Shalom,
Psalm 105 is all about the Covenant-making, Covenant-keeping God! HE will always keep the Covenant and we need to remember that at all times so that we never allow ourselves to become discouraged, lose heart, give up or quit! Verses 1-5:
1 O GIVE thanks unto the LORD, call upon His Name, make known His doings among the peoples! 2 Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; meditate on and talk of all His marvelous deeds and devoutly praise them.3 Glory in His holy Name; let the hearts of those rejoice who seek and require the LORD [as their indispensable necessity]. 4 Seek, inquire of and for the LORD, and crave Him and His strength (His might and inflexibility to temptation); seek and require His face and His presence [continually] evermore. 5 [Earnestly] remember the marvelous deeds that He has done, His miracles and wonders, the judgments and sentences which He pronounced [upon His enemies as in Egypt].
Our instructions are pretty clear here! We are to be bragging on our Mighty God! The word "glory" in verse 3 is the Hebrew word, "halal", which means: to shine, to praise, to BOAST, to be clamorously foolish over, to act like a fool over! When was the last time you acted THAT way over the awesomeness of our great God? We are to be telling everyone, everywhere about the wonderful things He has done! Bragging on God helps to keep YOUR confidence level up and helps direct others TO Him! Don't keep quiet! There IS a time to be quiet, and THIS is NOT that time! Let everyone, everywhere know that our God IS God! AMEN!
In James 2 we are instructed against "playing favorites"! I really like the Amplified Bible for verse 1:
1 MY BRETHREN, pay no servile regard to people [show no prejudice, no partiality]. Do not [attempt to] hold and practice the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ [the Lord] of glory [together with snobbery]!
The word "servile" here means: slavishly submissive, fawning, characteristic of slaves. When we show favoritism to people to try to impress them or to "win points", then we become as a slave to them and give them ownership over us! DON'T DO IT! There is only ONE Who deserves THAT kind of devotion and and His Name is JESUS! AMEN! Don't judge people by what you see with your physical eyes! The poorest looking person could very well be a billionaire and the richest looking person could be in debt up to their ears and actually have nothing! We are to treat ALL people as precious to God, because they are! Jesus died for them and wants them in His Kingdom! Share the Good News with those He brings your way and let the judging be done by God! AMEN!
James goes on to speak of faith and the fact that a living faith show out in our lives! We are born again simply by believing and receiving Jesus of Nazareth as our Lord and personal Saviour. When we've done that, then we have the responsibility to represent Him in this world! Our lifestyle should reflect His love, His joy, His peace, His confidence in God, and everything Good about HIM! The "works" that faith produces are Good Works that affect eternity for others, and bring rewards for US in the next life!
In Jeremiah 18-20 we see Jeremiah lamenting over the way he was being received by the people and wanting God to do something! Jeremiah was NOT a popular person with the wicked king of his day, Jehoiakim. This king was one who did "evil in the sight of the Lord" and wanted nothing whatsoever to do with the Word that Jeremiah was bringing to them or with the One, True, Most High, Living, Almighty God of the Bible! Jeremiah cries to God for vengeance. I like what the Bible Exposition Commentary says about Jeremiah:
In an age of unconcern and indecision, Jeremiah was burdened and decisive, and God honored him. Humanly speaking, his ministry was a failure, but from the divine perspective, he was an outstanding success. We need men and women of Jeremiah's caliber serving in the church and the nation today. There's a price to pay, but there's also a crown to win.
Do YOU know what it is that God has called YOU to do? Find out, and then commit to do it with your whole heart, no matter what others think of it! Remember that you only have 1 Master and He alone is the One we should please! AMEN!
Shalom in Him!
