Category: Psalms

Note in Psalm 50 whom God was judging and why He was judging them. What were they doing right, and what did God want them to do? Then note who the wicked were and what they were doing that offended God. What is God’s desire for His people, according to this psalm? There are some startling statements in this psalm that can instruct us.

God was speaking to His people: He called them “my people” and Himself their God. Yet He was testifying against them. They were offering animal sacrifices continually before Him, which, given all we read about in the Law, would seem to be a good thing; however, God refused to accept their sacrifices. Instead of their animal sacrifices, He preferred their sacrifices of thanksgiving, their faithfulness to do what they had committed to Him to do, and their calling upon Him in the day of trouble. It appears that they were going through the motions of worship with their sacrifices, but neglecting what would further their intimacy with God. The substitution was unacceptable to God. Do we do the same?

He called people wicked who knew His statutes so well they could recite them, and who talked about a covenant relationship with God. They were wicked because they despised discipline and were not obedient to His words, despite their knowledge of His word. They demonstrated their wickedness by whom they spent their time with and by speaking deceitfully and slanderously. Does this challenge you at all? Do you suppose God sees you as a wicked person despite your knowledge of His word and claim to enjoy relationship with Him?

Psalm 53 points out that everyone is corrupt. How we need saving from our own corruption! As we learned from the previous psalm, God wants us to call on Him in our desperate need for salvation, and then do what the resulting covenant relationship calls us to do. Have you called on Him? Have you fulfilled your commitment?

Psalm 60 was written by David during the battles we read about yesterday. The accounts in II Samuel and I Chronicles made them seem like a piece of cake, didn’t they? This psalm gives us a different view. Are the two contradictory? Not at all; it’s that the historical accounts didn’t give the full story, but a quick news byte telling the outcome of the battles. This psalm was written during the heat of battle when the situation was desperate. Even when God gave those victories, all was not ease for the Israelites. The hard battle felt like God’s rejection. But happily, that wasn’t the end of the story. We can grieve in the hard times, but we must remember that they are not the end of the story. That is the power of thanksgiving: it helps us remember, putting our current situation into perspective.

Psalm 75 offers God that thanksgiving He desires. There is a precious verse in this psalm worth noting and remembering: “When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants, it is I who keep steady its pillars.” Have you ever suffered a situation so difficult that it felt like your world had fallen apart? Or consider some of the awful things happening in this world that make it seem like it is falling apart. But God – He is steady. That is why He wants us to call upon Him in the day of trouble.

The horn spoken of in the psalm is a poetic reference to strength. There are different kinds of strength: physical strength, emotional strength, mental strength, positional strength…. Think about what this psalm says about horns in light of this.

We might be tempted to forget that the principles for which David praises God in these psalms are not promises, because we want to be able to claim them. Although we can’t claim these as promises, we can appeal to God on the basis of the principles He has demonstrated are generally true in His dealings with men historically. Aren’t we blessed that the principles He generally follows, and the characteristics He demonstrates fulfill the desires of our hearts?

Psalm 25 examines the one whom the Lord teaches His ways. Are you interested in being one who is taught the ways of the Lord? Taught not just head knowledge, but trained so that you are transformed by the truth? The only way to learn that is from God – not from any teachings of man. So to what kind of person does God reveal His ways in that manner? Why not make a list from this psalm?

Psalm 29 waxes poetic about, of all things, the voice of the Lord. Why His voice? What is so special about His voice? Think about it as you go through this psalm. Who can do such things with just His voice? What does that indicate is true of God?

Psalm 33 opens with another invitation to be joyful. The shout for joy is a powerful expression of joy, and the psalmist said it is fitting for the upright. What else is fitting? To sing a new song. What does that mean to you? The psalm justifies the powerful joy and singing of a new song with his descriptions of the Lord. If you make the effort to make a list of all the psalmist says about God, you will be moved to joy yourself. What describing words does he use? What nouns does he use? What actions of God does He list to describe Him?

Psalm 36 uses imagery to describe God’s greatness, so the meaning in this psalm is gleaned by understanding the imagery. Look up on a sunny day or a clear night to understand the vastness of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness. Contemplate the mountains to understand His towering righteousness. Consider the depths of the oceans to understand His judgments; we can never fully understand such deep ideas. Imagine the tender safety that chicks find in the softness of their mother’s wings and understand the refuge available to us in God’s care. Think about the abundance of a river flowing through dry land and understand the refreshing and satisfying delights God offers. Do these images offer you a better appreciation of God’s greatness?

Does God sometimes seem “deaf or blind or absent or afar,” so that you doubt His faithfulness? Circumstances can wear us down; they did some of the writers of the psalms, and God included their musings in His word to warn us and encourage us. Today’s psalms are wonderful reminders of God’s faithfulness.

Do you see Jesus in Psalm 89? “What man can live forever and never see death? Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol?” The only possible answer is “No one.” But Jesus! He changes everything! So where is God’s steadfast love of old which by His faithfulness He swore to David? The psalmist didn’t see it happening at that moment in his life, but can you see how senseless it is for him to imply that God is not faithful because of the present circumstances in which he finds himself? Our present circumstances are not the end of the story any more than his circumstances were. God’s faithfulness to fulfill the promises of which this writer spoke, was demonstrated in ancient history; does that give you hope in His faithfulness to fulfill His good promises to you?

When the writer of Psalm 96 tells the reader to sing a new song to the Lord, what does that imply? I encourage you to think about it. Is God doing new things in your life and heart on a regular basis? The psalmist gives us many reasons to praise God: new works He’s doing, His day-to-day salvation, His glory, His marvelous works among men, His splendor and majesty and strength, and (one of my favorite reasons to praise Him) His promise to judge all people in righteousness and faithfulness.

While you are reviewing the praiseworthy works of God in these psalms, I encourage you to consider what praiseworthy works He has done in your life, both of old and those new works. Could you offer Him your own psalm of praise today? Perhaps it can be something you think about throughout the day.

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.

What a story Psalms 106 and 107 tell together, the former detailing the sins of God’s Old Covenant people, and the latter describing their consequent suffering and God’s salvation.

My approach to Psalm 106 is to list the ways in which the people sinned, for it gives us a better understanding of our own sin, ways that we offend God and allow our actions and attitudes to come between us and God. The list is full of things we don’t normally refer to as sin. This is important, because we need to understand that if our enemy can’t tempt us with the obvious sins, that is, we’re not vulnerable to the temptation to steal or commit adultery; then he will tempt us where we are vulnerable. That will be in some of these less obvious ways which we don’t often mention; perhaps we don’t even consider them as sin. Nevertheless, they will separate us from God, so we need to be aware of them and get them out of the way.

I’ll get the list started with what the psalmist said they did or didn’t do. They:

• Did not consider God’s wondrous works that He had done on their behalf
• Did not remember the abundance of His steadfast love

(Are these really sins? Recall how important remembering was to God: He made that clear in His requirements to observe holy days with remembrance. Not to do so when it wasn’t specifically commanded as yet might not be a sin for them at the Red Sea, but for us who know that our remembering is important to God, our failure to do so can’t be good for the relationship. A seeker, one who wants to know God, will be doing these things.) We see why considering and remembering are important, because their failure to do so caused them to rebel.

• Rebelled against God by accusing instead of trusting
• Did not wait for God’s counsel, but put Him to the test. Psalm 107 says that they “rebelled against the words of God and spurned His counsel.”
• Exchanged the glory of God for the image of one of His creatures. That was an attempt to diminish His glory.
• Forgot Him who had saved them so wonderfully in Egypt
• Despised God’s good provision for them by having no faith in His promise
• Murmured

I encourage you to continue the list through the psalm and prayerfully consider what God might be saying to you about your own attitudes and behavior, and what they reveal about your heart.

Hopefully you noticed the repetition of the key idea of Psalm 107 as you read: “Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress… Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the children of man!” Each time the key idea is repeated, it describes what God did each time to deliver them and why they should thank Him in light of what the deliverance reveals about Him. The way to look more closely at Psalm 107 is to make a list of the ways God delivered them, and understand what a hero He is.

• He led them by a straight way till they reached a safe place to dwell (This demonstrates that He knows the straight way when we don’t even know which way is forward. His goal for us is a safe place.)
• He satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with good things. Note this does not say that He fills the hungry person – it speaks of a hungry soul. Do you want to be filled with all the spiritual blessings God has for His New Covenant people? Then you need to be a hungry soul. If you don’t know what that looks like, if you’re not sure whether you are or what you should do to be a hungry soul, ask God and expect Him to answer you with blessed reassurance or conviction, for He wants you to know where you stand with Him.
• He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death. He has done that for us as well, in a totally different way!
• He burst their bonds apart. He has done this for us as well, not just freeing us, but obliterating those bonds of sin.
• He shatters the doors of bronze and cuts in two the bars of iron. These were the toughest materials known in that day, impenetrable by the technology of the day. What looks impenetrable to you today that He has the power to shatter and cut in two?

Why don’t you continue the list?

Don’t miss that their cries to the Lord were the key to their getting delivered every time. If He reveals something to you in these psalms that needs to be made right with Him, please don’t delay in crying out to Him!

In making real and relatable to us the situations they address, the psalms should speak powerfully to us. They run the gamut of human experience, and in them we get to see real and God-honoring responses to those experiences.

Psalm 102 is an example from Scripture of one who has grown weak in affliction. Do you experience such times, or are you always strong in times of affliction? In his weakness the writer pours out a lament before the Lord. Note the words that describe his emotional state: distress, blighted and withered heart, no interest in food, groaning aloud, in a desolate place (that’s what the image of the owl is supposed to convey), lonely (like the bird on the roof), tears…. His emotional state is causing him physical pain. He feels thrown aside by God. Can you relate? As Christians, do we experience such times? If we do, should we be sharing that? The psalmist wanted his words “written for a future generation, that people not yet created may praise the Lord.” How did he get from lament to praise? He lifted his eyes to God. Note some of the things he wrote about God; could contemplating those have power to lift your sight above yourself in times of affliction and thus give you hope in God?

It’s easy to praise God for His greatness, but the writer of Psalm 104 does more by describing details about God’s greatness. I encourage you to contemplate what these all signify about God. That He wraps Himself in light, for example: think how impressive light can be, especially to a culture whose only source of light was the sun or a flame. Who can wrap himself in light like he wraps himself in a garment? What about each of the descriptions makes God great? Contemplating these can help one get to know God better.

Recall that Asaph’s name appeared in yesterday’s reading, listed as one of the Levites who was involved in the music of the Temple worship. This number he starts off with today invites the worshipers to “sing for joy to God.” I’m sorry to say that I have never before noticed how much joy is supposed to be a part of our knowing and worshiping God. I have confessed to Him my lack in that area and asked Him to transform me to make that as important a part of my relationship with Him as it needs to be.

Psalm 81’s account of how God interacted with His Old Testament people is a sobering reminder to us of the consequences of our choices. When they didn’t submit to Him, He gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices. If you recall the history we have read so far, the result was not pretty, was it? But that is not God’s desire for His relationship with His children. Note what the end of the psalm says about what His desire is, and remember that that is His desire for you. In case you might forget that material prosperity is not promised to us New Testament people, recall also that Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry.” He wants to satisfy us when we feed on Jesus. Can you imagine what that looks like?

Psalm 88 is written by another worship leader. Yesterday’s reading about the descendants of Levi tells us that the sons of Korah were part of the worship instituted by David. What is this writer’s situation? He addressed God as the God who saves him, and he was crying out to God; yet he said God’s wrath lies heavily on him. What can you understand about his situation? Can you find anything to apply to your own life?

The writer of Psalm 92 reminds us that it is good to praise God, and that melodic praise should spring from gladness at God’s deeds and admiration of His thoughts. Is this true of your knowledge of God? Do you express it to Him? He also speaks of the righteous flourishing. The cedars of Lebanon were famed trees that we are not able to appreciate today because they were decimated in ancient history. Their wood was so treasured by ancient powers throughout the Mediterranean that it was more valuable than gold. With that knowledge, think about the image the psalmist is conveying by comparing the flourishing of the righteous with the cedars of Lebanon. Do you see yourself flourishing spiritually? Are you continually bearing fruit, and do you see yourself as fresh and green? If you have difficulty understanding the imagery, think about the opposite of fresh and green: dried, brittle, drab, and barren. Which image describes you? I encourage you to be challenged by the psalmist’s example; use it to evaluate yourself. If this is God’s design for His people, how well do you conform to His design? If you don’t, please don’t wait to talk to Him about it. If you do, break out in praise to Him!

Psalm 93 is a great starter for praise. These should not be empty words to us! Think about what it means that the Lord reigns: how blessed we are that the reigning power is good and not evil. Think about what it means that the reigning power loves you and wants to enjoy intimate relationship with you. With the credentials given in this psalm, we can be assured that God’s reign isn’t going to end; think about the security offered in that. God’s house isn’t like any house we know, and one day we will be at home there; think about what that will be like. Is this substantial hope for you? I’m feeling pretty glad right now!

I appreciate Asaph’s brutal honesty to admit that sometimes life’s ugly realities, such as injustice, leave us troubled, grieved, and even embittered. Sometimes God’s goodness just doesn’t seem like enough to overcome the unbearable burden of the ugliness of those realities, and we want to give up on God. Can you relate to that? Is it okay to say that? My experience tells me that taking my honest thoughts to God, disappointing though they may be, is my only hope for getting them addressed effectively.

Asaph’s testimony in Psalm 73 is another example to us of our need to take our cares to God. Speaking our ideas aloud to others has the psychological effect of cementing a commitment to an idea. If Asaph had spoken his doubt to others before bringing it to God, he may have been less willing to give that care to God and instead might have clung to his error. Further, if he had voiced his dissatisfaction to others, he might have caused them to doubt God and suffer unbearable discontent as well. They may have turned away from God. It is so much better to take our burdens to God, is it not?

Do you, like Asaph, find yourself envying the wicked for their seeming prosperity? Satan has only the temporal prosperity of this world with which to lure us, but sometimes it feels like a significant lure. But giving in to that lure would be sheer ignorance; for although Satan tries to deceive us into thinking that God is not good, He is actually the only source of goodness there is. Truly, this world offers nothing desirable in comparison to the glories that the future with God holds. Until we reach Heaven, we have blessings to sustain us on the way: God’s powerful presence to comfort and protect, His counsel and His guidance. In times of desperation like Asaph described in this psalm, those words may seem empty, like merely the correct Sunday school answer. Only when we hear them from God will they become true enough to us to matter in those desperate times. Only when we take the doubts to God will He respond with that convincing answer.

Do you know what it is like to cry out to God for help and find nothing? Asaph suffered that unsatisfied need, and chose to take comfort in recalling God’s mighty deeds from the past. It doesn’t say that he found the answer or the comfort he sought; what do you think? I think he hung in there and wrote Psalm 78….

The life of intimacy with God is not always a life of easy circumstances. Some of these psalms aren’t written from the perspective of the resolution of the hardest times, but in the midst of them. As difficult as spring is for me, I am at that place we read about in Psalm 142 last week, so sad that there are no words, and like the writer of Psalm 43, I can’t say the reason why. What do I do with that? Psalm 43 feels like balm to my soul; it gives me words: “Send me your light and your faithful care, let them lead me, let them bring me to You,” in that set-apart place where you dwell. It reminds me that I do indeed have hope, and it’s a substantial hope, for it’s hope in God, the God who has already saved me from self and sin’s enslavement. Can you appreciate what a powerful thing hope is? Can you honestly say that your hope is in God?

The great sorrows of this world can leave us longing for – what? Hopefully our sorrow will direct us to God. He has designed us for intimacy with Him, but His design has been corrupted. Even though we are not in a place to enjoy that intimacy, we still long for it, although we may not recognize it and often look for other things to satisfy that longing. God’s wonderful salvation makes a way for us to enjoy that intimacy. That salvation is what these psalms speak about.

Psalm 44 points us to Jesus. Presumably the writer wasn’t just directed by the Holy Spirit to write about something he didn’t understand as he wrote these words that are quoted in the Gospels in reference to Jesus, but he and the nation were suffering what he wrote about. Perhaps in his corner of the country there were people whose hearts had not turned back from following God and so were justified in feeling like they were suffering unjustly, but the history books show that the nation was justly punished by God. Has man ever suffered unjustly as Jesus has? It’s interesting that at the end of the psalm the writer asks God to “rescue us because of your unfailing love,” and through the Messiah referred to in this psalm, He has, in a most heroic way!

The introduction to Psalm 45 tells us that it is a wedding song. Recall that the New Testament teaches about our relationship with Jesus by using the husband-wife relationship. One of the loveliest moments of that relationship is the wedding. Read this psalm with that in mind: that Jesus is the king and bridegroom, honored for His heroic deeds, righteous character, and just rule; and the church – that includes you! – is the bride. Can you appreciate the sense of beauty and celebration in this psalm?

Psalm 49 speaks of the inevitability of death – no one can rescue us from it. BUT – did you catch the verse that is quoted in the New Testament in reference to Jesus? He has accomplished the impossible; He has rescued us from hopeless death.

Is there anything in this life that makes you yearn, even faint, for the courts of the Lord, like the writer of Psalm 84? I have to count my spring sorrow a blessing, because it is one thing that does make me yearn for the courts of the Lord. This longing promotes such a gratefulness for hope, and for salvation that makes it possible. This is where my sight needs to be set – not on present circumstances, not on what makes me sad, but on this hope.

A sad reality of our intimacy with God is that sometimes it needs restored and revived. If that is where you are, can you appeal to God as the writer of Psalm 85 did, on the basis of His unfailing love? He has taught us through His word and His dealings with His Old Covenant people that He is more than faithful to His promises because He is loving. He wants His people to enjoy a relationship with Him in which they rejoice in Him. If you need a revival of your love for God, can you pray this prayer to Him?

The psalms of ascent were to be sung by pilgrims as they ascended to Jerusalem. Thus, they are intended to prepare God’s people to meet together and worship Him. In his later days, David instituted music as a part of the worship practices of God’s Old Testament people. These psalms speak to the need of our preparing our hearts to worship God and planning our worship. What principles do these psalms teach us about worship?

Psalm 121 –What action prescribed by the psalmist is a surprising aspect of worship? Depending on the translation you’re reading, it might not be apparent, so in case you’re having trouble identifying it, it is looking to God for help. Consider that for a moment: counting on God and acknowledging Him as your help is a form of worship. Do you do so, or are you too independent for your own good?

Psalm 123 – Do you know what it is like to be disrespected by others who treat you with contempt? The writer of this psalm had had enough of that kind of treatment. Yet he didn’t intend to take matters into his own hands, but he spoke of waiting on God to change the situation. How does a servant look to the hand of his master? That this is a psalm of ascents implies that waiting on God is another unusual aspect of worshiping Him.

Psalm 124 – Relying on God as rescuer is another way we worship Him. He is so good at rescuing that most of us probably enjoy the luxury of taking His rescuing of us for granted. But for those of us who are Christians, we need to take this opportunity to appreciate His heroic rescue of us when He became flesh so He could die a most gruesome death for us. When we were helplessly enslaved to sin, He came to our rescue and saved us so completely that we not only are freed from sin, but from sin’s ugly consequences. Can you embrace Him as your heroic rescuer today?

Psalm 125 – Trusting in God is another facet of worship. Trusting Him for protection in the midst of a sin-cursed world (Jude 24), trusting Him to bring good as He has promised to do (Romans 8:28), trusting Him to work justice. Aren’t we blessed to be able to trust Him for such wonderful works on our behalf? Do you know Him as mountains surrounding you? Doesn’t that image make you feel safe and secure? Can you snuggle up to Him today and tell Him that you trust Him?

Psalm 128 – Recall that God promised His Old Testament people that if they feared Him and walked in all His ways, He would bless them with prosperity. We don’t enjoy the promise of such blessings as God’s Old Testament people did, but that is not because the New Covenant is inferior to the Old; rather, it’s better! Think about the blessings we enjoy as New Testament people of God. Enjoying them fully is a way we worship Him, because we make it about Him! The blessings He gives us are all about relationship with Him. If you don’t truly appreciate that privilege as a joy, please be honest with God about that and ask Him to change you. I had to do that, and He did change me, and I am certain that He would want to do that for you as well. He wants to enjoy intimate relationship with each one of us, and that can only happen through mutual enjoyment of each other!

Psalm 129 – Not giving in to defeat in oppression, but rather looking to God for strength, victory and hope, are ways we worship God. This is a challenge for me right now, I confess, but I have resolved to offer God this sacrifice in worship: I have fixed my hope on Him. To be truthful, it doesn’t look like worship to me at this point, but I am trusting Him to make it what will honor and glorify Him. Do you need to do the same today?

Psalm 130 – Asking forgiveness from sin is another feature of our worship of God. David will be showing us in another psalm more about what that should look like, and it is surprisingly not the prolonged, abject contrition I have long thought it should be. Rather, it is seeking full redemption and restoration of God’s unfailing love. That doesn’t mean we treat His forgiveness presumptuously, but we do our part in turning from sin and humbly seek the full restoration that He longs for us to enjoy. Do you need to speak to Him today about forgiveness?

What aspect of worship presented in these psalms speaks most profoundly to you today? Please offer your worship to God accordingly!