2 Chronicles 7:11-14 God's Place

Have any of you ever received an email forward? What about the ones that have something to do with religion, or the Bible? Like if you pass this along to 24 people and pray then you will see the face of Jesus in your closet door when you go to sleep tonight. That last one is a little out there, but I have seen similar forwards in my past.

Our First reaction is to read them, and really no matter what else it may say we remember that it has scripture in it, or it talks about God, and usually in a good way, or it's one of those trying to convince people to put prayer back in school. I hate to burst their bubble, but prayer will always be in school. Like a sticker that used to be on my English teacher's desk read, "As long as there are tests in school, there will be prayer in school."

So we get these emails and we read them, and sometimes if they are really good we send them on to other people that we know will enjoy them. Let me read you one that a friend of mine sent me this week. I usually don't even open forwards, but I hadn't received an email from this person in a long time so I figured it might be something worth reading. As you turn in your copy of God's word I'm going to read to you what my friend emailed to me:

Some folks passing through Texarkana last week noted signs in people's yards that said, " America, prayer is our only hope" with 2 Chronicles 7:14 underneath. We certainly need God's help!

I have no idea who started this, but I certainly agree with this e-mail. I heard a preacher say "if we pray for our nation, things will turn around".

I have decided to reach out to my friends and relatives and ask you to do something that has been troubling me for a long time.

Our nation is/has been on the slippery slope for a long time. If you look around you will find corruption, greed, moral decay, and a steady move away from the things that made us great. The principles upon which this nation was founded are no longer our backbone. However, we can reverse this trend.

2 Chronicles 7:14 in God's word he states, "If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their Land."

I am convinced that we must pray for our nation and its leaders and ask for forgiveness S o I ask you to join me in this plea to our Lord.

Would you please send this to people in your address book (send it to all believers); ask them to pray EVERYDAY.

25 to only the 5th power is 9,765,625 people. IMAGINE if each person reaches TEN others...or all TWENTY FIVE!

If you do and they comply, we will lift up millions and millions of prayers a day to our Creator. He will hear, and will answer.

Let me just add a quote from Ronald Reagan "If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under." I truly believe this is why the United States of America is in the shape we are in today. Most people have forgotten that we are one nation under God! Let us as Christians stand up and remind people of this. ~ Have a blessed day!

Now upon reading that it sounds great right? It does. It makes you feel that if all Americans bind together and pray then by the power of prayer we can change our country.

1. Prayer can change anything, don't ever think otherwise.

2. But just because we are Americans doesn't mean we are all Christians.

Let's look at what Scripture has to say.

God came to Solomon

(v.11) Solomon had finished the temple

Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king's palace, and successfully completed all that he had planned on doing in the house of the Lord and In his palace.

You can go back to 2 Samuel 6 and see where David, Solomon's father, had brought the Ark of the covenant back to the Jerusalem, and was making plans to build a temple. Further reading shows us that David never built the temple but Solomon was left to finish this task.

Now if we look at the end of Chapter 6 of 2 Chronicles (verses 40-42) we can see Solomon has prepared a sacrifice for God and he is praying that he accept not only the sacrifice but the temple that has been constructed. After he prayed God sent fire down and consumed the offering and filled the temple with His glory, so much that the priests of the temple couldn't enter the temple. (2 Chronicles 7:1-3)

After the priests are able to go back into the temple we find that Solomon is beginning to prepare another sacrifice to God, this time it is one all the people can partake in. This sacrifice is one of giving thanks to God for finding the temple suitable enough for His presence to dwell. (7:4-5)

This sacrifice is one that incorporates everyone there, and it is one that shows their willingness to God and that shows how they are fully relying on Him.

• The temple is completed
  
• The sacrifice is excepted
• The Israelites bring a willing sacrifice to God
  

Next Solomon goes and talks with God. God reaffirms that He will dwell in the temple. (v.12)

God will always be there

(v.13-14) If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

If He cuts off the rain

If He sends locusts

And the people realize they must go to God in humility

God knows that right now the people of Israel are very close to Him in their spiritual walk. They are in the presence of God, Yahweh. They realize no matter what happens in their life, they can go to God and He will always be there.

He will heal them, and forgive them, and restore their land.

For us New Testament Christians we must understand that our sacrifice has be accepted (Christ's Death) and that allows us to be in God's presence. We don't have to do any work on the part of sacrifice it has all been taken care of for us. If we are going to continually be in the presence of God we need to go to Him first. Not our best friend, or a family member, Him.

If things don't go our way, or we find ourselves in circumstances we don't necessarily like, or aren't good for us, we need to first go to God.

When God said , "My people" at this time he was talking about the Israelites. Because we understand that Christ died for all of our sins we have become adopted sons and daughters of God. ( Galatians 4) We are all a part of God's family, but we are under the new covenant. This is one difference we have to understand. The Israelites' religion and nationality was one and the same. For us we can be any nationality, and be a Christian. That is just one of the freedoms we have through Christ.

God wants us to understand, "if" He decides to make all these things happen, He wants us to come to Him.The Israelites used the land for everything, everyday. It was their livelihood. God was honoring the Israelites, because they were honoring Him. If he allowed these things to happen to them He would honor their requests, but they would first have to come to Him in humility.

So many times this scripture is misinterpreted by people, especially Americans. We are so arrogant to think that " heal their land" refers to America. You say, " Well we are God's people." Yes we are and if you know Christ as your personal Lord and Savior then we are children of God. But unlike the Israelites, which their nationality and religion are one, we are Christians but we don't have to be Americans.

For years people growing up in America, with a church on every corner, believed that because we have " In God We Trust" on the money, then We are automatically a Christian nation. We are blessed to live in a country that had Christian men digging the foundation and if we took that foundation, aka a relationship with Christ, seriously then we would start seeing some changes in our country. The only way that God will truly heal America is if we all pray for our officials, and leaders to come to know who Christ is and let that show in their lives.

The same goes for us, no we might not be president, or a congressman, but we are first and most importantly Christians. It doesn't matter who our family is, what sports we play, even what we like and dislike our opinions do not matter. All that matters is Christ, and if we all took our relationship with Him seriously, then we would all seek Him in every decision that we make.

We have to prepare a place for Him , accept the sacrifice that He has prepared for us, so that His presence can dwell in our life. This is not limited to just one people group, but is open to everyone through the power of Christ, which came to earth in the form of a babe, but was fully shown through the cross.

So ask yourself these two questions:

Have you prepared a place for Him? Is He pleased with it?

Studying the Psalms: God’s Playlist

 

• When we start reading/ studying the book of Psalm we must look at it in the context of it being a text that was written over 2000 years ago, but it is still the most read, and most used Old Testament book.
  
• The Psalms express every emotion from joy to despair, from hate to love.
  

  
   

• Martin Luther said this:
      
  
  • This explains, moreover, why the Psalter is the favorite book of all the saints, and why each one of them, whatever his circumstances may be, finds in it psalms and words which are appropriate to the circumstances in which he finds himself and meet his needs as adequately as if they were composed exclusively for his sake.
    

 

• Most readers will be able to remember Psalm 23, or Psalm 100 or Psalm 119
  

  
   

• The Psalms also have helped influence history and theology.
  

 

The Setting of the Psalter

One of the most crucial parts of studying the Psalms is knowing the setting of the text. Psalms are all through the OT. For example: Exodus15:1-18 (Read1-3)

The Psalm conveys the people's faith and helps them define and understand their encounter with God at the high point in their history.

Judges 5:1-31

1 Samuel 2:1-10

Jonah 2:2-9

Jeremiah 20:7-18

 

People used Psalms while on Pilgrimage

Common Travelling Ps. 122:1

Faith Journey

 

Prayer of lamentation to Ishtar, The Queen of Heaven compared to Psalm 13.

The largest and most distinctive difference between Hebrew psalms and Ancient Near Eastern Text, is the use of the word Yahweh for Lord. Ps. 29:10

Psalms call for belief in Yahweh rather than the Canaanite deities.

 

Overview of The Setting of the Psalter

 

Up to this point, the OT setting of psalms and the ANET setting of the OT have suggested a starting point for reading psalms- understanding them as pilgrimage songs of faith. The songs help explain, encourage, and define belief in Yahweh.

The Shape of the Psalter

The word psalm is translated from the Greek: a song performed to the accompaniment of stringed instruments.

Psalter: Latin, indicating the stringed instrument used to accompany the songs

Hebrew: Book of Praises.

 

• There are 5 divisions of the Book of Psalms
  
  • Book I            Pss 1-41
    
  • Book II            Pss 42-72
    
  • Book III            Pss 73-89
    
  • Book IV        Pss 90-106
    
  • Book V            Pss 107-150
    

    
     

• One thing that each book has in common is that they all end with a benediction:
  
  • (ex. Psalm 41:13)
    

    
     

• Out of the 150 Psalms 116 have superscriptions (brief titles written just above the text)
  
  • Many people don't think that these are original to the text, but it's one of those things we don't know and won't while we are here on earth. But they are still important because they give us the insight as to how the Israelites interpreted the Psalms.
    
  • The superscriptions vary but often contain three elements:
    
  • Liturgical collections: " Psalm of David", "Psalm of Asaph"
    
  • Technical terms related to worship: Psalm 59 (golden poem, Miktam) of David. Its superscription gives hints to the people that used to sing and lead these songs (according to Do Not Destroy) could have been a rhythm or beat they sang to, we don't know.
    
  • Historical notes: Psalm 59 ( A Miktam of David, when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.)
    

    
     

• There are also different collections in the book of Psalms
  
  • Davidic
    
  • Korahite
    
  • Elohistic
    
  • Asaphite
    
  • Psalms on the Kingship of God
    
  • A Collection of Psalms of Praise
    
  • Songs of Ascents
    
  • Hallelujah Psalms
    

 

• David is given credit for writing the book of Psalms, while he had a large part in it, evidence shows that there were other writers as well.
  
• There are also Psalms that are in the book more than once. For example in the collections of the psalms the Korahite, Elohite, and Asaphite all overlap.
  
  • Let's compare Psalm 14:2,4 & Psalm 53:2,4
    
  • Psalm 40:13-17 & Psalm 70
    

 

The Poetry of the Psalter

• Poetry in English is Different than Poetry in Hebrew
  
  • Jack and Jill went up the Hill
    
  • Hebrew poetry seconds of re-affirms what was said in the line before.
    

 

1. Synonymous parallelism- 2^nd line enhances the thought of the 1^st
   
   1. Ps. 8:4, Ps19:1
      
2. Antithetic parallelism- 2^nd line may complete the thought of the 1^st.
   
   1. Ps. 37:9, Ps. 1:6
      
3. Stair-step parallelism- 2^nd line may continue the thought of the 1^st.
   
   1. Ps 95:3
      

 

Some psalms form stanza, Ps.119

 

Laments

Psalm 13

 

Lament: What is Lament?

–verb (used with object)

1.	to feel or express sorrow or regret for: to lament his absence.

 

2.	to mourn for or over.

–verb (used without object)

3.	to feel, show, or express grief, sorrow, or regret.

 

4.	to mourn deeply.

–noun

5.	an expression of grief or sorrow.

 

6.	a formal expression of sorrow or mourning, esp. in verse or song; an elegy or dirge.

• When you pray or sing to God do you always feel like your life is right where He wants you to be?
  
• So many times we feel that we have to come to church with a smile on our face when our lives stink. We have to learn to rely on God with everything. Because he knows how we feel, whether we voice it or not. If we are upset, or mad, voice it to God. Have you ever been so mad at God or upset with Him that you just wanted to yell and shake your fists to the sky?
  
• In Psalm 13 we see David feeling some of these same feelings toward God.
  

 

A Lament basically has 4 parts.

 

1. Invocation: Address the prayer to God
   

• (v.1) David sounds pretty desperate right here. He feels God has left him forever.
  
• But he is calling on the Lord for help, He knows who he can rely on through everything.
  

 

1. Complaint : This part talks about what is causing lament.
   

• (v.2) David is tired of everything that is going on. He is tired of feeling this way. Then he states his problem in the end of the verse, the problem that is causing him to feel this way.
  
• David lays it out on the table, he doesn't hold anything back from God. He tells him what is bothering him, totally transparent.
  

 

1. Petition: Plead for help; motivation or reasons God should help
   

• (v.3) David was in danger; he was afraid to sleep. He was petitioning God to protect him while he slept. He was so scared he was afraid to close his eyes, but he trusted God enough that he took that request to Him in prayer.
  
• (v.4) Why God should protect him: David is afraid that his enemies will find him and get the upper hand on him. When they do they will be against David, and against God. This is David's ultimate reason that God needs to help Him because, he wants it to be all for the Lord.
  
• David seems really desperate and scared during this time, but the neat thing that happens is right here, we can see that this is when God's presence takes over in David's life.
  

1. Conclusion: usually positive/ Expression of trust in God
   

• (v.5) is an expression of trust in God
  
• (v.6) A vow to offer praise to the God who delivers
  
• But when he remembers who God is he takes refuge in that. (verse 5)
  
• Because of his relationship with God he is going to praise because of that relationship alone.
  
  • Not because God made his enemies disappear
    
  • Not because God made him magically teleport to safety
    
  • But because of his personal relationship with God, and all of the promises of truth that, that relationship is built upon.
    

    
     

    
     

Psalm of Praise

Psalm 30 & 117

 

There are 2 different Themes that the Psalmist used when writing Psalms of Praise.

1. Thanksgiving
   
2. Hymns of Praise
   

 

First we are going to be looking at Thanksgiving

Psalms that are listed as Psalms of Thanksgiving are Declarative. They Make a Statement.

 

Like the psalms of lament, psalms of praise have parts.

1. The Introduction: proclaims the intent to give thanks & praise.
   

   (Ps. 30: 1-5)
   

2. The narrative- tells the story of crisis (v.6-7), the plead for help (v.8-10), the deliverance (v.11)
   

   
    

3. The conclusion- a renewed vow of praise or testimony (v.12)
   

 

The second type of Psalm of praise, is a: Hymn of Praise

Psalm 117

1. Introduction - a call to praise (v.1
   

   
    

2. Body- This gives reason for praising God
   
   1. I.E. Ps. 146:6-7
      

   
    

3. Conclusion- a renewed call to praise, often in repetition of the introduction (v.2)
   

 

We have to remember through all the Psalms of praise, the central instruction is "praise Yahweh!"

So however the Holy Spirit convicts us to praise God we need to give that praise to Him, whether it's in a praise of thanksgiving, or a everyday conversation with God.

 

Royal Psalms

Psalm 2

 

Royal Psalms:

We have looked at Psalms of lament & Psalms of praise bot h of these have to do with the type of literature that these psalms where written as.

There are only 11 Royal Psalms in the whole book of Psalms

Royal Psalms have to do with Psalms of the King of Jerusalem, and his relationship with God. The king is the common factor in all the Royal Psalms, and throughout the book we see the kings change, but all of them are in the Davidic line.

The king was viewed as a distinctive figure in society and in worship. This collection is important because the kings of this line were given a blessing by God, one that was usually only given to the priests of this era.

 

Psalm 2

 

v. 1-6 Give us the setting

Proclamation

(v.7) King shows that God has claimed him as His son. And had made a promise to him

(v.8-9) God continues to tell the Kin and show him, what He will do for him.

Warning

(v.10) God is telling the other rulers to "Understand what I am saying" take this warning as one of how to live your lives.

Instruction

(v.11) Worship the Lord. Plain and simple, God is the only true God and he deserves all worship.

(v.12) Not only must you worship the Lord you need to show respect to the man he had placed as king, His son.

    So that the king does not become angry and defeat you.

    Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.

        Blessed are those who worship God and keep Him first.

 

Wisdom Psalms: I will instruct you

Wisdom Psalms came from the groups of people in Israel that seemed to be the wisest, and wanted to pass down this wisdom to generations to come.

Wisdom Psalms give instruction for living

 

Examples of Wisdom Psalms

:

The better saying

:

    Better is a little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked. (37:16)

The blessed saying

    Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways! (128:1)

The Warning:

    Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, else it will not keep with you. (32:9)

The address

:

    Hear this, all peoples! Give ear, all inhabitants of the world, both low and high, rich and poor together! (49:1,2)

Other forms

: Simile, Numerical saying, or rhetorical question:

    The wicked are no so, but are like chaff which the wind drives away. ( 1:4)

 

Psalm 1

 

You Play like you Practice

(v.1-2)

The writer of this Psalm is saying, if you want to live a blessed life this is what you must do.

Counsel = advice

So the advice you take in, or the people you hang out with will have an effect on your life, but if we delight ourselves in God's word and meditate upon it, then we will be rooted in God.

 

You have to be Plentiful

(v.3)

We will be like a tree. But not just a tree that sprouts up, but a tree that God has planted. (Ps 104:16)

The cedars of Lebanon where huge might strong trees. They were used as boats, they were used for medical procedures. Many different uses if you really study them.

But here the writer is saying that we will grow strong like those cedars.

 

You have to placed on a firm foundation

(v.4-5)

This is the way of the wicked the way God doesn't want us to go.

The ungodly will not have a place to stand because they are not rooted, they do not have a foundation.

(v.6)

God knows the fate of every person. The way of the wicked will perish, or be lost.

John 10:10 Jesus has said that He has come that they may have life.

 

Key Sources: Holy Bible (NASB), Psalms : Reading and Studying the Book of Praises – W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

Protect Yourself at All Times

Ephesians 6:10-18

 

Have any of you ever watched America's funniest home videos? What is the funniest video you've seen? Pretty much anything that causes bodily harm is funny.

It may just be me, but I find people getting hurt doing silly stuff pretty funny.

 

But most of the time if we are paying attention we won't get hurt, or we can prevent it to some extent.

 

When we look in the last chapter of Ephesians we find Paul telling us the same thing.

 

Up to this point in the book Paul has: reminded us of the redemption we have in Christ, that we have a new life in Christ, We are all one in Spirit, How to live to keep that unity/ believe God, and How to interact in our own families.

 

Now we come to this point where Paul is reminding us to protect ourselves at all times.

 

1. Be Strong (v. 10-13)
   
   1. V.10 - we have to acknowledge the strength we have through Christ.
      
   2. V.11 - we have to acknowledge that we have to use that strength when we are in "battle."
      
   3. V.12 – We have to acknowledge that our enemy is the devil and not anyone person we see from Day to Day.
      
   4. V. 13 – We have to take the FULL armor of God, to resist in the evil day and done to be able to stand firm.
      
2. Be Equipped (v.14-17)
   
   1. V.14 – Having Girded your loins with truth
      
      1. What do you think of when you hear the word: Gird?
         
         1. Girdle: Same principle; you've hear it described as a belt. This part of the uniform was the most important. It held everything in place. We find Truth in God's Word.
            
      2. Having put on the breastplate of righteousness
         
         1. What is under a breastplate? Your heart we want to protect our hearts. But the Bible clearly states that our righteousness is as filthy rags, compared to the righteousness of Christ. This means only through His righteousness is our heart protected. If we don't believe that Christ came and died for our sins, and believe that with all of our heart then our heart is unprotected.
            
   2. V.15 – Having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel.
      
      1. Shoes speak of Foundation.
         
         1. Paul has told us by this point in Chapter 6 to "Stand Firm" 3 times. If you have Christ in your life then you are able to have a firm foundation, or an anchor that you can cling to.
            
            1. At this time the soldier's shoes were almost like cleats, they had spikes on them so they could dig in and not be moved, it also helped them to keep moving forward. And if we are going to have our feet shod with the Gospel we have to keep moving and take the gospel out.
               
   3. V.16 – Taking up the shield of faith
      
      1. Our faith is our belief in God, and in Jesus Christ His Son.
         
         1. The shield protected the whole body; it was a heavy shield about the size of a door. It is something we can get behind when we are under attack, but it is also something that we can put in front of us as we move forward. It is something that covers our whole body, to protect it from every aspect. We all come to points in our life where we hold our faith out in front and it we march along not letting anything slow us down, and then we come to points in our life that we have to cover ourselves because we are so beat down, but we have our faith to cling to and draw hope from. Our faith does both of these things. Once you realize that we have this shield, then it should make you want to pick it back up, and keep moving forward.
            
   4. V.17 - take the helmet of Salvation & Sword of the Spirit
      
      1. Our heart is guarded with righteousness of Christ and when we accept him we do it with our heart and mind. We know we have Salvation through Jesus Christ and no one else. So we need to protect that knowledge of Christ, so when we continue to move forward in battle we have that knowledge of Salvation that we can share with others, so that they may be able to come to know the saving grace of Christ alone.
         
      2. The Sword of the Spirit is the word of God
         
         1. Heb. 4:12 tells us: For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
            
         2. Jesus used God's sword when He was being tempted by Satan.
            
         3. This is why learning the Bible, memorizing scripture is so important. We need to be able to draw our swords whenever Satan attacks. Or whenever we need to helps someone else out by giving them a weapon to fight with.
            
3. Be Pre-prayered
   
   1. V. 18- Paul gives us a second weapon, prayer & petition
      
      1. So many times we give God a grocery list of prayer when we are struggling in our life, and we dump all that out on God and we don't focus on Him, and really understand that he is able to overcome everything.
         
      2. Petition is being specific in prayer. Think about it, if we start a petition saying we only what Coke products served at all the schools, and we get everyone to sign it. What does it do? It shows that it is really wanted by the majority.
         
         1. In this case we are the majority, (you) and if you are specific then God has heard your cry about that struggle, or sin. Don't be general be specific.
            

These last two weapons are both offensive, and if you look at the rest of the defensive weapons they are urging the offensive strike. There is nothing God has given us that says. "Just sit back and I'll do everything." No God has equipped us to carry out His word, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Let's do just that.

 

How are you going into battle? Fully armored or only half-way dressed?