Psalm 98

Psa 98:1 A Psalm. O sing to Jehovah a new song; for He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have saved for Him.
Psa 98:2 Jehovah has made known His salvation; His righteousness He has unveiled to the eyes of the nations.
Psa 98:3 He has remembered His mercy and His truth toward the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of Jehovah.
Psa 98:4 Make a joyful noise to Jehovah, all the earth; breakout, and rejoice, and sing praise.
Psa 98:5 Sing to Jehovah with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm.
Psa 98:6 With trumpets and sound of a horn make a joyful noise before Jehovah, the King.
Psa 98:7 Let the sea roar, and the fullness of it; the world, and those who live in it.
Psa 98:8 Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills be joyful together
Psa 98:9 before Jehovah; for He comes to judge the earth; with righteousness He shall judge the world, and the peoples in uprightness.


This is a messianic psalm that can be applied to our lives currently. However, I can see several end times implications.

Sing a new song to the Lord! We are to sing to the Lord to celebrate His marvelous deeds. We can see in Revelation 5:9 and 14:3 that a “new song” will be sung to the Lord. In 5:9 the four living creatures and the 24 elders sing a new song , and in 14:3 the 144,000 who were sealed are the only ones to be able to sing a “new song” to the Lord.

His salvation is made known and unveiled to the eyes of the nations. That means that His salvation is available to the gentiles as well as the jews. This clearly points to Jesus Christ. We see this repeated in verse 3: “all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of Jehovah”. We are to preach the gospel to the lost. You can also see in Matt 24:14 that the end will come only after the gospel of salvation has been preached will the end come. Also in Rev 14:6 an angel proclaims the gospel to every nation and tongue and people.

We are to make a joyful noise to the Lord. Breakout into a joyful noise! Rejoice! Use the harp, horn, and trumpet. This is clearly not a docile type of praise. This is to be done with joy and gladness! Be loud, but do it with a sincerity in your spirit and a joy in your heart. We shall praise and worship God for eternity. Why wait until your earthly body expires to worship Him? When Jesus Christ sets foot on this earth, I think that there will only be two emotions to be found. The first will be of praise and worship and thankfulness for those who follow Christ. The other will be of utter despair for those who do not.

The very earth will praise God. Will the sea and the earth and the very stones cry out in joy for the Lord, and yet we remain silent? I should hope not!

Finally, Jehovah comes to judge the earth. Jesus comes to judge the earth, and with righteousness He shall judge the world and the peoples. Judge in this verse means to pass sentence. He will pass sentence in righteousness and uprightness. Our God is merciful, but justice will be done. Believers will not be condemned, for they have declared their allegiance to Christ, but they will be judged for what they have done to further the kingdom. Rewards will be given out for what we have done for the Lord. Unbelievers will be judged in their sin and condemned to the lake of fire. When Christ comes down, there is no changing your mind – it will be too late to tell Jesus that you believe in Him.

The time to sing a new song to God is now!

===

FP adds the following commentary:

He shall judge the world and the peoples in uprightness....

Uprightness= Righteousness

The Apostle Paul says that not one of us is Righteous.
Some are self-righteous--they think they are perfect on their own- not true of course. "I used to be conceited, but now I'm perfect"---joking of course, old joke.

God will judge each person the right way. He is perfect Righteousness Himself. His son Jesus likewise was perfectly "right" with God. Only by covering ourselves with the Tunic of Christ can we go past the Judgment seat and see Heaven. [It is the blood shed by Christ that is our cloak] Life is like Monopoly, the blood of Christ is our "get out of jail [hell] for free card". Free for us, but crucifixion was not free for Jesus, was it??

It is written that the Blood of Christ cleanses us from all unrighteousness. Jesus knocks, we answer yes or no. He gives the cloak if we will take it. Judgment without the cloak of Christ leads only to outer darkness-hell.

Thanks be to God for being so smart to send his son Jesus to provide us a means of Grace-unmerited favor and righteousness through our following Jesus- Taking up the Cross of Christ and becoming regenerated thru Him.

Good News for those that believe.

Real bad news for those that do not. That's the Hell of it.

People dying and coming back somehow [near death] report one of two things:

A bright light ahead with Joy attached: ie Heaven

Or

A dark tunnel of depression with no light and much wailing... ie Hell
God has given plenty of warning in the Bible- which most folks laugh at and ignore. He has also given these near Death Glimpses and also some miracles, which ought to be enough to get our attention. God did not get mine until I was 36 years old. Strange aint it.!!

Psalm 97

Psa 97:1 Jehovah reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of islands be glad.
Psa 97:2 Clouds and darkness are all around Him; righteousness and judgment are the foundation of His throne.
Psa 97:3 A fire goes before Him and burns up His enemies round about.
Psa 97:4 His lightnings lit up the world; the earth saw and trembled.
Psa 97:5 The hills melted like wax at the presence of Jehovah, at the presence of Jehovah of the whole earth.
Psa 97:6 The heavens declare His righteousness, and all the people see His glory.
Psa 97:7 All those who serve graven images are ashamed, those who boast themselves in idols; all gods bow down before Him.
Psa 97:8 Zion heard and was glad; and the daughters of Judah rejoiced because of Your judgments, O Jehovah.
Psa 97:9 For You, Jehovah, are high above all the earth; You are lifted on high far above all gods.
Psa 97:10 You who love Jehovah, hate evil; He keeps the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.
Psa 97:11 Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.
Psa 97:12 Rejoice in Jehovah, righteous ones; and give thanks at the memory of His holiness.



God reigns supreme!

We are protected by a God that is high above all the earth (vs 9). All other “gods” will bow before the one true God, and all who serve graven images and idols will be ashamed before Jehovah.

Whoever loves the Lord should hate evil. Does that mean that we should “hate” people? No. But it does mean that we are not to compromise with evil or allow for evil to continue unchallenged. Evil will only grow worse in these last days until Jesus Christ returns.

The good news, though, is that God will preserve our souls in the face of evil (persecution). This does not mean that He will necessarily physically protect us, but He does protect us spiritually.

Verse 9 says that light is sown for the righteous. Remember that Jesus is a light to the world, and Gods word is a lamp unto our feet (lighting our way). We are to be sources of light to a world that is lost in darkness. Are we shining our light for the world to see?

The psalm closes with instructions for the righteous to rejoice in Jehovah. How can we not rejoice in our God? Having been separated by sin from our creator, He supplied the way for us to regain our righteousness through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection from the dead.

Praise God indeed for He does reign supreme!

===

FP adds the following commentary

The hills melted like wax at the presence of Jehovah.....

There are times in the life of the believer when the awesome presence of God is really felt. I love the song 'We shall behold him....our Savior and Lord'. We will be in His presence for eternity which will be truly awesome indeed!! Imagine if you can the great worship and singing in Heaven. "We will dance on the streets that are golden...."

The presence of God is felt today thru Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The great joy in praising God and feeling His presence. Our cup becomes overflowing when God anoints us with His Holy Spirit and gives us His grace and mercy. The presence is hard to describe to others: a warmth, a closeness, a glimpse into the kingdom, revelation, joy, peace, comfort, contentment, security, trust. A feeling of belonging to God...Jesus said that we as His sheep hear and know His voice.

Liberated and at peace with God; I love the picture of the momma bird sitting serenely on her nest which is perched just inside the flow of water of a great waterfall. Only the presence of God gives us that kind of peace.

The awesome peace and presence of our God...........

Sing the song: "Our God is an awesome God, He reigns in Heaven above!!"

Psalm 96

Psa 96:1 Oh sing to Jehovah a new song; sing to Jehovah, all the earth.
Psa 96:2 Sing to Jehovah, bless His name; show forth His salvation from day to day.
Psa 96:3 Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all people.
Psa 96:4 For Jehovah is great, and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods.
Psa 96:5 For all the gods of the nations are idols; but Jehovah made the heavens.
Psa 96:6 Honor and majesty are before Him; strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
Psa 96:7 Give to Jehovah, O families of the people; give to Jehovah glory and strength.
Psa 96:8 Give to Jehovah the glory due to His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts.
Psa 96:9 O worship Jehovah in the beauty of holiness; fear before Him, all the earth.
Psa 96:10 Say among the nations, Jehovah reigns; and the world shall be established; it shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples in uprightness.
Psa 96:11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fullness of it.
Psa 96:12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it; then shall all the trees of the forest rejoice
Psa 96:13 before Jehovah; for He comes, for He comes to judge the earth; He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His truth.


All the earth is to sing praises to God. They are to sing “day to day”, which means all the time. All other gods are idols, but Jehovah is the one true God who made the heavens. Notice that verse 7 says “O families of the people”. This indicates that we are to come before the Lord as a family, in unison. We are to give Him the glory that is due His name. We are to render unto Him that which is His due. We were made to worship Him. We should worship Him in “the beauty of holiness”. How can we be beautiful and holy? Only through Jesus Christ. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, He adorns us with a garment of righteousness, pure and spotless. This is the only way we can be beautiful and holy in the eyes of a righteous God.

We are to say among the nations, Jehovah reigns. It is not enough for us to simply worship God, but we are to worship God out among the nations (the unbelievers), and to let them know that He reigns supreme. He shall judge the peoples in uprightness. The word for “judge” in this verse is not like a judge at a trial, but He will be like the judges of Israel (ie: Sampson & Gideon), a ruler. However, God will rule the people as only God will be able to. Verses 96:11 & 12 show how all of creation will rejoice before God.

Finally “He comes”. Not once, but twice “He comes, for He comes to judge the earth”. When you see the writers of the bible indicate something twice in a row, it is to drive home the message, and to indicate that this is a “sure thing”. The Hebrew for “He comes” actually indicates a nearness of the event. It is soon to happen – it is not far off in time.

God is coming.

He is coming to judge the world with righteousness and truth.

===

FP adds the following commentary:

A great chapter urging the believer to sing and show great joy for all of the works of the Lord.

Verse 2: The proclamation of God's salvation The Good News of the Gospel and salvation by grace thru Jesus. This is of key importance to me. Our testimony wherever and whenever we give it is part of that proclamation. This is a way we sow the good seed.

Great is the Lord and worthy of our praise!!

Psalm 95

Psa 95:1 Oh come, let us sing to Jehovah; let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation.
Psa 95:2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise to Him with psalms.
Psa 95:3 For Jehovah is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
Psa 95:4 In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the strength of the hills is also His.
Psa 95:5 The sea is His, and He made it, and His hands formed the dry land.
Psa 95:6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before Jehovah our maker.
Psa 95:7 For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand. Today if you will hear His voice,
Psa 95:8 harden not your heart, as in the day of strife, as in the day of testing in the wilderness;
Psa 95:9 when your fathers tempted Me, tested Me, and saw My work.
Psa 95:10 For forty years I was grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they have not known My ways;
Psa 95:11 to whom I swore in My wrath that they should not enter into My rest.


The one thing that really jumped out at me was that this psalm is pretty much divided into two sections:
One, an invitation to praise God (1-7).
Two, a warning not to let your heart harden (8-11).

Note how the invitation ending in verse seven flows into the warning beginning in verse 8: "Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your heart..."

God calls out to us to worship Him. We were created to worship Him.

How often do we hear Him calling to us, and we let our heart turn away? We're too busy, it's a bad time, I'd be embarassed, It'd be too expensive. Every time we turn away from worshipping God, our heart gets a little bit harder, a little more caloused. The more caloused you become, the easier it is to ignore the tug of the Lord. The more you ignore the tug of the Lord, the more caloused your heart becomes.

Do you see the vicious cycle it creates?

Jesus Christ can break that cycle, but we have to turn to Him. We have to make a conscious decision to allow Him to work in our lives.

====

FP adds the following commentary:

There is much that could be said of this Psalm. I will comment just on one area that has been laid upon my heart.

True worship of our Lord must come from the deepest places of our heart. It is genuine, not forced, not pretended, and not unduly restrained. Joy in the Lord reveals fervent love and praise. Also at times, tears- joy and repentance.

This Psalm encourages an open expression of love and joy for the Lord Jesus.

My meditation of this took me to Luke 19:36-40. Jesus was being led into town on a young donkey and folks were being openly vocal and praising the Lord. Jesus was asked by the Religious Leaders to rebuke those praising Him. He told the Pharisees that the very rocks would cry out if he told his disciples to be quiet.

Jesus tells us that honest worship should not be silenced, should not be stifled.

Those that read the words of Christ and do not hear the Rocks crying out are deaf indeed. Many in churches today do not see or hear the admonitions that Christ has left us; that troubles me much as you know. Jesus did little in places where unbelief flourished.

Jesus said that in the future, meaning us, that the true worshipers would worship God in Spirit and Truth.

Without the Holy Spirit, we cannot hear the very Rocks cry out, can we? The Holy Spirit is not a visitor. The indwelling Holy Spirit gives us the Joy, the Discernment, the Longing for our Lord.

Jesus is the Cornerstone, the one that the Builders rejected.

A cold hard heart goes along with spiritual deafness and blindness. I have been in bible studies where the Nth degree of the law is discussed, but the spiritual meat is totally left out. Discernment comes from the Holy Spirit. I believe that lack of discernment is invasive in the body of Christ. Seeing without perceiving, hearing without understanding, practicing religion without praising, and you know the rest....

The very rocks are crying out…

"I Thirst"

Terri Schiavo is in my prayers, but I have a "bad feeling" about this situation.

I find it ironic that one of Jesus' last words were "I thirst", and that is specifically what Terri is dying from (dehydration). It is a particularly gruesome and gruelling ordeal that she is going through right now, and it is highlighted all the more as this is Good Friday. The day that Jesus Christ died on the cross.

Try going one day without a drink and you will only get a small glimpse of what Terri is going through, and what she is going through is only a small portion of a small fragment of what Jesus endured on the cross on our behalf.

I fear that this "incident" is a telling indicator of where our country's focus and direction is turning. We are moving away from God, and as such our country will suffer a great "I thirst". It will not be a thirst for water, however, but a thirst for the word of God.

Amos 8:11-13 Behold, the days come, says the Lord Jehovah, that I will send a famine in the land; not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the Words of Jehovah. And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the Word of Jehovah, and shall not find it. In that day the beautiful virgins and the young men shall faint for thirst.