Month: December 2020

Psalm 86, Are we Righteous?

Psalm 86:1-2, Bow down Your ear, O LORD, hear me; ​​FOR I AM POOR AND NEEDY. Preserve my life, FOR I AM HOLY; ​​You are my God; ​​Save Your servant who trusts in You!

A Psalm of David, was he holy before the LORD? This is not a claim of being perfect, but he was set apart from other men to do the work of GOD! The LORD will hear his cry!

Psalm 4:3, But know that the LORD has set apart for Himself him who is godly; THE LORD WILL HEAR WHEN I CALL TO HIM.

Can we call ourselves righteous before GOD? Scripture says our righteousness is but dirty rags

Isa 64:6, BUT WE ARE ALL LIKE AN UNCLEAN THING, AND ALL OUR RIGHTEOUSNESSES ARE LIKE FILTHY RAGS;

Yet, the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous?

1Peter 3:12a, For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers;

When we come to faith in CHRIST JESUS, HIS blood covers us and cleanses us! So, when the FATHER sees us HE sees HIS RIGHTEOUS SON!

Isa 61:10, I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; FOR HE HAS CLOTHED ME WITH THE GARMENTS OF SALVATION, HE HAS COVERED ME WITH THE ROBE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, …

Psa 86:5, FOR YOU, LORD, ARE GOOD, AND READY TO FORGIVE, AND ABUNDANT IN MERCY TO ALL THOSE WHO CALL UPON YOU.

The LORD is good, and merciful to those that come to HIM! Some call HIM the GOD of second chances; more like 10th or 20th etc. chances! 

Matt 18:21-22, Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” JESUS said to him, “I DO NOT SAY TO YOU, UP TO SEVEN TIMES, BUT UP TO SEVENTY TIMES SEVEN.

Peter thought it a lot to forgive his brother seven times, YET the LORD is full of compassion!

Psa 86:15, BUT YOU, O LORD, ARE A GOD FULL OF COMPASSION, AND GRACIOUS, LONGSUFFERING AND ABUNDANT IN MERCY AND TRUTH.

This is the LORD we serve, our loving FATHER who gave to us HIS only SON, JESUS, who gave all to save the lost!  THANK YOU LORD!

Psalm 85, HE is the way!

Psa 85:2-3, YOU HAVE FORGIVEN THE INIQUITY OF YOUR PEOPLE; You have COVERED ALL THEIR SIN. Selah YOU HAVE TAKEN AWAY ALL YOUR WRATH; You have turned from the fierceness of YOUR ANGER.

The Psalmist is looking back at the work of GOD! HE brought them back from captivity, forgiven their sins and turned from HIS wrath!

Psa 85:4-6, RESTORE US, O God of our salvation, And cause Your anger toward us to cease. Will You be angry with us forever? Will You prolong Your anger to all generations? WILL YOU NOT REVIVE US AGAIN, That Your people may rejoice in You?

LORD RESTORE AND REVIVE US AGAIN AS YOU DID IN THE PAST! THIS IS A PRAYER FOR A REVIVAL, A PRAYER FOR HIS PRESENCE! GOING TO CHURCH WITHOUT HIS PRESENCE MEANS NOTHING!

Psa 85:7, Show us Your mercy, LORD, And grant us Your salvation. 

We are all guilty in HIS eyes and don’t deserve salvation for HE is JUST!  HE being a Righteous and Just JUDGE must condemn us all sinners, including you and me!

Dan 5:27, … You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; 

Psa 62:9, Surely men of low degree are a vapor, Men of high degree are a lie; If they are weighed on the scales, They are altogether lighter than vapor. 

Psa 85:10, Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed. 

Mercy is what we seek, but the truth will convict us! HIS righteousness, HIS justice will not bring peace to the sinner! YET BECAUSE OF THE BLOOD THAT WAS SHED ON CALVARY WE HAVE PEACE!

Col 1:20, AND BY HIM TO RECONCILE ALL THINGS TO HIMSELF, … HAVING MADE PEACE THROUGH THE BLOOD OF HIS CROSS. 

Psa 85:13, RIGHTEOUSNESS WILL GO BEFORE HIM, AND SHALL MAKE HIS FOOTSTEPS OUR PATHWAY. 

1Jn 2:6, HE WHO SAYS HE ABIDES IN HIM OUGHT HIMSELF ALSO TO WALK JUST AS HE WALKED. 

JESUS IS THE WAY THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE, OUR EXAMPLE AND THE PATH TO FOLLOW!

Psalm 84, the Upward call of GOD!

Psa 84:1-2, …How lovely is Your tabernacle, O LORD of hosts! MY SOUL LONGS, YES, EVEN FAINTS FOR THE COURTS OF THE LORD; MY HEART AND MY FLESH CRY OUT FOR THE LIVING GOD.

The Psalmist loved the temple of the LORD, yet it was not the temple that made it beautiful, it was the presence of the LORD HIMSELF! His heart yearns for HIS presence!

Job 19:25-27, For I know that my REDEEMER LIVES, And HE SHALL STAND AT LAST ON THE EARTH; And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, THAT IN MY FLESH I SHALL SEE GOD, Whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another. HOW MY HEART YEARNS WITHIN ME!

Psa 84:4, Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; They will still be praising You. Selah

The Psalmist loved going to the temple of GOD, yet envied those that dwell there! One day we, those that believe and trust in CHRIST JESUS, will live in the FATHER’s house!

John 14:2-3, In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I GO TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU. AND IF I GO AND PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU, I WILL COME AGAIN AND RECEIVE YOU TO MYSELF; THAT WHERE I AM, THERE YOU MAY BE ALSO.

No more death, nor sorrow, nor pain, nor fear will ever come to HIS people again!

Isa 25:8-9, He will SWALLOW UP DEATH FOREVER, And the Lord GOD WILL WIPE AWAY TEARS FROM ALL FACES; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken. And it will be said in that day: “Behold, this is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the LORD; We have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”

Psa 84:10, For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I WOULD RATHER BE A DOORKEEPER IN THE HOUSE OF MY GOD THAN DWELL IN THE TENTS OF WICKEDNESS.

Php 3:14, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Just as Paul focused on the prize that awaited him rather than the pain in front of him; we must do the same! LIFE IS SHORT YET ETERNITY LONG! PREPARE FOR IT

Psa 73:25, WHOM HAVE I IN HEAVEN BUT YOU? AND THERE IS NONE UPON EARTH THAT I DESIRE BESIDES YOU. 

Psalm 83, the times of the gentiles!

Psa 83:1-2, …DO NOT KEEP SILENT, O GOD! DO NOT HOLD YOUR PEACE, AND DO NOT BE STILL, O GOD! For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; And those who hate You have lifted up their head.

IF GOD kept silent or held HIS peace or stood still Israel would perish! Truth be told, Israel has been the target of satan for thousands of years! BUT, by the grace of GOD, HE has preserved them in spite of persecution! GOD has also brought them back to their homeland!

Eze 37:14, I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I WILL PLACE YOU IN YOUR OWN LAND. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it,” says the LORD.’ “

Psa 83:4, They have said, “COME, AND LET US CUT THEM OFF FROM BEING A NATION, THAT THE NAME OF ISRAEL MAY BE REMEMBERED NO MORE.”  

Even up to present times, Israel remains a target of the world. Until the ‘TIMES OF THE GENTILES ARE FULFILLED”!

Luk 21:24, And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles UNTIL THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES ARE FULFILLED. 

There are many schools of thought regarding this passage, but for me, it’s a time the LORD gave to build HIS church! There is a blindness in the truth of CHRIST JESUS, but one day the blinders shall be lifted. And, they shall see JESUS AS THEIR LONG-AWAITED MESSIAH!

Psa 83:13-14, O my God, make them like the whirling dust, Like the chaff before the wind! As the fire burns the woods, And as the flame sets the mountains on fire,

GOD is faithful to Israel in spite of their unfaithfulness to HIM! HE will always have HIS faithful remnant in Israel!

Psa 9:20, Put them in fear, O LORD, THAT THE NATIONS MAY KNOW THEMSELVES TO BE BUT MEN.

Psa 83:18, THAT THEY MAY KNOW THAT YOU, WHOSE NAME ALONE IS THE LORD, ARE THE MOST HIGH OVER ALL THE EARTH. 

They world maybe blinded for now, but the day is coming Where every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that HE IS LORD!