SPECIAL PRÉCIS ON THE IPSO FACTO BIBLICAL CANON: BLESSINGS FOR THE OBEDIENT, CURSINGS FOR THE REBELLIOUS

SCRIPTURE. “My whole being follows hard after You and clings closely to You; Your right hand upholds me. But those who seek and demand my life to ruin and destroy it shall [themselves be destroyed and] go into the lower parts of the earth [into the underworld of the dead]. They shall be given over to the power of the sword; they shall be a prey for foxes and jackals.

But the king shall rejoice in God; everyone who swears by Him [that is, who binds himself by God’s authority, acknowledging His supremacy, and devoting himself to His glory and service alone; every such one] shall glory, for the mouths of those who speak lies shall be stopped.” – PSALM 63:8-11, AMPC

KEY TERMS:

• “FOLLOW HARD.” ‘Dabaq’ [דָּבְקָ֣ה]: “To cling to or adhere, to catch by fervent pursuit.” NOTE: “The Hebrew verb ‘dabaq’ primarily means to cling or adhere closely to something or someone. It conveys a sense of loyalty, attachment, or steadfastness. ‘In the context of relationships, it often implies a deep, committed bond, such as that between husband and wife or between individuals and God.’ The term can also refer to physical attachment or pursuit.”

• “OR FALL.” ‘Nagar’ [יַגִּירֻ֥הוּ]: “To be poured out or down, be delivered over to destruction, to be spilled like water upon the ground.” NOTE: “The Hebrew verb ‘nagar’ primarily conveys the action of flowing or pouring out, often used in the context of liquids such as water. It can also imply a sense of gushing forth or being poured out in abundance. ‘This term is used metaphorically in the Scriptures to describe the outpouring of emotions, blessings, or [as in this case], Divine Judgment.’”

QUOTATION. “A Blessed Man cannot be held captive by the forces of nature, witchcraft, or ancestral entanglements. He wars against them and brings them under his feet!” ― JULIE AIGBOKHAN, Blessed Beyond Measure, 2021; edited

COMMENTARY. “‘My soul followeth hard after Thee’ — Pursues Communion with Thee, and a Conformity to Thee, with earnest, increasing, and restless desire, lively expectation, and unwearied diligence: Follows Thee resolvedly, and, as it were, step by step, when Thou seemest to depart, and withdraw Thyself from me, as the Hebrew phrase here used implies. ‘My soul and spirit cleave, or adhere

to Thee’ (as the word דבקה, ‘dabekah,’is rendered, Genesis 2:24; Jeremiah 13:11, and elsewhere,) even when my body is absent from Thy sanctuary. ‘Thy right hand upholdeth me’ —Supports and preserves me from sinking under the many trials and troubles which have lain, and still lie, heavy upon me; and upholds me in my devotions, maintaining holy desires in my heart, and preventing my being weary in Thy service: So that I do not lose my labour in following hard after Thee.

‘Let us always remember we should fail and be weary of following the Lord, and certainly should not follow Him fully, if His right hand did not uphold us.’ It is He that strengthens us in the pursuit of Himself, that raises and supports good affections in us, and encourages and comforts us, while we are labouring after what we have not yet attained. It is by His Power that we are kept from falling, and enabled to persevere in His Ways.

Let Him therefore have the praise and glory!

‘But those that seek my soul,’ &c. — That seek to take away my life; ‘shall go into the lower parts of the earth’ — Into the grave; and, IF they repent not, into Hell. God shall cut them off, and send them to their own place. Their Enmity to David, and Opposition to the Counsel of God respecting Him, He foresaw would be their Death and their Damnation, their Ruin and their Eternal Ruin. ‘They shall fall by the sword’ —Shall die in battle, as He foretold 1 Samuel 26:10, and as was accomplished in Saul and his followers, who were David’s greatest enemies. ‘They shall be a portion for foxes’ —The carcasses of some of them shall lie unburied upon the earth, and thereby shall become a prey to wild and ravenous beasts, and especially to foxes, which abounded in those parts.” – JOSEPH BENSON, Notes on the Holy Bible, 5 vols., 1811-1818; edited

DK’S TAKE. If you listen very carefully, you will discern a Great Groan in me as I write these words, and a much ‘Greater Groan’ from the very heart of the Father that His Church has largely rejected these truths. And, thereby, Him.

We no longer believer that Disobedience shall reap us a Harvest of Shame and Death, or that Obedience as a difficult discipline shall reap us His Cover and Approval. That Ol’ Timey Religion is quite out of sync with the ‘New American Gospel of Self-Aggrandizement’ wherein the Lord is the Dispenser of Blessings to those who pay lip service to His sacred Name and run the Path of HyperGrace deceptions of demons.

So, no harangue today, beloved. Only this simple, timeless DOCTRINAL ALGORITHM: ‘Love Jesus Christ with all your heart and all your mind and all your life and live; or Refuse that First Commandment, and die’ (Matthew 22:37).

This is the Way of the Lord God of Hosts, my friends. It has always been this Way, neither shall it change even as we move toward Eternity Itself. Selah.