Sunday Scripture

 

 Time for another Sunday Scripture!  This is part of an ongoing series on my simple study of Rachel Wojo's Everything Beautiful.  You can read about the plan here if you are interested in it for yourself: Everything Beautiful Bible reading plan. My answers and input on this series are a combination of what I learned back in 2018, and what I found in looking over the Scriptures now, six years later.  I'm attempting to SOAP the passages too, though some of them are longer. [Quick reminder that S stands for Scripture; O stands for observation; A stands for application, and P stands for prayer.]  Today's study is from Psalm 135:1-7.

S= "Praise ye the LORD.   Praise ye the name of the LORD; praise Him, O ye servants of the LORD.
"Ye who stand in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God,
"Praise the LORD,  for the LORD is good.  Sing praises unto His name, for it is pleasant.
"For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto Himself, and Israel for His peculiar treasure. 
"For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.
"Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did He in heaven, and in earth,  in the seas, and all deep places.
"He causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; He maketh lightnings for the rain; He bringeth the wind out of His treasuries."  (Psalm 135:1-7)

O= In The Treasury of David, Charles Spurgeon  points out that this psalm "is mainly made up of selections from other Scriptures.  It has been called a mosaic, and compared to a tesselated pavement."

He then goes on to list all of the Scriptures referenced in this psalm.  These come from other psalms; from Deuteronomy; from Exodus; and from Jeremiah.  (I'm not going to write them all out, but if you're interested in the references, let me know in a comment and I will see that you get them.)

Another note from Spurgeon that was a blessing to my study:  "The whole Psalm is a compound of many choice extracts, and has all the continuity and freshness of an original poem.  The Holy Spirit occasionally repeats Himself; not because He has any lack of thoughts or words, but because it is expedient for us that we hear the same things in the same form.  Yet, when our great Teacher uses repetition, it is usually with instructive variations, which deserve our careful attention."

Several cross=references are given for these verses:

For "the courts of the house of our God" (v.2) -- "I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all His people, In the courts of the LORD's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem.  Praise ye the LORD."  (Psalm 116:19)

 

For "the LORD is good" (v.3) -- "Thou art good, and doest good: teach me Thy statutes.". (Psalm 119:68)

 

For "chosen Jacob unto Himself" (v.4) --  "Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and He chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day."  (Deuteronomy 10:15)

For "Whatsoever the LORD pleased" (v.6) -- "But our God is in the heavens; He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased."  (Psalm 115:3)

For "He maketh lightnings" (v.7) -- "To make the weight for the winds; and He weigheth  the waters by measure.  When He made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder."  (Job 28:25-26)

-- "Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of the thunder." (Job 38:25)

 

For "His treasuries" (v.7) -- "When He uttereth His voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and He causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; He maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of His treasuries."  (Jeremiah 51:16)

 
A= For this Scripture, there were a number of ways to apply it as prompted in the journal.  

"The LORD is great and makes great." -- Rachel Wojo

Warren Wiersbe wrote in With the Word, "The psalmist opened his song praising the Lord four times (v.1-3) and he ended it blessing the Lord four times (v.19-21).  In between he gave four excellent reasons why the Lord deserves your heartfelt praise."

Two of the reasons are these, pointed out in verses 1-7: 

* He is the God of salvation.  In His grace, He chose you; in His mercy, He made you His special treasure.

* He is the God of creation, which means He provides for you day after day ... He is in charge of the storms and uses them to accomplish His perfect will.

 

Rachel also shares a "focus word" in each of the devotional pages.  For this lesson the focus word is "praise". As I mentioned last week, I've set a goal for myself to begin praising God each morning, even before I get out of bed.

The question was asked: Which of my own words have blocked the beauty of God's Word?

My response in 2018: Maybe my own faulty and flawed thinking.  Words like "I can't do this" and "This is hard".  Thoughts like this certainly block the beauty of "I can do all things through Christ" and "My help cometh from the LORD, who made heaven and earth."

Answering this same question in 2024: Any words of grumbling and complaining.  Praise God instead.

This prompt was given, along with a list: Today I will keep my eyes open for God's beauty in one or more of these places.

These are the places I circled: The words I read; the places I go; the music I hear; the air I breathe; the weather I experience; the rest I receive.

In 2024 I can note that for the places I go, we drove through the New Hampshire veterans cemetery with our friend Terry whose husband is buried there.  The flags placed for Memorial Day were still out and so beautiful with the symmetrical headstones.   It looked somewhat like this older photo:

For the music I hear, I noted the delight of being able to listen and watch our 8-year-old granddaughter's piano recital over livestream, three time zones away.

A journaling prompt was this:  Everything God made is beautiful.  Where have I noticed God's beauty in the last 24 hours?

My response in 2018: In yesterday's gorgeous blue sky.  The beauty of several hours of unbroken sleep.  The attractive tracery of bare tree limbs against blue sky.  The beauty of God's Word as I consider the accounts of the Resurrection.

For my response in 2024, I added: In the glowing smile of an 84-year-old waitress at a favorite eatery.  In a deer grazing in a field near our little cottage.  In the beauty of strings accompanying piano as we worship God in song at church.

P= "Lord, I  praise You,  for You are great, and are above all gods!  I praise You that You have done all that You pleased, in heaven, in earth, and in  all deep places -- everywhere, in fact!  You make lightning, You direct the wind -- truly, You are all powerful!  And it is You, the Maker of heaven and earth and all things, who are my Helper  How I praise You!  In Jesus' name , Amen."

 And there is this week's Sunday Scripture!  I pray it's a blessing to someone.