August 11 / Psalm 89:1-18

Psalm 89:1-18 We will be reading Psalm 89 for the next four days. The break for each day is intentional, although the third and fourth day could have been combined. Actually though, as you read the entire psalm you can see that Ps 89:1-18 and Ps 89:19-37 almost stand alone as their own psalms. Then …

August 9 / Psalm 87

Psalm 87 To me there’s not a lot to reflect on in today’s psalm. The psalmist is extolling the glory of Jerusalem and Mount Zion, established/ordained by God Himself. The psalmist pays particular attention to the special “citizenship” of those who were born there – in contrast to those who were born in the other …

August 5 / Psalm 83

Psalm 83 Where possible I like to put these psalms into their historical settings. Today’s Psalm 83 fits best with II Chronicles 20, where we see Moab, Ammon, and Edom (vv. 6-7) all gathered against Israel, with Assyria mentioned only as an ally (v. 8), not the powerful foe that destroyed the Northern Kingdom. Often …

August 4 / Psalm 82

Psalm 82 At first glance, this is quite confusing, especially depending on the translation you are using. Does verse 1 have “gods” or “rulers”? If “rulers”, we can imagine that the psalmist is speaking of either Israel’s leaders or the leaders in the surrounding nations. If “gods”, we can imagine God calling an assembly in …