Yesterday’s Word of the Day was “Abide”.

Taken from a favourite song (especially for Marked By Love to sing…) verse one of “Take Time To Be Holy” reads:

Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.
Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak,
Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.

(Side note: I love how “seek” turns up here to tie in with the previous word of the day.)

This is a good start because this is where we’re at and what I’ve had to return to in a very intentional way.

To abide means to remain or to dwell… to stay, to rest.

Psalm 15:1 (KJV) asks “Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?”  The NIV presents it as “… who may dwell…?”

Then there is a list… we like our lists… we use 1 Corinthians 13 (the love chapter) as a checklist, as well as the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians, and bunch of others, but I’ve never noticed the use of this one before.  Compiled from verses 2-5 (NIV) in Psalm 15:

Who may dwell?

• their walk is blameless
• they do what is righteous
• they speak truth from their own hearts
• there is no slander on their tongues
• they do their neighbour no wrong
• they cast no slur on their fellowman
• they despise the vile but honour those who fear the Lord
• they keep their oaths, EVEN WHEN IT HURTS  (djh: i loved that part… jumped out at me…)
• they lend money without usury (that is, ridiculously or illegal interest rates)
• they accept no bribes against the innocent

Who does these things shall never be shaken.

Hmm.

So, when we flip over to Psalm 61:4 (KJV) and read “I will abide in thy tabernacle forever; I will trust in the covert of thy wings” we are making our choices to abide and trust and deciding to go with that checklist above.

I found that interesting to consider and worth checking myself against much more frequently.  To stay in the tabernacle, God’s presence, we have to quite simply be holy.  Still not a popular enough concept, even in our churches.

Anyway, here is the Scripture passage dump.  Make special note of the verses from Jeremiah.  These also jumped out at me.  And I’m always happy to hear your verses and thoughts.

Psalm 15:1 (KJV)

1 Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?

Psalm 15:1-5 (NIV)

1 LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary?
Who may live on your holy hill?

2 He whose walk is blameless
and who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from his heart

3 and has no slander on his tongue,
who does his neighbor no wrong
and casts no slur on his fellowman,

4 who despises a vile man
but honors those who fear the LORD,
who keeps his oath
even when it hurts,

5 who lends his money without usury
and does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things
will never be shaken.

Psalm 61:4 (KJV)

4 I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.

Psalm 91:1 (KJV)

1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

Jeremiah 42:10 (KJV)

10 If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you.

Jeremiah 42:10-12 (NIV)

10 ‘If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I am grieved over the disaster I have inflicted on you. 11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him, declares the LORD, for I am with you and will save you and deliver you from his hands. 12 I will show you compassion so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.’

John 14:15-16 (KJV)

15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

John 15:4-10 (KJV)

4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

Philippians 1:24-25 (KJV)

24 Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.

25 And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;

1 John 3:23-28 (KJV)

23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.

24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

Long story short – right now I am on a journey where I am getting to know God better by diving into the Bible in search of a word.

At first I wasn’t sure if I would share this journey publicly.  Then I decided it would be a good exercise in accountability to be sure I do this for a few weeks at least.  And perhaps hear from others various verses and thoughts that I might otherwise miss.

So, I’m calling it my WOTD – Word of the Day.

Yesterday’s word was “SEEK”.  (And the sub-word ended up being “heart.”)

And the result of that search for me?

1 Chronicles 16:8-11 (NIV)

⁸ Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.

⁹ Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.

¹⁰ Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

¹¹ Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.

1 Chronicles 22:19a (NIV)

¹⁹ Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the LORD your God.

Psalm 24:4-6 (NIV)

⁴ He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear by what is false.

⁵ He will receive blessing from the LORD
and vindication from God his Savior.

⁶ Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek your face, O God of Jacob.

Psalm 27:8 (NIV)

⁸ My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”
Your face, LORD, I will seek.

Psalm 69:30-32 (NIV)

³⁰ I will praise God’s name in song
and glorify him with thanksgiving.

…

^32b you who seek God, may your hearts live!

Psalm 105:4 (NIV)

⁴ Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.

Isaiah 26:9a (NLT)

^9a All night long I search for you;
in the morning I earnestly seek for God.

Isaiah 55:6 (NIV)

⁶ Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.

Hosea 10:12 (NIV)

¹² Sow for yourselves righteousness,
reap the fruit of unfailing love,
and break up your unplowed ground;
for it is time to seek the LORD,
until he comes
and showers righteousness on you.

Zephaniah 2:3a (NIV)

³ Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land,
you who do what he commands.
Seek righteousness, seek humility…

Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV)

⁷Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)

⁶And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.