Blessed is Another Word for. . .

ESV uses the word Bless. “Blessed is the man. . .” The Hebrew word is generally translated fortunate.

“One who is fortunate,” has the traits* we read in the Psalm:
Fears GOD; Delights in GOD’s commandments; Has mighty offspring; Is among a blessed generation; Is wealthy; Has an enduring righteousness; Light dawns in the darkness; Is gracious, merciful, and righteous; Deals generously and lends; Conducts affairs justly; Is never be moved; Will be remembered forever; Is not afraid of bad news; Has a firm heart; Trusts in LORD; Has a Steady heart; Has no fear; Triumphs over adversaries; Distributes freely in giving to the poor; Is exalted in honor.

Traits makes me thing of something we are born with, like blue eyes or blond hair. But as I thought about it, perhaps we ARE born with traits that enable us to fear GOD and at least somewhat fulfill the list. Or perhaps we inherit those traits when we come to Fear GOD.

A Gentile Believer, coming to know Jesus, is born again. Perhaps then those traits are inherited—granted.

Just a Thought.

Then maybe being blessed is just another word for: Saved and being Sanctified.

We are blessed by GOD’s freely-given salvation. A salvation not earned, not merited, but given by blood sacrifice.

We turn from our old lives, turn to GOD: repentance. We are delivered from ourselves, to start over for GOD: born again. We’re given new traits, and we start a life-long journey learning to use them for the esteem of GOD—that GOD may be held in esteem throughout this world.

I pray we can walk exhibiting all those traits, generously, in the strength and power of GOD Spirit.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine upon and though you all.

* Traits is the word used in a commentary on iTorah.com.

Psalm 24: Welcoming The King

Lift up your heads,
O gates!
And be lifted up,
O ancient doors,
that the King of glory
may come in.

King David may have thought this Psalm might be used in the inauguration of the Temple. The final verses being a welcome for The King of the Universe to enter the city of Jerusalem.

Pastor Barnes’s Notes describes these gates to be like “some of the old ruins of castles in Palestine there are still to be seen deep grooves in the “posts” of the gateway, showing that the door did not open and shut, but that it was drawn up or let down.”

There’s much more in Psalm 24 to be considered. I’ve only scratched the surface, so to speak. My thoughts are simple notes that I can refer to from time to time, and perhaps add to as I delve into a particular verse that catches my attention when I recite this Psalm. Various writers have offered their commentary, from their point of view. Some write a short summary, while others offer more exhaustive analysis. All of their comments help open up the Psalm to me.

LORD Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Psalm 24: Bearing Away a Blessing

He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the GOD of his salvation.
Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the GOD of Jacob. Selah

In this next section of Psalm 24, King David speaks of receiving a blessing from GOD. Pastor Albert Barnes states that receiving blessings from the LORD literally is “bear away a blessing.”

King David says of those who are allowed to ascend the Holy Mountain and stand before GOD must have “clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.” They must already be Righteous Ones. I think of Esther’s fear—in the Book of Esther—of approaching the king. If she did so unbidden, the king could either invite her in or have her killed. This same fear prevented the people of Israel from approaching Mount Sinai in the desert after their rescue from Egypt.

To ascend to the Temple, to bear away a blessing from GOD, we must be pure. Again, Apostle Paul plainly states we are not at all, in any way, righteous.

Before the destruction of The Temple, we could offer a sacrifice. Annually the Chief Rabbi offered sacrifices for the people during Yom Kippur. It was all a little like wrapping a leaking pipe with tape. Works for a minute, then fails.

GOD has a plan. He had it before creation. He knows, as the Scriptures state, the heart of humankind. He provided a way. The only way to the Father is through His Son, Jesus. We, through Jesus, are now pure and are entitled to stand before GOD. We take away a blessing.

That blessing, wrote Pastor Barnes, is to “be welcomed and treated as a friend of God. The wicked and the impure could not hope to obtain this; but he who was thus righteous would be treated according to his real character, and would meet with the assurances of the divine favor. It is as true now as it was in the days of the psalmist, that it is only the man who is in fact upright and holy that can obtain the evidences of the divine approval. God will not regard one who is living in wickedness as a righteous man, nor will he admit such a man to His favor here, or to His dwelling-place hereafter.”

Thanks be to GOD our Father, and to His Son, our Savior.

LORD Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

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Psalm 24: Climbing up the Mountain

Who shall ascend
the hill of the LORD?

And who shall stand
in his holy place?

Once King David in writing Psalm 24 establishes the supremacy of GOD over all He created, he turns to GOD’s dwelling place on Earth.

Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.

According to Jewish tradition, Psalm 24 was composed by King David when the site of the Temple, the House of GOD, was revealed to him as being Mount Moriah. It was not, however, until after King David’s death that this Temple was actually built.

From King David’s house, he would walk up to Mount Moriah. He’d no doubt been there before, and knew the walk up there well. Now King David must now think differently about the hill and the house for GOD that he desires to be built atop the mountain. Perhaps he goes up there often to pray, to think about what the Temple could look like.

No doubt his thoughts turn to who would have the right to actually ascend that hill to come into our GOD’s presence. After all, as King David declares, the hill is the LORD’s and it is a Holy Place.

The answer is straight forward. People who have clean hands, pure hearts, desire truth, and are honest. Only four things are required, according to King David, to come into the presence of GOD. Pretty simple.

It gets complicated, however. Clean hands and pure heart means that a person’s actions and heart must be righteous. Apostle Paul, writing to the Romans, tells us that no one is righteous, that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of GOD” (Romans 3:23).

Mount Moriah looms above us. GOD is enthroned there. Within humanity there is a longing for GOD, from Whom we’ve become estranged. The Temple on Mount Moriah gleams in morning’s light. It beckons us. GOD beckons us to come up the hill. But we know within us, whether or not we care to admit it, that we harbor all sorts of impure thoughts, that we’ve done things we know we ought not have done. We may say we are good people, but inside we know we are not; we know we are dirty, inside and out. Who will make us clean?

There is a “righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.” (Romans 3:22)

It is through this righteousness that we are now justified to ascend the mountain, to come into the presence of the Living GOD, our Creator. This righteousness is freely gifted to us; GOD’s grace is receiving that which we didn’t merit.

LORD Bless, Keep, Shine. . .
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Sunday’s Psalm: 24

“In the beginning, GOD created
the heavens
and the earth.”

Genesis. “In the beginning, GOD created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of GOD was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. And GOD saw that the light was good. And GOD separated the light from the darkness. GOD called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.”

Psalm 24 is a Psalm for Sunday Celebrating GOD, Creation, Righteousness, and the Blessings of GOD.

A Psalm of David
The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.

Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.

He will receive blessing from the LORD
and righteousness from the GOD of his salvation.
Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the GOD of Jacob. Selah

Lift up your heads, O gates!
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, mighty in battle!
Lift up your heads, O gates!
And lift them up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
he is the King of glory! Selah

The first stanza affirms that GOD is Creator of the Universe, and calls to mind the first day of creation. In his Notes, Pastor Albert Barnes wrote: “It belongs to Him in a sense somewhat similar to our right of property in anything that is the production of our hands, or of our labor or skill. We claim that as our own.” For Pastor Barnes, if we think we have complete right to our property, its usage, its disposal, and I might add its protection, then think how much greater is GOD’s right to what He designed and created. Our Creator has “right to direct man in what way He shall employ that portion of the productions of the earth which may be entrusted to Him,” wrote Pastor Barnes.

There are absolutely no limits to GOD’s ownership and authority over “The earth. . . and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.” GOD has a claim upon everything from the beginning up to this present moment and into the future. GOD, however, allows us to use what is His. Along with the privilege to “own” property, including animals and plants, we have obligations. As Pastor Barnes put it, GOD has “the right to direct man in what way he shall employ (what) is entrusted to him. What we think of as our property is a trust. Ultimately we are accountable to our Creator for the way we use His property.

LORD willing I’ll share some thoughts on the second stanza soon.

LORD Bless, Keep, Shine. . .