Psalm 58:3

Psalm 58:3 Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies.

In this psalm by David the point is made not only that men and women are wicked by nature but that the problem starts while they are still in the womb. There is still a widespread belief that children are born innocent but then the corruptions of this world get to them and they become wicked. That is not the case. As David says, rather it is from birth that the wicked staert going astray, it is even while they are still in the womb that their waywardness starts, the kying and the deceit. This is the same teaching as in Psalm 51:5 where David says Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. As Jesus says flesh gives birth to flesh. This is the doctrine of original sin, which states that human beings, simply by being born, inherit a tainted nature and a proclivity to sinful conduct and so ar ein need of regeneration. The 1689 Confession following The Westminster Confession reminds us how Adam and Eve "being the root, and by God's appointment, standing in the room and stead of all mankind, the guilt of the sin was imputed and corrupted nature conveyed to all their posterity descending from them by ordinary generation, being now conceived in sin and by nature children of wrath, the servants of sin, the subjects of death and all other miseries, spiritual, temporal and eternal, unless the Lord Jesus set them free." It also says that "From this original corruption, whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled and made opposite to all good and wholly inclined to all evil, do proceed all actual transgressions."

Psalm 57:8 Soul Awake

Psalm 57:8 Awake, my Soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.

Like the body, the soul needs to be awakened. It needs stirring. There is a hint here that in Psalm 57 that it is best awakened first thing in the morning. The reference in this verse to harps and lyres reminds us that the thing that the soul needs to be awakened to is praise, the praise of God. So easily we can forget the importance of praise and let the day go by without so much as a whisper of praise to God. As God's creatures and especially as redeemed creatures we mjust not allow that to happen. Rather be awake in your oul and praise God at all times, beginning as soon as you can in the day.

Psalm 56:13 Therefore Walk

Psalm 56:13 For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.

Here is another psalm of David and one to be sung. It was written when the Philistines had seized David at Gath. If you read about what happened in Gath (see 1 Samuel 21) you may think that David would simply wany yo forget about the whole affair. But no. This psalm recalls what David considers a great deliverance. Here in this verse we have a statement about that deliveancce and the reason behind why it is so. The statement is that God has delivered David from death and his feet from stumbling. The reason God has done that for him is so that he may walk before God in the light of Life. The application would be that if we too have been delivered from death and our feet from stumbling then we also must walk before God in the light of Life each day.

Psalm 55:9, 10 City Prayer

Psalm 55:9, 10 Lord, confuse the wicked, confound their words for, I see violence and strife in the city. Day and night they prowl about on its walls; malice and abuse are within it.

Like the previous psalm, Psalm 55 is by David and is to be sung but there is no indication as to when he wrote it. It is a prayer offered up, however, in great distress and anxiety. At this point the prayer is that the Lord will confound and confuse the wicked. It is a prayer of imprecation, a sort of prayer that we often find in the psalms. There is still a place for prayers of imprecation today as still today in the city we see violence and strife and there is malice and abuse. Day and night evil people prowl about everywhere. Pray for the defeat of evil then. Pray against the devil and against all who promote evil. pray the prayer we have here, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Psalm 54:7 Foes defeated

Psalm 54:7 You have delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.

This psalm is a psalm of David and one that is intended to be sung by God's people. The heading ties it down to the time when David was on the run from Saul and the Ziphites had told Saul that David was hiding among them but it has many applications. We come to times in our lives, thankfully, when we can say such things as David does in the final verse of the psalm. In this life such statements have to be interim ones but there are times when we can declare how very good God has delivered us from all our troubles. We can say that our eyes have looked in triumph on our enemies the world, the flesh and the devil especially. There is never any reason for complacency but there are moments for thankfulness and what better words than these?

Psalm 53:3 Not One

Psalm 53:3 Everyone has turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one

Psalm 53 is virtually the same as Psalm 14. The only difference is that the heading of Psalm 14 (For the director of music. Of David) is expanded to say that it is According to mahalath. A maskil and where Psalm14 has the vaguer God Psalm 53 has the more specific the LORD using God's special name. There is also a difference towards the end, the earlier psalm being a verse shorter than the latter. Psalm 14:5, 6 says But there they are, overwhelmed with dread, for God is present in the company of righteous. You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor, but the Lord is their refuge and Psalm 53:5 says But there they are, overwhelmed with dread, where there was nothing to dread. God scattered the bones of those who attacked you; you put them to shame, for God despised them. The difference would seem to lie in the first being applied more generally and the second to God's own people. Such differences encourage us to read the Word more carefully. Looking at Psalm 14 we focused on verse 1 The fool says in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no-one who does good. Here we focus on verse 3, a clear and unambiguous statement of total depravity. The verse affirms three things. First, that men have turned away (due to the unbelief in their hearts) from God, who is looking in vain for seekers. Second, that they have become corrupt. Third, that they do no good. It is not just that some have turned away but Everyone has turned away. It is not just that some have become corrupt but all have become corrupt. Finally, it is not just that some fail to do good - no, there is no one who does good, not even one.