“Let Them Be Like a Slug Dissolved Into Slime” – Psalm 58

Psalm 58

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David.

1  Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?
    Do you judge the children of man uprightly?
2 No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
    your hands deal out violence on earth.
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb;
    they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
4 They have venom like the venom of a serpent,
    like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
5 so that it does not hear the voice of charmers
    or of the cunning enchanter.
6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths;
    tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!
7 Let them vanish like water that runs away;
    when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted.
8 Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime,
    like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.
9 Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,
    whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!
10 The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
    he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
    surely there is a God who judges on earth.”

---

This is a psalm of anger from someone who has been really hurt and oppressed by evil.

Remember, it’s important that we pray through these kind of emotions and get them out, otherwise the venom we feel will poison our heart.

When you are angry, pray angry prayers, and then trust that God is a perfect judge who will make all things right in the end.

I Will Awaken the Dawn – Psalm 57

Psalm 57

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when he fled from Saul, in the cave.

1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
    for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
    till the storms of destruction pass by.
2 I cry out to God Most High,
    to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
3 He will send from heaven and save me;
    he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah
God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!
4 My soul is in the midst of lions;
    I lie down amid fiery beasts—
the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows,
    whose tongues are sharp swords.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
    Let your glory be over all the earth!
6 They set a net for my steps;
    my soul was bowed down.
They dug a pit in my way,
    but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah
7 My heart is steadfast, O God,
    my heart is steadfast!
I will sing and make melody!
8 Awake, my glory!
Awake, O harp and lyre!
    I will awake the dawn!
9 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
    I will sing praises to you among the nations.
10 For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,
    your faithfulness to the clouds.
11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
    Let your glory be over all the earth!

---

I love Psalm 57:8:

“I will awaken the dawn!”

David has found himself (yet again) in great personal danger, with enemies all around. And yet, he still commits to praising God first thing in the morning!

Try it.

Danger and Difficulty Aren’t Going Anywhere – Psalm 56

Psalm 56

To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.

1 Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me;
    all day long an attacker oppresses me;
2 my enemies trample on me all day long,
    for many attack me proudly.
3 When I am afraid,
    I put my trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise,
    in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
    What can flesh do to me?
5 All day long they injure my cause;
    all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They stir up strife, they lurk;
    they watch my steps,
    as they have waited for my life.
7 For their crime will they escape?
    In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!
8 You have kept count of my tossings;
    put my tears in your bottle.
    Are they not in your book?
9 Then my enemies will turn back
    in the day when I call.
    This I know, that God is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
    in the Lord, whose word I praise,
11 in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
    What can man do to me?
12 I must perform my vows to you, O God;
    I will render thank offerings to you.
13 For you have delivered my soul from death,
    yes, my feet from falling,
that I may walk before God
    in the light of life.

---

Danger and difficulty will never go away until the Lord himself returns.

This is a fact that the Bible acknowledges over and over. In Psalm 56, e.g., David finds himself attacked yet again by vicious enemies:

5 All day long they injure my cause;
    all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They stir up strife, they lurk;
    they watch my steps,
    as they have waited for my life.

---

Who or what are your enemies today? What are you afraid of? What do you dread?

---

The Bible acknowledges that danger and difficulty are ever-present, but it also tells us something more important:

God is for us, and if God is for us, who can be against us?

Here’s how David puts it in Psalm 56:9:

“This I know, that God is for me.”

---

What if you were CERTAIN that God was with you today?

What if you were CERTAIN that God was for you?

What if you were CERTAIN that God was with his church?

---

THE GOOD NEWS?

HE IS.

(And anything else is a lie.)

What Do You Need to Hand Over Today? – Psalm 55

Psalm 55

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

1 Give ear to my prayer, O God,
    and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
2 Attend to me, and answer me;
    I am restless in my complaint and I moan,
3 because of the noise of the enemy,
    because of the oppression of the wicked.
For they drop trouble upon me,
    and in anger they bear a grudge against me.
4 My heart is in anguish within me;
    the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5 Fear and trembling come upon me,
    and horror overwhelms me.
6 And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
    I would fly away and be at rest;
7 yes, I would wander far away;
    I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah
8 I would hurry to find a shelter
    from the raging wind and tempest.”
9 Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues;
    for I see violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go around it
    on its walls,
and iniquity and trouble are within it;
11 ruin is in its midst;
oppression and fraud
    do not depart from its marketplace.
12 For it is not an enemy who taunts me—
    then I could bear it;
it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me—
    then I could hide from him.
13 But it is you, a man, my equal,
    my companion, my familiar friend.
14 We used to take sweet counsel together;
    within God's house we walked in the throng.
15 Let death steal over them;
    let them go down to Sheol alive;
    for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.
16 But I call to God,
    and the Lord will save me.
17 Evening and morning and at noon
    I utter my complaint and moan,
    and he hears my voice.
18 He redeems my soul in safety
    from the battle that I wage,
    for many are arrayed against me.
19 God will give ear and humble them,
    he who is enthroned from of old, Selah
because they do not change
    and do not fear God.
20 My companion stretched out his hand against his friends;
    he violated his covenant.
21 His speech was smooth as butter,
    yet war was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil,
    yet they were drawn swords.
22 Cast your burden on the Lord,
    and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
    the righteous to be moved.
23 But you, O God, will cast them down
    into the pit of destruction;
men of blood and treachery
    shall not live out half their days.
But I will trust in you.

---

Remember: the Psalms teach us to pray through our emotions. When we do so, we hand our emotions over to God and thereby we can learn to control our emotions and not be controlled by them.

The Psalms speak to the whole variety of experience, including the experience of being stabbed in the back by someone you trusted.

From today’s psalm:

12 For it is not an enemy who taunts me—
    then I could bear it;
it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me—
    then I could hide from him.
13 But it is you, a man, my equal,
    my companion, my familiar friend.
14 We used to take sweet counsel together;
    within God's house we walked in the throng.

If the psalmist keeps that bitterness inside, it will kill him!

If we keep the bitterness inside when we are stabbed in the back, it will also kill us!

But, when we give our anger and bitterness at our friends over to the Lord, eventually we will be able to say:

16 But I call to God,
    and the Lord will save me.

What do you need to hand over to God today?

God The True Judge - Psalm 54

Psalm 54

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David, when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?”

1 O God, save me by your name,
    and vindicate me by your might.
2 O God, hear my prayer;
    give ear to the words of my mouth.
3 For strangers have risen against me;
    ruthless men seek my life;
    they do not set God before themselves. Selah
4 Behold, God is my helper;
    the Lord is the upholder of my life.
5 He will return the evil to my enemies;
    in your faithfulness put an end to them.
6 With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
    I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.
7 For he has delivered me from every trouble,
    and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.

---

“In a world of violence and cruelty, it is hard to be confident that God will make it right. This psalm invites each reader to affirm its words and to share in the confidence of the one praying. The psalm opens with cries lifted to God’s character—the power of God’s name and the belief that God will judge the world and make it right. The psalm ends with more confidence that God will do exactly as God has done in the past. The last line, which may be unsettling, reminds us of God’s care of the least of the world and how Jesus promises to lift the lowly and humble the haughty. There are many powers in this world that try to thwart the purposes of God’s kingdom of justice, and those same powers have taught Christians to be docile and polite because Jesus loved his enemies. Yet Christians throughout the centuries have risen up against those powers for the very sake of God’s kingdom. Justice may be delayed, but justice is the end result. Those who live to harm others will eventually have to face up to how they have chosen to live their lives.”—Beth Tanner

Pascal's Wager - Psalm 53

Psalm 53

To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath. A Maskil of David.

1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
    They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
    there is none who does good.
2 God 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 fallen away;
    together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
    not even one.
4 Have those who work evil no knowledge,
    who eat up my people as they eat bread,
    and do not call upon God?
5 There they are, in great terror,
    where there is no terror!
For God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you;
    you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.
6 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
    When God restores the fortunes of his people,
    let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

---

Psalm 53 is almost identical to Psalm 14; both psalms begin the same way:

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

---

Are you familiar with Pascal’s Wager? It’s a brilliant reason to believe.

[The text below can be found here.]

---

It's important always to remember Pascal's project of trying to provide a defense of Christiantiy. Part of the crowd that Pascal hung around with before his conversion did all the things he later identified as diversion: hunting, partying, but especially gambling. Pascal himself is often credited with inventing roulette. So it's not surprising that he uses the device of a wager to try to convince people, who are already gambling, to take a chance on God. That is, if you want to make a point to a gambler, put it in the form of a bet. That'll at least get their attention and disturb their indifference. 

Pascal begins by presenting a decision. Either a person will choose to believe or she will not (there are only two possibilities). As for the way things are, either the God whom Christians worship exists or that God does not (there are only two possibilities). Pascal thought that reason by itself cannot help you decide which path to follow. And in light of this, and the two choices listed above, Pascal asks 'how will you wager?' And note that we have to wager. We can't just not play the game at all. Pascal thinks that by the way each of us is already leading our lives, we are all already making a bet one way or the other. As he says, "There is no choice, you are already committed." He continues, "A coin is being spun which will come down heads or tails. How will you wager? Reason cannot make you choose either, reason cannot prove either wrong."  

If we have to bet, then, how shall we decide? Well, says Pascal, let's look at the possible payoffs (that's just what gamblers do, after all). 

—If God REALLY exists, and we believe (= bet that God exists), we have an infinite gain (heaven).

—If God REALLY exists, and we don't believe that, then we have the potential of an infinite loss (hell, or at least eternal separation from God).

—If God really does NOT EXIST, and we believe that God exists, we essentially lose nothing.

—If God really does NOT EXIST, and we believe that God doesn't exist, we essentially gain nothing.

This can be represented in a table as follows: 

---

---

There are really two other versions of this wager in Paragraph 418, but they just build on the point made above that if one has to bet (and we do), then it's always more rational to wager on an infinite gain. An infinite gain will always outweigh even a finite loss or gain. Therefore, it's always more rational to bet that God exists. As Pascal says, if you wager and win, "you will win everything." 

---

Pretty interesting stuff, huh? —Andrew

I'm Like A Green Olive Tree - Psalm 52

Psalm 52

To the choirmaster. A Maskil of David, when Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”

1 Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?
    The steadfast love of God endures all the day.
2 Your tongue plots destruction,
    like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.
3 You love evil more than good,
    and lying more than speaking what is right. Selah
4 You love all words that devour,
    O deceitful tongue.
5 But God will break you down forever;
    he will snatch and tear you from your tent;
    he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
6 The righteous shall see and fear,
    and shall laugh at him, saying,
7 “See the man who would not make
    God his refuge,
but trusted in the abundance of his riches
    and sought refuge in his own destruction!”
8 But I am like a green olive tree
    in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
    forever and ever.
9 I will thank you forever,
    because you have done it.
I will wait for your name, for it is good,
    in the presence of the godly.

---

I like to latch onto specific images in the psalms, which is why I really like verses 8-9:

8 But I am like a green olive tree
    in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
    forever and ever.
9 I will thank you forever,
    because you have done it.
I will wait for your name, for it is good,
    in the presence of the godly.

Lord, make me like a green olive tree!

I'm the Problem (Not Other People) - Psalm 51

Psalm 51

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
    blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
    and cleanse me from my sin!
3 For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
    and blameless in your judgment.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
    and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
    and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
    and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence,
    and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
    and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
    O God of my salvation,
    and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
    and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
    you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
    build up the walls of Jerusalem;
19 then will you delight in right sacrifices,
    in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
    then bulls will be offered on your altar.

---

We like to blame other people for the world’s problems.   But one of the problems with finger-pointing is that I always place myself in the company of the righteous and good while I tell other people they are the problem.  True confession, however, is only about me and only about us.  This is why the 51st Psalm is such a powerful psalm of confession. In the psalm, David makes it clear:

 I am the problem!

(The superscription gives us the context for the psalm: it was after David slept with Bathsheba—who was not his wife—and then had her husband Uriah killed to cover up the pregnancy.)

---

We're 50 Days Into Our Psalms Reading Plan - Psalm 50

Psalm 50

A Psalm of Asaph.

1 The Mighty One, God the Lord,
    speaks and summons the earth
    from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
    God shines forth.
3 Our God comes; he does not keep silence;
    before him is a devouring fire,
    around him a mighty tempest.
4 He calls to the heavens above
    and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 “Gather to me my faithful ones,
    who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
6 The heavens declare his righteousness,
    for God himself is judge! Selah
7 “Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
    O Israel, I will testify against you.
    I am God, your God.
8 Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
    your burnt offerings are continually before me.
9 I will not accept a bull from your house
    or goats from your folds.
10 For every beast of the forest is mine,
    the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know all the birds of the hills,
    and all that moves in the field is mine.
12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
    for the world and its fullness are mine.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
    or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
    and perform your vows to the Most High,
15 and call upon me in the day of trouble;
    I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
16 But to the wicked God says:
    “What right have you to recite my statutes
    or take my covenant on your lips?
17 For you hate discipline,
    and you cast my words behind you.
18 If you see a thief, you are pleased with him,
    and you keep company with adulterers.
19 “You give your mouth free rein for evil,
    and your tongue frames deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother;
    you slander your own mother's son.
21 These things you have done, and I have been silent;
    you thought that I was one like yourself.
But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.
22 “Mark this, then, you who forget God,
    lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!
23 The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
    to one who orders his way rightly
    I will show the salvation of God!”

---

Today we read Psalm 50.

Since Easter Monday, we’ve read one psalm a day, and now we’re 1/3 of the way through. (There are 150 psalms, and we’re scheduled to finish in September.)

Whether you’ve read every psalm so far or none of them:

It’s time to reset and restart.

---

I strongly believe that the most important thing you can do in your life is to develop the habit of spending the first 15 minutes of every day in silence, prayer, and scripture.

With our Psalms reading plan, this cannot be any easier:

Read one psalm every day.

Some days you’ll get a lot out of it, some days you won’t. Guess what—it doesn’t matter. Just read your psalm, pray a bit, and then sit in silence. That’s it.

The power of the First 15 is not about any particular day, but the culmination of many days.

Out of the last 7 days, how many have you begun in this way?

It’s time to reset.

---

Consistency is more important than intensity.

---

It’s the habit that matters more than anything.

Don’t overthink it.

Remember: consistency is more important than intensity.

As Michael Scott would say, “JUST DO IT.”

---

Let’s claim the promise in v. 23:

 “to one who orders his way rightly
    I will show the salvation of God!”

Order your life; commit your first few minutes of every day to the First 15.

Great things will happen!

Memento Mori - Psalm 49

Psalm 49

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

1 Hear this, all peoples!
    Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2 both low and high,
    rich and poor together!
3 My mouth shall speak wisdom;
    the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
4 I will incline my ear to a proverb;
    I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre.
5 Why should I fear in times of trouble,
    when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
6 those who trust in their wealth
    and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7 Truly no man can ransom another,
    or give to God the price of his life,
8 for the ransom of their life is costly
    and can never suffice,
9 that he should live on forever
    and never see the pit.
10 For he sees that even the wise die;
    the fool and the stupid alike must perish
    and leave their wealth to others.
11 Their graves are their homes forever,
    their dwelling places to all generations,
    though they called lands by their own names.
12 Man in his pomp will not remain;
    he is like the beasts that perish.
13 This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;
    yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah
14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
    death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.
    Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
15 But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
    for he will receive me. Selah
16 Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
    when the glory of his house increases.
17 For when he dies he will carry nothing away;
    his glory will not go down after him.
18 For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed
    —and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
19 his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,
    who will never again see light.
20 Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

---

Like Ecclesiastes, the 49th Psalm is a reminder that life is short and death is coming for us all, rich and poor, righteous and unrighteous alike.

“For he sees that even the wise die;
    the fool and the stupid alike must perish
    and leave their wealth to others.”
Psalm 49:10

Life Is Short, So Therefore Be Grateful For Every Breath God Gives You Today.

---

But Psalm 49 “brings out into the open the assurance of victory over death which Ecclesiastes leaves concealed. The great But God… (15) is one of the mountaintops of Old Testament hope.” —Derek Kidner

Here’s the verse Professor Kidner is referencing:

“But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me.”
Psalm 49:15

Life Is Short and Death is Coming, But God Raises the Dead!

Be Hopeful Today.

With Our Own Eyes - Psalm 48

Psalm 48

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

1 Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised
    in the city of our God!
His holy mountain,
2 beautiful in elevation,
   is the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
   the city of the great King.
3 Within her citadels God
   has made himself known as a fortress.
4 For behold, the kings assembled;
   they came on together.
5 As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
   they were in panic; they took to flight.
6 Trembling took hold of them there,
   anguish as of a woman in labor.
7 By the east wind you shattered
   the ships of Tarshish.
8 As we have heard, so have we seen
   in the city of the Lord of hosts,
in the city of our God,
   which God will establish forever. Selah
9 We have thought on your steadfast love, O God,
   in the midst of your temple.
10 As your name, O God,
   so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with righteousness.
11 Let Mount Zion be glad!
Let the daughters of Judah rejoice
   because of your judgments!
12 Walk about Zion, go around her,
   number her towers,
13 consider well her ramparts,
   go through her citadels,
that you may tell the next generation
14 that this is God,
our God forever and ever.
   He will guide us forever.

---

This is victory psalm, a song of celebration because the Lord has delivered Jerusalem from his enemies.

One phrase in particular stuck out to me:

“As we have heard, so have we seen” [Psalm 48:8].

In other words, we’d heard about what you have done in the past, Lord, but now we’ve actually seen it with our own eyes.

I think we should pray the same thing for our lives.

“Lord, help us to see cool stuff in our own time.”

TODAY, LORD!

Literally Do This Today - Psalm 47

Psalm 47

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

1 Clap your hands, all peoples!
    Shout to God with loud songs of joy!
2 For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared,
    a great king over all the earth.
3 He subdued peoples under us,
    and nations under our feet.
4 He chose our heritage for us,
    the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah
5 God has gone up with a shout,
    the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises!
    Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
7 For God is the King of all the earth;
    sing praises with a psalm!
8 God reigns over the nations;
    God sits on his holy throne.
9 The princes of the peoples gather
    as the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
    he is highly exalted!

---

Let’s take the first line of Psalm 47 literally:

“Clap your hands, all peoples!
    Shout to God with loud songs of joy!“

Seriously. Try it!  Give the Lord a SHOUT of praise.

---

Standing Still When the Earth Moves Around You - Psalm 46

Psalm 46

To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song.

1 God is our refuge and strength,
    a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
    though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
    though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
    God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
    he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,
    how he has brought desolations on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
    he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the chariots with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God.
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth!”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

---

To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song.

1 God is our refuge and strength,
    a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
    though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
    though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

Even if the earth itself is overwhelmed by the sea, even if there is no foundation any more, we still trust in God.

---

 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
    God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
    he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

From the chaos of the surging ocean, overwhelming the land as a result of a great earthquake, the psalmist now moves to describing a beautiful river bringing life and flowing through the ideal Jerusalem.  The psalmist knows that God will protect his city, and that at the sound of God’s voice his enemies are defeated.  More than the city walls, it is God himself who is its protection.

---

 8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,
    how he has brought desolations on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
    he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the chariots with fire.

The psalmist imagines the battlefield after God’s victory—his power is incomparable.

---

10 “Be still, and know that I am God.
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth!”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah 

So, in light of all of the above, sit quietly with this truth and be not afraid!

---

“In the midst of our tumultuous, chaotic modern world, Psalm 46 reminds us that God can calm the raging seas and the trembling mountains and turn them to rivers of life and calm dwelling places.  All that is required of us is that we stand still and acknowledge the God who is with us.”--Nancy deClaissé-Walford

---

A Poem for an Ancient Hebrew Wedding - Psalm 45

Psalm 45

To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah; a love song.

1 My heart overflows with a pleasing theme;
    I address my verses to the king;
    my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.
2 You are the most handsome of the sons of men;
    grace is poured upon your lips;
    therefore God has blessed you forever.
3 Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one,
    in your splendor and majesty!
4 In your majesty ride out victoriously
    for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness;
    let your right hand teach you awesome deeds!
5 Your arrows are sharp
    in the heart of the king's enemies;
    the peoples fall under you.
6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
    The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;
7 you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
    with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;
8 your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.
From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;
9 daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor;
    at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.
10 Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear:
    forget your people and your father's house,
11 and the king will desire your beauty.
Since he is your lord, bow to him.
12 The people of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts,
    the richest of the people.
13 All glorious is the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold.
14 In many-colored robes she is led to the king,
    with her virgin companions following behind her.
15 With joy and gladness they are led along
     as they enter the palace of the king.
16 In place of your fathers shall be your sons;
     you will make them princes in all the earth.
17 I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations;
     therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.

---

The 45th Psalm is a psalm composed for a royal wedding in Jerusalem. It’s fun to imagine what it must have been like to see one of the descendants of David take his bride and ascend to the throne.

Marriage is everything—we are who we are because of the marriages of the people who came before us. Some were happy and some were unhappy, but all shaped us.

Whose marriage can you pray for today?

---

When You Are Innocent But Still Suffer - Psalm 44

Psalm 44

To the choirmaster. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah.

1 O God, we have heard with our ears,
    our fathers have told us,
what deeds you performed in their days,
    in the days of old:
2 you with your own hand drove out the nations,
    but them you planted;
you afflicted the peoples,
    but them you set free;
3 for not by their own sword did they win the land,
    nor did their own arm save them,
but your right hand and your arm,
    and the light of your face,
    for you delighted in them.
4 You are my King, O God;
    ordain salvation for Jacob!
5 Through you we push down our foes;
    through your name we tread down those who rise up against us.
6 For not in my bow do I trust,
    nor can my sword save me.
7 But you have saved us from our foes
    and have put to shame those who hate us.
8 In God we have boasted continually,
    and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah
9 But you have rejected us and disgraced us
    and have not gone out with our armies.
10 You have made us turn back from the foe,
    and those who hate us have gotten spoil.
11 You have made us like sheep for slaughter
    and have scattered us among the nations.
12 You have sold your people for a trifle,
    demanding no high price for them.
13 You have made us the taunt of our neighbors,
    the derision and scorn of those around us.
14 You have made us a byword among the nations,
    a laughingstock among the peoples.
15 All day long my disgrace is before me,
    and shame has covered my face
16 at the sound of the taunter and reviler,
    at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.
17 All this has come upon us,
    though we have not forgotten you,
    and we have not been false to your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back,
    nor have our steps departed from your way;
19 yet you have broken us in the place of jackals
    and covered us with the shadow of death.
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
    or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
21 would not God discover this?
    For he knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long;
    we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
23 Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?
    Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever!
24 Why do you hide your face?
    Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust;
    our belly clings to the ground.
26 Rise up; come to our help!
    Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!

---

“The words of the psalm suggest that the people have gathered together in a sanctuary or in Jerusalem to cry out to God about a situation of grave danger—a military attack, political persecution, or some unjust action against them.  The speakers of Psalm 44 alternate between the gathered people and a leader in their midst who praise God for God’s goodness and recount God’s provisions to the ancestors of Israel; move on to declare their innocence to God in the face of the current circumstances; call God to account for what is happening—that is, accuse God of not remembering the covenant with them; and finally offer a concluding prayer to God….”

“Psalm 44 is unique… because in it the gathered congregation declares its absolute innocence before the Lord and claims that its suffering and shame are undeserved.” --Nancy deClaissé-Walford

---

To the choirmaster. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah.

The “sons of Korah” served as Temple staff and singers during the reigns of David and Solomon (1 Chronicles 6:31-31).  A “maskil” is probably some sort of teaching song, and the superscription “to the choirmaster” tells us that this psalm was used in Israelite worship.

---

1  O God, we have heard with our ears,
our fathers have told us,
what deeds you performed in their days,
in the days of old:
2   you with your own hand drove out the nations,
but them you planted;
you afflicted the peoples,
but them you set free;
3   for not by their own sword did they win the land,
nor did their own arm save them,       
but your right hand and your arm,
and the light of your face,
for you delighted in them.

The people recount what their ancestors told them of God’s mighty acts in bringing the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land.

---

4 You are my King, O God;
ordain salvation for Jacob!
5 Through you we push down our foes;
through your name we tread down those who rise up against us.
6 For not in my bow do I trust,
nor can my sword save me.

Rather than the whole congregation, now one leader sings and states that Israel’s true ruler is the Lord, and that it is he who provides their true strength.

---

7 But you have saved us from our foes
and have put to shame those who hate us.
8 In God we have boasted continually,
and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah

The people praise God for his deliverance in the past.

And then the tone of the psalm changes….

---

9  But you have rejected us and disgraced us
and have not gone out with our armies.
10 You have made us turn back from the foe,
and those who hate us have gotten spoil.
11 You have made us like sheep for slaughter
and have scattered us among the nations.
12 You have sold your people for a trifle,
demanding no high price for them.
13 You have made us the taunt of our neighbors,
the derision and scorn of those around us.
14 You have made us a byword among the nations,
a laughingstock among the peoples.

 In spite of their commitment to the Lord, the people accuse God of abandoning them to their enemies.  The unasked question is, “Why?”

---

15 All day long my disgrace is before me,
and shame has covered my face
16 at the sound of the taunter and reviler,
at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.  

The leader’s voice returns and speaks of his personal pain and shame.

---

17 All this has come upon us,
though we have not forgotten you,
and we have not been false to your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back,
nor have our steps departed from your way;
19 yet you have broken us in the place of jackals
and covered us with the shadow of death.
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
21 would not God discover this?
For he knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

The people claim to be innocent and bewildered at their circumstances.  “God, if we’d done bad things, we’d understand, but as it is we’ve done nothing, and yet this is still the way you treat us, like sheep to be slaughtered?”

(Paul quotes from v. 22 in Romans 8:36, when he is writing about how even persecution is not stronger than the love of Christ.)

---

23 Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?
Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever!
24 Why do you hide your face?
Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust;
our belly clings to the ground.
26 Rise up; come to our help!
Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love! 

The people close the song shouting to God: “Wake up!  Do something!”

 I’m reminded of the disciples waking Jesus in the stern of the boat as the storm builds on the Sea of Galilee.  “Rabbi, don’t you care that we’re about to drown?!”

---

I like how Nancy deClaissé-Walford closes her remarks on this psalm:

 “Psalm 44 gives the reader a wonderful glimpse into a liturgy of ancient Israelite worship.  People and leader gather at the temple or sanctuary and alternate their voices as they cry out to the Lord, protesting their innocence in the face of a grave danger and demanding that the Lord act on their behalf….  They base their pleas on the bold, blunt accusation that God has, for absolutely no reason, withheld his power, failed to rescue them, and did not even inform, them of their wrongs because (so they claim) there were none.  Theologically, their song appeals to God’s character and voices the common experience of believers of God’s mysterious ways.

 “Every person will have an experience of feeling unjustly punished at some point in life.  And every believer will question God concerning justice at some point in life.  The words of Psalm 44 affirms that God invites believers to cry out, ask questions, reflect on our own faithfulness, and call God to account for what is happening in our lives.  And while answers may elude us, we may affirm, along with the psalmist, that God’s hesed [i.e., his steadfast, covenant faithfulness and long-suffering kindness] is the compelling reason for us to be confident that, in the end, God will redeem us and be a help for us.” --Nancy deClaissé-Walford

Vindicate Me - Psalm 43

Psalm 43

1 Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause
   against an ungodly people,
from the deceitful and unjust man
   deliver me!
2 For you are the God in whom I take refuge;
   why have you rejected me?
Why do I go about mourning
   because of the oppression of the enemy?
3 Send out your light and your truth;
   let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
   and to your dwelling!
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
   to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
   O God, my God.
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
   and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
   my salvation and my God.

---

Just as in Psalm 42, Psalm 43 closes with a stubborn statement of hope:

“Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
My salvation and my God.”

 I also love what the psalmist is asking for:

“Send out your light and your truth;
let them lead me.”

 I’d like to be led by light and truth today.  What about you?

"As the Deer..." - Psalm 42

Psalm 42

 To the choirmaster. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah.

1 As a deer pants for flowing streams,
   so pants my soul for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God,
   for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
3 My tears have been my food
   day and night,
while they say to me all the day long,
   “Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember,
   as I pour out my soul:
how I would go with the throng
   and lead them in procession to the house of God
with glad shouts and songs of praise,
   a multitude keeping festival.
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
   and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
   my salvation 6 and my God.
My soul is cast down within me;
   therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
   from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
   at the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your waves
   have gone over me.
8 By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
   and at night his song is with me,
   a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God, my rock:
   “Why have you forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning
   because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As with a deadly wound in my bones,
   my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me all the day long,
   “Where is your God?”
11 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
   and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
   my salvation and my God.

---

1 As a deer pants for flowing streams,
   so pants my soul for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God,
   for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
3 My tears have been my food
   day and night,
while they say to me all the day long,
   “Where is your God?”

 “As the deer….”

It’s a famous line from the psalms, but in context it’s a cry of desperation.  The psalmist is desperate for God, but feels utterly abandoned.  He is dying of thirst, but there’s no water to drink.  “When will you show up, God?”  His tears are constant, almost like food, and the people around make his situation worse by asking, “Why doesn’t your God show up?”  (This reminds me of the taunts that Jesus hears on the Cross.)

---

4 These things I remember,
   as I pour out my soul:
how I would go with the throng
   and lead them in procession to the house of God
with glad shouts and songs of praise,
   a multitude keeping festival.

He remembers how he used to go to the Temple of the great festive holidays in Jerusalem, how things used to be so good and so thrilling.

---

5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
   and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
   my salvation 6 and my God.

And then the psalmist reminds himself that he has no reason to be in despair, that there will come a time again when he will praise God.

It’s almost as if he needs to hear himself speak words of hope out loud, since he certainly doesn’t feel hopeful.

---

My soul is cast down within me;
   therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
   from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
   at the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your waves
   have gone over me.

Mount Hermon is the tallest mountain in Israel, located as far north as you can go.  It is also the headwaters of the Jordan River.  The psalmist imagines the sound of the waterfalls in that land, and then imagines himself drowning in a deep ocean, with the bottomless abyss on top of another bottomless abyss.  What was a pleasant sound in his thoughts has now become the terrifying sense of being overcome by forces outside his control.

---

8 By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
   and at night his song is with me,
   a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God, my rock:
   “Why have you forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning
   because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As with a deadly wound in my bones,
   my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me all the day long,
   “Where is your God?”
11 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
   and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
   my salvation and my God.

The psalmist knows that the Lord is with him, and yet he still feels abandoned.  And so he closes the psalm with another statement of what he knows to be true, despite appearances: that things will one day turn around and he will praise God again.

Sometimes you just have to stubbornly cling on to hope.

P.S. See below for Shane and Shane’s reworking of Psalm 42.

P.P.S. Also, see below for the video of my sermon on this psalm from April 23, 2023.

---

---

Be Gracious to Me - Psalms 41

Psalm 41

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

1 Blessed is the one who considers the poor!
    In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;
2 the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;
    he is called blessed in the land;
    you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
3 The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;
    in his illness you restore him to full health.
4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
    heal me, for I have sinned against you!”
5 My enemies say of me in malice,
    “When will he die, and his name perish?”
6 And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words,
    while his heart gathers iniquity;
    when he goes out, he tells it abroad.
7 All who hate me whisper together about me;
    they imagine the worst for me.
8 They say, “A deadly thing is poured out on him;
    he will not rise again from where he lies.”
9 Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
    who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.
10 But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
    and raise me up, that I may repay them!
11 By this I know that you delight in me:
    my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
12 But you have upheld me because of my integrity,
    and set me in your presence forever.
13 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
    from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.

---

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

1 Blessed is the one who considers the poor!
   In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;
2 the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;
   he is called blessed in the land;
   you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
3 The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;
   in his illness you restore him to full health. 

The psalmist talks about the blessings that fall on those who are considerate and thoughtful of the poor.

---

4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
   heal me, for I have sinned against you!”
5 My enemies say of me in malice,
   “When will he die, and his name perish?”
6 And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words,
   while his heart gathers iniquity;
   when he goes out, he tells it abroad.
7 All who hate me whisper together about me;
   they imagine the worst for me.
8 They say, “A deadly thing is poured out on him;
   he will not rise again from where he lies.”
9 Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
   who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.
10 But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
   and raise me up, that I may repay them!

The psalmist remembers his past prayers for help: he was in need, and the Lord provided.

---

11 By this I know that you delight in me:
    my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
12 But you have upheld me because of my integrity,
    and set me in your presence forever.
13 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
    from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.

And, the psalm (and with it Book I of the Psalter, the ancient organization of the 150 psalms) concludes with praise.

Amen.

"40"

Psalm 40

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
    he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
    out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
    making my steps secure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
    a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
    and put their trust in the Lord.
4 Blessed is the man who makes
    the Lord his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
    to those who go astray after a lie!
5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
    your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
    none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
    yet they are more than can be told.
6  In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,
    but you have given me an open ear.
Burnt offering and sin offering
    you have not required.
7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
    in the scroll of the book it is written of me:
8  I delight to do your will, O my God;
    your law is within my heart.”
9  I have told the glad news of deliverance
    in the great congregation;
behold, I have not restrained my lips,
    as you know, O Lord.
10 I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;
    I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
    from the great congregation.
11 As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain
    your mercy from me;
your steadfast love and your faithfulness will
    ever preserve me!
12 For evils have encompassed me
    beyond number;
my iniquities have overtaken me,
    and I cannot see;
they are more than the hairs of my head;
    my heart fails me.
13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me!
    O Lord, make haste to help me!
14 Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether
    who seek to snatch away my life;
let those be turned back and brought to dishonor
    who delight in my hurt!
15 Let those be appalled because of their shame
    who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”
16 But may all who seek you
    rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
    say continually, “Great is the Lord!”
17 As for me, I am poor and needy,
    but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
    do not delay, O my God!

---

The Irish band U2’s 1983 song “40” is one of my favorite artistic reworkinsg of a psalm. The power of “40” comes from its refusal to neatly resolve. Life itself lacks neat resolution, and so the song mirrors life perfectly. Life has times for praise—”I will sing, sing a new song”—and times for perseverance—”How long, to sing this song?”—and these times follow after one another in this life until the Lord calls us home.

I think “40” is my favorite artistic reworking of a psalm, or at least the one that has had the greatest influence on me.

The video below is from the legendary U2 show at Red Rocks on June 5, 1983, which almost didn’t happen.

---

“40”

by U2

I waited patiently for the Lord.
He inclined and heard my cry.
He brought me up out of the pit
Out of the miry clay.

I will sing, sing a new song.
I will sing, sing a new song.
How long to sing this song?
How long to sing this song?
How long, how long, how long
How long to sing this song?

You set my feet upon a rock
And made my footsteps firm.
Many will see, many will see and hear.

I will sing, sing a new song.
I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song.
I will sing, sing a new song
How long to sing this song? 
How long to sing this song? 
How long to sing this song? 
How long to sing this song?

What the Heck, Lord?! - Psalm 39

Psalm 39

To the choirmaster: to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.

1 I said, “I will guard my ways,
    that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will guard my mouth with a muzzle,
    so long as the wicked are in my presence.”
2 I was mute and silent;
    I held my peace to no avail,
and my distress grew worse.
3 My heart became hot within me.
As I mused, the fire burned;
   then I spoke with my tongue:
4 “O Lord, make me know my end
    and what is the measure of my days;
    let me know how fleeting I am!
5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,
    and my lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
6 Surely a man goes about as a shadow!
Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;
   man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!
7 “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
    My hope is in you.
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions.
    Do not make me the scorn of the fool!
9 I am mute; I do not open my mouth,
    for it is you who have done it.
10 Remove your stroke from me;
    I am spent by the hostility of your hand.
11 When you discipline a man
    with rebukes for sin,
you consume like a moth what is dear to him;
    surely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah
12 “Hear my prayer, O Lord,
    and give ear to my cry;
    hold not your peace at my tears!
For I am a sojourner with you,
    a guest, like all my fathers.
13 Look away from me, that I may smile again,
    before I depart and am no more!”

---

Psalm 39 is a mix of despair and hope and frustration. There are times in life when you just cannot understand what God is up to. Psalm 39 is for those sorts of times.

What emotions do you need to pray through today?