365 Reflections

The Word "forever"is key to Psalm 89. Eight times it's used to refer to the covenant between God and David. Psalm 89:1–4 (ESV) 1 I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord , forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations. 2 For I said, “Steadfast love will be built up forever; in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.” 3 You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn to David my servant: 4 ‘I will establish your offspring forever, and build your throne for all generations.’ ” Selah "Faithfulness" occurs 7 times. Psalm 89:5–8 (ESV) Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord , your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones! 6 For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord ? Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord , 7 a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around him? 8 O Lord God of hosts, who is m...

The problem with much of Christian publishing is that it always has to be positive, uplifting, or come to a happy ending where the lost person is finally redeemed. It's just not always true to life. Psalm 88 is a Psalm of complete despair. From beginning to end, the Psalm offers no light at the end of the tunnel nor a happily ever after. Not a single note of hope or anticipation that things will work out in the end. It begins: Psalm 88:1–3 (ESV) 1 O Lord , God of my salvation; I cry out day and night before you. 2 Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry! 3 For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol. It ends... Psalm 88:18 (ESV) You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me; my companions have become darkness. But we need to be thankful this Psalm is in the Bible. It's there to remind us that sometimes things in life doesn't end the way we want, no matter what we do or hope. We can also be thankful, this is the on...

The Psalms can be confusing. Number 87 is one that could appear so. It praises Jerusalem as a glorious place, a beautiful city adored by God over all others. In the Old Testament, this is true. No place housed the presence of God like Jerusalem. But under the New Covenant this Psalm becomes a prophetic look at the New City being established by the new birth experience. The Psalmist calls us to behold the new city of Zion, the heavenly city that will come down to Earth. Psalm 87:5 (ESV) And of Zion it shall be said, “This one and that one were born in her”; for the Most High himself will establish her. They will be members of that city because they were "born there." That is what Jesus talks about with Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." John 3:5 . Who does it? The Lord Himself. Jesus is the one who brings us into the new city, establishes and protects us, brings us hom...

We usually only pray in frustration. When we are at wits end and don't know what to do se offer prayers that amount to hopeful wish lists with unfounded reasons for an answer. David prays very differently on Psalm 86. Psalm 86:3–5 (ESV) Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all the day. 4 Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. 5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. David knows God is good and forgiving. Instead of cowering in fear, he's emboldened to come before God in times when he needs grace. When David needs to know which way to turn, he acknowledges who he's praying to: Psalm 86:10–13 (ESV) For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God. 11 Teach me your way, O Lord , that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. 12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name f...

What does revival look like? Psalm 85:6 (ESV) Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Some believe this Psalm was written shortly after Israel's return from exile. They had been commissioned to rebuild Jerusalem and their Temple but the process was hard and they met several obstacles along the way. One of which was their walls being burned shortly after having rebuilt them. The task seemed impossible. How could they once again be the glorious nation of the past if they couldn't build a wall? The answer was prayer. When we think about the Church in America, the task seems impossible. To stop the secularization of our nation and bring Christianity to bear in the public square once more seems like an improbability. More churches close per year than open and thousands of Pastors leave vocational ministry every month. Will you not revive us again? What is revival? Revival is three things: 1. When God's Word is preached with absolute con...

God's house is a place for the worthless and the restless. Psalm 84 was written by the sons of Korah. One of the specific Levite families which were considered the janitors at the temple. In that light this Psalm becomes incredibly beautiful. For the janitors of God's house are not doing what they do out of resentment or frustration, but are thoroughly in love with being in the presence of God doing the work of God. What have they found? How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of Heaven’s Armies. I long, yes, I faint with longing to enter the courts of the LORD. With my whole being, body and soul, I will shout joyfully to the living God. (Psalms 84:1-2 NLT) I have learned that every church has people who would be there whether you paid them or not, whether you needed them or not, or asked them to be there or not. They just love to be in God's house with God's people. They have learned through experience the blessing of being in the presence of the Lord. The sons of K...

Psalm 83 reminds us that enemies of God's people always abound. The opening verses mention 10 nations gathered around Israel to attack and destory them. These are their enemies. Child of God, we will always have enemies... 1 John 3:13 (ESV)   Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. The world throughout history has hated this ancient family of the Jews. God's chosen people have been the rejected ones in society down through the ages, from Egypt to Nazi Germany. Yet God's blessing has been upon them to this day. For Christians it will be no different. Men will hate us. Yet we are to regard this  as blessing! Luke 6:22–23 (ESV) “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. The Psalmist readily acknowledges the adversary. He then ...

It's very easy to misread Psalm 82. The opening line sounds like the Psalmist is going to lament to God... but that's not the case.... Psalm 82:1–2   God stands in the divine assembly; he administers judgment in the midst of the gods. 2 “How long will you judge unjustly and show favoritism to the wicked? Selah The key to understanding this passage is the understanding of "gods" in verse 1. Who are the "gods?" other divine beings? No. God wouldn't sit with them because they don't exist. He alone is the GOD of all. God is addressing the "gods" and speaking to them about their unjust favoritism. Jesus uses this Psalm when confronted with the leaders of His day. It was subtle way of pointing them to this Psalm and further the exposure of their sins. The "gods" of this verse are the rulers of nations and peoples, those who run the government, the church, the civic organizations that are supposed to help protect and se...

I grew up in the Charismatic Church. We were really into worship. It was everything. And by worship, we meant the singing and emotional feel of the service before the preaching. In fact, on some occasions, if we "felt the Spirit" just right, the preaching would be sidelined for more singing and emotion. It was very feeling oriented. And I read Psalm 81 thinking about how often the feeling of worship and the form of worship can be a shady cover for hearts that aren't actually listening to God or doing what He says. The Psalmist opens: Psalm 81:1–3 (ESV) 1 Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob! 2 Raise a song; sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp. 3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our feast day. The idea in the first three verses is that of orderly, well structured, planned and perfected worship. Everything is going just as the Levitical prescription is laid out in the Pentateuch. But when ...

Psalm 80 is a prayer of repentance in an absolutely proper way. The Psalmist wants to once again experience the favor and presence of God. But notice the request: Psalm 80:3 (NLT) Turn us again to yourself, O God. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved. This phrase "Turn us again to yourself" is repeated throughout the Psalm. It's the heart of the prayer. We cannot truly turn ourselves to God. Our idol-making hearts always drift from proper devotion to vain and lesser things. We come to God even subconsciously to get what we want out of Him. A relationship fixed, a marriage healed, an addiction conquered... Or perhaps even the feeling of well being... the financial blessing... the sense of being in a better place. These are fine things, but not the end, not the final destination for God's people. We need God to turn us because on our own we don't even turn properly. Only God can properly turn us. And where? To Himself, that w...

I know this sounds harsh, but God doesn't need us. We like to romanticize the Christian faith. We like to believe that God just wanted on big ole family and so He came to the idea to create us and form us... But we had to go and blow it and so God came and dealt with it. Why? Because He didn't want anything taking us away from Him. He's just that enamored with humanity. To say such things is completely wrong. God created us because God creates. He saves us because He saves. He redeems because He redeems. He does this because of Who He is, not because of who we are! If you don't believe me, look at what He told His people several times: Deuteronomy 7:7–8 (NLT) “The LORD did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! 8 Rather, it was simply that the LORD loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the LORD rescued you with such a strong h...