Psalms 91 - 92 (with 5 topics)
Psalm 91 Author anonymous. Said to: address being afraid & insecure; provide protection. Texted in grape is the passage (vv. 11-12) that is quoted in the N.T. (see Psalms 12 - 18 Psalm 15 2. N.T. Quotes from Psalms B.). This entire psalm is a Triple Truth-- which means it is applicable throughout time:
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty (Shaddai). I will say of the LORD, 'HE is My refuge & My fortress, My GOD, in whom I trust.'
Surely HE will save you from the fowler's snare & from the deadly pestilence. HE will cover you with HIS Feathers, & under HIS Wings you will find refuge; HIS Faithfulness will be your shield & rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. 1,000 may fall at your side, 10,000 at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes & see the punishment of the wicked. If you make the Most High your dwelling-- even the LORD who is My refuge-- then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.
For HE will command HIS Angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone (see Commentary #4 below). You will unconsciously tread upon (waltz over) the invisible lion & the subtle cobra, you will purposely trample (defeat) the great lion & the adversarial serpent.
Because He loves ME, says the LORD, I will rescue Him; I will protect him, for He acknowledges MY Name. He will call upon ME, & I will answer Him; I will be with Him in trouble. I will deliver Him & honor Him. With long life I will satisfy Him & show Him MY ultimate Salvation. EOT
1. Commentary #4 "WWJD" This is an acronym that someone marvelously came up with (What Would Jesus Do). Have you ever heard the saying, GOD is looking for a few good men, those willing to step out & be courageous? Well, that is certainly true-- but unfortunately such was also the case with Satan. Satan quoted v.6 (in Psalm 91 above) when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness. He actually schemed to employ the son of God! Of course he disregarded v. 5-- if You make the Most High Your refuge. Using God's word as a sword, Satan challenged Jesus, If You are the Son of GOD, throw yourself down from the highest point of the temple of the holy city (Jerusalem). But Jesus shot him with a mere partial quote of what Moses had said in Deu 6:16, 'Do not put the LORD Your GOD to the test'. The remainder of the verse is, 'as you did at Massah'-- point is, though, that if You make the Most High Your refuge sometimes it is completely appropriate for us to test Him. There are instances of acceptable & unacceptable testing of God. See Psalms 78 - 79 Psalm 78 & Psalms 86 - 88 Psalm 86 3. Transition #4.
2. Contrast #1- Temptations The purpose here is to point out that Jesus had total success simply by only to realize the connection He already had, that He had descended from God His Father in Heaven. And to be aware of Satan's schemes. And to use the Scripture He already knew. Whereas, yes, our degree of success hinges on "if You make the Most High Your refuge", as we just saw above, but also as we shall soon see, on the quantity/quality of digesting Scripture-- & last-but-not-least, on prayer (& I'm sure you could in some other factors, life fellowship...). Temptation:
- Of Jesus by Satan, called the tempter in 1stThe 3:5-- Jesus having been just baptized by John the Baptist; Matt 4:1-11 (s.a. Luke 4:1-13) reads: Then Jesus was led by the SPIRIT yet-up-there into the desert to be tempted by the devil. The 3 temptations:
- After fasting 40 days & 40 nights in the desert, He was hungry. The tempter came to Him & said, If You are the Son of GOD, tell these stones to become bread. The use of coloring Satan's words in blue indicates that Satan knew exactly who he was talking to-- & schemed to successfully tempt Him. Also note that surely the stones would have obeyed Him-- but Jesus even then had the presence of mind to say exactly what we'd need to hear. Jesus answered, It is written (a quote of what Moses said in Deu 8:3-- which is the reason the Israelites ate manna between Egypt & Canaan): 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the Mouth of GOD.'
- Then the devil took Him to the holy city (Jerusalem-- 1st he tried to compromise the self, now he proceeds to God's church) & had Him stand on the highest point of the temple. If You are the Son of GOD, he said, throw yourself down. For it is written: 'HE will command HIS Angels concerning You, & they will lift You up in their hands, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.' Jesus answered him, It is also written, quoting Moses: 'Do not put the LORD Your GOD to the test.' See Commentary #4 above about this. Ask yourself this question: Since God the Father sent God the Son to earth on a specific mission (to give His life a ransom for many-- & do not consider that was Jesus had not been informed & accepted said mission), do you really think Jesus would beseech His father to utilize mere angels to abort the plan?
- Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain (now he tries to claim God's creation) & showed Him all the kingdoms of the world & their splendor. All this I will give You if You will bow down & worship me. Away from Me, Satan! For it is written (in Deu 6:13-- quoting Moses): 'Worship the LORD Your GOD, & serve HIM only.'
- Of us As we just saw, Jesus was led by the HOLY SPIRIT yet-up-there into the desert to be tempted by the devil; as was explained, God allowed this to happen-- why? Because He had full confidence that the Son of GOD would not fail to use the Sword of the SPIRIT against the tempter. But this is the manner Jesus instructed us to pray in Matt 6:9-13 (s.a. Luke 11:2-4): 'Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be YOUR Name, YOUR Kingdom come, YOUR Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give Us today Our daily bread. Forgive Us Our debts, as we forgive Our debtors. And lead Us not into temptation' (some manuscripts add: but deliver Us by the Holy Spirit now-down-here-in-us from the evil one; & some late manuscripts add farther: for YOURS is the Kingdom & the Power & the Glory). Jesus never lacked a firm grip of the Sword of the Spirit; let us never be so proud as to presume we can't fall.
3. Remaining #1
- Dove, on Jesus John 1:32-33 John the Baptist having baptized Jesus: John gave this testimony: 'I saw the Spirit of GOD (the Holy Spirit now in our hearts -- the 3rd person of the trinity then yet-up-there) come down from Heaven as a dove & remain on Him. I would not have known Him, except that the ONE who sent Me to baptize with water told Me, The One on whom You see the SPIRIT come down & remain is He who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.
- God's wrath John 3:34-36 John still speaking: For the One whom GOD sent speaks the Words of GOD, for GOD gives the Holy Spirit without limit. The FATHER loves the Son & has placed everything in His hands. Whoever believes in the Son of GOD has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for GOD'S Wrath remains on him.
- Blind guilt John 9:39-41 Jesus having physically healed a man born blind (symbolizing the new, spiritual birth): Jesus later spoke to this man after the Pharisees had thrown him out of the temple, & when he responded, I believe, Jesus said, For judgment I have come into this world, so that the spiritually blind will see & those who think they see (having seized the truth, but not the belief; having embraced the creation, but not the creator) will become blind-- no longer having the truth & the creation to tickle their fancy. Some Pharisees who were with Him heard Him say this & asked, What? Are We blind too? If You were blind by reason of never having been told the truth via the prophets, You would not be guilty of sin; but now that You claim that You can see Your guilt remains.
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Psalm 92 A psalm, author anonymous; a song for the sabbath day. Said to deal with old age. Much of many of the psalms could be said to be Triple Truths (like the last 1 entirely)-- but let the authors express:
It is good to praise the LORD & make music to YOUR Name, O Most High GOD, to proclaim YOUR Love in the morning & YOUR Faithfulness at night, to the music of the 10-stringed harp. For YOU make Me glad by YOUR Deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the works of YOUR Hands. How great are YOUR Works, O LORD, how profound are YOUR Thoughts! The senseless man does not know, fools do not understand, that though the wicked spring up like grass & all evildoers flourish, they ultimately will be destroyed forever. Though their names were written in the LAMB'S Book of Life, their names will be blotted out when they no longer live-- when they no longer can embrace Him.
But YOU, O LORD, are Exalted forever. And together with Us, They (repenting Jews) shall be made perfect. For surely YOUR Enemies, O LORD, surely YOUR Enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered. YOU have exalted My horn (strength) like that of a wild ox; fine (anointings-- see Psa 23:5) have been poured upon Me. My eyes have seen (anticipated) the defeat of My adversaries; My ears have heard (claim) the rout of my wicked foes.
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree in an oasis, They will grow like a cedar of Lebanon (unmoved by winds of circumstance); planted in the House of the LORD, They will flourish in the Courts of Our GOD. They will still bear fruit in old age, They will stay fresh & green, proclaiming, 'The LORD is Upright; HE is My rock, & there is no wickedness in HIM.' Seated at the Right Hand of GOD, He is our source of pure water, nourishment, vitality & endurance; our sacrifices enable us to remain the salt of the earth-- see Psalms 69 - 72 Psalm 69 1. Gall, Vinegar & Living Water c.
1. Contrast #2- Bread & Wine
- 1x to remain John 6:41b,44,48-51,53-56 Unlike the manna which physically descended from Heaven 6 nights of every week, & was collected & eaten each of those 6 mornings, Jesus, the Bread of Life, physically descended once. As far as being born again, He need only be ingested 1x-- automatically accompanied by His Blood for the washing away of sin. I am the bread that came down from Heaven. No 1 can come to ME (become MY disciple) unless the FATHER who 1st sent Me draws him, & I will raise Him up at the last day. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet They died. But here is the bread that comes down from Heaven, which a man/woman may eat & not die. I am the living bread. If anyone eats of this bread, He will live forever. This bread is My flesh, which I will give (sacrifice) for the life of the world. I tell you the truth, unless you spiritually eat the flesh of the Son of man & spiritually drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh & drinks My blood has eternal life-- the thief on the cross today with Me in paradise makes it obvious that these are not physically prolonged & repeated matters, & I will raise Him up at the last day. For My flesh is real food & My blood is real drink. Whoever eats My flesh & drinks My blood remains in Me, & I in Him.
- Often to remember It has been mentioned several times that Jesus said we are to pray, Give Us today/each day Our daily bread (Matt 6:11; Luke 11:3). But note also about the LORD's Supper (both the Bread & the Wine), that it should be observed often in remembrance of Me (Luke 22:19; 1stCor 11:24-25).
2. Remaining #2
- A single seed... John 12:23-26 Regarding his death-- his sacrifice: The hour has come for the son of man to be glorified. I tell You the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground & dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves Me must follow Me; & where I am, My servant also will be. My FATHER will honor the 1 who serves Me.
- You in ME, I in You John 15:1-10 I am the true vine, & My FATHER is the gardener. HE cuts off every tree of life branch that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit HE prunes (cleans) so that it will (can) be more fruitful-- the horse-before-the-cart is not to give thought to how you can be more fruitful, but 1st to seek pruning/cleansing via connection. You are already (became) clean because of the word that I have spoken (when I 1st spoke) to You. Remain pruned/clean in Me, & I by the Holy Spirit will remain in You. No tree branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can You bear fruit unless You remain in Me. Again, I am completely the vine; You are the tree of life branches. If such a man (branch) remains in (connected to) Me & I in Him, He will bear much fruit; apart from Me You can do nothing (might as well not even be a branch). If anyone does not remain in Me, He is like a branch that is thrown away & withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire & burned. As we saw in Psalms 84 - 85 Psalm 85 1. Transition #3 (end of 2nd pt.), he is delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that His spirit may be saved in the Day of the LORD-- or as Paul wrote to Timothy in 1stTim 1:20, about some that had shipwrecked their faith, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme. If You remain in Me & My words remain in You, ask whatever You wish, & it will be given You-- implied here is that His words will bear fruit-- His will shall be done, & treasure shall be laid up in Heaven for you. This is directed to My FATHER'S Glory, that You bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples. As the FATHER loved Me, so I have loved You since you chose to love Me. Now remain in My love. If You obey My commands, You will remain in My love, just as I have obeyed My FATHER'S Commands & remain in HIS Love.
