Monday, November 30, 2015

Journal Through the Bible: Week 106 Monday

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Psalm 9

Does God issue any commands?

  • Verse 11 - We are told to sing praises to the LORD.


Does God make any promises?

  • Verse 18 - The needy shall not be forgotten forever.


Does this psalm teach anything about Jesus?

  • The early part of the psalm reminds me of the triumph of the resurrected Christ. The Son praised the Father continually.
  • Verse 5 reminds me of the description in Revelation of the destruction of Jesus' enemies.
  • Verse 8 - Jesus shall judge the world in righteousness and minister judgment ot the people in righteousness.
  • Verse 9 - Jesus will be a refuge for the oppressed in times of trouble.
  • Verse 11 - The Messiah will dwell in Zion.
  • Verse 13 - The Father raised the Son after He suffered death.


Does this psalm teach anything about yet-future events?

  • This psalm describes the future triumph of Jesus as judge of the earth.
  • This psalm also testifies of the future eternal damnation of the wicked.

Monday, November 23, 2015

TAKE TIME: Week 106 Assignment

Introduction:  We continue this week with more psalms. The book is divided into 5 parts, much like the Pentateuch, and the psalms we are reading now are from the first book.
 Assignment:
  • Monday - Psalm 9
  • Tuesday - Psalm 10
  • Wednesday - Psalms 11 and 12
  • Thursday - Psalms 13 and 14
  • Friday - Psalms 15 and 16
  • Saturday - Psalm 17
Memory Verse

 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. 
Psalm 14:1


Prayer Journal (ACTS)
  • Adoration - Praise God for the refuge for the oppressed.
  • Confession - Ask God to reveal hidden sin in your life and then confess it.
  • Thanksgiving - Thank God for any answers to your prayers.
  • Supplication - What are your prayer requests this week? List them for future reference so that you can see how God answers.

Search the Scriptures

Look for references for each of the following:
  • Promises that God made and to whom He made them. Do they apply to you?
  • References that either refer to or infer something about future events.
  • What does this passage teach about Jesus?
  • Commandments that God made and to whom He made them. Do they apply to you?

Putting the Word into Action
Several of the psalms we will be reading this week have questions in them including the question, "Why?" because the writer did not understand why certain things were happening. The psalmists often asked, "When?" or "Who?" or "How long?" It is not wrong to seek God for answers. Do you find yourself in a season of waiting? Or are there difficulties in your life that you do not understand? Try pouring your heart to the LORD in a psalm of petition bathed in praise like the psalmists did.

Journal Through the Bible: Week 105 Saturday

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Psalms 7 and 8

Psalm 7

Does God issue any commands?

  • David requested that the LORD arise in His anger and lift up Himself because of the rage of David's enemies and awake for him to the judgment that God had commanded. (Verse 6.) David was seeking the help in fulfilling a commandment God had made.


Does God make any promises?

  • David said in verse 8 that the LORD shall judge the people. 


Does this psalm teach anything about Jesus?

  • David was falsely accused of some imagined slander. This is a foreshadowing of the treatment Christ received.


Does this psalm teach anything about yet-future events?

  • The judgment of God is prophesied, including the whetting of His sword and the bending of His bow.





Psalm 8

Does God issue any commands?

  • The psalmist quotes God's creation mandate to His creation.
  • The psalmist quotes God's mandate to man to have dominion over His creation.


Does God make any promises?

  • Babes and sucklings are ordained to have strength that God might still the enemy and the avenger. (verse 2)


Does this psalm teach anythings about Jesus?

  • Jesus quoted verse 2 when cleansing the temple. (See Matthew 21:16)
  • Jesus is the One that visited man. (verse 4)


Does this psalm teach anythings about yet-future events?
Not that I identified.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Journal Through the Bible: Week 105 Friday

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Psalms 5 and 6

Both of these psalms are prayers.


Psalm 5

This is the first of the imprecatory psalms.

Does God make any commands?

  • No


Does God make any promises?

  • Not specifically, although the psalmist says that the LORD will bless the righteous and will surround him as with a shield. (verse 12)


Does this psalm teach anything about Jesus?

  • Jesus is the King to whom the psalmist is praying.


Does this psalm teach anything about yet-future events?

  • Not that I identified.



Psalm 6

This time the psalmist is asking for mercy.

Does God make any commands?

  • No


Does God make any promises?

  • No


Does this psalm teach anything about Jesus?

  • Jesus quoted the first half of verse 8.


Does this psalm teach anything about yet-future events?

  • When Jesus quoted the first part of verse 8 it was in the context of everlasting damnation following judgment.

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Journal Through the Bible: Week 105 Thursday

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Psalms 3 and 4

Psalm 3

Does God issue any commands?
No

Does God make any promises?
No

Does this psalm teach anything about Jesus?

  • The psalmists experiences with his many enemies is a type of the hatred the world has for Jesus. (verses 1 and 2)
  • Jesus was shielded by the Father often in His early life. For instance, Joseph was told to take Him to Egypt for His protection as a small child. (verse 3)
  • Jesus cried to the LORD from the holy hill and God heard Him. (verse 4)
  • Jesus laid Himself down and slept. Then He awaked. No man took the life of Jesus. He laid it down. Then He took it up again 3 days later. (verse 5)


Does this psalm teach anything about yet-future events?

  • God will arise and even though ten thousands come out against Him they will be defeated. The blessing that is upon God's people because salvation belongs to the LORD will ultimately be fulfilled when all the enemies are smitten. (verses 6, 7, and 8)





Psalm 4

Does God issue any commands?

  • Through the psalmist we are told to stand in awe, sin not, commune with our own hearts upon our beds, and be still. (verse 4)
  • We are also told to offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put our trust in the LORD. (verse 5)


Does God make any promises?

  • God gives gladness, peace, and safety so that the believer can rest. (verses 7 and 8)


Does this psalm teach anything about Jesus?

  • "God of my righteousness" is the same as Jesus, our righteousness. (verse 1)
  • Jesus' glory was turned to shame. He left Heaven and took on the form of human flesh. Then He suffered, bled, and died for us. (verse 2)


Does this psalm teach anything about yet-future events?

  • God has set apart him that is godly for himself. In this verse the LORD heard when the believer prays. One day those "set apart" ones will talk with Him face to face. (verse 3)

Monday, November 16, 2015

Journal Through the Bible: Week 105 Wednesday

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Psalms 1 and 2


Psalm 1

Does God issue any commands?

No, not specifically.

Does God make any promises?

  • Although written by the psalmist, because of Divine inspiration God promises that the man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful will be blessed.
  • The Divine promise of blessing continues in verse 3. The godly person will be like a tree planted by rivers of water that brigns forth fruit in his season, his leaf will not wither, and whatever he does prospers.


Does this psalm teach anything about Jesus?

  • When Jesus walked the earth he did not walk in ungodly counsel, nor stand idly around with sinners, nor sit around scorning God. (verse 1)
  • Jesus delighted in the law of the LORD and meditated on it day and night. He made this clear when He told His disciples that it was His meat to do the will of His Father.


Does this psalm teach anything about yet-future events?

  • Not only does the righteous person receive a measure of God's blessing upon this earth there is an implication of eternal blessing in this psalm. (Verses 1 and 3)
  • The ungodly will not be able to stand in the judgment (remember that every knee shall bow); sinners will not stand in the congregation of the righteous (remember that the judgment of the righteous and the judgment of the wicked are separate events). The ungodly shall perish, which means eternally. (verses 4-6)



Psalm 2

Does God issue any commands?

  • God commands the kings to be wise and the judges of the earth to be instructed.
  • God commands everyone to serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling.
  • God commands all to kiss the Son.


Does God make any promises?

  • Those who "kiss the Son," which means submit to His sovereignty, will be blessed. Those who do not make Him angry and they will perish when His wrath is kindled.


Does this psalm teach anything about Jesus?

  • Jesus is the anointed of verse 2.
  • Jesus is the king upon the holy hill of Zion that is "set" or offered there as the atonement. He will finally be "set" there as the ruler.
  • Jesus is the speaker of verses 7-9. He is the Son, begotten of the Father of verse 7. (Which means the firstborn of the dead. He held the keys to death so He was resurrected three days after His death.)
  • The son is the heir of verse 8.
  • Jesus is the Son of verse 12.


Does this psalm teach anything about yet-future events?

  • The heathen have always raged against God but the time is coming when verses 1-3 will be fulfilled. Nations and armies led by Satan will assemble against Christ and His army at the end of the Millennium. Then the events of verses 4-6 will happen (as a parallel event; Christ has already been set upon Mount Zion once as an offering for the debt of sin). Jesus will defeat them with nothing more than a word. He then will reign forever on Mount Zion.
  • It is Jesus that will rule with a rod of iron. Verse 9

Saturday, November 7, 2015

Journal Through the Bible: Week 105 Tuesday

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Nehemiah chapter 13

Just as Nehemiah promised the king, he returned to Babylon at the time appointed. Nehemiah then obtained permission of the king to return again to Jerusalem. During his absence from Jerusalem Eliashib the priest had allied himself to Tobiah and had even given him one of the large temple storerooms for his headquarters. Nehemiah quickly dispatched Tobiah's belongings and returned the temple vessels to their proper location in that room.

Another thing that Nehemiah needed to set right upon his return was the peoples' apparent neglect of the Levites. Not only was the temple being used inappropriately but its ministers were also being ignored. Nehemiah instituted the temple tithe once more.

The next thing that Nehemiah set right was the observance of the Sabbath. The gates were shut in order to keep the vendors outside on the seventh day. Eventually the Levites were given the task of keeping the gates so that no one would profane the holy day.

Finally, the people and the priests were rebuked for marrying Ammonite and Moabite wives. Even Eliashib's grandson had married the daughter of Sanballat, the leader of the opposition against Nehemiah and the builders of the wall.

Does God issue any commands?

  • God does not speak, but this chapter is full of incidents describing how the law of God was being broken.


Does God make any promises?

  • Nehemiah described the promised curse of God upon their fathers that they were in danger of experiencing for themselves because of their disregard for God's law, including ignoring the Sabbath.


Does this chapter teach anything about Jesus?

  • Nehemiah is a type of Christ. He set out to purify Jerusalem, the priesthood, and the inhabitants of the land.


Does this chapter teach anything about yet-future events?

  • At the end of the book (verse 30) Nehemiah said, "Thus cleansed I them from all strangers, and appointed the wards of the priests and the Levites, every one in his business." Jesus cleanses those that are His from all strangers and one day He will appoint the ward, or assign the inheritance, of each one of us, the believer-priests. This summary comes at the end of the book of Nehemiah. Likewise, the summary of all history is contained at the end of the Bible in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.