A PSALM OF DAVID ABOUT THANKSGIVING
November 23, 2010
PSALM 26:6 – I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O Lord:
A man who loves his wife will be faithful to her in body and in soul.
He will not be unfaithful to her in the vow of faithfulness he made
to her after they united in holy matrimony. Men and women who love the local church will be faithful to it because it is Christ’s local, visible body.
Ephesians 5:25,26 – Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; [26] That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Ephesians 5:29,30 – For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: [30] For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
Only the Lord brought me through Vietnam without committing adultery, and my thanksgiving will always be to him for having done so.
One of my saddest times was the final trip from the coast of central Nam to Saigon. When I passed through Na Trang they were having some sort of a holiday. I was in a jeep and got caught in the back of a long, wide parade of Vietnamese carrying banners
and paper figures. Both sides of the coastal highway were lined with women and many were holding babies.
Many of the babies were half black and half white. My heart broke as I thought of what the future held for them in a place where they would be treated as half-breeds. A lot of American men left those children to such a fate in Vietnam. And a lot of their wives still don’t know it today. My thanksgiving is to God I did not leave such a child behind of my own flesh and blood.
The “altar” referred to in Psalm 26 is an altar of the Tent or Tabernacle, which preceded the Temple of Solomon.
Although I have never committed the physical act of adultery, only God knows how many times I have lusted in my heart while viewing a woman with a sensual body. I have continual thanksgiving in my soul for the altar of I John 1:9.
1 John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Those who keep coming to him for forgiveness and his restoration to fellowship grow in the knowledge of the depth of his unspeakable grace and love, continuously publishing it from their lips with a voice of thanksgiving of his wondrous works.
PSALM 26:7 – That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.
Hebrews 13:14,15 – For here have we no continuing city, but
we seek one to come.
[15] By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks
to his name.
The habitation of God, whether it was in the Tabernacle, the Temple, or individual local Churches, wherever is was or is, it was always meant to be a gathering seeking truth while growing in faith, hope, and love. It was, and is, to be a place where children of God learn to behave themselves after they have been saved by the grace of God. The habitation of his Spirit in his house is where his honor dwells by the presence of his Son.
I Timothy 3:14,15 – These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly: [15] But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
PSALM 26:8 – Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.
Ephesians 2:22 – In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
Hebrews 10:21-25 – And having an high priest over the house of God; [22] Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
[23] Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering (for he is faithful that promised;) [24] And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: [25] Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more as ye see the day approaching.
John 13:34,35 – A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. [35] By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Revelation 22:14 – Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
John 4:24 – God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
A local Church without love is a church void of the habitation presence
of the Lord. A church where the Spirit dwells is one that lets Him work in it to both will and to do of HIS good pleasure, such
that it learns to do all things w
ithout murmurings and disputings.
This is a church were Christ’s love is manifested by the conduct of its members.
Philippians 2:13,14 – For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. [14] Do all things without murmurings and disputings: