I won’t often take time to do word studies for this blog, except that the distinction between unrighteous people as in Psalm 1:1 was the subject of a conversation we had just last week at church! The word choices in the original Hebrew are interesting, given the warnings in this psalm. The blessed one, who is firmly rooted like a tree, bearing fruit reliably, does not conduct himself according to the ways of the ungodly, those who are morally wrong and actively bad, who are contrasted with the righteous. They are compared to sinners, one who sins habitually, in whose ways the blessed one does not stand. Mockers are those who are proud, whom God sees as fools; the blessed one does not lounge in such company. So whose ways do you follow today? If the examples you set before yourself are from Hollywood or Wall Street, you are not building a firm root system and will not be fruitful as God intends for you to be.
Psalm 22 directs us to Jesus because the first lines are words He cried out while suffering on the cross, and the psalm is quoted several times in reference to His anguish. The opening question is a common question suffering people ask of God: where are you in the midst of my suffering? The answer to that question is that He is in the same place He was when His beloved Son was suffering on the cross. Was He helpless or distant or uncaring in the midst of Jesus’ suffering? What if He had intervened to cut it short? Then He would not have died for the redemption of our sins, nor would He have risen again to overcome sin. He would have come to earth for nothing! What a sad waste. But happily, the Father did not prevent the completion of Jesus’ work on the cross. This psalm reminds us how perfect God is, even when we suffer; He won’t mess up by letting us suffer one minute longer than we have to, and He will go with us to help us and give us everything we need for life and godliness so that we will get through it. He will be with us as we emerge from the suffering, a refined soul and hopefully more devoted to Him. Isn’t the truth of this psalm a great help in difficult times?
Psalm 24 speaks powerfully of that which has imprisoned us so that we have no hope of freedom. Ancient doors speak of something that has been immovably in place since before anyone can remember – it has always been this way. Do you have a sin issue in your life that has been there so long that you don’t think you could ever be free? Or a wound from sin that has been handed down from previous generations so that you can’t comprehend that there even exists healing for it? How does an ancient door move? Not very well. But in God’s presence, for the sake of His entrance, that door will open itself. That’s power. That’s the power God has to apply to your seemingly immovable door that keeps you imprisoned. If there is a matter you need Him to open, please don’t hesitate to ask Him to do what is needed. He wants to be your rescuer! If you have experienced the freedom He gives, please don’t hesitate to praise Him for what He has done for you.