Psalm 28 – My rock do not be deaf to me

You, O LORD, I call; My rock, do not be deaf to me, For if You are silent to me, I will become like those who go down to the pit. Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry to You for help, When I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary. Do not drag me away with the wicked And with those who work iniquity, Who speak peace with their neighbors, While evil is in their hearts. Requite them according to their work and according to the evil of their practices; Requite them according to the deeds of their hands; Repay them their recompense. Because they do not regard the works of the LORD Nor the deeds of His hands, He will tear them down and not build them up. Blessed be the LORD, Because He has heard the voice of my supplication. The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, And with my song I shall thank Him. The LORD is their strength, And He is a saving defense to His anointed. Save Your people and bless Your inheritance; Be their shepherd also, and carry them forever.

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Psalm 27 – Wait…

One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple…

Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.

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Psalm 26 – Perfectly in balance

Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, And I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. Examine me, O LORD, and try me; Test my mind and my heart. For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, And I have walked in Your truth. I do not sit with deceitful men, Nor will I go with pretenders. I hate the assembly of evildoers, And I will not sit with the wicked. I shall wash my hands in innocence, And I will go about Your altar, O LORD, That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving And declare all Your wonders.

The purpose of being pure is to be a trustworthy witness for God. If we are living lives filled with wrong actions, thoughts, or words then we are not capable of being a witness to the glory of God. We are called to walk in truth, lovingkindness, innocence, and far from evil doers so that when we sing praises to God we can be seen as reliable witnesses.

There is a careful balance that must be maintained in our lives: we are to live with the goal of being perfect while recognizing that we will never achieve our goal and not being discouraged by our failure. When we get out of balance we get in trouble.

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Psalm 25 – Relating to the Lord

For Your name’s sake, O LORD, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great. Who is the man who fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way he should choose. His soul will abide in prosperity, And his descendants will inherit the land. The secret of the LORD is for those who fear Him, And He will make them know His covenant. My eyes are continually toward the LORD, For He will pluck my feet out of the net. Turn to me and be gracious to me, For I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged; Bring me out of my distresses. Look upon my affliction and my trouble, And forgive all my sins.

Pardon my iniquity, pluck me out of that which entangles me, and forgive me sins. Can the Christian life be summed up more succinctly?

I am an immoral person and I beg for my immorality to be pardoned. I allow myself to become entangled in that which I should be avoiding. I need to seek Christ’s forgiveness both once for all and every day.

May the Lord lead us into a closer relationship with himself everyday.

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Psalm 24 – Our responsibilities

The earth is the LORD’S, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it.

If the earth and everything on it does indeed belong to the Lord, what does that say about our responsibility to the earth and its dwellers?

We are blessed by God with life. Everyday that we live in fellowship with Jesus is another day of blessing. We have been blessed beyond what we can imagine. What blessings are we responsible for imparting on the rest of creation?

I would argue that we are called first to be a blessing to our human community, then we are called to bless all of God’s creation in whatever ways we can. We are stewards of the universe; may we be the best stewards we can be.

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Psalm 23 – Take time to actually read the words

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

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Psalm 22 – To be or not to be

My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning. O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer; and by night, but I have no rest. 3 Yet You are holy, O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel.

This is one of my favorite Psalms; but I’m of a somewhat melancholic nature. I relate much better to the Psalms of desperation and anxiety than to the Psalms of praise. The Psalms of praise seem gushy and over the top. The Psalms of woe seem much more real and relatable.

We have a God we can turn to in our times of trouble and he will care for us. God already knows our thoughts so we might as well pray them to him. But after speaking the words of despair it is good to remember that God has not forsaken us; rather, he has already prepared our path.

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Psalm 21 – Praise God

O LORD, in Your strength the king will be glad, and in Your salvation how greatly he will rejoice! You have given him his heart’s desire, and You have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah.

For You meet him with the blessings of good things; You set a crown of fine gold on his head. He asked life of You, You gave it to him, Length of days forever and ever. His glory is great through Your salvation, Splendor and majesty You place upon him. For You make him most blessed forever; You make him joyful with gladness in Your presence. For the king trusts in the LORD, and through the lovingkindness of the Most High he will not be shaken.

God may not have made you a king, but he has blessed you. Take time to praise God for his blessing. Write down your praises. Speak them verbally to God. Share your praises with your community. Inspire those around you to recognize the amazing ways God is moving in your life.

I praise God for my wife and family. For a job I love. For the opportunity to study more of God’s Word every day. I praise God for being with us and guiding us through the challenges of life. For using the obstacles we experience to make us more faithful followers of Christ. I praise God for the opportunity to lead others to Jesus at home, at church, and at work. I praise God for the talents I have been blessed with and the opportunity to use those talents to further God’s kingdom.

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Psalm 20 – Godly boasting

Some boast in chariots and some in horses, but we will boast in the name of the LORD, our God.

What do we as a church boast in? Attendance? Fancy technology? A good band? The “purity” of our worship? Tradition? Our building? Our friendliness?

Bad church (he said with a rolled up newspaper in hand). Boast in the name of the Lord our God or boast in nothing at all.

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Psalm 19 – A prayer for us all

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.

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The perishable becomes non-perishable

At church today I was struck by an idea in 1 Peter 1:17-19:

If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

The author of 1 Peter refers to silver and gold as perishable and blood as imperishable. The irony of that concept distracted me for several minutes. If I had a table and on the table was a tuna sandwich, a gallon of milk, a glass of blood, and a gold coin; which of those things would you identify as perishable? The first three. The sandwich, the milk, and the blood will all become increasingly unpleasant as they sit on the table day after day decomposing. The gold will remain almost completely unchanged.

The passage in 1 Peter is describing a new world with a new way of thinking. Blood, which was once perishable, is now more imperishable than precious metals. Going even further (and possibly leaving the text in question), the spilling of blood which once marked death now marks new life. The author is telling the reader that the world has been turned upside down because of Jesus.

This is nothing new or earth shattering I’ve just been a Christian too long to have noticed it before. The idea of Christ’s blood being non-perishable has been a given for me for so long that I failed to appreciate its significance. For a moment this morning it was a new and exciting idea.

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Psalm 18 – The Lord’s Wrath

In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God for help; He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry for help before Him came into His ears. Then the earth shook and quaked; and the foundations of the mountains were trembling and were shaken, because He was angry. Smoke went up out of His nostrils, and fire from His mouth devoured; Coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down with thick darkness under His feet. He rode upon a cherub and flew; And He sped upon the wings of the wind. He made darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him, Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies. From the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds, Hailstones and coals of fire. The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered His voice, Hailstones and coals of fire. He sent out His arrows, and scattered them, and lightning flashes in abundance, and routed them. Then the channels of water appeared, and the foundations of the world were laid bare At Your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils. He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, And from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.

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Psalm 17 – Beholding the face of God

[The wicked] is like a lion that is eager to tear, And as a young lion lurking in hiding places. Arise, O LORD, confront him, bring him low; Deliver my soul from the wicked with Your sword, From men with Your hand, O LORD, From men of the world, whose portion is in this life, And whose belly You fill with Your treasure; They are satisfied with children, And leave their abundance to their babes. As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake.

I suspect that David is speaking of awaking from death in the last line, but I am not certain. My first reaction was to ask myself what I was thinking of when I went to sleep last night, and what I was thinking of when I woke up this morning. Have I ever been satisfied with the likeness of God when I awake? How far do I get into my day before I think about God?

I suspect it would be a good practice to end each day by attempting to fall asleep while meditating on God. I suspect it would affect your sleep, your dreams, how you awake the next morning, and how you interact with God throughout your day. The struggle for me is taking the time to remember God. I need to make my encounters with God more daily and less when-I-get-around-to-it.

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Psalm 16 – Preserve or Perceiver

Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You.

That has to be one of my favorite lines in the Psalms. There are plenty of times when this one phrase is all we can say and all we can do. Too often we wait far too long to say this phrase. We try to persevere and struggle through on our own. There are plenty of times when it is good to take a step back and just say, “preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in you.”

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Psalm 15 – He’s going the distance

O LORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart. He does not slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against his friend; In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honors those who fear the LORD; He swears to his own hurt and does not change; He does not put out his money at interest, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.

The person David describes as being worthy of abiding in the tent of God and dwelling in God’s temple is the person we should all strive to be. We should strive to speak truth and not evil. We should strive do good to our neighbors and friends. We should strive to be holy as God is Holy. At the same time our pursuit of holiness is not an end in itself; rather it is a means of closing the distance between us and God.

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Psalm 14 – A corrupt generation

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good. The LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men To see if there are any who understand, Who seek after God. They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one. Do all the workers of wickedness not know, Who eat up my people as they eat bread, And do not call upon the Lord? There they are in great dread, For God is with the righteous generation. You would put to shame the counsel of the afflicted, But the LORD is his refuge. Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restores His captive people, Jacob will rejoice, Israel will be glad.

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Psalm 13 – Purposefully changing my negative attitude

How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death, and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken.

But I have trusted in Your loving kindness; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

When I read this Psalm it is almost as if David is saying the last two sentences grudgingly. He has spent the whole prayer asking where God is and why God is allowing the enemy to succeed. Then the Psalm ends with a week couple of lines about the Lord’s dealings with David in the past. I read this as David convincing himself that God is still there and will continue to love and care for David.

I see this as a very healthy thing to do. If we are confused about the seeming absence of God in our lives we need to go directly to God and ask why? Then we need to begin to refocus ourselves on what God has done, what God is continuing to do, and what God has promised to do in the future.

For the most part we each control our own attitude. If I am aware of my heart being in a wrong place then I need to work on correcting my heart. Are you self aware enough to realize when you are thinking negative thoughts? When you realize it do you take the initiative to correct your attitude without involving other people? Attitude correction is best done between me and God.

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Psalm 12 – Be authentic in all you say and do

Help, LORD, for the godly man ceases to be, for the faithful disappear from among the sons of men. They speak falsehood to one another; with flattering lips and with a double heart they speak. May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that speaks great things; who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail; our lips are our own; who is lord over us?”

“Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy, now I will arise,” says the LORD; “I will set him in the safety for which he longs.” The words of the LORD are pure words; as silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times. You, O LORD, will keep them; You will preserve him from this generation forever. The wicked strut about on every side when vileness is exalted among the sons of men.

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Psalm 11 – A history of violence

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

In the LORD I take refuge; How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your mountain; for, behold, the wicked bend the bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string to shoot in darkness at the upright in heart. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD’S throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, and the one who loves violence His soul hates. Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup. For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; the upright will behold His face.

Two thoughts:
1) Everyone is tested by the Lord; the difference between Christians and non-Christians is that a Christian can take refuge in the Lord during times of testing.

2) David, a man who was not allowed to build the temple because there was too much blood on his hands wrote: “the one who loves violence [the Lord's] soul hates.” I am a bad pacifist sometimes because I do occasionally see violence as unavoidable (its part of living with sin). However, the love of violence, in all its forms, is always wrong.

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Psalm 10 – Afar from God

Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?

Have you ever been in that place? It’s okay to be in that place, it’s not okay to stop talking to God about it. The times we feel furthest from God are the times we need to spend time telling God how far away we feel. Sometimes we forget how amazing it is that we get to live in a communal relationship with the creator, the lover, the redeemer, and the ruler of all. I get to spend time with God; when I feel far from God its okay to mourn the emptiness we experience.

Whenever I’m away from my family for a week or so I can go about 36 hours without somehow letting them now that I miss them. Sometimes I just sit on the phone or in front of a webcam and listen to them breath or watch them type. When we are far apart it troubles my soul and I tell them and it makes all of us feel a little better for a while. The same is true when we are far from God.

The LORD is King forever and ever; Nations have perished from His land. O LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their heart

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