The Warrior - Psalm 18

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Psalm 18

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said:

 

1 I love you, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
    my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
    my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
    and I am saved from my enemies.
4 The cords of death encompassed me;
    the torrents of destruction assailed me;
5 the cords of Sheol entangled me;
    the snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord;
    to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
    and my cry to him reached his ears.
7 Then the earth reeled and rocked;
    the foundations also of the mountains trembled
    and quaked, because he was angry.
8 Smoke went up from his nostrils,
    and devouring fire from his mouth;
    glowing coals flamed forth from him.
9 He bowed the heavens and came down;
    thick darkness was under his feet.
10 He rode on a cherub and flew;
    he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him,
    thick clouds dark with water.
12 Out of the brightness before him
    hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.
13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
    and the Most High uttered his voice,
    hailstones and coals of fire.
14 And he sent out his arrows and scattered them;
    he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.
15 Then the channels of the sea were seen,
    and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O Lord,
    at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
16 He sent from on high, he took me;
    he drew me out of many waters.
17 He rescued me from my strong enemy
    and from those who hated me,
    for they were too mighty for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
    but the Lord was my support.
19 He brought me out into a broad place;
    he rescued me, because he delighted in me.
20 The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness;
    according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
    and have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all his rules were before me,
    and his statutes I did not put away from me.
23 I was blameless before him,
    and I kept myself from my guilt.
24 So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
    according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
25 With the merciful you show yourself merciful;
    with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;
26 with the purified you show yourself pure;
    and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
27 For you save a humble people,
    but the haughty eyes you bring down.
28 For it is you who light my lamp;
    the Lord my God lightens my darkness.
29 For by you I can run against a troop,
    and by my God I can leap over a wall.
30 This God—his way is perfect;
    the word of the Lord proves true;
    he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
31 For who is God, but the Lord?
    And who is a rock, except our God?—
32 the God who equipped me with strength
    and made my way blameless.
33 He made my feet like the feet of a deer
    and set me secure on the heights.
34 He trains my hands for war,
    so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 You have given me the shield of your salvation,
    and your right hand supported me,
    and your gentleness made me great.
36 You gave a wide place for my steps under me,
    and my feet did not slip.
37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them,
    and did not turn back till they were consumed.
38 I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise;
    they fell under my feet.
39 For you equipped me with strength for the battle;
    you made those who rise against me sink under me.
40 You made my enemies turn their backs to me,
    and those who hated me I destroyed.
41 They cried for help, but there was none to save;
    they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
42 I beat them fine as dust before the wind;
    I cast them out like the mire of the streets.
43 You delivered me from strife with the people;
    you made me the head of the nations;
    people whom I had not known served me.
44 As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me;
    foreigners came cringing to me.
45 Foreigners lost heart
    and came trembling out of their fortresses.
46 The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,
    and exalted be the God of my salvation—
47 the God who gave me vengeance
    and subdued peoples under me,
48 who rescued me from my enemies;
    yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me;
    you delivered me from the man of violence.
49 For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations,
    and sing to your name.
50 Great salvation he brings to his king,
    and shows steadfast love to his anointed,
    to David and his offspring forever.

 
 

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said:

David spent years living as an outlaw in the wilderness being hunted by Saul. Though Samuel had anointed David king of Israel, it was a long time before that became a reality. This psalm is repeated virtually word for word in 2 Samuel 22, and it is the summary song of David’s life—he faced difficulties, but the Lord delivered him.

1 I love you, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
    my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
    my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
    and I am saved from my enemies.

In the striking list of metaphors David uses for the Lord, the sense is that God is like his mountain stronghold. David spent much of his time on the run among the rocks and cliffs of the Judean wilderness.

“The horn of my salvation” is a common way of speaking of strength—imagine a bull’s horns—and David is saying that the Lord is the source of his power. All of these metaphors are martial in their meaning.

These first 3 verses summarize the psalm: the Lord has saved me and been the source of my strength. When I called to him, he answered. The rest of the psalm will describe things in greater detail.

4 The cords of death encompassed me;
    the torrents of destruction assailed me;
5 the cords of Sheol entangled me;
    the snares of death confronted me.

It’s like death itself was trying to pull him under, entangling him and dragging him into its open maw; it was like a great flood was trying to carry him below. (Water was terrifying for the Israelites—they were not a seafaring people—and floodwaters are a common image of death and chaos and destruction in the psalms.)

6 In my distress I called upon the Lord;
    to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
    and my cry to him reached his ears.

But the Lord heard David’s prayers in the Temple!

7 Then the earth reeled and rocked;
    the foundations also of the mountains trembled
    and quaked, because he was angry.
8 Smoke went up from his nostrils,
    and devouring fire from his mouth;
    glowing coals flamed forth from him.
9 He bowed the heavens and came down;
    thick darkness was under his feet.
10 He rode on a cherub and flew;
    he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him,
    thick clouds dark with water.
12 Out of the brightness before him
    hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.
13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
    and the Most High uttered his voice,
    hailstones and coals of fire.
14 And he sent out his arrows and scattered them;
    he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.
15 Then the channels of the sea were seen,
    and the foundations of the world were laid bare
at your rebuke, O Lord,
    at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

Ever been through a thunderstorm of great power?  The house shakes and rattles as the storm moves overhead.  There are few experiences in life in which you sense raw power in the way you do through a thunderstorm.

When the Lord hears David’s cries for help, his power rolls in like a thunderstorm! The winds are so great that even “the channels of the sea were seen”—i.e., the waters are pushed back and the sea floor exposed.

One quick point: a cherub was the most terrifying mythical animal that the people of the ancient middle east could imagine. They were pictured are guarding entrance to the divine. After the Fall, e.g., the Lord places cherubs (plural “cherubim”) at the entrance to the Garden of Eden, preventing Adam and Eve from returning.

 
[A cherub was a terrifying figure.]

[A cherub was a terrifying figure.]

 

16 He sent from on high, he took me;
    he drew me out of many waters.
17 He rescued me from my strong enemy
    and from those who hated me,
    for they were too mighty for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
    but the Lord was my support.
19 He brought me out into a broad place;
    he rescued me, because he delighted in me.

The Lord places David in a “broad place”. Makes me think of the “green pastures” and “still waters” of Psalm 23.

20 The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness;
    according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
    and have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all his rules were before me,
    and his statutes I did not put away from me.
23 I was blameless before him,
    and I kept myself from my guilt.
24 So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
    according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

David knows he has been faithful, and he trusts the Lord’s promise: be faithful to me, and you will be blessed.

25 With the merciful you show yourself merciful;
    with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;
26 with the purified you show yourself pure;
    and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
27 For you save a humble people,
    but the haughty eyes you bring down.

David knows that the wicked and arrogant will get what they deserve.

28 For it is you who light my lamp;
    the Lord my God lightens my darkness.

The Lord shows him the way, even in darkness.

29 For by you I can run against a troop,
    and by my God I can leap over a wall.
30 This God—his way is perfect;
    the word of the Lord proves true;
    he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
31 For who is God, but the Lord?
    And who is a rock, except our God?—
32 the God who equipped me with strength
    and made my way blameless.
33 He made my feet like the feet of a deer
    and set me secure on the heights.
34 He trains my hands for war,
    so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 You have given me the shield of your salvation,
    and your right hand supported me,
    and your gentleness made me great.
36 You gave a wide place for my steps under me,
    and my feet did not slip.
37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them,
    and did not turn back till they were consumed.
38 I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise;
    they fell under my feet.
39 For you equipped me with strength for the battle;
    you made those who rise against me sink under me.
40 You made my enemies turn their backs to me,
    and those who hated me I destroyed.
41 They cried for help, but there was none to save;
    they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
42 I beat them fine as dust before the wind;
    I cast them out like the mire of the streets.
43 You delivered me from strife with the people;
    you made me the head of the nations;
    people whom I had not known served me.
44 As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me;
    foreigners came cringing to me.
45 Foreigners lost heart
    and came trembling out of their fortresses.
46 The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,
    and exalted be the God of my salvation—
47 the God who gave me vengeance
    and subdued peoples under me,
48 who rescued me from my enemies;
    yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me;
    you delivered me from the man of violence.

David knows that the source of any masculine strength or martial prowess he has is the Lord.  He uses image after image—a sure-footed deer on a cliff, strong fingers to bend a bow, great leaps—to exult in the strength the Lord has given him.

It’s a song of victory in battle—”I thrust them through”—filled with violent images, and throughout, David understands that the Lord is the source of his victories.

Reading this psalm, I am reminded of Whitman’s great line, which is how I imagine David exulting in the Lord’s victory:

“I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.”— Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

49 For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations,
    and sing to your name.
50 Great salvation he brings to his king,
    and shows steadfast love to his anointed,
    to David and his offspring forever.

The word “anointed” is the Hebrew word Messiah.

On the one hand, this is the great summary psalm of King David’s life: the Lord delivered me from mine enemies and gave me strength and victory.

On the other hand, this is a Messianic psalm—it’s about the ultimate King and Warrior, Jesus. He was pulled down into death, but the Father raised him up in the power of the Spirit and gave him victory over the Enemy. AMEN.

(Go back again and read through the psalm with Jesus as the protagonist. Powerful.)

 

When People Are Lying About You - Psalm 17

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Psalm 17

A Prayer of David.

1 Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry!
    Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!
2 From your presence let my vindication come!
    Let your eyes behold the right!
3 You have tried my heart, you have visited me by night,
    you have tested me, and you will find nothing;
    I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.
4 With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips
    I have avoided the ways of the violent.
5 My steps have held fast to your paths;
    my feet have not slipped.
6 I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
    incline your ear to me; hear my words.
7 Wondrously show your steadfast love,
    O Savior of those who seek refuge
    from their adversaries at your right hand.
8 Keep me as the apple of your eye;
    hide me in the shadow of your wings,
9 from the wicked who do me violence,
    my deadly enemies who surround me.
10 They close their hearts to pity;
    with their mouths they speak arrogantly.
11 They have now surrounded our steps;
    they set their eyes to cast us to the ground.
12 He is like a lion eager to tear,
    as a young lion lurking in ambush.
13 Arise, O Lord! Confront him, subdue him!
    Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword,
14 from men by your hand, O Lord,
    from men of the world whose portion is in this life.
You fill their womb with treasure;
    they are satisfied with children,
    and they leave their abundance to their infants.
15 As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;
    when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.

 
 

Psalm 17 is a great psalm to pray if folks are lying about you and trying to hurt you with falsehoods. The psalmist knows he is innocent, but he still needs the Lord to fight for him and vindicate him. Sooner or later in life, you will be in that same situation—when you are, pray this psalm.

 

Feeling GREAT - Psalm 16

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Psalm 16

A Miktam of David.

1 Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
   I have no good apart from you.”
3 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
   in whom is all my delight.
4 The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply;
   their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
   or take their names on my lips.
5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
   you hold my lot.
6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
   indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
   in the night also my heart instructs me.
8 I have set the Lord always before me;
   because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
   my flesh also dwells secure.
10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
   or let your holy one see corruption.
11 You make known to me the path of life;
  in your presence there is fullness of joy;
   at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

 
 

A miktam of David.

We don’t know what a “Miktam” is.

1 Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

A refuge is a fortress, a stronghold. What does it mean that God is a “refuge”? It means that no matter where you are, God can be a fortress for you.

2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
    I have no good apart from you.”
3 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
    in whom is all my delight.
4 The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply;
    their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
    or take their names on my lips.
5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
    you hold my lot.
6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
    indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

The psalmist uses the metaphor of receiving land as an inheritance to describe his blessings from the Lord. It’s like he’s received an excellent piece of property, with all the boundary “lines” being exactly where he would want them to be.

7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
    in the night also my heart instructs me.
8 I have set the Lord always before me;
    because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
    my flesh also dwells secure.
10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
    or let your holy one see corruption.
11 You make known to me the path of life;
    in your presence there is fullness of joy;
    at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

The Lord is leading the psalmist and gives him guidance day and night. Even death is not to be feared—“Sheol” is the Hebrew name for the place of the dead. (Incidentally, the early Christian writers of the New Testament seized on v. 10 and saw in it a clear prophecy about the Resurrection of Jesus.)

This is a beautiful psalm of confidence and joy, which I think is well-expressed in this video of the Shane and Shane song “Psalm 16 (Fullness of Joy).”

 
Don't forget to check out our other channel, God's Promises, for encouraging scripture videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt65yUYMcgVfVHfA3n9RNfg/about...
 

Great Short Description of Integrity - Psalm 15

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Psalm 15

A Psalm of David.

1 O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent?
    Who shall dwell on your holy hill?
2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right
    and speaks truth in his heart;
3 who does not slander with his tongue
    and does no evil to his neighbor,
    nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
4 in whose eyes a vile person is despised,
    but who honors those who fear the Lord;
who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
5 who does not put out his money at interest
    and does not take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be moved.

 
 

After King David recovers the Ark of the Covenant from the Philistines, he eventually moves it to Jerusalem and sets it on Mount Zion, building a tent—the Tabernacle—over it. (You can read about it in 2 Samuel 6.). Later, his son King Solomon builds the Temple in the same spot.

Psalm 15 is about what it means to enter into the Tabernacle/Temple; it’s a description of integrity.

My favorite part?

A person of integrity is so honest that he is the type of person who

“swears to his own hurt and does not change.”

I also like the closing line:

“The person who does these things shall never be moved.”

 

The Practical Atheist - Psalm 14

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Psalm 14

To the choirmaster. Of David.

 1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
    They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
    there is none who does good.
2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man,
    to see if there are any who understand,
    who seek after God.
3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
    there is none who does good,
    not even one.
4 Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers
    who eat up my people as they eat bread
    and do not call upon the Lord?
5 There they are in great terror,
    for God is with the generation of the righteous.
6 You would shame the plans of the poor,
    but the Lord is his refuge.
7 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
    When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people,
    let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

The practical atheist is not so much a person who flat-out rejects the idea of God, but rather a person who lives as if God doesn’t exist. It is that sort of person the psalmist calls a “fool” in Psalm 14.

 
 

For the director of music. Of David.

1 The fool says in his heart,
    “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;
    there is no one who does good.

Because the fools don’t believe God will hold them to account, they behave in wicked ways.

2 The Lord looks down from heaven
    on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,
    any who seek God.
3 All have turned away, all have become corrupt;
    there is no one who does good,
    not even one.
4 Do all these evildoers know nothing?

The Lord is searching for faithful people in the midst of a faithless generation—don’t these foolish people know that nothing is hidden from the Lord?

They devour my people as though eating bread;
    they never call on the Lord.
5 But there they are, overwhelmed with dread,
    for God is present in the company of the righteous.
6 You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor,
    but the Lord is their refuge.

People are being eaten up by the wicked, but God has not abandoned the poor and vulnerable—He is with them.

7 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
    When the Lord restores his people,
    let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

Zion is the little mountain on which the Temple was built in Jerusalem, and the Israelites liked to think of it as the Lord’s particular place. Jacob was the Old Testament patriarch who was renamed Israel; thereafter, the entire nation of the Israelites was often called “Jacob” or “Israel”. Nearly all the psalms end, like this one, on a note of hope.

Be hopeful today! The Lord sees.

 

How Long, Lord? - Psalm 13

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Psalm 13

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I take counsel in my soul
    and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
    light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
    lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
    my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
    because he has dealt bountifully with me.

 
 

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I take counsel in my soul
    and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

The psalmist feels utterly alone—no one to counsel him, no one to encourage him. Worst of all, his enemies are thriving while he is suffering.

3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
    light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
    lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

If the Lord doesn’t quickly respond, the psalmist won’t be able to persevere much longer and his enemies will gloat over his destruction.

5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
    my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
    because he has dealt bountifully with me.

Though there are more psalms of lament than psalms of joy—a fact which teaches us something important about the nature of life on this blue planet—almost all the psalms end on a note of confidence and joy. The psalmist knows that the Lord is faithful forever, and that those who put their trust in him will not be disappointed.

How can you rejoice today, right in the midst of your difficulties?

 
 

 

Where Have All the Decent People Gone? - Psalm 12

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Psalm 12

To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.

 1 Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone;
    for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.
2 Everyone utters lies to his neighbor;
    with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
    the tongue that makes great boasts,
4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,
    our lips are with us; who is master over us?”
5 “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan,
    I will now arise,” says the Lord;
    “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”
6 The words of the Lord are pure words,
    like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
    purified seven times.
7 You, O Lord, will keep them;
    you will guard us from this generation forever.
8 On every side the wicked prowl,
    as vileness is exalted among the children of man.

 
 

“Where have all the decent people gone?” That’s the question David is asking as Psalm 12 opens, and the rest of the psalm is his way of dealing with the problem.

To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.

Remember, though many of the psalms were clearly used in Israelite worship, there are many musical terms we do not understand, and “The Sheminith” is one such example.

1 Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone;
    for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.

Where are all the decent people? That’s what the psalmist is asking here. This psalm is 3,000 years old, and as current as this morning’s headlines. Some things never change.

2 Everyone utters lies to his neighbor;
    with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

Part of the problem is just a general dishonesty between people, says the psalmist.

3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
    the tongue that makes great boasts,
4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,
    our lips are with us; who is master over us?”

People are also arrogant and believe that they will never be held accountable for their lies. The psalmist wants the Lord to cut off their lips! See, the psalms give us language for every emotion! Remember—we pray through our emotions when we read the psalms.

5 “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan,
    I will now arise,” says the Lord;
    “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”

But, the psalmist knows that the sufferings of the vulnerable are not being ignored by the Lord. God will act on their behalf!

6 The words of the Lord are pure words,
    like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
    purified seven times.

The psalmist has confidence because of what the Lord has said, and compares the Lord’s words to purified silver—both beautiful and 100% genuine. I love this verse, and underlined it in my Psalms book this morning.

7 You, O Lord, will keep them;
    you will guard us from this generation forever.
8 On every side the wicked prowl,
    as vileness is exalted among the children of man.

Despite the wickedness that prowls around the decent people, the Lord will keep them safe.

 

"I'm Not a Bird" - Psalm 11

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Psalm 11

1 In the Lord I take refuge;
how can you say to my soul,
 “Flee like a bird to your mountain,
2 for behold, the wicked bend the bow;
   they have fitted their arrow to the string
   to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;
3 if the foundations are destroyed,
   what can the righteous do?”
4 The Lord is in his holy temple;
   the Lord's throne is in heaven;
   his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.
5 The Lord tests the righteous,
   but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
6 Let him rain coals on the wicked;
   fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
7 For the Lord is righteous;
he loves righteous deeds;
   the upright shall behold his face.

 
 

The psalmist is indignant: “I trust in God—stop telling me to fly away like a bird!”

1 In the Lord I take refuge.
    How then can you say to me:
    “Flee like a bird to your mountain.
2 For look, the wicked bend their bows;
    they set their arrows against the strings
to shoot from the shadows
    at the upright in heart.
3 When the foundations are being destroyed,
    what can the righteous do?”

The psalmist reminds himself that the Lord is still King and still on duty, and that the wicked will be punished. (He clearly alludes to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.)

4 The Lord is in his holy temple;
    the Lord is on his heavenly throne.
He observes everyone on earth;
    his eyes examine them.
5 The Lord examines the righteous,
    but the wicked, those who love violence,
    he hates with a passion.
6 On the wicked he will rain
    fiery coals and burning sulfur;
    a scorching wind will be their lot.

I like the ending of Psalm 11—the Lord is good, and those who trust him will be rewarded.

7 For the Lord is righteous,
    he loves justice;
    the upright will see his face.

 

"There Is No God" - Psalm 10

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Psalm 10

1 Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?
    Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;
    let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.
3 For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul,
    and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord.
4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him;
    all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”
5 His ways prosper at all times;
    your judgments are on high, out of his sight;
    as for all his foes, he puffs at them.
6 He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
    throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.”
7 His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;
    under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.
8 He sits in ambush in the villages;
    in hiding places he murders the innocent.
His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
9 he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket;
he lurks that he may seize the poor;
    he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.
10 The helpless are crushed, sink down,
    and fall by his might.
11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,
    he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”
12 Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand;
    forget not the afflicted.
13 Why does the wicked renounce God
    and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”?
14 But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation,
    that you may take it into your hands;
to you the helpless commits himself;
    you have been the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
    call his wickedness to account till you find none.
16 The Lord is king forever and ever;
    the nations perish from his land.
17 O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
    you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
18 to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
    so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

 
 

Have you ever felt as if God were asleep or indifferent or unable or unwilling to come to your aid? That’s what Psalm 10 is about—the psalmist wants to rouse God awake to come and fight for the righteous and the poor against the wicked. Psalm 10 imagines the wicked man saying, “there is no God”—not because he is an atheist, but because he believes he can get away with whatever he wants. To this the psalmist says, “Wake up, Lord!”

1 Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?
    Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

“Lord, please WAKE UP and DO SOMETHING!” One of the lessons of the psalms is that it is good for us to cry out to God and lodge a protest or a complaint.

2 In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;
    let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.

This is a common theme in the Psalms—that the wicked end up harming themselves. Haven’t we all wanted that to happen? It would seem to be the ultimate form of justice.


3 For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul,
    and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord.
4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him;
    all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

It’s not that the wicked man is an atheist; rather, it is that he believes he is untouchable—that God is weak or indifferent and that therefore the wicked man can get away with all his scheming.

5 His ways prosper at all times;
    your judgments are on high, out of his sight;
    as for all his foes, he puffs at them.
6 He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
    throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.”

Doesn’t it often seem as if the wicked prosper while the righteous languish? The psalmist certainly feels that way. No wonder the wicked man is so arrogant—it really does seem as if he will get any with his evil actions.

7 His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;
    under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.
8 He sits in ambush in the villages;
    in hiding places he murders the innocent.
His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
9     he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket;
he lurks that he may seize the poor;
    he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.
10 The helpless are crushed, sink down,
    and fall by his might.

This description of how bad men take advantage of the poor and vulnerable is 3,000 years old, but it could have come out of yesterday’s newspaper. The psalmist is working himself—and us—into a state of desperate outrage.

11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,
    he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”

Once more, the wicked man feels totally untouchable, and he congratulates himself at his boldness and evil.

12 Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand;
    forget not the afflicted.

After cataloguing all the evils that the wicked inflict on the innocent, the psalmist can’t stand it any more:

“WAKE UP, LORD, AND DO SOMETHING!”

How many times have you and I wanted to scream the same thing at the Lord?

The lesson of the psalms—it’s okay to do so.

Remember, the psalms teach us to pray through our emotions.

13 Why does the wicked renounce God
    and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”?
14 But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation,
    that you may take it into your hands;
to you the helpless commits himself;
    you have been the helper of the fatherless.

And here the tenor of the psalm changes. The psalmist again imagines the wicked man in his arrogance and pride, chuckling to himself and believing that he will escape accountability.

And then come my favorite 4 words in this psalm:

“But you do see.”

It might seem that the Lord is blind and deaf, but that’s not reality—the Lord in fact sees and notes the actions of the wicked and the sufferings of the innocent, and he will not be mocked! Justice will roll down! God have mercy on the arrogant and the wicked when that day comes.

15 Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
    call his wickedness to account till you find none.

Ultimately, the wicked will be brought to justice. There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed.

16 The Lord is king forever and ever;
    the nations perish from his land.

The nations that inhabit the land are like renters—the Lord is the owner, and those that oppose him will one day be overthrown.

17 O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
    you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
18 to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
    so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

Amen.

 

How to Face Each Day Whole-Hearted and Unafraid - Psalm 9

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A few programming notes before today’s episode begins.

First: I’m a day late, but I love this version of Psalm 8 by Shane and Shane.

 
 

Second: I wrote a post yesterday on the main section of my blog about my 9 word strategic plan for Asbury. (Spoiler: you are doing it right now.)

Finally: Today we read Psalm 9, which I preached on in December for Christmas Commitment Sunday. Actually, I just preached on the 1st verse! “How to Give Thanks While Humming and Holding Your Nose.”

 
 

Okay—back to our regularly-scheduled programming. Let’s GO.

 
 

Psalm 9

1 I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
    I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
2 I will be glad and exult in you;
    I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
3 When my enemies turn back,
    they stumble and perish before your presence.
4 For you have maintained my just cause;
    you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.
5 You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish;
    you have blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins;
    their cities you rooted out;
    the very memory of them has perished.
7 But the Lord sits enthroned forever;
    he has established his throne for justice,
8 and he judges the world with righteousness;
    he judges the peoples with uprightness.
9 The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,
    a stronghold in times of trouble.
10 And those who know your name put their trust in you,
    for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
11 Sing praises to the Lord, who sits enthroned in Zion!
    Tell among the peoples his deeds!
12 For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;
    he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.
13 Be gracious to me, O Lord!
    See my affliction from those who hate me,
    O you who lift me up from the gates of death,
14 that I may recount all your praises,
    that in the gates of the daughter of Zion
    I may rejoice in your salvation.
15 The nations have sunk in the pit that they made;
    in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught.
16 The Lord has made himself known; he has executed judgment;
    the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion. Selah
17 The wicked shall return to Sheol,
    all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
    and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
19 Arise, O Lord! Let not man prevail;
    let the nations be judged before you!
20 Put them in fear, O Lord!
    Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah

 
 

Want to face each day whole-hearted and unafraid?

The Ninth Psalm gives us a fundamental lesson: begin your day and your prayers with full-throated thanksgiving.

Much of the psalm is a request from the psalmist that the Lord defeat the wicked and remember the oppressed, but the opening two verses are all about praise:

1 I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
    I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
2 I will be glad and exult in you;
    I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

There is a place (as we will see in other psalms) for protest before God, but it is instructive that Psalm 9 begins with praise.

Let’s do it today.

 

Look Up at the Night Sky - Psalm 8

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Psalm 8

1 O Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
2     Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
    to still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
    and the son of man that you care for him?
5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
    and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
    you have put all things under his feet,
7 all sheep and oxen,
    and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
    whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

 
 

Every been somewhere really dark and looked up at the glory of God’s handiwork? It’s as if the Lord screwed each star into place. Psalm 8 comes from that kind of experience—the psalmist has looked up at the heavens and is reflecting on the universe that God has made and man’s place within it.

 

To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.

“The Gittith” is an unknown musical term that is lost to us.

1 O Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
2     Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
    to still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
    and the son of man that you care for him?
5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
    and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
    you have put all things under his feet,
7 all sheep and oxen,
    and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
    whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

In Genesis 1, we read that God created humankind to rule over the earth in his place—to be stewards and caretakers of all that God has made. The psalmist marvels that God has entrusted his precious creation to human hands.

9 O Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

In your Psalms books, spend a few minutes writing down some of the things in creation that you find awesome and beautiful.

 

God Battles Against Evil People - Psalm 7

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Psalm 7

A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.

1 O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
2 lest like a lion they tear my soul apart,
rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.
3 O Lord my God, if I have done this,
if there is wrong in my hands,
4 if I have repaid my friend with evil
or plundered my enemy without cause,
5 let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,
and let him trample my life to the ground
and lay my glory in the dust. Selah
6 Arise, O Lord, in your anger;
lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;
over it return on high.
8 The Lord judges the peoples;
judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness
and according to the integrity that is in me.
9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
and may you establish the righteous—you who test the minds and hearts,
O righteous God!
10 My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge,
and a God who feels indignation every day.
12 If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword;
he has bent and readied his bow;
13 he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
making his arrows fiery shafts.
14 Behold, the wicked man conceives evil
and is pregnant with mischief
and gives birth to lies.
15 He makes a pit, digging it out,
and falls into the hole that he has made.
16 His mischief returns upon his own head,
and on his own skull his violence descends.
17 I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness,
and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.

 
 

“This lament calls on God the Warrior to rescue the psalmist from the vicious attacks of his enemies. While many laments confess sin, here the psalmist proclaims his innocence, as well as his confidence that God will recognize that he does not deserve the treatment is is receiving at the hands of his foes. In addition, he is sure that these enemies will get their deserts unless they relent.”—Tremper Longman

Note that the meaning of the opening superscription of Psalm 7

“A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.”

is lost to us. A “Shiggaion” is probably some kind of musical term, but we don’t know what it means, and “Cush” is an otherwise unknown enemy of David.

I particularly like the psalmist’s description of what will happen to the wicked if he does not repent:

12 If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword;
    he has bent and readied his bow;
13 he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
    making his arrows fiery shafts.
14 Behold, the wicked man conceives evil
    and is pregnant with mischief
    and gives birth to lies.
15 He makes a pit, digging it out,
    and falls into the hole that he has made.
16 His mischief returns upon his own head,
    and on his own skull his violence descends.

Haven’t we all at one time or another hoped that someone who has wronged us would eventually be a victim of his own scheming, “falling into the hole that he has made”? See how the psalms give us language for everything?!

 

A Prayer for Healing - Psalm 6

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Psalm 6

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments; according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger,
    nor discipline me in your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;
    heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled.
3 My soul also is greatly troubled.
    But you, O Lord—how long?
4 Turn, O Lord, deliver my life;
    save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
5 For in death there is no remembrance of you;
    in Sheol who will give you praise?
6 I am weary with my moaning;
    every night I flood my bed with tears;
    I drench my couch with my weeping.
7 My eye wastes away because of grief;
    it grows weak because of all my foes.
8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil,
    for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.
9 The Lord has heard my plea;
    the Lord accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled;
    they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.

 
 

As in almost all the psalms, the specific trouble the psalmist faces is only vaguely described. In this way, Psalm 6 can speak to many difficulties and troubles. That being said, however, this psalm has often been seen as a prayer for healing. The psalmist says:

2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;
    heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled.
3 My soul also is greatly troubled.
    But you, O Lord—how long?
4 Turn, O Lord, deliver my life;
    save me for the sake of your steadfast love.

which seems to suggest he has some kind of illness.

Note that “Sheol” [v 5] is what the ancient Israelites called the place of the dead, a shadowy place without hope. The psalmist tells the Lord that if he dies, he will be unable to praise him from there.

The psalm ends with a note of hope, the psalmist feeling better with having made his requests known to God.

9 The Lord has heard my plea;
    the Lord accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled;
    they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.

 

Morning Prayer - Psalm 5

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Apologies for the delay today—we had it set to go live at 3:30 PM instead of 3:30 AM! Better late than never, right?
—AF

 

Psalm 5

To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David.

1 Give ear to my words, O Lord;
    consider my groaning.
2 Give attention to the sound of my cry,
    my King and my God,
    for to you do I pray.
3 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
    in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.
4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
    evil may not dwell with you.
5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
    you hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy those who speak lies;
    the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
    will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
    in the fear of you.
8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
    because of my enemies;
    make your way straight before me.
9 For there is no truth in their mouth;
    their inmost self is destruction;
their throat is an open grave;
    they flatter with their tongue.
10 Make them bear their guilt, O God;
    let them fall by their own counsels;
because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
    for they have rebelled against you.
11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
    let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
    that those who love your name may exult in you.
12 For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
    you cover him with favor as with a shield.

 
 

Psalm 5 has often been used as a morning prayer, because of the words in verse 3.

Here’s what I want to do today: I’ll include the text of the entire psalm below, commenting as we move through it. Remember, the psalms help us pray through our emotions, thereby shaping and strengthening us to face the day.

To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David.

1 Give ear to my words, O Lord;
    consider my groaning.
2 Give attention to the sound of my cry,
    my King and my God,
    for to you do I pray.

The psalmist is desperate—we’ll see below that it seems people are lying about him—and he wants the Lord to know that things are not good in his life.

3 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
    in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.

He starts his day with prayer, and then he just sits…and waits. There is wisdom in that kind of behavior. Pray your worries early, and then just sit in silence.

4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
    evil may not dwell with you.
5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
    you hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy those who speak lies;
    the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

Here, the psalmist is reminding himself of what he knows to be true: the Lord does not support or favor the wicked. It’s like he just needs to hear himself say it out loud.

7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
    will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
    in the fear of you.

And then he reminds himself that he does NOT behave like the wicked, but instead has been faithful to the Lord in the past.


8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
    because of my enemies;
    make your way straight before me.

Like all of us, the psalmist needs guidance; in his case, he needs to know what his next step should be, in light of his enemies’ actions against him. There’s something powerful in praying for the Lord to show you your next step. Not every step, but your next step.

9 For there is no truth in their mouth;
    their inmost self is destruction;
their throat is an open grave;
    they flatter with their tongue.
10 Make them bear their guilt, O God;
    let them fall by their own counsels;
because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
    for they have rebelled against you.

He vents his anger to the Lord by describing just how nasty are his enemies, and he begs the Lord to do something about them. It is healthy to ask God to defeat our enemies—the alternative is taking vengeance into our own hands, which is a dangerous step for us to take.

11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
    let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
    that those who love your name may exult in you.
12 For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
    you cover him with favor as with a shield.

As with so many of the psalms, Psalm 5 ends on a note of reassurance. I think it’s precisely because the psalmist has cried out in pain and fear and frustration to God that he then feels a sense of confidence in the Lord. There is a lesson here for us—the Psalms help us pray through our fears and thereby lead us to a place of confidence. Always be honest with God in prayer, and the Psalms give us language for that.

One final point about the last verse:

12 For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
    you cover him with favor as with a shield.

It’s good to slow down and pay attention to the imagery in the psalms we read. How does a shield function? It blocks the blows of an enemy. Note that you only use a shield when you are being attacked.

The lesson: the life of faith does NOT mean we will not face opposition, it does NOT mean our enemies will not strike out at us. What it DOES mean is that the Lord will protect us and keep us from feeling the full weight of our enemies’ blows.

Be confident today: the Lord is your SHIELD!

 

Evening Prayer - Psalm 4

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Psalm 4

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.

1  Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
    You have given me relief when I was in distress.
    Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!
2 O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?
    How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah
3 But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself;
    the Lord hears when I call to him.
4 Be angry, and do not sin;
    ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah
5 Offer right sacrifices,
    and put your trust in the Lord.
6 There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?
    Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!”
7 You have put more joy in my heart
    than they have when their grain and wine abound.
8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep;
    for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

 
 

This is a psalm of lament that begins in pain and ends in peace. As is usually the case in the Psalms, the exact nature of the psalmist’s complaint is not specified, which means it is relevant for all people who feel themselves falsely accused.

This has often been used as an evening psalm, because of how it ends.

After the psalmist has poured out his complaint before the Lord, he feels better and says:

In peace I will both lie down and sleep;
    for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Beautiful. Try it tonight.

 

Fear, Hate, (& Hope) - Psalm 3

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Psalm 3

A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.

1  O Lord, how many are my foes! 
Many are rising against me; 
2  many are saying of my soul, 
“There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah 
3  But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, 
my glory, and the lifter of my head. 
4  I cried aloud to the Lord, 
and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah 
5  I lay down and slept; 
I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. 
6  I will not be afraid of many thousands of people 
who have set themselves against me all around. 
7  Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! 
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; 
you break the teeth of the wicked. 
8  Salvation belongs to the Lord; 
your blessing be on your people! Selah 

 
 

The Psalms teach us that the appropriate way to handle our emotions is to be honest and pray through them; Psalm 3 is a great example of what this looks like in practice.

 
 

Historical Background

In one of the nastiest and most heart-rending stories in the Bible, King David’s son Absolam leads a rebellion and civil war against his father, forcing him to flee Jerusalem for his life. (Read 2 Samuel 15-19 for the details.)

 
 

Praying Through All Our Emotions

David is afraid for his life, and worse, psychologically terrified by his enemies’ claims that God has abandoned him. But, he prays through his fears to God. And, his honest prayers result in a hopeful heart.

This is one of the key lessons of the Psalms: until we are honest about what we actually feel, God will be unable to help us. Isn’t this how relationships work? If you keep the other at arm’s-length, then there can’t be any true friendship or intimacy between you. Relationships require honesty, and honesty means giving up on the pretense that we are better than we really are.

The Psalms startle us because of their honesty, which should tell us how compulsively dishonest we are. For example, we are shocked and clutch our pearls when the psalmist imagines God striking down his enemies—as if we have never felt a desire for vengeance when we’ve been wronged—as if we’ve never indulged an icy hatred.

The reason even the language of hatred is in the Psalms is because the Bible is teaching us that it is good for us to scream our hatred out loud and thereby give it over to God.

So, when the Psalmist says in verse 7:

Arise, O Lord!
    Save me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
    you break the teeth of the wicked.

it is as if he’s letting that hatred go so he can conclude his poem in the next verse by saying:

Salvation belongs to the Lord;
    your blessing be on your people! 

So today, let’s not piously pretend to be better than we are, but rather let us honestly pray our true thoughts to God. Over time, God will conform our emotions to his own heart.

 

Why Do Folks Fight Against God? - Psalm 2

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Psalm 2

1 Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”
4 He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6 “As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”
7 I will tell of the decree:
The LORD said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the LORD with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

 
 

The Second Psalm has 2 meanings: 

It is about God’s promise to King David that his sons would reign in Jerusalem after him. The king was called “the Lord’s anointed.” This psalm was used as an enthronement hymn for each new king.

It is also about Jesus, the Anointed One, the Son of David, who is the true King. In Hebrew the word for “anointed one” is Messiah, which in Greek is “Christ.” In the New Testament, this Psalm is frequently quoted as the apostles looked back and saw that it was always pointing toward Jesus.

There are four 3-verse sections:

section 1 (vv. 1-3): the kings of the earth want to rebel against the Lord’s authority.

section 2 (vv. 4-6): the Lord is not threatened and states that his representative is the King in Jerusalem. (Mount Zion is the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.)

section 3 (vv. 7-9): the king speaks and quotes God’s promise to David, how God will give power and glory and strength to the Anointed One.

section 4 (vv. 10-12): warns the rebel kings not to get any foolish ideas and to go ahead and submit to the Anointed One. It concludes by saying that those who do so will be blessed!

 

Barklike - Psalm 1

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Our reading plan through the Psalms begins today! Unlike previous reading plans, we’ll read one psalm a day, every day; for the next 150 days we’ll read a psalm every day of the week, including Saturdays and Sundays.

I’ll continue to provide brief daily commentary here, but I won’t be preaching on every psalm these next few months—rather I’ll use the Psalms as a jumping off point and will preach some topical series and do some other fun things with this reading plan.

Starting this coming weekend is a new series I’m excited about: Emotions. We’ll look at how the Psalms teach us to pray through our emotions to God, so we can be in control of our feelings and not be controlled by them—there is a freedom God wants us to learn and live within!

Here’s the trailer:

 
 

We now return to our regularly-scheduled programming.

Let’s GO.

 
 

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. 

 
 

Psalm 1 makes an explicit promise: people who study God’s word will be like trees, deeply rooted and fruitful, in and out of season.

My hope therefore is that these next 150 days will make us strong, rooted, and fruitful.

Two quick points:

1.     Note how sin works in the opening verse: the man first walks, then stands, and then ultimately sits with the wicked. Isn’t that how sin always works? It draws you in, one step at a time.

2.     I love how the Psalmist pictures the wicked as chaff—weightless and ultimately inconsequential.  In contrast, trees have a weight and a substance. Let’s be like trees!

 
 

In my second sermon at Asbury on 8/14/22, I actually preached on this psalm and set out a vision for what it looks like to be blessed according to the words of Psalm 1.

I hope you watch it and hear (again, or for the first time) what it would mean for Asbury to be a Bible-reading church, any why I am so passionate about what happens when people begin to “mediate on the Lord’s teaching, day and night.”

 

 

Jesus Is Risen!

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EASTER SUNDAY SERVICES
6:30 AM SUNRISE | 9 AM | 11 AM | SANCTUARY
Join us for cake pops, bunnies, and the three greatest words in all of history—HE IS RISEN! We can’t wait to celebrate with you! Whom are you bringing?

 

MARK 16:1-20

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. 6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” 8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. 9 When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. 11 When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it. 12 Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. 13 These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either. 14 Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. 15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but who- ever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” 19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs. that accompanied it.

 
 

THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT WORDS IN HISTORY: “HE IS RISEN!”