Milo

Daniel

INTRODUCTION
Daniel contains the memoirs of a young Jewish captive taken to Babylon in 605 B.C. He with other youthful members of the Judean nobility were trained for posts as civil servants in Nebuchadnezzar’s administration. The incidents and prophecies recorded in this little book span Daniel’s 70-year career as a high government official.
The first half of the book tells stories of Daniel’s relationship with the rulers of the Babylonian and Persian Empires. The second half reports prophetic visions given Daniel of the near and distant future.
The Book of Daniel contains many lessons for the believer. Daniel’s life illustrates the power of prayer, and how to live by faith in a hostile society. Daniel’s powerful images of the future continue to remind us that God is fully in control of history.

OUTLINE OF CONTENTS
I.
Daniel’s Political Career
Dan. 1–6
II.
Daniel’s Prophetic Visions
Dan. 7–12

CAPTIVE’S COMMITMENT
Daniel 1–3

“But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself in this way”(Dan. 1:8).

The pressure to conform is intense in every society. But Christians today, like the teenage Daniel, are called on to express commitment to the Lord by taking a personal stand for what is right.

Background
Modern critics have supposed that Daniel was written in the Maccabean period, about 165B.C by someone who used Daniel’s name to win acceptance for his writings. The underlying reason for this position is refusal to believe that anyone writing about 573B.C, when at age 90 Daniel edited his memoirs, could with absolute accuracy have predicted the history of the Middle East. Yet Daniel’s visions so clearly describe some 400 years of history that only two options exist: admit the supernatural origin of his revelations, or date the book after the events it describes.
Yet internal evidence shows that the writer knew intimately the inner workings of the Babylonian and Persian courts, and had information that was not available in the Maccabean era when the critics say Daniel must have been written! Such details as specific administrative titles, later changed, and Belshazzar’s co-regency with his father, with many others, so perfectly fit the historical setting that fabrication can be ruled out. Also, Daniel is mentioned in Ezekiel 14:14, 20 and 28:3, admittedly an early book. And the Book of Daniel was itself accepted as Scripture by the Jews of the Maccabean era. The notion that the Jewish scribes, who so respected their holy books, could have been taken in by a contemporary fabrication, strains credulity.
It’s good to know as we read this fascinating Old Testament book that any lessons we draw from Daniel’s experience are rooted in the real-life experiences of a person like ourselves, rather than in the fictional activities of a mythical hero. And it is comforting to realize, as we explore the prophetic revelations of Daniel, that just as God’s predictive Word came to pass in earlier days, His predictive Word concerning what lies ahead for us is as certain and as sure.

Overview
Daniel and three friends carefully followed Jewish dietary laws while in training for service in Babylon (1:1–16), and were blessed by God with wisdom (vv. 17–21). Daniel achieved high government rank by explaining Nebuchadnezzar’s prophetic dream (2:1–49). God rescued Daniel’s three companions, thrown into a blazing furnace for refusing to worship an idol erected by Nebuchadnezzar (3:1–30).

Understanding the Text
“Trained for . . . the king’s service” Dan. 1:1–7. Young Daniel and at least three Jewish companions were registered in the royal academy, to be trained for three years. At the end of that time, they would be tested and given appropriate positions in the Babylonian administration.
On the surface it seems the four Hebrew youths were offered a great opportunity. But there is another way to look at it. They were enrolled with young people from other conquered lands to be used. This was no act of benevolence by Nebuchadnezzar. It was just smart politics. Why let talent go to waste, when you have a gigantic empire to run? Take the brightest and best from every subject people, and use them.
Daniel and his friends, like the students from other nations, were totally aware of their minority status. An individual might attain power and wealth. But he would always be something less than the true Babylonian nobility.
People in a minority frequently try to adjust by adopting the views and ways of the majority. They conform and eagerly ape their masters. Or they may fight assimilation, becoming sullen and angry and rude. It’s always painful to feel oneself an inferior—particularly if you know that you are being used. But Daniel and his friends show us a better way to respond when we feel we’re being used because of our minority status.

“Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine” Dan. 1:8–10. The first step in adjusting to minority status is to determine what boundaries our commitment to God establishes. As a Jew, bound by the dietary laws of the Old Testament, Daniel knew he could not adopt the diet of the Babylonians.
Last evening I heard a teenage boy who called “Talk-Net.” He was a member of a minority too—an 18-year-old who had not yet had sexual relations with a girl. His girlfriend had been urging him to have sex. He resisted, feeling that it wasn’t right, and wanting to wait for marriage. But he was full of fears. What if his girl told other teens? What if it got around that he was “different.” Adolescence was so important; he wanted so desperately to fit in. This time the “Talk-Net” host, a man, encouraged him to remain chaste and live by his own values. It would be a big mistake, the host said, to betray the one person he had to live with all his life—himself.
It was good advice. But still lacking. There must be an even stronger anchor for our moral choices than personal values. To stand firm under the intense pressures to conform that exist in any society is always hard. To succeed, a person needs what Daniel had: a strong sense of identity as one of God’s people, and determination to live to please God rather than others.

“Please test your servants” Dan. 1:11–16. Some believers try to wall themselves off from social pressure by being obnoxious. If you develop an attitude of contempt toward “those people,” and show that contempt in everything you do, most folks will let you alone.
Daniel took a very different route. While living by his own values, he was both friendly and respectful. Not at all defiant, he “asked permission” to choose his own diet. He was sensitive to the possible difficulties his stand might make for the Babylonian official over him, and proposed a test period of 10 days to allay that official’s fears.
Daniel shows us that the believer can relate positively to the people of the world, even while rejecting the values of society. Because Daniel was this kind of person, he was able to testify about God to the most important persons in Babylon, including Nebuchadnezzar himself.
God does not want us to isolate ourselves from the people of this world. He simply wants to inoculate us against its values.

“God gave knowledge and understanding” Dan. 1:17–21. Here “knowledge” is accurate information and the skill required to apply that knowledge to solve practical problems of government, while “understanding” is the perceptive ability needed to sort out the false from the true and do so to make good decisions.
How striking that Daniel was gifted with the abilities needed to administer a great empire. God places His own in every strata of society. No group should be left without an internal witness to the power and grace of God.
When Nebuchadnezzar personally tested the graduates of his royal academy, Daniel and his friends were “ten times better” not only than the graduates, but than their instructors. The impression Daniel made in the secular arena laid a foundation for his later spiritual impact on the king.

“I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means” Dan. 2:1–10. The archives of Babylon contained many books on dream interpretation. It was popularly believed that dreams were an avenue through which the gods spoke to human beings. No wonder Nebuchadnezzar wanted to understand his troubling dream!
He also seems to have been suspicious of his own wise men. He insisted they tell him the dream before they interpreted it! It seemed a reasonable test. Since the professional class that gave the king advice claimed to be able to interpret the supernatural, they ought to demonstrate access to supernatural sources of information.
This morning the business news reported an astounding growth in astrology magazines, and described a new “upscale” product soon to enter that field. It’s amazing how many people turn to astrology, never thinking, as Nebuchadnezzar did, that it might be wise to test the supposed supernatural abilities of any such advisers.
Only Daniel was able to report the dream and to interpret it. And he was careful to give God the glory, explaining to Nebuchadnezzar that he, Daniel, had no supernatural abilities but that “there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.” If we truly want supernatural aid, why not appeal to God?

“He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven” Dan. 2:11–23. Note two things about Daniel’s approach to God. First, he enlisted others to pray with him for God’s help. Yes, God does hear us when we pray. But gathering others to pray with and for us is an act of faith: we have faith that God hears all His children, and we have faith that when believers pray together God works powerfully through them. Second, note that when the answer to prayer came, Daniel devoted himself to praise even before he went to the king!
Daniel truly did put God first. This was undoubtedly the secret of his personal piety and his public achievements.

“Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind” Dan. 2:28–49. The giant image Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream represented his own and succeeding Mesopotamian empires. These are the same empires seen in later visions of Daniel. Each of the empires is destined to be succeeded, until all are ultimately crushed and supplanted. In the end, “the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people.”
Daniel had demonstrated the ability that Nebuchadnezzar had required. Here was proof of contact with the supernatural. Here was evidence that there is a God in heaven. As a result Nebuchadnezzar promoted Daniel and gave his three Hebrew friends important posts. Most important, the experience was the beginning of what we might consider the conversion of Nebuchadnezzar himself.
God is at work even now in the most unlikely of unbelievers. The pagan king, author of a recovered poem expressing both his own arrogance and gratitude to his god for his advancement, had been given a dream by God. This had launched a course of events that impressed him with Daniel and with Daniel’s God. Who knows what God may even now be doing within the heart of some “unlikely” person in your life?

“King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold” Dan. 3:1–30. Nebuchadnezzar’s construction of a giant, gold-coated idol does not conflict with the report of his respect for Daniel’s God. In that day the worship of several different deities was common, and the idea of exclusive devotion to a single God seemed strange. Thus the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Daniel’s three Hebrew companions, to worship the king’s idol, seemed totally unreasonable. Nebuchadnezzar took it as a personal affront, and when the three calmly refused to participate, the furious king ordered them thrown into a blazing clay furnace.
There the three were joined by a fourth Figure, and walked safely despite the flames. Nebuchadnezzar was impressed. Again this absolute autocrat had experienced the power of God, this time overruling his angry decision to execute the three Hebrews. The king quickly issued a command that no one say anything against the God of the three Hebrews. After all, what ruler aside from the Exodus Pharaoh would be foolish enough to ask for trouble! And he promoted the faithful three again.
Many have wondered where Daniel was when this great worship service took place. Some assume he was traveling, some that he was ill at home. More important is, why wasn’t Daniel there? I suspect the reason is that Nebuchadnezzer already held Daniel in some awe, and would not have been surprised if he had refused to worship, or if he were rescued by a miracle. But here were three relative unknowns among the thousands of administrators in Nebuchadnezzar’s empire. These three, like Daniel, were faithful exclusively to Judah’s God, and their God acted to save their lives. By having this stand taken by the three rather than Daniel, the king’s focus was shifted to God from God’s servant, Daniel. God showed that He would act for anyone who was fully committed to Him.
What an important lesson for anyone on a journey toward faith to learn!

DEVOTIONAL
But Even If
(Dan. 3)
I like guarantees.
That’s why, after checking on all the local services that promise to protect our home from underground termites, I went with Sears. Sears not only offered a competitive price, but promised to repair any damage caused by underground termites to the house or its contents—up to $250,000! Now that’s a guarantee!
Of course, in our walk with the Lord no such guarantees are provided. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego understood that when they stood before a furious Nebuchadnezzar. “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king.” God surely is able. And then they went on.
“But even if He does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
God can save us.
We believe He will.
“But even if He does not” we will serve the Lord and Him only.
What the three exhibited was a quality that you and I need in our own spiritual lives. Complete commitment. Commitment so complete that even if God does not exert His miracle-working power on our behalf, even then we will serve God and Him only.
I’m not sure, but I suspect the faith of the three Hebrews was almost as impressive to Nebuchadnezzar as the miracle. It is to me. And it reminds me that as much as I like guarantees, I must commit myself to God in every situation of life with absolutely no assurance that He will perform miracles on my behalf.
But then, you and I do have one guarantee, after all. Our God, who has power to do whatever He wills, is wise enough to do not what I want, but what is best.
And this is the best guarantee of all.

Personal Application
Be loyal to God and He will surely be loyal to you.

Quotable
“I will not mistrust Him, Meg, though I shall find myself weakening and on the verge of being overcome with fear. I shall remember how Saint Peter at a blast of wind began to sink because of his lack of faith, and I shall do as he did: call upon Christ and pray to Him for help. And then I trust He shall place His holy hand on me and in the stormy seas hold me up from drowning.”—Thomas More

What is the valley of decision (Joel 3:14)?

Joel 3:14 says, “Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.” Many evangelists have drawn from this passage to challenge audiences to “make a decision” for Christ. Others view this valley of decision as a time of judgment when the Lord decides the fate of the nations. Which is it? An invitation or a prophecy of doom?

The context of Joel 3 clarifies that this is a time when God judges the earth. Verse 2 says, “I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel.” The Valley of Jehoshaphat is the same as the “valley of decision.” Jehoshaphat means “Yahweh judges”; the “decision” being made in the valley is God’s, not the multitudes’. The literal, geographical location of this valley is likely the Kidron Valley on the east side of Jerusalem.

The focus of Joel 3 is on the future Day of the Lord. This time will include a gathering of the nations (verse 2), a judgment on wickedness (verse 13), and astronomical signs (verse 15). Joel’s prophecy of the valley of decision finds its counterpart in Jesus’ Olivet Discourse and the judgment of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46).

Immediately following the prophecy of judgment, Joel transitions to a description of the Lord’s millennial reign, a literal 1,000-year time period that follows the tribulation. During the millennium Christ rules as king from Jerusalem. Some interpreters argue the millennium is figurative, yet many passages, including Joel 3:18-21, describe this time in great detail. Further, Revelation 20:1-7 refers to “1,000 years” six times. It seems that God desires us to know that the millennial kingdom is a literal time period.

Ultimately, the “valley of decision” in Joel 3:14 is not about humans choosing whether or not to follow Christ; it is God handing down His decision of judgment at the end of the tribulation. Wickedness will be dealt with decisively, swiftly and justly. Praise the Lord for His promise to make all things right one day and to be “a refuge for his people” (Joel 3:16).

“For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land, and have cast lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it.

“What are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, I will return your payment on your own head swiftly and speedily. For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples. You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their own border. Behold, I will stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and I will return your payment on your own head. I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far away, for the LORD has spoken.”

Proclaim this among the nations:
Consecrate for war;
stir up the mighty men.
Let all the men of war draw near;
let them come up.
Beat your plowshares into swords,
and your pruning hooks into spears;
let the weak say, “I am a warrior.”

Hasten and come,
all you surrounding nations,
and gather yourselves there.
Bring down your warriors, O LORD.
Let the nations stir themselves up
and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
for there I will sit to judge
all the surrounding nations.

Put in the sickle,
for the harvest is ripe.
Go in, tread,
for the winepress is full.
The vats overflow,
for their evil is great.

Multitudes, multitudes,
in the valley of decision!
For the day of the LORD is near
in the valley of decision.
The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.

The LORD roars from Zion,
and utters his voice from Jerusalem,
and the heavens and the earth quake.
But the LORD is a refuge to his people,
a stronghold to the people of Israel.

The Glorious Future of Judah

“So you shall know that I am the LORD your God,
who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain.
And Jerusalem shall be holy,
and strangers shall never again pass through it.

“And in that day
the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and the hills shall flow with milk,
and all the streambeds of Judah
shall flow with water;
and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the LORD
and water the Valley of Shittim.

“Egypt shall become a desolation
and Edom a desolate wilderness,
for the violence done to the people of Judah,
because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
But Judah shall be inhabited forever,
and Jerusalem to all generations.
I will avenge their blood,
blood I have not avenged,
for the LORD dwells in Zion.”

HALLELUJAH CHORUS
Psalms 142–150

“Praise Him for His acts of power; praise Him for His surpassing greatness” (Ps. 150:2).

How great a contribution the Psalms make to our lives. In reading them we are led to praise the Lord.

Overview
Four psalms of David lift us from a desperate sense of need (Pss. 142–143) to confidence in God as our deliverer (Ps. 144) and then to praise (Ps. 145). The psalter ends (Pss. 146–150) with five beautiful praise psalms, each beginning and ending with the Hebrew shout, Hallelujah! which means “Praise the LORD!”

Understanding the Text
Psalm 142: In Desperate Need. The setting is the cave in which David hid from Saul’s pursuing army. Troubled and discouraged, David cried out to God for rescue.

“Before Him I tell my trouble” Ps. 142:1–5. One of the most important lessons we learn from the Book of Psalms is that, like David, you and I can “pour out our complaints” to the Lord. We can tell Him every trouble, share every dark and distressed emotion. When no one else is concerned about us, we have in God One who truly cares.
God doesn’t want you or me to clutch our fears or our pain to us. God wants us to share that fear or pain with Him, knowing that He will listen and does care.

“You are my refuge” Ps. 142:5–7. Sharing our fears or pain with the Lord reminds us of who God is. He not only listens, He is able to help! Our enemies may be too strong for us, but they are not too strong for the Lord. Our appeal is directed to the one Being in the universe who is able to help!
We come to the Lord with our fears and our pain. We come away in peace, with a renewed sense of hope. At last we can see ahead to a time when “the righteous will gather about me because of Your goodness to me.”

Psalm 143: In Deep Distress. Once again fears drove David to the Lord. Again he was helped. He meditated on God’s past works, and ultimately reached a clear understanding of how he must deal with his trials. (See DEVOTIONAL.)

Psalm 144: My Deliverer! God answered David’s prayers and rescued him from his enemies. Here David celebrated the Lord as his deliverer.

“Praise be to the LORD, my rock” Ps. 144:1–4. Wonder of wonders, God had again stooped to deliver a mere mortal, and David was awed by the fact. Echoing Psalm 8, David cried, “What is man that You care for him?”
We sense the joy David felt as he piled image on image, celebrating his loving God as my rock, my fortress, my stronghold, my deliverer, my shield. It is amazing that God should be all this for any human being. It is overwhelming that He should be all this for me!

“Part Your heavens, O LORD, and come down” Ps. 144:5–11. These verses are not so much an appeal for God to act as they are celebration of a deliverance already experienced. In a sense David was reliving the rescue that lifted him from despair to joy.

“Then” Ps. 144:12–15. The outcome of deliverance is peace and prosperity. No wonder David cried, “Blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.” God saves us from all our troubles, and He intends to bless.

Psalm 145: Praise His Name. This is an acrostic psalm: each line begins with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet. We might name it, “Praising God from A through Z,” as each letter brings to mind a different reason to praise the Lord.

Psalm 146: Praise the God of Jacob. This first of the five Hallelujah psalms that close the psalter focuses our attention on who Israel’s God is, and what He does.

“Praise the LORD, O my soul” Ps. 146:1–4. God is praised as our only real source of help and deliverance.

“The God of Jacob” Ps. 146:5–9. The name is rooted in history: this is the God who bound Himself by covenant oath to be the God of Israel. We celebrate Him, for this God is the Maker of all, faithful forever, sustainer of the oppressed, who frees the prisoner, heals the infirm, loves the righteous, watches over the alien, sustains the helpless, and frustrates the ways of the wicked.
All the psalmist knows about this God of Jacob thrills him, and moves him to sing praises!

“The LORD reigns forever” Ps. 146:10. This is the capstone. The One we know and celebrate is Sovereign in this universe. In Him we are safe and secure.
Praise the Lord.

Psalm 147: Praise the Sustainer. The Hallelujah Chorus continues with praise to God for maintaining the universe He created, and caring for all who put their trust in His unfailing love.

Psalm 148: Praise Him, All Creation. Nature does more than reveal God’s wisdom and power. All the splendor of Creation joins Israel in exalting God’s name, and thus offers praise.

Psalm 149: Praise Him, All Saints. God’s people, whom He created and whom He crowned with salvation, rejoice in the Lord and offer Him praise.

“In the assembly of the saints” Ps. 149:1–8. God’s people have two callings, each of which are aspects of worship. First, God’s people are called to sing His praises, and rejoice in the One who takes such delight in them (vv. 1–5). Second, God’s people are to take a stand on this earth against evil (vv. 6–9). While in Old Testament times Israel literally went to war against pagan peoples in their land, today we are to be engaged in spiritual warfare, doing all we can to uphold righteousness and do justice in our society.

Psalm 150: Praise the Lord. The final, jubilant psalm in this great Old Testament book pictures a people who gather before the Lord (v. 1) to praise His works and character (v. 2) with every resource they possessed (vv. 3–5), until all living things join in with shouts of joy (v. 6).

DEVOTIONAL
What Can I Do?
(Ps. 143)
No one likes to feel helpless. Almost any situation seems bearable if there is only something, anything, that we can do that might improve it. Despair and depression usually flood in only when we realize that we are helpless, unable to affect our situation, totally at the mercy of our circumstances.
I think David felt much like this when he penned Psalm 143. He cried out to God for mercy and relief (v. 1). He realized he had no right to expect God’s help (v. 2). Yet his desperate situation filled him with dismay (vv. 3–4). David recalled what God had done and reaffirmed his trust in the Lord (vv. 5–8). But like you and me, David also seemed to cry out, “What can I do?”
The answer is simple and clear. We see it in David’s words, “Show me the way I should go,” and, “Teach me to do Your will” (vv. 8b, 10). We may be helpless to better our situations. But there is still something we can do! Each day, each hour, as we wait for God to deliver us, we can concentrate our attention on doing God’s will for that day, for that hour.
What we can always do, no matter how helpless we may be to alter our situations, is to live each moment as servants of the Lord, ready always to respond as His “good Spirit” reveals an opportunity to serve Him.
What a sense of relief comes over us as we make David’s discovery. We are not helpless after all. There is something we can do. The most important thing of all. We can do God’s will.

Personal Application
When you can’t change your situation, make it your priority simply to do each hour, each day, what God wills.

Quotable
“God is looking for people through whom He can bless the world. Say definitely: Here am I; I will give my life to this calling. Cultivate your faith in the simple truth: God hears prayer; God will do what I ask.
“Give yourself to others as completely as you give yourself to God. Open your eyes to sense the needs of a perishing world. Take up your position in Christ and in the power which His name and life and Spirit give you. And go on practicing definite prayer and intercession.”—Andrew Murray

WORKS OF GOD’S HANDS
Psalms 135–141

“I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well” (Ps. 139:14).

Praise and worship grow out of God’s revelation of Himself to us. The more we know of what God has done and is doing, the more we respond to Him in worship.

Overview
The many and varied works of God for His people stimulate praise. The Lord is praised for works on behalf of Israel (Pss. 135–136). In contrast, the Babylonian captives were unable to sing the songs of Zion (Ps. 137). David praised God for the Lord’s work in shaping his life (Pss. 138–139) and in preserving him from enemies (Pss. 140–141).

Understanding the Text
Psalm 135: God Has Chosen Jacob. That choice, expressed in history by the Lord’s defeat of Israel’s enemies, moved the psalmist to call God’s people to praise.

“Israel . . . His treasured possession” Ps. 135:1–7. The psalmist began by expressing his wonder that God should have chosen the Hebrew people to be His own. As the entire Old Testament testifies, this was a sovereign choice, not based on Israel’s merits. God, “who does whatever pleases Him,” selected Israel simply because He wanted to.
How good to know that God’s choice of you and me is also an expression of His free will. God loves us because He wants to, not because we deserve to be loved.

“He struck down the firstborn of Egypt” Ps. 135:8–21. God’s love counts. He, unlike the foolish pagan’s idols, is able to act for us in the real world. No wonder Israel was moved to praise! God wrested Israel from slavery, struck down many nations, and gave His people their land as an inheritance.

Psalm 136: His Love Endures. A mere six syllables in Hebrew compose the joyful response of the people as a worship leader chanted praise to God for His many wonderful works. We can capture that response in six English words: “for His love has no end!”

Psalm 137: No Song to Sing. In Babylon, far from the inheritance promised by God, Israel was unable to sing songs of praise.

The preceding and following psalms show us that praise grows out of God’s self-revelation. As we know Him through His works, our hearts respond.
In Babylon, far from their ancient homeland, the Jewish people felt crushed and isolated from God. Only when God acted again, to crush their oppressors and restore them to the Holy Land, would songs of joy again spring from their lips.
The psalm reminds us it is only when we see God at work, in history and in our present lives, that we know real joy. Jesus put it this way: “Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete” (John 16:24). Christ did not imply that receiving the thing we pray for will bring joy. His point was that in the answer to prayer we will sense God at work, and this—God active in our lives-gives us joy.

Psalm 138: His Purpose for Me. Each believer is also a work of God’s hands, shaped for a purpose. We find joy, and are moved to worship as we trust Him to work in and through us.

“Exalted above all things” Ps. 138:1–3. David called us to focus thoughts of God on His “name” and His “Word.” When we do, we learn to trust His qualities of love and faithfulness.

“When they hear” Ps. 138:4–5. The word uttered in the name of the Lord should stimulate even the kings of the earth to praise.

“You preserve my life” Ps. 138:6–8. David had a personal reason for praise. He had experienced God’s love and faithfulness as the Lord preserved him in many troubles.
What David understood, and we need to appreciate, is that each of us is important to God. His love has led Him to make our lives meaningful by linking it to His eternal plan. We may not have a large part. We may not even know now what His purpose in us is. Yet God does have a purpose to fulfill in your life and mine. To Him, we do count!
We can say with David, “The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me; Your love, O LORD, endures forever—do not abandon the works of Your hands.”

Psalm 139: You Know Me. In one of the most significant of his psalms, David probed the nature of his relationship with God, and traced that relationship back to the Lord’s creation of his “inmost being.” (See DEVOTIONAL.)

“You know me” Ps. 139:1–12. David was untroubled by the paradox of a transcendent God who is also imminent. He acknowledged God as One who fills the entire universe, yet saw the Lord as constantly, pervasively present with His servants. God was near, observing every act of David, conscious of his every thought. God is transcendent, far above the highest heaven. Yet God is also totally present in the saint’s here and now, giving each of us His undivided attention.

“You created my inmost being” Ps. 139:13–16. David extended his wonder at God’s concern for the individual to the past and the future. God has been with us, superintending our development from the womb. Furthermore God’s care reaches on into the future: to “all the days ordained for me,” which were written in God’s book before even one of our days came to be.
How clearly this psalm teaches the significance of individual life: a significance underlined by God’s careful attention to the individual from conception, through his fetal stage, into his childhood and beyond, encompassing every day of the individual’s existence. God knows, even if many today deny, that life begins in the womb and extends on into eternity. How precious you are to God! And how precious the unborn.

“How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God” Ps. 139:17–24. David responded to the love he sensed in God’s care with a desire to please the Lord. He wanted to understand the Lord’s thoughts, to hate those who hated God, and to be cleansed of “any offensive way.”
God does know us, even when we try to hide from Him. And when we consciously open our hearts, and become totally honest with God and ourselves, He tests our hearts, cleansing us from “offensive” ways.

Psalm 140: Justice for the Poor. David called on God to rescue him, sure that among His works is protecting the believer from men of violence, and securing justice for the poor.

Psalm 141: My Refuge. David sought help from God, first to live a righteous life, and then to be delivered from evildoers he expected God to judge.

DEVOTIONAL
Darkness As Light
(Ps. 139)
I heard the story many years ago from a mom who used preschool lessons that I wrote. Her little girl came into the house, complaining, “I wish he’d leave me alone.” Mom went outside, but found no one there.
A little later the three-year-old returned. “I wish he’d leave me alone.” Again Mom looked, but no one was there.
When it happened a third time, Mom sat down with her daughter and asked: “Who?”
The answer was: Jesus! The three-year-old’s Sunday School lesson was “Jesus Always Sees Me.” The little girl had wanted to pick some forbidden flowers, and wished that Jesus would leave her alone so she could do it without being seen!
Sometimes we feel a little like that little girl. The idea that God is with us constantly, observing every act, aware of every thought, seems burdensome.
David, however, had a different perspective. We can never hide from God, for even darkness is light to the Lord. But David did not want to be hidden! The fact is that life itself is darkness to us! Only a God to whom darkness is as light can guide us safely from conception to eternity.
Even more, David realized that God is bending close to express His love, not to catch us in some sinful act. He stays close to guard us, and to guide us into His best. When we sense Him near and realize that what we feel is love we, with David, will invite Him, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Personal Application
God knows us perfectly and loves us completely. We have no need to hide from Him.

Quotable
“In two ways the presence of God is an antidote against sin: first, because God sees us, and, secondly, because we see God.”—Ignatius of Loyola