365 Reflections

Psalm 147 seesaws from one extreme to another in worship and praise of God. Psalm 147:1–6 (ESV) Praise the Lord ! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting. 2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. 3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. 4 He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. 5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. 6 The Lord lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground. Notice the extremes that God brings together: The Lord builds up the most important religious city... with outcasts  (verse 2). He heals the brokenhearted (verse 3) while numbering and naming the stars (verse 4). His power and knowledge KNOWS NO LIMIT (verse 5)... but he bends down to lift up the humble (verse 6). God goes to extremes. It's what the Gospel is - the God of extremes. Paul said it like this: 2 Cori

We have made it to the last 5 Psalms. Most commentators call them the "Hallelujah Chorus" of the Psalms because of their grandiose final call to simply Praise God. Each of them begin with the words, "Praise the Lord" or "Hallelujah" from the Hebrew. What a perfect ending to a marvelous collection of Holy Spirit inspired writing! The Psalms are a prayer and praise book. Reading and studying them have revealed the hearts of real people who have really struggled at times with life, death, winning, losing, sickness, health, desperation and dedication in their walk with the Lord. The Psalms remind us that real people related to God, not super saints... not the people out of touch with this world. The Psalms were written for the trenches of life's battles and the mountain peaks of life's victories. So we benefit when we read and study them for ourselves in our own experiences of life. James Montgomery Boice writes, "Praise is where all true reli

God is good. We say it, we may even respond, "All the time." But why is He good? Psalm 145 is David's last Psalm in the collection. A lifetime of learning from God has led him to one ultimate conclusion: God is good. He is a sinner's savior: Psalm 145:8–9 (NLT)   The Lord is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. 9 The Lord is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation. How often we rely on God's slowness to anger. We often get discouraged when we don't see wicked people judged in the time we'd like. But His compassion toward us is a constant reminder that we should be thankful He's gracious for a lot longer than we deserve. He is a promise keeper: Psalm 145:13 (NLT)   For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. You rule throughout all generations. The Lord always keeps his promises; he is gracious in all he does. God is faithful to bring to completion the work he started i

Psalm 144:1–2 (ESV)   Blessed be the Lord , my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; 2 he is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield and he in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me. I've always liked the opening words of this Psalm. David worships God for the fact that He has trained his hands to fight skillfully. Make no mistake, David did not "luckily" win out over his enemies (particularly Goliath). He wasn't a one hit wonder who struck it big at just the right moment. He was always victorious. More importantly, David knew where that victory came from. God had trained his hands and fingers.  I like this passage because it reminds me that our prayers to God are not supposed to simply be desperate pleas cast to heaven like a Hail Mary pass in the 4th quarter when we are down by 7. Sometimes that is the case, but most times God is in the training business.  Jesus TRAINED disciples: Mat

Psalm 143 is the last of 7 penitential Psalms. The others are Psalm 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, and 130. It is one of the best approaches for a sinful man to address God. It bases it's request on God's character as revealed throughout Scripture: Psalm 143:1 (ESV) Hear my prayer, O Lord ; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness! It hits the nail on the head when it comes to our approach. Only God is righteous: Psalm 143:2 (ESV)   Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you. It makes God the highest aim of prayer, rather than fleeting victories or blessings of this life: Psalm 143:5–6 (ESV)   I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands. 6 I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah It seeks direction not simply accommodation to the desires of the flesh. In other words, the Psalmist wants to kn

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, an American poet, wrote,       "Laugh and the world laughs with you; Weep and you weep alone." David writes Psalm 142 totally alone in a Cave hiding from Saul and those who pursued him. Psalm 142:1–4 (NLT) I cry out to the Lord ; I plead for the Lord ’s mercy. 2 I pour out my complaints before him and tell him all my troubles. 3 When I am overwhelmed, you alone know the way I should turn. Wherever I go, my enemies have set traps for me. 4 I look for someone to come and help me, but no one gives me a passing thought! No one will help me; no one cares a bit what happens to me. This Psalm is first comforting because it's part of the human experience... even for someone as heroic as David. Think of it. They used to be singing about David. That's what the world does when you're on top and winning. He was the one who led the armies of Israel over convincing victories. He was the one who turned their fortunes 180 degrees by

Do you ever pray for protection... from yourself? David did. Psalm 141:1–4 (ESV) O Lord , I call upon you; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to you! 2 Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice! 3 Set a guard, O Lord , over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips! 4 Do not let my heart incline to any evil , to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with men who work iniquity, and let me not eat of their delicacies! David knew the human heart was deceitful and desperately wicked. He knew his own mouth could be his downfall. He knew that sin seemed good at first (calling it delicacies)... but in the end lead to death.  And because David knew this about himself, he prayed against the danger that he posed. We do well to do the same. The Lord instructs us to pray, "Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one." We need to pray this prayer more than we do.  Ja

Psalm 140 was written by David when he was a member of Saul's staff. Under Saul's management, David was hated and reviled by his own King. Saul knew the Spirit had left him and God had plans to make David king in his place. In his vitriol he attacked David emotionally and physically. The attacks also played out on a national stage. I cannot imagine what David went through during those years. But I do know that our spiritual enemy attacks us just the same way. What do we do when we face such animosity? We pray! Psalm 140:4–5 (ESV)   Guard me, O Lord , from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from violent men, who have planned to trip up my feet. 5 The arrogant have hidden a trap for me, and with cords they have spread a net; beside the way they have set snares for me. Selah David survived such hardship because David was a man of prayer. He depended upon God for protection and deliverance. He pleased God by turning to Him. That's the kind of faith God is looking

We will all have detractors and attackers. We will all have someone not like us or despise us. The Psalmist did in Psalm 139. The interesting thing about this Psalm is that it's so beautiful we lose the context. The Psalm was sung while the author was facing adversarial animosity. He cries out toward the end: Psalm 139:19 (ESV)   Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me! Here's the power of the Truth of this Psalm. In the face of his enemies, what is his confidence? The fact that God made him, knows all about him, and will always be with him. Note the following very familiar passages: Psalm 139:1–2 (ESV) O Lord , you have searched me and known me! 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. Psalm 139:5 (ESV) You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Psalm 139:7–8 (ESV)  Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to

Psalm 138 is a song of thanks with a final line of appeal. The Psalmist has a a number of good reasons for gratitude: Psalm 138:1 (ESV)   I give you thanks, O Lord , with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise; The Psalmist is going to thank God with all His heart.  I remember reading somewhere that confession and thankfulness are the same word in Hebrew. Because they both imply that you need someone else. To confess need is to say thanks. That's what we do when we thank God - we confess our need of Him. He's thankful that God is true to His Word. Psalm 138:2 (NLT)   I bow before your holy Temple as I worship. I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness; for your promises are backed by all the honor of your name. This verse is particularly difficult in Hebrew. It literally says, " you have exalted your word above all your name."  Translators try to fix it by adding an "and" between "your word" AND "y

Sorry for the long delay in posts. Holidays, vacation... etc. Today I want to look at Psalm 137. It contains perhaps one of the most difficult passages to interpret as the Word of God in all of Scripture. The Psalm is a lament by the Exiles of Israel living in Babylon having been taken captive and watched their city destroyed. Context is important because of how this Psalm ends. Psalm 137:1–9 (ESV) By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. 2 On the willows there we hung up our lyres. 3 For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”  4 How shall we sing the Lord ’s song in a foreign land?  5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! 6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!  7 Remember, O Lord , against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, “Lay it bare, la