UNBLOCKING THE WELL OF THE LIVING WORD

READ PSALM 96-100

SUGGESTED PATTERN Read Psalm 97 with your spouse or household then re-read Psalm 97 again with spouse or household, then spend 2 mins in silence focussing on  Psalm 97:1-5 asking the Lord, the question “What does this text mean?” then 2 mins in silence asking the Lord what He is saying to you personally through Psalm 97:1-5 and then share together with your spouse or household what the Lord has been saying. Finally one person reads out loud the devotional below… then pray for one another.  

PSALM 97: 1-5

The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice. Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side. His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth.

Scripture in song is not a new thing. This passage from Psalm 97 reminds me of a song from the 1980s, over 40 years ago, written by Dan Stradwick from ‘Scripture in Song’, and played by Bob Fitts of Integrity music.  Link to song on youtube (1)  and lyrics in footnote (2) below:-   

The Lord reigns. The Lord reigns. The Lord reigns. Let the earth rejoice. Let the earth rejoice. Let the earth rejoice. Let the people be glad That our God reigns. Let the people be glad That our God reigns.  A fire goes before Him, And burns up all His enemies. The hills melt like wax,  At the presence of the Lord, At the presence of the Lord! The heavens declare His righteousness. The people see His glory. For You, O Lord, are exalted Over all the earth, Over all the earth!

Joy Dawson in her book “The Fire of God” says these rather sobering words. (3) “I believe as God’s children, we’re all either in a fiery trial (with varying degrees of heat), heading for one and don’t know it, or have been in one and need more understanding of how to get through the next one more successfully. I believe the degree of the heat of God’s fire in each believer’s life is proportionate to the extent of God’s plan to use each one for the extension of his kingdom and to bring glory to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is vividly illustrated in the lives of Job, Abraham, Joseph, David, Daniel, Mordecai, Esther, Jeremiah, Mary, Paul and apostle John. In each case the intense heat came when they were living righteous lives before God and men. This means we must never presume on God’s purposes for those in the fire. We must never judge.”

Psalm 97 says Fire goes before him and Daniel 7:10 also says  “A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.” Psalm 97 also says righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. and Daniel 7;10 also using same imagery of fire says “the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.”

2 Corinthians 5:10-11 says  ^“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others.” At this judgement seat we will not be judged for our repented sins.. they have already been eradicated by the blood of Jesus. Psalm 103:12. says that God “has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west” and Hebrews 8:12 says “I will forgive their wickedness, and I will remember their sins  no more”.

So what will our judgement entail? We’ll be examined regarding how we lived as believers, and both good and bad will be examined. Often scripture refers to us as builders.. we are sub-contractors of Zion Psalm 132:13-14. We are created for good works.  We are his workmanship, Ephesians 2:16 in order that we may walk in them..but are you and I  building with his eternal word? see 1 Corinthians 3:12-13. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value.  The fire that examines your life and my life will be the word of God. If our behaviour starts from obedience to his word our achievements will last forever. How we used our God given talents to build God’s kingdom is what matters. If the building is burned up.. the builder will suffer great a loss. The builder will be saved but like someone escaping from a wall of flames. 1 Corinthians 3:15

So..why does the Lord use fire in our lives?.. to grow our character and ..to examine our work to see whether it has any value.  Godly character and virtuous living matters. Saint Gregory believed that the aim of the Psalter, the book of psalms, was to reshape us by means of virtue into the likeness of Christ.”  I referenced Hans Boersma on  Day 11, who said (4) that  the church fathers believed through the singing of Psalms and the sacrifice of praise, godly character or virtue would be instilled . The psalms have been sung and chanted for centuries, and the original aim of devotional psalm-singing was to fashion godly character . The ‘singing the psalms’ is definitely not a new thing.

Reference

(1)  Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RxXXRPPrVo

(2)  Lyrics https://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/d/dan_stradwick/the_lord_reigns.html Dan Stradwick,D.  ©1980 Scripture in Song ( a division of Integrity Music)

(3) Dawson, J. The Fire of God, 13, 14.

(4) Boersma, H. Scripture as Real Presence, drawn from pages 145, 157.