Notes from my Bible Study for March 10, 2010

Today's Reading: Psalm 69, Exodus 15:1‐21, Ezra 5, Romans 6

Psalm 69 - You can see it all over the paragraphs that make up Psalm 69. David was hurting. His enemies were increasing. He was being talked about in negative ways by so many people that even the bums in Jerusalem were making drunken songs up about him. He had been waiting so long for God to answer his prayers that he described his waiting as making his eyes hurt. But, his trust remained in the Lord.

When we are down, when God seem absent, and when our name is drug through the mud by our enemies, we must not lose hope. God will work in His time. It's with confidence and faith that David wrote verse 13, may we say the same:

13 But as for me, my o prayer is to you, O Lord. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.

Exodus 15:1-21 - Exodus 15:1-21 records the song of Moses and the people of Israel. This song represented pure worship and adoration directed towards God. The beauty of song for the Hebrew people is that it became an oral way to remember what God had done for them. The children and grandchildren of the former captives would sing this song, remembering what God did for the children of Israel.

Ezra 5 - The children of Israel had given up hope. They had forgotten that God had commanded them to build the temple. Haggai and Zechariah, reminded them of the priority of the work. The work had been stopped by Israel's enemies before. Now, the work continued and God's hand was with the people.

Romans 6 - There is a continual battle that takes place in our lives this side of heaven. Our sin nature battles the work of the Holy Spirit with in.

Our condition before we become Christians is that we are slaves to sin. To be a slave to sin is an awful thing. It means that sin is what once ruled us.

New life in Christ means that we are no longer slaves to sin, but we are slaves to righteousness. We can overcome sin's power in our life through the power of the Holy Spirit. This means that we must daily submit the rule and lordship in our life to God's Spirit. We must allow the Holy Spirit to be our guide, our conscience, and submit to His authority in our lives.