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10-15-2017 Weekly Message

The contemplation of the week: Psalm 90: 1-17

Text: Psalm 39: 1-13

The title of the Word: Dwelling?  Or Sojourning? In The Present World

           David, king of Israel, lived a life of supreme status, ruling over the Gentile nations at that time. However, when he was enjoying the glory,  he forgot the LORD God who raised him up and sinned against adultery and murder: and  the one-time sin brought about great disasters in his life.

          After he had sinned, when the prophet Nathan came and told how great his sin was, he realized that he had sinned and confessed before God:

” Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

6Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

7Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. “(Psalm 51: 5-7)

          His prayer, as revealed in the text passage  given to us today, reveals how short the life of those who live in the world.  When he was  old and weak  so that  he was about to leave the world, This is the final confession of the prayer:

” Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state isaltogether vanity. Selah.

6Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them. “(Psalm 39: 5-6)

           People living in the world now know about this fact. Some people have said that life is short and art is long. It is also sometimes referred to as “Nothing from the birth and nothing to death” In other words, I know that I cannot take anything when I die. But knowing and understanding is the difference between heaven and earth. If we do not end up with knowing this truth, but  understanding  it, then our understanding is to be clearly revealed in our life.  King David, who understood this truth, confessed that his life was no longer a life in the world, but a stranger and a sojourner with the Lord.

         As David understood the truth, in the world he lived like a foreigner who traveled for a while before he went to heaven, and the fact that he was a sojourner  for a while before he see the LORD God. But the Bible says that a man who knows but does not understand is like a beast that perishes:

“ Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish.This their way is their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings. Selah.

14Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.

15But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah.

16Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased;

17For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him.

18Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and men will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself.

19He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light.

20Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.“(Psalm 49: 12-20)

         King David, who understood the truth, confessed to God about his life after he understood it:

” And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.

8Deliver me from all my transgressions: make me not the reproach of the foolish.

9I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it.

10Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thine hand.

11When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah. (Psalm 39: 7-11)

That is correct! The person who understands this truth will look forward  the day when he will stand before God in the near future, and will focus on everything that appears at that time in purity. Even when suffering or difficulty comes, it is not a struggle to escape from it, but rather consider it as the hand of God to cleanse himself   confessing his sins before God and using all his might to become an honest person before God .

           King David gave a prayer of confession before God about what he was waiting for:

” From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.

15As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness. “(Psalm 17: 14-15)

          That is correct! He looked forward  the day of resurrection in the future, and then he lived with a strong desire to resurrect in the same image as the Lord. He knew in advance that Christ, who will save his soul in the future through the Holy Spirit, will appear in this world. He also knew that Christ will die for the sins of the world and be buried and be raised on the third day. Apostle  Matthew testified of the resurrection of  many Old Testament saints, including King David:

” Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.

51And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

52And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

53And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

54Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God. “(Matthew 27: 50-54)

           John, the Apostle who lived  denying himself and endured all sufferings by looking for King David’s wishes, testified of what all Christians ought to do before meeting the Lord in the future:

” Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

2Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

3And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

4Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

5And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.

6Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. “(1 John 3: 1-6).

             Apostle Paul also witnessed how Christians in the Church of God are to be  cleansed and prepared a clean linen as the bride of Christ:

” That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

27That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

…. Abstain from all appearance of evil.

23And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

24Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.. (Ephesians 5: 26-27, I Thessalonians 5: 22-24)

         That is correct! God is working in our lives to prepare our spirit, purity, and body to be a clean bride before Him, through His discipline and repentance, so that His children may remain pure in the world. It should not be forgotten, it is the very reason why we should be thankful for everything.

Amen! Hallelujah!