Here's our latest Bible Study notes and the link to the audio.
To get the most of the notes, I always suggest you listen to the audio also!
Blessings!
Chris
We are Who/What We Worship
You are who or what you worship. We were all made to worship and we will worship something.
Jesus said
Matthew 12:34b For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. (NKJV)
The thing you worship is what you spend your time thinking of the most. It is what you will come out of your mouth eventually. There are many things that capture men’s minds:
- Money, power comfort, fear, intellect, addictions,
- The list goes on. Bottom line is in one word: Self.
Why We Think the Way We Do
We do what we think because we gravitate to that which gives us what we think are the best returns, the most “utils”. If the utils are this side of Heaven, we will live for the things here. Many people live their lives on earth like they are going to live forever. This is the furthest thing from the truth. We need to see for ourselves that life here is short and miserable at best compared to Heaven.
In the 21st century, we must be especially careful – in the past, life WAS short and miserable to the better part. However, they had more time to ponder about the things of the eternal. They had more time to be “religious” as it were. Today, life can seem nearly comfortable enough to live forever, if we don’t know the glory of God!
If the constant, pervasive thoughts in our minds are about anything in this world, we are asking for trouble:
Romans 8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (NKJV)
Matthew 6:19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (NKJV)
2 Corinthians 4:18 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. (NKJV)
Colossians 3:2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. (NKJV)
So Hard to Think the Right Way?
It starts with a perception issue. The devil has been working hard over the last 2000 years to market the bad stuff. Today, things that are good in scriptures are bad in the world. Holiness is mocked, but evil is glorified.
Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (NKJV)
We need to be VERY careful to call good good, and see evil for what it is, else we will be sent in circles. That’s what the devil wants, to choke the effectiveness, to blunt the goodness of the Gospel, so that the absolutely good becomes pedestrian, that we become numb, almost insulated from God’s goodness.
If we call evil good and good evil, woe unto us!
A Man After God’s Heart
It is all down to our perception of who God is and what He is like to us. David sought after God’s heart:
Acts 13:22 And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’ (NKJV)
And because of his intimacy, he had a very good perception of God, an understanding of His nature and thus did the will of the Lord.
If we don’t actively seek God for ourselves, starting with the Word of God, the Bible, we won’t know His true nature and we will depend only on other things to know God – experience, hearsay, some preaching hear and there. We won’t be able to discern for ourselves and won’t walk in victory.
A God Worthy of His Praise
Psalm 34:1 I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
How we see God will determine much of our response to Him. If we see God as an angry God, or if we see Him as the one responsible for the evil in our lives, if we see that everything was ordained by Him, good and evil, that nothing happens except if it is God’s will, then it will be hard to praise God continually, because we attribute evil in our lives that we don't understand to Him. We will thus call evil good and good evil.
But if we see a God like David represents in this Psalm alone (let alone the rest of them) we will see a God who is for us, not against us, a God whose plans for us are good, not evil; plans that prosper us and give us a hope.
2 My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear of it and be glad. 3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together.
It is my will, my choice to boast in the Lord. Humble people are people who are willing to have their thinking challenged by the Word, even if it means going against the way they see things.
Proud people don't want to hear of it. Proud people do it on their own, not willing to allow the Word of God to change the way they think.
A God Who Hears and Delivers
4 I sought the Lord, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears.
“Seek God” we see repeated in scriptures.
Matthew 6:31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (NKJV)
When we do that, He WILL deliver us – what we need to eat, drink, wear, use etc. SHALL be added.
5 They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed.
The more we behold the goodness of God, the more we become like Him!
This is the same principle we see throughout the Bible. Behold His love and His goodness and become full of Him. This is like what it says in 2 Corinthians 3:18.
One of the things about being like Him is the LACK OF SHAME. The first thing Adam knew after the Fall was SHAME. In God there is no shame. He is my righteousness.
6 This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.
Again we see a God who is good. When a poor man cries out (presumably referring to David), the Lord hears and the Lord saves. The troubles came, but were not part of God’s “sovereign” will. He is the one who hears and saves. His angel even encamps around us, those who fear Him. Beyond that, His Spirit today dwells IN us.
How then will He not deliver us today? There are even promises in the New Testament of this, but how far will unbelief go to ensure that these do not come to pass in the lives of many of us Christians?
This is what David saw in God, that He hears and delivers and this is why David worshipped Him and why David reigned in life.
A God Who IS Good
8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
Taste requires you to put it into your mouth. You need to take God in on His Word - a certain intimate faith required, more than a cursory glance. Once it gets past the mouth, commitment is required!
Taste also means the God is right near you, waiting to feed you with His goodness. He is not far away and His heart yearns for you.
Yes, David beckons us: Come, come and taste. He is not evil. He is not the one bringing evil, catastrophe, calamity into your life to teach you lessons. How many more confirmations do we need before we believe that God is not the author of evil? We who trust in Him are blessed!
A God Worthy of Reverence
9 Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. 10 The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.
If we seek God, we will be satisfied, fully, to no lack. There is NO want if we fear Him. We will not LACK anything good.
A God to Teach All About
11 Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. When we start to reverence God in awe, when we revere Him, we start to have wisdom. A big part of revering Him is to revere His Word.
I will study the Word diligently and if He said something is so, I will believe it. This is the fear of the Lord. Only truths we know set us free (John 8:32).
12 Who is the man who desires life, And loves many days, that he may see good? 13 Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit. 14 Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it.
A big evil in our lives is when we speak contrary to the Word. That is deceit because the Word is truth.
Do no evil, but do good because you serve a GOOD God. Avoid strife, walking in peace. There is a promise attached to this.
A God Who Looks Out for His Own
15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry. 16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
We ARE the Righteous. This is the underpinning of our faith. If we ever doubt this, the devil will eat our lunch.
Romans 3:21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. (NKJV)
1 Corinthians 1:30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— (NKJV)
2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (NKJV)
His ears are open to us.
17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.
Do the righteous have troubles? YES! But it is the LORD who delivers, not the LORD who gives the troubles (John 16:33). Our part is to cry out to the Lord. We rejoice because we know He will deliver. (James 1:2).
Are we sometimes broken hearted? Yes, but the promise is that He will save those who have a contrite spirit, those who are poor in spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.
Will we have afflictions? Yes. Jesus said so in John 16:33. Will He deliver? In the New Testament, it is past tense – He HAS overcome the world.
20 He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken.
This was a prophecy about Jesus, that though He was afflicted, literally none of His bones were broken. Figuratively, it speaks of how we can be afflicted, but not crushed or destroyed.
A God in Whom Salvation is Sure
21 Evil shall slay the wicked, And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned. 22 The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned. (NKJV)
Evil that the wicked persists in will destroy them. This is sin and the curse. Hating Christians is a curse. As much as the Lord loves all, those who persecute the Christians bring judgment upon themselves!
The Lord will redeem the souls – we are the ones who triumph in life, never to be condemned.
God Loves Us, is For Us, Not Against Us
David realised this truth, that God is a good god, not the one responsible for the evil in his life, but the one who loves, rescues and saves him.
Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? (NKJV)
How much more, now that Christ is in us. He loves you as much as He loves Jesus. When we realise this, we have reason to rejoice, to give praise, to worship Him.
Psalm 34:1 I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
From this initimacy that David had was a reason to rejoice, to worship, to bless this God, one so good to him.
Go through the Psalms of David and see how David saw God. Let that impact your view of God.
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