Rajesh

12 Keys to Profiting Fully from What Is Written in Scripture

September 2, 2023

Scripture teaches us that all that is written in it has been written for our learning:

Romans 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

Here are 12 keys to profiting fully from what is written in Scripture for our learning.

1. Read the book repeatedly.

Deuteronomy 17:18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: 20 That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.

Concerning the importance of reading a book of Scripture repeatedly, I have read the book of Psalms 100 times because God has burdened me to saturate my mind with His own thoughts about music.

2. Prize it supremely and expect to work hard in studying it diligently.

Proverbs 2:1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; 2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; 3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; 4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; 5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.

3. Pray fervently for illumination.

Psalm 119:18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

Proverbs 2:3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;

Ephesians 1:16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; 17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

4. Mark your Bible and take notes.

Consider, for example, how marking certain key statements in 1 Samuel 12 helps in understanding how what is written has been divinely structured:

Marking your Bible and taking notes is crucial for fully understanding what God has said:

5. Keep in mind that the whole book is the context of anything that is in the book.

When God originally inspired the books of the Bible, there were no chapter breaks or verse divisions in them. The context of anything that is in a book of Scripture therefore is the whole book itself and not just some smaller part of it.

6. Note the beginning and the ending of the book.

How God has chosen to begin and to end each book displays His infinite and perfect wisdom. We must pay special attention to what He has inspired to be written at the beginning and at the ending of each book of Scripture.

7. Note the names of God and the truths about God found in the book.

Matthew 1:23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

8. Look especially for commands.

Matthew 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

9. Note repetition, connect ideas, and do cross referencing.

Concerning repetition, consider, for example, the vast number of times “the LORD” occurs in 1 Samuel 12:

As an example of connecting ideas, note how Paul does so concerning what Scripture says in different books of Scripture:

1 Timothy 5:18 For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.

10. Think about what you have read, believe it, and memorize what God specially brings to your attention.

Psalm 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

11. Praise Him for what He has inspired to be written and pray about the instruction that He has given in the book.

Psalm 119:164 Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.

Romans 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

12. Do what is written in the book and teach others.

Ezra 7:9 For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him. 10 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.

In Bible reading, Discipleship, Sunday School

Learning from the Perfect Endings of the 39 Perfect Books of the OT

August 29, 2023

A highly skilled writer knows just how important the ending of his book is. As the perfect Writer, the Holy Spirit inspired perfect endings to each of the 39 perfect books of the OT.

Examining these endings carefully provides us with invaluable instruction that we cannot get from any other source!

Gen. 50:26 So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

Exod. 40:38 For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.

Lev. 27:34 These are the commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.

Num. 36:13 These are the commandments and the judgments, which the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses unto the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho.

Deut. 34:12 And in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel.

Jos. 24:33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son, which was given him in mount Ephraim.

Jdg. 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

1 Sam. 31:13 And they [all the valiant men of Jabesh Gilead] took their [of Saul and his sons] bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

2 Sam. 24:25 And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.

1 Ki. 22:53 For he [Ahaziah the son of Ahab] served Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked to anger the LORD God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.

2 Ki. 25:30 And his [Jehoiachin king of Judah’s] allowance was a continual allowance given him of the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life.

1 Chr. 29:30 With all his [David’s] reign and his might, and the times that went over him, and over Israel, and over all the kingdoms of the countries.

2 Chr. 36:23 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.

Ezr. 10:44 All these had taken strange wives: and some of them had wives by whom they had children.

Neh. 13:31 And for the wood offering, at times appointed, and for the firstfruits. Remember me [Nehemiah], O my God, for good.

Est. 10:3 For Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.

Job 42:17 So Job died, being old and full of days.

Ps. 150:6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

Prov. 31:31 Give her [a virtuous woman] of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.

Eccl. 12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Cant. 8:14 Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.

Isa. 66:24 And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

Jer. 52:34 And for his [Jehoiachin king of Judah’s] diet, there was a continual diet given him of the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.

Lam. 5:22 But thou hast utterly rejected us [Jerusalem the daughter of Zion]; thou art very wroth against us.

Ezek. 48:35 It was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the city from that day shall be, The LORD is there.

Dan. 12:13 But go thou [Daniel] thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.

Hos. 14:9 Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.

Joel 3:21 For I will cleanse their [of the children of Judah and Jerusalem] blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion.

Amos 9:15 And I will plant them [God’s people of Israel] upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.

Jon. 4:11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

Mic. 7:20 Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.

Nah. 3:19 There is no healing of thy [the king of Assyria’s] bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?

Hab. 3:19 The LORD God is my [Habakkuk’s] strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.

Zeph. 3:20 At that time will I bring you [Jerusalem/Zion] again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD.

Hag. 2:23 In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts.

Zech. 14:21 Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.

Mal. 4:6 And he [Elijah the prophet] shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

In a future post, “Learning from the Perfect Endings of the 27 Perfect Books of the NT,” I plan to similarly compile the endings of each of the 27 perfect books of the NT.

In Bible reading, Theology

Pastor Mark Minnick on Musical Sound as An Issue to God

August 21, 2023

When it comes to music, when it comes to that kind of thing, really, all that change starts with a philosophy that says that sound is not an issue to God. Text is an issue to God, not sound. You take a Bible governor off the sound. Well, now, the sky’s the limit in terms of what can be done as long as your viewpoint is, “Sound is not an issue to God.” It just becomes then a matter of personal preference and taste.

–Pastor Mark Minnick, Sunday PM message, “Preachers and Missionaries UK 2023,” 8/20/23

I believe that these statements very insightfully express what really is at the heart of so many of the worship music issues in our day.

In CCM, Mount Calvary Baptist Pulpit, Music, Theology

Is There One Verse or Passage That Is the Key to A Fully Biblical Approach to Acceptable Music for Corporate Worship?

August 19, 2023

I recently asked elsewhere online the following question:

Is there one verse or passage that you believe is the key to a fully biblical approach to acceptable music for corporate worship?

So far, I have received the following responses:

2 Chron 29:20-36, tells what kind of instruments.. the golden calf incident tells what methods were horrific to God.

I Corinthians 14, talks about music styles (March music styles influencing preparation for a battle) being distinctive and precise and significant.

No.

I would love to hear from the readers of my blog what their thoughts are about the answer to this question.

In Music, Theology

The Bible and Percussion: Two Discussion Threads on SharperIron.org

August 8, 2023

For many months now, the focus of my study of what the Bible reveals about music has been on what it says about percussion instruments. To that end, I have been involved in two ongoing discussions on Sharper Iron:

Did the Israelites Use Drum-Like Instruments in the Worship in the Solomonic Temple?

Shamanism, Percussion, and First Corinthians 6:12

As God directs, I invite you to consider what has been discussed in these threads.

A Biblical Response to Robert Bakks on Percussion Instruments in Psalm 150

Image credit: Image was cropped from Image from page 330 of “The pictorial Bible and commentato… | Flickr

In CCM, Exposition, Interpretation, Music, Theology

One Hundred Times through the Book of Psalms!

July 31, 2023

Yesterday morning, I finished reading the book of Psalms for the twelfth time this year. I now have read the book 100 times in my life! Praise God!

Year(s)	Times That I Read the Psalms
1990-2011	25
2012	25
2013	1
2014	1
2015	1
2016	3
2017	4
2018	6
2019	4
2020	5
2021	8
2022	5
2023	12
Total	100*

*I have read the Psalms through 96x in English, 2x in the Septuagint, and 2x in Spanish (Reina Valera – 1x; LBLA – 1x).

Schedule for Reading through the Psalms in a Week

In Bible reading, Music

Book Update 7.22.23

July 22, 2023

I am getting closer to finishing the first draft of my book, “The Battle for Kingdom Music: A Call to Worldwide Consecration”!

Here is the current layout of the book:

Section	Page Numbers	Total Pages
Title Page	i	1
Preliminary	ii-iv	3
Table of Contents	v-xi	7
Introduction	1-3	3
Part I	4-12	9
Part II	13-32	20
Part III	33-60	28
Part IV	61-76	16
Conclusion*	77	1
Appendices	78-104	27

The page counts are for 8.5×11 pages, font size 12. The total length is 42,527 words on 115 pages.

*I have not done very much with this section yet and plan to work on it a good bit more.

In CCM, Christian Books, Ministry, Music

On Christlikeness in Corporate Worship

July 17, 2023

Psalm 22:22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

Psalm 22:25 My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.

Hebrews 2:11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee

The NT teaches us in Heb. 2:11-12 that Psalm 22:22 (and 22:25, based on the flow of thought in Ps. 22) are foremost the words of the Messiah!

We should also notice carefully that the NT quotation of Ps. 22:22 has “will I sing praise unto thee,” whereas Ps. 22:22 has “will I praise thee.”

Based on how the NT uses the OT in this passage, we learn a glorious truth—Christlikeness in corporate worship is to sing praise to God in the great congregation!

In Discipleship, Interpretation, Music

Drum-Like Instruments in the Bible

July 7, 2023

The Bible speaks about drum-like instruments in 16 verses.

Gen. 31:27 Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me; and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and with harp?

Exod. 15:20 And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.

Jdg. 11:34 And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.

1 Sam. 10:5 After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy:

1 Sam. 18:6 And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick.

2 Sam. 6:5 And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals.

1 Chr. 13:8 And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets.

Job 21:12 They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ

Ps. 81:2 Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.

Ps. 149:3 Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.

Ps. 150:4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.

Isa. 5:12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.

Isa. 24:8 The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth.

Isa. 30:32 And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the LORD shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it.

Jer. 31:4 Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.

Ezek. 28:13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

In Music

Harold Best on “satanic music”

June 23, 2023

In his work, “Music Through the Eyes of Faith,” Harold M. Best asserts the following:

When people say that rhythms, chords, or textures cause sexual license, violence, or drug abuse; whenever anybody—missionary or tribal person—says that certain kinds of music or rhythmic types are satanic, they are caught up in the same dilemma that Isaiah speaks of (chapter 44). There is really no difference between someone carving a god out of what otherwise is a piece of firewood and someone else who happens upon or makes a certain kind of music, expecting it to govern the actions of those hearing and using it.

—Harold M. Best, Music Through the Eyes of Faith, 48-49

I believe that Best is profoundly mistaken in what he says about “satanic music” through these statements. As a finite human, he has no capability to legitimately declare what he does concerning satanic music.

See my post Resources That Provide Answers to Key Issues Concerning CCM for much more biblical information about issues concerning what music God accepts in corporate worship.

In CCM, Christian Books, Music, Quotes

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