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Bible Minute by Woodrow Kroll
Distributed Freely by Back To The Bible
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Bible Minute by Woodrow Kroll
Distributed Freely by Back To The Bible
Did you enjoy this devotional?
Send it on for a friend to enjoy.
Free Email Subscription
___________________________________
Daily Bible Study
Date: Jul 6, 2011
Topic: Holiness, Christian Living/Situational
Blessed Is the Man
Sometimes when you read the Psalms--especially when you read several at once--it's easy to lose perspective on what's really being said. For instance, it's possible to look at Psalm 112 and sum it up by saying, "God blesses the righteous." That's true, but it misses a lot. Let's go deeper into this Psalm and look closer at the link between our fear of God and the blessings He provides. We'll start by first looking at what the Psalm doesn't say.
What Does God Say?
Actually, this section should be titled "What God Doesn't Say" because, for just a moment, we're going to look at Psalm 112 from a different perspective. In the next section we will come back and look at this Psalm and see what it actually says. But for a moment, let's consider a "negative translation" of this Psalm and what it implies rather than what it says.
Here's how verse 1 might look:
"forsaken is the man who does not fear the Lord,
who finds His commandments burdensome."
Verse 2 might continue: "His children will be weak in the land...."
And verses 3 and 4:
"Poverty and misery are in his house,
and his rebellion continues forever.
The darkness persists for the unjust;
he is stingy, unmerciful, and thinks himself the greatest."
And one more, verse 7:
"He is constantly afraid of bad news, inside he is a coward,
because he only has himself to trust in."
And so on. It's a pretty bleak picture. One I'm sure no one aspires to. And though this "negative translation" of Psalm 112 hints at the path to blessing, the correct translation--the way God meant these verses to be read--leaves no doubt. Let's look at the real Psalm 112 in the next section.
My Thoughts
Take some time to read all of Psalm 112 and think about the following questions:
Who is the person that God that blesses?
What blessings does this person enjoy?
What can you do today to enjoy more of God's blessings?
My Part
Write out what you want out of life. What words would you use to describe your ideal life? Now, read through the Psalm again and look for the adjectives that describe "the man who fears the LORD." Here are a few: Mighty. Blessed. Gracious. Firm. Steady. A lot of these adjectives probably also appear on the list you made earlier, and on the lists of thousands of men and women just like yourself. This is the life you were created to live, and the Bible shows you exactly how to live it.
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