Tag: psalms

Psalm 51:1-17

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            Today is Ash Wednesday, the first of forty days in Lent (six weeks) on the Christian Calendar which is designed to remind us of our mortality, God’s grace, and the great need for repentance and faith in Jesus.  There is perhaps no better place in Scripture to go than this psalm of David.  It is the consummate prayer of confession and repentance.
 
            If we struggle to know how to respond to our sin when we become aware of it, then this psalm is meant for us.  We are to use it and adopt it as our own.  The words of Holy Scripture are not simply ancient texts for a bygone era; they are living words to be read, prayed, meditated upon, memorized, and engrafted into the soul.  “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.”  Notice that David asked for mercy based upon God’s character, and not on the ground of the quality or intensity of his confession.
 
            If we trust only in our hearts, then our hearts will eventually condemn us because they can be desperately wicked.  But if we throw ourselves headlong into the vast ocean of God’s mercy, then we shall receive forgiveness of sins and assurance of pardon because God’s steadfast love never changes.  Ashes upon the forehead today are to be a reminder of our frailty and propensity toward sin; they are a symbol of repentance and desire for mercy.  Of all days, today is the day to set aside the pride of achievement and the pretense of appearing to have it all together, and humbly submit to God in repentance and faith.
 

 

            Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.  Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.  In Jesus’ Name I pray.  Amen.

Psalm 99

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            The Revised Common Lectionary daily scripture texts are arranged in such a way as to illuminate the significance of the Sunday readings, to encourage an overall reading of the Bible over the span of the year, and to provide a solid foundation for prayer.  Thus, the three days of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are designed to reflect on the previous Sunday; the three days of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday are meant to anticipate and prepare for the coming Sunday.  One psalm is used in the first three days for reflection; and, one psalm is used in the last three days for preparation.
 
            Today’s psalm is designed to help us prepare for Transfiguration Sunday in which we recognize and celebrate our Lord Christ’s bright glory on the mountain in the presence of three disciples.  The pinnacle of the event was God the Father enveloping them all, including Moses and Elijah, in a cloud and speaking to them.  Psalm 99 is meant for praise.  It connects us with the pillar of cloud that occurred when the Israelites came out of Egypt to the cloud that descended on the Mount of Transfiguration.
 
            Just as God spoke and gave his commandments to Moses in the Old Testament, so he has spoken in these last times through his Son, Jesus.  Christ is the fulfillment of all God’s good promises.  Think of these next few days as taking a pilgrimage to the mountain where we will meet with God.  Sing songs of praise.  Read Psalm 99 over several times in a spirit of worship and anticipation.  Orient your heart around Jesus, and be ready to listen to him.  For the Lord Jesus Christ has come to be our hope, our trust, and our life.
 

 

            Lord God Almighty, I exalt you and praise your holy name for you have done mighty things.  Speak, Lord, for I am listening to your voice, and I am attentive to the words of your Son, Jesus.  Spirit of God, illumine my mind and my heart to receive what you have to say to me.  Amen.

Psalm 71:1-6

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment


            The biblical psalms do two wonderful services for us as God’s people:  first, a constant stream of reading, quoting, memorizing, and meditating on them actually shapes our faith into a full-orbed, mature, and robust belief; and, second, the psalms provide us with a healthy means of expressing the complete range of our human experience.  So, then, the psalms both reflect our feelings, and, at the same time, form those feelings in order to know God better, cope with situations, and relate appropriately with others.  The fourth-century Bishop of Alexandria, Athanasius, had it right about the psalms when he said:  “Whatever your particular need or trouble, from this same book you can select a form of words to fit it, so that you not merely hear and pass on, but learn the way to remedy your ill.”
             Today’s psalm is one of lament, the expression of a person getting along in years and discovering all the limitations and weaknesses that go along with aging.  It is a plea for help.  Whereas in younger days the psalmist had the vigor to engage problems and enemies, now he has the realization that he must more and more depend upon God.  
             I have personally encountered far too many people hitting the aging process that do not deal with it well.  The change to their bodies, even their minds, is so unwelcome that they do not cope quickly, or, sometimes, at all.  Based upon the psalms I would insist that lament is a powerful and necessary form of coming to grips with change.  God has not promised us life-long health and constant energy; rather, he has promised to be with us as our refuge and help through all the vicissitudes of changing health and altered situations.  Let praying the psalms, then, be a regimen as familiar and daily as your using your pill planner and taking your meds.
             Ever-watchful God, you are a rock of refuge, a never changing deity in a world of constant change.  You are my hope, Lord, and my faith has been in you all my life.  I lament all the difficult changes I encounter; I can never go back to the way things were.  So, please open to me a new reality where fresh hope and life can be found, through Jesus Christ my Savior.  Amen.

Psalm 19

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment


            One of the bedrock realities of the world is that God created the heavens and the earth.  Furthermore, he has given us his very great and precious promises through his gracious law.  God’s creation reflects his wondrous character.  The sun is the constant presence bringing light, warmth, and life to the earth – just like God.  Everything is creation bears the mark of its Creator to such a degree that it is almost as if the creation itself speaks.  Even at night, it is as if our God keeps constant vigil, gently whispering the knowledge of his presence and protection over us.
             If this were not enough, God has given his people his perfect law with all of its right precepts, clarity of commands, and truthful statutes.  God’s law, like his creation, reflects his gracious character.  The Lord did not leave us alone to fend for ourselves and to try and figure everything out about how to live in God’s world.  He has provided an extension of himself, his law, to provide us with sure footing and solid direction.  The law of the Lord is so good that it is more valuable than gold, and more desirable than any food.
             Since all this creation and law is available to us, it would be a good thing to memorize and meditate on this very psalm.  Take just a few verses with you out for a leisurely walk in God’s good creation.  Carefully reflect on them as you notice all the grand scope of God’s vast sky, and the intricacies of God’s small details.  Let it all rise to a paean of praise and appreciation to the God who notices, has acted, and will intervene.
             Wondrous God, you created the heavens and the earth in its splendor.  Your law mirrors your grace to a world which has lost its way.  In the face of such a large God, cleanse me from my inadvertent sins.  Let the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be acceptable before you, my Rock and my Redeemer.  Amen.