READINGS FOR MAY 8-MAY 13

May 8

Psalm 111
This psalm, like a repeating melody begins and ends on the same note, praising the Lord, as does the reading for today.

In praising the Lord the writer uses such words as great, glorious, majestic, gracious, compassionate, faithful, just, trustworthy, steadfast, upright, holy, awesome.  So whenever we may be at a loss for words concerning praising Him, ponder these words.

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom..."
If we put Jesus in place of wisdom, then being in awe of God the Father draws us to salvation in Jesus.

Psalm 130
There is only one solution to the sin question since all our transgressions and trespasses are recorded. God has provided a sacrifice—Jesus, through whom there is redemption for all. (Revelation 20:11-15)

Psalm 131
What a beautiful picture of resting totally in His presence, stilled and quieted as a weaned child cuddled up with its mother.  Before a child is weaned he goes to his mother for life-sustaining nourishment.  After a child is weaned he goes to his mother simply because he wants to.  If we are resting totally in His presence, we are there because we want to be in addition to receiving life-sustaining nourishment.

Psalm 141
“Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.”
Boy are we getting hammered lately concerning our careless words.

We have a responsibility to fellow believers and they to us for accountability.  We must welcome as well as give godly council - easy to do when encouraging others and being encouraged ourselves, but not so easy when rebuking others or hearing rebuke from others.  However we are told, "Let a righteous man strike me - it is a kindness; let him rebuke me - it is oil on my head."

Psalm 146
There should be no exemption from the service of praising God. So long as He lets us breathe, we should bless Him for His love and goodness and mercy and grace and faithfulness. So...let's use some of those words listed at the beginning of the reading today from Psalm 111, cuddle up with Him and praise the Lord!

MAY 9

Psalm 2
Jesus has all power both in heaven and in earth, and is head over all things, no matter what kings and rulers on earth may say or think. 
"Blessed are all who take refuge in him."

Friends, take a good look at Psalm 22!
Some parts of the psalm definitely relate specifically to David's life and some parts relate to the Millennium.  But certainly David was given a vision of Jesus' crucifixion. 

Psalm 22:1
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?
These same words were spoken by Jesus from the cross.

Mark 15:34
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"-- which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Jesus is telling us to look at Psalm 22! It reads like an eyewitness account of the crucifixion. Since chapters and verses were not added to the Scriptures until the 1500s, people found passages of Scripture by quoting the first line of the scroll.  When Jesus spoke the words in Mark 15:34, He was calling the people to go to Psalm 22.  Look at what is being said in the Old Testament psalm and what is recorded in the New Testament gospel accounts. Quite a match!

“All who see me mock me; they hurl insults…”
They mocked and insulted Jesus.

Mark 15:29-32
Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!" In the  same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe." Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

Luke 23:36-37
The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself."

Psalm 22:14-15
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me.  My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.

Jesus' words...

John 19:28
Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I thirst."

Psalm 22:16, 18
Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.  They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.

Gospel words...
John 19:24
"Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's decide by lot who will get it." This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said, "They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing." So this is what the soldiers did.
John was reminding his readers that this was a literal fulfillment of Psalm 22. 

Psalm 22:17
I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me.

John 19:36-37
These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken," and, as another scripture says, "They will look on the one they have pierced."

Psalm 22:24
For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.
God may have turned His back on the sin that Jesus bore, but He did not forsake Jesus.

Psalm 22:30-31
Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn-- for he has done it.

What an encouragement to us! Tell future generations about the Lord, proclaim His righteousness! Have we, as believers in Jesus, done that today?

For more information concerning the crucifixion, see the book The Journey of Jesus - From the Manger to the Mansion by Phil and Patti Moore available on Amazon.com.

Psalm 27
"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."
Waiting is often difficult for us, isn't it?  God can use our waiting time to refresh us, renew us, and teach us.  To wait is to look eagerly for something with hopeful expectation.  Do we eagerly expect Him to refresh, renew, and teach us?

MAY 10

Psalm 45
This psalm is a wedding song and gives us a glimpse of the bride of Christ in the millennial kingdom and the eternal kingdom.  We can relate this entire psalm to the marriage relationship between Believers and Jesus.  The word daughter can be prophetic of the tribes, the sons of Jacob and the virgin companions who follow her can be prophetic of the Gentile believers.   It also is a prophetic look at the King of Kings as he rides victoriously.

Psalm 47
Psalm 47 is rather noisy with lots of clapping, shouting with cries of joy, trumpets, singing praises, etc. The prospect of the universal reign of Jesus as King of Kings is certainly worthy of that much noise!
Sounds as if this psalm was written after the temple was built.

Psalm 87
It is obvious in this psalm that God has expressed a particular affection for Jerusalem because there He met and conversed with His people and showed them the great tokens of His favor.
Rahab is mentioned in this psalm and is a poetic name for Egypt.  However, it means so much more than that.  The root word means pride and is often used as another name for Lucifer or Satan.
This concept is explained in detail in the book Diving Into Deep Things of God by Phil and Patti Moore available on Amazon.

Psalm 110
The Messiah, Jesus was promised to the people of the Old Testament.  They expected His coming. This psalm has layered prophecies and multiple meanings.

Psalm 110:1
The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."

We can read this verse in this way, "Jesus says to David, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."  David was successful in all the battles in which he allowed the Lord to lead him.

We can also read this verse in this way. "God says to Jesus: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.""

Jesus Himself quoted this verse in Matthew 22:42-45 where He was speaking to the Pharisees. They acknowledged that the Messiah would be the son of David (Jesus was from the lineage of David). Jesus quoted this verse to show them that He was a son of David and also the Son of God as Messiah. Mark records that the crowd listened to Him with delight. It seems that the crowd understood what the Pharisees refused to understand. Could it be that the crowd accepted Jesus' words with the faith of little children and the Pharisees carried around too much theological "baggage"?

How is it with us as Believers, do we carry around too much theological baggage or do we accept Jesus' words with the faith of little children?

MAY 11

We now leave the collection of psalms and return to the historical account of the life of David. Here is a record of David's family.

DAVID’S FAMILY 

WIVES                           SONS- the first 6 born in Hebron, the last 13 born in Jerusalem

1. Michal-------------------------had no children

2. Ahinoam---------------------Amnon

3. Abigal------------------------Kileab

4. Maacah-----------------------Absolom - Tamar is his sister

5. Haggith-----------------------Adonijah

6. Abital-------------------------Shephatiah

7. Elgah-------------------------Ithream

8. Bathsheba--------------------Shammua, Shobab, Nathan,  Solomon

Born to unknown wives---------   Ibhar, Elishua, Eliphelet, Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama, Eliada, Eliphelet

David had at least 10 concubines.  (2 Samuel 15:16) Sons were born to them as well, but there is no record of those sons.  2 Samuel 5:13 records that there were sons and daughters born to David in Jerusalem but scripture only records the name of Tamar, probably only because of what happened to her and the consequences that ensued.   

As David's health fails, a young beautiful virgin is brought to him to wait on him and keep him warm.  The reason the girl was a virgin is to prove later on that David had no sexual relations with her.  This way, she would be free to marry later having maintained her virginity.                                        

David’s son Adonijah (one of the sons born to him in Hebron) attempts to take over as king. When his attempted coup is thwarted and Adonijah’s supporters leave him, Adonijah “took hold of the horns of the altar”. Was he seeking the Lord’s protection by holding on to the corners of the altar?

Zadok is a prominent player.  Pay careful attention to this very important person as we continue to read about him.

Solomon is anointed king at a place called Gihon.  This is a spring near Jerusalem.

In David’s last words to his son Solomon, he tells him to destroy his enemies in order to secure peace for Solomon’s kingdom. He also mentions a man named Barzillia who was faithful to him. While he may have mentioned others that are not recorded here, this man is highly rewarded for his  faithfulness to the king.  Will we be highly rewarded for our faithfulness to THE King?

David specifically mentions Joab, who killed Abner and Amasa, and he mentions Shimei, who pelted him with stones and shouted curses upon David.  David tells Solomon to use his wisdom in dealing with these men, in effect he was telling Solomon to execute them.  David realized that he should have dealt with Joab and Shimei differently than the way that he did.  David was setting the record straight.

There is mention made in 1 Chronicles 29:29-30 of other written records; from Samuel the seer, Nathan the prophet, and Gad the seer.  Some believe that Samuel's records are found in the books of 1 and 2 Samuel. However, Samuel (of 1 and 2 Samuel) died long before David was king. So this could have been written by another Samuel. The records of Nathan the prophet and Gad the seer are not easily found.  The last known copy of Gad the seer was done in the 400s AD.  There is a difference between a seer and a prophet.  Both speak for God prophetically but most often the seer is given revelations in the form of visions.  The prophet most often is given a revelation from God, not necessarily through visions.  We can compare this to seeing something on television vs. hearing something on the radio.

As we end the entry for today, we will again make the pronouncement, "Always amazed, never surprised!"  God continues to amaze us at how He highlights verses for us - verses that we have read numerous times before as we have skimmed over some very significant ones.  Here is what was highlighted for us today.

In 2 Samuel 23 David calls himself "Israel's singer of songs."  This is what David wanted as his legacy, to be known as the poet/musician king and not the warrior king.

Also in this passage there is a great prayer for nation's leaders. (verses 3-5).  If only our leaders today would rule in righteousness and fear of God.  Verse 3 contains the words, "...the rock of Israel said to me..."  The rock of Israel is none other than Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 10:4
and all drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank of the spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.
Verses 6 and 7 are prophetic of what will happen to David's enemies and also to our enemies.  Enemies are those evil people who do not know the one true God.  They follow after Baal, Asherah, Moleck, Dagon, and many others in David's day.  They follow after Buddah, Allah, etc. today.  David is very clear what will happen to those people - they will be burned up.  He also warns us not to touch them, have no fellowship with them.

Ephesians 5:11 Take no part in and have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds and enterprises of darkness, but instead let your lives be so in contrast as to expose and reprove and convict them. 

And then right in the middle is this verse.
2 Samuel 23:5
Is not my house right with God?  Has he not made with me an everlasting covenant, arranged and secured in every part?  Will he not bring to fruition my salvation and grant me my every desire?

As we have discovered throughout the reading of the psalms, David spoke both literally and prophetically.  This verse certainly speaks to the immediate and literal details in the life of David, his kingdom, and his family.  However, it goes much deeper than that.  This speaks to the everlasting covenant WE have concerning our salvation and our future existence with God.  In eternity, we will definitely be granted our EVERY desire because our desires will be God's desires.  How could we not be granted our every desire - it's heaven!!!

MAY 12

It seems rather confusing about Solomon ordering the death of Adonijah.  All Adonijah wanted was Abishag, the Shunammite, who was the young virgin chosen to attend King David in his final days.  What was wrong with that?  Again, our cultural mindset is on modern day customs and traditions.  When Adonijah asked for Abishag, it was essentially a plot to try to overtake the throne from King Solomon.  By claiming Abishag, Adonijah was claiming part of David's harem, the same thing as trying to claim the throne.  Solomon knew this and that is why, in order to secure his throne, he had Adonijah executed.

King Solomon also ordered the deaths of Joab and Shimei.  By executing these enemies of David, Solomon insured stability for his reign.  Also, marriages between royal families was common for forming alliances between nations, insuring peaceful relations. Taking of foreign wives would be Solomon's undoing in the latter years of his reign.  Even though Solomon had the wisdom from God to make the right choices, he succumbed to worshiping the false gods of his foreign wives.

God’s Tent of Meeting…is this the original tent that Moses made in the desert? If so it is 400+ years old. Did the people replace the worn out parts or did God take care of the tent pieces like He took care of their clothes and sandals so that they didn’t wear out?

The tent of meeting was still at Gibeon but the ark of the covenant was in Jerusalem in a tent David had prepared for it.

Isn’t it amazing that Solomon could have asked for anything and yet he only asked for discernment and wisdom in order to govern the people?  The fruits of Solomon's wisdom were peace, security, and prosperity for his nation. And equally amazing that God gave him riches and honor in addition to the wisdom, even though Solomon didn’t ask for that.

BUT…even MORE amazing than that, He has promised to give us this wisdom as well.

James 1:5-6
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

There is a caveat attached however to this wisdom. We must believe and not doubt!

We may be given wisdom but we must apply that wisdom to everyday life situations. Asked God for wisdom lately?

MAY 13

Today’s reading contains some specifications for the building of the temple. Some of the descriptions are not listed which creates difficulty in finding an accurate description or model of the temple.

 King Solomon begins the building of the temple by gathering in the materials for the construction.  He speaks these words to Hiram, King of Tyre.

1 Kings 5:3
You know that because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the Lord his God until the Lord put his enemies under his feet.

There are other references in Scripture to putting enemies under feet. In the following psalm, David relates a "conversation" between God the Father and God the Son.

Psalm 110:1
A Psalm of David. Jehovah said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand until I place Your enemies as Your footstool.

God, the Father is telling us that Jesus will be sitting at His right hand until all His enemies are gone.  And when will that happen you may ask?

1 Corinthians 15:24-26
then is the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He makes to cease all rule and all authority and power  for it is right for Him to reign until He has put all the enemies under His feet.  The last enemy made to cease is death. 

All enemies are under the feet of Jesus at the end of the Millennium when the last enemy to be destroyed is death itself.   And as in the case of King David, when the enemies are gone, then the temple will be built.  In the case of Jesus, the eternal "temple" will be in the New Heaven.

Revelation 21:22  
And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty is its temple, even the Lamb.
 
Hiram responds to Solomon concerning the materials for the temple beginning with these words.
"Because the Lord loves his people, he has made you their king."
What a great compliment to Solomon!

When arranging for the building of the temple, Solomon conscripted laborers. Some of those laborers were aliens living in the land.  Notice Solomon didn't let the aliens "mooch" off the government, he put them to work.  He drafted three times the amount of labor he needed so that he could send them off to Lebanon in shifts. They would spend one month away and two months at home. Does this tell us the value Solomon placed on the family? It seems that Solomon wanted his workers happy and with their families as much as possible. I believe Solomon valued families. I heard this quote from Focus on the Family once, “The strength of a nation is in direct proportion to the strength of the family.”

How very true that is! Look what’s happening in our nation today. Is our family structure strong? Is our nation loosing face with the rest of the world? Hmmm…can we connect the dots here???

Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings to the Lord as commanded by Moses.  Specifically listed as part of the requirements were that the three annual feast days were to be honored and those feast days are named.  Many people mistakenly assume that there are seven feast days. It is very clear from Scripture that there are three feast days, not seven.  There is no record at all for seven feast days, only three.  This is found in the following verses; Exodus 23:14, Exodus 34:23, Deuteronomy 16:16, and 1 Kings 9:25.  There are other Holy Days listed in Scripture but there are three main feast days.

No hammer, chisel, or other tool was used at the temple site. No sound was to disturb the House of Prayer.

What about our places of worship now? Are there "sounds" within them that disturb God’s House of Prayer?