Thursday
Evening Bible Study
December
15, 2016
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it address the person who is: Empty, lonely, guilty, or afraid
to die? Does it speak to the broken
hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
Is the church loved? Target 3300 words
Video = 75 wpm
The English word psalm comes
from a Greek word that means “a poem sung to musical accompaniment”, or in
particular, “stringed instruments”.
The Hebrew name is tehillim,
which means “praises.”
The book of Psalms is the hymnbook
of God’s people.
It’s also the “Him” book as well.
It’s all about Jesus.
The writer of Hebrews quotes from
Psalm 40:8 when he writes,
(Hebrews 10:7 NKJV) Then I
said, ‘Behold, I have come— In the
volume of the book it is written of Me— To do Your will, O God.’ ”
The author was talking about Jesus.
We’re going to see a lot of Jesus
in the Psalms.
Soul Music
Music touches the soul. It’s
“soulish” in nature. It touches the emotions.
We’re going to find every kind of
emotion possible expressed in the Psalms.
For every sigh there is a Psalm.
For most of us, this is what makes
the Psalms so wonderful. We can identify. We can relate.
If we were honest, even darkest
most depressing Psalms describe the very things we go through day by day.
It is my prayer that as we continue
on this journey through the Psalms, we won’t just look at these songs
academically, with our mind, but that we may also grow as worshippers.
Psalm 97 God Reigns
:1 The Lord reigns; Let the
earth rejoice; Let the multitude of isles be glad!
:1 The Lord reigns
Lesson
Trust Him
Even when it seems like the world is falling apart, God is still on His
throne.
We may struggle when times get difficult, when loved ones die, when evil
seems to triumph.
We may not understand why things are happening like they are.
But the bottom line is, God is still on His throne.
We will do much better through difficult times when we cling to this truth.
Sometimes life gets to be like those critical moments in a Star Wars Movie
where all seems to be lost.
Video: Star Wars – Clone Wars Arena
Battle 1 (01:53:00 – 01:54:00)
If you stopped the movie there, you’d expect they were all going to
die. But you know that’s now how Star
Wars movies go.
Video: Star Wars –
Clone Wars Arena Battle 2 (01:54:00 – 01:55:16)
It’s also like watching a movie for the second or third time.
You already know how it’s going to end so you don’t freak out when things
get scary.
I don’t want to give you false expectations and think that your problems
are going to disappear the way you want them to. But…
We know how it’s all going to ultimately end.
Ultimately, we will see the Lord reigning when Jesus returns.
We know He’s going to return because we’ve read the end of the book:
(Revelation
19:11 NKJV) Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat
on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and
makes war.
Until that time, we need to trust that God knows what He’s going. Paul wrote,
(2 Corinthians
4:16–18 NKJV) —16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is
perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our
light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things
which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are
seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are
eternal.
What does that look like?
When Hezekiah woke up one morning
to find the mighty, terrible Assyrian army laying siege to Jerusalem
(2 Kings 19:14–15a NKJV) —14 And
Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and
Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord,
and spread it before the Lord. 15 Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord…
We have to put it in God’s
hands. We need to trust that He knows
what He’s doing.
:2 Clouds and darkness surround Him; Righteousness and justice are
the foundation of His throne.
:2 Clouds and darkness surround Him
We call this “cloud” the shekinah,
the glory of God.
When Solomon finished building the Temple according to the specifications
that his father David gave him, something amazing happened.
The worship leaders were playing their instruments and singing the line the
line, “For He is good; For His mercy endures forever”…
(2 Chronicles
5:13c–14 NKJV) —13 …that the house, the house of the Lord,
was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the
cloud; for the glory of the Lord
filled the house of God.
The historian goes on to record…
(2 Chronicles 6:1–2
NKJV) —1 Then Solomon spoke: “The Lord said He
would dwell in the dark cloud. 2 I have surely built You an exalted house, And a place
for You to dwell in forever.”
When worship hit its highest point, God’s very presence came and filled the
Temple.
David wrote,
(Psalm 22:3 NKJV) But You are
holy, Enthroned in
the praises of Israel.
It’s as if God takes His seat on His throne when we give Him praise.
His presence is strongest when we praise Him.
:3 A fire goes before Him, And burns up His enemies round about.
:3 A fire goes before Him
After the cloud filled the Temple in Solomon’s day, another amazing thing
happened.
(2 Chronicles 7:1
NKJV) When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and
consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.
Solomon’s experience with God’s presence wasn’t the first time the shekinah and the fire appeared.
When Moses first set up the Tabernacle in the wilderness, a cloud filled
the Tabernacle (Ex. 40:34-35)
(Exodus 40:34–35 NKJV) —34 Then the
cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting,
because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
When the first sacrifices were made, fire came out from the Lord and
consumed the sacrifice. (Lev. 9:24)
(Leviticus 9:24 NKJV) —24 and fire
came out from before the Lord and
consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the people saw it,
they shouted and fell on their faces.
When this happened, two of Aaron’s sons felt like they needed to do
something, so they took their incense burners, filled them with the wrong
incense, and rushed into the Tabernacle.
(Leviticus 10:2
NKJV) So fire went out from the Lord
and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.
One of the problems with Nadab and Abihu, was that they
had apparently been drinking before this whole episode. They didn’t respond to God correctly, in
holiness, because they were drunk.
Lesson
Playing with fire
You need to be careful what you do with fire.
Illustration
A Charlotte, North Carolina man, having purchased a case of two dozen rare,
very expensive cigars, insured them against---get this---fire. Within a month,
having smoked his entire stockpile of fabulous cigars, and having yet to make a
single premium payment on the policy, the man filed a claim against the
insurance company. In his claim, the man stated that he had lost the cigars in
“A series of small fires.” The insurance company refused to pay, citing the
obvious reason that the man had consumed the cigars in a normal fashion. The
man sued---and won! In delivering his ruling, the judge stated that since the
man held a policy from the company in which it had warranted that the cigars
were insurable, and also guaranteed that it would insure the cigars against
fire, without defining what it considered to be “Unacceptable fire,” it was
obligated to compensate the insured for his loss. Rather than endure a lengthy
and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the judge’s ruling
and paid the man $15,000 for the rare cigars he lost in “The fires.” After the
man cashed his check, however, the insurance company had him arrested---on 24
counts of arson! With his own insurance claim and testimony from the previous
case being used as evidence against him, the man was convicted of intentionally
burning the rare cigars and sentenced him to 24 consecutive one year terms!
Don’t play with fire.
It’s not a bad idea to be afraid of fire.
It can burn your house down. It
can burn you.
Though our God sits on a throne of mercy, though He is the epitome of Love,
He is also Holy. He is fire.
(Hebrews
12:29 NKJV) For our God is a consuming fire.
And that can and should be a frightening thing.
:4 His lightnings light the world; The earth sees and trembles.
:5 The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the Lord, At the presence of the Lord of
the whole earth.
:5 The mountains melt like wax
Lesson
Problems melt
Sometimes “mountains” are symbolic in scripture for problems.
Zerubbabel was charged with the huge, difficult problem of re-building the
Temple.
He got discouraged and struggled with quitting. God sent a message through the prophet
Zechariah:
(Zechariah 4:6–7
NKJV) —6 So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the Lord
to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by
might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of
hosts. 7 ‘Who are
you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall
bring forth the capstone With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” ’ ”
I’ve noticed this many times in worship.
The problems that I come to church with, the things that weigh me down,
seem to melt away as I come into God’s presence.
:6 The heavens declare His righteousness, And all the peoples see His
glory.
:7 Let all be put to shame who serve carved images, Who boast of idols.
Worship Him, all you gods.
:7 Worship Him, all you
gods
gods - elohim
Could refer to the heathen “gods”,
or possibly angels.
:8 Zion hears and is glad, And the daughters of Judah rejoice Because of
Your judgments, O Lord.
:9 For You, Lord, are
most high above all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods.
:10 You who love the Lord,
hate evil! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the
hand of the wicked.
:10 You who love the Lord, hate evil!
Jesus said,
(John 14:15 NKJV) “If you
love Me, keep My commandments.
:11 Light is sown for the righteous, And gladness for the upright in heart.
(Psalm 97:11 NLT) Light shines
on the godly, and joy on those whose hearts are right.
:12 Rejoice in the Lord, you
righteous, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.
Songs
Esus E Esus
E
The Lord reigns (echo throughout)
Esus E Esus
E
Let the earth rejoice
Esus E Esus
E
The Lord reigns
Esus E Esus
E
Let the earth rejoice
E/G#
A B
Righteousness and truth
E Esus E
Are the foundation of Your throne
E/G#
A B
Righteousness and truth
E Esus E
Are the foundation of Your throne
2) In Your presence, Lord
The mountains melt like wax (repeat)
In Your presence, Lord
I bow before Your throne (repeat)
3) I lift my hands
And worship You O Lord (repeat)
For You are the Lord
Most high above the earth (repeat)
The Lord Reigns / Words & Music by Rick Founds &
Todd Collins / © 1982
Maranatha! Music / LordRns.doc
Psalm 98 Praise the Coming Judge
: A Psalm.
:1 Oh, sing to the Lord a new
song! For He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have
gained Him the victory.
:2 The Lord has made known
His salvation; His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations.
:2 The Lord has made known
His salvation
salvation – y@shuw‘ah –
salvation, deliverance
This is a word very similar to the Hebrew name Joshua, or in English,
Jesus.
Lesson
Recognizing Salvation
For the Jews, this spoke of the coming Messiah who would one day save their
nation and rule over the world.
Simeon
There was on old man named Simeon who loved God.
(Luke 2:25–32 NKJV)
—25 And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and
this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the
Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would
not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
Tradition has it that Simeon was 110 years old at this
time.
He expected to see the Messiah. He felt that God had made him a promise.
I wonder if he had been expecting to see a conquering king
riding into Jerusalem
on a white horse. That’s what most Jews
were expecting.
27 So he came
by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus,
to do for Him according to the custom of the law,
Jesus was only eight days old, being brought to be
circumcised and have His official name declared.
28 he took Him
up in his arms and blessed God and said: 29 “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to
Your word; 30 For my eyes
have seen Your salvation 31 Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, 32 A light to bring
revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”
Did you notice the similarity between what Simeon said and
how Psalm 98 starts?
Simeon may have been looking for a powerful king, but he
found a baby.
Don’t miss it
For some of you, the immediate issue is whether or not you are going to
trust Jesus with your life.
You have a problem.
You are a sinner like the rest of us.
Your sins keep you from having a relationship with God.
Jesus died on a cross to pay for your sins.
Whether you understand it or not, this is God’s one way
for salvation.
You need to receive God’s forgiveness and follow Jesus.
For others of you, you already follow Jesus, but there are things going on
in your life where you need some help.
Illustration
There was a man who was walking along a narrow cliff on a
dark night. It was so dark that he
couldn’t see what was over the edge. Suddenly he slipped and found himself
falling off the edge. As he started to fall, he caught a tree branch sticking
out, and managed to just barely hang on. But there was no where to go. He
didn’t have enough strength to climb back up. He cried out, “Oh God, if You’re
really there, please help me!” Nothing. He cried out again, “Oh God, I’ll go to
church every Sunday and read my Bible.
Please help me!” Nothing. He cried out again, “Oh God, I’ll do whatever
you tell me to. Just please help me!”
And then he heard a still, small voice, “Just let go.” He thought about it a
little bit. He cried out again, “Is there anybody else up there?”
Sometimes we’re not willing to do what the Lord wants us
to do, so we look to other things to help us instead of Jesus.
They may not necessarily be bad things. But the problem comes when we look to those
things for help instead of looking to Jesus.
Jesus may very well use those things, but He wants us to come to Him
first.
Will you see God’s salvation when it’s there?
Salvation is in Jesus.
:3 He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
:3 All the ends of the earth
Even though the Jews were focused
on their Messiah delivering Israel, Jesus came to save the world.
John the Baptist realized how far
Jesus’ salvation would extend:
(John 1:29 NKJV) The next day John saw
Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the
sin of the world!
:4 Shout joyfully to the Lord,
all the earth; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.
:5 Sing to the Lord with the
harp, With the harp and the sound of a psalm,
:6 With trumpets and the sound of a horn; Shout joyfully before the Lord, the King.
:4 Shout joyfully to the Lord
There are a lot of different sounds to worship God.
:4 shout joyfully – ruwa– to
shout, raise a sound; to shout in triumph
Just like these Marine’s graduating from boot camp:
:4 Break forth in song – patsach
– to cause to break or burst forth, break out
The word really doesn’t mention music.
Perhaps it’s like …
Let your praise come out.
:4 sing praises – zamar – to
make music, sing; to play a musical instrument
:5 harp – kinnowr – lyre,
harp
From an unused root meaning to “twang”.
I understand that “twang” sounds something like this…
:5 psalm – zimrah – music,
melody, song
From zamar, “sing praises”
:6 trumpets – chatsotserah –
trumpet, clarion
This could be metallic trumpets.
Moses was told to make “silver trumpets” (Num. 10:2)
(Numbers 10:2 NKJV) —2 “Make two
silver trumpets for yourself; you shall make them of hammered work; you shall
use them for calling the congregation and for directing the movement of the
camps.
I have video. This looks old. It
might be Moses.
:6 horn – showphar – horn,
ram’s horn
This is the iconic Jewish ram’s horn.
It sounds like this…
:6 shout joyfully – ruwa– to
shout, raise a sound
The word that started all this in verse 4.
Oorah!
I’d say that worship shouldn’t be boring.
There’s lots of room for variety and expression.
:7 Let the sea roar, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell in
it;
:8 Let the rivers clap their hands; Let the hills be joyful together
before the Lord,
:8 rivers clap … hills be joyful
All of creation is involved in giving worship to God.
I sometimes think that the world around us is more “alive” than we think.
When Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday…
(Luke 19:37–42 NKJV)
—37 Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of
Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God
with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, 38 saying: “ ‘Blessed
is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Peace in
heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher,
rebuke Your disciples.” 40 But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should
keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”
Jesus was saying that He must be praised and honored.
If the disciples had been silent on that day, then Creation would have
begun to cry out.
It would have been a “rock” concert.
There was a reason why Jesus must be praised on that particular day.
41 Now as He
drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, “If you had known, even you,
especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace!
But now they are hidden from your eyes.
In a few weeks on Sunday morning we’ll look at this passage in depth.
This was an actual day that Daniel the prophet had predicted.
Daniel predicted the very day that the Messiah would appear in Jerusalem
(Dan. 9:25)
(Daniel 9:25 NKJV) —25 “Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There
shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times.
And on that day, Jesus showed up.
Creation recognizes that God ought to be praised.
Paul writes that creation is
waiting expectantly for Jesus to return (Rom. 8:19) and is groaning until the
day He arrives.
(Romans 8:19 NKJV) —19 For the
earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons
of God.
:9 For He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge
the world, And the peoples with equity.
:9 For He is coming to judge the earth
This phrase was also used in Ps.
96:13
Lesson
Run to the finish line
Sometimes when I see the end of a particular race approaching, I tend to
ease up as I see the finish line.
The problem is when we think the end of the race is sooner than it really
is.
Don’t quit when you’ve still got two more laps to go.
Don’t think the end of semester is the end of the race.
Don’t think that retirement is the end of your race.
The finish line we need to be aiming for is the day when
Jesus returns.
(Hebrews 12:1–2
NKJV) —1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us,
and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was
set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the
right hand of the throne of God.
Pace yourself to get to the finish line.
Songs
A E
My Jesus, my Savior
F#m E
D
Lord there is none like You
A/C#
All of my days
D A/E
I want to praise
F#m
the wonders of Your
G D/F# E
Mighty love
A E
My comfort, my shelter
F#m E D
Tower of refuge and strength
A/C#
Let every breath
D A/E
All that I am
F#m
Never cease to
G D6/F# E
Worship You
A F#m
Shout to the Lord
D E
All the earth, let us sing
A F#m
Power and majesty
Dmaj7 E
Praise to the King
F#m
F#m/E
Mountains bow down
D
And the seas will roar
E F#m
E/G# E
At the sound of Your
name
A F#m
I sing for joy
D E
At the work of Your hands
A F#m
Forever I'll love You
Dmaj7 E
Forever I'll stand
F#m F#m/E
Nothing compares
D E A
E
To the promise I have in You*
*(End)D E/D F#m/D E/D F F2 Gsus G G2 G
Shout To The Lord / Words & Music by Darlene Zschech
/ © 1993 Darlene Zschech/Hillsongs Australia / Shout.doc
Psalm 99 Exalt Yahweh
:1 The Lord reigns; Let the
peoples tremble! He dwells between the cherubim; Let the earth be moved!
:1 Let the peoples tremble!
tremble – ragaz
– tremble, quake, rage, quiver, be agitated
Lesson
Worship’s tension
We have a God who loves us more than we could ever comprehend.
A few weeks ago we were talking
about being thankful for the things that God does for us, and the thoughts He
has toward us:
(Psalm 92:5 NKJV) O Lord, how great are Your works! Your thoughts are very deep.
I’ve sense a fresh
love from God the last couple of weeks as I worked at thinking about God’s
thoughts towards me.
(Psalm 139:17 NKJV) How
precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
I love that God has called us His children, and He is a good, good Father.
(1
John 3:1 NKJV) Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we
should be called children of God!
Yet for all the love and closeness we may experience at times, there are
things about God that ought to terrify us and make us tremble.
He is all powerful.
He knows everything.
He is holy, pure, sinless.
He holds our lives in His hands.
When prophets saw angels (and not
God), they were frightened and fell on their faces.
Daniel and John
both were terrified at the sight of angels, and God is much bigger. (Dan. 8:17;
Rev. 22:8)
(Daniel 8:17 NKJV) So
he came near where I stood, and when he came I was afraid and fell on my face…
John did.
(Revelation 22:8 NKJV) …And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet
of the angel who showed me these things.
Both these men
were rebuked because angels shouldn’t be worshipped. But God should be.
When the prophets caught glimpses of God, they also were terrified.
Ezekiel was one of those guys…
(Ezekiel
1:28 NKJV) …So when I saw it, I fell on my face…
Isaiah was.
(Isaiah 6:5 NKJV) So
I said: “Woe is me, for
I am undone! Because I am a
man of unclean lips, And I
dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.”
I think we need to cultivate that tension between an awesome, all powerful
God that makes us tremble, and the loving, gracious, forgiving God we call
Father.
:1 He dwells between the
cherubim
When Moses built his model of
heaven (the Tabernacle), the Ark of the Covenant was to be a model of God’s
throne.
Above the Ark were two angelic
beings, cherubim, with God’s presence being there under the wings of the
cherubim.
God told Moses,
(Exodus 25:22 NKJV) And there
I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from
between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about
everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.
:2 The Lord is great
in Zion, And He is high above all the peoples.
:3 Let them praise Your great and awesome name— He is holy.
:4 The King’s strength also loves justice; You have established equity; You
have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.
:5 Exalt the Lord our God,
And worship at His footstool— He is holy.
:5 Exalt the Lord our God
Exalt – ruwm
– (Polel) to lift up, raise, exalt;
extol
God is higher than we are.
When we praise Him, we are acknowledging that He is greater than we are.
:5 worship at His footstool
The footstool is where you rest your feet.
The Ark of the Covenant is called the “footstool” of God. (1Chr. 28:2)
(1 Chronicles 28:2 NKJV) —2 Then King
David rose to his feet and said, “Hear me, my brethren and my people: I had
it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and for the footstool of our God,
and had made preparations to build it.
Jerusalem is also called the “footstool” of God (Lam. 2:1)
(Lamentations 2:1 NKJV) —1 How the
Lord has covered the daughter of Zion With a
cloud in His anger! He cast
down from heaven to the earth The beauty
of Israel, And did not remember
His footstool In the day of His
anger.
That’s probably what the Psalmist has in mind.
God says that the whole earth is His footstool. (Is. 66:1)
(Isaiah 66:1 NKJV) Thus says
the Lord: “Heaven is
My throne, And earth is
My footstool. Where is
the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest?
To worship at His footstool speaks of bowing in humility before our Great
King.
:6 Moses and Aaron were among His priests, And Samuel was among those who
called upon His name; They called upon the Lord,
and He answered them.
:7 He spoke to them in the cloudy pillar; They kept His testimonies and the
ordinance He gave them.
:8 You answered them, O Lord
our God; You were to them God-Who-Forgives, Though You took vengeance on their
deeds.
:8 You answered them
It really is an amazing thing that the Creator of the Universe would pay
any attention to us.
But He does.
Came across this quote from Dwight L. Moody last week:
“I’d rather be able to pray than to be a great preacher; Jesus Christ never
taught his disciples how to preach, but only how to pray.”
:8 Though You took vengeance on their deeds
(Psalm 99:8 NLT) O Lord our God, you answered them. You
were a forgiving God to them, but you punished them when they went wrong.
Lesson
Forgiveness and Consequences
When we confess our sins to God, He forgives us.
(1 John 1:9 NKJV) If we
confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We are restored to a right relationship with God.
Yet there are many sins that still carry natural consequences.
If you are unfaithful to your spouse, and yet come and ask God for
forgiveness, He will forgive you.
Yet your marriage may not survive.
You might contract an STD.
You could have an illegitimate child.
Your family and friends might shun you.
Illustration
The Fence
There was a little boy with a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of
nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, to hammer a nail in the back
fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Then it
gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to
drive those nails into the fence. Finally the day came when the boy didn’t lose
his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that
the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.
The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all
the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the
fence. He said, “You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the
fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they
leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out.
It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the wound is still there. A
verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.
In the end, it’s best to simply not sin.
:9 Exalt the Lord our God,
And worship at His holy hill; For the Lord
our God is holy.
:9 For the Lord our God is
holy
Lesson
Holiness
Did you notice how many times the Psalmist said that God was “holy”?
(Psalm 99:3 NKJV) Let them
praise Your great and awesome name— He is holy.
(Psalm 99:5 NKJV) Exalt the Lord our God, And worship
at His footstool—
He
is holy.
(Psalm 99:9 NKJV) Exalt the Lord our God, And worship
at His holy hill;
For
the Lord our God is holy.
Three times. Holy, holy, holy.
When Isaiah had his vision of God, he saw the angels around God’s throne:
(Isaiah 6:3 NKJV) And one
cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
of hosts; The whole
earth is full of His glory!”
When John was caught up into heaven before the actual throne of God, he too
saw the cherubim (called “living creatures”)…
(Revelation 4:8
NKJV) The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes
around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy,
holy, Lord God
Almighty, Who was and
is and is to come!”
Perhaps it’s “holy, holy, holy” because of the Father, Son, and the Holy
Spirit.
Perhaps it’s to also remind us that God is VERY holy. He is not like us. He is without sin. He is completely pure.
Does this affect us?
Peter wrote,
(1
Peter 1:15–16 NKJV) —15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your
conduct, 16 because it
is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
Songs
Em7 D Em7 D
Exalt the Lord our
God (echo)
Em7 D Em7 D
And worship at His
feet (echo) (2x)
Em7 D G
For He (for He) is
holy
G D/F# Em7 Cmaj7 D
For the Lord our God, He is holy
G D/F# Em7 Cmaj7 D
For the Lord our God, He is holy
G D/F# Em7 Cmaj7 D
For the Lord our God, He is holy
G D/F# Em7 Cmaj7 D
Yes the Lord our God, He is holy
...O Lord my God, You are holy
Exalt The Lord / Words & Music by Cindy Rethmeier / © 1990 MercyVineyard /
Exalt.doc