Yahweh Does Not Listen
To Those Who Cherish Sin In Their Heart
Psalm 66:16-20 reads,
66:16Come,
and hear, all you who fear God.
I will declare what he has done for my soul.
66:17I
cried to him with my mouth.
He was extolled with my tongue.
66:18If
I cherished sin in my heart,
The Lord wouldn’t have listened.
66:19But
most assuredly, God has listened.
He has heard the voice of my prayer.
66:20Blessed
be God, who has not turned away my prayer,
Nor his lovingkindness from me.
Teach Your Children Yahweh's
Law
Psalm 78 reads,
A contemplation by Asaph.
78:1Hear
my law, my people.
Turn your ears to the words of my mouth.
78:2I
will open my mouth in a parable.
I will utter dark sayings of old,
78:3Which
we have heard and known,
Our fathers have told us.
78:4We
will not hide them from their children,
Telling to the generation to come the praises of Yahweh,
His strength, and his wondrous works that he has done.
78:5For
he established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in
Which he commanded our fathers,
That they should make them known to their children;
78:6That
the generation to come might know, even the children who should be born;
Who should arise and tell their children,
78:7That
they might set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep his commandments,
78:8And
might not be as their fathers,
A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that didn’t make their hearts loyal,
Whose spirit was not steadfast with God.
78:9The
children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows,
Turned back in the day of battle.
78:10They
didn’t keep the covenant of God,
And refused to walk in his law.
78:11They
forgot his doings,
His wondrous works that he had shown them.
78:12Marvelous
things did he in the sight of their fathers,
In the
78:13He
split the sea, and caused them to pass through;
He made the waters stand as a heap.
78:14In
the daytime he also led them with a cloud,
All the night with a light of fire.
78:15He
split rocks in the wilderness,
And gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths.
78:16He
brought streams also out of the rock,
And caused waters to run down like rivers.
78:17Yet
they still went on to sin against him,
To rebel against the Most High in the desert.
78:18They
tempted God in their heart
By asking food according to their desire.
78:19Yes,
they spoke against God.
They said, "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
78:20Behold,
he struck the rock, so that waters gushed out,
Streams overflowed.
Can he give bread also?
Will he provide flesh for his people?"
Yahweh Is Angry At Those
Who Sin Against Him
78:21Therefore
Yahweh heard, and was angry.
A fire was kindled against Jacob,
Anger also went up against Israel,
78:22Because
they didn’t believe in God,
And didn’t trust in his salvation.
78:23Yet
he commanded the skies above,
And opened the doors of heaven.
78:24He
rained down manna on them to eat,
And gave them food from the sky.
78:25Man
ate the bread of angels.
He sent them food to the full.
78:26He
caused the east wind to blow in the sky.
By his power he guided the south wind.
78:27He
rained also flesh on them as the dust;
Winged birds as the sand of the seas.
78:28He
let them fall in the midst of their camp,
Around their habitations.
78:29So
they ate, and were well filled.
He gave them their own desire.
Yahweh Punishes The
Faithless And Rebellious
78:30They
didn’t turn from their cravings.
Their food was yet in their mouths,
78:31When the anger of God went up
against them,
And killed some of the fattest of them,
And struck down the young men of Israel.
78:32For
all this they still sinned,
And didn’t believe in his wondrous works.
78:33Therefore
he consumed their days in vanity,
And their years in terror.
78:34When
he killed them, then they inquired after him.
They returned and sought God earnestly.
78:35They
remembered that God was their rock,
The Most High God their redeemer.
Yahweh Is Merciful With
Sinners
78:36But
they flattered him with their mouth,
And lied to him with their tongue.
78:37For
their heart was not right with him,
Neither were they faithful in his covenant.
78:38But
he, being merciful, forgave iniquity, and didn’t destroy them.
Yes, many times he turned his anger away,
And didn’t stir up all his wrath.
78:39He
remembered that they were but flesh,
A wind that passes away, and doesn’t come again.
78:40How
often did they rebel against him in the wilderness,
And grieve him in the desert!
78:41They
turned again and tempted God,
And provoked the Holy One of Israel.
78:42They
didn’t remember his hand,
Nor the day when he redeemed them from the adversary;
78:43How
he set his signs in Egypt,
His wonders in the field of Zoan,
78:44Turned
their rivers into blood,
Their streams, so that they could not drink.
78:45He
sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them;
Frogs, which destroyed them.
78:46He
gave also their increase to the caterpillar,
Their labor to the locust.
78:47He
destroyed their vines with hail,
Their sycamore-fig trees with frost.
78:48He
gave over their cattle also to the hail,
And their flocks to hot thunderbolts.
78:49He
threw on them the fierceness of his anger,
Wrath, indignation, and trouble,
And a band of angels of evil.
78:50He
made a path for his anger.
He didn’t spare their soul from death,
But gave their life over to the pestilence,
78:51And
struck all the firstborn in Egypt,
The chief of their strength in the tents of Ham.
78:52But
he led forth his own people like sheep,
And guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
78:53He
led them safely, so that they weren’t afraid,
But the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
78:54He
brought them to the border of his sanctuary,
To this mountain, which his right hand had taken.
78:55He
also drove out the nations before them,
Allotted them for an inheritance by line,
And made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
78:56Yet
they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God,
And didn’t keep his testimonies;
78:57But
turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers.
They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
78:58For
they provoked him to anger with their high places,
And moved him to jealousy with their engraved images.
78:59When
God heard this, he was angry,
And greatly abhorred Israel;
78:60So
that he forsook the tent of Shiloh,
The tent which he placed among men;
78:61And
delivered his strength into captivity,
His glory into the adversary’s hand.
78:62He
also gave his people over to the sword,
And was angry with his inheritance.
78:63Fire
devoured their young men;
Their virgins had no wedding song.
78:64Their
priests fell by the sword;
Their widows made no lamentation.
78:65Then
the Lord awakened as one out of sleep,
Like a mighty man who shouts by reason of wine.
78:66He
struck his adversaries backward.
He put them to a perpetual reproach.
78:67Moreover
he rejected the tent of Joseph,
And didn’t choose the tribe of Ephraim,
78:68But
chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion which he loved.
78:69He
built his sanctuary like the heights,
Like the earth which he has established forever.
78:70He
also chose David his servant,
And took him from the sheepfolds;
78:71From
following the ewes that have their young he brought him
To be the shepherd of Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance.
78:72So
he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart,
And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.
Yahweh Saves Sinners For
His Name's Sake
Psalm 106 reads,
106:1Praise
Yahweh!
Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good,
For his lovingkindness endures forever.
106:2Who
can utter the mighty acts of Yahweh,
Or fully declare all his praise?
106:3Blessed
are those who keep justice,
He who does righteousness at all times.
106:4Remember
me, Yahweh, with the favor that you show to your people.
Visit me with your salvation,
106:5That
I may see the prosperity of your chosen,
That I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,
That I may glory with your inheritance.
106:6We
have sinned with our fathers.
We have committed iniquity.
We have done wickedly.
106:7Our
fathers didn’t understand your wonders in Egypt.
They didn’t remember the multitude of your lovingkindnesses,
But were rebellious at the sea, even at the Red Sea.
106:8Nevertheless
he saved them for his name’s sake,
That he might make his mighty power known.
106:9He
rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up;
So he led them through the depths, as through a desert.
106:10He
saved them from the hand of him who hated them,
And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
106:11The
waters covered their adversaries.
There was not one of them left.
106:12Then
they believed his words.
They sang his praise.
Yahweh Eventually
Punishes Persistent Sinners
106:13They
soon forgot his works.
They didn’t wait for his counsel,
106:14But gave in to craving in the
desert,
And tested God in the wasteland.
106:15He
gave them their request,
But sent leanness into their soul.
106:16They
envied Moses also in the camp,
And Aaron, Yahweh’s saint.
106:17The
earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
And covered the company of Abiram.
106:18A
fire was kindled in their company.
The flame burned up the wicked.
106:19They
made a calf in Horeb,
And worshiped a molten image.
106:20Thus
they exchanged their glory
For an image of a bull that eats grass.
106:21They
forgot God, their Savior,
Who had done great things in Egypt,
106:22Wondrous works in the land of
Ham,
And awesome things by the Red Sea.
106:23Therefore
he said that he would destroy them,
Had Moses, his chosen, not stood before him in the breach,
To turn away his wrath, so that he wouldn’t destroy them.
106:24Yes,
they despised the pleasant land.
They didn’t believe his word,
106:25But murmured in their tents,
And didn’t listen to the voice of Yahweh.
106:26Therefore
he swore to them
That he would overthrow them in the wilderness,
106:27That he would overthrow their
seed among the nations,
And scatter them in the lands.
106:28They
joined themselves also to Baal-peor,
And ate the sacrifices of the dead.
106:29Thus
they provoked him to anger with their deeds.
The plague broke in on them.
106:30Then
Phinehas stood up, and executed judgment,
So the plague was stopped.
106:31That
was credited to him for righteousness,
To all generations forevermore.
Yahweh's Wrath Is
Kindled Against Wicked People
106:32They
angered him also at the waters of Meribah,
So that Moses was troubled for their sakes;
106:33Because
they were rebellious against his spirit,
He spoke rashly with his lips.
106:34They
didn’t destroy the peoples,
As Yahweh commanded them,
106:35But mixed themselves with the
nations,
Learned their works.
106:36They
served their idols,
Which became a snare to them.
106:37Yes,
they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
106:38They shed innocent blood,
Even the blood of their sons and of their daughters,
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan.
The land was polluted with blood.
106:39Thus
were they defiled with their works,
And prostituted themselves in their deeds.
106:40Therefore
the wrath of Yahweh was kindled against his people.
He abhorred his inheritance.
106:41He
gave them into the hand of the nations.
Those who hated them ruled over them.
106:42Their
enemies also oppressed them.
They were brought into subjection under their hand.
106:43Many
times he delivered them,
But they were rebellious in their counsel,
And were brought low in their iniquity.
106:44Nevertheless
he regarded their distress,
When he heard their cry.
106:45He
remembered for them his covenant,
And repented according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.
106:46He
made them also to be pitied
By all those who carried them captive.
106:47Save
us, Yahweh, our God,
Gather us from among the nations,
To give thanks to your holy name,
To triumph in your praise!
106:48Blessed
be Yahweh, the God of Israel,
From everlasting even to everlasting!
Let all the people say, "Amen."
Praise Yah!
Psalm 109 reads,
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.
109:1God
of my praise, don’t remain silent,
109:2For they have opened the mouth
of the wicked and the mouth of deceit against me.
They have spoken to me with a lying tongue.
109:3They
have also surrounded me with words of hatred,
And fought against me without a cause.
109:4In
return for my love, they are my adversaries;
But I am in prayer.
109:5They
have rewarded me evil for good,
And hatred for my love.
109:6Set
a wicked man over him.
Let an adversary stand at his right hand.
109:7When
he is judged, let him come forth guilty.
Let his prayer be turned into sin.
109:8Let
his days be few.
Let another take his office.
109:9Let
his children be fatherless,
And his wife a widow.
109:10Let
his children be wandering beggars.
Let them be sought from their ruins.
109:11Let
the creditor seize all that he has.
Let strangers plunder the fruit of his labor.
109:12Let
there be none to extend kindness to him,
Neither let there be any to have pity on his fatherless children.
109:13Let
his posterity be cut off.
In the generation following let their name be blotted out.
109:14Let
the iniquity of his fathers be remembered by Yahweh.
Don’t let the sin of his mother be blotted out.
109:15Let
them be before Yahweh continually,
That he may cut off the memory of them from the earth;
109:16Because
he didn’t remember to show kindness,
But persecuted the poor and needy man,
The broken in heart, to kill them.
109:17Yes,
he loved cursing, and it came to him.
He didn’t delight in blessing, and it was far from him.
109:18He
clothed himself also with cursing as with his garment.
It came into his inward parts like water,
Like oil into his bones.
109:19Let
it be to him as the clothing with which he covers himself,
For the belt that is always around him.
109:20This
is the reward of my adversaries from Yahweh,
Of those who speak evil against my soul.
109:21But
deal with me, Yahweh the Lord, for your name’s sake,
Because your lovingkindness is good, deliver me;
109:22For I am poor and needy.
My heart is wounded within me.
109:23I
fade away like an evening shadow.
I am shaken off as the locust.
109:24My
knees are weak through fasting.
My body is thin and lacks fat.
109:25I
have also become a reproach to them.
When they see me, they shake their head.
109:26Help
me, Yahweh, my God.
Save me according to your lovingkindness;
109:27That
they may know that this is your hand;
That you, Yahweh, have done it.
109:28They
may curse, but you bless.
When they arise, they will be put to shame,
But your servant shall rejoice.
109:29Let
my adversaries be clothed with dishonor.
Let them cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe.
109:30I
will give great thanks to Yahweh with my mouth.
Yes, I will praise him among the multitude.
109:31For
he will stand at the right hand of the needy,
To save him from those who judge his soul.
[Previous Section] [Contents] [Next Section]
Click here to inform a friend about this article
Go to Christ the Lamp web site Contents page
Go to Christ the Lamp Home page
© 1999, Isaac Aluochier, All rights reserved. Published by Christ the Lamp,
a division of Servants of Yahweh,