Does your faith need strengthening? Are you confused and wondering if Jesus Christ is really "The Way, the Truth, and the Life?" "Fight for Your Faith" is a blog filled with interesting and thought provoking articles to help you find the answers you are seeking. Jesus said, "Seek and ye shall find." In Jeremiah we read, "Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall seek for Me with all your heart." These articles and videos will help you in your search for the Truth.
David sentia-se frequentemente oprimido nos dias em que Saul procurava a sua morte. Aprendeu a confiar em Deus desde a sua juventude, o Deus que o livrou da boca do urso e da boca do leão. Esse mesmo Deus fê-lo triunfar sobre Golias, o gigante dos filisteus. David, como nós por vezes, sentia-se oprimido pelos medos causados pela situação precária em que se encontrava.
Salmo 61:4 Habitarei no teu tabernáculo para sempre; refugiar-me-ei no abrigo das tuas asas. (Selá)
Assim como uma galinha protege os seus pintainhos da tempestade com as suas asas, nós confiemos nas asas do Senhor para nos proteger. “Ele te cobrirá com as suas penas, e debaixo dos seus ventos estarás seguro”, Salmo 91:4a.
Salmo 61:5 Pois tu, ó Deus, ouviste os meus votos; deste-me a herança dos que temem o teu nome.
Salmo 61:6-7 Prolongarás a vida do rei, e os seus anos, como muitas gerações. Permanecerá para sempre diante de Deus; prepara-lhe a misericórdia e a verdade, que o preservem.
The theme of the very first psalm in the book of Psalms is
the importance of God’s Word in our lives. The Bible is a collection of 66 books.
The book with the most chapters is Psalms, with 150 psalms. However, Psalms is not
the longest book by word count in the Bible; both Jeremiah and Genesis are
longer. Of the three longest books: Jeremiah is a book of warning, where God
has warned us to love and obey Him. Genesis is a book of mankind’s beginnings,
where God has told us not to forget our beginnings, where we come from, and who made us. Psalms
is a book of praise, where God teaches us how to live our lives with thanksgiving
and praise.
Today we will study Psalm 1.
Psalm 1:1 “Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel
of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the
scornful.”
Right from the start, God warns us to avoid having
fellowship with ungodly sinners who disrespect God. In Proverbs, Solomon covers
the same subject.
Proverbs 1:10,11a,14,15 “My son, if sinners entice you,
consent not. If they say, Come with us,…Cast your lot among us; let us all have
one purse. My son, walk not in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their
path.”
Proverbs 4:14-15 “Enter not into the path of the wicked, and
go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass
away.”
In contrast to the way of the wicked, God instructs how the
Godly should walk.
Psalm 1:2 “But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in
His law does he meditate day and night.”
How do we keep ourselves from evil, from the evil influences
of the culture all around us, from the evil influences of our own heart and
mind? God’s word teaches us to meditate and take joy in His Word.
Moses taught the children of Israel before they entered into
the Promised Land.
Deuteronomy 6:5-9 “And you shall love the LORD your God with
all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these
words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart: and you shall
teach them diligently unto your children, and shall talk of them when you sit
in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when
you rise up. And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall
be as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them upon the posts of
your house, and on your gates.”
In other words, we should memorize God’s word. We should get
it deep into our hearts.
Psalm 119:9&11 "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Your word...Your word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against You."
In Proverbs, Solomon gives the same message:
Proverbs 6:20-24a “My son, keep your father’s commandment,
and forsake not the law of your mother: bind them continually upon your heart,
and tie them about your neck. When you go, it shall lead you; when you sleep,
it shall keep you; when you awake, it shall talk with you. For the commandment
is a lamp; and the law is light; and the reproofs of instruction are the way of
life: to keep you from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.”
The ”evil woman” refers to spiritually to what Jesus and the Apostle’s called “the world.” The Apostle John wrote,
1 John 2:15-17 “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 the Father abides forever.”
Jesus Himself warned,
John 15:19 “If you were of the world, (or the evil woman of Proverbs and the Great Whore of Revelation 17-18), 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.”
Proverbs 7:1-3 “My son, keep my words, and lay up my
commandments with you. Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple
of your eye. Bind them upon your fingers, write them upon the tables of your
heart That they may keep you from the strange woman (or what Jesus and the Apostles call ‘the world’), from the stranger which flatters with her words.”
When Moses died, the Lord spoke similar words to Joshua:
Joshua 1:8 “This book of the law shall not depart out of
your mouth; but you shall meditate therein day and night, that you may observe
to do according to all that is written therein: for then you shall make your
way prosperous, and then you shall have good success.”
David may have been meditating on the writings of Moses or
Joshua when he wrote Psalm 1.
Psalm 1:3 “And he (the Godly) shall be like a tree planted
by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf
also shall not wither; and whatsoever he does shall prosper.”
Moses wrote similarly:
Deuteronomy 30: 9-10&20a “And the Lord your God will
make you plenteous in every work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, and
in the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of the land, for good: for the
Lord will again rejoice over you for good, as He rejoiced over your fathers: if
you shall hearken unto the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments
and His statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if you turn
unto the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul…That you may
love the LORD thy God, and that you may obey His voice, and that you may cleave
unto Him: for He is life, and length of your days.”
In contrast, the Psalmist continues,
Psalm 1:4 “The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff
which the wind drives away.”
John the Baptist used a similar expression when describing
the Messiah who was to come.
Matthew 3:11-12 “I indeed baptize you with water unto
repentance: but He that comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not
worthy to bear: He shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: whose
fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His
wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Psalm 1:5 “Therefore, the ungodly shall not stand in the
judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.”
Jesus also spoke a similar parable of the wheat and the
tares.
Matthew 13:24-30 “The kingdom of heaven is like unto a man
which sowed good seed in his field: but while men slept, his enemy came and
sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung
up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of
the household came and said unto him, Sir, did you not sow good seed in your
field, from where then has it tares? He said unto them, An enemy has done this.
The servants said unto him, Will you then that we go and gather them up? But he
said, No; lest while you gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat with
them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of the harvest
I will say to the reapers, Gather together first the tares, and bind them in
bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”
Elsewhere in the Psalms and in Jeremiah, we find the same concept:
Psalm 9:17 “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all
the nations that forget God.”
Jeremiah 12:17 “But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, says the Lord.”
The psalm ends with,
Psalm 1:6 “For the Lord knows the way of the righteous: but
the way of the ungodly shall perish.”
We have been thoroughly warned. The ungodly shall perish,
but the Lord knows those who are His.
Jeremiah 9:23-24 “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in
his riches: but let him that glories glory in this, that he understands and
knows Me, that I am the LORD which exercises loving-kindness, judgment, and
righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, says the LORD.”
Deuteronomy 30:11-14 “For this commandment which I command
you this day, it is not hidden from you, neither is it far off. It is not in
heaven, that you should say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto
us, that we may hear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that you
should say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may
hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto you, in your mouth, and in
your heart, that you may do it.
The God of the Psalms is not far off. Apostle Paul makes the
same point,
Acts 17:24-28a “God that made the world and all things
therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwells not in temples made
with hands; neither is he worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed anything,
seeing He gives to all life, and breath, and all things; and has made of one
blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has
determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that
they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him,
though He be not far from every one of us: for in Him we live, and move, and
have our being.”
God is not far off. His word is not far off. His law is
written in our hearts, our conscience bearing witness of it. [Romans 2:15] Let us seek God daily. Let us delight in meditating on His
Word. Let us walk not in the path of the wicked, but let us walk with God.
Proverbs 4:18 “The path of the just is as a shining light,
that shines more and more unto the perfect day.”
Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light
unto my path.”
Help us, Lord, to let your word enlighten our paths, and minds,
and keep us close to You, today, and every day of the year. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
David a menudo se sentÃa abrumado en los dÃas en que Saúl buscaba salvar su vida. Aprendió a confiar en Dios desde su juventud, el Dios que lo habÃa librado de la boca del oso y de la boca del león. Ese mismo Dios lo habÃa hecho triunfar sobre Goliat, el gigante de los filisteos. David, como nosotros a veces, se sintió abrumado por los temores que le causaba la precaria situación en la que se encontraba.
Experimentamos los mismos temores en nuestra vida diaria. Nos bombardean las noticias mundiales que nos informan de todas las catástrofes y guerras a nivel mundial. Observamos el mundo que nos rodea y tememos por el futuro. En el Evangelio de Lucas, leemos que Jesús les dijo a sus discÃpulos que en los últimos dÃas, «desfallecerán los corazones de los hombres por el temor y la expectación de las cosas que sobrevendrán en la tierra, porque las potencias de los cielos serán conmovidas» (Lucas 21:26).
Cuando nos sentimos abrumados por los acontecimientos que vemos en el mundo que nos rodea, cuando el miedo nos domina, cuando nuestras almas desfallecen, como Jonás en el vientre de la ballena, necesitamos recordar al Señor y clamar al Dios que es más alto que nosotros, la Roca de nuestra salvación.
Jesús es esa Roca, la piedra angular segura, la torre fuerte a la que corren los justos y están a salvo. La piedra que los constructores abandonaron se ha convertido en la cabeza del ángulo. Él es la Roca que es más alta que cada uno de nosotros.
En los Salmos vemos que se hace referencia al Señor como: “mi roca y mi fortaleza”, “mi roca y mi salvación”, “mi Dios, la roca de mi salvación”, “Dios, mi Roca”, “Oh Señor, mi Roca”, “Bendita sea mi Roca”, “la roca de mi refugio”.
Como la gallina protege a sus pollitos de la tormenta con sus alas, confiemos en las alas del Señor para que nos cubran. “Con sus plumas te cubrirá, y bajo sus vientos estarás seguro”, Salmo 91:4a.
Salmo 61:5 Porque tú, oh Dios, has escuchado mis votos; me has dado la heredad de los que temen tu nombre.
Salmo 61:6-7 Prolongarás la vida del rey, y sus años como muchas generaciones. Permanecerá delante de Dios para siempre: prepara misericordia y verdad que lo preserven.
Are you getting on in your years? Have things not worked as
you had hoped and you don’t have anything set aside for the days of retirement?
Are you estranged from your family and friends, and you wonder who will help
you as you look down the path leading to death? Fear not. God has promised to
supply all your needs according to His riches and glory and not according to the
plans of man which often go astray. Let us read Psalm 71 and reflect on
the goodness of God. Let us mediate on His sure promises and receive faith and
hope for the future, no matter how dark it may seem at the moment.
Psalm 71:1 “In You, O Lord, do I put my trust: let me
never be put to confusion.”
It’s interesting that the psalm uses the word “confusion.”
Confused is how we may be tempted to feel as we look into the future with all
its uncertainties. We may look back into our past and have regrets over the decisions
of our youth, but God’s word tells us to, “forget the things that are behind
and reach forth to the things that are before,” Philippians 3:14. We
can’t change the past, but we can decide to trust God in the present, and by
trusting Him now, we can change our present course and ultimate future. The
future is as bright as the promises of God, no matter what has happened or what will
happen. God is not the author of confusion, but of peace. He promises to impart
to us His peace as we abide in Him through prayer and through meditating and
obeying His word.
“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on
You: because he trusts in You,” Isaiah26:3. “In returning and
rest shall you be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength,”
Isaiah 30:15b.
If you are feeling confused and in despair over the present
or the future, take time with God. Jesus said, “Come unto Me, all you that
labour and are heavy laden (and are confused and in despair), and I will give
you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly of
heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My
burden is light,” Matthew 11:28-30.
God has a solution. Don’t lose courage and fall into confusion
of heart and mind. Come into the arms of Jesus where you will find rest for your soul. He will see you through the storm and bring the solution that you seek. Look to Him.
Psalm 71:2 “Deliver me in Your righteousness, and
cause me to escape: incline Your ear unto me, and save me.”
God has promised to save us. He has promised to hear us when
we call. All we need to do is spend the time with Him in prayer and quiet
meditation on His word. We need to spend time counting our blessing and being
thankful. “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save: neither
His ear heavy, that He cannot hear,” Isaiah 59:1. Let’s read another
promise from Isaiah.
“He gives power to the faint; and to them that have no might
He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young
men shall utterly fall. But 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,” Isaiah 40:29-31.
It’s in that coming to Jesus and waiting on Him in quiet
prayer and reflection, and reading His word, that we will find the strength we
need for today, and the faith and hope for tomorrow.
Psalm 71:3 “Be my strong habitation, whereunto I may
continually resort: You have given commandment to save me; for You are my rock
and my fortress.”
Apostle Paul has taught us that the Lord Jesus is the Rock,
the firm foundation of our faith, the cornerstone which the builders, the
Jewish religious leaders, rejected. Apostle Peter, likewise, wrote,
1 Peter 2:6-10 “Wherefore also it is contained in the
scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious: and he
that believes on Him shall not be confounded. Unto you, therefore, which
believe He is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the
builders’ disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner. And a stone of
stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being
disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. But you are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that you
should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into
His marvellous light.”
Psalm 71:4-6 “Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand
of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. For You are my
hope, O Lord God: You are my trust from my youth. By You have I been holden up
from the womb: You are He that took me out of my mother’s womb: my praise shall
be continually of You.”
God is our creator and, thus, we should “offer the sacrifice
of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to
His name,” Hebrews 13:15b.
Psalm 71:7 “I am a wonder unto many; but You are my
strong refuge.”
The Lord is a strong refuge to those that trust in Him. He
says, “I am your refuge and your strength, a very present help in time of
trouble,” Psalm 46:1. “For You have been a strength to the poor, a
strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from
the heat,” Isaiah 25:4a. Our God is not far off. If we seek Him, we will
find Him, for through “Him we live, and move, and have our being,” Acts
17:28.
Psalm 71:8 “Let my mouth be filled with Your praise
and with Your honour all the day long.”
For, “From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the
same the Lord’s name is to be praised,” Psalm 113:3. Praise is the
victory. It is through praise and thanksgiving that we enter into God’s
presence. If we want Him to abide with us throughout the day, the fruit of our
lips should be continually giving praise to His name.
Psalm 71:9 “Cast me not off in the time of old age;
forsake me not when my strength fails.”
The fear of not having your needs met in old age can be a
very real one. The fear of being left destitute, or homeless, without an
income, and without anyone to help you, even happens in the present modern
world.
Psalm 71:10-11 “For my enemies speak against me, and
they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together, saying, God has forsaken
him: persecute and take him, for there is none to deliver him.”
In moments of despair, we can feel as if we have been
abandoned by God, friends, and family; because of our sins, mistakes, and
failures. We can fall into the valley of despondency, and feel forsaken.
Psalm 71:12 “O God, be not far from me: O my God,
make haste to help me.”
When we pass through that Valley of Baca, the valley of
suffering, or spiritual dryness, or feeling long from God, it can seem endless.
The hand of the Lord may seem slow in responding, but faint not. “Though it
tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry,” Habakkuk
2:3b.
Psalm 71:13-14 “Let them be confounded and consumed
that are adversaries to my soul; let them be covered with reproach and
dishonour that seek my hurt. But I will hope continually, and will yet praise
You more and more.”
As Christians our continual hope comes through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. “Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’
blood and righteousness.” It is He that gives us hope, and that hope makes us
carry on in the face of difficulties and even rejoice. “And not only so, but we
glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation works patience, and
patience experience; and experience, hope: and hope makes us not ashamed;
because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts,” Romans 5:3-5a.
Psalm 71:15 “My mouth shall show forth Your
righteousness and Your Salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers
thereof.”
God has called us to be faithful witnesses even to our
death. “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life,” Revelation
2:10b. “There is no man that has power over the spirit to retain the
spirit; neither has he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in
that war,” Ecclesiastes8:8. Our times are in His hands, Psalm
31:15.
Psalm 71:16 “I will go in the strength of the Lord
God: I will make mention of Your righteousness, even of Yours only.”
Our own righteousness stinks. It filthy menstrual rags, Isaiah
64:6. By our faith in Christ and our obedience to His word, God has imputed
unto us the righteousness which is in Christ. We have put on the Lord Jesus
Christ and are covered with His robe of righteousness. “I will greatly rejoice
in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the
garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,” Isaiah
61:10a.
Psalm 71:17-18 “O God, You have taught me from my
youth: and hitherto have I declared your wonderous works. Now also when I am
old and grey headed, O God, forsake me not; until I have shown Your strength
unto this generation, and Your power to everyone that is to come.”
If we have faithfully served the Lord and shared His truth
and love to the lost, we can expect that He will also not forsake us when we
are old and grey headed. He will give us strength to continue to witness to the
next generation. We can claim the promise found in Isaiah 46:4. “And
even in your old age; I am He; and even to your grey hairs will I carry you: I
have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.”
Psalm 71:19 “Your righteousness also, O God, is very
high, who has done great things: O God, who is like unto You?”
There is no god likened unto our God. He is the Lord of
Lords and King of Kings. “Who is like unto You. O Lord, among the gods? Who is
like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” Exodus
15:11.
Psalm 71:20 “You, which has showed me great and sore
troubles, shall quicken me again, and shall bring me up again from the depths
of the earth.”
Job had said something similar to his wife who had told him
to “curse God and die,” when Job went through his testing. He answered her,
“You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. What shall we receive good at
the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” Job 2:10a. Through life
we do pass through “great and sore troubles,” but our hope is in the
resurrection, that He “shall quicken us once again, and bring us up from the
depths of the earth.”
Job also had that same hope. “For I know that my Redeemer
lives, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though
after my death worms shall destroy this body, yet in my (new) flesh shall I see
God: whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another;
though my organs be consumed within me,” Job 19:25-27.
Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life: he that
believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever lives and
believes in Me shall never die,” John 11:25-26.
Our hope comes from Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. “He
is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from
the dead; that in all things He might have the pre-eminence. For it pleased the
Father that in Him should all fulness dwell; and having made peace through the
blood of the cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say,
whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were
sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now has He
reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and
unblameable and unreproveable in His sight; if you continue in the faith
grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel which
you have heard,” Colossians 1:18-23a.
Psalm 71:21 “You shall increase my greatness, and
comfort me on every side.”
If we are faithful to God, He will be faithful to us and
supply all our needs according to His riches and glory, Philippians 4:19.
“Let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season, you shall reap, if you
faint not,” Galatians 6:9.
Psalm 71:22 “I also will praise You with the psaltery,
even Your truth, O my God: unto You will I sing with the harp, O You (the) Holy
One of Israel.”
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” John
14:6. “For the law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ,”
John 1:17. When Jesus walked the earth, the demons knew and cried out
that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed “the Holy One of God.” And the unclean spirit
cried out, “Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with You, Jesus of
Nazareth? Are You come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God,”
Mark 1:24 and Luke 4:34.
Jesus is the Holy One of Israel found in the Old Testament. “For
your Maker is your husband, (and we are His bride); the Lord of hosts is His
name; and your Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth
shall He be called,” Isaiah 54:5.
Psalm 71:23-24 “My lips shall greatly rejoice when I
sing unto You; and my soul which You have redeemed. My tongue also shall talk
of Your righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are
brought unto shame, that seek my hurt.”
Looking back over our lives, we can see that God has kept
us. We can rejoice in the victories He has brought us through. In His
righteousness and goodness, He has redeemed us and given us victory over our
enemies.
“He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will
wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of His people shall He take
away from off the earth; for the Lord has spoken it. And it shall be said in
that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us:
this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His
salvation,” Isaiah 25:8-9.
“Rejoice in the Lord always: and again, I say, Rejoice,” Philippians
4:6. “In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus
concerning you,” 1 Thessalonians 5:18. “Let everything that has breath
praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord,” Psalm 150:6.
"Tu conservarás em perfeita paz aquele cuja mente está firme em Ti, porque ele confia em Ti", IsaÃas 26:3. "Em volveres e em sossegar serás salvo; no sossego e na confiança estará a tua força", IsaÃas 30:15b.
Deus tem uma solução. Não desanime nem caia na confusão mental, mas venha para os braços de Jesus, onde encontrará descanso para o seu coração e para a sua mente. Ele trará a solução que procura. Olhe para Ele.
Salmo 71:2 “Livra-me pela Tua justiça, e livra-me; inclina para mim os Teus ouvidos e salva-me.”
Salmo 71:10-11 “Pois os meus inimigos falam contra mim, e os que espreitam a minha alma conspiram juntos, dizendo: Deus o abandonou; persegui-o e prendei-o, pois não há quem o livre.”
Salmo 71:12 “Ó Deus, não Te alongues de mim; ó Deus meu, apressa-Te em socorrer-me.”
Quando passamos por aquele Vale de Baca, o vale do sofrimento, da secura espiritual, ou da sensação de estarmos distantes de Deus, ele pode parecer interminável. A mão do Senhor pode parecer lenta a responder, mas não fraca. “Se tardar, espera-o; porque certamente virá, não tardará”, Habacuque 2:3b.
Salmo 71:13-14 “Sejam confundidos e consumidos os que são adversários da minha alma; sejam cobertos de opróbrio e desonra os que procuram o meu mal. Mas eu esperarei continuamente e Te louvarei cada vez mais.”
Salmo 71:20 “Tu, que me fizeste ver grandes e dolorosas tribulações, me vivificarás de novo e me farás subir das profundezas da terra.”
Job tinha dito algo semelhante à sua esposa, que lhe tinha dito para “amaldiçoar a Deus e morrer”, quando Job passou pela sua provação. Ele respondeu-lhe: “Como fala qualquer insensata, falas tu. Que receberemos nós de Deus o bem, e não receberemos o mal?” Job 2:10a. Ao longo da vida, passamos por “grandes e dolorosas tribulações”, mas a nossa esperança está na ressurreição, de que Ele “nos vivificará de novo e nos fará subir das profundezas da terra”.
Jesus disse: “Eu sou a ressurreição e a vida; quem crê em Mim, ainda que esteja morto, viverá; e todo aquele que vive, e crê em Mim, nunca morrerá”, João 11:25-26.
Salmo 71:23-24 “Os meus lábios se alegrarão grandemente quando eu cantar a Ti, e a minha alma, que Tu remiste. E a minha lÃngua falará da Tua justiça o dia todo; pois estão envergonhados os que procuram o meu mal.”
Olhando para trás, para as nossas vidas, podemos ver que Deus nos guardou. Podemos regozijar-nos nas vitórias que Ele nos trouxe. Na Sua justiça e bondade, Ele redimiu-nos e deu-nos a vitória sobre os nossos inimigos.
“Que la palabra de Cristo caiga sobre vosotros en abundancia en toda sabidurÃa, enseñándoos y exhortándoos unos a otros con voz melodiosa, con himnos y cánticos espirituales, cantando con gracia en vuestros corazones al Señor” (Colosenses 3:16).
David intenta caminar con Dios en total obediencia. Anhela a Dios por encima de todo. Ama a Dios ante todo. Ama al Señor con todo su corazón, cuerpo, mente y espÃritu.
No pongamos nada malo delante de nuestros ojos. No veamos programas en internet ni en televisión que no glorifiquen a Dios. No veamos programas ni leamos libros que promuevan ideas contrarias a nuestra cosmovisión bÃblica. Cuidemos lo que nos permitimos consumir espiritualmente al ver, escuchar y leer.
¿Cómo podemos derribar imaginaciones y toda altivez que se levanta contra el conocimiento de Dios, y llevar cautivo todo pensamiento a la obediencia a Cristo, si nos alimentamos de lecturas, visiones y escuchas impÃas?
El Salmo 119:37 dice: «Guarda mis ojos de la vanidad». Necesitamos apagar la televisión, o dejar el libro, y ver o escuchar algo diferente en internet.
Nuestros esposos o esposas no deben incitarnos a adorar a otros dioses, que no son dioses, sino fuerzas espirituales demonÃacas. Debemos instruirlos en los caminos del Señor y ganarlos para el amor de Dios que se encuentra en Jesús. Debemos discipularlos a ellos, no que ellos nos discipulen a nosotros para seguir a los dioses de este mundo.
Sirvamos y amemos al Señor, y enseñemos y animemos a nuestros seres queridos a hacer lo mismo. Amar al Señor con todo nuestro corazón, alma y mente, que es el primer y gran mandamiento. Mateo 22:37.
1 I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee,
O Lord, will I sing.
God’s word
continually admonishes us to sing and to give thanks to the Lord. When Moses
crossed the Red Sea on dry land, which the Egyptians attempted to do and were
drown, his sister Marian, led the women in songs of thanksgiving. The longest
book in the Bible in terms of chapters is the Psalms, a book of songs of praise
and thanksgiving to God. In the New Testament we read the following:
“Let the
word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching, and admonishing one
another in psalms and in hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your
hearts to the Lord,” Colossians 3:16.
In his
letter to the Ephesians Apostle Paul says the same thing,
“And be not
drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to
yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody
in your heart to the Lord. Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the
Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:18-20
2 I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O
when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.
David is
trying to walk with God in total obedience. He’s desiring God above everything
else. He’s love God first and foremost. He’s loving the Lord with his whole
heart, body, mind, and spirit.
3 I will set no wicked thing before my eyes: I hate
the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.
Let’s not
set any wicked thing before our eyes. Let’s not watch programs on the Internet
or on television that do not glorify God. Let’s not watch programs or read
books that promote ideas that are contrary to our Biblical worldview. Let us
guard what we allow ourselves to consume spiritually through our viewing and
listening and reading.
How can we
cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the
knowledge of God, and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of
Christ, if we are nourishing ourselves with ungodly reading, viewing and
listening?
Psalm
119:37 says, “Turn away my eyes from
beholding vanity.” We need to shut off the television, or put down the book, and
watch, or listen to something different on the internet.
If we think
we can take the luxury to not be strict in our viewing, we are wrong. We are
playing with spiritual forces and they will cleave unto us.
Josuah warns about the importance of being vigilant in our walk and love for
God.
Josuah
23:6-8 “Be ye therefore very
courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of
Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left; that
ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention
of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor
bow yourselves unto them: but cleave unto the Lord your God, as
ye have done unto this day.”
Josuah
23:11-13 “Take good heed therefore unto
yourselves, that ye love the Lord your God. Else if ye do in any wise go back,
and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that
remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and
they unto you: know for a certainty that the Lord your God will no more drive
out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps
unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish
from off the good land which the Lord your God has given you.”
In the next
chapter Josuah continues his admonition.
Josuah
24:20&23 “If ye forsake the Lord, and
serve strange gods, then He will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after
that He has done you good. … Now therefore put away, says he, the strange gods
which are among you, and incline your hearts unto the Lord God of Israel.”
Our
husbands or wives should not cause us to worship other gods, which are not
gods, but demonic spiritual forces. We should be instructing them in the ways
of the Lord and winning them to the love of God found in Jesus. We should be
discipling them, not they discipling us to follow the gods of this world.
4A froward heart shall
depart from me: I will not know a wicked person.
Be careful
who you accept as friends. Your friends will influence you for good or for
evil. They will help you walk closer to God, or they will pull you away from
God. Choose your friends wisely.
5 Whoso privily slanders his neighbour, him will I
cut off: him that has a high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.
6 My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land,
that they may dwell with me: he that walks in a perfect way, he shall serve me.
Choose your
work mates or employees wisely. We all have influence. We are all influencing
one another for good or for evil.
7 He that works deceit shall not dwell within my
house: he that tells lies shall not tarry in my sight.
8 I will early destroy all the wicked of the land;
that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord.
Joshua in
like manner admonished the people to choose whom they would serve.
Joshua
24:15 “Choose you this day whom ye
will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other
side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell: but as
for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Let us
serve and love the Lord and teach and encourage our loved ones around us to do
the same. To love the Lord with all our heart, and soul, and mind, which is the
first and great commandment. Matthew 22:37.
Joshua
24:24 “And the people said unto
Joshua, The Lord our God will we serve, and His voice will we obey.”
“Que a palavra de Cristo habite ricamente em vós, instruindo e aconselhando-vos mutuamente em toda a sabedoria; cantem salmos, hinos e cânticos espirituais, louvando o Senhor com gratidão nos vossos corações.” Colossenses 3:16.
2 "Portarei-me com sabedoria e perfeição. Quando virás a mim? Andarei na minha casa com coração Ãntegro."
David está a tentar andar com Deus em total obediência. Ele deseja a Deus acima de tudo. Ele ama a Deus em primeiro lugar. Ele ama o Senhor com todo o seu coração, corpo, mente e espÃrito.
3 "Não porei coisa má diante dos meus olhos; aborreço a obra dos que se desviam; ela não se apegará a mim."
Como podemos destruir as imaginações e toda a altivez que se levanta contra o conhecimento de Deus, e levar cativo todo o pensamento à obediência de Cristo, se nos alimentamos com leituras, programas e conteúdos Ãmpios?
O Salmo 119:37 diz: “Desvia os meus olhos da vaidade”.
Precisamos de desligar a televisão, largar o livro e ver ou ouvir algo diferente na internet.
Os nossos maridos ou esposas não nos devem levar a adorar outros deuses, que não são deuses, mas forças espirituais demonÃacas. Devemos instruÃ-los nos caminhos do Senhor e ganhá-los para o amor de Deus encontrado em Jesus. Devemos discipliná-los, e não o contrário, para seguirmos os deuses deste mundo.
4 O coração perverso afastar-se-á de mim; não tolerarei o Ãmpio.
Tenham cuidado com quem escolhem como amigos. Os seus amigos irão influenciá-los para o bem ou para o mal. Eles ajudá-los-ão a aproximar-se de Deus ou afastá-los-ão Dele. Escolham os vossos amigos com sabedoria.
5 Quem difama o seu próximo às escondidas, Eu o eliminarei; quem tiver um olhar altivo e um coração orgulhoso, não tolerarei.
Escolha os seus colegas de trabalho ou colaboradores com sabedoria. Todos nós temos influência. Todos nós nos influenciamos uns aos outros para o bem ou para o mal.
7 Quem pratica a falsidade não habitará em minha casa; quem profere mentiras não permanecerá na minha presença.
8 Destruirei depressa todos os Ãmpios da terra;para que eu possa eliminar todos os Ãmpios da cidade do Senhor.
Las últimas palabras de David a su hijo Salomón fueron: “Y tú, Salomón, hijo mÃo, reconoce al Dios de tu padre y sÃrvele con corazón perfecto y ánimo dispuesto; porque el Señor escudriña todos los corazones y entiende todo intento de los pensamientos. Si lo buscas, se dejará encontrar; pero si lo abandonas, te desechará para siempre” (1 Crónicas 28:9). Anteriormente en Crónicas leemos que los hombres de guerra de la tribu de Zabulón “no eran de doble corazón” (1 Crónicas 12:33b).
Dios quiere que seamos de todo corazón, no de doble corazón ni de doble ánimo. El apóstol Santiago advierte sobre la indecisión: “Pero pida con fe, sin dudar. Porque el que duda es como la ola del mar, arrastrada por el viento y echada de una parte a otra. No piense ese hombre que recibirá algo del Señor. El hombre de doble ánimo es inconstante en todos sus caminos” (Santiago 1:6-8).
La palabra hebrea para «dioses» se refiere a los demás seres espirituales del reino celestial. A los «dioses» buenos que se someten a Dios, los llamamos ángeles. A los «dioses» desobedientes, los llamamos demonios o diablos. David comienza su salmo, como suele hacerlo, alabando al Dios verdadero.
Hay mucho que analizar aquÃ. Dios dice que ha engrandecido su palabra sobre su nombre. En otras palabras, a Dios le interesa más que obedezcas sus mandamientos que que lo llames por su nombre propio. Por eso, quien siga el dicho de Jesús: «Amar al prójimo como a sà mismo», recibirá una medida de bendición en su vida. Aunque no crea en Dios, ni lo llame por otro nombre, ni tenga otro concepto de Dios, si obedece los mandamientos de Dios, que se encuentran en las palabras de Jesús, recibirá una medida de la bendición de Dios en su vida.
5 SÃ, cantarán en los caminos del Señor; porque grande es la gloria del Señor.
Es al comienzo del Milenio que el mundo entero prorrumpirá en cánticos por la venida del Señor y su reinado de paz en la tierra por mil años. «Todo está en reposo y en silencio; prorrumpen en cánticos» (IsaÃas 14:7). “No harán mal ni destruirán en todo mi santo monte, porque la tierra estará llena del conocimiento del Señor, como las aguas cubren el mar” (IsaÃas 11:9).
6 Aunque el Señor es excelso, mira con agrado a los humildes; pero a los soberbios los conoce de lejos.
Necesito añadir la siguiente nota al pie: Aunque una persona puede ser bendecida por seguir las palabras de Jesús, la promesa de vida eterna es para quienes creen en el nombre del Hijo de Dios (1 Juan 5:13). Hay un solo nombre bajo el cielo, dado a los hombres, en el cual podemos ser salvos (Hechos 4:12). Ese nombre es JESÚS. Un dÃa, toda la creación reconocerá a Jesús como Señor o señores, y Rey de reyes. «Para que en el nombre de Jesús se doble toda rodilla de los que están en los cielos, y en la tierra, y debajo de la tierra; y toda lengua confiese que Jesucristo es el Señor, para gloria de Dios Padre» (Filipenses 2:10-11).
