Hi Pastor John. 

I really enjoyed reading your translation of ​Psalm 19.  God’s creation (​“the heavens”)​ are still talking to us about our Creator.  ​He “made a home for the sun”.  It really touches me,​ knowing that H​e made a home for us when we didn’t have a home.  ​I am very grateful to be here.  I loved the part where the Psalmist is telling us what the commandments, precepts, testimonies, and fear are about.  This little Psalm has really blessed my heart – God loves us!  It really takes the holy Ghost to help us understand just how much.

Thank you, ​and all the translators who work with you!

Billy​

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​Hi Billy.

Here is the Psalm for those who have not seen our translation.

Pastor John 

Psalm 19
For the chief musician.
A melody by David. 

¶1. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament displays the work of His hands.
2. Day after day pours forth speech, and night after night declares understanding.
3. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
4. Their line goes out over all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.  Among them, He has made a home for the sun,
5. which, like a bride-groom coming out of his chamber, rejoices like a mighty man about to run a race.
6. His going forth is from the end of heaven, and his circuit to the ends of it, and nothing is hidden from his heat.
7. The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul.  The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
8. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.  The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.  The judgments of the Lord are true; they are altogether righteous.
10. They are more to be desired than gold, even than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
11. Moreover, by them is your servant warned, and in keeping them, there is great reward.
12. Who can know his errors?  Hold me guiltless for hidden things!
13. And keep your servant from presumptuous sins so that they will not have dominion over me!  Then will I be perfect, and innocent of the great transgression.
14. Let the words of my mouth, and meditation of my heart be acceptable before you, O Jehovah, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Pastor John, 

My family and I read Psalm 19 this morning.  Our few comments as we looked at KJV in parallel are below:

 • 19:6 – We thought the KJV showed the sun rising from one end of heaven to the other in it’s circuit a little clearer.  “circuit to their ends” was a little hard to follow.

• 19:12 – The KJV says “secret faults” and your new translation uses “hidden things.”  Hidden things made me think of something outside of David.

Thanks,

Jason

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Hi Jason,

Thank you so much!  We cannot produce the kind of translation we would like to produce without input from others who read what we have done.  So, thanks again for your comments. 

I usually edit our translations after we all have read them.  This is how I edited Psalm 19:6 after I sent it out for everybody to read: 

“His going forth is from the end of heaven, and his circuit to the ends of it, and nothing is hidden from his heat.”

 As for 19:12, the problem for us was that the Hebrew word for “fault” is not in the text.  However, after you mentioned this, I looked at it again, and I think we would be justified in saying that David was referring again to the “errors” which he mentioned in the first half of the verse.  It would mean something like this:  “Who can know his errors?  Hold me guiltless for hidden ones [that is, for my errors that are hidden from me]!” 

With that in mind, I have now edited verse 12 thus: 

12. Who can know his errors?  Hold me guiltless for hidden faults!

I like that translation better, and again, I thank you for the comments.

Pastor John

Hi Pastor John.         

I felt so safe during the meeting last night.  I feel I’m protected by a Pastor who loves me and fears God.  I love it when you “mean” it.

Billy M.

Pastor John, 

Wednesday evening we had the opportunity to hear our brother recount his testimony of how, just a year ago, he had made the decision to put his name on a list to possibly go through a tough medical procedure in the coming future.  He told us all then, that he was hoping God would help him by some other means, but that he had made the choice to be on that list…just in case.

The Spirit spoke to me during that time a year ago, and then repeated it again tonight, as our brother recounted his story. The Lord let me know that, that decision which our brother made, to make himself available for whatever God might do, was the behavior of a “wise virgin”.  And then, the Lord added this tonight:

A foolish virgin says in his heart, “God wouldn’t …(     )”

We can insert anything within the parentheses!

As you have told us for years, Pastor John, God is God, and those who are wise among his family, live in a manner that demonstrates their understanding that God is free to do anything He wants to do!

Jerry

Bro John,

What you said today after Colleen’s testimony was so good. You said just because Jesus doesn’t do something that we pray for doesn’t always mean that we didn’t have enough faith to believe it to be done.  I never thought about it like that.  Another simple truth that makes us know God more!

Natalie

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Hi Natalie,

Sometimes what we pray for just isn’t in God’s plan for us.  After all, the apostle Paul prayed three times for his “thorn in the flesh” to be removed, but God turned him down.

It is good to know that every time the Spirit prays through us, it is praying for something that IS in God’s plan for us.  That is why Paul and the other apostles exhorted the saints to pray in the Spirit.

Thank you for the comment.

Pastor John

Pastor John, 

I want to tell about something that has stood out to me from this morning’s reading.

In the last paragraph on page 8, you stated, “When Jesus sent messages to the seven messengers, or pastors, of the seven remaining assemblies in Asia, he sent them to men who were pastors in God’s sight over groups who were Assemblies of believers in God’s sight.  He sent no messages to the many assemblies in the province of Asia who had forsaken Paul and turned from the Faith”. 

After reading this, I realized that a message from God, hearing from God, was evidence that God was with a group of believers.

It is apparent that God did not immediately destroy those groups of saints that had “forsaken Paul and turned from the Faith.”  And it appears that God did not put a stumbling block in the way of their gathering in the name of his son Jesus.  But what He did do was cease from communicating words of Life to them, His words: instruction to their souls that would lead them to the salvation that only God can give.

God becoming quiet was a death sentence imposed upon those saints that had turned away from Paul.  For without hearing from God, how could they possibly please Him? 

Many years ago, there was a man that was a part of this work in the Lord.  He then left it (and us) to go his own way.  When he left, he left with all of the knowledge and all of the understanding that we had been blessed with, up to that point.  He understood when a person is born again, and when and where the sacrifice of Christ occurred. He knew that there has only ever been one baptism (baptism of Spirit) for us Gentiles, and he understood that “he who endures to the end…shall be saved”.  He left our little group of saints understanding and confessing these revelations that had been given to you, Pastor John, and to your father, preacher Clark, by God.  And the man hasn’t moved forward from that place in all of these 20 plus years.  I have seen his work in the Lord, as it is available on the internet.  He is in the same place of understanding now that we all were then, when he forsook us two decades ago.  But God is still speaking to His people!  And He has been speaking all this time!

Immense growth has taken place.  More truth from God is known, more revelations have been given, more of God’s heart revealed.  Where are these things in that man’s work?

The bread that we were given 25 years ago was perfect, but God has fed his people everyday since then.  Won’t we be required to answer to God for not having a belly full of that bread on judgment day?

I understand better now what you mean, brother John, when you say that we will never stop growing in the knowledge of God. And that we are either moving forward or we are backsliding; there is no “sitting still”, as God is always moving us forward by his word; he is always feeding us and speaking to us if he is indeed still with us.

Hearing from God is not an option; it is Life.  It is the New Covenant!  We cannot be saved without it, all the way to the end.

I looked up those 7 messages to the 7 pastors of the congregations.  Not one of those messages from God is for the purpose of saying, “I am finished with you, and you are without hope.”  Every message is to encourage the pastor there to steer his congregation back into the perfect and available will of God. 

How blessed are we that we are really hearing from the Lord? What does it mean that God is still communicating with our little portion of the body of Christ?  We have hope!  God is with us!   To communicate correction or to communicate praise, either way, He is communicating with us! 

It makes me think that a man should run to wherever the word of God is most abundant, and flee from where it is not.  And in any case, he should get still and do nothing – save for repenting and praying if God was speaking and has gotten quiet.

Jerry