Psalm 51
¹ Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
² Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
³ For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.
⁵ Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
⁶ Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
⁷ Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
⁹ Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
¹⁰ Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
¹³ Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.
¹⁴ Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
¹⁵ O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
¹⁶ You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
¹⁸ In your good pleasure make Zion prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem.
¹⁹ Then there will be righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings to delight you; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Have you ever judged someone and then find out that it was you who was wrong and guilty of the issue? This is David’s psalm to Nathan’s remark in II Samuel 12:7 “Thou art the man”. It is only when we see our sinfulness before God that we come to the point of realization of our own fallen nature. As I read this psalm I must go to I Kings 15:5 “because David did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, and turned not aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite”. This psalm along with psalm 32 was written as a result of this sin. Every time I read this psalm, I realized that a life without God’s presence is a life in which there is brokenness.

In verse, one David comes to God for mercy and the blotting out of his transgression. In verse two, he adds wash away my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. David knew he had sinned; he felt the need for cleansing and knew that this cleansing could only come from God. As you read the rest of this psalm, you should be able to notice one of the major characteristic of God and that is his unfailing love and his great compassion. How do you get right with God after you have sinned and done evil in the sight of the Lord? Read psalms 51 and 32 and let the Holy Spirit speak to you through these verses to restore the joy of your salvation and renew a steadfast spirit within you. Then you will have a purpose in life and that is to teach transgressors God’s way and turn them to Him.

One of the greatest truths that one learns in life is the importance of relationships. This psalm represents a time in David’s life where he had abandoned the ways of God to protect himself and others from public shame. Yet his plans to protect these relationships did not work. As a believer, we need to realize the truth about sin, and that truth is that all sin is known by God. Another truth about sin is that it affects relationships. The family relationship is usually the strongest relationship that people have in this world, and yet the bond of this relationship can easily be broken when sin enters the picture. There is also the relationship that we have with God. This psalm focuses on the only way to restore a broken relationship and that way is through repentance and returning back to God’s ways. Verse 6 makes God’s way simple, God desires truth in our inner parts He desires to have His laws written on our heart. So, if you are facing a broken relationship today know that unless you are coming to God with a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you will not be able to have true joy and peace in your heart.

This leads to another truth I see in the world today but cannot fully understand. Why do we let sin rule our life and wreck relationships, when God has provided a way for all relationships to be restored by his great gift of forgiveness? As I study the story of Cain and Abel, found in Genesis chapter four I see God’s love being rejected by Cain before he killed Abel. In addition, even after Cain killed Abel God placed a mark on Cain to protect him from others. Yet Cain still went out of God’s presence. Why then do individuals who have been once enlightened and who have tasted the heavenly gift fall away? The Lord gives reasons for this falling away in his parable of the sower found in Matthew chapter thirteen. In this parable, the seed (God’s Word) falls on four types of soils: the soil of the wayside, the rocky soil, the soil among the thorns, and the good soil. In the first case, the word is heard but Satan takes it away from them. In the second case the word is heard, but is soon abandon when tribulation or persecution comes along in a person’s life. In the third case the cares of this world choke out the word and the person does not grow and becomes fruitful. However, in the fourth case, the word is heard and by applying that, life becomes fruitful. Do you let the Word of God grow in you, or does Satan, the cares of this world, or the desires of this world destroy the effects that the Word could have on your life.

Verses 6 and 7 “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.” describes the nature of man. As a child grows the sweetness that the newborn child processed gives way to the true sinful nature, which we all are, have at birth. The desires of the child turn to me, me, me. However, God is always calling to us to return to Him. His desire for us is to have truth within our hearts and wisdom within our inmost place. Therefore, as a young child, we must heed the call of God. This simple concept of God’s desire seems to get lost in our everyday routine of living. We let Satan, the cares of this world, or the desires of this world rob us of a desire that God wants for us in our life. In the devotion for June 11 in his book, My Utmost for His Highest Oswald Chambers writes:

The questions that truly, matter in life are remarkably few, and they are all answered by these words— “Come to Me.” Our Lord’s words are not, “Do this, or don’t do that,” but— “Come to me.” If I will simply come to Jesus, my real life will be brought into harmony with my real desires. I will actually cease from sin, and will find the song of the Lord beginning in my life.

This is what David is writing here in this Psalm. As I look back in my life as well as the life of other Christians I know or have known; it was not our seeking after God that brought God in our lives, but it was the way that we responded to the seeking God as we opened the door to our heart and let him enter our inmost place to dwell. Once we open the door and receive Him then the true transformation of bringing our life into this harmony with His desires takes place and we can experience the peace that passes understanding.

Psalm 50

A psalm of Asaph.

¹ The Mighty One, God, the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets.
² From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.
³ Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before him and around him a tempest rage.
⁴ He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that he may judge his people:
⁵ “Gather to me my consecrated ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
⁶ and the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for God himself is judge. Selah
⁷ “Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you: I am God, your God.
⁸ I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, which are ever before me.
⁹ I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens,
¹⁰ for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.
¹¹ I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine.
¹² If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.
¹³ Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?
¹⁴ Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High,
¹⁵ and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
¹⁶ But to the wicked, God says: “What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on your lips?
¹⁷ You hate my instruction and cast my words behind you.
¹⁸ When you see a thief, you join with him; you throw in your lot with adulterers.
¹⁹ You use your mouth for evil and harness your tongue to deceit.
²⁰ You speak continually against your brother and slander your own mother’s son.
²¹ These things you have done, and I kept silent; you thought I was altogether like you. But I will rebuke you and accuse you to your face.
²² “Consider this, you who forget God, or I will tear you to pieces, with none to rescue:
²³ He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God.”

This is the first of twelve Psalms bear the name of Asaph. He was of high repute in the days of David and is mentioned as one of the main composer of the psalms. Asaph was certainly a prophet since he is called a seer. It seems from studying his writings that he was well educated and had a natural talent that made him well qualified to compose hymns or psalms in the honor of God. He also reflects the strong influence that David probably had on his life and his writings. Not only did he have a great grasp of the nature and attributes of God, but he also had a keen understanding of the corrupt nature of man. This knowledge probably was strengthening as the result of positions he held while serving in David’s reign. During his lifetime he witness a time in which there was great changes; since during his lifetime he probably witness the reign of the first three Kings of Israel. It was during his lifetime that the history of Israel saw some of its great changes. These changes brought about much displeasure from God, yet God still watched over his people by giving them David as their King. He probably lived during the period of Saul’s kingdom, and then was involved in David’s kingdom and was probably even alive and wrote during the reign of Solomon. As you read these psalms the prophetic characteristics of Asaph writings seems to have include a lot of the historical past of Israel as examples of God’s dealings with his people then and how this relationship will continue with his people in the presence as well as in the future. This is the only one of his psalms that stands alone. The others start with Psalm 73 and continue to Psalm 83.

This psalm speaks of God judging his people as well as the wicked. As I read this psalm I must also look to the words of Christ found in John 5: 24-30 where he speaks as having been granted the judge of mankind by the Father. God gave this authority to him because he is the Son of Man (verse 27). However, Christ also refers to himself as the Son of God in verse twenty-five. As I consider verse twenty-two of this psalm “Consider this you who forget God” in relationship to the verses in John chapter five I realize that the view that one has of Christ will affect their behavior on earth, and their judgment for eternity. Christ’s testimony was that he has been performing the task that the father had given him. Does your testimony reflect the task that Christ has given you? The first step in this process knows Christ as your Lord.

The last two verses set the stage for all of mankind. There are only two ways, God way or the ungodly way. One way is having God direct your way and the other way is living with God. The warning to all mankind is found in these two verses. “Consider this, you who forget God, or I will tear you to pieces, with none to rescue:” is a warning that yes you can live your life without God, and do things your way; however, God will not be there to rescue you, even in death. “He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God” are the ones who walk in God’s way. They recognize their sinfulness and are thankful for his salvation and their new desire is to take on the nature of the new creation that has been given to them though the redemptive work of Christ. Romans 12:1,2 are verses that all believers should memorize and meditate on day and night.

Psalm 49

¹ Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all who live in this world,
² both low and high, rich and poor alike:
³ My mouth will speak words of wisdom; the utterance from my heart will give understanding.
⁴ I will turn my ear to a proverb; with the harp I will expound my riddle:
⁵ why should I fear when evil days come, when wicked deceivers surround me
⁶ those who trust in their wealth and boast oftheir great riches?
⁷ No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him

⁸ the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough
⁹ that he should live on forever and not see decay.
¹⁰ For all can see that wise men die; the foolish and the senseless alike perish and leave their wealth to others.
¹¹ Their tombs will remain their houses forever, their dwellings for endless generations, though they had named lands after themselves.
¹² But man, despite his riches, does not endure; he is like the beasts that perish.
¹³ This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings. Selah
¹⁴ Like sheep they are destined for the grave and death will feed on them. The upright will rule over them in the morning; their forms will decay in the grave, far from their princely mansions.
¹⁵ But God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself.
¹⁶ Do not be overawed when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases;
¹⁷ for he will take nothing with him when he dies, his splendor will not descend with him.
¹⁸ Though while he lived, he counted himself blessed and men praise you when you prosper
¹⁹ he will join the generation of his fathers, who will never see the light of life.

²⁰ A man whohas riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

As you look at these verses picture that you are listening to Christ preaching his messages from the hills of Galilee. The message is to answer the statement: No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him the ransom for a life is costly; no payment is ever enough that he should live on forever and not see decay. Let’s face it we cannot redeem our life. For all can see that wise men die; the foolish and the senseless alike perish and leave their wealth to others. There is no way that man, despite his riches, does not endure; he is like the beasts that perish. This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings.

However, there is a way and it is also in his message: But God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself.

Do not be overawed when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases; for he will take nothing with him when he dies, his splendor will not descend with him. Though while he lived he counted himself blessed and men praise you when you prosper he will join the generation of his fathers, who will never see the light of life. A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

One event that a person will experience as they grow older is the end of a life of a love one or someone who is close to them. Yes, I am writing about a funeral. I experienced my first funeral (my father’s) when I was only fifteen. Then four months later, I attended the funeral of my brother. So at the age fifteen when most young adolescence were enjoying the experience of youth I had already lost a father and a brother and started the process of asking God the hard questions of life. Today as I was attending the funeral of a friend’s father, I realized that understanding one’s life is like putting together a puzzle. As I study Psalms 139:16, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” I realize that God has the top of the puzzle box with the picture. We are the ones that have to put together the pieces of the puzzle of life.

Sometimes our personal beliefs comes into conflict with the world and even those who are close to us. This psalm has the greatest promise for all of mankind. The promise of redeeming us from the grave. Jesus spoke this promise to Nicodemus in their discourse that is recorded in John 3:1-21. Jesus used the example of Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness as the way God was going provided as the way to redeem our life. Jesus explained that his only purpose of being send by God to this earth was to save man from the curse of sin. We either believe in Christ or we do not and reject him. Believing in Jesus will change the way we walk in this world. Knowing that there is so much more after we die and leave this world that the things of this life does not have as much attraction to us as it did in the past. I can now live a life that does not fear death.

Therefore, my lifestyle has not changed in the last two years. Covid does not control my life. Yes, I will respect the views of those that do not understand my way; however, I truly believe that my God and my Savior is a personal God. I do not let the fear of death effect my daily living because I believe that God will redeem my life from the grave and take me to be with him This is a psalm that I can apply to our personal life.

Psalm 48

¹ Great is the LORD, and most worthy of praise, in the city of our God, his holy mountain.
² It is beautiful in its loftiness, the joy of the whole earth. Like the utmost heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the Great King.
³ God is in her citadels; he has shown himself to be her fortress.
⁴ When the kings joined forces, when they advanced together,
⁵ they saw her and were astounded; they fled in terror.
⁶ Trembling seized them there, pain like that of a woman in labor.
⁷ You destroyed them like ships of Tarshish shattered by an east wind.
⁸ As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD Almighty, in the city of our God: God makes her secure forever. Selah
⁹ Within your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love.
¹⁰ Like your name, O God, your praise reaches to the ends of the earth; your right hand is filled with righteousness.
¹¹ Mount Zion rejoices, the villages of Judah are glad because of your judgments.
¹² Walk about Zion, go around her, count her towers,
¹³ consider well her ramparts, view her citadels, that you may tell of them to the next generation.
¹⁴ For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.

As I read this psalm, I am reminded that there are forces that advance against God. It happened in heaven as well as it is now taking place on earth. As I consider the many voices of society today, I can understand why those who have chosen to be close to God and seek to live a blameless life are quiet. These are the ones that I believe have the same life styles as the seven thousands of I King 19:18 ” Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.” These are the ones today who have abandoned the desires to chase after the Jones or seek the fame and riches that this world seeks to give. They are the ones that know God and enjoy the simple pleasures of life that he bestows upon them. They are the ones that like Abraham know that they are just on a journey and that their real treasures are in heaven, Mt Zion, the city of God. They meditate on God’s unfailing love and trust in his judgments. They do not have to prove to the world that God is on their side, because they have the peace of God within their heart that assures them that the Lord Almighty is their God.

Psalm 47

¹ Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.
² How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth!
³ He subdued nations under us, peoples under our feet.
⁴ He chose our inheritance for us, the pride of Jacob, whom he loved. Selah
⁵ God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the LORD amid the sounding of trumpets.
⁶ Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises.
⁷ For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise.
⁸ God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne.
⁹ The nobles of the nations assemble as the people of the God of Abraham, for the kings of the earth belong to God; he is greatly exalted.

As I read this psalm this morning, I stop and reflect about all the influences that have already occurred today in my life. On my daily commute to work every morning I, listen either to the radio or to my CDs on the scriptures. When I listen to radio, it seems that half of the time I am listening to advertising that makes claims on how to improve and make your life better and more productive. Yet, most of this claim leaves out one major compound and that is God. By reading the psalms daily, the reader will soon truly grasp how awesome the Lord really is in heaven and on earth. When I listen to these claims that promise to give me a great and better life they leave out God. They usually have one purpose and that is to make the person or company offering them a profit. When hearing these claims, I have to reflect on the very fall of man in the Garden of Eden. Man took the fruit from his wife who had taken it from the serpent, who had convinced her that there was more to life than God had provided. He convinced Eve and she convinced Adam “that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise”. However, after they eat of the fruit, their eyes was opened and they saw their own nakedness.

I see the same with all the claims that the world offers us today. Even the claims of most Christian ministries seem to fall short of meeting the needs and desires of fallen man. Unless fallen man truly returns to a dependence on God, he will perish just like the beast of the field. As Psalm 49: 20 states “A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish”. However, when we truly get to a point in our life that we trust God and pursue a desire to live a blameless life in the light of his Word, then we will see that he will cloth us in His glory. How awesome would our lives be if our daily routines in this world would truly reflect our true dependence upon God to manage the affairs of our life?

Psalm 46

¹ God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah
⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.
⁵ God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.
⁶ Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
⁷ The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
⁸ Come and see the works of the LORD, the desolations he has brought on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire.
¹⁰ “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
¹¹ The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah

Sometimes as we study God’s Word, we just look at the words and apply them to our life. This Psalm was a song created for the worship of God. God is the subject of this song. As we see starting with verse one of this Psalm to the last verse it is God that takes care of us. God is our refuge and strength; then why do we fear? David’s theme in this Psalm is centered on the concept of faith. His faith was a total trust in God to intervene in every aspect of his life. Nothing too small or too large.

Verse ten of this Psalm gives the believer the way of God to approach the troubles, which we face as we complete our journey upon the face of this earth. Be still and know that I am God is the advice that for several believers do not have the time available to practice. This is a way of God that will test our faith and the more we grow in this way the more we will see his hand in the smallest activities that we pursue. This goes against the wise old saying of “God helps those who help themselves”. The problem that most believers have with dealing with the everyday issues in life is that this wise old saying seems to have a greater impact on their life then verse ten does. Try waiting on God as a way of walking in his way.

As I read this Psalm, I reflect upon the last two chapters of the Bible. Revelation twenty-one starts with this verse ” And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away and the sea is no more. There is a time in the future where everything I have worked for will be destroyed, the works of both my hands and my mind. However, the one that overcomes can inherit the things of the new heaven and the new earth.

Psalm 45

¹ My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.
² You are the most excellent of men and your lips have been anointed with grace, since God has blessed you forever.
³ Gird your sword upon your side, O mighty one; clothe yourself with splendor and majesty.
⁴ In your majesty ride forth victoriously in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness; let yourright hand display awesome deeds.
⁵ Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s enemies; let the nations fall beneath your feet.
⁶ Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.
⁷ You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.
⁸ All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; from palaces adorned with ivory the music of the strings makes you glad.
⁹ Daughters of kings are among your honored women; at your right hand is the royal bride in gold of Ophir.
¹⁰ Listen, O daughter, consider and give ear: Forget your people and your father’s house.
¹¹ The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord.
¹² The Daughter of Tyre will come with a gift, men of wealth will seek your favor.
¹³ All glorious is the princess within her chamber; her gown is interwoven with gold.
¹⁴ In embroidered garments she is led to the king; her virgin companions follow her and are brought to you.
¹⁵ They are led in with joy and gladness; they enter the palace of the king.
¹⁶ Your sons will take the place ofyour fathers; you will make them princes throughout the land.
¹⁷ I will perpetuate your memory through all generations; therefore the nations will praise you for ever and ever.

This psalm can only refer to one person and that is Christ. The writer of the book of Hebrews uses this verse in chapter one to introduce Christ, God’s son, as the one who has provided purifications for sins and is now seated at the right hand of God in heaven. This process of our growth in understanding why God provide redemption through Christ for mankind is a mystery I cannot fully understand; however, it is psalms such as this psalm that makes it so real to me. Paul states it better in Philippians 3:8 as I count all things loss for the Excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus. The goal of this knowledge is to be found in him and to obtain the righteousness that is provided by our faith in him. The end result is that we will know Christ and that the new life given to us by the result of his resurrection and by our partaking in his suffering will make us more Christ like so that we will become sons of God. No wonder this psalm starts out with the phase “My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the King”. When studying the Bible, I hope that Christ is the noble theme that you look for in your studies.

Psalm 44

¹ We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us what you did in their days, in days long ago.
² With your hand you drove out the nations and planted our fathers; you crushed the peoples and made our fathersflourish.
³ It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you loved them.
⁴ You are my King and my God, who decrees victories for Jacob.
⁵ Through you we push back our enemies; through your name we trample our foes.
⁶ I do not trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory;
⁷ but you give us victory over our enemies, you put our adversaries to shame.
⁸ In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise your name forever. Selah
⁹ But now you have rejected and humbled us; you no longer go out with our armies.
¹⁰ You made us retreat before the enemy, and our adversaries have plundered us.
¹¹ You gave us up to be devoured like sheep and have scattered us among the nations.
¹² You sold your people for a pittance, gaining nothing from their sale.
¹³ You have made us a reproach to ourneighbors, the scorn and derision of those around us.
¹⁴ You have made us a byword among the nations; the peoples shake their heads at us.
¹⁵ My disgrace is before me all day long, and my face is covered with shame
¹⁶ at the taunts of those who reproach and revile me, because of the enemy, who is bent on revenge.
¹⁷ All this happened to us, though we had not forgotten you or been false to your covenant.
¹⁸ Our hearts had not turned back; our feet had not strayed from your path.
¹⁹ But you crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals and covered us over with deep darkness.
²⁰ If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
²¹ would not God have discovered it, since he knows the secrets of the heart?
²² Yet for your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.
²³ Awake, O Lord! Why do you sleep? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever.
²⁴ Why do you hide your face and forget our misery and oppression?
²⁵ We are brought down to the dust; our bodies cling to the ground.
²⁶ Rise up and help us; redeem us because of your unfailing love.

Verse twenty-two “Yet for your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered” is used by Paul in Romans 8:36 in response to the question “If God is for us who can be against us”. In the past my daughter Alex and I would race to see who could quote Romans 8:28 the fastest. It was my desire to make this verse real in her life, since I knew her Christian walk in this life would not be easy. Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” is the verse that states the conclusion of Paul’s discussion on living your life through the spirit. When studying Romans we realize that we were born in sin and we do not seek God, but it was God who seeks after us and provided a way back to Him through Christ that we might become sons of God. Therefore, to understand this psalm in light of Romans chapter eight we must understand that the world lives according to the sinful nature of the old man and we live according to the spiritual nature of the new man. These two natures have two different masters with two different goals: Christ and glorifying God, man and glorifying man. When we take on the spiritual nature we take on the nature of a servant just as Christ did when he was on this earth. This new nature then seeks Christ and ways of glorifying God.

When we study the scripture, we must realize that God’s will for man is that we become sons of God. Therefore, it is important that all believers know and completely understand the effects that the fall of man (found in Genesis 3) had on the relationship of God and man that existed before the fall. Before the fall man walk with God, after the fall man hid from God. Christ though his death on the cross has renewed the relationship between God and man. The relationship that existed before the fall (found in Genesis 3) has been restored to man through Christ.

Psalm 43

¹ Vindicate me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; rescue me from deceitful and wicked men.
² You are God my stronghold. Why have you rejected me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?
³ Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.
⁴ Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God.

⁵ Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

This psalm is similar to psalm forty-two, however he does request two things: God’s light and God’s truth. This light and truth is Christ. As I age and see the events happening in the world, today I cannot help but reflect on this time in David’s life. Samuel had anointed David as a young lad to become the next king of Israel. David was probably only thirteen or fourteen at that time. I am not sure how much this affected his life at the time of the anointing, but soon after he was in the courts of Saul playing his harp for him as well as being one of his armor-bearers.

Verse three “Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell”. Your light and your truth refer to God’s Word and teachings. As I reflect back on my life, I realized how God uses the events in our life to shape us. At age thirteen I entertained myself in the evening by reading. The books I read were Arthur Maxwell’s Children Bible Stories. These ten books gave me a wonderful understanding of the Bible. This led me to a deeper desire to study the Bible. Studying the examples in God’s Word will give us the hope that David writes in verse five.

My office contains several hundred commentaries and religious books about the Bible. Many of these how to study your Bible, or life application of the scripture’s books can add insight my daily studies; but they can never replace the daily reading of the Bible in my life. The more I study the scriptures, the more the Holy Spirit opens my eyes to the truth of God. To me the Bible is the living Word of God. In this psalm verse three states “Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell”. As I study the book of John, I realized that this light and truth is Christ. So, the more I know about Jesus and the more I let him direct my paths the closer I get to the place that God dwells.

Psalm 42

¹ As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.
² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
³ My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
⁴ these things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng.
⁵ Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon from Mount Mizar.
⁷ Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.
⁸ By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me a prayer to the God of my life.
⁹ I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?”
¹⁰ My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
¹¹ Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

This psalm centers on these two questions.

Why are you downcast, O my soul?

Why so disturbed within me?

This psalm centers on these answers.

Put your hope in God,

I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Sometimes during our walk on this earth, we seem to walk in a dry and thirsty land. It is during these times that we must remember that the earth is under the curse of sin. We are not in heaven yet but on a journey. We sometimes forget that we are on a journey and live as if this life on earth is it and there is no life after we depart from this earth. However, it is God that leads and sometimes these paths will lead us through a period of testing, or should I state a desert place. The key to getting through these times is to remember who God is (the One that our mind cannot comprehend) and that this is just our journey and not our home. The psalmist also reflects upon his time of worship with others (how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng) during this time of testing. Remember Psalm 62:11-12 “one thing God has spoken two things have I heard: that you, O God are strong, and that you O, Lord are loving.” It is these times of worshiping and praising God that we must look back to when we are in these periods of testing to give us hope for the future.

As I was studying the book There was a Time written by Mary Alice Wilhelm this week, I ran across a list title Nine Aspects of Life written by a source not known in the second chapter. Reflecting on these nine aspects can helps us as believers when we face the two questions that this Psalm presents to us.

Nine Aspects of Life

1. The adventure of life is to learn.

2. The purpose of life is to grow.

3. The nature of life is to change.

4. The challenge of life is to overcome.

5. The essence of life is to care.

6. The opportunity of life is to serve.

7. The secret of life is to dare.

8. The spice of life is to befriend.

9. The beauty of life is to give.

Source not known

As we age and realize that our journey through this world is now much nearer to the end we begin to look back and reevaluate our understanding of the true meaning of life. For those who know God and the work that Christ paid for us on the cross this reevaluation will usually lead to a more rewarding life for us in our later years.