Psalm 68 is a very triumphant psalm! There are some very interesting aspects to this Psalm that I am going to wait to write about until we go through the Psalms again in the Spoken Word Bible Reading Plan. This time I want to just cover a few of the verses that really stand out to me. First of all verse 1 in the King James Version says:
1Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.
Do you recognize the song here? I have always enjoyed singing that song! Knowing that "let" represents my choice makes it even more powerful to me! In my meditation I believe that as I choose to make the Lord my #1 priority, He will take care of the adversaries in my life! Then let's look at this same verse in the Amplified Bible:
1GOD IS [already] beginning to arise, and His enemies to scatter; let them also who hate Him flee before Him!
God is ALREADY beginning to arise! I like that even better! The moment you and I make the decision to obey God's Word and make Him our first priority, He is already busy at work, with His eyes running to and fro in order to show Himself strong in OUR behalf! 2 Chronicles 16:9:
9For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.
That certainly "scatters" the enemy! And our instruction in verse 3 is to rejoice!
3But let the [uncompromisingly] righteous be glad; let them be in high spirits and glory before God, yes, let them [jubilantly] rejoice!
Another verse I really like in this Psalm is verse 11. The Amplified Bible says:
11The Lord gives the word [of power]; the women who bear and publish [the news] are a great host.
The Complete Jewish Bible says:
11 Adonai gives the command; the women with the good news are a might army.
Young's Literal Translation says:
11The Lord doth give the saying, The female proclaimers [are] a numerous host.
So, ladies, don't ever let ANYONE tell you that you can't preach the Gospel! In fact, when Jesus sent Mary to tell the disciples that He was alive, He made her the very FIRST preacher of the Good News of the Gospel! AMEN!
And then I love verse 35:
35O God, awe-inspiring, profoundly impressive, and terrible are You out of Your holy places; the God of Israel Himself gives strength and fullness of might to His people. Blessed be God!
What a very powerful Psalm! I am very sure that if YOU meditate further on this Psalm on your own, you will come up with many things you never saw quite that way before! That's what meditating on the Word will do for you!
In Mark 12 Jesus is using parables again. And, as usual, the religious leaders try to trap Him! I love how He answers the question about paying tribute to Caesar in verse 16-17:
16And they brought [Him one]. Then He asked them, Whose image (picture) is this? And whose superscription (title)? They said to Him, Caesar's.
17Jesus said to them, Pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's. And they stood marveling and greatly amazed at Him.
Then we have the Sadducees with that very silly story of the seven brothers and one wife! I love the answer Jesus gives about the most important commandment in verse 30-31:
30And you shall love the Lord your God out of and with your whole heart and out of and with all your soul and out of and with all your mind (with your faculty of thought and your moral understanding) and out of and with all your strength. This is the first and principal commandment.
31The second is like it and is this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.
Love Him first and then love each other as HE loves us! Remember that the promise is that THIS love will never fail! (1 Corinthians 13:8)
Then we have the example of proportionate giving shown by the widow!
In Leviticus we continue to read about the burnt offerings and how specific and precise they had to be. There were proper ways to do things and anything else was not acceptable! Thank You, Lord, for the New Covenant, which is a better one, based on better promises! Hallelujah!
Shalom in him!
