The Devotional - 1520 - The NAME above all names

The Devotional – 1520 – The NAME above all names

Psalm 119:145-152 – I cry out with my whole heart; hear me, O Lord! I will keep Your statutes. I cry out to You; save me, and I will keep Your testimonies. I rise before the dawning of the morning, and cry for help; I hope in Your word. My eyes are awake through the night watches, that I may meditate on Your word. Hear my voice according to Your lovingkindness; O Lord, revive me according to Your justice. They draw near who follow after wickedness; they are far from Your law. You are near, O Lord, and all Your commandments are truth. Concerning Your testimonies, I have known of old that You have founded them forever. 

Comments and Challenges: KOPH

1.       145 – I have called with my whole heart; answer me YAHWEY! I will keep Your STATUTES.

2.       146 – I have called to You, save me! I will obey Your STATUTES

3.       147 – I rise before dawn and cry for help. I put my hope in Your WORDS.

4.       148 – My eyes stay open in the night watches, that I might meditate on Your WORD.

5.       149 – Hear my voice according to Your lovingkindness. Revive me YAHWEY Your ORDINANCES.

6.       150 – The draw near who follow after wickedness, they are far from Your LAW.

7.       151 – You are near YAHWEY; all of Your COMMANDMENTS are truth.

8.       152 – Of old I have known Your TESTIMONIES, THAT You have founded them forever.

The Hebrew word for LORD is Yahweh and is found 24 times throughout the 22 sections of Psalm 119. This should be important to all of us who claim to be saved by God’s “lovingkindness” the Old Testament word for “grace”. LORD is the psalmist preferred name to “Creator God”, it is the psalmist “personal” talk with God. This should be the same talk for ALL of us that have a personal relationship with our Creator. In awesome reverence for HIM we can have a personal reverent name, the NAME that is above all names and that would be; even today LORD. Note the Apostle Peter’s response to the LORD in John 21:15-19.

He is not our “pal” or even our “bosom buddy” He is the CREATOR GOD of the universe. Yet, He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother, therefore while being KING of kings He always remains LORD of lords; this is why the psalmist can speak with meaning and purpose when he says to his personal God, “I call out to You with my whole heart and LORD, I will keep Your STATUTES. Or, I have called You, deliver me! I will obey Your STATUTES. The writer is NO different from you are me, we run in the circles of the believing and the unbelieving and sometimes we are the ones in the fiery furnace.

Now do not take this wrong the “believing pray” they are doing what God has called them to do and ever-so often believers do come to one’s aid; this too is a calling from God. But the unbelieving say comforting things too, like; “Oh you poor thing!” “Well, good luck to ya, see ya later… maybe!” Yet while the believing are doing their assigned task and the unbelieving are making life depressing; your LORD is very, very near and He does stick close to you when everyone else is busy, or fleeing.

Why? Because what GOD COMMANDS He does in Truth. How do we know that? Because God founded His TESTIMONIES before the earth was formed and for six thousand years plus of human history NOTHING has change ONE TESTIMONY of the LORD. And if we are not thinking of these AWESOME attributes of Our Personal God in times of trouble, than we are no different that the unbelieving who do not have a personal God. These folks look at the same Creator God whose Name to them is ELOHIM, which is the impersonal Name God uses in JUDGMENT.

The Devotional - 1519 - The LAW of Faith

The Devotional – 1519 – The LAW of Faith

Psalm 119:137-144 – Righteous are You, O Lord, and upright are Your judgments. Your testimonies, which You have commanded, are righteous and very faithful. My zeal has consumed me, because my enemies have forgotten Your words. Your word is very pure; therefore Your servant loves it. I am small and despised, yet I do not forget Your precepts. Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Your law is truth. Trouble and anguish have overtaken me, yet Your commandments are my delights. The righteousness of Your testimonies is everlasting; give me understanding, and I shall live. 

Comments and Challenges: TZADDI

1.       137 – You are Righteous YAHWEH, Your JUDGMENTS are upright.

2.       138 – You have commanded Your STATUTES in Righteousness, therefore they are fully trustworthy.

3.       139 – My zeal wears me out, because my enemies ignore Your WORDS.

4.       140 – Your PROMISES have been thoroughly, and Your servant loves them.

5.       141 – I am small and despised, yet I do not forget Your PRECEPTS.

6.       142 – Your Righteousness is an everlasting Righteousness, Your LAW is truth.

7.       143 – Trouble and anguish have taken hold of me. Your COMMANDMENTS are my delight.

8.       144 – Your TESTIMONIES are Righteous forever. Give me understanding that I may live. 

Last evening our church met for the midweek service as do many churches throughout our “homeland”. What folks do in their local churches is their own “service of worship” (Romans 12:1-2) and they are accountable to the LORD Jesus just as we are in our local assembly so this is not a “blast of what is right or wrong” – all churches in the land are imperfect, and all churches are inspected daily. Revelation 2:1-20 through Revelation 3:1-22.  

No not a blast, but a sincere plea for all churches in the land to take serious the JUDGMENTS of JESUS CHRIST. He alone is Righteous therefore all of His STATUTES are fully Trustworthy. One of the thoughts that struck me (among many) last evening; in the teaching of the Holy Word of God which was on the subject of “conscience” (personal conscience and being conscience toward others) was the mention of the LAW of Faith. I have thought about this on and off throughout the evening so let’s take a look in Romans where Paul makes this statement.

Romans 3:27 – Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law! Of works? No, but by the law of faith. In the context of Romans 3 we can clearly see that the JUDGMENTS of God are not understood by many in the light of the LAW of works. So there must be another LAW a LAW that is TRUSTWORTHY, a PROMISE that the people who SEEK God can BELIEVE and spoken here in this verse as the LAW of Faith; the definition of this law of faith is, in God alone; apart from ANY works of one’s personal conscience.

Simply, there is NO other WAY to please God, but to abide in Him BY FAITH, faith in His JUDGMENTS that are PILLARS of Uprightness. His STATUTES which are fully TRUSTWORTHY,  or His WORD which is ignored by His enemies (are you ignoring His WORD)? His PROMISES, oh yes! His promises; do you know that throughout the Living WORD of God, He promises to never leave or forsake His children. To Jacob in Genesis 28:15; and I like Deuteronomy 31:6-8 spoken to Joshua; and in Joshua 1:5. Note also Hebrews 13:5. Of course all of these promises were to the Jew first, but also TO the church.

Those of us who TRUST God are despised by the world, this sometimes saddens our heart since many are within our own families, they will quickly tell us that we are a minority. Why? Because we do not forget the PRECEPTS of the kingdom of God, we worship these for these belong to our Savior. We also do not worship the precepts of the kingdom of this world. God’s PRECEPTS are “yea and amen” as one friend and pastor used to say and the precepts of the world are simply COUNTERFEIT to the LAW of faith. So today delight yourself in the COMMANDMENTS and TESTIMONIES of our LORD. Ask God to give you understanding, or the co-knowledge of your conscience as the Holy Spirit guides you into ALL TRUTH.

The Devotional - 1518 - God is ALWAYS, always!

The Devotional – 1518 – God is ALWAYS, always.

Psalm 119:129-136 – Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them. The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. I opened my mouth and panted, for I longed for Your commandments. Look upon me and be merciful to me, as Your custom is toward those who love Your name. Direct my steps by Your word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me. Redeem me from the oppression of man, that I may keep Your precepts. Make Your face shine upon Your servant, and teach me Your statutes. Rivers of water run down from my eyes, because men do not keep Your law. 

Comments and Challenges: PE

1.       129 – Your TESTIMONIES are wonderful, therefore my soul keeps them.

2.       130 – The entrance of Your WORD gives light. It gives understanding to the simple.

3.       131 – I opened my mouth wide and panted, for I longed for Your COMMANDMENTS.

4.       132 – Turn to me as and have mercy on me, as You ALWAYS do, to those who love Your Name.

5.       133 – Establish my footsteps in Your WORD, and do not let any iniquity have dominion over me.

6.       134 – Redeem me from the oppression of man, so I will observe Your PRECEPTS

7.       135 – Make Your face to shine upon Your servant, teach me Your STATUTES.

8.       136 – Streams of tears run down my eyes, because they do not observe Your LAW.

When was the last time we thought to look at the TESTIMONIES of the LORD God from our soul? Dare I say that even though we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who sets up residence in our soul, which then becomes His temple; dare I say that we neglect to look with our soul at His TESTIMONIES that are wonderful? This then must be a lack of responsibility or stewardship, if this is true and in most cases is; then our walk with the LORD is doomed to travel a bumpy road.

If you read the WORD of God, good for you! Do you allow that WORD to enter your soul; or are you too busy like most that scamper through their few moments of devotion? If you are like the most that do; then you are doomed to travel that bumpy road of the simple minded. This is no verdict on you or me personally; it is simply the way it is. The LORD God says that we are to seek Him diligently. So what does He mean by this? Is He under a bush, behind a tree, under a rock or somewhere on a trip? ABSOLUTELY NO; no He is not. God is present, a very present help in time of NEED, and we need Him ALWAYS.

God is FOUND in His WORD, at the moment, if you have your Bible in front of you; take a LOOK! You are not just looking at a book! Your soul will explain this in simple terms as it PANTS for the COMMANDMENTS, JUDGMENTS, PRECEPTS, STATUTES and the LAW of God. Your redemption was never behind a bush or in some object of worship, so do not worship the book (The Bible), worship the ONE who wrote His WORD. Like here in the WORDS of Jesus we read. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the WORDS of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written; for the TIME is near. Revelation 1:3.

The way of mankind is oppressive; gosh! How we know this. Oppression if it is not ON our face, it is IN our face. Instead we OUGHT to seek to be filled with the PRECEPTS of God and REDEEM the time, because the LORD further speaks in Revelation 1:5. “Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His Throne. And for Jesus Christ, the firstborn from the dead” and the ruler over the kings of the earth (oppressive man), to Him who washed us in His Blood from our sins. Grace to You; to You LORD is the glory and honor for ever and ever. Amen.

The WORD which is alive allows you and me to look into the FACE of Jesus Christ; for example in verse 132 of Psalm 119 we might think that the word ALWAYS should not be bold. Therefore, we should question why it falls in to the category of God’s IMMUTABLE Word? For starters the word for ALWAYS is the Hebrew word MISHPAT, if you are a student of the WORD you will immediately see that the psalmist is speaking clearly about JUDGMENT or JUSTICE. In fact; MISHPAT includes all of the favorable and unfavorable TESTIMONIES of the LORD in that God knows our in goings and out goings, moment by moment; even ALWAYS; thus we should ALWAYS be soul devoted to HIM.

The devotional - 1517 - Living Out the Word of God

The Devotional – 1517 – Living Out the Word of God.

Psalm 119:121-128 – I have done justice and righteousness; do not leave me to my oppressors. Be surety for Your servant for good; do not let the proud oppress me. My eyes fail from seeking Your salvation and Your righteous word. Deal with Your servant according to Your mercy, and teach me Your statutes. I am Your servant; give me understanding, that I may know Your testimonies. It is time for You to act, O Lord, For they have regarded Your law as void. Therefore I love Your commandments more than gold, yes, than fine gold! Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right; I hate every false way. 

Comments and Challenges: AIN

1.       121 – I have done what is JUST and Righteous, do not leave me to my oppressors

2.       122 – Ensure Your servant’s well-being, do not let the proud oppress me.

3.       123 – My eyes fail for looking for Your salvation, for Your Righteous WORD.

4.       124 – Deal with Your servant according to Your lovingkindness, teach me Your STATUTES.

5.       125 – I am Your servant. Give me understanding that I may know Your TESTIMONIES.

6.       126 – It is time to act YAHWEH, for they break Your LAW.

7.       127 – Therefore I love Your COMMANDMENTS, more than gold, yes, more than pure gold.

8.       128 – Therefore I consider all of Your PRECEPTS to be right, I hate every false way.

Looking briefly at the Strong’s Concordance and the word base “practice, practiced or practices” there is not one use of the word that is directed as honoring to the LORD, thus from this we should never “practice to be holy”. We are commanded to be holy and set apart for the gospel of God. Leviticus 11:44-45 and 1 Peter 1:16-17. The psalmist does not fearing that God has forgotten his just and righteous obedience, but he is calling out for the comfort that we all seek when being oppressed by those who are NOT HOLY. 

Psalm 119:122 by the way is the only verse in Psalm 119 where we would not find any of the special WORDS as used in all the other verses, such as; WORD, STATUTES, TESTIMONIES, LAW, COMMANDMENTS, PRECEPTS and JUDGMENTS. 

Oppression has caused the writer at this moment to feel as though he is forgotten. Psalm 22 also reveals an oppressive moment in prophesy and time in the future when “Jesus, the Son of the Living God made a similar inquiry or statement to the Living God. Comparing Psalm 119:121 and 122 with Psalm 22:1-11, also check out the very WORDS of Jesus in Matthew 27:46 saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

Jesus and our writer here understand that they were not forsaken or forgotten but there are times in life when our physical eyes fail to see deliverance; this has nothing to do with the loss of being SAVED by the GRACE of God but it does have everything to do with TRUSTING God, even to the point of physical death. God’s WORD is Righteous all the time, revealing to you and me His moment by moment GRACE. Often we humanly fail to see as God sees. The LORD God sees you and me in “Living Grace, sustaining Grace and dying Grace” our desire is mostly wrapped up in sustaining grace. “LORD, get me though this one, will ya!”

When we see God at work in our lives, the joy of this is overwhelming; I for one can be so overwhelmed by the faith observation that I have seen the COMMANDMENT of the LORD in some event of my life play out. As the psalmist says; therefore I would rather run around in life with a bucket full of God’s PRECEPTS, than a pail full of gold. As the apostle Peter says in 1 Peter 1:7 – “that the genuineness of your FAITH, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.