Pregnant With Trouble

Posted on 2014/04/03 by Shawn Thomas

Psalm 7:14 has a word for the wicked — and for those of us who fear that they are going to “get away with it.” They won’t! The verse reads: “Behold, he travails with wickedness, and he conceives mischief and brings forth falsehood.” In Hebrew the first part is literally: “Behold, he is pregnant (travails as in labor) with (looming) disaster, trouble, sorrow …”.
What a picturesque description of the impending judgment of the wicked this verse contains:

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Before Him

Posted on 2014/04/02 by Shawn Thomas

Colossians 1:22 says: “Yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach”. This verse teaches us that now, because of what Jesus has done, we who were formerly alienated and in evil (:21) are “holy, and blameless and above reproach” BEFORE HIM. Continue reading →

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Unalterable Consequences of Sin

Posted on 2014/04/01 by Shawn Thomas

II Samuel 24:10 says, “Now David’s heart troubled him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the LORD: ‘I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O LORD, please take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” David realized that what he had done was a sin, but as we see in the following verse, it did not keep the consequences of his actions from coming upon him.

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A Word of Warning

Posted on 2014/03/31 by Shawn Thomas

Psalm 7:12 warns: “If a man does not repent, God will whet His sword, He has bent & readied His bow”. Although God is incredibly gracious and patient, we must not think that He will continually overlook our sin. He is patient, but this verse also reminds us that if we do not repent, God is preparing His weapons to use against us.

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Your Test Today

Posted on 2014/03/28 by Shawn Thomas

In Psalm 7:9 David calls God, “You who test minds & hearts.” The word “test” here means “examine, put to the test; prove, test, try.” This is what God constantly does with us. He tests us Continue reading →

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The Same Judge

Posted on 2014/03/27 by Shawn Thomas

Psalm 7:8 says: “The LORD judges the peoples; vindicate me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me.” In Psalm 7, David is calling to God because of what he sees as the unrighteous oppression of his enemies. In this verse, he asserts that God will indeed judge those enemies — and remembers that the same God will also judge HIM! (The word translated “vindicate” here is literally the Hebrew word “judge.”)

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Public Vindication

Posted on 2014/03/26 by Shawn Thomas

“Over them return on high.” In Psalm 7, David had been falsely accused by his enemies, and here in the second part of :7 he asks God to return and publicly vindicate him. Many of us can identify with this request.

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“God” or YOUR God?

Posted on 2014/03/25 by Shawn Thomas

David begins the prayer of Psalm 7:1 by saying, “LORD my God …”. In Hebrew this is literally, “Yahweh Elohe”. “Yahweh Elohim” is a familiar Old Testament expression for God: “Yahweh” is His personal name (often translated “LORD” but is the “I AM” personal, covenant name which God gave Moses and used throughout the Old Testament), and “Elohim” means “God.”

But it is significant that David does not use the term “Yahweh Elohim”, but “Yahweh Elohe” — this variation on the ending of “Elohim” means “MY God.” While ostensibly a small change, it has huge implications.

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The Leadership We Deserve (3-24-13)

Posted on 2014/03/24 by Shawn Thomas

In II Samuel 24:1 it says “The anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and it incited David against them to say, ‘Go, number Israel and Judah.'” This decision by King David led to punishment by God upon the people. There are many questions, perhaps rightly so, about this episode, but what should be instructive to us presently is that this verse attributes the cause of David’s decision to GOD, who incited him to do what he did regarding the census. God was angry with the people, so He sought an occasion for David to make a poor decision, which would bring punishment upon them.

Among other things, this reflects again upon the concept that people generally get the kind of leadership they deserve. (See previous devotions on Psalm 125:3 here, and I Samuel 12:14 here)

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Holy Gratitude

Posted on 2014/03/21 by Shawn Thomas

In Psalm 6:8 David says: “Depart from me, all you who do iniquity, for Yahweh has heard the voice of my weeping.” It is interesting (and instructive for us) that David’s response to the fact that God heard his prayer was a call for the workers of iniquity to depart from him. When we have seen God work, holiness should be our response. Unfortunately this is not always the case.

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