Third time through

I am excited about starting Psalms again.  Even reading it the 2nd time through increased my understanding and helped me to relate to things I had read the 1st time.  So I am looking forward to what God has for me this 3rd time.  Last month I especially noted the words "Shame," "Meditate," and "Light."  This month I want to see what God says about "Hope."  It encourages me to know that many others are reading through Psalms with me and that perhaps God is speaking to us about the same things.

Joyce

Special, Seen, & Sent

Today's reading (Friday, June 30th) reminds me how loved and special we are. To be told in Ps.139:17 "How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered", is quite sobering. Really, the likes of me?? Yes...that's our Abba. And, when I struggle at times in those evening hours, tempted to succumb to the enemy's lies, feeling alone in the blackness, He reassures me in vs.12 "there is no difference to you, darkness and light are the same"...I am always seen! You are always with me." When I am overwhelmed like the psalmist in 142:3, "You alone know the way I should go." "Your Spirit leads me forward on a firm footing!" What a glorious way to be sent. Thanks, Jesus...you are worth loving for countless reasons!!!

Covenant Singing

God as a covenant making and covenant keeping God is a truth at the heart of Psalm 105.  The psalmist begins with an invitation to praise and give thanks to God for his wondrous works (Ps. 105:1-4) followed by an admonition to remember God's "wondrous works, his miracles, and the judgements he has uttered" (Ps. 105:5-6).

Which wondrous, miraculous works elicit this response in the psalmist and his readers?  Specifically, the psalmist calls our attention to God's making with Abraham (Ps. 105:7-11) and his covenant keeping with all subsequent generations.

The psalmist goes on to chronicle God's faithfulness to his covenant and covenant people through the time of the patriarchs sojourning (Ps 105:12-15), through famine when God sent Joseph ahead (in chains) to Egypt to provide for his family (Ps 105:16-22),  through their centuries of slavery (Ps. 105:23-24), by delivering them out of Egypt (Ps 105:26-42), and to their conquest and possession of the land (Ps 105:43-44). 

Two things stand out to me as particularly noteworthy in this psalm. First, this covenant - God's covenant with Abraham - is absolutely fundamental to Israel's identity. All history, all subsequent covenant are subsumed in this one. The Exodus is certainly the pinnacle of God's redemptive activity in Israel's history; however, verse 40 reminds us that this was God keeping his covenant promises to Abraham. This is Israelite history telling, and it's thoroughly covenantal. God's acts flow from his character as a covenant making and covenant keeping God. This history, this unique relationship with God as his covenant people, defined who Israel was...and it should define who we are too. This isn't just Israel's story, it's ours too. The Old Testament is Christian Scripture also, not just back-story.

Second, the intended response of the reader is important to notice - praise & obedience. Praise comes in the beginning and at the end (Psalm 105:1-6, 45). It struck me that the Psalm calls us to remember all God's wondrous deeds but the focus isn't on 'what God has done for me lately' but on God's redemptive acts in long ago history. Certainly both are called for, but maybe more weight should be given to recounting God's story in our witness, not just our story. The psalmist also expects his readers to respond with obedience. God has done all these things "that they might keep his statutes and observe his laws." 

It's important to note that obedience was not the basis of the covenant, but was expected to be the result of living in covenant with God. This too is important for us - works have no part in establishing our relationship with God (at least, not our own works), but works are expected of God's covenantal people. Ephesians 2:8-10 make this abundantly clear from a NT perspective.

Remember...praise...obey.
- Dan

Tears in a Bottle

I can so relate to all the drama in this precious book.  It makes me feel less pathetic, and being a girl I especially appreciate that I belong to a God that cares so deeply. 

As I read through 86 today and praised Him for being a God who "bends down" to hear me, who protects, saves, shows mercy, forgives, gives me happiness and is full of unfailing love for me I smile.  And, I remember that in Psalm 56:8 my God "collects all my tears in a bottle", and "records each of my sorrows in a book"....that matters to me, I'm a girl after all, I tend to cry a lot so, to be reminded that my God loves me that much restores my hope amidst my drama. 

"No pagan god is like you, O Lord. None can do what you do!" Ps. 86:8

Roseanna

YOU!

 I am really enjoying reading the Psalms and emphasizing the word "You" as I read. 

For example, in today's Psalm 71, it makes a big difference in my thinking if I say, "In YOU, O Lord, I have taken refuge."  This puts the emphasis on God rather than the refuge. I don't look to anyone or anything else to be my refuge. 

Or, "For YOU have been my hope."  Nothing else or no one else is my hope.  Or, "My mouth will tell of YOUR righteousness." 

God's righteousness is where I look and what I speak about, not anyone or anything else.

Joyce Vanest

New Insights

Although I have read all the Psalms before, I am definitely gleaning more out of them this time around.  A lot of it has to do with Bob's messages on them the last two Sundays.  I have had to miss three of them, day 9,11 and 13, due to other problems but will catch up on them in due time.  God Bless,       Dick

Praise Evangelism

Psalm 62 is one I committed to memory a few years ago. It's one I wanted to have in my mental file when tough times roll in.

I don't recall noticing or paying attention to this before, but it struck me this time how the psalmist moves from personal reflection to corporate invitation. He has found God to be an anchor - a refuge, a rock, a fortress. He has experienced God's salvation. He praises his God for his strength and constancy...

Then he invites others to the peace and security he has experience in the LORD - "Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us."

The evangelistic appeal here is based on theological truths (who God is)  and personal experience (who God is to the psalmist). Both seem important in our appeals today.

And, as it appears in this psalm, the appeal to others flows naturally from the knowledge of God, both theological and experiential. Praise and worship are completed in the commendation of our God to others. Or, from a different angle, evangelism is just praising your God and Savior to others and inviting them to do the same. 

Praying for Enemies

I appreciate the volley of the writer between wishing vindication and justice poured out on his enemies and the rejoicing in God's salvation.

He prays fervently for the "malicious witnesses" in 13-14 and it reminds me of Jesus telling us to pray for our enemies.  How difficult that is when they continue to cause us hardship.  The psalmist is very believable when
he swings back to wishing destruction on the enemies.  I find it challenging to pray for malicious witnesses, but have learned to start first asking for wisdom in my own heart and to see them through God's eyes.

Only after addressing the evil within, do I feel free to ask God to help and bless them.  However, it is terribly hard to pray blessings upon someone who repeatedly wrongs me and other humanity around them.

Go to a Funeral

Reading Psalm 39:4-6 reminded me of a resolution Jonathan Edwards made as a young man: "Resolved, to think much on all occasions of my own dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death."

Sound morbid, but it's also wise and biblical. Consider Ecclesiastes 7:2, "It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart."

Pondering death reminds us of several vitally important truths. First, it reminds us of the fleeting nature of wealth - a point the psalmist makes in v. 6, "Surely for nothing they are in turmoil; man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather."  Once we've pondered the fleeting nature of material wealth, then we're ready to commit ourselves to "storing up treasures in heaven".

Second, thinking on death often helps us live well while we live. Each day is a gift from God and ought to be savored and enjoyed as such. That morbid Puritan Edwards also resolved "to live with all my might, while I do live."

Third, considering our death often compels us to focus on our relationship with the God who will judge (Hebrews 9:27).  This should call us to examine the genuineness of our faith in light of Scripture.

Our culture seems obsessed with avoiding the sad, the morbid, the depressing. But wisdom calls us to consider and prepare for it, and remind ourselves, as the psalmist did, that our "Hope is in You" (v.7).

Dan

Fight the Good Fight

In many of the Psalms, including Psalms 38-43, David fought against enemies within himself (sin and discouragement) and enemies outside of himself.

So it is with us too. We fight with our own sin and discouragement and the devil with his enticements and evil ways of thinking.

But God is using these struggles to strengthen our faith and conform us to His image even though it is often not a pleasant experience. And He has not left us without a way to fight the spiritual battle we
encounter daily.

As we remain "steadfast in the faith" (1 Peter 5:9) in obedience to the truth of God's Word, He helps us to resist the devil and live lives that bring Him glory and honor.

Logan Strawn

Love Your Enemies

The attitude that David shows towards his enemies in Psalm 35:12-14 is exactly the kind of attitude Jesus tells us we should have towards our enemies in Matthew 5:43-45:

"You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust."

David felt bad when his enemies returned evil to him for the good he had done to them. David mourned, fasted and prayed for his enemies when they were sick. David even mourned for them as one would mourn for his own mother.

This kind of love is amazing.

But it's the same kind of love God had towards us because we were all enemies of God at one time (Colossians 1:21).

May we remember to have this kind of love for our enemies knowing that God loved us even when we were His enemies.

Logan Strawn

Refuge

In Psalm 31:1-5, David prays,

In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
    let me never be put to shame;
    in your righteousness deliver me!
Incline your ear to me;
    rescue me speedily!
Be a rock of refuge for me,
    a strong fortress to save me!
For you are my rock and my fortress;
    and for your name's sake you lead me and guide me;
you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,
    for you are my refuge.
Into your hand I commit my spirit;
    you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.

Refuge, hiding place, fortress, rock. These pictures are frequent in the psalms. David got chased around by the murderous Saul and was run out of his kingdom by his son Absalom. For him, refuge was an escape from the spear or the sword, perhaps in a cave or in a neighboring kingdom. For me the idea of refuge is usually more abstract than it was for David, and in comparison, my trials seem trivial, except at the moment I'm going through them. But David learned where his real refuge was, and so must I.

Also, it's striking that the first part of v. 5, "Into your hand I commit my spirit", is what Christ quoted on the cross (Luke 23:46). Even for Christ, the ultimate refuge was the presence of the Father, though he had to pass through death to get there.

- Mark Notess

By Grace

Reading Psalm 32 helps me remember that Old Testament saints were saved by grace through faith just as we are now.

David committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband. The death penalty was required for both adultery and murder according to Mosaic Law.

But David admitted and confessed his sin after Nathan confronted him. God graciously forgave his sin, did not require the death penalty and "did not charge his account with iniquity." Instead, Christ's righteousness was credited to David's account.

In Romans 4, Paul quotes Psalm 32 to show that David, like us, was saved by grace through faith and not by keeping the law or earning God's favor.

Praise God for not giving us what we deserve and for graciously giving us Christ's righteousness.

Logan Strawn

Hidden Faults

Recently, I've been made aware of words such as "gosh," "doggone," and other similar phrases as being minced oaths or euphemisms for "God" and "God d---" respectively.

I have been using these phrases. But now that I know what they mean, I feel like I would be offending God and others who know their meaning if I were to continue using them. I would think that this is breaking the 3rd commandment, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain."

Maybe this is the kind of thing David is talking about in Psalm 19:12 when he says, "Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults."

I would think that me ignorantly using these euphemisms for God's name could be considered an error that I was not discerning or a "hidden fault" until I was made aware.

And yet, David is asking God in His mercy to declare him innocent of even hidden faults.

Praise God for His Word that reveals our sins and His abundant mercy in Christ's sacrifice to forgive us of those sins that we are not even aware of right now!

Logan Strawn

Law and It's Fulfillment

There's a lot about the "Law" in the psalms, and I've sometimes wondered what to do with that now that we are under grace. One thing I like to do is think about Christ as the fulfillment of the Law. For example, from this morning's reading, Psalm 19:7-10 is a meditation on the excellence of God's perfect law.

Like God's Law, Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of the Law, is perfect, sure, right, pure, clean, true, more desirable than gold, and sweeter than honey. And, like the Law but even more so, Jesus revives my soul, makes me wise, rejoices my heart, enlightens my eyes, endures forever, and is righteous altogether.

Mark Notess

I find a wonderful reminder in Psalm 20 that God uses ordinary means to do his work. The psalmist declares in v. 7 that "we trust in the name of the LORD" not in chariots and horses. Then, in v. 9, the psalmist pleads "O LORD, save the king! May he answer us when we call."

So, will the king answer and come to his people's aid, or will God? That false dichotomy is laid bare by this psalm - it is both. Sometimes God miraculously intervenes, other times he works through the ordinary processes of nature, politics, people, etc. In the end however, God is the sovereign, all-pervading cause and it is He who is to be trusted.

On Psalm 8

Insignificant yet infinitely significant.  Enough for the Creator to visit.  And die for us.

How many other piddly orbs has the Creator visited?

- M.R.

Start at the Beginning

If we're going to be journaling through the psalms, might as well start at Psalm 1. Actually, this is a great psalm to begin a summer with. Why? Because it calls us to consider and learn from nature. Not directly maybe, but at least indirectly. As a wisdom psalm, it asks us to consider how the righteous are like trees planted by a stream, and conversely, how the wicked are like chaff. Think about how many times the psalmists ask us to reflect on and learn from God's 'other book', the book of nature. This summer is a great time to be out and about, maybe with a journal, and just observe God's handiwork, listening for his voice. Enjoy!

Psalm 1:1 "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2  but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3  He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. 4  The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 5  Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6  for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish." (ESV)