Timeless Biblical Truth.
Believers may pray with assurance that God will give them a complete salvation because He forgives and restores them to His favor when His righteousness and their faithfulness meet each other.
- Believers remember His forgiveness and favor (1-3).
- The LORD restores forgiven believers to His favor (1).
- The LORD forgives believers and ceases being angry (2-3).
- Believers pray for God to cease being angry and to revive them (4-7).
- Believers pray that God will cease to be angry with them (4-5).
- Believers pray for God to revive them that they may praise Him (6-7).
- Believers find comfort that God promises salvation and blessing when His righteousness and their faithfulness fit together (8-13).
- Believers need to hear God’s promises of salvation and peace (8-9).
- Believers pray that God’s righteousness and their faithfulness will co-exist (10-11).
- God’s blessing will be upon believers because His righteousness safeguards His ways (12-13).
Questions for Second Milers
- What are the returned exiles thinking as they begin the task of completely rebuilding their land from its total destruction and desolation?
- What is God’s part in their return?
- What reassurances do they need from God to attempt this task? Why?
- How does God speak peace to His people (v 8)? What is the individual’s responsibility?
- How will God’s glory dwell in Israel? Enumerate the aspects of His glory that will be present.
- What will the future hold?
- How have you experienced God’s blessing as seen in His attributes here? Why?
- Give your own short title to this psalm.
In the presence of the Light of the world all other lights are dim, and it is impossible to consider the New Testament merely as a literary work. It is assuredly the literary masterpiece of all time, as superior to Shakespeare, Homer, Goethe, Dante, Tolstoi as they are superior to the commonplace; but it is essentially a spiritual book, and cannot be understood at all unless there is some spiritual capacity in the reader’s heart and mind.” William Lyon Phelps: Human Nature and the Gospel, p. xii. (Phelps, who died in 1943, was a professor of English literature at Yale University for over thirty years and was a well-known public speaker and writer of articles for weekly magazines. He was also a friend to all the famous literati of his day. His autobiography is full of interesting anecdotes about them.)
Lanny Tanton is the Pastor at The Bible Church of the Lakes in Horseshoe Bay, Texas – just outside of Marble Falls. Pastor Tanton welcomes you to our website and hopes that you’ll enjoy reading these insightful blog posts. Please contact us if you have further questions!!
