Psalms 99 - 102 (with 5 topics)
Psalm 99 Author anonymous:
The LORD reigns,
- let the nations tremble; HE sits enthroned between the 2 cherubim,
- let the earth shake. Great is the LORD in Zion; HE is Exalted over all the nations.
Let them praise YOUR Great & Awesome Name-- He (David) is Holy. The king is mighty, He loves justice --YOU have established equity; in Jacob YOU have done what is just & right.
Exalt the LORD Our GOD & worship at HIS Footstool; HE is Holy. Moses & Aaron were among HIS Priests, Samuel was among those who called on HIS Name; They called on the LORD & HE answered Them. HE spoke to Them from the pillar of cloud; They kept HIS Statutes & the decrees HE gave Them.
O LORD Our GOD, YOU Answered Them; YOU were to Israel (Them) a Forgiving GOD, though YOU punished Their misdeeds (were an avenger of the wrongs done to them). Exalt the LORD Our GOD & worship at HIS Holy Mountain, for the LORD Our GOD is Holy.
1. Woman #2 used-of-God Elizabeth the pre-preparer Luke 1:7,24-25,36,39-44 We saw Psalms 96 - 98 Psalm 97 1. Woman #1 used-of-God Rebekah the compass; here we have woman #2, Elizabeth, wife of Zechariah (who also was a pre-preparer); together they prepared John the Baptist, who prepared the way for the Lord. They pre-prepared John the Baptist in the sense that they were his parents-- but they are treated separately to underscore their unique roles. They (Zechariah & Elizabeth) had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; & they were both well along in years. Remind you of Abraham & Sarah? An angel proclaimed to Zechariah that Elizabeth would became pregnant; she did, & for 5 months remained in seclusion-- confusion to conclusion (slow arrival to belief). She concluded, The LORD has done this for Me. That's all-- except to point out that she came to this conclusion despite not having an angel appear. 1 had appeared earlier to Zechariah & also an angel did later to Mary (the mother of Jesus). Soon after the announcement was made to Mary: She (Elizabeth) is in Her 6th month-- at that time Mary got ready & hurried-- no seclusion period, & greeted Elizabeth; the baby leaped for joy in Her (Elizabeth's) womb; Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit; 'Blessed is She who has quickly believed.' I.e., we shall see that despite the angel appearing to him, Zechariah radically disbelieved; whereas though Elizabeth went through a 5-mo. period of seclusion, she eventually believed-- but still the Holy Spirit coming upon her was required to realize 1 can instantaneously believe.
2. Man #1 used-of-God Zechariah the pre-preparer Luke 1:8-9,11-13,15,17-18,23,67,76 Like his wife Elizabeth, Zechariah also did not at 1st believe. However, Elizabeth at most doubted-- & as we saw, for 5 months remained in seclusion. The very good thing Zechariah did was remain in ministry-- Once when Zechariah's division of priests was on duty & He was serving as priest before GOD, He was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the Temple of the LORD & burn incense. An Angel of the LORD appeared to Him; Zechariah was gripped with fear. 'Your wife Elizabeth will bear You a son, & You are to give Him the name John; He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth (His mother's womb), to make ready a people prepared for the LORD.' Later we shall see that whereas when Zechariah told Elizabeth, who responded by becoming pregnant followed by the seclusion, Zechariah's response to the angel was the retort, 'How can I be sure of this? I am an old man & my wife is well along in years.' The immediate result of this doubt expressed to an angel was that he was unable to speak throughout the Elizabeth's pregnancy, until the baby was born. Then he wrote that the baby's name would be John, as the angel had instructed -- only then could he speak.. But about continuing in ministry-- When His time of service was completed, he returned home. Then, some 4 months after Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit upon Mary's arrival, Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit & prophesied over John: 'And You, My child will be called a prophet of the Most High; for You will go on before the LORD to prepare the way for Him.'
3. Man #2 used-of-God John the Baptist the preparer Who did John the Baptist prepare? In general, he prepared the way for the Lord-- the 3rd person of the trinity, the LORD, who descended as the Lord. For 1, he baptized many in the desert. But very importantly, he baptized Jesus. Similar to the landmark John 3:16, Luke 3:16 says, "I baptize You (per Luke 3:7, John was speaking to the crowds coming out to be baptized by Him) with water. But 1 (Jesus) more powerful than I (because He/HE will perpetually be filled with the Holy Spirit) will come. He will baptize You, already having been baptized by me with water, with the Holy Spirit & with fire-- which is not to say 1-way-or-the-other whether today we are baptized with the Holy Spirit at the moment of the water baptism.' However, many are convinced that from the moment of ABCing (admitting, believing, confessing; see Psalms 141 - 144 Psalm 143 1. Nicodemus... & CommentsOLD In General), we are born again (filled with the Holy Spirit). The purpose of any later water baptism, though critical, is for public identification with the Body of Christ-- allowing fellowship.
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Psalm 100 A psalm for giving thanks; author anonymous:
Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
- Worship the LORD with gladness; come before HIM with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is GOD.
- It is HE who made Us & We are HIS (didn't evolve),
- We are HIS People, the Sheep of HIS Pasture.
Enter
- HIS Gates with thanksgiving &
- HIS Courts with praise;
- give thanks to Him & praise HIS Name.
For the LORD is Good & HIS Love endures forever;
HIS Faithfulness continues through all generations.
1. Reference #2 (Regarding Psa 100:1-2 above)
A. Shouting for joy Shout for joy is used 11 other times in the psalms (Psa 20:5; 33:3; 35:27; 47:1; 65:13; 66:1; 71:23; 81:1; 95:1; 98:4,69) & 13x elsewhere in the O.T., but it is not used at all in the N.T. Rather, as pointed out in Psalms 19 - 24 Psalm 24 1. "Beatitudes" Matt 5:10-12, we are to leap for joy when some men hate, exclude & reject You as they did the true prophets (as opposed to when all men speak well of you as they did the false prophets). Also, Paul said (Phlp 1:3-4): I thank My GOD every time I remember You. In all My prayers for all of You, I always pray with joy because of Your partnership in the gospel. Per Hebr 12:2; 13:17 we are to Fix Our eyes on Jesus; Obey Your leaders & submit to their authority. Assume they keep watch over You as men (people) who eventually must give an account to God. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to You. Indeed, it will be much to their disadvantage (be they Christian or non-Christian), if so be they require you to do something unethical, for Roma 14:10,12 says, Why do you/You judge your/Your brother? For we will all stand before GOD'S Judgment Seat; each of us/Us will give an account of himself/Himself to GOD.
B. Worshiping with gladness Unlike the phrase Shout for joy (as we just saw), Worship with gladness never even appears in the O.T. (other than the above psalm)-- but similar to the above Luke account, Matt 5:11-12 says we are to Rejoice & be glad when people insult, persecute & falsely say all kinds of evil-- again as they did to the true prophets (nothing is said of the false prophets). However, Hebr 12:28 says we are to worship GOD acceptably with reverence & awe. And 2ndCor 7:1 says we should be perfecting holiness out of reverence for GOD; Ephe 5:21 says we should submit to 1 another out of reverence for GOD; Reve 11:18 says that the time has (will) come for rewarding Those who reverence YOUR Name-- & for destroying those who destroy the earth. Finally we have Reve 19:10; 22:9, both of say we should just Worship GOD-- as opposed to even the angels that deliver the final messages.
C. Coming with joyful songs As in 2. above, the phrase come with joyful songs does not appear again, neither in the O.T. nor in the N.T.-- but note: Roma 12:12,15 says, Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn; & 1stThe 5:16 says, Be joyful always (not a contradiction-- we can be considerate of others, mourning with them if they are mourning, but remaining optimistic-- joyful in hope); pray continually; give thanks (remain thankful) in all circumstances-- hardly for all circumstances, as my pastor 1x pointed out.
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Psalm 101 A psalm:
I will sing of YOUR Love & justice; to YOU, O LORD, I will sing praise. I will be careful to lead a blameless life-- when will YOU come to Me? I will walk in My house with blameless heart. I will set before My eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to Me. Men of perverse heart shall be far from Me; I will have nothing to do with evil. Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, him will I put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes & a proud heart, him will I not endure.
My eyes will be on the faithful in the land, that They may dwell with Me. No 1 who practices will dwell in My house; no 1 who speaks falsely will stand in My presence. Every morning I will put to silence by prayer all the wicked in the land; I will cut off every evildoer from the City of the LORD.
1. Woman #3 used-of-God Alabaster woman #1 (identity?) Per Luke Here we have the 1st "alabaster woman" emphasized (but don't miss the 3+many other support-women cited at the end of this topic); we won't see the other 2 "alabaster women" until Psalms 133 - 134 Psalm 133 3. & Psalms 135 - 136 Psalm 135 3. (in Psalms 145 - 150 Psalm 146 2. the 3 "Alabaster women" are detailed). In Luke 7:36-50; 8:1-3 we have an unnamed woman-- at the beginning of His ministry. She was used-of-God to spur-on His ministry (He had already preached in Galilee only, taught, performed miracles, presented the beatitudes, etc.); she humbly anointed His feet: Now 1 of the Pharisees later named Simon invited Jesus to have dinner with Him-- which speaks volumes about the significance of our simply inviting Him-- whereas the precursor to the ABCs (see CommentsOLD In General) is to answer His standing-invitation, so He went to the Pharisee's house & reclined at the table-- understand, He will respond to an invitation, but always there is His own standing-invitation (the proper response on our part is much-love-demonstrated). When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the awesome/intimidating Pharisee's house, she responded to His standing-invitation, She brought an alabaster jar of perfume-- the expense whereof having been acquired by her sin, & as She stood behind Him, not even thinking herself worthy to confront Him, at His feet weeping, exhibiting much-love, She began to wet His feet with Her tears. Then She wiped them with Her hair, kissed them, & poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, He said to himself, 'If this man were a prophet, not comprehending that He was also so much more, He would know the identity of who is touching Him, that she's insignificant, & also just what kind of woman She is-- that having broken the law She's a sinner.' Jesus, having read his mind/body language/facial expression, answered Him, though he hadn't posed a question, Simon, I have something to tell You. 'Tell Me, teacher-- at least he still had that to say about Him,' He said, I presume you can fathom this: 2 men owed money to a certain moneylender. 1 owed him 500 denarii (coins-- each worth about a day's wages), & the other just 50. Neither of Them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both-- likely all 3 of them were true-blue-Jews-- see Deu 15:1-3). Now which of them do You suppose will love him more. Simon replied, 'Is this a trick-question? I suppose the 1 who had the bigger debt canceled.' Congrats, You have judged correctly, Jesus said. Then He turned toward the woman &, yet speaking to Simon, said to Simon, Do You see this woman? I came into Your house. You did not give (provide for) Me any drop of water for My feet, let alone wash them for Me-- recall provision for the washing of feet at the entrance was a custom throughout the O.T., as at best just sandals were worn, but She wet My feet with her tears, & wiped them with Her hair. You did not give Me a (the) customary greeting-kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing My feet. You did not even consider putting oil on My head, but She has poured perfume on My feet. Therefore, I tell You, Her many sins have been forgiven-- for she loved much. I was already in your house; she responded to My standing-invitition with much-love. But He who has been forgiven little loves little. Then Jesus said to Her, Your sins are forgiven. Unfortunately, it's very important to point out that this was just an automatic/heartfelt response prior to her sins being forgiven-- because some might think she contrived to earn salvation-- it ain't that way, folks. Salvation is absolutly free! But recall this is about how God used her: The other guests began to say among themselves, 'Who is this who even forgives sins?' In answer to this question: Then Jesus said (used another phrase than 'much-love-demonstrated' in response to His invitation) to the woman, Your faith has saved You; go in peace. After this, Jesus traveled about from 1 town & village to another, proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of GOD. The 12 disciples were with Him, & also some women who had been cured of evil spirits & diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom 7 demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod's household; Susanna; & many other. These women were helping to support Them out of Their own means.
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Psalm 102 A prayer of an afflicted man-- when He is faint & laments to GOD; author anonymous. Said to deal with troubles; texted in grape is the passage (vv. 25-27) that is quoted in the N.T. (see Psalms 12 - 18 Psalm 15 2. N.T. Quotes from Psalms B.):
Hear My prayer. O LORD; let My cry for help come to YOU. Do not hide YOUR Face from Me when I am in distress. Turn YOUR Ear to Me; when I call, answer Me quickly. For My days vanish like smoke; My bones burn like glowing embers. My heart is blighted & withered like grass; I forget to eat My food. Because of My loud groaning I am reduced to skin & bones. I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins. I lie awake; I have become like a bird alone on a roof. All day long My enemies taunt Me; those who rail against Me use My name as a curse. For I eat ashes as My food & mingle My drink with tears because of YOUR Great Wrath, for YOU have taken Me up & thrown Me aside. My days are like the evening shadow; I wither away like grass.
But YOU, O LORD, sit enthroned forever; YOUR Renown endures through all generations. YOU will arise & have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show favor to her; the appointed time has come. For her stones are dear to YOUR Servants; her very dust leads Them to pity. The nations will fear the Name of the LORD, all the kings of the earth will revere YOUR Glory.
For the LORD will rebuild Zion & appear in HIS Glory. HE will respond to the prayer of the destitute; HE will not despise Their plea. Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the LORD-- per 2ndCor 5:17 we are a new creation: "The LORD looked from HIS Sanctuary on High, from Heaven HE viewed the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners & release those condemned to death." So the Name of the LORD will be declared in Zion & HIS Praise in Jerusalem when the peoples & the kingdoms assemble to worship the LORD. In the course of My life (By HIS Strength) HE broke My strength; HE cut short My days.
So I said: Do not take Me away, O My GOD, in the midst of My days; YOUR Years go on through all generations. In the beginning YOU laid the foundations of the earth, & the heavens are the Work of YOUR Hands. They will perish, but YOU remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing YOU will change them & they will be discarded. But YOU remain the same, & YOUR Years will never end. The Children of YOUR Servants will live in YOUR Presence; Their descendants will be established before YOU.
