Good Morning! 2010.08.06 - Psalm 11:3 - If the Foundations be Destroyed

If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psalm 11:3)

To ignore or shortchange the foundation in construction of a building or highway is to invite disaster and perhaps loss of life. It's equally disastrous to ignore the foundation of our individual lives, our families, churches, and our nation.

McGee writes: "This is still a good question to ask. Today the authority of the Word of God is being challenged on every hand. As I write, we have the "new morality," which is sin that the Bible has condemned from the very beginning. The problem is, What can the righteous do? I will tell you what they can do. Listen to the psalmist:" and that is found in the remaining verses of the Psalm." It is essential that Christians read their Bibles through many times and to obey everything God shows us.

Rabbi Daniel Lapin, an orthodox Jew, insists that Judeo-Christian values are vital for our nation's survival. He says in his book: America's Real War, (© 1985) "Our country is in a tug-of-war. At one end of the rope are those who believe in a secular nation. At the other end are those who stand for a spiritual America." He calls for a halt to the war—through a return to our Christian tradition."

Buried in his book is the observation that there are many ways to build an airplane. But there is only one way to build a plane that will fly: by adhering to the established principles of aerodynamics. He urges his Jewish friends to realize how well they have fared under the Republic spawned by our Founding Fathers and their Founding Documents. (ISBN 1-57673-655-5)Multinomah –

About 30 years ago I read an impressive article that said "Christians are building a foundation for their lives and then building the main structure of their lives alongside, beside the foundation." That's not a good idea, you think? These people don't trust the foundation as adequate but want the foundation close by in case they want to look at it. All the while, they invest a lot of money and time in building a superstructure with no foundation under it.

No doubt about it, the foundations of our nation are gradually eroding as though just any kind of foundation will do.

The good side of this question is that individuals and, quite often, whole families, can build and maintain a strong foundation that will withstand storms and termites. How's your Bible reading and prayer time coming along?

Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. (2Timothy 2:19)

Good Morning! - 2010.08.05 - Psalm 119:18 - Open Mine Eyes

Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. (Psalm 119:18)

The Bible talks a lot about eyes and most often it applies to our relationship with Him. That's what this verse is about.

Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, 176 verses. Every verse makes reference to the Word of God, using a variety of words. As I was reading Psalm 119 several years ago, verse 18 seized my attention and I knew I had to memorize it. So, I wrote it on a card and included it in my Bible memory program. This is a short but powerful prayer from the heart of the psalmist. I have reviewed the verse hundreds of times and it always strengthens the inner man.

A weak Bible always results in weak Christians. In America there is a famine for the hearing and reading of the Word of God. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. (Hosea 4:6)

If we could realize how deep and wonderful many things are in the Word of God, we would spend more time reading and studying it and meditating on it and hearing it and memorizing it.

Open thou mine eyes. I dare say that most Christians don't realize that they have a desperate need for God to open their eyes that they may see, may uncover things in the Bible. Otherwise, it's just another book and an irrelevant, dull, boring book at that. I have had many people to tell me that they just don't get anything out of the Bible when they read it. I think they are telling the truth. With all of these honest people there was a need for God to open their eyes and give them a thirst for the Word of God. I have found that nothing will increase one's desire to know the Bible like simply reading the Bible on a daily basis. It creates an appetite for more.

Open: Heb. Reveal, Isa_29:10-12, Isa_29:18, Isa_32:3, Isa_35:5; Mat_13:13, Mat_16:17; Joh_9:39; Act_26:18; 2Co_3:14-18, 2Co_4:4-6; Eph_1:17-18; Rev_3:18

That I may behold wondrous things. Amazing things. Profound things. Interesting things. Exciting things! For the 24-plus years Barbara and I have been married we have disciplined ourselves to read the Bible together at least five days a week and usually six days. We do not read on the Lord's day. Currently we are using the book: All the Prayers of the Bible by Herbert Lockeyer. We look up all the passages listed under each prayer listed in the Bible as well as Mr. Lockeyer's commentary. Then each of us has our own private Bible reading. If you want to walk with God, give Him something to work with.

wondrous: Psa_119:96; Hos_8:12; 2Co_3:13; Heb_8:5, Heb_10:1

Out of thy law – "Out of the written word; out of the Scriptures. The word "law" here is used to denote "all" that God had revealed to mankind; all that is contained in the volume of inspiration. The truths taught here are

(1) That there are deep, hidden, secret things in the word of God, which are not perceived by the natural man;

(2) That those things, when understood, are suited to excite wonder, or to fill the mind with admiring views of God;

(3) That a special illumination of God is necessary that man may perceive these things; and

(4) That the proper understanding of these things is connected with prayer, and can be hoped for only in answer to prayer.

No one has a proper appreciation of divine truth - of the beauty, the spiritual meaning, the grandeur, the sublimity of the Bible - until he is a renewed - a praying - man. See: 1Corinthians 2:6-15." (Barnes)