As you may know, we are currently going through a study of the Book of Psalms in our YouTube video classes. Though we have only reached Psalm 29 (as I write today), one truth is becoming more and more apparent.

The Book of Psalms is multi-faceted. It is a virtual Library! From tears to shouts. From valleys to mountains! The whole range of human experience is there!

Not every Psalm is equally popular. Or easily understood. Or enjoyed by today’s Christian community!

BUT … and here is the “point” of this little Paragraph, every Psalm clearly DOES have some nugget of Truth that I NEED on the given day I read it!

And most Psalms have a cluster of “nuggets” that will help me better live for the Lord.

So, how do I approach this “treasure trove” of God’s Wisdom?

Prayerfully!

And here’s the Bible prayer to utilize … “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” (Psalm 119:18, where else?)

The noun “law” (in Hebrew “torah”) here means the Word of God. Gospels to Prophecy to History … all God’s Word is (another word) “profitable!” (It’s 2 Timothy 3:16 … “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is PROFITABLE for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness …”)

I am inviting you to study with us … but not before praying that prayer. Lord, open our eyes!”

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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In studying any Passage of the Bible, one needs to determine who is speaking! Some Verses in the Bible record the words of Satan, Genesis 3:4 being an example. “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.”

Other Verses (praise the Lord) give us the Words of Jesus. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” John 5:24

Psalm 11 is a Chapter that “fell into place” so beautifully once I realized the different speakers involved.

Here are its first three Verses … “In the LORD put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain. For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart. If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

Now, to the speakers. David, the human author, declares: “In the LORD put I my trust.” (Wise words!)

But then someone else (faithless friends, enemies, rationalists, whomever) urges David to … “Flee as a bird to your mountain. For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart. If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

Run, David, run!

It’s dangerous here!

Plus, it is hopeless too!

(Things are too far gone!)

But … David stays!

(By the way, there are some things we must do … when and if the foundations are destroyed! Plus, we know the powerful Repairer of the Foundations!)

So David resolves not to flee, but to “continue” trusting the Lord. The LORD Who … “is in his holy temple, the LORD’S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.
Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup. For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.” Psalm 11, the rest of the Poem, Hymn.

The Lesson here … do not always listen to others! As a godly old Preacher used to say, “You and God make a majority everywhere you go!”

David meditated on the Lord and did not run!

God can readily “handle” those wicked people of Verse 2, for example. Not only can He, but He will some day!

Paul had not yet written this promise, but it’s as if David knew it ahead of time. “If God be for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31

Let’s do less running and more TRUSTING our dear Lord and Saviour!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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Prayer can (and should) be a time when we confess our sins unto the Lord. Prayer can (and should) be a time when we adore our dear Lord. It also should be a time of giving thanks to God for all His benefits!

But prayer of necessity (or at least ideally) must also include a time of “intercession.”

Intercession?

What is that?

The word is from the Latin.

Where “inter” is a preposition and means “between,” just that.

And cedere (the infinitive form) is a verb meaning “to go.”

Put it all together … “intercession” is prayer that “goes between” the Lord and any person for whom you are burdened!

You pray to HIM … for them!

Paul, for example, constantly interceded for the new believers he had won to Christ.

“We do not cease to pray for you.” (Colossians 1:9)

But … is this form of prayer all that important?

Yes, it well might be a duty too!

Listen to godly Samuel of Old Testament days: “God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you.” (1 Samuel 12:23)

Sounds like it might be a blatant sin NOT to intercede for others!

Make you a prayer list today. Not with all YOUR needs and wants, mind you. A prayer list of names for OTHERS for whom you intend to pray!

Now that’s intercession!

Jesus is, in fact, in Heaven right now interceding for you and me! “Wherefore He (Jesus) is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:25)

I am serious. Start building that list! And if you run short on names, please add mine as well.

Thank you …

Dr. Mike Bagwell

1 Corinthians 15:58

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Jesus’ twelve Disciples are often thought to be “giants” in the Faith. And they really did become that, most all of them dying (as martyrs) for their Saviour, for our dear Lord.

Yet they at times appear to be rather shallow in their spiritual lives! (Truth be told, we all are guilty!)

Of course, one of the Disciples was a traitor, not even born again, not even saved! I speak of Judas, once called a “devil.” Jesus said this! (John 6:70 … “Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?”)

In fact, it’s in connection with this Judas that the words of our Lesson’s title are used …

Matthew 26:21-24 … “And as they did eat (the Lord’s Supper), Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.”

These men have followed the Lord for years now! Seen His miracles, heard His sermons! Enjoyed meals with Him, slept near His side!

And they here are still DOUBTING their loyalty to His Name, His Cause, His Person!

Lord, is it I?

Am I the betrayer?

Am I that disloyal?

(I do not want to be too critical here. We are all just human flesh. And the flesh is weak.)

But surely by now we Christians have grown to the place we can say: “With God’s Help, I will not deny my Lord!”

I am talking about the ASSURANCE of our salvation that we are “in Christ Jesus!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Never trust yourself.

Never brag on what you will do.

But 1st John 5:13 is certainly in the Book! (Though I realize that the Disciples did not have that verse.)

Here it is for us … “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; THAT YE MAY KNOW that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”

Such Holy Spirit given “assurance” will not ask in a time of crisis … “Is it I?”

Do you KNOW today if you are saved?

Do you KNOW today (best as possible) that you will stand for Jesus when the time comes?

Here’s a much better “I” statement.

Not “Is it I?”

But like Isaiah the Prophet …

Isaiah 6:8 … “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.“

Get it?

“HERE AM I, SEND ME!”

That’s the humble yet obedient and loyal “I” of assurance!

Not “Is it I?”

But … “HERE AM I!”

Grant it, Lord, we pray.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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The words form nearly a contradiction! A paradox indeed!

A rock is tasteless, presumably!

And honey, nothing sweeter!

Yet Psalm 81:16 as much as promises that our great God can give just that, “honey out of the rock!”

Here it is, King James Version, Psalm 81:16 … “With honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.”

Furthermore, God took care of Israel during her years in the desert, in the wilderness … in this manner: “He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock.” Deuteronomy 32:13

I have no doubt that this phenomenon is historically accurate. As is all the Bible, God’s Word! “Honey out of the rock.”

But I also believe there is a deeper meaning to be found in this Biblical phrase.

Explain, Brother Bagwell!

The “rock” is a symbol of the “hard places” in life … the difficulties, trials, reversals, etc.

And our God is so powerful, so kind, so merciful that He often gives us “sweetness” our of those otherwise bitter places!

I submit that in our lowest times, rocky times, the Lord can exude to us the sweetest, most beneficial days we have ever known. Time profitably invested in His Presence!

Look back over your rocky days, weeks, whatever.

Any sweetness, beneficence, profit come your way?

If so … our Lord is still at it!

Giving honey out of the rock!

Let’s worship Him now.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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