Reading through the Psalms over the last couple of days has
been a huge blessing. I just wanted to share some random thoughts over these
passages that have brought joy to my heart. So hold on for the ride!!
Psalms 18:1-3 ( ESV )
2 The Lord is my rock
and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my
shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
What
I love about Psalms 18:1-3 is all the things that David pictures God as being.
He is his strength, rock, fortress, deliverer, God, a rock of refuge, shield,
horn of salvation, stronghold. He shows us this picture of how God protects by
surrounding us from all sides and in different ways. If that is not enough
there will even be those times in which He will save us from our enemies. David
declares to all that this is a God who is worthy of our praise.
In
Psalms 18:4 and following he tells us how this God of our will deliver us from
our foes. In our distress we can call out and our cries will reach out to Him. God
will move the very foundations of the earth and bow down the heavens for His
saints. This is no timid God that we read about from so many feel good
preachers of today but rather a God who acts as a Father when His children are
in trouble. Note some of the following phrases and words used in the passage,
“devouring fire”, “hailstones”, “thundered”, “foundations laid bare”, He
responds to the cries of his children who are humbled before Him and who do not
have haughty eyes.
He
gives us the strength that we need to make it through the day. Ps. 18:32 He
makes our way secure so that we can climb the heights that are ever before us.
Ps. 18:33 He also trains our hands for the spiritual warfare that we must face.
Ps. 18:34 Here is the beauty of it all!! He will be the shield of our
salvation, He will support us and unlike what He will do with our enemies His
GENTLENESS will make us great. Ps. 18:35
Psalms 19:1-7 ( ESV )
2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals
knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not
heard.
4 Their measuring line£ goes out
through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has
set a tent for the sun,
5 which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like
a strong man, runs its course with joy.
6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the
end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
7 The law of the Lord
is perfect,£ reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
Now
we switch gears as we see the picture of our deliverer to the one who wants to
be made known to His creation. God really does want to have a relationship with
us. He wants to reveal Himself to us. This is seen so clearly in Psalms 19.
As my
old college professors would state God reveals Himself through General
Revelation and Special Revelation. We see the first form of revelation taught
here in verses 1-6. How can a man not believe that there is a God who brought
us into being? The very heavens declare that He is real. One need only need to
look at the stars and the skies above us and reason shouts out that there is an
order to all things. Everything has been put in perfect order.
I
love how he uses personification in describing the sun. It is like the sun
comes out of a tent in the morning with strength and vigor and joy in his heart
to do what His master has called Him to do. The sun that if it was just moved out
of its orbit just barely would either scorch us or leave us like a frozen
planet is held in its perfect position to keep us warm with its heat. The
“fool” has said in his heart that there is no God when he looks at the order of
the universe and declares it to be all by “chance.”
Yet
this God who wants to reveal Himself to us has also done so by special
revelation. One form of this and the most primary is brought up in Psalms 19:7
when David now switches to the Word of God. God wants to make Himself known
through the scriptures. He wants us to get to know Him and to walk with Him.
The beautiful part is that we can trust what He has said about Himself. Why?
David believed that the Word of God is perfect. We have a revelation of God in
our hands that we can trust. His Word is sure and trustworthy. His Word is
powerful in that it can make the simplest of men wise by coming into contact
with it and the author who wrote it.
When
I am down or tired from the battle I can pick up this precious Word and it will
revive me. Why? This Word is not some other book but rather the living and
breathing Word of God which breathes life into my soul. He is real, the Heavens
declare it and the Word of God proves it.
Psalms 20:1-9 ( ESV )
1 May the Lord answer
you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!
2 May he send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from
Zion!
3 May he remember all your offerings and regard with favor your
burnt sacrifices!Selah
4 May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans!
5 May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our
God set up our banners! May the Lord
fulfill all your petitions!
6 Now I know that the Lord
saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving
might of his right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the
name of the Lord our God.
Lastly, I could not help but to close this blog with this blessing.
I can
see David and his men praying this prayer as they prepare to go to battle. The
lines are drawn and the enemy is near. Hope seems futile and all might be lost
yet these words could be said before all. Note how many times the word May is
used in this passage. The Lord can do what is His pleasure with us. Like the
New Testament teaches us, Thy will be done. Yet they ask for God’s blessings to
be upon them.
In
verses 1-2 we see how that in our day of trouble we can call upon the God of
Jacob to protect us. Think about the times in which Jacob was protected by his
God. This same God who protected him wants to watch over us. He just like in
Psalms 18 is willing to leave His place of rest to protect His children.
In
verse 3 He remembers our love for him and the sacrifices that have been made.
He loves it when His children have been obedient to Him and have tried to walk
in His ways. He remembers these things and because of His grace alone He wants
to guard us. We have a God who not only acts in mercy but wants to also give us
the desires of our hearts. How I pray that I will shout for joy over His
goodness and kindness shown to us and wave His banner high.
In
and of myself I have nothing to bring to Him. Just like the little drummer boy
I have no gift to bring, to lay before the king. I do not trust in myself or in
my own strength and plans. What good would all of that do? No, we must not be
like those who trust in chariots and in their horses. We must be marked as
those who will trust alone in the name of the Lord our God. When we look to Him
and for His strength alone we will not collapse and fall but rather through His
power rise and stand upright.
May
we all learn to trust in the Lord our God.
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