Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Psalm 86

1 Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy.
2 Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee.
3 Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily.
4 Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
5 For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.
6 Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications.
7 In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.
8 Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works.
9 All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name.
10 For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone.
11 Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.
12 I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore.
13 For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
14 O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul; and have not set thee before them.
15 But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, long suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.
16 O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid.
17 Shew me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because thou, LORD, hast holpen me, and comforted me.

Key Verse:
9 All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name.

Key Observation:
The key verse suggests another Messianic psalm, especially in this verse: All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name, and this psalm is one that is again with the theme of the millennium. This same verse talks about all nations coming before God. Never happened. Never will, until the great millennium. Hence, logically, it must be millennial.


Memory Verse:
In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.

Devotion:

McGee comments that this is a prayer of David for the nation of Israel. He feels it is millennial, but not Messianic. I would be interested to read what Messianic means to McGee, feeling that somehow I miss the definition. I think it is Messianic, because it speaks of the Lord’s rule in the millennium. But it does not give us much information about the Messiah, which may be the difference McGee is noting.

I was wondering about the millennium and I am not an expert on life in the millennium, but I wonder about how much that life is described. I know from my study of Revelation this summer (Walvoord and McGee’s separate very fine commentaries), that we will be taken to heaven in the Rapture, as Christ the groom takes his bride the church. Walvoord, in Revelation 19, tells of the Jewish custom of the wedding being in three steps. The first step is when the parents pledge the children to each other; during this step the dowry was paid. In the second step, the couple reached acceptable age and the bridegroom would go to the bride’s house and take her home with him. This, in the church metaphor, is the Rapture. It is the seven years in heaven for us. Then the wedding feast comes, and this corresponds to Revelation 19, when Christ returns with his bride to the feast. McGee comments that evidently the feast goes on the entire millennium.

Paul hints at us reigning with Christ, clearly implying that we will have some responsibilities. But in the main, all we seem to know, is that we will be forever with Christ. And maybe that is enough!

"I Know Who Holds Tomorrow"

I don't know about tomorrow,
I just live from day to day.
And I don't borrow from its sunshine
'Cause the skies might turn to grey.
And I don't worry about the future,
'Cause I know what Jesus said,
And today I'm gonna walk right beside him
'Cause he's the one who knows what is ahead.
There are things about tomorrow
That I don't seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand.
And each step is getting brighter
As the golden stairs I climb.
And every burden is getting lighter
And all the clouds are silver lined.
And, over there the sun is always shining
And no tears will ever dim the eye
And the ending of the rainbow
Where the mountains, they touch the sky.
There are many things about tomorrow
I don't seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand.
Yes I know who holds my hand.

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