King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.]
Date: Wednesday, May 18, 2022
Chapters: PSALMS 28, 55, 58, 61-62, 64
Study: The ROCK Higher Than I
Hello My Friend,
I had my first official evaluation for my first week of working out training. It was written in the report that I am a quick learner, very good at using my resources, and that my numbers were very good for being my first week on the floor. Later that day, my lead put this king size candy bar on my desk, and I swear, I did not feel boastful or proud, I felt humble and relieved. It was a reminder that my Father, God Almighty Himself, is always watching over me, and uses that righteous judgment to show me the good I have done and how I can be the best I can be until He brings me home.
[John 8:15-18,26 Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man. 16 And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me. 17 It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. 18 I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me. 26 I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him.]
And as I was reading the chapters for today, I had gotten this picture in my head of standing before God as He is sitting on His throne, on one side of Him are the twelve apostles that walked with Jesus and the other side are the twelve elders of each of the twelve tribes of Israel. And where is Jesus? Standing right beside me. As we return to the reading of Psalms, we get a sense of what David was going through during the time that Absalom tried to take the throne from him and he had left Jerusalem. David, let his guilt play a part in much of what could have been avoided had he just handed it over to God when it all began, but once he came to his senses, He realized that while he was weak, the LORD is his strength.
[Psalms 28:1-2,6-8 A Psalm of David. Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit. 2 Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle. 6 Blessed be the LORD, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications. 7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him. 8 The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed.]
[and he is the saving strength of his anointed.] When you think about the life that David lived, he was no different than we who are faithful in our walk with God are today. It truly is only Jesus who can save us, and the power of His saving grace is so strong that it will last for eternity, [Hebrews 7:24-25 But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.]
I love the assurance that it is Jesus who is standing before His and our Father, pleading our cause, even after the blunders we have committed after we are saved, reminding God that our sins were nailed to the cross with Him. And can you see as Jesus shows the nail prints in His hands and feet as proof? Praise God! When we are going through affliction, especially if we know that we are the cause of it, we tend to just take it as it is and not even want to talk to God about it because we feel like we are getting what we deserve. Remember, that while God may chasten us, it is not forever, and He does not want us to think like that. In fact, He wants us to come to Him, and if we do, it would be far less painful. David, realizes this and cries out to God.
[Psalms 55:1-7 To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, A Psalm of David. Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication. 2 Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise; 3 Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me. 4 My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. 5 Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. 6 And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. 7 Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah.]
[Oh that I had wings like a dove!] How often do you wish that you could just fly away somewhere, leave all your troubles behind you, and never come back? I know I do from time to time, and I will admit that for a while this year I was thinking that myself. As much as we would love to leave all our burdens and never have to deal with them, we must endure them, but we do not have to endure them by ourselves, [Matthew 11:27-29 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. 28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.]
David, had no problem coming to terms with the fact that he had enemies and would always be fighting with them, but it was a little hard on him when those enemies were as God put it, [I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house,]. Within the same Psalm, David, expresses his grief over Absalom, his equal.
[Psalms 55:12-14,19-23 For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him: 13 But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. 14 We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company. 19 God shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abideth of old. Selah. Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God. 20 He hath put forth his hands against such as be at peace with him: he hath broken his covenant. 21 The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords. 22 Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. 23 But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.]
[shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction:] Notice how David changes his objective, this is Absalom that he is talking about, so he had to have said this prayer after he found out that Absalom was killed and came to terms with everything that happened. There will come a day when we will have no more burdens, and we will literally fly away as Jesus takes us out of all this, but until then this is where God has us, []
Life can somehow bring us to lose sight of the fact that Jesus is our rest, and as the auto correct started to type, reset button. That reminds me, there is this stupid billboard that shows life having a reset button, encouraging people to file for bankruptcy. Every time I see it, I think that the only one who can reset my life is Jesus, [1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.]
David, realizes something else, it was a sad fact that his own son was among the evil, he even goes on to express his sorrow in that those who are wicked are that way from birth.
[Psalms 58:1-5,9-11 To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David. Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men? 2 Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth. 3 The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. 4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear; 5 Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely. 9 Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath. 10 The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. 11 So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.]
[The wicked are estranged from the womb:] While we do all have a little bit of wickedness in us, and it may seem like some people are born wicked from the womb, no one is. However, the wicked do go astray and it is often at a young age, but that does not mean that God made them that way, they made themselves that way, and just gave them up, [Romans 1:20-22 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,]
Every time I hear of another Covid strain, person trying to play God, and see the gas prices jump up another ten cents, I think of what fools these people are who destroying the world with their efforts to try and save it. Fools, they are for sure, and David sure penned it right when he said that their mouths will destroy the wicked.
[Psalms 64:1,5-10 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy. 5 They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them? 6 They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep. 7 But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded. 8 So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves: all that see them shall flee away. 9 And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of his doing. 10 The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and shall trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory.]
[So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves:] Do you ever wonder why it seems as though God never judges the wicked? The truth is, God does judge them, but He does not have to lay a finger on them because they fight each other to their own death. The world is in harmony as long as they all agree on the same thing, but as soon as one differs, then the gloves are on, and all they are destroying is themselves with own their tongue. You cannot blame God, Satan, or anyone else for that matter, for them destroying themselves, and this includes all those who started these false religions and Mr. Darwin himself, who came up with his foolish thinking that everything evolved from itself, [Revelation 21:7-8 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.]
We tend to also need the reminder quite often that there is a difference between committing sin by taking advantage of God’s good graces and sin that brings repentance. True repentance will always get God’s attention, [Psalms 61:1-4,7-8 To the chief Musician upon Neginah, A Psalm of David. Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. 2 From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 3 For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. 4 I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah. 7 He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him. 8 So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows.]
[He shall abide before God for ever:] Do you see that David had the same faith that we do? The second that we ask Jesus to save us, our names are written in the Book of Life, and we will be with Him forever, [Revelation 20:11-12,15 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.]
The dead are those who are not saved, whom have never accepted Christ as their Saviour nor been counted as righteous through their faith as in the example of Abraham, [Romans 4:2-3 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. 3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.]
Once we receive Christ as our Saviour it is up to us to make sure that we are being led by the ROCK that is higher than us. While we can never lose our salvation, we can lag behind and lose sight of the ROCK that enables us to be able to fight and resist temptation, and fend off our enemies. This is what happened with David, he somehow lagged behind and that enabled him to be tempted by Bathsheba in the first place. When David was running from his son, he was reminded of something, that he was saved, and forgiven, and as long as he trusted the LORD then, he can climb back on top of the ROCK that was higher than him.
[Psalms 62:1-2,5-10 To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David. Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation. 2 He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved. 5 My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. 6 He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. 7 In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. 8 Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah. 9 Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity. 10 Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.]
[if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.] Part of the reason why we can lag behind and lose sight of Christ for a time is when God starts blessing us and we start becoming content with what we are given. God wants us to be content to an extent, but not to the point that we start getting lax in our walk with Him, praying, reading our Bible, going to church, and serving wherever God leads us is what keeps us active and walking not behind Jesus, but along side of Him, [Matthew 28:19-20 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.]
Today’s Prayer: Jesus, I just want to thank You today, thank You, for loving me and giving Your life for me. You loved me well before I loved You and proved that by taking all my sins to the cross with You when You offered Yourself as the sacrifice for my redemption. It is a good thing that we do not have to repay You for what You have done because I know I would never be able to, but I do want to honor You by living the rest of my days here being led by You. It is not always easy, I know I mess up, especially when my flesh is tired and weak, but You are my strength, You are my ROCK and so much higher than I, and the only foundation that will never move me. Thank You for Your faithfulness and for keeping me faithful. I pray this in Your name Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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