Psalm 61, though “short” in length, is “heavy” In Truth.

Verse 4 alone is worth its weight in gold!

“I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.” Hear David’s resolve, concentration, love!

God’s “tabernacle” (in Hebrew “ohel”) means the Lord’s “tent” (141 times translated this way in the King James Version). No doubt meaning the “Tabernacle in the Wilderness,” the pattern of which God gave Moses long ago. (Exodus 25:9)

God’s “wings” there (in the tabernacle) can only refer to the Most Holy Place, the Ark of the Covenant, and to the actual “wings” of two cherubim (angels) that overshadowed the “Mercy Seat,” that blood-sprinkled Seat where God Almighty sat in residence, called His “Dwelling Place!” (Exodus 25:20)

“Abide” means “to dwell” in the sense of “living” there, not merely temporarily visiting that august Place!

Then “trust” as a verb in our verse means “to flee for safety, protection,” even “for hope!”

Wow!

Put all these words, definitions back together and you are looking at one of the greatest privileges we have as Believers in Jesus!

Living “under the very shadow” of His Presence!

Psalm 91 opens with the same thought, the same picture … “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. “

Psalm 23 ends with the same idea … “And I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.”

This position (living by His Side, under His Wings, in His very Presence) is overwhelming!

Enjoy your heritage, dear Christian friend!

BUT SOMEONE MAY BE SKEPTICALLY SAYING … “THIS IS OLD TESTAMENT IMAGERY.”

(What’s wrong with that, the Old Testament, I think! It is God inspired too, without error.)

Nevertheless, let’s go to the New Testament as well!

Paul teaches us in Ephesians 2:6 that God, when He saved us … “hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

There it is!

Sitting with Jesus, in Heaven, by the Father’s Right Hand!

Glory!

You do whatever you choose with this vital, glorious Truth.

I plan on enjoying my “seat” all day long! Basking in the Light of my dear Saviour, savoring His Identity, His Power, His Person! And so much more!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

What a perspective … “I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.”

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Never in my lifetime have I seen the whole world living in such debauchery. Not just a single nation or two … everywhere!

And such blatant sin can only lead to one thing, ultimately, the Judgment of God! The Wrath of God!

Psalm 60 addresses this issue. There David speaks to God Himself as follows: “Thou hast made the earth to tremble; Thou hast broken it.” (Verse 2)

Yes, this world is “broken.”

Once before it was this bad (“as it was in the days of Noah”) and God “broke” it for sure! He destroyed all wickedness, except for eight people who “found Grace” in His Eyes!

All I am saying this morning is that God is presently “breaking” it again, or at least preparing to do so. All because of man’s rebellious sin!

And while not literally “shaking” yet … soon the days of Tribulation will arrive, with more shaking than humanity has ever seen. See Revelation 6:12-14 for proof!

When something has outlived its usefulness, is no longer operative, God the Creator has the option of destroying it.

A broken earth!

Our only hope … “Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.” Hosea 6:1

Have Mercy, O Lord.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Personally, I believe the Bible teaches that we Christians will be “caught up to meet the Lord in the air” before this “brokenness” fully materializes. Before the Tribulation begins.

If so, Jesus could come today!

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Psalm 59:17 says, in part, “I will sing of thy power.” Addressing the Lord, of course.

No real Christian doubts the fact of God’s Power! Jesus said: “ALL POWER is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Matthew 28:18

Why, just think of the Power of God involved in creating the universe, in six days at that!

Think of the Power of God utilized in parting the Red Sea! Or tumbling the walls of Jericho! Or overruling the weather, its normal patterns! (Winds and waves and clouds and rain!)

Think of the Power of God on display the Day Jesus died! The Darkness at Noon! The torn Temple Veil! The earthquake! The opened graves!

And the bodily Resurrection of our Saviour three days later!

Think of the Power of God yet to be displayed to this unbelieving world! The Rapture! The miracles of the Tribulation, mostly judgments long delayed upon Planet Earth!

Awesome!

Now … back to Psalm 59:16 … “But I will sing of thy power.”

Not just study it.

Not just believe it.

Not just admire it.

But SING of it!

Recently I heard a family singing these words …

“I sing the mighty pow’r of God, that made the mountains rise,
That spread the flowing seas abroad, and built the lofty skies.
I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day;
The moon shines full at His command, and all the stars obey.”

Just one verse of that great Hymn by Isaac Watts!

Folks, that’s singing of God’s Power!

Or this song …

“Would you be free from the burden of sin?
There’s pow’r in the blood, pow’r in the blood;
Would you o’er evil a victory win?
There’s wonderful pow’r in the blood. “

Amen!

Or even …

“Oh Lord, my God
When I, in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder
Thy power throughout the universe displayedThen sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art.”

Yes!

Psalm 21:13 recaps my hedart this morning.

“Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power.”

Wow!

Can YOU think of a song, a hymn, that magnifies and glorifies His POWER?

If so, sing it!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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One Line from Psalm 84 has caught my attention. Here it is: “How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!”

Spoken straight to the Lord, the writer adores God’s “tabernacles.” The Hebrew noun used her is “mishkan,” a derivative of the word “shakan” in Hebrew. That’s “shakan” that gives us the word “Shekinah!”

As in “Shekinah Glory!”

These tabernacles are God’s “dwelling places,” His places of abode in that sense. Where God lives!

That, in Old Testament days, would have been the portable Tent called the “Tabernacle” … and later would have been that ornate, beautiful building called the “Temple.”

There was even a seat for God there, the “Mercy Seat” it was called! Yes, where God “sat.”

“How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!”

The adjective “amiable” translates the word “yediyd,” a cognate of the verb “dod.” Words that mean “lovely, beloved,” and even “well-beloved.” But in the sense of red-hot love, fervent and enthusiastic!

The Psalmist is exhilarated over the beauty and glory of God’s (earthly) Dwelling Place!

If expressed in New Testament language … the parallel would suggest a man or woman so “loving” their place of worship, their Chruch, so excited about it, that they would never be unfaithful to it!

By the way, the Name of Deity used here is “The Lord of Hosts.” In Hebrew, “The God of the armies!” It’s God’s fighting Name, our great Warrior God! Exodus 15:3 does call Him “a Man of War!”

Last night as I was preaching in this week’s Revival … God showed me a Truth that previously had been unclear!

Oh, how I loved that moment!

At Church!

Among God’s people!

Preaching after a fervent, Jesus-exalting song service!

Can you say of your Church … “How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!”

Are you that much in love … with Church?

Jesus sure is!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Amiable!

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The verb “coalesce” has a Latin background. It basically means “to grow” or “to grow up” (a Latin infinitive spelled “alescere”), with the prefix “co” (“cum” in Latin) meaning “with” or “together” … we get “a number of elements coming together to form one mass or whole!

So I’m writing about … a place where all prayers meet, come together, grow or blend into each other!

I shall begin with Psalm 83:1-2 … “Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.”

Asking God, in other words, do something to reveal Himself, His Mighty Power!

By the way, Psalm 82:1-2 could be prayed today in America with as much pertinence, as much context, as much need … as ever before! Maybe more than ever!

Now I go to the Bible’s last Prayer … “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” Revelation 22:20, which is essentially the same basic request as Psalm 82:1-2! In my thinking, in my opinion anyway.

Now, we’re going straight to the “heart” of the so-called Lord’s Prayer … “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10, with Luke 11:2 echoing the plea.

Again I ask, are not these three petitions parallel, essentially identical?

One more, Isaiah 52:10, a Prophecy, a Promise, which God means His people to turn into a prayer. “The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” That is … “Lord, make bare Thy Holy Arm! Thy Mighty Arm! Let all the heathen (nations) see Thee! And thy Salvation (Deliverance) to Israel!”

The Goal of all true Prayer … that God be glorified! That God be vindicated! That God be seen! That God be worshipped!

And my friend, that grand Day shall come!

Tell us about it again, dear Lord … “I have sworn by Myself, the Word is gone out of My Mouth in Righteousness, and shall not return, That unto Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.” Isaiah 45:23

All prayer ends at the feet of Jesus!

To the Glory of God the Father!

Now, back to where I started the Lesson … “Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.”

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Amen!

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