Daily Bible Study for Wednesday
September 14, 2016
By: Hanny Lynn Stearns
Fish N
Loaves Ministries, Inc.
“Multiplying
God’s Word Around The Globe”
Chapter Reading
for Today: Please read in
your Bible before proceeding. Note that most translations are considered
paraphrases. The Young’s Literal Translation provides a more accurate
translation since he is the one who authored a concordance. Others are helpful
for seeing a different perspective, but we cannot always depend on their
wording. I hope this is helpful to you. If you are studying in another version,
that is fine. I am studying from the KJV, but for the purpose of this study, I
will keep it with the New King James Version.
One final note: I will put the scripture in italics to differentiate from my
own writing. I am adding red to the letters when
it is Jesus talking – just like the Bible. Thank you.
Bible
Gateway Verse of the Day
Philippians 2:1-2
Therefore if there
is any consolation in
Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any
affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
Psalm
100:4
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
and into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless
His name.
Song: Every Praise By: Hezekiah
Walker
Psalm 56
What Can Man Do to Me?
Once again we see the
challenges of facing enemy attacks through people coming up against one who
really does trust in the Lord. Can that be said of you saints? No matter what
people may say or try to do to you, do you really place your full trust and
confidence in the Highest God? Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father:
Thank You for always being
faithful to Your word! Lord, we know that You keep Your promises to us. You
never let us down! Glory to Your name forever. Father, I ask You to give me the
anointing and utterance to bring Your message to Your children today. I am
asking for the heathen Lord. Bring people who do not know You and those who do.
Cause this to go out to them unhindered and unchecked by any outside force or
my flesh. Make Your purpose and will know to us today as we study Your faithful
and true word. Thank You Lord for always watching over Your word to perform it
in our lives when we place our full trust in it! What You say is binding upon
us – hallelujah! Father, we purpose to be doers of Your word and not forgetful
hearers. Thank You for changing us as we listen to Your Holy Spirit. Thank You
for directing us in the way we should go for such a time as this in Jesus
mighty holy and precious name! Amen.
Another Psalm and another cry
for help from one who certainly knows a lot about the attacks of the enemy
through people all around him. David always knew he could call on God. When people
surrounded him like a pack of hungry wolves looking to devour his life, he
turned his full attention to the Lord. Hallelujah! We have learned in our
studies about David’s life as a king, and that there were many who opposed him.
We must remember that the devil works through people. And the more ungodly the
people are, the more open they are to be used of the enemy to torment God’s
people.
Those who know God and really
do trust in and rely upon Him will come through these attacks unscathed. But those
who do not know Him at all, or just a little, will suffer great harm – all of
which could have been avoided had they ran to God for help. When fear came to
David, he knew it was time to trust in the Lord. He knew he had to submit to
God and resist the devil…
James 4:7
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Most Christians will quote the second half of the verse and leave the
first part out. But we cannot do that. It will not work. In order to resist the
enemy, we must first submit ourselves to the Lord. Without doing that, the
second part of this verse will not happen. The devil will laugh us out of town.
In this short chapter David mentions three times that he is placing his trust
in the Lord. Additionally, we can see that three times he said he was “praising
God’s word.” He knew the word of God was trustworthy and he praised Him for it.
He didn’t sit around just panicking about his situation. He took it to
the Lord. What the people were saying and doing to him was certainly hurtful.
That’s why the tears. We can all relate to this. But through his tears his
faith in the Lord prevailed – glory to God! That’s where the “rubber meets the
road.” Maybe we shed a few tears, but where is our faith?
David knew the Lord was keeping track of those tears he shed. He knew
that God would order his steps. What does this mean?
David was confident in God’s
ability to tell him what to do in the battles he was facing. People were
twisting his words, lying about him and making him out to be something he was
not. Have you ever experienced that? I know I have. Jesus faced many trials
after He entered Jerusalem that final week before His crucifixion. People were
saying all kinds of evil things about Him and accusing Him of evil things…
Matthew 26:57-67
57 And those who had laid hold of Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas the high
priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. 58 But
Peter followed Him at a distance to the high priest’s courtyard. And he went in
and sat with the servants to see the end.
59 Now the chief priests, the elders, and all
the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, 60 but
found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But
at last two false witnesses came forward 61 and
said, “This fellow said,
‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’”
62 And the high priest arose and said to Him, “Do
You answer nothing? What is it these
men testify against You?” 63 But Jesus kept silent.
And the high priest answered and said to Him, “I put You under oath by the
living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!”
64 Jesus said to him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless,
I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand
of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
65 Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying,
“He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now
you have heard His blasphemy! 66 What do you
think?”
They answered and said, “He is deserving of death.”
67 Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and
others struck Him with
the palms of their hands, 68 saying, “Prophesy to
us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?”
If there was ever anyone who understands
what it means to have people lying about you and saying all kinds of false
things about you when you were undeserving – it was the Master. Through most of
it He kept silent and only spoke as He was directed to by His Father in heaven.
What He did say caused them to get even more stirred up. Have you ever had that
happen? Was Jesus afraid to speak for fear of what they would do to Him?
Certainly not! He held nothing back. He knew what He was supposed to say and He
said it – whether they liked it or not. He was not afraid of them or what they
would do to Him.
If Jesus had been afraid of
people, He would have failed to produce the results He did for us. But Jesus
was no failure. In Him, as born again Christians, neither are we! Let’s look at
someone else who spoke up when his words were not welcomed and see what
happened to Him…
Mathew 14:1-12
14 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the report
about Jesus 2 and said to his servants, “This is
John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at
work in him.” 3 For Herod had laid hold of John and
bound him, and put him in
prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. 4 Because John had said to him,
“It is not lawful for you to have her.”5 And
although he wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they
counted him as a prophet.
6 But when Herod’s birthday was celebrated, the
daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod. 7 Therefore
he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.
8 So she, having been prompted by her mother,
said, “Give me John the Baptist’s head here on a platter.”
9 And the king was sorry; nevertheless, because of
the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he commanded it to be given to her. 10 So
he sent and had John beheaded in prison. 11 And his
head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 12 Then
his disciples came and took away the body and buried it, and went and told
Jesus.
When John faced the king and
spoke what the Lord had given him to say, he placed his “neck” on the line
(literally!) Well, we can all see what happened as a result. He surrendered his
life for the sake of truth. God was glorified and John entered into glory that
very day! If John had feared the king, the purpose and plan of God to try to
reach this king with truth would have failed and the Lord would not have been
pleased. But John did not fear man. He feared the Lord more – glory to His name
forever!
Now we see that Jesus faced many
trials and was eventually hung for His remarks. John faced an ungodly king and
he was beheaded for speaking the truth to him. Now let’s bring it around to our
current generation. There are many opportunities that Christians face every
day, in the work place and at home where they are called on to “say it like it
is” according to the truth of God. (Speaking the truth in love) But many fail.
Why? Because they fear people. They fear the repercussions of man rather than
fearing the Lord and what it means to Him when we fail to stand up for truth.
I faced such a challenge in my
own workplace a few years ago. I was still working as an insurance agent in a
brokerage firm in southwest Florida. The place was full of ungodly people.
There were only two believers in the whole bunch. They gave me comfort just by
being there because we could talk about the Lord and praise Him together in the
midst of our work day when our paths would cross. One day, the Lord placed a
request on my heart. He asked me to “stand up for Jesus.” What He was asking me
to do was defend the name of God when people would say His name in vain.
Whenever someone would say, “Oh
my G__.” I was to ask them not to use the Lord’s name in vain when they were
talking to me because I am a Christian. Many people were kind about it while
others took offense and accused me of judging them. What they didn’t realize,
or maybe they did, was that their own hearts were condemning them. They knew in
their hearts that what they were doing was wrong.
When I first began to do this
I had fear come on me like you can’t imagine. It was intense. The enemy did not
want me to do it. In the face of fear, I did it anyway. I had a choice to make.
When the Lord asked me to do this I could either obey and go forward or I could
deny His request and go my way. I knew I had to obey. I could have it no other
way. There was fear all around me as the battle only proved to intensify. I
lost a couple of clients over this. But I kept right on doing what the Lord
asked me to do. The boss called me in the office and asked me to stop doing
this. They were nice about it, but very concerned. I thought I was about to
lose my job, but it didn’t stop me.
A year later, the trouble
increased as I stood up for my Lord. On New Year’s Eve I was called in to the
big boss’s office and given an ultimatum. I was told to either stop doing this
or look for another job. They were letting me go even though they admired my
work and would have kept me until I retired. I chose to stick with God. I was single
at the time. I lived in a little one-bedroom condo. The only money I had was
what I had accumulated in my 401k account. Any money I had saved had just been
spent on Christmas. I was planning to rebuild my savings account after the
holidays.
The day they gave me that
choice I had about $11.36 in the bank. I looked at my boss straight in the eye
and told him that I was going to stick with God. He was not surprised by my
answer. After a month and a half of training other people to take my place, I
went home to no job and no money. I was placing my trust in God. I refused to
let the fear that kept knocking on my door in.
One of the Christian employees
that I had worked with, an agent who sold the insurance and was responsible for
bringing new business into the firm, was walking in tremendous fear every day.
He feared the boss. He feared losing his job. He was a deacon at his church and
he read his Bible regularly. He went to Bible studies and was at church every
single week. Yet this man walked in tremendous fear. I tried to encourage him
in the Lord. I coached him – glory to God. I told him that even if he did lose
his job for not producing enough that the Lord would have something better for
him. Little did I know all that time that I was coaching him about the very
subject that I would be used as a live example for him to see as it played out
in my own life.
I had to walk away from my
only “source” of income. I know that God is my source – not the job. At that
time, He was using my job to provide an income stream for me. I went home empty
handed with a heart that trusted in God my Savior. I didn’t know what to expect
but I knew it would be good. I knew that He was not going to abandon me. He had
brought me this far and I knew He would show me the way as I took a step of
faith each day. And He did! He was faithful to His word to me.
David praised the Lord today
in our chapter because God is faithful to His word. Sadly, too many Christians
do not take Him at His word. They know the scriptures. They go to church. They
go to Bible studies. But when it comes to working the word in their lives, they
drop their Bibles and get a serious case of “spiritual amnesia!”
God’s word only works for
those who will really apply it to their lives. The ones who read it, speak it,
believe it and receive it unto themselves, confessing it out loud over their
lives are the ones who are getting results. The “Bible thumpers” and note
takers who go home and continue to cry, “Oh woe is me – what am I going to do?”
are the ones who will continue to fail in this life. This is really SADD-U-CEE!
God has told us that we can trust
Him and He will direct us…
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean
not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall
direct your paths.
How many can quote this verse
off the top of their head? But, how many are really DOING IT? In the Psalm
today, David noted that the Lord “numbers his wanderings.” That means that He
is directing David’s path. And he knows it. Look at this…
Proverbs 16:9
A man’s heart
plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.
Knowing this should bring a Christian great peace
– but many do not really believe it. They live in a perpetual state of fear –
like my coworker did. In verse 12 David noted that God’s vows (let’s look at
the King James Version on this one) were upon him. This means that what God has
promised (His vows – aka, His word) He would be faithful to perform. As a result
of knowing that, this man David offered praises to God for His faithfulness to
him. Hallelujah!
Psalm 56:12 KJV
Thy vows are upon me, O God: I
will render praises unto thee.
The Young’s Literal Translation
maintains this same meaning…
Psalm 56:12 YLT
On me, O God, [are] Thy vows,
I repay thank-offerings to Thee.
Other versions have turned this around to say that what we have promised
to the Lord are a binding contract upon us. This does apply in other verses,
but not this one. That’s why we have to be careful when looking at different
translations. They are mostly paraphrases and some of them can completely change
the meaning from the intended point given in the original Greek and Hebrew
text.
David knew his God and he knew that what He had promised He was well
able to perform. As a result, these accusations and attacks from the people
surrounding him at the time were no problem in the end. God would deal with
them. David would just praise God for the victory, even before he saw anything
happen! Can that be said of you? The final verse in this chapter is a verse of victory! David is
recognizing God as his Deliverer! Hallelujah! He knew exactly what the
following verse reminds us…
Luke 18:1-8
18 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray
and not lose heart, 2 saying: “There
was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. 3 Now
there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for
me from my adversary.’ 4 And he would not for a
while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor
regard man, 5 yet because this widow troubles me I will
avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’”
6 Then the Lord said, “Hear
what the unjust judge said. 7 And shall God not avenge His own
elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8 I
tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man
comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
This scripture is excellent
for today’s topic – glory to God! The Lord was telling people what to do.
Apparently David was one who “paid attention in class” so to speak. Jesus said
that men should pray and not lose heart. The widow persisted in seeking her
desired result. She didn’t waver and give up. Jesus reminded us that God will
bring about justice in the situations we face as His children who cry out to
Him continually.
The thing is that once we take
a matter to the Lord in prayer and ask for help according to the biblical principals
of praying correctly, according to the will of God and according to His will,
then all we have to do is thank Him for the answers until they come. We keep
standing on His faithfulness and continue to praise Him for the victory. If we
go back and ask the same thing over and over, it means we have prayed all the
previous prayers in unbelief. We will not get results doing this!
Jesus said it Himself, “Nevertheless, when the Son
of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
The truth is that it’s faith that pleases
God. Just because we do not see the answer the minute we pray it does not mean
the Lord isn’t working on the solution. Proper prayer is what it takes to get
things done in the earth. And our prayers must be done correctly so we can
yield the right results. Jesus faced people and trials, but He didn’t fear
them. John the Baptist faced people and trials but he didn’t fear them. I faced
an employer and I resisted fear – glory to God. The Lord took care in all of
these circumstances. He is waiting to help you with anything you are facing.
The big question today is this? Will you continue to be afraid of a person, or
will you trust in God, submit to Him and resist the devil (working through
people) so you can get the victory?
Questions:
What did David say he was going to do three times in this
chapter?
What did he say three times about praise?
What did he say on the topic of what men could do to him?
What did David say about God’s promises?
What do you say about God’s promises?
What will you do differently as a result of studying this
lesson?
Who can you share this study with?
There are three main points to
consider from today’s study…
Men cannot do anything to us when we
are trusting in the Lord
God keeps His word to us
God is worthy to be praised for it
is He who is our Deliverer
Let’s
pray…
Heavenly Father:
Thank You for the reminder that there is nothing any man
can do to me. Like David said in this Psalm, I know that You are for me! Thank
You for always causing me to triumph and giving me the victory through Jesus Christ
my Lord. Father, for what I am facing right now _______, I am placing my trust
in You for the help, the answers, the wisdom needed and the final victory.
Thank You in advance for Your help. While I wait I will continue to offer to
You a sacrifice of praise – in Jesus wonderful name. Amen.
What can
man do to you when God is for you?
And God Said… You fill in the blanks.
Hebrews 13:5-6
Let
your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has
said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say:
“The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What
can man do to me?”
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