Psalm 101

Of David.

¹ I will sing of your love and justice; to you, O LORD, I will sing praise.
² I will be careful to lead a blameless life– when will you come to me? I will walk in my house with blameless heart.
³ I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me.
⁴ Men of perverse heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with evil.
⁵ Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, him will I put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, him will I not endure.
⁶ My eyes will be on the faithful in the land that they may dwell with me; he whose walk is blameless will minister to me.
⁷ No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house; no one who speaks falsely will stand in my presence.
⁸ Every morning I will put to silence all the wicked in the land; I will cut off every evildoer from the city of the LORD.

This Psalm written by David reflects the way in which he tried to rule as King of Israel. The key to the way he ruled and lived his life was to live a blameless life. The word blameless can be defined as free of guilt, not subject to blame, of irreproachable character, an unimpeachable reputation. Blameless does not mean sinless, nor does it imply perfection. A blameless lifestyle is a characteristic of one’s life that others encounter during our daily activity. Living a blameless life before others is not easy and usually is very difficult. Because the perception of living a blameless to others is viewed by our actions and not our motives a blameless lifestyle is very difficult to show to others. Unlike our physical appearance which people can see, our motives are not visible and must be weigh over time. So how do I groom my life to be blameless? The key is like the way I get my physical self ready everyday. As I must get up each morning and make my physical appearance presentable before I venture out of the house each morning, I must also examine my heart to make sure that is it blameless before God and man. As you read this psalm considered the following examples that are in the Bible for us to model our walk after:

This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. (Genesis 6:9)

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. (Genesis 17:1)

I (David) have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin. (II Samuel 22:24)
In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. (Job 1:8)
As I study these four men, I realized that their blameless lifestyle is the result of a living a life of integrity. One key to this is to eliminate anything that causes me to keep secrets. In our process of communicating with others we usually try to filter out the differences between what the other person is saying and that they really mean. In our process of communication, we must stop and examine the true motive behind our words and actions. Is what I say really what I mean, or is there a hidden agenda behind my words? So, one of the first steps in living a blameless life is the process of eliminating all secret motives from my words and my actions.

Another step would be to remove all the vile things from my life. The word vile is defined as loathsome, disgusting, unpleasant, or objectionable. It is also used to describe behavior as contemptibly, miserably poor and degrading, wretched, morally depraved and wicked. In Psalm one this is one of the two steps in living a blessed life. The first step is to move toward God and seek him, and the second step is to stay away from those things against God’s way (vile things).

The final step is to read and mediate on God’s Word daily. Just read Psalm 119 for this truth to set in. The Word of God will lead you to live a blameless life.

Psalm 100

¹ Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
² Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
³ Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
⁵ For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

¹Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.  ²Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.  ³Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. ⁴Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.  ⁵For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

This is one of the first psalms (along with psalm 23) that we teach our children. Yes, it was from the King James Version that most of us remember. As we read the truths found in this psalm, we must also ask how much we apply these truths to our daily routine. Do we truly worship the Lord with gladness, or do we question His actions or lack of actions in the affairs of man? Do we come before him with joyful songs or does our praise seem to focus on the deeds of fallen man whom we have elevated above the common man? Do we look to him as creator when we look at the world around us, or do we try to explain the existence of this universe to other forces? When we said the phrase “we are his people and the sheep of his pasture” does our daily activity reflect his righteousness and truth in every aspect of our labor? The phrase “the sheep of his pasture” should reflect a total guidance of our daily activities being led by him. Do you even in the darkest of times know that the Lord is good, and his love endures forever? When we consider the phase “and his truth endures to all generations” do we stop and reflect upon this truth? In John 14:6 Christ states that He is the way, the truth and the life and that no one comes to God, but through Him.

Psalm 99

¹ The LORD reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake.
² Great is the LORD in Zion; he is exalted over all the nations.
³ Let them praise your great and awesome name-he is holy.
⁴ The King is mighty, he loves justice-you have established equity; in Jacob you have done what is just and right.
⁵ Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy.
⁶ Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel was among those who called on his name; they called on the LORD and he answered them.
⁷ He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud; they kept his statutes and the decrees he gave them.
⁸ O LORD our God, you answered them; you were to Israel a forgiving God, though you punished their misdeeds.
⁹ Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the LORD our God is holy.

One of the first areas that we must address in our study of philosophy (the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct) is to define God. This Psalms gives these attributes of God (our Lord):

• The Lord reigns
• he sits enthroned between cherubim
• he is exalted over all the nations
• his name is great and awesome
• he is holy (use three times in this psalm)
• he is mighty
• he loves justice
• he has established equity
• he answers whose who call on him
• he is the God of Jacob and of Israel
• he spoke to Israel
• he gave them statutes and decrees
• he answers them and forgave them
• he punished their misdeeds
• he is to be exalted and worship.

Psalm 98

¹ Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.
² The LORD has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
³ He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
⁴ Shout for joy to the LORD , all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music;
⁵ make music to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing,
⁶ with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn shout for joy before the LORD , the King.
⁷ Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.
⁸ Let the rivers clap their hands, Let the mountains sing together for joy;

⁹ let them sing before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.

As I look at verse two the word salvation jumps out at me. What does salvation mean to you? When you look up the word in the dictionary it means “preservation or deliverance from destruction, difficulty, or evil: a source, means, or cause of such preservation or deliverance”. What does salvation mean to me? As I grow and mature in this journey, I have taken on this earth I have realized that salvation is a wonderful gift that God has given man. His salvation has given me a new purpose in my walk. I now can have daily fellowship with the Lord of the universe knowing that the guilt of my past has been covered by the blood of Christ. This newness of life that Paul outlines for us in Ephesians two and concludes by stating “so then ye are no more strangers and sojourners, but ye are fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God” is the daily walk that Christians can have with Christ. His salvation also gives me hope for the future. Death will come to all of us unless Christ comes before that time. However, his salvation also promises us a new body as Paul outlines in I Corinthians chapter fifteen. The last enemy that Christ will abolish will be death. Paul concludes this chapter with these words “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law: but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not vain in the Lord”. So, let us sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things and has given us a salvation which we can enjoy now as we make our journey on this earth and a salvation that will make us a son of God at the time of Christ’s return.

Psalm 97

1 The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice.

2 Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

3 Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side.

4 His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles.

5 The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.

6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.

7 All who worship images are put to shame, those who boast in idols worship him, all you gods!

8 Zion hears and rejoices and the villages of Judah are glad because of your judgments, O LORD.

9 For you, O LORD, are the Most High over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.

10 Let those who love the LORD hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

11 Light is shed upon the righteous and joy on the upright in heart.

12 Rejoice in the LORD, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name.

As I researched the phase “righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne” this morning I realized that righteousness and justice have very different meanings to a wide vary of people. The more I researched the more complicated the definitions of righteousness and justice became. Righteousness is simply defined as an attribute that implies one’s actions are justified. It is a term in theology that is used to describe a person who is in a right relationship with God. Justice is simply defined as the concept of moral rightness. However, in my research I quickly came to the realization that the definition of moral rightness is really based upon the person’s view in which you are having a conversation with at the time. Of course, the definition of moral righteousness would change with every conversation. However, the book of the Psalms makes it clear who defines righteousness and that is the LORD.

As we go about the process of living in this world, we seem to have a misunderstanding of the order in which we place your priorities. It is His righteousness that should be the main priority that we seek and not our daily needs. In Matthew 6:33 the Lord states “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you”. As we consider our daily conversations with friends and family the topic of the problems in the daily events in our live usually rise to the surface and can become the major part of the conversation. Yet we must realize that this topic should not really be a concern for the believer. If we seek God’s righteous and justice, then all the things we need will be provided to us. Therefore, our priority in life should be living a blameless life seeking the kingdom of God, and not worrying about tomorrow.

As I look at the opening statement of this psalm it reads “The Lord reigns” I am reminded of the song I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day and recall some of the words of this song that Henry Longfellow wrote during the time of the Civil War:

And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”

As I look around me with all the wars and evils in this world today, I can see why people can ask “with so much evil how could God be in control?” Yet one hundred and forty-five years ago Henry Longfellow had the answer. His answer “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; the wrong shall fail, the right prevails”. The foundation of God’s throne is righteousness and justice. Paul declares this righteousness of God as a righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus Christ. We need never to forget this important fact of God’s righteousness. He did not just forgive our sins because he felt sorry for us; our sins were forgiven because they were atoned by the cross. Oswald Chambers writes about this forgiveness of God in his November 20 devotional:

“Forgiveness is the divine miracle of grace. The cost to God was the Cross of Christ. To forgive sin, while remaining a holy God, this price had to be paid. Never accept a view of the fatherhood of God if it blots out the atonement. The revealed truth of God is that without the atonement He cannot forgive— He would contradict His nature if He did. The only way we can be forgiven is by being brought back to God through the atonement of the Cross. God’s forgiveness is possible only in the supernatural realm.”

We must not forget that even though the foundation of God’s throne is righteousness that justice had to be satisfied. It took the cross to make our unrighteousness right before God. This cost of this price to God can never be fully understood by us, but we can delight in it and I believe that this delight brings pleasure to God.

Psalm 96

¹ Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.
² Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day.
³ Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
⁴ For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods.
⁵ For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens.
⁶ Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary.
⁷ Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
⁸ Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come into his courts.
⁹ Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.
¹⁰ Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns.” The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.
¹¹ Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it;
¹² let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy;
¹³ they will sing before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth.

For the Lord will come, he will come to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth. In Matthew 25:1-13 the Lord liken the kingdom of heaven to ten virgins, five of them wise and five of them foolish. As I look at verse 13 of this psalm, I reflect on these verses in Matthew 25 and if I fit the description of the wise virgins.

Questions to ask yourself in self-examination:

• As I read this psalm about the Lord does my daily walk reflects the truth of God’s future judgment that I see in this psalm?
• Do I take lightly the salvation that God has provided for me in Christ?
• Do my daily actions proclaim this great salvation to those around me?
• Can those around me see the glorious work of transformation that God is performing in me daily to make me more Christ-like?
• Do I truly worship him with the glory due his name?
• Do I truly view him as creator of heaven and earth and worship him as creator?
• Do I truly fear the Lord?

As I was working on my land yesterday, I looked up and considered the sun. I ask myself the simply question what the importance of the sun to life on earth is. Wikianswer.com answers to this question is ” The sun is absolutely necessary, thus very-very important, for the life on Earth, because without sun, all the forms of life in Earth will disappear in only a few days. The sun delivers more than 99% of the energy that is necessary for nearly all the phenomena on Earth, like wind, rain, ocean streams, photosynthesis, and even fossil fuels can be said that are a part of accumulated solar energy. This truth makes me realized the truth found in Psalm eight on the greatness of God, and yet how much greater is His love for man.

As I read this Psalm on how important the Lord is in our life, I also realized how little the world in which we live gives God the glory He desires. In Job chapter thirty-eight records God’s answer to Job “Who is this that darkened counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee and answer thou me. Where was thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.”. There will be a day that the Lord will demand of us for the actions and deeds in our life. With this realization I ask, “who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge in this world today?”.

Psalm 95

¹ Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
² Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
³ For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods.
⁴ In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.
⁵ The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.
⁶ Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
⁷ for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if you hear his voice,
⁸ do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the desert,
⁹ where your fathers tested and tried me, though they had seen what I did.
¹⁰ For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.”
¹¹ So I declared on oath in my anger, “They shall never enter my rest.”

Today as I was reading Oswald Chambers’ devotional for October nineteen, I could not help seeing how true his observations of the Christians of his day are also true in the society in which we live in today.

“The great enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ today is the idea of practical work that has no basis in the New Testament but comes from the systems of the world. This work insists upon endless energy and activities, but no private life with God. The emphasis is put on the wrong thing. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation . . .. For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21). It is a hidden, obscure thing. An active Christian worker too often lives to be seen by others, while it is the innermost, personal area that reveals the power of a person’s life.”

As I read this Psalm, I picture the churches of my youth, churches that came together for a worship service. As I reflected on these services, they were services that meet the need of a young growing Christian who loved the Word of God. As a young Christian I was interested in reading and studying God’s Word and learning more about Jesus and his message. Today however, the message is having a Purpose in life, a system for living a productive life. This is the great enemy that I believe that Oswald Chambers is writing about in his devotion.

Instead of using God’s Word to defend the activities of the church and make God’s Word fit into the mold the church needs we should let the Bible speak to us on an individual basis. Today it seems that the light in the song “This Little Light of Mine” focus more on the activities that leads on how to live a purpose driven life instead of being the light of Christ that abides in me.

As I read this Psalm, I realized how the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom. In verse eleven the Psalmist writes “So I declared on oath in my anger, “They shall never enter my rest” as a warning to us if we reject ways. This Psalm is tied to the very first three commandments “Thy should not have any God before me. Thou shall not make unto thee a graven image, nor any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shall not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them, for I Jehovah thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing loving-kindness unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.” This same fear is what the author of Hebrews wrote about in Hebrews chapter four. With salvation comes a change. We turn from the lord of this world to the Lord of Creation. Therefore, keep your focus on Him.

Psalm 94

¹ O LORD, the God who avenges, O God who avenges, shine forth.
² Rise up, O Judge of the earth; pay back to the proud what they deserve.
³ How long will the wicked, O LORD, how long will the wicked be jubilant?
⁴ They pour out arrogant words; all the evildoers are full of boasting.
⁵ They crush your people, O LORD; they oppress your inheritance.
⁶ They slay the widow and the alien; they murder the fatherless.
⁷ They say, “The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob pays no heed.”
⁸ Take heed, you senseless ones among the people; you fools, when will you become wise?
⁹ Does he who implanted the ear not hear? Does he who formed the eye not see?
¹⁰ Does he who disciplines nations not punish? Does he who teaches man lack knowledge?

¹¹ The LORD knows the thoughts of man; he knows that they are futile.
¹² Blessed is the man you discipline, O LORD, the man you teach from your law;
¹³ you grant him relief from days of trouble, till a pit is dug for the wicked.
¹⁴ For the LORD will not reject his people; he will never forsake his inheritance.
¹⁵ Judgment will again be founded on righteousness, and all the upright in heart will follow it.
¹⁶ Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?
¹⁷ Unless the LORD had given me help, I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.
¹⁸ When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your love, O LORD, supported me.

¹⁹ When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.
²⁰ Can a corrupt throne be allied with you one that brings on misery by its decrees?
²¹ They band together against the righteous and condemn the innocent to death.

²² But the LORD has become my fortress, and my God the rock in whom I take refuge.
²³ He will repay them for their sins and destroy them for their wickedness; the LORD our God will destroy them.

The cry for vengeance started back in Genesis 4:10 “The LORD said, ‘What have you done?’ Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground” or as stated in Hebrews 11:4 “By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead”. When studying the events in Genesis chapter four one will notice that when God did not look at favor on Cain’s offering that Cain became angry. However, God still came to him and offered him a way back. “If you do what is right will you not be accepted”.

But if Cain did not want to do that which was right when then God stated “but if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it However, Cain did let sin master him and in his angry killed his brother. Wickedness has a way of controlling us, but God has provided a way out and that is through Christ.

In I John 3: 11-12 “For this is the message which we heard from the beginning that we should love one another: “not as Cain was of the evil one and slew his brother. And therefore, slew he him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous” reveals the difference between the way Cain lived and the way Abel lived. This difference of the two ways has been with us from the beginning of time. The only difference between these two different ways or walks is their relationship with God. The ungodly way can be characterized as godless, in other word it is a way that does not include God at all. The godly way does include God. In this psalm we see examples of God’s judgment on both ways. In verse 23 God repays the wicked for sins by destroying them. In verse 12 the way of the righteous is blessed by God’s discipline which teaches them his law. Your walk then is determined by whether you include God in it or whether you chose to keep God out of it. This is your chose. However, the end of your walk and the reward that you will at the end of this walk will be determined by God. So, chose wisely.

Psalm 93

¹ The LORD reigns, he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed in majesty and is armed with strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.
² Your throne was established long ago; you are from all eternity.
³ The seas have lifted up, O LORD, the seas have lifted up their voice; the seas have lifted up their pounding waves.
⁴ Mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea the LORD on high is mighty.
⁵ Your statutes stand firm; holiness adorns your house for endless days, O LORD.

The theme of this psalm is the majesty of the Lord. This week as I prepare to spend some time at the beach one of the things, I enjoy is watching the interaction of the sea with the land. This interaction goes on daily twenty-four hours a day, three hundred and sixty-five (or sixty-six) days a year. Sometimes the sea is rough, sometimes it is as still as glass. The power of the surf during a storm can destroy an entire city. Yet the Lord is mightier than the great waters. So, the next time you are at the beach, stop and observe the power of the surf and realize that the Lord is mighty than the sea.

Reading God’s Word daily is as important as our daily meals. Just like the strength we gain from our daily meals to give us the energy to meet the physical challenges of our daily activities; we need the daily study of God’s Word to help strengthen us for our daily spiritual activities. In today’s reading the four simple words found in verse five, “your statutes stand firm” reveals to us the unchanging character of God. We can rest assure that God does not change that his ways are the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

As I read the Psalms and study David’s life, I can see how the truths found in this Psalm was probably taught to him at an early age by his mother, his grandmother, and his great grandmother Ruth. I used to teach two and three year old’s a song with these words in them: “My God is so big, so strong and so mighty there nothing my God cannot do”. This simple song proclaimed the same simple truths that are found in this Psalm. At an early age we are taught the simple truths about God. However, as we age many of us seem to forget these simple truths. It is these simple truths that helps us along the way as we take our journey along the paths of this world to the place that God has provided us in the new heaven and the new earth.