Category: PSALMS

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 96 (day four)

Merry Christmas, church family! The presents may all be unwrapped and Christmas dinner is eaten, but the celebration continues! On the liturgical calendar, Christmas is a twelve-day season in which we say, “Hallelujah!” Our waiting in Advent is over and Christ has come!

Psalm 96 beautifully prophesies of the glory of Jesus. We who live on this side of the resurrection know it to be an accurate depiction of Christ. But pretend for a moment that you don’t know the rest of the story, and consider how Jesus came to earth. He came as an infant, to a poor family living under an oppressive government, born amongst animals because the world had not yet been taught to “prepare him room.” Nothing about this situation sounds glorious, yet Psalm 96 commands that we ascribe him glory.

The incarnation redefined reality. Jesus redefined glory. Glory no longer exists in gold and silver, crowns and palaces, but in goodness, mercy, humility, and justice. Glory has taken on a new form, which gives us every reason to keep the celebration going. We’ll examine Christ’s glory more in the coming days, but for now, celebrate and lift your hallelujah! God sent us the Messiah, just like he said he would.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 96 (day three)

“Proclaim good tidings of his salvation from day to day.”

The word salvation often gets associated with escape from damnation. But its meaning is, of course, wider than that. The God who is able to save you from hell is also able to keep you from being swallowed up by the demands of the day. That is surely one kind of salvation. It is in the mundane (in the sense of the daily, necessary, stuff of life) that you live most of your life. And Jesus stood right in the middle of that reality when he taught about worry concerning food, clothing, safety. When Jesus was a helpless baby, he did not die, though shelter was meager, Herod was cruel, and paternity was questioned. Jesus knew God’s salvation on the daily. And he will not keep it from you when weekdays are hard.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 96 (day two)

Sing to the Lord a new song;
Sing to the Lord, all the earth. vs. 1

Do you have this tradition in your family? It is one that I married in to. Each year on Christmas Eve April’s family tries to be the first one to say “Christmas Eve Gift”! They used to do it as they walked in the door or woke up on Christmas Eve, then it was telephone calls, and now it is who can post it first on social media. I really don’t know what you get if you win, but they take it seriously.

What are your Christmas Eve traditions? Is there a food you always prepare, a movie you watch? Perhaps you open one gift, or all go to the Christmas Eve service together (that was a shameless plug, by the way). Holidays are made even more memorable when we have those traditions to look forward to.

Do you sing? You had to know it was coming from me at some point! The outset of this psalm sets the framework for our praise. All the earth is to sing. I would like to encourage you to make this a part of your tradition at home with your family this year. It doesn’t have to be formal, you don’t even have to sing all the verses! Just sing. I promise smiles, laughter, and joy will follow. This, after all, is the command of scripture. As we put Jesus at the center of all of our traditions over the next days and weeks, why not follow this command of scripture and add more singing to your festivities. Let me know how it goes. What did you sing? How was it received? I know the Lord will be pleased.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 89 (day seven)

Christmas through the eyes of a child is a beautiful thing to behold. As I have navigated this season with two toddlers, I have been able to capture much of the magic that beholds this season. In that, I have recognized that all of the glamour and sparkle that elicits a feeling of magicality inside of us is lined with Biblical representation that points us to the Christ.

Yet, I have also felt the stress and anxiousness that comes with keeping up this facade of grandeur. It has caused me to pause and realize that not everyone sees this season through a lens of magic. Some days just aren’t magical. This is why I appreciate the psalmist here so much.

He essentially spent 37 verses talking about how great the unfailing the love of God is. Then he turns around in verse 38 and begins to ask the question “If God is so loving, then why has He turned His back on the psalmist?”

I think we can all resonate with that. We have had those days, we have had those moments. Some days just aren’t magical, but we all come to realize that the love of God is not confined to the feelings of a day or a season. Often, God is working in those stressful and anxious times to show us something bigger is at work around us. It is not our job to question, rather, we are to trust that He is loving and good which will lead us to say:

Blessed be the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen.

Merry Christmas!

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 89 (day six)

For the mountains may move
    and the hills disappear,
but even then my faithful love for you will remain.
    My covenant of blessing will never be broken,”
    says the Lord, who has mercy on you. Isaiah 54:10

One of the words most often used to describe God’s love is steadfast. The word comes from the old English words “stede,” meaning place, and “fæst,” meaning firm or fixed. It is hard to imagine anything more firmly fixed in place than a mountain. Geologists estimate Enchanted Rock is one billion years old (if you are comfortable with an old earth). Even if it were a few thousand years old, that’s firmly fixed in its place. And yet God’s love is even more steadfast; it is immovable, eternally reliable, unwavering, and resolute.

We don’t always describe love in those terms. Our love can be fickle; it changes with the wind. We fall in and out of love.

God never falls in or out of love, he is love. It is that kind of love that is turned towards us in Christ.

Amen.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 89 (day four) “I will establish your seed forever And build up your throne to all generations.  Selah.”

When we see the word “Selah”, it calls for us to pause, reflect, and contemplate what has just been said. In this case, it is the promise of God to David when he was anointed king (2 Samuel 7).

I’ve taught teenagers for decades to look for and circle the words “will” or “shall” in their bibles as that usually indicates a promise from the Lord. God is both the promise maker AND promise keeper (perfect record). What the Psalmist does here, I encourage us all to do- Recall and reflect (Selah) on the promises God has made (to us/you) through scripture. Maybe this morning one jumps out. His promised peace, strength, presence, wisdom, or forgiveness (to name a few). How might you praise Him today for His kept promises?  Maybe a big part of your prayer time today would be to praise Him for faithfully keeping that promise.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 89 (day four)

In verse 1, the psalmist says, “I will sing of the lovingkindness of the Lord forever.” This word “lovingkindness” is almost always translated from the Hebrew word “hesed.”

Hesed is one of the most beautiful words in all of Scripture, but English doesn’t quite do it justice. It refers to the unidirectional, covenantal love and mercy that God has towards his people. It is a steadfast love, built entirely on the character of God, not on the worthiness of his people. It’s a love that we can put all our weight on, knowing that it is trustworthy and true. It is the love that is seen in God’s covenant with his people, which is described here in Psalm 89.

This is the covenant that Christ came to fulfill. This is what we celebrate at Christmas – that love came down. Hesed became known to us. Through Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, we were brought into the covenant of love.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 89 (day three)

”I will not lie to David.”

The Lord has intimately involved himself in the affairs of men. As St. Paul himself said, God is not far from any one of us. Although human beings are mortal and are limited in understanding, God does not exploit that state of being. He doesn’t mislead or obfuscate. He doesn’t insult the intelligence he gave to humans. Rather, he relates to human beings with –  as this Psalmist and other biblical writers attest from their own experience – lovingkindness. The mad, painful, confusing existence each person knows will stabilize and settle and cease to threaten when one calls on God as the only hope for rescue. People who have testified to God’s response of calm and strength didn’t read it in a theology book. They lived it. They lived to tell you about it. God will not lie to you. He will save you.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 89 (day two) 

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You. v. 14

Righteousness and Justice with Lovingkindness and Truth: A couple of weeks ago the same words were used in the Psalm we studied. In that psalm however, they were used at evidences of following God. You may recall, I posited that we often may feel we have truth on our side, but aren’t loving about it. In Psalm 89 the writer reminds us these virtues are foundational characteristics of the nature of God. God is Truth. God is Love. Any truth you encounter in the world ultimately has its foundation in the Lord. There is no truth apart from him. Isn’t that astounding. What we strive for is, for him, existence. When you try and comprehend God’s loving nature, it should humble you. Knowing that we are not deserving of mercy, and yet his lovingkindness extends to all who follow after him. Each time you see truth, justice, love, or righteousness this week take a moment to thank God for who he is.