Saturday, August 31, 2013

Psalm 25:17

Copyright Ó 2013 J. Neely
Psalm 25:17

17 The troubles [tsarah] of my heart [lebab] are enlarged [rachab]: O bring thou me out [yatsa'] of my distresses [matsuwqah]. KJV-Interlinear

17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged; Bring me out of my distresses. NASB

There are only two environments within which we can live.

There is the environment of the world, and then there is the environment of the spiritual.

The current ruler of the world is Satan and his government is called, cosmos diabolicus, and his policy is called, evil.  His mission and purpose is to confuse and distort truth so that his objective in defeating God will be accomplished.  We are pawns and we are expendable in that effort.

For every principle of truth there is a counter principle of evil.  And actually, for every principle of truth there are several counter principles of evil.

In the world, if you do not have doctrine operating in your soul, then you have evil operating in your soul.  And more than likely, you have a combination of both, but your tendency will be in the direction of evil.

For example, you know the difference between right and wrong.  Understanding right from wrong is a principle of truth, but when you operate in life without a functional spiritual life, then your views will be skewed toward the carnal and evil aspects of life.

Sooner or later you can be or will be swayed to compromise your truth principles and water them down with evil views.

And so, we have our current verse.

Troubles of the heart, refers to the various difficulties that the world will impose on each of us.  Troubles do not necessarily have to be bad things.  You can be very wealthy and your troubles will be of a different nature than those of a poor person.

With wealth you can believe that you do not need God.  You may spend your time working overtime to keep what you have and trying to get more.  You may or may not be generous.  You may or may not be empathetic toward others. You may or may not have social or health or other problems.

But in any case, you will have troubles of one sort or another.

As a poor person or someone that is less than wealthy, which probably includes most of the rest of us, then our troubles come from all directions.

And when you combine the phrase, ‘troubles of my heart,’ with the phrase, ‘out of my distresses,’ then you combine one trouble with another.

When a person focuses on a problem, then other problems begin to settle up next to that one problem and then the natural laws of association take control and our problems begin to overwhelm us.  And this all leads to a downward spiral into many mental problems, such as distress, anxiety, worry, sorrow, poor me, fear, various phobias can enter into the mix, and with all of these potential negatives, then you can see that life can get really messed up.

Bring me out, then is the plea to God to help prevent these things from taking over our life.

And God does help.  He helps with doctrine, and more specifically your knowledge of doctrine, or doctrine in your soul.

Bible doctrine is the building and finishing material of the soul.  Without it, you are on your own and no one and nothing, not wealth, not drugs, not booze, not even hustle, nothing can help you.

Review the first part of this chapter and see how all of these things are coming together to help you see and understand the importance of doctrine, for it is truly the substance and resource and support for life.