Psalm 101

1 I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O Lord, will I sing.

2 I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.

3 I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.

4 A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person.

5 Whoso privily slanders his neighbor, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.

6 Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walks in a perfect way, he shall serve me.

7 He that works deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.

8 I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord. (KJV)

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. I use the word blameless as it is found in verse two of the NIV instead of the word perfect as found here in the KJV. 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 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.

2 Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

3 Know 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.

4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. (KJV)

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 people tremble: he sits between the cherubims; let the earth be moved.

2 The Lord is great in Zion; and he is high above all the people.

3 Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy.

4 The king’s strength also loves judgment; thou dost establish equity, thou executes judgment and righteousness in Jacob.

5 Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy.

6 Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name; they called upon the Lord, and he answered them.

7 He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar: they kept his testimonies, and the ordinance that he gave them.

8 Thou answers them, O Lord our God: thou wast a God that forgave them, though thou took vengeance of their inventions.

9 Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the Lord our God is holy. (KJV)

One of the first areas that I must address in my 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.

This psalm gives us this list of the above attributes that those who walk in the way of the Lord see in their God. May I be like those who make up the group that includes Moses, Aaron and Samuel. This is not so for the ungodly.

Psalm 98

1 O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvelous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.

2 The Lord hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen.

3 He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

4 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.

5 Sing unto the Lord with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm.

6 With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the Lord, the King.

7 Let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

8 Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together

9 Before the Lord; for he comes to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity. (KJV)

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, inasmuch 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.

As I read verse two “The LORD has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations.” I wondered if salvation had the same meaning to the Jewish reader at the time it was written as it does to believers today. We can look at Job 14:14 “If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change comes.” We also know that the Egyptians and well as the other cultures at this time looked to an afterlife and many made arrangements for the travel from this world to the next. So yes, I do believe that they had a similar view of salvation as being rebirth.

Psalm 97

1 The Lord reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof.

2 Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.

3 A fire goes before him, and burns up his enemies round about.

4 His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw, and trembled.

5 The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.

6 The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory.

7 Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols: worship him, all ye gods.

8 Zion heard, and was glad; and the daughters of Judah rejoiced because of thy judgments, O Lord.

9 For thou, Lord, art high above all the earth: thou art exalted far above all gods.

10 Ye that love the Lord, hate evil: he preserves the souls of his saints; he delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.

11 Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.

12 Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. (KJV)

As I researched the phase “righteousness and justice are the foundation ofhisthrone” 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 O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth.

2 Sing unto the Lord, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day.

3 Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.

4 For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised: 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 Honor and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

7 Give unto the Lord, O ye kindred of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength.

8 Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts.

9 O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.

10 Say among the heathen that the Lord reigns: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.

11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof.

12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice

13 Before the Lord: for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth. (KJV)

This is a psalm that proclaims the gospel of the Lord to the world. It reveals a time that the Lord will come, he will come to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth. Jesus spoke of this time in Matthew 25:1-13 where 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 ask the question “which description of the wise virgins would I fit into”.

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?

I use three difference versions of the Bible in my studies of the Bible. These versions are: King James Versions (KJV), New American Standard Bible (NASB), and the New International Version (NIV). In the NASB version verse two and three of this psalm reads, “Sing to the Lord, bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples. “These verses reflect on how important the proclamation of the gospel of the Lord is in our life. In my daily conversation I 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?”. We are living in a world that needs to hear the gospel since almost all their desires are nothing but are idols of the world that are worthless. Am I a witness that darkens the knowledge of the Most High or am I one that daily proclaim the gospel of God to a world in need of a Savior?

Psalm 95

1 O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.

3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.

5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.

6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.

7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,

8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.

10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:

11 Unto whom I swore in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest. (KJV)

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 God, to whom vengeance belongs; O God, to whom vengeance belongs, shew thyself.

2 Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud.

3 Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph?

4 How long shall they utter and speak hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves?

5 They break in pieces thy people, O Lord, and afflict thine heritage.

6 They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless.

7 Yet they say, The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.

8 Understand, ye brutish among the people: and ye fools, when will ye be wise?

9 He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?

10 He that chastises the heathen, shall not he correct? he that teaches man knowledge, shall not he know?

11 The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.

12 Blessed is the man whom thou chastens, O Lord, and teaches him out of thy law;

13 That thou may give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be dug for the wicked.

14 For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.

15 But judgment shall return unto righteousness: and all the upright in heart shall follow it.

16 Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?

17 Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.

18 When I said, My foot slips; thy mercy, O Lord, held me up.

19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.

20 Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frames mischief by a law?

21 They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.

22 But the Lord is my defense; and my God is the rock of my refuge.

23 And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the Lord our God shall cut them off. (KJV)

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 clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is established, that it cannot be moved.

2 Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting.

3 The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves.

4 The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.

5 Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, for ever. (KJV)

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.

Psalm 92

1 It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High:

2 To shew forth thy loving-kindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,

3 Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.

4 For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.

5 O Lord, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.

6 A brutish man knows not; neither doth a fool understand this.

7 When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:

8 But thou, Lord, art most high for evermore.

9 For, lo, thine enemies, O Lord, for, lo, thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.

10 But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil.

11 Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies, and mine ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me.

12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

13 Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.

14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;

15 To shew that the Lord is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. (KJV)

Studying the last week of Christ’s ministry on this earth this week the phase from Matthew 27:46 stood out “My God, my God why have you forsaken me”. Why did God forsake him? I believe because of the sin of the human race was upon Christ at this time. Paul wrote of this in Philippians 2:5-8 “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death even death on a cross!” And yet as Christ took on the form of human likeness, we can now take on the form of a son of God in this world. This should be the purpose of all believers today. In I John 3:2-3 “now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.”

In the years that has passed since my son’s death I reflect upon the voids that his death has left in my life. Yet as all the voids in one’s life (especially those that comes about because of the death of a loved one) usually start to be filled over time by the demands placed upon us by life itself, there does comes moments when these voids open again. When these times come, I try to reflect upon songs from the past. As I reflected on my experiences at church as a young person, I realize how much music was a big part of these experiences. The songs that I memorized and placed in my heart as a young man has help me get through some of the most difficult times in my life. The opening statement of this psalm “It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name” reveals the type of relationship a person needs to have with the Lord. Verse four “For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the works of your hands” enlightens us on the themes that have made these our songs. The song It is Well With My Soul is one such song. However, it is the history behind the story that help gives the peace to the one that sings it. The history behind the story of Horatio Gates Spafford writing the lyrics of song is a story all believers should study.