Category: PSALMS

I’m tired. I don’t mean that in any metaphorical sense. There is no deeper meaning here. At the moment that I’m writing these words, I find myself physically and emotionally worn out. To read, “they will not enter My rest” (95:11) is for me particularly disturbing! Who is it who doesn’t find rest? I don’t want to be that guy! The one who misses rest is the one who misses worship. Worship isn’t first about singing songs about God or to God. Worship is first about seeing God as He really is, Creator and Ruler, and second about submitting to Him. “Let us worship and bow down; let us kneel…” (95:6). The real problem for the guy who won’t rest is that he won’t submit. How can he rest if he has to act as creator and ruler in all or some area of his life? So why am I so tired? Is it because I have failed to rest? Have I failed to rest because I have failed to worship? I’m tired. Are you?

Re: Verse reading–Psalm 95 (day one)
“Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.”  (vs 1)  It is a “call to worship”.  A song that gathers/invites people for the purpose of praise.  Everyone has to be encouraged at times.  Worship is a choice not a feeling.  So the Psalm answers the obvious questions.  Why should we sing?  Why should we sing with joy?  Why should we sing to the Lord?  1) Because He created us.  He is “our maker” (vs 6).  2) Because He cares.  Like a shepherd protecting his sheep, God deserves our praise for His provision (vs 7).  3) Because He calls.  It is a great mistake to resist God.  The song writer remembers the disaster that came when Israel “hardened their hearts”(vs 7b-11).  It will be the same for us.  Why should we worship?  Because He created us, He cares for us, and He calls us to Himself and to His holiness.

Re: Verse reading–Psalm 91 (day seven)
“He will command His angels to guard you. . . they will bear you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”  (Satan, quoting Psalm 91 in Luke 4:10-11)  In 1988, Salman Rushdie published a novel called The Satanic Verses. It is a fictional story based loosely on the true account of Mohammed who was once influenced by Satan to speak words into the Quran,  later to renounce the things said.  Even to remind the Muslim world of this little-known truth was explosive.  (Rushdie experienced death threats)  The Bible tells a very different story of Jesus’ encounter with Satan.  Without being influenced,  the Lord denied Satan’s misinterpretation of Psalm 91 from the very start.  God’s promise is to protect us from some dangers and to guide us through others.  There is no absolute immunity from danger and pain. The Bible has no satanic verses, but the enemy still works to misinterpret and confuse our trust.

Re: Verse reading–Psalm 91 (day six)  “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty”  (vs 1)  “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it.” says a familiar hymn. (Come Thou Fount)  Sorry to say it, but the author is not alone.  I feel the irritating tendency to wander away from the Lord.  Do you?  One day, I am close to Christ.   The next, I walk away, in conscious disobedience or unconscious distraction.  Arrrgh!  It costs me God’s protection and blessing.  Like Sampson, people loved by God must stay with Him or experience discipline.  The God-given condition for our protection is that we remain/dwell/abide in Him.  “If you remain in my word, and my words remain in you, you shall ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.”  God’s best gifts are not for those who occasionally visit the Father’s house.  Those who dwell in Him find rest in Him.

Re: Verse reading–Psalm 91 (day four)
There is great confidence and courage for the one who trusts in the Lord.  The promises are many for what God will do for the faithful.  Reading Psalm 91, the prominent word is “will”.  God will, He will, I will, you will…all referring to what God ‘will’ do.  God’s promises are true and He is always faithful to fulfill His Word.  The one who trusts in God will receive these promises.  Jesus knew that.  He knew that whatever God said, God did.  When Satan met Jesus in the desert to tempt Him for a season, he (Satan) quoted a portion of Psalm 91.  Satan attempted to entice Jesus to prove that God meant what He said.  “Throw yourself down and God will give His angels charge over you,”…but Jesus answered the temptation with more scripture (a good practice to follow!).  Matthew and Luke both record His response in chapter 4 of each.  Satan sought to separate a portion of scripture…God’s Word is unified.  Jesus was obedient to all of scripture…so should we be!

Re: Verse reading–Psalm 91 (day three)
“For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”  We can say, “If I live according to God’s ways, I’m invulnerable.”  We can say that, but we’re wrong.  The truth is, we’re never more vulnerable than when we do live according to God’s ways.  Our protection is this: We do not have to fear those things that could kill us—even thought they might.  When we learn our way of life from the Lord, we find everything in life—even pain—rich with the beauty of the great and true story of God’s love bringing us along.  We would never hear that story if we strained to hear only some assurance that we’re indestructible.

Re: Verse reading–Psalm 91 (day two)
“The one who lives under the protection of the Most High dwells in the shadow of the Almighty” (Ps. 91:1). Where do you live? Throughout the Bible, God is described as a refuge, a fortress, a strong tower, strong embracing arms, a rock, a shield, a rear guard, a shelter, a place of safety, a protective covering. He meets people in a tent, a Temple, a cave, a threshing floor, the belly of a fish, a campsite and a prayer room. The metaphor of a dwelling place is so important that the apostle John would write, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” (John 1:14). Dwelling with God is what we were created for. Under His authority and protection, we find refuge. Living there requires humble, submissive trust (91:2). We are free to choose where to live. However, if we choose not to live under His authority and protection, we will discover ourselves living under His judgment and wrath. Where do you live?

Re: Verse reading–Psalm 91 (day one)
“If you make the Most High your dwelling. . .no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.”  (vs 9-10)  David talks to himself.  It is one of the secrets of his spiritual life.  In vs 2 of Psalm 91, he says what he is GOING TO SAY to God.  By vs 3, he begins to assure himself  with the implications of such a commitment.  “Surely he will save you”  (vs 3)  “A thousand may fall at your side. . .but it will not come near you.”  (vs 7)  It is important to remember these are not promises from God to David.  They are words of confidence from David to David.  Nothing wrong with self-talk so long as we remember what God actually promises.  See vs 14-16.  God’s words (you will notice) are less about protection FROM danger.  More about the presence of God with us IN danger.  Self-talk is one thing.  God’s word is something else.

Re: Verse reading–Psalm 69 (day seven)
“Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head.”  (vs 4)  Are Christians paranoid?  Do we imagine the hostility of the world?  Make it worse than it really is?  Are we just “whiners” believing media and government to be biased against us?  Not always.  No.  The long testimony of history is that “this world is no friend to grace.”  The very life of the church and the testimony of the Spirit is convicting to the natural man.  (see John 16:8)  In mild ostracism and overt persecution, the man who lives apart from God reacts to the person who walks with Him.  Something dark is at work here.  On His last night,  Jesus said,  “You know that (the world) hated me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love you, but . . .I chose you out of the world.”  (John 15:18-19)  Make us courageous and kind, Lord.  The opposition is real.

Re: Verse reading–Psalm 69 (day six)
“I am worn out calling for help.  My throat is parched.  My eyes fail, looking  for God.”  (vs 3)  David is in trouble.  Surrounded by enemies.  Falsely accused.  What does he do?  He prays and waits.  Why?  It isn’t because prayer brings him quick relief.  David reports crying out until his throat hurts.  What keeps him on his knees?  The book of Jeremiah speaks of people who “walked after emptiness and became empty”  (Jeremiah 2:5)  The disciples put the same truth in different words.  “Lord, where could we go?  You alone have words of eternal life.”  The reason that Christians wait on the Lord is that we have no other choice!  If God is patient we must learn the same virture.  To leave Him because waiting is hard is foolish.  God is good, but He is also slow (from our near-sighted perspective).  Faith means we pray, even when we have to wait for Him to answer.