This morning, we continue our study on Psalm 65. We have already laid out the WHO? (the people/groups/types) in this Psalm which will serve as the actors/cast in our minds as we practice bringing this passage to life. We have also already examined the WHEN/WHERE? (Environment/background/setting) which will serve as the stage and props. And we have even diverted the HOW/WHAT? (steps/storyline/order of events) that will serve as our script.

As we look at the WHY? today, there are three different perspectives that will all come into play. The first is about the WHY? within its original context — what the original participants would have been learning, sharing, etc.

WHY? ORIGINAL CONTEXT

In Psalm 65, we see David Praising God and acknowledging his own sin. And we have to realize that this was not some personal journal note written and tucked away while he pretended to be perfect. No, he wrote this Psalm to be shared publicly, with the purpose of sending it to be sung publicly. And when he talked about forgiveness of sins, David was talking about the method that God had given them for a very public and visible day of atonement and process of each family bringing a physical sacrifice to the altar.

for the life of the body is in its blood. I have given you the blood on the altar to purify you, making you right with the Lord . It is the blood, given in exchange for a life, that makes purification possible.
Leviticus 17:11 NLT

This would have been David’s original meaning for this Psalm, to celebrate the Day of Atonement that was given to Israel as part of their ceremonies and traditions. You can read about the Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16 and here: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.gotquestions.org/amp/Day-Atonement-Yom-Kippur.html

WHY? IN LIGHT OF CHRIST

Being on this side of the cross, we are privy to the gospel and the epistles to help us understand how this applies to or points to Christ.

Paul discusses atonement in the book of Hebrews:

In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.
Hebrews 9:22 NLT

Peter in his first epistle:

He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.

1 Peter 2:24 NLT

And John, in the book of Revelation:

And they sang a new song with these words: “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.
Revelation 5:9 NLT

And it is pretty important that we sing miss this point of identifying how these scriptures point to Christ, if we indeed believe His warning to the pharisees:

“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!
John 5:39 NLT

Paul echoes the importance of a Chrisst centered understanding and application of scripture in His epistle as well:

I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God.
Romans 10:2‭-‬4 NLT

The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.
Romans 8:3‭-‬4 NLT

WHY? APPLICABLE TO US

When I think of David writing and sharing publicly his awe in Almighty God’s willingness to forgive us it reminds me of one of my verses for today:

Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2 NLT

And another that makes it clear how we best do this:

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
James 5:16 NLT

So my application for today is to:

1) recognize the sin — how I have fallen short

2) confess my sin to my brothers in Christ — who will encourage me and hold me accountable and pray for me

3) remember the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross — let hope spring up

4) remember the promises of God — grow in faith

5) pray for, encourage, and serve my brothers — grow in love

6) in all things, glorify God

This isn’t a checklist that I’m going to accomplish under my own power — No! This is what I’m going to witness Christ doing in me, and through me — by the power of the Holy Spirit, by the name of Jesus Christ, and by the promises of His Word — I know this is true. May it be true for you as well. Because He is the one that has laid the foundations and established our footsteps. Amen.

January 13, 2018January 13, 2018

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[Small Group] Psalm 65 – How?

As we continue our study of Psalm 65, we continue to the question of HOW?

We gained a mental picture of our actors in the first question WHO? Then we gained a mental picture of the stage and environment in the question WHEN/WHERE?

Now we will ask the question HOW?

Our goal is to now summarize and picture what happened and the sequence of events. A good way to tackle this is to consider — If you were writing out a script and recreating this as a child would in a play or game, what is the general order of events?

Matthew Henry’s commentary ( https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/mhc/Psa/Psa_065.cfm ) says about the order of events in this Psalm:

In this psalm we are directed to give to God the glory of his power and goodness, which appear,

I. In the kingdom of grace (v. 1), hearing prayer (v. 2), pardoning sin (v. 3), satisfying the souls of the people (v. 4), protecting and supporting them (v. 5).

II. In the kingdom of Providence, fixing the mountains (v. 6), calming the sea (v. 7), preserving the regular succession of day and night (v. 8), and making the earth fruitful (v. 9-13).

And we can find other commentaries online like Scott Shauf ( https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=954 ) who says similarly:

When one surveys Psalm 65 as a whole, what is most striking is the breadth of the psalm’s subject matter.

It begins with praise to God in Zion (verse 1), a setting which continues through verse 4. Even here the topics of praise are varied, including prayer being answered (verse 2), sins being forgiven (verse 3), and the blessedness of dwelling with God (verse 4). Verse 5 turns briefly to God’s mighty acts of deliverance but then quickly moves to “the ends of the earth” and “the farthest seas.” This global setting stays in view through verse 8, asserting God’s might with references to the mountains (verse 6), the seas and the “tumult of peoples” (verse 7), and the farthest points east and west (verse 8).

Verses 9-13 maintain the focus on the earth, but the emphasis moves from God’s might to God’s bounty in the harvest, which is described in lavishly descriptive language.

So if we could summarize in our own simple words, we might say something like —

SCRIPT:

1) All praise is rightfully due to you, oh God, you are worthy to be praised and lifted high, oh Lord!

2) You hear and answer our prayers. All men must come to the One from whom all blessings flow.

3) Even though in our weakness, we have fallen victim to all kinds of sin and region against you, even though not even one of us is righteous before you in and of ourselves — in your grace and mercy you have forgiven us, you have purged us, you have atoned for us, and cast our sins away from your sight.

4) It is you who have chosen us and brought us into your presence where we could not have survived, but that we now live. In fact, we are now the very temple of your holy presence — and we are the body, the physical vessels of your will being done here on earth as it is in heaven.

5) You are the source of our salvation, and it is an awesome work that you have done in our hearts and minds and desires –as you have not only given us a firm hope, but you deliver us into righteousness and holiness that was as far from our grasp as the ends of the earth or the farthest star in the sky.

6 & 7) Your mighty power is seen not only in creation of, but also in your sovereignty over, even the mountains and the seas and even over all of mankind.

8) Those who stand back and consider the things that the Lord God Almighty has done are overcome in awe at the evidence of your presence, even if they only were to consider the rising or setting of the sun.

9-13) And the visitation of your presence, the inhabitation of your creation by the Holy Spirit of its very own creator — it births an outpouring of life — and the earth and all in it are blessed — and everything with breath in creation will sing your praises.

Obviously, my “script” that came from me identifying the HOW? is not a word by word translation, but it is something that I can understand and grasp — and when combined in my mind with the actors and stage we’ve already discussed in the previous two lessons, it can begin to take a firm shape within my mind’s eye — within what my imagination can grasp hold of more easily. And in turn, it should be something that is more easily relatable to me personally, and is something that I can more easily share with another.

Yours won’t be exactly like mine either, so there’s no copying off of someone else’s paper for this type of study. In fact, there should be enough differences in each of our scripts that we can each likely pick up on things that another person noticed as important that maybe we missed, etc. This is what makes this process so valuable and revealing in a group of people with different perspectives and gifts and seasons of life. That’s why I’m so excited to see what we all have as a group once we gather together to discuss next Wednesday night!

I believe that is enough for tonight, but I encourage you to practice this on your own. Break it down into parts that make sense to you, then put it in your own words that are still true to the heart of the message but that are also a short/quick/easy summary as if you were relaying the story second-hand to someone without a copy of the written text to reference.

Next, we will tackle the question of WHY?

January 12, 2018January 12, 2018

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[Small Group] Psalm 65 – Where/When?

Continued from yesterday: https://hballinger.com/2018/01/12/small-group-psalm-65-who/

Psalm 65 itself doesn’t outright tell us when or where David wrote this Psalm. When I come to a question that I cannot answer by myself, I remember the wise advice about seeking counsel from others that is in the Bible.

You can find a wealth of information on that topic here: https://www.openbible.info/topics/wise_counsel

In this case, we are going to look at “Commentaries”. I have various physical, paper commentaries that I keep in my beside bookshelf and in my study/office, but we are going to stick to the commentaries we can easily reference online for the benefit of us researching this together.

Don’t just read what I’ve written in this post, but follow the links I provide and walk through the process yourself. This will help you learn to do this yourself. And my goal is not to gather a bunch of people listening silently in the pews with an occasional “like” as a virtual “Amen” to my “preaching”, but my goal is for you to be a disciple yourself — a student of the Word of God — a follower of Jesus who will have an active and saving Faith and a living testimony of living, serving, and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ to all the nations.

A few great places for multiple online Bible commentaries are here:

https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/

http://biblehub.com/commentaries/

https://www.blueletterbible.org/commentaries/

Many of these sites have links to the related commentaries directly from the page when you go to the scripture itself on their sure as well.

I usually end up with Matthew Henry’s commentary first when working online because Google seems to provide his first if you search for something like “Psalm 65 commentary”: https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/mhc/Psa/Psa_065.cfm

But we can see after reading through it, that Mr. Henry gives us no clear opinion on specifically when or where David might have written this Psalm. Since David is primarily talking about the glory of God’s goodness and power and not about something in His own life, there are few clues that point to a point along the timeline of David’s life.

If we ask Google more specifically “When did David write psalm 65”, it leads us to this exposition/ commentary:

https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/treasury-of-david/psalms-65-1.html

And we can find a section with three parts that read:

Whole Psalm. The author of the Psalm is mentioned, but not the date of its composition; but from an examination of its contents, it would seem to have been intended as a song for the “day of atonement,” and for the “feast of tabernacles,” which followed immediately after. Numbers 29:7 Numbers 29:12 . The sins of the year were then “covered over,” and a thorough purification of the sanctuary was made by a special service of expiation. The labours of the year were all by that time concluded, and its fruits secured; and Israel could look on the goodness of God towards them, through its entire extent; and this Psalm was penned to serve as a fitting expression of their feelings. It opens with a reference to the “silence” that reigned in the sanctuary; to the profound, unbroken, solemn stillness that reigned within it; while, in deep abasement, the people without waited in hushed expectation the return of their high priest from the immediate presence of God, Leviticus 16:17 . It goes on to a statement of the blessedness of those who are accepted of God, and admitted to fellowship with One so unspeakably great; and concludes with a description of the various processes by which the Almighty had fitted the earth to yield a year’s supplies for his people. Dalman Hapstone, in “The Ancient Psalms in appropriate Meters… with Notes.” 1867.

Whole Psalm. We have here a psalm of thanksgiving to be sung in the Temple during a public festivity, at which the sacrifices were to be offered which had been vowed during a long and protracted drought ( Psalms 65:1-2 ). To the thanksgiving, however, for a gracious rain, and the hope of an abundant harvest ( Psalms 65:9-14 ), is added gratitude for a signal deliverance during a time of distress and commotion affecting all the nations around ( Psalms 65:7-8 ). Thus the Psalm becomes a song of praise to Jehovah as the God of history and the God of nature, alike. From the “Psalms Chronologically Arranged. By Four Friends.” 1867.

Whole Psalm. This is a charming psalm. Coming after the previous sad ones, it seems like the morning after the darkness of night. There is a dewy freshness about it, and from the ninth verse to the end there is a sweet succession of landscape pictures that remind one of the loveliness of spring; and truly it is a description, in natural figures, of that happy state of men’s minds which will be the result of the “Day spring’s visiting us from on high.” Luke 1:7-8 . O. Prescott Hiller.

The first commentary speaks more primarily to the authorship, the facts, and the likely circumstances surrounding David’s writing this Psalm. The second commentary speaks more to this Psalm’s use in religious ceremonies and how it might have fit into the “Hymnal” of the day. The last focusses on the feel and the mood and the atmosphere of the Psalm itself.

Understanding all three of these components I believe will seriously help us in creating the stage in our minds for today’s question of WHERE/WHEN? today where our actors from yesterday’s question of WHO? so that this Psalm can begin to come alive within our mind’s recreation that we are working so hard in this study to see fully manifested.

That’s probably enough for this post, but dig more into the commentaries if you like. See if you can find even more that we can consider about this stage as we are building in our mind’s eye a complete picture, in order to better understand this Psalm.

Next post, we will continue our work on the questions…

January 12, 2018January 12, 2018

hballinger1 Comment

[Small Group] Psalm 65 – WHO?

Psalm 65 (AMP)

God’s Abundant Favor to Earth and Man.

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A Song.

To You belongs silence [the submissive wonder of reverence], and [it bursts into] praise in Zion, O God;
And to You the vow shall be performed.O You who hear prayer,
To You all mankind comes.Wickedness and guilt prevail against me;
Yet as for our transgressions,
You forgive them [removing them from Your sight].

Blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near
To dwell in Your courts.
We will be filled with the goodness of Your house,
Your holy temple.

By awesome and wondrous things You answer us in righteousness, O God of our salvation,
You who are the trust and hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest sea;Who creates the mountains by His strength,
Being clothed with power,Who stills the roaring of the seas,
The roaring of their waves,
And the tumult of the peoples,So they who dwell at the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs [the evidence of Your presence].
You make the dawn and the sunset shout for joy.

You visit the earth and make it overflow [with water];
You greatly enrich it;
The stream of God is full of water;
You provide their grain, when You have prepared the earth.You water its furrows abundantly,
You smooth its ridges;
You soften it with showers,
You bless its growth.You crown the year with Your bounty,
And Your paths overflow.

The pastures of the wilderness drip [with dew],
And the hills are encircled with joy.

The meadows are clothed with flocks
And the valleys are covered with grain;
They shout for joy and they sing.

So let’s examine the WHO? of this Psalm.

I would say this Psalm has the following that should be considered while reading it:

PERSON: David, the author
PERSON: God, the creator
TYPE: Mankind, made in His likeness
TYPE: World, His creation

And as we continue our study of Psalms, David has regularly been a part of our list of people, groups, and types. We see in David’s writing this Psalm, that he clearly and he fully appreciates his position in comparison to God, the other “person”, who we also see in this Psalm:

“Wickedness and guilt prevail against me;
Yet as for our transgressions,
You forgive them [removing them from Your sight].”

This “confession of sorts” from David should establish for us something about how David sees himself in comparison to God.

Let’s look at the word prevail in that first line:

If something prevails over us, it has overcome us, it has proven itself stronger.

So David acknowledges that he is overcome by both “wickedness and guilt“ in this Amplified translation. We will see similar wording in other English translations as well.

However, the Hebrew here is a single Hebrew word:

Looking at the definition of dabar primarily pointing towards speech and words, this reminds me of something Jesus said that seems to fit in this circumstance:

The good man, from his [inner] good treasure, brings out good things; and the evil man, from his [inner] evil treasure, brings out evil things. But I tell you, on the day of judgment people will have to give an accounting for every careless or useless word they speak. For by your words [reflecting your spiritual condition] you will be justified and acquitted of the guilt of sin; and by your words [rejecting Me] you will be condemned and sentenced.”
MATTHEW 12:35‭-‬37 AMP

And it also reminds me of

But now the righteousness of God has been clearly revealed [independently and completely] apart from the Law, though it is [actually] confirmed by the Law and the [words and writings of the] Prophets. This righteousness of God comes through faith in Jesus Christ for all those [Jew or Gentile] who believe [and trust in Him and acknowledge Him as God’s Son]. There is no distinction, since all have sinned and continually fall short of the glory of God, and are being justified [declared free of the guilt of sin, made acceptable to God, and granted eternal life] as a gift by His [precious, undeserved] grace, through the redemption [the payment for our sin] which is [provided] in Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publicly [before the eyes of the world] as a [life-giving] sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation (propitiation) by His blood [to be received] through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness [which demands punishment for sin], because in His forbearance [His deliberate restraint] He passed over the sins previously committed [before Jesus’ crucifixion]. It was to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the One who justifies those who have faith in Jesus [and rely confidently on Him as Savior].
ROMANS 3:21‭-‬26 AMP

Yes, I can see here that David is not claiming his own righteousness(he just confessed that sin had prevailed over him), but he is here acknowledging that God forgives them.

David acknowledges that our transgressions (the Hebrew pesha):

We see they are purged away, covered, atoned for by the Lord:

And this is the Good News since the beginning, seen yet again here to remind us of the covenant relationship between God and His people. We are weak, but He is strong. Even when we have failed Him and not loved Him, He has still loved us and offered us His mercy and grace.

While we were still helpless [powerless to provide for our salvation], at the right time Christ died [as a substitute] for the ungodly. Now it is an extraordinary thing for one to willingly give his life even for an upright man, though perhaps for a good man [one who is noble and selfless and worthy] someone might even dare to die. But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us, by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Therefore, since we have now been justified [declared free of the guilt of sin] by His blood, [how much more certain is it that] we will be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, it is much more certain, having been reconciled, that we will be saved [from the consequences of sin] by His life [that is, we will be saved because Christ lives today].
ROMANS 5:6‭-‬10 AMP

Having addressed the two PERSONS (individuals) of the WHO? question for this Psalm (David and God), now we will talk about the TYPES that we can recognize hee as well.

We could include the world and mankind in the WHERE? question that comes later, and I believe we probably will once we get there, but I believe we should include both in the WHO? question as well, because there are things in this Psalm where there are exchanges between these two types and the Lord. There are interchanges and interactions that can be seen with each, so they play an active and participatory role as “characters in the story” and not just as the passive settings or environment in which this Psalm takes place.

For example, we see:

O You who hear prayer,
To You all mankind comes.

So “the Lord hears prayer”,

Yes this is in fact — “mankind coming in to the Lord”…

“mankind“:

“Coming in to the Lord“:

There is this interaction between God and His people – not just on a personal level as we saw particularly with David, but as a type, as “mankind” that we see as well.

We see it further played out in the relationship between mankind and God in the following verses:

Blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near
To dwell in Your courts.
We will be filled with the goodness of Your house,
Your holy temple.By awesome and wondrous things You answer us in righteousness, O God of our salvation,
You who are the trust and hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest sea;

Yes, there are ones He chooses:

And He is our salvation and our hope:

We can see this right relationship again established with our dependence upon God and not upon ourselves. We can see that this is available to all who might come:

Opening his mouth, Peter said: “Most certainly I understand now that God is not one to show partiality [to people as though Gentiles were excluded from God’s blessing], but in every nation the person who fears God and does what is right [by seeking Him] is acceptable and welcomed by Him.
ACTS 10:34‭-‬35 AMP

And our last type in our study of the WHO? of this Psalm is the World/Creation. You might have even noticed that we started out with God’s relationship to David, then to Mankind, and now to the whole of Creation — almost as if we were on a rocket ship that had departed from David’s presence and the higher we go up, the more that we see how things that once seemed individual are just parts of a greater whole.

The rest of this Psalm discusses the many ways that God not only has sovereignty and power over every facet of His creation, but that He shows favor in and through His creation:

You visit the earth and make it overflow [with water];
You greatly enrich it;
The stream of God is full of water;
You provide their grain, when You have prepared the earth.You water its furrows abundantly,
You smooth its ridges;
You soften it with showers,
You bless its growth.You crown the year with Your bounty,
And Your paths overflow.

The pastures of the wilderness drip [with dew],
And the hills are encircled with joy.

The meadows are clothed with flocks
And the valleys are covered with grain;
They shout for joy and they sing.

So that covers the WHO? question fairly reasonably for now. So we’ll continue on in our study of this Psalm later this week.

God bless you, and may He continue to reveal Himself more in His Word and in your living testimony, child of God!

January 11, 2018

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[Small Group] A New Season of Faith

We had a wonderful gathering last night at our house to kick off another season of Bible study. We discussed James 5:13-20, “The Prayer of Faith” and it was a great outline for our gathering. We enjoyed a wonderful meal, so huge thanks to Mandee and Kim for keeping us fed so well!

We shared testimonies as a group of our sufferings and rejoicings that we had gone through since pour last gathering — and how powerful we have seen the Lord moving!

We then broke up into the men gathering downstairs and the ladies upstairs and we confessed our sins to one another, shared intimately with each other, and prayed fervently for each other.

Finally, we came back together to wrap things up and come into unity of purpose and direction for the week ahead. We are so thankful for friends that are truly “family in Christ” and we love the opportunity we are given to walk through this life together, being there for each other, in prayer, encouragement, accountability, love, and service to each other.

I encourage you with this song this morning: https://youtu.be/5rvuDYP_jLY

Also, for study this week, let’s read Psalms 65-68.

Pray for the Lord to reveal His wisdom to your heart and spirit, not for you to just acquire knowledge in your mind. And pray that you won’t doubt and that it won’t be stolen away. Trust Him. He is faithful and true.

Keep a journal by your side while studying and take notes in it – not just of the answers, but anything that jumps out to you while studying.

Read through each Psalm once, all the way through.

Then ask yourself the following questions:

1) Who?

2) When/where?

3) How?(What?)

4) Why?

NOTE: With the first three, we are trying to intentionally and consciously paint a picture in our minds (or walk out a play or movie in our minds) that activates our senses and draws us in like a good movie does. This is a creative exercise for our minds, like a child’s faithful “make believe” game, not just a factual/academic exercise.

Who?
Who are the people or groups of people involved in this (author, spoken of, spoken to, playing a part in it, etc)?

When/where?
What is the background/stage/ environment for this text? What would it have looked like, felt like, smelled like, sounded like or even tasted like? If you were going to make a video to recreate this Psalm, how would you set up the stage for the actors?

How?
Can you summarize and picture what happened and the sequence of events? If you were writing out a script and recreating this as a child would in a play or game, what is the general order of events?

NOTE: Now we have stepped through the above, we will step past “just the facts” and surface level written letter “meaning” of the passage and move on to application.

The Why?

“The why inside them”
What is an underlying message or theme the people “inside the story” or the author would have been learning or teaching through this passage?

“The why through Christ”
How does knowing what we know today about the life and teachings of Christ reveal something new or additional or parallel to this passage? Is there a way that we can understand or find parallels in this passage?

“The why inside me”
If we are truly Christians at heart and not just claimed by name, we have the spirit of Christ in us. Knowing this about ourselves and knowing our identity in Christ, what does this teach us, or stir up in us, or convict us to repent of?

NOTE: This is a method of study that I use with my daughter as we read through the Bible together, and it is one of the primary and most profitable ways I have found to approach studying scripture in a way that makes it real, makes it memorable, and makes it effectively applicable for my day to day life.

This approach takes time that is still, quiet, and focused on the Word of God. I know that many of us have busy lives where God may only have had access to our left overs in the past. This is not me judging you or condemning you, I’m just speaking the truth about many times in our lives when we have let other things take priority over God and we have missed out on blessings and growth and kingdom opportunities as a result. I promise that this approach will bear riches for you of you try it. And quality is king here, not quantity. It would be better to dive into this fully committed to the method and to seeing just one passage “come alive” to you — rather than rushing through it like a last minute homework assignment so you can say to yourself that you finished all four Psalms before time to turn in your work.

If you feel stuck or stumped, walk away from the book and spend time praising the Lord for the wisdom you know He is planting in your heart through time in His Word, even if you can’t yet see the fruit of it in your mind, etc.

And let’s stay in touch with each other this week and actively pray for each other. God bless you, dear family!

Extra Credit: If you make it through this process and are still hungry for more study, feel free to then look at the questions in the Wiersbe Study guide lesson 4 to see what Wiersbe has to share with you about these four Psalms.

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
James 5:13‭-‬20 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/jas.5.13-20.ESV

November 30, 2017December 1, 2017

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[Small Group] Spiritual Training

Last Night’s Gathering – You are a blessing to us

Y’all are such a blessing to me and my family. A big thank you to those who made it in person and to those who were with us in spirit even if not in body.

This Week – Spiritual Training

This week we are going to do something different. I’m very excited about this and encourage you to slide anything else to the side and be sure not to miss this particular week’s prep and especially not miss the gathering next week.

We’ll call this week “spiritual training”. It will be a focused type of kindling/arousing/awakening the spiritual fire inside.

This week, instead of focusing on the Wiersbe guide/workbook questions, I want us to read the selection of scripture from lesson 3 (Psalms 44-47) but not go into the questions in the study guide.

Instead:

Training/Exercise

Read through Psalm 44 once, all the way through.

Then ask yourself the following questions:

1) Who?

2) When/where?

3) How?(What?)

4) Why?

Who?
Who are the people or groups of people involved in this (author, spoken of, spoken to, playing a part in it, etc)?

NOTE: Now we have stepped through the above, we will step past “just the facts” and surface level written letter “meaning” of the passage and move on to application.

The Why?

“The why inside them”
What is an underlying message or theme the people “inside the story” or the author would have been learning or teaching through this passage?

Rinse and repeat. If you now know Psalm 44 intimately and personally and you are hungry for more, move on to the next one.

NOTE: My goal is to record a video of me walking through this process with one of the Psalms for this week so you can see an example of this played out. Hopefully I can share that in the next day or so.

Next Week’s Gathering – Outpouring

I would also like to build on this “spiritual training” when we gather next week by having a short study followed by a time of “soaking” where we work those spiritual muscles we have been exercising and we allow the spiritual gifts to be active and the Lord speak to us and through us even more clearly. You can come with an expectation to see the Spirit of the Lord — “breathing life into His people”, and the “fount of living waters flowing out of our bellies”. You do not want to miss this gathering.

October 22, 2017October 27, 2017

hballinger1 Comment

[Home Group] Psalm 1 Wiersbe “BE Worshipful” Commentary

REF: “STUDY THIS” link @ https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalms+1&version=NLThttps://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalms+1&version=NLT

Be Worshipful (Psalms 1-89): Glorifying God for Who He Is (The BE Series Commentary) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1434767396/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_PI.6zbQX0EV8V

NOTE: This is a reference link/post for our small group who are going through the Wiersbe Study of Psalms this fall season. See this post

Psalm 1

The editor who placed this jewel at the beginning of the Psalms did a wise thing, for it points the way to blessing and warns about divine judgment. These are frequent themes in the Psalms. The images in this psalm would remind the reader of earlier teachings in the Old Testament. In Genesis, you find people walking with God (5:21, 24; 6:9; 17:1), the life-giving river (2:10-14), and trees and fruit (2:8-10). The law of the Lord connects the psalm with Exodus through Deuteronomy. Finding success by meditating on that law and obeying it reminds us of Joshua 1:8. The psalm presents two ways–the way of blessing and the way of judgment–which was the choice Israel had to make (Deut. 30:15, 19). Jesus used a similar image (Matt. 7:13-14). Bible history seems to be built around the concept of “two men”: the “first Adam” and the “last Adam” (Rom. 5; 1 Cor. 15:45)–Cain and Abel, Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob, David and Saul–and Bible history culminates in Christ and Antichrist. Two men, two ways, two destinies.

Psalm 1 is a wisdom psalm and focuses on God’s Word, God’s blessing on those who obey it and meditate on it, and God’s ultimate judgment on those who rebel. Wisdom psalms also wrestle with the problem of evil in the world and why God permits the prosperity of the wicked who reject His law. Other wisdom psalms include 10; 12; 15; 19; 32; 34; 37; 49–50; 52–53; 73; 78; 82; 91–92; 94; 111–112; 119; 127–128; 133; and 139. While this psalm depicts two ways, it actually describes three different persons and how they relate to the blessing of the Lord.

1. The Person Who Receives a Blessing from God (vv. 1-2). God’s covenant with Israel made it clear that He would bless their obedience and judge their disobedience (Lev. 26; Deut. 28). The word blessed is asher, the name of one of Jacob’s sons (Gen. 30:12-13). It’s plural: “O the happinesses! O the blessednesses!” The person described here met the conditions, and therefore God blessed him. If we want God’s blessing, we, too, must meet the conditions.

We must be directed by the Word (v. 1). Israel was a unique and separate people; they were among the other nations but not to be contaminated by them (Num. 23:9; Ex. 19:5-6; Deut. 32:8-10; 33:28). So it is with God’s people today: We are in the world but not of the world (John 17:11-17). We must beware of friendship with the world (James 4:4) that leads to being spotted by the world (James 1:27) and even loving the world (1 John 2:15-17). The result will be conforming to the world (Rom. 12:1-2) and, if we don’t repent, being condemned with the world (1 Cor. 11:32). Lot looked toward Sodom, pitched his tent toward Sodom, and soon moved into Sodom (Gen. 13:10-12; 14:12). Though he was a saved man (2 Peter 2:7-8), Lot lost all that he had when the Lord destroyed the cities of the plain (Gen. 18–19; 1 Cor. 3:11-23). We move into sin and disobedience gradually (see Prov. 4:14-15; 7:6ff.). If you follow the wrong counsel, then you will stand with the wrong companions and finally sit with the wrong crowd. When Jesus was arrested, Peter didn’t follow Christ’s counsel and flee from the garden (Matt. 26:31; John 16:32; 18:8) but followed and entered the high priest’s courtyard. There he stood with the enemy (John 18:15-18) and ultimately sat with them (Luke 22:55). The result was denying Christ three times. The “ungodly” are people who are willfully and persistently evil; “sinners” are those who miss the mark of God’s standards but who don’t care; the “scornful” make light of God’s laws and ridicule that which is sacred (see Prov. 1:22; 3:34; 21:24). When laughing at holy things and disobeying holy laws become entertainment, then people have reached a low level indeed.

We must be delighted with the Word (v. 2). We move from the negative in verse 1 to the positive. Delighting in the Word and meditating on the Word must go together (119:15-16, 23-24, 47-48, 77-78), for whatever we enjoy, we think about and pursue. “Meditate” in the Hebrew means “to mutter, to read in an undertone,” for Orthodox Jews speak as they read the Scriptures, meditate, and pray. God’s Word is in their mouth (Josh. 1:8). If we speak to the Lord about the Word, the Word will speak to us about the Lord. This is what is meant by “abiding in the Word” (1 John 2:14, 24). As God’s people, we should prefer God’s Word to food (119:103; Job 23:12; Jer. 15:17; Matt. 4:4; 1 Peter 2:2), sleep(119:55, 62, 147-148, 164), wealth (119:14, 72, 127, 162), and friends (119:23, 51, 95, 119). The way we treat the Bible is the way we treat Jesus Christ, for the Bible is His Word to us. The verbs in verse 1 are in the perfect tense and speak of a settled way of life, while in verse 2, “meditate” is the imperfect tense and speaks of constant practice: “He keeps meditating.”

2. The Person Who Is a Blessing (v. 3). God blesses us that we might be a blessing to others (Gen. 12:2). If the blessing stays with us, then the gifts become more important than the Giver, and this is idolatry. We are to become channels of God’s blessing to others. It’s a joy to receive a blessing but an even greater joy to be a blessing. “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).

The tree is a familiar image in Scripture, symbolizing both a kingdom (Ezek. 17:24; Dan. 4; Matt. 13:32) and an individual (52:8; 92:12-14; Prov. 11:30; Isa. 44:4; 58:11; Jer. 17:5-8; Matt. 7:15-23). Balaam saw the people of Israel as a “garden by a river” with trees in abundance (Num. 24:6). Like a tree, the godly person is alive, beautiful, fruitful, useful, and enduring. The most important part of a tree is the hidden root system that draws up water and nourishment, and the most important part of the believer’s life is the “spiritual root system” that draws on the hidden resources we have in Christ (Eph. 3:17; Col. 2:7). This is known as “abiding in Christ” (John 15:1-9).

In Scripture, water for drinking is a picture of the Spirit of God (John 7:37-39; 1 Cor. 10:4), while water for washing pictures the Word of God (Ps. 119:9; John 15:3; Eph. 5:26). Thirst for water is an image of thirst for God (42:1; 63:1; 143:6; Matt. 5:6; Rev. 22:17), and the river is often a picture of God’s provision of spiritual blessing and help for His people (36:8; 46:4; 78:16; 105:41; Ex. 17:5-6; Num. 20:9-11; Ezek. 47; Rev. 22:1-2). We can’t nourish and support ourselves; we need to be rooted in Christ and drawing upon His spiritual power. To meditate on the Word (v. 2) is one source of spiritual energy, as are prayer and fellowship with God’s people. “Religion lacks depth and volume because it is not fed by hidden springs,” wrote Alexander Maclaren.

Trees may wither and die, but the believer who abides in Christ stays fresh, green, and fruitful (see 92:12-14). “Fruit” speaks of many different blessings: winning people to Christ (Rom. 1:13), godly character (Rom. 6:22; Gal. 5:22-23), money given to the Lord’s work (Rom. 15:28), service and good works (Col. 1:10), and praise to the Lord (Heb. 13:15). It’s a tragedy when a believer ignores the “root system” and begins to wither. We must remember that the tree doesn’t eat the fruit; others eat it. We must also remember that fruit isn’t the same as “results,” because fruit has in it the seed for more fruit. Fruit comes from life, the life of God flowing in and through us.

The godly person described in verses 1-3 is surely a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to John 14:6, is the way (v. 1), the truth (v. 2), and the life (v. 3).

3. The Person Who Needs a Blessing (vv. 4-6).The first half of the psalm describes the godly person, while the last half focuses on the ungodly, the people the godly must seek to reach with the gospel. How desperately these people need to know God and receive His blessings in Christ! The wicked are pictured in many ways in Scripture, but the image here is chaff. In contrast to the righteous, who are like trees, the ungodly are dead, rootless, blown about, and destined for the fire. Chaff is worth nothing. When the grain is winnowed, the wind blows the chaff away, and what chaff remains is thrown into the fire. John the Baptist used these same images of the tree, fruit, and chaff to warn sinners to repent (Matt. 3:7-12). The wicked of this world seem rich and substantial, but from God’s point of view, they are cheap, unsubstantial, and destined for judgment. (See Ps. 73.) No wonder Jesus used the garbage dump outside Jerusalem (gehenna) as a picture of hell, because that’s where the cheap waste ends up in the fire (Mark 9:43-48). The chaff is so near the grain, but in the end, the two are separated, and the chaff is blown away or burned. But until that happens, we have the opportunity to witness to them and seek to bring them to Christ.

There is a coming day of judgment, and the Lord, the Righteous Judge, will separate the wheat from the tares, the sheep from the goats, and the trees from the chaff; and no unbeliever will be able to stand in the assembly of the righteous. The verb knows in verse 6 doesn’t mean that God is aware of them intellectually and has the godly in his mind. Rather, it means that God has chosen them and providentially watched over them and brought them finally to His glory. The word know is used, as in Amos 3:2, to mean “to choose, to enter into covenant relationship with, to be personally acquainted with.” The Jewish Publication Society translation of Amos 3:2 is “You alone have I singled out of all the families of the earth.” That same translation gives verse 6 as “For the Lordcherishes the way of the righteous.…” At the last judgment, Jesus says to the wicked, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matt. 7:23 nkjv).

This psalm begins with “blessed” and ends with “perish.” True believers are blessed in Christ (Eph. 1:3ff.). They have received God’s blessing, and they ought to be a blessing to others, especially to the chaff that will one day be thrown into the fire. Let’s seek to win as many of them as we can.

Psalm 1

What does Psalm 1 identify as the key to success? How do you personally measure true success?
According to Psalm 1, what conditions must you meet in order to be “blessed”? Are you willing to meet these conditions?
What will you do this week to be a blessing to others?

October 22, 2017October 22, 2017

hballinger1 Comment

[Home Group] Psalm 1: Follow, Join in, or Stand around with?

Oh, the joys of those who do not

follow the advice of the wicked,

or stand around with sinners,

or join in with mockers.

But they delight in the law of the Lord ,

meditating on it day and night.

They are like trees planted along the riverbank,

bearing fruit each season.

Their leaves never wither,

and they prosper in all they do.

But not the wicked!

They are like worthless chaff,

scattered by the wind.

They will be condemned at the time of judgment.

Sinners will have no place among the godly.

For the Lord watches over the path of the godly,

but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.
Psalms 1:1‭-‬6 NLT

NOTE: For the full Wiersbe commentary for this chapter, click here

Those Blessed

Verse one tells us an interesting contrast about ” the joys of those who do not…” compared to those who associate with sinners/wicked/mockers. This tells us about those blessed with wisdom and integrity to live set apart from such dark things. It is a joy that comes from a blessed life. So this verse is primarily about those who are receiving the joy of the Lord, blessings that come from a life that isn’t knee deep in filth.

Those Blessing

Verses two and three tell us not just about what is received for themselves, but what they produce. Not only are they blessed, but they reap fruit and prosperity that is a blessing to others. Their delight is not centered in the gifts and blessings God gives, but in God, as those who “delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.”

Those in Need of Blessing

Verses four and five contrast the wicked and condemned, who are neither blessed nor are a blessing to others.

The LORD

And there is another party to all of this who is made clear in verse 6, and that is the Lord. He is not only the source of the law, He is not only the source from whom all blessings flow (by His watching over the godly), but He is also the source of judgement upon those who rebel. Revelation 6:16 reminds us that it is “the wrath of the Lamb” that is poured out in judgement, and Revelation 19:15 reminds us that “He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.”

Wisdom Psalms

This chapter is considered a “Wisdom Psalm”. For more information on Wisdom Psalms, check out this video:

Why is psalm 1 a “Wisdom psalm”?

It focuses on God’s Word. It confirms God’s blessing on those who obey it and mediate on it. It confirms His abiding presence and the results of His fruit/ character/outpouring through those who abide in Him. It confirms God’s judgement on those who rebel.

It contrasts:

The Way vs broad way

Wickedness vs faithfulness

It speaks to relationships between these groups:

Wicked Sinners

Godly saints

The Lord

It speaks to either:

the foolishness of bonds and ties to the foolish and the wicked —

Or the wisdom of turning to God and being separate from the worldly.

Conditional?

Can we see a “conditional” playing out in all of this? Can we see the “if we are this, God is this towards us…” start to play out in this psalm? If we in fact believe that His Word is true, can we see how aligning ourselves incorrectly can hinder the blessings of God according to this passage?

At this point, I must interject, to reference another blog entry, because someone will read this and say “but it isn’t my perfection that I’m relying upon, but upon Christ’s righteousness — to which I say “Amen!” If this is you, click here — otherwise, continue on.

So can we agree that we want to align ourselves with the will of God, to turn and follow in the footsteps of Christ, to walk in The Way, to not hinder the Holy Spirit of God, but to reverently fear and respect God and live godly lives as children of our Father in Heaven even now?

With that settled, this Psalm instructs us to:

1) Be set apart from:

– wicked advice

– ongoing fellowship with sinners or mockers

2) Delight in the law of the Lord & meditate on it (cherish it, consider it, ponder it) day and night

3) Through abidung in and not hindering the power of the Holy Spirit, be a blessing to others

This is a great contrast to the wicked mentioned in verses 4-5.

And there are very different consequences demonstrated in verse 6 for the two different conditions laid out. Depending on the “IF”, there is a very different “THEN” that is born out in the end.

Our Responsibility to the Wicked?

So do we bear any responsibility to the wicked, if we consider ourselves the blessed and the ones bringing blessing?

I will point you to a compelling blog with reading and considering honestly: http://www.biblelineministries.org/articles/basearch.php3?action=full&mainkey=BLOOD+ON+YOUR+HANDS%3F

What practical implications should this have on our lives?

If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” But not everyone welcomes the Good News, for Isaiah the prophet said, “ Lord , who has believed our message?” So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.
Romans 10:9‭-‬17 NLT

October 19, 2017

hballingerLeave a comment

[Home Group] Study Tools

We talked tonight about several online tools that I find helpful in studying, counseling, making decisions, etc. So I’ve gathered links from several of my favorite sites (and apps), along with an explanation of how I use them.

Youversion.com/Bible.com App

This website (and especially their app) makes it easy to flip through, read, highlight, and even copy/paste sections of scripture for use in messages, Facebook posts, etc. It offers any easy drop down to switch to your favorite translation, and the app even allows you to have the whole bible downloaded for offline reading, and it even offers listening to recorded audio readings in your choice of translation that are very good quality.

Home

Open Bible Topical Search

This is a great search for finding scripture about a specific topics, for study, counseling, or whatever the purpose when you want to know what the Bible has to say about a particular topic. If you type into Google search “Bible say about willful sin” (or any other topic), the first option is probably going to be Open Bible’s topical search results on that subject. This is a heat resource, because it doesn’t give commentary, opinion, or application, it just gives you a list of related verses. Now I do suggest you then go and read that whole section of surrounding scripture and not just that one verse alone– so that you understand the context, original meaning, and right application.

https://www.openbible.info/topics/

Bible Project / Read Scripture App

Need an overall understanding of a book of the Bible or concept/thread in the Bible drawn out for you in an easier to understand graphical explanation? This group is your source for the 10,000ft view. Their smartphone app is also pretty awesome.

https://thebibleproject.com

Bible Study Tools Commentaries

This is a great resource for commentary on specific chapters and verses you are studying. If you type into Google search “Proverbs 1 commentary” (or any other book and chapter), the first option is probably going to be Matthew Henry’s whole Bible commentary from this site for that particular chapter — and if you add to the end of your Google search “Proverbs 1 commentary gill” you will probably get Gills exposition from this site as the guest result. There are also other valuable commentaries and resources on this site:

http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/

Bible Hub Parallel

This is a great resource for understanding different nuances that are a part of the translation process for varying Bible translations. If you type into Google search “biblehub proverbs 1:1” this site’s parallel result are usually the first result and you can see multiple translations of that one verse all on the same page for comparison.

http://biblehub.com/genesis/1-1.htm

Blue Letter Bible Intralinear

This is a great resource for looking into the original language and wording (Hebrew, Greek). I suggest the desktop version of this site as opposed to the mobile version. For this site, go to the main site, then enter chapter and verse or search terms and then dig in from there, once you click on a specific verse, you will see both English and original language weeds for comparison, along with strong’s concordance numbers for reference that you can click to see the original meanings for the original language. You can even see other verses in the Bible where that word was used so you understand it’s biblical context and use.

https://www.blueletterbible.org

PrayerMate App

Want to keep up with varying prayer requests and sort them into lists so you don’t forget someone’s request? Want to be able to say, give me X number of folks to pray for right now based on how much time you have and our roll through your lists fairly, eventually getting to everyone by rotating through your various lists of requests? This is your app for that!

https://www.prayermate.net

October 18, 2017October 18, 2017

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[Home Group] Book of Psalms – Intro

Tonight, we are beginning a 12 week study on the book of Psalms that meets in our house each Wednesday night at 6:30-8:00PM. This is a study for adult couples, and throughout the time that the adults meet at our house, childcare is available at The Well in Landrum, SC from 6:15-8:30PM.

Our group study guide:

The Wiersbe Bible Study Series: Psalms: Glorifying God for Who He Is https://www.amazon.com/dp/1434764877/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_t.Z5zb0S0A0ZD

“Reading Psalms” Overview