Never alone; NEVER!!!

Have you ever felt all alone in the world: Lost and fearful of what will happen next?  Does the sheer scope of what is before you seem overwhelming and you feel SO SMALL?  To some degree, this is common to us all, for we all were once small and under the authority of others.  Even when we grew, there were still those who we obeyed and as government grows and grows, restrictions encroach upon our daily lives.  Yet, with God we are never really alone.  He is ALWAYS WITH US as this beautiful passage from the Psalms shows...

WEB: Psalms Chapter 139

[1] Yahweh, you have searched me,
and you know me.


[2] You know my sitting down and my rising up.
You perceive my thoughts from afar.


[3] You search out my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.


[4] For there is not a word on my tongue,
but, behold, Yahweh, you know it altogether.


[5] You hem me in behind and before.
You laid your hand on me.


[6] This knowledge is beyond me.
It’s lofty.
I can’t attain it.


[7] Where could I go from your Spirit?
Or where could I flee from your presence?


[8] If I ascend up into heaven, you are there.
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there!


[9] If I take the wings of the dawn,
and settle in the uttermost parts of the sea;


[10] Even there your hand will lead me,
and your right hand will hold me.


[11] If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me;
the light around me will be night;”


[12] even the darkness doesn’t hide from you,
but the night shines as the day.
The darkness is like light to you.


[13] For you formed my inmost being.
You knit me together in my mother’s womb.


[14] I will give thanks to you,
for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.


Your works are wonderful.
My soul knows that very well.


[15] My frame wasn’t hidden from you,
when I was made in secret,
woven together in the depths of the earth.


[16] Your eyes saw my body.
In your book they were all written,
the days that were ordained for me,
when as yet there were none of them.


[17] How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is their sum!


[18] If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand.
When I wake up, I am still with you.

Children grow up and move away, spouses die and our health eventually fails and we no longer exist upon this green Earth.  But GOD is always with us and knows our every desire, every thought, every action we have ever had and still loves us.  And still loves, what a thought!!!  We are never alone, no matter what the circumstances, for our loving God is there and will be forever.  Somehow the world just became smaller and a more friendly place.

Mar. 8 Exodus 18

Mar. 8

Exodus 18

Exo 18:1 Now Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, how that Yahweh had brought Israel out of Egypt.

Exo 18:2 Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, received Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her away,

Exo 18:3 and her two sons. The name of one son was Gershom, for Moses said, "I have lived as a foreigner in a foreign land".

Exo 18:4 The name of the other was Eliezer, for he said, "My father's God was my help and delivered me from Pharaoh's sword."

Exo 18:5 Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses into the wilderness where he was encamped, at the Mountain of God.

Exo 18:6 He said to Moses, I, your father-in-law Jethro, have come to you with your wife, and her two sons with her.

Exo 18:7 Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and bowed and kissed him. They asked each other of their welfare, and they came into the tent.

Exo 18:8 Moses told his father-in-law all that Yahweh had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardships that had come on them on the way, and how Yahweh delivered them.

Exo 18:9 Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which Yahweh had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians.

Exo 18:10 Jethro said, "Blessed be Yahweh, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh; who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.

Exo 18:11 Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all gods because of the thing in which they dealt arrogantly against them."

Exo 18:12 Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God. Aaron came with all of the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God.

Exo 18:13 It happened on the next day, that Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from the morning to the evening.

Exo 18:14 When Moses' father-in-law saw all that he did to the people, he said, "What is this thing that you do for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning to evening?"

Exo 18:15 Moses said to his father-in-law, "Because the people come to me to inquire of God.

Exo 18:16 When they have a matter, they come to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor, and I make them know the statutes of God, and his laws."

Exo 18:17 Moses' father-in-law said to him, "The thing that you do is not good.

Exo 18:18 You will surely wear away, both you, and this people that is with you; for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to perform it yourself alone.

Exo 18:19 Listen now to my voice. I will give you counsel, and God be with you. You represent the people before God, and bring the causes to God.

Exo 18:20 You shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and shall show them the way in which they must walk, and the work that they must do.

Exo 18:21 Moreover you shall provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God: men of truth, hating unjust gain; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

Exo 18:22 Let them judge the people at all times. It shall be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they shall judge themselves. So shall it be easier for you, and they shall share the load with you.

Exo 18:23 If you will do this thing, and God commands you so, then you will be able to endure, and all of these people also will go to their place in peace."

Exo 18:24 So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said.

Exo 18:25 Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

Exo 18:26 They judged the people at all times. They brought the hard causes to Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.

Exo 18:27 Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way into his own land.

"THE BOOK OF PSALMS" Psalm 38 - The Penitent Plea Of A Sick Man by Mark Copeland

 "THE BOOK OF PSALMS"

               Psalm 38 - The Penitent Plea Of A Sick Man

OBJECTIVES IN STUDYING THIS PSALM

1) To note the physical consequences that may often follow sin

2) To consider the connection David made between his illness and God's
   chastening for sin

SUMMARY

This is a penitential psalm, a prayer for deliverance from God's
chastening for his sins.  Physical ailments have come upon David because
of sin, which he perceived as God's righteous anger (3).  The impact of
the illness on his body was devastating (5-10).  It affected his
relationship with family and loved ones (11), while his enemies used it
as opportunity to plot against him (12,16,19-20).

The heading says "To Bring To Remembrance."  This may mean to remind God
of His mercy, as its preface here and in Psalm 70 both introduce pleas
for God to make haste in providing deliverance (cf. 22; 70:1,5).
Leupold suggests that Psalms 38 may have been written after Psalms 51
and 32, following the events surrounding David's sin with Bathsheba.
While forgiven of his sin, David was told he would still suffer
consequences (2Sa 12:10-14).  If David contracted a venereal disease
due to his sin (7), he may have viewed it as a form of chastening from
which he sought deliverance.  Whatever the nature of his illness, this
psalm is the penitent plea of a sick man who understood that he was
suffering because of his sin and God's anger.

OUTLINE

INTRODUCTORY PLEA FOR MERCY (38:1-2)

   A. THAT THE LORD NOT... (1)
      1. Rebuke him in His wrath
      2. Chasten him in His hot displeasure

   B. FOR THE LORD HAS... (2)
      1. Pierced him deeply with His arrows
      2. Pressed him down with His hand

I. THE WRETCHEDNESS OF HIS CONDITION (38:3-12)

   A. ILLNESS BECAUSE OF SIN AND GOD'S ANGER (3-10)
      1. Because of his foolish sin and God's anger...
         a. There is no soundness in his flesh, no health in his bones
         b. His iniquities are a heavy burden
         c. His wounds are foul and festering
      2. Description of his illness
         a. Troubled, bowed down greatly, mourning all day long
         b. Loins full of inflammation, no soundness in his flesh
         c. Feeble and broken, groaning because the turmoil of his heart
         d. Heart pants, strength fails him
         e. The light of his eyes has gone from him

   B. MISTREATMENT BY FRIENDS AND ENEMIES (11-12)
      1. Forsaken by those close to him
         a. Loved ones and friends stand aloof from his plague
         b. Relatives stand far off
      2. Plotted against by his enemies
         a. Those who seek his life lay snares
         b. Those who seek his hurt speak of destruction

II. THE BASIS FOR HIS HOPE THAT GOD WILL HEAR (38:13-20)

   A. OTHERWISE ENEMIES WILL REJOICE (13-16)
      1. His response to this abuse
         a. Like a deaf man he does not hear
         b. Like a mute he does not respond
      2. His hope is the Lord that He will hear
         a. Since his enemies will rejoice if he falls
         b. Since they will exalt themselves if he slips

   B. SORROW AND CONFESSION OF SIN (17-18)
      1. He is ready to fall, his sorrow continually before him
      2. He will declare his iniquity, be in anguish over his sin

   C. PERSISTENCE IN DOING GOOD (19-20)
      1. His enemies are strong, those who hate him wrongfully are
         multiplied
      2. They render evil for good, they are his adversaries because he
         follows what is good

CONCLUDING PLEA FOR HELP (38:21-22)

   A. TO NOT FORSAKE HIM NOR BE FAR FROM HIM (21)

   B. TO MAKE HASTE TO HELP HIM (22)

REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR THE PSALM

1) What are the main points of this psalm?
   - Introductory plea for mercy (1-2)
   - The wretchedness of his condition (3-12)
   - The basis for his hope that God will hear (13-20)
   - Concluding plea for help (21-22)

2) For what does David plead?  Yet what has already occurred? (1-2)
   - For God not to rebuke or chasten him in His wrath
   - The Lord's arrows have pierced him; His hand pressed him down

3) To what two things does David attribute his poor condition? (3)
   - God's anger; his own sin

4) What does David acknowledge as the cause of his "heavy burden" and
   "wounds"? (4-5)
   - His iniquities; his foolishness

5) What two descriptive phrases may imply some sort of venereal disease?
   (6-7)
   - "I am bowed down greatly"
   - "For my loins are full of inflammation" (NKJV)

6) What other symptoms does David describe? (8-10)
   - He is feeble and severely broken; he groans because of the turmoil
     of his heart
   - His heart pants, his strength fails him
   - The light of his eyes has gone from him

7) What is said of his loved ones, friends, and relatives? (11)
   - They stand afar off

8) What about those who seek his life? (12)
   - They lay snares, speak of his destruction, plan deception

9) How does David respond to this mistreatment by others? (13-14)
   - He does not hear and does not respond

10) In whom does David put his trust? (15)
   - The LORD his God

11) Upon what three things does David base his plea to be heard? (16-20)
   - Lest his enemies rejoice and exalt themselves over him
   - His sorrow and confession of his sin
   - His persistence in doing good, while others render evil for good

12) What is David's concluding plea?  How does David view the LORD?
    (21-22)
   - For God not to forsake him or be far from him; for God to help him
   - As his God and his salvation