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June 3 - Morning
"Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise,
in the city of our God, his holy mountain.
Beautiful in its loftiness,
the joy of the whole earth,
like the heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion,
the city of the Great King.
God is in her citadels;
he has shown himself to be her fortress.
When the kings joined forces,
when they advanced together,
they saw her and were astounded;
they fled in terror.
Trembling seized them there,
pain like that of a woman in labor.
You destroyed them like ships of Tarshish
shattered by an east wind.
As we have heard,
so we have seen
in the city of the Lord Almighty,
in the city of our God:
God makes her secure
forever.
- Selah -
Within your temple, O God,
we meditate on your unfailing love."
- Psalms 48:1-9 |
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| The City of Jerusalem |
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Psalm 48 recognizes the glory of Jerusalem and credits the city’s majesty and military security to God’s presence in the city. This song is part of a collection of hymns within the Book of Psalms called the Songs of Zion (also included would be Psalm 76; Psalm 84; Psalm 87 and Psalm 122). God is the glory within this city that he protects.
“Zaphon” means “north” and is the mythical mountain fortress of the Canaanite god. In this psalm Mount Zion, or Jerusalem, is the true and historical “Mount Zaphon” since the true God dwells there. People can meet with the Lord at this “Zaphon” located in Jerusalem.
The Great King is the Lord. Verses 4-8 seem to be recalling (or, prophesizing) a military invasion of Jerusalem from the Mediterranean Sea. The kings of the earth joined forces and began their advance from the coastal plain through the Judean hills towards Jerusalem (48:4-5). But, upon their arrival the mere sight of this great city struck the invading kings with such terror that they fled back to their ships on the coast only to arrive in time to be destroyed by an east wind (48:6-7). The East wind from the desert is always trouble, and in this case, trouble for the forces invading from the West, identified as Tarshish.
The glory of Jerusalem and the strength of the city’s walls and ramparts are a manifestation of God’s unfailing love that protects the people and causes them to live in security. Before this event the people of Jerusalem had heard ancient accounts of the Lord’s glory and greatness in Jerusalem, but now they can say, “As we have heard, so have we seen.” (48:8)
This psalm breaks after verse 8 for a Selah (a time to consider the meaning and make personal application of these truths just sung), and resumes in verse 9 with pilgrims progressing through the city to celebrate in Jerusalem.
The psalm ends with citizens and pilgrims being advised to “walk about Zion,” “count her towers,” “consider her ramparts” and “citadels” (Psalm 48:12-14) so that they will be able to make an accurate report concerning the greatness of Jerusalem to the next generations:
“Walk about Zion, go around her,
count her towers,
consider well her ramparts,
view her citadels
that you may tell of them
to the next generation.
For this God is our God for ever and ever;
he will be our guide even to the end.”
- Psalm 48:12-14
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"Much of what we do for 'church' was lifted directly out of pagan culture in the postapostolic period."
- Viola and Barna |
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Immaculate Conception means Mary was conceived without original sin or its stain—"immaculate" means: without stain. For those who want to believe this, Scriptural support for the Immaculate Conception is found in the angel Gabriel’s greeting to Mary when he said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Luke 1:28). The phrase "full of grace" is a translation of the Greek word kecharitomene which is said to express a characteristic quality of Mary.
Mary’s mother (Anne) conceived Mary the normal way, but the Virgin Birth refers to the supernatural conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary. (Matt.1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38) Because of this Jesus was born without the sin nature that all other men inherited from Adam. The virgin birth was universally accepted in the church by 120 AD and challenges to the teaching did not gain momentum until the 1700’s. |
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Yrs (Hb) – to inherit (Eng) – Yrs is a root word meaning “to inherit” and “to take possession.”
Yrs is used to mean “to inherit” in:
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This is list #2 of 4 that identifies a total of forty-one bullae (seal impressions in clay) used on official documents and sealed by someone mentioned in the Bible or by a servant of a biblical personality. The existence and discovery of these bullae (seal impressions in clay) attest to the accuracy and historicity of the text in the Old Testament documents:
Hoshea (2 Kings 17:1-6), “Belonging to Abdi, the servant of Hoshea”
Shebna (Isaiah 22:15-25) says, “…Shebna, servant of the king”
Manasseh (2 Kings 21:1-18;
2 Chr.34:20) two finds: “Belonging to Manasseh, son of the king” and “Belonging to Manasseh son of Hezekiah”
Asaiah (2 Kings 22:12, 14;
2 Chr.34:20) says, “Belonging to Asayahu (Asaiah), minister of the king.”
Joezer and Igdaliah (Jer.35:4; 1 Chr.12:7) says, “Belonging to Yehoezer son of Yigdalyahu”
Azaliah and Meshullam
(2 Kings 23:11) says, “Azaliah the son of Meshullam”
Nathan-melech (2 Kings 23:11) says, “Nathan-melech, servant of the king”
Ahikam and Shaphan
(2 Kings 22:12 says, “Belonging to Ahikam, the son of Shaphan” |
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I will remember that beauty, order, decency, success and prosperity are only possible with the presence of the Lord. And, religion is not necessarily the same thing as the presence of God. |
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"By wisdom the Lord laid the earth's foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place."
- Proverbs 3:19 |
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Family friends and their children |
Experience God’s presence |
International Relationships |
Ghana |
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Jacob's Well is in the modern city of Nablus in the West Bank. This is the Old Testament city of Shechem and the New Testament city of Sychar. It was here that Jesus met the Samaritan woman in John 4:4-7. The ancient well, which was hewn through solid rock is in the chuch in the center
of this photo with the domed roof. |
Details of 1 Kings 11:14-40 concerning Solomon's three adversaries that arose during his reign. |
| (click photo for larger image) |
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| Details and Explanation of Sets & Reps Devotional System Here |
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| Reps & Sets is a daily Bible devotional for Christians from Generation Word Bible Teaching used each morning and evening. |
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