Shalom,

Psalm 50:23:

²³Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.

We've looked at this verse briefly before, but I want to break it down a little. "Whoso offereth", is the Hebrew word, "zabach", which means: to offer a sacrifice. This is not the sacrifice of animals that God is talking about here. This is the sacrifice of "praise", the Hebrew word, "towdah", which means: thanksgiving, praise, confession, an extension of the hand, adoration. It is demonstrative, vocal and sometimes public! That is the picture of someone who is unashamed to let the whole world know that they love the Lord their God with all of their heart and soul, mind and strength! Those who do that, "glorifieth me", the Hebrew word, "kabad", which means: to make heavy or weighty (in a GOOD sense!); to honor or make honorable; to give glory; to make glorious, honourable, rich and abounding! That is what we are expressing when we praise Him!

Then the rest of that verse says "and to him that ordereth", the Hebrew word, "suwm", which means: to put, to place, to set, to direct toward, to establish, "conversation", the Hebrew word, "derek", which means: road, course of life, mode of action, way. The words "his" and "aright" are not there. They were added by the translators to try and make the meaning clear. They were well-meaning, but not totally accurate. It makes it sound as though we must walk in a perfect way in order to have God "show", the Hebrew word, "ra`ah", which means: to see, to perceive, to discern, to be exhibited to, to cause to see, "the salvation", the Hebrew word, "yesha`", which means: deliverance, rescue, safety, welfare, prosperity, victory, of God. A better translation can be found in the Message bible:

It's the praising life that honors me.
As soon as you set your foot on the Way,
I'll show you my salvation."

Once you have received Jesus of Nazareth as your Lord and personal Saviour, you have entered The WAY! Remember that Jesus said, "I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life..." (John 14:6). You have a right to the salvation of God. you need to find out in His Word what all that entails, and then, by faith, walk in it! Be like David, a man after God's own heart. Was David perfect in his actions? Absolutely NOT! BUT, one thing David DID do is repent (Change his thinking to agree with God), confess his sin and move on, going hard after the will of God. Keep yourself on the right path and learn of His salvation! You'll be so glad you did and so will everyone close to you! AMEN!

In Philemon, Paul is addressing an issue concerning a new believer who had done Philemon wrong as an unbeliever, but was now in the family of God. He was trying to see this one restored to a good relationship with Philemon. The verse I want to look at today is verse 6:

⁶[And I pray] that the participation in and sharing of your faith may produce and promote full recognition and appreciation and understanding and precise knowledge of every good [thing] that is ours in [our identification with] Christ Jesus [and unto His glory].

That should be the desire of every believer, that our sharing the Gospel would cause people to be open to the wonderful salvation provided for them at the New Birth! It is MY desire!

In Isaiah 13-14 we see prophecy concerning what was to happen to Babylon, but also what will come to pass at the time of the Tribulation and Great Tribulation that will take place on Earth AFTER the Rapture of the Church. Go to the Spoken Word Church website to hear some current teaching on that subject in the series titled "Watch" that is ongoing.

We also see in chapter 14 an account of when Lucifer's fall from Heaven in verses 12-16:

¹²How have you fallen from heaven, O light-bringer and daystar, son of the morning! How you have been cut down to the ground, you who weakened and laid low the nations [O blasphemous, satanic king of Babylon!] ¹³And you said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven; I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit upon the mount of assembly in the uttermost north. ¹⁴I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. ¹⁵Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol (Hades), to the innermost recesses of the pit (the region of the dead). ¹⁶Those who see you will gaze at you and consider you, saying, Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms?--

He had 5 "I wills" in these verses! By a choice of his own will, Lucifer became filled with pride and rebelled against God! He was cast out of Heaven and fell to the Earth. Make sure that YOU do not start seeking your own will and desire instead of the plan that God has for your life!

Shalom in Him!