The Saturday Morning Post – Hope For America
Today’s Passage – Isaiah 19 – 23 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)
(Second Milers also read – Luke 23 – 24; Psalms 11 – 15; Proverbs 3)
Read the “0803 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
(Isaiah 19:16-25) “In that day shall Egypt be like unto women: and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which he shaketh over it. (17) And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt, every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the LORD of hosts, which he hath determined against it. (18) In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the LORD of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction. (19) In that day shall there be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the LORD. (20) And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them. (21) And the LORD shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the LORD, and perform it. (22) And the LORD shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the LORD, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them. (23) In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. (24) In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: (25) Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.
Good morning. I’d like to call your attention to verses 24 and 25. It appears that there are three types of peoples, or will be. God refers to the Egyptians as His people.
1) Blessed Be Egypt MY People
(Exodus 7:4-5) “But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. (5) And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.”
The Egyptians come to know the LORD through all the plagues, and when all Israel walks out of Egypt and bondage. I was reminded of what Yul Brynner said to his wife in the movie: The Ten Commandments: “His God is God.”
And according to our passage, the Egyptians would be God’s people. And that brings us to the Assyrians.
2) Blessed Be Assyria, The Work Of MY Hands
Assyria was created by God for His purpose.
(2Kings 17:6 & 23) “(6) In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.”
”(23) Until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.”
And thirdly is Israel.
3) Blessed Be Israel MINE Inheritance
(Genesis 12:1-3) “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: (2) And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: (3) And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”
(Genesis 35:9-12) “And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him. (10) And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. (11) And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; (12) And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.”
(Exodus 4:22-23) “And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: (23) And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.”
And as the firstborn, Israel was entitled to a double portion. He was the heir. Israel was God’s inheritance. And we who have received Jesus as our personal Saviour are also part of His inheritance.
(Romans 8:15-17) “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. (16) The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: (17) And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”
(1John 5:11-13) “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (12) He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. (13) These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”
So what about America? Is America like Assyria, raised up to protect Israel? Is America like Egypt, and has to go through the plagues before they turn back to God? Or are we part of Israel? We who are believers are grafted in with Christ: we have become part of Israel.
Peace.
Posted in Devotions by Pastor Ted Stahl with 2 comments.
Do You Need an “I” Exam?
Today’s Passage – Isaiah 14 – 18 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)
(Second Milers also read – Luke 21 – 22; Psalms 6 – 10; Proverbs 2)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 19
Read the “0802 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I willascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” – (Isaiah 14:12-14)
Five times in this passage, we see Lucifer (Satan) using the phrase “I will”. Did you ever notice how much we use the word “I”. We, like Satan, are full of ourselves. Satan fell because of his pride, and most of us have the same problem. We would never admit it, but we are really the “god” of our own lives. We worship ourselves, and though we won’t admit it, we are really not much different than Satan when it comes to pride. It is natural to exalt ourselves, and it is very diffficult to be humble; but humility is required for us to surrender to Christ. In order to be saved, we need to humble ourselves, and in order to live the spirit-filled life, we must continually abase ourselves and lift up Christ. Easier said than done.
Lately, we have been bombarded with news of great men who have fallen into sin. It both grieves me, and scares me because I know that it could be me. I am sure, however, that pride is a root factor in all of these moral failures that we are hearing about. I think if we were to be able to examine each individual case carefully in retrospect, we would be able to recognize a pattern of pride. A Biblical example of someone falling due to pride is what happened to King Saul. He was at one time “little in his own eyes”, but God elevated him in the eyes of men. He enjoyed the praise and respect of men, and began to believe all of the nice things that people were saying about him, and all of the attention that he was getting. Somewhere along the line, he probably started to think that he somehow deserved the credit that he was getting. He gradually began to steal a little of the glory that rightly belonged only to God. He then started to operate independently of God, doing his own thing instead of obeying what God commanded. He also became threatened and insecure when anybody else received any praise. Eventually, he fell.
David fell also. He became too important to fight with the rest of his army, so he stayed home. He saw a woman that belonged to another man, but because he was the king, he felt that he was entitled to take her. He then tried to cover up his sin with the murder of her husband, and he was sure that he would get away with it. After all, he was a big and powerful man. Who would dare question King David? He though that he could do whatever he wanted. He wasn’t under any authority, not even God. What a shame.
Unfortunately, we see this all too often in the ministry, as well. As God begins to allow us to see some success in our ministries, we must remember that it is He that worked through us. We have no right to think that we are deserving of praise. To God be all the glory. Watch out for pride. Stay “little” in your own eyes, and don’t allow people to exalt you. Deflect all praise to the Lord for He alone is worthy.
“O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.” – (Psalm 34:3)
“For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” – (Luke 14:11)
“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” – (Proverbs 16:18)
Posted in Thoughts from Isaiah by Phil Erickson with 2 comments.
I Want To Die – The Saturday Morning Post
Today’s Passage – Ecclesiastes 9 – 12 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)
(Second Milers also read – Luke 9 – 10; Psalms 126 – 130; Proverbs 27)
Read the “0727 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
(Ecclesiastes 9:1-6) “For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them. (2) All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath. (3) This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead. (4) For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. (5) For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. (6) Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.”
Good morning. I want to die. Don’t you? I’ll miss you all. No I won’t, because the dead know not anything. There are not anymore chances for any rewards, and I will soon be forgotten. All my love, hatred, and envy will be gone, and I have no more portion in anything that is done under the sun. Pretty grim isn’t it. But I am still living, and I know one day I will die: we all have an appointed time. But I want to die now…
(Ephesians 4:17-32) “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, (18) Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: (19) Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. (20) But ye have not so learned Christ; (21) If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: (22) That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; (23) And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; (24) And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. (25) Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. (26) Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: (27) Neither give place to the devil. (28) Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. (29) Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. (30) And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. (31) Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: (32) And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”
We need to have the same mind as Christ: He obeyed His Father even unto death on the cross.
(Philippians 2:5-8) “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (6) Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: (7) But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: (8) And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
So I’m afraid you are stuck with me for a while. How long that while is, I don’t know, but it will not be until the Lord is done with me, and calls me home.
Peace.
Posted in Devotions by Pastor Ted Stahl with no comments yet.
Promises, Promises
Today’s Passage – Ecclesiastes 5 – 8 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)
(Second Milers also read – Luke 7 – 8; Psalms 120 – 125; Proverbs 26)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Ephesians 4:32
Read the “0726 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Read a previous post from this passage – “We Talk Too Much“
“When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?” – (Ecclesiastes 5:4-6)
Back when my grandfather was a young man, a man could get a loan simply by promising with a handshake that he would pay it back. People in those days kept their word. They followed through on what they said they would do. Today it is much different. Many people today are not at all trustworthy. They are quick to promise, but often slow to keep their word. God says here in our passage this morning that we should be slow to make promises, but once a promise is made, we should do everything we can to keep it.
I want to encourage all of you that are reading this thought this morning to think (and pray) very carefully before you commit yourself to something. Don’t let pressure or emotion cause you to agree to do something that you may not be able to fulfill. I remember years ago I gave a pledge in January that I would give a certain amount of money per week toward that year’s faith promise missions offering. I was making good money at the time, and I did not think that there would be any problems. However, later that year, my family and I packed up to move to Texas to go to Bible College. I was no longer in a financial position to keep that committment, but I had made a promise, and I knew our church’s missions program was depending on that offering. Cindy and I agreed that we should sacrifice some things in order to fulfill our pledge. I haven’t always kept my promises in life, but I am very glad I kept that one.
Today we live in a world that is lacking basic trust, and the reason we don’t trust one another is that we do not keep our word. We say one thing and do another. We make promises to people and to God that may be well meaning, but ultimately we fail to follow through. Let’s stop making promises that we can’t keep. And when we do give our word, let’s keep it.
Posted in Thoughts from Ecclesiastes by Phil Erickson with 2 comments.
The Tongue – The Saturday Morning Post
Today’s Passage – Proverbs 16 – 18 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)
(Second Milers also read – Mark 11 – 12; Psalms 96 – 100; Proverbs 20)
Read the “0720 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
(Proverbs 18:21) “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”
Good morning. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Death and life: evil and good: hate and love: and those who love the tongue will receive the consequences whether good or bad.
(James 3:3-12) “Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. (4) Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. (5) Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! (6) And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. (7) For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: (8) But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. (9) Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. (10) Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. (11) Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? (12) Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.”
You need to keep your tongue: what comes out of your mouth can heal as well as destroy. Sometimes we speak without thinking, and that causes problems.
(Proverbs 21:23) “Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.”
(Proverbs 10:20) “The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth.”
And it is the wicked who cannot keep his tongue…
(Psalm 10:4-7) “ The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts. (5) His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them. (6) He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity. (7) His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.”
A good example of this is what King David wrote in the beginning of Psalm 52…
(Psalm 52:1-4) “To the chief Musician, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech. Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually. (2) Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. (3) Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah. (4) Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.”
We can make an effort to control and keep our tongues, but what did Jesus say?
(John 15:5) “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”
We need the LORD, without Him, we can do nothing. Look at the following verses…
(Proverbs 16:1) “The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.”
(Psalm 34:13) “Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.”
(Psalm 35:27-28) “Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant. (28) And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long.”
Let us all make an effort to keep our tongues from saying things we shouldn’t.
Peace.
Posted in Devotions by Pastor Ted Stahl with 1 comment.
Clean the Crib But Keep The Oxen!
Today’s Passage – Proverbs 13 – 15 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)
(Second Milers also read – Mark 9 – 10; Psalms 91 – 95; Proverbs 19)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Proverbs 3:5 & 6
Read the “0719 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Read a previos post from today’s passage in Proverbs – “O Be Careful, Little Mouth, What You Say“
“Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox.” – (Proverbs 14:4)
Every Sunday afternoon, immediately following the morning service, we clean the auditorium and bathrooms of our church to make it ready for the evening service. I am often amazed at how dirty our building can get, especially considering that it was only in use for a few hours. There are bulletins lying all over and the hymnbooks are everywhere except where they should be. We find candy wrappers and water bottles in various places. Sometimes, I even find chewed gum stuck to a chair or on the floor. Yuk! The place is a mess. But I thank God for the mess, because the mess indicates that people were using the building. There are times when I get a little tired of cleaning it, but if I didn’t have to clean it, it could only be because nobody was coming to our services. As I am writing this blog post our church is in the middle of Vacation Bible School, a four night program of fun, fellowship, food, and instruction from the Bible for the kids. Every night, there are nearly two hundred kids all over our church property, inside and outside, and they can be very messy. Like us adults, there lives can get pretty messy as well. Our job is to help God clean them up.
I have determined that I will never get the mindset that the building that God has given us is to be some sort of museum for the Saints of God to observe and admire. I want our building to be functional and practical; and I want it to be used by our people as much as possible, and as often as possible. And if it is being used, it is going to get dirty, and at times things are going to need to be repaired. I have been spending a great deal of time this summer painting and upgrading parts of our building. The rooms that were finished last month already have some marks on the walls. Praise God! That means that people: men, women, children; souls are coming to the House of God, and are getting the help that they need. I will keep cleaning the crib, but I think I am going to keep the oxen as well.
Brother Hyles tells a story about a man in his church that was complaining about the oily messes made in the parking lot by all the busses that were used to bring boys and girls to church. Bro. Hyles reminded the man that D.L. Moody brought in a lot of children, too, in his day, and the horses used to pull the wagons were a whole lot messier.
Posted in Thoughts from Proverbs by Phil Erickson with 3 comments.
David’s Psalm Of Praise – The Saturday Morning Post
Today’s Reading – Psalms 140 – 145 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – Matthew 25 – 26; Psalms 61 – 65; Proverbs 13)
Read the “0713 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
(Psalm 145:1-4) “David’s Psalm of praise. I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. (2) Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. (3) Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. (4) One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.
Good morning. Psalm 145 is King David’s Psalm of Praise. David was known as a man after God’s own heart; shouldn’t he be filled with praise for the LORD? He tells God, in verse 2, that he will praise God’s name for ever and ever. Why? Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable. How do we praise the Him? By telling others, and by sharing your praises with them. Verse 4 tells us…
(Psalm 145:4) “One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.”
Can God get a witness? I’m sure He can. Having trouble praising God for all the wondrous things He has done? Continue reading in verse 5…
(Psalm 145:5-21) “I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works. (6) And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness. (7) They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness. (8) The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. (9) The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. (10) All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee. (11) They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power; (12) To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom. (13) Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. (14) The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down. (15) The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. (16) Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing. (17) The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. (18) The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. (19) He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. (20) The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy. (21) My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.
Can you praise the LORD as well as David? I’m sure you can, if Jesus is in your heart. Start by counting your many blessings: name them one by one, and you’ll see what God has done. You will praise Him too!
Peace!
Posted in Devotions by Pastor Ted Stahl with 2 comments.
The Good Ole Days
Today’s Reading – Psalms 133 – 139 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – Matthew 23 – 24; Psalms 56 – 60; Proverbs 12)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 55:17
Read the “0712 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Read a previous post from today’s reading – “Unity“.
“By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land?” (Psalms 137:1-4)
Psalm 137 is a very sad psalm written after the Israelites had lost their land, and had been taken into captivity by the Babylonians. In this psalm they are remembering the good ole days, when they were safe and secure inside of their borders, and when they had the freedom and privelege to worship and serve God freely. But, that was all gone. As a nation, they had forsaken God’s word, neglected His worship, and had allowed all of the wicked practices of the heathen to enter in. Though God had warned them of the consequences many times through His prophets, the people just would not listen, so God had to judge them. In this psalm, they are looking back, and wishing that they could go back and do things differently.
I see a prophetic parallel to America in this psalm. I believe if we continue down the path that we are travelling as a nation, we too will lose everything, and will one day be looking back in regret, wishing we could go back and re-do things. We have not lost everything yet, but we can see the hand of God’s judgment beginning to fall upon this once great nation. It doesn’t have to happen though. We could repent, and go back to what we were when we were founded. Of course, we had some problems back then as well, and I do not advocate that we do everything exactly as we did then, but I do believe we need to put God back on the throne in this land. Our nation has become a godless, corrupt, and extremely immoral place. We have come to accept and even promote many things which God has declared to be evil. We are forsaking the houses of God’s worship, and instead are consumed with chasing possessions and pleasure. If we keep going, someday soon it will all be gone. But then, we will remember. I guess it won’t be all bad, though, because while we are remembering what we lost, we also will remember God. Just a thought.
Posted in Thoughts from Psalms by Phil Erickson with 3 comments.
Bless The LORD – The Saturday Morning Post
Today’s Reading – Psalms 103 – 105 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – Matthew 11 – 12; Psalms 26 – 30; Proverbs 6)
Read the “0706 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon
(Psalm) 103:1 “A Psalm of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.”
Good morning. Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name. What comes out of your mouth when you talk about the Lord? Does it bless His holy name? Are you using all your power: all that is within you? Bless His holy name.
(Psalm 103:2) “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:”
(1) Think about all His benefits.
He forgives, heals, and keeps you out of Hell. He shows you His loving kindness, and His tender mercies. He supplies you with good and healthy food He shows the oppressed His righteousness and judgment. He is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
(Psalm 103:22) “Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.”
(2) All His works should bless the Lord.
Are you His creation? Were you made in the image of God? Yes? Then you need to bless the Lord!
(Psalm 104:1) “Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.”
(3) Bless the Lord because of who He is.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, because of His honour, His majesty, and His greatness.
(Psalm 134:1-3) “A Song of degrees. Behold, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD. (2) Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD. (3) The LORD that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion.
Peace.
Posted in Devotions by Pastor Ted Stahl with 2 comments.
Sing
Today’s Reading – Psalms 96 – 102 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – Matthew 9 – 10; Psalms 21 – 25; Proverbs 5)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 19
Read the “0705 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Read previous posts from this passage – “Enduring to All Generations“, and “Before His Presence“
“O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth. Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day.” (Psalm 96:1-2)
“O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory. … Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. Sing unto the LORD with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm.” (Psalm 98:1, 4-5)
“Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.” (Psalm 100:2)
“I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O LORD, will I sing.” (Psalm 101:1)
You couldn’t help but notice all of the references to singing in today’s reading in the Psalms. singing is a beautiful expression of the joy that is in our hearts because of all of the blessings that the Lord has given us as His children. Reflecting on the goodness of God should be enough to put anyone in a singing mood. Notice in Psalm 96:2 (above) that a singing Christian shows his salvation to the world around him. People can know we are christians by our words, action, and love; but here we see they can hear our salvation through our joyful spirit expressed in our singing. Why is it then that so many church services are dead when it comes to the congregational singing?
It is a shame that many congregations today are limiting the amount of congregational singing in their worship services. Some churches are replacing the singing from the people in the pews with professional performances from the platform. What a shame. While I thoroughly enjoy hearing Holy Spirit-filled and gifted musicians and singers perform, there is still nothing like an uninhibited congregation singing their hearts out in worship to the Lord.
One more thought regarding singing. Sometimes we don’t feel like singing, perhaps due to negative or painful circumstances going on in and around our lives. We should sing anyway because singing has a way of cheering us up and reminding us that we serve an awesome God. Christian, God wants to hear you sing, and so do I. It matters not if you can hold a note. All you have to do is make that joyful noise, and the Spirit of God will do the rest.
“Every good gift that we have had from the cradle up has come from God. If a man just stops to think what he has to praise God for, he will find there is enough to keep him singing praises for a week.” D. L. Moody
Posted in Devotions by Phil Erickson with 6 comments.