When Paul wrote to the Philippian church, he was in prison in Rome, Italy. They weren’t that far away by modern standards (northern Greece), but Paul longed to be with them. His life was on the line, depending on how Caesar judged his case. He wanted to be released from prison and visit them, but he wasn’t sure at that time what would happen. Look at Paul’s attitude (all scriptures are from The New Testament in Modern English by J. B. Phillips).
I was saddened yesterday as the Devil continued to ramp up his fomenting of division and strife in our country which is founded on Biblical truth. The old saying “The darker the night, the brighter the stars shine” is still true. We are the ones to shine forth with truth in the midst of the twisted and perverse systems of this world.
Background
Psalm 79 is in the Leviticus book of the Psalms (73—89). The Old Testament book of Leviticus focuses on matters in the sanctuary: the priesthood, ceremonial laws, and feasts. Almost all of these 17 Psalms mention the sanctuary and God’s relation to it. This Psalm shows God’s enemies in the sanctuary.
We have seen in “God’s Celestial Word: The Book of Job” that the Book of Job was the first written revelation given to mankind. We also saw a structure for the entire Book of Job to help us understand what the story of Job is all about. We are narrowing in on a section of this book where God tells Job about His Word written in the heavens. The subject of the Word is the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Background
This Psalm has the title “Michtam,” which literally means an engraving. Psalms 56 through 60 all begin with this title. It is first seen in its only other occurrence—Psalm 16. All six of these titles deal with the Messiah’s death and resurrection.
Background
This Psalm has the title “Maschil,” which means instruction. It also has the title: “A Psalm of David, when the Ziphims came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us?” This refers to I Samuel 23:19,20: “Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in strong holds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon? Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of thy soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him into the king’s hand.”
God delivered David from this attack. The Ziphites tried again in I Samuel 26:1: “And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?” Although Saul sought David, God delivered Saul into David’s hand at that time. Yet David showed Saul mercy and did not kill him.
We have seen how Jesus Christ stretched himself out in prayer and love. He studied the Old Testament to see that God wrought deliverance when His people seemed to be failures. He knew that his heavenly Father would give him the victory, despite the worldly opinions of men.
A few days ago I climbed a very steep trail, a narrow dirt path filled with rocky outcrops and littered with slippery stones. As I reached the summit, I was rewarded with a magnificent panorama of the ocean and the beautifully sunlit California coast.
Those of us who have entrusted our lives to the heavenly Father in our Lord Jesus Christ will have tribulation and affliction because we live in this world.
You are a unique individual, a bundle of body-soul-spirit, with all your God-given abilities, gifts, strengths,and potential strengths (OK, weaknesses too). You’ve entered the great adventure of life, an odyssey of learning, experience, and achievement to attain the lofty goal of loving God first by following in the steps of your Lord Jesus Christ.