Bread from the Book
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Bread From The Book Articles by Conrad Murrell On The Book Of Psalms John 6:50 [Jesus said,] This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. John 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Click Here For Index Of Psalms Articles 1 “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of waters, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so; but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” (Psalm 1.) In this first psalm, the writer draws upon rich imagery to mark out a sharp contrast between the righteous, the “blessed man,” the man whom the Lord “knows” and the “ungodly,” those who fear not God. The God-fearing man does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. Their counsel or philosophy does not chart the course. The wisdom or reason of unconverted worldly minded men is set on mischief, avarice, greed, worldly lust, malice, temporal things. The godly man reasons differently. He delights in God's law, Gods counsel, the inspired scriptures, God's leadership by the Holy Spirit. He meditates upon them, thinks on them continually. They become a part of his being, and directs his every action and undertaking. The righteous man does not stand in the way of sinners. His anchor is not theirs. He is not established by what they are. Their hope is in temporal things, wealth, power, the admiration of men, the achievements of men. He is established in Christ. He is like a tree planted. It is fixed forever never to be moved as long as it lives. Like a tree planted by the rivers of water, the godly man is fixed in Christ Who is the way the truth and the life. All that man needs to sustain him and make him fruitful flows from Christ. As the planted tree brings forth fruit, so the righteous brings forth lasting fruit. The ungodly do not stand. They have no certain fountain of water, so they dry up. They are not fixed so they drift with the wind. None can predict where they will be tomorrow. They will not stand in the congregation of the righteous, and cannot stand in the day of judgment which will surely come. The “blessed” man does not “sit” in the seat of the scornful. The scornful is a fool resting upon a false hope. He is at ease when he derides the righteous and mocks the warnings of a Holy God, but his rest and security is a delusion. It will surely fail. The blessed man rests under the shadow of the wings of the Almighty. The righteousness of Christ is his hope and refuge. Because his “leaf,” the vitality of his life gathers food from the eternal God, it shall never wither but will prosper in all he does. Beginning --- Index 2 “Why do the Heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.” (Psalm 2:1-6) For those who would prove that God has a sense of humor, this passage affords the only testimony of God's laughter. The subject matter, however, precludes there being any humor in this laughter. Set before us is the arrogant rebellious attitude of the rulers of human governments who own no God but themselves. They rage and fume against the restrictions put upon them, their governments and their behavior by the decrees of the Almighty. They are filled with vain ambitions, pompous illusions of grandeur, exaggerated estimations of their persons and powers. These earthling rulers take counsel among themselves with the vain hope of breaking the laws and limitations placed upon them by a sovereign God. They disagree, fight and war among themselves until God appears on their horizon; and then they unite and gather themselves together against Him and His Anointed. It is interesting to remember that Pilate and Herod were confirmed enemies until Jesus Christ entered their lives. From that day forward they became friends, united by their common hatred for Christ. This is a common refrain among men who are accustomed to grinding other men under their tyrannic heels: “We will not have this man (Christ) reign over us.” They are unaccustomed to submitting themselves to men, and they think that they will not submit themselves to God either. The Lord will have them in derision. He laughs at the foolish attempts of men to overthrow His good purpose. That God is not amused is clear in the next verse. He is angry. “He shall speak to them in his wrath.” When God speaks to wicked men, they hear no voice from heaven. Rather they experience his displeasure. He “vexes” or troubles them. No nation has flaunted the moral laws of God, defied the divine order of justice, integrity and human relations, and survived to boast of it. All who have are now extinct with the exception of the newest crop who will also soon follow them to the same inglorious grave. God has established His own King. Jesus Christ has been crowned King of kings and Lord of lords in the court of heaven. And though earthly rulers will not willingly own His Lordship, He yet rules over them. To Him every knee will ultimately bow and every tongue will confess His Lordship. It would be wise if we did it now while He is yet willing to be our Savior also. Beginning --- Index 3 “I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.” (Psalm 2:7-12) Men, creatures of the earth, plan, hope, scheme, devise. They have ambitions, goals, objectives. God, the Creator, decrees. Some of men's plans are worthy, some unworthy, some successful, some failures; yet men do their utmost to make them succeed. God does not simply plan...... He decrees. He does not simply attempt to implement His decree. It is sovereign, and He has the power to bring it to pass. His decree is not merely good: It is perfect. Let us consider it. He first declares the deity, the divinity of Christ. Jesus is the begotten Son of God. This must be the moral foundation of God's decree concerning Jesus Christ, for if Christ be not truly God, then He has no right to the honors about to be bestowed upon him. If we deny the Godhood of the Savior, we destroy the foundation and reason of Christian hope. But if we establish it, then it is incumbent upon all men to receive Him as Lord. God then declares the Lordship of Christ. He is His Son, and His inheritance is the nations of the earth. He owns not only those who love Him but those who hate Him. All the earth is His possession, and it is within the scope of His right and power to do as He pleases. None but the Father can limit the Hand of the Son in judgment, and the Father has committed it all to Christ. In our popular preoccupation with the goodness, the love of God, His willingness to save all who come to Him, we must not forget that there is something to be saved from. God's goodness and love is always set against the background of His justice and wrath. Men in their natural state are in rebellion against God and so the first word of which they are conscious in God's decree is this: “They shall be broken with a rod of iron; they shall be dashed in pieces like a potter's vessel.” This is the prospect facing all men when they receive God's command to repent. In view of such a decree by such a God, men are urged to wisdom.