In Psalm 54 David is crying out to God for deliverance. Verse 6 tells us what David did BEFORE he saw the deliverance he asked for:
6With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to You; I will give thanks and praise Your name, O Lord, for it is good.
Verses 4-5 show what David's confession of faith was concerning what he had asked for. This verse tells us what David DID! He gave a "freewill" offering. This is the Hebrew word, "nedabah", which means: voluntary, willingly, a spontaneous or abundant gift. Spontaneous means: natural and unconstrained, having a natural and uninhibited manner! David's sacrifice would be free and uninhibited praise to God for the answer that he KNEW was coming! He acted as if it was already done because he had such faith, trust and confidence that the God Who had delivered him before would be faithful to His Word to do it again! What is YOUR faith level like? The evidence is in the praise! If it isn't your natural response, then you need to get more Word in you concerning your particular situation. Remember that faith COMES by hearing and hearing and hearing the Word of God! (Romans 10:17)
In Mark 4 Jesus is speaking in parables to the crowds of people who have come to hear Him. When He is alone with His disciples, He explains them so that they can understand. The parable of the sower is always a fascinating one to me because there are so many facets to it and so many obstacles put in our way by the enemy to try and keep us from hearing, receiving, loving and obeying the Word! I saw something today in a new light again! (I love it when that happens!) I realized for the first time that NONE of the types of "ground" that the seeds are sown on produce anything except the good ground! Of course the ground that Jesus is referring to is our heart - the spirit/soul combination. We have to prepare our heart to receive the Word. When we are prepared to receive the Word, we need to realize that we will only receive FROM the Word in proportion to the amount of attention and obedience that we give to it! Some will receive 30 fold, some 60 and others 100! WE determine what are harvest from the Word will be! Verses 24-25 tell us this:
24And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. The measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you hear] will be the measure [of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you--and more [besides] will be given to you who hear. 25For to him who has will more be given; and from him who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away [by force],
Go after the Word DAILY as your vital necessity and you will find yourself reaping a great harvest from it!
Isaiah 21 is prophesying the capture of Babylon by the Medes and Persians. Verse 4 in the Amplified Bible:
4My mind reels and wanders, horror terrifies me. [In my mind's eye I am at the feast of Belshazzar. I see the defilement of the golden vessels taken from God's temple, I watch the handwriting appear on the wall--I know that Babylon's great king is to be slain.] The twilight I looked forward to with pleasure has been turned into fear and trembling for me.
This brings to mind the dream that Daniel interpreted in Daniel chapter 5 of the handwriting on the wall! God knows the end from the beginning! (Aren't you glad He does!) These prophecies and their fulfillment should give us encouragement that everything He has promised WILL come to pass! After all, History IS "His story"! AMEN!
Shalom in Him!
