This year, I'm sharing my "Treasures" of my study of my "Ponder the Morsels" book. I've picked 31 Psalms to study throughout 2013. Today I studied Psalm 11. Here is what I learned.
The Lord ·tests [examines] ·those who do right and those who do wrong [the righteous and the wicked], but he hates those who love ·to hurt others [violence]. Psalm 11:5 (EXB)
The Lord tests and proves those who are right and good and those who are sinful. And His soul hates the one who loves to hurt others. Psalm 11:4 (NLV)
The Lord trieth the righteous,.... As gold is tried in the fire, by afflictive providences; hereby he tries their graces, their faith, and patience, their hope, and love, and fear; and, by so doing, expresses his love to them, since this is all for their good... Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Lord trieth the righteous - He does not abandon them; he tries them to show their faithfulness, and he afflicts them for their good. Clarke's Commentary on the Bible
Q: Why is training necessary? A: Training is necessary because if you don't train, you won't be able to figure out the flaws of what you doing. For example, say a professional basketball player wasn't very good at dribbling. If he doesn't train, he might not perform well in his game, but if he does, chances are he wouldn't do as bad as he would have if he didn't. Keep in mind that just because you train one day doesn't mean that you are going to get better by a significant amount. You have to train excessively.
We train in all aspects of our lives. And with training comes testing. When we were children, the training and testing was a constant at school, and in sports. Then as we grew older our jobs have “performance evaluations”. Our employers want to know if we were being effective in our jobs.
However, when God trains and tests us, we get bothered, upset, and at times angry. “Why me?”, is often the first sound we make when being trained and tested.
But as God tests us, He is highlighting the areas that are successful and identifying those which need revision in our lives. The only way to really understand something is to put it into practice. If a football player only studies the play book, and never suits up for practice or plays a game, how does he know if he can really play football. Head knowledge is only PART of life. Experience provides an opportunity to see if we really have learned! We have the opportunity to practice what we know.
Training and testing is part of all aspects of our lives. And when God trains and tests us, it’s not punishment, rather He is allowing us the opportunity to be a “star player” and learn our strengthens and weaknesses. The only way to learn and master anything is to study, train, and be tested.
Having the opportunity to train, and be tested on God’s team is challenging, but so very rewarding and is the only way to create not only a positive day.... but a positive God-designed life, and maybe become a “star-player”.
The master answered, ‘You did well. You are a good and ·loyal [faithful] servant. Matthew 25:23 a (EXB)
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