The title for Psalm 42 says this:
To the Chief Musician. A skillful song, or didactic or reflective poem, of the sons of Korah.
Didactic is something intended to teach and reflective means that it is intended to provoke thought. Actually, we should have that expectation towards all of Scripture! Verses 1-2:
1 AS THE deer pants and long for the water brooks, so I pant and long for You, O God. 2 My inner self thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?
As born again believers in Jesus of Nazareth, we should all long for time in His presence! The reality, though, is that in order to have that desire for His presence, we must spend time in His presence! When shall I behold His face? When I decide to spend time in the secret place of the Most High! Do it today! You will NEVER regret time spent with HIM!
1 Timothy 6:10 tells us that the love of money is the root of all evil! Wherever you find evil in the world, you WILL find that money or riches of some sort are involved as the driving force and the cause! But verses 11-12 tell us this:
11 But as for you, O man of God, flee from all these things; aim at and pursue righteousness (right standing with God and true goodness), godliness (which is the loving fear of God and being Christlike), faith, love, steadfastness (patience), and gentleness of heart. 12 Fight the good fight of faith; lay hold of the eternal life to which you were summoned and [for which] you confessed the good confession [of faith] before many witnesses.
Remember that the "good fight of faith" is the one that WE WIN, because we do not quit or give up! Then, because we are, of all people, most blessed, we need to be doers of verses 17-19:
17 As for the rich in this world, charge them not to be proud and arrogant and contemptuous of others, nor to set their hopes on uncertain riches, but on God, Who richly and ceaselessly provides us with everything for [our] enjoyment. 18 [Charge them] to do good, to be rich in good works, to be liberal and generous of heart, ready to share [with others], 19 In this way laying up for themselves [the riches that endure forever as] a good foundation for the future, so that they may grasp that which is life indeed.
God WANTS us to be richly supplied in all good things IN THIS LIFE! But, He does NOT want us to WANT those things above all else! We need to have HIM and HIS plan, purpose and calling as our #1 priority! Seek Him FIRST and all other things will be added to us besides (Matthew 6:33)! AMEN!
We begin in Isaiah today. "Isaiah" means "salvation of the Lord", and that is the key theme of this book. He wrote of 5 different acts of deliverance that the One, True God would perform:
- The deliverance of Judah from Assyrian invasion (Chapters 36-37).
- The deliverance of the nation of Israel from Babylonian captivity (Chapter 40).
- The future deliverance of the Jews from worldwide dispersion among the Gentiles (Chapters 11-12).
- The deliverance of lost sinners from judgment (Chapter 53).
- The final deliverance of creation from the bondage of sin when the kingdom is established (Chapter 60).
Isaiah was a man in touch with his God and a man who loved his nation, a true patriot! He hated sin and religion that wasn't based on Truth! His favorite name for God is "The Holy One of Israel", which he uses 25 times in this book and is only found 5 other times in the entire Old Testament! I found all of this in the Bible Exposition Commentary, along with this:
Isaiah was certainly a courageous man. Unafraid to denounce kings and priests, and unwavering when public opinion went against him, he boldly declared the Word of God.
I would hope that someday the same will be said of each of us! It will be fun to go through Isaiah having these things in mind about him! For today, I will leave you with this well-known and very powerful verse! Isaiah 1:19:
19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;
Being willing is an attitude that is completely our choice to have, or not! Being obedient is also completely our own choice! God WILL NOT force us to do anything! He gives us the opportunity to do things HIS way and be blessed, or own way and be satisfied with the results. I know what the WISE choice is! How about you? Here is a new song from Hillsong called "You Are More"
Shalom in Him!
