Day 8/5 – A Biblical Response

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Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man by Walter A Henrichsen (“Walt”)
A Biblical Response
Day Two Hundred Seventeen

“Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 18:20

God visited Mary with the news that she would bear the Messiah. Now pregnant, Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth. Upon Mary’s return home people saw that she, an unmarried woman, carried a child. Joseph, her betrothed, knowing that the child was not his, elected to quietly terminate the relationship. God visited Joseph with the explanation that Mary’s conception came from the Holy Spirit.

Why didn’t God reverse this process, coming first to Joseph to explain His plan? You can imagine the trauma, accusations, tears, and heartache that took place when Mary was found with child. After Joseph heard from God he could protect her; before God spoke, all he could do is suppose the child to be illegitimate.

You can see Joseph’s greatness in how he handled the situation. He was not vindictive when he first heard of Mary’s pregnancy, and cooperated with God in the role God called upon him to play. Content to live in the background and be a pawn in the great plan of God, we know little about him. That is why he is great. Your greatness will not be a measure of how God uses you, but of how you respond to how God uses you.

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Psalm 68-69 Romans 8:1-21 (New King James Version)

Psalm 68-69
The Glory of God in His Goodness to Israel
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A Song.
68
Let God arise,
Let His enemies be scattered;
Let those also who hate Him flee before Him.
2
As smoke is driven away,
So drive them away;
As wax melts before the fire,
So let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
3
But let the righteous be glad;
Let them rejoice before God;
Yes, let them rejoice exceedingly.
4
Sing to God, sing praises to His name;
Extol[a] Him who rides on the [b]clouds,
By His name [c]Yah,
And rejoice before Him.
5
A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows,
Is God in His holy habitation.
6
God sets the solitary in families;
He brings out those who are bound into prosperity;
But the rebellious dwell in a dry land.
7
O God, when You went out before Your people,
When You marched through the wilderness, Selah
8
The earth shook;
The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God;
Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
9
You, O God, sent a plentiful rain,
Whereby You confirmed Your inheritance,
When it was weary.
10
Your congregation dwelt in it;
You, O God, provided from Your goodness for the poor.
11
The Lord gave the word;
Great was the [d]company of those who proclaimed it:
12
“Kings of armies flee, they flee,
And she who remains at home divides the [e]spoil.
13
Though you lie down among the [f]sheepfolds,
You will be like the wings of a dove covered with silver,
And her feathers with yellow gold.”
14
When the Almighty scattered kings in it,
It was white as snow in Zalmon.
15
A mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan;
A mountain of many peaks is the mountain of Bashan.
16
Why do you [g]fume with envy, you mountains of many peaks?
This is the mountain which God desires to dwell in;
Yes, the Lord will dwell in it forever.
17
The chariots of God are twenty thousand,
Even thousands of thousands;
The Lord is among them as in Sinai, in the Holy Place.
18
You have ascended on high,
You have led captivity captive;
You have received gifts among men,
Even from the rebellious,
That the Lord God might dwell there.
19
Blessed be the Lord,
Who daily loads us with benefits,
The God of our salvation! Selah
20
Our God is the God of salvation;
And to God the Lord belong escapes from death.
21
But God will wound the head of His enemies,
The hairy scalp of the one who still goes on in his trespasses.
22
The Lord said, “I will bring back from Bashan,
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
23
That [h]your foot may crush them in blood,
And the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from your enemies.”
24
They have seen Your [i]procession, O God,
The procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary.
25
The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after;
Among them were the maidens playing timbrels.
26
Bless God in the congregations,
The Lord, from the fountain of Israel.
27
There is little Benjamin, their leader,
The princes of Judah and their [j]company,
The princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali.
28
[k]Your God has commanded your strength;
Strengthen, O God, what You have done for us.
29
Because of Your temple at Jerusalem,
Kings will bring presents to You.
30
Rebuke the beasts of the reeds,
The herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples,
Till everyone submits himself with pieces of silver.
Scatter the peoples who delight in war.
31
Envoys will come out of Egypt;
Ethiopia will quickly stretch out her hands to God.
32
Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth;
Oh, sing praises to the Lord, Selah
33
To Him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which were of old!
Indeed, He sends out His voice, a mighty voice.
34
Ascribe strength to God;
His excellence is over Israel,
And His strength is in the clouds.
35
O God, You are more awesome than Your holy places.
The God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people.
Blessed be God!
An Urgent Plea for Help in Trouble
To the Chief Musician. Set to [l]“The Lilies.” A Psalm of David.
69
Save me, O God!
For the waters have come up to my [m]neck.
2
I sink in deep mire,
Where there is no standing;
I have come into deep waters,
Where the floods overflow me.
3
I am weary with my crying;
My throat is dry;
My eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4
Those who hate me without a cause
Are more than the hairs of my head;
They are mighty who would destroy me,
Being my enemies wrongfully;
Though I have stolen nothing,
I still must restore it.
5
O God, You know my foolishness;
And my sins are not hidden from You.
6
Let not those who [n]wait for You, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me;
Let not those who seek You be [o]confounded because of me, O God of Israel.
7
Because for Your sake I have borne reproach;
Shame has covered my face.
8
I have become a stranger to my brothers,
And an alien to my mother’s children;
9
Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up,
And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.
10
When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting,
That became my reproach.
11
I also [p]made sackcloth my garment;
I became a byword to them.
12
Those who [q]sit in the gate speak against me,
And I am the song of the drunkards.
13
But as for me, my prayer is to You,
O Lord, in the acceptable time;
O God, in the multitude of Your mercy,
Hear me in the truth of Your salvation.
14
Deliver me out of the mire,
And let me not sink;
Let me be delivered from those who hate me,
And out of the deep waters.
15
Let not the floodwater overflow me,
Nor let the deep swallow me up;
And let not the pit shut its mouth on me.
16
Hear me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good;
Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies.
17
And do not hide Your face from Your servant,
For I am in trouble;
Hear me speedily.
18
Draw near to my soul, and redeem it;
Deliver me because of my enemies.
19
You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor;
My adversaries are all before You.
20
Reproach has broken my heart,
And I am full of [r]heaviness;
I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none;
And for comforters, but I found none.
21
They also gave me gall for my food,
And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22
Let their table become a snare before them,
And their well-being a trap.
23
Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see;
And make their loins shake continually.
24
Pour out Your indignation upon them,
And let Your wrathful anger take hold of them.
25
Let their dwelling place be desolate;
Let no one live in their tents.
26
For they persecute the ones You have struck,
And talk of the grief of those You have wounded.
27
Add iniquity to their iniquity,
And let them not come into Your righteousness.
28
Let them be blotted out of the book of the living,
And not be written with the righteous.
29
But I am poor and sorrowful;
Let Your 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 bull,
Which has horns and hooves.
32
The humble shall see this and be glad;
And you who seek God, your hearts shall live.
33
For the Lord hears the poor,
And does not despise His prisoners.
34
Let heaven and earth praise Him,
The seas and everything that moves in them.
35
For God will save Zion
And build the cities of Judah,
That they may dwell there and possess it.
36
Also, the [s]descendants of His servants shall inherit it,
And those who love His name shall dwell in it.
Footnotes:
• Psalm 68:4 Praise
• Psalm 68:4 MT deserts; Tg. heavens (cf. v. 34 and Is. 19:1)
• Psalm 68:4 Lit. Lord, a shortened Heb. form
• Psalm 68:11 host
• Psalm 68:12 plunder
• Psalm 68:13 Or saddlebags
• Psalm 68:16 Lit. stare
• Psalm 68:23 LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg. you may dip your foot
• Psalm 68:24 Lit. goings
• Psalm 68:27 throng
• Psalm 68:28 LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg. Command, O God
• Psalm 69:1 Heb. Shoshannim
• Psalm 69:1 Lit. soul
• Psalm 69:6 Wait in faith
• Psalm 69:6 dishonored
• Psalm 69:11 Symbolic of sorrow
• Psalm 69:12 Sit as judges
• Psalm 69:20 Lit. sickness
• Psalm 69:36 Lit. seed

Romans 8:1-21
Free from Indwelling Sin
8 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who[a] do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be [b]carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the [c]carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies [d]through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Sonship Through the Spirit
12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba,[e] Father.” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
From Suffering to Glory
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of [f]corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Footnotes:
• Romans 8:1 NU omits the rest of v. 1.
• Romans 8:6 fleshly
• Romans 8:7 fleshly
• Romans 8:11 Or because of
• Romans 8:15 Lit., in Aram., Father
• Romans 8:21 decay