Section IV
The Beatitudes in the Psalms: 1:1; 2:12; 32:2;
33:12; 34:8; 40:14; 41:1; 65:4; 84:4,5,12; 89:15; 94:12; 106:3; 112:1; 118:26;
119:1,2; 128:1.
* * * * *
One Solitary Life
He was born in an obscure village, the child of a
peasant woman. He grew up in still another village, where he worked in a
carpenter shop until he was thirty. Then for three years he was an itinerant
preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family
or owned a house. He never went to a college or university. He never visited a
big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where he was
born.
He did none of the things one usually associates
with greatness. He had no credentials but himself. He was only thirty-three when
the tide of public opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. He was
turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was
nailed to a cross between two thieves. While he was dying, his executioners
gambled for his clothing, the only property he had on earth. When he was dead,
he was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.
Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today
he is the central figure of the human race and the leader of mankind’s
progress. All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all
the congresses that ever sat, all the monarchs that ever reigned — put
together — have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that
One Solitary Life.
* * * * *
No man of faith can stand before the cross. It is
perpetually holy ground — this mysterious place of meeting between God and
man. The perceptive disciple approaches this “mercy seat” on his
knees; he finds there no place to display his own strength or wisdom or
cleverness. All the qualities that may encourage pride in natural man are driven
from him further and further with each blow of the hammer upon the Roman spikes.
As his awareness deepens, he must finally acknowledge that the cross of Christ
has become, not a set of logical premises to be tossed back and forth in
legalistic debate, but rather a moral mandate. As the rising of the sun drives
away the darkness and creates each day a new world, God's love for man as
demonstrated in Christ's death forever changes the spiritual landscape for the
believer. Every issue of his life must now be viewed in the peculiar divine glow
emanating from Golgotha.
* * * * *
Peace comes not from the absence of conflict in
life, but from the ability to cope with it.
* * * * *
A comparison of Psalm 15 and the Sermon on the
Mount (Matthew 5—7):
Psalm 15:1: “Who shall dwell?” (Matt.
5:3-12: the principles of blessedness).
Psalm 15:2: “Walketh uprightly”
(Matt. 5:13-16: “walks in the light”).
Psalm 15:2: “Worketh righteousness”
(Matt. 5:17-20: “righteousness exceeds...”).
Psalm 15:2: “Speaketh truth in heart”
(Matt. 5:21-6:34: contrasts heart with outward forms).
Psalm 15:3: “Backbiteth not” (Matt.
7:1-5: “Behold not the mote...”).
Psalm 15:3: “Nor doeth evil” (Matt.
5:43-48: “Love your enemies”).
Psalm 15:4: “Vile person condemned”
(Matt. 7:15-23: “By fruits ye shall know them”).
Psalm 15:4: “Sweareth to own hurt”
(Matt. 5:33-37: “Communication: yea... yea...”).
Psalm 15:5: “Putteth not money to
usury” (Matt. 5:38-42: “Give without
reward”).
Psalm 15:5: “He that doeth... never
removed” (Matt. 7:24-27: “Doeth... buildeth on rock... will not
fall”).
* * * * *
Our lot, in this life, if we would be disciples
of Christ, is to accept the problems that come our way, prayerfully and
courageously and even joyfully. All things, the "bad" no less than the good,
have a divine purpose in the all-wise Providence. All things, if we accept them,
are steps toward the ultimate glorious end. We should never regret anything
unpleasant that happens to us, or wish it had not happened. To do that is to
question the overruling Hand that guides our lives.
* * * * *
Psalm 22: The Good Shepherd — past: the
Cross.
Psalm 23: The Great Shepherd — present: the
Crook.
Psalm 24: The Chief Shepherd — future: the
Crown.
* * * * *
The word "adokimos" is translated ''reprobate"
(Rom. 1:28; 2 Cor. 13:5-7, 2 Tim. 3:8; Tit. 1:16), "castaway" (1 Cor. 9:27), and
“rejected" (Heb. 6:8). It is used to describe a counterfeit coin,
deficient as to weight or quality of metal. It is also used, figuratively, to
describe a cowardly soldier who fails the test of battle; a candidate rejected
for office; and a stone rejected by the builders. In each case, that which is
"reprobate" has promised something by its outward appearance which it cannot
deliver!
* * * * *
Don’t Join That
Ecclesia!
If you find the perfect ecclesia
Without one fault or smear,
For goodness sake don't join that one —
You'd spoil the atmosphere!
If you find the perfect ecclesia
Where all false doctrines cease,
Then pass it by, lest, joining it,
You mar the masterpiece!
And, finding the perfect ecclesia,
Then don't you ever dare
To tread upon its holy ground —
You'd be a misfit there!
But, since no perfect ecclesia exists
Within this world of sin,
Then let's stop looking for that one —
And love the one we're in!
No, it's not a perfect ecclesia;
That's easy to discern,
But you, and I, and all of us
Could cause the tide to turn!
What a fool you’d be to leave your post,
Looking for a place to please ya;
It could be that, where problems form
Is where GOD builds HIS ecclesia!
So let's keep working in OUR ecclesia
Until the Resurrection,
And then we each can join THE ecclesia
With no imperfection!
* * * * *
Psalm 30:5: “For a moment is His anger, but
a lifetime is His favor. Weeping may lodge for an evening, but the joy of
singing will arrive in the morning."
* * * * *
Psalm 33:4: “For the word of the LORD is
right; and all his works are done in truth.”
"The grand assumption of Scripture is that behind
all that you can know there is an eternal Mind whose Spirit fills the universe,
and when the Mind of the Eternal is expressed, the power is without limit, and
the result instant and infallible.... Between the word and the work of God,
therefore, the connection is so close that David can treat them as parallel."
(L.G. Sargent)
* * * * *
Psalm 22: The Cross from Christ's viewpoint.
Isaiah 53: The Cross from our
viewpoint.
* * * * *
"New" things
Creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Name (Revelation 3:12).
Heart (Ezekiel 36:26).
Tongues (Mark 16:17).
Song (Psalm 40:3).
Commandment (John 13:34).
Way (Hebrews 10:20).
Fruit (Ezekiel 47:12).
City (Revelation 21:1).
Life (Romans 6:4).
* * * * *
Psalm 49:14 paraphrased:
"Even as a flock arrayed are they
For the dark grave;
Death guides their way,
Death is their shepherd now."
(Ellicott)
* * * * *
“For every beast of the forest is mine, and
the cattle upon a thousand hills” (Psa. 50:10).
“How far a wandering herd of cattle can
carry our thoughts — either to envy of the man who owns them and a lust
for similar wealth, or to a realization of the Supreme Power of God, and his all
pervading influence in our lives.” (L.F. Cox)
* * * * *
"O my God, make them like a wheel (galgal)"
(Psalm 83:13) — a reference to the wild artichoke. When ripe and dry, it
breaks off at the root and is carried by the wind, rolling like a wheel over the
plains. The RSV margin translates it "tumbleweed."
* * * * *
Psalm 84, a "Song for the Sons of Korah", voices
the desire of the writer, rather to be a doorkeeper in the house of God, than to
dwell in the tents of wickedness (v. 10). Some of the sons of Korah turned away
from their father, and did not perish with him in his rebellion (Num. 16:27;
26:10,11). The descendants of these survivors became keepers of the Temple-doors
(1 Chron. 9:19; 26:1; Neh. 11:19).
* * * * *
The prayers of the godly are more able to
disappoint the plots of cruel enemies, than all human policy."
(Dickson)
* * * * *
“Does our birthplace really
matter,
Palace, cottage, mansion, slum,
Village silence, city's
chatter?
Life was sown, and life did
come.
Yes, it does. It really matters,
Born we great or born we less.
We can change our earthly
tatters
Into robes of righteousness.
There's a birth we can rely on,
Born in Christ our Lord anew,
Choose your birthplace; make it
Zion;
Endless life 'twill bring to you.” (N. P.
Holt)
* * * * *
Psalm 104:15:
The light of love to live by,
The wine of friendship for sharing,
The bread of peace to nourish heart and soul....
For these we give thanks each
day.
* * * * *
A tiny cry in a manger. It was truly a miracle.
It was the greatest of all miracles — the birth of God's own Son! But
isn't every birth a "miracle," and a mystery? Isn't every child a "holy" child,
because he or she receives life from the God of holiness? Isn't every child a
"gift" from God, showing His continuing love for man, showing that even yet He
has not "given up" on us? And isn't every child a special child — like
Samuel or John or even Jesus — to be dedicated by righteous parents to the
service of God? Like Mary and Joseph, many of us have been entrusted by God with
future kings and queens, who will one day, by God's grace, sit upon thrones and
apply to the nations the lessons learned in their parents'
homes.
And, in fact, aren't we all children of God,
begotten by His love, who manifest our "sonship" in our love for one another? If
there is a lesson in the "nativity", it is this: the preeminence of love. We
love Him because He first loved us. For, after all, "Sonship" is not what we do,
but what we receive. Not what we earn, but a gift.
* * * * *
"I shall not die, but live, and declare the works
of the Lord " (Psa. 118:17): This verse was quoted by John Wycliffe to his
enemies on his deathbed — words fulfilled, of course, in the continued
success of the English Bible.
* * * *
“I am become like a bottle in the
smoke” (Psalm 119:83). Skins of wine were hung at the tops of tents, where
it was smoky and hot, so that the wine might mature. While the wine became
perfect, the skins became cracked and useless. The outward man perishing, while
the inward man is being renewed!
* * * * *
“A well-employed tongue for praising God,
and edifying others, is indeed a man’s commendation and glory above all
creatures.” (Dickson)
* * * * *
What the Word of God
is....
The word of faith (Rom. 10:8);
The word of grace (Acts 20:32);
The word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15; James
1:18);
The word of righteousness (Heb.
5:13);
The word of reconciliation (2 Cor.
5:19);
The word of promise (Rom. 9:9);
The word of power (Heb. 1:3);
The word of salvation (Acts
13:26).
* * * * *
What the Word of God
does...
The Word of God enlightens (Psa.
119:130).
The Word of God converts (Psa.
19:7).
The Word of God convinces (2 Tim.
3:16).
The Word of God teaches (Psa. 119:99; 2 Tim.
3:16).
The Word of God quickens (Psa. 119:9; John
15:3).
The Word of God washes (Eph.
5:26).
The Word of God sanctifies (John
17:17).
The Word of God dwells (Col.
3:16).
The Word of God works effectually (1 Thes.
2:13).
The Word of God prospers (Isa.
55:11).
The Word of God bears fruit (Matt.
13:23).
The Word of God exhorts (Heb.
13:22).
The Word of God builds up (Acts
20:32).
The Word of God guides (Psa.
119:105).
The Word of God strengthens against sin (Psa.
119:11).
The Word of God endures (1 Pet.
1:23).
The Word of God corrects (2 Tim.
3:16).
The Word of God judges (John
12:48).
* * * * *
Psalm 78: We tempt God when we covet what is
unlawful (v. 18), limit His power (v. 41), and do not keep His testimonies (v.
56).
* * * * *
“The house of the strange woman inclineth
unto death” (Prov. 2:16,18): Some Canaanite houses had a family burial
vault underneath, reached by stone stairs. Literally, then, as well as
figuratively, the unsuspecting Hebrew man who went in to a harlot was entering a
“house of death”!
* * * * *
No man can be careful of his time who is not wise
in the choice of his company.
* * * * *
“There was no such good day known to Israel
as that whereon they were given the Song of Songs; for all the Scriptures are
holy, but the Song of Songs is the holy of holies." (Rabbi
Akiba)
* * * * *
There is a crown of pride (Isaiah 28:3), which no
one should wear.
A crown of thorns (Matthew 27:29), which no one
can wear.
And a crown of life (James 1:12), which everyone
may wear.
* * * * *
God's “school” is for old men as well
as young. Men are not only initiated into the gospel, but they are trained with
a view to perfection. Since that perfection is unattainable, it stands to reason
that no man — not even the oldest and most spiritual — ever
"graduates" from that school! Every man is only a "child" to God; like a child,
he must continue to learn and grow in grace and knowledge.
* * * * *
"You only have I known... therefore I will punish
you " (Amos 3:2). "Closeness must not be mistaken for divine favoritism or
immunity from chastisement, but, on the contrary, it means being more seriously
exposed to divine judgment and chastisement." (Heschel)
* * * * *
21 Suggestions for
Success
- Marry the right person. This one decision will determine 90%
of your happiness or misery. If the right person isn't available, under no
circumstances should you marry someone else.
- Work at
something you enjoy and that is worthy of your time and
talent.
- Give people more than they expect, and do it
cheerfully.
- Become the most positive and enthusiastic
person you know.
- Be forgiving of others, and of
yourself.
- Be generous.
- Have a
grateful heart.
- Persistence, persistence,
persistence.
- Discipline yourself to save money on even
the most modest salary.
- Treat everyone you meet like you
want to be treated.
- Commit yourself to constant
improvement.
- Commit yourself to
quality.
- Understand that happiness is not based on
possessions, power, or prestige, but on relationships with people you love and
respect.
- Be loyal.
- Be
honest.
- Be a self-starter.
- Be
decisive even if it means you will sometimes be
wrong.
- Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for
every area of your life.
- Be bold and courageous. When
you look back on your life, you will regret the things you didn't do more than
the ones you did.
- Take good care of those you
love.
- Don't do anything that wouldn't make your mother
proud.
* * * * *
"Put thou my tears into Thy bottle" (Psalm 56:8).
This refers to a common custom of keeping a "tear-bottle", and therein
collecting tears shed on each sad occasion throughout one's life. This bottle,
then, which would symbolically hold all the sorrows, worries, and bereavements
of its owner's life, would be buried with him. The psalmist in this verse calls
upon God also to remember his sufferings, and finally to recompense and reward
the sufferer for his faith in his God.
* *** *
"Let a good man strike or rebuke me in kindness,
but let the oil of the wicked never anoint my head, for my prayer is continually
against their wicked deeds" (Psalm 141:5, RSV).
* * * * *
If we were preparing to pour precious wine into a
vessel, we would begin by emptying out the less valuable liquid that may be
still in it. So God often "empties" us, in order that we may, in His good time
and at His pleasure, be thoroughly and eternally
“filled”.
* * * * *
Satellite settlements, or suburbs, of an urban
center are, by Hebrew idiom, called "daughters." Thus, "the daughters of
Jerusalem" may refer to the villages surrounding that great city. Psalm 9:14
refers to the "gates" of the daughter of Zion, clearly indicating a town of some
sort (see also Psa. 48:11; 97:8; Isa. 10:32; Josh. 15:45,47: in the Joshua
passages the word “towns” is the same Hebrew word as
“daughters”). These "daughters" were dependent commercially,
politically and militarily upon the "mother city" — a collateral concept
echoed in Galatians 4:26 and Revelation 17:5, to cite two diametrically opposite
examples.
* * * * *
Ezekiel 16:4: Salting and swaddling were
customary practices for the care of newborns. Salting was to firm the skin and
contract the pores. By "swaddling" was meant the tight binding of arms and legs
to the body for up to forty days, to insure that they grow straight and
strong.
* * * * *
"Thy breach is great... who can heal thee?" (Lam.
2:13) To ask such a question is to answer it. Through the long ages there has
been only one answer; there can be only one answer. But poor deluded man will
continue to try everything else first. He will seek out every "physician", only
to find his condition worse (Mark 5:26), before he will think to turn to the One
who can truly heal. Then, if he is wise, he will turn his back on the wreckage
of all his past hopes:
"Lord to whom shall we go? Thou has the words of
eternal life" (John 6:68).
* * * * *
"He hath hedged me about" (Lamentations 3:7).
Every life is surrounded by divine limitations. God hedges us all about, in one
way or another. For one there may be physical limitations — of health or
disability or advancing age. Another might feel most severely the limitation of
poverty; and another yet, the lack of education. If we accept our Father's will,
then we will accept and graciously live with the "hedges" He has imposed upon
us. But if we fret and grumble and batter against these "fences" and "chains",
then — for one thing — we are rebelling against God. And — for
another thing — we are proportionally neglecting our unique opportunities
to do the good which God has placed within our power. We must do what we can,
with what we have, where we are. We are not responsible for what we cannot do,
nor for what we do not have, nor for where we cannot go.
* * * * *
To be firmly established in the conviction that
God is right even when things look wrong; that if there is fault it is all on
man's side; that where there is affliction it is due and just and essential
— that is the very core of faith!
* * * * *
Matthew 7:24-27: "The 'house' we are building is
the temple of God. It must be built with a strong foundation to withstand winds
and storms of trials, persecution and judgment. But it must also be a place of
holiness, righteousness, and truth; for God will dwell in no other." (E.W.
Banta)
* * * * *
Matthew 24:1-3: “And Jesus went out, and
departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the
buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things?
verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that
shall not be thrown down. And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples
came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what
shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the
world?”
"And now he and his disciples had departed from
the temple. Once more they lingered in sweet retirement on the mount of Olives.
The purple light on the mountains of Moab was fast fading out. Across the city
the sinking sun cast a rich glow over the pillared cloisters of the temple, and
over the silent courts as they rose terrace upon terrace. From where they stood
they could see over the closed Beautiful Gate, and right to the entrance of the
holy place, which now glittered with gold; while the eastern hills and the deep
valley below were thrown into a solemn shadow, creeping, as the orb sunk lower,
further and further towards the summit of Olivet, irradiated with one parting
gleam of roseate light, after all below was sunk in obscurity. Then it was and
there that the disciples, looking down upon the temple, pointed out to the
Master: 'What manner of stones and what buildings are here!' The view from that
site must have rendered belief in the Master's prediction even more difficult
and more sad. A few years more and it was all literally fulfilled."
(Edersheim)
* * * * *
The Good Shepherd
"On the roads of Palestine, and on the hills, you
see the good shepherd. He comes along at the head of his flock, generally
carrying over his shoulders a lamb or an injured sheep.
"A most remarkable thing is the sympathy that
exists between him and his flock. He never drives them as our own shepherds
drive their sheep. He always walks at their head, leading them along the roads
and over the hills to new pasture; and, as he goes, he sometimes talks to them
in a loud sing-song voice, using a weird language unlike anything I have ever
heard in my life.
"Early one morning I saw an extraordinary sight
not far from Bethlehem. Two shepherds had evidently spent the night with their
flocks in a cave. The sheep were all mixed together and the time had come for
the shepherds to go in different directions. One of the shepherds stood some
distance from the sheep and began to call. First one, then another, then four or
five animals ran toward him; and so on until he had counted his whole
flock.
"More interesting than the sight of this was the
knowledge that Jesus must have seen exactly the same sight and described it in
his own words: 'He calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when
he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him:
for they know his voice. And a stranger they will not follow...' This parable
spake Jesus unto them. 'I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known
of mine.' " (H.V. Morton, In the Steps of the Master, p.
154)
"I notice that some of the flock keep near the
shepherd, and follow whithersoever he goes, without the least hesitation, while
others stray about on either side, or loiter far behind; and he often turns
round and scolds them in a sharp, stern cry.
"Not unlike the Good Shepherd. Indeed, I never
ride over these hills, clothed with flocks, without meditating upon this
delightful theme. Our Savior says that the good shepherd, when he putteth forth
his own sheep, goeth before them, and they follow (John 10:4). This is true to
the letter. They are so tame and so trained that they follow their keeper with
the utmost docility... Any one that wanders is sure to get into
trouble.
"Some sheep always keep near the shepherd, and
are his special favorites. Each of them has a name, to which it answers
joyfully; and the kind shepherd is ever distributing to them choice portions
which he gathers for that purpose. These are the contented and happy ones. They
are in no danger of getting lost or into mischief, nor do wild beasts and
thieves come near them. The great body, however, are mere worldlings, intent
upon their own pleasures or selfish interests. They run from bush to bush,
searching for variety or delicacies, and only now and then lift their heads to
see where the shepherd is...
"Did you ever see a shepherd gather the lambs in
his arms, and carry them in his bosom (Isa. 40:11)? Often; and he will gently
lead along the mothers, in those times when to overdrive them even for a single
day would be fatal (Gen. 33:13)." (W.M. Thomson, The Land and the Book,
pp. 202-205)