Bible League: Living His Word Who is like the LORD our God, Who dwells on high, Who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in the heavens and in the earth?— Psalm 113:5—6 NKJV The Lord God, one might say, is outside the box. If, metaphorically, the creation is a box, then the Lord is outside the box. The earth, and all it contains, is inside the box. The physical heavens and all they contain are inside the box. And, although our verse for today has only the physical heavens in view, the spiritual heaven (the "third heaven" of 2 Corinthians 12:2) is inside the box as well. How so? It's because the Lord God created it too, including all the angels. Hence, there isn't anything like the Lord God. Everything else is a mere inside—the—box creature. He alone is the outside—the—box Creator. The Lord God dwells on high. Psalm 8:1 says, "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth, who have set your glory above the heavens!" He dwells above the earth and above the physical heavens in the spiritual heaven. There was a time when the Lord God also dwelt on the earth. He used to walk in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:8). And there will come a time when He will once again dwell on the earth. His presence will come down to earth with the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:1—3). For now, however, the Lord God's manifest presence dwells in the spiritual heaven. The Lord God is so high and lifted up that He must stoop just to observe the creatures below. Indeed, our verse for today says that He must humble Himself in order to behold His creatures in the earth and the physical heavens. It's not just because of our sin that He must humble Himself. It's also because He is so far above everything He has made. The Creator of all things must lower Himself in order to interact with them. Why does He do it? Why bother with that which is so far beneath Him? Isn't it obvious? He does it because He cares about what He has made (see Psalm 104). How should we respond to all this revelation? We should respond in the way the psalmist responded earlier in the chapter. We should praise Him. We should praise and bless His name "from this time forth and forevermore"! Praise the Lord! Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingEzekiel 1, 2, 3 Ezekiel 1 -- Ezekiel's Prophecy at Kebar; The Visions of Four Figures and Divine Glory NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Ezekiel 2 -- Ezekiel's Calling and Instruction NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Ezekiel 3 -- Ezekiel Eats the Scroll; Warning to Israel NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Hebrews 9 Hebrews 9 -- Christ has Entered into the Holy Place Once for All NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.Insight Have you ever grown tired of praying for something or someone? Paul says we should “devote” ourselves to prayer and be “alert” in prayer. Our persistence is an expression of our faith that God answers our prayers. Faith shouldn't die if the answers come slowly, for the delay may be God's way of working his will in our lives. Challenge When you feel tired of praying, know that God is present, always listening, always answering—maybe not in ways you had hoped, but in ways that he knows are best. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon 1 Peter 1:7 The trial of your faith.Faith untried may be true faith, but it is sure to be little faith, and it is likely to remain dwarfish so long as it is without trials. Faith never prospers so well as when all things are against her: tempests are her trainers, and lightnings are her illuminators. When a calm reigns on the sea, spread the sails as you will, the ship moves not to its harbor; for on a slumbering ocean the keel sleeps too. Let the winds rush howling forth, and let the waters lift up themselves, then, though the vessel may rock, and her deck may be washed with waves, and her mast may creak under the pressure of the full and swelling sail, it is then that she makes headway towards her desired haven. No flowers wear so lovely a blue as those which grow at the foot of the frozen glacier; no stars gleam so brightly as those which glisten in the polar sky; no water tastes so sweet as that which springs amid the desert sand; and no faith is so precious as that which lives and triumphs in adversity. Tried faith brings experience. You could not have believed your own weakness had you not been compelled to pass through the rivers; and you would never have known God's strength had you not been supported amid the water-floods. Faith increases in solidity, assurance, and intensity, the more it is exercised with tribulation. Faith is precious, and its trial is precious too. Let not this, however, discourage those who are young in faith. You will have trials enough without seeking them: the full portion will be measured out to you in due season. Meanwhile, if you cannot yet claim the result of long experience, thank God for what grace you have; praise him for that degree of holy confidence whereunto you have attained: walk according to that rule, and you shall yet have more and more of the blessing of God, till your faith shall remove mountains and conquer impossibilities. Daily Light on the Daily Path 2 Corinthians 7:10 For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.Matthew 26:75 And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, "Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. Psalm 40:12,13 For evils beyond number have surrounded me; My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see; They are more numerous than the hairs of my head, And my heart has failed me. • Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; Make haste, O LORD, to help me. Hosea 12:6 Therefore, return to your God, Observe kindness and justice, And wait for your God continually. Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds. Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God? New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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