June 6 - Evening
"Truly my soul finds rest in God;
my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. How long will you assault me?
Would all of you throw me down—
this leaning wall, this tottering fence? Surely they intend to topple me
from my lofty place;
they take delight in lies. With their mouths they bless,
but in their hearts they curse.
- Selah -
Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God[c];
he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.
Surely the lowborn are but a breath,
the highborn are but a lie. If weighed on a balance, they are nothing;
together they are only a breath. Do not trust in extortion
or put vain hope in stolen goods; though your riches increase,
do not set your heart on them.
One thing God has spoken,
two things I have heard: 'Power belongs to you, God,
and with you, Lord, is unfailing love';
and, 'You reward everyone
according to what they have done.' "
- Psalms 62:1-12
my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. How long will you assault me?
Would all of you throw me down—
this leaning wall, this tottering fence? Surely they intend to topple me
from my lofty place;
they take delight in lies. With their mouths they bless,
but in their hearts they curse.
- Selah -
Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God[c];
he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.
Surely the lowborn are but a breath,
the highborn are but a lie. If weighed on a balance, they are nothing;
together they are only a breath. Do not trust in extortion
or put vain hope in stolen goods; though your riches increase,
do not set your heart on them.
One thing God has spoken,
two things I have heard: 'Power belongs to you, God,
and with you, Lord, is unfailing love';
and, 'You reward everyone
according to what they have done.' "
- Psalms 62:1-12
God is the ONLY
Six lines of the Hebrew text (not always captured in the NIV) in Psalm 62 begin with the emphatic Hebrew word ‘akh which is translated “only.” (Detailed word study of 'akh .) Four times it refers to God:
- 2x (62:1,5), Only in God is my soul at peace (or, "truly" and "yes")
- 2x (62:2,6), Only God is my rock and rescue (or, "truly" 2x) (See E
The other two times ‘akh refers to:
- 1x (62:4), the enemy ("surely")
- 1x (62:9), compares human life to a mere “breath” or “vapor” (Hebrew, hevel which is also used in Ecclesiastes) ("surely")
The psalmist focuses on the fact that God is the “only” one, the “only” strength and the “only” source of protection, deliverance and kindness. The things in life cannot be trusted. For example, wealth, should NEVER be the source of your confidence no matter if it was stolen through extortion or earned by investment (62:10).
God has revealed himself and that revelation manifests his character to us in two ways (62:11-12):
• God is strong. He is able to protect, deliver and save.
• God is love. He desires to help and he is faithful to do it.
Yet, he will respond to each individual person’s character, faith and deeds. (62:12)
Phos (Gr) – Light (noun), “Give Light” (verb) (Eng) – phos comes from pha or phan which refer to light that is visible. Greek words like phaino, meaning “to make appear” and phaneros, meaning “evident” come from the same root word phan.
◦ Matthew 6:22 “The eye is the lamp (luchnos) of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light (photeinon).”
◦ 2 Corinthians 2:14 “Thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads (phanerounti, “making manifest”) the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.
◦ 1 John 1:5, “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light (phos), and in him is no darkness at all.”
◦ Matthew 6:22 “The eye is the lamp (luchnos) of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light (photeinon).”
◦ 2 Corinthians 2:14 “Thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads (phanerounti, “making manifest”) the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.
◦ 1 John 1:5, “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light (phos), and in him is no darkness at all.”
I will go to God with all my needs and concerns, all my joys and disappointments.
I will share with God all my failures and all my moments of success.
He is the only one who completely knows, completely understand, completely forgives,
completely corrects and completely delivers. The Lord is the Only One.
Bible Reading Descriptions Here
Personal
Ask God to show you habits and practices and values that need to change
Church
Desire to know Christ better
Nation
Social justice
World
Grenada
The city gate at Beersheba. Notice the water trough in the bottom left corner from the well that may be the original well dug by Abraham in Genesis 21:22-31.
Someone to Quote
"The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession."
- Abraham Lincoln
- Abraham Lincoln
Something to Ponder
Here’s a Fact
Ignatius, a disciple of the Apostle John, refers to or quotes from John’s Gospel around 110 AD. Ignatius also cites the book of Matthew, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, James and 1 Peter around that same time which was about 10-15 years after John had died.
Proverb
"My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you.
Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye."
- Proverbs 7:1
Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye."
- Proverbs 7:1
Coach’s Corner
Dreaming is the first phase of planning. So, even the wisest man with the best made plan began first with a dream.
Isaiah 8
New International Version (NIV)
Isaiah and His Children as Signs
8 The Lord said to me, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.” 2 So I called in Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable witnesses for me. 3 Then I made love to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. 4 For before the boy knows how to say ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”
5 The Lord spoke to me again:
6
“Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoices over Rezin and the son of Remaliah,
7
therefore the Lord is about to bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates— the king of Assyria with all his pomp. It will overflow all its channels, run over all its banks
8
and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it, passing through it and reaching up to the neck. Its outspread wings will cover the breadth of your land, Immanuel!”
9
Raise the war cry, you nations, and be shattered! Listen, all you distant lands. Prepare for battle, and be shattered! Prepare for battle, and be shattered!
10
Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted; propose your plan, but it will not stand, for God is with us.
11 This is what the Lord says to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people:
12
“Do not call conspiracy everything this people calls a conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it.
13
The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread.
14
He will be a holy place; for both Israel and Judah he will be a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare.
15
Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured.”
16
Bind up this testimony of warning and seal up God’s instruction among my disciples.
17
I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the descendants of Jacob. I will put my trust in him.
18 Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.
The Darkness Turns to Light
19 When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20 Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. 21 Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. 22 Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.
New International Version (NIV)
Isaiah and His Children as Signs
8 The Lord said to me, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.” 2 So I called in Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable witnesses for me. 3 Then I made love to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. 4 For before the boy knows how to say ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”
5 The Lord spoke to me again:
6
“Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoices over Rezin and the son of Remaliah,
7
therefore the Lord is about to bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates— the king of Assyria with all his pomp. It will overflow all its channels, run over all its banks
8
and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it, passing through it and reaching up to the neck. Its outspread wings will cover the breadth of your land, Immanuel!”
9
Raise the war cry, you nations, and be shattered! Listen, all you distant lands. Prepare for battle, and be shattered! Prepare for battle, and be shattered!
10
Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted; propose your plan, but it will not stand, for God is with us.
11 This is what the Lord says to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people:
12
“Do not call conspiracy everything this people calls a conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it.
13
The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread.
14
He will be a holy place; for both Israel and Judah he will be a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare.
15
Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured.”
16
Bind up this testimony of warning and seal up God’s instruction among my disciples.
17
I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the descendants of Jacob. I will put my trust in him.
18 Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.
The Darkness Turns to Light
19 When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20 Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. 21 Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. 22 Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.
Proverbs 12
New International Version (NIV)
12
Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid.
2
Good people obtain favor from the Lord, but he condemns those who devise wicked schemes.
3
No one can be established through wickedness, but the righteous cannot be uprooted.
4
A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.
5
The plans of the righteous are just, but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.
6
The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them.
7
The wicked are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous stands firm.
8
A person is praised according to their prudence, and one with a warped mind is despised.
9
Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant than pretend to be somebody and have no food.
10
The righteous care for the needs of their animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.
11
Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense.
12
The wicked desire the stronghold of evildoers, but the root of the righteous endures.
13
Evildoers are trapped by their sinful talk, and so the innocent escape trouble.
14
From the fruit of their lips people are filled with good things, and the work of their hands brings them reward.
15
The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice.
16
Fools show their annoyance at once, but the prudent overlook an insult.
17
An honest witness tells the truth, but a false witness tells lies.
18
The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
19
Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.
20
Deceit is in the hearts of those who plot evil, but those who promote peace have joy.
21
No harm overtakes the righteous, but the wicked have their fill of trouble.
22
The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.
23
The prudent keep their knowledge to themselves, but a fool’s heart blurts out folly.
24
Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in forced labor.
25
Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up.
26
The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.
27
The lazy do not roast any game, but the diligent feed on the riches of the hunt.
28
In the way of righteousness there is life; along that path is immortality.
New International Version (NIV)
12
Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid.
2
Good people obtain favor from the Lord, but he condemns those who devise wicked schemes.
3
No one can be established through wickedness, but the righteous cannot be uprooted.
4
A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.
5
The plans of the righteous are just, but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.
6
The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them.
7
The wicked are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous stands firm.
8
A person is praised according to their prudence, and one with a warped mind is despised.
9
Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant than pretend to be somebody and have no food.
10
The righteous care for the needs of their animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.
11
Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense.
12
The wicked desire the stronghold of evildoers, but the root of the righteous endures.
13
Evildoers are trapped by their sinful talk, and so the innocent escape trouble.
14
From the fruit of their lips people are filled with good things, and the work of their hands brings them reward.
15
The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice.
16
Fools show their annoyance at once, but the prudent overlook an insult.
17
An honest witness tells the truth, but a false witness tells lies.
18
The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
19
Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.
20
Deceit is in the hearts of those who plot evil, but those who promote peace have joy.
21
No harm overtakes the righteous, but the wicked have their fill of trouble.
22
The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.
23
The prudent keep their knowledge to themselves, but a fool’s heart blurts out folly.
24
Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in forced labor.
25
Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up.
26
The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.
27
The lazy do not roast any game, but the diligent feed on the riches of the hunt.
28
In the way of righteousness there is life; along that path is immortality.