The Anointed

DEVOTION

PSALMS

THE ANOINTED

Ps 89:19-29

19 Once you spoke in a vision, to your faithful people you said: "I have bestowed strength on a warrior; I have exalted a young man from among the people. 20 I have found David my servant; with my sacred oil I have anointed him. 21 My hand will sustain him; surely my arm will strengthen him. 22 No enemy will subject him to tribute; no wicked man will oppress him. 23 I will crush his foes before him and strike down his adversaries. 24 My faithful love will be with him, and through my name his horn will be exalted. 25 I will set his hand over the sea, his right hand over the rivers. 26 He will call out to me, 'You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Savior.' 27 I will also appoint him my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth. 28 I will maintain my love to him forever, and my covenant with him will never fail. 29 I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure.

NIV

There is a lot of verbiage about David and his position before the Lord. He was hand-picked by God and anointed with oil by Samuel whom God directed to the house of Jesse to find David. There is no question David was a great warrior having the reputation of killing tens of thousands. No enemy could face him and win, they all fell by his hand because God had ordained it. This is the man, the king whose throne would be filled by Jesus forever and ever. Jesus is the firstborn spoken of here, the most exalted of the kings of the earth. Although David was also exalted among the kings of the earth. There is or was a covenant God made with David and it is everlasting through Jesus. The line of David is established forever in Christ. Now how does that relate to us? We are not in the physical line of David, but because we are in Christ, we are in the spiritual line of David. We too have said and continue to say, “You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Savior”.  As he anointed David with oil, he has anointed us with the Spirit. God did not use Samuel this time, he did it himself. We are anointed by God the Father with God the Spirit, through God the Son. How awesome is that! Because we are anointed with the Spirit, God’s hand will sustain us. God’s arm will strengthen us. No enemy will subject us to tribute. That means we will not be made to give tribute to any enemy or pay homage to any enemy. This means the prince of this world, Satan, or the things of this world, the false gods. Those things will be crushed and struck down before us. The love of God is with us and through his name our life will be exalted. This is not for us, but for him because we have been called to be his representation on this earth, to be his ambassadors, his voice to a dying world. We are forever in the covenant God made with us through Christ. No one can snatch us from his hand. His throne will endure forever, but the question is will we allow it to endure in our heart forever. This again goes back to that undivided heart issue. There can only one throne at a time in our heart. This has to be the throne of God. If we knee to any of the false gods of this world, if we allow anything to take up residence upon some throne in our heart, it then is divided and a house divided will not stand. Any of these thrones of the things of the world, material goods of any kind, houses, cars, boats,  RV’s, clothes, beauty, fame, wealth, or just financial security, or whatever else there is to grab our attention. Perhaps it could be our job, or profession, or education, degrees, such as BA, MS and PHD, all are simply three degree above zero. Maybe we are being distracted with free time, or retirement, or hobbies or sports figures, entertainer, entertainment. It is so easy to see all this as just life, a blessing from God. But are they? Surely he will sustain our life. Surely his blessings must include the needs of this life. But we must search our heart and see if there are more than one throne and that one throne is God’s. We are anointed, let us live in that anointing.   

Our KIng

DEVOTION

PSALMS

OUR KING

Ps 89:9-18

9 You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them. 10 You crushed Rahab like one of the slain; with your strong arm you scattered your enemies. 11 The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth; you founded the world and all that is in it. 12 You created the north and the south; Tabor and Hermon sing for joy at your name. 13 Your arm is endued with power; your hand is strong, your right hand exalted.

14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you. 15 Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O LORD. 16 They rejoice in your name all day long; they exult in your righteousness. 17 For you are their glory and strength, and by your favor you exalt our horn. 18 Indeed, our shield belongs to the LORD, our king to the Holy One of Israel.

NIV

Why do we think we have control over anything? God rules over the surging sea. If for one minute we were to believe those who proclaim control of the earth, we would be deceived. Man cannot control his environment or the climate causing a rise in the sea level. God controls, he rules over the sea, and when its waves mount up, he stills them. God is control of all the earth and all who live upon it. We are not our own masters no matter what anyone would think. God is the Lord and Master of all that he created. The heaven is his, the earth is his, he is the one who founded it. There is no big bang, no order to the cosmos unless God ordained it. He created the north and the south. There is it, he created the North Pole and the South Pole with all the glory of its ice caps. Who does man thing he is? God has more strength than all the men on earth. His arm is endued with power, his hand is strong. Man is nothing compared to the might of God. He also is actually the only one who is righteousness, any righteousness we could have is all in Christ. His throne is founded upon righteousness and justice. What a great God is he, and to think he loves us and is faithful to us, even if we fail him. Yet here it is. We are blessed because we have learned to acclaim him, to walk in the light of his righteousness. We do not acclaim ourselves as those who refuse God do. We do not give ourselves praise. We do not think more highly of ourselves then we should. We are a creation of God for his pleasure. Our purpose is to be whatever he desires us to be. We rejoice is his name, not ours. Those of the world might rejoice in their name, proclaiming their power, their authority over stuff, but they have none over what God has established. We rejoice in God, we exult in his righteousness. Everything we have, all that we are, all that we do is because of God. If we have submitted to his authority, his power, his might, his right hand, then we give him all the rights to our life. It is by his favor that we have what we do. It is by his favor that our horn, our life, is exalted. What protects our life, our shield, belongs to the Lord, our King.

Forever life

DEVOTION

PSALMS

FOREVER LIFE

Ps 89:1-4

I will sing of the LORD's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. 2 I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself. 3 You said, "I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, 4'I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations.'"

Selah 

NIV

This song is a very long one so we need to break this one up in bits and pieces. It is a praise song, one that focuses our heart and mind on the greatest, the majesty of the Lord. It is also an affirmation of our position of faith and faithfulness. We will sing of the LORD’s great love forever. That alone should give us a clue to as to how long we will live. The psalmist did not say for as long as he lives he will praise the Lord. But forever. Even through the Israelites did not consider the afterlife in the manner we do. They were not thinking of going to heaven when they die. Their blessings from God were for the here and now. They did not know about Jesus, about the salvation of God, about life eternal. Joseph wanted to make sure his bones would leave Egypt. The thought was not about his spirit already having left. Forever is a long, long time. We will also declare with our mouth the faithfulness of God through all generations. This might be a little difficult to do if we have stepped into eternal. However, the fact remains while we are in the here and now, we can declare his faithfulness to those younger than us, our children and grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Although they have their own free will to choose to follow God or not, it does not mean we should not still declare his faithfulness, especially to us. We should witness about his faithfulness, how he has always been there for us in whatever situation we were experiencing and how he brought us through it. We will declare his great love and how his love stands firm. His love is not shaken by our unfaithfulness. His love endures forever. It is not dependent on how much or how little we do for the kingdom. His love does not depend on how much we love him. His love does not even depend on a person accepting Jesus. God’s love is just that and it stands firm. Now, no matter how much he loves, his justice will also stand firm. If a person denies Jesus, God will deny him. It might be considered as some people call, tough love. However the love of God is firm. The next couple of lines talk about the covenant with David, that his line will be established forever to all generations. This is all about Jesus, as he came to earth in the line of David. Both Joseph and Mary are descendant of the line of David. Jesus is the love of God that will stand firm for all generations. If we want to be overshadowed by the love of God, we merely need to be in Christ. We need to be born again into the citizenship of heaven, the kingdom of God. This flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, but our spirit can, if it is born again. We will all be changed, however. This body which is corruptible will be changed into one that is incorruptible. In a twinkling of an eye we will all be changed. Somehow we will have body as well as a spirit in the kingdom of God, in the new city of Jerusalem. The love of God will endure forever and we will sing his praises forever, we will declare his faithfulness forever. We will be forever, in fact we are already living the forever life. The moment we became born again, we stepped into the forever life. So with our mouth forever we will praise him. 

Born in Zion

DEVOTION

PSALMS

BORN IN ZION

Ps 87

87:1 Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm. A song.

He has set his foundation on the holy mountain; 2 the LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. 3 Glorious things are said of you, O city of God:

Selah 

4 "I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me — Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush — and will say, 'This one was born in Zion.'" 5 Indeed, of Zion it will be said, "This one and that one were born in her, and the Most High himself will establish her." 6 The LORD will write in the register of the peoples: "This one was born in Zion."

Selah 

7 As they make music they will sing, "All my fountains are in you."

NIV

In the natural realm this song is all about Jerusalem, the holy mountain, the city built on the mountain of Zion. There is all the records of all these people and places throughout the Old Testament and there is reference made to those who were born in Jerusalem. But there is more here than meets the natural eye. The idea of keeping a record, of the Lord writing in the register of the peoples, reminds us of the book of life. It will hold the names of those born in Zion, which is those who are born again into the kingdom of God, into his Most Holy city, or kingdom. Our names will be spoken, this one is born in the kingdom of God. In the place the Most High has established, the new city of Jerusalem that will come down from heaven. The physical city itself which this song writer may have known, was destroyed several times, and rebuilt. What stands today in not what was, but is built upon the remains of the past. The actual street that Jesus walked are buried beneath ruble which the current city sits upon. So this Jerusalem could very well be the one coming down from heaven, the one we have been born in, as we became born again of the spirit, by the power of God. Our names are written down in the book of life and will be called out as one born in Zion. There will be a time as if in a graduation we will stand or even walk across something as God, or Jesus, or even one of the angels calls out our name as it is written in the book of life. It could be the name we are known by in the here and now, or it could be that new name we will be given. But God will make it known we have been born again, we are in his holy city. We will make much music, singing his praises, for our sin is forgiven, our faith is now real, and we are in the very presence of God. How glorious that will be, when Jesus we will see, when he calls us by name. We will sing, make music about the fact all our fountains, or springs, or source of satisfaction as the Hebrew word implies. All the springs of living water we have are in you O Lord. Everything springs forth from you. You have caused us to be born in Zion.

Part four, Comforted

DEVOTION

PSALMS

COMFORTED

Ps 86

86:1 A prayer of David.

Hear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. 2 Guard my life, for I am devoted to you. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you. 3 Have mercy on me, O Lord, or I call to you all day long. 4 Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

5 You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you. 6 Hear my prayer, O LORD; listen to my cry for mercy. 7 In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me.

8 Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. 9 All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name. 10 For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God.

11 Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. 12 I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. 13 For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths of the grave.  

14 The arrogant are attacking me, O God; a band of ruthless men seeks my life — men without regard for you. 15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. 16 Turn to me and have mercy on me; grant your strength to your servant and save the son of your maidservant.   17 Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, O LORD, have helped me and comforted me.

NIV

Day four, part four, the last stanza. We have seen how poor and needy we are. We have seen it is God who brings us joy. We have seen he is forgiving and good and that he is abounding in love to us because we called to him. We have seen there is none like him, we know that for sure. We have asked to be taught by him, by the Holy Spirit who guides us into all truth. We have seen that we cannot, should not have a divided heart that we should worship whole-heartedly. We have seen and know that it is he who has delivered us from the grave, which means we have eternal life. Now we have to deal with the arrogant who attack us, a band of ruthless men who seek our life. There may not actually be anyone seeking to kill us, other than Satan and his band of demons. He certainly is arrogant, thinking he was greater than God. So this angel Lucifer was cast down here and he has been after anyone who turns to God. But there may also be some arrogant people who attack us as well. Those are the ones who think there is no God, or that they are greater than him. They think we have an effect on our environment and that they have the answers to fit it. How arrogant to discount God. There are those who believe it is their abilities which they are responsibility for having, their knowledge, or their skills, wealth, and fame. God is the bringer of all good things. How arrogant of them to discount God. No matter how much anyone attempts to destroy our faith, try to convince us there is no God or that he is just some supernatural entity, a force, natural, as in mother natural, or that he is non-gender and any of those arrogant philosophies of man that discount who God is, we will not waver in our faith. He is compassionate and gracious. Although they are arrogant, he is slow to anger, he would have them call on him, and his love extends to all of his creation. Jesus did not die just for a few elect people, he died for the whole world, all of mankind so they might be saved, if they but call on him. His love abounds to all men, and his is faithful to his word. If people would confess with their mouth and believe in their heart that Jesus was raised from the dead, they will be saved.

Rom 10:9-11

9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 1

NIV

So we continue to seek the Lord, his mercy on us for there are the arrogant who would do us in, especially that most arrogant Lucifer who we now know as Satan. Yet among men who discount God, we seek a sign from heaven to show them God is God. God has already given us a sign of his goodness. He has enlightened us, brought us out of the darkness and into his light. Our lives are a sign of his goodness. We live our life of goodness in the face of our adversaries, they can see our faith, our goodness, our joy, our love, peace and patience. They can see our gentleness and faithfulness as well as our self-control. They can see the fruit of the Spirit all over us and know that God is who is says he is because of his working in us, for their benefit. Although they may believe they are “good people” they can see God in us and know they are not. Because of the Spirit, they will be shown their sin and be put to shame, not to be destroyed, but in hopes they will turn, like we did, and call upon him. It is God, the Lord who has helped us, he has shown his great mercy on us and we will be thankful forever, because he has comforted us.

Part three, Teach me

DEVOTION

PSALMS

TEACH ME

Ps 86

86:1 A prayer of David.

Hear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. 2 Guard my life, for I am devoted to you. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you. 3 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to you all day long. 4 Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

5 You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you. 6 Hear my prayer, O LORD; listen to my cry for mercy. 7 In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me.

8 Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. 9 All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name. 10 For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God.

11 Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. 12 I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. 13 For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths of the grave.  

14 The arrogant are attacking me, O God; a band of ruthless men seeks my life — men without regard for you. 15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. 16 Turn to me and have mercy on me; grant your strength to your servant and save the son of your maidservant.   17 Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, O LORD, have helped me and comforted me.

NIV

Day three, part three and we are looking about being taught his ways. In all reality is there anyone who can teach us his ways other than him? Although we hear sermons from our pastor and he expounds on the word of God and exposes truths within, the Spirit reveals the truth to us. We might hear one of the great media preachers and get more insights, but it is the Spirit within who reveals the truth. We could read some book by one of the prolific writers of our time that explains something about the scriptures, but it is the Spirit within who reveals the truth. The Lord is who teaches us his ways. All the sermons, books, or other methods of absorbing information about the ways of the Lord might give us a moment to pause and reflect, but when the Lord teaches us is when we will walk in his truth. This is the central theme about not having a divided heart, so we can revere him and his name. What does a divided heart look like? It seems simple enough to understand. It looks like that trying to serve two masters. We give God part of our heart, but we want the other part for our own desires. We want that free will to decide what we want to do, where we want to live, where we want to work,  what type of career we have, when we want to retire, how much we want to have, both money and material goods. But the free will was only good for one ticket, which was the free will to choose God, or refuse him. Once we choose God, by our free will, we submitted it him. That ticket was punched and our will now is in submission to his will. He is our Lord and Master, our King, our Sovereign. This is the idea of praising you, O Lord my God with all my heart. That means all, not part, not some, not with a divided heart. We will praise God, only God and we will do that with an undivided heart for he alone can teach us his ways and he alone can save us. What in this world can offer us what God offers? Although salvation is a great reward, when we just look at what we get from accepting Jesus. It still is making everything about us. Our reward, our salvation, Jesus is mine, Oh what a foretaste of Glory divine. No, it is about his ways. We learn to walk in his truth from God himself. The idea is that we are his and he teaches us how to walk in his ways, so that we are being in him. Yes, he is our God, but more importantly we are his people. We belong to him, he does not belong to us. Life should be God centered, not people centered. We will glorify his name for indeed he has delivered us from the grave. Yet not just to live forever for ourselves, but so we will praise him forever. Teach me your ways, Oh Lord.

Part Two, You and you alone

DEVOTION

PSALMS

YOU AND YOU ALONE

Ps 86

86:1 A prayer of David.

Hear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. 2 Guard my life, for I am devoted to you. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you. 3 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to you all day long. 4 Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord,I lift up my soul.

5 You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you. 6 Hear my prayer, O LORD; listen to my cry for mercy. 7 In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me.

8 Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. 9 All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name. 10 For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God.

11 Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. 12 I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. 13 For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths of the grave.  

14 The arrogant are attacking me, O God; a band of ruthless men seeks my life — men without regard for you. 15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. 16 Turn to me and have mercy on me; grant your strength to your servant and save the son of your maidservant.   17 Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, O LORD, have helped me and comforted me.

NIV

Day two in this song which has so much about the Almighty God, our Lord and Savior. He is forgiving and good. How could we ever live if our sins were not forgiven? But they are, even David understood that God forgave sin. But we have even a greater understanding because we have Jesus who took our sin upon himself. God does not desire to hold us accountable for our sin.

Rom 4:7-8

7 "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 8 Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."  

NIV

Because of God's abounding love for those who call upon him, Jesus covers our sin. God will never count our sin against us. Now that does not mean we should go about sinning as much as we can, just because it seems like we could. But the fact is as hard as we try not to sin, we are still going to fail at perfection. So then when we do, we call upon God, we seek forgiveness, we make every effort to repent of that attitude, that type of response, that certain behavior that keeps creeping back into our life. In reality all of them are a decision of our will, we decide to commit that sin. We can’t help ourselves as hard as we try, we are subject, almost prisoners to this flesh. Now Hear our cry O Lord, have mercy on us. When we are in trouble, when the tempter is beating down our door, when we feel weak and vulnerable, we call upon you and you hear and answer us. You do not turn away or turn a deaf ear. You are there to talk to us, to give us your voice, your answer for our need. Who else is like you O Lord, who forgives our sin? Who else would love us that much? Who would consider us worthy enough to save? Who can compare to you, to your deeds, your salvation? It seems, at least at the moment, many nations refuse to acknowledge you as God. Many nations worship other gods, even in our nation other gods are present and served. We should learn a lesson from that, and not be tempted to even look at anything as an idol, or god. Yet our youth are being deceived, even some of us, making an idol of some sports figure, an icon of athleticism, or some movie or television personality or entertainer. Then there are all the things, we can so easily get entrapped by. It becomes so easy to boast of our things, or how many places we have traveled to, or on the other hand, how good of steward we are. There are so many ways we can be sucked into the pit of self-indulgence and/or self-aggrandizement. We can even become prideful, even knowing God opposes the proud,

1 Peter 5:5

All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."  

NIV

So we, the nation of God, the citizens of the kingdom of God, will come and worship you, and we will humble ourselves before you.  Someday all the other nations will have to bow their knee before you, because you are God. All their gods will fail them, all their gods are nothing but idols of stone and metal, they cannot answer, they have no voice. They cannot forgive sin, they only serve as an image to worship, You, O Lord are far more than an image; you are the Living God. You alone can do great and marvelous deeds. All the other gods can do nothing. You alone are God. We will proclaim that you are God, you and you alone.