December 10, 2023
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Today we come to the first part of Psalm 140, verses 1-5. David prays, “Rescue me LORD, from evildoers” (verse 1). God was pleased to take these words from David and share them with us as a part of His inspired Word, so this Psalm ought to be regularly in the heart and on the voice of every believer. God wants us to request His “rescue from evildoers” (verse 1). Why? Because evildoers are “violent, they devise evil plans, they stir up war every day, and they have the poison of vipers on their lips” (verses 2-3). The word “rescue” means “to save,” and God wants to save us. Notice David’s plea: “Keep me safe, LORD” (verse 4). Not only is this a legitimate prayer for us to pray, but also it is God’s will that we pray it. God wants to save us from evildoers as much as He wants to save us from sin, from death, and from hell. Unfortunately today, many people mock and make jokes about the idea of being “saved,” but salvation is serious business, and Christians should take it seriously.
We also come today to the book of Revelation, which we should read often and understand at face value - exactly like we read Psalm 140. There is no reason to receive or read the book any other way. In chapter 1, we learn that Revelation is a letter to seven ancient churches, but its message is equally important for us today. The book is a disclosure (an unveiling) about the eternal work of Jesus Christ - “what you have seen, what is now, and what is to come” (verse 19). Our readings here dovetail nicely with our current readings in Zechariah.
In Zechariah 9-11, we see God’s prophetic promises to bring judgment upon Israel’s enemies - specifically – upon Syria, Tyre and Sidon, the Philistine cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and Ashdod. Though not as a Philistine city, Gaza today is much in the news, but we see that it has been turned into a wasteland before our eyes. God means what He says. In verses 9-ff., we see the coming of Christ in His first and His future advents – first, “lowly & riding on a donkey colt” (verse 9), and then, “ruling from sea to sea and the River to the ends of the earth” (verse 10). The latter will happen as surely as the former happened. In the same chapter, we read that the “sovereign LORD will appear with the sound of the trumpet” (verse 14). It is amazing how God’s Word can contemplate in a few short verses prophecies that not only foreshadow events that are now history, but also relate them to events that are yet future across millennia of time.
In chapter 10, we see that God will again turn His attention to Israel and Judah. He will “signal them, gather them, and redeem them” (verse 8). Though “they pass through the sea of trouble, they will live securely” (verses 11-12). Current events show that Israel continues its journey through “the sea of trouble.”
In Zechariah 11, we see the prophet’s portrayal of two shepherds, one bad, and the other, the Good Shepherd. Here, we see - what is now - a historical picture of how the Jews rejected their Messiah in His first advent – accurate even to “the thirty pieces of silver” and “the potter’s field” (verses 12-13). But ... He's coming again, and they will receive Him. What a wonderfully true and trustworthy book!
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