Bible Truth Daily Devotion

August 18, 2010

The Purpose of Blessings

Filed under: Devotion in Psalm — Tags: , , , , , , , — Pastor Brian Cheung @ 1:00 am

Psalm 67

 

 

Blessings of God are like jewels in life.  They sparkle and stand out as the highlight of our life.  We all know that they are precious, but do we know what is the purpose for them?  Today’s psalm offers an excellent perspective of the purpose of blessings.  Read the psalm and read the commentary to find out what it is.

 

Commentary:

Psalm 67:1. This verse is a shortened version of Number 6:24-26

24 The Lord bless you, and keep you;

25 The Lord make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you;

26 The Lord lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’

The Israelites would recognize it as a blessing right away.  The blessing onto the Jews has a purpose.

Psalm 67:2.  The purpose of God’s blessing is to make known the way of God to all people on earth.  The way of God is also the salvation of God.  Who is the way of God?  Jesus proclaims that He is the Way (John 14:6).  The word salvation is yeshuah in Hebrew or Jesus in English.  Jesus is the salvation and the way of God.  The job of the Jews and Christians now is to make Jesus known to all the earth.

Psalm 67:3-4.  The ultimate goal is to bring people into praising God.  Jesus came to look for worshippers on earth (John 4).  The people who are saved would praise God with gladness and joy. 

The word judge can also mean govern.  During the millennium reign, Jesus Christ will govern all people and guide all the nations on earth.  This prophecy of millennium is sure, found even in the psalm.

Psalm 67:5-7.  The blessings of God are seen through the abundant harvest (v. 6).  As surely as God blesses His people, His authenticity becomes self-evident to people on the earth (v. 7).  All people of God should give God the praise (v. 5).  That way, we will accomplish our purpose of making known God’s way to all people.

 

Meditation:

Are we making known what God has blessed us?  Blessings are not something to be hidden for our fond memory at old age.  It is to be shared and proclaimed, so that the way of God is known.  Blessings are evident of the might of our Lord.  When we give testimony of our blessings, it opens door to share the salvation of God to others.

The purpose of blessings is to share about the ultimate blessing of God—Jesus Christ.  Jesus is the salvation of God.  Through the Way, all men can come to the Father.  God has not provided another way; Jesus is the only way. 

When people come to receive Jesus as our Savior and Lord, they then know how to worship God.  Only through the forgiveness of sins then we are worthy to present ourselves in front of God.  Only when we are cleansed from our sins, then our worship is acceptable.  Let’s all praise God for the salvation through Jesus Christ—the Son of God.

 

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you that you have given us tremendous blessings.  The most important of them is the salvation through Jesus Your Son.  We should also count the wonderful blessings that God you have for us and share them with our friends and family.  We pray that we will use the testimonies of your blessing and share the good news of Jesus Christ with them.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.

August 17, 2010

Instruction on Proclaiming the Name of God

Filed under: Devotion in Psalm — Tags: , , , , , , , — Pastor Brian Cheung @ 1:00 am

Psalm 66

 

 

More than just soul-smoothing or spirit-uplifting poems, psalms can be important teaching tool.  This psalm teaches us how to proclaim the name of God, both internally at the church and externally in the world.  Read the psalm and then the commentary to reflect on the teaching from the Lord.

 

Commentary:

Psalm 66:1-4.  This section of the psalm is a command to all the earth to praise God.   It gives specific ways on how to praise.   The psalmist calls all to praise with a shout, not just any shout but a joyful shout (v. 1).  Then he calls everyone to sing (v. 2).   In case people do not know what to shout or sing for, the psalmist tells people that we should tell God of the wondrous work and His power (v. 3).  

An obvious observation contradicts the command of the psalmist.  Not everyone on earth worship Jesus Christ, the Lord of lords.  Further reading shows that people of the earth would worship not out of reverence or love but out of fear.  Even the enemies of God will give feigned obedience to the Lord (v. 3; Dt. 33:29).  Hence, in the name of Jesus, all knees shall bow and all mouth will confess (Phil 2:10-11).  But this will happen when the millennium arrives. 

Psalm 66:5-7.  The next section reveals to us what we should ascribe to God.  The work of God is shown in external and internal perspectives of the Jews.  Internally, the Jews were delivered through the crossing of the Red Sea (v. 6).  Externally, all nations are ruled by God (v. 7); this fact is proclaimed in Is 44:7 and deduced by Job in Job 12:23. 

Psalm 66:8-15.  The psalmist does not stop at calling all people on earth to praise God.  He specifically calls on the people of God to perform their God-given duty—making known His name in all the earth (v. 8).  This section gives specifics about proclaiming God’s name among God’s people. 

These specifics are often overlooked by today’s church.  We are too busy singing songs that other people make or watching powerful testimonies given by someone do not know personally; we have forgotten to give praise to God about ourselves in front of other Christians. 

The psalmist specifically tells us to give details of the trials that we receive (vv. 9-12).  The psalmist also reminds us to pay our vows in front of others (vv. 13-15).  All these need to be done among brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Psalm 66:16-20. Continuing the thought of proclaiming God’s name, this section describes what we should present to the outsiders.  We should focus on the prayer and praise we have given (v. 17).  Do not forget to make the righteous character of God known (v. 18).  Then we declare the answer we receive from God (v. 19).  Finally, we proclaim the lovingkindness of God and His willingness to hear the earnest prayer of the needy.

 

Meditation:

When the millennium comes, everyone will submit to the lordship of Jesus.  By then, it is too late for the non-believers.  They will not enjoy the love of God given through Jesus Christ for them. If we say we love our friends and family, we will have to do something for them now.  We need to proclaim the name of God to them. 

The process of proclaiming is both external and internal.  Let’s practice them in the church through testimonies and thanksgiving.  Then let’s reach out to the world through our bold proclamation.  The world may not like what we tell them, but they can never accuse us in front of God for not ever telling them.

 

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this psalm instructing us how to make known your name.  We ask that the Holy Spirit within us strengthening us and emboldening us to do this work of love.  We pray that your name be worshipped everywhere in love.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.

August 16, 2010

Preparing for Worship

Filed under: Devotion in Psalm — Tags: , , , , — Pastor Brian Cheung @ 1:00 am

Psalm 65

 

 

How do we prepare our hearts for worship?   The psalmist has given us some guideline for worship preparation. 

 

Commentary:

Psalm 65:1. The word silence is duwmiyah in Hebrew.  It only occurs four times in the OT.  It also means to wait.  Putting the two together would mean a silent wait for God.  That comes before the praise and thanksgiving. 

This is how we should come to worship, both corporately and privately.  Have a time of silence and wait for God’s presence before worship.  Then we will sing praises to Him.

Psalm 65:3. The original literal translation of this verse is, “the words of iniquities overwhelm (above) me; you forgive the transgressions.”  The psalmist speaks of how the forgiveness of God is real and precious to him at times when he is overwhelmed by the enormity of his sins.  This thought connects with the observation or proclamation cited in the preceding verse.  

Psalm 65:4.  The feeling of being forgiven expands in this verse.  Describing the forgiveness in picturesque terms, persons getting pardons are compared to dwelling in God’s courts.  God’s court is like the palace of a king; the persons would enjoy the food and the provisions from the king.  They will surely be satisfied.  God’s court is also in heaven.  For anyone mired in the utter despair of sins, God’s forgiveness of sins is indeed heavenly. 

Psalm 65:5. The verse can be read as “by awesome deed of righteousness, you answer us.”  God expresses Himself through the work of His hand; the deed of righteousness describes how fitting God gives to the Jews.   God is trustworthy because of His fitting reward.  Examples of God’s deeds are in the following verses. 

Psalm 65:6-13.  Verses 6 and 7 cover the mountains and the seas.  Verse 8 encompasses the whole earth, including the rising and the setting of the sun.  Verse 9-10 describes how God contributes to the growth of crops in the land. Verse 11-12 summarizes the blessings of God in the land.  Verse 13 personalizes the abundance experienced by the meadows and valleys. 

 

Meditation:

Are we too busy before we worship?  I mean if we spend any quiet time waiting for the presence of our Lord or we do things right up to the moments of worship whether we are at home or in church.  Too often we chat, check email, or read up on the latest before worship time.  What we should do is to give that moment of silence to wait for the presence of the Lord.  Feel the real presence of God before we spend anytime singing praises to Him.  Review His forgiveness and know the joy before we shout joyfully in His name. 

Worship is not empty headed action.  It is rooted in an out-flowing of gratitude.  When we are full of thanks, it spills out from our mouth.  We cannot help but sing praises to the Lord. 

So before each worship, spend time dwelling on the blood of the cross. Retract the steps of the sufferings of our Savior.  See how his hands and feet were nailed for our sins. Count that stripes on His back; each one is for the sins that we have yesterday and today.   Experience His forgiveness when He cried out to the Father, “Forgive them for they know not what they are doing.”  The word of the cross is the power of God.  Let God’s power thoroughly transforms us before we worship.

Before the worship, think of the awesome deed of righteousness God had worked in our life.  Count how God renew us and put us on the right path.  There is no substitute for the work of God in us.  Each one is unique and worthy of praise.  Worship God for He is worthy of all our praise.

 

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for you have indeed work mightily in us.  We pray that we give you the worship that is worthy of your sacrifice. We give you thanks and adoration.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.

August 14, 2010

The Acceptable Worship

Filed under: Devotion in Psalm — Tags: , , — Pastor Brian Cheung @ 1:00 am

Psalm 63

 

 

Worship is a major part of Christian living.  Exactly what type of worship is God looking for?  This psalm provides a good look of an acceptable worship. 

 

Commentary:

Psalm 63:1.  Situation drives our thought.  The followers of Christ should aim to achieve the highest thought in all situations.  Surely, the psalmist shows us that the highest thought is to think of God even in life’s most unpleasant situation. 

The psalmist was situated in the wilderness. He described it as dry and weary.  Overcome by thirst, he did not think of the wine in his palace but thought of God.  In fact, he said his flesh yearned for the Lord. 

Psalm 63:2. How did David come to that?  A better question is how can we come to that point in our life?  It turns out that David had experienced God in a real way.  He said that he saw God in the sanctuary.  The sanctuary was the worship place in the OT.  There in the worship, David had seen the power and the glory of the Lord. 

Almost all Christians have been to worship.  Someone has defined worship as when a participant experiences God. If that is the case, perhaps only a few of us has been to a real worship because few has experienced God like David had.  Likewise, only a few of us have been transformed to be more like David. 

Psalm 63:3. Exactly what kind of worship did David have?  David proclaimed that the lovingkindness of God is better than life.  Wow! That attitude is refreshing in today’s electronic craze culture.  David was weighing the world on one end of the scale and God on the other.  There was no toss up; God and His lovingkindness won hand down.  David was totally committed to God.  He would praise Him all day long. 

Psalm 63:4.  The psalmist said that he would bless God and would lift up his hands in God’s name.  The action of blessing God is to give praise to Him or to thank Him.  The action of lifting the hands is a motion to pray (Ps 28:2).  When the hand is lifted up in worship, it signifies an attitude of praying. 

Psalm 63:5. The word “soul” can be understood as the life.  The phrase “marrow and fatness” is the choice food of David’s day; they are like the fried stuff or the beef stew of our day.  Here in the desert, the thought of God put the psalmist in high elation.   The thought of God satisfied his life like he just had the best meal of his life. 

Psalm 63:6.  Time was never a reason to stop thinking about God.  If the thought of God came late in the night, the psalmist would sit up and meditate. 

Psalm 63:8-9.  The righteous man would be upheld by God.  Hence, the psalmist was confident that he would be restored and that the wicked would perish.  

Psalm 63: 11.  Those rejoices in God would triumph ultimately.  There will be a crown of life waiting for those who will stand for their testimony with their life and proclaim that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior.  The liars would not be able to enter into heaven. 

In this psalm, David was talking about those who defamed him would be stopped. 

 

Meditation:

In reading this psalm, we need to ask ourselves this question: When was the last time that you and I are sold out to God?   The enthusiasm and the devotion of David were unprecedented at his time.  We can duplicate his intensity in our time and make our Lord and Savior pleased. 

When we can give God our best, our worship will be accepted by God.  There we shall meet God and experience Him.  Let’s make the acceptable worship an everyday experience because it is the best thing in life, just like the psalmist said. 

 

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise you for your lovingkindness is better than life.  Let us lift up our hand and give thanks to you for your are good.  Let us rejoice over the thought of your grace.  Give us that boldness to proclaim your name in public.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.

July 29, 2010

The King of the Earth

Filed under: Devotion in Psalm — Tags: , , , , — Pastor Brian Cheung @ 8:00 am

Psalm 47

 

 

Is clapping of hands appropriate during worship?  What about after the singing?  This psalm has that answer and more about worship.

 

Commentary:

Psalm 47:1. The psalmist calls all peoples to praise God with action.  The peoples are not any people but the people of God.  The action of praise and worship include shouting with the voice of joy and clapping of hands.  This shouting is to raise the voice.  In other words, sing or read loudly in worship.  The clapping of hands is done to drive the worship or to show triumph.  These meanings here should define how we raise our voices and clap our hands in our “contemporary” worship. 

Psalm 47:2. God is to be praised and to be feared by everyone on earth.  The word fear is yare in Hebrew.  In addition to fear, the word also means to revere.   

Psalm 47:3.  God would rule the earth through His people.  Although that did not occur in Israel time, God would absolutely rule in the Millennium kingdom.  

Psalm 47:6. The phrase “sing praises” is repeated four times.  Two of which is repeated.  When it is repeated, it means to sing praises strongly. 

Psalm 47:7.  God is the King of the earth. 

Psalm 47:8.  God reigns over the nations

Psalm 47:9.  God is the shields.  The word shield is “magen” in Hebrew.  It is more appropriate to translate the word as suzerains or benefactors in this verse.  This translation is consistent with the theme of the psalm.  In five other places, vv. 2, 3, 6, 7, and 9, God is sovereign over all the earth.    He is the suzerain, and we are the vessels. 

 

Meditation:

Certainly it is the right thing to ascribe God the honor and glory with clapping of hands.  In the same vein of thought, it is not alright to share that worship with fellow men.  Only God alone deserves our dedication.  So it is wrong to give each other appreciation for singing well or playing well during the course of worship. 

 

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, you are the great King in heaven, and you reign over the earth.   We pray that your kingdom will come and bring that everlasting peace.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.

July 22, 2010

The New Song

Filed under: Devotion in Psalm — Tags: , , , , — Pastor Brian Cheung @ 8:00 am

Psalm 40

 

 

Some churches may have an emphasis to sing “new” songs in worship.  What exactly is a new song?  If there are criteria to new songs, what are they?  Read the psalm today and check out the commentary for the answers.

 

Commentary:

Psalm 40:1.  Prayers can have three answers.  God can tell us “yes” or “no, but I have something better for you.”  God may also want us to wait.  The psalmist was surely aware of that and waited patiently for an answer to his prayer.

Psalm 40:3. The phrase “new song” appears six times in the book of Psalm (33:3, 40:3, 96:1, 96:1, 144:9, and 149:1).  Four of them are written in the imperative voice.  One other is the action that the psalmist will take (144:9).  The one here alone describes what God has done to give the palmist a new song. 

The new song was a result of the blessings that David received from the Lord.  His prayer was answered, and He was reestablished in the Lord (vv. 1-2).  David experienced anew the grace of God in his life, so he sung a new song.

A new song is also a testimony of the grace of God.  It aims to evangelize people.  The verse emphasizes this effect; people hearing the new song will be touched to trust, in future tense, in the Lord.   The future tense implies that these people did not believe before they hear the song, but the testimony changes them.  Hence, a new song should tell a story to lead others to believe in the Lord.  An example of a song giving a powerful testimony is “It is Well in My Soul.”  (See the background of the song in http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/i/t/i/itiswell.htm.)  

Therefore, this verse tells us that a new song has the dual purpose of giving praise to God and to tell a testimony to convince others to faith.  This dual purpose is a good benchmark in evaluating the tremendous amount of new Christian songs appearing in the marketplace daily.  Christian music has been commercialized in the end of the twentieth century.  Song writing is a career that many seek after.  Christian singers become a popular profession instead of a mere calling.  Songs are written to make money.  Sometimes, this has driven the writers and singers to produce records to sustain their income instead of to tell the powerful work of God in their life.  The substance of faith is delineated from the Christian new songs.  (The subject of errant theology is another comment.) This benchmark to evaluate new songs to use or to listen to is needed now more so than ever before.  Christians, especially worship leaders, should examine the background of the song to see if there is a substantial testimony for the praise words contained within.   Without that powerful testimony, the new songs are just mere intellectual exercise of human minds.  It will not transform the hearts of man. 

Psalm 40:6-8.  David was intimate with what God desires in a man.  He had the privilege to witness the downfall of his predecessor, King Saul.   He heard the word of Prophet Samuel uttered to Saul and paraphrased them here (1Sam. 15:22).  David knew that God desires His people to love His precept instead of merely going through the motion. 

 

Meditation:

Praise the Lord that giving a new song is not an exclusive domain of song writers and singers.  Every Christian should have an experience that fulfills the dual purpose of a new song.  We all have a testimony that powerfully tells of the wondrous work of God in our life, and every Christians should be able to give praise to God.   Every Christian is fit to write a new song.  In fact, it is the calling of everyone to give the testimony (1Pe 3:15). 

Let’s put forth the grace of God in our life to change life.  Rather in selecting a new song composed by others or giving one of our own, we should emphasize the part of the testimony, so others can hear and believe. 

 

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you that that you have given us a new song.  We pray that we contemplate your work and give our testimony to others.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.

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