Psalm 115

Reading for August 24, 2012      Psalm 115

The themes in Psalm 114 are carried forward to Psalm 115. (In some of the older manuscripts, Psalm 115 was included in Psalm 114.) In Psalm 115, the psalmist contrasts the nature of Israel’s Living God against the inanimate pagan gods, thus emphasizing the faithfulness and trustworthiness of the LORD.

I believe there are times in the life of all Christians, when the Lord seems distant, silent and absent from our life. As much as we want our God to protect and provide for us, into every life comes the despair carried by terminal illness, lost jobs, foreclosure, divorce and a myriad of other crises. It is to this place in our lives that the psalmist speaks:

  “The Lord remembers us and will bless us.

    He will bless the people of Israel

    and bless the priests, the descendants of Aaron.

 He will bless those who fear the Lord,

    both great and lowly.”

Psalm 115: 12-13

In these times, the Holy Spirit will remind us that “faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see” (Hebrews 11:1). This psalm affirms that as the children of God, we will live forever and God is not limited to just our mortal lives to fulfill His promises. As we wait in faith for God’s blessings, our hope is an eternal hope,

“The dead cannot sing praises to the Lord,

    for they have gone into the silence of the grave.

 But we can praise the Lord

    both now and forever!

Praise the Lord!”

Psalm 115:17-18

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?

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

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Reading for August 25, 2012      Psalm 116