Today, I am reading and commenting on  Psalms 45-51.

The first of today’s psalms was written for a royal wedding, but it still contains some thoughts on which I want to write.  In reading the praise which it gives the king, we see some characteristics we should seek in leaders. Leaders should strive to promote the cause of truth, humility, and justice.  They should love righteousness and hate wickedness.  If they do not exhibit these characteristics we should not follow them.   As we continue in today’s passage, the psalmist tells us to come and see what the Lord has done, to be still and know that He is God.  He calls all nations to praise and exalt Him, not because He demands it of us, but because of the great and wonderful things He has done.  The psalmist goes on to remind us that we need not fear deceivers or other wicked people when we put our trust in God, because God shines forth from where the sun rises to where it sets.  Which brings me to a thought that should make you realize how great the area where God can be found is: since the earth is a globe, there is no place where the sun does not shine so there is no place where God’s presence cannot be felt.  When danger threatens, God will come and will not be silent.

Finally, the psalmist calls on God to cleanse him from his sin, to purify his heart and strengthen his spirit.  He asked God to restore the joy which he got from knowing God and to cause him to willingly serve God.  I seek to make the psalmist’s prayer mine.  Once God has cleansed us and renewed us we will be able to teach sinners His ways so that they turn back to Him.  When we read that we can easily fall into the trap that we teach sinners because we are better than they, but really the sense here is that we were just like them and are now only different because of God’s actions.  God cleansed and renewed us.  We only have something to teach others because of what God has done to, and for, us.  Our current status as followers of God has nothing to do with how great we are, instead it serves to illustrate how great God is.  If God transformed us, He can transform others.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Psalms 45-51.

There is a song by Led Zeppelin titled “Thank You”.    The first verse goes:

If the sun refused to shine
I would still be loving you
When mountains crumble to the sea
There will still be you and me

Which brings to mind, for me, the beginning of Psalm 46:

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.

Even the music for the Led Zeppelin song fits Psalm 46 in my mind.  The Led Zeppelin song is a love song, and in a way, so is Psalm 46.  Of course, the singer of “Thank You” is merely a human being saying that the love they shared with their lover would endure the earth falling apart.  While, the psalmist is writing a song of God’s love for us, reminding us that He, and His love for us, will endure beyond the earth falling apart around us.  We need not fear being crushed as the mountains collapse into the sea around us, nor that the rise of the oceans will drown us, because God is our refuge.  Unlike in the song “Thank You” we do not depend on the love of another created being to survive, but rather on the love of the Creator.  If we put our trust in God, we will not panic when disaster strikes, instead we will be able to be still, knowing that He is indeed God.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Psalms 45-51.

I often feel inadequate when I try to write about the psalms because the psalmist is a much better wordsmith than I could ever be.   Nevertheless, I want to write a few things about today’s Psalms.  Psalm 46 reminds us of the importance of meditating on God and God’s word.  Sometimes we need to silence our minds in order to appreciate what God has done.  And yet, there are times when God’s glory should inspire us to make noise. clapping, shouting, crying out, and singing praises to God.  From there he goes on to tell us that we should not fear when evil days come, nor when the wicked surround us, because God will redeem us from the realm of the dead and take us to Himself.  In fact, He has already redeemed us and claimed us as His own.  Finally for today, the psalmist reminds us the purpose for which we pray to God for deliverance and for which we teach others about sin.  Our goal in all of this should be to inspire sinners to turn to God for the deliverance which we have experienced.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Psalms 45-51.

When I started reading through these psalms I had an idea about what I wanted to write, but then I came to Psalm 50 verse 16:

But to the wicked person, God says:

“What right have you to recite my laws
or take my covenant on your lips?

And I was struck by the number of times that people who ordinarily want nothing to do with the Bible quote from it when they think that they can use it to support their otherwise godless position on some issue.  There are many examples of those to whom the psalmist is referring.  Politicians, and others, who promote abortion but quote the Bible to support some other policy are but one such example.

When I read the passage I commented on in the previous paragraph, I was going to comment on just it.  Then I got to Psalm 51, which I strive (often unsuccessfully) to make my daily prayer.

Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
…
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit,

I pray that each of you reading this will make this your prayer as well. Let God open your lips so that your mouth may praise His name.  God does not desire our sacrifices, what He wants from us is a broken and contrite heart, repentant of our sins so that He can heal us and make us whole.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Psalms 45-51.

I have always loved the first couple of phrases of Psalms 46:

God is our refuge and strength,
    always ready to help in times of trouble.
 So we will not fear when earthquakes come
    and the mountains crumble into the sea.
 Let the oceans roar and foam.
    Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!

The psalmist goes on to tell us that God is here among us and tells us to “Be still and know that I am God.”  Let us clap out hands and shout praise to God with joy.

God does not need our sacrifices.  He does not need out material wealth.  He desires that we acknowledge our sinfulness and brokenness.  That we humbly and contritely turn to Him for healing.  If we do so, He will purify our hearts, restore our joy, and make us willing and able to obey Him.  Neither our wealth nor our power will redeem us from death and neither of those things will do us any good when we enter the grave.  Let us teach God’s ways to those who rebel against Him, starting with ourselves, so that they will return to Him.