Today Our Daily Bread Psalm 31 & John 1:14

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.
If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.
Psalm 31
For the choir director: A psalm of David.
1 O LORD, I have come to you for protection; don't let me be put to shame. Rescue me, for you always do what is right.
2 Bend down and listen to me; rescue me quickly. Be for me a great rock of safety, a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me.
3 You are my rock and my fortress. For the honor of your name, lead me out of this peril.
4 Pull me from the trap my enemies set for me, for I find protection in you alone.
5 I entrust my spirit into your hand. Rescue me, LORD, for you are a faithful God.
6 I hate those who worship worthless idols. I trust in the LORD.
7 I am overcome with joy because of your unfailing love, for you have seen my troubles, and you care about the anguish of my soul.
8 You have not handed me over to my enemy but have set me in a safe place.
9 Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am in distress. My sight is blurred because of my tears.My body and soul are withering away.
10 I am dying from grief; my years are shortened by sadness.Misery has drained my strength; I am wasting away from within.
11 I am scorned by all my enemies and despised by my neighbors--even my friends are afraid to come near me.When they see me on the street, they turn the other way.
12 I have been ignored as if I were dead, as if I were a broken pot.
13 I have heard the many rumors about me, and I am surrounded by terror. My enemies conspire against me, plotting to take my life.
14 But I am trusting you, O LORD, saying, "You are my God!"
15 My future is in your hands. Rescue me from those who hunt me down relentlessly.
16 Let your favor shine on your servant. In your unfailing love, save me.
17 Don't let me be disgraced, O LORD, for I call out to you for help. Let the wicked be disgraced; let them lie silent in the grave.
18 May their lying lips be silenced-- those proud and arrogant lips that accuse the godly.
19 Your goodness is so great! You have stored up great blessings for those who honor you.You have done so much for those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world.
20You hide them in the shelter of your presence, safe from those who conspire against them.You shelter them in your presence, far from accusing tongues.
21 Praise the LORD, for he has shown me his unfailing love.He kept me safe when my city was under attack.
22 In sudden fear I had cried out, "I have been cut off from the LORD!" But you heard my cry for mercy and answered my call for help.
23 Love the LORD, all you faithful ones!For the LORD protects those who are loyal to him, but he harshly punishes all who are arrogant.
24 So be strong and take courage, all you who put your hope in the LORD!
~ Lena’s Journalin’ ~
All I can think of today as I read this is, have you ever committed yourself to something or someone, but when you made the commitment you had no idea what the journey of walking it through to its end would be, or how it would take you from A to Z? Then again maybe you saw the end from the beginning, but you had no clue the course it would set you on and how it would be that you would actually get there.
I think of employment, or a marriage or church membership, etc. All of us are designed to commit ourselves to someone or something. God wired us that way. He wants us to commit.
This Psalmist is speaking prophetically of Jesus and also of every human who commits themselves to anything and then gets to walk through the thing or with the persons they committed to.
In commitment there will be opportunity for covenant. Covenant does not come without the shedding of blood. That means two people lay down their lives for one another, if one lays down the life and the other does not, this is a one sided covenant and that is not a true covenant.
In this Psalm we are hearing the agony of one who has and is laying down His life for others. It is not comfortable to do it, at all. He cries out to God to be relieved from His commitment to covenant, for something fair to be executed on His behalf. Selfishness raises up its ugly head and demands to be satisfied.
This is an example of how our three part beings operate in our day to day lives. Our spirit man, accepts and answers the call of God. We bear witness to truth presented us. Like we have an opportunity to commit ourselves, and the commitment is set before us by God.
Let’s use the example of say, joining a Bible study group or a church body. We know in the deepest parts of us (our spirit man) that this is God, and our hearts desire to respond to the opportunity, sometimes we actually do respond with words, because our spirit man wants to rule us and wants the rest of our being (our souls- where our minds, wills and emotions lie; and then also our bodies, which we see visibly) to “follow through”. Our spirit man may speak the will of God for us, but as we start to walk out our commitment to God’s will (which by the way, integrity is always God’s will), now our souls are going to start to speak to us, about how hard this commitment is to keep, and how we didn’t “really” mean it, and we must have meant something else, and today we don’t feel good, we’re out of sorts, and we’re not getting as much out of it as we thought, etc, etc, etc…Our soul is at war with our spirit and with the will of God. Now our bodies will begin to speak about the commitment also. Aches and pains will give us valid excuses to not be able to “fulfill” our part of the commitment or covenant. This is where we will find out who our ruler is. Is our ruler our body? Or is it our soul? Or is it indeed our spirit, who made the decision in the first place? Or is Jesus the Lord? Remember nothing is at all ever impossible to God, nothing - no pain, no feeling, not anything can separate us out of and away from the purposes of God, if we make a covenant commitment. If our spirits rule the rest of our being, no matter how loud they speak with and war with us and try to convince us, we will follow the Lord’s will, if our spirit’s rule us.
Ever hear of the scripture, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”? We are the Temple of God’s Spirit, God’s house, speak to your three part being, allow your spirit to tell your soul and your body- “As for me and my “house”, we WILL ( decide with our free wills to) serve the Lord! If I wake up feeling bad in some way, my spirit rises up and tells the rest of my being – WE WILL SERVE the LORD! It’s all about who rules in me.
Whevever one commits to anything at all, God will see to it that their words of commitment are real and true, as His words of covenant and commitment are true.
Do we mean what we say? Do we say what we mean? Do we really love God? Enough to love others and serve God, giving our own lives for others, no matter what they end up doing To us?
What was happening to Jesus? He was giving His life for others, and the torment that came to Him in that was not at all fair! But His was a demonstration of Divine love and its true nature. He did it anyway. He cried out for relief and God expected Him to keep His covenant commitment.
Jesus knew what He was sent to earth to do. Do we? If we do not know, it is God’s goal to show us, then it is His goal to have us commit to its working, then it is His goal that we make a covenant and walk through integrity and follow through our commitments. If we say we’ll be there, we ought to be there, through ice, snow, fire, sickness, or whatever.
Jesus went through hell for us, literally hell. He cried out to be delivered and God expected Him to fulfill His vows. Why? Is God cruel? NO He is NOT. He is LOVE! God IS LOVE, are we love? Is love as important to us as it is to God? That we’d go through “hell” for its outcome?
Listen, if Jesus was relieved, if He was made to feel better, we’d all be in hell when we die. He’d seen way beyond the torment when He committed Himself, now while He was in the torment He needed to be reminded, He needed to remind Himself. It was His spirit’s turn to speak. Many, many times this part of our walk shows us if we meant what we said, or if we will break our ‘promises’ and “take it back”. It’s a time in the walk to show our enemies we do mean what we say and we do mean what our spirit’s committed to do.
We’ve got to see a purpose beyond our self life, beyond our feelings about things, to the greater purpose of God. Our lives and this whole walk is about God’s purpose being fulfilled, not ours! Jesus could not have lived and died for His own purpose, He was here to serve the purposes of God! He was here to take authority over God’s enemies and ours so that we could spiritually be released to help Him serve the purposes of God. He had great hope that His act of love and obedience would spur many, many others into the same type of living here on earth. Now that other humans had been given the same authority that He has they could “help” God. He also gave them the spiritual keys of authority, maybe they’d respond to this great act of love and serve God as he did, squelching God’s enemies in a greater magnitude, because they were a part of an army of human Christ-like ones, who could and would do as He did from now on.
Oh spirit arise inside of each one of us, Oh spirit of God arise, and let all of God’s enemies be scattered! In Jesus’ name!

John 1:14 So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. F1 And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father.