Our Never Ending Praise

July 12, 2017

Our Never Ending Praise

Who can be compared with the Lord our God,

who is enthroned on high?

Psalm 113:5

Prayers do not have to be long. Some of the most profound prayers are quite simple in form and short in length. Psalm 113, with just nine verses, is an excellent example of this. Not only is it short and direct, it is timeless in its depth.

Psalm 113 is a part of the praise psalms: 113-118; and 120-136. These psalms were used in the great festivals of Israel and Psalms 113-118 were sung in homes during the Passover. However, Psalm 113 finds its ultimate fulfillment in the Gospel of Luke.

Psalm 113 is structured on the contrast between high and low, as verses 5 and 6 demonstrate:

“Who is like the Lord our God,

   who is seated on high,

 who looks far down

   on the heavens and the earth?” (NRSV)

Luke follows this pattern early in his Gospel when Mary’s Magnificat proclaims,

“for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.

   Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,

   and lifted up the lowly;”

Luke 1:48, 52 (NRSV)

The parable of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus is an excellent example of God lifting up the lowly. (Luke 16:19-31) This contrast can also be seen in the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32), and the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee in the Temple praying. Jesus concludes this parable saying, “I tell you, this man (tax collector) went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted” (Luke 18:9-14 NRSV).

Finally, the barren woman in the psalm (v.9) finds fulfillment in the miraculous pregnancies of Elizabeth and Mary. (Luke 1:11-17 and 26-38).

There is a great tendency in our culture to think in terms of, “What have you done for me lately?” We can guard against our cultural values influencing our prayers by turning to the Scriptures, such as Psalm 113 and the Gospel of Luke, to help us pray. Today is a perfect day to spend time in prayer thanking God for the wonders God has worked in your life through John the Baptist and our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

Copyright © 2017 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

With Our Eyes On Jesus

July 11, 2017

With Our Eyes On Jesus

Praise the Lord!

How joyful are those who fear the Lord

    and delight in obeying his commands.

Psalm 112:1

Psalm 112 is very similar to Psalm 111. They both contain twenty-two lines, and each line begins with one of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, in succession. Both psalms are focused on the Godly virtue of wisdom in the lives of God’s children. Psalm 111 teaches us the “Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom” (Psalm 111:10a). In my discussion of Psalm 111, I noted that reverence may be a more helpful word than fear. As we now look at Psalm 112, we need to expand our understanding of reverence. I believe reverent obedience to God’s will expresses the meaning and intent of the phrase, “fear of the Lord.”

In the New Testament Epistles, the words obey and obedience are used over seventy-five times. The Book of James teaches that faith without good deeds is dead, and the teaching is centered on being doers of God’s Word (reverent obedience) and not hearers only (James 1&2). Jesus models for us reverent obedience to God’s will as He fulfilled all the virtues in Psalm 112.  The attributes modeled by Jesus seem quite daunting: generous, compassionate, and righteous, confidently trusting the Lord to care for us, confident and fearless, facing ours foes triumphantly, sharing freely and giving generously to those in need.

When we are tempted to compromise our reverent obedience to God’s will, we can remember that as His followers, we are “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:2 NASB). With our eyes on Jesus, and trusting in His grace, we “can do everything through Christ, who gives (us) strength” (Philippians 4:13).

   

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

Copyright © 2017 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Reverence and Awe For Our Redeeming God

July 10, 2017

Reverence and Awe For Our Redeeming God

Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom.

    All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom.

Praise him forever!

Psalm 111:10

The psalmist began by advising us to ponder the works of God because he wants us to reflect on our worldview. As Christians, our worldview is shaped by our relationship with God. 

How does God want His children to relate to Him? Repeatedly in the Book of Psalms, the psalmists bid the people to come into the presence of God without fear because, “My heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving” (Psalm 28:7b). Yet in Psalm 111, the psalmist writes, “Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom” (v. 10a). Does God expect us to be afraid of Him?

Interestingly, while the Bible contains the phrase, “Fear of the Lord,” dozens of times, it also contains an equal number of the phrase, “Do not be afraid.” God does not want His children to be afraid of Him; however, God does expect His children to respect His holiness. I think the writer of the book of Hebrews put it very well:

“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe; for indeed our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:28-29 NRSV).

Reverence and awe describe the essence of Psalm 111. The psalmist extols God, his redeemer, healer, provider and conqueror who reigns forever. God’s virtues of glory, majesty, righteousness, graciousness, mercy, justice, goodness, trustworthiness, holiness, and worthy of awe are also extoled in this psalm.

We can have many different views of the world, based on where we are and what we are doing. We can have one persona when we are at home, another when we are at work, another when we are at play, and if we are religious, yet another when we worship. Pondering God from the perspective of Psalm 111 gives us an opportunity to consider that, as the children of God, we should have but one persona, whether we are at home, work, play or worship: reverence and awe for our redeeming God.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

Copyright © 2017 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Days of Elijah

July 7, 2017

Days of Elijah

The Lord said to my Lord,

    “Sit in the place of honor at my right hand

until I humble your enemies,

    making them a footstool under your feet.”

Psalm 110:1-2

As I read Psalm 110, I began humming the tune of Robin Mark’s popular praise song, Days of Elijah, because it incorporates the themes of this psalm.

The movie Hotel Rwanda was released in 2004 and documented the ravages of the Rwandan civil war which ended in 1994. In 1995, worship leader Robin Mark from Belfast, Northern Ireland was feeling overwhelmed by the news of the Rwandan genocide where an estimated one million people died. In the midst of his distress, God inspired Robin to write Days of Elijah, a worship song that has become much loved across the entire world. In his book, Warrior Poets of the 21st Century, Robin writes that the overall theme of the song is hope – a hope secure in the knowledge that God’s hands are on our lives and His creation. The themes of the verses: declaration; righteousness; unity and worship are expressed through Old Testament characters who represent these virtues. In essence, it is a song of hope for the church and the world in times of great trial. (Warrior Poets of the 21st Century, Robin Mark, Ambassador International, June 29, 2007, p. 145ff)

Psalm 110 is a psalm of hope because it is all about Jesus. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke all record Jesus referring to its opening line, “The Lord said to my Lord” as pointing to the truth that The Messiah is not only a descendant of King David, he is also The Son of God. Thirteen times the New Testament connects Psalm 110 to the ministry of Jesus and his place of triumph, at the right hand of God. (Matthew 22:44; Mark 12:36, 16:19; Acts 2:34; Romans 8:34; Ephesians 1:30; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:3, 5:6, 8:1, 10:12, 12:2)

Like Robin, there are times in my life when I feel overwhelmed, as I feel constantly bombarded with news of war, violence, destruction and death. Then I recall the Bible uses the phrase, “But God” sixty times to denote that God is not finished with us. God is still working to redeem His creation from the ravages of sin and death. One day, we’ll all rejoice in the fulfillment of Revelation 11:15,

“Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices shouting in heaven: “The world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.”

Amen and Amen.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

Copyright © 2017 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.