November 12
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REJECTED STONE BECOMES CHIEF CORNERSTONE
Open the gates of righteousness to me;
I will enter through them, I will give thanks to the LORD.
20 This is the gate of the LORD;
The righteous will enter through it.
21 I will give thanks to You, for You have answered me,
And You have become my salvation.
22 A stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
23 This came about from the LORD;
It is marvelous in our eyes. – Psalm 118:19-23
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I quote enduringword.com commentary on these verses in Psalm 118. In psalm 19, The psalmist probably had in mind a triumphal entry into the holy city. With those gates open, he would go through them, full of praise to the LORD.” Spurgeon states “Alas, there are multitudes who do not care whether the gates of God’s house are opened or not; and although they know that they are opened wide they never care to enter, neither does the thought of praising God so much as cross their minds. The time will come for them when they shall find the gates of heaven shut against them, for those gates are peculiarly the gates of righteousness through which there shall by no means enter anything that defileth.” In verse 20, we picture the singer actually passing through the open gate, In verse 22 regarding the stone that the builders rejected, we don’t know what personal experience the psalmist might have had that led to these words. Perhaps it was purely a prophetic statement, because it certainly was fulfilled in the work of Jesus.They didn’t approve of His origin (John 7:52).They didn’t approve of His lack of formal education (John 7:15). They didn’t approve of His disregard for religious traditions (Luke 6:2). They didn’t approve of His choice of friends (Matthew 9:11). Spurgeon says “Still do the builders refuse him: even to this day the professional teachers of the gospel are far too apt to fly to any and every new philosophy sooner than maintain the simple gospel, which is the essence of Christ: nevertheless, he holds his true position amongst his people, and the foolish builders shall see to their utter confusion that his truth shall be exalted over all.”
We need to follow how Jesus set himself apart from the world so we can follow his lead. ________________________________________
REFLECTION
• Why should we not be bothered when we are rejected by others?
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THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH AND SONG ILMA’S VLOG
November 11
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THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH AND SONG
All nations surrounded me;
In the name of the LORD I will certainly fend them off.
11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me;
In the name of the LORD I will certainly fend them off.
12 They surrounded me like bees;
They were extinguished like a fire of thorn bushes;
In the name of the LORD I will certainly fend them off.
13 You pushed me violently so that I [was falling,
But the LORD helped me. 14 The LORD is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation.
15 The sound of joyful shouting and salvation is in the tents of the righteous;
The right hand of the LORD performs valiantly.
16 The right hand of the LORD is exalted;
The right hand of the LORD performs valiantly.
17 I will not die, but live, and tell of the works of the LORD.
18 The LORD has disciplined me severely,
But He has not turned me over to death. -Psalm 118:10-18
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Enduringword.com comments on this psalm as: “Quoting Miriam’s song (Exodus 15:2), the singer knew not only that God could bring strength and a song, but that Yahweh Himself became their strength and the song of those who put their trust in Him. Going even further, the psalmist understood that Yahweh had become his salvation. Yahweh is these things for His people. When the LORD is our strength, it means that He is our resource and our refuge. We look to Him for our needs, and we are never unsatisfied. When the LORD is our song, it means that He is our joy and our happiness. We find our purpose and life in Him, and He never disappoints. When the LORD is our salvation, it means we put our trust for help and deliverance in none other. He is our rest and rescue. With all this true, it emphasizes the importance of seeking God Himself when we need strength, a song, or salvation. Often, we seek the things themselves, sometimes as even detached from God Himself. To seek God and to receive Him is to receive all these profound gifts.” We all need to learn to strengthen our dependence on God alone. Even though we live in this world, we need to live for eternity.
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REFLECTION
• When was the last time you made the Lord your strength and song?
BETTER TO TAKE REFUGE IN GOD THAN TO TRUST PEOPLE ILMA’S VLOG
November 10
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BETTER TO TAKE REFUGE IN GOD THAN TO TRUST PEOPLE
Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;
For His mercy is everlasting.
2 Let Israel say, “His mercy is everlasting.”
3 Oh let the house of Aaron say, “His mercy is everlasting.”
4 Let those who fear the LORD say,
“His mercy is everlasting.”
5 From my distress I called upon the LORD;
The LORD answered me and put me in an open space.
6 The LORD is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me?
7 The LORD is for me among those who help me;
Therefore I will look with satisfaction on those who hate me.
8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in people.
9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in noblemen.
– Psalm 118:1-9
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Psalm 118 does not name an author in its title, but there is reason to believe it was King David. Ezra 3:10-11 suggests that Psalm 118 was sung at the founding of the second temple, and when they sang it, they attributed it to David. According to Campbell Morgan, though this was likely David’s psalm, it was also Jesus’ psalm. “This is pre-eminently the triumph song of the Christ, He the ideal Servant, He the perfect Priest, He the Leader of the people. How much all these words meant to Him as He sang them on that night in the upper room.” Spurgeon comments on the first verse “for He is good” as “This is reason enough for giving him thanks; goodness is his essence and nature, and therefore he is always to be praised whether we are receiving anything from him or not. Those who only praise God because he does them good should rise to a higher note and give thanks to him because he is good.”
In verse 4, the psalmist emphasizes the importance of fearing the Lord: God’s mercy is upon them. In verse 6, it reminds us not to fear man because God will be our vindicator and protector, and in verse 8, we are warned not to seek refuge to man but to God only.
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REFLECTION
• Why is it better to run to God when we are in trouble than to rely on others and ourselves?
• Why should we always give thanks to the Lord on a regular basis?
MAN WILL PERISH BUT GOD ENDURES FOREVER ILMA’S VLOG
November 9
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MAN WILL PERISH BUT GOD ENDURES FOREVER
He has broken my strength in the way;
He has shortened my days.
24 I say, “My God, do not take me away in the middle of my days,
Your years are throughout all generations.
25 In time of old You founded the earth,
And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
26 Even they will perish, but You endure;
All of them will wear out like a garment;
Like clothing You will change them and they will pass away.
27 But You are the same,
And Your years will not come to an end.
28 The children of Your servants will continue,
And their descendants will be established before You. -PSALM 102:23-28
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The psalmist ends this psalm declaring how disposable our lives are but God is everlasting. In verse 23, he humbly recognized that our lives are in the hands of God. We are at God’s disposal. In verse 24, he pleads God not to shorten his life and gives God praise for watching over His people throughout many generations. In verse 25, he brings glory to the only creator of the whole earth and the heavens which are all still in existence based on God’s plan. In verse 26, he gives praise to the truth that all of creation can be snapped out because God is sovereign and all-powerful. He can do anything He wished with it. It shows that all things are fleeting and only God can decide which ones He wants to keep long. In verse 27, it declares God’s unchangeable nature and His infiniteness. In verse 28, the psalmist promises continued service to the Lord with the descendants of His people.
What a humble way the psalmist ends this psalm! He declares God’s limitless being and that all creation will be at God’s disposal. Many people think that they are in control of their lives and do everything they can to prolong their lives. This psalm is a reminder to us all how fleeting our lives are and God will do what He needs to do to make his plan come to fruition. We humans become so preoccupied with the way we see things when we need to be able to see God’s perspective in our life here on earth. We need to be able to focus on being used by God to make His plan be realized.
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REFLECTION
• How can we be able to maximize the life God gave us?
YOU, LORD, REMAIN FOREVER ILMA’S VLOG
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November 7
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YOU, LORD, REMAIN FOREVER
My enemies have taunted me all day long;
Those who deride me have used my name as a curse.
9 For I have eaten ashes like bread,
And mixed my drink with weeping
10 Because of Your indignation and Your wrath;
For You have lifted me up and thrown me away.
11 My days are like a lengthened shadow,
And I wither away like grass.
12 But You, LORD, remain forever,
And Your name remains to all generations.
13 You will arise and have compassion on Zion;
For it is time to be gracious to her,
For the appointed time has come.
14 Surely Your servants take pleasure in her stones,
And feel pity for her dust.
15 So the nations will fear the name of the LORD,
And all the kings of the earth, Your glory. – Psalm 102:8-15
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In verse 8, according to enduringword.com, the psalmist’s affliction came from more than poor health; he had enemies set against him. They opposed him with constant disapproval and rejection. In verse 9, he seemed to be in constant mourning. The marks of mourning such as ashes and weeping were as familiar to him as food and drink. In verse 10, the mourning was all the more bitter because of the sense that this affliction came as some kind of punishment from God. Spurgeon comments on verse 10 says that “He felt that God was treating him as wrestlers treat one another, when a man deliberately lifts up his opponent in order that he may give him the worse fall.” In verse 11, the psalmist was overwhelmed with a sense of divine rejection; he felt that his life was short and had little meaning. In verse 12, the psalmist’s tone changes. We note the contrast between the first 11 verses, which were filled with personal references (I, me, and my) and verses 12 and following. With the words, but You, the focus changes and is set on God. What a difference it makes when we change our focus from ourselves to God!
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REFLECTION
• Why do we need to focus on God’s infiniteness instead of our fleeting lives?
LIKE AN OWL OF THE RUINS ILMA’S VLOG
November 6
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LIKE AN OWL OF THE RUINS
Hear my prayer, LORD!
And let my cry for help come to You.
2 Do not hide Your face from me on the day of my distress;
Incline Your ear to me; On the day when I call answer me quickly.
3 For my days have ended in smoke,
And my bones have been scorched like a hearth.
4 My heart has been struck like grass and has withered,
Indeed, I forget to eat my bread.
5 Because of the loudness of my groaning
My bones cling to my flesh. 6 I resemble a pelican of the wilderness;
I have become like an owl of the ruins. 7 I lie awake,
I have become like a solitary bird on a housetop. – Psalm 102:1-7
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This psalm is entitled “A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the LORD.” According to a commentary from enduringword.com, this afflicted one borrowed his tone and some of his phrasing from Job, who is the Old Testament’s greatest example of affliction. Many phrases also match others in the psalms.
This psalm describes Jerusalem (Zion) in a state of ruin. If this is taken as literal ruin, the psalm may have been written by those in exile who mourned over both their personal and national affliction. Adam Clarke followed this thinking and suggested the author could be Daniel, Jeremiah, or Nehemiah. However, it may be that the ruin of Zion described is more poetic in nature and the psalm is pre-exilic. In traditional Christian liturgy, this has been regarded as one of the seven penitential psalms (along with Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 130, and 143).
In verse 5, as in Job 19:20, he was so weak and thin that there seemed to be nothing between his bones and his skin. He felt like a lonely and restless bird. According to Spurgeon, the psalmist likens himself to two birds (pelican and owl) which were commonly used as emblems of gloom and wretchedness.”
Being overwhelmed is the state of the author of this psalm. When we allow the world to run our whole being, we become confused and discouraged, we resort to complaining. It is interesting how the psalmist compares himself to the owl in the ruins.
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REFLECTION
• Why is it okay to complain and run to God rather than to men?
THE NEARNESS OF GOD IS GOOD FOR ME ILMA’S VLOG
November 5
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THE NEARNESS OF GOD IS GOOD FOR ME
When my heart was embittered
And I was pierced within,
22 Then I was stupid and ignorant;
I was like an animal before You.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You have taken hold of my right hand.
24 You will guide me with Your plan,
And afterward receive me to glory.
25 Whom do I have in heaven but You?
And with You, I desire nothing on earth.
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 will perish;
You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You.
28 But as for me, the nearness of God is good for me;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
So that I may tell of all Your works.- Psalm 73:21-28
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In this psalm, Asaph continue with his confession to the Lord. In verse 21, he repents of bitterness that actually pierced him inside and in verse 22, he admits being foolish and compared himself to an animal before God. We tend to be savages when we forget how God has created us. He made us in His own image. In verses 23-24, he turns around with giving God credit for his faithfulness to Him, despite all his natural tendencies to sin. He looks up to the promise of being with the Lord when he is faithful. Verse 26 declares his submission to God. He declares that God is the source of all his strength and that he is his portion. In verse 27, he cautions those who are turning their backs on God and who is far from him. Destruction is the consequence of such rejection of the Lord. The highlight of the whole psalm lies in verse 28. He declares that abiding in God is the only way we can receive our salvation. He made a decision that he will only serve God and that He will rely on Him for his safety. He will shout to all of God’s goodness and all that He has done for His people.
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REFLECTION
• Why is the knowledge of God being near to you essential in our lives?
UNTIL YOU ENTER GOD’S SANCTUARY ILMA’S VLOG
November 4
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UNTIL YOU ENTER GOD’S SANCTUARY
Therefore his people return here,
And abundant waters are drunk by them.
11 They say, “How does God know?
And is there knowledge with the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the wicked;
And always at ease, they have increased in wealth.
13 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure
And washed my hands in innocence;
14 For I have been stricken all day long,
And punished every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak this way,”
Behold, I would have betrayed the generation of Your children.
16 When I thought of understanding this,
It was troublesome in my sight
17 Until I entered the sanctuary of God;
Then I perceived their end.
18 You indeed put them on slippery ground;
You dropped them into ruin.
19 How they are destroyed in a moment!
They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors!
20 Like a dream when one awakes,
Lord, when stirred, You will despise their image.– Psalm 73:10-20
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In this psalm, Asaph seemed frustrated with how the ungodly were prospering and continuing in their ways. In verse 11, the psalmist was bothered by how God was quiet and allowing these wicked people to mock Him. They think God can’t know or see what they are doing. We hear Asaph’s shallow view of life when he envied those who are wealthy and uncaring with the world. In verse 13-14, we hear his remorse and repentance. In verses 16-16, Asaph showed reliance on his own understanding but in verse 17, he realized how different his view changed when he went to the house of the Lord. His view of this life became eternal. He prophetically saw how it will all end.
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REFLECTION
• Why do some people tend to miss seeing life in an eternal perspective?
DO NOT LET MY ENEMIES REJOICE OVER ME ILMA’S VLOG
November 1
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DO NOT LET MY ENEMIES REJOICE OVER ME
Lord, how long will You look on?
Rescue my soul from their ravages,
My only life from the lions.
18 I will give You thanks in the great congregation;
I will praise You among a mighty people.
19 Do not let those who are wrongfully my enemies rejoice over me;
Nor let those who hate me for no reason wink maliciously.
20 For they do not speak peace,
But they devise deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land.
21 They opened their mouth wide against me;
They said, “Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen it!”
22 You have seen it, LORD, do not keep silent;
Lord, do not be far from me.
23 Stir Yourself, and awake to my right
And to my cause, my God and my Lord.
24 Judge me, LORD my God, according to Your righteousness,
And do not let them rejoice over me. – Psalm 35:17-24
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In this psalm, we hear David asking God to vindicate him from his enemies It sounded like he was confronting God to take action and not have a passive stand on what is going on in his life. In verse 17, he mentions lions which probably represents the fears he was facing and how fierce his enemies were at eating him up with fear. In verse 18, he faithfully promises God that he will thank Him publicly and among His people. In verse 19, we hear David confidently requesting God to not allow his enemies to mock and make fun of him nor any of those who plot evil against him triumph over him. In verse 20, he exposes further what these evil people do, they destroy peace and seek conflict amongst those who are God’s people. Verse 21 further declares what was done to him, they have seen his weaknesses and exposed it. In verse 22, David kept pleading God not be silent anymore and to come to his rescue. In verses 23-24, he confidently call on God to defend him and to examine him according to His righteousness, reminding God to not allow the enemy to trample on him.
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REFLECTION
• Why is it important to come to God to defend us? Why can’t we fight on our own?
MY SOUL SHALL REJOICE IN THE LORD ILMA’S VLOG
October 31
________________________________________MY SOUL SHALL REJOICE IN THE LORD
So my soul shall rejoice in the LORD;
It shall rejoice in His salvation.
10 All my bones will say, “LORD, who is like You,
Who rescues the afflicted from one who is too strong for him,
And the afflicted and the poor from one who robs him?”
11 Malicious witnesses rise up;
They ask me things that I do not know.
12 They repay me evil for good,
To the bereavement of my soul.
13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled my soul with fasting,
But my prayer kept returning to me.
14 I went about as though it were my friend or brother;
I bowed down in mourning, like one who mourns for a mother.
15 But at my tumbling they rejoiced and gathered themselves together;
The afflicted people whom I did not know gathered together against me,
They slandered me without ceasing.
16 Like godless jesters at a feast,
They gnashed at me with their teeth.- Psalm 35:9-16
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In verse 9, David promised that his soul would be appropriately happy in the LORD. Spurgeon comments on this verse as “We do not triumph in the destruction of others, but in the salvation given to us of God.” Smyth (cited in Spurgeon) suggested several reasons why God might allow such a sorrowful trial.
· To humble His people.
· To cause them to seek Him in urgent prayer.
· To prevent them from pursuing the very thing falsely accused of.
· To test whether His people will rely upon Him in all things.
· To teach them how to behave toward others when they are falsely accused.
· To warn them against making false accusations against others.
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REFLECTION
• How can David still rejoice in the Lord despite all the plots of the enemy and how all these people have gathered against him?