"God's Faithfulness"
GOD'S FAITHFULNESS
Tonight (Wednesday, 10/11, 7:00 pm), gather with your Calvary Chapel family in the Holy Grounds Cafe' or on our website (www.calvaryinv.com), Facebook, and YouTube (Calvary Inverness) as we continue our three-year journey through the Bible in the book of Psalms (104-107).
In a chaotic world that is ever-changing, the one constant is God. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Therefore, the authors of the Psalms would write of God's strength, wisdom, goodness, mercy, and faithfulness in keeping His covenant promises.
And because life has a way of overwhelming His people, the Holy Spirit inspired the Psalmists to set their words to music. Whereas books were scarce and many were illiterate at that time, music was a means of quickly memorizing the truths of God found in the Psalms.
Psalm 104, though the author is anonymous, there is enough internal and external evidence to attribute it to David. It is a hymn of celebration that attributes God as the One who created the heavens and the earth.
The author was referring to the creation account in Genesis 1:1-31 and provides a theological commentary on the power and might of God as seen in what He did in seven literal days.
Psalm 105 was written after Israel had returned from their seventy-year exile in Babylon. It is a historical Psalm that commemorates God's goodness to His people and faithfulness in fulfilling His word to Israel throughout their history.
In the first six verses, the author calls Israel, in light of their history, to remember the acts of God's mercy, rejoice at what He has done, and respond in faith by returning to their trust in Him.
Psalm 106 was written during the captivity in Babylon. Though this is another orphan Psalm, it is similar enough to the prophet Daniel's prayer in Daniel 9, who was around 87 years old at the time, to attribute it to him. Whether or not he was the human author, the Psalm is a plea for God's people to return home to Israel.
The Babylonian empire had fallen. And the exiles to whom this was written had grown comfortable in their lives while in Babylon. The thought of returning to a desolate city in ruins for the last seventy years was something none wanted to consider.
Therefore, the Psalmist recounted their history and how God always performed what He promised, including Jeremiah's prophecy that at the end of the seventy-year exile, God would release them to return to Israel (Jeremiah 25:9-12; Daniel 9:1-2). So now was the time to forsake Babylon and her pagan religion and return home to the land promised to their ancestor Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3; 15:18-21).
Psalm 107 was written for the same purpose as the previous one. The majority of the Jews, many of them born in Babylon since the seventy-year exile began, did not want to return to Israel, especially since it would be a rigorous and dangerous four-month journey to the desert. What caused this attitude?
The answer is simple. Their love for God had waxed cold. They enjoyed the pleasures of Babylon. Therefore, there was no desire to forsake what they had for something that they considered a dusty relic of past glory.
The Psalmist focused his attention on those who did take the step of faith and left everything behind to begin a new life in Jerusalem. So, the chapter seems to be one of the psalms centering around those who returned and were a part of the remnant that laid the temple's foundation, believing that Messiah would come one day to reside and govern them.
Please pray that this three-year journey through the Word of God will be received by open hearts that long to grow in the Grace and Knowledge of Jesus. Moreover, He would do deep and abiding work in and through us for a world in desperate need of a Savior.
In His Strong Love,
Pastor
Tonight (Wednesday, 10/11, 7:00 pm), gather with your Calvary Chapel family in the Holy Grounds Cafe' or on our website (www.calvaryinv.com), Facebook, and YouTube (Calvary Inverness) as we continue our three-year journey through the Bible in the book of Psalms (104-107).
In a chaotic world that is ever-changing, the one constant is God. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Therefore, the authors of the Psalms would write of God's strength, wisdom, goodness, mercy, and faithfulness in keeping His covenant promises.
And because life has a way of overwhelming His people, the Holy Spirit inspired the Psalmists to set their words to music. Whereas books were scarce and many were illiterate at that time, music was a means of quickly memorizing the truths of God found in the Psalms.
Psalm 104, though the author is anonymous, there is enough internal and external evidence to attribute it to David. It is a hymn of celebration that attributes God as the One who created the heavens and the earth.
The author was referring to the creation account in Genesis 1:1-31 and provides a theological commentary on the power and might of God as seen in what He did in seven literal days.
Psalm 105 was written after Israel had returned from their seventy-year exile in Babylon. It is a historical Psalm that commemorates God's goodness to His people and faithfulness in fulfilling His word to Israel throughout their history.
In the first six verses, the author calls Israel, in light of their history, to remember the acts of God's mercy, rejoice at what He has done, and respond in faith by returning to their trust in Him.
Psalm 106 was written during the captivity in Babylon. Though this is another orphan Psalm, it is similar enough to the prophet Daniel's prayer in Daniel 9, who was around 87 years old at the time, to attribute it to him. Whether or not he was the human author, the Psalm is a plea for God's people to return home to Israel.
The Babylonian empire had fallen. And the exiles to whom this was written had grown comfortable in their lives while in Babylon. The thought of returning to a desolate city in ruins for the last seventy years was something none wanted to consider.
Therefore, the Psalmist recounted their history and how God always performed what He promised, including Jeremiah's prophecy that at the end of the seventy-year exile, God would release them to return to Israel (Jeremiah 25:9-12; Daniel 9:1-2). So now was the time to forsake Babylon and her pagan religion and return home to the land promised to their ancestor Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3; 15:18-21).
Psalm 107 was written for the same purpose as the previous one. The majority of the Jews, many of them born in Babylon since the seventy-year exile began, did not want to return to Israel, especially since it would be a rigorous and dangerous four-month journey to the desert. What caused this attitude?
The answer is simple. Their love for God had waxed cold. They enjoyed the pleasures of Babylon. Therefore, there was no desire to forsake what they had for something that they considered a dusty relic of past glory.
The Psalmist focused his attention on those who did take the step of faith and left everything behind to begin a new life in Jerusalem. So, the chapter seems to be one of the psalms centering around those who returned and were a part of the remnant that laid the temple's foundation, believing that Messiah would come one day to reside and govern them.
Please pray that this three-year journey through the Word of God will be received by open hearts that long to grow in the Grace and Knowledge of Jesus. Moreover, He would do deep and abiding work in and through us for a world in desperate need of a Savior.
In His Strong Love,
Pastor
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