“One of the great wonders of the Bible is that it accommodates the darkest experiences any of us could walk through. We will never experience a difficulty that goes deeper than what the Bible addresses” (ESV Devotional Psalter). I cannot fully identify with Heman the Ezrahite here, because I don’t think I have ever felt… Read More »
To know God is a special privilege & comes only to those who have had a spiritual rebirth (John 3:3-7). Psalm 87 identifies those who can trace their spiritual heritage back to Zion (Jerusalem) (1). What amazes me about this psalm is the mention of Gentiles – enemies of Israel & God – that can… Read More »
What are our options in the day of trouble? Worry, fear, complaint, anger, run & hide or maybe a combination of all these? We need to do what David did when “a band of ruthless men” were seeking to kill him (14) – plea to God for grace & call upon the Lord our God… Read More »
Many times God’s people, if we’re truly honest, have a need for spiritual renewal. We don’t feel close to God. We may even think God is angry with us, and there might be some reason for that because of some foolish sin. Psalm 85 is a prayer for spiritual restoration & revival (4, 6). The… Read More »
If I’m truly honest with myself, I wish I had the same longing to be in the presence of God and worship him as joyfully as did the writer of this psalm, whose soul longed for, even fainted with longing to be in God’s presence (2). Just anticipating being where God was inspired his joy.… Read More »
I’ve been trying to demonstrate with these blogs how to observe, understand (after some reflection) and apply a daily reading from the Bible. This year I have been reading through the Psalms (and Proverbs, earlier in the year). One thing I have learned and am trying to practice in psalm reading is to SLOW DOWN… Read More »
Because of the use of the word “gods” in verses 1 & 6, this psalm requires checking out some Bible study notes or commentaries. But that only leads to the dilemma of good Christian theologians disagreeing. I won’t go into the various interpretations, because I want to focus on what we can be certain about.… Read More »
In this psalm, Asaph urges the use of 5 musical instruments for worship: the human voice, the tambourine, the “sweet” lyre, the harp & the trumpet (1-3). The various celebrations & times of feasting were God’s statute & rule (4) when he relieved Israel from Egypt’s burden (5-6). In distress Israel called & God delivered… Read More »
We need to remember as we read the Psalms that these believers lived under the Old Covenant. This was Asaph’s perspective as he wrote this “testimony” (superscription). This is also evident from his metaphor of Israel as a vine brought out of Egypt and planted in Canaan after God drove out the nations (8). Israel… Read More »
Asaph knew what crisis can do to God’s people. Their particular crisis involved foreign invaders coming into the land, defiling God’s temple, ruining Jerusalem and slaughtering many people. Along with that they were “mocked & derided” by their neighbors (1-4). Crisis can make God’s people question God (5) and pray for his intervention by means… Read More »