Psalms 113:6 KJV
Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!
Here is an amazing thought; God humbles Himself to behold the things that are in heaven
The angels
The seraphim and cherubim
The New Jerusalem
All of the wonders of heaven, in all of their beauty and all of their perfection, still God is so much above them, He humbles Himself to behold them.
And yet He also beholds the things that are in the earth.
With all of our problems
With all of our hypocrisy
With all of our idolatry
With all of our sinfulness
God beholds us!
And the premise is not that He does so out of anger and disgust. Though God is angry with the wicked every day, God's grand design and chief purpose in beholding us is that He might redeem and save us.
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Saturday, November 07, 2009
The Greatest Commandment
Psalms 111:1 KJV
Praise ye the LORD. I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.
Psalms 112:1 KJV
Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.
Jesus said that the greatest of all commandments is to love the Lord thy God .....and to love thy neighbor as thyself. This principle is found throughout the Bible in various places and we ought to put much more emphasis upon it than we do.
It is the gist of the Ten Commandments, six of them having to do with our relationship with God and the other four having to do with our relationship with man. First John is packed with this principle. I placed Psalms 111 and 112 together as representing these two greatest of all commandments as well. Each begins with the words "Praise ye the Lord." From there Psalm 111 goes on to describe God Himself. It is a Psalm of praise for the qualities and greatness of the Lord. Psalm 112 to describe the man that fears the Lord. The natural reaction to the greatness of God is to fear the Lord and the natural compliment to fearing the Lord is to take note of others who do the same.
Praise ye the LORD. I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.
Psalms 112:1 KJV
Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.
Jesus said that the greatest of all commandments is to love the Lord thy God .....and to love thy neighbor as thyself. This principle is found throughout the Bible in various places and we ought to put much more emphasis upon it than we do.
It is the gist of the Ten Commandments, six of them having to do with our relationship with God and the other four having to do with our relationship with man. First John is packed with this principle. I placed Psalms 111 and 112 together as representing these two greatest of all commandments as well. Each begins with the words "Praise ye the Lord." From there Psalm 111 goes on to describe God Himself. It is a Psalm of praise for the qualities and greatness of the Lord. Psalm 112 to describe the man that fears the Lord. The natural reaction to the greatness of God is to fear the Lord and the natural compliment to fearing the Lord is to take note of others who do the same.
Friday, November 06, 2009
Help Me
Psalms 109:26-27 KJV
Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy:
That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, LORD, hast done it.
This verse carries such a different and unique motivation for salvation. The psalmist desires God's salvation
Not so he can escape hell
Not so he can be blessed personally
Not for any selfish reasons
The Psalmist says the reason he seeks salvation is so others would know that the Lord has done it.
God's glory should be our only interest. If it glorifies God it ought to please us even if there is no personal benefit, even if it is a personal sacrifice. Men understand this. They will give their lives for the benefit of their country, and we honor that. Why should we not do the same for Christ?
Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy:
That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, LORD, hast done it.
This verse carries such a different and unique motivation for salvation. The psalmist desires God's salvation
Not so he can escape hell
Not so he can be blessed personally
Not for any selfish reasons
The Psalmist says the reason he seeks salvation is so others would know that the Lord has done it.
God's glory should be our only interest. If it glorifies God it ought to please us even if there is no personal benefit, even if it is a personal sacrifice. Men understand this. They will give their lives for the benefit of their country, and we honor that. Why should we not do the same for Christ?
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