Psalm 95

 Psalm 95 "O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;  Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms." 

This psalm leads us into true worship.  We sing TO Him, we shout with joy TO Him.. we come with thankful hearts before Him!  Our thoughts, our attitudes, and our words are addressed to Him.. "For the Lord is a great God, a great King above all gods.. " 

How great is God?  He holds "the depths of the earth."  He made the sea.. and it is His.  He formed the land that we stand on and the mountains that we gaze upon with wonder.  He is our Maker too!

"Come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand." 

In a world that denies that there is any god.. or claims a false god.. or gives honor to an idol of wood, stone, or whatever.. we can make a simple, but powerful proclamation.. WE have a God.. a God who is the only True God.. the Maker of heaven and earth.. the One who made us.  The One who chooses to receive us to Himself.  

"Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.. "  Israel did.  They got things backwards.. they put God on trial.. Isaiah said it this way.. " You turn things around! Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, that what is made should say to its maker, 'He did not make me'; or what is formed say to him who formed it, 'He has no understanding'? ( Isaiah 29:16)

Because of this.. this unbelief.. this rebellion.. this wanting to go their own way and not God's way.. a whole generation of Israel never entered the promised land.  "Truly they shall not enter into My rest, " the Lord swore to them.. and they never did. 

The book of Hebrews shows us that this applies to all.. not just to a group of Israelites in the wilderness. Disobedience.. unbelief.. hardened hearts.. still prevent people from entering into the Lord's rest.  "Let us be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall through following the same example of disobedience." the writer exhorts, "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do."  ( Hebrews 4:11-13)

Isaiah's message in chapter 29 addressed those whose hearts were far from God, though they gave Him "lip service".  They thought they could hide the dark plans and conceal their wicked thoughts from Him.  The psalmist and the writer of Hebrews remind us that nothing is hidden from Him and that instead of foolishly thinking we are greater than our God who made us.. who holds our every breath in His hands.. we must come.. "kneel before the Lord our Maker".. and worship.. in spirit and in truth. 

Father in heaven, we sing and shout with joy, for You are the great and mighty God.. the Maker of heaven and earth.. our God.. our Maker.  We do not wish to have any hardness in our hearts.. any darkness in our thoughts.. so we come to kneel before You.  We are so thankful for  Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, who has interceded for us.. who has offered Himself in our place so that we might come boldly.. "with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."  O how we need You!  Every moment and every hour, we are in need of Your Presence. Fill us, Lord, with Your Spirit, to guide us in Your ways.. that we might not "err in [our] hearts" as Israel did in the wilderness.  Keep us in Your abundant love and power we pray.. in Jesus' name. Amen. 

Psalm 94

 Psalm 94  "O Lord, God of vengeance.. "   The psalmist prays for God, who is Judge will "render recompense to the proud".   He wonders, as we often do, "How long shall the wicked, O Lord, how long shall the wicked exult?" 

We can relate to this prayer.. for the wicked still seem to exult, don't they?  "They pour forth words, they speak arrogantly; all who do wickedness vaunt themselves.."   It is astounding to me these days... how easily political candidates spout off about their support of true wickedness.. especially the killing of unborn babies.   They exult in their superior "wisdom".. they excuse their evil thinking.. calling evil good and good - evil.  Yes, we can easily relate to this psalm.. 

The wicked "crush Thy people O Lord....they slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the orphans."  The psalmist accuses the wicked of their false beliefs.. "they have said, 'The Lord does not see, nor does the God of Jacob pay heed."   He calls them "senseless" and "stupid"! 

"He who planted the ear, does He not hear?"

"He who formed the eye, does He not see?"

" He who chastens the nations, will He not rebuke, even He who teaches man knowledge?"

Good questions!

"The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are a mere breath."  !!!  And here is where the psalmist finds relief.. and hope.. and strength.. in his faith.. "For the Lord will not abandon His people... " He will not "forsake His inheritance."  He will help His servants.  He will hold us up by His "lovingkindness".  

"When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Thy consolations delight my soul." The psalmist continues to remind himself and us.. of the God we serve.. "But the Lord has been my stronghold, and my God the rock of refuge.. "  Vengeance belongs to the Lord and He will deal with the wicked.  He will keep us secure in His mighty love.  So, even when the wickedness seems to be overwhelming.. we can stand firm.. girding ourselves with these truths! 

Father in heaven, we exalt Your Name.  You are good.. You are abundant in lovingkindness. You do great and wondrous deeds. Thank You!  There is none like You, to show us grace, to pour out Your love on us, and to bless us with grace, mercy, and peace in Christ Jesus the Lord.  Father, we pray that You would deal with the wicked.. You know the thoughts and motives of every man, woman, and child.  You see.. You hear.. there is nothing that surprises You or makes You anxious.  Quiet our souls and fill us with Your comfort and peace, that we might reflect Your glory.. through the darkness.. through the uproars.. through the storms of this world that overwhelm at times. Thank You. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 

Psalm 93

Psalm 93   This psalm proclaims the majesty of our God.. His excellency, His glory, His magnificence, His highness, His triumph, His increase..  "The Lord reigns,  He is clothed with majesty;"  the psalmist writes, "The Lord has clothed Himself with strength.. " 

My God.. established the world so that  "will not be moved." 

My God.. established His throne from eternity past.. to eternity future!

My God.. rules over the floods and the pounding waves.. that offer up themselves to Him!

My God.. is mighty!

My God.. is true!

My God.. is holy!

My God.. is unmoveable, unchangeable, immutable, eternal, omnipotent, and so, so, good. 

Father in Heaven, we praise Your Name and proclaim Your majesty!  Be glorified in Your people. Dwell in us, Christ Jesus, filling us with all that is true and faithful and holy.  Help us to walk in Your truth and proclaim the great gospel of salvation so that the lost can be saved by the power of Your Name. Amen. 

Psalm 92

 Psalm 92  "It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Thy Name, O Most High.. " 

It is the lovingkindness and faithfulness of our God that move us to give thanks and praise to Him.  It is what He has done.. the "works of His hands".. His uprightness, His grace to us.. that we are so grateful for and cause us to offer up songs and declarations and proclamations of His goodness towards us. 

There are those who declare themselves enemies of the Lord. The psalmist says that they sprout up.. "like grass".. they "flourish".. but, "It was only that they might be destroyed forevermore."  

It is the "righteous man" who will "flourish like the palm tree.. like a cedar of Lebanon..  planted in the house of the Lord.They will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still yield fruit in old age; They shall be full of sap and very green.. "

Do we want to be like grass?  Or would we rather be like fruitful trees that stay young and full of life? That is the difference between those who love the Lord and trust in Him fully.. and those who choose sin and self instead. 

I keep thinking about Psalm 90-- Mose's prayer. He speaks of the anger of God.. the "fury" towards sin.... so much so that "we have been consumed" by His anger. "Who understands the power of Thine anger, and Thy fury.. " Moses wrote.  Why does sin make God so angry?  Sin separates us from Him.. Adam and Eve hid from God in the garden.. and every sin.. every lie, every theft, every act of hatred or cruelty.. every attitude of pride or superiority.. every time we turn from Him to another.. we turn away from Him.. and it makes Him angry.  "Our God is a consuming fire," the writer of Hebrews wrote.  He hates the sin that has stolen away our hearts..Yet,  He has given us a way back.. a way out of that prison of darkness.. a way free from the evil one and his spell.  He gave us Jesus, His beloved Son, so that we can escape..and come into His holy Presence! 

 But, we must make that choice..each of us..individually.. of our own free will.  If we stay separate.. we stay in the darkness and will be burned up like the grass.  But, if we choose Him.. choose to put our trust in the salvation provided by Jesus on the cross.. we will have every sin forgiven and will "flourish in the courts of our God."  Hallelujah!  What a Savior!

Father, thank You for providing a way, when there was no way!  You have made us glad by what  You have done! Your works are great!  Your lovingkindness is abundant! Your ways are perfect! We sing praise and thanksgiving to Your great Name. Amen and amen!

Psalm 91

 Psalm 91 "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty."  What a wonderful place to be! When we seek Him.. we find all that we need:

We find "refuge" in Him.. for He is a mighty "fortress".

We find that we can trust in Him.. and He will "deliver us" - from snares, from "deadly pestilence". .from terrors and arrows.. from evil and from plagues. 

In the Most High.. we find our "dwelling place".  He is our forever home.  He is our shelter and our defender. 

Verses 14-16 are His words to each of us who trust in Him... let me make it personal and not an exact quote:

Because you have loved Me.. I will deliver you. 

I will sit you up in a secure place because you know My name.

When you call on Me, I will answer you.

I will be with you in trouble.

I will rescue you and honor you with a long life.

I will satisfy you and let you see My salvation!

Hallelujah! Our God is good! He is abundant in lovingkindness.. in mercy and grace.  He is great in all He does!

Father, thank You for loving us and bringing us to Yourself.. that we might call on Your Name and be saved. Thank You for being our fortress and our deliverer. Thank You for covering us with Your wings and being our shield and bulwark!  Thank You that we do not need to be afraid, but rest in Your faithfulness.  Let us dwell in You.  Strengthen us in faith.. in love.. and in grace.. that we might be all that You have planned for us to be. Draw us nearer and nearer still.. filling us with Your Spirit.. to do the work that You put into our hands, for the glory and honor of our Lord. Amen.

Psalm 90

 Psalm 90 This psalm is "a prayer of Moses the man of God".   It focuses on the eternal existence of God in contrast to the brief existence of men.  It is a psalm that we need to read often.. reminding ourselves that our days on this earth are numbered and we need to live in a way that matters.

He starts out with recognizing the truth about our God:

v1 "Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains.. before the earth.. Even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God."   Tozer says it this way.. "From the vanishing point to the vanishing point!.. The mind looks backward in time till the dim past vanishes, then turns and looks into the future til thought and imagination collapse from exhaustion; and God is at both points, unaffected by either."  Past and future have no effect on God...time does not apply to Him. "God dwells in eternity but time dwells in God. He has already lived all our tomorrows as He has lived all our yesterdays.."   Not only that but God "appears at the beginning and end of time simultaneously.. " 

Thinking of this psalm, Tozer continues.. "We who live in this nervous age would be wise to meditate on our lives and our days long and often before the face of God and on the edge of eternity. For we are made for eternity as certainly as we are made for time, and as responsible moral beings we must deal with both."   (From The Knowledge of the Holy)

In contrast to the eternal God.. our lives are truly like a "wisp of smoke"..  Moses wrote, "For a thousand years in Thy sight are like yesterday when it passes by.. "  We are like the morning grass, he writes, "In the morning it flourishes... toward evening it fades and withers away.. "  We know this is so true.. we hardly remember where the days have gone.. another week.. another month.. another year flies by and we shake our heads and wonder.. how can I be this old?  How can my children.. my grandchildren be so grown up already? Where did the years go?

These truth, Moses writes, should make us remember.. God has seen our sins.. He has condemned our iniquities.. He told Adam in the garden that he would surely die because of his sin.. We know the scripture that tells us that" it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes the judgement." (Hebrews 9:27) 

 Moses prays, "Who understands the power of Thine anger?"  For, if we truly do understand this truth.. that sin arouses the wrath and fury of our God.. then and only then will we "fear" Him as he is "due." 

But, thankfully,  we are not without hope!  Moses makes this petition.. "So teach us to number our days, that we may present to Thee a heart of wisdom."   Let us take time to contemplate the limited number of days that we have in this briskly moving stream of time.. to make the most of every hour that He gives us. 

How?  "O satisfy us in the morning with Thy lovingkindness, that we may sing for joy and be glad in our days."   Making the most of our time on this planet begins, most importantly, with fellowship with Him!  "Let Thy work appear to Thy servants.. and do confirm for us the work of our hands.."  All that we do.. we are to do "as for the Lord." .. for His favor.. to see His majesty.. for our children to know Him in all His glory and goodness and love. 

Father in heaven, teach us these things.. that we might also walk with You in faith and love.. that we might worship You in spirit and in truth; and that we might love You with all our hearts and souls and minds and strength. For we ask this in the Name of our Lord Jesus, who has rescued us from sin and death, by the sacrifice He made on the cross.  In Him we have the blessed hope of eternity with You.  Hallelujah! Amen. 

Psalm 89

 Psalm 89  The first 37 verses of this psalm proclaim the lovingkindness, faithfulness, righteousness and justice of the Lord.  It recalls the covenant that the Lord made with David, to establish his throne forever.  But in verse 38 the psalmist begins to lament.. for it appears that the Lord has abandoned and rejected His people and "spurned the covenant" of His servant David. 

 "How long, O Lord?" the psalmist prays.  The Lord is hidden.  His wrath is like a fire.  It seems that there is no hope of salvation.. that there is no purpose to life.. that there is no more that he can do.. that it is just all too much. "How do I bear in my bosom the reproach of all the many peoples.. " he  cries. 

The prayer has been lifted before the Lord.. praise and worship.. desperate petitions.. and then, with a final surrender, having left it all on the altar.. he ends, "Blessed be the Lord forever! Amen and Amen." 

Every word of this prayer is directed to the Lord Most High. The psalmist appeals to the love, the mercy, the greatness, and the character of God.. for this is still and yet.. his hope.  His faith is in the Lord, who is able.. the Lord who is faithful.. the Lord who keeps His covenants.  And so, we also pray..

Father in heaven, Your lovingkindness is "built up forever".  Your faithfulness is established in the heavens. Your promises are true and are complete in Christ Jesus, the eternal King, who fulfills every one. Father, we sometimes fail you. We sometimes become unfaithful.. yet You are always faithful.. and we are so thankful! Lord, may our faith and hope be established in the truth of Your Word, by the power of Your Spirit at work in our hearts, to bring honor and glory to Your anointed One, Jesus Christ, our Lord and King! Amen and Amen.