Monthly Archives: September 2011

09/20/11

Psalm 88 A Cry of Affliction

 

 

All of us suffer through moments of despair and indecision when it seems as if everything familiar has been taken away. If we do not listen well to heed the call of GOD’s Holy Spirit on our comings and goings then GOD will move us. There is so much work still to be done in the Name of Jesus Christ. Do not kick against the pricks but move steadily forward in Him.  Charlene

 

Psalm 88

New International Version (NIV)

Psalm 88[a]

    A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth.[b] A maskil[c] of Heman the Ezrahite.

 1 LORD, you are the God who saves me;
   day and night I cry out to you.
2 May my prayer come before you;
   turn your ear to my cry.

 3 I am overwhelmed with troubles
   and my life draws near to death.
4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
   I am like one without strength.
5 I am set apart with the dead,
   like the slain who lie in the grave,
whom you remember no more,
   who are cut off from your care.

 6 You have put me in the lowest pit,
   in the darkest depths.
7 Your wrath lies heavily on me;
   you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.[d]
8 You have taken from me my closest friends
   and have made me repulsive to them.
I am confined and cannot escape;
 9my eyes are dim with grief.

   I call to you, LORD, every day;
   I spread out my hands to you.
10 Do you show your wonders to the dead?
   Do their spirits rise up and praise you?
11 Is your love declared in the grave,
   your faithfulness in Destruction[e]?
12 Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,
   or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

 13 But I cry to you for help, LORD;
   in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 Why, LORD, do you reject me
   and hide your face from me?

 15 From my youth I have suffered and been close to death;
   I have borne your terrors and am in despair.
16 Your wrath has swept over me;
   your terrors have destroyed me.
17 All day long they surround me like a flood;
   they have completely engulfed me.
18 You have taken from me friend and neighbor—
   darkness is my closest friend.

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 88:1 In Hebrew texts 88:1-18 is numbered 88:2-19.
  2. Psalm 88:1 Title: Possibly a tune, “The Suffering of Affliction”
  3. Psalm 88:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
  4. Psalm 88:7 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 10.
  5. Psalm 88:11 Hebrew Abaddon
09/15/11

Psalm 92 Verses 12 through 15 King James Version

“The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our GOD.

They shall 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”.

09/15/11

Psalm 63 A Psalm of David

 

Psalm 63 is a warrior Psalm. It speaks of David as a seeker of the Lord–desiring to be in His presence and in His shelter. “There are many who rise up against me, O Lord”.

King David speaks of seeing the Lord in His sanctuary; of praising the Lord with song. He speaks of how Godwill destroy his enemies and stop all of their lies. Don’t we all all need this Sovereign protection? As the worship songsays, “Our GOD is greater, all our GOD is stronger, our GOD is higher than any other”.

Trust In The LORD and in the power of His might.  Charlene

Psalm 63
New International Version (NIV)

Psalm 63
Psalm 63[a]

A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.
1 You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water.

2 I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
3 Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

6 On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
7 Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
8 I cling to you;
your right hand upholds me.

9 Those who want to kill me will be destroyed;
they will go down to the depths of the earth.
10 They will be given over to the sword
and become food for jackals.

11 But the king will rejoice in God;
all who swear by God will glory in him,
while the mouths of liars will be silenced.

Footnotes:
a.Psalm 63:1 In Hebrew texts 63:1-11 is numbered 63:2-12.

09/14/11

Psalm 61 A Psalm of David, the King

Psalm 61 and I go back a long way. I associate this Psalm with a beautiful song sung by Maia Amada, and also with a dear friend who has been spiritually imprisoned for many years. This Psalm is a cry for peace and shelter in the arms of our Almighty Savior. That is where you and I can find  comfort, solace, and joy.

Penned by King David, who suffered much at the hands of his enemies, I can safely say that if we can trust like David, who proved that faithfulness wins the battle, we can be overcomers in this life.  God’s Blessings, Charlene

 

Psalm 61

New International Version (NIV)

Psalm 61

Psalm 61[a]

    For the director of music. With stringed instruments. Of David.

 1 Hear my cry, O God;
   listen to my prayer.

 2 From the ends of the earth I call to you,
   I call as my heart grows faint;
   lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
3 For you have been my refuge,
   a strong tower against the foe.

 4 I long to dwell in your tent forever
   and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.[b]
5 For you, God, have heard my vows;
   you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.

 6 Increase the days of the king’s life,
   his years for many generations.
7 May he be enthroned in God’s presence forever;
   appoint your love and faithfulness to protect him.

 8 Then I will ever sing in praise of your name
   and fulfill my vows day after day.

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 61:1 In Hebrew texts 61:1-8 is numbered 61:2-9.
  2. Psalm 61:4 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.
09/11/11

When The World Stopped Turning: A 9-11 Tribute

This song asked if you remember where you were at the time the nation was attacked. I was on my way to work and found out when I got there. It was an unbelievable feeling of violation. My brother was in the Senate chambers at the time and he told me of the horror everyone felt. We move on with the thought that we become “wise as foxes (but)as gentle as doves”.

Credit: megara2009

Momma’s Source: youtube

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09/7/11

The Two Jerusalems–The Book of Life

The LORD gave me Psalm 87 this morning. This is a Psalm that can be hard to decipher, so I looked for an inspired explanation of this Psalm. Isn’t it awesome how so much of GOD’s holiness can be found in so few words.

Be in Christ Jesus,  Charlene

The Two Jerusalems

Psalm 87

An EasyEnglish Translation with Notes (about 1200 word vocabulary) on Psalm 87

www.easyenglish.info

Gordon Churchyard

Words in boxes are from the Bible.

A word list at the end explains words with a *star by them.

The translated Bible text has yet to go through Advanced Checking.

Jesus said, “You must be born again”. (John 3:7)

Psalm 87
(This is) a song with music, for the sons of *Korah.

v1 He built it on the mountains of *holiness.

v2 The *LORD loves the gates of Zion.
He loves them more than all the places where *Jacob lives.

v3 (People say) *wonderful things about you, city of God. *SELAH

v4 I will remember the people that I know, from Rahab and Babylon;
also from Philistia, Tyre and Ethiopia.
I will remember that this man was born there.

v5 They will say in Zion, “A man … this man … was born there”.
So he … the *Most High … will build her up.

v6 The *LORD will write in his book (the name of) everyone that says,
“This man was born there”. *SELAH

v7 The singers and the *musicians (will say),
“All my *springs are in you”.

The Story of Psalm 87
This is an important psalm but we do not know who wrote it. It was for the sons of *Korah. This is probably the name of the *musicians in the *temple in Jerusalem. The *temple was the house of God that Solomon built. Solomon was the son of David. He was the third king of Israel.

The psalm is about Jerusalem. The psalm calls Jerusalem by the name Zion. Really, Zion was the name of the hill on which Solomon built the *temple. The *Jews thought that God lived on this hill. It was his home on earth. Because they thought that God was *holy (or very, very good) they thought that Zion was *holy also. So they called the hill of Zion a “mountain of *holiness”.

But the psalm is really the story of two Jerusalems! Verses 1-3 are about Jerusalem on earth, the capital city of the *Jews. Verses 4-6 are about another Jerusalem. We can see this very clearly in the translation from the *Greek Bible below. (The translation above is from the *Hebrew Bible.) 250 years before Jesus came to the earth, the *Jews translated their Bible into *Greek.

This meant that more people could understand it. In some places, the two Bibles are different. We do not know why. We do believe that both translations teach us what is true.

What Psalm 87 means
Verses 1-3 are about Jerusalem, the capital city of the *Jews. Verses 4-6 are about the *Church. The *Church is the City of God, the New Jerusalem. The person that wrote Psalm 87 did not know this. But God inspired them to write verses 4-6. “Inspired” means “gave them words to say”. The person that wrote the psalm thought that Jerusalem would become the most important city on earth. God knew that the NEW Jerusalem would be the most important city! But it would not be on earth, but in *heaven where God lives.

Verses 1 – 2: These verses are about the Jerusalem that is on earth. To give you help to understand this difficult psalm we have shown it like this:

He built it on the mountains of *holiness

the *LORD loves the gates of Zion

He loves them more than the places where *Jacob lives

To the left it is about the *LORD God; to the right it is about the Jerusalem on earth, the capital of Israel. The “mountains of *holiness” are the hills on which they built Jerusalem. They were *holy because they thought that God lived there. “The gates of Zion” means the whole city of Jerusalem. *Jacob is another name for Israel, and the land where the *Jews lived.

Verses 4 – 6: These verses are about the *Church. The person that wrote the psalm did not know about our *Church. He thought that people from all over the world were becoming *Jews. This was probably true. But the *New Testament of the Bible repeats Psalm 87:5 and says that it is about the *Church (Galatians 4:26). People come to it from all over the world: Rahab (Egypt), Babylon (Iraq), Philistia, Tyre (Lebanon) and Ethiopia (Sudan) were countries near Israel.

We think that God is speaking in verses 4-6. He says that everyone that is born in Jerusalem is in his book. What does “born in Jerusalem” mean? We believe that it means “born again”. This is another way of saying “becoming a Christian”. The name of every Christian is in God’s book. He will not forget any of them. They are all included in those that say, “this man was born there”. In verse 6, this means “I was born there”. Here is Psalm 87:5 in another translation. It is not from the *Hebrew Bible. It is from the *Greek Bible:

“A man will say, ‘Zion is my mother’. This man was born in her. So he … the *Most High … will build her up”.

It is the translation from the *Greek Bible that the *New Testament uses. In Galatians 4:26 Paul wrote, “the Jerusalem that is above … is our mother”. Remember, Jerusalem and Zion are the same place.

What does all this mean? It means that when we are born again (or become Christians) we are born in a place called Jerusalem. This is not the Jerusalem that is on earth. It is a Jerusalem that is in *heaven, where God lives. The people that live there are all the people that have become Christians. The Jerusalem that is in *heaven is made up of people, not buildings.

Verse 7: This verse is difficult to translate. It probably means one of:

· the singers and *musicians must use music that is called “All my *springs are in you”

· the singers and *musicians all say that their *springs are in Jerusalem (this means that Jerusalem gives them new life)

Something To Do
1. If you have a Bible, read Galatians 4:21-31, Hebrews 11:13-16, and Hebrews 12:22-24.

2. Ask God to put your name into his Book of Life!

Word List
Adonai ~ *Lord or master; (or better, my *Lord or my master) in *Hebrew.

church ~ all those people that believe all about Jesus.

covenant ~ two people have agreed what each should do (here, God and his people). Look after Psalm 25 in Book 1 of the Psalms of David for more about the covenant.

Greek ~ a language.

heaven ~ the home of God.

Hebrew ~ the language that the *Jews spoke when they wrote the Psalms of David.

holiness ~ something that is very good; in Psalm 87, a place where God is.

holy ~ very, very good; only God is really *holy, the land where he lives with his people is also *holy because he is there.

Jacob ~ another name for Israel, both the people and the land. (Jacob was Abraham’s grandson).

Jehovah ~ how some languages say *Yahweh, one of the names of God in *Hebrew.

Jew ~ someone who was born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.

Korah ~ look in the Introduction in Book 3 of the Psalms of David.

like ~ another word for “as”.

Lord ~ a name for God; it means he has authority, or “master”; *Adonai in *Hebrew. Look also at *LORD below.

LORD ~ a special name for God that his people use. It is the *covenant name of God. In *Hebrew it is *Yahweh or *Jehovah. Look after Psalm 25 in Book 1 of the Psalms of David for more about the names of God.

Most High ~ a name for God.

musical instrument ~ something that makes music when you hit it (cymbals, drum), blow in it (flute, trumpet, horn, shofar) or touch it in a quiet way (harp, lyre). Many of these are in Psalm 150 in Book 5 of The Psalms of David.

musicians ~ people that make music. They sing, or play *musical instruments.

New Testament ~ the last part of the Bible, which the writers wrote after the life of Jesus. It is about the things that Jesus did and taught and about the church [see church].

SELAH ~ a place to pray or think or make music.

springs ~ another word for “wells” (of water) in Psalm 87.

temple ~ a place where people meet to *worship God.

wonderful ~ great and surprising.

worship ~ tell someone that they are very great and that you love them.

Yahweh ~ the *covenant name for God. Most Bibles translate it *LORD with 4 capital letters. It means something *like “I am” or “always alive”.

© 2001-2002, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level A (1200 words).

January 2002

Visit our website: www.easyenglish.info

09/5/11

Some Wisdom from Tommy Tenney's "Finding Favor with The King".

 

Book of Esther

I listened to a sermon on CGNKorea (Christian Global Network) based upon the book “Finding Favor With The King’ by Tommy Tenney. This book, which is written about Queen Esther, reveals ways in which we can approach the King and rest in the surety that we are leaving the battle in the King’s (Jesus’)hands. Tommy Tenney was preaching from his own book and there were many profound things said that I want to share with you. I hope for a strong degree of accuracy in the paraphrasing. No copyright infringement is intended.

“Once you become a believer, it does not mean that you discontinue to practice what made you become a believer”(what brought you to your knees) (insert mine).

“To ask the right question at the wrong time does no good”.

“Learn to worship with the enemy at your table”.

“Worship the King while obstacles are in your way” You cannot overindulge the King in Worship”.

‘I will not allow my enemy to dictate my destiny”.

“The presence of the enemy does not mean that God is not there”.

“Refuse to let the pressure of problems cause separation from GOD”.

Depression and other problems–“I’m going to take you to worship with me”  (and there you shall be defeated) (insert mine)

“Satan will try to defeat you by making you fight the right battle on the wrong battlefield”. (A lesson in futility).

“If your enemy becomes the King’s enemy, the battle then becomes the LORD’s”.

“Cleanse your heart; cleanse your life”. (Prepare your life as a banquet table for Christ).Your worship is an incredible feast for GOD.

“I love you, Jesus” is a banquet table”.

“My worship controls my destiny”.

I pray that what I have shared here has helped you. I believe that Evangelist Tenney would hope for the same.   Rev. Charlene