Psalm 42:1–2 (ESV)
1As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.
2My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
The last part of Psalm 42:2 could literally be translated, “When can I show myself before God’s face.”
I want to meet with Jesus. Though the Psalmist thought he had to go to a place to meet with God, we do not. Jesus made it clear to the Samaritan woman in John 4:20-24 that we don’t go to a place to worship God, but worship Him in Spirit and in truth. That means we worship Him from the depths of our being and in the reality and truthfulness of His being. He is who He says He is an we can meet with Him.
Paul says to some people who didn’t know God, Acts 17:27–28 (ESV)
27that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,
28for “ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’….
Psalm 42:5 Literally – “… O my soul … be caused to wait (and confidently expect, hope) in God; for I will be caused again to make a public admission of His excellence (give thanks and praise) to Him, the salvation of my face and my God.”
This Psalm has been a favorite that God has used through the years to help me remember to be dependent on Him, especially in the hard and difficult times.
Also the word translated “despair” or “cast down” (Psalm 42:5,11; 43:5) in the Greek translation of the Hebrew text in Psalm 42 and 43 is the same Greek word Jesus used in Matthew 26:38 and Mark 14:34, translated there as “very sorrowful.” So there is some parallel with us as we seek God in difficult times just as Jesus sought God in prayer in times of difficulty.
Jesus, it is you I seek. It is you I need. I look to you, my hope, my confident expectation to deliver, guide and direct me today. (Psalm 42:5).
Hebrews 13:4 (ESV)
4Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.
I was struck in a special way by this verse and the preciousness of marriage. I’m not sure why this verse struck me in a special way, maybe in light of our secular culture. Jesus and His Word doesn’t change, though our legal laws might, just as they have in our country in relation to what is considered marriage in the last decade or two. Just as the early church knew they couldn’t walk in lock step with the culture, neither can we. Jesus , His Word and His ways don’t change (Hebrews 13:8).
We live in a sexed crazed culture and w’e’ve had many church leaders in the USA who have fallen prey to marital “un”honoring and defiling their marriage. Biblical marriage is under attack from many fronts.
Of course there is forgiveness when true repentance is present, but the Scriptures are clear, God will judge those who practice sexual immorality and commit adultery and it won’t be nice. The same Greek word for “judge” that is used in 13:4 is also in Hebrews 10:30,31 as it’s used there in the context of a person who continually, knowingly and deliberately keeps on sinning. “The Lord will judge his people. It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Galatians 5:19-21 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 also make this clear.)
May God have mercy on us as we look to Him, fix our eyes of Him, and live by faith as we continue to make marriage honorable.
Hebrews 10:38,39 (ESV)
38but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” 39But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
Hebrews 12 follows the Hall of Fame faith chapter by leading us to the author and perfector of our faith, Jesus Christ. We are to emulate the endurance Jesus showed while on earth in our own walk, and accept the discipline He provides, as it is through His discipline we become the righteous people He wants us to be. Looking back, I can appreciate the discipline my own father administered, even though I didn’t much at the time. If his discipline was to my ultimate benefit, how much more will the discipline of my Heavenly Father benefit me? For it is only when I subject myself to His discipline can I hope to offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe. God has provided the way, and I must not refuse Him, but be grateful for being received in a kingdom that cannot be shaken.
Father, thank you for sending Your Son, and for His example of endurance set before us. May we continually seek Your face so we cannot be shaken, but enjoy eternal life in You! Amen.
For Hebrews 12, again, I am seeing the summarization of what the author has been saying all along in Hebrews. When you hear God speak, put your faith, trust and confidence in Him and His Word spoken to you (Hebrews 3:12-19; Hebrews 4:1-2, 7; Hebrews 11; Hebrews 12:25-29)).
I continue to observe the throne of God and the place from where Jesus rules (Hebrews 12:2, 22-24).
I am reminded to live in the awareness of God and His authority over all other powers.
Psalm 42:1–2 (ESV)
1As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.
2My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
The last part of Psalm 42:2 could literally be translated, “When can I show myself before God’s face.”
I want to meet with Jesus. Though the Psalmist thought he had to go to a place to meet with God, we do not. Jesus made it clear to the Samaritan woman in John 4:20-24 that we don’t go to a place to worship God, but worship Him in Spirit and in truth. That means we worship Him from the depths of our being and in the reality and truthfulness of His being. He is who He says He is an we can meet with Him.
Paul says to some people who didn’t know God, Acts 17:27–28 (ESV)
27that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,
28for “ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’….
Psalm 42:5 Literally – “… O my soul … be caused to wait (and confidently expect, hope) in God; for I will be caused again to make a public admission of His excellence (give thanks and praise) to Him, the salvation of my face and my God.”
This Psalm has been a favorite that God has used through the years to help me remember to be dependent on Him, especially in the hard and difficult times.
Also the word translated “despair” or “cast down” (Psalm 42:5,11; 43:5) in the Greek translation of the Hebrew text in Psalm 42 and 43 is the same Greek word Jesus used in Matthew 26:38 and Mark 14:34, translated there as “very sorrowful.” So there is some parallel with us as we seek God in difficult times just as Jesus sought God in prayer in times of difficulty.
Jesus, it is you I seek. It is you I need. I look to you, my hope, my confident expectation to deliver, guide and direct me today. (Psalm 42:5).
Hebrews 13:4 (ESV)
4Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.
I was struck in a special way by this verse and the preciousness of marriage. I’m not sure why this verse struck me in a special way, maybe in light of our secular culture. Jesus and His Word doesn’t change, though our legal laws might, just as they have in our country in relation to what is considered marriage in the last decade or two. Just as the early church knew they couldn’t walk in lock step with the culture, neither can we. Jesus , His Word and His ways don’t change (Hebrews 13:8).
We live in a sexed crazed culture and w’e’ve had many church leaders in the USA who have fallen prey to marital “un”honoring and defiling their marriage. Biblical marriage is under attack from many fronts.
Of course there is forgiveness when true repentance is present, but the Scriptures are clear, God will judge those who practice sexual immorality and commit adultery and it won’t be nice. The same Greek word for “judge” that is used in 13:4 is also in Hebrews 10:30,31 as it’s used there in the context of a person who continually, knowingly and deliberately keeps on sinning. “The Lord will judge his people. It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Galatians 5:19-21 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 also make this clear.)
May God have mercy on us as we look to Him, fix our eyes of Him, and live by faith as we continue to make marriage honorable.
Hebrews 10:38,39 (ESV)
38but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” 39But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
Hebrews 12 follows the Hall of Fame faith chapter by leading us to the author and perfector of our faith, Jesus Christ. We are to emulate the endurance Jesus showed while on earth in our own walk, and accept the discipline He provides, as it is through His discipline we become the righteous people He wants us to be. Looking back, I can appreciate the discipline my own father administered, even though I didn’t much at the time. If his discipline was to my ultimate benefit, how much more will the discipline of my Heavenly Father benefit me? For it is only when I subject myself to His discipline can I hope to offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe. God has provided the way, and I must not refuse Him, but be grateful for being received in a kingdom that cannot be shaken.
Father, thank you for sending Your Son, and for His example of endurance set before us. May we continually seek Your face so we cannot be shaken, but enjoy eternal life in You! Amen.
For Hebrews 12, again, I am seeing the summarization of what the author has been saying all along in Hebrews. When you hear God speak, put your faith, trust and confidence in Him and His Word spoken to you (Hebrews 3:12-19; Hebrews 4:1-2, 7; Hebrews 11; Hebrews 12:25-29)).
I continue to observe the throne of God and the place from where Jesus rules (Hebrews 12:2, 22-24).
I am reminded to live in the awareness of God and His authority over all other powers.