Psalm 36: Man's Wickedness - God's Perfection

In Psalm 36, there are 6 verses that describe man’s wickedness (verses 1-4; 11-12) and then 6 verses that describe God’s perfections (vs. 6-10). There are 13 descriptions of man’s wickedness, and 14 accounts of God’s perfections.

The number 13 in the bible represents rebellion and lawlessness. Nimrod, the mighty hunter who was 'before the Lord' (meaning he tried to take the place of God - Genesis 10:9), was the 13th in Ham's line (Ham was one of Noah's three sons who survived the flood). Thirteen represents all the governments created by men, and inspired by Satan, in outright rebellion against the Lord. The dragon, a symbol for Satan, is found 13 times in Revelation. Satan is behind all rebellion against God.

The number 14 in the bible represents deliverance and salvation. It is also a double of the number 7, which represents completion. In the verses of this Psalm that describe God’s perfection, there are 14 pronouns: (Your, You).

Here are the 13 descriptions of man’s wickedness:

The wicked man has no fear of God

The wicked man flatters himself

The wicked man loves to sin

The wicked man hates others

The wicked man speaks deceitfully

The wicked man turns from wisdom

The wicked man turns from goodness

The wicked man plots evil through the night

The wicked man walks in evil

The wicked man loves what God hates

The wicked man crushes others with their pride

The wicked man pushes people around

The wicked man falls down and is unable to rise again

Here are the 14 descriptions of God perfections:

God’s mercy is as vast as the heavens

God’s faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds

God’s righteousness is as powerful as the mountains

God’s justice is as deep as the oceans

God’s care extends to every man and creature

God’s love is precious and unfailing

God’s shelter under His wings is secure

God’s provision is abundant
God's drink springs from His hand

God’s pleasures flow like a river

God’s life pours out like a fountain

God’s light gives us light for our eyes

God’s kindness extends to all who know Him 
God’s virtue covers the upright in heart

The number 14 also represents David - the numerics of his name add up to 14: D_V_D represent the numbers 4+6+4=14. David was the 14th generation from Abraham. Then there were another 14 generations to babylon and another 14 generations to Jesus (Matt. 1:1-17). Jesus is the Divine King who is descended from David.

Charles H. Spurgeon

Be quick to listen, Slow to speak, slow to wrath

Here is another one of those Scriptures with three secrets hidden inside:

James 1:19 (NLT)

…You must all be quick to listen,

slow to speak,

and slow to get angry.

James 1:19 (The Message)

…Lead with your ears,

follow up with your tongue,

and let anger straggle along in the rear

James is not just giving us a set of rules – he is calling us to a great secret of Christian life. We so easily sin with our tongue – this little part of the body is the source of so much trouble. So many people speak before they think – especially when they are going through difficult things in their lives. It is not the suffering of trials that is our biggest problem – it is what we do as a result of suffering that brings our greatest heartaches. When we speak out of anger or frustration we can get into so much trouble with the Lord and with our brothers and sisters.

There is a progression in these 3 commands –

Listen first…listen often…listen more than anything else. The quieter you become, the more you can hear

Speak only when you have heard…speak only when you have taken time to listen…speak only if you must

Have anger only when you have had time to listen, consider, wait, wait aome more, speak…and maybe then you may be justified in your position…maybe

Prov. 17:28 Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent,
    and discerning if they hold their tongues.

Prov. 29:20 Do you see someone who speaks in haste?
    There is more hope for a fool than for them.

Listen to understand

then speak with love

Be not hasty to speak

nor slow to hear

Pythagoras

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

Hi everyone - just a short break from the songs of deliverance to celebrate the Day of Love - Some excellent quotes on love:

Love always involves responsibility and sacrifice. We do not really love Christ unless we are prepared to face His task & take up His Cross. William Barclay

I am persuaded that love and humility are the highest attainments in the school of Christ and the brightest evidences that He is indeed our Master. John Newton

The best use of life is love. The best expression of love is time. The best time to love is now. Rick Warren

Lord, grant that I might not so much seek to be loved as to love. Francis of Assisi

There is nothing that makes us love a man so much as praying for him. William Law

The things that we love tell us what we are. Thomas Aquinas

Woman was taken out of man; not out of his head to top him, nor out of his feet to be trampled underfoot, but out of his side to be equal to him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be loved. Matthew Henry

What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us. Helen Keller

To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless. G.K. Chesterton

Those who love to be feared, fear to be loved. Francis de Sales

You learn to love by loving. We cannot help conforming ourselves to what we love. Francis de Sales

Human beings must be known to be loved; but Divine beings must be loved to be known. Blaise Pascal

I never knew how to worship until I knew how to love. Henry Ward Beecher

Do not waste time bothering whether you "love" your neighbor; act as if you did. C. S. Lewis

To love God is the greatest of virtues; to be loved by God is the greatest of blessings. Unknown

You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving. Unknown

What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.  Augustine

A woman's heart should be so hidden in God that a man has to seek Him just to find her. Max Lucado

God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be just like Jesus. Max Lucado

Love is a symbol of eternity. It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end. ~Author Unknown

Romans 8:35-39

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine,

or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long;

We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors

through Him who loved us.

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life,

nor angels nor principalities nor powers,

nor things present nor things to come,

nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing,

shall be able to separate us from the love of God

which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

7 Things - Our Journey From Faith To Love

Peter describes a seven-step journey of faith
—2 Pet. 1:2–8

(I have included the NLT version of this passage as it reads so well, and aids in the meaning)

2 Peter 1:2-8 (NKJV)

2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,

3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,

4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,

6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,

7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.

8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We can see in verses 3 and 4 that this seven-step journey takes us from faith to love—through His power and promises, and our participation (partake) in His divine nature. Look at the attributes we have to add to our faith in order to gain more and more of the likeness of Christ:

Add to your faith—virtue (moral excellence, goodness, Christian energy)

Add to virtue—knowledge (intelligence)

Add to knowledge—self-control (discipline)

Add to self-control—perseverance (patience, endurance)

Add to perseverance—godliness (piety)

Add to godliness—brotherly kindness

Add to brotherly kindness—love

It is interesting to me that the journey begins with faith and concludes with love. What perfect "bookends" for our journey!

The concept of “adding” to our faith means that we have work to do. We cannot work for our salvation - Jesus has done that - there is nothing we can do to add to what He accomplished for us on Calvary. However we do have work to do in order to grow in grace. God does not force these attributes onto us, nor does he hand them to us as a free gift. Each of these attributes has to be worked into our lives through a series of choices, self-discipline, and faith victories. God doesn’t do this work – we must do it.

I think we will grow stronger in faith if we have to walk into these things day by day - disciplining our hearts and minds to follow Christ and let go of self.

We must become passionate about gaining the likeness of Christ – this is really what it means to be a “Christian.” I invite you to embark on this journey to “build and perfect your faith” – take a day out of the week to focus on each one of these steps and ask the Lord to reveal His plan for you to grow in this grace.

2 Peter 1:2-8 (New Living Translation)

2 May God bless you with his special favor and wonderful peace as you come to know Jesus, our God and Lord, better and better.

3 As we know Jesus better, his divine power gives us everything we need for living a godly life. He has called us to receive his own glory and goodness!

4 And by that same mighty power, he has given us all of his rich and wonderful promises. He has promised that you will escape the decadence all around you caused by evil desires and that you will share in his divine nature.

5 So make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life. Then your faith will produce a life of moral excellence. A life of moral excellence leads to knowing God better.

6 Knowing God leads to self-control. Self-control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to godliness.

7 Godliness leads to love for other Christians, and finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone.

8 The more you grow like this, the more you will become productive and useful in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.