Psalms 138:1 Before the Gods

 

Psalms 138:1 (KJV)

I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.

Someone might say that the word, gods, refers to lords, princes, rulers over lands and nations. 
Indeed, the Psalm mentions the kings of the earth.[1] No doubt we ought to praise and glorify God in the presence of them all.

Another will say that we ought to praise God in preference to the idols and false gods men have made.
This is for sure a fact. Thou shalt have no other gods before him.

I wish to suggest that we ought to praise and sing praise to God in the midst of a world filled with people worshiping every form of false god and idol. 

Those gods are nothing except for what the people who worship them make them out to be. Our God is alive, more powerful than any man or group of men. We do not make God what He is, He makes us what we are.

We live as strangers in this world. Sing praise to the LORD who is strange to all the world. Make the world to know Him.

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[1] Psalms 138:4 (KJV)
All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD, when they hear the words of thy mouth.

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.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5500 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 138:1 Before the Gods

Psalms 137:5 (KJV) Don’t Forget God

 

Psalms 137:5 (KJV)

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.

There is no question that the cunning of his right hand has to do with music. Imagine them using the songs of their faith to entertain the pagan world and then, the Psalmist says, through the very use of that music, forgetting the plan of God for them. If we think of Jerusalem as the place of the Temple, then we can extend this to using the songs of their faith to forget the house of God.

I am thinking of so many famous musicians, especially of a generation ago, who got their start singing in church. A few of them I’ve heard of continued to sing a hymn or gospel song in their concerts, even if that concert was in a bar. They essentially defiled the song by using it in that manner. They may have believed that they were being some sort of a Christian witness and thereby salved their conscience. In truth, they had defiled themselves all the more, not merely for rejecting the life God has for those who follow Him but by using that which belongs to God to forget those things that belong to God.

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.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5500 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.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

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Psalms 137:5 (KJV) Don’t Forget God

1 John 3:24 (KJV) Why We Know

1 John 3:24 (KJV)

And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

I see two issues brought into one verse, each having a similar bearing on Bible truth. The subject is our relationship with Christ. Does He or does He not abide in us? It’s important because we are not saved if He does not.

Though both issues are true, one is most easily quantified, and therefore it is the one we focus most of our attention. If He dwells in us and we in Him, we keep His commandments.

But the second issue is also the truth. “We know,” notice that the first does not bear this affirmative. “We know that He abideth in us” not because we keep His commandments, but “by the Spirit which He hath given us.”

A person can fake obedience. He can lie about the abiding Spirit. But He cannot be saved unless the Holy Spirit is in Him and tells Him so.

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.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5500 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.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

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1 John 3:24 (KJV) Why We Know

Psalms 132:10 (KJV) They Hoped in Jesus

 

Psalms 132:10 (KJV)

For thy servant David’s sake turn not away the face of thine anointed.

This Psalm is believed to have been written sometime after King David. I suspect that it was written about the time the Jews returned from Babylon. Ezra had drilled in them, through 1 and 2 Chronicles, the importance of David’s kingdom to the plan of God. In this Song of degrees, the Jews were making their way back to the temple, remembering David’s part in it.

It is, in fact, a pronouncement of faith that the Messiah would come of David. It is not for David’s sake that God does anything. It is for Jesus’ sake that He does not turn His face away.

God promised David that Jesus, the Messiah, would come from Him.

Psalms 132:11 (KJV)
The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.

The Jews did not hope in David. They hoped in the fruit of his body.

They hoped in Jesus.

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.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5500 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.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
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Psalms 132:10 (KJV) They Hoped in Jesus

Psalms 130:4 (KJV) Because of Forgiveness

 

Psalms 130:4 (KJV)

But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.

Consider the Psalmist’s predicament.
Psalms 130:1 (KJV)
A Song of degrees. Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD.
Whatever was the circumstance, he was desperate. He was in the depths of despair. His Prayers not only must reach heaven, but they also must escape the pit before they can make it past the ceiling.

Psalms 130:2 (KJV)
Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.
Is this not the hope of every child of the Lord? How much more so in times of desperation.

Psalms 130:3 (KJV)
If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?
And then he remembers his sin. Desperate to have the ear of God, he is keenly aware of all that would prevent his voice from entering into the throne room of grace.

Psalms 130:4 (KJV)
But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.
What hope! What comfort! What liberty of the soul! God forgives. Therefore, we can come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Psalms 130:5 (KJV)
I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.
I wait for the Lord. I can wait because I know there is forgiveness with God. I can hope in His Word. I can arise from despair. I can live boldly, cheerfully, abundantly because there is forgiveness with God.

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.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5500 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.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
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Psalms 130:4 (KJV) Because of Forgiveness

2 Peter 3:9 Longsuffering to Us-ward

 

2 Peter 3:9 (KJV)

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

The Lord is longsuffering to us-ward. That longsuffering accounts for our salvation.[1] As a by-product in our life of this Spirit of the Lord, we ought to learn some of the same.

It is not easy to be longsuffering and patient with people. We all have ideas and agendas we wish we could get everyone behind. It doesn’t always happen. When it does, it seldom happens quickly.

But then there are those not only unwilling to get onboard but choose to be critical, obnoxious, or even attack what we see as the course God has set.

God’s Spirit would be longsuffering with them. God’s Spirit would even suffer rather than grow impatient.

Lord, lead us to surrender to Your Spirit.

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[1] 2 Peter 3:15 (KJV)
And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;

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.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5500 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.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
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2 Peter 3:9 Longsuffering to Us-ward

2 Peter 2:9 (KJV) Cool Facts?

 2 Peter 2:9 (KJV)

The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

As interested as we can be in the intricacies of the Word of God, especially when it comes to matters of prophecy or of judgment, the Bible’s purpose is bigger than to teach us cool facts[1] about: 

• Sodom and Gomorrah 
• Fallen angels or 
• How the Flood happened

The Bible is here to point the way to Christ and then to provide directions for our journey heavenward.

This verse is the key to the chapter. It is the axle around which everything else in the chapter spins.

The Lord knows how to deliver us from temptations.

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[1] Please don’t get me wrong. It’s all-important. There are huge lessons concerning salvation in the facts of these subjects. 

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.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5500 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.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
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2 Peter 2:9 (KJV) Cool Facts?

Psalms 124:1-2 (KJV) On Our Side

 

Psalms 124:1-2 (KJV)

If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say;
If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us:

I have heard an anecdote that a reporter once asked President Lincoln whether he thought the Lord was on his side. He responded that he was more concerned whether he was on the side of the Lord rather than the Lord on our side. The difference isn’t so subtle. During the Civil War, both sides claimed the side of the Lord, and both sides had some very godly men. It illustrates just how difficult it can be to know the side we are fighting for is God’s side.

I only know one way to know that the Lord is on our side and that we are in His, that is to invest our lives in the cause of Christ as found in the Word of God. If we know the Word and stand upon it, we cannot help but have Him on our side.

There are other causes for which a man may invest himself. Those causes may be more or less worthy. The only one we can be assured is of the Lord is the one we find in the Bible.[1]

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[1] James 4:1 (KJV)
From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?

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.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5500 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.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Psalms 124:1-2 (KJV) On Our Side

Psalms 122:6 (KJV) This Is The Truth

 

Psalms 122:6 (KJV)

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.

I perused an article this morning unrelated to this text but with an argument that I believe illustrates the point of my visit with the Lord today. The article, published by Answers in Genesis,[1] responded to some criticism they had received from a group known as BioLogos. In a previous piece, AIG accused BioLogos of suffering false teachers. This article sought to justify that accusation by defining what false teaching is. One of the definitions they gave was to claim that one or more of the writers of Scripture was wrong. It stands to reason. A Christian ought to assert that someone claiming that something in the Bible is incorrect teaches falsehood.

Every word of God is pure.

Here’s the connection I want to make with this text, was the Psalmist right or wrong? If every word is pure, then this is the truth. They shall prosper that love Jerusalem. Therefore, supporting anything or anyone who contributes to unrest for the Jews in Jerusalem is unbiblical. To teach Christians to do anything other than love Jerusalem is to teach falsehood.

I stand in support of any movement that tends toward peace in Jerusalem. I am opposed to any administration that contributes to unrest there.

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[1] https://answersingenesis.org/blogs/calvin-smith/2022/01/31/response-biologos-heresy-part-1/

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.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5500 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.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Psalms 122:6 (KJV) This Is The Truth