Tag: psalms

Psalm 145

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            I believe that every person on planet earth needs a healthy robust theology.  We all have a theology, that is, some understanding of a god, God, or no god at all.  In addition, we all have basic needs in order to thrive and flourish in life.  Physical, emotional, and spiritual needs can be and are met in God.  His grace sustains the universe.  Yet, sometimes we might feel as if God is aloof, distant, or disinterested.  This is where generous attention to the biblical psalms can help us.
 
            Let this psalm buoy a solid theology for you:  “The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.  The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.  He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.  The LORD preserves all who love him.”  God actually bends his ear to hear us; he wants to listen to us acknowledge and cry out to him.  This is no indifferent God.  This is a God who hears and responds.
 
            I am taking time today to read this psalm several times over, to let it awash my soul with significant doses of truth and mercy.  There are simply times when all of us need to remember and be reminded that there is a God in heaven who is able, and is near to respond.  For true human satisfaction does not come through personal ingenuity or accumulation of more knowledge or more stuff.  Rather, our deepest desires and needs are fulfilled in the God who cares.
 

 

            Mighty God, you are both far and near, totally above us yet close at hand.  Preserve me with your mighty power so that I might not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity.  But in all I do direct me to the fulfilling of your purposes through Jesus Christ, my Lord.  Amen.

Psalm 148

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


             The Church Calendar tells us that we are in the fourth day of the twelve days of Christmas.  The time between Christmas Day and Epiphany each year is twelve days.  Whereas during Advent the church anticipates the coming of Christ, the season of Christmas is a grand celebration of the Christ Child.  While those who keep secular time are experiencing a worldly hangover of fickle disappointment with presents and a gnawing in the gut that a single day of celebration is over, the church lingers in her joy over God’s grace in Christ.
             Praise is the currency of the divine economy.  Believers in Jesus deal in it just as a broker immerses himself in the stock market.  But it isn’t only Christians who celebrate; all of creation praises the God of heaven who has wonderfully given us Jesus.  All of creation is summoned to praise the Lord.  Yet, not everything has breath in it to do so.  Therefore God has raised his people to speak on behalf of the creation to do the job of praise.
             Here is an exercise to try the next time you take the dog for a walk or are spending time outdoors:  look at the trees, the rocks, and the elements of creation around you and imagine what they would say to God in praise if they had the breath to do it.  Speak for the creation.  Give it a voice.  Then, later imagine what you can say to God on behalf of people who do not or cannot praise him; be their voice.  Picturing all creation and every creature praising God can give a new and fresh form to how we relate to God, others in need of Jesus, and creation which needs proper care.
             Mighty God, I give you thanks for the gift of your Son, the Lord Jesus.  I, along with all creation, praise your glorious name for extending the grace of salvation to us in Christ.  May I open the gift given me every day throughout the year so that praise continually arises from my soul to the glory of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Psalm 80:1-7

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


            Military defeat had come to the Israelites and they were in grief.  This psalm of lament is a prayer longing for God to come and restore Israel, to no longer look upon them with anger.  The people realized through their vulnerability that they needed God.  It is the Lord who would bring a revitalized nation.  “Stir up your power, and come to save us.  O God, restore us; light up your face and we shall be saved.”
             In an age when we have instant access to information occurring all over the world, it can be overwhelming.  Wars, famine, terrorism, displaced people, refugees fleeing and just trying to survive, women and children in danger, and governments only concerned with holding onto control – all these things (not to mention our personal challenges and adversity) lead us to cry out along with the ancient Israelites:  “Stir up your power, and come to save us.”
             Often in the midst of awful circumstances and emotional pain it is hard to focus with concentrated prayer.  This is where simple short prayers, breath prayers, can help.  Throughout the day we can utter “stir up your power, O God; come to save us.”  The intention of saying it over and over is not to get God’s attention; we already have it.  No, the purpose is to connect with the God who can truly deliver.  It is to be in constant touch with the One who can ultimately restore, renew, revitalize, and reform the world with justice and righteousness.  It is to be longing for the flourishing of the earth and its inhabitants again, and to enjoy walking with God in the garden of fellowship, peace, and goodwill.  Even so, come Lord Jesus.
             Mighty God, as I anticipate the coming of your Son, may your power be active so that there will a restoration of peace, security, and prosperity for all.  To the glory of Jesus, I pray.  Amen.

Psalm 90

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            Sometimes we might forget that the Bible is first and foremost a collection of books about God.  There are times when we get too focused on ourselves – our fears, inadequacies, weaknesses, failures – and lose sight of the hugeness of God.  This psalm is the kind that helps reorient our lives back toward the grand Sovereign of the universe.  There is a decidedly theistic worldview espoused and embedded in the psalm.  It is a cosmology dominated by the immensity and largeness of a God who is pictured as completely in control of his creation.
 
            Let’s face it:  our lives are this weird and complex concoction of fear and joy that can combust at any time.  We swing from high to low, and low to high.  If we are on an even keel it is only because we are currently in the middle of swaying to one extreme or the other.  Even introverts know this – it just happens to all take place inside their vast inner world instead of on the outside for all to see.
 
            So, every one of us needs the grand vision of God in this psalm to anchor us through all the vicissitudes of life.  “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”  The transcendent God, however, is not at all aloof from his creatures; he is also closely imminent.  “You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.”  Nothing gets by God.  He always knows the score.
 
            Our appropriate response to such a God is this:  “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”  When we appropriate a biblical worldview, we learn to measure our days and live consistently moral lives with wholeness and integrity.  This is why a regular regimen of the psalms is important to us, so that we will have before us the nature and character of God.  As we do so, we cannot help but reflect his glory and contribute to human flourishing.
 

 

            Mighty God, satisfy me in the morning with your steadfast love so that I might rejoice and be glad all day, every day.  Let your favor be upon me, and establish the work of my hands for the glory of Jesus.  Amen.