Today Our Daily Bread Psalm 68 & 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.

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Psalm 68
1God rises up and scatters his enemies.
Those who hate him run away in defeat.
2As smoke is blown away, so he drives them off;
as wax melts in front of the fire,
so do the wicked perish in God's presence.
3But the righteous are glad and rejoice in his presence;
they are happy and shout for joy.
4Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
prepare a way for him who rides on the clouds.F119
His name is the LORD ---be glad in his presence!
5God, who lives in his sacred Temple,
cares for orphans and protects widows.
6He gives the lonely a home to live in
and leads prisoners out into happy freedom,
but rebels will have to live in a desolate land.
7O God, when you led your people,
when you marched across the desert,
8 R62 the earth shook, and the sky poured down rain,
because of the coming of the God of Sinai,F120
the coming of the God of Israel.
9You caused abundant rain to fall
and restored your worn-out land;
10your people made their home there;
in your goodness you provided for the poor.
11The Lord gave the command,
and many women carried the news:
12Kings and their armies are running away!
The women at home divided what was captured:
13figures of doves covered with silver,
whose wings glittered with fine gold.
(Why did some of you stay among the sheep pens on the day of battle?)
14When Almighty God scattered the kings on Mount Zalmon,
he caused snow to fall there.
15What a mighty mountain is Bashan,
a mountain of many peaks!
16Why from your mighty peaks do you look with scorn
on the mountainF121 on which God chose to live?
The LORD will live there forever!
17With his many thousands of mighty chariots
the Lord comes from SinaiF122 into the holy place.
18 R63 He goes up to the heights,
taking many captives with him;
he receives gifts from rebellious people.
The LORD God will live there.
19Praise the Lord,
who carries our burdens day after day;
he is the God who saves us.
20Our God is a God who saves;
he is the LORD, our Lord,
who rescues us from death.
21God will surely break the heads of his enemies,
of those who persist in their sinful ways.
22The Lord has said, I will bring your enemies back from Bashan;
I will bring them back from the depths of the ocean,
23so that you may wade in their blood,
and your dogs may lap up as much as they want.
24O God, your march of triumph is seen by all,
the procession of God, my king, into his sanctuary.
25The singers are in front, the musicians are behind,
in between are the young women beating the tambourines.
26Praise God in the meeting of his people;
praise the LORD, all you descendants of Jacob!
27First comes Benjamin, the smallest tribe,
then the leaders of Judah with their group,
followed by the leaders of Zebulun and Naphtali.
28Show your power, O God,
the power you have used on our behalf
29from your Temple in Jerusalem,
where kings bring gifts to you.
30Rebuke Egypt, that wild animal in the reeds;
rebuke the nations, that herd of bulls with their calves,
until they all bow down and offer you their silver.
Scatter those people who love to make war!F123
31AmbassadorsF124 will come from Egypt;
the EthiopiansF125 will raise their hands in prayer to God.
32Sing to God, kingdoms of the world,
sing praise to the Lord,
33to him who rides in the sky,
the ancient sky.
Listen to him shout with a mighty roar.
34Proclaim God's power;
his majesty is over Israel,
his might is in the skies.
35How awesome is God as he comes from his sanctuary---
the God of Israel!
He gives strength and power to his people.
Praise God!
~Lena’s Journalin’~
I love this Psalm. It just keeps on and on magnifying the Lord, the magnification goes on and on and builds up greater and greater. If you know God at all, you know how awesome He is, how worthy of the ascension of praise and worship He is, another thing known is how much God’s enemy comes against this praise and the building up of the name of God. Why do you think music is such a powerful tool? God’s very enemy was a worshiper of God! A director of the worship of God! The key word here is “WAS”. Please know that - that is the very state he’d like to see us in also, either never a worshiper of God to begin with or, if we have been, to take us out of the heavenly choir so to speak. What takes us out of that choir are complaints rather than praise, unthankfulness, where we could give thanks in abundance. Choosing complacency where zeal and fervor could live. Accepting and thinking it is just how “Life” is and thinking that all it throws our way is to be accepted, tolerated. Is it really life that gets us “down”? Jesus said He came to give us life and that with more abundance. How do we get that kind of life, how do we get the kind of victory over enemies that this Psalmist speaks of? Praise, magnification of the Lord! Choice, choosing Him instead of others. Choosing His ways, rather than our own, choosing. Not feeling it, but choosing it. Waking up and choosing- Life!
Let God’s enemies be scattered, let them all flee away, let them go away from me and my abundant life in Jesus name Today.
I choose Him, today I choose life, more abundantly. Today I choose praise and instead of doubt, fear, cares and worries taking up my time and energy and the space that belongs to the Lord of All. I just keep praising Him, more and more and more, I exalt Him, His will, His word, His praise, I allow it to build as the day goes on, I choose to and I refuse anything else, any other thoughts and offers. I refuse them and receive Him.
This is how enemies flee, they cannot stand the presence of God and as the presence of God increases in my life the more they stay away, they come around less and less the more I make His presence my “routine”. They’ll know what to expect if I choose, prayer, praise and the reading and living out of God’s word. They’ll know they are Not welcomed, and that I’ve uninvited them. Where I used to invite them every other minute, it decreases to hours and then days and then weeks and then I do not “know” them anymore, and “they” do not know me anymore either, because I know Him so well, their memory fades from me. All I can think of is how Great My God and Lord is, I magnify Him again and again, from now until forever. I can’t stop praising His name. In word and in deed I praise His 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.