world population, would you consider recommending she get an abortion?
2. The father is sick with sniffles, the mother has TB. Of their four children, the first is blind, the second has died, the third is deaf, the fourth has TB. She finds she's pregnant again. Given this extreme situation, would you consider recommending abortion?
3. A white man raped a 13-year-old black girl and she's now pregnant. If you were her parents, would you consider recommending abortion?
4. A teenage girl is pregnant. She's not married. Her fiancé is not the father of the baby, and he's upset. Would you recommend abortion?
In the first case, you would have killed John Wesley, one of the great evangelists in the 19th century.
In the second case, you would have killed Beethoven.
In the third case, you would have killed Ethel Waters, the great black gospel singer.
If you said yes to the fourth case, you would have declared the murder of Jesus Christ!
God is the author of life, and He has given every single individual supreme value. Each life—whether inside or outside the womb— should therefore be valued by us. God knows the plans He has for each individual and has written in His book all the days ordained for us before one of them came to be.
When we presume to know better than God who should be given life, we are putting ourselves in the place of God and are guilty of idolatry.
See also Psalm 127:3 comment. 8 Cause me to hear your lovingkindness in the morning; for in you do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto you.
9 Deliver me, O LORD, from my enemies: I flee unto you to hide me.
10 Teach me to do your will; for you are my God: your spirit is good; lead me into the
land of uprightness.
11 Quicken me, O LORD, for your name's sake: for your righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble.
12 And of your mercy cut off my enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am your servant.
143:2 How fearful it would be stand in judgment and be judged by the standard of God's Law. See Galatians 2:16 for what God did so that we could live.
PSALM 144
Blessed be the LORD my strength which teaches my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:
2 My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdues my people under me.
3 LORD, what is man, that you take knowledge of him! or the son of man, that
you make account of him!
4 Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passes away.
5 Bow your heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
6 Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out your arrows, and destroy them.
7 Send your hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children;
8 Whose mouth speaks vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
9 I will sing a new song unto you, O God: upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto you.
10 It is he that gives salvation unto kings: who delivers David his servant from the hurtful sword.
11 Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaks vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood:
THE FUNCTION OF THE
LAW
143:2 "It is amazing for a soul to discover that God gave a law to be observed but that its observance is not even taken into account as a means of salvation. Then why was the law given? What good are moral standards? They were not given because God had the illusion that we could conform our lives to them. God knows that we are a degenerate race and that there is nothing good in our carnal nature.
"The law serves another purpose: to show us our sins. Man is confronted with a moral law that is just and good. His mind, while acknowledging that here is the truth, confesses at the same time that he does not live according to this law. And no matter how hard he tries, he realizes he does not reach the ideal. This is how he discovers he is a lost sinner.
"This is the great purpose of the law. It teaches us what sin is and it shows us how wrong we are, just as a mirror reveals to us how filthy we are and what needs cleansing. But just as a mirror does not and cannot wash us but only reveals our condition, so the law cannot correct us but only shows us what great sinners we are.
"The purpose of the law is to make you know your sin so that you will begin to pray with the psalmist, "Do not enter into judgment with Your servant, for in Your sight no one living is righteous (Psalm 143:2)." Richard Wurmbrand
12 That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace:
13 That our garners may be full, affording all manner of store: that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets:
14 That our oxen may be strong to labor;
that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there be no complaining in our streets.
15 Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yes, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.
PSALM 145
I will extol you, my God, O king; and I will bless your name for ever and ever.
2 Every day will I bless you; and I will praise your name for ever and ever.
3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.
4 One generation shall praise your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.
5 I will speak of the glorious honor of your majesty, and of your wondrous works.
6 And men shall speak of the might of your terrible acts: and I will declare your greatness.
7 They shall abundantly utter the memory of your great goodness, and shall sing of your
righteousness.
8 The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.
9 The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.
"I believe the holier a man becomes, the more he mourns over the unholiness which remains in him."
CHARLES SPURGEON 10 All your works shall praise you, O LORD; and your saints shall bless you.
11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom, and talk of your power;
12 To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
14 The LORD upholds all that fall, and raises up all those that be bowed down.
15 The eyes of all wait upon you; and you give them their meat in due season.
16 You open your hand, and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.
18 The LORD is near unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
19 He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. 20 The LORD preserves all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.
21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.
145:8 This is why we have the cross of Calvary. Nothing in man's character drew out God's love for us. It came simply because the Lord is gracious and full of compassion.
145:17,18 Notice the word "all" in these
verses.
PSALM 146
Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. 2 While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.
3 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
"Any man who declares children to be born perfect was never a father. Your child without evil? You without eyes, you mean!"
CHARLES SPURGEON 4 His breath goes forth, he returns to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
5 Happy is he that has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:
6 Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keeps truth for ever:
7 Which executes judgment for the oppressed: which gives food to the hungry. The LORD looses the prisoners:
8 The LORD opens the eyes of the blind: the LORD raises them that are bowed down: the LORD loves the righteous:
9 The LORD preserves the strangers; he relieves the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turns upside down.
10 The LORD shall reign for ever, even your God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise the LORD.
146:6 Evolution's circular reasoning. "At least six different radiometric dating methods are available. The assumed age of the sample will dictate which dating method is used because each will give a different result.
"For example: when dinosaur bones containing carbon are found, they are not carbon dated because the result would be only a few thousand years. Because this would not match the assumed age based on
the geologic column, scientists use another method of dating to give an age closer to the desired result. All radiometric results that do not match the preassigned ages of the geologic column are discarded." Dr. Kent Hovind
"Contrary to what most scientists write, the fossil record does not support the Darwinian theory of evolution because it is this theory (there are several) which we use to interpret the fossil record. By doing so we are guilty of circular reasoning if we then say the fossil record supports this theory." Ronald R. West, Ph.D.
146:7–9 Here is the ministry of the Savior. Jesus fed the hungry, loosed the prisoners of sin and suffering, opened the eyes of the blind, and raised up those who were bowed down.
PSALM 147
Praise the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and
praise is comely.
2 The LORD does build up Jerusalem: he gathers together the outcasts of Israel.
3 He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds.
4 He tells the number of the stars; he calls them all by their names.
5 Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.
6 The LORD lifts up the meek: he casts the wicked down to the ground.
7 Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God:
8 Who covers the heaven with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass to grow upon the mountains.
9 He gives to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.
10 He delights not in the strength of the horse: he takes not pleasure in the legs of a man.
1 1 The LORD takes pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his
mercy.
12 Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion.
13 For he has strengthened the bars of your gates; he has blessed your children within you.
14 He makes peace in your borders, and fills you with the finest of the wheat.
15 He sends forth his commandment upon earth: his word runs very swiftly.
16 He gives snow like wool: he scatters the hoarfrost like ashes.
QUESTIONS & OBJECTIONS
147:9 "The Bible calls the hare a cudchewing animal. As any veterinarian could tell you, this statement is false."
This statement is made in Leviticus 11:6, where the Hebrew literally means "raises up what has been swallowed." The rabbit does re-eat partially digested fecal pellets that
come from a special pouch called the caecum. Bacteria in these pellets enrich the diet and provide nutrients to aid digestion. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica:
"Some lagomorphs [rabbits and hares] are capable of re-ingesting moist and nutritionally rich fecal pellets, a practice considered comparable to cud-chewing in ruminants ... The upper tooth rows are more widely separated than the lower rows, and chewing is done with a transverse movement."
17 He casts forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold?
18 He sends out his word, and melts them: he causes his wind to blow, and the waters flow.
19 He showed his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel.
20 He has not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise the LORD.
147:4 In Jeremiah 33:22, the Bible states that "the host of heaven cannot be numbered,
neither the sand of the sea measured." When this was written, 2,500 years ago, no one knew how vast the stars were, since only about 1,100 were visible. Now we know that there are billions of stars, and that they cannot be numbered.
PSALM 148
Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights.
2 Praise him, all his angels: praise him, all his hosts.
3 Praise him, sun and moon: praise him, all stars of light.
4 Praise him, heavens of heavens, and waters that be above the heavens.
5 Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.
"I have always said, and always will say, that the studious perusal of the Sacred Volume will make better citizens, better fathers, and
better husbands."
6 He has also established them for ever and ever: he has made a decree which shall not pass.
7 Praise the LORD from the earth, dragons, and all deeps:
8 Fire, and hail; snow, and vapors; stormy wind fulfilling his word:
9 Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars:
10 Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl:
11 Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth:
12 Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children:
13 Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.
14 He also exalts the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise the LORD.
*** For the biblical way to present God's
love, see Matthew 10:22 comment.
***
PSALM 149
Praise the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints.
2 Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
3 Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.
Bible Statistics
Number of books in the Bible: 66 Chapters: 1,189 Verses: 31,101 Words: 783,137 Letters: 3,566,480 Longest word (and name): Mahershalalhashbaz (Isaiah 8:1)
Longest verse: Esther 8:9 (78 words) Shortest verse: John 11:35 (2 words: "Jesus wept")
Middle books: Micah and Nahum Middle chapter: Psalm 118 Middle verse: Psalm 118:8 Shortest book (number of words): 3 John Shortest chapter (number of words): Psalm 117
Longest book: Psalms (150 chapters) Longest chapter: Psalm 119 (176 verses) Number of times the word "God" appears: 3,358
Number of times the word "Lord" appears: 7,736
Number of different authors: Approximately 40
Number of languages the Bible has been translated into: more than 1,200
Number of new Bibles distributed (sold or given away) in the U.S.: about 168,000 per day
4 For the LORD takes pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.
5 Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.
6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand;
"If you pick up a dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man."
MARK TWAIN 7 To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people;
8 To bind their kings with chains, and their
nobles with fetters of iron;
9 To execute upon them the judgment written: this honor have all his saints. Praise the LORD.
PSALM 150
Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
6 Let every thing that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.
"Hold fast to the Bible as the sheet anchor of your liberties; write its precepts in your hearts, and practice them in your lives."
Proverbs
CHAPTER 1
The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; 2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
4 To give subtlety to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
8 My son, hear the instruction of your
father, and forsake not the law of your mother:
9 For they shall be an ornament of grace unto your head, and chains about your neck.
10 My son, if sinners entice you, consent not.
11 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:
13 We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:
14 Cast in your lot among us; let us all have one purse:
15 My son, walk not in the way with them; refrain your foot from their path:
16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
17 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
18 And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.
19 So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which takes away the life of the owners thereof.
20 Wisdom cries without; she utters her voice in the streets:
21 She cries in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she utters her words, saying,
22 How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
24 Because I have called, and you refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
25 But you have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear comes;
27 When your fear comes as desolation, and your destruction comes as a whirlwind;
when distress and anguish comes upon you.
28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
33 But whoso hearkens unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
1:2 It is wise to read a proverb for each day of the month. They were written that we might have wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
1:22,23 One just has to observe the gospel being preached in the open air to know the truth of these words. When presented with the
knowledge of how to be saved from death and hell, the world delights in scorn. Yet despite their contempt, our Creator offers salvation to a God-hating humanity. He will make His words known to all who turn to His reproof.
CHAPTER 2
My son, if you will receive my words, and hide my commandments with you;
2 So that you incline your ear unto wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding;
3 Yes, if you cry after knowledge, and lift up your voice for understanding;
4 If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures;
5 Then shall you understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the LORD gives wisdom: out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.
7 He lays up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk
uprightly.
8 He keeps the paths of judgment, and preserves the way of his saints.
9 Then shall you understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yes, every good path.
10 When wisdom enters into your heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto your soul;
11 Discretion shall preserve you, understanding shall keep you:
12 To deliver you from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaks froward things;
13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;
14 Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;
15 Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:
16 To deliver you from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flatters with her words;
17 Who forsakes the guide of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God.
18 For her house inclines unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
19 None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.
20 That you may walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.
22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
2:1–5 The fear of the Lord. This is how to obtain the fear of the Lord, the most necessary virtue: 1) receive the Word of God; 2) hide His commandments within you; 3) incline your ear to wisdom; 4) apply your heart to understanding; 5) cry out for knowledge and discernment; 6) seek it as you would for silver or hidden treasures.
2:12 Wisdom, knowledge, discretion, and understanding will keep you from perversity and sexual sin. They give the blind light as to the end result of sin: see verse 18.
CHAPTER 3
My son, forget not my law; but let your heart keep my commandments:
2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to you.
3 Let not mercy and truth forsake you: bind them about your neck; write them upon the table of your heart:
4 So shall you find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths.
7 Be not wise in your own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
8 It shall be health to your navel, and marrow to your bones.
9 Honor the LORD with your substance, and with the firstfruits of all your increase:
10 So shall your barns be filled with
plenty, and your presses shall burst out with new wine.
11 My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:
12 For whom the LORD loves he corrects; even as a father the son in whom he delights.
13 Happy is the man that finds wisdom, and the man that gets understanding.
14 For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.
15 She is more precious than rubies: and all the things you canst desire are not to be compared unto her.
16 Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honor.
17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.
18 She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retains her.
19 The LORD by wisdom has founded the earth; by understanding has he established the
heavens.
20 By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.
21 My son, let not them depart from your eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion:
22 So shall they be life unto your soul, and grace to your neck.
23 Then shall you walk in your way safely, and your foot shall not stumble.
24 When you lie down, you shall not be afraid: yes, you shall lie down, and your sleep shall be sweet.
25 Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it comes.
26 For the LORD shall be your confidence, and shall keep your foot from being taken.
27 Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do it.
28 Say not unto your neighbor, Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give; when you have it by you.
29 Devise not evil against your neighbor,
seeing he dwells securely by you.
30 Strive not with a man without cause, if he has done you no harm.
31 Envy not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.
32 For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the righteous.
33 The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesses the habitation of the just.
34 Surely he scorns the scorners: but he gives grace unto the lowly.
35 The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.
3:1–3 The Law leads to mercy and truth. See John 1:17 and Galatians 3:24.
3:5 The world says the opposite—doubt the Word of God and have faith in yourself.
3:6 "It was the Lord who put it into my mind ... I could feel His hand upon me ... There is no question the inspiration was from the Holy Spirit because He comforted me with rays of marvelous illumination from the
Holy Scriptures ... No one should fear to undertake any task in the name of our Savior if it is just and if the intention is purely for His holy service. The gospel must still be preached to so many lands in such a short time. This is what convinces me." Christopher Columbus (from his diary, in reference to his discovery of "the New World")
3:19 "Slight variations in physical laws such as gravity or electromagnetism would make life impossible ... The necessity to produce life lies at the center of the universe's whole machinery and design." John Wheeler, Princeton University professor of physics (Reader's Digest, Sept. 1986)
Even evolutionist Stephen Hawking, considered the best-known scientist since Albert Einstein, acknowledges "the universe and the laws of physics seem to have been specifically designed for us. If any one of about 40 physical qualities had more than slightly different values, life as we know it
could not exist: Either atoms would not be stable, or they wouldn't combine into molecules, or the stars wouldn't form the heavier elements, or the universe would collapse before life could develop, and so on..." (Austin American-Statesman, October 19, 1997) 3:27,28 We must never lose sight of love for our neighbor. A good deed can be a stronger evangelistic witness than a thousand words. See Proverbs 27:10 comment.
3:34 It has been said that the Italian dictator Mussolini, in his youth, stood on a high pinnacle and cried, "God, if you are there, strike me dead!" When God did not bow to his dictates, Mussolini concluded that there is no God. God did, however, answer his prayer some time later.
CHAPTER 4
Hear, you children, the instruction of a
father, and attend to know understanding.
2 For I give you good doctrine, forsake not my law.
3 For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.
4 He taught me also, and said unto me, Let your heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.
5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.
6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve you: love her, and she shall keep you.
7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all your getting get understanding.
3:19 Questions for Evolutionists by Dr. Kent Hovind The test of any theory is whether or not it provides answers to basic questions. Some well-meaning but misguided people think evolution is a reasonable theory to explain man's questions about the universe. Evolution