Psalm 119:17-32 Psalm 119, Day 2. I noted yesterday that each of the 22 stanzas in this Psalm highlights a particular letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Today’s letter for verses 17-24 is “Gimel”; each of these eight verses begins with the letter “Gimel” in the Hebrew alphabet. For verses 25-32 the beginning letter for each …
Author Archives: Fred
October 16 / Psalm 119:1-16
Psalm 119:1-16 Psalm 119, today and the next ten days after. Psalm 119 is an alphabetic acrostic, 176 verses long – obviously the longest Psalm in the Psalter. There are 22 eight-verse stanzas. Each stanza and each verse in each stanza begin with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet – 22 different letters for …
October 15 / Psalm 118:15-29
Psalm 118:15-29 More deliverance. A number of verses for comment today. First, very common for Avanza folks: This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. (v. 24) This is one of Carol’s gathering songs for our Avanza kids. They all know it (2nd grade and beyond); …
October 14 / Psalm 118:1-14
Psalm 118:1-14 This is the last of the praise psalms that we began with Psalm 111. The psalmist in today’s reading offers praise and thanksgiving for Israel’s victory over her enemies. But which set of victories? Was it their deliverance from Egypt and from their enemies as they did battle in the Wilderness? Or was …
October 13 / Psalms 116-117
Psalms 116-117 Yes, two psalms today – but the second, Psalm 117 is only two verses long and fits nicely at the end of Psalm 116. Psalm 117 is not only the shortest psalm, it is also the shortest chapter in the entire Bible. In today’s Psalm 116 the psalmist is concerned with death, specifically …
October 12 / Psalm 115
Psalm 115 Today’s psalm is not one with a full, inclusive theme; instead it scatter-shoots a bit. It’s a praise psalm, so many of the verses focus on praising the Lord. But other groups of verses look at idol worship and idol makers (vv. 4-8) and our trusting in the Lord and being blessed by …
October 11 / Psalm 114
Psalm 114 God’s deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt. We all know of the parting of the Red Sea, a favorite Sunday School story for children, Israel’s passing through and Pharaoh’s armies’ drowning. That event is referenced in verse 3: The sea looked and fled… That is, the Red Sea event is referenced in the …
October 10 / Psalm 113
Psalm 113 This is the third in our series of eight “Hallelujah” psalms. Today’s psalm is just that: praise! The first six verses are all praise, while the last three verses speak of what the Lord has done, and His actions are praiseworthy. So yes, praise! One pair of verses struck me: Who is like …
October 9 / Psalm 112
Psalm 112 Yesterday I suggested that we spend some time reflecting on the Lord’s works in our lives. Today’s Psalm takes that a step further, essentially asking us if we are, in fact, serving the Lord as He would ask. Almost every verse calls forth an item in our lives for which, if we make …
October 8 / Psalm 111
Psalm 111 Today we begin a week of “Hallelujah” psalms – Psalms 111-118. You may recall way back when, as we were first reading the Psalms that so many of the Psalms were laments, often written by David during his many trials. Now we’re nearing the end of the Psalter, and we will be seeing …