Poor and Needy- Psalm 40

 Poor and Needy- Psalm 40

May 15, 2025

Our pastor was teaching on Psalm 40 last night. This has always been one of my favorite psalms but he was able to bring out some new thoughts on it. One is the difficulty in translating the original languages into modern English. He was using the New Living Translation, which flows more smoothly with contemporary language, but which can miss some of the subtle meaning of the original Hebrew. A case in point is found in the final verses of the psalm.

Psalm 40:16-17 NLT

16 But may all who search for you

be filled with joy and gladness in you.

May those who love your salvation repeatedly shout, “The LORD is great!”

17 As for me, since I am poor ^h6041 and needy ^h0034 , let the Lord keep me in his thoughts.

You are my helper and my savior.

O my God, do not delay.

A comparison with the New American Standard Bible is helpful:

Psalms 40:16-17 NASB

16 Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;

Let those who love Your salvation say continually,

“The LORD be magnified!”

17 Since I am afflicted and needy,

Let the Lord be mindful of me.

You are my help and my deliverer;

Do not delay, O my God.

The difficulty is the use of “poor and needy” in verse 17. King David was never financially poor. Even as a child, he was a shepherd, but the flocks belonged to his father, then as an adult he became king. So in what respects was he “poor and needy”? The NASB is a bit better as it translates this as “afflicted and needy”. The Hebrew words are “ani”and “ebyon”:

h6041. עָנִי ani; from 6031a; poor, afflicted, humble:--

h0034. אֶבְיוֹן ebyon; from 14; in want, needy, poor:--

This is similar to “poor in spirit” used in the beatitudes:

Mt 5:3- blessed are the poor g4434 in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

g4434. πτωχός ptōchos ; adj. from πτώσσω ptōssō (to crouch, cower); (of one who crouches and cowers, hence) beggarly, poor:--

The sense here is that even in the midst of trials and tribulations, be should have a humble attitude and rejoice in the Lord who will deliver you. No matter the problem, our Lord is able to save. We need to say continually “The Lord be magnified”, regardless of the circumstances of life. An attitude of gratitude will help raise us up out of that pit of miry clay (verse 2) and set our feet on the Rock where we can proclaim the Lord’s goodness to all who will hear. Like Paul and Silas singing hymns while in prison, praise and thanksgiving will lift up our spirit and break the chains that bind us. Who knows what that can mean to those around us who hear us praising God in dire circumstances. In the case of Paul and Silas the jailer and all his family got saved. So don’t look down at your circumstances, but look up to the Lord and praise the One who is your help and your deliverer.

God Knows You

 God Knows You

May 13, 2025

Psalms 139:1-24 (NASB95) 1 For the choir director. A Psalm of David. 

O LORD, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. 3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all. 5 You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it. 7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” 12 Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. 13 For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; 16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. 17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You. 19 O that You would slay the wicked, O God; Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed. 20 For they speak against You wickedly, And Your enemies take Your name in vain. 21 Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? 22 I hate them with the utmost hatred; They have become my enemies. 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; 24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.

Yesterday we talked about knowing God so today we will look at how God knows you. Psalm 139 opens with the statement, “You have searched me and known me.” And goes in to list all the ways the pat the Lord knows you. In verse 13 and 14 it even describes how the Lord knows you before you were even born. Truly, the Lord knows you more than anyone else, and indeed knows you better than you know yourself. Therefore, in our quest to know God, we need to allow Him to search our hearts to clean out anything that gets in the way of serving the Lord.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; 24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me inthe everlasting way.

Knowing God

 Knowing God

May 12, 2025

Matthew 7:15-23 + A Tree and Its Fruit

15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will know them by their fruits.

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heavenwill enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

This passage always causes me some anxiety. You can say you know God but how do you know that He knows you? And you can see someone perform signed and wonders, but how to you know he is not a false prophet? I’ve always been performance oriented. I did well in school and got good grades, and I did well at work at got awards and a good salary. But in the spiritual, getting rewarded for good works is not sufficient to prove that God knows you. So how do you really know?

According to Jesus, the proof is not in the preaching, prophesying, deliverance or miracles but is in the fruit. The obvious signs can be instantaneous, but fruit needs a whole season to develop. For some fruit trees, the first season lasts several years, but then a mature tree should yield fruit annually. So are you a fruit inspector? Can you tell good fruit from bad? Galatians give us a few things to look for in good fruit.

Galatians 5:22-23

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things thereis no law.

Usually, it is not too hard to see these things in someone else, but how do you know that you yourself are bearing good fruit? I’m not aware of a foolproof method, but I think that children and dogs are a good indicator. When you run across an old guy with a mean dog, you can be pretty sure that he is producing bad fruit! And anyone who makes children nervous and wary is suspect as well. Anyway, we should strive to know God and dwell in His presence, and in time we should see good fruit develop. It’s not really something you can ask for immediately. They always say that you shouldn’t pray for patience, for surely the Lord will send a trial to teach you patient endurance! But if you spend time with the Lord, getting to know Him, you will show the signs of that in the fruit that you develop. So pray that the Lord’s presence and grace would be with you and let someone else judge your fruit.

Bind Up the Brokenhearted

 Bind up the Brokenhearted

May 9, 2025

Isaiah 61:1-2(NASB95) 

1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bindup the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners;

 2To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn,

Luke 4:16-21 (NASB95) 

16And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. 17 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, 

18 “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, 19 TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.” 

20And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

When Jesus first started his public ministry, one of the first things he did was read this passage from the Prophet Isaiah in his home town synagogue. He announced to his long time friends and family that this verse was about his mission in life. The story goes on to say that they did not receive this message gladly, to say the least, but this verse did indeed describe the work that Jesus was about to do. Those of us who believe in Jesus accept this. We may think it was the natural thing for Jesus to do since He was the Messiah, the one called to this ministry. But what about yourself? Jesus taught that we would do the same things that He did and even greater works. Do you accept that you are called to bind up the brokenhearted and set the captives free? It’s easier to believe that someone else can do this but do you believe that this verse also applies to you?

We are just finishing up a class at church where we are teaching the basic principles of healing and deliverance. We believe that just as Jesus sent out the disciples two by two, He also sends us out to heal the sick, bind up the brokenhearted and proclaim liberty to the captives. This is a type of intercession whereby we pray with people that they learn to accept the love of the Father, experience the healing power of the Name of Jesus, and are set free by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the Great Physician and we are His ministers. Today, if you are brokenhearted, ill or oppressed in any way, call upon the name of the Lord that you may be healed. And seek out a fellow believer that can pray with you. Jesus wants you to live in freedom.

Apple of My Eye

 Apple of My Eye

May 7, 2025

Proverbs 7:1-4 (NASB95) 

1 My son, keep my words And treasure my commandments within you. 2 Keep my commandments and live, And my teaching as the apple of your eye. 3 Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” And call understanding your intimate friend;

Psalms 17:8-9 (NASB95) 

8 Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me in the shadow of Your wings 9 From the wicked who despoil me, My deadly enemies who surround me.

Zechariah 2:8 (KJV)

Forthus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.

Lamentations 2:18 (KJV)

Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease.

I ran across an interesting phrase in this morning’s proverb, “Keep… my teaching as the apple of your eye.” So what is the apple of your eye? The translation notes on this verse explain that this means the pupil of your eye. But why is it so important that this phrase is used four times in the Bible? Perhaps it relates to the importance of the eye. Jesus taught on this in Matthew 6:

Matthew 6:22-23 (NASB95) 22 

“The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. 23 “But if your eye is bad, your wholebody will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

If the eye is the lamp of the body, then the apple of your eye is the central feature that lets the light in. A few years ago, I developed cataracts. This is a condition where the lens of the eye grows cloudy and doesn’t let the light in. Everything starts to become dim and blurry. When you can’t see, your don’t know where to go. “When your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness”, to quote Jesus.

Thus you can see why the writers of the Bible would place great importance on protecting the apple of the eye. The psalmist cries, “Keep me as the apple of the eye…” There are enemies all around and I need to see clearly. As the writer of Proverb says, I need to keep the Lord’s teachings as the apple of my eye; keep my focus on what the Spirit is saying to me. I need to see clearly the direction that the Lord has for my life; His direction for today.

Therefore, Lord, keep me as the apple of your eye. Let me see clearly your will for my life today. Let me see and comprehend the schemes of the enemy so that I may not be led astray. Let me see clearly the path around the evil plans of the evil one that I may walk in your ways. In these days we need to see clearly because deception, “fake news”, is all around. We need to discern the truth and teach those around us the truth as well. So, keep me as the apple of Your eye and hide me in the shadow of Your wings.

The Sons of Koran have set Psalm 17 to music, which is quite interesting:

https://youtu.be/MjazfFvqsig?si=GOB7DsIYzgFnWPH5

Goodness and Mercy

 Goodness and Mercy

May 5, 2025

Psalms 23:5-6 (NASB95) 

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness(mercy) will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

This verse at the end of the twenty third psalm reminds me of a story that one of my missionary friends told about a church in Guatemala. We had been to this church many times and had built a church and homes in a walled compound. The pastor was a local man who was a veteran of the civil wars in Guatemala. He preached the gospel fearlessly and the church was growing. This upset the local shaman, witch doctor. He threatened the pastor many times and his followers had vowed to kill the pastor.

One day, some of the elders of the church were in the village and saw the disciples of the shaman. They confronted them saying, “You have threatened to kill our pastor many times, but why have you never done anything ?”  The witch doctors men answered, “Oh, we will, as soon as those two, tall men with swords, who guard the entrance of the church compound every night, leave!” The elders went back to the pastor rejoicing, because there were no humans guarding the pastor. “Surely Goodness and Mercy will follow me all the days of my life.” That’s when I learned that there are two big angels named Goodness and Mercy!

A Clean Heart

 Give Me a Clean Heart

May 3, 2025

Psalms 51:1-2

1 Have mercy upon me, O God,

According to Your lovingkindness;

According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,

Blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

And cleanse me from my sin.

Psalms 51:10

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,

Andrenew a steadfast spirit within me.