Monthly Archives: August 2012

08/31/12

Psalm 95 NLT A Call to Worship and Obedience

Psalm 95

New Living Translation (NLT)

1 Come, let us sing to the Lord!
    Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come to him with thanksgiving.
    Let us sing psalms of praise to him.
3 For the Lord is a great God,
    a great King above all gods.
4 He holds in his hands the depths of the earth
    and the mightiest mountains.
5 The sea belongs to him, for he made it.
    His hands formed the dry land, too.

6 Come, let us worship and bow down.
    Let us kneel before the Lord our maker,
7     for he is our God.
We are the people he watches over,
    the flock under his care.

If only you would listen to his voice today!
8 The Lord says, “Don’t harden your hearts as Israel did at Meribah,
    as they did at Massah in the wilderness.
9 For there your ancestors tested and tried my patience,
    even though they saw everything I did.
10 For forty years I was angry with them, and I said,
‘They are a people whose hearts turn away from me.
    They refuse to do what I tell them.’
11 So in my anger I took an oath:
    ‘They will never enter my place of rest.’”

 
New Living Translation (NLT)Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights r

08/21/12

Psalm 42 A Psalm of The Clan of Korah

 

The Psalmist speaks and sings of intense internal longing. Exile is a sad place to be–primarily because its existence indicates the disregard of personal choice; which is a GOD-given gift. The Psalmist speaks of cool water, which is a refreshener, and the lack of it in his exile. Is he speaking of actual water? No. He is speaking of the River of GOD; the River of Life and Salvation. He is speaking of the lack of spiritual food, praise, and worship. In exile all of the things that you hold dear have been stripped away, leaving only the basics behind. The joys of life are denied you, the bitter cup is poured out daily.

The Psalmist speaks of the past and the assembly, where he “led them as they walked along. A happy crowd, singing and shouting praise to GOD”.

The Psalmist asks for a song at night; a prayer to GOD for deliverance. Oh, that we all would remember the GOD of our youth; the joy of our salvation. Put your trust in the GOD of Israel; the GOD of the Universe who framed the Heavens and the Earth; who sees his children as equals in His sight.

Praise ye the LORD.  Charlene

 

 Psalm 42

 

Good News Translation (GNT)

 

BOOK TWO

 

   ( Ps.42-Ps.42.72; )

 

The Prayer of Someone in Exile[a]

    
    As a deer longs for a stream of cool water,
      so I long for you, O God.
 2 I thirst for you, the living God.
      When can I go and worship in your presence?
 3 Day and night I cry,
      and tears are my only food;
   all the time my enemies ask me, 

 
         Where is your God? 

 

 4 My heart breaks when I remember the past,
      when I went with the crowds to the house of God
      and led them as they walked along,
      a happy crowd, singing and shouting praise to God.
 5 Why am I so sad?
      Why am I so troubled?
   I will put my hope in God,
      and once again I will praise him,
      my Savior and my God.

 

 6-7Here in exile my heart is breaking,
      and so I turn my thoughts to him.
   He has sent waves of sorrow over my soul;
      chaos roars at me like a flood,
      like waterfalls thundering down to the Jordan
      from Mount Hermon and Mount Mizar.
 8 May the Lord show his constant love during the day,
      so that I may have a song at night,
      a prayer to the God of my life.

 

9 To God, my defender, I say, 

      
         Why have you forgotten me?
   Why must I go on suffering
      from the cruelty of my enemies?

 

 10 I am crushed by their insults,
      as they keep on asking me, 

      
         Where is your God?

 

 11 Why am I so sad?
      Why am I so troubled?
   I will put my hope in God,
      and once again I will praise him,
      my Savior and my God.

 

 

Footnotes:

  2. Psalm 42:1 HEBREW TITLE: A poem by the clan of Korah.

 

 

Good News Translation (GNT)

Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society

08/20/12

Jeremiah 9 NIV Oh, That My Head Were A Spring of Water

  

The Book of Jeremiah

 

[1] The Prophet Jeremiah lived during the latter part of the seventh century B.C. During his long ministry he warned God’s people of the catastrophe that was to fall upon the nation because of their idolatry and sin. He lived to see this prediction come true with the Fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezar, the destruction of the Temple, and the exile to Babylonia of Judah’s king and many of the people. He also foretold the eventual return of the people from exile and the restoration of the nation…

 

Jeremiah was a sensitive man who deeply loved his people, and  who hated to have to pronounce judgment upon them. In many passages he spoke with deep emotion about the things he suffered because God had called him to be a prophet. The Word of the Lord was like fire in his heart–he could not keep it back.

 

Some of the greatest words in the book point beyond Jeremiah’s own troubled time to the day when there would be a new covenant, one that God’s people would keep without a teacher to remind them, because it would be written on their hearts

(Jeremiah 31: 31-34)

  

Jeremiah 9

 

New International Version (NIV)

 

9 [a]1 Oh, that my head were a spring of water
    and my eyes a fountain of tears!
I would weep day and night
    for the slain of my people.
2 Oh, that I had in the desert
    a lodging place for travelers,
so that I might leave my people
    and go away from them;
for they are all adulterers,
    a crowd of unfaithful people.

 

3 “They make ready their tongue
    like a bow, to shoot lies;
it is not by truth
    that they triumph[b] in the land.
They go from one sin to another;
    they do not acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.
4 “Beware of your friends;
    do not trust anyone in your clan.
For every one of them is a deceiver,[c]
    and every friend a slanderer.
5 Friend deceives friend,
    and no one speaks the truth.
They have taught their tongues to lie;
    they weary themselves with sinning.
6 You[d] live in the midst of deception;
    in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.

 

7 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says:

 

“See, I will refine and test them,
    for what else can I do
    because of the sin of my people?
8 Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
    it speaks deceitfully.
With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors,
    but in their hearts they set traps for them.
9 Should I not punish them for this?”
    declares the Lord.
“Should I not avenge myself
    on such a nation as this?”

 

10 I will weep and wail for the mountains
    and take up a lament concerning the wilderness grasslands.
They are desolate and untraveled,
    and the lowing of cattle is not heard.
The birds have all fled
    and the animals are gone.

 

11 “I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
    a haunt of jackals;
and I will lay waste the towns of Judah
    so no one can live there.”

 

12 Who is wise enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the Lord and can explain it? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross?

 

13 The Lord said, “It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law. 14 Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts; they have followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them.” 15 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “See, I will make this people eat bitter food and drink poisoned water. 16 I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known,and I will pursue them with the sword until I have made an end of them.”

 

17 This is what the Lord Almighty says:

 

“Consider now! Call for the wailing women to come;
    send for the most skillful of them.
18 Let them come quickly
    and wail over us
till our eyes overflow with tears
    and water streams from our eyelids.
19 The sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
    ‘How ruined we are!
    How great is our shame!
We must leave our land
    because our houses are in ruins.’”

 

20 Now, you women, hear the word of the Lord;
    open your ears to the words of his mouth.
Teach your daughters how to wail;
    teach one another a lament.
21 Death has climbed in through our windows
    and has entered our fortresses;
it has removed the children from the streets
    and the young men from the public squares.

 

22 Say, “This is what the Lord declares:

 

“‘Dead bodies will lie
    like dung on the open field,
like cut grain behind the reaper,
    with no one to gather them.’”

 

23 This is what the Lord says:

 

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
    or the strong boast of their strength
    or the rich boast of their riches,
24 but let the one who boasts boast about this:
    that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,
    justice and righteousness on earth,
    for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.

 

25 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh — 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places.[e]For all these nations are really uncircumcised,and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”

 

Footnotes:

 

  1. Jeremiah 9:1 In Hebrew texts 9:1 is numbered 8:23, and 9:2-26 is numbered 9:1-25.

  2. Jeremiah 9:3 Or lies; / they are not valiant for truth

  3. Jeremiah 9:4 Or a deceiving Jacob

  4. Jeremiah 9:6 That is, Jeremiah (the Hebrew is singular)

  5. Jeremiah 9:26 Or wilderness and who clip the hair by their foreheads

  6.  

 
 

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

[1] Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Introduction To the Book of Jeremiah

American Bible Society: Thomas Nelson Inc. Publishers

08/10/12

Psalm 46 A Song of Asaph NIV Version

Psalm 46[a]

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth.[b] A song.

1 God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.

 
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
    and the mountains quake with their surging.[c]

 

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
    God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
    he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

 

7 The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

 

8 Come and see what the Lord has done,
    the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease
    to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the shields[d] with fire.
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.”

 

11 The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 46:1 In Hebrew texts 46:1-11 is numbered 46:2-12.
  2. Psalm 46:1 Title: Probably a musical term
  3. Psalm 46:3 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verses 7 and 11.
  4. Psalm 46:9 Or chariots

Retrieved from the worldwide web August 10, 2012  www.biblegateway.com

08/9/12

Psalm 55 I Will Trust

Psalm 55 is a bold, direct statement. David speaks of putting his trust in GOD because he knows that therein is his source of strength. Imagine singing this song in the assembly!

We live in a time when The Word is being watered down. No one wants to hear the truth–they are more interested in flattery and position. GOD’s Kingdom is not designed for the raising up of men to lofty heights. He is the One who rules the Heavens.

 

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.   2 Timothy 4:3

 

Beware of false doctrine. It is a scheme to rob you of your commitment and faith. Stand in the strength of GOD’s Word; in Christ, and allow GOD’s Holy Spirit to teach you all things. When the enemy [Satan, not people] rises up against you, call upon GOD to deliver you from the snare of the fowler. He will be faithful to do so.

 

Psalm 55

Psalm 55[a]

 

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A maskil[b] of David.

 

1 Listen to my prayer, O God,
    do not ignore my plea;
2     hear me and answer me.
My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught
3     because of what my enemy is saying,
    because of the threats of the wicked;
for they bring down suffering on me
    and assail me in their anger.

4 My heart is in anguish within me;
    the terrors of death have fallen on me.
5 Fear and trembling have beset me;
    horror has overwhelmed me.
6 I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!
    I would fly away and be at rest.
7 I would flee far away
    and stay in the desert;[c]
8 I would hurry to my place of shelter,
    far from the tempest and storm.”

9 Lord, confuse the wicked, confound their words,
    for I see violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they prowl about on its walls;
    malice and abuse are within it.
11 Destructive forces are at work in the city;
    threats and lies never leave its streets.

12 If an enemy were insulting me,
    I could endure it;
if a foe were rising against me,
    I could hide.
13 But it is you, a man like myself,
    my companion, my close friend,
14 with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship
    at the house of God,
as we walked about
    among the worshipers.

15 Let death take my enemies by surprise;
    let them go down alive to the realm of the dead,
    for evil finds lodging among them.

16 As for me, I call to God,
    and the Lord saves me.
17 Evening, morning and noon
    I cry out in distress,
    and he hears my voice.
18 He rescues me unharmed
    from the battle waged against me,
    even though many oppose me.
19 God, who is enthroned from of old,
    who does not change—
he will hear them and humble them,
    because they have no fear of God.

20 My companion attacks his friends;
    he violates his covenant.
21 His talk is smooth as butter,
    yet war is in his heart;
his words are more soothing than oil,
    yet they are drawn swords.

22 Cast your cares on the Lord
    and he will sustain you;
he will never let
    the righteous be shaken.
23 But you, God, will bring down the wicked
    into the pit of decay;
the bloodthirsty and deceitful
    will not live out half their days.

But as for me, I trust in you.

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 55:1 In Hebrew texts 55:1-23 is numbered 55:2-24.

  2. Psalm 55:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term

  3. Psalm 55:7 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and in the middle of verse 19.