Psalm 46

Psa 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!

The sons of Korah write a psalm to show off the power of their Lord. They paint a contrast for us between the might of God and that of the world. In the end, we find the mightiness of the world has fallen before the Lord. The chariots are burned down and the bow is cut. All that is left is the Lord!

Following this the psalmist states this verse from the first person, "Be still and know that I am God." We live in Northern Virginia and because we do, we have a problem keeping still. Now we do not suffer from trusting in weaponry here because we are not living in a violent area. However, we do suffer from materialism. Sometimes in all our running around, between school and work and all our desires and entertainment, the Lord is lost. What would it take for us to be still and know that He is God? Would he have to cut the power supply to the Nintendo or XBox? Does he have to burn down the TV?

Do your devotion everyday. While doing it, make sure you are taking the time to just be still before the Lord. He is God in heaven, and we are here on earth, so let your words be few. Listen to Him.

Psalm 45

Psa 45:11 So the King will greatly desire your beauty; Because He is your Lord, worship Him.

There is something different about this psalm from the moment you start reading it. It begins, "A Song of Love." We continue and see that this song of love quickly turns into a song of marriage, as the "daughter" is brought to the King. As we read on we are given a beautiful picture of the Jesus and His bride, the church.

The text reads, "So the King will greatly desire your beauty..." I do not know about you, but when brought face to face before the Lord I do not think I am going to be feeling like I am looking good. Is it not wonderful to know that despite our sins and failures, because of His blood, Jesus makes us white as snow. Because of Jesus we are beautiful. Let this be a reminder to all of you. Your looks are not as important as your soul and spirit. Jesus makes you beautiful on the outside and in. Focus on Him and allow Him to perform this transformation.

How rich we are, therefore our response is simple, "He is your Lord, worship Him." God has loved us perfectly. He lays us down in green pastures and He restores our soul. As a response to this perfect love it only makes sense that we worship Him. The more time you spend with Him, the more He will take your breath away. The more time you spend with Him, the more you will fall down and worship.

Psalm 44

Psa 44:6 For I will not trust in my bow, Nor shall my sword save me.

I can only imagine what it was like back in the day of David. I am sure it was close to mandatory that one would learn to wield a sword. Should something happen and you be caught without your weapon, you were done for. This verse reminds me of Psalm 20:7, "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the LORD our God."

I do not know if there is anything you have which you do not leave home without. Obviously, we do not live in a place where our lives are constantly being threatoned. Nevertheless, what do remember or who do we remember in a moment of need? Remember the name of the Lord. He is our deliverer. I love this concept the Psalmist paints for us. It would be better to be caught in battle without a sword and bow, and crying out to God, than to have your weapons for defense, and not remember Him. Jesus sustains us. Our sword cannot and our horses cannot.

Psalm 43

Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.

(Psalm 43:5)

Is the psalmist talking to himself? It appears so… but it isn’t a bad thing in this situation. He asks two questions of himself, and they are questions it might serve us well to ask ourselves.

His first question is “why are you cast down, o my soul?” The word cast down means to stoop or bend low. It seems that this stooping or bending down has to do with a burden or weight of one sort or another that the person is carrying. In this instance, the psalmist is asking his soul why it seems to be bent so low. At times we may feel depressed, weighed down, like we can’t go on any longer. The reasons for this are numerous, and that is what the psalmist asks here… “What’s up? Why are you so down?”

The next question he asks is similar. He says once again to his soul, “Why are you disquieted within me” The word disquieted means to growl, howl, or cry out. The Psalmist says, “What has so provoked you soul, that you react this way?” Once again, many things can bring about this kind of feeling.

The interesting thing that the Psalmist does now is this: rather than answering his questions he casts them in a new light. He says HOPE IN GOD. You see, no matter what burden you carry, or what has caused you to cry out, God is SO MUCH GREATER. If we place our hope in God, the burden is lessened, our soul is comforted, and we are restored to the spiritual state we need to be. The psalmist calls God the “help of his countenance”. The idea is that God causes him to be full of hope, changing His appearance from despair to hopefulness, Joy, and strength.

In the midst of even the most difficult circumstances, we can have HOPE. If we will remember who God is, what He has done, what He will do, and what He thinks about us and our situation; then we will no longer be as overwhelmed. The introduction of the eternal to the problems we face always changes things. So, let the Lord be the Lord of your life, and place your hope in Him today. If you do, you may be surprised at the way He “helps your countenance”. e says once again to jh

Psalm 42

To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation of the Sons of Korah. As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?

(Psa 42:1-2)

We are going to try something new today… If I like it, I’ll probably do it again every couple of weeks or so. I am going to “interview” a great theologian of the past in regards to this verse. The theologian I picked today is A.W. Tozer. So, here we go…

3YEARBIBLE: This idea of thirsting, panting, longing for God… where does it come from?

AW TOZER: We pursue God because, and only because, He has first put an urge within us that spurs us to the pursuit. 'No man can come to me,' said our Lord, 'except the Father which hath sent me draw him'. The impulse to pursue God originates with God, but the outworking of that impulse is our following hard after Him.

3YEARBIBLE: It seems interesting to me that though the psalmist here obviously KNOWS God, he is talking about thirsting for Him, longing for Him. Why do we pursue God if we already know Him?

AW TOZER: To have found God and still to pursue Him is the soul's paradox of love, scorned indeed by the too-easily- satisfied religionist, but justified in happy experience by the children of the burning heart. St. Bernard stated this holy paradox in a musical quatrain that will be instantly understood by every worshipping soul:

We taste Thee, O Thou Living Bread,
And long to feast upon Thee still:
We drink of Thee, the Fountainhead
And thirst our souls from Thee to fill.

come near to the holy men and women of the past and you will soon feel the heat of their desire after God. They mourned for Him, they prayed and wrestled and sought for Him day and night, in season and out, and when they had found Him the finding was all the sweeter for the long seeking. Moses used the fact that he knew God as an argument for knowing Him better. 'Now, therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight'; and from there he rose to make the daring request, 'I beseech thee, show me thy glory.' God was frankly pleased by this display of ardour, and the next day called Moses into the mount, and there in solemn procession made all His glory pass before him.

3YEARBIBLE: So you are saying that for those who love the Lord, the more they know Him the more they long to get to know Him more? Can you expound on this for us?

AW TOZER: Hymnody is sweet with the longing after God, the God whom, while the singer seeks, he knows he has already found. 'His track I see and I'll pursue,' sang our fathers only a short generation ago, but that song is heard no more in the great congregation. How tragic that we in this dark day have had our seeking done for us by our teachers. Everything is made to center upon the initial act of 'accepting' Christ (a term, incidentally, which is not found in the Bible) and we are not expected thereafter to crave any further revelation of God to our souls. We have been snared in the coils of a spurious logic which insists that if we have found Him we need no more seek Him. This is set before us as the last word in orthodoxy, and it is taken for granted that no Bible-taught Christian ever believed otherwise. Thus the whole testimony of the worshipping, seeking, singing Church on that subject is crisply set aside. The experiential heart- theology of a grand army of fragrant saints is rejected in favor of a smug interpretation of Scripture which would certainly have sounded strange to an Augustine, a Rutherford or a Branierd.

3YEARBIBLE: That is really tragic! How can we protect ourselves from losing the fervor of those early Christians? How can we insure that we are as you called them “Children of the Burning Heart”?

AW TOZER: When religion has said its last word, there is little that we need other than God Himself. The evil habit of seeking God-and effectively prevents us from finding God in full revelation. In the 'and' lies our great woe. If we omit the 'and', we shall soon find God, and in Him we shall find that for which we have all our lives been secretly longing.

We need not fear that in seeking God only we may narrow our lives or restrict the motions of our expanding hearts. The opposite is true. We can well afford to make God our All, to concentrate, to sacrifice the many for the One.

I want deliberately to encourage this mighty longing after God. The lack of it has brought us to our present low estate. The stiff and wooden quality about our religious lives is a result of our lack of holy desire. Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people. He waits to be wanted. Too bad that with many of us He waits so long, so very long, in vain.

3YEARBIBLE: May we all take your warning to heart, and may we all seek to do away with dead religion, and pursue God with all of our hearts. Would you lead us in prayer AW?

AW TOZER: O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, that so I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, 'Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.' Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Psalm 41

Blessed be the LORD God of Israel From everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen.

(Psalm 41:13)

The verse quoted above ends not only this Psalm, but the first “book” of the Psalms. Maybe you didn’t know this, but the book of Psalms is actually broken up into 5 separate parts called “books”. Picture a five volume set if you will, each book a part of a larger work.

The interesting thing about this is that there are also 5 books that make up the Torah, or the LAW. In the Latin these are actually referred to as the Pentateuch, or the FIVE BOOKS. The Pentateuch records for us the beginning of God’s revelation to man. In it we see the beginning of the world, the entrance of sin, God’s judgment, the call of Abraham, the development of the nation of Israel, their exodus, their wanderings in the wilderness, and the laws by which they were to live.

It is almost as if these 5 books of the psalms serve as a response to the 5 books that God had delivered to His children. Though we can’t prove that this is why there are 5 and 5, I think it is an interesting thought.

What we do know is that these Psalms were the God-inspired response of the Israelites to the word that God had brought to them. As we close this book of Psalms, and embark on a journey through the second book, let us not just read these Psalms, but make them the song of our heart. May we sing with all that we are, “blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting!” Amen? Amen!

Psalm 40

Blessed is that man who makes the LORD his trust, And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.

(Psa 40:4)

We have here in Psalm 40 another verse about the “blessed” man. We talked before about the fact that this word literally means “oh how happy”. We read here one thing this truly happy man DOES and one thing he DOES NOT do.

1. We read that the BLESSED man makes the Lord His trust. It is so important for us to be reminded of this. Lasting joy and happiness only come for a person who truly places their trust in the Lord, and in Him EXCLUSIVELY. One translation says it like this… “Blessed are you who give yourselves over to God”. The idea is that we can only GAIN real lasting joy when we LOSE ourselves in the Lord.

2. The blessed man has no respect toward the proud. This doesn’t mean the route to blessing is disrespect toward proud people, it simply means that we don’t look to the self-sufficient and their ways to find satisfaction in this life.
3. The blessed man ignores the idolater and the gods of this world. There is so much that this world worships, so much that it places in the position that should belong exclusively to the Lord. If we want lasting joy, we will pass those things by and fix our eyes on Jesus.

What we see here is really quite simple: The truly blessed life is one that rejects the desires of this world and the flesh for the things of the Lord. Follow the advice of the psalmist, and you will not be disappointed!

Psalm 39

"LORD, make me to know my end, And what is the measure of my days, That I may know how frail I am. Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah

(Psa 39:4-5)

Most of us who read this blog are young. We like to look ahead and think that we have all the time in the world to do the things God has called us to do. The truth is, life is short. It is here today and gone tomorrow. David prays here that the Lord would help him to understand how FRAIL he is. The word frail here means TRANSIENT or FLEETING. David prays that the Lord would help him recognize that his life here is not permanent. David wanted to grasp the concept that his days were quickly running by, time was short, and he needed to make the most of his life. Life, at it’s very best is a vapor. It comes and goes in an instant when take in the scope of eternity.

Your life is short. It is fleeting. You are moving closer to the end of your life with every breath that you take, and you are not guaranteed another day, let alone another year. What will you do with your momentary life? Will you squander it away entertaining yourself? Or, will you use it to make a mark for the eternal? Follow the example of David today, and ask the Lord to help you be mindful of how short this life is… Then live like you actually believe what He has shown you.

Psalm 38

Psa 38:8-9 I am feeble and severely broken; I groan because of the turmoil of my heart. (9) Lord, all my desire is before You; And my sighing is not hidden from You.

Those who repent before the Lord are saved. Those who are broken before the Lord experience His grace. However, sometimes it takes a lot to drive us to that point. I believe this is another key attribute of David that made him a man after God's own heart. David never fought his case before the Lord, but instead came broken before Him.

If there is something, anything at all, which you are struggling with, than give it to Jesus with a complete brokenness of the heart. To harden your heart is only to make a stand against the Lord. This is a long and dangerous game to play. The more you harden your heart against the Lord, the easier it is to do. You will be able to justify all your actions, not matter how far they wander from the truth. As you harden your heart, the Lord will send more and more things to break you that He might reposition you. You will end up like Jacob, who wrestled with God and came out with a limp he would keep the rest of his life.

Brokenness is a humbling place to be. Often times, for the Christian it is exactly where we need to be. It is a selfless prayer, yet necessary. Ask the Lord for brokenness today and see how He will draw you closer to Him.

Psalm 37

Psa 37:12-13 The wicked plots against the just, And gnashes at him with his teeth. (13) The Lord laughs at him, For He sees that his day is coming.

I love this verse because it shows the awesome power of the Lord. I believe as Christians we often show a lack of faith by truly not putting our full trust in Him. The angel said that Jesus was to be called, "Immanuel" or "God with us." The idea is simple, Jesus came and He would always be right beside us taking care of us from that day forth.

I am challenged. Do I truly believe "God is with me" in my head? Do I fear the things of this world or do I fear the Lord? As I look at the verse above it shows me that I have nothing to fear. When the wicked plot and scheme, the Lord merely laughs.

I remember as a little kid always wanting to defeat my father in a wrestling match. I would scheme for the erfct moment to jump on him and throw him to the groound. One problem, my dad is way stronger than me, even to this day. My attempt were laughable at best. Here was a skinny little kid going against this big strong man.

The plots of the wicked are laughable at best. Trust in Him, He is on your side. Hold on to Him and He will never let go of you. Truly our God is with us, and His power and strength is more than enough to shield us from the wicked of this world.

Psalm 36:6

Psa 36:5 Your mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

David is a master with his words and in this Psalm he paints beautiful pictures for us. Verse 5 tells us that the Lord is both merciful and faithful.

Mercy and faith are very relative according to this world. Consider the Islamic faith. They are encouraged to take revenge, in fact it is their duty. The world promotes taking justice for yourself. It tells you to "even the score." I look at books like The Count of Monte Cristo, which makes aa hero of a man who ruins everyone's life because they ruined his. It is easy to get sucked into this mind set.

The Lord is just the opposite. He merciful, even to the heavens. He is faithful, even to the clouds. Imagine your life if either one of these were not true. The very next verse says he preserves us. Truly we are preserved through the mercy and faith of the Lord. Practice these qualities. Show others that you are a mere product of the mercy and faithfulness of the living Lord.

Psalm 35

Psa 35:21-22 They also opened their mouth wide against me, And said, "Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen it." (22) This You have seen, O LORD; Do not keep silence. O Lord, do not be far from me.

Ever felt like there was someone put here on the earth just to ruin who you are? They are always slandering you and putting you down. They do it among groups of people. David felt this same way. However, the difference was, not only were they slandering David, they were also trying to kill him.

I do not know about you but if I were anointed king, I would think I would be king. David was anointed, yet he ran. He ran for his life. He had followers here were faithful, yet they were well out numbered. He had no country and no place to call his own. He must have thought at times, "I wish I had never gotten involved. I wish I could go back to just being a shepherd." Nevertheless David had a call.

Where ever we are called, there are going to be slanderers. A call or anointing does not mean the rest is easy, it only means that where ever that call and anointing are, that is where we are suppose to be. Maybe you feel like David. You are called for great things, however you are being slandered and are running. Pray like David. Praise like David. Talk to God like David. He says, "Lord do not be far from me." If God is with you who can stand against you? Allow the Lord to fight for you and do the work for you. This is the one way to keep from giving up in the face of discouragement.

Psalm 34

Psa 34:8 Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

David was a song writer. His lyrics were beautiful and they were very visual. This is one of my favorite verses. I like it because it is filled with promise.

Have you ever been to Costco? There are usually tons of people serving samples. They serve the samples with confidence that, if you taste it, you will buy it. I believe this is the same picture David paints. If you simply experience the blessing that is from the Lord, you will not be able to help yourself from wanting to be with Him.

There is no pressure. The gift is absolutely free. Just come and taste and see for yourself. Once you do, I guarantee you will be sold on the goodness of the Lord!

Psalm 33

Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.
(Psa 33:8-10)

When I read this I can’t help but think of many of the nations in the Middle East, and their declared intentions of removing Israel from the face of the earth. They have held their counsels and made their plans, but we read here that they are made of no effect and will come to nothing. A lot of people would love to believe that they have real power, that if they say the word it happens. Ultimately, it is only the LORD who wields this ultimate power. When He speaks it happens; He commands all, for He created it all with the word of His mouth.

We read here that because the LORD is the supreme ruler of all, because He alone is truly powerful, the whole earth should stand in awe of Him. Many men today seem to believe that they can do what they want, that they can get away with the plans they have made. In the end, the Lord will bring all of those things to an end, and He alone will prevail.

As for you, whose counsel will you listen to? Whose plan will you be a part of? I would advise you to follow the guidance this psalm offers; Stand in awe of the LORD and give to Him the reverential respect He deserves.

Psalm 32

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit.
(Psa 32:1-2)

This is one of my favorite scriptures in the Bible… I love it SO MUCH. That one word BLESSED, is just so full of meaning! Some people say it blessed, some read it bless-ed, how ever you pronounce it, there is only one way to understand it… it really means oh what JOY, or oh how HAPPY. We’ve been talking about Joy quite a bit this week, and today I want to talk some more about where it comes from.

In our world happiness is something pursued, something people long to find and hold onto. When people do find it, it is fleeting, it lasts momentarily and then IT IS GONE. They look for it relationships, in experiences, they modify their environment every way they can think of all in an attempt to feel HAPPY. The feeling comes for a moment and then flees to some unknown place, leaving the person sad and empty.

Here in this psalm we read that the truly happy man, the man who has LASTING JOY, is the man who’s:

1. Transgressions (willful sins) are forgiven.
2. Sin is covered (not by himself, but by the Lord… love covers a multitude of sins).
3. Iniquity is not imputed to him (this means their record has been cleared of all guilt).
4. Spirit is free of deceit (honest living, nothing hidden).

The key to having these 4 JOY GIVING realities in your life is CONFESSION and REPENTANCE. As Christians we can come to the Lord and COME CLEAN. We have the blood of Jesus to wash us clean. I will never forget the sheer JOY I felt the day I came totally clean before God and my closest friends for the first time. FREEDOM! GRACE! My soul was singing, my heart was dancing… it was glorious. A burden I had borne for far too long came falling off, “my chains were gone, I’d been set free”.

Everyday I remember that I am a free and forgiven man. It thrills me to this day, I can’t even begin to tell you the joy it is to know I am forgiven and loved by the God of the universe. We read two days ago that “the sorrow may last for a night, but joy comes in the morning”. So opposite of the worlds experience… I don’t have to chase happiness anymore, now I live in the presence of God, where I find FULNESS OF JOY.

psalm 31

Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the LORD.
(Psa 31:24)

Yesterday we talked about the wonderful HOPE that we have as believer’s. We pointed out that for the Christian, suffering is always temporary, and we have a promise of ABUNDANT LIFE for all of eternity. We have HOPE. Today we see David in the middle of a time of difficulty. Enemies of every sort press in on him, literal ones and spiritual ones. He is tired, weary, and wanting it all to end; yet he continues to look to the Lord. David sets an example for us in that he doesn’t ABANDON HOPE in difficulty, but he CLINGS TO IT.

We are described in verse 24, the closing verse of the Psalm, as those who “hope in the Lord”. As believers this should be an accurate description of all of us. We don’t put our hope in the things of this world, but we put it in the Lord! The exhortation here is simple but profound. If we hope in the Lord, we should be of “good courage”. The Hebrew word translated “be of good courage” literally means to “seize upon” in it’s primitive form. I like that. It isn’t a “keep a stiff upper lip” kind of courage, it is a “hang on to Jesus with all you have” kind of courage. If we cling to the Lord then He will STRENGTHEN our hearts. The idea is that as we cling to Him, He will give to us the boldness, courage, and strength we lack… He will change our hearts and prepare them to face even the fiercest foe.

So, You who hope in the Lord, CLING TO JESUS! Let Him strengthen you so you may be ready to face whatever challenge may come your way!

Psalm 30

For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.

(Psa 30:5)

You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give You thanks forever!

(Psa 30:11-12)

Being a Christian provides a person with SO MUCH HOPE. For people who don’t know the Lord, tragedy here in this world can be debilitating and leave them feeling HOPELESS. The worst this world has to send our way, according to this psalm, will only last for a “moment”, or for the “night”. Suffering for the believer is never a permanent situation, it is forever transient. For us, the favor of God lasts for a lifetime, and there will always be a bright morning of Joy to end our nights of weeping.

The psalmist tells us that God can take our MOURNING, and turn it into DANCING. I love that picture. Mourning is probably the greatest possible expression of human sorrow, while a spontaneous dance is one of the greatest expressions of pure joy. What is it that can affect such powerful change? It is the PERSON and WORK of Jesus. At its core, all of our sorrow and suffering are directly or indirectly related to SIN. Jesus alone has conquered sin and death, therefore HE is the only one who can turn mourning to dancing.

As a Christian, we know Jesus. Therefore, no matter how badly we are suffering, we KNOW that one day the Lord will make everything right. Rejoice in the hope we have, for it CANNOT BE EXTINGUISHED!!!

Psalm 29

Throughout this Psalm we see David talking about the “voice of the LORD” over and over again. The voice is our primary means of communication. We can use it to talk, sing, laugh, cry, or even scream. By changing our tone we can communicate the whole spectrum of human emotion; from happy to sad, excited to disappointed, it all can be discerned by listening to the voice.

Sometimes when you hear a person sing you think, “wow, what a voice”. Here we are told that there is NO ONE who has a voice like our God. Listen to the way David describes it:

1. It echoes above the sea
2. It is powerful
3. It is majestic
4. It splits and shatters Cedar trees
5. It makes mountains and hills skip and leap
6. It’s like the strike of a bolt of lightning
7. It makes the wilderness quake
8. It twist’s the oaks and strips the forest

A voice is a medium that carries a message. We see that God’s VOICE is powerful here, like no other voice on earth. Forget a voice that breaks glass, God’s voice wrecks the wilderness! So the question is, what is the message that the powerful voice of God carries? What is it that God is speaking, singing, shouting, crying out to the world? When God finally uses the full power of his voice, it will carry a message of judgment to a world that has long rejected Him and His ways. But, remember, we looked last week in Psalm 19 at the fact that God has been speaking without making a sound for a VERY LONG TIME. He is speaking through His creation, and through His word. His message is clear… Sin has separated us from Him, but He has provided us with a way to be restored… will you listen to that still small voice? Will you use your voice to carry His message to the world around you? The voice of God carries what we know as the Word of God. Open your Bible today, and listen as that powerful, majestic voice rises far above the voices of this world, breaking up the hardness of your heart, and reaching you with the healing only He can bring. Let God’s voice echo in your heart today, and heed the words He speaks!!!

Psalm 28

Psa 28:6 Blessed be the LORD, Because He has heard the voice of my supplications!

Have you ever been excited to talk to someone over the phone? You quickly dial their number and the phone rings...and rings and rings. All of a sudden all that excitement can be turned to dissappoinment. The amazing thing is, it is never like that with Jesus. He always hears our calls.

Ithink people get frustrated praying. It can happen for two reasons. They either do not wait to hear back from the Lord or they ar not getting the answers they want. God will always hear your supplication, but He will not always say "yes." If you are actively seeking a relationship with Him, that does not matter. The most important thing is the communication, not the results. His answer is best, and our submission is necessary.

Do not become weary of talking with the Lord. It is the most beautiful thing that we, being finite, are talking with the Eternal One. David was a man who fell in love with God by simply spending time with Him. We do not read that David as at th temple everyday or that he became a priest. In his going in's and coming out's, he was in constant fellowship with the Lord. God hears you always. Why not be in constant fellowship with Him?

Psalm 27

Psa 27:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?

Mr. O'Keefe recently taught in this verse during a Sunday morning. In the lesson we learned the condition of David when he wrote it. He was trapped. In a human perspective, he was about to make his last stand. However, David knew the Lord and the calling upon his life. He knew that he was ordained to become king of Israel. Through faith David writes this beautiful Psalm.

Light and salvation go hand in hand. You highschool boys are going to learn that tonight! I picture a ship out at sea. It needs to see the lighthouse in order to get a gauge at how close they are to shore. Without that beam of light all may seem hopeless. With that beam, they carefully gauge their next step.

Fear is the proverbial darkness that causes our shipwrecks. Our light is Jesus. Without Him, fear will destroy us. With Him, we can carefully plan our next steps in this life. Gang, lean on Jesus. Allow Him to provide the hope you need to brighten even the darkest of situations. Like David, you may think you are in the darkest of situations, however the moment you mention the salvation and light that comes from hanging on to Him, you ill notice you are in very good hands.

Psalm 26:8

Psa 26:8 LORD, I have loved the habitation of Your house, And the place where Your glory dwells.

Sometimes we get so caught up in the business of things. I have seen sports stars talk about getting too caught up in the business, and forgetting to simply love the game they are playing. I have seen people forget about the positives of their job and simply get caught up in the negatives. Well, there are certainly business aspects in a church. You have to pay rent for the building, and you have to clean. Money does switch hands. Nevertheless, the church is far from a business, and so so is your relationship with Jesus.

In the verse above the psalmist writes, "I have loved the habitation of your house..." David was not concerned with any business at all. He loved God. He loved the fact that he could talk to God. He was just excited to go the church and praise the Lord. He was excited that at any moment, he could sing a song of praise to the Lord. There are numerous responsibilities that come from being a Christian, yet do not get caught up in them. Simply love the presence of the Lord. When you cease to love the Lord's presence, and you treat Christianity like a job, you will start to be burdened by it. Relationship is replaced by religion, and religion is heavy. Instead, just enjoy the His presence. Love coming to church and hearing of His majesty. God does not wish to add burdens to our lives or fill up our schedule. He simply longs for relationship, the rest is just the result of being in love with Him.

I love the habitation of my Lord and the place where His glory dwells. I love the place of communion with Him, wherever that is.

Psalm 25

Psa 25:1 A Psalm of David. To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
Psa 25:3 Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed; Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.

The soul is the sweetest thing the Lord has given you. It is what makes you, you. It is why you are quiet person, or loud person, or somewhere in between. It is your character, the distinctions that form who you are, beyond just your physical looks. The Lord made a specific soul for you, and He loves your soul.

I believe this is very important for us to understand. We are to be made into the image of Jesus Christ, however, we all have distinctions. Though we all be made perfectly into the Lord's image through the Spirit, the Lord would see us all differently because of our souls. Realize that God loves your soul. He loves what makes you, you. He loves the distinction He placed in you from day one. He plans on using it for His purpose. 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 talks about all our different gifts in the body. In between those chapters is the one element that unifies all our gifts, love. Truly to live in perfect love with one another is make our souls one under the head, Christ Jesus.

This chapter begins by emphasisinng the soul. David lifts up his soul as if an offering to the Lord. Secondly, he states we need not be ashamed. If there is any flaw in us to be ashamed it is the guilt of our soul. Our flesh was born into sin. It is always going to lust because of Adam's sin. Our soul is different. It has the option to choose and be conformed. How often we choose, in our soul, the wrong ways. How often, in our souls, we think the wrong thoughts. How often, in our souls, we praise the wrong god.

Jesus loves His creation. Jsus loves you. He loves what makes you, you. Finally, he asks you to bring it before Him, unashamed. Do not be ashamed of you, instead continue to allow it to be a tool in the Lord's hands. The more time you spend with Jesus, the more your soul will look like Him. Therefore do not let shame seperate you from spending time with Christ.

Psalm 24

Psa 24:7 Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.

Accepatance is a comforting thing. We seem to do anything just to gain acceptance. The more acceptance and access we have the better we feel. This is why people try to get back stage passes. This is why there are people at stadiums, preventing you from sitting in the lower sections unless you have the apprpriate ticket. Even more so when you enter goverment buildings and places of importance. We always want the door open to us.

Mr. O'Keefe was teaching on Sunday and he pointed out something that happened when Jesus died. The curtain in the temple was torn in two. It signified access to the Holy of Holies. Above we read, "Lift up your heads, O you gates...and the King of glory shall come in."

The only way to Lord was through His redemptive blood. Gates were lifted when that happened. There was now a birdge between God and man and His name is Jesus. Heaven's doors were made wide open for me and you. There is one more door described in revelation which only can be opened by you. Jesus says He stands at the door and knocks. Truly one day the Lord will ride through heavenly gates, come down to earth and walk right through the gates of Jerusalem. It will be a show of His power, that truly by His blood He has complete access to Heaven and earth. Nonetheless, He today He knocks on hearts. The promise is read up above: Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.

Psalm 23

Psa 23:3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake.

We are all very familier with this Psalm. It is an absolutely beautiful piece of song and poetry. It goes further than that, seeing that this is absolutely true. The Lord is our shepherd, and He watches over us. Like a shepherd takes care of his sheep, the Lord takes care of us. Like a shepherd leads the sheep to water, so the Lord leads us to living water. He takes hold of our hand and restores us.

The beautiful thing about this psalm is it is entirely focused on what the Lord does. Never do we read of what we can do, but simply hat He has done and will continue to do until we are with Him. Like sheep, we are not self sufficient. Like sheep, we get lost easily. Like sheep, we need to be led to water. Therefore He restores our soul, and we benefit from the care of the shepherd.

We live in a world which praises the self sufficient. True, you are going to have to take care of yourself to one extent. In the end, the Lord will take care of you. He holds us. He leads us to still water. He restores our soul. If you try to do these things you will only get worn out trying. If you simply lean on the love of the shepherd and in humility accept His providence, burdens and stress will be released from your life.

Psalm 22

Psalm 22 is what we call a “Messianic” psalm, which is just a fancy way of saying this psalm is prophetic, and speaks about Jesus. This particular Messianic Psalm speaks about the CRUCIFIXION of Jesus. In fact, you might have noticed that Jesus quoted the first verse of this psalm when he was crucified… “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

There are a lot of things we could look at in this psalm, but I want to look at one little phrase… it is the part of verse 6 where Jesus says, “I am a WORM and not a man”. The word translated as WORM is the Hebrew word TOLA. The Tola is not just a common worm; it is the SCARLET WORM from which scarlet dye was derived. When we read in Isaiah the famous passage where God says, “though your skins be as SCARLET, they shall be made as white as SNOW”, Tola is the word used for scarlet. This is an interesting fact. Here we have Jesus saying I am the TOLA, the one who provides dye… It was his blood that would bring us forgiveness. He became TOLA when He took our sins upon Himself, making forgiveness and new life a possibility for all of us.

Read this psalm again and think about how much Jesus went through for “the joy set before Him”. All this so you and I could be called His daughters and sons.

Psalm 21

Your hand will find all Your enemies; Your right hand will find those who hate You. You shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of Your anger; The LORD shall swallow them up in His wrath, And the fire shall devour them.

(Psa 21:8-9)

Normally not the type of verses we focus on in a “devotional” blog like this, but I thought it was worth taking a look at. The context is David praising God for the victory that had been granted to him in battle. Remember yesterdays Psalm? We looked at the verse that says, “some trust in horses, some trust in chariots, but I will trust in the Lord my God”. Today, we see that David putting his trust in the Lord, rather than in the ways of man had paid off. He had received victory, and blessings that exceeded what he had even asked for. As David sings his praise to the Lord, he begins talking about the judgment of God, and he focuses in on this idea that in the end, none will escape it.

The Bible is clear on these things, yet we often bow to the pressure of society around us, and we soft-pedal this truth. If someone is not FOR God, then he is AGAINST Him. If someone rejects Jesus, no matter how good, religious, or kind-hearted that person may seem, they are making themselves the enemy of God. Maybe you have heard people say things like, “It isn’t that I hate Jesus, I just don’t really want to follow Him”. Or maybe you’ve heard one like this, “Christianity is right and good for you, but not for me… I am on another path that is also right and good, and will ultimately lead to God.”

There is a lot of pressure today in the world around us to be “tolerant”. What they mean by this word is we shouldn’t judge the truth of anyone’s religion, and definitely not make any statements about who goes to heaven and who goes to hell. The problem with “tolerance” is that it flies in the face of all we believe. Jesus called us to LOVE those around us, even our enemies… and there is nothing loving about lying to a person and telling them they are fine if you KNOW they are headed for hell. We need to be clear, there is no middle ground… it is for or against. May the Lord help us to be bold as we speak these truths in love to the world around us.

Psalm 20

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the LORD our God.

(Psa 20:7)

You have probably heard this verse before, but have you ever given much thought to what is being talked about. Chariots and Horses were instruments of war… in a sense they were the most sophisticated assets to national defense that existed in those days. The tanks and war-machines of the day, they were, from a human perspective, the deciding factor in any battle; whoever had more would be victorious.

Today we can be the same way… putting our trust in homeland security, or feeling safe because of the defenses of our country… these things are really nothing in and of themselves. Everything man creates will fail at one point or another… Horses and Chariots landed the Egyptians at the bottom of the Red Sea; and trust in the Lord got the Israelites safely to the other side.

It reminds me of a passage from Jeremiah:

Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the LORD. For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, And shall not see when good comes, But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, In a salt land which is not inhabited. "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, And whose hope is the LORD. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.

(Jer 17:5-8)

So, what do YOU trust in? Not in theory, but in practice. What are you relying upon, what are you looking to provide for your needs, and strengthen you in your weakness? Some will look to horses; some will look to chariots; but as for me… I’ll put my trust in the LORD my God.

psalm 19

Psalm 19 is one of my personal favorites… It is beautiful, powerful, and stirring. Every time I read it I wish I could hear David singing it under the stars as a young shepherd watching over his flocks.

At first glance it may appear a bit disjointed. It jumps from all of this talk about the glories of creation to a discourse on the power of God’s Word. But, if we will examine it a little bit closer, we will find that there is ONE OVERARCHING THEME to this Psalm, and its message is PROFOUND. I want you to go and re-read the Psalm, but as you read it, I want you to think about one word: REVELATION. Not the book at the end of your bible, the CONCEPT. REVELATION, God speaking to man, God REVEALING Himself to us… Go ahead, stop reading this blog RIGHT NOW, and go and read Psalm 19 again… Really… Why are you still reading this???

Have you read it? If you haven’t, don’t go on… it’s like opening a present before Christmas! OK, now that you have read it again, thinking about how GOD REVEALS HIMSELF and HIS TRUTH to us, does it make more sense?

The God of Creation and the God of the Bible are one in the same. We cannot PROPERLY know one without knowing the other. God SPEAKS. He speaks all day every day, through His Word, and through ALL HE HAS MADE. The stars in the sky, the clouds as they fly, the sun as it travels, THEY ARE SCREAMING OUT TO THE WHOLE WORLD: GOD IS GLORIOUS!!!!! They reveal not only His existence, but His greatness, His beauty, His goodness, and His glory. Then we open His word, and we see HIS VERY NATURE. His holiness and Love, His grace and mercy, His justice and compassion; truly, who is like the LORD?

The revelation of God, according to Psalm 19:10, is more desirable than gold and sweeter than honey… and you have it sitting in your lap and waiting right outside your door. Friends, I urge you with all of my heart KNOW YOUR GOD. Fall in love with Him. Let Him be your everything!

My prayer for all of us is David’s closing statement in this Psalm… “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to You, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.”

Psalm 18

You enlarged my path under me, so my feet did not slip.

(Psa 18:36)

In this psalm David lists many of the blessings that come with following the Lord. Out of all of the blessings he talks about, the one quoted above grabbed my attention. The idea of this verse is simple really. As David walked through life, he recognized that God was BROADENING HIS PATH and STRENGTHENING HIS ANKLES.

The reason this stands out to me is I have had a lot of problems with twisted ankles; or as this passage puts it “my feet slip”. The fact is I am much more likely to twist my ankle on a rocky narrow path than on a broad paved road. David is commenting here on a beautiful truth. Though his life had brought him through many dangers places and difficult times, as he kept his eyes on the Lord, the Lord was faithful to do these 2 things: To broaden the path beneath his feet, and to give greater strength to his ankles.

The “path” and “strength” we are talking about are not merely physical; like the dangers David faced they are primarily SPIRITUAL in nature. David could have “slipped” in his trust of the Lord as he ran from Saul. He could have “tripped” over the difficult path he traveled, knowing he had been anointed king yet living like a fugitive. David didn’t trip slip or fall in his walk with the Lord because he KNEW that God was with him every step of the way, removing obstacles and giving him the necessary strength.

The same can be true of us… listen to the promise of proverbs 4:12 “When you walk, you won't be held back; when you run, you won't stumble.” – The prerequisite is simple… listen to the words of scripture and do them; pursue wisdom and understanding. It is through relationship with Jesus that we can walk without being held back and run without stumbling.

Psalm 17

Guard me as You would guard Your own eyes. Hide me in the shadow of Your wings.

(Psa 17:8)

This is one of my favorite phrases in scripture… “The shadow of Your wings”. Now, this is obviously a metaphor because God doesn’t have literal wings… He is Spirit, not flesh and bone. We also never really abide under a physical “shadow”. So the question is, what is this a metaphor for? What are we talking about? What does God provide for us here as we talk about “wings” and “shadows”?

Let’s start with the wings. I get this image of a mother bird caring for her young. Under the wings of the mother the children find warmth in the presence of cold, shelter in the presence of storm, and safety in the midst of an attack. They are SAFE and SECURE. This word for wings can also mean “skirt”. In bible times to “spread your skirt” over someone was symbolic of making a MARRIAGE COVENANT with them. When a man brings a woman into a marriage, he offers to do these same things for them. Protection, safety, and security; all of these things are made available to the bride. Jesus offers this kind of protection for ALL OF US.

The idea of SHADOW is one of abiding in the protection that God provides. The shadow is the area covered by the wing. David’s prayer was that God would hide him in this place of refuge. God wants to provide this same protection for us… will we accept it???

Psalm 16

I said to the LORD, "You are my Master! Every good thing I have comes from You."

(Psa 16:2)

Have you ever noticed that the question people ask is always, “why does God let bad things happen?” I don’t know about you, but I’ve never had an irate person walk up to me and say, “Why does your God do good things to people!!!” The problem is, we think PERFECTION is what we deserve, and whenever anything short of perfection befalls us, we blame God. IT RAINED ON MY VACATION!!! MY CAR BROKE DOWN AND I MISSED MY FLIGHT!!! I GOT FIRED FOR SOMETHING I DIDN’T DO!!! I GOT AN “F” ON MY PAPER EVEN THOUGH I DID MY BEST!!! Why would You let that happen God?! Why weren’t you there for me?!

We have it all backwards. As sinful people living in a broken world, disaster should be the norm. Yet we take it for granted that things will just “go right”. What we need to realize is that EVERY good thing that EVER happens to us is a GIFT from God. In spite of this broken world, in spite of Satan’s desire to destroy, in spite of our own wretched sinfulness; God STILL reaches through and blesses us with GOOD GIFTS every day.

When David wrote this Psalm, he wasn’t sitting pretty; he was seeking refuge, shelter from the world around him. He was very aware of the BAD things going on, but his focus was where it needed to be, the GOOD THINGS God was doing and had promised to do! Remember today that you don’t deserve anything but death, and praise God that rather than giving us our “just desserts” He blesses us with GOOD GIFTS!

Psalm 15

Psa 15:2 He who walks uprightly, And works righteousness, And speaks the truth in his heart;

All the world's a stage,And all the men and women merely players;They have their exits and their entrances,And one man in his time plays many parts,His acts being seven ages.

It is quote week at 3yearBible! Some of you might recognize the above quote. It was written by the world’s greatest playwright, William Shakespeare. In many ways the quote is true. How often are we putting on a show, playing a part in this thing called life. When you go to church, work, school, with friends, and with authorities, we often put up a mask. The mask is what we think people want to hear. This is why we will say one thing in front of our friends and another thing in front of our teachers, because we know what they want to hear.

Well, there is one place where we are ourselves no matter what. In our hearts are hidden thoughts that are never said. We keep them carefully hidden away that know one might know the truth about us. Well, the heart is not entirely yours. God hears the heart. Everyone else are dependent upon your words and actions, however God is peering into the real you and the real me.

The verse above states that the man who “speaks the truth in his heart” dwells in the tabernacle of the Lord. If we could gaze into each other’s hearts for one day how many friends would we lose? What would people really think? How fake we would seem! Do not be a fake. Speak the truth, not just the words people want to hear. The Word of God will be offensive at times. Before you can utter these words out loud, you must believe it in your heart. Remember that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Speak truth in your heart, that it might shine in your life.

Psalm 14

Psa 14:1 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. The fool has said in his heart,"There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good.

Atheist Quotes:

You keep believing, I'll keep evolving

I still say a church steeple with a lightning rod on top shows a lack of confidence

You're basically killing each other to see who's got the better imaginary friend

Two hands working can do more than a thousand clasped in prayer

You can't convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it's based on a deep-seated need to believe.

Which is it, is man one of God's blunders or is God one of man's?


These are all athestic quotes. The Bible is very simple concerining atheism: "The fool says in their heart there is no God..." Everything around us points to a creator. One would truly have to be a fool to ignore the evidence of their very existence. Nevertheless, God in His holy wisdom not only gave man life, but He gave man freewill. Now man can get together with other more man, and conjure up quotes like the above.

The quotes above are clever, witty, and thought provoking. Nevertheless, they are based on what they do not know rather than what they do. Most importantly, they are written with the intention to not change. To admit there is a God who is involved in our lives is a life changing moment. Some people are content living without that.

Those who wrote those quotes are living the same life you and I are living, except with Jesus. They are without a way, a truth, or true life. They are without love. They are without grace and mercy. As Christians, we need to extend th true Gospel to atheists. They need to know more than religion. They need to know Jesus.

Psalm 13

Psa 13:5 But I have trusted in Your mercy; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.

David sounds depressed in this psalm. I picture this song being the controversial music amongst the Jews. David utters words like, "How Long?" and "Will you forget me forever?" When you consider the law and all that the priest must do to show holiness unto the Lord, you can see where words like these would sound rather irreverent. Can God forget? Should we even dare to limit Him to our own humanness, even in song?

David was the first emo artist. He is obviously under much affliction. He even mentions his death, thinking that this may be the inevitable end. Despite the sorrow, there is hope. In verse 5 he mentions the hope that comes in the salvation of the Lord.

Salvation means deliverance. It is difficult to be delivered unless you have something to be delivered from. Hence we have David, painting the opening lines with the weakness of his own faith, only to counter it with the strength of God's salvation. Unlike emo songs, which often end in tragedy, David knew there was a greater hope, a better deliverance, and a more powerful God behind his life.

Depression is not caused by painful events. If so, David and many other Biblical figures would have been amognst the most depressed of peoples. No, depression is the result of painful events, and no deliverance. Find salvation in the Lord, because He deals bountifully with us.

Psalm 12

Psa 12:4 Who have said, "With our tongue we will prevail; Our lips are our own; Who is lord over us?" … the words of the LORD are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times (v.7).

When you seek the truth within, you begin to live a life that honors your deepest desires. –Cheryl Richardson

"We can't expect to have authentic relationships with others unless we trust ourselves first." — Manhattan psychotherapist Florence Falk

"If you hear a voice within you say, 'You are not a painter,' then by all means paint…and that voice will be silenced." — Vincent van Gogh

"There's a huge difference between being awakened to the fact that you exist and being self-centered. You're not self-centered, you just know that you're on the planet now." — Dr. Robin Smith

My goal is to improve who I am as a person. I am doing it for me because I deserve a better life. – unknown

I am so glad Christianity is not about our words, but it is about God’s words. Every quote above (and there are plenty more) are dedicated to “finding one’s self.” Once found, you can then continue to rule as lord over one’s life. The world is so designed that: if you are not asking “who is lord over us” it will teach how to get to that place that you can ask it. Notice, there are three types of people on the earth: the lords and the depressed.

Most likely you will never be the best at anything. I am not the best at anything I know of. Yet, through God’s grace, we are treated to the best every day. We are treated to the best life, the best words, the best song and the best position we could ever hope to be treated to. Every day you and I have the privilege to go before the Lord and read from HIS words! The psalmist says they are like silver tried in a furnace of earth. Pause. SEVEN TIMES! They are pure words. I have had pure orange juice, pure honey, and seen pure gold. Imagine pure words.

It is all about God. To make oneself lord is only pride. You do not need to believe in you. You do not need to speak profoundly. We have the best in Jesus. I do not deserve a better life, however I have one.

Psalm 11

Psa 11:4 The LORD is in His holy temple, The LORD's throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.

I work in a cubicle. Tommy works in a shared office (with the coolest guy on earth). Others work from the highest levels of buildings. Others work on the stage. Others work in the Oval Office. Others work on the football field. Who is going to have more persuasive power in any given situation, Tommy and I or the man who works in the Oval Office, the stage, or the football field? Of course the guys in powerful positions.

The LORD is in a very powerful position. He is in His Holy Temple. The Lord's throne is heaven. Unlike the people of earth, the Lord is not powerful because of His position. Instead, Heaven and the Temple are powerful because of Him. He is the source of power, and it is far beyond persuasion.

The greatest thing about it all is, the Lord is on our side! The Allmighty is completely in love with me and you. Hence, David, the psalmist writes in verse one, "In the LORD I put my trust." David realizes that He who stands in the position of power is for him. Imagine living with the full realization that God, in the position of power, stands behind us. How would it effect your day? How would it effect the way you approach difficult decisions? How would it effect the way you handle your finances? How would it effect the way you conduct yourself in the midst of your fears? Realize where God is... and go live.

psalm 10

But You have seen, for You observe trouble and grief, To repay it by Your hand. The helpless commits himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.

(Psa 10:14)

LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear, To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, That the man of the earth may oppress no more.

(Psa 10:17-18)

We see here in this psalm the story of the wicked, the way He oppresses the fatherless, the helpless, the humble… It’s a theme that comes up over and over in the Psalms. You see these wicked men who begin to believe that there is no God, they begin to behave like they are the top of the chain of command, and no one can stop theme or even correct them for the wrongs that they do.

Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines the word “oppress” this way:

1. To load or burden with unreasonable impositions; to treat with unjust severity, rigor or hardship; as, to oppress a nation with taxes or contributions; to oppress one by compelling him to perform unreasonable service.

2. To overpower; to overburden; as, to be oppressed with grief.

3. to sit or lie heavy on; as, excess of good oppresses the stomach.

The original Hebrew word that is used here is the word ARATS. It literally means to cause someone to be filled with dread. The idea connected with it was that by harassing in individual you could so overwhelm them with fear and dread of what you may do to them, you could cause them to do whatever you wanted them to.

The thing the oppressor doesn’t realize is that GOD IS WATCHING, AND HE WILL DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. He is going to repay and bring justice… He tells us here that in the end, the man of the earth will oppress no more. It will come to an end. One day all of the harassment will end. All of the foul and evil things done to people who are weak and needy will be put to a stop.

We read here that in the meantime, the helpless are to “commit themselves” to the Lord. So for you, if you are suffering today, if you find yourself harassed and afraid because of an enemy that may be physical or spiritual, commit yourself to the Lord. Encourage those around you, the helpless, the needy, the fatherless, and the humble; to do the same. The Lord will see to it that one day this to shall be made right.

Psalm 9

To the Chief Musician. To The Tune of "Death of the Son." a Psalm of David. I will praise You, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

(Psa 9:1-2)

Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion! Declare His deeds among the people.

(Psa 9:11)

That I may tell of all Your praise In the gates of the daughter of Zion. I will rejoice in Your salvation.

(Psa 9:14)

This Psalm is full of the idea of PRAISE and REJOICING. Notice the specifics David gives about how, when, and where he will praise the Lord.

1. With His whole Heart
2. by telling of the marvelous works of the Lord
3. With Gladness
4. Praising the name (the character) of the MOST HIGH
5. Declare His deeds among the people
6. Tell of His praise in the gates
7. Rejoice in His salvation

When and how do you praise the Lord? What does your “worship look like? Does it involve your WHOLE HEART? Is it done in private and in public? Is it done with GLADNESS? Do you rejoice in how God has saved you? Do you praise Him for all of His works?

What we see here is that David wanted PRAISE to mark every part of His life and the lives of others. An attitude of worship, of rejoicing in the works of God is something that should be shared with the world around us according to this passage. That doesn’t mean we have to literally walk around saying “PRAISE THE LORD!” all the time. The idea is that we would be telling people very chance we get about God and the great things He has done in our lives! “Declare the deeds of the Lord among the people”.

Psalm 8

I love psalm 8! It paints such a POWERFUL picture for us of how puny we are in God’s sight, but how blessed we are in the fact that He still bestows great honor and responsibility on us. The psalmist begins with the thought that even infants have an understanding of the praise worthiness of God. He then points us to the vastness of the heavens and what they contain. When the psalmist think about these things it causes him to ask “what is man?!?!”

We sometimes start to think we are really something. We act as though we are ALL THAT MATTTERS and the world revolves around us. In fact, man used to believe that everything in the universe revolved around the earth. It was almost like a subtle form of self worship. But what’s the truth? We know that in our solar system everything revolves around the SUN. The sun is our source of light and heat; it is the thing that gives us LIFE.

I believe that God’s design here is intentional. He is described in scripture as both FIRE and LIGHT, and holiness is described using both of those attributes. The psalmist sees God’s creation and remembers that it is GOD that really matters! Everything we are, everything we know is totally dependant on HIM.

It doesn’t end here for the psalmist though… he goes on to describe how God has blessed us, and given us a very special role. We are ABOVE all other creatures on earth, for we are SPIRITUAL CREATURES. God made us a little lower than the angels, and He crowned us with GLORY. We are made to be like HIM, to reflect HIM in the world around us.

Take a look at the world around you, and be reminded that life isn’t about you; it is about God and your ability to reflect His glory!

Psalm 7

The wicked conceive evil; they are pregnant with trouble and give birth to lies. They dig a deep pit to trap others, then fall into it themselves. The trouble they make for others backfires on them. The violence they plan falls on their own heads.

(Psa 7:14-16)

What an interesting way to describe the progression of the plots of the wicked. They begin with an EVIL IDEA. That grows until they are PREGNANT with TROUBLE. When that trouble is fully developed it gives birth to lies and deception. These people think that they will be able to get away with their wicked plots, but ultimately they won’t.

The psalmist describes the downfall of the wicked three ways here.

1. They dig a pit, and then they fall into it. I think this is interesting. I f you dig a pit, it is a TRAP. When you trap someone or something it means you have to surprise them unexpectedly, suddenly. So here we see this wicked individual spend time to spring a trap on an unsuspecting victim, and their own trap catches them.
2. They make trouble for others, but it backfires on them. Similar idea, but instead of a trap, you are just actively troubling someone, making their life difficult. Here that troublemaking ultimately makes the TROUBLERS life worse, rather than the victim!
3. The violence they plan for others falls on their own heads. They plot to harm someone and end up being harmed themselves.

This reminds me of Haman; we studied him in Esther. He wanted to kill Mordecai the Jew, and ended up the victim of his own plotting. The Lord has a way of dealing with the wicked, and causing them to reap what they have sown.

The question we need to ask ourselves today is simple: Have I allowed any evil ideas to start brewing trouble in my heart? Am I getting ready to give birth to those things? The Bible tells us that we need to TAKE THOSE EVIL THOUGHTS CAPTIVE before they have a chance to grow into anything else. Are you taking them captive or are they taking you captive?