Today, I am reading and commenting on  Psalms 23-31.

I could easily make this whole post on just Psalm 23, preachers have made entire sermons on it, even series of sermons.  In some ways the rest of the psalms in today’s readings expand on the themes contained in Psalm 23.  Or, perhaps a better way to put it, Psalm 23 sets things up for where the rest of today’s psalms go. God provides for us, guides us, protects us, and comforts us.  Those who put their trust in God and do as He instructs will not be put to shame.  Make God your stronghold and there will be no one and nothing you need fear.  Do that which God commands even when times are good and He will answer you cry when you face hardships.

Today’s psalms bring me great joy.  I wish my words describing them were as inspiring as they are.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Psalms 18-22.

Psalms 18 and 20 are perfect bookends for today’s reading.  Psalm 18 gives great imagery of the way in which God can, and will, exert His power when we call to Him in distress.  Psalm 22 teaches us the value of remaining faithful to God when life makes it seem as if He has abandoned us.  Often people look at Psalm 22 as a psalm of deep despair, of being abandoned by God, because Jesus quotes from it while He is on the cross.  Yet, if we read the entire psalm we see that despite feeling forsaken by God the psalmist still has faith that God will rescue him.  At the beginning of psalm 22 the psalmist seems to believe that God has abandoned him.  Later in the psalm the psalmist declares that he will praise God in the assembly. So, despite feeling that God has forsaken him, the psalmist has faith that God will rescue him, that he will have the opportunity, and reason, to praise God in the future.  When Jesus quoted the beginning of Psalm 22 He intended to communicate to us both that He was feeling complete despair and that He had faith that God had not truly abandoned Him.

I did not mean to spend so much time on Psalm 22 because there is more to be said about the other psalms in today’s passage.  In Psalm 18, we have the imagery of God coming to our rescue like one might see in an Action movie.  Then in Psalm 19 the psalmist tells us how the very universe testifies to God’s existence and His characteristics: as Elihu stated in the Book of Job, God uses the universe to speak to us of His will.  Throughout all of these psalms runs the theme that God will come to the aid of those who faithfully do His will.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Psalms 10-17.

There are several different ways to read today’s selection of Psalms, but for me, Psalms 10 sets the theme, a theme which I find appropriate for these times.  The wicked seem to be in the ascendancy and God seems to be ignoring their misdeeds.  Our society seems to be intent on destroying its foundations.  The psalmist reminds us that God is not ignoring the actions of the wicked, that He will defend the fatherless and the oppressed.  Further, if God is our foundation our society’s destruction of its foundations will not effect us.  Times may be bad for us, we may experience persecution, but if we put our faith in God and call out to Him in our distress, He will come to our aid.  Let us not lose heart, but patiently wait for God to show His love and power.  We will not be disappointed.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Psalms 1-9.

I struggle with today’s passage because I could write an entire day’s blog on several of these psalms by themselves (perhaps on each of them).  Psalm 1 & 2 are the perfect introduction to this book.  I am going to try to find a common theme or two in these nine psalms.  Psalm 1 tells us not to walk in step with sinners, but instead to delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on His words.  Then later the psalmist tells us that he lays his requests before the Lord in the morning and waits for God to answer.  Psalm 2 tells us that the people and rulers of this world conspire against God, but that their plans are futile.  Then later the psalmist speaks of those who rise up against him because of his faith in God, yet he does not fear them because God will be his shield.

We see the latter part going on in the world around us today.  Our society has chosen to rebel against God and seeks to destroy those who seek to remain faithful to Him.  The psalmist warns us not to join with them, and not to fear them.  We will find joy and peace by dedicating ourselves to obeying God and meditating on His words.  He will shield us against those who rebel against Him and try to strike us down for remaining faithful.  Let us strive to stand firm in our faith and turn to God when we experience distress.  Rather than seeking safety by joining with those who oppose God, let us take refuge in Him.

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 143-150.

May everyone and everything which lives praise the Lord, because He has given them life and His love will care for them.  As I am writing this the sun is shining on flowering plants.  God has been good to me and praising Him each day brings me joy.  The psalmist warns us against putting our hope in powerful people because when they die all of their plans die with them.  The opposite is also true, do not fear them for the same reason.  Instead put your hope in God.  He has made everything that is and His love is eternal.  His power is absolute.  I could write more, but the psalmist says it so much better.  Read these psalms and praise the Lord.

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 136-142.

Every time I read Psalms 136 I imagine it being done as a congregational responsive reading.  Today, I actually pictured a large outdoor gathering, perhaps in a stadium.  I am imagining the leader being amplified by a microphone and thousands of people responding “His faithful love endures forever” with the final line being both the amplified leader and the crowd shouting that line.  I hope you can form that image in your head and feel how powerful it would be.

God has plans for our lives and He will work them out.  Psalms 139 describes how God knows everything we do and everywhere we go.  He uses that knowledge to shape our lives according to His plan for us.  He began that shaping before we were born, while we were still in our mother’s womb.  If we choose to do God’s will, that knowledge brings us joy and comfort, because we know that even the things that happen that we don’t like serve God’s purpose and make us better able to serve Him and share His love.  On the other hand, if we are tempted to rebel against God, the psalmist reminds us that there is no place we can go to do anything of which God will be unaware.    If we rebel, God will still use our actions to accomplish His purpose.  We can choose to serve God’s purpose and experience the joy of seeing His plans come to fruition.  Or, we can rebel against God and experience the suffering of seeing His plans come to fruition.

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 117-118.

God’s love is powerful, unfailing, and faithful.  Therefore, every person, and every group of people, should praise the Lord.  Those who fear the Lord should remember that God’s love is enduring and thus they need not fear anything else.  If God is for us, what can people do to us?  I want to circle back around to the power of God’s love.  We tend to think of power in terms of violence and destruction, but the power of God’s love is the power of building and uplifting.

In that light, I want us to look at what is going on around us and think about it differently.  There is the pandemic going on  There are the riots and looting accompanying protests  Protests which result from the abuse of power by the police.  I could go on.  Yet, the psalmist tells us that this is the day that the Lord has made.  We should rejoice and be glad in it.  Instead of viewing what is going on as a trial and a difficulty, let us view it as an opportunity to display God’s love.  Remember, today is the day that the Lord has made in love and His love is faithful.

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 108-116.

The psalmist starts the first psalm for today by proclaiming that his heart has confidence in God.  Then in the last of today’s psalms he tells us that God protects those with a childlike faith.  This context gives a great insight into what Jesus meant when He said we needed to be like a child to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  When a child prays for something, they do not put a lot of qualifiers on it.  They believe that God will answer their prayer out of love.  Further, once they have asked for something, they will tell people that God is going to do it.  They are not afraid that perhaps He will not do so.  We should have similar confidence.  Of course, part of that confidence in God comes from striving to live within His will so that we ask for that which serves Him.

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 105-107.

All three of today’s psalms focus on reminding us to give thanks to God for what He has done.  The first two emphasize how, as a group, the people of Israel had time and again rebelled against God, only to turn to Him once more when they faced the consequences of their rebellion.  The two things he speaks of which hit home to me are when he speaks of their sin in worshiping Baal of Peor and then adopting the evil customs of the people in the land they were promised.  The first strikes me because I know from elsewhere that the appeal of worshiping Baal of Peor was the sexual sins which were practiced as part of that worship.  The second because the psalmist calls out that one of the evil practices was killing their own children as sacrifices.  I see both the sexual sins and the killing our children in our society today.  Our society condemns as “intolerant” and “hateful” those who call us to follow God’s plans for our sexuality and those who defend the children in the womb.

The third psalm calls on us to tell our stories of redemption.  Here the psalmist focuses on how we as individuals have sinned and been brought back to God.  Whether we were lost and homeless, or suffering incarceration because of our crimes, or suffering depression (perhaps because of our sins), or facing danger from forces of nature, let us share our stories of how God redeemed us when we cried out to Him for help.

I will share one of those times when God redeemed me.  I was managing a convenience store.  It filled my time, leaving me no social life.  I could not even reliably set aside time to go to worship services.  It did not even allow me time for a job search.  The job had become a dead end and drained me of all of my joy.  I prayed earnestly to God for relief and He brought a job opening to me which gave me fresh interest in life and a regular schedule.