Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Psalm 90:12

December 23, 2015, Wednesday, 636 a.m.

Psalm 90:12 New Living Translation (NLT)
12 Teach us to realize the brevity of life,
    so that we may grow in wisdom.
-- New Living Translation (NLT). Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Psalm 90:12 Expanded Bible (EXB)
12 ·Teach us [Make us know] ·how short our lives really are [L to count our days]
    so that we ·may be wise [L gain a wise heart].
-- Expanded Bible (EXB). The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.

Psalm 90:12 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
12 Teach us to number our days carefully
so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.
-- Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB). Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.

Psalm 90:12 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
12 So teach us to number our days,
That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
-- New American Standard Bible (NASB). Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.

If we truly realised how brief life was here on earth, we would live it drastically differently and would make every single moment count.

How do we make every moment count? Live it fully.

How do we live every moment fully? We find every single blessing we can of each and every moment, we thank God for them, and we capture them on the page to remember, review, and count again.

S.O.A.P. Bible Study of Psalm 141

Scripture:
Here are what I think the key verses are:
Psalm 141:1-4 New Living Translation (NLT)
A psalm of David.
1 O Lord, I am calling to you. Please hurry!
    Listen when I cry to you for help!
2 Accept my prayer as incense offered to you,
    and my upraised hands as an evening offering.
3 Take control of what I say, O Lord,
    and guard my lips.
4 Don’t let me drift toward evil
    or take part in acts of wickedness.
Don’t let me share in the delicacies
    of those who do wrong.
-- New Living Translation (NLT). Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Here is another translation or version:
Psalm 141:1-4 Expanded Bible (EXB)
A psalm of David.
1 Lord, I ·call [pray] to you. Come quickly to me.
    ·Listen to me [L Give ear to my voice] when I ·call [pray] to you.
2 Let my prayer be like incense placed before you [Ex. 30:7–8; Rev. 5:8],
    and ·my praise [L the lifting of my hands] like the evening sacrifice.
3 Lord, ·help me control my tongue [L set a guard on my mouth];
    ·help me be careful about what I say [L keep watch on the door of my mouth; Prov. 13:3; 21:23; James 3:1–12].
4 ·Take away my desire to do evil [L Don’t incline my heart to an evil matter]
    or to join others in doing wrong.
Don’t let me eat tasty food
    with those who do evil.
-- Expanded Bible (EXB). The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
For me, the key verse is:
Psalm 141:3 New Living Translation (NLT)
3 Take control of what I say, O Lord,
    and guard my lips.
-- New Living Translation (NLT). Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Psalm 141:3 Expanded Bible (EXB)
3 Lord, ·help me control my tongue [L set a guard on my mouth];
    ·help me be careful about what I say [L keep watch on the door of my mouth; Prov. 13:3; 21:23; James 3:1–12].
-- Expanded Bible (EXB). The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
Psalm 141:3 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
3 Lord, set up a guard for my mouth;
keep watch at the door of my lips.
-- Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB). Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.
Psalm 141:3 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
3 Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;
Keep watch over the door of my lips.
-- New American Standard Bible (NASB). Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.
Observations:
Psalm 141:3 New Living Translation (NLT)
3 Take control of what I say, O Lord,
    and guard my lips.
I sure need this prayer. Especially today. It was another one of those everything that could possible go wrong, did, mornings. Hence, out of frustration, I flapped my mouth--internally and externally.
You know, Lord, it just hit me. Just because I think it, does it make it any.less bad? A bad thought is not as bad as a bad word. Both are ugly, are sinful, and get my eye and heart off of You.
And, as I complain, vent, gripe, it only leaves me feeling ugly and tarnished. Never mind who I vent to.
How does this help?
The personalized prayer of Psalm 141:3 would have made far more sense.
Application:
Allow God to speak through me.
Prayer:
Lord, help me to bite my tongue so You can speak through me instead. Your words, not mine.

S.O.A.P. Bible Study of Zechariah 1:3

Scripture:

Zechariah 1:3 New Living Translation (NLT)
3 Therefore, say to the people, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.’
-- New Living Translation (NLT). Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Zechariah 1:3 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
3 Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Return to Me,” declares the Lord of hosts, “that I may return to you,” says the Lord of hosts.
-- New American Standard Bible (NASB). Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.

Zechariah 1:3 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
3 So tell the people: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: Return to Me”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts—“and I will return to you, says the Lord of Hosts.
-- Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB). Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.

Zechariah 1:3 Expanded Bible (EXB)
3 So tell the people: This is what the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] says: ‘Return to me, and I will return to you,’ says the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts].
-- Expanded Bible (EXB). The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.

Observations:

This is what I need to constantly pray and remember. If I ever get off-track, and I return to the Lord, then He will return to me as well.

Application:

Pray this over me, my husband, our marriage, my loved ones, my city, my state,  the USA, the Church as a whole, and the world.

Prayer:

Lord, help me to remember this often and pray about it.

Matthew 7:6 S.O.A.P. Bible Reading and Bible Study

Matthew 7:6 on Sunday, December 20, 2015

SCRIPTURE

-- Memory Verses

Matthew 7:1-14 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
1 “Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged. 2 For with the judgment you use, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a log in your eye? 5 Hypocrite! First take the log out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. 6 Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them with their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces.
7 “Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 What man among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! 12 Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them—this is the Law and the Prophets.
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. 14 How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.
-- Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB). Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.

-- Scripture for Today

Matthew 7:5 goes right along with Matthew 7:1-4, so look at those blog posts or journaling entries. The focus today is Matthew 7:6:

See above or in your favorite version (you also might want to look after this section for other versions or translations).

-- Initial thoughts of verse or passage

What does that mean... and why is it where it is in context of the chapter, book, testament, and Bible as a whole? Those are my questions and initial thoughts on the verse. Maybe reading other versions will help me with my understanding.

-- Multiple translations or versions of verse or passage

Matthew 7:6 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
6 Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them with their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces.
-- Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB). Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.

Matthew 7:6 New Living Translation (NLT)
6 “Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don’t throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.
-- New Living Translation (NLT). Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Matthew 7:6 Expanded Bible (EXB)
6 “Don’t give holy things to dogs, and don’t throw your pearls ·before [to] ·pigs [T swine]. ·Pigs will only trample on them, and dogs will turn to attack you [L They will trample them and turn to attack you; C pigs were ritually unclean and dogs were considered scavengers].
-- Expanded Bible (EXB). The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.

Matthew 7:6 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
6 “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
-- New American Standard Bible (NASB). Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.

I have heard this verse recited in the past. I read these different translations and have read the context and still have no idea what it means or why it is placed where it is. Sigh. I guess it is time to turn to cross-references... maybe.

Study link for Matthew 7:6:

http://biblehub.com/matthew/7-6.htm

-- Cross-References

The cross-references do not help with my understanding.

OBSERVATION

The context, different versions, and cross-references do not help me understand this verse. However, commentaries do.

Dogs and pigs were considered unclean animals at those times. Here both were used to represent those who do not believe. We should not waste our time trying to share the Word if God, or the Gospel, with those who resent them. If someone is put off by the Bible or the Gospel, we should save them and ourselves the time and keep our mouths shut until they are ready to hear it.

APPLICATION
N/A

PRAYER
Lord, help me know who to share with... and those not to.