February 18, 2009

• I will bless ADONAI at all times; his praise will always be in my mouth

  Psalms 34:1-22  By David, when he pretended to be insane before Avimelekh, who then drove him away; so he left: I will bless ADONAI at all times; his praise will always be in my mouth.  (2)  When I boast, it will be about ADONAI; the humble will hear of it and be glad.  (3)  Proclaim with me the greatness of ADONAI; let us exalt his name together.  (4)  I sought ADONAI, and he answered me; he rescued me from everything I feared.  (5)  They looked to him and grew radiant; their faces will never blush for shame.  (6)  This poor man cried; ADONAI heard and saved him from all his troubles.  (7)  The angel of ADONAI, who encamps around those who fear him, delivers them.  (8)  Taste, and see that ADONAI is good. How blessed are those who take refuge in him!  (9)  Fear ADONAI, you holy ones of his, for those who fear him lack nothing.  (10)  Young lions can be needy, they can go hungry, but those who seek ADONAI lack nothing good.  (11)  Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of ADONAI.  (12)  Which of you takes pleasure in living? Who wants a long life to see good things?  (13)  [If you do,] keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceiving talk;  (14)  turn from evil, and do good; seek peace, go after it!  (15)  The eyes of ADONAI watch over the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry.  (16)  But the face of ADONAI opposes those who do evil, to cut off all memory of them from the earth.  (17)  [The righteous] cried out, and ADONAI heard, and he saved them from all their troubles.  (18)  ADONAI is near those with broken hearts; he saves those whose spirit is crushed.  (19)  The righteous person suffers many evils, but ADONAI rescues him out of them all.  (20)  He protects all his bones; not one of them gets broken.  (21)  Evil will kill the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.  (22)  But ADONAI redeems his servants; no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.

  Adonai deserves our praise and gratitude.  All the time.  No matter what our current circumstances are. Sometimes we are aware of reasons to praise Him.  But sometimes we aren’t.  He still deserves praise.

  sought – darash – (Qal) to resort to, frequent (a place), to consult, enquire of, seek

  David had been running from Sha’ul (Saul).  Sha’ul was David’s father-in-law, his boss, and his king.  From David’s victory over Goliath to his victories on the battlefield, David had become famous.  Even though David was a faithful servant of Sha’ul, Sha’ul wanted David killed simply because he was jealous of David.  Sha’ul had already made several attempts on David’s life, using David for target practice at dinner, even sending agents to kill David when he went home at night.

  1 Samuel 21:10-15  The same day, David took flight from Sha’ul and went to Akhish king of Gat (11)  The servants of Akhish said to him, “Isn’t this David, king of the land? Weren’t they dancing and singing to each other, ‘Sha’ul has killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands’?”  (12)  These remarks were not lost on David, and he became very much afraid of Akhish king of Gat.  (13)  So, as they were watching, he changed his behavior and acted like a madman when they had hold of him, scratching marks on the doors of the city gate and drooling down his beard.  (14)  Akhish said to his servants, “Here, you see that the man is meshugga; why bring him to me?  (15)  Am I short of meshugga’im? Is that why you’ve brought this one to go crazy on me? Must I have this one in my house?”

  David was afraid of Sha’ul.  He was afraid that one day Sha’ul would catch him and have him killed. David was afraid of Achish and the Philistines.  After all, David is now hiding out in the city of Gat, the hometown of Goliath. In order to keep from being killed by the Philistines, David pretends to lose his mind.  He acts crazy.  He scribbles graffiti on the walls.  He drools.

  What are you afraid of? Speaking in front of a group? Heights? Insects and bugs, financial problems and deep water? Sickness? Death? Flying? Loneliness? Dogs?

  The Bible says that we are to handle our fears and anxieties with prayer.

  Philippians 4:6-7  Don’t worry about anything; on the contrary, make your requests known to God by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving.  (7)  Then God’s shalom, passing all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with the Messiah Yeshua.

  Who is the Angel of Adonai?

  This phrase the angel of Adonai, or literally, the messenger of YHWH, is a specific phrase used in the Old Testament to indicate a specific person. He made many appearances to many different people. The actual Hebrew phrase appears 58 times in the Old Testament.
  He appeared to Abraham when he was going to sacrifice his only begotten son on Mount Moriah (Gen. 22).
  He spoke to Moses out of the burning bush (Ex. 3:2).
  He was the one who called Gideon to deliver the Israelites (Judg. 6).
  He was the angel that David saw at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite on Mount Moriah, which led to the purchase of the property for the Temple (1Chr. 21).

  I believe that this angel of Adonai is an appearance Yeshua. A manifestation of Adonai.

  There’s a real, practical side to righteousness.  We don’t say evil things, we say good things.  We don’t do evil things, we do good things.

  This all flows from a fear of Adonai.  If I get a clue as to who Adonai is, it ought to affect my behavior.

  What flows from your life, what is manifested in your actions, should be pure and not evil. If your life is bent on evil, you will not enjoy life. If you do what Adonai has for you, you will be blessed.

  As much as people want to deny it, sin destroys peoples lives. For instance AIDS, I don’t believe it is a judgment from Adonai, but it is the result of a sexually promiscuous lifestyle that Adonai warned us against. Many times it even affects those who are not involved in this kind of lifestyle. Sin touches the lives of many people, and not in a good way. If Adonai warns you to avoid a certain action, and you do it anyway, it is not Adonai’s judgment that has affected you, but the consequences of your sinful action. Sin does have built into it certain consequences.

  There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm. He was given a slingshot to play with in the woods. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit the target. Getting a little discouraged, he headed back for dinner. As he was walking back he saw Grandma’s pet duck. Just out of impulse he let the slingshot fly, hit the duck square in the head, and killed it. He was shocked and grieved. In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile, only to see his sister watching. Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing. After lunch the next day Grandma said, “Sally, let’s wash the dishes.” But Sally said, “Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen. Then she whispered to him, “Remember the duck?” So Johnny did the dishes. Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing and Grandma said, “I’m sorry but I need Sally to help make supper.” Sally just smiled and said, “Well, that’s all right because Johnny told me he wanted to help. She whispered again, “Remember the duck?” So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed to help. After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally’s he finally couldn’t stand it any longer. He came to Grandma and confessed that he had killed the duck. Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug and said, “Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing. But because I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.”

  Has Satan been using your guilt to make you his slave?

  Adonai too sees your sin.  He knows all about it.  He’s waiting for you to get to the point where you’ll come to Him and confess it.  He’s waiting for you to get tired of having Satan beat you up.

  Come to Adonai and He will forgive you.

  Shalom

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