Category Archives: Psalms

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Ways

Choosing the right path

Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law, he meditates day and night.  (KJV) 

Genesis 4:6,7 And the Lord said unto Cain, “Why are you angry?  And why has your countenance fallen?  If you do well, will you not be accepted?  And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door.  And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”  (NKJV)

Matthew 7:13,14   Enter by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way that leads to life and there are few who find it. (NKJV)

David gives us two different ways in this Psalm.  We can either walk in the ways of the world or we can delight in the law of the Lord.  In Genesis chapter four God gave Cain the same choose and in Matthew chapter seven Christ explains the two difference ways.  These ways are simple.  One is the way of the Godly, which is the narrow way, and the way that is acceptable to God’ s standards (his law).  The other way is the path that rejects God and his way. 

The starting point however starts with John 3:16 “For God so love the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believe in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”  In Revelation chapter four we are told that Christ stands at the door and knocks and whosoever hears his voice and opens this door he will come in dine with you.  God has provided a way for man to know and learn about Him.  The door to this knowledge is his law which is his Word (the Bible), and the key is Christ.  I have been on this journey for over sixty years, and yes my life could also be read like the poem “Footprint in the Sand”; and looking back I can see God’s hand in directing my path. 

The starting point is knowing Jesus as your Savior.  However, it is still a narrow path.  It is not an easy path.  For the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life are always in our ways.  Satan as well as his wicked followers gives us half-truths that sound to good to pass up which can lead us off this narrow path.  However, the Bible has given us many examples (Luke 15:11-31 The parable of the Lost son) to show us the way back to God.  So, as you start your journey in life remember there are only really one of two paths to choose: the Godly or the Ungodly.

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So pants my soul after thee

So pants my soul after thee

Psalm 42:1 As the hart pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul after thee, O God.  2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

One of the sweetest times of my day is the time I devote to walking.  This is my quiet time with the Lord.  It is a time when I can cast off most of the noise of this world and put on my focus on God’s Word and the great hymns of faith.  This is a time when I can take my prayer request to the Lord and wrestle with God on the daily issues that God has placed in my life.  David describes times like these as the thirst that a hart (deer) has for a drink at the water brook.  This thirst becomes the driving force for the path that the hart pursues.  May God’s Word and his presence in my life be the path I pursue as I daily mediate on God’s Word.

This is the importance of hiding God’s Word in your heart.  By studying and knowing God’s Word these quiet times of just reflecting on His Word and letting the Holy Spirit speak to your heart will give you the peace that passes all understanding.  It is wonderful to see in times of mediation how the verses of the Bible open up and you can grasp how God is working in your life.  Having the knowledge of these verses in your memory will open up a deeper relationship with God.  As David states in verse two his desire of coming and appearing before God.  Make your life rich and place a verse on your mind and go for a quiet walk and let the Holy Spirit open up a wonderful time of fellowship between you and God.   

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To live is Christ

Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Philippians 1:21 For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

How must I live?  Paul gives us the secret of living life as we go about our journey on this earth.  For me to live is Christ.  Just imagine how rich life would be by having Christ walking beside you every day.   In time of uncertainties, you could just look over to Christ for the answers.  David gives this type of walk in Psalms one hundred and nineteen.  Each of these one hundred and seventy-six verses gives the believer the secrets of walking with the Lord and having Him create in us a clean heart.  As Paul states in Philippians the purpose for the believer is to live a life that magnifies Christ in our life.

The second part of Philippians 1:21 “and to die is gain” gives the believer the joy of knowing that life after death is greater that the life we have on earth.  This is the fulfillment of I Corinthians 13:12,13 “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face:  now I know in part:  but then shall I know even as also I am known.  And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”  For in death faith will become sight when we shall see our Savior face to face, and hope is fulfilled when we are in heaven and this corruptible will put on incorruption and this mortal shall put on immortality.  But our love will only grow as we praise our Lord for the victory he has given us over death to live eternality with Him in heaven.

Therefore, the goal of every believer should follow Paul’s advice found in Philippians “for me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” 

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Christ in me

Galatians 1:16-18 To reveal his son in me that I might preach him among the heathen: immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: neither went I to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me: but I went into Arabia and returned again to Damascus.  Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and abode with him fifteen days.

Matthew 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread

During my daily walks I will sometime use these moments as a time to let the Lord speak to me.   To start this conversation, I will usually focus on a verse or a song to mediate on during his time. It is during these walks I would usually focus on the psalm I was studying for the next day devotional.  However, during the last few weeks I was looking at Paul’s life as a new focus for my studies.  It was during this time I came across Galatians 1:16-18.  In these verses I realized that God did not reveal Jesus to him during this time, but God reveal Jesus in him.  The importance of this truth revealed to me that it is not just knowing about Jesus, but it is letting Jesus into our life to become a part of us. 

It was during these three years that Paul learned from the scriptures, the Old Testament, that it was Jesus who was the promised seed of the Eve, the seed of David, the promised Messiah.  It was his day-by-day mediation on God’s word that reveal this truth to him.  So now as I study daily the scriptures may my new goal be for God to reveal his son in me so that my daily life will reflect Christ in me.

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I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart

Psalm 9:1,2

I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvelous works.  I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.

Praising the Lord should be a daily activity for all believers.  The closer our daily walk is with Jesus the greater we will see how the Lord works in our life.  One of the characteristics of the Lord that was given to the angel of the church of Philadelphia in Revelations chapter three was that the Lord held the key of David.  With this key whatever door, the Lord open no man could shut, and whatever door the Lord closed not man could open.  To this church the Lord opened a door that no man could shut, because of its goods works, the keeping of his word, and not denying his name.  This church represents a church or individual that truly praises the Lord with their whole heart.

If praising the Lord is just a place that you go to on Sunday it becomes just an empty weekly ritual. Like the other church pictured in Revelation, the church of Laodicea is this type of worshiper which is characterize as neither hot nor cold.  Because of this lukewarmness God toss them away.  This was the church were Christ is picture as standing outside and knocking at the door of an individual’s heart waiting to be invited in.  This church was pictured as a church that did not have works pleasing God, but a church that was more incline to please the world around it.  This church was characterized as a church that was wretched, miserable, poor, naked, and blind.  It was a church where those that God loved he rebuke and chasten. It was a church that was in need of repentance. 

So, as we walk with the Lord on a daily basis do we see the Lord opening or closing the doors of opportunity before us.  In his book Amazing Grace by Kenneth W. Osbeck the author writes the following about the song Trust and Obey “Trust and Obey presents a balanced view of a believer’s trust in Chris’s redemptive work, and it speaks of the resulting desire to obey Him and to do His will in our daily life.  Then, and only then do we experience real peace and joy.”. So, are you praising the Lord daily or just during the Sunday morning worship service?  Are you living a life that experiences the open doors of opportunities like the church of Philadelphia or is the Lord knocking your heart’s door like the church of Laodicea waiting for you to open?

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When I consider thy heavens

Psalm 8:3,4

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 visits him? (KJV)

This is another psalm that we learn at an early age in our life.  This psalm speaks of a simple truth, the grandeur of God and the simplicity of man.  Then the ungodly try to consider the wonders of this universe the first step they must take is to put God in a box and limit his ability to speak the universe into creation.  However, as believers we must by faith understand that the universe was spoken into existence by God.  In Hebrews 11:3,6 “By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.  And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek him.”  (NAS)

When I consider thy heavens the work of thy hands do I really truly believe that God is the creator of this universe?  As I study Hebrews chapter eleven the great chapter on faith I must consider the importance of verse three and verse six.  One of the importance of characteristics of our faith is truly believing in God as the creator of the universe.  In other words, God spoke, and the universe came into existent.  Reading the creation story in Genesis chapter the reader will realize that each day of creation started with the phase “then God said”.  God spoke and then the universe came into existence.  So, an important step in the developmental growth of a believer’s faith is to believe in God as the creator of heaven and earth.  Without this belief in God as the creator it is impossible to please Him since we must believe that God is who he says He is.

Peter also links the promise coming of Jesus to the belief a person has about the creation.    In II Peter chapter three we are given the illustration of the conditions of the latter days.  The last days will be characterized by scoffers following after their own lust.  In their eyes they are right and have all the answers and take pride in all of the knowledge.  They mock those who look for the second coming of the Lord.  They look to the second coming of the Lord as a myth, just like the teaching of Noah’s flood found in Genesis chapters six and seven that destroy the ancient world as a myth.  To them the world continues to evolve just as it has since it was created.  To some of these scoffers the world could be millions or even a billion years old.   They believe in the teaching of uniformitarianism that believes the geological ages tell the story of the earth and discounts the belief that God spoke, and the heavens and the earth came into creation.

So as your answer the question in verse three “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained” is your answer God or evolution?  Does the story of the creation of the heavens and the earth found in Genesis form the basic foundation for your belief in creation?  However, the second question address in verse four “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visit him?” opens up the question how mankind fits into God’s universe.  How can a very, very small part of God’s creation (mankind) fully understands how this universe came into existence.  The answer is (we can’t), so when it comes to my understanding of creation, I must make my decision faith and not by the beliefs of those that reject God.   

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God judges the righteous

Psalm 7:11

God judges the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.

In Luke chapter four we are given the account of Jesus reading Isaiah chapter sixty-one verses one and half of verse two, and not reading the last part which states “and the day of vengeance of our God:  to comfort all that mourn”.  After he read this portion of scripture he stated, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”  The portion that was fulfilled was the anointing he received to preach the gospel to the poor, and to heal the broken heart.  To preach deliverance to the captives and recovering the sight to the blind. And to set free those that are bruised.  To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.  To put these verses in context we must look at the events before and after this his reading of Isaiah.

Several days before this reading he was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan and reply to John’s statement “I am the one that needs to be baptized by you” with the words “Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness.”  After the baptism Christ was lead by the spirit in the wilderness for forty days of testing by the devil.  He defended himself against Satan by quoting the Word of God to him by stating “It is written”.  It was the scriptures that Christ used against Satan and proclaim to all who witnessed his baptism “to fulfill all righteousness” that guide his ministry.  As believers we have Jesus as the perfect example of why we need to know and hid God’s Word in our heart.       

The account of Jesus’s reading from the book of Isaiah and his statement “this day this scripture has been fulfilled” marks what I believe was the start of his ministry.  His message was to “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”.  This message of the acceptable year of the Lord is to us who are held captive by sin and are blind and bruised by the results of this sinful nature which we were born into.  After spending three years with Christ this message was finally realized by his disciples in Luke chapter twenty-four.  In this chapter we see Christ explaining to his disciples all the things concerning his ministry from the scriptures starting with Moses and all the prophets.  This message was simply “It was written that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations.”

However, the Jewish leaders at this time took it as the promise of the coming Messiah who deliver them from all of their enemies, instead of being the voice of one crying in the wilderness.  The Jewish nation at that time wanted the kingdom, but they could not find a need for repentance.  In Matthew chapter twenty-three Christ preached a message of “woe to you” to the leaders of Israel at that time.  After this message to the leaders, he departed their presence.  He then explained his coming and the end of the age to his disciples in Matthew chapters twenty-five through chapter twenty-six. In Acts 4:11 Peter told the priests, the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees that Christ was the fulfillment of Psalms 118:22 “He is the stone, which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the very cornerstone.”  Of course, this message to the Jewish leaders from the disciple of Christ was also rejected by them. 

The day of God’s judgment is coming.  In II Peter chapter three Peter writes about this judgment.  He writes about the coming of the last days, and how even in these times there is a rejection of God’s coming judgment on this earth.  However, there is a coming day where the present heavens and earth will be judged and the destruction of all ungodly men will take place. 

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God’s punishment

Psalm 6:6,7

 A psalm of David.
I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears. Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies.

A footnote in the Life Application Study Bible summarizes this psalm as a prayer where David accepted God’s punishment, but begged God not to discipline him in anger.  David knew if God treated him with justice alone without mercy his judgement would be death.  In this prayer I also see how David is praying to God to deliver him from those who have taken advantage of God’s judgement on David to destroy him.   

These verses remind me of the prayer that Christ prayed before his trial and arrest that is recorded in Luke chapter twenty-two and Matthew chapter twenty-six.  The portrait we are given in these verses is of Christ being in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.  When Christ prayed this prayer in the garden of Gethsemane it was a prayer that he already knew the answer, but he still prayed these words three times “O my Father if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou will.”  His soul was exceeding sorrowful and very heavy, even unto death during this time.  However, unlike David’s prayer, this prayer was not for God’s mercy from the punishment of his sin, but for the sins of the entire human race.

Most people live for the present-day events in their life as they travel along their journey on this earth; and it is only in a moment of crisis when all hope is lost that they either turn to others for help and when that has failed they at last turn to God.  At first this moment of crisis that comes into most people life seem huge, but once the crisis is over they look back and see that this event was only a bump in the road of life.  In life we have these up and downs which we believe are major crisis but once they are over we just get back on the road of life and start the routine of living everyday life again.  Often this new direction will bring us closer to God, but sometime we just put God on the shelf until we need Him again. 

However, once we experience a life changing events in which the outcome is not our desire but God’s intervention to change the course of the direction of our life’s journey do we come to the realization of “not my will but thou will be done”.  It is during this experience that the real presence of God in our life.  This is an experience that we only share with the Lord himself.  It is the inner peace that God gives us that even in times of difficulties God will carry us through the fire.  It is a “footprints in the sand” moment where we recognize afterwards that it was God that carried us through.  

Studying the several examples of David’s prayers found in the Psalms, some which were prayers caused by his own sin and other prayers caused by the sins of others we witness a brokenness of spirit that causes great pain to the body itself.  As I study both of these examples I see a very deep desire for God to come and restore the broken personal relationship and heal the physical pain that was lost because of sin.  David prayed in Psalm fifty-one “create in me a clean heart, renew our spirit within me, do not banish me you’re your presence, restore the joy of your salvation.  It is in these dark moments that David’s desire was for the restoration of his relationship with God.   David accepted God’s punishment but truly desire God’s presence in his life and a renewing of the joy of his salvation. 

This relationship was something that Cain did not desire.  He hated the punishment and did not desire to renew God’s presence in his life.  In Genesis chapter four we are told that Cain said unto the Lord that his punishment was greater than he could bear.  In fact, in verse sixteen “And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod.” Cain made the decision to leave God’s presence instead of praying for God not to banished him.  The decision of desiring God’s presence in one’s life is a personal one.  He has already provided the way through Jesus, which leaves the decision of having God’s presence in your life up to you to make.    

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Two different views of God

Psalm 5: 1-4,12

Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation.  Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.  My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee and will look up.  For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.  For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favor wilt thou compass him as with a shield.  (KJV)

In Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby, one of the daily devotional books I read throughout the year, he writes this statement about two different views of God in his January second devotional Woe Is Me. “An exalted view of God brings a clear view of the sinful nature within me and a realistic view of darkness of sin.  A diminished view of God brings a reduced concern for sin and an inflated view of self.”  In this devotional he discuss how we need to be careful when we compare our righteousness to the righteousness of the ungodly.  This type of righteousness is one that has a diminished view of God to create an inflated view of self.  The more time we spend time in front of the mirror of God’s Word the more the Holy Spirit convicts of our sinfulness. 

An exalted view of God grows within us as we abide in him and keep his commandments.  In Psalm 119:9-16 we are given the instructions on how to live a clean or pure life: 

  1. By guarding it according to thy word.
  2. With my whole heart will I seek thee.
  3. Let me not wander from thy commandments.
  4. I have laid up thy word in my heart.
  5. LORD, teach me thy statutes.
  6. I declare all the ordinances of thy mouth.
  7. I delight in the way of thy testimonies more than riches.
  8. I will meditate on thy precepts.
  9. I will fix my eyes on thy ways.
  10. I will delight in thy statutes and will not forget thy word.

The more we stay in the Word and study God’s commands, his statues, his ordinances, and precepts the more we shall see our sinfulness and the holiness of God.  It is only when we truly grasp the exalted holiness of Christ and his redemptive sacrifice that we see the total darkness of the sinfulness of the nature that is deeply embedded within us.  Once we reach this stage we can cry out as Paul wrote in Romans 8:24 “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death.”  Thanks be to God who gave us his son that whosoever believe on him will be saved.   

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God sees our hearts and delights in our uprightness

God sees our hearts and delights in our uprightness

Psalm 4:3-5

3 But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the Lord will hear when I call unto him.

4 Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.

5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord.

In I Chronicles 20:17 David states that he knows his God sees his heart and delights in uprightness, and that in the integrity of his heart God see that he willingly made his offering to help build the house for ark of the covenant and for the Lord’s name.   Studying David’s life, I realize how much of his life was guided by one principle and that was by staying in God’s Word.  Psalm one hundred and nineteen gives us an understanding of the guiding principles of David’s life.  In Psalm one hundred and nineteen eight key words are used to describe God’s Word:  law, precept, testimony, commandment, ordinance, promise, statue, and way.  These principles were probably taught to David at an early age following the instructions given to the nation of Israel in Deuteronomy 6:7 “And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children and shall talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”  These words from the book of Deuteronomy as well as the other books of Moses probably laid the foundation for the guiding principles in David’s life.

In Ephesians 5:8,9 Paul states that we are to walk as children of light in all goodness and righteousness in all truth which is the fruit of the Spirit.  As a new creation our desires should no longer be for the things of the flesh (darkness), but the things of the spirit (light).  In Ephesians chapter five Paul gives us several examples of this walk: walk in love, avoid all uncleanness, have not fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, walk circumspectly, redeeming the time, and most important speaking to yourself in psalms, and hymns and spiritual sounds, singing and making melody in your heart.   We should heed the words of David from verse four “Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still.”