The Book of Revelation Chapters 1-22

 

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Psalm 57 - A Prayer For Rescue From Persecutors - Part 2

Psalm 57 A Psalm of David when he fled from Saul in the cave at Ein Gedi on the west coast of the Dead Sea. Read 1 Samuel 24. Commentary by Dennis Edwards. Part 2 To go back to Part 1 click HERE.

Psalm 57:5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let Your glory be above all the earth.

The great men of the earth try to exalt themselves. In the book of Revelation talking about the Great Whore Commercial System of the world, called Babylon the Great; her “merchants were the great men of the earth; for by their sorceries were all nations deceived,” Revelation 18:23b. Through finance the great men exalt themselves above all. They rule over the political rulers of the nations.

The time will come when the Antichrist will bring them down. It is prophesized in chapters 17 and 18 in the book of Revelation. Then the Antichrist will exalt himself above everything that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God shall sit in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God, 2 Thessalonians 2:4.

“But the Lord shall consume (him, the Antichrist) with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming,” 2 Thessalonians 2:8b.

“He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked,” Isaiah 11:4b.

The rapture takes place at the end of the 3 ½ years of great tribulation found in Revelation chapters 8-10 under the seven trumpets. Jesus comes back at the rapture at the last trumpet, the 7^th. At that point begins the bowels or cups of the Wrath of God which lasts a short 75-day period. Those that exalted themselves and refused to submit unto God, shall be brought low. 

“Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations He has made in the earth. He makes the wars to cease unto the ends of the earth; He breaks the bow, and cuts the spear in sunder; He burns the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that the Lord is God: He will be exalted among the nations, He will be exalted in the earth,” Psalm 46:8-10 adapted.

As the Millennium begins, the Lord shall be exalted.

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains (in Jerusalem); and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come, and let us go up to the house of God…and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall the learn war anymore,” Isaiah 2:2-4.

Jesus will rule and reign on earth for a thousand years. God will highly exalt Him. “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in the earth, and things under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father,” Philippians 2:10-11.

Psalm 57:6 They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah.

The evil that Saul had sought for David, in the end, came upon Saul himself and his own family. David did not lift up his hand against Saul, the King of Israel. David trusted in the Lord, that the Lord would take care of Saul, and He did.

Psalm 57:7 My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.

Our hearts need to be fixed on the Lord. We cannot have any other gods before Him. We should be fastened to the Lord through our love and obedience to His word and His voice, which speaks to us during quiet meditation and prayer. Joshua said,

“But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the laws, which Moses the servant of the Lord charged you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, and to cleave unto Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,” Joshua 22:5.

Apostle Paul said,

“But none of these things (his bonds and afflictions) move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God,” Acts 20:24.

We need to build the house of our life on obedience to God’s word so that the storms, the winds, the floods of life do not overflow and wash it away. If we keep God first in our life, He promises, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you: when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon you,” Isaiah 43:2.

If our hearts are fixed on the Lord, we can sing and give praise no matter what is happening, because we know He will work all things together for our good, Romans 8:28. We can, therefore, in everything give thanks, 1 Thessalonians 5:18.

Psalm 57:8 Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.

Jesus Himself awoke a great while before it was day and went out alone into a mountain to pray. If Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah, needed time alone with God to pray, should we not, also, commit our waking moments to Him in prayer, meditation, reading His word, song, thanksgiving and praise?

We need to wait upon the Lord in the quiet hours of the day before the business of the day is upon us. We need time with God to receive the strength, the wisdom, the direction, the guidance, the love, the patience, the understanding and all the other spiritual gifts we need to confront the problems and difficulties that the day will bring. Spending time with God is not for His benefit, but for ours. He transforms us in the process and imputes to us all the spiritual blessings we need for the day.

David said, “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice,” Psalm 55:17. If we spend that time with God, He will make our faces to shine. He will lighten our candles and we will be able to shine forth to the nations with the love and truth of the gospel. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven,” Matthew 5:16.

Psalm 57:9-10 I will praise You, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto You among the nations. For Your mercy is great unto the heavens, and Your truth unto the clouds.

Again, we see the phrase “mercy and truth,” or today we might say, “love and truth.” Apostle Paul tells us that among faith, hope, and love; love is the greatest attribute. Apostle John says that God is love. Pauls writes that “love rejoices in the truth,” 1 Corinthians 13:6b. He says, we should speak the truth in love, Ephesians 4:15.

Truth without love is too harsh. Love without truth is too soft. Truth and love standing together present a perfect picture of the character of God. They are like the central pillars holding up His temple. Those characteristics were uniquely manifested in Jesus our Saviour, kind and good, loving and truthful.

Psalm 57:11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens: let Your glory be above all the earth.

God shall soon be exalted above the heavens. “The kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever,” Revelation 11:15. “The God of heaven shall set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever,” Daniel 2:44.

“And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and His name one,” Zechariah 14:9. “His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace,” Isaiah 9:6b. “For there is one name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved,” Acts 4:12. That name is JESUS!

PS: If you have found this class helpful, please share it with someone who would appreciate it. That will help the blog to grow. Thanks.

Originally published March 23, 2025. 

 

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Psalm 57 - A Prayer For Rescue From Persecutors - Part 1

 

Psalm 57 A Psalm of David when he fled from Saul in the cave at Ein Gedi on the west coast of the Dead Sea. Read 1 Samuel 24. Commentary by Dennis Edwards. Part 1

Psalm 57:1 Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusts in You: yea, in the shadow of Your wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be over past.

God’s word continually reminds us that He is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in time of trouble, Psalm 46:1.

“For the Lord is a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat,” Isaiah 25:4.

Psalm 91, the psalm of protection, goes over the promises of God for those that love Him. We shall abide under His shadow. He will be for us a refuge and a fortress. He will deliver us from the snare and from the pestilence. He will cover us with His feathers, and under His wings will we trust. There shall no evil befall us, neither shall any plague come nigh our dwelling, Psalm 91:1-4,10.

Whatever calamities are passing over our lives, we can trust in the Lord.

In the last days, God’s word warns us, that “men’s hearts will be failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of the heaven shall be shaken…And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, (which means do not be discouraged, look to Jesus); for your redemption draws nigh,” Luke 21:26&28.

We saw with David, when his wives and children were kidnapped and those of his soldiers, that “David encouraged himself in the Lord,” I Samuel 30:6b. Whatever problem we may be going through as a result of the societal situation or a personal situation, the solution to calm our heart and mind is to spend time with God. Encourage yourself in the Lord. That’s the solution. “You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because He trusts in You,” Isaiah 26:3.

Psalm 57:2-3a I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performs all things for me. He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah.

God is sovereign over all the earth. We know that whatever God allows to happen in our lives, even if the Devil sends it, God can transform and use for our benefit

Psalm 119:67 Before I was afflicted, I went astray: but now have I kept Your word.

Psalm 119:71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn Your statutes.

When Job went through his period of testing, he responded to his wife, and corrected her, saying; “What, shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” Job 2:10b.

Job is not saying that God sends evil, but since God is Sovereign above all, whatever happens to us must be within His will. God can work together for good whatever happens to us in life. He can use it to form our character, to deepen our character, to give us more compassion for others. There are innumerable ways God can use what seems evil for His good.

In Genesis, we read Joseph comforting his brethren who had sold him into slavery. “And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: ….You thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive,” Genesis 50:20.

Psalm 57:3b God shall send forth His mercy and His truth.

In the proverbs we read, “By mercy and truth iniquity is purged; and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil,” Proverbs 16:6.

What, when, where, or who is the ultimate manifestation of God’s mercy and truth? None other than Jesus Christ. “For the law was given by Moses, but grace (mercy) and truth came by Jesus Christ,” John 1:17. It is through Jesus’ perfect sacrifice for sin that our iniquities have been purged for we come unto God by Him.

Isaiah 53:5,6b,8b,9b,10ab,11b,12b “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him. And the Lord has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. For the transgression of My people was He stricken. Because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He (the Lord) has put Him to grief: when You shall make His soul an offering for sin. By His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities. And He bear the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

Psalm 57:4 My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.

It is the Devil who goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, 1 Peter 5:8. King Saul, oppressed by an evil spirit, sought to kill David to ensure that his sons would inherit the throne after him. When we are under fierce persecution our enemies behave themselves like wild animals in their fury to destroy us.

They start with words against us, gossip, then slander, and lies. Through words they want to destroy us and our good work for the Lord and others. James tells us that the tongue is a fire of iniquity, descending not from above, but is earthy, sensual, devilish, James 3:15. The tongue can be used for good or for evil. It can lift up, or bring down. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue,” Proverbs 18:21.

End of Part 1 If you found this post helpful, please share with others, that the blog may grow. Thanks. To go to Part 2.

Originally published March 22, 2025.

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Psalm 53 - The Folly and Wickedness of Men

 

Psalm 53 A Psalm of David with Comments by Dennis Edwards.

Psalm 53 is a repetition of Psalm 14 with a few minor changes. It is tucked in between two prayers against David’s enemies: Saul, who knew God and had been baptised by the Holy Spirit, but in self-pride and men-pleasing turned away from the Lord; and Doeg, who seems to have not known God. Doeg was led by his desire to move up in the world, and was willing to commit whatever atrocities necessary, in order to do so.  

Both these men are fools, and typify the antichrist types: Saul, the former believer who has lost faith and becomes embittered against God and becomes God’s enemy; and Doeg, the unbeliever who has no faith and lives for this present evil world and the lusts thereof, and as a result is the enemy of God.  

In James we read, “You adulterers and adulteresses, know you not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God,” James 4:4.

Instead of loving the Lord God with all their heart, mind, body, and soul; they love the world. As a result, they are committing spiritual fornication with the world and the things of the world.

Apostle John makes a similar point:

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust thereof: but he that does the will of God abides forever,” 1 John 2:15-17.

Jesus Himself had said, “If you were of the world, the world would love his own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you,” John 15:19.

In Revelation 17, we see that the great commercial city system of the world is depicted as a great whore, “with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication,” Revelation 17:2.

By loving the world and the things of the world, we are committing spiritual fornication with the world. However, ultimately, none of those things, whether they be power, wealth, or sex and pleasure; can satisfy the deepest longer of our soul, which yearns for communion with its Maker.

God’s first commandment to the children of Israel reflects that very reality: “I am the Lord your God… you shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make unto you any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: you shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord your God am a jealous God,” Exodus 20:2a-5a.

Solomon tells us, if we do not search and find our greater purpose in life, we are no more than the beasts of the field. He concludes that the whole duty of man is to fear God and keep His commandments, Ecclesiastes 12:13.

Psalm 53:1 The fool has said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that does good.

If we do not fear God, if we do not have God in our understanding, we open the door to becoming our own gods. We open the door to Dostoevsky’s conclusion: “If there is no God, everything is permissible.”

As a result of culture abandoning God, each person becomes his own moral authority and seeks to do his own thing. Self-identity becomes the great driving concept of society, rather than loving God and having our identity revolve around our relationship with Him.  

Psalm 53:2-3 God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that does good, no, not one.

Without God in our lives, we strive in our own righteousness to be and do good. However, as a result of our sinful nature from the fall of Adam and Eve, we are incapable of being righteous. We all sin and fall short of the glory of God. As Apostle Paul honestly confesses, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Romans 7:24.

But, the victory is in Jesus. The victory is in humbly confessing and admitting that we cannot do it in our own strength. We cannot be righteous and do righteously continuously. We fail over and over again. We are in need of a Redeemer, the Promised Seed, which shall bruise the head of the Serpent and deliver us from the bondage of sin and death.

The fool, however, the atheist, believes he can make it on his own. He can do it his way.

Psalm 53:4 Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God.

If we do not call upon God, we remain in darkness and become capable of the most heinous acts. Apostle Paul tells us what happens.

Romans 1:28 “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which were not convenient.”

When King Saul was little in his own sight God made him head of the tribes of Israel. But pride and the fear of man caused him to disobey the voice of the Lord. The Prophet proclaimed, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king.” 1 Samuel 15:23. As a result, seeing that Saul only feigned repentance so that the Prophet would worship God with him in the presence of the people, the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him,” 1 Samuel 16:14.

Going back to Apostle Paul, we read that as a result of rejecting God, men are “filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventers of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them,” Romans 1:29-32.

Psalm 53:5 There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God has scattered the bones of him that encamps against you: you have put them to shame, because God has despised them.

We that believe on the Lord, fear not, because He has redeemed us, He has called us by His name, and we are His, Isaiah 43:1. He has told us not to be dismayed. He will strengthen us. He will help us. He will uphold us with the right hand of His righteousness, Isaiah 41:10.

He has told us that when we pass through the waters, He will be with us; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow us: when we pass through the fire, we shall not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon us, Isaiah 43:2.

But for the wicked, it is not so, but a fearful looking forward to of judgment.

“For if we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, (and we all have received the knowledge of the truth through creation and moral consciousness, and yet some suppress the truth and their foolish hearts become darkened, Romans 1:21), there remains no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries,” Hebrews 10:26-27.

Psalm 53:6 Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God brings back the captivity of His people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

The salvation of Israel has come out of Zion in the person of Jesus Christ, the promised Seed of Abraham. God has brought back the salvation of His people through the blood of Jesus Christ. All that call upon His name and follow His precepts shall be saved.

Originally published March 18, 2025. 

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Psalm 52 - The Futility of Boastful Wickedness

 

Psalm 52 A Psalm of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech. Comments by Dennis Edwards.

Let us read first the section from the book of Samuel.

1 Samuel 22:9-11 Then answered Doeg the Edomite, which was set over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse (David) coming to Nob (the city where the high priest lived), to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub.  And he enquired of the Lord for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine. Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests that were in Nob: and they came all of them to the king.

1 Samuel 22:12-13 And Saul said, Hear now, you son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here I am, my lord. And Saul said unto him, Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread, and a sword, and have enquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?

1 Samuel 22:14-15 Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who is so faithful among all your servants as David, which is the king's son in law, and goes at your bidding, and is honourable in your house?  Did I then begin to enquire of God for him? be it far from me: let not the king impute anything unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father: for your servant knew nothing of all this, less or more.

1 Samuel 22:15-16 And the king said, You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you, and all your father's house. And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of the Lord: because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not show it to me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the Lord.

1 Samuel 22:18-19 And the king said to Doeg, Turn, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod. And Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen, and asses, and sheep, with the edge of the sword.

Expositors believe the psalm can be directed at either Doeg who cruelly killed the priests and their families, or King Saul who commanded him to do so. Both are representative of antichrists since time immemorial and the ultimate Antichrist of the last days.

Psalm 52:1 Why do you boast yourself in mischief, O mighty man? The goodness of God endures continually.

In contrast to the evil done by past, present, and future antichrist figures, God’s goodness endures forever and even the seemingly unjust and evil events, God can transform for good. Even if we cannot see how God’s goodness transformed an evil event in the present life, He will transform it in the next life.

Apostle Paul writes about such circumstances in Romans 8.

Romans 8:35-36 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For Your sakes we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Jesus Himself had prophesized of future events saying,

Matthew 24:9&13 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and you shall be hated of all nations for My name’s sake…But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”

If we endure the persecution and death and do not give up our faith, God promises us a great reward.

Matthew 5:11-12 Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in HEAVEN: for so persecuted (and killed) the prophets which were before you.

Apostle Paul continues,

Romans 8:37 Nay, in all these things, (that is, tribulation, persecution, and death), we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.

How can we be more than conquerors when we die? Because we go to a better place. Like the words of Nero in the film “Quo Vadis.” As he’s inspecting the dead victims of his persecution, he notices that they all have smiles on their faces. The attendant tells him that the Christians believed that when they died that they went to a better place. Nero, in a seeming panic attack, keeps distraughtly repeating the phrase, “They’re going to a better place! They’re going to a better place!”

Like Apostle Paul wrote elsewhere,

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Psalm 52:2-3 The tongue devises mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. You love evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah.

These are the attributes of the antichrist types. Apostle Paul warns of them.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”

2 Timothy 3:12-13 “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

Apostle John also wrote,

1 John 2:22 “Who is a liar but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denies the Father and the Son.”

1 John 4:2-4 “Hereby know you the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof you have heard that it should come, and even now already is it in the world. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.”

We are more than conquerors through Jesus that loves us and has promised us eternal life. Therefore, we fear not them that can kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. We fear, love, and obey Him that is able to destroy both soul and body in hell, Matthew 10:28.

Psalm 52:4-5 You (the wicked unbelieving antichrists) love all devouring words, O you deceitful tongue. God shall likewise destroy you for ever, He shall take you away, and pluck you out of your dwelling place, and root you out of the land of the living. Selah.

As we read above, God is able to destroy both body and soul in hell. Jesus said that there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth. In Revelation 20, we read about the “second death,” which could be indicating the death of the soul of those created beings, who, even after God shows them mercy and offers forgiveness, still refuse to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and God.

Revelation 20:12-15 “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. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

Some souls will have their names blotted out of the book of life.

Revelation 3:5 “He that overcomes, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.”

Jesus had, also, warned in the Gospels:

Mark 8:34b-38 “Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for My sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

Psalm 52:6-7 The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him: Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.

God has pronounced His judgment on the wicked, and it shall come to pass. In Isaiah we read of Lucifer’s fate.

Isaiah 14:12-16 “How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How are you cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations! For you said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet you shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see you shall narrowly look upon you, and consider you, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake the kingdoms..?”

At the end of the present dispensation, the Devil, Satan, that old serpent, that dragon, shall be bound for a thousand years during Christ’s millennium rule on earth.

Revelation 20:3 “And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

Revelation 20:7-8a “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth.”

He shall bring the millennium nations against Jerusalem where Jesus has been operating His millennium kingdom from. It is at that point that God must judge the millennium peoples who have rejected Him, and destroy the surface of the earth by fire.

Revelation 20:9b-10 “And fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast (the Antichrist) and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

That “for ever and ever,” could signify “for an age and an age,” that is, a given period of time, and might have an end in the “second death.”

Psalm 52:8-9 But I (the believer and follower of God) am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. I will praise You for ever, because You have done it: and I will wait on Your name; for it is good before Your saints.

There is a reward for those of us that believe on the name of the Son of God. God will prepare a new heaven and a new earth, because the first heaven and first earth were passed away; and there will be no more sea, Revelation 21:1.

Revelation 21:2-5b And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be anymore pain: for the former things are passed away,…Behold, I make all things new.”

That’s the happy ending. Hold on to your faith. Hold on to what you believe, that no man takes your crown, Revelation 3:11.

Revelation 3:12 “Him that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, which is new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God: and I will write upon him My new name.”

Revelation 22:12-14 “And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.”

Revelation 22:17 “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hears say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosever will, let him take the water of life freely.”

Revelation 22:20 “He which testifies these things says, Surely, I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”

Originally published March 15, 2025.

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Psalm 51 - Part 2 - A Prayer of Cleansing

 

Psalm 51 Part 2. A Psalm of David with comments by Dennis Edwards

To go back to Part 1

Psalm 51:8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which You have broken may rejoice.

When we have strayed from the Lord and entered into sin, God’s correction feels like our bones are being broken. We lose the joy of the Lord. A dark cloud may hang over us. But it is the joy of the Lord, that is our strength. In Psalm 32, another penitent psalm, we find the same imagery.

Psalm 32:4 “For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer.”

Isaiah 59:2 “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, that He will not hear.”

It is our own iniquities that separate us from God. But when we acknowledge our sins, and move from them, we are on the path to victory.

Hosea 6:1 “Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for He has torn, and He will heal us; He has smitten, and He will bind us up.”

Psalm 32:5 “I acknowledged my sin unto You, and my iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.”

Acknowledging, confessing, and changing are the pathway to forgiveness and renewed joy and happiness.

Psalm 51:9-12 Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Your presence; and take not Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of Your salvation; and uphold me with Your free spirit.

As we read earlier, “If we confess our sins (in truth), He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,” 1 John 1:9.

Apostle Paul tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Romans 8:38-39 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Only our own self-righteousness will separate us from God, if we do not humble ourselves before Him and seek His mercy and forgiveness. In Jonah, we see the same idea.

Jonah 2:8 “They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.”

If we believe the lies of Satan, that what we have done is beyond the forgiveness of God, then we forsake the mercy He offers to those who come to Him with all their heart. The dying thief found forgiveness on the cross with Christ. It’s never too late. We have never sinned beyond the power of God to forgive.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. For whom the Son has set free, is free indeed. God’s Holy Spirit frees us from the condemnation the enemy tries to place upon us. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, (and continues to save us), by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost,” Titus 3:5.

We need a constant washing of regeneration, and renewal of the Holy Ghost. The outer man must perish, but the inward man must be renewed day by day, 2 Corinthians 4:16b. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new,” 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Psalm 51:13 Then will I teach transgressors Your ways; and sinners shall be converted unto You.

The fact that we have sinned greatly and have found forgiveness in the arms of Jesus, compels us to want to share the truth of the Gospel with others. The greatest sinners become the greatest testimonies to God’s goodness and grace.

Psalm 51:14 Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, You, God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.

Having found forgiveness in God through the love of Jesus, for sins that are punishable by death, we sing aloud of God’s goodness. David found forgiveness in God’s arms from the guilt he felt on killing Uriah. He was able to sing and praise God in spite of his great falling from grace. His great fall brought great repentance and helped David to be a humbler and wiser king. Usually, God’s ways up are down, contrary to what we think.

Psalm 51:15 O Lord, open my lips; and my mouth shall show forth Your praise.

God dwells in the praises of His people, Psalm 22:3. “And when they (Jerusalem and Judah) began to sing and to praise,” the enemies of God were smitten, and God’s people were delivered, 2 Chronicles 20:22. We enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise, Psalm 100:4a. Praise is the victory! It causes God to rise in our defence.

Acts 16:25-26 “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and all the doors were opened, and every one’s hands were loosed.”

Psalm 51:16-17 For You desire not sacrifice; else would I give it: You delight not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

All the Old Testament sacrifices were a foreshadowing of the death of the Messiah. When Jesus was on earth, He had a broken and contrite heart. He made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant. He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, Philippines 2:7-8.

Isaiah 66:2b “But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembles at My word.”

Psalm 34:18 “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saves such as be of a contrite spirit.”

Hebrews 13:15-16 “By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”

Our praise to God is considered a sacrifice in His eyes. Our doing good and communicating with others are also seen as pleasing sacrifices to the Lord.

Psalm 51:18-19 Do good in Your good pleasure unto Zion: build the walls of Jerusalem. Then shall You be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon Your altar.

If we walk in praise and thanksgiving, God will build us up. The spiritual walls of our lives will be strengthened and renewed as we walk humbly before our God in obedience and submission to His voice. Apostle Paul tells us our lives should be a “living sacrifice,” not by following the culture, but by following God.

Romans 12:1-2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.”

Our lives should be a living sacrifice in service to God and our fellow man. Jesus said, “For he that is greatest among you, must be servant of all,” Matthew 23:11. “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, the same shall save it,” Luke 9:23-24.

As Jesus sacrificed Himself for us to be the propitiation for our sins, so we should do likewise and lay down our lives in humble service to our Lord and King, and to those around us. May our lives be a living sacrifice unto God our Father. Amen.

Here are two comments on Psalm 51 from famous people:

“Thus was David led from the knowledge of this one sin to the knowledge of his whole sinful nature. As if he would say—‘That such a one as I, endowed with so much grace, should have fallen at once as from heaven to hell, is to me, and all others, a palpable sign that there is no good thing in the flesh.’” Martin Luther

“This sin did not David when he was suffering from Saul’s persecutions. Beware of prosperity, more perilous to the soul than adversity to the body….He was nearer to God then, in his tribulations, when to men he seemed most miserable.” Augustine

Both found in A Commentary on the Book of Psalms by William de Burgh, 1801-1866.

Originally published March 14, 2025. Republished February 21, 2026.

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