Psalms 13:3 (KJV) Hope for Dark Days

Psalms 13:3 (KJV)

Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;

Here is a prayer I think common among believers, though perhaps not expressed in the same words.

Consider and hear me, O LORD

It is a prayer request in itself that God would even take notice of our prayers. How thankful I am for the assurances in the Word that He does.

Lighten mine eyes

There are two possible interpretations that I am aware of. The first is, “Lighten mine eyes,” as in restore my health. Jonathan and Saul’s men’s eyes were lightened when they tasted of the honey. 

“Give us this day our daily bread.”

The second application would be that God would illuminate our eyes to see His truths and light the path that we take through dark days. Spiritually speaking, Christians often do go through dark valleys. This world is no friend to us. The world, the flesh, and the devil often lead us into paths so dark and confusing they could spell our end, except that God guide us through them.

Sleep the sleep of death

There is sleep, and there is the sleep of death. David’s psalm asks that he not sleep the sleep of death—at least not before the Lord’s time. But even then, the sleep of death is but sleep. It is nothing to be feared. It is, for the believer, the door into life eternal. It is as necessary as our nightly rest. And it is to be looked upon with favor when it is the appropriate time to sleep.

#Psalms13v3 #GodHearsPrayer #LightenMineEyes #TrustGodInDarkDays #HopeOfEternalLife

Hope for Dark Days: God Gives Light

Have you ever prayed, “Lighten mine eyes,” when the way ahead seemed dark? Share in the comments how God has helped you through a difficult season. 

For more Bible studies, devotional thoughts, and practical teaching from the Word of God, visit marvinmckenzie.org.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7200 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

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Psalms 13:3 (KJV) Hope for Dark Days

Here's a comic version of the lesson.

http://youtube.com/post/UgkxK8TnwpxLqrPSyLArVxzNHS5i1NKnUv6q?si=bufo9QbO8nFfSbls

Psalms 12:7 (KJV) Pure Words Preserved

Psalms 12:7 (KJV)

Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

Psalm 12 has a lot to say about words. David writes about men who “speak vanity.” He mentions flattering lips, a double heart, and a tongue that speaks proud things. They are so confident in what they say that they boast, “With our tongue will we prevail.”

Then David gives us the contrast.

Psalm 12:6 (KJV)
The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

Men speak vanity, but God speaks pure Words. Men flatter, but God tells the truth. Men speak with a double heart, but there is nothing double about the Word of God. Men boast that their tongues will prevail, but the Words of God endure.

Then David says, “Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.”

John Gill did not believe “them” referred to the Words of God. He believed David was speaking of the poor and needy mentioned in verse 5. But Gill tells us something else that caught my attention. Aben Ezra believed “them” referred to the words of verse 6, and Aben Ezra lived around the year 1100.

That means the debate over Psalm 12:7 is older than the King James Bible by hundreds of years. Reading this verse as a promise of the preservation of God’s Words is not some interpretation invented by modern King James Bible defenders. Men were discussing this interpretation centuries before the King James Bible existed.

I understand the grammatical argument Gill makes, and I understand why he followed Kimchi and interpreted the verse as referring to the poor and needy. But I believe the context points us to the Words of God.

Look at the Psalm. Men speak vanity, flatter with their lips, speak with a double heart, boast with their tongues, and trust in their own words. Then, right in the middle of all that corrupt speech, David says, “The words of the LORD are pure words.”

That is the contrast. The wicked have their words, and God has His Words. Their words are vain, flattering, proud, and corrupt, while His Words are pure. Immediately after telling us that His Words are pure, David says, “Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.”

I believe that means exactly what it says. God did not give His Words to one generation and leave the generations that followed to reconstruct what He might have said. He gave His Words, He kept His Words, He preserved His Words, and we have His Words today.

The words of men come and go with their generation, but the Words of God are preserved from generation to generation.

#Psalm12v7 #WordOfGod #KJV #BiblePreservation #DailyVisitWithGod

Pure Words Preserved: An Ancient Bible Debate Older Than the KJV

What do you believe Psalm 12:7 is promising to preserve—the poor and needy, the Words of God, or both? Leave a comment and tell me how you understand the passage. 

For more Bible studies, devotionals, and KJV-centered teaching, visit marvinmckenzie.org.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7200 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Psalms 12:7 (KJV) Pure Words Preserved

Here's a comic version of the lesson.

http://youtube.com/post/UgkxKrPoFIXQ2NumcDvgU9X7kYZcO3x7FExe?si=QuxOW5C96-Sx6Dy3

Psalms 11:7 (KJV) Grace, Truth, and Obedience

Psalms 11:7 (KJV)

For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.

The first phrase of this passage is without debate: “The righteous LORD loveth righteousness.”

People may debate whether such a righteous Lord exists. People may debate what constitutes the righteousness He loves. People struggle with surrendering themselves to His standard of righteousness.

But that the Scriptures teach that the Lord of the Bible loves righteousness is without question.

The righteous LORD loveth righteousness.

It then becomes the responsibility of the people of God to discover this righteousness and, by the grace of God and with His help, follow after it.

We may not always agree on every finer point of righteousness, and the best of men will fall short of living fully according to the standard of righteousness as they understand it. In fact, the first point of righteousness is not found in ourselves at all, but in trusting the Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (KJV)
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Knowing that God loves righteousness, and that He beholds—or looks with favor upon—the upright, our response must be:

• Hide ourselves in the righteousness of Christ.
• Fix ourselves in the righteous Word of God.
• Find ourselves a local church of like-minded believers.
• Faithfully commit ourselves, with His help, to follow after righteousness.

#Psalm11v7 #GodLovesRighteousness #RighteousnessInChrist #FollowAfterRighteousness #BiblicalChristianLiving

Grace, Truth, and Obedience: It Starts With Christ

What does righteousness mean in your daily Christian life? Share your thoughts in the comments.

For more Bible studies, devotionals, books, and practical Christian teaching, visit marvinmckenzie.org.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7200 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Psalms 11:7 (KJV) Grace, Truth, and Obedience

Here's a comic version of the lesson.

http://youtube.com/post/UgkxJrpXIOQ-ySIZjuCYA2tyz9gvRq4ci9du?si=JbypBGCDUySZva4w

Psalms 3:6 (KJV) Courage Through Sorrow

Psalms 3:6 (KJV)

I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.

This Psalm begins by telling us David wrote this when he fled from Absalom, his son.

“I will not be afraid.”

And he wasn’t. At least not in the sense of paralyzing fear.

How can one choose not to be afraid?

• The chance of death.
• The prospect of combat.
• The dramatic decisions that must be made.

Fear would be a real thing. But there is a difference between hopeless fear and facing difficulties in faith.

“Ten thousands of people.”

To those who only look through the eyes of the flesh, a believer always appears to be in the minority. The eyes of faith know better.

“If God be for us, who can be against us?”

Ten thousands of people.

But there is one in the crowd who is unique from all the rest. His name is not mentioned except in the superscript, and that’s not inspired. But it is still significant.

Absalom, his son.

David wasn’t afraid. And David would come out the victor. But David would grieve intensely on this day.

2 Samuel 18:33 (KJV)
And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!

#Psalm3v6 #FaithOverFear #DavidAndAbsalom #TrustGod #KJVBible

Courage Through Sorrow: Can Faith Overcome Fear Without Removing the Pain?

When opposition surrounds you, faith does not deny the danger—it refuses to surrender to fear. Psalm 3:6 reminds us that the believer may look outnumbered, but never stands alone when God is with him.

What situation have you faced where faith had to be stronger than fear? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

For more Bible teaching, devotional lessons, and encouragement from the King James Bible, visit marvinmckenzie.org.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7200 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Psalms 3:6 (KJV) Courage Through Sorrow

Here's a comic version of the lesson.

http://youtube.com/post/UgkxKSe3i3_mhNdU7_18orEicYFANF5CKEIr?si=gsciuv3_4-kqlM6v