January 2011
46 posts
1 tag
First the Boys, then the Girls! - Psalm 136
This is what we call an “antiphonal Psalm” with two choirs singing. One choir sang the first line of each verse, and the other choir answered, “For His mercy endures forever” (kee laolam hasdo). Another rendering is “His love is eternal” (HCSB). This was not vain repetition (Matt.6:7), for the second choir was offering inspired praise to the Lord. You can never sing too...
1 tag
First the Boys, then the Girls! - Psalm 136
This is what we call an “antiphonal Psalm” with two choirs singing. One choir sang the first line of each verse, and the other choir answered, “For His mercy endures forever” (kee laolam hasdo). Another rendering is “His love is eternal” (HCSB). This was not vain repetition (Matt.6:7), for the second choir was offering inspired praise to the Lord. You can never sing too...
December 2010
55 posts
1 tag
God is Great, God is Good - Psalm 135
“God is great, God is good, and we thank Him for our food.” So goes the prayer before meals that many of us were taught, and many of us have taught our own children. Reminding us of God’s goodness and greatness is what this psalm is all about. It even echoes the above statements in verse 3 and 5!
Here is the psalm: http://bit.ly/eNQFVG
The psalmist opens his song praising the...
1 tag
God is Great, God is Good - Psalm 135
“God is great, God is good, and we thank Him for our food.” So goes the prayer before meals that many of us were taught, and many of us have taught our own children. Reminding us of God’s goodness and greatness is what this psalm is all about. It even echoes the above statements in verse 3 and 5!
Here is the psalm: http://bit.ly/eNQFVG
The psalmist opens his song praising the...
1 tag
Blessings 24/7 - Psalm 134
This precious little psalm works like a final benediction for the Ascent Psalms. These Songs which began in the foreign surroundings of Meshech and Kedar (Ps.120), end fittingly on the note of blessing God “unceasingly within his temple.”
1 Now praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD
who stand in the LORD’s house at night!
2 Lift up your hands in the holy...
1 tag
Blessings 24/7 - Psalm 134
This precious little psalm works like a final benediction for the Ascent Psalms. These Songs, which began in the foreign surroundings of Meshech and Kedar (Ps.120), end fittingly on the note of blessing God “unceasingly within his temple.”
1 Now bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD
who stand in the LORD’s house at night!
2 Lift up your hands in the holy...
1 tag
Unity, O to Dwell in Unity! - Psalm 133
This vivid little psalm ascribed to David apparently marked the moment he had waited for, when at last all Israel had rallied to him, and God had now given him Jerusalem (2Sam.5:1–10).
1 How good and pleasant it is when brothers can live together!
2 It is like fine oil on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down Aaron’s beard, on his robes.
3 It is like the dew of Hermon falling...
1 tag
Unity, O to Dwell in Unity! - Psalm 133
This vivid little psalm ascribed to David apparently marked the moment he had waited for, when at last all Israel had rallied to him, and God had now given him Jerusalem (2Sam.5:1–10).
1 How good and pleasant it is when brothers can live together!
2 It is like fine oil on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down Aaron’s beard, on his robes.
3 It is like the dew of Hermon falling...
1 tag
David, Messianic King - Psalm 132
When the ark was moved from Kiriath-jearim to the newly captured Jebus/Jerusalem/City of David, it was the climax of a journey that began centuries earlier at Mt. Sinai. At least two other psalms bring this event vividly to mind: Psalm 24, awestruck at the holiness of the King of glory, and Psalm 68, exultant at God’s choice of little Zion as His royal throne. In Psalm 132 another pattern...
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David, Messianic King - Psalm 132
When the ark was moved from Kiriath-jearim to the newly captured Jebus/Jerusalem/City of David, it was the climax of a journey that began centuries earlier at Mt. Sinai. At least two other psalms bring this event vividly to mind: Psalm 24, awestruck at the holiness of the King of glory, and Psalm 68, exultant at God’s choice of little Zion as His royal throne. In Psalm 132 another pattern...
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A Calm and Quiet Soul - Psalm 131
David’s name at the head of this psalm has its ironies in the light of his middle and later years, but it also wakens memories of his early modesty, simplicity and lack of revenge – some of the qualities which made him great as a man after God’s heart. The precious and tiny psalm anticipates the object lesson of Matt.18:1–4, where Jesus called a child to him in answer to the question, “Who...
1 tag
A Calm and Quiet Soul - Psalm 131
David’s name at the head of this psalm has its ironies in the light of his middle and later years, but it also wakens memories of his early modesty, simplicity and lack of revenge – some of the qualities which made him great as a man after God’s heart. The precious and tiny psalm anticipates the object lesson of Matt.18:1–4, where Jesus called a child to him in answer to the question, “Who...
1 tag
Out of the Depths - Psalm 130
The first words provide a fitting title for this psalm. The psalmist saw himself in four different situations, and claimed the mercy (hesed) of the Lord to deliver him from each place.
1 Out of the depths I call to You, LORD!
2 Lord, listen to my voice; let Your ears be attentive to my cry for help.
3 LORD, if You considered sins, Lord, who could stand?
4 But with You...
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Out of the Depths - Psalm 130
The first words provide a fitting title for this psalm. The psalmist saw himself in four different situations, and claimed the mercy (hesed) of the Lord to deliver him from each place.
1 Out of the depths I call to You, LORD!
2 Lord, listen to my voice; let Your ears be attentive to my cry for help.
3 LORD, if You considered sins, Lord, who could stand?
4 But with You...
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No Other Nation - Psalm 147
If you have pondered the Lord’s rhetorical questions in Isaiah 40 or His equally powerful questions to Job (38-41), then you will marvel also at the way in which He addresses us about the wonders of His powerful creation and His providential care in Psalm 147.
Read it as you recall Isaiah and Job, as the Psalmist was likely doing: http://bit.ly/h3HkQ3
The psalm asks us to praise God...
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Anti-Semitism, Then and Now - Psalm 129
Anti-Semitism, as old as the patriarchs and as modern as Arabic textbooks, is the theme of this psalm. The curses pronounced are also as old as the promise to Abram, “Whoever curses you I will curse” (Gen.12:3). The enemies’ attempts to destroy Israel while God protects her are in verses 1-4. The judgment on those would be destroyers are described in verses 5-8a. A blessing on Israel concludes the...
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Anti-Semitism, Then and Now - Psalm 129
Anti-Semitism, as old as the patriarchs and as modern as Arabic textbooks, is the theme of this psalm. The curses pronounced are also as old as the promise to Abram, “Whoever curses you I will curse” (Gen.12:3). The enemies’ attempts to destroy Israel while God protects her are in verses 1-4. The judgment on those would be destroyers are described in verses 5-8a. A blessing on Israel concludes the...
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Dark Side of Christmas
A brief break from my Psalms posts. Psalm 129 about anti-semitism just did not seem appropriate for today. I republish a post from last Christmas.
Christmas is a time of light and joy, but a new book (2009) develops a neglected but solidly Biblical theme: That the original Nativity stories were set in a time of darkness and conflict. A Not So Silent Night by Verlyn Verbrugge uncovers the darker...
Dark Side of Christmas
A brief break from my Psalms posts. Psalm 129 about anti-semitism just did not seem appropriate for today. I republish a post from last Christmas.
Christmas is a time of light and joy, but a new book (2009) develops a neglected but solidly Biblical theme: That the original Nativity stories were set in a time of darkness and conflict. A Not So Silent Night by Verlyn Verbrugge uncovers the darker...
1 tag
Plants Growing in the Home? - Psalm 128
The blessings of an Godly life are traced from the center outwards in this psalm, as the focus moves from the godly man to his family and finally to all Israel. Portrayed here is a simple piety with its fruit of stability, fruitfulness, and peace.
1 How happy is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in His ways!
2 You will surely eat what your hands have worked for.
You will be happy, and...
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Kids as House Plants - Psalm 128
The blessings of an Godly life are traced from the center outwards in this psalm, as the focus moves from the godly man to his family and finally to all Israel. Portrayed here is a simple piety with its fruit of stability, fruitfulness, and peace.
1 How happy is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in His ways!
2 You will surely eat what your hands have worked for.
You will be happy, and...
1 tag
A Quiver Full of Arrows - Psalm 127
This short poem singles out three of our most universal activities—building, security, raising a family—and asks us who insures the success of each. The psalm is ascribed to Solomon, and has perhaps a concealed signature in the expression his beloved (2), which is the word from which Jedidiah, his personal name from God, was formed (2Sam.12:25). Like much of Solomon’s wisdom, however, the lessons...
1 tag
A Quiver Full of Arrows - Psalm 127
This short poem singles out three of our most universal activities—building, security, raising a family—and asks us who insures the success of each. The psalm is ascribed to Solomon, and has perhaps a concealed signature in the expression his beloved (2), which is the word from which Jedidiah, his personal name from God, was formed (2Sam.12:25). Like much of Solomon’s wisdom, however, the lessons...
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Sing Along! - Psalm 149
I will be honest with you. Since I have never been involved in a congregation that sings the psalms, I feel like I have been cheated out of a great worship experience. Paul tells us that in our corporate worship we should sing “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” (Eph.5:19). That sounds to me like a balanced diet of singing! Paul was simply following the advice of the psalmists...
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From Joy to Tears to Joy - Psalm 126
The mood in the first half of this song (1-3) is one of delirious happiness and relief. But it seems to be only a memory, and the psalm turns into a prayer for the transformation of a barren and cheerless scene (4-6). The kind of deliverance that God will yet give is described by the promises of reaping through tears that conclude a psalm that moves from joy to tears and back again to joy.
1 ...
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From Joy to Tears to Joy - Psalm 126
The mood in the first half of this song (1-3) is one of delirious happiness and relief. But it seems to be only a memory, and the psalm turns into a prayer for the transformation of a barren and cheerless scene (4-6). The kind of deliverance that God will yet give is described by the promises of reaping through tears that conclude a psalm that moves from joy to tears and back again to joy.
1 ...
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Mountains Around the City - Psalm 125
The hills and the holy city, much in mind and finally much in view to the pilgrims, make their presence felt again (Ps.121:1-2). While Jerusalem sits atop the Central Mountains of Judea, it is often overlooked that the Temple on Mount Moriah was still lower than the hills around it. The first view of the city by pilgrims was from the crest of the Mt. of Olives, which still offers that breathtaking...
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Mountains Around the City - Psalm 125
The hills and the holy city, much in mind and finally much in view to the pilgrims, make their presence felt again (Ps.121:1-2). While Jerusalem sits atop the Central Mountains of Judea, it is often overlooked that the Temple on Mount Moriah was still lower than the hills around it. The first view of the city by pilgrims was from the crest of the Mt. of Olives, which still offers that breathtaking...
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What If The Lord Wasn't There? - Psalm 124
In this thanksgiving hymn, David thanks God, on behalf of his people, for rescuing them from Israel’s enemies. The psalm opens with David asking the people what would have happened if Yahweh had not defended them (Ps.124:1). The answer is obvious (Ps.124:5), after which the people express their thanks to Yahweh for his help (Ps.124:6–8).
1 If the LORD had not been on our...
1 tag
What If The Lord Wasn't There? - Psalm 124
In this thanksgiving hymn, David thanks God, on behalf of his people, for rescuing them from Israel’s enemies. The psalm opens with David asking the people what would have happened if Yahweh had not defended them (Ps.124:1). The answer is obvious (Ps.124:5), after which the people express their thanks to Yahweh for his help (Ps.124:6–8).
1 If the LORD had not been on our...
1 tag
Desiring God's Favor - Psalm 123
These pilgrim songs preserve many moods, reflecting the turbulent history of the Jewish people, a history which continues in the story of the church. The psalmist’s cry from the heart here can still speak for our brothers under persecution. In the 1970’s James and Marty Hefly concluded that more Christians had died for their faith in the 20th century than in all the previous centuries...
1 tag
Desiring God's Favor - Psalm 123
These pilgrim songs preserve many moods, reflecting the turbulent history of the Jewish people, a history which continues in the story of the church. The psalmist’s cry from the heart here can still speak for our brothers under persecution. In the 1970’s James and Marty Hefly concluded that more Christians had died for their faith in the 20th century than in all the previous centuries...
1 tag
Let's Go! - Psalm 122
At last Jerusalem and the house of the Lord come into sight, and we have arrived! Catch the sheer delight of verse 2: “And now our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.” The trials of an expatriate (120) and the hazards of travel (121) are eclipsed now by the joy which had first drawn the pilgrims on their journey.
1 I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go...
1 tag
Let's Go! - Psalm 122
At last Jerusalem and the house of the Lord come into sight, and we have arrived! Catch the sheer delight of verse 2: “And now our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.” The trials of an expatriate (120) and the hazards of travel (121) are eclipsed now by the joy which had first drawn the pilgrims on their journey.
1 I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go...
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The "Keeper" - Psalm 121
Here the pilgrim role of these Psalms of Ascents comes clearly to the foreground. The psalmist affirms that he will lift up his eyes to the hills. Both in these psalms and elsewhere, the Holy City Jerusalem is both up in the hills (2800 feet above sea level) yet it also surrounded by even higher hills (Mounts Scopus and Olives). See Ps.125:2.
It is at this point in verse one, however, that the...
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The "Keeper" - Psalm 121
Here the pilgrim role of these Psalms of Ascents comes clearly to the foreground. The psalmist affirms that he will lift up his eyes to the hills. Both in these psalms and elsewhere, the Holy City Jerusalem is both up in the hills (2800 feet above sea level) yet it also surrounded by even higher hills (Mounts Scopus and Olives). See Ps.125:2.
It is at this point in verse one, however, that the...
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Depressed in the Diaspora - Psalm 120
Not every psalm in the pilgrim psalms (120-134) was necessarily composed for the purpose of singing during a pilgrimage. The present psalm seems sharply personal, although in a pilgrim context it voices very well the homesickness of those who have settled among strangers and enemies. A term for those living outside the Land of Israel is the Greek word diaspora. The psalm, therefore, appropriately...
1 tag
Depressed in the Diaspora - Psalm 120
Not every psalm in the pilgrim psalms (120-134) was necessarily composed for the purpose of singing during a pilgrimage. The present psalm seems sharply personal, although in a pilgrim context it voices very well the homesickness of those who have settled among strangers and enemies. A term for those living outside the Land of Israel is the Greek word diaspora. The psalm, therefore, appropriately...
1 tag
In Your Righteousness - Psalm 143
Sometimes Church tradition is helpful in the Psalter and sometimes it isn’t! This is the last of the seven penitential psalms in the liturgical approach to the Psalter, but only verse two makes a passing reference to sin or forgiveness. If his concern at first is mainly with his own troubles, by the end he is largely concerned with finding and following God’s way ahead. How many of the...
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Who He Is and What He Does – Psalm 145
This is the only psalm titled by the specific words, “a praise psalm.” In its plural form, this is the title of the entire psalter: tehillim or “praises.” The psalm opens (Ps.145:1-2) and closes (Ps.145:21) with David blessing the Lord in the first person singular (“I”). These verses comprise an inclusio bracketing the rest of the psalm’s praises.
Here it is: http://bit.ly/h2l9mL
David praises...
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The Psalms of Ascent - 120-134
The next fifteen psalms (120-134) are known as “the Songs of Ascents.” They are thought to be the songs the Jewish pilgrims sang when they went up to Jerusalem for the feasts three times each year (Exo.23:14-17). Whoever made this selection chose four psalms by David and one by Solomon; the other ten are anonymous.
The Hebrew word translated “ascents” also means “degrees,” and for this reason...
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Set a Guard for My Mouth - Psalm 141
Speech ethics play a large role in the wisdom literature in the OT and in the wisdom writing of the NT (Jam.3:1-12). David is keenly aware that the words he utters in these lament psalms can be understood wrongly as the spiteful response of a bitter soul. He writes carefully about the wicked, so don’t misunderstand him. This psalm continues the themes of the previous one.
1 Lord, I call on...
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Tav and the "Sof" - Psalm 119:169-176
Tav - I Will Sing and Pray and Not Forget Ps.119:169-176
If you put the Word first in your list of priorities, you will have something to sing about (vv. 171,172,175). You will even find yourself singing God’s Word and turning statutes into songs (Ps.119:54)! When your heart delights in God’s law (v. 174), your lips will declare God’s praise (Matt.12:34). People talk about the...
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Qoph, Resh, Shin - Psalm 119:145-168
Be sure to read God’s word before you read my words. Just hover your mouse over the reference.
Qoph - Insomnia Ps.119:145-152
Many psalms deal with insomnia ( Ps.6:6; 16:7; 22:2; 30:5; 42:3; 77:2; 88:1). Anxiety, dread, and worry can disturb and confound sleep. When persecutors drew near (v.150), the psalmist rose before dawn, crying for help (vv. 147-48). Insomnia can be difficult to...
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Ayin, Pe, Tsade - Psalm 119:121-144
Be sure to read God’s word before you read my words. Just hover your mouse over the reference.
Ayin - Pressure from the Godless Ps.119:121-128
We do not live our lives in ivory towers; most of us are down and dirty in the mean streets. God’s people are aliens in enemy territory, and only the Word can protect them from the lies of the oppressor. The Word will enable you when you...
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Mem, Nun, Samek - Psalm 119:97-120
Be sure to read God’s words before reading my words. Just hover your mouse over the link.
Mem - Heavenly Wisdom Ps.119:97-104
The NT illumines verses 98–100 by its plain statements that heavenly wisdom begins as a gift “to babies,” hidden from the worldly-wise. This emerges clearly in the ministry of Christ (Lk.10:21), decisively at the crucifixion (1Cor.2:8), and...
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Yod, Kaf, Lamed - Psalm 119:73-96
Be sure to read God’s words before reading my words. Just hover your mouse over the link.
Yod - Justice, Love, and Compassion Ps.119:73-80
God made you and knows best how you should manage your life so He has provided a how-to.do-it manual for making life work successfully (v.73). But the manual is based, not on pragmatism, but on those qualities mentioned in the title of this section -...
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Zayin, Het, Tet - Psalm 119:49-72
Be sure to read God’s words before reading my words. Just hover your mouse over the reference.
Zayin - Steadying Words Ps.119:49–56.
The psalmist suffered affliction and persecution because of his faith, but the Word gave him comfort and hope. When the days are difficult and the nights are long, remember God’s promises and God’s name, and He will comfort you. See also...
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Dalet, Hay, Vav - Psalm 119:25-48
Be sure to read God’s words before reading my words. Just hover your mouse over the reference.
Dalet - Revive Me! Psalm 119:25-32
The Word of God brings you the blessing of life (Ps.119:25) because it has life (Heb.4:12), imparts life (1Pet.1:23-25), and nourishes life (1Pet.2:1-3). God’s Word revives and strengthens you (Ps.119:28), even when you are in the dust. Nine times in this...
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Aleph, Bet, Gimel - Psalm 119:1-24
We will list the text of each of the twenty-two sections (named by letters of the Hebrew alphabet) of this psalm along with the basic idea of the section. Then will follow a devotional thought drawn from the text. Try to notice in each section the qualities of Scripture (dependable, unshakable, reliable) and then the benefits of Scripture (liberation, light, life).
Be sure to read God’s...