilege of sharing James 1:5-6 with a brother in Christ who felt the need to be wiser.  The expression of enlightenment and encouragement that shone over his face as he read this verse was amazing, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.”  We then bowed our heads and prayed, taking heed to the warning to ask with trust and confidence in God.  Sensing and knowing our lack of wisdom, and praying for wisdom are good.  By doing so, we will see more of God’s wisdom.

Wisdom comes from God because God is wise.  What is wisdom? According to J. I. Packer, “Wisdom is the power to see, and the inclination to choose, the best and highest goal, together with the surest means of attaining it.  Wisdom is, in fact, the practical side of moral goodness. As such, it is found in its fullness only in God. He alone is naturally and entirely and invariably wise” (Knowing God, pg.90).  A wise man once said, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Proverbs 9:10).

Can you see the wisdom of God around you? Knowledge of God brings insight!  The Psalmist saw God’s wisdom in creation, “O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great” (Psalm 104:24-25).

God’s wisdom never fails because God is also powerful.  I was amazed at how often God’s wisdom is paired with his power in the Old Testament witness:

With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding. If he tears down, none can rebuild; if he shuts a man in, none can open. If he withholds the waters, they dry up; if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land. With him are strength and sound wisdom. (Job 12:13-16a; cf. Job 9:4 & Job 36:5)

Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king’s matter.”  Daniel 2:20-23

Packer points out the significance of God being all-wise and all-powerful, “Wisdom without power would be pathetic, a broken reed; power without wisdom would be merely frightening; but in God boundless wisdom and endless power are united, and this makes him utterly worthy of our fullest trust” (Knowing God, pg.91).

Do you trust the wisdom of God?   When trials and difficulties fall on you, granted, trusting him can be more difficult because you don’t see the end from your limited human perspective.  However, an all loving and all-wise God has a loving and wise purpose for every hurt and pain in your life, as the Apostle Paul clearly experienced and testified:

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).

No wonder Paul could worship and praise God for His wisdom and power:

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen (Romans 11:33-36).

The Psalmist acknowledged God’s wisdom in His creation, Paul recognized and made much of God’s wisdom in His providence, but God’s wisdom shines most brightly in the Gospel message.  A loving, just, merciful, and wise God reached down from heaven to save mankind from sin.  In the Gospel (I Corinthians 15:1-28) we see God’s wisdom contrasted with convoluted human wisdom:

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:18-24).

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth (Romans 1:16).

Are you embracing the wise truth of God by trusting in Christ to save you from your sin?  Or are you still suppressing the truth?    If you have in faith believed and received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior please join me in echoing with a shout the words of Paul in praise and worship of God—all wise and all-powerful?

Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith– to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen (Romans 16:25-27).

With Prayer, Mark
© May, 2011                     Scripture quoted: ESV – Emphasis added

Selected Verses on “God is Wise.”

Proverbs 3:19-20  The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens; by his knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew.

Isaiah 11:1-4,  There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

Isaiah 28:29, This also comes from the LORD of hosts; he is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom.

Daniel 2:20-23, Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king’s matter.”

Luke 2:40,  And the child [Jesus] grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.

Luke 2:52,  And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

Revelation 7:11-12,  And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

A Shepherd’s Musings: Wk-18 – God is True – part 2

We have already noted that God is righteous, just, and faithful.  Another way the Bible reveals these character qualities about God is the demonstration that God is true to His word.  A completely righteous, just, and faithful person will always be true to His word. Such a person is the Lord.  He can be trusted completely because He is true.

In a beautiful psalm of praise to God, recorded in 2 Samuel 22:31, David says this about his God, “This God–his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.”  David learned this not only by revelation, but also by experience. He had resisted the temptation to take vengeance into his own hands and trusted God for deliverance from the attacks of Saul and others.  God was his refuge; God had kept His word to him.

Proverbs 30:5 says, “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.”  My friend, do you believe this?  Well, your thoughts and your actions will show if you do!  A person who takes refuge in God will be at peace and not worry about the future.  He or she will live out Philippians 4:4-7 on a daily basis:

Rejoice in the Lord always;
again I will say, Rejoice.
Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.
The Lord is at hand;
do not be anxious about anything,
but in everything by prayer
and supplication
with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

God’s desire is to bring every person into this kind of relationship with Him. In sovereign wisdom He designs trials so that we will learn to call trustfully on Him and experience His peace.  There is a fascinating reference to a future time, during the great tribulation, when those who shall “conquered the beast and its image” will worship:

And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!  Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”  Revelation 15:3-5

Will you join me in worshiping God this week because He is true?  Selah—meditate on these things!

With Prayer, Mark
© May, 2011  Scripture quoted: ESV – Emphasis added

Selected Verses on God is true (without error, just, righteous, faithful)

2 Samuel 7:28,  And now, O Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant.

2 Samuel 22:31, This God–his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

Psalm 18:30-31,  This God–his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?

Psalm 25:5, Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.

Proverbs 30:5,  Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

Isaiah 65:16-17,  So that he who blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the God of truth, and he who takes an oath in the land shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten and are hidden from my eyes. “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.

Revelation 15:3-4,  And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

Revelation 16:7, And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!”