The Two-Edged Sword


Psalm 149
1Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the godly!
2Let Israel be glad in his Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King!
3Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!
4For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.
5Let the godly exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their beds.
6Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands,
7to execute vengeance on the nations and punishments on the peoples,
8to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron,
9to execute on them the judgment written! This is honor for all his godly ones. Praise the Lord!

In this song of praise, we find the worship life of the writer described with some detail. The first few verses (1-4) deal with public / corporate worship and the last 5 deal with private time spent in worship of the Lord as is evidenced by the words sing for joy on their beds. Our whole life is to be filled with praise for the Living God, both publicly and privately.

The last half of this psalm is interesting in that the words employ the use of God’s “two-edged sword” in our hands. With some digging through the New Testament, we learn that this sword is indeed powerful for it is the Word of God. In 2019 that doesn’t seem like much of a weapon, but it is indeed filled with power and God has given it to us.

Revelation 1:16; 19:15
15In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. 19From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Ephesians 6:16-17
16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Using God’s Word as a tool for worship is the most ancient of practices. The Word permeates our worship lives every Sunday morning and hopefully throughout the week as we head into our prayer closets. But you can’t use what you don’t know. How often do we utilize God’s Word in our worship lives? Study is one thing – and of course I’m going to stand up for Bible Study at every opportunity. But even more important than study is worship. Talking with God about what He has said in the Scriptures is a valuable and enjoyable occupation. Allowing the Word to shape and form who we are and how we maneuver through the day is the stuff of life.

I find that moving through life without the Word to be difficult indeed. This last week has been filled with trial and angst. Just ask my husband, who has suffered my bad mood and short temper with peaceful resilience. And it’s not because I have abandoned God’s Word, but I have most certainly not spent the time there that I need. I’ve been going it alone and it’s painful. You’d think I would learn. But I put down my sword and that was a bad idea. So, because God gives numerous chances to us throughout each day, I gratefully turn back to what I know is real and important and surrender it all into His hands as I drop the cares of the world and take His Word back up again. The relief is palpable.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv
Read more

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl
Read more