Psalm 65 - 67

written Nov. 21, 2008

Psalm 65 & 66 are Psalms of praise... each talk of the greatness of God and tell of things He has done.

65:3 When we were overwhelmed by sins, You forgave our transgressions

65:5 You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness, O God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas

Verses 6 -11 of Psalm 65 paint a picture of Creator God and show how He is still seen in His creation.

65:6 formed the mountains by Your power

65:8 when morning darns and evening fades, You call forth songs of joy

65:11 You crown the year with Your bounty 

66:1-2 Shout with joy to God all the earth, sing the glory of His name; make His praise glorious!

66:4 All the earth bows down to You, they sing praise to you, they sing praise to Your name

66:6 He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the water on foot

66:7 He rules forever by His power

66:9 He has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping

66:12 we went through the fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance

Psalm 66 ends with an important truth:

v. 18-20 If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayers or withheld His love from me!

Sin get in the way.. it is like a wall between us and God.. it hinders our prayers and, therefore, our relationship with Him.  We must confess our sins and repent... not cherish our sins and hold on to them... live in them.  God hears our prayers of repentance and He forgive.. He wants to keep sin from straining our relationship with Him.

Psalm 67 begins with a blessing for us and goes into our blessing God and then returns to God blessing us.  It is a short, but powerful Psalm... a great one to pray.

Psalms 50 - 54

Written November 3, 2008 

Psalm 50 explodes with the power of God – His might – His majesty. 

Verse 1 goes great with Psalm 113:3 (a favorite of mine)…

 Ps. 50:1 “The Mighty One, god, the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to the place where it set.” Ps. 113:3 “From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised.” 

We see in Psalm 50 that God is perfect in beauty and shines forth (v. 2)… He will not be silent (v. 3)….fire devours before Him and around Him tempest rages (v. 3)… He summons the earth (v.4)… the heavens proclaim His righteousness (v. 6)… He is judge (v. 6)… He is our God (v. 7)… every animal of the forest is His (v. 10)… the cattle on 1000 hills belongs to Him (v. 10)… He knows every bird in the mountains and every creature of the field is His (v. 11)…. The world is His and Hall that is in it (v. 12)… He is the Most High (v. 14)… He hears our cries and delivers us (v. 15)… He is nothing like us (v. 21)…. He is our salvation (v. 23) 

We see the might of God in Psalm 50 and then in Psalm 51 we see David bow before this mighty, all powerful God.

Psalm 51 us a well known Psalm – it is David’s plea to God after Nathan confronts him with his sin concerning Bathsheba. 

All of us sin (Rom. 3:23)... even believers continue to sin in their lives.  Ps, 51 is a great place to go when there is unconfessed sin in your life… pray it… earnestly… back to God.  He will honor your prayer and you will be forgiven (1 John (9:10). 

I love that David asks for more than just forgiveness – he asks to be washed clean (v. 7) and to be restored in his relationship with God (v. 12). 

Sin hinders our relationship with God.  It is what blocks us from God before we are saved and even after we become believers, sin can slip in and strains our relationship with God.  As believers, our salvation is secure – we are headed to heaven (2 Cor. 1:21), but we cannot live the abundant life Christ has for us (John 10:10) if there is unconfessed sin in our life. 

Ps. 50:16-17 “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You do not take pleasure in burnt offering.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite hear, O God, You will not despise.” 

Psalm 52 is a comparison of the evil man to the righteous man.  David describes the evil man as one who boasts all day and is a disgrace in the eyes of God (v. 1)… his tongue plots destruction… he practices deceit (v. 2)… loves evil... loves falsehood (v. 3)… loves harmful words (v. 4)… and David warns that God will “snatch” him up … uproot him from the land of the living (v. 5)… in contrast the righteous man has God as his stronghold (v. 7)… flourishes (v. 8)… trusts in God’s unfailing love (v. 8)… praises God (v. 9)… places hope in God (v. 9) 

Psalm 53 begins with averse I’ve heard many time… “The fools says in his heart, ‘there is no God.’” 

I honestly don’t see how anyone can look at nature… at the human body… stars… newborn babies… and think there is no God.  To me, that person is surrounded by a wall of deceit that will lead to destruction if not removed. 

Verse 3 is a very convincing verse:  “Everyone has turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good.” 

Is that what God sees today? I fear it is. 

But Ps. 53 ends with the promise of restoration for Israel… a promise which still stands today. 

Psalm 54 is a cry for help… there are a number of Psalms which are cries for help.  I believe God is telling us there will be difficult times and we need to cry out to Him for deliverance. 

Verses 1 & 2 “Save me, O God, by Your name; vindicate me by Your might.  Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth.” 

Verse 4 “Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.” 

Verse 7 “For He has delivered me from all my troubles.” 

Amen!

Psalms 38, 39 & 40

Written Oct. 20, 2008

Psalm 38 is a powerful Psalm and one I fear most of us cannot relate to. David is in anguish over the sin in his life…

v. 3-5 “Because of Your wrath there is no health in my body my bones have no soundness because of my sin. My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear. My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly.”

Have you ever felt that way over the sin in your life? I can’t say it causes me anguish and certainly I don’t “go around” all day “mourning: (v. 6)

So should we? I think we should see our sin for what it is and be broken by it. 2 Cor. 7:10 says “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret but worldly sorrow brings death.”

We don’t want worldly sorrow … which is mainly upset for being “caught”… we want Godly sorrow.

I don’t believe we have to mourn all day as David did. We have Jesus and through Him the forgiveness of our sins.

1 John 1:9 promises that “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sings and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

What an awesome promise!

Psalm 39 starts with David trying to do the impossible…

v. 1 “I said, ‘I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sinning; I will put a muzzle over my mouth.’”

James 3 makes it clear that no one can tame their tongue. Just try and you will quickly see how difficult and impossible this task is in your own strength. Only through God can this happen/

Verses 4 & 5 have come to my mind a number of times lately and I’ve realized what a powerful prayer they are…

Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before You. Each man’s life is but a breath.

How differently would I live my life if I truly understood how short my time is here on earth?

Yesterday, my pastor told of a man given a terminal diagnosis and how he lived life differently and then he reminded us that we all are terminal and in light of the Kingdom calendar, we will all die soon. We need to live life with that mindset… I need to live life today with that mindset… and every day I have left where I have two days or 40 years.

V. 6 is a picture of the world today…

Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro; he bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth not knowing who will get it.

What a sobering and powerful verse!

“But now, Lord, what do I look for? My Hope is in You!” (v. 7)

The result of that hope is seen in Psalm 40:1-3

I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.

David continues in Psalm 40 to talk of the blessings of trusting in the Lord. How different his tone here than in Psalm 38. Ps. 40 is a man who has been forgiven and is back on the right path.

V. 8 is one we should all learn and pray daily “I desire to do Your will, O my God, Your law is within my heart.”

That is key… get in the Word and get the Word in you.. then you will sing a new song like David.

How could I not give You my life?

from September 9, 2008

I was listening to Phil Wickham this morning and these words reminded me again of what You did Lord...

Because of Your Cross, my debt is paid... Because of Your blood, my sins are washed away... Now all of my life, I freely give... Because of Your love, Because of Your love, I live

It takes an act of conscious... of choice to give You my life and yet You already own it. It's Yours, bought and paid for in full! How then could I not give it to You -- that would be stealing -- and why wouldn't I want to give it. After all You did to save it - there is no doubt You love my life -- me -- more than I love myself.