June 09, 2020, Psalms 90, John 9 The Investigation of the Blind Man and His Parents

The lV Book of the Psalms 

Including psalms 90-106

Psalms 90

A prayer of Moses; the man of God. 

This portion of the psalms begin with a prayer; and it ends with praise. 

Thus far, Israel has been blessed under the reign of the great King, Yahweh.

Psalms 90 is called a prayer to the everlasting God. A prayer asking God to have compassion on his servants, who though the ages have known him to be their safe haven but also they have painfully experienced his wrath because of sin and his sentence of death cut short their lives-but they believed through a plea through the night God would teach them wisdom. The hope of Israel was found in the morning or when the morning comes, God would bless them in equal measure with expressions of his love. (niv study bible)

 

Often times the biblical writers used the word night to represent a time of trials/problems/or a time without God because of sin. 

In the morning, is considered to be a season of God's blessing upon them.  

I have had night and morning experiences. The nights are filled with tears. But sunlight dries them in the morning. The nights are lonely but the mornings are refreshing. It hard to see at night but we smile at the break of light. It feels good to make it through the night. Surviving the terrors and the unseen. 

They called him the everlasting God. Kings came and left. Great men rose up and fell down; but God remained the same. 

Everlasting God: lasting or continuing for an indefinitely long time: 

He has Eternal duration. No kingdom or King has outlasted God. The Romans, the Egyptians has kings and kingdoms they no longer exist. Those we see today maybe gone tomorrow. 

Psalms 90

Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world. From everlasting to everlasting you are God. 

You turn people back to dust, saying, Return to dust, you mortals. A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. 

Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death--

they are like grass of the morning; in the morning it springs up new, but by evening

it is dry and withered. 

We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan. 

Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. 

If only we knew the power of your anger!

Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due. Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. 

Relent, Lord! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. 

(Many people consider God to be ready to strike mankind down. But I like to follow the writer,  in this passage the wrath of God and his anger appears when he sets our sins before him in the light, but it also says a thousand years is like one day to God, it is a long time before God gets upset. This is God's mercy. God is patient with mankind.)

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble. 

May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children. May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work or our hand for us--yes, establish the work of our hands. 

John 9 (the disciple whom Jesus loved) 

The Pharisees Investigate the Healing of the Blind Man

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. (Of course he is sent by God. In the womb, God knew him, and God formed him. Now on the day which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man's eyes was a Sabbath. 

(The Pharisees believed it was a sin to heal on the Sabbath.  They believe God did not heal on this day, when Jesus heals on the Sabbath it sends the message that God is on his side. Because only God can open blind eyes. It was an amazing thing; can you picture them wondering how did his eyes get open. It got everyone's attention.  He was blind from birth and there was no doubt about it. But they seek to discredit Jesus.) 

Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He put mud on my eyes, the man replied, and I washed, and now I see. Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath. But others asked, "How can a sinner perform such signs? So they were divided. 

Then they turned again to the blind man, "What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened. 

The man replied,  He is a prophet. 

They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man's parents. Is this you son? they asked. "Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see? We know our son, the parents answered, and we know he was born blind. 

But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don't know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself. His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledge that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out the synagogue. 

That is why his parents said, He is of age; ask him. 

A second time they summoned the man who had blind, "Give glory to God by telling the truth, they said. We know this man is a sinner. 

He replied, Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!  ( He stay true to his healing. But sadly they were angry with his testimony. God confounds the wise. They wanted to know how did Jesus do it? Mud and spit, how odd. But they wanted it to be a medical answer but it is something simple, mud and spit. Mud and spit cannot open eyes, God opens eyes, the mud confuse us, it confused them. He opened them because he is God and he does what he wants to and sometimes it makes no human sense. It made them angry because only God could do it but they did not want to admit that Jesus was God or he knew God.)

Then they asked him, "What did he do you? How did he open your eyes? He answered, I have already told you and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?

Then they hurled insults at him and said, you are this fellow disciple! We are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don't know where he comes from. 

The man answered, "Now that is remarkable! You don't know where he comes from.  Yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. 

To this they replied, "You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us! And they threw him out. 

Well he confessed God that day. Sadly he was banned from the temple. 

Have a great day!