The psalms

[SSquared]

I thought rather than discussing the issues around the Psalms, I thought to just open it up to free time. The Psalms are full of encouraging words. The Holy Spirit has many opportunities in these words to minister to us and change us. So, I am going to try and post things the Holy Spirit taught me or showed me while reading the Psalms.

For today's reading, it just struck me how well David knew God. No matter what David was feeling or what was happening in his life, his faith in God did not waver. I feel he understood God with immense depth and understanding. In my daily walk to be more like Christ, I also want to have that same depth of relationship as David.

 

[SSquared]

Psalm 56, 120, 140-142

I think I may be taking these out of context a bit, but for me, they gave me some encouragement of who I am to be at work. Actually, this has been one of my prayers this year. For me to start reaching out to my co-workers and to pray for them. Please don't think the people are extremely evil where I work, as that is one of the main parts of these scriptures. I work with a TERIFFIC group of people. And I really enjoy my team.

It's just certain things stuck out at me:

"set a guard over my mouth"
"let not my heart be drawn to what is evil"

They are just good reminders for me. Like Psalm 19 says, "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to You." I want people to recognize there IS something different about me. About my words, my actions, my thoughts, my desires...and that I don't compromise my belief.

 

[(ohms)Lady Kajun]

Amen!!!! That is my prayer too probably more so this year then ever before. My desire is to be closer to God and to stand up for my belief, no matter the cost. I really want to see the "fruit'' in my life.

 

[SSquared]

Psalms 121, 123-125, 128-130

Since most of today's Psalms are not credited to David, I thought I would place them in the Psalms topic.

Today's reading was very rich for me. I found a lot of verses to cling to. Psalm 121:3 says "He who keeps you will not slumber." I just love that thought. God never sleeps. He is always at work...even while we sleep. I pray this almost every night when I put my children to sleep. I pray for God's protection over our house and then thank Him that while we are sleeping, He is still working in our lives.

And Psalm 123 is a real eye opener (pun not intended

). I think I need to read that one every morning. What do we focus our eyes on? Do I look to God in a fully devoted way, or are there other things I concentrate on? Do I put that new "Freelancer" game ahead of God's best for me? Sometimes, I probably do. But we serve such a merciful God. In verse 3, we can cry out to God and ask for mercy. We can be forgiven. How cool is that? This chapter just sort of hit me as a nice morning prayer. It opens our eyes to sin, and then gives it to the Lord.

The other Psalms had some great stuff to, but I'll hold back for now.

 

[SSquared]

Psalms 43-45, 49, 84-85, 87

Many of the Psalms are credited to the 'sons of Korah'. Who are these sons? The Korahites represent the family of Kohath a son of Levi. They made up the choir.

Not much to say except for a focus on Psalm 84. Matt Redman has written a powerful song to this Psalm. It's always neat to see and understand where praise songs come from. The Psalm starts with passion and a deep yearning to be in God's dwelling place. Here is someone who really knows the right thing to seek after. In verse 3, he even gets jealous at the birds because they are allowed to build their nests by God's altar. I don't know about you, but I have not a jealous bone in my body for the Canadian geese that make their home by my church.

And my favorite part (which is also the chorus of the song) is "better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere." Everytime I read/sing that, it is such a sweet reminder to focus my eyes on heaven. One day in heaven will greater than any place else...and we get it for eternity! AMEN!

And one last thing. The Psalmist mentions he would rather be a doorkeeper than live in the tents of the wicked. A doorkeeper was considered a rather lowly person at this time. Essentially, he is saying, "I am wiling to take the lowliest job if it means I can be in the courts of my Lord."

 

[SSquared]

Psalms 73, 77-78

Psalm 73 is a Psalm of Asaph. Asaph was a composer, singer, and chief musician under David. David appointed him leader of choral worship.

Psalm 78 is kind of neat with its short overview of the Israelites. You get a view from above and see how God worked in their lives. It is a great reminder of God's might, power, and justice. He does what He says He will do.

You see God at work, freeing the Israelites from Egypt. But look at verse 40. "How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, and grieved Him in the desert!" The same God who showed His awesome might in Egypt can do the same thing in Israel. And in verses 60-61, we saw God took away the Ark of the covenant. Ouch! This was a very significant artifact and was an extremely important possession. Since it was considered the place where God dwelt, the loss of the ark was also a loss of God's presence.

Here is something I found really interesting. Verse 57 says "acted unfaithfully...They were turned aside like a deceitful bow." The definition of sin, in its most common Hebrew form, means to 'miss the mark' or 'deviate from the goal'. I find it fascinating the Psalmist used the analogy of the bow for sin. Also, bows, being ranged weapons, were the first to hit their enemy. A bow that missed, could potentially be quite fatal. And here's something interesting I read. Archers were trained from childhood to be deadly accurate.

Oh Lord, help us not to miss the mark. Guide us in each step. May we not turn to the left or the right, but guide us along your straight path. Amen.

 

[SSquared]

Psalm 81, 88, 92-93

I'm just going to focus on Psalm 92. This is a joyful praise of God's everlasting righteousness. Once again, the Psalmist's mind is wholeheartedly devoted to God. 92:4-5 - "For you make me glad by Your deeds. I sing for joy at the works of Your hands. How great are your works, O Lord!" The author contemplates on all the mighty works of God. This is a very important part of prayer. To praise God helps set our eyes straight and focused. We can be in the worst mood, but when we start thinking about the incredible works of God, we begin to see how truly awesome He is.

10 says "You have exalted my horn". Many times throughout the bible there are strange references to a horn. The meaning of horn is strength. So if you read the verse as "You have exalted my strength like that of a wild ox..." it makes more sense.

If we are in Christ, we "will flourish" and "still bear fruit in old age".

 

[SSquared]

Psalms 89, 96, 100, 101, 105, 132

Well...as I said in the other thread, there is so much good insight and wisdom in the reading, I just don't even know where to start.

Psalm 89 - This Psalm starts out in joy, but turns into mourning. This must have been written at some point when the kingdom was falling apart. We haven't gotten to those parts yet, so this is sort of looking ahead. The line of David is set as king, but they have turned from God are seeing the results, just as 89:30-32 states. The amazing thing is, God is faithful and remains true to His word. The line of David will reign forever because that's the line Jesus is from. Amen!

One thing I felt in 89:5-8 was how incredible it is that we can have a personal relationship with this One who is like NO other. "O Lord God Almighty, who is like you?" His works are amazing. He is the Creator. And yet He wants to have a relationship with us.

Psalm 96 - Does this Psalm get you excited? I just wanted to shout a big AMEN! This is a proclamation to declare God's glory to ALL nations. It's clear right here in this Psalm that God's plan was for all nations to come and know Him. Not just Israel. For whatever reason, God chose Jacob's family to be the one to do the initial proclaiming, but in now way was the message supposed to be only for Jews. As we continue reading the OT and especially in the NT, we will see the Jews get caught up in this idea of spreading God's message to the Gentiles. Read Jonah for a sneak peek at one example.

Psalm 101 - Verse 3 summed it all up for me. "I will set before my eyes no vile thing." And the end of verse 4, "I will have nothing to do with evil." Strong and powerful statements. But what a prayer for us as Christians.

 

[(ohms)Lady Kajun]

Amen!!! I found some of the Psalms so inspirational that I printed some of them for use in daily prayer. In my opinion the Psalms truly reflect the greatness of God and offer us words for a much worthy praise for our Father. As usual SSquared thanks again for your commentairies.

 

[SSquared]

Hi! I'm glad you found the new domain name (.org). I know! The Psalms are full of wonderful praise. They are a great way to start our prayers.

Thanks.

 

[SSquared]

Psalm 5, 38, 41-42

Wow! Again! Let's reiterate what Lady Kajun said. I am overwhelmed by the words of the Psalmists. These people had such a deep understanding of who God is. When I read these, I feel like I could never write anything that even comes close. Which is frustrating because I am a musician. I have tried to write worship music, but that's just not where God has me right now. Well...a little off subject.

One thing I've learned from David is to bear our hearts before God. God ALREADY knows what we're feeling, so there is no reason to hide anything. If we are frustrated tell him.

Psalm 38:6, "I am troubled, I go mourning all day long."
Psalm 38:17 "For I am ready to fall, and my sorrow is continually before me."

Can you imagine the pain David must be feeling? He is not ashamed to say it. He is honest with God. And he ends Psalm 38 with "O Lord, my salvation." David still knows God is the only one to trust in.

The famous Psalm 42:1-2 "As the deer pants for the water, so my soul pants for You. My soul thirsts for God." The question is, do our souls thirst for Him like this? I picture a thirsty deer lapping away wanting more. Some days I feel it, some days I don't. I would like to always have that thirst for God.

 

[SSquared]

Psalm 119

I don't actually have much to say regarding the actual verses. They were pretty powerful enough without trying to explain them.

But some background on this Psalm.

As you may already know, it's an acrostic based on the Hebrew alphabet. Similar to our song "A Your Adorable". It helps the reader to memorize it. Certainly won't help in the English translation, but it makes sense when reading it in Hebrew.

It is believed to have been written by a Rabbi who obviously had a very deep understanding of the Scriptures. This author certainly knew the depth and truths of the Scriptures so well, he wanted them to remain in his heart forever.

The application from this chapter is how can we keep God's Word close to us? Memorize? Read? It could be different for each one of us. I struggle with memorization. I don't know if it's just 'cuz I'm getting older

, but I have a really hard time sitting down and memorizing Scriptures. On the other hand, I read the Bible and, this helps me place His words in my heart. It's amazing how verses will suddenly pop in my head, and I know it's because the reading I have done.

 

[(ohms)Lady Kajun]

Amen!!!

I watch Creflo Dollar and Joyce Meyer every morning to get a strong vitamin of spiritual health.  Lately the teachings have been focused on prosperity and what it is God wants for us.  Through these teachings I'm beginning to learn that basically we've been trained (programmed if you will) not to expect much, or that it is wrong for us to expect much.  I can remember basically being taught that we shouldn't go to God asking for anything really.  In fact my upbringing pretty much had me believing all of my life that "I am not worthy".

It's been very exciting for me to learn that through Christ I am righteous.  That through Christ I am worthy.  And that through Christ I am deserving, simply because He loves me.  Now, this may seem off the subject of the Psalms a bit, but actually, it isn't.

Psalm 111 clearly tells us of His graciousness, compassion, faithfulness, and uprightness.  And just look at the promises in 112:

Quote[/b] ]2 His children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. 4 Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man. 5 Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice. 6 Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever.

And again in 113:

Quote[/b] ]7 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; 8 he seats them with princes, with the princes of their people. 9 He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the LORD.

And again in 115:  

Quote[/b] ]12 The LORD remembers us and will bless us: He will bless the house of Israel, he will bless the house of Aaron, 13 he will bless those who fear the LORD-- small and great alike. 14 May the LORD make you increase, both you and your children. 15 May you be blessed by the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

 Just imagine this; even our children are blessed because of our faithfulness!!!

Wow, I could just go on and on, but I think you get the picture.  In my opinion we should read these things often so that we may grow in faith to believe that God wants all things good for those who Worship, Praise, and Serve Him!!!  Amen!

 

[(ohms)Lady Kajun]

I guess by now you've figured out that I am struggling to catch up with the readings! Forgive me Lord for allowing myself to fall behind. However, if you are behind in the readings, don't let that discourage you and cause you to quit with your commitment. For the Lord is faithful to bless your obedience. What a blessing catching up has been for me. What an awesome prayer Psalm 119 is. It asks of the Lord all those things which we should be seeking in our daily walk. Read it for yourself, and be blessed.