Category: PSALMS

Re:Verse reading–Psalm 2, Psalm 110 (day six)
“The Lord says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’ ” (110:1)  Sometimes the best thing to do is wait.  To rest.  Sometimes the instruction from God is to sit and let Him do the work.  “The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent” was the promise that Moses received in Exodus 14:14.  It isn’t always the case.  Until Christ had completed His assignment (the cross) sitting would have been disobedience.  After the cross, further effort would have been disbelief.  Sometimes the Spirit of God whispers to us, “Wait! Rest! Trust!  I will do the work now!”  May God give us the grace to recognize when this moment comes for us.  Sometimes our assignment is to obey and then to leave it in God’s hands.  “Wait on the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait on the Lord.”  Psalms 27:14.

Re:Verse reading–Psalm 2, Psalm 110 (day five)
The words of Robert Robinson are on my mind. “Tune my heart to sing Thy Grace”. Somewhere along the way, I remember reading that the Psalms help to “tune our hearts”. Anytime I play my guitar, I always tune it first thing. It’s frequently out of tune. Whether from change in climate (temperature/humidity), or being “handled” it will not function as designed until it is measured against something that has perfect pitch. The climate of a fallen world (temptation, stress, tragedy, fear, sin) can quickly cause our hearts to become out of tune (out of “step with the Holy Spirit”- Galatians 5:25). We regularly need to hear the “perfect pitch” of the Holy Spirit through scripture, sermons, stillness, study, and community. We need to constantly ask: “What do I need to know/learn/do?” In Psalm 2, the writer proclaims, “How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!” Sounds in tune to me.

Re:Verse reading–Psalm 2, Psalm 110 (day four)
From the beginning of time, man has rebelled against God.  All through history, kings and rulers have sought to eliminate God and His authority over them.  God, the Sovereign ruler, simply laughs at their attempts.  In Acts 4:25, after Peter and John had been arrested and warned not speak any more about Jesus, they looked back to Psalm 2.  They saw that Herod and Pilate, along with the gentiles and the peoples of Israel, had been acting according to God’s plan.  The disciples asked God to fulfill His promise in Psalm 2 and to extend His hand against His detractors.  The result of their prayer was that the building was shaken and they were filled with the Holy Spirit.  When you face persecution and see God’s kingdom assaulted by the world, have you prayed Psalm 2, asking Him to stand against the opposition.  His Word still stands and will never be overcome by man.  “How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”

 

Re:Verse reading–Psalm 2, Psalm 110 (day three)
“The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.”  Someone has said, “The man who poses the greater menace to others is not the one whose god differs from yours, but the one who fears no god at all.”  As the centurion told Jesus, “I myself am a man under authority…”  The most discerning among us know that each of us answers to someone, and that everyone will give an account for decisions and actions.  Every action we carry out bears the clear markings of our loyalties—to God or to self.  Every action we carry out proclaims whether we believe we are the master or the mastered.  This is why wisdom—and with it life everlasting—begins with the fear of the Lord.

Re:Verse reading–Psalm 2, Psalm 110 (day two)
Everybody wants to be happy, and we all choose a path to that happiness. Our culture trumpets that the path to happiness is through freely expressing and pursuing my desires. Any restriction of my desires should be cast-off. And so Psalm 2:3 is fulfilled, “let us tear off their chains and free ourselves from their restraints…” The Scripture teaches another path to happiness. A path walked not by unhindered desires but by willingly surrendered freedoms. I can best pursue happiness not by being the master of my own fate but by surrendering myself to the Master. In this surrender, I find Psalm 2:12 fulfilled in me. “All who take refuge in Him are happy.” I can say, “the boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places” (Psalm 16:6).

Re:Verse reading–Psalm 2, Psalm 110 (day one)
“The Lord says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’ ” (110: 1)  Psalm 110 is quoted more often in the New Testament than any other Psalm.  It figured significantly into the thinking of Jesus  (cf Mark 12:35-37).  Without some guidance, it can be confusing to modern readers.  Two Hebrew words are both translated into English by the word Lord.  In vs 1, the first name is Jahweh.  The second is Adonai.  Vs 2 and 4 also use Jahweh.  Vs 5 translates the word Adonai.  Jahweh is the God the Father.  Adonai means master or Messiah referring to Jesus (even though David could not have supplied the Saviors’s name).  What David reports (in the Spirit) is God the Father to God speaking to the Son.  Over the next six days, I hope we can read this Psalm with new understanding and confidence.  The Lord (Jahweh) made significant promises to our Lord(Adonai)!