Psalm 4 again has David calling out to God for deliverance in a time of need. Many scholars believe that this was also from the time of Absalom's rebellion. Verse 4 in the Amplified Bible says:
4 Be angry [or stand in awe] and sin not; commune with your own hearts upon your beds and be silent (sorry for the things you say in your hearts). Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
This verse appears to be speaking of not allowing anger to swell to the point that you lose sense and do foolish things. It DOES have a New testament counterpart in Ephesians 4:16:
26 Be angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath
I believe there is an even more powerful message than that in this verse in Psalm 4! Look at this in the KJV:
4 Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.
"Stand in awe" is the Hebrew word "ragaz", which means: to quiver (with any violent emotion), to be afraid, to tremble, to be excited, to be disquieted. I believe that an even better idea here is that of being aware of the presence of the Lord. When we stand in awe of Him, aware of His presence inside of us, it makes it SO much easier to avoid sin! Remember that the fear of the Lord is just the very beginning of Wisdom! Let's begin! AMEN!
In Matthew 4 Jesus begins to call His disciples to follow Him. These men would live and walk and work with Jesus for the three years of His earthly ministry. They saw every type of miracle you could imagine! They saw how Jesus operated. Even though they were not in the right spiritual position at this time to understand all that was happening, once they were born again and were able to understood the Word of God more clearly, they remembered what they had seen Jesus do and were able to do the same things! That WAS, and IS, God's intention! Notice also in verses 23-24:
23 And He went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the good news (Gospel) of the kingdom, healing every disease and every weakness and infirmity among the people. 24 So the report of Him spread throughout all Syria, and they brought Him all who were sick, those afflicted with various diseases and torments, those under the power of demons, and epileptics, and paralyzed people, and He healed them.
Jesus preached and taught the Gospel to ALL people! Those who came to Him, in faith, received what they needed from Him! He healed EVERY disease, EVERY weakness, EVERY affliction, of EVERY person who came to Him believing! We have no record of Jesus ever turning someone away and refusing to heal them! "If it be thy will" has NO place in the life of a born again believer concerning healing and deliverance! The question really is: Is it YOURS? I would highly recommend a book we have by Gloria Copeland entitled: "And Jesus Healed Them All". If you leave even a little crack open for doubt, the enemy will, like a flood, POUR more doubt into you and question the Word. GIVE HIM NO PLACE! Meditate on John 10:10 and keep your heart ever ready to believe and receive! AMEN! Here are some pictures from our Israel trip of the ruins of a synagogue in Capernaum, which was the home base for much of the ministry of Jesus, and of Peter's home, which was just a short walk from the synagogue. These were the very places where Jesus went about teaching, preaching and healing THEM ALL!
Both of these are of the remains of a rebuilt synagogue and other buildings.
Both of these are of what is believed to be the remains of the home of Peter.
16 Solomon's horses were brought out of Egypt; the king's merchants received them in droves, each drove at a price.
That doesn't SEEM to be too bad, until you go back to Deuteronomy 17:16-17 and see this:
16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to multiply horse, since the LORD said to you, You shall never return that way. 17 And he shall not multiply wives to himself, that his [mind and] heart turn not away; neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
Could it possibly BE any clearer? We will see in Ecclesiastes just how Solomon's thinking deteriorated from the one who operated in SO much Godly Wisdom! Don't take the Word of God lightly! It WILL affect ALL of your life!
Shalom in Him!
