Just when you think that you have covered all that there is on Christ, the LORD shows you another area that sounds the same as before but is not. Well that is where I am now in my next targeted subject, this having to do with spiritual knowledge. But before I get there I have Pastor Hoekstra and his teaching on Grace as seen in king David. As always under the led of the LORD I will step into spiritual knowledge with the use of the ESV translation.
"Once More on David and the Lord's Lovingkindness"
"How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures. For with You is the fountain of life." (Psalm 36:7-9)
"As we go further into these verses, David confesses to GOD another reason why he had such a yearning for the LORD's lovingkindness. "You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures." Those who are drawn to GOD's lovingkindness (desiring to face all of life on the basis of His loving commitment to His people) find a delightful spiritual river from which to drink by faith.
This world is a dry place, spiritually speaking. As we saw previously, David understood this clearly. "O GOD, You are my GOD; Early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water" (Psalm 63:1). In this dry and barren world, David experienced much anguish. He served a king who wrongfully persecuted him. "Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and that Michal, Saul's daughter, loved him; and Saul was still more afraid of David. So Saul became David's enemy continually" (1Samuel 18:28-29). David had a wife who mocked his love for GOD. "And as the ark of the LORD came into the City of David, Michal, Saul's daughter, looked through a windows lattice and saw King David leaping and whirling before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart" (2 Samuel 6:16). He had a son who betrayed him. "Now Absalom would rise early and stand beside the way to the gate . . . Moreover Absalom would say, 'Oh, that I were made judge in the land, and everyone who has any suit or cause would come to me; then I would give him justice' . . . So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel" (2Samuel 15:2, 4, 6).
In this barrenness of faithless relationships, David sought after the LORD earnestly. "I spread out my hands to You; My soul longs for You like a thirsty land" (Psalm 143:6). In stark contrast to such heart-breaking, human disappointments, David found the LORD's lovingkindness to be like a satisfying river of spiritual delights. "You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures." He found the LORD to be an ever-flowing supply of true life. "For with You is the fountain of life." In the LORD's lovingkindness, David found loyal love, steadfast commitment, and abounding grace."
Spiritual Knowledge:
Cause for Exultation,
Jeremiah 9:23-24 and 31:31-34 "Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD."
Jeremiah 31:31-34 "Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put My law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their GOD, and they shall be My people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."
Obtained by Acquaintanceship,
Hosea 6:1-3 "Come, let us return to the LORD; for HE has torn us, that HE may heal us; HE has struck us down, and HE will bind us up. After two days HE will revive us; on the third day HE will raise us up, that we may live before Him. Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; His going out is sure as the dawn; HE will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth."
Obedience, the Condition of Receiving,
John 7:14-18 "It was now the middle of the feast (Feast of Booths) Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. The Jews therefore marveled, saying, "How is it that this man has learning, when He has never studied?" Jesus answered them, "My teaching is not Mine, but His Who sent Me. If anyone's will is to do GOD's Will, he will know whether the teaching is from GOD or whether I am speaking on My own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of Him Who sent Him is true, and in Him there is no falsehood."
Liberates the Soul from all Error,
John 8:31-33 "Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." They answered Him, "We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, 'You will become free'?"
Leads to Eternal Life,
John 17:1-5 and Philippians 3:7-11, Colossians 1:9-14 "When Jesus had spoken these words, He lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You, since You have given Him authority over all flesh, to give Eternal Life to all whom You have given Him. And this is Eternal Life, that they know You the only true GOD, and Jesus Christ Whom You have sent. I glorified You on earth, having accomplished the work that You gave Me to do. And now, Father, glorify Me in Your own presence with the glory that I had with You before the world existed." (Now look again at Genesis 1:26-27 with 2:6-7 and then 3:15 to hear again the promise made to mankind)
Philippians 3:7-11 "But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my LORD. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from GOD that depends on faith— that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Colossians 1:9-14 "And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His Will (plan and purpose) in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the LORD, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of GOD. May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, Who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."
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