For I am poor and sorrowful, and my heart is wounded within me

Psalm 109. This verse was especially meaninful to me in South Korea. Just remember, I know, that other people can, likewise, wounded at the heart level by us as well.

"Make it plain upon tables..."

Here goes my attempt to write out Psalm 119 from memory. I agree, with God's help, to type from memory and not go back and "cheat" (i.e. go in and correct errors after I have posted). Why? To the glory of God, of course:

ALEPH

Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.
2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies; and that seek him with the whole heart.
3 They also do no iniquity, they walk in his ways.
4 Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.
5 Oh that my ways were directed to keep that statutes!
6 Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all thy commandments.
7 I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgements.
8 I will keep thy statutes - Oh, forsake me not utterly.

New rules! I just realized that, though I intend to add one eight-verse section at a time, if I do it in separate  posts, then it will be backwards, with "Tau" (verses "59-5g" in "duotrigesimal" - or "Base Thirty-Two", or 169-176 in "decimal", or "base ten") last, and "Aleph" (i.e. verses 1-8) first - and that would simply not do. Therefore, I will "add" one eight verse section at a time - but I will still not go back and edit an eight verse section once I had added it and posted it. So now I am on "Beth", or verses 9-"g":

BETH
9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word.
a With my whole heart have I sought thee - Oh, let me not wander from thy commandments!
b Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
c Blessed art thou, O LORD - teach me thy statutes.
d With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.
e I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.
f I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.
g I will delight myself in thy statutes - I will not forget thy word.

...Alright, now it's time for...: "Gimel" - or verses "h=1¯f" to "r=1¯8" (i.e. 17-24 in decimal, or base ten):

GIMEL
h=1¯f Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live and keep thy word.
j=1¯e Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
k=1¯d I am a stranger in the earth - hide not thy commandments from me.
m=1¯c My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.
n=1¯b Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments.
p=1¯a Remove from me reproach and contempt, for I have kept thy testimonies.
q=1¯9 Princes also did sit and speak against me, but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.
r=1¯8 Thy testimonies also are my delight - and my counselors.

...and..."Daleth" - or decimal 25-32:

DALETH
s=1¯7 My soul cleaveth unto the dust: Quicken thou me according to thy word.
t=1¯6 I have declared my ways and thou heardest me - teach me thy statutes.
v=1¯5 Make me to understand the way of thy precepts - so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.
w=1¯4 My soul melteth for heaviness - strengthen thou me according unto thy word.
x=1¯3 Remove from me the way of lying, and grant me thy law, graciously.
y=1¯2 I have chosen the way of truth - thy judgments have I laid before me.
z=1¯1 I have stuck unto thy testimonies; O LORD, put me not to shame.
10 I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.

That concludes the portion of Psalm 119 for this evening. If I am able, I will get on a computer tomorrow, and continue with "HE", and etc...

They soon forgat his works, they waited not for his counsel...

Psalm CVI.

In the margin, it reads, "They made haste - they forgat..." My prayer is that God would preservce me, and us, from hastiness. Hastiness only tends to want, as we read in Proverbs, and I am sorry to say, I have learned that by experience. I can always change directions, however, and START WAITING, and STOP BEING SO DOG-GONE HASTY! Abba! I do! Help me to wait, O LORD, and help US! In Jesus' name, amen!

Love,

Daniel

Man goeth forth to his work, and to his labour until the evening...

Somewhere in Psalm CIIII. (i.e. One hundred and four)

I lament that we have invented, in the Western World, "Welfare States" that rob men of this privilege and responsibility. Not that we have to participate, however - just get out there and work and labour! Men, arise! (By the way, if nothing else, just get out there and pick up garbage!)

Daniel

Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings...

Psalm VIII.2

...hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and avenger.

Psalm CXXXIX

O LORD, thou hast searched me and known me...

I love this Psalm. It is such a comfort to me, because I do not know myself! I think I do, but I don't. It does not take much to realize that I need a shepherd - "bigtime"! And I have one - the LORD!

"Such knowledge is too wonderful for me - it is high, I cannot attain unto it."

I am overwhelmed at the revelation of God's omnipresence and omniscience - especially as it relates to me as a individual. I am undone by it - like a log in a fire is finally consumed by the flames so that is disintegrates into nothing more than dust and ashes.

"Marvelous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well."

I will let that last quote speak for itself. Bye for now.

Daniel

Psalm LXXXIX

In summary, the Psalmist recalls God's magnanimous promises to David, and then says, "But that is not what we see coming to pass at the present time..." Somehow, notwithstanding the testimony David held to the end, of being a man after God's own heart; and the faith he had to the end, in God's unfailing promises to him - there was to be some severe testing. It simply did not seem like God had remembered his promises. The psalmist (Heman the Ezrahite, if my memory serves me correctly), rightly reminds God of those promises. For that matter, so do I! Lord, please remember thy promises to bless my going out and coming in from this time forth, and for evermore! In Jesus' name, amen!

God WAS hungry... and IS!

"If I were hungry, I would not tell thee..." Psalm L (Roman Numeral for "fifty"). I was just pondering this Scripture, and realized something: God WAS hungry - and I think he still is today! How do I know this? Later in the Scriptures, we read, "Jesus was an hungered". Well, Jesus was and is God, was and is he not? And Jesus was hungry! And, true to form, he did not tell another person about his hunger. He even resisted the temptation, to satisfy his hunger by himself. He quoted the Scripture, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."

We also read, however, in Matthew chapter XXV, where Jesus foretells of a day when he will say to the sheep as well as the goats, "I was a hungry..." And what will their response be?... "When!" "When saw we thee an hungered". In a word, both sheep and goats will say, "But thou didst not tell us!" Exactly. As we know from Psalm chapter fifty, if he were hungry he would NOT tell us!

It is a sobering reminder to me that - though God, represented by the "least of these" of today, IS hungry, he will NOT tell me! He IS, however, watching and waiting for me to give them (i.e. "him") something to eat, and will reward me when I do so.

One final thought is that if WE hunger, then WE become the least of these, with whom God so closely identifies himself. WE hunger as HE hungered, and Jesus therefore says in the beatitudes, "Blessed are ye that hunger..."

Daniel

P.S. I also note that Jesus said in Matthew chapter six, that when we fast, we should not make a public show of it (in other words, if WE are hungry (particularly, due to fasting), WE should not necessarily tell others that we are). In so doing, we will be imitating God who, indeed, "keeps it to himself" when he is hungry.

"And riseth up again"

This Scripture, from Proverbs 24 - today's chapter of Proverbs - quickened me today; and got me up!

"We are become a scorn to our neighbours..."

Can ye get and keep jobs? If ye can, congratulations. For my part, I know I can - but have not yet been able to see that ability released in my life. I just plain keep losing my jobs. Sometimes, as with H&R Block, that is simply because tax season is over. Today, however, it was because, according to Kelly, I just wasn't producing enough trusses.

It is all I can do to hold my head high and smile brightly - but, by the grace of God, I am doing it. And I will do it! This will anything but defeat me. It will actually propel me. How do I know that? By faith! Hallelujah! By the way, the Scripture that begins this post is from Psalm LXXIX.

A few verses

In Psalm 50, we read, "If I were hungry, I would not tell thee..." From this I gather that I can forget about meeting any of God's needs. Rather, he is the one that must meet mine.

"Call upon me in the day of trouble. I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." God is glorified when we call on him in trouble and receive his salvation. It is true that we should not just remember him when we get into trouble, but I think he understands that it is troubles that drive us to him, and therefore he allows it to come.

Then, in Psalm 55, "Cast thy burden upon the LORD and he shall sustain thee. He will never suffer the righteous to me moved."

It is not a bad thing to call on God when we get into trouble. It is just that, as brother Vaughn points out at his blog: http://www.devotional.vaughnfriesen.com/, we should remember him in the good times, too.

I am small and despised, yet do not I forsake thy precepts (Psalm CXIX.141)

One might think that, if God's Son came to earth, he would be honoured and exalted - and, to be sure - that eventually did happen (and will happen). It, however, certainly did not happen right away. Ironically enough, as a matter of fact, he was hated, despised, and slain. Treating God's only begotten Son like that was the ultimate case in point of how depraved, wicked, and stupid we - his creatures - become when we go our own way.

The good news, however, is that he is ready and willing to forgive us and receive us as one of his own. Then we can go from persecutors to to persecuted. From Despising to despised. And, eventually, with him, we will be honoured and exalted. Lord, let us not lose heart when we are small and despised, even as Jesus Christ was not (and King David, who according to many wrote Psalm 119 (if not Daniel, as still others suppose)). In Jesus' name, amen.

Sit thou at my right hand... (Psalm CX)

I like that - "sit". Sitting is downright easy, if I do say so myself, and it is one of the things we see done in the Scriptures. For example, consider Mary. Whereas Martha thought Mary negligent for sitting, Jesus actually said she had chosen the better part, which would not be taken from her. It is by no means always time to be sitting, but there is a time and place for it. As we read in Isaiah 30 (if I remember correctly), "Their strength is to sit still." And, really, think about it! What are the precious moments we can have with a beloved child. Is it not when they sit with us? Let us remember that the Lord Jesus Christ desires the same from us, and - go ahead - sit down!

He was Ready to Pay!

By: Daniel Robbins - a Perfectionist

I was a young boy - and that was plain for all to see. After all, any man could see what I obviously did not... until now.

Now, I was at the checkout counter. Now, stark, cold, wet reality was introducing me to a mortifying fact: I did not have enough money for what I was trying to buy.

Oh! I had money - and, being the boy I was, I thought that that was all I needed. "I have money... I give that money to the lady... she lets me take the merchandise, and everybody is happy."

The problem was, I failed to realize that - again - I did not have enough money. Not - at least - until "now." Therefore, "now" was actually a terrifying and (as I said) embarrassing situation! What, then, did I do?

I suppose I did what any lost, little, frightened boy would do: I ran away with my bag of potato chips (or whatever they were) to put them back on the store shelf - crying and wailing as I ran.

The really painful part of that memory, however, is that the man in line behind me at the till tried to get my attention - tried to stop me. He called to me. He entreated me to look and listen. I did stop for a moment and looked back. I saw that he was standing there with the money in-hand; ready and willing to pay for "my" bag of chips (or, at least, it could have been mine).

I could not do it, though. I could not bring myself to go back. I was just plain too embarrassed - so I carried on to where I had found the chips, and put them back.

I mourn. I mourn - not because I missed out on a bag of chips. Not at all. There is something far deeper that I mourn. I mourn the fact that I could have ``saved face.`` I could have experienced grace and mercy. I could have cooperated. That man would have paid the price for me, I would have gotten what I wanted, and the cashier and that man would have been blessed. (Instead, they just had to watch me carry on in my folly).

I know I cannot go back and change my foolish actions back then - but I can sure prepare my heart for next time. Next time I am in a situation like that, I am going to stop, turn around, go back, and let the man pay for me!

So what if I have to humble myself! Do I not want my chips? Come to think of it, has very much really changed since that day? I trow (I.e. ``suppose``) not.

I still do not have enough money - only, this time, it is not just a bag of chips. I owe a lot more money than I have - and I know I am not the only one.

This debt, however, is actually - really - only symbolic! Morally speaking, in and of myself, I am really in trouble!

Therefore, with David (who definitely knew what it was to run up against “moral bankruptcy"), I pray:

O turn unto me and have mercy upon me: give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid. Shew me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because thou, LORD, hast holpen (i.e. helped) me, and comforted me." (Psalme LXXXVI. 16-17)

Ye see (I.e. "You see"), when that man offered to pay for me, God was showing me a "token for good". I was just too scared, proud, and stubborn to receive it at that time. This time, however - so help thou me, God - I am going to thankfully receive it! How about the rest us us?

Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son, was God's ultimate "token for good." I beseech you: receive Him by faith. He is standing there with his nail-scarred hands outstretched - ready and willing to apply his payment for sin to your account. He is alive from the dead, as a token of the resurrection power that will one day resurrect you and me to everlasting life, if we will but humble ourselves, come to him, and say, "OK." In other words, "Lord, I believe." (See the latter portion of John's gospel, chapter Nine).

That calls for worship!...
Hallelujah! (I.e. "Praise Ye the LORD!")

"When I saw the prosperity of the wicked" (Psalm LXXIII)

Though I am all pumped up about the oncoming prosperity I believe God has in store, it is sobering to recall what Asaph describes as the "prosperity of the wicked". Such is the kind of prosperity I can do without! For us, by all means, our prosperity is mainly spiritual. It consists of offspring - spiritual and physical. And, of course, it certainly involves having our physical needs met (and even exceeded, in my opinion, in God's good time). While the wicked seem to have more than heart could wish, however, I will gladly wait for the fulfillment of the following verse from Proverbs: "Blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich - and he addeth no sorrow with it".

"Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads;..." Psalme LXVI.12

"...we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place." Hallelujah! I declare it by faith! "But thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place." It certainly has been a grind - and, I know, not just for me. But take heart! All you "grinders" out there! We are about to be brought out into a wealthy place! Amen, O LORD - may it be so, in Jesus' name, amen!

"Thou tellest my wanderings..." Psalm LVI.8

I do not know about you, but life sure is a sobering experience. It all happens really fast. A verse from Proverbs comes to mind: "A man's heart deviseth his way, but the LORD directeth his steps." We can, and should, do what we can to plan responsibly, but we had better be ready to move when God says it is time. And we had better know how to do it quickly. Do not get stuck in or too attached to one place - because when it is time to go, you go. As Jesus Christ said, "Remember Lot's wife." She had grown attached to Sodom and Gomorrah, but it was time to go, and so looking back cost her her life.

One day soon, if my theology of the "rapture" is correct, we will soon get our utlimate "it's time to go" call. When we do, will we be looking back? Let us be found among them that "love his appearing". And if he keeps us in wandering mode so that we are ready to go at any time, let us thank him for it.

"...tear you in pieces..." (Psalm L)

Why would God threaten to tear anyone in pieces! The answer is simple: slander. When we speak against our brothers, and slander our own mother's son, according to the latter portion of Psalm 50, we run the risk of being torn in pieces! The moral of the story is simply: we must watch what we say about each other.

Pro 10:18 ¶ He that hideth hatred [with] lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, [is] a fool.

Heavenly Father, please preserve us from being such fools. In Jesus' name, amen.

"Because of my sin" (Psalm XXXVIII(i.e. "thirty-eight").3)

I love those words. I mean, I REALLY love them? Why because they tell me I am not the only one. I am not the only one that gets "in over his head" "because of his sin." I am a card-carrying perfectionist, and make no apologies for that fact. At the same time, however, I do think God really had something to prove by laying the burden and message of perfection on MY heart!

Me? A sinner? A "REAL sinner? "No joke" sinner? Why not choose some guy that has his life together. Some guy than can get and keep a job for at least a year? Why choose me? Well, he also chose David. And David was a broken man. And David got in over his head "because of his sin." That threatens to bring tears to my eyes.

"Lord, I thank thee for David, and for his root and offspring, who found himself in over his head because of MY sin - because of OUR sin! Make me grateful, and us. Make me perfect, and us. In Jesus' name (speaking of the "root and offspring of David"), amen."

Hooray for the Friesens!

I dedicate the second morning Psalm, Psalm 31, to the Friesens. It was while I was memorizing this Psalm that they gave me a place to stay. The message of this Psalm is a very accurate reflection of my state of being at that time. For example, "Mine eye is consumed with grief - yea, my soul and my belly." And, "Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD."

A prayer of the afflicted when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the LORD...

This is the heading for this morning's first Psalm - Psalm CII (or One Hundred and Two). Obviously, then, while murmuring is ill advised, complaining is actually Scriptural! Not that all the Psalms start this way, of course, Psalm CIII (or One Hundred and Three), starts with, "Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me; bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits..." Therefore, though we are allowed to complain, we should not always be doing it (then it would become murmuring).

On the other hand, though we ought to be of good cheer, in spite of the tribulations we shall have; we should, in my opinion, also keep in mind that we might have to do a little complaining to God every once in a while. Did not even Jesus, every once in a while, sigh, or exclaim, "How long...!" All in the right proportions, we can walk even as he walked, and find that, in Christ, God is well pleased with us. "Lord, teach us to pray, and give us the Holy Spirit, whom - we know - we sorely need to that end, in Jesus' name, amen."

The sea is his, and he made it - and his hands formed the dry land (Psalm 95)

Would you ever doubt that a chair or table was made by someone's hands? How about a written sentence - or even any recognizable symbol, such as a letter of the alphabet, or indo-arabic number (i.e. "1,2,3..."? Yet, in our foolishness, we in the western world have come to suppose that the sea and dry land, along with the living creatures in and on them, evolved. Utter foolishness indeed! The very fact that there is any water on this planet should tell us something - yet we keep snooping around the universe for traces of that which has been richly betowed on us by God's loving hands. Lord, save us from such folly!

"Return, O LORD, how long, and let it repent thee concerning thy servants..." Psalm XC(i.e. "Ninety").13

God may not be a man, that he should repent, but we also read of times where it did repent him that he had done (or determined to do) certain things. For example, it repented him that he had made man upon the earth in Genesis 6. Or, on several occasions, when he saw his people in sore distress, he repented himself of the evil he had sent upon them. David, the author of the Psalms, knew of this (II Samuel 24:16; Psalm 106:45) - and so did Moses, the author of this morning's first Psalm. He, as a matter of fact, was instrumental in turning away God's wrath(Psalm 106:23), that God should not destroy the children of Israel.


I am reminded of another instance where God repented himself: Nineveh. In this case, Jonah wondered at the justice of such repentance. After all, Niniveh was extremely wicked. The good news, however, is that no matter how wicked we are, we can rest assured that God may repent himself of the evil he has determined against us, if we will but repent. Furthermore, while God did honour the repentance of Nineveh, with some repentance of his own, judgement did still eventually come on Nineveh; so while he is gracious and ever willing to pardon, he is by no means mocked.




Then again, there was Josiah. He was a great king, and he turned to the LORD with all his heart, so that there was none like him - before him or after him. In this case, however, God actually refused to repent. Why, because - among other things - Manasseh in particular had just plain shed too much innocent blood; and God simply would not forgive it. Even this instance, however, God did honour the fact that Josiah's heart was tender, and promised not to send the evil in Josiah's lifetime (which, incidentally, was the same thing he did when Ahab repented - (please see: http://daninmbii.blogspot.com/2007/01/ahab-heard-elijah-words.html if ye would like to see a hymn I wrote about this)).


Moses knew what it was to see God repent of destroying Israel (alluded to earlier), and yet also refuse to repent of his decision to not allow Moses to take the Israelites into Canaan (after he had smitted the rock twice instead of speaking to it). Therefore, we may ask God to "let it repent him" concerning certain things, but may or may not find him willing to do so. In a word, God may not be oversimplified. As Matthew Henry notes, his "judgements are a great deep". This quotation is taken from Psalm 36:6, and it is followed by, "...O LORD, thou preservest man and beast". We may not always be able to make perfect sense of his various judgements, but we may rest assured that his is a preserving work that benefits his creation.

Sincerely,

Daniel