2. God-Directed Devotions! Psalm 66:3-4

Text: “Say unto God, How terrible art Thou in Thy works!  Through the greatness of Thy power shall Thine enemies submit themselves unto Thee.  All the earth shall worship Thee, and shall sing unto Thee; they shall sing to Thy Name.”

Psalm 66:3-4.

Good morning, truly devotional Christian!  Formal ‘religion’ is the furthest thing from your Spiritually regenerate mind/heart.  Praise God it is so!  Your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is first, Bible-based, and because it is Bible-based, you seek to sincerely come into the Holy Presence of the Living Lord God, the Creator of all things, in Christ Jesus, and in genuine God-directed devotional praise.  Thanks be to the Lord for truly devotional Christians!

“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him.  God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”  (John 4:23-24)

So much that is being passed off for ‘worship and praise’ in churches today, is nothing short of humanistic ‘religion’.  Too many are chosen to serve God in the services, not because of Spiritual lives of devotion to the Lord, or Spiritual gifting from the Lord given to enable worthy service – but because they can play a guitar, or beat upon a drum; or sing like a pop-star on the church dais.  This in not ‘God-Directed Devotions’, but merely a form of humanistic religion, as the performers can see it merely as ‘just another gig’.  So sad.

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come…Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”  (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

True worship, on the other hand, must be inspired by a heart that is in full fellowship with it’s Lord God; a heart that has acknowledged its sins and sought continued sanctification by confession to God and forsaking of such daily sins.  Our offerings of worship and praise cannot be brought to God’s throne of grace, by hearts that are polluted by unconfessed, and unforsaken sin.  Our God is a righteous and Holy Lord God Who cannot even look upon sin without punishing it by His judgement.

“Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest Thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest Thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous that he.”  (Habakkuk 1:13)

Without true regeneration in Christ Jesus; without being ‘born again’ of His Spirit – it is totally impossible to offer up genuine worship and praise unto the Lord God Almighty. “Ye must be born again.”  (John 3:3-8)

For such genuine worship and God-directed devotions, our Living Lord God is looking to us, ‘His people’.  If we are going to do this properly, then it must be from sincere, Spiritually regenerate hearts.

“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him.  God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”  (John 4:23-24)

Verse 3.  “Say unto God.  Devotion, unless it be resolutely directed to the Lord, is no better than whistling to the wind.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 283)

Verse 3.  “How terrible art Thou in Thy works!”  Too many professing Christ today, in this increasingly apostate 21^st Century church, seem to have no notion of the ‘terrible’ power of the Lord God Jehovah.  It is as though they have a vision of God as some old man with a beard, Who is just so glad to receive any attention from sinful mankind that He will accept just any service or musical offering, and be grateful to have it performed for Him!  What nonsense!

The Lord God Jehovah is an Almighty Creator Lord, the God of Holiness, Whose righteousness can consume the very rocks of the earth! 

“Wherefore we receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: for our God is a consuming fire.”  (Hebrews 12:28-29)

“For (a conclusion) if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries…It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God.”  (Hebrews 10:26-31)

Verse 3. “Through the greatness of Thy power shall Thine enemies submit themselves unto Thee.  Power brings a man to his knees, but love alone wins his heart.  Pharaoh said he would let Israel go, but he lied unto God; he submitted in word but not in deed.  Tens of thousands, both in earth and Hell, are rendering this constrained homage to the Almighty; they only submit because they cannot do otherwise; it is not their loyalty, but His power which keeps them subjects of His boundless dominion.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 283)

The Lord God’s power, when clearly seen and contemplated, will scare the life out of any gross sinner such as you and I. However, it can have no comparison to the sheer and true awesomeness of Divine love – once felt and revealed in one’s heart through the Gospel of Christ and Him Crucified for us, the human heart melts with devotion; the human tongue cannot but shout for sheer and untrammelled joy; the regenerate soul is lifted in a full anthem of heartfelt worship.

This is true God-directed devotion; this is heart-worship; this is the praise the Living Lord God requires from hearts that He, by His Spirit, has redeemed by Christ’s sinless Blood.  You and I should always remember this standard of devotional worship and praise, and seek to sanctify ourselves continually that we might be enabled to offer it to the One true God.

“Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the Lord: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.  Wherefore David blessed the Lord before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed (blessed with all blessings) be Thou, Lord God of Israel our Father, for ever and ever.” (1 Chronicles 29:9-10)

David’s God-Directed Devotion: “Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the Heaven and in the earth is Thine; Thine is the Kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art exalted as Head above all…Now, therefore, our God, we thank Thee, and praise Thy glorious Name.” (1 Chronicles 29:11-13) 

Thought:  Let’s begin to worship the Lord God in Spirit, and in His truth today.

Psalm 66: A Psalm of Holy Joy

          1. Personal Holiness, Equals True Joy               Psalm 66:1-2

Text: “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: but as He which hath called you is Holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation (entire lifestyle); because it is written, BE YE HOLY FOR I AM HOLY.”

1 Peter 1:13-16.

Good morning, ‘fully-baked’, and ‘half-baked’ Christians!  When the Lord God, in His grace, granted you and I His gifts of repentance and faith – we believed and received Christ as our Saviour and our Lord.  We were ‘re-created’ in Christ Jesus, as new creatures; new creatures with all the Holiness of Christ in our Standing before God’s throne of grace.  We have God’s own Word on these facts of our Bible-believing faith in God.  Check it out!

Our Standing: The Lord God grants ‘His people’ a Standing, through the Cross of Christ’s Atonement for ‘His peoples’ sin.    “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed (or are continually passing) away; behold (look, and fully understand), all things are become (or are continually becoming) new.  And all things are of God, Who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation…” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18) 

“For we (Spiritually regenerated Christians) are His workmanship, CREATED in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”  (Ephesians 2:10)

 In our Standing before our Holy Lord God, we stand washed in Christ’s own shed Blood from all our sins.  Without Christ’s shield of saving faith, we could not stand for a moment in the Holy Presence of God – we would be consumed in an instant because of our sin – ‘…our God is a consuming fire…’  (Hebrews 12:29)

In our God-given Standing in Christ, by God’s grace, through God-given faith – we stand in complete Holiness - the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

“Who shall ascend unto the hill of the Lord?  Or who shall stand in His Holy place?  He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He/she shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his Salvation.”  (Psalm 24:3)

Our State:  All genuine reborn Christians still have an old nature within us, as well as the new redeemed nature from the Lord God.  Therefore, because we are natural born sinners, we naturally sin every day, in word, thought, or deed.  As we walk as pilgrims through this old sinful world in daily life, our hands, our feet, our minds, get dirtied by all we encounter around us without, and all the old incurably sinful nature we still possess within. 

When we, in our daily State, get polluted by outer and inner sins, we therefore need to be sanctified afresh before we can come and stand in the Holy, ‘fire-consuming’ Presence of the Lord God Jehovah.  The Lord will not even listen to prayers that come from a sin-defiled mouth and heart!

“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”  (Psalm 66:18)

“Behold (look, and fully understand), the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither is His ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities (sins) have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.  For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.  None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.”  (Isaiah 59:1-4

In our daily State, we get sanctified afresh from all sins – without and within – by confessing them to the Lord God alone, forsaking such sins; seeking His forgiveness and His cleansing by the precious shed Blood of His own dear Son, Jesus Christ.

“If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth (cleanses, and continues to cleanse) us from ALL sin.  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins (to God alone!), He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.”  (1 John 1:6-10)

Concerning our daily STATE in Christ Jesus, we do well to, as the Puritans were known to say, ‘Keep short accounts of our sin, with God.’; confess and sanctify ourselves to the Lord and seek His ever-given forgiveness, BEFORE we even dare to try to come into His Holy Presence in prayer or worship of Him.

‘Fully-baked’ & ‘Half-baked’ Christians: Here in Ulster, that is Northern Ireland, UK, we have a tradition of naming folk either ‘half-baked’ or ‘fully-baked’ in any given profession.  If one is evidenced to be ‘fully-baked’ (as one would bake a cake, or a pie) in their profession – as a joiner, a metal-work fitter; an electrician, OR a Christian – then one is seen to be the genuine article; the one that is actually living/doing the job they profess to be able to do.

If on the other hand, the person is evidenced to be incompetent, unprofessional, shoddy in their profession – one is then known as being merely ‘half-baked’ at what they profess to be able to do, or be.

The Christian church – universal and international – today, is habited by professing Christians who are both ‘fully-baked’ and ‘half-baked’ in my definition explained. 

Those bringing honour to the Name of Christ are those that are faithfully being saved from our sins by God’s Sovereign grace; studying God’s Word and doctrine to ‘…grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ’; and finding ways and means to serve Christ by glorifying His Holy Name, and extending His Kingdom here on earth.  Praise God for them.

Verse 1. “Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands. We need not so much noise as joyful noise. God is to be praised with the voice, and the heart should go therewith in Holy exultations.”  Verse 2. “Sing forth the honour of His Name. It is our glory to be able to give God glory; and all our true glory should be ascribed unto God, for it is His glory.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 283) Hallelujah!  Our Lord God is Holy!

Thought: ‘Fully-baked’ Christians bring, and give the Lord glory.  ‘Half-baked’ professing Christians are luke-warm, and shall be spued out of Christ’s mouth.  God’s Word is an oven.  Let us all seek to stay in God’s oven until we are ‘fully-baked’!

God’s Power: The Assurance of Personal Prayer Psalm 65:6-13

Text: “Which by His strength setteth fast the mountains; being girded with power: which stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people.”

Psalm 65:6-7.

Good morning, Fully assured praying Christian!  The power of your personal prayers is assured in full, by the Almighty power of the Personal Lord God to Whom you and I are praying!  His Almighty power underwrites the potency of our otherwise puny prayers and petitions to Him.  If He did not have the Almighty power to both, hear and answer our prayers, you and I - and every other true Christian - would by merely talking to the ceiling! 

God’s Almighty power, fully assures us that our daily prayers to Him are a powerful exercise of God-given faith in Christ.  Christ’s total Victory at Calvary’s Cross – as our Substitute, Saviour, and Redeemer Lord – underwrites every personal prayer ‘His people’ pray to God our Father in Heaven.  Hallelujah!  What a gracious Saviour Lord we have!

“But my God shall supply al your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 4:19)

Verse 6. “Repose, O believer, where the mountains find their bases – viz in the undiminished might of the Lord God.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 282)

“But seek ye FIRST the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness (Christ Jesus is the righteousness of God); and all these things shall be added unto you.”  (Matthew 6:33)

“And all things (according to the revealed will of God in His Word) whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”  (Matthew 21:22)

Everything within the vast Creation of the Lord God utterly depends upon His Almighty power.  The sun would not rise in the morning, where it not for His power to make it rise.  The moon would not appear at night without His command that it did so, to furnish mankind with light.  Every blade of grass, and the flowers, crops, and foliage of every island in the world only grow according to the power and the Creative will of our Sovereign Lord God Jehovah – Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.  God’s power underwrites every word of His Word, and His Word reveals every function and existence of His power at work continually.

Our personal prayers are underwritten and established by the existence of an Almighty Lord God Who is filled with Supernatural POWER.

“Thou art coming to a King, large petitions with thee bring, for His grace and power are such none can ever ask too much.”  (John Newton 1725-1807)

Born again Christian believers have a powerful Spiritual weapon with which we might use in every circumstance in life – the power of personal prayer.  God Himself permits us to talk to Him in the private place of personal prayer.   All real prayer is inspired of God the Holy Spirit, otherwise our fallen hearts would never desire, or dare, to speak with God in prayer.   Without the covering of Christ Jesus, we would burn up in the Holy Presence of God Almighty.

“Wherefore we receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: for our God is a consuming fire.”  (Hebrews 12:28-29)

Verse 7. “…And the tumult of the people. Human society owes its preservation to the continued power of God: evil passions would secure its instant dissolution; envy, ambition, and cruelty would create anarchy tomorrow, if God did not prevent; whereof we have had clear proof in the various French revolutions.” (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 282)

Verse 8.  “They that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid at Thy tokens: Thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice.”  Throughout the entire world, God’s Creative and maintaining power is in clear evidence.  Mankind throughout the islands of the world are left without excuse that there is a Divine power at work constantly.  Only fools and reprobate unbelievers would dare to set forth some other foolish humanistic notion that the Creator Lord God has not only made this universe, but maintains it by His Eternal power.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork.  Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.  There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.” (Psalm 19:1-3)

Verse 9.  “Thou visitest the earth, and watereth it.  He is represented here as going around the earth, as a gardener surveys his garden, and as giving water to every plant that requires it, and that not in small quantities, but until the earth is drenched and soaked with a rich supply of refreshment.  O Lord, in this manner visit Thy church, and my poor, parched and withering piety.  Make Thy grace to overflow towards my graces; water me, for no plant of Thy garden needs it more.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 282)

If ever the church – universal and international – needed Almighty refreshment: in holiness, in commitment to sound doctrine; in reverence and worship of the Lord of all lords Jehovah, it is right now in this increasingly apostate 21 Century.  Repent Christian!  Do what is right!

Verse 10.  “Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly…Thou blessest the springing thereof.  Oh, dear Lord, please visit Thy sick and disobedient church with the power of Thy Spirit again.  Take the chaff from the wheat, O Lord, refresh what is Thine, and purge us from the hindrances of foul birds roosting in church branches made Holy by Christ’s Blood.

“Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth Him of the evil (He will otherwise bring upon false professors!).”  (Joel 2:12-13)

Personal prayer for National and International church revival, is what is so necessary today, dear Reader.  We all need to stop ‘playing church’ and begin to get serious about Christ and the profession of Salvation that we are currently failing to prove valid.  God help us!  Only then will the last three verses of Psalm 65 reflect our experience of Christ to His glory.

Verses 11; 12; & 13.  “Thou crownest the year with Thy goodness…Thy paths drop fatness…the little hills rejoice on every side…they shout for joy, they also sing.  Note the vast difference manifested by an obedient, God-fearing, reverential church and the pathetic, humanistic church we have today?  “He/she that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”  (Revelation 2:29)

Thought: The personal prayers encouraged in Psalm 65, are heard and answered by a faithful Lord God Almighty - at all times according to His will and Sovereign power.

God’s Answers to Personal Prayer Psalm 65:5-6

Text: “By terrible things in righteousness wilt Thou answer us, O God of our Salvation Who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are afar off upon the sea.”

Psalm 65:5.

          “Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.  When Thou saidst, Seek ye My face; my heart said unto Thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.  Hide not Thy face far from me; put not Thy servant away in anger: Thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my Salvation.”

Psalm 27:7-9.

Good morning, Praying Christian!  Your fellowship is, at all times, a worshipful two-way fellowship with our Father, the Living Lord God, through Jesus Christ, your Saviour and mine, in the power of God the Holy Ghost, all three Divine Persons One true God. 

You and I speak plainly from our hearts to the Lord God in prayer, and He speaks to us plainly through the medium of His inspired Word contained in our KJV Bibles.  That is a two-way fellowship, and much to be so very thankful to God for today. 

We have a blessed, most personal, fellowship with God, because of Christ’s Sacrifice for our sins at Calvary’s Cross.  Glory to the worthy Lamb!

God answers all our prayers, when we pray in the Name of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

However, at all times, He answers our personal prayers to Him, in His Divine and Supernatural way, and not in our mere human and therefore, natural expectation. 

All things are done unto us according to God’s Sovereign will and Eternal purpose – and therefore, all answers to the personal prayers of Spiritually regenerate, Bible-believing, Christians, are answered in three Divine ways:

1. God says to us, ‘His people’: ‘Yes, I love you, and have heard and shall answer your prayers ’. 

2.  He says, ‘No, I will not give you that petition because I love you, and know that giving you what you are asking for would not be for your eventual good.’ 

3.  And, ‘Yes, I love you, I will grant you what you are praying for, but you must WAIT for My perfect timing in this matter.’

The Lord Jesus Christ, when praying to God the Father in Gethsemane’s Garden, just prior to His arrest and Crucifixion for our sins, prayed that God the Father might ‘…remove this cup…’ from Him – the ‘cup’ of having our vile sin placed upon His impeccable Holiness for the first time ever in all Eternity. 

However, at the end of the prayer Christ prayed, ‘…Nevertheless not My will, but Thine be done.’  (Luke 22:41-42)

At all times, the Lord Jesus came down to do the Father’s will, and not His own.  God the Father’s will is perfect, and Christ proved this for us in the Garden of Gethsemane.

“Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of Me,  I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within my heart.”  (Psalm 40:7-8)

“Not everyone that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in Heaven.  Many will say unto Me in that day (the Day of Judgement), Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy Name; and in Thy Name have cast out devils; and in Thy Name done many wonderful works?  And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:21-23)

Non-elect sinner’s prayers, due to their unrepentant iniquity, are never heard, no matter how sincerely mouthed to the Heavens.  Redeemed Christian’s prayers are similarly hindered, IF engaged in what they think are ‘secret sins’; sin harboured in the heart; or secretly practiced iniquities.

“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”  (Psalm 66:18)

“Behold (Look, and fully understand), the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither is His ear heavy, that is cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.  Your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.  None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.” (Isaiah 59:1-4)

Dictionary Definition: Iniquity – (noun) lack of fairness and justice; gross injustice; wickedness, sin; a crime…scandal; unreasonableness. (Chambers Dictionary, page 827)

For the prayers of genuine Christians to be both clearly heard and answered according to God’s Sovereign will, day to day sin, failings, fallings, and wrongs must be both confessed to the Lord God alone, and forsaken to the best of our, all-too-often-limited abilities.

When our daily sins are confessed and forsaken, then the pathway to our Holy Lord God is made clear for our prayers to be heard, and answered according to God’s Sovereign will.

“If we say that we have fellowship with Him (the Lord God), and walk in darkness (iniquity, practiced sin), we lie and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.”  (1 John 1:6-10)

Verse 5.“By terrible things in righteousness wilt Thou answer us, O God of our Salvation. We seek sanctification, and trial will be the reply: we ask for more faith, and more affliction is the result: we pray for the spread of the Gospel, and persecution scatters us.  Nevertheless, it is good to ask on, for nothing which the Lord grants in His love can do us any harm.  Terrible things will turn out to be blessed things after all, where they come in answer to prayer.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 281)

Verse 6. “…Being girded with power. Let us learn that we poor, puny ones, if we wish for true establishment, must go to the strong for strength.  Without Him, the everlasting hills would crumble; how much more shall all our plans, projects, and labours come to decay.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 281)

Thought: Pray on, dear Christian!  Your personal prayers and mine are being heard and answered by our Holy and Divinely loving Lord God.  All glory to His Name!