KING SOLOMON BLESSES THE PEOPLE OF GOD

PROCLAMATION

“May The Lord our God be with us as He was with our ancestors; may He never leave us nor forsake us.  May He turn our hearts to Him, to walk in obedience to Him and keep the commands, decrees and laws He gave our ancestors.”  1 Kings 8:57-58 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

After all of the work on the temple was finished, King Solomon had all of the things that his father David had dedicated, the silver and gold and all the furnishings, brought into the temple. (1 Kings 7:51)  Then he summoned all of the elders of Israel to Jerusalem.  When they had arrived, he had to priests to bring the ark of The Lord and the tent and all of its furnishings to the temple. (1 Kings 8:1-5)  When the priests withdrew from the temple, a cloud filled the temple of The Lord. (1 Kings 8:10-11)  Then Solomon prayed for the people, (1 Kings 8:12-21) and he prayed a prayer of dedication for the temple. (1 Kings 8:22-53)  Solomon then pronounced a blessing upon the people of God, (1 Kings 8:54-61) after which he observed a festival with all of Israel and the celebration lasted fourteen days. (1 Kings 8:65)

APPLICATION

We all need to understand that we need God’s help to walk in His way.  It is by His grace and mercy that we make it through each day.  Solomon’s request that “The Lord God be with us as He was with our ancestors” was a great blessing for us because we need God’s help.  Only He can turn our hearts from our worldly appetites to walking His way and doing His will.  Only He change our hearts.  He can harden our hearts, as He did with Pharaoh, (Exodus 7:13, 9:12, 10:20, 10:27, 11:10, and 14:8) or He can turn us over to our reprobate minds, (Romans 1:28) or He can give us a new heart and spirit. (Ezekiel 11:19)  That is why we should pray, as David prayed, that He will create within us a clean heart and a right spirit which is focused in Him. (Psalm 51:10)

THE SIN AND THE PUNISHMENT

PROCLAMATION

“Why did you despise The Word of The Lord by doing what is evil in His eyes?  You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own.  You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.  Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house … ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you.  Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight.’ … ‘The Lord has taken away your sin.  You are not going to die.  But … the son born to you will die.’”  2 Samuel 12:9-14 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

After King David had slept with Bathsheba and after he had killed her husband Uriah, The Lord God sent Nathan the prophet to David with a message. (2 Samuel 12:1-4)  Nathan told David a parable.  After he heard the parable, David was angry with the man in the parable.  David said that man must pay four times over for doing such a thing, and he must die.  Nathan drew out of David a sentence against himself and then he told David that he was the man. (2 Samuel 12:5-7)  By his actions David had shown no regard for the law of God, the Ten Commandments.  The sixth commandment is: “Thou shalt not kill.” (Exodus 20:13)  The seventh commandment is: “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14)  The child born to David and Bathsheba became ill and died. (2 Samuel 12:15-19) David would soon have to flee from his son Absalom. (2 Samuel 15:13-14)  Afterwards, Absalom would sleep with David’s concubines during the day in the sight of all Israel. (2 Samuel 16:22)

APPLICATION

There will be a price to pay for willful disregard and disobedience of God’s Word.  It does not matter who we do wrong to, all sin is a sin against The Lord God. (Psalm 51:4)  As a believer we may not lose our salvation because of a sin, but we can lose our joy. (Psalm 51:12)  We need to acknowledge our sins (Psalm 51:3) and ask for God’s mercy and forgiveness. (Psalm 51:1-2)  Only The Lord God can clean us up after we fall, (Psalm 51:7) and only He can create within us a clean heart and a righteous spirit. (Psalm 51:10)

TURN MY EYES AWAY FROM WORTHLESS THINGS

Proclamation:

“Turn my heart toward Your statutes and not towards selfish gain.  Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to Your word.”  Psalm 119:36-37 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by King David under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  This is the fifth part, He, of this twenty-two part psalm.  Here David is continuing his conversation with The Lord God and he requests that The Lord God would teach him (Psalm 119:33) give him understanding (Psalm 119:34) direct him (Psalm 119:35) and turn his heart and his eyes away from worthless things towards God’s statutes. (Psalm 119:36-37)  He asks for God’s help because he does not want to fall into dishonor. (Psalm 119:39)

Application:

It is necessary to have the right or correct orientation of the heart in order to appreciate God’s Word and that orientation is itself a gift from The Lord.  We must first be convicted, convinced, and converted before He can enlighten and enrich us with His Holy Word.  Most of the things that we put before our eyes for the sake of entertainment is worthless.  Think about how much time we spend watching television in comparison to how little time we spend reading and studying The Word of God.  His Word can add value, and meaning, and longevity to our lives if we would approach it prayerfully.  If we turn away from His Word towards worldly things, He can harden our hearts (Exodus 4:21 and 11:10) and turn us completely over to our reprobate minds. (Roman 1:28)  We should pray that The Lord God will turn our hearts towards His Word and that He will create within us a receptive mind, heart, and spirit so that we will delight in His Word.

PUT OFF THE OLD AND BE MADE NEW IN THE NEW YEAR

Proclamation:

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”  Ephesians 4:22-24 (NIV)

Explanation:

In his letter to the believers in Ephesus, the Apostle Paul issued a call for them to be holy.  Paul wrote these words under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  This letter basically contained instructions for Christian living. (Ephesians 4:25-32) 

Application:

As the year 2016 draws to a close and the dawn of the New Year, 2017, approaches, many people will make “New Year’s resolutions.”  Most of these resolutions will be forgotten before the first week of January is completed.  Let us make a promise to ourselves to begin each day with prayer and renew our commitment to The Lord as we begin each new day.  Let us renew our commitment to Christ and renew our mind by reading and studying His word each day.  Thereby we will grow a little each day in the knowledge of God and His Holy Word.  Let us tell the truth and quit trying to make ourselves look better to the world by lying.  If and when we fall back into sin, let us not stay down and give up.  Let us ask The Lord to forgive us, to help us up, to clean us off, and to put us back on the right path.  Let us be slow to anger and quick to forgive.  Let's not hold grudges against those who have wronged us.  Holding on to anger can make us bitter, not better.  Let it go and let God take care of them.  Let us pray daily that we won’t give the devil the opportunity to use us to cause someone else to sin.  Let’s pray that God will use us to help someone each day.  With God’s help we can put off our old self and put on a new self, and He will make us new in the New Year.

GOD SEARCHES OUR HEART AND EXAMINES OUR MIND

Proclamation:

"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?  'I, The Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.' " Jeremiah 17:9-10 (NIV)

Explanation:

The Prophet Jeremiah wrote these words under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Jeremiah was primarily concerned with the judgement of Judah.  He told the people that God would judge each of them by examining their hearts and thoughts to determine their motives.  They would then be rewarded or punished by God based upon what they deserved according to their thoughts, words, and deeds.

Application:

This same truth applies to us today.  Man can only evaluate the words, actions and outward appearance of a person.  The Lord God can search the heart and mind of a person and judge their true inner nature.  God sees each of us like no one else can see us, twenty-four hours of each day for seven days of each week.  He sees all of our actions, hears all of our spoken words, and He knows all of our thoughts.  When we say 'God knows my heart,' He really does.  We tend to use those words as an excuse when our behavior and our words are inconsistent, as if to say that we should be judged by our intentions which only God knows.  What we do not realize is that our heart is much more deceitful than we want to admit.  Our thoughts, motives, and intentions are not always honorable or Christ-like.  We should remember this when we pray and ask our Heavenly Father to forgive us of our sins.  We should also ask Him to create within us a clean heart and renew a right spirit within us. (Psalm 51:10)

SEEK HOLINESS NOT HAPPINESS

Proclamation:

"Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God."  2 Corinthians 7:1 (NIV)

Explanations:

These words were written by the Apostle Paul, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God, to the believers in Corinth.  Paul was encouraging the believers not to adopt the sinful practices of the non-believers in the city around them. (2 Corinthians 6:17)  He wanted them to rid themselves of everything that contaminated their mind and body so that they could receive the promises of God. (2 Corinthians 6:16 and 18)  He also said that they should seek and do only that which is righteous and holy, out of reverence and respect for God.

Application:

As believers, we have the same promises of God, that if we separate ourselves from the non-believers, and obey His Word, then He will live with us, and walk with us, and be a Father to us, and we will be His sons and daughters. (2 Corinthians 6:16-18)  These promises of God are conditional.  In order to receive them we must cleanse ourselves of all sinful filthiness.  We are to be set apart from the world and we are to behave differently than non-believers. (Psalms 4:3)  We must separate ourselves from things which defile our mind and our bodies.  That includes not following false teaching, in addition to not pandering to greed, the lusts of the flesh, and the selfish pursuit of happiness.  When we accept Christ we are to die to all selfish wants. (Romans 6:1-2 and 6:11)  We are to seek Christ and do that which gives God glory. (Philippians 2:21 and Colossians 3:1)  Our goal should be to seek Godly holiness, as opposed to worldly happiness.  We are to be holy because we are His, and He is holy. (1 Peter 1:16)  If we seek Him above all else, He will give us other things that we need. (Matthew 6:33)   When we seek Christ and His holiness, He will grant us His unspeakable joy. (1 Peter 1:8)

CREATE IN ME A CLEAN HEART

Proclamation:

"Hide Your face for my sins, and blot out all my iniquity.  Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."  Psalms 51:9-10 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by King David under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  David knew that he had sinned and he knew that the sin which he had committed was against God. (Psalm 51:4)  He knew that his sin did not end his relationship with God but in interfered with the fellowship he had with The Lord God.

Application:

All of us have sinned.  We all need to ask God for forgiveness on a daily bases.  Sinful thoughts are still sins as well as sinful words and actions.  We all need to be cleansed from sins.  We need God's help to create within us clean hearts and minds.  We should be honest with God and confess to Him our short comings.  We don't need to beat ourselves up because of them.  Let’s ask Him for His help in making us more Christ-like.  Let’s be determined to be a better Christian today than we were yesterday.

A PRAYER OF DAVID

Proclamation:

“Teach me, Lord, the way of Your decrees, that I may follow it to the end.  Give me understanding, so that I may keep Your law and obey it with all my heart.  Direct me in the path of Your commands, for there I find delight.  Turn my heart toward Your statutes and not toward selfish gain.” Psalm 119:33-36 (NIV)

Explanation:

This psalm was written by King David under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Here David is praying and asking The Lord to teach him and give him understanding so that he would know and follow God’s law.  He also wants The Lord to direct his heart and his path towards God and His laws and to turn him away from selfish gain.  David knows that he is a sinner and that he needs God’s help to keep him from his deceitful ways. (Psalm 119:28-29)

Application:

King David recognized that he needed help to follow The Word of God and he prayed and asked for that help.  We need to come to the same understanding and recognize that we need God’s help to follow His commands and statutes.  Our problem is that we think that we know it all and we offer up excuses for why don’t follow God’s word.  When we pray we should ask for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of His Holy Word.  We should also pray that He would turn our heart away from our selfish sinful desires and towards Him and His righteousness.