Psalm 74:1-11

O God, why do you cast us off forever? (v. 1) Have you ever asked that question? Or (perhaps better) how often have you asked that question? Are you currently asking that question? As for me, I have certainly felt “cast off” occasionally, and sometimes for extended periods. Calling out to God and hearing silence in return is by no means a pleasant experience, but it seems that God allows us to go through such seasons, and this psalm gives voice to those feelings.

I am also reminded of Revelation 6:9-11, where John sees the souls of martyrs under the altar in heaven, and they cry out, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” And the answer? A little longer…

Psalm 73

Today the psalmist expresses his confidence in the Lord’s justice, that the wicked “get theirs” in the end. Note, though, that the difference between yesterday’s reading and today’s is entirely one of perspective and faith — a change in perspective that comes as the psalmist enters the sanctuary of God, not as a result of some cataclysmic judgment suddenly being poured out upon all the wicked.

If we just look at our circumstances — and the circumstances of others — we will almost inevitably be stuck in the first half of this psalm, embittered and envious of the apparent prosperity of those we deem to be more wicked than ourselves. We must look past those circumstances through the eyes of faith to discern that the Lord has more in store for us — and them. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (v. 26)

Psalm 73:1-17

Today we begin Book 3 of the Psalms. Of the 73 psalms for which David is noted as the author, only 18 are in Books 3-5, meaning that 55 of the 72 psalms that we have seen thus far are ascribed to David. So we can expect to see very different psalms as we move forward from what we’ve been reading.

Today’s Psalm 73 sounds a lot like Job, especially verses 3-12 where the author is decrying the (apparent) success of the wicked, even to the point of expressing his own jealousy in verses 13-14. But then he catches himself in verses 16-17: But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. I think there’s a message for us here. There’s something different about us going “into the sanctuary of God”. Today being Sunday, that’s a good reflection. I’m not suggesting that simply going to church is a be-all-end-all. But there’s something very different between “in-church” and “tv-church”. Being together in a body of believers fills us with a special grace that we just can’t get if we behave as isolated Christians.

I think these reflections are in me today because I will not be in our church building this morning. But also, I will not be an isolation Christian. I will watch our service on my computer, wishing that I were there, but also seeing multiple dozens of dear friends who will be praying for me this week. I cannot express to you all how important, how fulfilling that is to me. It’s open-heart surgery tomorrow and I’ll be in the surgical team’s hands for what my surgeon has said is a low-risk (1%) operation. But I will also be in God’s hands, His will to be accomplished as He chooses. I look forward to being with you again!!

Psalm 72

I truly appreciate John stepping up when I am unable, but for now, at least until Tuesday morning I can share a bit to start us off.

I may have found a new favorite psalm. If not number one, Psalm 72 is right up there! Very quickly as I was reading through it the first time, although Psalm 72 was relating to King David or King Solomon or other Israeli kings, I could see it applied to Jesus. My lead Study Bible said the same thing, that the early church saw this Psalm as a description of the Messiah. Then Jesus fulfilled these verses in His own life. Consider a few verses (capitalized pronouns added):

• May He judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice! (v. 2)
• May He defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor! (v. 4)
• For He delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy… (vv. 12-13a)
• May His name endure forever… (v. 17a)

We also look forward to His return:

• May He have dominion from sea to sea… (v. 8a)
• May all kings fall down before Him, all nations serve Him! (v. 11)
• May His name endure forever… May people be blessed in Him, all nations call Him blessed! (v. 17)

Finally, a glorious conclusion:  

• Blessed be His glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with His glory! (v. 19)

AMEN!!

Psalm 71:14-24

The second half of this psalm turns from plea to praise, or more accurately, to the promise of public praise:

But I will hope continually
and will praise You yet more and more.
My mouth will tell of Your righteous acts,
of Your deeds of salvation all the day,
for their number is past my knowledge.
With the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD I will come;
I will remind them of Your righteousness, Yours alone.

Psalm 71:14-16

I envision a soldier in a foxhole under a barrage of artillery desperately praying to survive the night and promising to serve the Lord thereafter. My guess is that such “foxhole commitments” number in the thousands, if not millions. (As the saying goes, there are no atheists in foxholes…) But I wonder about the rate of follow-through; that is, what percentage of those who “make a deal” with God under stress go on to fulfill their half of the bargain? The percentage is certainly not zero, but neither is it 100.

My guess — and it is only a guess — is that the answer is far closer to zero than 100. I base that only on observation of human nature and of myself. I have never been in combat, but I am pretty sure that I have nonetheless bargained with God along the lines of, “If You save me from X, then I’ll do Y.” The problem is that I have conveniently forgotten all those commitments and am only “pretty sure” that I might have made them…

All of that goes to say that we ought not forget to return praise and thanksgiving to God for all the wondrous things He does as He pours out His steadfast love on us. He deserves such praise regardless of whether we vow to give it or not. So as we read this psalm together, with its promises of praise, take the opportunity to actually follow through and praise the Lord, right here, right now.

Psalm 71:1-13

With Fred “otherwise occupied” for a bit, I guess you’re stuck with me again…

This psalm is a cry from the heart for God’s protection and deliverance. My guess is that we can all fairly readily “put ourselves into” the psalmist’s position, appealing to the Lord for rescue. For some of us, that may reflect very real current circumstances. For others, even when we are sitting in comfort we can reflect back on prior trials and difficulties that seemed (and were) insurmountable without the Lord’s grace. In all cases, the Lord remains our Rock of refuge. (v. 3)

Right now, knowing Fred’s situation while reading Psalm 71, I cannot help but read it from (what I imagine to be) his perspective. With the exceptions of the references to enemies and accusers in Ps. 71:10,11,13, it does not take much effort to imagine Fred as the psalmist. And so, I propose that we all, in one spirit, intercede for Fred with this psalm. God is indeed our Rock of refuge to which [we] may continually come.

Psalm 70

It seems a bit unusual – Psalm 70 has only five verses, but David addresses God (“O God…” v. 1), his enemies (“Let them…”, vv. 2-3), the faithful (“Let all…, Let those…”, v. 4), and himself (“But I…”, v. 5).

Yesterday I mentioned that God seems to favor the poor and needy. Today David includes himself in that group: But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! (v. 5a) I backed off on further comments yesterday, but in the back of my mind I thought that most of us are not poor; in fact, compared to much of the U.S. population most of us are quite well off. But that’s only the “poor” part of that phrase, “poor and needy”. So today I am reminded that I am indeed needy. Unfortunately, all too often I don’t see my needy-ness, in that I am too busy taking it all on myself without seeking help or guidance from the Lord. That needs to be corrected: O LORD, make haste to help me! (v. 1b)

Psalm 69:29-36

I am always touched when I see the Psalms reflect on the Lord’s concern for the poor and needy: For the Lord hears the needy and does not despise His own people who are prisoners. (v. 33) No doubt God loves all of us, but the poor in a special way? Nothing more in the way of comments, but a good thought to consider all day long…

Psalm 69:13-28

There are two things going on in today’s section of Psalm 69 – the psalmist’s lamenting of his own situation (vv. 13-21) and his documenting of his enemies’ evils and crying out for justice/revenge against these enemies (vv. 21-28). I’ve said before that I can relate to the former more than to the latter. I don’t wish for the best for my enemies (whoever they might be) but I also don’t wish them harm.

A number of today’s verses are quoted/cited in the New Testament. The most prominent is verse 21 which is quoted/cited by each of the Gospel writers. A number of the crucifixion details are different in each of the Gospels, but this one item is common to all four. Second, verse 25 is applied by Peter in Acts 1:20 with respect to Judas’ death. Finally, Paul cites verses 22-23 in Romans 11:9-10.

Psalm 69:1-12

Short informational item – one of my Study Bibles reports that no psalm other than Psalm 22 is quoted more often in the New Testament than today’s Psalm 69.

So today it seems we have a leader who is actively seeking to follow the Lord (v. 9), but acknowledges his own sin (v. 5), has a group of faithful followers (v. 6), has a group of friends who have turned away from him (v. 8), and has enemies unknown to him (v. 12) who are wrongly charging him (v. 4). Frankly, sadly, that sounds like any church pastor – any church, any denomination.

Verse 6 struck me: Let not those who hope in You be put to shame through me, O Lord GOD of hosts; let not those who seek You be brought to dishonor through me, O God of Israel. As Christians we have an image that we portray to everyone around us. And sadly, in this verse we see that other Christians are affected by how an outside world views us. How often have we heard the charge that Christians are just a bunch of hypocrites? An entire body of Christians get judged because of the actions of a few. The Apostle Peter offers good advice to counter these accusations: Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God on the day of visitation. (I Peter 2:12, NASB)