autonomy

Posted on December 19, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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autonomy

Psalm 135:5-7 (JDV)

Psalm 135:5 You see, I know that Yahveh is great; our Lord is greater than all gods.
Psalm 135:6 Yahveh does whatever he wants in the sky and on land, in the seas and all the depths.
Psalm 135:7 He makes the clouds rise from the ends of the land. He produces lightning for the rain and brings the wind from his storehouses.

autonomy

The only one with true autonomy is our God. He is greater than all of his creation, including those spirit beings masquerading as the gods of the nations. He is not influenced by others. He is the uninfluenced influencer. What passes as autonomy for us is merely anarchy. Hopefully, we will not wait until judgment day to find out who we had let control our lives while we pretended to have free will. The wisest and most responsible choice we can make right now is “thy will be done.”

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still good

Posted on December 18, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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still good

Psalm 135:1-4 (JDV)

Psalm 135:1 Praise Yah! Praise the name of Yahveh. Give praise, you servants of Yahveh
Psalm 135:2 who stand in the house of Yahveh, in the courts of the house of our God.
Psalm 135:3 Praise Yahveh, because Yahveh is good; sing praise to his name, because it is delightful.
Psalm 135:4 Since Yahveh has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel as his treasured up possession.

still good

God’s servants are not able to stand in his temple today, but they can still praise his name, because he is still good and his name is still delightful. He has still chosen Israel as his treasured possession and he has grafted into that olive tree Gentile believers. Praise Yah!

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last shift

Posted on December 17, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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last shift

Psalm 134:1-3 (JDV)

Psalm 134:1 [A song of festival caravans.] Now bless Yahveh, all you servants of Yahveh who stand in Yahveh’s house at night!
Psalm 134:2 Lift up your hands in the holy place and bless Yahveh!
Psalm 134:3 May Yahveh, Maker of the sky and the land, bless you from Zion.

last shift

The last shift of worshippers stands in the temple and lifts their hands in praise. The Hebrew word for praise is taken from the same root as the word hand. Raising their hands is like forming a symbolic link: a connection between themselves and their maker. Blessing the LORD is the last thing they do every night. Receiving a blessing from him is the first thing they do every morning.

LORD, we want worship to be the last thing on our mind … and gratitude for your blessings to be the first thing.

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harmony and success

Posted on December 16, 2023 by Jefferson Vann
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harmony and success

Psalm 133:1-3 (JDV)

Psalm 133:1 [A song of festival caravans. Of David.] How good and nice it is when brothers live together in harmony!
Psalm 133:2 It is like fine oil on the head, running down on the beard, running down Aaron’s beard onto his robes.
Psalm 133:3 It is like the dew of Hermon falling on the mountains of Zion. Because there Yahveh has appointed the blessing — permanent life.

harmony and success

Harmony is not only beautiful, it also leads to success.

“Being centered means not leaning toward extremes, not becoming unbalanced by an overwhelming predominance of one quality over others. In this way, it is possible to achieve inward harmony within the self as well as outward harmony with the world at large. Inward harmony means your own faculties are working together; outward harmony means people are working together. Both of these are essential ingredients of success.”

Cleary Thomas F. The Human Element: A Course in Resourceful Thinking. 1st ed. Shambhala; Distributed in the United States by Random House 1994. p. 84.

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ministering choirs

Posted on December 15, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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ministering choirs

Psalm 132:16-18 (JDV)

Psalm 132:16 I will clothe its priests with deliverance, and its faithful people will shout for joy.
Psalm 132:17 There I will make a horn grow for David; I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one.
Psalm 132:18 I will clothe his enemies with shame, but the crown he wears will be glorious.”

ministering choirs

“I believe that we should emphasize ministering choirs rather than performing choirs, in our churches today. We need choirs that sing and minister unto the Lord for just a long enough time to stir the congregation up to minister to the Lord also.”

Brant Roxanne. Ministering to the Lord. Whitaker House 2000. p. 87.

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making my home here

Posted on December 14, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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making my home here

Psalm 132:13-15 (JDV)

Psalm 132:13 Since Yahveh has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his home:
Psalm 132:14 “This is my resting place forever; I will make my home here because I have desired it.
Psalm 132:15 I will abundantly bless its food; I will satisfy its needy with bread.

making my home here

I have a choice. I can constantly complain and criticize where I am and always look for opportunities to go somewhere else and do something else. Or, I can trust that God wants to be here where I am, and so determine to be here and bless this place as my home. I can look around for ways to serve God and serve others in his name — here.

Don’t get me wrong. I am a missionary and I praise God that He has brought me to serve Him in many places. But if I cannot serve him where I am now, I am not fit to go somewhere else in his name. My first loyalty is not to my suitcase. It’s to my Savior.

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a pledge to David

Posted on December 13, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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a pledge to David

Psalm 132:11-12 (JDV)

Psalm 132:11 Yahveh pledged to David, a promise he will not abandon: “I will set one of your offspring on your throne.
Psalm 132:12 If your sons keep my covenant and my warning signs that I will teach them, their sons will also sit on your throne forever.”

a pledge to David

This promise had a conditional element and an unconditional element. The conditional element was a promise conserning each of David’s descendants. Each was responsible to obey God’s word. The unconditional element was a promise to put a particular Son on the throne. That promise was “I will” not “if.”

Thank you LORD for setting David’s Son on the throne.

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being anointed

Posted on December 12, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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being anointed

Psalm 132:10 (JDV)

Psalm 132:10 For the sake of your servant David, do not reject your anointed one.

being anointed

There are days when I don’t feel very confident in myself. I sometimes pray like this, asking God for his support, not because I deserve it, but because God has put me where I am through the inflence of others, and I don’t want to let him — or them down.

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reverence his presence

Posted on December 11, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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reverence his presence

Psalm 132:6-9 (JDV)

Psalm 132:6 We heard of the ark in Ephrathah; we found it in the fields of Yaar.
Psalm 132:7 Let us go to his residence; let us worship at his footstool.
Psalm 132:8 Rise up, Yahveh, come to your resting place, you and your powerful ark.
Psalm 132:9 May your priests be clothed with righteousness, and may your faithful people shout for joy.

reverence his presence

The wording of verse 6 reminds me of the parable of the treasure hidden in the field. As a pastor. I am tempted to treat worship as an ordinary event, a service to be organized and performed. Lord, give me the wisdom to reverence your presence in my worship.

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embedded promises

Posted on December 10, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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embedded promises

Psalm 132:1-5 (JDV)

Psalm 132:1 [A song of festival caravans.] Yahveh, remember David and all the humbling he endured,
Psalm 132:2 and how he pledged to Yahveh, making a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob:
Psalm 132:3 “I will not enter my house or get into my bed,
Psalm 132:4 I will not allow my eyes to sleep or my eyelids to slumber
Psalm 132:5 until I find a place for Yahveh, a residence for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

embedded promises

“This Psalm is built upon two great events in the life of David, viz., his bringing the ark from its exile up to the hill of Zion (2 Sam.6), and the promise made to him of a kingdom in the line of his family, made perpetual through the Messiah, as recorded in 2 Sam. 7. Upon the basis of these great events and the promises of God imbedded in them, the restored exiles rested their whole movement—their hopes in God and their endeavors to re-establish the institutions of their fathers. Hence those events of David’s history were naturally full of religious inspiration, and were pertinently wrought into this sacred song, in all points appropriate to the times of the restoration.”

What promises of God are embedded in the great events that you have experienced?

Cowles, Henry. The Psalms. Place of publication not identified, 1872. p. 512.

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