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 …
Category Archives: RTB 2022 – Psalms and Wisdom Literature
June 21 / Psalm 69:29-36
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 …
June 20 / Psalm 69:13-28
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 …
June 19 / Psalm 69:1-12
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. …
June 18 / Psalm 68:19-35
Psalm 68:19-35 I have said before that pronouns can be confusing. Perhaps in the original languages it was clear to whom a particular pronoun referred, but we don’t have that luxury in English. However, I think I can clear up some pronoun confusion in today’s reading. Naturally I could be wrong, but it helps the …
June 17 / Psalm 68:1-18
Psalm 68:1-18 When I first read today’s Psalm 68 (1-18) I thought that it was the most convoluted psalm that we had read to date. Then I read from a second (Study) Bible, which had pretty much the same reaction: “This is the most difficult of the Psalms to interpret, and there is no general …
June 16 / Psalm 67
Psalm 67 The essence of today’s Psalm is pretty clear – the nations of the world will come and praise God when they see His blessings poured out on Israel. This led me to wonder about Christianity in the United States and other highly developed countries in Europe. It wasn’t that long ago that belief …
June 15 / Psalm 66
Psalm 66 Another Psalm of joy, thanksgiving, and praise, with another song that some of us know in the first few verses. Verses 10-12 struck me: For you, O God, have tested us; You have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net; You laid a crushing burden on our backs; …
June 14 / Psalm 65
Psalm 65 Today, a Psalm of praise – fully, completely. No hint of enemies or evil or the wicked. The only negative in the entire Psalm is that which is self-inflicted: When iniquities prevail against me, You atone for our transgressions… (v. 3), and even there praise is implied for God’s setting aside those sins. …
June 13 / Psalm 64
Psalm 64 For the inward mind and heart of a man are deep. (v. 6b) Although David is speaking this sentence about the wicked, it is also true of all of humanity. God has given us a mind with which we are able to comprehend things at multiple levels, from the very simple to the …