SPIRITUAL GEMS: Week 9-15 September 2024, Psalm 82-84, Answers.

SPIRITUAL GEMS: September 9-15, 2024, Psalm 82-84, Answers.

Spiritual Gems (10 min.)

Ps 82:3. Why is it important to care for and love orphans in the congregation? (it-1 1183 pars. 1, 2).

The importance of caring for orphans in the congregation lies in the fact that Jehovah himself identifies himself as their father, a redeeming and helping father, so as Christians we must follow this example of Jehovah, showing mercy and support to the most vulnerable. James reinforces this principle by pointing out that pure prayer includes caring for orphans and widows, which demonstrates the true essence of Christianity and love for one's neighbor.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Well, because we must do it as a law that Jehovah sets, he says that they are afflicted and defenseless, they can find themselves in that situation and more so in the time of Israel, women were in a very afflicted situation, so the fact that we take care of them is the identifying mark of true Christianity.

This would be a mark that would identify the true Christian who shows consideration to an afflicted person, whether it be an orphan or the lack of a husband, it would show true worship. James 1:27 says that the form of worship that is clean and contaminated from the point of view of our God and Father is precisely to take care of the orphans of the widows in their tribulation and to keep oneself without stain from the world.

Because when justice was perverted on earth they were mistreated but Jehovah would repay those who oppressed the fatherless, today we can show the form of worship that is clean and contaminated from God's point of view by caring for them and showing them true love.

And the entire broadcast this month is dedicated to that topic and cites Exodus 22:22 to 24 where Jehovah asks that you not mistreat widows and orphans because if he finds out, he says then I will be very angry with you and I will kill you with the sword, so that is the example that we should follow of taking care of those who do not have a husband, a father who cares for that.

And he also tells us that Jehovah speaks of himself as his redeemer, helper and father and he is the one who executes judgment in their favor, shows them mercy, gives them relief and keeps them alive and hence the importance of applying that they take care of fatherless orphans and also widows.

So answering why it is important is because it is part of our worship to Jehovah and that is how they see it and when we talk about orphans today we are also talking about spiritual orphans, those who do not have one or two of their parents who share their faith, so we remember that it is part of the worship that Jehovah desires and accepts.

Because this quality will be one of the marks that identifies us as true Christians: love and consideration for the afflicted. In the past, Jehovah spoke of them as their redeemer, as their helper, and as their father, giving mercy to them. James clarifies that caring for orphans and widows is part of our worship.

And on the other hand, thinking about other types of orphans, we find spiritual orphans within the congregation, orphan brothers who do not have a father or mother within the congregation and they come alone and sit alone in the meeting, so a Watchtower liked the questions she asked, she knows them all by name, talks with them at Christian meetings and on other occasions, invites them to the field ministry, includes them in your family studies, this will help them stop feeling like orphans.

What spiritual pearls have you found in this week's Bible reading?

Psalm 82:1. This text encourages us to trust that Jehovah is aware of what is happening in the world and that he will intervene to establish justice. Even when we see injustices around us, we can have faith that Jehovah is the supreme judge and will pass sentence fairly.

Psalm 83:16. Says cover their faces with dishonor so that they may seek your name oh Jehovah during these last days that we are living right Jehovah frustrated all attempts to eliminate his people right from their enemies as a result they have been ashamed right as he always said in this psalm because in one country after another the opponents have completely failed in their attempt to silence Jehovah's Witnesses and thanks to the fact that these brothers are firm, brave and have endured, it has served as a testimony for many people to seek Jehovah and in countries where there has been persecution now there are hundreds of thousands of happy worshipers of Jehovah.

Psalm 83:5. It helped me remember that soon a coalition of nations will try to eliminate Jehovah's people, obviously it can cause us some anxiety or fear, however, the examples that Jehovah left recorded in his word, as you see, he saved his people time and again, are a confidence to not fear those days, and in verse 18 there is a very powerful reason for the name of Jehovah, he will respect us for his name. 

Psalm 84:5. It says that blessed are those men who find their strength in you, that is, in Jehovah, they teach me the importance of trusting in Jehovah's strength and not in one's own, for example, if tomorrow we have to go to an isolated place to preach that is very different, we should pray to Jehovah to help us and thanks to his help we can achieve many things, so with Jehovah's strength we can overcome insurmountable obstacles.

Psalm 83:1-3. The psalmist prays that I take action to defend his sovereignty and make his name known. His prayer is focused on the reproach that is being caused to the name of Jehovah and leaves his safety and that of his family in the background. This does not make me see the importance that my prayers should have, mainly focusing on vindicating the name of Jehovah and leaving my problems and personal matters in second place.

Psalm 82:4. Speaks of something that Jehovah asks of us, which is to care for the disadvantaged and in order to imitate Jehovah and develop qualities that move us to care for the disadvantaged we can ask in prayer because sometimes it can happen that we focus on our own problems, but in this case Jehovah tells us not to look at the other, developing qualities such as empathy in putting ourselves in the place of the other in their feelings will drive us to want to help them, and the desire, compassion, the desire to help will drive us to move mercy, and mercy is the practice we can be kind, we can assist them and in this way not only will Jehovah be happy but we will be happy because Matthew 5: 7 says happy are those who are merciful, not only will we be happy but also Jehovah will reward us with blessings and will be merciful to us.

Psalm 84:1. It is very brief, it says how beautiful is your great tabernacle, O Jehovah of hosts, and one sees this Levite contemplating the place and that made his love for his service really grow. This made me think how important it is that we also enjoy when we get to the hall in the assembly in the activity if we have the possibility to visit Bethel, also look at them and recognize that the whole arrangement is beautiful and that we are part of it, that will help us to continue remaining faithful.

Psalm Chapter 83. In the first verses it shows how the Psalmist asks for help from Jehovah and in verse 3 he recognizes that with cunning they conspire against the people of Jehovah, that makes me see that today the same thing happens Satan uses his henchmen so to speak so that with cunning they want to trap us with companies with entertainment that are not pleasant and this teaches me the good thing about taking care of our spirituality and also doing as the psalmist did ask for help from Jehovah through prayer so that we can be perceptive and not fall into that trap.

Psalm 82:2. This verse also indicates that Jehovah observes and does not approve of injustices. Those who abuse their power and judge with injustice are acting against Jehovah's will and will face the consequences.

Christians are brave not because we trust in ourselves but because we have met Jehovah and we rely on him and for that, meetings are a help, that is why I agree with the psalmist in Psalm 84:2, where he says that he longed for this, I must also strive not to cultivate this desire to not miss his instruction and that will help me to face the problems that one may have with courage. 

Psalm 83:1. This verse shows the importance of sincere and fervent prayer. The psalmist not only asks for help, but does so urgently, asking God to act immediately. This encourages us to pray intensely and have the conviction that when we face trials and challenges we must always seek Jehovah's guidance through prayer.

Psalm 83:2. The arrogance of those who oppose Jehovah may make them appear powerful and self-confident, but their confidence is deceptive, for they do not have Jehovah's backing. This teaches us not to fear the arrogance of the wicked, but to trust in Jehovah's justice and power.

I like Psalm 84:10, which says that one day in the courts of the Lord is better than a thousand elsewhere, this teaches me how important it is to value this privilege that we have to be a guest in the tent of Jehovah and to be able to participate in the meetings, it teaches me how important it is not to neglect coming to the meetings, not to neglect going to the preaching since we are few privileged ones that Jehovah gave us this opportunity to be part of his people, so it taught me how important it is to continue striving day after day to be able to strengthen my friendship with Jehovah and to be able to rejoice his heart. 

Psalms 83:9,10. The psalmist asks Jehovah to defend his people as he has done before, which reflects the confidence of God's servants that he will always intervene on their behalf. Jehovah does not change, just as he defended his people in the past, he will continue to do so, and this gives us great encouragement.

Psalm 83:18. Recognizing that Jehovah is the only one, that he is the most high, implies that he alone deserves our worship and devotion. This verse encourages us to turn away from any form of idolatry or false worship and to dedicate our worship exclusively to Jehovah. Psalm 84:3. Birds depend on their nest to protect their young, and in a similar way we depend on Jehovah to take care of us and our loved ones. The verse reminds us that our relationship with God must be one of total trust and dependence, knowing that he provides everything we need.

Psalm 84:5. This verse also teaches that true happiness and satisfaction are found when our life is centered on Jehovah, living in his house and praising him continually, is a life in which God takes first place and that brings true joy and happiness.

Psalm 84:5. The first part of the verse emphasizes that those who find their strength in Jehovah are happy. This teaches us that our true source of strength does not come from ourselves, but from trusting in Jehovah. When we face challenges, remembering that our strength comes from him helps us maintain peace and joy.

Psalm 84:1 says how beautiful is your great tabernacle and verse 10 says for one day in your courts is better than a thousand in any other place, those were the words of a Levite who had a great appreciation for the place of worship of Jehovah and he enjoyed the company of God's servants, so that is a good example for us too.

Psalm 84:8-11. The psalmist mentions that Jehovah was his shield that is our shield, well if we stop to think we can imagine several ways in which Jehovah can be a shield practically like for us for example against the attacks of Satan against the great tribulation that he comes to see, however if we stop to think Jehovah is a shield indirectly for us, serving him as Christians makes that daily there are even times that without us wanting to we stop doing things that we would do if we were not witnesses and although these things at first seem more fun than what we do, they can bring us problems that he takes away from us that are problems that Jehovah takes away from us by being our shield.

Psalm 83:13. It tells us about dry thistles and in the book of insight it says about the thistle that since its seeds are scattered by the wind, they develop easily in abandoned and desolate areas and we also see that Jesus Christ mentioned thistles when he illustrated that people, like plants, are recognized by their fruits, that is, by their good works when listening to the divine teachings of Jehovah and keeping his commandments.

Psalm 84:5. The psalmist expresses that the happiness of man is in the strength of Jehovah, this teaches me the importance of walking in his ways with a complete heart, trusting and depending 100% on his strength so I can overcome any obstacle that seems insurmountable because trusting in our own strength, energies and possibilities sometimes means that we do not need our creator and that will bring us a meaningless life.

Psalms 84:11. If we have an illness we can be sure that Jehovah knows what we are going through, we have to pray to him and ask for his help in an appropriate way, also looking for good words from God in the Bible will encourage us a lot, so our creator loves us very much.

Psalm 83:18 reminds me of the importance of knowing and using Jehovah's name in our worship and the importance of making his name known through preaching.

Psalm 84:12 says, O Lord of hosts, happy is the man who trusts in you, this psalm gives us a guarantee that if we put our trust in Jehovah at any time under any circumstance we will become happy, so trusting in Jehovah is synonymous with happiness.

Psalm Chapter 84, is the heading when it says about the sons of Korah, this Korea is the one who was killed for his rebellion against Moses, then what happened to his children because it seems that they did not follow the example of their father and Jehovah privileged them for that reason to be able to serve in the temple courtyards that is what it teaches us is that sometimes that parents or people we consider responsible give us bad examples does not mean that we have to follow them, if we want to serve Jehovah Jehovah will help us to move forward.

Psalm 82:3. Here it speaks of that we have to take the initiative in defending the disadvantaged, we live in a society in which everyone will be smart and sometimes we see calamities around us and perhaps we can have the tendency to close our eyes, within the congregation the same thing can happen, it can happen that there are brothers with favored situations who do not ask for help, then here it clearly mentions that defending is an imperative we are asked to do it therefore this text reminds us that Jehovah is a God who takes the initiative to defend the disadvantaged therefore let us not forget what Jehovah expects of us.

Psalm 83. It paints a picture that at first glance seems terrifying because it shows many nations willing to attack Israel, when this happened seems to have been during the time of Jehoshaphat's reign when several peoples who lived around the Israelites attacked them but Jehovah sent a Levite to give the Israelites an encouraging message, this Levite seems to have been a descendant of Asaph so perhaps he was the one who wrote this psalm, and it is interesting because we know what the answer to this prayer was, which was that Jehovah destroyed all those who tried to destroy true worship.

Psalm 83:18. We find one of the texts that when we study the Bible we learn if not the first one which is Matthew 24:14 perhaps the second one which is that the name of God is Jehovah, but when we read it in context we understand that it is not simply learning a name like who is the king of Spain but knowing that Jehovah has a name and that he is the Almighty implies that he will vindicate his sovereignty and sanctify his name when he destroys his enemies.

Psalm 82:6. It is further proof that Jesus knew the scriptures very well when he is saying here you are gods are words that many years later Jesus used when he was accused of calling himself the son of God, this shows us why logically Jesus knew the scriptures we should also familiarize ourselves and know them well because it is the word of our father.

Psalm 83:18 says that Jehovah is the most important person that exists, so we will have to ask ourselves if he is really the most important person for us. We will not demonstrate that by the decisions we make, but if we really put him first, we will demonstrate it in our daily lives and also in the important things in our lives.

Psalm 82:2. It asks a question and says how long will you continue to judge with injustice and show favoritism to the wicked? Here we see that favoritism is a form of partiality and the reference in this text takes us to Second Chronicles 19:7 where it says be careful what you do because Jehovah our God does not tolerate injustice or partiality, so we should be careful if in some way we notice both in our ministry and in the congregation we are partial or show favoritism perhaps avoiding preaching to people of other nationalities or races and if that were the case we should readjust this matter and correct it as soon as possible and thus properly imitate Jehovah.

Psalm 83:6. Here we see that the animosity that Ishmael harbored against Isaac must have been transmitted to his descendants to the point of hating the god of Isaac, since the psalmist Saph includes the Ishmaelites among those who intensely hate Jehovah, although there were exceptions or the vile one who is called an Ishmaelite was in charge of supervising the camels of King David himself.

Psalm 83:16. It says that He will cover the faces of those who dishonor so that others seek the name of Jehovah. Good in many countries they tried to eliminate Jehovah's people, they were dishonored and the firm stance of our brothers to remain loyal and faithful to Jehovah has helped others to be able to know Jehovah, who have also embraced the truth.

Psalm 84:11. There the psalmist appreciated the kind of God that Jehovah is that Jehovah gives an abundance of blessings to those who put their trust in him and something that must be highlighted is that Jehovah never disappoints us but we always enjoy true happiness, this encourages me to harmonize my actions with the thoughts expressed by this psalmist and continue experiencing the happiness that comes from having Jehovah as our God.

Psalm 83:1-3. There we see that the psalmist was worried about his family and their safety, but he put that aside and focused his attention on the reproach caused to the name of Jehovah and the threats to his people. He strove to defend the name of Jehovah. If that helps me to imitate him in staying busy in going to know the name of Jehovah to all people, to sanctify his name and that they also come to know him and understand that Jehovah is good and loving.

Psalm 84:11. It says that Jehovah God is the Sun, what does this refer to? That is the source of dynamic energy, it is the light and it is endless like the sun. As long as it is a day that is not cloudy we always see the sun, that is why verse 12 says that we can trust him completely for his energy, for his capacity and that makes us fully trust in his promises.

Psalms 83:18. There Jehovah tells us I am the most high over all, so we live in a world plagued by many gods people have their gods but here in this psalm Jehovah says I am Jehovah and I am the most high over the entire universe, then we to me that text gives me a lot of confidence because the name of Jehovah involves many things we know what it means I will turn out to be what I will turn out to be then life is also involved Romans 10:13 says everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will be saved and that is the guarantee that gives us being bearers of his name.

Psalm 83:18. Where it says that Jehovah will be most high, in verse 13 the psalmist was talking about the enemies of God how they cunningly conspire secretly against his people and against his protected, then from verse 4 to 17 the psalmist asks Jehovah what he wants him to do to those enemies, already in verse 18 he clarifies so that people know that your name is Jehovah, that will always take me back to the war of Armageddon at that time also Gog of Magog will conspire against his people, we Jehovah's Witnesses but then Jehovah will rise up and everyone will know that the Most High is him.