Personal Despair Ends in World-Class Praise

My praise shall be of You in the great assembly;
I will pay my vows before those who fear Him.
All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations shall worship before You. 
(Ps. 22:25,27)(NKJV)


How do you respond when everything in life seems to be going badly? Can you find any hope for good? In Psalm 22:1-18, David cried out to God with anxiety and despair. He felt:

• abandoned and helpless
• ignored
• despised and rejected
• ridiculed for his faith
• taunted by vicious enemies
• drained and on the verge of death; and
• surrounded by a murderous mob.

However, like Job at the end of his sufferings, David was able to affirm that God was still near and capable of delivering him (Ps. 22:19-20; compare Job 42:1-6). As a result, despite the injuries and insults he had suffered, he came back from the brink of despair. He was able to praise God before his family, his countrymen, and ultimately the entire world (Ps. 22:22-28).

To whom do you turn when things go badly? As with David, the God who created you wants to join with you in your worst times. He is willing to walk with you all the way through the "valley of the shadow of death" (Ps. 23:4).

(from the Word in Life Study Bible by Nelson Publishers)

Be Filled With the Spirit

"And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:18, 19)

Many explanations have been given concerning the Spirit-filled life. Some have been very helpful while a few are misleading. The idea is one of control. A man drunk with wine is under the control of the wine. He is controlled by a spirit foreign to himself and says and does many things he would not do when sober.

The Christian is not to be drunk with wine but is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. That is, he is to be under the absolute control of the Spirit of God. In His power he is to do and say things he never could do in his own strength. The disciples were weak, timid and fearful men until they were filled at Pentecost. Then they became fearless and powerful, speaking the Word with great boldness.

Our attention is called to four things about the verb filled. It is in the imperative mode, which is a command, for God knows we are helpless without this filling. It is in the present tense which stresses continuous action; this filling is to be a continuous thing. The verb is plural in number; it is for all, not just for a select group. Then it is passive voice which means this is something to be done in us. "Let yourself be being filled" is a good rendering. The Spirit's work is to produce Christian character (Gal. 5:22); Christian service (1 Cor. 12:4-11); and praise (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16).

(Dr. R. H. Belton)

Walk Differently

Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer walk as the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their thoughts. (Eph. 4:17)(HCSB)

The word translated vanity is religious error, mirage, or illusion. The unbeliever may be very religious as were the people of Ephesus who were not Christians, but he is under an illusion. He is thinking that what he has is real when there is no reality in it. The unbeliever is under the illusion that he can save himself, that by his religious acts and good character he can make himself acceptable to God. He thinks of the cross as being foolishness (1 Cor. 1:18, 23). He is also under the illusion that sin is not a serious thing; in fact he has given himself over to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

But the Christian life has nothing to do with the former manner of living. The Christian is to put off the old man which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts, and he is to put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and holiness of truth (Eph. 4: 22, 24). The Christian life is a different life. It is characterized by holiness and righteousness. Paul urges his readers to let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from them. This is the blessed work of the Holy Spirit. When He is permitted to do this He is not grieved, but when these awful characteristics are allowed to remain in the life He is grieved. Let us obey the Scripture.

(Dr. R. H. Belton)