Week 23: Psalm 86:5-7

Psalm 86:5-7: For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace. In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me.

• This is one of my favorite psalms to pray and think about.  The faithfulness of God is clearly shown here in David's psalm.  Like many others, this was written when people were attempting to kill David, and his fear is implied, although his trust in God trumps the fear.
• Good and forgiving.  What if God wasn't good?  What if he wasn't forgiving?  We see different cultural mythologies of malevolent gods, lording over a people scared and joyless.  They fear that a single mistake could upset their god, who then in turn would strike them down (or curse them).  Thankfully this is not how Yahweh is.  No, our God is infinitely filled with love, and He pours it out on us.
• Like the previous point, what if God didn't listen to our prayers?  What if He ignored us?  How horrible would that be, to be ignored by God?  Again, this is not who Yahweh is, even though we may sometimes feel this way.  Our God is attentive to us and hears us when we pray.  He listens to us, and not only does He listen, but He answers...

Week 18: Psalm 1: 5-6

Psalm 1: 5,6: Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

1. What's the therefore there for?  Taking everything that's been said from verses 1-4, contrasting a blessed and righteous man with a wicked one, we come to the final verses of this psalm.  What does it mean that the wicked won't stand in the judgment?  Aren't the wicked supposed to be judged?  I don't believe that this psalm is saying that the wicked won't be judged, but that 1) they won't be standing in the same Judgment Line with the righteous, 2) they literally won't be standing (see Philippians 2:10) at all, and/or 3) their sentencing will render them wicked, doomed to hell and, poetically, not standing.
   
   To me, these three possibilities can work together and all be true, or any single one of them.  In light of the latter part of the verse, sinners [won't stand] in the congregation of the righteous, it seems likely that these two sentences support one another and that the wicked will be separated from the righteous.
   
2. The LORD knows the way of the righteous.  This is another one of those verses that supports that God knows us and our every step, that He's there with us, and that His way does not lead to death, but to life.
1. God knows the wicked man's steps, too, but He doesn't know him intimately as He does His children.  These are the poor men and women that will die and go to hell.  
2. These types of verses serve as rallying calls to me.  Be vigilant and spread the Gospel.  May the love of Jesus Christ drive us to keep the numbers of the perishing down and the troops of the Kingdom high.

That concludes all of Psalm 1.  Sweet.  Pretty simple.

Week 17: Psalm 1:3-4

Psalm 1:3,4:  He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.  In all that he does, he prospers.  The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

1. The Blessed Man, the one that spends all day and night meditating on the Word, is solid and prosperous.  A tree by water grows strong and lives long, which is worth noting; in fact, fact its leaf doesn't wither indicates the tree lives eternally.  How does one live forever?  He follows Jesus Christ, washing in His blood and submitting his life solely to Him.
2. Contrasting the Blessed Man is the Wicked Man.  Where the blessed have eternal life, the wicked are like chaff that the wind drives away.  Chaff is lightweight trash, discarded husks from corn or other crops.  This is not what we want to be, especially knowing that we can drink from the Spring of Life and live forever.  Even so, there are wicked--I'm thinking those that don't meditate on the Word and scoff at Christ--and they have a determined fate: eternity without God.

This has me thinking about how we even define a wicked person in modern times.  With David it was obvious.  He had enemies.  People that wanted to kill him and take his throne.  We, for the most part, don't have enemies, at least not people that want to harm us.  So who are our wicked?  Who are our enemies?  I suppose it's those that are not in Christ, even though we typically don't think this way.  And Jesus told us to love our enemies and to pray for them.  Interesting stuff.

Week 16: Psalm 1:1-2

Psalm 1:1,2: Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seats of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD and on His law he meditates day and night.

1. David opens the Psalms with a blessing.  It can be re-read as "If you don't walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand with the sinners or count yourself among the scoffers, and your joy is in the LORD and meditating on Him, then you'll be blessed."  It seems simple enough.  One can imagine that if one takes delight in Yahweh and spends his time meditating on the Law of the LORD then they won't be found among the wicked, sinners, or scoffers.
1. This reminds me of 1 John 2:15-17.  We are to show the love of Jesus to the world--to the wicked, to the sinners, and to the scoffers--but we are not to count ourselves among their ranks.  We're to shine the light of the gospel to everyone, but warned against becoming ensnared by the world.
2. The counsel of the wicked.  The only counsel we need is the Counsel of God, found in his Word.
3. In the seats of scoffers.  A scoffer is someone who mocks or treats something/someone with contempt.  
2. Having just finished John Piper's Desiring God, it's easy to apply the term "Christian Hedonism" here.  The Lord promises blessings to those that delight in the law of the LORD.  Like the snowball effect, if we delight in God's Law, then we'll desire Him more and therefore be more blessed.  We'll want to read our bibles more.  We'll want to pray more.  We'll want to point all of our actions to God's glory.  Whether this blessing is temporal or eternal is irrelevant.  It could be either or both.
1. Blessed, if I am thinking correctly, can also be translated as "Happy."  In this case, that would make sense, but I'm not certain on this.
2. he meditates day and night.  Can you imagine this lifestyle?  All day and all night pondering over the Word of God.  Couple this with a lifestyle of constant prayer (1 Thes. 5:17) and it's no wonder that one would be happy.

Week 7: Psalm 62:5-8

Psalm 62:5-8: For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him.  He only is my rock and salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.  On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock.  My refuge is God.  Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.  Selah.

1. Wait in silence.  How often do we miss the whisper in the wind where the Spirit speaks to us?  We’re so caught up in “noise” that our minds are filled with a static that blocks what God is saying to us, either through His Word or through the gentle prompting of the Spirit.  We must wait in silence sometimes in order to listen.
2. He only is my rock and salvation, my fortress.  There is none other but God who is our firm foundation, built solidly on the rock and unmovable.  This fortress will not shake when the world rumbles around it, for God is my hope, my fortress, my rock, my salvation, my glory.  What can cause Him to quake?  What can move His foundation?  He is my refuge and the only certainty in life’s uncertainties.
3. Always trust in God, when life is rosy and wonderful, and even more so when it’s difficult and rough.  He will never fail us.  More so, He wants us to pour our hearts out before Him, confessing our fears, our aspirations, our deepest desires.  He listens to us, and when we have no words, the Spirit intercedes with groanings too deep for words (Romans 8:26) on our behalf!  How awesome is it that the Creator of the Universe wants us to pour our hearts out before Him!
4. Selah.  Unsure exactly of this words meaning, I like the interpretation of “pause and reflect.”  Think about this psalm.  Think about the promises made by God's constant refuge.  Take comfort in God’s constant provision and stronghold.  Praise Him for His love for us. 

 This passage was particularly difficult for me to memorize because I kept singing the "Psalm 62" song by Shane & Shane in my head as I did.  While the song is pretty much the same words, it's a different translation and some additional stuff.  Check it out, if you've never heard the song.  And if you like, listen to the rest of their catalog.  Great stuff all around.

Week 6: Psalm 56:4,5

Psalm 56:4,5: When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.  In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.  What can flesh do to me?

1. We have no reason to ever be afraid of anything other than God.  He alone is worthy of fear.  Everything else is as nothing compared to the Creator, especially flesh.  As long as we serve God through following His Son, then the Spirit dwells within us and God sees us as His children.  From this, God is a loving God who no doubt loves His children, and there is nothing that can be done to separate us from God’s love.  Thus, there is no reason to fear.
1. Of course, we're human, and we cannot truly rid ourselves of fear.  Even the disciples were plagued by their humanity, calling out "It's a ghost!" when they saw Jesus walking on water.  Still, if we accept the fact that God is the only thing to fear, this will help us.
2. Honestly, even if we endured 80 years of torture and excruciating agony, isolation, and abuse but we still had Jesus, what is 80 years?  It’s nothing compared to the glory of eternity with God.  So what can flesh do to us?  Nothing.  In the eternal view, this life is not even a dot on the infinite timeline of God's Will.

Humorously, I memorized this passage by creating a simple little rap in my head.  It seems to break down perfectly for rhyme/rhythm.