April 20, 2024

This Week…Psalms 139:19-22

September 18, 2015 by

SeekingHimLogo

If only You would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
They speak of You with evil intent;
Your adversaries misuse Your name.
Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord,
and abhor those who rise up against You?
I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.
Psalms 139:19-22

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This week, here on the Seeking Him devotional blog, we have continued along in our series on this wonderful chapter, Psalm 139.  The passage that our devotional writers have written on is NOT an easy one.  But each of them has reminded us of the standard that God has for us and the example that Jesus set.  Here’s a little of what they shared….

In Loving Our Enemies, Ahmee reiterated the standard we already know….

Did Jesus agree with sinning?  No.  But yet he was still able to mingle among sinners.  Jesus did not stand apart from them and shake his finger at them. Not our Jesus.  That is just not how He operated…We are so quick to point fingers at other people, especially non-believers.  We cannot hold non-believers to the standards we would believers—they don’t believe what we do.  Our first goal should be to win them over and show them God’s love and mercy.  I say this in regard to Psalm 139:22, where it says, “I have nothing but hatred for them, I count them my enemies.”  The psalmist does say this, but we have been called to love those in the world.

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
Matthew 5:44

As followers of Jesus, He obey His commands…and if He said that we are to love our enemies…then we are to love our enemies.  He is not saying  “Love all the sin that your enemies do.”  Nope.  He is saying—love the person, hate the sin.

❦

In Attitude Towards Righteousness and Wickedness, Ann reminded us of God’s attitude….

Having meditated on God’s great love for him, the psalmist reciprocates with great love and loyalty to his Lord.  His anger is stirred against those who oppose and blaspheme God’s wonderful name.  In deep sympathy with God and His cause, he so identifies himself with the Lord that he hates what God hates and loves what God loves.

You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness
therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
by anointing you with the oil of joy.
Hebrews 1:9

This shows that it is not enough for God’s children to love righteousness, they must also hate evil.  We see this clearly in Christ’s devotion to righteousness (Isaiah 11:5) and His hatred of wickedness in His life.

❦

In Respect, Tina reminded us of the importance of respect….

Through respecting and honoring them, I am showing the same respect for God.  God tells us we will be blessed with long life and abundance when we respect and honor our parents.  But we also need to teach this to our children and to those around us.  When everyone has a respect for each other, then this world will become a better place.  It only needs to start with us.

Honor your father and your mother,
so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
Exodus 20: 12

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Oh, That You Would Slay the Wicked

September 17, 2015 by

SeekingHimLogo

Oh that You would slay the wicked, O God!
    O men of blood, depart from me!
They speak against You with malicious intent;
    Your enemies take Your name in vain.
Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord?
    And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
I hate them with complete hatred;
    I count them my enemies.
Psalms 139:19-22 ESV

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Click this link to listen to a stirring rendition of this passage.

from The Verses Project
written by Aaron Strumpel

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Loving Our Enemies

September 15, 2015 by

SeekingHimLogo

If only You would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
They speak of You with evil intent;
Your adversaries misuse Your name.
Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord,
and abhor those who rise up against You?
I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.
Psalms 139:19-22

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Did Jesus agree with sinning?  No.  But yet he was still able to mingle among sinners.  Jesus did not stand apart from them and shake his finger at them. Not our Jesus.  That is just not how He operated. Remember last week, I said God shows us our yuck without making us feel yucky.  Jesus jumps right on in and mingles, he builds a rapport with people instead of throwing stones and He makes connections.  When Jesus met up with the Samaritan woman at the well, He did not tell her how horrible she was, instead He stated, “… then neither do I condemn you… Go now and leave your life of sin” (John 8:11).

We are so quick to point fingers at other people, especially non-believers.  We cannot hold non-believers to the standards we would believers – they don’t believe what we do.  Our first goal should be to win them over and show them God’s love and mercy.  I say this in regard to Psalm 139:22, where it says, “I have nothing but hatred for them, I count them my enemies.”  The psalmist does say this, but we have been called to love those in the world.

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
Matthew 5:44

As followers of Jesus, He obey His commands…and if He said that we are to love our enemies…then we are to love our enemies.  He is not saying  “Love all the sin that your enemies do.”  Nope.  He is saying—love the person, hate the sin.

Sin is something that we human beings have been cursed with; so we all are familiar with it.  Some us run from it…some us hide from it…some of us try to ignore it.  But how we deal with OUR sin as believers is different than how others outside of our belief system do.  It’s so easy to say, “Well, that <someone else’s actions> is wrong.” But have you ever stopped to think why it’s wrong?  A lot of the stuff that we believe is  wrong is based on things that we have read in the Bible.  We believe that our Lord God has set forth instructions so we can tackle this life we are living.  But, if someone does not believe in God or serve Him or read the Bible, why should they care if He thinks they are sinning?  (This is geared towards people who truly see nothing wrong with what they are doing.)  We, as believers, can introduce them to God first, and let God work his ever-changing-power on them.

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Lord, help us to know how to handle the uncomfortable situations we experience in life and give us guidance to know what to do.  Thank You, Lord!

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Change My Heart, o God

September 13, 2015 by

SeekingHimLogo

O that You would kill the wicked, O God;
Go away from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.
For they speak against You wickedly,
Your enemies take Your name in vain.
Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
I hate them with perfect and utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.
Psalms 139:19-22

Change my heart, oh God 
Make it ever true
Change my heart, oh God 
May I be like You

You are the Potter
I am the clay
Mold me and make me 
This is what I pray

{friends, this week the verses from Psalm 139 that our devotionals will focus on are not the prettiest…not the most praise-filled…not any thoughts to emulate.  these thoughts of the psalmist are a response, a reaction to things happening in his life…and his outraged cries to his God.  what a gracious God that He allowed him to speak from the depths of his heart…and that He allowed us to read and ‘hear’ these words.  we, too, at times respond like this to evil and persecution.  But we know that Jesus taught that LOVE is the response…and to NOT hate our enemies.  as such, like the psalmist, we need to change our thinking, our responses.  we need God to help us to change our heart.  This song is a great tool to do so.  I pray for you (please pray for me, too!) that we will seek God asking Him to change us, to mold us, to help us to be like Him.}

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