“Psalms 73”

 Psalm 73                 (ESV)

Book Three

GOD Is My Strength and Portion Forever

A Psalm of Asaph.

    “[1] Truly GOD is good to Israel,

        to those who are pure in heart. 

    [2] But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,

        my steps had nearly slipped. 

    [3] For I was envious of the arrogant

        when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

    [4] For they have no pangs until death;

        their bodies are fat and sleek. 

    [5] They are not in trouble as others are;

        they are not stricken like the rest of mankind. 

    [6] Therefore pride is their necklace;

        violence covers them as a garment. 

    [7] Their eyes swell out through fatness;

        their hearts overflow with follies. 

    [8] They scoff and speak with malice;

        loftily they threaten oppression. 

    [9] They set their mouths against the heavens,

        and their tongue struts through the earth. 

    [10] Therefore HIS people turn back to them,

        and find no fault in them. 

    [11] And they say, “How can GOD know?

        Is there knowledge in the MOST HIGH?” 

    [12] Behold, these are the wicked;

        always at ease, they increase in riches. 

    [13] All in vain have I kept my heart clean

        and washed my hands in innocence. 

    [14] For all the day long I have been stricken

        and rebuked every morning. 

    [15] If I had said, “I will speak thus,”

        I would have betrayed the generation of your children.

    [16] But when I thought how to understand this,

        it seemed to me a wearisome task, 

    [17] until I went into the sanctuary of GOD;

        then I discerned their end.

    [18] Truly YOU set them in slippery places;

        YOU make them fall to ruin. 

    [19] How they are destroyed in a moment,

        swept away utterly by terrors! 

    [20] Like a dream when one awakes,

        O LORD, when YOU rouse YOURSELF, YOU despise them as phantoms. 

    [21] When my soul was embittered,

        when I was pricked in heart, 

    [22] I was brutish and ignorant;

        I was like a beast toward you.

    [23] Nevertheless, I am continually with YOU;

        YOU hold my right hand. 

    [24] YOU guide me with YOUR counsel,

        and afterward YOU will receive me to glory. 

    [25] Whom have I in heaven but YOU?

        And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides YOU. 

    [26] My flesh and my heart may fail,

        but GOD is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

    [27] For behold, those who are far from YOU shall perish;

        YOU put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to YOU. 

    [28] But for me it is good to be near GOD;

        I have made the LORD GOD my refuge,

        that I may tell of all YOUR works.”

“THEN MANASSEH KNEW!”

 

2 Chronicles 33:9-13                 (ESV)

“[9] Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel.

Manasseh’s Repentance

[10] The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention. [11] Therefore the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon. [12] And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the LORD his GOD and humbled himself greatly before the GOD of his fathers. [13] He prayed to HIM, and GOD was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. “THEN MANASSEH KNEW” THAT THE LORD WAS GOD.”

Manasseh was king for 56 years, the longest in the history of Judah.  He was known for leading “the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray”, something that must have FINALLY impacted him!  However, that did NOT happen until his captors humiliated him, something that apparently GOD used to awaken him!

Isn’t it amazing how humanity tends to react to adversity in humility, especially when your freedom is being taken away by others??  Manasseh had been king over Judah for so long that he must have thought he was invincible?  But an enemy came from Assyria and caused swift and decisive action against Judah, causing King Manasseh to be bound “with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon”.  

When the EYES of someone has been OPENED where they are able to SEE clearly, they are able to SEE things a LOT differently than before!  GOD could have made Manasseh AWARE of his position beforehand, but Manasseh (and Judah) wasn’t ready to comprehend what was coming!  GOD had to PREPARE them for what was coming!

Only when GOD has brought us through the trials and adversity to prepare us for HIS BLESSINGS will we be ready for them.  King Manasseh wasn’t the best took that was CREATED by the HEAVENLY FATHER, but he ultimately had his EYES OPENED and saw what was happening in his surroundings!!  When the timing was right, “THEN MANASSEH KNEW” what he needed to understand for GOD’S PURPOSE TO BE FULFILLED!!!

“THOSE WHO WAIT FOR HIM!”

 

Lamentations 3:25-27                 (ESV)

    “[25] The LORD is good to “THOSE WHO WAIT FOR HIM”,

        to the soul who seeks HIM. 

    [26] It is good that one should WAIT QUIETLY

        for the salvation of the LORD. 

    [27] It is good for a man that he bear

        the yoke in his youth.”

Understanding that THE LORD is GOOD is something that is OBVIOUS to my brain damaged mind!  The also OBVIOUS thing that I have trouble understanding is that “THOSE WHO WAIT FOR HIM” plainly means that HIS BLESSINGS REQUIRE people to WAIT……FOR HIM!!!

Getting a GLIMPSE of HIS PLAN for our lives can be a burden…….IF WE ARE IN A HURRY!  We don’t have ANY control over what HIS PLAN is for us.  When I was in the coma in 2007, I was TOTALLY removed from the decision making process!  Yet seventeen days later was PRECISELY the time HE required to SLOW ME DOWN!!!  Remembering my medical records from September 25, 2007 that read “However, he has had a remarkable recovery that could only be defined as a MIRACLE from GOD” PLAINLY indicates WHO was behind my HEALING!!!

It is TRULY a BLESSING to be alive with very few disabilities from an event that took eighty percent of the people who experienced one in 2007.  So why not RELAX and NOT BE IN SUCH A RUSH for the next chapter to be read???  

Remember, The LORD is good to “THOSE WHO WAIT FOR HIM”, to the soul who seeks HIM. It is good that one should WAIT QUIETLY for the salvation of the LORD”.  I vow to be one of “THOSE WHO WAIT FOR HIM” in my life and understand that I wouldn’t be here without HIS GRACE!!!

“HEAR MY VOICE!”

Psalm 5:1-3                 (ESV)

Lead Me in Your Righteousness

To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David.

    “[1] GIVE EAR TO MY WORDS, O LORD;

        consider my groaning. 

    [2] Give attention to the sound of my cry,

        my KING and my GOD,

        for to you do I pray. 

    [3] O LORD, IN THE MORNING YOU “HEAR MY VOICE”;

        IN THE MORNING I prepare a sacrifice for YOU and watch.”

Like King David, I VERY OFTEN find myself seemingly at a time when I NEED to HEAR FROM GOD!  But I am NOT royalty and cannot afford to shower great gifts and adorations to my CREATOR.  I am a simple man with a heart that has a vision of what I BELIEVE YOU want me to accomplish in my life…..FOR YOUR GLORY!!!  I don’t have a lot of earthly wealth and possessions, but EVERYTHING I have I surrender to GOD…..FOR HIS GLORY!!!

BEGGING HIM to HEAR MY WORDS seems so MONUMENTAL as an older person with no means to accomplish anything of any value…..FOR HIS GLORY, but HE has made something from NOTHING before and HE hasn’t lost any POWER!  HE only needs my OBEDIENCE to HIM and HIS WORD!!!

LORD IN HEAVEN, IN THIS MORNING “HEAR MY VOICE” and KNOW MY HEART and provide me the resources required to accomplish YOUR PLAN for my remaining days in this world!  

“PUT ON THE NEW MAN!”

 

Ephesians 4:22-24                 (King James Version)

“22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the “old man”, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

23 And be RENEWED in the spirit of your mind;

24 And that ye “PUT ON THE NEW MAN”, which after GOD is created in RIGHTEOUSNESS and true HOLINESS.”

There is no definitive reason why I am six and one half feet tall!  I have some relatively tall uncles, half-brothers, and cousins.   Both of my two sons are over six feet tall.  But I am the tallest in my known family.

When I was seventeen years old I was carried to an orthopedic surgeon who discovered that my left leg was taller than my right leg by about 7/16 inch.  I have to wear a “build up” in my right shoe to keep my back from getting out of line.  If I don’t get regular “adjustments” from my chiropractor, I am WELL AWARE of my deformity.  My chiropractor knows how I “am built”, so he takes care of me very well.

Spiritually, I was DEFORMED from birth as well!  Like every person born, I was born with serious problems!  SIN needed to be TRANSFUSED with the BLOOD OF JESUS, THE ONLY CURE!  Not “the only known cure”, but THE ONLY CURE…..PERIOD!!!

I had to go to the GREAT PHYSICIAN and “PUT ON THE NEW MAN”, which after GOD is created in RIGHTEOUSNESS and true HOLINESS!!!  HE isn’t just “the only known cure”, but THE ONLY CURE!!! 

“MY FRIEND!”

 

Isaiah 41:8-10                 (ESV)

    “[8] But you, Israel, MY servant,

        Jacob, whom I have chosen,

        the offspring of Abraham, “MY FRIEND”

     [9] you whom I took from the ends of the earth,

        and called from its farthest corners,

    saying to you, “You are MY servant,

        I HAVE CHOSEN YOU and not cast you off”; 

    [10] fear not, for I AM with you;

        be not dismayed, for I AM your GOD;

    I WILL strengthen you, I WILL help you,

        I WILL uphold you with MY RIGHTEOUS RIGHT HAND.”

“Do not be afraid of the scale of what is coming, because I WILL ALSO send THE RIGHT connections, THE RIGHT helpers, and THE RIGHT resources AT THE RIGHT TIME."

One of the most transformational times in my life was coming out of the coma in July 2007.  I was really “groggy”, but I had been “disconnected” for 17 days!!  Sleeping wasn’t required, for I had been asleep for an extended period of time, but it seemed like my body was in need of restoration???

Our human body has limits!  I was operating on a limited amount of rest, convincing myself that I was doing fine until I awoke and couldn’t walk that fateful morning.  GOD took away my ability to walk, to literally move from my bed and caused me to lie still until my body was ready to operate again.  I had a “new” modus operandi, but it was totally different than I was accustomed to operating!!

It was NINETEEN YEARS AGO this July 09 since GOD SUPERNATURALLY “took over” control of my life!  HE didn’t give me ANY indication of what was coming in my future.  HE simply caused my legs to NOT work and my mobility to vanish!  PERHAPS (?) it was the ONLY WAY that HE could get across the idea in my stubborn head that HE WAS IN CONTROL ……. NOT an insignificant mortal?!?

It is very difficult for this human to grasp that GOD WORKS IN WAYS that are NOT OUR WAYS (Isaiah 55:8-9)!  HE IS “MY FRIEND”!  Yes, HE CREATED the entirety of CREATION, but HE still is able to repair a tiny blood vessel in the brain of HIS SERVANT!  The ONE WHO CREATED THE UNIVERSES could have SPOKE HEALING into my life in a flash, but HE SLOWED me down FIRST and THEN HE did what ONLY HE was able to do!!!  

“MY FRIEND!”

“IN THE WAY!”

 Psalm 32:8                 (ESV)

    “I WILL instruct you and teach you “IN THE WAY” you should go;

        I WILL counsel you with MY EYE upon you.”

These verses were written by King David, “a man after God's own heart (1 Samuel 13:14).  GOD instructed David in the passage that GOD WILL instruct him “IN THE WAY” he should go!  

But what about Bathsheba and David’s “indiscretions” with her?  David was a flawed man who made his share of mistakes!  GOD “took” the child that was conceived during the unholy act of King David, but since he had married her AFTER he had her husband killed in the battle FOR THE KING, the relationship with Bathsheba produced Solomon, the future King of Israel!  

Even though King David was BROKEN by his unfaithfulness to GOD, he was still used by his CREATOR to continue the LEGACY of the Kingdom of Israel with Bathsheba, “the wife of Uriah” (Matthew 1:4)!  GOD uses the “broken” to GLORIFY HIS NAME …… even though we are imperfect!

JESUS CHRIST said in Matthew 5:28 that “…everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”  We are ALL sinners, but some of us have been CHOSEN IN HIM BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD (Ephesians 1:4) to WALK “IN THE WAY” he should go!!!  

FATHER IN HEAVEN, thank YOU that I have been CHOSEN by YOU to WALK “IN THE WAY” to draw honor and glory to YOUR NAME!!!