Psalms (Page 2)
“What Love for Enemies Looks Like” – Psalm 35:11-18
Main thoughts: As David continues his psalm, he now contrasts how he has treated his enemies with the way they have treated him. (11-12) The enemies’ attackDavid expresses his ignorance of what was happening. He has no idea why they are attacking him. They are lying about him, and he does not even know where the lies are coming from. Even though he has shown them good, they repay him with evil. (13-14) David’s loveDavid shows his love for his enemies in…
“God Protects His Own” – Psalm 34:15-22
Main thoughts:David concludes his song by telling how God protects His own. Divine protection for those who fear God (15-17)God is watching over His children and listening to their every prayer. In the same way, God is watching those who do evil and will judge them. God listens to the prayers of His people and delivers them out of their troubles. True righteousness defined (18)In all of this discussion about fearing God and righteousness, we can begin to believe that the strongest…
“The Forgiven Life” – Psalm 32:6-11
Main thoughts: After teaching us how blessed it is to have our sins forgiven, David now teaches us how we should live in light of this forgiveness. Constant Prayer Because God has forgiven our sins we have access to Him in prayer through Jesus Christ. Forgiven people cry out to God in prayer constantly. We also confess our sins immediately. There will come a time when God closes the door of mercy; however, the forgiven man runs to God so…
“Worthless Christianity” – Luke 14:34-35
Jesus has just finished telling the crowds of the cost of discipleship: you must love Him above everything or you cannot be His disciple. This is costly, but we must be willing to pay the price and follow Him to the end. If we only follow Him halfway, we will be mocked by men. Jesus closes His teachings by talking about salt. Salt described Salt has two uses: enhancing flavor and preserving food. Salt makes food taste better and helps…
“Christ’s Victory” (Part 1) – Psalm 9:1-6
Psalm 9 was written by David for the choir director. Muthlabben probably means that the song was to the tune “Death of the Son” which is probably in reference to Goliath being killed. It is possible that Psalm 9 is in reference to that event, but we cannot be certain. The song is about how we can have confidence in God attaining the victory. This Psalm is very applicable today when so many believers have a defeatist mentality. Whole-hearted praise…
God’s Glory on Display – Psalm 8:3-9
Last week we looked at children being created to glorify God. David now continues his mediation on God’s glory as he looks at the night sky. The insignificance of man As David looks at the expanse of the universe he begins to feel how small he is. Compared to the whole of creation, man is insignificant, yet God has taken notice of man and made him the highest of His creation. This is incomprehensible to David. The exalted position of…
Raising Children to Glorify God – Psalm 8:1-2
In this Psalm David looks at the stars in the sky and is overcome with the glory and greatness of God. He is in awe of the position and honor God has given to man. This Psalm is also prophetic of the Son of Man, Jesus Christ. This week we will look at how this Psalm is prophetic of Jesus being praised at the Triumphal Entry. Little children are ordained to praise God Just as all of creation has been…
“The Beatific Vision” – Psalm 8:1-9
In this Psalm David looks at the stars in the sky and is overcome with the glory and greatness of God. He is in awe of the position and honor God has given to man. This Psalm is also prophetic of the Son of Man, Jesus Christ. This week we will be looking at the overall theme of the Psalm which is the glory of God. What does it mean to glorify God? Psalm 8 speaks of the majesty and…
“A Cry for Justice” – Psalm 7:6-11
David has laid his case before the Lord and waited for God’s judgment. He feels vindicated by the Lord and now calls on God to judge the wicked who are slandering him. Calling on God for justice David calls on God to uphold His laws and decrees. God has declared these things to be wicked and punishable. David here says that his prayer is what all God’s people are praying for. You can see this in Revelation 6:10 where God’s…
“Responding to Slander” – Psalm 7:1-5
Background This is a “rambling poem” of David. It covers many different rambling thoughts, but the main circumstance that David is singing about is the slander of Cush. We do not have this incident recorded for us in Scripture, so we do not know if this was while Saul was king or after David became king. Either way, Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin so there was always some level of animosity towards David from the Benjamites. David tried…
“Overwhelming Grief” – Psalm 6
Background This Psalm of David was to be played upon a stringed instrument that was an octave lower than normal. It would be comparable to a cello. The song is one of distress, and a lower musical accompaniment adds to the melancholy feeling. We do not know the exact background of the psalm; all we know is that David is having a difficult time. This could be because of his sin, some sickness, the loss of a loved one, some…
Joy in the Midst of Difficulties – Psalm 5:8-12
Last week we left off with David’s desire to avoid evil. He acknowledged God’s hatred of evil and his fear of God. We saw how David was allowed in God’s presence because of God’s grace and mercy, not David’s righteousness. Prayer for guidance David must walk through this life surrounded by enemies who are seeking his downfall. Because of this he asks God to guide him and make his way plain. The pitfalls in life are many. We need God…