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Lowell Brueckner

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March 26 – April 1 Daily Meditations in the Psalms

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March 26

Psalms 27:1-8

1.  The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
2.  When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
3.  Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
4.  One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple.
5.  For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
6.  And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.
7.  Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
8.  When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.

     God’s ability eclipses the natural assets, which came to me through birth or which I have acquired. The Lord is the source of light, salvation and strength. When the attributes of God become mine, the fear of man is removed. I can trust in the Lord and rest assured, though surrounded by enemies. What foe can stand before Him?
     The Lord is secretary of our department of defense, leaving us free for one single-hearted purpose: “One thing have I desired of the Lord” (verse 4). Paul said, “This one thing I do....” Jesus said, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God.”  The one passion, the one goal in the life of every saint is to dwell in the place of God’s presence. There are two good reasons for it: First, it is to enjoy and to contemplate Him; to be as the living creatures, full of eyes, in order to attempt to take in as much of Him, as we possibly can. Secondly, we seek to inquire at the source of wisdom for the answers to those things, which pertain to Christ and His kingdom. It is the theme of this Psalm.
     We sense the attraction and hear the call. I believe it to be the cry of the Spirit of God today – “seek ye my face” It is the single quest, which we are now considering. The born-again spirit warms and responds, “Thy face, Lord, will I seek.”




March 27

Psalms 27:9-14

9.  Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.
10.  When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.
11.  Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.
12.  Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.
13.  I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
14.  Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

     The need for God is greater than the need for relationships in the world. Let father and mother forsake me, but Lord, do not hide Your face. Oh God, cause me to pray from the heart, to plead with You in desperation, “Hide not, forsake me not, and put me not away.” I must be teachable so “teach me and lead me” or my enemies will overcome me. No wisdom or plan of mine can overcome them. You are my salvation against the cruel intentions and inventions of false witnesses. Let my ways be so clearly defined as God’s ways, my life so obviously blessed of God, that enemies will find nothing valid to say.
     How can I become a victor? Is there a part that I must play in order to have success? The Psalmist said, “Unless I had believed…”. We either cast ourselves upon the goodness of God or we will faint somewhere along the way. He is the only Answer. We must tell ourselves to wait until God gives His strength, but meanwhile we can take courage: “He shall strengthen thine heart.” The admonition, “Wait, I say, on the LORD”, is repeated for emphasis. Apparently, we need to hear it.



March 28

Psalms 28:1-5

1.  Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.
2.  Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.
3.  Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts.
4.  Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert.
5.  Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up.

     In essence, the Psalmist is crying, “Speak, God, or I perish!” Whether we realize it or not, the word of God is more vital than our natural necessities. We are to esteem it above our necessary food. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” When Christians come to believe that, there will be more fasting and prayer. Plead to hear and be heard in the holy place of God’s dwelling.
     Crookedness and hypocrisy is the hallmark of the wicked. Flattery is his mother tongue and friendliness is superficial. What a grief and confusion it is to live in a realm, where a man’s word is not only worthless, but also malicious! There, words are weapons covered with a pleasant sheath in order to woo, then extract and plunder. God never listens to words unless the heart is behind them. David said that they speak peace, but mischief is in their hearts. He asks God to repay, not according to their words, but their deeds.
     Selfishness is the driving motivation and the focal point of the ungodly. They are blind to anything, but themselves and their goals. They miss God completely and are not very interested in listening to anybody else. He, as far as they are concerned, is remote and out of the picture, unattached to anything that concerns them.



March 29

Psalms 28:5-9

5.  Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up.
6.  Blessed be the LORD, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.
7.  The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.
8.  The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed.
9.  Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.

     God is the God of those who have time for Him and consider Him to be vital. While the wicked give themselves to a world of pleasure, ambition and selfish concerns, the righteous one cannot live without his God. Only he can say, “Blessed be the Lord, because He hath heard the voice of my supplications.” The Lord is his strength (that is his offense) and his shield (that is his defense). His life revolves around God. His ins and outs, his ups and downs are all blessed with a divine touch. The Lord is the reason for rejoicing and the inspiration for praise. How opposite are the hearts of the godly from the godless! They are literally worlds apart. One lives in the natural and immediate world. The other dwells in an eternal, supernatural kingdom
     From prayer, which concerns him individually, David embraces the congregation. What God can do for one, He can do for all. Let the heart expand in the abundance of God and overflow into intercession for all His people. Pray for church revival. Learn the Psalmist’s terms: “Save them…bless them…feed them and lift them up for ever.”


 

March 30

Psalms 29:1-3

1.  Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength.
2.  Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
3.  The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters.

     The mighty should recognize the source of their strength. They should understand that they are empowered, not self-powered, and they have nothing that they have not received. The glory and strength should return to the source to whom it is due.
     The old timers were right, who related Holy Spirit-empowering with holiness. The mighty are those who are mighty in holiness and they alone worship in the beauty of holiness. God neither desires nor deserves less. Those who do not return unto Him holiness, return unto Him nothing. “Lifting up holy hands, without wrath or doubting” In this sense, we are not considering a substitutionary holiness offered for them, but a practical outgrowth of holiness, which begins in the heart.
     Those who enter His strength have done so in response to the voice of the Lord. They have ceased from their own labor and have entered into rest. “Today, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts” (Hebrews 4). Thunder and lightning come at the approach of a storm, so the voice of the Lord comes ominously with threatenings of impending judgment. Following in the wake of the cracks and rumblings, however, abundant waters rain upon dry ground. We are dependent on His voice for the waters that quicken and endue with power.



March 31

Psalms 29:4-9

4.  The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
5.  The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.
6.  He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.
7.  The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire.
8.  The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.
9.  The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.

     In order to operate in His strength, we must first be broken. The voice of the Lord breaks pride. The wind, sent in obedience to His voice, strikes and breaks the beautiful, high-and-mighty cedars of Lebanon. Those deep-rooted giants sway like reeds until the mountain seems to be alive. The power of God is demonstrated, which alone can make the mighty skip like a young calf in unsophisticated, supernatural energy. So human confidence shakes and God’s power drives us almost to despair, as the sailors on Paul’s ship.
     Then come the flames of fire, as the voice of the Lord imparts to every man severally as He will. “It sat upon each of them.” The Lord is sovereign in imparting heavenly fire and no human dictates to Him how and upon whom it should fall.
     The barren wilderness awakens from its sleep and shakes as a living presence sweeps its surface. “And fear came upon every soul.” The voice of the Lord thunders and brings souls to birth. “And the Lord added daily…such as should be saved.” We can save no one. We need to pray for rain, accompanied by the quickening voice of the Lord. The hidden things are brought to light. The voice of the Lord will uncover it.





2nd Quarter


      Along with the other chapters, into which we delve this quarter, we are going to concentrate on chapter Psalm 36; in fact, we will meditate upon this chapter from April 18th until May 14th. It is a study that will inform us of the actual state of an unbeliever. We will learn, not the things which he wants us to think about him, but that which is the truth about his lifestyle and mentality, as God sees him.
     Why should we take so much time with this material? Why is it so important? We need to remember that the Psalms are teaching us to pray. In a progressive manner, we want to adjust our prayers, so that they will become totally biblical. Many of us have loved ones, for whom we are praying. So that our prayers for them will be most effective, we must learn as much as we can about their motives, their way of thinking, and, most important of all, who they really are at the core of their being. The Psalmist, observing the man of the world with spiritual eyes, could penetrate his heart and tell us what he saw. It is a privilege to be able to learn from David and the Holy Spirit, who inspired him. Let us be eager students!



April 1

Psalms 29:9-11

9.  The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.
10.  The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever.
11. The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless
his people with peace.

     When God speaks in power, it gives His people plenty to talk about. There have been special times in the history of the church, when God was very close. Christians get heavenly reinforcement and come alive in praise, publishing the good news in every direction. The flood rages out of human control and Jesus takes His place, sitting as supreme Head. He alone governs the flow of events.
     “It’s not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit”, says the voice of the Lord. The Holy Spirit is the only real source of strength for God’s people and He effects them mightily. His voice and approach can be as frightening as the thunder, yet the end and purpose are ways of peace and an empowered host of saints worship Him.
     Oh Lord, the heavens are as brass. The sun beats mercilessly from a steel-blue sky and the earth is parched. Send forth refreshing and come with clouds of glory. Let the voice of the Lord thunder forth. Rain upon us, then reign over the floods. This, Lord, is the plea of dry, parched lips weary of speaking to a desert of unresponsive ears.


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