Psalm 30

NOTE: On May 30th I am moving to North Carolina. I have already prepared meditations for the next several days and they are scheduled to be posted at 6:30 AM each morning. However, I may not be able to respond to your email inquiries for the next few days.

In my meditation on Psalm 22, I noted that while Jesus was on the Cross he quoted from Psalms 22 and 31. Because of those quotes, It has been suggested he may have prayed all of the psalms from 22-31 while on the Cross. Psalm 30 is certainly a psalm Jesus would have remembered, if not on the Cross, then in his Garden of Gethsemane prayers.

The instructions for the psalm refer to the dedication of the Temple because from about 160 BC the Jews included this psalm in their celebration of Hanukkah. Judas Maccabaeus led Israel against a foreign army that had invaded Israel, and defeated them. Maccabaeus led the people to purify the Temple and to hold a festival every year to commemorate the rededication of the Temple. This festival, Hanukkah, which means dedication, is held at a time on the Jewish calendar that is close to our December 25 date.

When David wrote this psalm he was remembering all the suffering and the feelings of abandonment he experienced during the period King Saul was pursuing him across all of Israel. The people of Israel had very similar feelings under the oppression of the foreign invaders, so this psalm was an appropriate expression of their joy when the yoke of the oppressors was broken.

The author of Hebrews calls us to look “unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). When I read that verse I immediately think of Psalm 30:5, “Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”

Psalm 30 is a very helpful reminder, in times of sickness or distress, to rest in the passage from Hebrews and keep my eyes on Jesus. When I do, I can then sing with the psalmist,

You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing.

You have taken away my clothes of mourning

and clothed me with joy,

that I might sing praises to you

and not be silent.

O Lord my God,

I will give you thanks forever!

Sē’lah

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What word or phrase in today’s reading of the Psalms

 attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

Reading for June 1, 2012   Psalm 31

Psalm 29

NOTE: On May 30^th I am moving to North Carolina. I have already prepared meditations for the next several days and they are scheduled to be posted at 6:30 AM each morning. However, I may not be able to respond to your email inquiries for the next few days.
 
Psalm 29 is thought to be one of the oldest poems in the Psalms. The number seven in the Bible connotes the perfection of God and seven times the psalmist refers to the voice of God; thus, the theme of the sovereign rule of God is supported by the form of the poem to affirm God’s rule is complete. The psalm also identifies the neighboring countries of Israel to support the thought that God is sovereign over all creation; nature, humankind and nation states.

The theme of Psalm 29 is often repeated in the psalms. As an example, consider the opening verses of Psalm 121: “I look up to the mountains— does my help come from there? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!”

Here, the psalmist was contrasting his belief in the LORD, to the people who worshipped the god Baal and believed Baal lived in the mountains. This is similar in form to what we saw in Psalm 20: “Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the Lord our God.”

This is a very hard psalm for American Christians to take seriously. In worship services, following the teaching Paul in 1 Timothy 2 and Titus 3, I often pray to “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient” (Titus 3:1). Because Americans are a rebellious lot, and do not want to submit to authority, I’ve had people object to my prayers.

Our God loves us unconditionally. He died for us while were yet sinners. He will never, ever give up on us. Nevertheless, His sovereign rule is absolute and complete. God is at work in our lives, bringing us to the time when we will joyfully pray to God, “My life does not belong to me. My life belongs to God. By creation and redemption my life belongs to God.” (See Philippians 2:13)

We know that God is at work transforming our lives to become like Christ. Today is a good day to examine your life. Will you pray Psalm 29 as your personal prayer, with joy and conviction? How enthusiastically you embrace God’s complete sovereign rule in your life is a good indicator of how far along the path of transformation you have journeyed.

Sē’lah

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What word or phrase in today’s reading of the Psalms

 attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

Reading for May 31, 2012  Psalm 30

Psalm 28

NOTE: On May 30^th I am moving to North Carolina. I have already prepared meditations for the next several days and they are scheduled to be posted at 6:30 AM each morning. However, I may not be able to respond to your email inquiries for the next few days.

Jesus taught his disciples “All things are possible with God.” Sometimes our faith is tested because we do not see answers to our prayers. Can we still believe, even though we do not see? The writer of the letter to the Hebrews makes clear that faith is the unwavering determination to trust God, to believe God, even when we do not see the results we want. “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see” (Hebrews 11:1),

Because God is the Lord of the impossible, bringing life out of death, bringing success out of apparent failure, we can look at seemingly impossible circumstances and choose the way of the psalmist: “The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart” (v.7).

In the first portion of this psalm, David seems overwhelmed with the corruption of society. He steadfastly believes in the judgment of God and does not want to be caught up in God’s judgment of the wicked. As David prays to the Lord, his rock, he asked for mercy. Then in the midst of his lament his prayer for mercy turns into a prayer of praise, “Praise the Lord! For he has heard my cry for mercy” (v.6). What caused his change?

I believe the Apostle Paul helps us understand this change. In Romans 8: 15-16 Paul writes, “So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.”

When we come to God in faith, God participates in our prayers. God’s Spirit bears witness to our spirit and God’s Spirit thus helps us stand firm in our faith, even when our circumstances have not changed. With the Spirit’s help we trust God with our lives. Thank God for the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise. He did not leave us alone.

I will not abandon you as orphans—

I will come to you.

But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—

that is, the Holy Spirit—

he will teach you everything

and will remind you of everything I have told you.

“I am leaving you with a gift—

peace of mind and heart.

And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give.

So don’t be troubled or afraid.

John 14: 19, 26-27

Sē’lah

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What word or phrase in Psalm 28 attracts your attention?

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What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

Reading for May 30, 2012  Psalm 29

Psalm 27

One of the qualities I admire in the Apostle Paul is his single-minded purpose. He told the Athenians, ““In Christ we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28), and he summarized his ministry in Corinth as, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). His devotion to Christ sustained him through very difficult times.

The psalmist David expresses a similar single-minded devotion to God in Psalm 27. His prose, as in verse 4, expresses his heart’s one desire: “The one thing I ask of the Lord—the thing I seek most—is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.”

Some scholars have suggested this psalm may have originally been two psalms because of the shift in tense at verse seven. In the first six verses the psalmist speaks about God and in verse seven he begins speaking to God. I think this shift is intentional and expresses an excellent pattern for prayer.  In the first portion of the prayer the psalmist rehearses his personal convictions, his personal core values. Having thus established a firm foundation for his faith, he then makes his petitions to God. You may want to set aside some time to formulate your own prayer using this pattern.

Begin by affirming your core values, and then be open to the Lord leading you to shape your petitions, “My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.” (If you have difficulty articulating your core values you may contact me, or, you may want to look at my BLOG, First Think, Then Pray - Part Five, posted on August 24, 2010. (http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/)

Sē’lah

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What word or phrase in Psalm 27 attracts your attention?

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What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

Reading for May 29, 2012  Psalm 28

Psalm 26

During the period 1730–1755 the Great Awakening, a religious revival in America, was led by preachers like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield. Historians describe whole cites, like Boston and Philadelphia, gathering to hear these preachers. Church membership grew by the thousands as people turned their lives to God. During this period, life in Europe evidenced great decadence and moral decline. That culture had been imported to the Colonies and the righteous were few and far between. The theme of the great revival was characterized by a sermon preached by Jonathan Edwards, on July 8, 1741 in Enfield, Connecticut; “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." The sermon centered on the Final Judgment, which is the topic Jesus most often preached.

That there will be a great day of accounting where all people will be judged by God is the theme of the Old and New Testaments. In Psalm 26, David presents himself to God in anticipation that his life will be vindicated. David was trusting in his integrity as well as the faithfulness and mercy of God. This vindication called forth a desire to worship God, which led David to plead for God’s protection. David ends the psalm resting in the assurance of God’s care.

David was called by the grace of God and anointed by God to be King. He knew God’s favor and sought to present his life as one who followed after the ways of God. Today, the followers of Jesus have been saved by the grace of God, and anointed by God, to be the children of God. Our mission is to present ourselves as those who have experienced a Great Awakening and have turned our lives from sin to God.

David’s plea for vindication rested entirely on God. It was God who, by grace, called and anointed David. It was God who showed David the way of life and gave David the capacity to live for God. It was the complete trustworthiness of God that would vindicate David.

David’s psalm gives us a pattern for our lives, which, if we will follow, we can say with David, “I live with integrity. So redeem me and show me mercy. Now I stand on solid ground, and I will publicly praise the Lord.”

Sē’lah

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What word or phrase in Psalm 26 attracts your attention?

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What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

Reading for May 28, 2012  Psalm 27

Psalm 25

Psalm 25

Like Psalm 9, Psalm 25, in its original form, was written in the acrostic poetic form with the first verse beginning with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet; each succeeding verse began with the next letter in the alphabet. The careful composition of the psalm suggests David, the traditionally accepted author, wrote the psalm as an aid to discipleship. (This is similar in purpose to such things as the ACTS acrostic for prayer: Adoration; Confession; Thanksgiving; Supplication.)

In the orthodox tradition, this psalm is used as a prayer at the beginning of a work day. The opening lines, “O Lord, I give my life to you. I trust in you, my God!” are in the same form as the versicle used so often in the church today: Lift up your hearts. We lift them up to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give our thanks and praise.

In his acrostic form the psalmist moves from calling out to God, to a plea for mercy coupled with a confession of sin. Affirming the character of God, he then affirms the character of God’s disciples. In his closing plea for deliverance the psalmist affirms his belief that staying in a right relationship with God will be his protection: “May integrity and honesty protect me, for I put my hope in you.”

Psalm 25, as an aid to discipleship for David, sought to build his character so that he would exercise integrity at every moment of decision. John Wesley called this scriptural holiness; walking in harmony with God.

Sē’lah

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What word or phrase in Psalm 25 attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

Reading for May 27, 2012  Psalm 26