Archive for January 2008
Psalm 119 Zayin
Posted on Tuesday, January 22, 2008 at 2:28 PM by David Zavadil
49 ¶ <ZAYIN> Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope.
50 ¶ This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.
51 ¶ The insolent utterly deride me, but I do not turn away from your law.
52 ¶ When I think of your rules from of old, I take comfort, O LORD.
53 ¶ Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked, who forsake your law.
54 ¶ Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my sojourning.
55 ¶ I remember your name in the night, O LORD, and keep your law. 56 This blessing has fallen to me, that I have kept your precepts.
Zayin begins with the Psalmist reminding God of His hope giving promise. Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope. As we study Scripture and seek to apply it to our lives, the Word of God should always be pointing us to the source of true hope, God. God is to be the focus of our lives, our object of hope. This verse serves to remind us that in the Word we find the teachings of hope. When we are downcast or persecuted, we can find in God's Word hope. God has promised us life, forgiveness, provision, care, healing, peace and an abundant life. We are challenged to remember these promises as we look for God at work in our lives. Charles Bridges, in his commentary on this psalm writes, "Faith trusts - now what the eyes sees, but what the word promises." For us to truly know the truths of our faith we must know the truths of the Word of God. Like the Psalmist, we should seek God's teaching and direction to help us understand God's Word.
All of us at some time will suffer affliction. We will know first hand of sickness or watch a loved one struggle. It is all around us and yet what do we do when affliction hits? The writer states, 50 ¶ This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life. The promises of God, as found in His Word are to be our source of comfort. In a world where doctors and scientists are considered among the intellectual elite we are called back to this ancient book to find comfort. Building upon verse 49, the Psalmist reminds us, the readers, that the promises of God, we are asking Him to bring to memory and that give us hope, will be the same promises that bring us comfort.
There is a thought that is essential for us to understand. We will find no hope nor comfort in the Scriptures if we do not know the God of the Scriptures. You note through out the Psalm that the writer speaks to a God he has a relationship with, not some far off God he can not access. To know the hope and comfort you read about, you have to know the God you read about. "But first the word becomes life - then comfort. And those only, who have felt the quickening power of the word, can realize its consolations. Be thankful, then, Reader, if , when dead in sins, it "quickened you"(James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23); and when sunk in trouble, once and again it has revived you." (ibid)
In verse 51 the author touches upon the most common form of affliction we, as Christians, face. 51 ¶ The insolent utterly deride me, but I do not turn away from your law. Persecution, whether verbal or physical hurts. More, in my estimation, are caused great pain by the power of words than any other form of affliction. The truth, however, is that as a Christian you are opened up to derision. The most humbling phrase we can hear is, "I thought you were supposed to be a Christian." Bridges writes, " Faith in the doctrine of Christ, and conformity to the strict commandments of the gospel, must expose us to the taunts of the unbeliever and the worldling." If you are walking the Christian life, living in the power of the Holy Spirit, your life will be different for the world. People do not like different and react by deriding and taunting those who live that way. If our heart is set upon the God and His Word, the scorn of neighbors, the harsh words of coworkers the derision of the lost will drive us to the Word of God not away from the Word. The harsh treatment of others causes us to recall the merciful and gracious treatment of our Father in Heaven.
The Psalmist brings us back to the Word of comfort during times of affliction with these words.
52 ¶ When I think of your rules from of old, I take comfort, O LORD.
53 ¶ Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked, who forsake your law.
54 ¶ Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my sojourning.
When the words and actions of others are pressing upon us we can find comfort in the Scriptures. At the same time, there should burn an anger within us against all that steals away from God and His Word. When put upon we will get angry, we will suffer hurt, we may even want to fight back. Though indignation comes, we are to remember the grace of the Father. Though convicted of crimes he didn't commit, tortured and nailed to a cross, Jesus did not lash back, he hated the sin, but sought their forgiveness and redemption. Despite my sinfulness and the pain I cause God, He forgives me and calls me to His Word. We may get angry with the wicked, but that is never to be an excuse to forsake the teachings of Scripture. I wonder what would happen if, instead of lashing out when hurt, we began to literally sing the songs of Scripture. God's Word is to be such a part of our life that daily instead of the song we hear on the radio, the words of Scripture are to be singing in our brain. What would happen if the next time someone made you angry you started singing a psalm to them?
I confess that when I get home at night, I usually just want to chill out, to sit and do nothing. To often that is just what I do. This passage teaches us that we are to think otherwise. 55 ¶ I remember your name in the night, O LORD, and keep your law. 56 This blessing has fallen to me, that I have kept your precepts.
There are two final points I want to touch on from these verses. First, there is no time of day or night that is truly "ours" they are all the Lord's. During those times when we just want to rest and relax, to forget about everything, in those very times we are called to remember our Lord. Secondly, those times of keeping God's Word just serve to remind us of what a blessing the Scriptures are for us. Think about it for a moment. The Bible you hold in your hand is an intimate love letter written to you from the Creator of Heaven and Earth. The Almighty God loved you so much that He wanted to make sure that you had in your possession His instructions, that you might live to His glory all the days of your life. What greater blessing has fallen to us than the Word of God that leads to hope?
Posted in Bible Study (RSS), Psalm 119 (RSS)
Internet Protection Update
Posted on Thursday, January 17, 2008 at 11:45 AM by David Zavadil
For those of you who have a network at home or the office, I have found a new resource that allows you to configure your router to filter the internet. Unless you have direct access to the router's configuration program, you can't circumvent the filter ( as far as I have been able to determine). Check out Open DNS
Posted in Family happenings (RSS), Ministry (RSS), The Church (RSS)
Internet Protection
Posted on Wednesday, January 16, 2008 at 4:24 PM by David Zavadil
I attended a pastors meeting about an upcoming conference in our area. The Restoring Sexual Purity Seminar will be held at New Covenant PCA in Virginia Beach Virginia on Feb. 1,2, 2008. During the meeting I shared of a cd I had created for our congregation with numerous internet filters and accountability software. Here are some links to some of these pieces of software.
k9 Web Protection (This filter is free for both windows and mac users, you must register for an install code)
Dansguardian (This filter is free for windows, linux and mac. For the mac check out DGComplete These take some computer knowledge to set up!)
x3Watch (This has both a free and for pay version in both windoze and mac. It is accountability software, not a filter)
Covenant Eyes (This is an accountability software. It is not free.)
Safe Eyes (This is a filter program for windows or mac. It is not free.)
BSafe (This is a multipurpose filter program for windows. It is not free.)
These are just a few of the products that are out there. You can learn more by checking out Filter Review online.
Posted in Family happenings (RSS), Ministry (RSS), The Church (RSS)
John Bunyan
Posted on Tuesday, January 15, 2008 at 4:25 PM by David Zavadil
Since I am reading Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners as part of the The Puritan ReadingChallenge , I thought I would post a few links to some Bunyan sites.
Acacia John Bunyan Online Library
Edited on: Tuesday, January 15, 2008 4:33 PMPosted in Books (RSS), Puritans (RSS)
Ponderings on Sin
Posted on Monday, January 14, 2008 at 1:43 PM by David Zavadil
As I sit at my desk and eat my Bacon Ranch Salad ( It is time to buy
groceries, I am forced to forage at McDonalds), I am thinking about the
changes I have gone through in recent weeks. In late October I received
the Doctoral dictate, "lose some weight and begin exercising," due to a
high Cholesterol report. In November I began Men's
Health TNT Diet
I have reached a point where I am now disciplined in my body, though my family would love for me to loosen up a bit. I am concerned about what I eat and making sure I workout, almost to the point of legalism. (Just to keep myself honest, I have not worked out today.) Why does it seem that I, and those around me, are not as disciplined when it comes to sin in our lives? Now this is by no means a new thought. Reading through The Mortification of Sin , Owen's is beginning to address the issue. In Chapter 7 of the book, he points to our faith. He writes, "Unless a man be a believer—that is, one that is truly ingrafted into Christ— he can never mortify any one sin; I do not say, unless he know himself to be so, but unless indeed he be so." To deal with my sin, like with my body, I have to admit to the heart problem. If my heart is not set upon Christ I can not deal with my sin. The Psalmist put it like this, Ps 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (ESV) To discipline ourselves against sin, we must begin with a heart that is focus on God, given over to God. Too often we begin dealing with sin incorrectly, we try to master the sin, with out ever coming to the Master. Owen has this helpful reminder for us, "It is true, it is—it will be—required of every person whatsoever that hears the law or gospel preached, that he mortify sin. It is his duty, but it is not his immediate duty; it is his duty to do it, but to do it in God’s way." God's way begins with our hearts set upon Him. Do you know Christ or know about Christ? You will never deal with the sin that haunts you without Christ.
Owen offers some help for those of us who are already believers. Our heart is set upon Christ, we desire to be rid of the sin in our lives and yet we still struggle. We are to run to the cross in obedience. I confess to be a rabid, "I can do it myself" guy. It doesn't matter what it is, I don't want help, "I can do it myself." Jesus says, "No you can't." Listen to Owen on this,
"Hatred of sin as sin, not only as galling or disquieting, a sense of the love of Christ in the cross, lies at the bottom of all true spiritual mortification...If you hate sin as sin, every evil way, you would be no less watchful against everything that grieves and disquiets the Spirit of God, than against that which grieves and disquiets your own soul. It is evident that you contend against sin merely because of your own trouble by it."
I can tell you that I hate sin as sin but struggle, too often, to turn to the cross. I am troubled by sin, and this often leads to trouble, but struggle with turning to Christ for the strength to be rid of it. How about you? Do struggle with sin but find it hard to really confess and repent? Have you truly mortified that which plagues you? On Sunday we will be looking at Matthew 6:24 which reads, "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."(ESV) Jesus is using the illustration of the world and money to illustrate what I am talking about here. Where sin is concerned, we must serve one master, the Lord Jesus Christ. We can not serve both sin or Christ or we will find ourselves loving the one and hating the other.
So, now back to the discipline in my physical life and the discipline in my spiritual life. Why do I find it so much easier to workout and eat right than to mortify and put away my lusts and sins? I think one reason may be that with my phsyical body I can see results, sometimes quickly. When I am dealing with the spiritual, the results are not always as vivid. We are in a visual world and tend toward those things we can see. I, we, need to learn to open the eyes of our heart and truly see Christ and the work He is doing within us. As we begin to see our Lord in all His majesty, begin to cling to the cross in all its glory, then we will begin to see those things we hate most in this world, falling to the way side. I think I need a good dose of some Godly protein and a workout in His Word and Prayer.
Edited on: Monday, January 14, 2008 1:46 PMPosted in Commentary (RSS), Mortification (RSS), Puritans (RSS)
Carpe Blogdom
Posted on Sunday, January 13, 2008 at 5:28 PM by David Zavadil
This is one of the saddest videos you will watch. I found it on Purgatorio
A FREE Scripture memory song from Steven Altrogge FREE MUSIC
Posted in Just For Fun (RSS)
Puritan Reading list for 2008
Posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 at 4:36 PM by David Zavadil
As I stated earlier, I am posting my reading list for 2008. The list of The Puritan Reading Challenge at Timmy Brister dot com reads like this.
January- Sibbes, Bruised Reed
February- Flavel, Mystery of Providence
March -Watson, Godly Man's Picture
April -Brooks, Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices
May -Bunyan, Come and Welcome
June -Owen, Mortification of Sin
July -Bridge, Lifting Up
August -Burroughs, Rare Jewel
September- Bolton, True Bounds
October -Guthrie, Christian's Great Interest
November -Baxter, Reformed Pastor
December -Alleine, Sure Guide
Reformation Heritage Books has a deal where you can buy all of these at a reduced price just for this reading challenge. Trust me, they are worth the investment.
Since I have read a few of these books, or am reading a few currently, I will be making some changes. My list will read as follows:
January- Bunyan, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners
February- Flavel, Mystery of Providence
March -Watson, Godly Man's Picture
April -Brooks, Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices
May -Love, Effectual Calling and Election
June -Owen, The Glory of Christ
July -Bridge, Lifting Up
August -Venning, Learning in Christ's School
September- Bolton, True Bounds
October -Guthrie, Christian's Great Interest
November -Baxter, Dying Thoughts
December -Alleine, Sure Guide
The folks at Banner of Truth have a deal for many of these books. Purchase 5 for $34 .
Posted in Books (RSS), Puritans (RSS)
My pants are falling off!
Posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 at 11:03 AM by David Zavadil
A quick update on my Diet and workout plan. The love handles are disappearing and my pants are too big. I feel like one of the kids now, sagging all the time. I would post progress pictures, but I do not want to scare anyone. Never thought eating right and doing exercise could be so much fun.
Posted in Family happenings (RSS), Locarb (RSS), TNT (RSS)
The Puritan Challenge
Posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 at 10:41 AM by David Zavadil
It seems I was not the only one who felt called to the challenge of reading a puritan a month. The Puritan Reading Challenge has a plan for the monthly readings. I will be adapting, slightly, the list of readings as there are a few on the list I have already read. In the next day or two I will post my reading list for year. Won't you join me on this quest?
Edited on: Monday, January 07, 2008 10:44 AMPosted in Bible Study (RSS), Books (RSS), Commentary (RSS), Just For Fun (RSS), Puritans (RSS)
A Puritan a Month
Posted on Wednesday, January 02, 2008 at 3:24 PM by David Zavadil
Thinking about the past year and about the coming year, I came to the conclusion that I have not been reading enough. This hurts my preaching and teaching and those who read or hear me. To combat this lack of reading I have resolved to increase my reading volume. One of the ways I am going to do this is by reading a Puritan a Month. I would like to invite you to join me on this adventure. during January I will be reading Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners by John Bunyon. I plan to purchase a copy of each book but will also make sure that there is an ecopy of each book so that those who may not have access to these books can still join us in reading. Leave me some comments with suggestions for February.
Edited on: Monday, January 07, 2008 10:44 AM