MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER, Daily Devotion, Saturday, February 23, 2013

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2013

37 Days to Resurrection Sunday

Psalm 69:9 “…the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.”

SCRIPTURE READING: PSALM 69:1-4, 13-21; 29-36

This Psalm is one of the most frequently quoted in the New Testament.  The Prophecies will appear in bold print.  The New Testament fulfillment will appear in italic print.

1 Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul.

2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.

3 I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.

4 They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.

John 15:24-25, Jesus speaking.
"If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause."

8 I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children.

John 1:11 
"He came unto his own, and his own received him not."

9 For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up;

John 2:13-17 
" 13 And the Jews passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, 14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: 15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers money, and overthrew the tables; 16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Fathers house an house of merchandise. 17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up."

and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

Romans 15:3 
"For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me."

13 But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.

14 Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.

15 Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.

16 Hear me, O Lord; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.

17 And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily.

18 Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies.

19 Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee.

20 Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.

Mark 14:33-41 
" 33 And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy; 34 And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch. ... 37 And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour? ... 40 And when he returned, he found them asleep again, (for their eyes were heavy,) neither wist they what to answer him. 41 And he cometh the third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough, the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners."

21 They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Matthew 27:34 
"They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink."

29 I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.

30 I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.

31 This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.

32 The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God.

33 For the Lord heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.

34 Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and everything that moveth therein.

35 For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession.

36 The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein.

REFLECTION: Writing a millennium before the Messiah, King David offers detailed prophecies of our Lord’s Passion.  He would be hated without cause. He would be rejected. He would be disowned.  He would be reproached.  He would look for some to take pity and offer comfort but would find no one. He would be offered gall and vinegar to drink.

Yet it is His zeal for the Temple, the House of God that arrests our attention just now.  Christ began and ended His ministry by cleansing the temple of money-changers.  He faced them and demanded,

“Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer?”  He charged those religious profiteers with turning God’s house into “a den of thieves.”   (Mark 11:17)

Christ jealously guarded His Father’s house against the encroachment of secularism—the malignancy of “this-worldliness.” Worship was not to be an occasion for money making.  Worship was not to be about glorifying the worshippers—the singers, the givers, the pray-ers, or the preachers.  Worship was not to entertain or to wow worshippers with hi-tech and psych-techniques. Worship was not about being relevant. It was about being reverent. 

Oh that the zeal for God’s House would grip God’s people.  Certainly then God’s house would be filled with fervent praying, not frivolous playing.  Surely then we would see God’s glory and the salvation and sanctification of His people.

In the New Testament we are taught that our bodies are the Temple of the Holy Ghost. If Christ was zealous to preserve the sanctity of that temple made with hands, how much more does he desire that the temple made with His hands be wholly and holy His?“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

Just as the Temple made with hands was to be “a house of prayer,” so our Temple should be hallowed with prayer.  Paul urges us, “pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).So, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)

PRAYER: Our Father, Creator and Preserver of all that is good, we lift our hearts to you in sincere praise and humble adoration.  We long to know the joy of your presence in our worship.  We pray that we would be not only zealous to worship, but that we would be zealous to worship in the way that pleases you. May we deny ourselves and delight in you.  “O the glory of His presence, O the beauty of His face, I am His and His forever, He has won me by His grace!”  In the name above every name, the name of Jesus, Amen.  Our Father &c.