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June 13 - Evening
"I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever;
with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known
through all generations....
...You said,
'I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
I have sworn to David my servant,
"I will establish your line forever
and make your throne firm through all generations." '
The heavens praise your wonders, Lord,
your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones.
For who in the skies above can compare with the Lord?
Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings?
In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared;
he is more awesome than all who surround him....
...Once you spoke in a vision,
to your faithful people you said:
'I have bestowed strength on a warrior;
I have raised up a young man from among the people.
I have found David my servant;
with my sacred oil I have anointed him'....
...I will establish his line forever,
his throne as long as the heavens endure.
“If his sons forsake my law
and do not follow my statutes,
if they violate my decrees
and fail to keep my commands,
I will punish their sin with the rod,
their iniquity with flogging;
but I will not take my love from him,
nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.
I will not violate my covenant
or alter what my lips have uttered...
...But you have rejected, you have spurned,
you have been very angry with your anointed one.
You have renounced the covenant with your servant
and have defiled his crown in the dust...
...How long, Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your wrath burn like fire?"
- Psalms 89:1, 3-7, 19-20, 29-34, 38-39, 46 |
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| The Throne of David |
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The final psalm of Book III (Psalm 73-89) is Psalm 89, a maskil by Ethan the Ezrahite, a Levite according to 1 Chronicles 15:17 and a wise man according to 1 Kings 4:31. This Book III of the psalms has consisted of songs written by Asaph, the sons of Korah and other Levites.
This Psalm 89 is a royal psalm seeking God to honor the covenant he made with David (The Davidic Covenant of 2 Samuel 7:5-16). It appears that this psalm would have been written at time when Judah had been overrun by its enemies and the nation, or at least, the Levites were repenting and seeking restoration.
Ethan, the psalmists, seeks to remind the Lord of his own words swearing “love” (Hebrew hesed) and faithfulness to David and Israel. Words from the Davidic Covenant sworn by the Lord to David through the prophet Nathan are used several times by Ethan: “love” (hesed), “faithfulness,” “throne of David,” “David My servant,” “anointed,” and “covenant.”
Ethan begins the psalm thanking the Lord for the covenant and his faithfulness (89:1). The covenant is quoted in Psalm 89:3-4.
In Psalm 89:38-39 Israel is clearly identified as having come under divine anger and judgment and the question is asked:
“How long, Lord?...How long will your wrath burn like fire?” (89:46)
The days of wrath will end and the Lord’s favor will be restored, but not yet…Ethan, the Levites, the lineage of David and all of Israel must yet wait. But, in the end, the Lord’s faithful promise will be fulfilled and David will have a son sit and rule forever on the throne the Lord established for him. |
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"The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged
to act accordingly."
- Søren Kierkegaard |
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Atheist Richard Dawkins wrote the following in his book "The God Delusion":
"The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully."
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Fruitfulness in
your personal
ministry |
Challenging
sermons |
Congressional leaders |
Haiti |
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| Reps & Sets is a daily Bible devotional for Christians from Generation Word Bible Teaching used each morning and evening. |
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