Psalm 130:1-2:
1 OUT OF the depths have I cried to You, O LORD. 2 LORD, hear my voice; let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.
We need to remember that THIS is an Old Testament prayer, based on the Covenant that THEY had with the One, True God. Hebrews 8:6 tells us this:
6 But now has He obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the Mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
The Amplified Bible says this:
6 But as it now is, He [Christ] has acquired a [priestly] ministry which is much superior and more excellent [than the old] as the covenant (the agreement) of which He is a Mediator (the Arbiter, Agent) is superior and more excellent, [because] it is enacted and rests upon more important (sublimer, higher, and nobler) promises.
What are those more excellent promises? One of them is found in 1 John 5:14-15 and is our answer for Psalm 130:1-2!
14 And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), he listens to and hears us. 15 And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present possessions] the requests made of Him.
So what are we saying? We no longer have to beg God to hear us, we simply have to find out His will in any given situation, and then ask according to His will. Then He hears us and we HAVE it! AMEN! How do we know His will? His Word IS His will! Find out what the Word of God has to say about EVERY situation you face, and then make your petition to Him from His Word! After that, stand strong in the faith that He hears and ANSWERS! Praise Him for the answer! HALLELUJAH!
2 Corinthians 3:7-18 in the Complete Jewish Bible:
7 Now if that which worked death, by means of a written text engraved on stone tablets, came with glory — such glory that the people of Isra’el could not stand to look at Moshe’s face because of its brightness, even though that brightness was already fading away — 8 won’t the working of the Spirit be accompanied by even greater glory? 9 For if there was glory in what worked to declare people guilty, how much more must the glory abound in what works to declare people innocent! 10 In fact, by comparison with this greater glory, what was made glorious before has no glory now. 11 For if there was glory in what faded away, how much more glory must there be in what lasts.
14 What is more, their minds were made stonelike; for to this day the same veil remains over them when they read the Old Covenant; it has not been unveiled, because only by the Messiah is the veil taken away. 15 Yes, till today, whenever Moshe is read, a veil lies over their heart. 16 “But,” says the Torah, “whenever someone turns to Adonai, the veil is taken away.” 17 Now, “Adonai” in this text means the Spirit. And where the Spirit of Adonai is, there is freedom. 18 So all of us, with faces unveiled, see as in a mirror the glory of the Lord; and we are being changed into his very image, from one degree of glory to the next, by Adonai the Spirit.
CJB
I like this from the Bible Exposition Commentary: New Testament:
Moses reflected the glory of God, but you and I may radiate the glory of God. When we meditate on God's Word and in it see God's Son, then the Spirit transforms us! We become more like the Lord Jesus Christ as we grow "from glory to glory." This wonderful process cannot be achieved by keeping the Law. The glory of the Law faded away, but the glory of God's grace continues to increase in our lives.
We "radiate" the Glory because the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Glory, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, LIVES IN US! This only happens, though, as we meditate on the Word of God and stay filled with the Spirit every day! If we don't, then we look just like the rest of the world! There really SHOULD be a difference in our countenances, don't you think? Here is a song from Hillsong called "From The Inside Out":
Judges 9 is the longest chapter in the Book of Judges and is one of the most depressing. Abimelech had such a craving, covetous hunger to be the king that he even took the lives of his own half-brothers, seventy of them, to ensure that he could rule. Time and time again we have seen in the Word of God that disobedience to God's Word will ALWAYS cost you dearly in the end! Did this happen to Abimelech? Look at verses 56-57:
56 Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech which he had done to his father [Gideon] by slaying his seventy brothers; 57 And all the wickedness of the men of Shechem God repaid upon their heads and cause to come upon them the curse of Jotham son of Jerubbaal (Gideon).
Shalom in Him!
