Sister Sue Sunday School 1/5/14

Sister Sue Sunday School 1/5/14

A psalm of Asaph:

Psa 77:10  And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.

Psa 77:11  I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.

Psa 77:12  I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.

Asaph was a young priest of the tribe of Levi.  When David brought the ark to Jerusalem, Asaph’s father was made the doorkeeper of the ark.  David put Asaph in charge of music at Jerusalem and he kept this position for forty years.  He was there in the golden years and kept this charge through the reign of David and of Solomon. 

He saw Israel’s golden age turn into something that he did not expect after the dedication of the temple.  He saw Solomon begin to pursue other gods.  He saw Solomon turn into a wicked man. 

Neither Asaph nor Zecharaiah would keep silence about the wickedness and it cost Zechariah his life.  If there ever was a man that had an excuse to be disillusioned it is Asaph.  They served God through it all and were rewarded with murder and violence.

Through it all Asaph finds God’s goodness a tower of hope.  The truth of what He had promised was much better:  His eternal kingdom, eternal riches.

Psa 77:13  Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?

Psa 77:14  Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people.

Psa 77:15  Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.

Psa 104:34  My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD.

Psa 143:5  I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.

Meditate means: to lie down and ruminate, every thought being absorbed on the one precious subject.  We cannot meditate while we are running.

Meditate:  to think deeply or focus one’s mind for a period of time in silence and allow God who remembers all to flood your mind with past goodness. 

Meditation is a combination of review, reflect, think, analyze, and enjoy.  It doesn’t fit into our culture.  We tend to value business and action more than stopping and considering in our culture.  To meditate we must stop, consider, and be silent.

Meditating on the word of God is a lost art.  We miss out on so much when we just sit and read the Word but don’t meditate on it.  There is more to it than just reading, we need to meditate.

Jos 1:8  This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

Psa 104:34  My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD.

Psa 119:15  I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.

Psa 119:16  I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.

To fix your eyes is to meditate on specific things.  Try fixing your eyes on one verse today.  You will be amazed at how the Holy Spirit will enlighten your mind.

Php 4:8  Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

A few ways to meditate:  take time to read the passage over and over.  Begin to memorize part or all of it.  Listen, quiet your heart, to allow God to speak to you His Word.

Psa 46:10  Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

I need to still every part of me: my mind, my heart.  We want Him exalted in our earth.  In order to know that God controls all we must be still.  We must get still of all our worries.  Somehow ask God and get into a place where we can be still so we can know that God is in control.  We can never know He is in control if our mind is going ninety miles an hour.

Remember when your baby was crying and you wrapped them tight in the blanket and you held them close.  Then when they felt the warmth of your body and your heart beating you start singing.  Almost always those babies quit crying.  We will too if we will get in the warmth of God and remember the songs of God.  God’s song is familiar to us.  We get close and warm and let Him snuggle us up and we will be calmed.

The first choice that Asaph made in his battle was to remember.  He made the choice to remember the works of God that He had done in his life and in the history of Israel.

Then he made the choice to meditate.  His choices to meditate and remember were intentional and they transformed his pity party into a praise celebration.  He let go of the pity and his focus shifted to the promises of God.

“Today is dark.  Today it looked all dark.  I cannot see what God is doing, but instead of staying here in this place and letting the problems paralyze me I will turn my mind to what God has done in the past.  Today I see no miracle, so I will turn my mind to the miracle I see in Israel’s history.  I will meditate on them.  I will turn them over and over in my mind.  I will meditate on the crossing of the red sea.”

We see that his writings change. Before he said, ‘remember’ he used the words I, me, my, … the most.  After He said, “I remember,” He used names mentioning the Lord the most.

He took his eyes off of the desperate situation.  It did not change the situation but it changed him.  He quit focusing on himself and focused on God and His miracles.

When pain filled circumstances fill our vision, we are blind and all is dark.  Remembering lifts the scales off of our eyes.  All things, even pain and dark, have to work together for our good according to the promise.

Rom 5:3  And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

Rom 5:4  And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

Rom 5:5  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

He will work character, perseverance, and hope in our lives through these things if we will remember and meditate.

Psa 77:13  Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?

Psa 77:14  Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people.

Psa 77:15  Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.

See how his focus changed in his mind and heart after he began to meditate?  We all walk through the valley of weeping.  Sometimes it is deep and others times not so much. 

Will you remember when you are there to meditate on the good things of God?  Will you yield to God and say, “Even though your ways are not my ways, even though your timing is not my timing, even though I see no end to this pain, I will trust you.”

The lady that wrote the above had severe migraine headaches for months at a time.

“I remember your ways in the past and your timing in the past.  Even thought I cannot see today or in the future your remembrance turns me to praise.  Praise of what you have done in the past and praise for what you are going to do now.”

A grandfather worked as a carpenter.  On his way home he reached into his pocket to find his glasses but they were gone.  He had nailed them in the crate that he had sent to China.

He felt that it was not fair because he had just bought the glasses and was supporting His daughter’s family so did not have a lot of money.  The next year someone came from China and thanked them most for the glasses that were sent in the crates. 

There, there was no way to purchase them and he was having headaches because of the need.  He put the glasses on and they fit his prescription as if they had been made for him.  The old man sat in the back of the church and cried. 

An ordinary carpenter realized the master carpenter had used him in an extra ordinary way.  Sometimes God lets us see why the glasses fell in the crate and sometimes he does not.