Psalms 97 and 98

Back to the Search the Scriptures studies. It was 55 years ago today my father passed away when I was 3 1/2. I always remember the day.

Psalm 97 speaks of the LORD’s character – righteous, just, glorious and holy. How does that effect us and the world around us? We rejoice and are glad. His adversaries are burned up. His light illuminates the world.

Verse 10a – Those who love the LORD must hate evil. In Romans 12, verse 9, Paul says to let your love be the real thing – sincere – hate what is evil – turn from wickedness – hold fast to what is good.

Psalm 98 – What are the acts of the LORD past and future that cause the psalmist to praise Him? He has done marvelous things and given us salvation. He has shown His righteousness towards the house of Israel. God shows His mercy, loving-kindness, truth and faithfulness. All the ends of the earth witnessed the salvation of our God. Acts 13:47, 28:28 – He will come to judge and rule the earth. He will rule with righteousness and He will judge with equity.

Ephesians 5:19, 20 – How we can worship? “Speak out to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, offering praise with voices [and instruments], and making melody with your heart to the Lord, at all times and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.”

A hymn:

Zion’s King Shall Reign Victorious

Words: Thomas Kelly, 1806

Music: Austria, by Franz J. Haydn

1. Zion’s King shall reign victorious,
All the earth shall own His sway;
He will make His kingdom glorious,
He will reign through endless day.

Refrain
Mighty King, Thine arm revealing,
Now Thy glorious cause maintain,
Bring the nations help and healing,
Make them subject to Thy reign.

2. Nations now from God estrangèd,
Then shall see a glorious light,
Night to day shall then be changèd,
Heaven shall triumph in the sight. Refrain

3. Then shall Israel, long dispersèd,
Mourning seek the Lord their God,
Look on Him Whom once they piercèd,
Own and kiss the chastening rod. Refrain

watch a little video on holiness

God goes before and makes a way

Chosen People Ministries I received information from this ministry in the mail yesterday (see map). It is a wonderful ministry of sharing Messiah with Jewish people and has existed for over 100 years.

Psalm 85

1 For the Leader. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

2 HaShem, Thou hast been favourable unto Thy land, Thou hast turned the captivity of Jacob.

3 Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of Thy people, Thou hast pardoned all their sin. Selah

4 Thou hast withdrawn all Thy wrath; Thou hast turned from the fierceness of Thine anger.

5 Restore us, O G-d of our salvation, and cause Thine indignation toward us to cease.

6 Wilt Thou be angry with us for ever? Wilt Thou draw out Thine anger to all generations?

7 Wilt Thou not quicken us again, that Thy people may rejoice in Thee?

8 Show us Thy mercy, O HaShem, and grant us Thy salvation.

9 I will hear what G-d HaShem will speak; for He will speak peace unto His people, and to His saints; but let them not turn back to folly.

10 Surely His salvation is nigh them that fear Him; that glory may dwell in our land.

11 Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

12 Truth springeth out of the earth; and righteousness hath looked down from heaven.

13 Yea, HaShem will give that which is good; and our land shall yield her produce.

14 Righteousness shall go before Him, and shall make His footsteps a way.

New American Standard: vs. 13 Righteousness will go before Him and will make His footsteps into a way.

Somehow the two versions have different verse markings. I read this chapter the other night and have been praying this last verse for my children. Righteousness goes before G-d and His footsteps make a way for us. As the Jewish people have returned to the land of Israel, it has blossomed and is truly fruitful. I heard one Jewish person speak about this. He said it doesn’t matter who grows things in America; things will grow, but in Israel things only grow when His people are there.

Gimel – Gamol

I’m studying the Hebrew alephbet and it is so very interesting. I give a copy of my little study to the assisted living group some Sundays. We read the section in Psalm 119 corresponding to the Hebrew letter.

The 3rd letter, which is also the number 3, is Gimel. It means camel or reward and is associated with acts of lovingkindness. The root word (garnol) means to nourish until completely ripe.

Gamol means camel and forms of the letter gimel resembles the long neck of the camel. We know the camel is physically equipped to endure long journeys which helps them endure the many dangers of the desert. So, the camel is a gomel chesed – performs kindnesses.

Gimel is also a picture of Yeshua as our Redeemer. John 4:42 “And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.”

Our Redeemer was born in the world and runs forth bearing charity for the poor and standing behind the door. He is our nourishment. But if anyone turns away from His love, He represents judgment and recompense.

Gimel is also a picture of the Holy Spirit. Aleph, also #1, and Bet, also #2, equal Gimel, #3. Gimel, #3, represents the Holy Spirit coming from the Father (Aleph) and the Son (Bet).

The role of the Holy Spirit is 3-fold – convicts of sin, righteousness and judgment to come – John 16:8.

Jesus said, when the Holy Spirit comes He will “take what is mine and declare it unto you.” (John 16:14)

more about Gilgal

From Gilgal to Bochim: The legacy of Joshua

Gilgal

Bible Study on Gilgal

Bible Dictionary – Gilgal

Proverbs 12

This month our church is reading the book of Proverbs. I used to often read the proverb chapter for the day. One of my favorite chapters is the 12th.
Verse 28 says, “In the way of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death.”

There are two ways to go – vs 18 – “There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, But the tongue of the wise brings healing. vs. 20: Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, But counselors of peace have joy.” Living in right standing with God yields a peaceful tongue, bringing peace and comfort to those they speak to.

We have been busy redoing our computer area; our family room is basically a computer room with 2 adults and 2 teens. See the contrast:

the green olive tree

Last night I read Psalm 52 and verse 8 was interesting and made me want to learn more about the olive tree, a tree you will see very much in Israel but not here in the Midwest of the U.S. The olive tree speaks explains more.

“But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever.”

A green olive tree has good fruit

Jeremiah 11:16 – The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit…

heart and soul – post about the green olive tree. He was also struck by verse 8 of Ps. 52. A green olive tree is one that is being taken care of and bears fruit. It needs to be pruned. One thing a couple sources said is that the olive tree will grow back even if it is cut to the ground. This reminds me of at least one person I know who’s life’s situation and circumstances have left them devastated financially, physically, etc. Their lives are testimonies to their trust and steadfast faithfulness to God.

Psalm 8:9

Enjoying the nice cool weather – was warmer this morning with rain – now a cool front is coming through with wind – love the fall season!!

Our church is reading Proverbs, one chapter each day this month. The wise will seek God and gain knowledge. The fools don’t care about God or His instructions – this is my paraphrase from memory.

Our new church as of about a month ago is a perfect fit for us. We have servolution groups twice a month and this church is so terrific – it meets at a school; they may rent a place later as the opportunity comes up.

Joy Music

(taken from son’s facebook note)

JoyMusic

Music that fulfills, raises up, and interrupts normalcy with something special.

Music that you can lose yourself in.

Music that when you put those little smushy, noise canceling headphones in and hit play, the world takes on a different color.

Music that lifts you up and makes you see something new.

What music does this to you?

My answer, and what gave me the idea for this note, is Anathallo.

Find joy in something today, and share it with someone.

Isaiah 51:11

The Message
“In the same way God’s ransomed will come back,
come back to Zion cheering, shouting,
Joy eternal wreathing their heads,
exuberant ecstasies transporting them—
and not a sign of moans or groans.”

NASB
“So the ransomed of the LORD will return
And come with joyful shouting to Zion,
And everlasting joy will be on their heads
They will obtain gladness and joy,
And sorrow and sighing will flee away.”

New Living Translation
“Those who have been ransomed by the Lord will return.
They will enter Jerusalem singing,
crowned with everlasting joy.
Sorrow and mourning will disappear,
and they will be filled with joy and gladness.”

Now is your “time”

This Friday thousands of Muslims are expected to converge on the Mall in Washington D.C. to declare their time has come. I join the groundswell of those declaring, “Now is your ‘time’ to know the love of God and His redemption in Christ.”

“Therefore God raised Him (Jesus) to the highest place and gave Him THE NAME above every name; that in honor of the NAME Yeshua, every knee will bow in heaven, on earth and under the earth – and every tongue will acknowledge that Yeshua the Messiah is Adonai – to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9-11

Ephesians 6:13-17 (King James Version)
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of Go

God created the grass and trees

We love to go on hikes. We live fairly close to a river boat casino. My husband likes to hike around some of the parks close by. He saw a man go by on the river in a boat and thought how much the man must be enjoying God’s great world. Then he thought of the people in the casino building which had no windows for viewing the outdoor scenery – there may have been some small windows. We used to go to a church that took us on the road by the casino. We usually had to stop at the stoplight as the casino patrons were leaving – we could see their faces and I never ever saw any of them with a happy face – they all looked remorseful – so sad.

This morning I read about Turbulance Training. The idea is to do the exercising at home or outdoors but not in a gym. It is a great program, although I didn’t purchase anything. I think it’s just tremendous – very common sense – and stresses good nutrition too. There are videos on youtube to learn more about it. I realize people earn their money by having gym memberships, and I appreciate them for swimming, but the other can just as well be done on our own. There’s big money in gambling, but we all need to realize how big and great and free God’s green earth is and spend more time exercising outdoors and appreciating God’s amazing grace and creation.