Tag Archives: Psalm 66

Daily Bible Study

September 22. 2015 Bible Study — Come and Listen To What God Has Done

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 23:25-28

    This proverb tells us that a promiscuous woman is dangerous, trying to get more men to be unfaithful. If you have ever met a promiscuous woman, you know that it is true. They prefer men who are in a relationship with other women, especially men who have been faithful. However, the same is true of promiscuous men. Look around at society and you will see that the more people practice sexual immorality the more they wish to convince others to do so as well. Do not fall into that trap by getting started in the first place.

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Psalm 66

    Let us join the psalmist in praising God, calling on everyone to come and see what God has done. The psalmist sums up how we are to witness to others at the end of this psalm.

Come and listen, all you who fear God,
and I will tell you what he did for me.

I will tell any who will listen what God has done for me. By doing so I hope to encourage those who believe, and convince those who do not.
For I cried out to him for help,
praising him as I spoke.

When I cry out to God for His help, I will praise Him at the same time. He has done great things for me in the past. I know that He will do great things in the future.
If I had not confessed the sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.

If I pretend that I am not a sinner when I call on God for help, He will not listen. It is only when I acknowledge my many sins to Him that He will listen to me. He cannot help us if we fail to acknowledge the areas where we most need help (our sins are our true problems, everything else is just a symptom).
But God did listen!
He paid attention to my prayer.

I will continue to seek out unrecognized sins in my life because God has listened. He has paid attention to my prayers. I will seek to identify other areas where my actions fail to please Him, so that He can transform those as well.

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Ephesians 1

    I really needed today’s passage because my study (OK, study is probably too strong of a word for it) of what is going on in the world right now is frightening. There are a lot of bad things happening and it looks to me like things will get worse before they get better (with no real evidence that they will get better). However, in this passage Paul reminds us that God HAS a plan. More importantly, God makes everything work out according to His plan. Things do not happen by accident. They happen because they are part of God’s plan. He has chosen us and part of His plan is to give us an inheritance. So, as scary as the world situation may appear today, God has a plan and He is in control. Things will turn out according to His plan.
    Paul then goes on to offer the prayer that we might receive the Spirit of wisdom (NIV). That Spirit will cause us to know God even better. It will open our eyes to God’s light so that we will know the great hope which God has given us. Once more, despite how scary things look in the world around us, we have the hope and knowledge that God will use these events to further His plan. That plan involves giving us the same power which raised Jesus from the dead through His Spirit. Let us use that power to further God’s plan to subject all things to Christ.

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Isaiah 39:1-41:16

    God is calling on us to shout that He is coming in power. Let our voices be heard. There is no reason to be afraid. Our God is a great God. It was He who created the universe and everything in it. Look at the scale of this universe. On that scale, this earth is insignificant and the nations even more so. There is nothing we can see, or imagine, to which we can compare God. Those who make images and idols are trying to limit God to a scale which they can understand, but such is not possible. God will not be limited.
    In chapter 40, verses 29-31 is one of the great statements for us to remember.

He gives power to the weak
and strength to the powerless.
Even youths will become weak and tired,
and young men will fall in exhaustion.
But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.

Are you at your wits end? Have you become exhausted doing God’s will? He will give you the strength to go on. Trust in Him and do not be afraid. He will not allow your grip to fail. He will not allow you to fall. Turn to Him for the strength you need. He is here to help us and He will not fail us.

Daily Bible Study

March 23, 2015 Bible Study — Come and See What God Has Done!

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 11:24-26

    Today’s proverb reminds me of a small skit I am doing with some friends in the near future. It is called “Pantalone’s Worry Box.” It is about a miser who loses all of his money because he spends it in various efforts to avoid losing it. In many ways that is what this proverb is about, although not completely. Those who are generous, who spend their wealth (whether money or goods) in order to help others will prosper in all they do. This does not mean that they will gain great material wealth (although it might). It means that they will gain that which is truly valuable, the love of others and of God.
    On the other hand, misers will lose everything of true value (and likely their wealth as well).

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Psalm 66:1-20

    This psalm contains an invitation we should be eager to accept…and to extend to others. We are invited/encouraged/commanded to joyously praise God. If we are not already eager to do this, the psalmist extends us another invitation, “Come and see what our God has done.” If you have done the latter, you will do the former. Those who have seen the marvelous things which God has done cannot help but praise Him loudly and joyously. If you are not enthusiastically praising God, I invite you too to come and see what He has done, is doing, will do!

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Luke 5:29-6:11

    Today’s passage contains four stories with three separate themes: one about bringing God’s good news to sinners, one about accepting change, two about the fact that God’s law never forbids doing good. Yet, in a way, they all have one theme. Really, they are all about not thinking we are better than others. In every one of these cases those challenging Jesus were saying, “Look how much better than those others we are. We don’t associate with sinners. We fast regularly. We don’t do anything which could be mistaken for work on the Sabbath. We are better than everyone else.” Jesus answer is “All have turned away. No one does good.”
    There is more to this than I can find the words to express today. It is not that there are not some people who are better than others. It is just that if you think you are one of them, you are wrong. I have known, and know, a few people who are better than most people…and every single one of them would have denied it with every fiber of their being. Not only that, they would have thought you were crazy for even imagining that they were better than someone else. Not everyone who thinks they are the scum of the earth and the lowliest of the low is a good person, but no one who does not know that they are the lowliest of the low and the greatest of sinners is a good person.

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Numbers 36:1-13

    This passage reminds us that one thing we do to address a social problem opens up the possibility of another social problem, that something we do to correct an injustice in one area might lead to an injustice in another. We need to pay attention to unintended consequences of our actions.

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Deuteronomy 1:1-46

    Deuteronomy means (basically) “second law”. The laws which God had given out to Moses and the Israelites were presented at various points throughout Leviticus and Numbers. Deuteronomy is written, in part, to bring all of these laws together and show how they fit together. The book starts with a speech which Moses gave the Israelites as they camped on the eastern side of the Jordan River. Moses’ speech is a recap of their travel from Mt Sinai to where they were when he gave the speech.
    Moses explains how the Israelites rebelled against God when they failed to trust God and enter the Promised Land and then rebelled again and strove to enter the land when God told them the punishment for their rebellion. These events are a reminder to us that if we hesitate when God calls us to a task the window of opportunity may close. If we hesitated to answer God’s call, the moment may pass and now He has other plans for us.

Daily Bible Study

September 22, 2014 Bible Study — Shout, Cry Out.. The Lord Is Coming

For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have been doing this blog for over two years now. The discipline it has given me to read through the Bible every year since I began has been a wonderful experience for me. I want to encourage everyone to do so. I have come to understand the Bible so much more thoroughly as a result.

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Proverbs 23:25-28

    Make your parents happy by staying away from promiscuous sexual partners. Getting involved with the promiscuous is a trap that it will be hard to escape. They constantly try to lure more people into their lifestyle.

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Psalm 66:1-20

    This psalm sums up what it feels like when God has answered our prayers. We want the entire earth to sing His praises. When we cry out to God in desperation and He delivers us we see how God has performed mighty deeds throughout history. The psalmist reminds us of one important fact, when we cry out to God for help, we need to be honest about our sins, the mistakes we have made. It is only after we confess our sins, admit our mistakes, that God will listen to our cries and come to our aid.

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Ephesians 1:1-23

    God planned for us to accept His wonderful grace before He created the world. It was His plan from the beginning that we would be united with Christ and all things work out according to God’s plan. It was only after Jews had heard and trusted in Christ that we Gentiles were able to hear and receive God’s wonderful gift. When we believed in Christ, God identified us as His own by giving us the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is God’s guarantee of His promises. He made those promises and gave us the Spirit as guarantee in order that we would praise and glorify Him.
    I am always challenged when I read here that Paul prayed continuously for the members of the Church at Ephesus (and elsewhere where he speaks of praying for other believers). I read this and realize that I do not pray nearly as much as I ought. As I write this, it reminds me that for years I sought the discipline to read the Bible every day (or at least, most days). I finally found that discipline when I began this blog. I am confident that God’s Spirit will show me the way to similar discipline on prayer. Perhaps, I will start a prayer journal.
    Back to the passage: It is worth noting that Paul prayed that God would give the recipients of the letter ever greater wisdom and knowledge, so that they might get to know God better. Do we strive to have our hearts and minds flooded by God’s light so that we can obtain ever greater understanding of the hope He gives us through His power? Let us seek to have ever greater confidence in the overwhelming power which God will work through us to accomplish His purposes on this earth. It is that power which has made everything, in all ways, subservient to Christ, whose body we are.

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Isaiah 39-41:16

    “Shout,” the prophet tells us. Do not be quiet. Do not be afraid. Shout and then shout louder. God is coming. The Sovereign Lord is coming in power. Let us not be afraid of offending people by telling them that He is coming. God cannot be compared to anything made by man. People create things which they worship, whether from metal, or wood, or paper. They set things up which they think will stand the test of time. Yet these things are merely part of Creation. God stands above and outside of Creation. The whole of this earth and the sum of its peoples are less than a grain of sand before Him. How can we compare anything we can imagine, much less bring into being, to God, the Creator of all that is?
    Professional athletes in the prime of their careers, soldiers who have conditioned themselves relentless will become tired. They will reach a state of exhaustion where they can do no more. The task is greater than they have the endurance to complete. However, those who trust in the Lord will find their strength refreshed. If you are facing troubles which are wearing you out, wait for the Lord in prayer and He will renew your strength. If you are seeking to do God’s will and find your strength waning, wait for the Lord in prayer and He will give you fresh strength. If you wait for Him, you will run the race He has set for you without growing weary, you will walk the path He has shown you without growing faint.
    Shout it out. Cry out at the top of your lungs. Challenge the people of this world to see what our God has done. Do not be afraid. Trust in God, wait for Him to act, do the things He instructs you to do, and you will never grow too weary to do the next thing He asks.

Daily Bible Study

March 23, 2014 Bible Study — Why Do You Eat and Drink With Sinners?

    I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I write this daily blog because it helps me pay closer attention to the Scripture as I read it. Before I started writing this blog I had trouble disciplining myself to read the Bible regularly, let alone every day. I hope that by posting my thoughts I can encourage others to regularly read the Bible (and perhaps my thoughts will give someone encouragement in their walk with Christ). In order to make it possible for others to use my blog as part of their daily Bible Study (the hubris of that idea never ceases to amaze me), I read the passages and write my thoughts a day, or more. in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

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Proverbs 11:24-26

    Those who are generous and give freely to those in need prosper. Generosity brings about its own reward (and usually leads to greater material wealth).

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Psalm 66:1-20

    Today’s psalm is on the same theme as yesterday’s psalm. I love reading psalms like today’s, they make me want to sing (which is not necessarily a good thing, as those who have heard me sing are aware).

Come and see what our God has done,
what awesome miracles he performs for people!


I cried out to God for help and he answered me. I confessed my sins and He rescued me from my troubles. God listened to me when I cried for help. He has tried me and put me through difficult times. God will purify me like silver and I will praise Him.

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Luke 5:29-6:11

    Levi, the tax collector become disciple, held a banquet for his friends to meet Jesus. The religious teachers asked Jesus’ disciples why He hung out with such low-lifes?
Jesus answered them by telling them that He had not come to reach the righteous, but rather He had come to reach the sinners. There are two questions we need to ask ourselves. Do we consider ourselves the righteous, or the sinners? The second is, are we Levi, introducing sinners to Jesus? Or are we the Pharisees, condemning Jesus for hanging out with the sinners?
    Luke follows this up with three more stories which show us ways in which the religious teachers did not understand how God desires that we behave. They were more caught up in following the “rules” than in caring for their fellow-man.

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Deuteronomy 1:1-46

    Here at the beginning of the book of Deuteronomy, or “Second Law”, Moses summarizes the events that happened from when the people of Israel left Mt Sinai until they attempted to invade the Promised Land after initially refusing to enter. First, Moses recounted how he appointed judges over sections of the people in order to distribute the load of governing the Israelites, because it was too big of a task for one man to do by himself. This is an important lesson for leaders of any group as it grows in size, there needs to be leaders over subsets of the group. Notice that these judges were not just subordinates who took part of the load. They were each responsible for a specific group of people.
    Moses then tells of how when they arrived at the border of the Promised Land, he encouraged them to invade immediately. However, they asked him to send scouts in to scout out the land first. Moses recounts that this seemed like a good idea to him, so he did sent in twelve scouts, one from each tribe. The scouts reported back that it was a good land, but they also reported that the people of the land were powerful. Moses recounted here how the people were afraid to enter the land despite all that God had done for them starting in Egypt. How often are we afraid to do what God calls us to do?

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Numbers 36:1-13

    This passage reminds us that marriage is an economic partnership. We need to teach our young people this fact and encourage them to consider the economic factors when they are choosing a spouse. There are other factors which they must be taught to take into account, but the young do not naturally think about the economic consequences of their decisions.

Daily Bible Study

September 22, 2013 Bible Study — God Loved Us Before He Created the Universe

     I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

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Isaiah 39-41:16

     When Hezekiah recovered from his illness, the king of Babylon sent emissaries with a gift to wish him well. In his pleasure at the kind gesture, Hezekiah proudly showed the emissaries all the treasures of Jerusalem. Isaiah came to Hezekiah after they left and prophesied that all of the treasures in Hezekiah’s palace would be carried off by the Babylonians and Hezekiah’s own sons would be taken into captivity there. Hezekiah responded that this prophecy was good because it said that he would have peace for the rest of his life.
     Next is a transition from an historical account back to purely prophetic writings. Here is the passage that John the Baptist said spoke of his coming, but in a way it is also instruction for us. We are to clear the way for God, getting rid of the rubble and debris in our lives that obstruct Him acting through us. We are to be messengers for God, telling the people around us that God is coming. Indeed, He is already here among us.
     What, or who, can we compare God to? He is so much greater than all we can see, that there is nothing that can possibly be an adequate representation of what God is like. The entire world and everything in it is insignificant compared to God and His magnificence. Even if we were capable of gifting the entire Earth to God, it would amount to nothing compared to what He is and has. God will strengthen the weak and powerless. Then at the end of chapter 40 is the basis of one of my favorite hymns.

they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.(KJV)

Unfortunately the song is still under copyright or I would post the lyrics here. It was written by Stuart Hamblen and I will echo a piece from the refrain: Teach me, Lord to wait
Down on my knees
Till in your own good time
You will answer my pleas.
If we learn to do this, God will say to us, “You are my servant. I have called you from the ends of the earth. Do no be afraid for I am with you.” I will wait.

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Ephesians 1:1-23

     In today’s passage Paul gives a primer on the Christian faith. Paul wrote that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing because we are united with Christ. God loved and chose us to be holy and blameless in his eyes even before He created the universe. At that time He determined to adopt us as heirs through Jesus Christ. He did this because it was what He desired and it gave Him pleasure to do so. We are redeemed, and our sins are forgiven, through the blood of Christ. God made known to us His plan by giving us the wisdom and understanding to comprehend it. This plan is to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ in due time.
     God’s purpose was that those who first came to know His message through Christ would bring praise and glory to God. Now that we who were not there at the start have heard the Gospel message, we have been included in those same blessings and purpose. When we believed we were marked with the seal that is the Holy Spirit. God did all of this so that we could and would praise and glorify Him.
     From the first moment that he heard about the Ephesian believers faith and love for God’s people, Paul had been praying for them. He asked that God give them wisdom and revelation through the Holy Spirit so that they might fully know the hope to which God has called us and His great power.

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     There are some wonderful things in Paul’s teachings here. He tells us that God chose us to follow Him before He even created the universe. The universe was designed to bring us into a relationship with Him. We did not end up where we are by accident or chance. Every detail was planned to bring us to where we are today. He knew the bad choices we would make and designed the universe to give us every opportunity to love and surrender to Him. This same plan will, in due time, bring all aspects of this universe into unity in submission to Christ. When we accept God’s grace, He gives us the Holy Spirit as a seal to mark us as His. I just realized that this is like a king’s seal which he gives to favored individuals to allow them to speak on his behalf. That is a great and frightening honor, to know that with the Holy Spirit within me, I speak on God’s behalf. Does what I say bring honor to God?
     I am challenged by what Paul writes about praying for the Ephesian believers. In several of his letters, Paul speaks of praying constantly for those he is writing to. When I think about that, I realize how much time Paul must have spent in prayer. I do not come close to that. I struggle to spend even a few moments each day, let alone the hours which Paul must have spent. Lord God, please help me to spend more time praying to you. There are so many in my life that I need to be praying for: my friends who do not, yet, know Christ, my co-workers (both those who know Christ and those who do not. Which reminds me that I want to bring praise for the co-worker whose faith has recently been revealed to me), my friends who do know Christ, and others.

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Psalm 66:1-20

     I will call on all the earth to praise God. He has done wonderful things. I cannot begin to summarize this psalm, but reading it brings me great joy. I confessed my sins and God listened to my prayers and answered my cry. He has done wonderful things for me. He will do wonderful things to you, if you turn from your sins and go to Him.

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Proverbs 23:25-28

     Yesterday’s proverb stated that a godly child gives his father joy and a wise child is a source of pleasure. Today’s proverbs start by telling us that that we should make our parents happy by being godly and wise. Then the writer tells us that a promiscuous woman promises pleasure but delivers only danger. The same is true in the other direction as well (a promiscuous man promises pleasure, but delivers danger). The short term pleasure is less than the long term harm being involved with such people brings.