As you read this psalm it refers to David and his descendants.  Of course the last descendant we know from the Bible is Christ.  A form of this Psalm is also found in II Samuel chapter twenty-two.  This Psalm reveals David’s understanding of God’s way.  Read each phase and see if your understanding of God’s way matches David’s understanding of God’s way.

I love you

I take refuge in the Lord

I call to the LORD

I am saved from my enemies.

The cords of death entangled me the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me the cords of the grave coiled around me the snares of death confronted me.  In my distress I called to the LORD I cried to my God for help.

The Lord heard my voice

my cry came before him  The Lord reached down from on high and took hold of me

he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy

from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support. He brought me out into a spacious place

he rescued me because he delighted in me. The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness

according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me. For I have kept the ways of the LORD

I have not done evil by turning from my God. All his laws are before me

I have not turned away from his decrees. I have been blameless before him

I have kept myself from sin. The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight. To the faithful you show yourself faithful

to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure

but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd. You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty. You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning

my God turns my darkness into light. With your help I can advance against a troop

with my God I can scale a wall. As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great. You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn. I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back till they were destroyed. I crushed them so that they could not rise; they fell beneath my feet. You armed me with strength for battle

you made my adversaries bow at my feet. You made my enemies turn their backs in flight, and I destroyed my foes. They cried for help, but there was no one to save them – to the LORD, but he did not answer. I beat them as fine as dust borne on the wind; I poured them out like mud in the streets. You have delivered me from the attacks of the people

you have made me the head of nations; people I did not know are subject to me.

As soon as they hear me, they obey me; foreigners cringe before me. They all lose heart; they come trembling from their strongholds. The LORD lives!

Praise be to my Rock!

Exalted be God my Savior! He is the God who avenges me,

who subdues nations under me, who saves me from my enemies.

You exalted me above my foes

from violent men you rescued me. Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O LORD

I will sing praises to your name. He gives his king great victories

he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed to David and his descendants forever.

How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?  How long will you hide your face from me?   How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?  How long will my enemy triumph over me?   Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall.  But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.  I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.   NIV

As I read this psalm it reminds me of a time in my live where a “Great Sadness” almost as great as the one in the book “The Shack” came upon my life.  As I study David’s life I can see this happening twice in his life; the first time when he was fleeing and hiding from Saul and the second time fleeing from his own son Absalom.  The reason that a ”Great Sadness” is difficult for us to handle is that we must grasp an understanding of it through God’s eyes.  The words of verse two “How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day sorrow in my heart?  How long will my enemy triumph over me?” should not be taken lightly.  David was probably running and hiding from Saul for about seven years.  During this time he was also separated from his family including Micah his wife who loved him but, who was also the daughter of Saul the very person who was pursuing him.  By studying David’s life during this time we can see how the great hero of Israel became an enemy of Israel.  The national hero became a criminal of the state.  Yet at the same time we can get a glimpse of how a believer should wait on the Lord and trust God in times of trials.

So if you are in a time of “Great Sadness” read this psalm and realize that this is a time that only God can provide the answer.  Wrestle with your thoughts even when you cannot see God around you.  However, never let your faith and trust in Him lapse.  Stay in His Word and trust in His unfailing love.  Just as David went through these times and in the process developed a much closer relationship with God, so will you if you search your heart and seek after Him.   Having had a “Great Sadness” in my own personal life and realizing how the Lord gave me a wonderful peace about it; I now know that whatever lies ahead of me in the future that God will be there and will deliver once again.

As I reflect back on the events of my “Great Sadness” I realized that once I gave it all to the Lord and surrender my desires and wishes to him my life had a new direction.  However, this has happen more than once in my life.  This is what happen to Joseph in the first crisis that he faced after he was sold as a slave to the Egyptians.  He accepted the situation that the Lord had placed him in and the Lord was with him and he prospered becoming the master of Potiphar’s household.  Everything in his life was on the right track when the second crisis came when Potiphar’s wife accused him of improper behavior.  He again accepted the situation that the Lord had placed him in and the Lord showed his kindness to him and gave him favor with the keeper of the prison.  This crisis however lead to his being placed before Pharaoh and interpreting his dreams.  This then lead to Joseph being make second only to Pharaoh.  Joseph could not have planned this as his lifelong pursuit, only God could.  So when the crisis in your life seem like those that David and Joseph face then remember verse five “but I will trust in your unfailing love: my heart rejoices in your salvation.  Heed not on your understanding but trust in God and He will cause great things to happen in your life.

O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! Who hast set thy glory above the heavens.  Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightiest still the enemy and the avenger.  When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him?  For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor.  Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:  All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.  O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!   KJV

This was one of the first psalms I memorized as a child.  I focus on three characters: the Lord, man, and the avenger.  In the King James Version verse two reads: “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightiest still the enemy and the avenger.”  How can I apply these words to my daily living?  By living my life and making Christ the Lord of my life every moment of the day.  The words from the devotion My Utmost for His Highest for March 9, 2009 Oswald Chambers writes “All that is required is to live a natural life of absolute dependence on Jesus Christ.  Showing no concern for the uncertainties that lie ahead is the secret of walking with Jesus.”

As I was studying Hebrews chapter two I realized how much we separate your religious beliefs from our daily living.  Verse one starts out with a very bold statement “You have set your glory above the heavens”.  I believe that this glory is explained in Hebrews 2:9 “But we behold him who hath been made a little lower that the angels, even Jesus because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor that by the grace of God he should taste of death for every man”.  By looking at this psalm in relationship to Hebrews chapter two we realize that our Lord is Christ.  How then do we live our daily life apart from our Lord?  The answer for mankind is simple.  One day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.

As you read this Psalm I reflect upon what Christ said about this Psalm found Matthew 21:15-17.  This reply came after Christ’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, his driving out the money changers from the temple area, and his healing of the blind and lame.  As the children were shouting in the temple area “Hosanna to the Son of David” the chief priest and the teachers of the law became indignant.   In his reply to them Christ stated “have you never read ‘From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise'”  From Christ reply to the teachers of the Law from this simple Psalm we find answers to some of the great questions of philosophy.  In his book PSICANICA: A Spiritual Philosophy Thomas Michael Powell writes “Since the beginning of thought, man has sought to understand the universe and his own existence. He has sought to explain them through myths, superstitions, and religions on one hand; and through science and philosophy on the other.”  In his book he has put forth ten great questions of Philosophy:

1. What is the nature of the universe?
2. Is there a Supreme Being?
3. What is the place of man in the universe?
4. What is reality?
5. What determines the fate of each individual?
6. What is good and what is bad or evil?
7. Why are things the way they are?
8. What is the ideal relation between the individual and the state?
9. What is education?
10. What happens at death?

It is interesting that he places religion in the group of superstition and myth and not with science and philosophy.  He states that “Religion proffer answers to many of these questions, but based on alleged divine revelation as interpreted by ecclesiastical “authorities”, and expressed in dogmatic —and often irrational— belief systems. Science and Philosophy eschew dogmatic belief and seek to answer them by reason and logic or through experience.”  However, as I study the Psalms all the answers to these questions are made simple.  Yes Religion (manmade system for understanding the relationship between man and God “yes man seems to always want to be first”) does a poor job of answering these ten questions.  But then man strives to understand these questions in the light of God’s Word as the Spirit reveals truth to him then he learn to praise God.  Yes the more we learn about the nature of man, the nature of the enemy, and the nature of God the more we want to praise God.

This Psalm sets the foundation for our understanding.  It does not start out trying to establish God, instead it starts out with the establish fact that God is and it is His glory that fills the heavens and the earth.  So as I look at the ten questions above question one and two are answered in verse one of this Psalm.  Yes there is a supreme being and the nature of the universe is his creation.  Question three and seven are also answer in this Psalm.  Man is a little lower than the angels made by God and cared by Him.  He has made mankind the ruler over the works of His hands and to praise Him.  Question nine can be answered in the phrase “when I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place” as the reference point for learning.  Everything beings with God.  Take God out of education and then your education becomes godless and the results of your studies flawed.  So as babes and children trust in the parents that care for them so must we return to this simple truth that it is God who watches over us and cares for us and our faith should always be in him.

A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom. O LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” Selah But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head. To the LORD I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill. Selah I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me. I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side. Arise, O LORD! Deliver me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. From the LORD comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people. Selah (NIV)

As I read this psalm I recall the verses that recount the story of David and Absalom. I am not one that fills in the blanks so I will not try to determine the relationship that David had with his son Absalom. Absalom was David’s third son (2 Samuel 3:3) and the half brother to Amnon who was David’s oldest son but whom also had raped Tamar Absalom’s sister. Read the story in II Samuel 13:1 – 19:43 to get a full account of the story that leads to this psalm. However, until you have one of your own children rebel against you to the point of wanting to destroy you and go against the truth; you can never fully understand how David felt here. David waited on the Lord. This is different from the approach that many take today. The belief that God takes care of those who take care of themselves is a belief that carries over to almost every aspect of our life. We are living in an age where we must make it happen, and when it does it must be God’s will; yet I believe we have really have forgotten the art of waiting on the Lord. As you read these verses look at David’s response to the trial he is going through. He is trusting in God as his shield and the one that gives glory. He will rest and lie down because the Lord sustains him. He will not fear because from the Lord will comes deliverance. David knew how to trust God and that when we measures the battles we fight in the fleeing moments of this life they are nothing compare to the victories we will have with him for eternality.

May your blessing be on your people reminds us to walk in the way of the Lord. Remember there is only one way and he is the way, the truth, and the life, so walk in this way and be bless.

Here we see David the father of Absalom running from his our son. When studying David’s life the main theme I have realized is his personal relationship with the Lord and how this relationship changed David. In I Kings 15:3-5 David’s character is described as having a heart that was wholly devoted to his God. The only blemish on David’s life was the case of Uriah the Hittite. David’s examples of how he lived his life reflect a man who was truly a man after God’s own heart. He was not a man who was searching for God, but a man who walked in the way of God who waited on God’s transforming power to make his heart like God’s heart. This is reflected in the way he handled himself at the death of his son Absalom. He wept. Joab and Israel could not understand this weeping, just as the world today cannot understand the love and patience of God as Peter writes about in II Peter 3:9. Just as the thought that David had in his heart as he walked in his chamber “O my son Absalom, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you.” is the same love God has for us his children. In fact that is why Christ died on the cross for us. With his death and resurrection he made a way to restore the broken relationship between God and man. So when you study the psalms as well as all scripture wait on God to open up his Word to you. Then you will start to see God’s transforming work in your heart as he makes you into a child of God. Stop searching for God in your our way and start walking and growing in his way by studying his Word and letting it speak to you. Let your walk be characterized as a man or women who is walking with the Lord and enjoying sweet communion with Him. Let your communion with Him be a candle that sheds light to those who are searching for God.

Praise the LORD.  Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens.  Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness.  Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.   Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.   Praise the LORD.  (NIV)

As you read this psalm I hope you will stop and realized that everything in your world is not “All about Me”.   However, as you look at this psalm you will see that we are to praise the Lord.  As you look at these verses you will get the picture of a modern church service:

• Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet
• praise him with the harp and lyre
• praise him with tambourine and dancing
• praise him with the strings and flute
• praise him with the clash of cymbals
• praise him with resounding cymbals
• Let everything that has breath praise the LORD

Why Praise God?

For his acts of power

For his surpassing greatness

What is this surpassing greatness?  Paul answers this in Ephesians 1:3-14.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ: even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love: having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved: in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, making known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him unto a dispensation of the fullness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth; in him, I say, in whom also we were made a heritage, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who worked all things after the counsel of his will; to the end that we should be unto the praise of his glory, we who had before hoped in Christ: in whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation,– in whom, having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is an earnest of our inheritance, unto the redemption of God’s own possession, unto the praise of his glory.

As I finish another reading of the Psalms and Proverbs today I realize that this month is almost over another month is almost upon me.  This month I seasoned my daily readings with the daily devotional by Charles Swindoll title Wisdom for the Way.  I found this devotional at the Goodwill store where I buy some of my books.  On the inside cover I discovered these words “For Lindsey from the Craigs May 2001”.   The subtitle of this devotional is Wise Words for Busy People.  How this book came from the Craigs to Lindsey and then to me is a mystery, but as I look to the surpassing greatness of God I realize how God can use a book to influence a person.

On page 62 of this devotional Charles Swindoll starts off the reading by writing “The only way we can come to terms with reality-is by trusting God, regardless.”  As I continue read this devotional I noticed there were only two paragraphs.  The first paragraph centered the words I and me.  It is a matter of if I am trusting him, or if I do or don’t allow God in my world as I face each and every issue in my daily routine.  The second paragraph centers on the word we.  We can’t wait for conditions to be perfect, instead we must go on trusting.  This gift of the Craigs to give Lindsey a treasure to help her along the way is an example of their trusting God to work in her life.  Sometimes it might appear that we have fail, however because of the surpassing greatness of God their gift might produce fruit elsewhere.  As this simple devotional starts with an individual, the end result because of the surpassing greatness of God will be a group result.

Verse six “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.” forces the reader to one conclusion and that is we are to praise the Lord.  The journey that begins with the first breath that a child takes at birth to the last breathe we take before we pass from this life to eternity must include the process of praising the Lord.

As I reflect on the name of this website I realized that my5dailypsalms is a reflection of my life.  As David writes the Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want I realize that he is also my Shepherd.  I realize that it is the Lord that opens and closes doors.  The Words of the Psalms and the entire Bible must be made real to me through the work of the Holy Spirit leading me into a greater understanding of God.  So the invitation of Christ “Come unto me” does change a person’s life.  It has mine.  So the words of David and the other writers of the Psalms have became the words that I meditate on day and night.

Praise the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints. Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King. Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp.  For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation.  Let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds.  May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands, to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, to carry out the sentence written against them? This is the glory of all his saints.  Praise the LORD. (NIV)

As we study God’s Word some concepts are hard for us to understand.  As I study the attributes of God and focus on His goodness and kindness as well as His great mercies that He has impart not only on my behalf but on to all who call on his name, it sometimes becomes difficult for me to picture God as One who will inflict vengeance and carry out the punishment of the sentence that is written against the those that have not called upon his name.   Thankfully for me the message I must give to the world is not this message of the future judgment of God against the wicked of this world, but a new song a message of a way of salvation to all who will believe.  As I study these verses I must realize that there will be a time of judgment ahead, but until then there is hope for anyone that still wants to come to Him.  In Jude’s book (the second to the last bible of the Bible) in verses twenty-one through twenty-four we are told to keep ourselves in the love of God and have mercy on those who doubt.  So when I am confronted by others to explain how a loving God could be such a God of vengeance I will explain to them that I am only beginning to understand the workings of God and that some concept about God is still beyond my understanding.  I can compare my understanding of the complete nature of God to that of a 3rd grader’s understanding of calculus.  Some things are just beyond my understanding.  However, by reading Psalm ten I get a picture of how wicked the evil man truly can be.

This psalm ends with a plea for God to arise and take action against the wicked and evil man and call him into account for what he has done.  Then this happens to the evil it will become the glory of all his saints.  This day will come when the Lord returns.  Why the delay?  Peter answers this in II Peter chapter three “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance”.    How then should we live “Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for these things, give diligence that ye may be found in peace, without spot and blameless in his sight.  And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote unto you”.

But why don’t the wicked see their coming judgment?  The answer can be found in Psalm fourteen, Psalm fifty-three, and Romans chapter three.

Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.  And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified. For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.  Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.  I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.  I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah. Hear me speedily, O Lord: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. Cause me to hear thy loving-kindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.  Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me.  Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.  Quicken me, O Lord, for thy name’s sake: for thy righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble.  And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant.  (KJV)

When I look at the very essence of life the bottom line is that life is a gift from God.  I also believe that living life without God can very difficult, and is the reason why people can seem to live a life that seems wonderful, yet they are really left with an unfulfilling emptiness.  As I study this Psalm I must reflect upon I Samuel 27:1 “And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me any more in all the borders of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.”  After seven years of running from Saul and waiting on God to intervene; David had reached a point in his life where he decided that living the life he desired was no longer available.  So he decided with his men and their families to start over.  One of the interesting facts I see in this verse is that David is leaving behind his family, his friends, and his past way of life to live with his former enemy.

This psalm probably was a representation of the type of prayers that David made before coming to this decision in Samuel 27:1.   It has been stated that you must walk in someone’s shoes before you can feel and understand the pain that they experience when they go through rough times in their life.  As I look at Samuel 27:1, after one of the most difficult times in my life I have a greater understanding of David’s feelings and the true sense of his prayers.  To lose the daily relationship of your family, as well as your close friends and then to be treated as their enemy can break a person’s will to go on.  I can still recall the very day, the very trip that I too make the decision that David made in I Samuel 27:1.

This psalm then represents a prayer of one who knows God, but seems to have no understanding of the events around him.  This is a prayer from someone who has dreams that are in God’s way, but not in God’s plan.  Sometimes it is difficult to understand why when we try to follow God’s way our life seems to be falling apart.

The Prayer Request

Hear my prayer

Listen to my cry for mercy

Come to my relief

Bring me not in judgment

My issues with my enemy

My present state of being and my desire for you.

Answer me quickly

Do not hid your face from me

I do not desire to be like those who go down to the pit

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love.

Show me the way I should go

Lift up my soul

Rescue me from my enemies

Teach me to do your will

May your Spirit lead me on level ground

Preserve my life for your name sake

Bring me out of trouble in your rightness

Silence my enemies

Destroy all my foes

This is the 12th psalm of the fifteen Song of Ascents Psalms

Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me.  Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child.  Let Israel hope in the Lord from henceforth and forever. (KJV)

It is amazing how a short psalm like Psalm 131 can ease our mind.  The beauty of God’s Word is how the truth found in each verse can touch the heart of those who are not proud, who have quieted themselves so that the Spirit of God can renew that individual relationship between them and God.

How often do we try to put ourselves or others on a pedestal only to see how easy it is to fall off that pedestal?  How often do we seem to have all the answers and then realize that the path we have charted is taking us in the wrong direction?  How often do we let our thought become express words without going though the filtering system that we have developed during our experiences on this earth?  Yet the opening verse of this Psalm gives us the advise that we need to avoid all these issues.  The definition of pride found in the dictionary is: a high or inordinate opinion of one’s own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct, etc.  Synonyms for being proud include: pride, conceit, self-esteem, egotism, and vanity can imply an elevated idea of the way we appear to others.  The advantages, achievements, as well as the position that we attain in this life, often lead us to develop characteristics that creates an environment in which self-admiration takes over in our life.  I recall one of my favorite saying in the days of my youth as “when you are good you are good, but when you are great you are like me!”.  However, age can sometimes have a way of adjusting our attitudes, and where pride exist a fall is close behind.

This is the 7th psalm of the fifteen Song of Ascents psalms When the LORD brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed.  Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.”  The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.  Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like streams in the Negev.  Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.  He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.  (NIV)

As one reads this verse look at your captivity as the bondage that sin had passed upon us and the freedom we have because of Christ.  When Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden God did not leave them without hope since he promised a seed to woman who would someday bruise Satan’s head.  He did the same with Judah when they were carried away by the Nebuchadnezzar’s army to Babylon.  He promised that a remnant would return.  This is also true of us as believers today.  We are free from the penalty of death because of Christ and have the gift to walk in freeness of life from this sinful nature by the power of the Holy Spirit.   This walk is outlined for the believer in Galatians chapter Five.

The fruit of the Spirit       The works of the flesh (sinful nature)

Love                                                  Fornication

Joy                                                   Uncleanness

Peace                                                 Lasciviousness

Longsuffering                                     Idolatry

Kindness                                             Sorcery

Goodness                                            Enmities

Faithfulness                                        Strife

Meekness                                           Jealousies

Self-Control                                         Wrath

Factions

Divisions

Parties

Envying

Drunkenness

Reveling

As I read the second half of verse two “Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” I have to go to the prophecy found in Ezekiel 37:28 “Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.”  This is probably one of the prophecy that the writer of this Psalm was thinking of when he wrote this Psalm.  We also as believers have this hope and promise of a new heaven and a new earth found in Revelation chapter twenty-one.  The beauty of this new heaven and new earth is that God dwelling is with man and he will live with us.  The old order of things will be passed away.  Who will make up this new environment?  The answer is found in verse twenty-seven.  “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”  So until then, live a blameless life so that people around you can see that your name is written in the Lamb’s book of life and that the peace this gives you in your daily walk will also become the peace that they desire to have in their life.

O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; and gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. And he led them forth by the right way that they might go to a city of habitation. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness. Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron; because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High: Therefore he brought down their heart with labor; they fell down, and there was none to help. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder. Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. Their soul abhorred all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saves them out of their distresses. He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing. They that go down to the sea in ships that do business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. For he commanded, and raises the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit’s end. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distresses. He makes the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he brings them unto their desired haven. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders. He turns rivers into a wilderness, and the water springs into dry ground; a fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. He turns the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into water springs.  And there he makes the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation; and sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase. He blesses them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffers not their cattle to decrease. Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow. He pours contempt upon princes, and causes them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way. Yet sets he the poor on high from affliction, and makes him families like a flock. The righteous shall see it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth. Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord.

This Psalm reminds me of what Mart De Hann wrote in his book Been Thinking About  “The Scriptures offer no hope to those who refuse to believe Christ suffered for them.  The Bible offers a whole new life, however to those who believe that Christ lived and died as their substitute.”   However, as I consider the words that he wrote I realized that his entire statement is based upon his belief that the Scriptures are the foundation of his philosophy system.  This Psalm reflect the simply theme of man’s helplessness outside of God’s intervention.  Life is good because of God’s unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men.  However, just as the statement that Mart De Hann made was based upon the belief that Scripture are the foundation of his philosophy system so must we base the truth of this Psalm upon this same foundation.   Are the scriptures the foundation of your philosophy system?