Psalm 110--150

"Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high, Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth! He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people." Psalm 113:5-8

Psalm 114

"I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living." Ps 116:9

"Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." Ps 116:15

"The LORD cares deeply when his loved ones die." Ps 116:15

through ps 118

"Open my eyes, so that I will see wonders from your Torah." CJB
"Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions." NLT
-Psalm 119:18

"I will run the way of your mitzvot, for you have broadened my understanding." CJB
"I will pursue your commands, for you expand my understanding." NLT
-Psalm 119: 32

"You are good and do only good; teach me your decrees." NLT
-Psalm 119:68

"I see the limits of all perfection, but your mitzvah has no bounds." CJB
-Psalm 119:96

"I take your instruction as a permanent heritage, because it is the joy of my heart." CJB
"Your laws are my treasure; they are my heart’s delight."

-Psalm 110:111

"You are my hiding-place and shield; I put my hope in your word." -Psalm 119:114 CJB

"I have had to live far too long with those who hate peace.

I am all for peace; but when I speak, they are for war."

Psalm 120: 6-7

"The LORD is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth." Ps 145:18

"He takes no delight in the strength of a horse, no pleasure in a runner's speed.
Adonai takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who wait for his grace." Ps 147:10-11

Psalm 86-109

"A Prayer of Moses the man of God. 
Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. 
Before the mountains were brought forth, 
or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, 
even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." 
-Ps 90:1-2

"Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;"
To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
Ps 92:13-15

"In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul." Psalm 94:19

"Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity." Psalm 98:8-9

"Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture." Ps 100:3

"I will lead a life of integrity in my own home." Ps 101:2

Favorites:
Psalm 103

"O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches." Psalm 104: 24

Ps 106

"Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness." Ps 107: 8-9

"Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man." Ps 108:12

Ps 109

Psalms 51-85

"Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom."  Psalm 51:5-6

Shaped in sin---in utero sin.

Pulpit Commentary insights: "It is doubtless true, as Professor Cheyne says, that "the Old Testament contains no theory of the origin of sin"—no formulated doctrine on the subject. But the fact of congenital depravity is stated, not only here, but also in Job_14:4; Psa_58:3; it is also implied in Isa_43:27 and Hos_6:7."

"And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest." Psalm 55:6
Resonates with me this morning.  Flying away.  Rest.

"...if riches increase, set not your heart upon them." Ps 62:10

"God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God." Ps 62:11

"The Detective detects the mystery in the dark of the cellar heart." Ps 64:6 The Message

Although I don't typically like The Message for the psalms, I find that translation effective in an unexpectedly contemporary way.

"Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly: thou settlest the furrows thereof: thou makest it soft with showers: thou blessest the springing thereof. Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness." Ps 65: 10-11

Lush agricultural imagery.

"Blessed be the Lord— day after day he carries us along." -Ps 68:19 The Message

"Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits." Ps 68:19, KJ

"...unto GOD the Lord belong the issues from death." Ps 68:20 KJ

 "They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards." Ps 69

It would be discouraging for sure to be the song of drunkards.

Psalm 73---so good.

"The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun." Ps 74:16

"Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck.
For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.
But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another." Ps 75:5-7

"Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known." Ps 77:19

"For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." Ps 84:11

Group #2--Psalm 31 through 50

"I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities." Psalm 31:7

There is comfort in knowing that God sees our trouble and stress.

"Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men! Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues." Psalm 31:19-20

To think that God stores up goodness for us...

"Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him." Psalm 32:6

There is a time during which God can be found which means there is also a time when it may be too late.

"The LORD says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you." Genesis 32:8

"...but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about." Psalm 32: 10

"Praise befits the upright." Psalm 33:1 ESV

The rhythms of life are a gift:

"When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.

As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
shall never cease.”

Genesis 8:21-22

They either point to or from the Lord.  God's either in His Heaven and all is right or not.

"that's part of loving someone--you love them in hard ways." -Grace

"...for praise is comely for the upright." Psalm 33:11 KJ

"The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations." Ps 33:11

"...he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds." Ps 33:15

"Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love." Ps 33:18

"The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing." Ps 34:10

"Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it." Ps 34:14 KJ

"Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it." Ps 34:14 NLT

"The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed." Ps 34:18

"Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all." Ps 34:19

"For they do not speak peace, but against those who are quiet in the land they devise words of deceit." Ps 35:20

David knew that there were people who were against him in injustice.  He didn't shirk from praying he would be vindicated against them.  He knew the boundaries and who was wrong/out of line.  I admire his moral clarity in this regard.

"Vindicate me, O LORD, my God, according to your righteousness, and let them not rejoice over me!" Psalm 35:24

"Let them be clothed with shame and dishonour that magnify themselves against me." Ps 35:26

Listening to Brooklyn Tabernacle's song based on Psalm 34---it encourages all to "magnify the Lord, bless His name forever."  Eyes on Him.  Eyes on Him.

"O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together." Ps 34:3

"I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth." Ps 34:1

"O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him." Psalm 34:8

I have always thought this "taste and see" odd.  Think it's on my parent's gravestone thanks to Kathy.  She viewed my dad as a person who enjoyed food and earthly pleasures I guess.  I think that was her reasoning.  What I get out of it is "trust in God."  It's on our currency.  It should be written on and in our hearts. He not only gives us good things, but he himself is a good pleasure.

(1) There is no praise without concentration of soul.
(2) Distracting forces are rife. -Biblical Illustrator on Ps 34

"It is social. The true worshipper becomes magnetic; he draws others to the shrine before which he falls." -BI

Finishing the Year with the Psalms, Batch #1 Psalms 1-30

I bailed on Allistair Begg--just needed to get back to the Word, period.  There is value in listening to preachers, but I don't want to move too far from the primary text. So, to end 2019, I've decided to read 7 psalms a day and started this two or three days ago.

It's been a blur--our Boston Terrier is terminally ill, and I'm not sleeping well.

All that to say, I realized this morning that I need the physical structure of the blog to hold my thoughts and keep them on track.  Today I'm picking up with psalm 18.

"...with the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward." Psalm 18: 26 KJ

"...with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous." Psalm 18: 26 ESV

"The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever." Psalm 19:9

Psalms 20 and 21 war psalms.

 "Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns." Psalm 22:21 KJ

Unicorns?  In the Bible?  huh.  Translates to wild ox or bull in other versions...

"I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee." Psalm 22:22

Public praise is a good thing. King David thought so.

"For he has not ignored or belittled the suffering of the needy. He has not turned his back on them, but has listened to their cries for help." Psalm 22:24 

I remember making a visual of this verse, and it being on my mom's bedroom wall when Kathy was caring for her. Though we suffer, He listens and is faithful.

 "He restores my soul." -Psalm 23:3

Ah, the word restore.  And to restore one's soul.

"Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place?
"He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully." -Psalm 24:3-4

"All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies." Psalm 25:10

All the paths.....not most, not many.

"Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old." -Psalm 22:6

ever of old...duration and time...

"O LORD, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells." -Psalm 26:8

"One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple." Psalm 27:4

"Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart." -Psalm 27:24

"Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle." -Psalm 28:2

What exactly is a supplication?  A plea?  I feel like we've lost this concept.  Lifting up hands when he cries unto him---emotion and gestures in prayer.  What is an oracle exactly?  Interesting word that makes me think of pagan worship.

"The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters." Psalm 29:3

The imagery of "the voice of the Lord" dominates Psalm 29.  This verse reminds me of Genesis 1:2:

"And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."

There is something about the Spirit of God and water.  I've always been drawn to water which brings life, recreation, mystery, danger, peace, meditation, contemplation, a sense of permanence in change.

"The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory." Psalm 29:9 KJ

"The voice of the LORD twists mighty oaks and strips the forests bare. In his Temple everyone shouts, “Glory!”" Psalm 29:9 NLT

The storm imagery seems more in keeping with this psalm--the mention of the Lord inspiring birth is intriguing.

"The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever." Psalm 29:10

"For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Psalm 30:5

Night can be a hard time---literally and figuratively.  This resonates with me as we walk our terminally ill dog through rough nights.  She is better as the morning goes on.

"Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever." Psalm 30:11-12

God blesses so that we may praise?


God values praise.

Chapter 1 "Before the Foundation of the World"

Phillips points out that there are many places in the scriptures that mention the foundations of the world.

"All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable.
This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”  Matthew 13:34-35

"Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Matt 25:34

"....so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation." Luke 11:50

For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world.  Heb 4:3

"For then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Heb 9:26

"Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain."  Rev 13:7-8

"The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come." Rev 17:8

"He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you." 1 Peter 1:20

God's eternal purposes in redemption:

1. The splendor of the Lord's person.

Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.  John 17:24

While on earth, his disciples were viewed as ignorant, unlearned men. Jesus himself was viewed as a Galilean, disrespected.  At the last supper, Jesus desires the disciples "may be with me where I am" in order to "see my glory."

2  The selection of the Lord's people.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. Eph 1:3-4

Phillips uses the analogy of a chess master who allows the novice player free choice over the board but who inherently has much more control over the board because of his chess experience and understanding.

He also stresses that the act of being chosen is much more about being adopted by God, "Election is not so much about the salvation of sinners (if at all).  It is about the high calling, the magnificent destiny, and the eternal enrichment of God's people" (19-20).

"God is not restricted by the tenses of time....Since God dwells in the eternal present, it is obvious that the moment He chose us and the moment we chose Him was the very same moment in God's eternal present tense."

3. The scope of the Lord's passion.

The trinity determined the plan for redemption before the foundation of the world was laid.  Phillips likens it to his wife's music box.  When we look inside, we "see" the complete tune pegged out in metal prongs, but it is only over time, over playing the box, that the tune will come to life, "The whole plan, from a past eternity to ages yet unborn is all pegged out in heaven" (21).  During WW II he relates the BBC would report "Everything is proceeding according to plan," so that although the world may feel precarious as difficulty unfolds, God proceeds according to His plans.

I found both of his analogies--the chess game and the music box--helpful in understanding God's preeminence and foreknowledge in relationship to human understanding and will.

John Phillips and Intro Matter

About John Phillips

(1927-2010) He was born in Wales, served in the British army during WWII in Palestine. After the war, he moved to Canada to start a small church. He later worked at Moody Bible Institute and moved to North Carolina in retirement. He taught at the Moody Evening School and on the Moody Broadcasting network.  There's a gob of his sermons online here.

Table of Contents

The book is divided into seven parts that all start with "p"

1.Prehistorical
2. Pictorial
3. Poetical
4. Prophetical
5. Portrayal
6. Practical
7. Perennial

Warren Wiersbe & Forward
Forward--by Warren Wiersbe (1929-2019)

I didn't realize Wiersbe had passed in May of 2019, so it proved timely to read Justin Taylor's survey of Wiersbe's ministry at The Gospel Coalition website:

"Wiersbe served at Moody from 1971 to 1978, during which time he wrote for Moody Monthly, penning the “Insight for the Pastor” column, where he offered not only practical theology counsel but also wrote biographical sketches of noted figures in church history, which formed the basis for his books Listening to the Giants (1976) and Walking with the Giants (1980). Each of the entries included bibliographic information for further reading—a feature that encouraged and guided many pastors to explore primary sources for themselves. " -from the Gospel Coalition

"The staff at Moody Church quickly discovered Wiersbe’s sense of humor. He recalled:

God has a sense of humor. If you don’t believe that, go to the shopping mall, sit there and look at the people. It will convince you that God has a sense of humor. Humor is based on contradiction, seeing the other side of a situation. In one of the churches I pastored, we would have our staff meeting on Monday morning. We’d spend the first twenty minutes laughing over what happened the day before. Because people are people and situations are situations. I remember the Sunday morning at Moody Church when John the Baptist came in. This guy came in wearing a white robe and carrying a big pole and he said he was John the Baptist. We knew he was a fraud because he had a head." -GC

Jacobsen's survey also led me to this sweet blog post by D. Jacobsen, Wiersbe's grandson, "Be Remembered: My Grandpa, the Bridge Builder." Here are some excerpts:

"Grandpa mutters the phrase, “write for the ear, not for the eye!” but what does that even mean?!"

"The bridges I’ve seen him build are far more impressive. His preferred tools were words, his blueprints were the Scriptures, and his workspace was a self-assembled library. Grandpa knew he was a bridge builder, not a home builder, nor a museum builder, but a bridge builder. Bridges are functional, yet only some are remarkable. I think he had the writing chops to weave together his own Buechner-esque fairy tale, but he stuck to expounding Scriptures, practically helping people move closer to the destination of Christlikeness.... But bridge builders don’t do it for the money, they always build bridges with the utilitarian purpose of helping others get to the other side."

"But one of the greatest gifts my grandfather gave me was a collection of his early sermons and radio shows (think podcasts) where he would rail on hippies for not loving their neighbors who don’t look like themselves. He wrote a very good book with E.K. Bailey called Preaching in Black and White and his ministry always carried with it the sense of grace toward one another regardless of race."

"But the bridge I am most grateful that he built is the bridge that I’ve walked across myself, and which I’m reminded of tonight. It’s the bridge of family heritage. One of Grandpa’s favorite verses was Psalm 33:11, “But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” My Grandpa was a generational bridge builder."

Moving onto the short but purposeful forward, Wiersbe comments that "Without Jesus, the Bible makes no sense; without his atoning death on the cross, the Bible makes no difference. The gospel is gone."

The Bible is such a treasure that can be looked at from endless angles, but Wiersbe is correct in that the only lens through which it can be understood fully is the lens of Christ and his work.

Along the way, Wiersbe compares John Phillips to previous generational writers: Campbell Morgan (1863-1945) and Sidlow Baxter (1903-1999). Both of these men are 20th century fundamentalist oriented preachers and writers. Like these men, Wiersbe states that Phillips has "the rare gift of bringing diverse scripture passages together" (7).

Preface

'the mystery of iniquity — the counterwork to “the mystery of godliness” (1Ti_3:16). Anti-Christianity latently working, as distinguished from its final open manifestation. “Mystery” in Scripture means, not what remains always a secret, but that which is for a while hidden, but in due time manifested (compare Eph_3:4, Eph_3:5)."Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown

Phillips states "this is essentially a book of devotion" (9).

The View from Mount Calvary, John Phillips

I'm sad to leave the book of Genesis and Jack Abeelen's warm voice each morning.  I haven't enjoyed Genesis in that way in a long, long time--if ever.  The process of taking notes on his sermons and the frequent transcription of his words slowed me down and helped me ruminate over these people. I'm thankful for Pastor Jack, his habit of recapping before moving on, and his gift of insight.

Back when Pastor Jack was working through Abraham, he mentioned a book, The View from Mount Calvary, by John Phillips. The premise and subtitle of this effort is to offer "24 portraits of the cross throughout scripture." Pastor Jack was particularly struck by the power of Phillip's chapter on Abraham saying it was the best he's read.  This was enough to prompt me to hunt down the book--not as easy to find as some published in UK.

Now that I have it in hand, I'm less excited about the intellectual effort and discipline it will require.  But, this is the third or forth Christian book I've ordered in the last year or so and not read.  I'd much rather jump into Exodus with Pastor Jack.  All the more reason that I feel I should break the pattern and give it a go.

So, here's my go.  I'm hoping the act of posting will keep me accountable and active.