Psalm 125:1 Unshaken Forever

Psalm 125:1 Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures for ever.

The sixth song of ascents begins with two very positive verses. The first of these refers to Mount Zion, which is a way of speaking of Jerusalem and especially of the Temple there. The second goes on to speak of the mountains that surround Jerusalem. In each case the psalmist draws a lesson about trusting in the Lord. Verse 3 is more negative and declares that the sceptre of the wicked will not remain over the land allotted to the righteous the reason being for then the righteous might use their hands to do evil. The psalm ends with a prayer that the Lord will do good to those who are good, to those who are upright in heart, a statement that those who turn to crooked ways the LORD will banish with the evildoers and a final simple prayer Peace be upon Israel. Disregarding for the moment verse 2, then and its picture of God protecting his people, we focus just on verse 1 (Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures for ever). We may say that the psalmist uses the very stability and solidarity of Zion, the mountain and its Temple, as a metaphor for the result that trusting in the Lord is likely to bring about. To trust in the Lord is not to put your trust in something hollow and ephemeral, it is to put your trust in something solid and lasting like Mount Zion itself. Living as we do in a time when the Temple has gone perhaps we need to further underline that it is not faith itself that saves but God himself.

Psalm 124:8 Our Help

Psalm 124:8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth

This next song of ascents is once again Of David. Here David points to the fact that If the LORD had not been on our side in this recent struggle that we cannot specifically identify (and he wants all his people in Israel to repeat it with him) when people attacked us, when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us alive. David and his people would have been swallowed up in a torrent, as it were, and swept away. Now, because this has not happened, he wants to lead the people in giving praise to God. Praise be to the LORD, who has not let us be torn by their teeth he says in verse 6. He pictures their deliverance as being like a bird escaping from a fowler's snare - the snare has been broken, and we have escaped. Verse 8, the final verse of the psalm, comes then as a sort of coda that sums up the lesson learned. On behalf of his people he says Our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. The God who created all things is also the God who is active in the world today. He saved David and his people, being their help in time of need. He is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the same God today and if we know his character as we should we will always go to him for help in any time of need. With our Captain and King, the Lord Jesus Christ we say Our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Psalm 123:1 Look Up

Psalm 123:1 I lift up my eyes to you, to you who sit enthroned in heaven.

The fourth of the songs of ascents is a very short prayer. The situation it appears is that the psalmist and his people have endured no  end of ridicule from the arrogant, of contempt from the proud. However, he asks that the Lord will have mercy on them. He uses a striking picture to represent his position, one that he would have seen (if this is David or someone like him or near to him) played out many times. As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master he says in verse 2 as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy. The opening verse of the psalm puts his positon very simply - I lift up my eyes to you, to you who sit enthroned in heaven. He is convinced that there is a heaven - an unseen world beyond this one that has an effect on this one. He is convinced that there is a throne there or more accurately someone on that throne who rules over all. He is convinced that he does not live in an anarchy. There is a throne and the one who sits on it rules over all things. So, in his time of trouble, it is to the one who sits on the throne that the psalmist lifts his eyes. It is to God that he looks. He knows that the answer to all his problems is there, the only hope for him and for everyone else. We too must think like this and pray, looking to the throne of the sovereign God.

Psalm 122:1 Church Going

Psalm 122:1 I rejoiced with those who said to me, Let us go to the house of the LORD.

The third song of ascents is the first of four specifically marked Of David. David tells us that he rejoiced with those who said to him Let us go to the house of the LORD. He remembers the invitation with gratitude. He then describes the moment when his feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem. He further describes the place - the way it is built like a city that is closely compacted together. Lots of people all together in one place. It is the place where the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, to praise the name of the LORD according to the statute given to Israel. He mentions the thrones for judgment ... the thrones of the house of David. He then calls for prayer for the peace of Jerusalem and expresses his commitment to seeking her prosperity. It is a very Old Testament setting then and much has changed since it was written. When we come to a psalm like this then if we want to benefit from it we need to bear in mind those changes. When Isaac Watts famous hymn book appeared all those years ago, his versions of Psalm 122 were headed “Going to church”. That is not doubt the way we should approach this psalm. It teaches us something about our approach to corporate worship and the attitude we should have towards God's people. It is still our duty to pray and work for the prosperity of God's people. It should also make us glad when people urge us to come together with God's people for worship. We should look forward to Sunday when God's people gather for worship. Some people live for Friday or Saturday night when their work is over for another week and they can go dancing. Christian people should long for Sunday when they can go and meet with God's people and worship him. Not just Sundays either, we should always be glad when there is an opportunity for corporate worship – either formally or more informally. Hebrews 10:25 exhorts us Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Psalm 121:1, 2 My Help

Psalm 121:1, 2 I lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

The second song of ascents is Psalm 121. It famously begins I lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. The psalmist goes on to remind himself that the Lord will not let your foot slip. The one who watches over him will neither slumber nor sleep. He concludes with a triple declaration about the LORD. First, he watches over you, being the shade at your right hand and preventing harm by day or by night. Second, he will keep you from all harm - he will watch over your life. Finally, the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and for evermore. As for lifting one's eyes to the hills - that statement could be produced by a variety of reflections. Is he making the journey to Jerusalem and thinking of the bandits or wild animals that may lurk in the hills? Is he simply fearful of the climbing itself, of twisting an ankle or falling. Does he see idolatry on the hills and almost despair? Is it just that the hills are impressive and high but he is looking beyond them? Whichever it is, he asks a good question and gives a good answer. Where is he going to find help? There is only one reliable place - his help will come from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. This is the God who will not let your foot slip, who watches over you and who never sleeps. He is the one who makes sure (6) that the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. He keeps from all harm. He watches over your life. What he knew we ought to know too and live accordingly.

Psalm 120:5 Barbarians Abound

Psalm 120:5 Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech, that I live among the tents of Kedar!
Psalm 120 is the first of the songs of ascents. In this brief psalm, the psalmist calls on the LORD in his distress and an answer comes. His prayer is to be saved from lying lips and from deceitful tongues. He then apostrophises toward these enemies asking What will he do to you, and what more besides, O deceitful tongue? and answering He will punish you with a warrior's sharp arrows, with burning coals of the broom tree. His final words are words of reflection beginning with verse 5 and adding that he has lived too long among those who hate peace. I am a man of peace he concludes but when I speak, they are for war. Meshech was apparently in Central Anatolia (Turkey). Invaded by Assyrians (under Sargon II) then Cimmerians from Southern Russia, it was incorporated under Lydian control. At the end of the 8th century the king was the famous Midas, buried at Gordion. Kedar was a son of Ishmael. The trible flourished from the 8th to the 4th centuries and was based in the Arabian peninsula. Meshech is to the north west then and Kedar is to the south east. Both are nomadic or barbaric tribes. The psalmist is saying something like "Woe to me that I dwell in a land of Vandals, that I live among the tents of Goths!" or "Woe to me that I dwell in a land of savages, that I live among the tents of Hooligans!" Whether it is a reference to pagans or to Jews who should have acted better is unclear. Whichever, he felt keenly the fact that he was surrounded by warlike peace haters. One can sympathise with him. This is how it was for Christ too. We must do as the psalmist does and turn to the Lord in prayer.

Psalm 119:160 True, Eternal

Psalm 119:160 All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.

Thinking now of the final octaves of Psalm 119 we focus on verse 160, which says two things about the words or laws of God. Firstly, that those words are true or certain and, secondly, that these righteous laws are eternal, they endure forever. This applies to God's words as a whole, to all his righteous laws. None are exempt. When we come to the words of God we are coming then to words that are reliable and true, words we can depend on. When we come to the righteous laws of God we are coming to laws that are eternal and that will never come to an end, which is a further reason for depending wholly on them. These points have been made already in the psalm. In verse 86a he says All your commands are trustworthy and in verse 138 The statutes you have laid down are righteous; they are fully trustworthy. In verse 142 it is Your righteousness is everlasting and your law is true. Verse 144a says Your statutes are forever right and verse 152 says Long ago I learned from your statutes that you established them to last forever. Jesus himself, of course, makes similar claims regarding his own words. He says, in John 8:31, 32, If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. In Matthew 24:35 and the parallel verses he says Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. The words I am studying today and that I meditate on from day to day, therefore, are both true and everlasting and so are worthy of my complete attention and devotion. They can be relied upon always. This, of course, is because they are breathed out by God himself.

Psalm 119:133 Word Directed

Psalm 119:133 Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.
From verses 121-144 we select verse 133. Not every verse here mentions God's promise or decrees or statutes or law or commands or precepts or words but most do and this is the continued theme. In verse 133 it is your word. The prayer to God is that he will direct my footsteps according to this word. This is a prayer not so much for guidance (NLT) as for the ability to do right. The psalmist is concerned about how he lives or walks, the steps he takes. He asks God to direct (NIV) or establish (ASV) or order (AV) or keep steady (ESV) his steps. He wants the word of God to give the right pattern or shape, the right direction to his life. He is particularly concerned that though he may sin, no sin should rule over him or dominate his life as any sin can do if it is not dealt with. It is a great prayer for holiness then, recognising as it does the need to pray to God in this regard and the need to be lead by God's Word. This is one of the reasons that he is so keen that God should teach me your decrees (124, 135) and why he wants to understand your statutes (125, compare 144). He has already said because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path and Your statutes are wonderful; therefore I obey them (128, 129). He now prays to go on hating wrong paths and obeying God's statutes. There is again a partial parallel with Psalm 19, this time verse 13, which says Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. This is how to live then - according to God's word with no sin dominating my life.

Psalm 119:103 Sweet Words

Psalm 119:103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

The psalmist continues to meditate on his great theme in verses 97-120. Two of the octaves are very positive (Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long, etc; Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path, etc) but in the third we remember again how this world is inhabited by the double-minded, evildoers, those who stray from your decrees, the wicked of the earth and so hopes can be dashed and deliverance is needed. The first octave ends with verses 103 and 104 - How sweet are your words to my taste, etc and I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. Verse 104 partly explains the striking metaphor in verse 103. It is the understanding the psalmist gains from God's precepts that is so sweet to him. Of course, honey not only tastes good but does you goo too and that may be in the background. Both verses make the point that there is something pleasing and rewarding in taking in the word of God and letting it roll around the tongue of your mind. Psalm 19:10 is very similar to verse 103. It is sort of "riff" on verses 72 and 103 of this psalm. There are some who would find such a statements implausible but such people would be those who fail to read and meditate on the commands, statutes, precepts, laws or words of God. When we take the word and really probe and explore it, there is something truly sweet in it. This verse is an example, as its focus on the words of God being sweet, sweeter than honey reminds us of the good things we have tasted in the past and stirs us up to delve deeper and deeper to know more. The God who gave us honey gives us many sweet things in his word.

Psalm 119:83 Kippered Wineskins

Psalm 119:83 Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget your decrees.
Coming to verses 73-96 of Psalm 119, the octaves using the Hebrew letters yodh, kaph and lamedh, one notices that the psalmist continues to speak in terms of God's word and to make clear that he struggles at times. There is perhaps a perceptible movement in the three octaves from quite objective prayers (Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands, etc) to a more subjective long night of struggle (My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word, etc) and the final sunshine of a new day (Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens, etc). Certainly the Kaph stanza reflects a struggle, especially with persecutors - My soul faints with longing ... My eyes fail, looking ... How long? ... help me ... preserve my life. The picture in verse 83 is not a familiar one to us today but in days gone by when wine was often stored in animal skins, these containers would often be hung up in a smokey tent or near a busy kitchen chimney and would get dry and shrivelled and covered in soot and smuts. That is how the psalmist felt at times - dry and besmirched - and it is how we feel at times, too. Nevertheless, he was determined, as we must be determined, not to forget the God's decrees. He was not going to make his troubles an excuse for forsaking God's law. Rather he is determined to look to the Lord and his word. Meanwhile, he asks, how long and prays that the Lord will preserve him and his precious contents.

Psalm 119:72 More precious

Psalm 119:72 The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.
Coming to verses 49-72 of the acrostic Psalm 119 the theme continues relentlessly, with every verse a little window into a world where God's word reigns supreme. Perhaps verse 72 sums up what the psalmist is chiefly saying as well as any verse in the psalm. Literally, it is Better to me the law of your mouth than thousands of gold and silver. There are a number of verses quite similar to it in the psalm (see verses 14, 162 and 127: I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches, ... in your promise like one who finds great spoil; I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold ... . See also Psalm 19:10 and trace the theme in Proverbs 3, 8 and 16:16 How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver! Here is the law from God's mouth, the very word of God himself and as you contemplate it, what do you find? May be not at first, not immediately - we can be like little children at times - yet slowly but surely you come to see how precious it is. It is worth more than thousands of pieces of silver and gold. That is why men and women have gone to extraordinary lengths at times just to have God's word for themselves and those around them. Think of someone like Tyndale, for example, or the Samizdat Bible printers of the Communist era in Russia. On the other hand, just as a man can be careless with very expensive jewellery or gadgets, so we can forget just what the law from God's mouth is worth and we can neglect to read it or meditate on it or make it our chief aim to conform to it. At times we are like blind men overlooking the stack of £50 notes or the gold rings even though they are right in front of our noses.

Psalm 119:48 Adulation, Meditation

Psalm 119:48 I lift up my hands to your commands, which I love, and I meditate on your decrees.

The second three octaves of Psalm 119 are perhaps less familiar than the first three and here we enter the murkier waters of the suffering saint and his Bible. Still the focus is the same, however, - your word, your decrees, your law(s), your statutes, your commands, your promise and your precepts. In verse 48 the psalmist says two things with regard to the commands or decrees of the Lord. First, using very striking terms he describe his devotion to the word. Bible believers are often accused of biblolatry but here the writer is actually willing to speak of lifting his hands to God's commands as he would to God in himself in prayer. Does he not see he might be accused of worshipping the Bible? He is not concerned. The fact, of course, is not that he worships the Bible but that he reaches out in absolute dependence on God's commands. That is how it should be with all of us. The second and perhaps more familiar thing is that he also meditates on God's decrees. He fills his mind with the word and lets it go over and over in his mind. Again, this is what we should be doing. Honour the word, meditate on it. Do nothing to demean or to downgrade the word. Do everything you can to fix it in your mind and explore its ramifications. God's word is worthy of such attention.

Psalm 119:4 Full obedience

Psalm 119:4 You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed.

The opening three octaves of Psalm 119 contain many striking and well known verses (eg verses 9, 11 and 18). Each verse relates in one way or another to the law of the LORD, his statutes, his ways, precepts, decrees, commands, righteous laws, statutes, his word. In verse 4 the point is that, firstly, the LORD has laid down precepts. In the Bible we find the mandates or requirements that he has sent down from heaven for us to obey. Secondly, these precepts are to be obeyed, of course. There is no question that God expects that we should do what he says, what he requires. More than that, the writer adds an intensifier. This obeying or keeping of God's precepts is to be done fully, with earnestness and commitment. We are not called upon to more or less follow what it says but to follow it absolutely. A good accountant is one who writes down the figures completely accurately not just more or less. With the same attention to detail we must get to know God's word and then apply it in our lives from day to day. God's intention has always been that we follow his word closely and completely just as he laid it down. When someone does a job for you, you want him to do it thoroughly not half heartedly. That is how God wants us to obey, just as the angels do in heaven. This means that we will pay careful attention both to getting a  proper understadning of the word and to seeing that we carry it out in every area of life.

Psalm 118:8, 9 My Refuge

Psalm 118:8, 9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.

You never go very far in the Psalms, or anywhere in the Bible for that matter, without being brought back to the central matter of Messiah. This psalm is again referenced in that connection more than once in the New Testament. Verses 22-24 are the most obviously messianic but the connections are there throughout. The psalm begins with a call to give thanks and to acknowledge God's love. The psalmist then gives his own story of how when hard pressed he cried to the LORD and was delivered, as was the Lord Jesus when they crucified him. Because the Lord is with him, he has no fear of man. In verses 8 and 9 he draws the obvious conclusion that it is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. Indeed, it is better to do that than to trust in the highest men. Again, he backs up his statement from his own experience of deliverance (10-14). Any Christian ought to know this too. When he is in trouble he should see that there is no sense in simply looking to men, however powerful they might be. No, it is better to take refuge in the LORD. That is how we were saved in the first place and that is how we will safely arrive in heaven in due time. It is the only way forward. Hence the shouts of joy and victory in the tents of the righteous. It is the Lord who does it and we know the benefits. The very ones who like Christ are rejected by men are the very ones who are saved in Christ. We need to get this perspective in every area then - that of taking refuge in the LORD not looking merely to human strength. It ought to become instinctive with us to think like that.

Psalm 117 Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Psalm 117 Praise the LORD, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD.

Psalm 117 has just two verse and is easily the shortest psalm in the book, indeed the shortest chapter in the Bible. The fact that Psalm 119, the very longest, is so near ought to warn us against drawing unwarranted conclusions about length of readings, sermons, prayers, etc. The straightforward message of the Psalm 117 is that all the world needs to do something - everyone in the whole world must praise the LORD. The reason that this must be done is the greatness of his love towards us and the fact that his faithfulness endures forever. Israel knew God's love best but all the world knew it and still knows it. We can start either end on this matter. We can either begin with his great love and the everlasting nature of that love and as we meditate on it we can see that the only appropriate response is praise. Alternatively we can start with the call to praise the LORD and if we have any doubt about the rightness of responding we will remember that God's love towards us is great and that his faithfulness goes on and on and we will see that we ought to praise him. There is a sort of circle here then, as in the psalm itself, which, like others psalms, begins and ends with a hallelujah. How good if we always begin and end with a hallelujah.

Psalm 116:8, 9 God Saves

Psalm 116:8, 9 For you, O LORD, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the LORD in the land of the living.

Psalm 116 is another psalm quoted in the New Testament as having a distinctively Messianic meaning. Peter refers it to the resurrection. The psalmist begins his psalm with an expression of devotion and commitment to the Lord because he has heard him. He explains how the cords of death had entangled him and he was overcome by trouble and sorrow. However, when he called on the Lord, he knew his grace and compassion. When I was in great need he says he saved me. That leads to verse 7 and his Be at rest, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you. And why should his souls be at rest? He says it is because that the Lord has done three things for him. He has delivered his soul from death, his eyes from tears, his feet from stumbling. God has done this with the purpose of his walking before the LORD in the land of the living. The rest of the psalm considers the proper reaction to all this and expresses a determination to serve the Lord. Christ knew what it was to be entangled in the cords of death and to be delivered from death and so does every true believer. It is by the grace of God that our souls are delivered from death, our eyes dried and our lives transformed. Of course, there is a sense in which the work is not yet complete but already we know it in part. We are able to walk before the Lord - and that is how we must walk - in the land of the living. It is the resurrection life we must live.

Psalm 115:16-18 Earthly Praise

Psalm 115:16-18 The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth he has given to man. It is not the dead who praise the LORD, those who go down to silence; it is we who extol the LORD, both now and for evermore. Praise the LORD.

These final words of Psalm 115 jar a little. They sound a little like the sort of arguments worldly people use. The highest heavens belong to the LORD is fine but not the earth he has given to man. Surely the earth is the LORD's too. What comes next makes us even more nervous, It is not the dead who praise the LORD, those who go down to silence; it is we who extol the LORD, both now and for evermore. Praise the LORD. Again, one part is okay but surely the dead also praise God? What is going on?

Psalm 115 ends with a hallelujah but is taken up largely with a polemic against idols. Pagans would mock God's people in those days asking where their God was, as they saw no idol representing him. It probably sounded like a good argument at the time. The psalmist has an excellent answer though. Why can you not see our God? Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him. As for the idols that the pagans boasted of, being made by the hands of men and consequently, although they do have mouths, eyes, ears, noses, hands, etc, they are incapable of doing any of the things connected with those physical features. Unlike the unseen God they cannot speak or hear or see or do anything. He powerfully adds Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them. Following these reflections he turns to stirring up God's people to praise. The "God is in heaven, we are on earth" argument then is simply an acknowledgement of why true faith is unlike idolatry. Yes, we cannot see God in the way idolaters see their idols but there is good reason for that. Similarly, unlike pagans, we are not interested in making contact with the dead as, from one point of view, death, despite what they say, produces only silence. It is we who must extol the LORD here in the land of the living. Of course, as the writer says, we praise God not only now but for evermore.  However, while here on earth, it is praise by faith that should drive us not idolatry or trying to delve into the realms of the dead.

Psalm 114:7 God's Presence

Psalm 114: 7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob

Psalm 114 is very brief, less than a hundred words in the NIV. It takes us back to the time when Israel came out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of foreign tongue. It was at that time that Judah became God's sanctuary, Israel his dominion. The main focus of the psalm is on what happened at the Red Sea and at Sinai. At that time, as the psalmist puts it, The sea looked and fled, the Jordan turned back; the mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs. The reference is to the way the Red Sea parted early in the Exodus and the way Mount Sinai (and no doubt the whole Sinai range of mountains and hills) shook when God came down to give the people his Law. With a striking rhetorical flourish the psalmist then asks Why was it, O sea, that you fled, O Jordan, that you turned back, you mountains, that you skipped like rams, you hills, like lambs? The answer is obvious, of course. It was God's presence. And so he draws this powerful conclusion - Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob. His who turned the rock into a pool, the hard rock into springs of water  could be a poetic reference to the Red Sea and the way the dried up sea became liquid again when the Egyptians tried to pursue Israel. It is more likely to be referring to the way God also provided water for the Israelites in the desert. The happenings in the desert then are a lesson to us all. They call upon the whole earth, all people everywhere, to fear God and to tremble in fear for he is a mighty and powerful god on behalf of his people. There is nothing like his presence.

Psalm 113:2 Praise God

Psalm 113:2 From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised.

Psalm 113 is one of eight psalms that both begin and end with a hallelujah (the others are 106, 135 and the final five psalms, 146 to 150). Clearly the theme then is praising the Lord. The intention of the psalmist here is to stir up the Lord's servants to a widespread and continual praise to the Lord. This is why he speaks of the Lord as being exalted over all the nations with his glory above the heavens. Who is like the LORD our God, he asks in verses 5 and 6, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? In the rest of the psalm he focuses on God's ability to transform situations, raising the poor from the dust and seating them with princes or settling the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children. There is every reason to praise the Lord. The implication of verse 2 is that this praise ought to be both worldwide and continual. The rising of the sun and its setting have a reference both to time adn to space. They not only denote, chronologically, the day's beginning and end but also, geographically, earth's east and west. To some extent we see what the psalmist describing happening already but there can be more. Already people from Kiribati to Samoa have heard the gospel and already people praise God specially on the LORD's day and throughout the week but there are many places from where no praise goes up. Personally, we do not give the whole day to praise, even the Lord's Day. Nevertheless, the Lord's name is to be praised at all times, in all places and we must, by his grace, do what we can to that end.

Psalm 112:1 Fear God

Psalm 112:1 Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands.

Here is another acrostic psalm beginning with a hallelujah. This time the verses are more obviosuly coherent. The hallelujah is followed by a beatitude or blessing. A blessing is pronounced on the person who fears the LORD. That phrase is elaborated by a succeeding one that says that the man who fears the LORD is one who finds great delight in his commands. The rest of the psalm expounds this a little by answering two questions. First, what the blessings might be and, second, what delighting in God's commands looks like. The blessings include children who are mighty in trhe land and blessed themselves, riches and wealth, light even in the dark, not being shaken, having no fear of bad news, always being remembered, (paradoxically) having no fear, having one's horn lifted and looking in triumph on his foes and, above everything else, having a righteousness that endures (this is mentioned twice though the psalm is short). As for delighting in God's commands it involves being a gracious and compassionate and righteous man, being generous, conducting one's affairs with justice and trusting in the LORD with a steadfast heart. Here is a reminder to us then that in Christ, graciousness, compassion, generosity, fairness, steadfastness to the Lord and trust in him will bring their own reward, whatever it may cost us to live in such a way. Meanwhile, the wicked man can only expect to see it and be vexed. He will gnash his teeth and waste away. Unlike those of the righteous in Christ, the longings of the wicked, we are assured, will come to nothing. Hallelujah!

Psalm 111:7 God's Faithfulness

Psalm 111:7 The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy.

Psalm 111 is an acrostic and so appears to be a little disjointed in some ways. The psalm begins with a hallelujah and a commitment to wholeheartedly extolling the LORD in the council of the upright and in the assembly. It speaks of God's works, which are great and glorious. They are pondered by all who delight in them. His graciousness, compassion and covenant faithfulness are singled out as well as his power. In verse 7 the psalmist appears to extend the subject of his meditation. Certainly, the reference to providing redemption and ordaining an everlasting covenant in the next verse seems to point that way as does the reference in the final verse of the psalm to all who follow his precepts. On the one hand then, there is indeed the general revelation that is seen in creation and providence - The works of his hands are faithful and just. Then, secondly, there is also the special revelation that is seen in Scripture - all his precepts are trustworthy. The psalmist ties the two ideas together by speaking of the first being faithful and just and the latter being trustworthy. In other words there is something about the way God works and especially about the way he reveals himself as he works that you can rely on. There is nothing fickle or crooked about the Lord in either sphere. Always he can be relied on. This is a great comfort to the believer. He knows that he can rely on what he reads in God's Word and he knows that as God's will unfolds he can be sure that God will always be faithful and just in it. Such a person fears the LORD and that is the beginning of wisdom, as well as praise.

Psalm 110:1 Christ's Session

Psalm 110:1 The LORD says to my lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."

Very much a messianic psalm and the one most quoted in the New Testament, Psalm 110 begins with what is in some ways a rather cryptic statement, made worse in English by the double appearance of the word "Lord". The reason for this is that the Jews would, superstitiously, never say God's real name but would use the word LORD instead. It is important, then, to understand what David is saying in this verse. He is saying that the true, covenant God said something to a person who David calls "my lord" someone superior to him. Various combinations have been suggested but they all fall down at one point or another. The only way to make sense of this is to see that God is speaking to one who is King David's Lord and that must be, as the Jews in Jesus' day acknowledged, the Messiah. What God says is that David's Lord is to sit at his right hand - a place of honour and privilege and intimacy - until God makes his enemies a footstool for his feet. A footstool was often a feature of ancient thrones. It is a low piece of furniture on which the feet can be placed in rest. Victorious kings would sometimes symbolically put their feet on the necks of defeated foes. So here is the idea of victory and of rest after success in war and it is an image that belongs to Messiah. The victory he has won is, of course, redemption. He now sits at the Father's right hand in heaven with all his enemies fast coming under his feet. Not to recognise what is going on is to make a mistake of the first order. He cannot be resisted. We must all bow before him now. We all will one day.

Psalm 109:25 Scorned Saviour

Psalm 109:25 I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads

This psalm is very much an imprecatory psalm with its prayers for vengeance on the one who loved to pronounce a curse and wore cursing as his garment. Verse 8 is quoted in the New Testament and is applied to Judas. That hermeneutical key clearly makes David a messianic figure, so when he speaks as he does in verse 25 of being an object of scorn we can immediately see how that speaks also of Christ and in particular what happened to him in the various trials leading to the cross and when he was actually crucified. This is exactly how it was. At his trials before the High priests and Herod and Pilate, he became an object of scorn and ridicule. It was the same at Golgotha. When people saw him they really did shake their heads in disgust. The Gospel writers describe how the different groups - the soldiers, the Jewish leaders, the people passing by, even the criminals either side of him - all scorned him and shook their heads uttering one derogatory remark or another. However, like David, the Lord cried to God for help, in accordance with his love and was heard. On the third day he rose again. And so it is now too. Today we see Jesus Christ once again made an object of scorn to his accusers. So Michael Onfray, for example, can say "Jesus’s existence has not been historically established. No contemporary documentation of the event, no archaeological proof, nothing certain exists …We must leave it to lovers of impossible debates to decide on the question of Jesus’s existence" (Atheist Manifesto, 115, 116). The scorn and the head shaking goes on. A verse like this warns us not to be surprised at that and stirs us to pray for his vindication which will come in due time.

Psalm 108:12, 13 God's Help

Psalm 108:12, 13 Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless. With God we shall gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.

Psalm 108 is something of a cannibalised psalm. It takes part of Psalm 57 and part of Psalm 60, joins them together, and makes a new one. By this means we are given an inspired example of how to adapt and apply what was given by God in the past to a new set of circumstances. The concluding prayer of the psalm, originally from Psalm 60, asks for God's aid against the enemy, the enemy at that time being Edom. For us who believe today, the enemy in general is the world, the flesh and the Devil and will at one time or another take this shape or that. The reason for the prayer is stated. It is that the help of man is worthless. That is to say, in and of itself man's help can do nothing. David recognises this. It is God's help that we need. It is with God that victories come. He is the one who makes Moab his washbasin, who tosses his sandal on Edom and who shouts in triumph over Philistia. It is by his strength that we win, for he is the one who can and will trample down our enemies. This is one reason why David is making this a matter of prayer and why we should constantly be in prayer too. Our instinct is too often to rely on ourselves or to rely on human help of one sort or another - an outstanding leader, a faithful stalwart. However, we must learn rather to look always and only to the Lord for victory over sin and Satan and death and hell. He alone can save us. He alone has the power. The victorious Christian life is attainable only through the Lord's grace.

Psalm 107:43 God's Love

Psalm 108: 43 Whoever is wise, let him heed these things and consider the great love of the LORD

The psalm begins with a call to give thanks to the LORD because he is good and his love endures for ever. Then come four real but generic examples of God's goodness and love. The final verse says that whoever is wise (and most at least want to be) should heed these things and consider the great love of the LORD. Each example follows a similar but unregimented pattern. First, trouble - wandering in a wasteland, not finding a city, hungry, thirsty, life ebbing; darkness, gloom and prison because of rebellion; afflicted and dying; a great storm at sea. Then comes a crucial turning point, beginning each time then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble and concluding and he delivered/saved/brought them out of their distress (6, 13, 19, 28). God deals with the problem, then comes a refrain (8, 15, 21, 31) Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind and the reason (3 times) - he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry; breaks down bronze gates and cuts through iron bars and because of his unfailing love and wonderful deeds for men. The final verses deal with God's power to transform situations for better or worse (both pouring contempt on nobles so that they wander in a trackless waste and lifting the needy from affliction and increasing their families). The background to all this is Israel's history, culminating in the return from exile. All this must be taken note of and the LORD's great love recognised, a love he has shown to me too. This world is full of trouble but cry to the Lord and he will save. Remember to give thanks when he does.

Psalm 106:1, 2 Give thanks

Psalm 106:1, 2 Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures for ever. Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the LORD or fully declare his praise?

Like other psalms, this one begins and ends with a hallelujah. It also catalogues some of the LORD's mighty acts of judgement. First, however, there is this exhortation to praise the LORD and give thanks because he is good and his love endures for ever, something demonstrated in the rest of the psalm. After the exhortation, the psalmist sounds a note of realism. He knows that he has set himself and us an impossible task. Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the LORD or fully declare his praise? The implied answer is no-one. Part of the problem is our sinful and rebellious attitude. The psalmist gives several instances of how it has been down the centuries - at the Red Sea and at other times in the desert, especially in the rebellion of Dathan and Abiram, at Sinai, in the case of the Baal of Peor and at Meribah. Such rebelliousness continued even after the people entered the Promised Land and indeed until they were eventually driven out. Besides this undoubted disinclination to proclaim the mighty acts of the LORD or fully declare his praise on our part, there is God's persistence in loving his people and forgiving them. It is so great that it is almost impossible to proclaim it completley or fully declare all that God has done. Our priase is always inadequate. We must try, nevertheless, as this man has. We must seek to do what is right, often rehearsing the story of God's goodness and our rebellion, seeking him for salvation, giving him thanks and praise and confessing our sins. Such an approach will at least begin to proclaim his mighty acts and bring him the praise he is due.

Psalm 105:5, 6 Remember him

Psalm 105:5,6 Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced, O descendants of Abraham his servant, O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.
The he is clearly the LORD who has been mentioned three times already in the Psalm, the LORD to whom we should give thanks, proclaiming his name, praising him, rejoicing in him and looking to him. The body of the psalm gives plenty of examples of God's miracles and judgements, focusing particularly on the way he kept the patriarchs, even rebuking kings at times; the story of Joseph; the plagues in Egypt that led up to the Exodus and some of the miracles in the desert. We could carry on through the Old Testament in a way similar to Hebrews 11, citing miracles and judgements that occurred in Israel's subsequent history. We could go on into the New Testament era and do the same. We could even go beyond that although at that point we would need to be less dogmatic in what we called a wonder, a miracle or a judgement. Such meditation would soon convince us that (7) He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth.

These words are addressed to the descendants of Abraham God's servant, to the sons of Jacob, his chosen ones. Initially, that would be the Jews but, more accurately, this is those who have the same faith as Abraham and who have been chosen and loved by God as Jacob was, despite his evil nature, that is Christians. They are called upon here to remember. They have a duty to recall certain things. He speaks here of the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced. These are the sorts of things that we should often be remeebring and praising God for.

Psalm 104:1 God's Greatness

Psalm 104: 1 Praise the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendour and majesty.
Psalm 104 is a psalm about the greatness of God as Creator and Sustainer of the earth. It is the inspiration for that wonderful hymn "O worship the King". Like Psalm 103 it begins and ends with the words Praise the LORD, O my soul. The psalmist speaks to himself (the first sign of sense not of madness) and stirs himself up to praise the LORD, the true God, saying O LORD my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendour and majesty. That God is great is evidenced in the things that this psalm talks about. To use a picture, it is as though, in creation, God has dressed himself with splendour and majesty. In the psalm he instances things such as the light, the sky, wind, lightening, land and sea, rivers and streams, animals wild and domesticated, birds, plants, food, mountains, planets, mankind. It is not only the things themselves but the way they interact and continue that results in one giant testimony to the greatness and sheer splendour of the LORD, the one who deserves all praise and honour from us. Of course, if somehow we can manage to ignore all this or shut it out of our thinking or come up with some alternative explanation then we will not be in awe of God or give him praise. Nevertheless, the moment we start thinking of creation or providence in the right way, it is bound to stir in us, at least to some extent, a desire to acknowledge the Creator and the Provider of it all. Sustained meditation of this sort will make you determined to sing to the LORD all your life, to sing praise to your God as long as you live.

Psalm 103:1, 2 Soul Praise

Psalm 103:1, 2 Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.  Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits
There is always the danger of forgetting that you have a soul, an invisible part, as well as a body. You are more than just a physical creature. When you read a psalm like this you cannot forget the fact. Rather, you are confronted with the inspiring example of a man who not only knew that he had a soul but also stirred up his soul, his inmost being, to praise the LORD, to praise his holy name. He did it in part by reminding himself of all the benefits he had received from God. It is when we remember all God's goodness to us that we are stirred to remember him and give him praise. Forgetfulness is our great enemy here, as it is elsewhere. Too easily we forget our souls and forget to praise our God. Reading the Word is a great antidote to such amnesia. So is meditating on that Word in the light of God's providences towards us - his unfailing goodness. Everything I have, everything I am - it all comes from the Lord. There is not one good thing I have or have had, not one benefit, that did not come from him. My body, my soul, my life, my health, my desire to seek him - this very word itself - it all comes from him. How very evil then to forget such basic facts. It is to be an ungrateful dog. We need to take our souls in hand then and stir them up sometimes to praise God's holy character, the God who is worthy of all praise. Just as we take our bodies in hand to wake them in the morning - a splash of cold water, say - so we must  take our souls in hand and speak to them and stir them up to praise the LORD. Part of having a soul is that we consciously praise the LORD.

Psalm 101:3 Nothing Vile

Psalm 101:3 I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men I hate; they shall not cling to me.

Psalm 101, like the previous psalm, is Of David. A psalm. David speaks of singing God's love and justice. It is part of his praise to the LORD. What he commits himself to is being careful to lead a blameless life. He hopes that the LORD will then come to him. Whatever happens, his intention is to walk in his house with blameless heart (2). Various commitments are made - to keep men of perverse heart far from him, to have nothing to do with evil, to silence anyone who slanders his neighbour in secret, not to endure anyone who is proud. More positvely, his eyes will be on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with him. He whose walk is blameless will minister to him. Finally, negatively again, no-one who practices deceit will dwell in his house, no-one who speaks falsely will stand in his presence. Every morning he will put to silence all the wicked in the land and cut off every evildoer from the city of the LORD. In the midst of these commitments comes verse 3 - a commitment to set before his eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men he hates, they shall not cling to him. It is difficult to know exactly what not setting before his eyes anything vile meant for David. There have been kings who permitted no sadness in their presence. Perhaps David had a rule that nothing vile could be seen in the court. For believers today, perhaps, it means certain books, magazines or newspapers would not be permitted, nor anything vile on the screen of a TV or computer. There is also a right hatred for the deeds of faithless men and a refusal to let them cling to us. Just as we would remove burrs or mud after a country walk so we must be careful to extricate ourselves from any close relationship with the faithless or unbelieving. This is part of praise too. It is not really praising, it is not singing God's love and justice if we fail to be fastidious in such matters.

Psalm 100:3 His Sheep

Psalm 100:3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Psalm 100 is headed (like 58 other psalms) A psalm. It is specifically For giving thanks - something we are often slow to give. It is the basis for the famous hymn All people that on earth do dwell so often used to begin a worship service and is ideal for that very thing. Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth he urges at the beginning. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. My home church has part of verse 4 as the text over the pulpit. They abbreviate to Enter his courts with praise though the entire verse says Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. That is how to come to God. The Psalm ends by reminding us that the LORD is good and his love endures for ever; his faithfulness continues through all generations but to come back just to verse 3, however, we can say that we here have a command and an observation. The command is to Know that the LORD is God. If we know that then we will be prompt to shout for joy to the LORD and worship him with gladness and with joyful songs. Sadly, there are many who do not know him and so they do not give him praise. Yet the psalmist reminds us that It is he who made us, and we are his. He created us and we belong to him. He uses a picture we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. He is the Great and Good Shepherd and we are his sheep. We often stray but he watches over us and he keeps us and this is one reason why he is so worthy all our praise and all our thanksgiving.