Psalm 32 Maschil

Psalm 32

A Psalm of David. A Contemplation – Maschil

 

BLESSED is he whose transgression is forgiven,

Whose sin is covered

2 Blessed is the man whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,

And in whose spirit there is no deceit.

 

3 When I kept silent, my bones grew old

Through my groaning all day long.

4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;

My vitality was turned into the drought of summer.     Selah.

5 I acknowledged my sin to You,

And my iniquity I have not hidden.

I said. “I will confess my trasngressions to the Lord”,

And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.      Selah.

 

6 For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You

In a time when You may be found:

Surely in a flood of great waters

They shall not come hear him.

7 You are my hiding place;

You shall presever me from trouble;

You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.     Selah.

 

8 I will instruct and teach you in the way you should go;

I will guide you with My eye,

9 Do not be like the horse or like the mule,

Which have no unerstanding,

Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle,

Else they will not come near you.

 

10 Many sorrows shall be to the wicked;

But he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him.

11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice you righteous;

And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

 

 – emphasis mine  🙂

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Maschil definition

Origin:
< Heb maśkīl lit., enlightened

instructing, occurs in the title of thirteen Psalms (32, 42, 44, etc.). It denotes a song enforcing some lesson of wisdom or piety, a didactic song.

dictionary.com – 1897 Easton’s Bible Dictionary/answers.com

A Prayer of the Afflicted

Psalm 102

A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the LORD.

¹ Hear my prayer, O LORD,
And let my cry come to You.
² Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble;
Incline Your ear to me;
In the day that I call, answer me speedily.

³ For my days are consumed like smoke,
And my bones are burned like a hearth.
⁴ My heart is stricken and withered like grass,
So that I forget to eat my bread.
⁵ Because of the sound of my groaning
My bones cling to my skin.
⁶ I am like a pelican of the wilderness;
I am like an owl of the desert.
⁷ I lie awake,
And am like a sparrow alone on the housetop.

⁸ My enemies reproach me all day long;
Those who deride me swear an oath against me.
⁹ For I have eaten ashes like bread,
And mingled my drink with weeping,
¹⁰ Because of Your indignation and Your wrath;
For You have lifted me up and cast me away.
¹¹ My days are like a shadow that lengthens,
And I wither away like grass.

¹² But You, O LORD, shall endure forever,
And the remembrance of Your name to all generations.
¹³ You will arise and have mercy on Zion;
For the time to favor her,
Yes, the set time, has come.
¹⁴ For Your servants take pleasure in her stones,
And show favor to her dust.
¹⁵ So the nations shall fear the name of the LORD,
And all the kings of the earth Your glory.
¹⁶ For the LORD shall build up Zion;
He shall appear in His glory.
¹⁷ He shall regard the prayer of the destitute,
And shall not despise their prayer.

¹⁸ This will be written for the generation to come,
That a people yet to be created may praise the LORD.
¹⁹ For He looked down from the height of His sanctuary;
From heaven the LORD viewed the earth,
²⁰ To hear the groaning of the prisoner,
To release those appointed to death,
²¹ To declare the name of the LORD in Zion,
And His praise in Jerusalem,
²² When the peoples are gathered together,
And the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.

²³ He weakened my strength in the way;
He shortened my days.
²⁴ I said, “O my God,
Do not take me away in the midst of my days;
Your years are throughout all generations.
²⁵ Of old You laid the foundation of the earth,
And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
²⁶ They will perish, but You will endure;
Yes, they will all grow old like a garment;
Like a cloak You will change them,
And they will be changed.
²⁷ But You are the same,
And Your years will have no end.
²⁸ The children of Your servants will continue,
And their descendants will be established before You.”

Psalm 71

For all who need comfort this morning –

1 In You, O Lord, I put my trust; Let me never be put to shame.

2 Deliver me in Your righteousness, and cause me to escape; Incline Your ear to me, and save me.

3 Be my strong refuge, To which I may resort continually; You have given the commandment to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress.

4 Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.

5 For You are my hope, O Lord God; You are my trust from my youth.

6 By You I have been upheld from birth; You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb. My praise shall be continually of You.

7 I have become as a wonder to many, But You are my strong refuge.

8 Let my mouth be filled with Your praise And with Your glory all the day.

9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age; Do not forsake me when my strength fails.

10 For my enemies speak against me; And those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together,

11 Saying, “God has forsaken him; Pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him.”

12 O God, do not be far from me; O my God, make haste to help me!

13 Let them be confounded and consumed Who are adversaries of my life; Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor Who seek my hurt.

14 But I will hope continually, And will praise You yet more and more.

15 My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness And Your salvation all the day, For I do not know their limits.

16 I will go in the strength of the Lord God; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.

17 O God, You have taught me from my youth; And to this day I declare Your wondrous works.

18 Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come.

19 Also Your righteousness, O God, is very high, You who have done great things; O God, who is like You?

20 You, who have shown me great and severe troubles, Shall revive me again, And bring me up again from the depths of the earth.

21 You shall increase my greatness, And comfort me on every side.

22 Also with the lute I will praise you– And Your faithfulness, O my God! To You I will sing with the harp, O Holy One of Israel.

23 My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You, And my soul, which You have redeemed.

24 My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness all the day long; For they are confounded, For they are brought to shame Who seek my hurt.

From BibleStudyTools.com

A Brother in Chains

I found this article on Ian’s blog and was completely moved in my spirit to pray for this man, Youcef Nadarkhani, who is imprisoned in Iran and awaiting the sentence of death for preaching the gospel.

Who knows when any one of us can be found in a similar situation?  The bible tells us to remember those in prisons and while reading his story I kept hearing the words of Paul “remember my chains”.

You will want to read the comments under the article as the rest of Youcef’s story is told there. Ian’s first comment  is a letter from Youcef which I believe is written more for our behalf than his own. Be sure to read it and then pray for our brother and his family – and his captors -who do not yet have the hope in Christ as we do.

Blessings.

A Scenario

Consider this scenario and give me your reaction.

Someone in church stands up and claims

“Pray such and such scripture for 21 days and see what God will do”.

What is this?   Word of Faith?    Witchcraft in the church?

An applicable method of praying scripture?    A promise?

What happens if it appears God does nothing at the 22nd day?    Isn’t it true we don’t know all, see all that He does?    But, can He be expected to perform in such a way?

What say you?

Wellesley, Massachusetts Public School Students Learn to Pray to Allah

In late May of 2010, Wellesley, Massachusetts public middle school students took a field trip to the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center – a controversial Saudi-funded mega-mosque run by the Muslim American Society of Bostn. There, the students were separated by gender and the boys were asked to join the Muslim adults in their prayer. Several of the public school boys took part.

The Grandiose Claim of a False Prophet

Sigh –  A   big   one.

I’ve put this off for two days, so let’s just get on with it and be done. Shall we?

This is a video in which Cindy Jacobs gives a prophetic word to her pray-ers at theCall Sacramento earlier this month which seems to have caused God to shut down “human trafficking” on Craigslist. I found the article Tuesday on Right Wing Watch here.

Here is their clip and transcription follows –

RWW’s transcription (Cindy Jacobs speaking)

At one point there was a whole section on fighting human trafficking, sex trafficking, repenting of involvements in pornography and so forth and our friend Nancy Alcorn had her girls up who they had rescued from prostitution and so many things, some had actually been trafficked, been captured. And as we prayed there was a section where these girls were asked to go back, away from the platform, there was a cross, a big cross set up, and they kneeled down and began to pray and I gave them a prophecy and I said “could it be that even right now, as we speak, that that God, the just God, wants to give you a sign that he is going to break the back of sex trafficking.”

And so they cried out for freedom and they cried out and asked God to do that and right after that we received word that Craigslist was going to begin to censor some of the things that were coming over their list concerning pornography and adult content. And we just felt it was a huge victory.

Yes, I’ve verified that Jacobs was at theCall Sacramento.

From TechnologyLive

Craigslist has shut down its controversial “Adult Services” section — by replacing the link to that section with the word “censored” written in bold letters on a black background, as you can see for yourself by clicking to its flagship San Francisco website.

Craigslist is the online classified ads service, launched in 1995 by entrepreneur Craig Newmark. It maintains online communities in numerous cities, featuring free classified advertisements to consumers. It makes money by selling paid ads for jobs and apartments.

The self-censoring appears to be in response to this letter from attorneys general in 18 U.S. states to Newmark and Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster. The AGs insisted that Craigslist “immediately take down” the Adult Services section. Here’s why, according to an excerpt from the AGs’ letter:

In our view, the company should take immediate action to end the misery for the women and children who may be exploited and victimized by these ads. Because craigslist cannot, or will not, adequately screen these ads, it should stop accepting them altogether and shut down the Adult Services section.

Steve Jones, a professor of communication at the University of Illinois in Chicago who has studied Internet culture, told the AP that if Craigslist has left the adult services business for good, it won’t likely diminish the online market for sex acts. The business will likely shift to other adult sites, perhaps based outside the United States. “I bet there are people today who are registering domain names and saying: ‘Business opportunity for me,'” he said. (emphasis mine)

This, my friends, is a great example of false prophecy and NAR dominionism in action. This is their false gospel message in which there is no personal repentance required and no call for that repentance. There is however, a lot of impressive sounding words, supposed repenting on the behalf of others, but no call to the Father for those involved in sin to repent. Just a claim that He will change the situation. The false prophetic movement believes one can make a declaration straight out of their head and even call it a prophecy and God will have to act on it. This is because they believe they have the same authority and anointing as Jesus Christ. These “prophecies” are not according to God’s will, but according to their will.

Cindy Jacobs is all about societal transformation. No situation changes unless the heart of the person involved is changed. There must be repentance. A person must come to the place where they recognize their sin and their need of a saviour. For without this they are forever lost. And all that looove, all those good sounding words and warm fuzzies will not mean a thing the day they stand face to face with God.

John the Baptist stated “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” From John 1:29

Now, don’t get me wrong. The decision Craigslist made was a very good one indeed and I applaud them. And I applaud those who came forward to put pressure on them to do what is right.  However, it was an executive decision in which Craigslist heeded the pressure put on them by 18 State Attorneys General. What CEO in his right mind would not? And there is hope that the women and children who could have been hurt by those ads will not be. Maybe some will be saved the horror. This is the societal side of the situation.

However, there is a Christian side to look at here, as this woman, Cindy Jacobs claims to be a prophet of God. There has been no repentance of those who put up those kinds of ads, those who are involved in human trafficking who use women and children to their own gain. Preventing sin or “societal transformation” is not bringing about repentance.  But this is the plan of the NAR which is to take over sections of America, maybe the world, and bring about ways to control the behavior of America’s people. This will be accomplished through their “prophets and apostles” and their laws, not repentance. (Excuse the digress.)

Back to my point: Most bars close between 2 am and 6 am and during those hours it is illegal to serve alcoholic beverages to anyone. However, it is not illegal to drink during those hours in your own home. And those who frequent the bars – I am talking bar flies here – do not have a change of heart, are not repentant because they can’t drink at their bar. They are just sober and thirsty for more, waiting for the time to come and the doors will be open to them. So,  because there has been no repentance on the part of human/sex traffickers, they will simply take their business and their sin elsewhere, thirsty for more as other doors open to them.  As the wise man quoted in Technology Live article, they will see a business opportunity.  Nothing has changed in the great scheme of human trafficking as this false prophet has claimed. The only thing different is the geography of the same sin. The back of sex trafficking as Jacobs prophesied is not broken, but strong as always.

May God protect the innocent and the unsuspecting from the horror that is to come on them. The ways of man are evil. God help us reach the lost.

How to build an empire by Godtv

Wanna know how to raise millions of dollars?  In this case, 4.9 M…

How to build and empire by Godtv

Watch this shocking video at the link to see how it’s done. A little false  prophecy mixed in with some false promises – you know, the BLESSING – combined with a false prophet misapplying scripture, speaking in unknown and unterrpreted tongues, one who claims the Holy Spirit will offend the flesh so that He can pray. (Where’s that in the word, Wendy? Cuz that’s not what Jesus said!)

Just for good measure lets get some well known false prophets and teachers in there – Benny Hinn, Dutch Sheets, Brian Houston, Lou Engle, Chuck Missler (that one broke my heart!) and a few others. Is that Steve Munsey?? I’m shocked Todd Bentley wasn’t a part of this as important as he is to them and their profits.

It is so very sad that so many have found these methods to work. Just tack the name of God to the scam, or claim “God said…” and people fall all over themselves to send in the money. I’ve read stories, testimonies of those who did so to their own detrement. Though the false faith healers claim it, the healing does not come. These word of faither claims a blessing or a breakthrough  if you give enough, give generously, give your best gift sacrificially and that blessing never arrives. Faith is destroyed because it is built on LIES like the house built on sand.  Our Father God is not a part of Godtv.

Anyone ever watch that Steve Martin/Debra Winger movie Leap of Faith?

The Alignment of Political America and the NAR

I’ve been watching and writing about the heretical teachings of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) for a few months, not being sure why it seemed to be so important to do so. I don’t have a lot of experience with them because I never really “got” Chuck Pierce at all. However, there are some other prophets and apostles in this madhouse that I did follow (Cal Pierce, Cindy Jacobs, Dutch Sheets) and I guess that was enough for the Lord to impress on me the need for exposure.

Last night I began to come across some very good information offered by organizations who have researched the NAR much longer than I have. I am stunned to see the newly formed connection between political America and the demonic agenda of the NAR. No longer can it be confined only to a strange few. Follow the links I posted below – read and listen with great care. Yes, it will take some time as there is a lot of information. But, so important. You will see the connection between C Peter Wagner’s NAR and some of our government officials under the guise of patriotism and Godly values. It is time for great concern for those who will not join this movement, this building of a whole new “kingdom”.  Suddenly I understand the comments I read by those who were greatly concerned about Wilderness Outcry. What will this lead to? Are we ready to stand?

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen. Jude 24-25

Apprising Ministries -Mayday and the New Apostolic Reformation

In response to the May Day event held this past Saturday at the Lincoln Memorial, Ingrid (Schlueter) and Sarah (Leslie) brought to listener attention a movement known as the New Apostolic Reformation. This title was coined by C. Peter Wagner during the 1990’s.

Featuring teachers such as Dutch Sheets, Cindy Jacobs and false prophetess Stacy Campbell, the New Apostolic Reformation is centered around a theology of dominionism. It teaches that Christians can take down demonic spirits in order to take back territories and institutions for Christ. The movement is post-millennial believing that Jesus will not return until Christians take over the 7 Mountains.

These “mountains” are institutions like the media, entertainment, the economy, etc. In other words, their eschatology requires that instead of reaching people with the gospel one heart at a time, they believe they are to conquer the earth one demonic spirit at a time and make the earth perfect so that Jesus can return. (Online source)

You can download and/or listen to this Crosstalk program right here.

Right Wing Watch – Mayday on the Mall

May Day 2010 has been organized around the “Seven Mountains” theology, which advocates the complete takeover of every aspect of contemporary culture by modern day “apostles” of Christ. The theology is rooted in the belief that Christians are meant to have dominion over literally everything and is focused on spiritually “invading” seven specific facets of modern life in order to wrest control away from Satan and his demonic spirits so that Christians can put them to use in bringing about God’s kingdom on Earth: (1) Business; (2) Government; (3) Media; (4) Arts and Entertainment; (5) Education; (6) Family; and (7) Religion.

Herescope :

The Coalescing of the Christian Right with Apostolic Dominion

The American political landscape has suddenly changed. A tumult is appearing in the land with the passage of health care reform. The Christian Right, with its years of courting political influence, is now poised to merge with the new Tea Party Movement. In times of crisis, natural or caused, things seem to happen faster and opportunities, that would take years, seem to happen in months. There is the scent of rebellion in the air.

R&R Revival and Revolt

Initially The Tea Party was populist, libertarian, limited government, anti-socialism and lower taxes, etc. But the first ever National Tea Party Conference in Nashville in February revealed that there has always been an overlap with Christian Right social issues. The Tea Party movement is in danger of being co-opted by the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) and its radical agenda. Do the Tea Party folks realize what they are getting into?

America and Christianity, a Parallel Slide Into Secret Places

This morning I’m considering the upcoming National Day of Prayer-what is slowly becoming America as Christianity slowly becomes something else. They seem to both be in parallel  state of change as neither has the appearance of what it once was or should still be.

America, heralded for so long as a country planted on Christian principles, established for the purpose of not only “religious” freedom, but one in which its people could freely worship God in the name of Jesus Christ. One in which its people would be free from religious prosecution, free to live the words of the bible, free to pray, free to worship in spirit and in truth. Without getting too far off here, I have to say I believe that to a degree as history proves that a group came from England for this very reason. But I also believe there were other groups establishing this country, who used the guise of Christianity, or at least the name of “God” and had a completely different plan,  one not of freedom, but of secrets. America having Christian roots is only partly true, but that is another topic for another time.

The National Day of Prayer was created by Congress in 1952. Since that time each of our presidents have honored and acknowledged that day as one for prayer.  This should be a good thing, right? All Christians coming together in various locations or in spirit to pray against the moral decay of our country and to pray for it’s leaders. It sounds like a good thing. Unfortunately, I have learned the hard way what seems to be Christian prayer isn’t necessarily.

With all that we have seen, and attributed to the great falling away, or the great apostasy, we know Christianity is under siege. I don’t know how else to say it. With the continued rising of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), the influence of Bethel (Bill Johnson), Morningstar (Rick Joyner and Todd Bentley), the International House of Prayer (Mike Bickle), The Call (Lou Engle),  and the influences of the Emergent Church (Brian McLaren, Richard Foster, Dallas Willard, Rob Bell, etc.), Saddleback (Rick Warren), the Word of Faith, Charismanina, Christianity as taught in the word of God is not up to par in this land. We have also seen, as I have warned about, many modes of “prayer” that we have been exposed to and taught are not modes of biblical prayer.

How  many of us have watched in horror as we have realized our churches are part of these supporters and even participants and teachers of false doctrines and methods? How many of us who once believed we knew the truth came to realize how far off  we really were? How many of us have watched our churches which at one time did not support these ways become taken in by them? I know there have been many. I’ve had quite a few commentors here say just that very thing. If you are one of them, know that my heart went out to you at that news and I have prayed for you and your church. I don’t take my readers lightly or for granted. You are dear to me as I know many of you are searching for the truth in the information I put up on my blog, as I once was too!

Some would say I am too focused on the negative. And to that I would say look at where we are at now. Look at the shipwreck of our faith, the very thing we were given to uphold and protect. Where is Christianity? It is being morphed into something else. So, while I am found to “find fault in everything”, I say where is the truth? If the Apostle Paul was to walk into any of these meeting places and hear the heresy, I dare to say some tables would overturn, in fact, if there would ever be a spiritual cause for an earthquake there it would be.  This is why I will not stand side by side with these false apostles and prophets under a guise of Christian prayer. And this is what we are seeing today in the upcoming National Day of Prayer.

Here is the link to their “ministry partners“.  Who are they? The International House of Prayer!!! The Call!!!  How about a little feel good wisdom from the wife of Normal Vincent Peale, Ruth Stafford Peale? I’m just wondering – where’s the yoga? Think that’s an outrageous question? It’s not far off, in light of the truth behind contemplative prayer’s roots in eastern mysticism found at IHOP, and the Emergent Church, taught innocently on the “Be Still” DVD.

We’ve already seen as I’ve written about the truth in the upcoming MayDay 2010 in which James Dobson joined forces with the NAR. So, am I surprised the National Day of Prayer has gone as far south? No. We’ve seen the push from Lou Engle and Dutch Sheets in the upcoming “Wilderness Outcry”, and Cindy Jacobs’ “Awakening”.

Listen, no one needs to grant us a day to pray. We pray because Jesus told us to pray, and He taught us how. Prayer should never be handled so lightly or so carelessly that is it a one day event, or as we have been seeing, a show. What is one day out of 365 anyway? What does that accomplish if the very next day all those who participated drift back into spiritual semi-consciousness without another thought of prayer?

If we are truly going to turn this nation, if that can even be done, or if it is the will of our Lord, we must change it through the hearts of it’s citizen’s through individual repentance. And that must start with Christians taking a stand against these who have come to steal away the true Faith!  America is indeed in meltdown, and Christianity along with it. And after all of these “days of prayer” I see just the opposite of what they’ve proposed. I see a steadfast decline in the leadership of our country and in the leadership of our churches and certainly a moral decline in both.

I see America drifting further and further away from its so called Christian roots and its established freedoms, and Christianity away from biblical truth. I have to wonder if the two don’t go hand in hand. As I mentioned in the beginning, some organizations and agendas in America were established long ago in secret. The same is to be said of the so called Christian organizations I spoke of here. They come in the name of the Lord, but after that are secrets. And, it is in what is not being said, or that which is not recognized as false that is the most dangerous.

So to steal their National Day of Prayer tag line, “For such a time as this”, let me say yes, for such a time has come to take a stand for all that is true, for Christ and our faith. It is time to expose these liars for what they are and to demand our churches and faith remains pure. For if Americans can see the erosion of their rights and freedoms, surely true Christians can see the same in regard to their faith. America is slipping away, as is Christianity, right before our very eyes. The truth for America is written in the pages of our constitution, just as the truth of Christianity is written in the pages of our bibles! Have we bothered to read or understand either of them? Or have we been taken in by lies forged in dark places?

I say “Father, Your will be done in this land, for You are sovereign”. I will pray on this day as I do on others. It will be a struggle, a discipline as it always is. However, I will not stand and approach my Father with these liars. I will stand against them in His courts for such a time as this, and if one day I perish, then so be it the will of my Father. Because I would much rather die with His words on my lips and His truth in my heart, than to be seen in “unity” with a well disguised wolf.