David Said, "I Have Become like a Bottle in the Smoke."
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About this ebook
There is a statement which suddenly appears from an otherwise nondescript grouping of Scriptures, demanding our full attention. The phrase "For I am become like a bottle in the smoke," causes my inquisitive nature to salivate, hungering for the truth that is hidden from view at the moment. Join me as we partake of this revealed manna that capitvates the senses and refreshes the spirit!
Dr. Martin G Tharp PhD
Dr. Martin Tharp has been an avid student of the Bible for many years and holds a Bachelor, Master and eight Doctorates, one honorary and seven earned, including a Doctor. of Literature and two PhDs. He has been in full time ministry for over fifty-seven years and has authored forty-nine books to date, many of which are being used as curriculum in Bible colleges around the United States and abroad. He has also penned a number of gospel songs and recorded thirty-three albums as well as being actively involved in a school ministry to Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom for the past thirty-eight years, and Dr. Tharp has been honored twice by members of parliament in Ireland for their work in the Protestant and Catholic schools. He and his wife, Sharon, along with Maranda Howells, travel extensively across the USA and the whole of the British Isles holding evangelistic crusades in the churches of both countries.
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David Said, "I Have Become like a Bottle in the Smoke." - Dr. Martin G Tharp PhD
A Bottle
In The Smoke
By Martin G. Tharp Ph.D.
Copyright 2013 Martin Tharp Ph.D.
Smashwords edition
Smashwords Edition, License Notes; This ebook is licensed for your own personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.. Scripture quotations identified KJV are from the Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible, King James Version. Copyright 1984, 1991 by AMG International, INC and the Living Bible Copyright 1971,1986 by Tyndale House Publishers INC
Dedication
To Sharon Jean, my beautiful wife, the love of my life, my strong right arm, the apple of our children’s eye and my reason for loving every minute of every day which the Lord has granted me on this side of Heaven, thank you for forty wonderful years!
NOW, WILL YOU FIX ME ANOTHER CUP OF COFFEE?
Table of Contents
1. The Bottle
2. The Water
3. The Oil
4. Enlarge My Borders
5. Position
6. Stigma
7. The Barrier
8. LIKE
A Bottle In The Smoke
Study Questions
About The Author
Introduction
One of the beauties of indulging in Biblical studies is the surprises which suddenly jump out at you after you have read that same scripture on numerous occasions. At times it is a very frustrating feeling when a new revelation leaps off the page at you, and yet you have been over that same ground continually without feeling a single tremor of excitement, or seeing I single prism of light breaking through the mysterious shroud which seems to prevent the discovery of the revelation which is hidden there.
I have often wondered what criteria God uses to decide when to open our eyes to speak new life into old truths. When I get to heaven I would sincerely like to have the answer as to why some of these revelations didn’t come to me when I was twenty five and desperately seeking solutions to a myriad of Biblical conundrums.
The Psalms has always intrigued me, therefore I have spent an inordinate amount of time studying them line by line. The life of David from any source is a fascinating study. To try and mine every vein in the mother lode which the scriptures offer on the subject, is an insurmountable task, and yet at the least expected moment a prism of light will draw you toward a veritable treasure chest, radiating with the precious luminescence of truth!
For me, the statement which suddenly appears from an otherwise nondescript grouping of scriptures, literally demands our full attention! The phrase;
For I am become like a bottle in the smoke,
caused my inquisitive nature to salivate, hungering for the truth that was hidden from view at that moment. The quest for the hidden manna which I was certain that single sentence contained, took me on a roller-coaster ride of discovery which has astounded me and quickened my senses!
What stirs and excites me, may not cause a single solitary twitch in you, but then, that’s what makes us unique. To be able to fully visualize the types, shadows, and prophetic adumbrations which this sentence evokes in my mind, has been a truly incredible experience!
Come with me into the realm of possibility, where some is born out of supposition, and some akin to the unearthing of a treasure unearthed on an archaeological dig. The life of David at the moment of which we speak, seems to have denigrated to a critical point in an otherwise illustrious career, where the oppressive behavior of his enemies provoked a sad lament which proceeded out of his mouth, opening wide the door of probability and demands our attention!
Chapter One
The Bottle
A Bottle in the Smoke
Lord fill me with thy precious nectar, flowing from the vine,
that I might be a vessel, fashioned by thine own design.
Perfect me in the fire, as the trials of life invade,
on tribulations journey, that’s how priests and kings are made.
To keep the fire burning, is it my responsibility?
which conscientious servant, has the power over me?
To raise me to the highest heights or, down a peg or two,
what ere my station in this life, I leave it Lord to you.
I cannot see the future tis oft clouded by the past,
may the contents of my vessel, become valuable at last.
Lord clarify my future, make my life your master stroke,
guard me from the dire fate of A Bottle in the Smoke.
But should my circumstances, find me in that dreadful place,
then wash me clean with water, that I may see your face.
Anoint me with thy Spirit, for the pain of it may bring,
a vessel fit for the Master’s use, worthy of my king.
Stretch me Lord and mold me, allow me just once more,
to find a place of value, by the fire, behind the door.
(By Marty Tharp)
"For I am become like a bottle in the smoke;" (Psalms 119:83a).
Probably the worst experience there is on earth is the feeling that you are unappreciated and unprofitable. David is describing a sense of worthlessness which is not of his own making. David has discovered that no matter how long you have done your best, there are still those who cannot see the value of the sacrifices you have made in order to carry on the most important work of all, accomplishing what God has designed for your life. The lament, which David puts pen to, is a confession of the damage which has been done to his mind, as the very people who once worshiped him as their king have now turned on him.
"Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: but I will meditate in thy precepts" (Psalms 119:78).
David states categorically that he is literally under siege, and without a cause! In other words, he has done nothing to deserve the treatment that he has received, or the feeling which is responsible for his mournful lament.
"How many are the days of thy servant? when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me? The proud have digged pits for me, which are not after thy law"( Psalms 119:84-85).
How much longer do I have to live? When will you execute judgment on my persecutors? Those are fair questions from a man who is in the midst of persecution by someone who has remained anonymous, yet the testimony of David against him is that it is not being done with the blessings of God, for it is contrary to the laws of God. If you have never discovered that persecution and slander often comes from within the family of God, then you have probably never been elevated to the position which would incur jealousy on the part of those who have a form of godliness but like David’s detractors, spend their time preparing pits for you to stumble into.
I discovered early in my married life that it doesn’t require an enemy that you have beaten to cause anguish or pain. My wife and I had been married just under two years when one evening at about 11P.M. the phone rang. We lived in Santa Cruz, California in a beautiful home nestled alongside the harbor, and we were laying in front of the fireplace listening to the stereo.
My wife’s mother was on the phone, angry and concerned about her daughter. They were in a convention in North Sacramento, a four hour drive away, she and my father-in-law had just heard a preacher that I had attended Bible College with tell over two hundred other ministers that he had just witnessed a very distressing sight!
An hour earlier he had just seen Marty Tharp come staggering out of a bar, with a lascivious, blond, young woman on his arm, smoking a cigar! And of course he was appalled! We were such good friends (I hardly knew him, we had a different set of friends in Bible college)! My wife’s mother insisted that Sharon come home right away before that no good husband came home. When my wife insisted that we had been enjoying a leisurely evening, and it was a physical impossibility for the man to have seen any such thing, her mother informed her:
"Sharon, you do not have to lie to protect Marty, that man couldn’t have been mistaken, he was less than five feet away, and he knows Marty well! If you want to come on home, dad and I understand"
Sharon just smiled and handed me the phone. When her mom heard my voice, she lost hers! I felt bad for her mother whose face must have turned crimson, I was certain that I could feel the glow on the phone 200 miles away as she apologized profusely. I must admit that if it had been a much shorter distance, I would have made a sudden appearance to face my detractor! Fortunately for the man who had blatantly lied, the convention ended that night.
I am certain that there are still several dozen ministers who have heard only one side of the story which seemed credible enough, and in their mind will always be the memory of the night that my good friend
caught me in a drunken stupor stepping out on my wife. Never mind that I have never smoked