Category: Psalms

Psalm 20 ~ Pray for the King

Psalm 20 reminds us of an often neglected responsibility for disciples of the Savior, to pray for our leaders (1 Tim 2:1-4). Whether you may have voted for a leader or find yourself in opposition, the Christian is called to exercise his or her intercessory moments and seek wisdom, guidance, and protection for the authorities recognizing all the while that God’s providence directs the course of history. This psalm was used to seek these God given tools for the king before he went out to war and can offer the same things to a current leader who faces an immensely complex world.

May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.

May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion.

May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings. (vv 1-3)

The psalmist takes an interesting turn in his form in verse six. In exuberance, a liturgist proclaims loudly the truth of the psalm’s words, bursting forth with a proclamation of assurance for the effectual nature of the believers prayer. Our modern prayers can lead us to the same confidence if we approach them fervently and humbly, confident in God’s course and not insistent on our own ways.

Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed; he answers him from his holy heaven with the saving power of his right hand.

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm. (vv 6-8)

Psalm 19 ~ The Heavens Declare

Like many places on earth, Denver is geographically blessed to enjoy one of the gifts that God has provided in the sunrise and sunset. To the east, the Great Plains of the United States unroll in mile after mile of broad, flat country. To look to the east in the morning is to see the straight line of the distant horizon and the Sun gradually rising a slice at a time. On cloudy mornings we are treated to a magnificent show as the sky lights up from black to violet to a blazing pink and orange in the briefest of moments. The the immediate west rise the 14,000 foot peaks of the Rocky Mountains. The sun disappears in the evening much quicker behind these imposing monuments but again, if the clouds are present, we are treated to another visual feast as the filtered sunlight plays off the bottoms of the thunderheads. To the beauty of the sunrise, the course of the sun, the careful ordering of the stars and the phases of the moon the psalmist expresses his praise.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. (vv 1-2)

There is no divinity in the skies or the celestial objects and yet, they speak. They speak not in themselves but in our souls. Our appreciation for the beauty before us comes from a divine source. Without that presence, the prismatic effects that we look at would be nothing more than atmospheric coincidence and the refraction of light. With the Spirit, we see God and the immense complexity in the interplay between weather, astronomy, the incredible human eye and the emotions of the heart that reacts to the visual message it receives.

The same beauty if found in the Law of the Lord. The Law is often misunderstood as a constraint to freedom. Instead, as we understand God and his provision of the Law, it is actually the definition of true freedom. The Law provides the boundaries which our broken hearts are tempted to test. It is meant to increase our enjoyment of life, not diminish it.

The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous.

They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. (vv 9b-10)

In the glory of the heavens we begin to see our purpose, to glorify God as they do.

Psalm 18 Pt 3 ~ The Lord is My Rock

The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock!

Exalted be God my Savior!

He is the God who avenges me, who subdues nations under me, who saves me from my enemies.

You exalted me above my foes; from violent men you rescued me.

Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O Lord; I will sing praises to your name. (vv 46-49)

This psalm of praise ends as it began, with the psalmist proclaiming the greatness of God and the firmness of the foundation which He provides to those whom He loves. In the mid section of the psalm, we read David comparing his righteousness to that of his enemies and and anointing this right relationship with Yahweh as the true source of his victories. This last section turns back to God and offers praise for who He is,

As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless.

He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.

For who is God besides the Lord?

And who is The Rock except our God? (vv 30-31)

Humility is discovered in that moment when we discover who we are not. It may come when we fail at some task that we thought we had mastered. That clarity may arrive also when we discover that we are not God and that all we have or do comes from Him. At that moment, these words of praise become our words. Sing them to Him this morning.

Psalm 18 Pt 2 ~ The Lord is My Rock

The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.

For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I have not done evil by turning from my God. (vv 20 – 21)

Reading the psalmists words in the second segment of Psalm 18 often leads us in a couple of different directions. First, we ask if David is boasting, proclaiming a righteousness that we find incredible. Is his blessing truly the direct result of his works or behaviors? If we were to pull these verses out of context it could certainly be understood that way but we don’t read that way. We read these statements in contrast to the wickedness of David’s enemies. He has devoted himself to the worship and the service of the Lord and is simply saying that any peace and prosperity that he enjoys is the result of this faithful service.

The second thing that jumps out at modern followers of Christ is the idea of possessing any righteousness of our own. You see, we enjoy a righteousness far in excess of what was available to David, we have the perfect imputed righteousness of our Savior.  We are no longer under the law, laboring for a perfection that cannot be attained by mortal man and always at risk of our personal Bathsheba. Our righteousness is fixed in the final work of the Lord on the cross. We too can claim the joy and benefit of the righteousness we have received.

You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.

With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall. (vv 28-29)

Psalm 17 ~ In Righteousness I Will See Your Face

The seventeenth psalm calls out to God in His role as the judge of righteousness. The psalmist cries out for judgment on himself and his enemies. Read that again. Not only does he point the Lord’s attention to his enemies so their wickedness can be noted and avenged, he calls for God to examine his own life as well.

Hear, O Lord, my righteous plea; listen to my cry. Give ear to my prayer – it does not rise from deceitful lips.

May vindication come from you; may your eyes see what is right. (vv 1 –2)

Would you and I be willing to invite the same scrutiny? The power to make this invitation comes from living the undivided life, one in which integrity is an integral component of the believer’s life. We do not live in secret a life different from the one we live in the light. We would be able to say:

Though you probe my heart and examine me at night, though you test me, you will find nothing; I have resolved that my mouth will not sin. (v 3)

Reading this psalm challenges us. Our lips might proclaim our innocence in comparison to others but our heart knows the truth. God knows the truth as well and will highlight our hypocrisy to its full extent the harder we beat our chests. We want to be in the position that the psalmist is, satisfied with the immediate presence of God and being able to express how much we cherish God. Pray that we might all be so blessed.

Psalm 16 ~ My Portion and My Cup

How many times do our prayers drift toward our needs or even our desires? We may be enjoying a perfectly satisfactory life where needs can slide towards desires and still feel the need to make the request of the Lord. Or, our circumstances may be different as much of our waking time is spent pursuing the basic requirements of life. Our prayers of request take on a different tone at these moments. In either scenario, the psalmist shows us the proper approach to the throne.

Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. (vv 5-6)

You say, it would be easy to praise the Lord if my life was provisioned as such. I can envision very large boundaries that would remove the daily stress and concern from my life. On the other hand, when circumstances are dire, how am I to lift my voice in praise? We do it in trust. Trust that the portion assigned by the Lord is perfect for His purposes. Trust that the exact amount of security needed in order for us to serve His purposes has been provided. In trust that our labors and struggles in this kingdom will be rewarded in the new heavens and the new earth of eternity.

Trust comes from relationship. Relationship is born in the crucible of prayer.

I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.

I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. (vv 7-8)

Perhaps our time in prayer is better spent in learning the depth of our relationship with the Lord. Knowing how deeply we are loved puts our circumstances in perspective.

You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. (v 11)

Psalm 15 ~ I Will Never Be Shaken

The psalmist asks,

Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? (v1)

It is a reflection on one’s approach to the Temple and the appropriate condition of one’s holiness before nearing the throne. The ‘response’ cites a variety of ways by which a person can judge the condition of their heart and how closely they adhered to the Law. He or she are blameless, they speak the truth, loves their neighbor, etc. As we read the psalm in modern times we are driven to question our own approach to meeting with God in worship. Are we as worthy?

Some corners of the kingdom have substituted tolerance in place of holiness in the sanctuary. We often fail to consider the condition of our hearts before approaching the throne. In some ways, we approach the altar with the same casualness that we approach the Starbucks counter. Our personal holiness is of little concern during the week and yet we fully expect God to receive our praise and hear our prayers on Sunday. We don’t take holiness seriously and this attitude cannot be masked from God when we enter His house.

Each of us would do well to rewrite this psalm in our journal as a personalized prayer reminder to be used for reflection all through the week. It can aid the Spirit in cooperating with the transformative work in which He engages in our lives. He does so purely that we might be presented at the throne, today and into eternity as righteous and blameless.

Psalm 14 ~ The Fool Says There is No God

As God looks down upon His creation seeking the righteous far and wide, the brokenness that he finds is pervasive. It has reached every corner of humanity.

The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.

All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. (vv 2-3)

A cold, sobering splash as we pray through the psalms. The reality of our situation writ large on the pages of scripture. There is none of us that truly selflessly seeks God. Whether realized or hidden, there is some corner of our being that sees ourselves as little ‘g’ god of our own world. We are fools.

And yet, the same Father who knows that none could stand before Him makes a way for us…

Psalm 13 – I Will Sing to the Lord

When we find ourselves in the midst of a silent period in life when God seems distant or especially quiet, despair can set in. We cry out for his attention only to hear our voices echo back.

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? ( vv 1-2 )

Our recourse should be to examine our lives. Is there something in our character, life, or practice that God turns away from? Is the Lord calling us to patiently endure a tempering season, honing our edges and readying us for His purposes? Both should turn us back to Him in repentance for our sin or for questioning His decisions. In all things we return to Him in worship.

But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord for he has been good to me. ( vv 5 – 6 )

Psalm 12 ~ Purified Seven Times

Help, Lord, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men. (v1)

Looking around in our modern day can reveal in us a similar sense of resignation. Our culture constantly pushes the boundaries of truth, ethics, and morality and proclaims each to be their own god who devises the appropriate framework for their lives. As we read the lament of Psalm 12 we find that not much has changed through the centuries.

The psalmist was not alone is lamenting the decadence of his society. The prophets spoke as boldly to these dangers in their time. Micah echoes the sentiments:

What misery is mine!

   I am like one who gathers summer fruit at the gleaning of the vineyard;

there is no cluster of grapes to eat, none of the early figs that I crave.

   The godly have been swept from the land; not one upright man remains.

All men lie in wait to shed blood; each hunts his brother with a net.

   Both hands are skilled in doing evil; the ruler demands gifts,

the judge accepts bribes, the powerful dictate what they desire— they all conspire together.

   The best of them is like a brier, the most upright worse than a thorn hedge.

The day of your watchmen has come, the day God visits you.  Now is the time of their confusion.

   Do not trust a neighbor; put no confidence in a friend.

Even with her who lies in your embrace be careful of your words.

   For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises up against her mother,

a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies are the members of his own household.

  But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior;

my God will hear me. (Micah 7:1-7)

King David expressed the same trust – that God would restore the right balance, no matter how far the society tipped.

O Lord, you will keep us safe and protect us from such people forever,

The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men. (vv 7-8)

Our trust requires a long term perspective, an eternal kingdom perspective. How do you develop such a perspective? By learning and making your own the whole of scripture. A kingdom perspective is not formed from promise books and joyful passages alone, it must be refined in the furnace of reality. We may never escape the persecutors and deceivers that cross our path in this life but we can look forward to a new heaven and new earth in which they will not ‘strut about.’