Category: Psalms

Psalm For the Week – 29th July, 2018

Psalm 32 (NKJV)

The Joy of Forgiveness

A Psalm of David. A Contemplation.

32 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,

Whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not [b]impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit.

3 When I kept silent, my bones grew old
Through my groaning all the day long.
4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah
5 I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I have not hidden.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

6 For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You
In a time when You may be found;
Surely in a flood of great waters
They shall not come near him.
7 You are my hiding place;
You shall preserve me from trouble;
You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah

8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will guide you with My eye.
9 Do not be like the horse or like the mule,
Which have no understanding,
Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle,
Else they will not come near you.

10 Many sorrows shall be to the wicked;
But he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him.
11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous;
And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

 

This is where I just pretend there has been no break since the last Psalm post 🙂

This week, we consider Psalm 32 which I must confess is one of my favourite psalms and I am sure you can understand why as you read through it. A friend asked me in the past week how one becomes a true Christian and I could not help but remember this Psalm as I believe it captures succinctly and accurately the message of the gospel.

What/Who is a Christian apart from one who has found reconciliation and peace with God?

The first 2 verses start with such joy and blessing and you can immediately feel David’s jubilation at having his sins forgiven and indeed that is true blessedness and joy. The one who has had his sin covered and to whom God does not impute iniquity. One whose spirit has been cleansed and is no longer duplicitous.

However, David did not always feel this way as verses 3 & 4 make very clear. On the other hand, he was weighed down heavily by his sins and he knew that the very hand of God was upon him. Oh! How this is true about any and all of us prior to redemption. All men know this and many seek relief from this real and gnawing sense of guilt by turning to many varying devices.

Some try to find peace by burying themselves in work. Others try a deadly cocktail of sinful pleasures. Some also attempt to perform good works in order to assuage their conscience and become a bit appealing to God. Still others decide to do away with the knowledge of God altogether in the thinking that if there is no God then there is nothing to give an account for.

All these are futile! They may promise some comfort initially but ultimately will disappoint all who attempt this.

In Verse 5, David discovers the real answer to man’s dilemma (sin). He no longer keeps silent about the main issue and acknowledges his sin to God and confesses and the Lord true to His character forgives the guilt of his sin.

Remember dear reader, God desires to forgive our sins. We see this in 2 Peter 3:8,9

“8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

This is the exact reason Jesus Christ came upon this earth. To pay for the sins that we have committed in order to bring us to God. What we have to do is turn from our sins and put our faith in Him for the forgiveness of our sins.

Do note also that there is a warning here as well from David. As we continue in verse 6 of our psalm, we see that there is a time in which the Lord may be found. Do not tarry and presume upon the grace of God for none of us know for certain how many days the Lord will grant us upon this earth or how long it will take for Christ to return.

The rest of the psalm from verse 8 is the Lord Himself giving all who would truly hear the exhortation of this psalm with encouraging words of how He himself will uphold us. Indeed all those in the Lord can rejoice knowing for certain that the Lord will preserve us come what may. He will guide us and He will keep us.

May the Lord bless us all as we go through this week and may we seek Him daily in His word and in prayer!!!

Psalm for the Week – 22nd October, 2017

Psalm 3 (NKJV)

The Lord Helps His Troubled People

A Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son.

3 Lord, how they have increased who trouble me!
Many are they who rise up against me.
2 Many are they who say of me,
“There is no help for him in God.” Selah

3 But You, O Lord, are a shield for me,
My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
4 I cried to the Lord with my voice,
And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah

5 I lay down and slept;
I awoke, for the Lord sustained me.
6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people
Who have set themselves against me all around.

7 Arise, O Lord;
Save me, O my God!
For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone;
You have broken the teeth of the ungodly.
8 Salvation belongs to the Lord.
Your blessing is upon Your people. Selah

 

It has been a couple of weeks since our last ‘Psalm of the Week’ segment. Let me just say life intervened and I was unable to post what I had in mind.

By God’s grace, things are running at a much better pace now and we can get right into it. I trust we will all be blessed by this psalm.

This week, we want to consider and meditate on Psalm 3 which is one that David wrote as he fled from Absalom during his son’s rebellion against him (See 2 Samuel 15 for the full account).

I like to say there is betrayal and there is betrayal. Any one of us who has been let down by a close friend or a loved one can certainly relate with how David is feeling here. It is much worse to be betrayed by your own flesh and blood, your son and one whom his father especially loved and doted on possibly above even the rest. It also was not only Absalom, but as we read the full account, some of David’s most trusted men and counsellors had also sided with Absalom and he had been written off.

He therefore starts the psalm acknowledging the desperation of his situation and how even God, according to the mockers, would not be able to help him. I believe that is a great place to start when we find ourselves in dire circumstances. Acknowledging our helplessness is a great place to be for God to act to help. I do sometimes see a certain pride in some strands of ‘Christianity’ who will never accept any truth about their situation. They will never accept they are weak, or sick or poor or desperate claiming that is negative speech. Some call it faith but all I hear is fear and pride. Rather, it is in our weakness that God perfects strength and in that He might receive all the glory. It is like how when Jesus came, the Pharisees always accused Him of being with tax collectors and sinners. Here is His response:

Luke 5:31 And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick.

David quickly moves on and proclaims the truth that he has learned from all the years of walking with God and which is confirmed to us by His word. God is our shield. He is our strength. He is the one who is our glory and who exalts when we humble ourselves before Him. We therefore need to call out to the Lord in our problems. Is it an issue of sin we are battling? Is it one of a cry for salvation? Is it one of need? Is it one of anxiety over the future? The answer is one and the same. Cry out to the Lord for His deliverance and for Him to uphold you.

And O! How he upholds us. Sometimes, I like to jokingly (but seriously) tell people that when it is night I sleep and sleep soundly. This started because I have a good friend who was working tirelessly to convince me years ago that there were attacks of Satan which take place only at certain times of the night so I need to be awake to pray and engage in warfare. This happens when you read too many books apart from the bible or watch too many of these famous ‘pastor’s these days. Why worry needlessly when the King of the universe never sleeps and He sustains us? What really is the worst that could happen? I die and then what? I end up in heaven with Him of course. My family belongs to Him as well and if He chooses not to keep them here any longer or for our circumstances to change somehow, then glory be to His name. Like Job said, “shall we accept good from the Lord and not evil?” God is good and He is wise. Let us learn to trust Him like David.

Now I am not of course saying it is wrong to pray at night or even through the night if we have a certain burden we are carrying. We should pray at all times but always with a sense of assurance as to who is really in charge of things.

Finally, in verse 7-8, David talks about all God has done in destroying his enemies in times past and comes to the good confession we all must make:

Salvation belongs to the Lord. His blessing is upon His people! (my wording)

The question, Dear Reader, is therefore are you part of the people of God? Do you in truth belong to Him? If not, I cannot give you any comfort. God does not offer you comfort in your strife and troubles in this sin-filled world.
He has made provision for you through Jesus Christ. Why not turn to Him today and have your sins forgiven? Then even if you go through the rest of your life surrounded by issues and troubles which we will face in this world, we can have strong assurance in the words of Jesus:

John 16:33 – These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

Have a blessed week and let us remember to serve our God!!!

Psalm for the Week – 1st October, 2017

Psalm 2 (NKJV)

1 Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us.”

4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The Lord shall hold them in derision.
5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,
And distress them in His deep displeasure:
6 “Yet I have set My King
On My holy hill of Zion.”

7 “I will declare the decree:
The Lord has said to Me,
‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
8 Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
9 You shall break[a] them with a rod of iron;
You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’”

10 Now therefore, be wise, O kings;
Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son,[b] lest [c] He be angry,
And you perish in the way,
When His wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.

 

I have always found Psalm 2 fascinating in light of Psalm 1. Whereby Psalm 1 gives great blessing to those who have submitted to the word of God, Psalm 2 shows the great opposition in the human heart against the sovereignty of God.

I know of no other psalm which more accurately describes the widespread rejection in the human heart for the authority of God. This is the source of all sin. Right from the garden, we see the point of attack which Satan used. He basically asked, “Has God really said…” and we know the rest of the story.

The human heart is evil and there is rebellion from the onset to any symbol of authority. Consider the heavens and all that is in them. God commands the sun, moon, stars, seas, wind, plants, animals and they all obey Him. It is only in the human heart where there is any form of dissent.

So in the first 3 verses, you see what man has agreed to do and indeed do we now see signs of that in various places physically and in some countries even, public prayer to God is more and more out of favour and even in Ghana, trying to insist that you live for the glory of God can and will attract mockery among co-workers, school mates or even family members.

Even some ‘churches’ have not been spared in this regard and you find many such institutions no longer governed by the word of God but more by majority decision or by what is popular in the culture at the time to make decisions. That is tragic!

However, God is not in the least bit bothered by the futile plans of human beings because they ultimately fall short. Verses 4-6 make this abundantly clear. God has determined what he is going to do and all the counsel and scheming by the kings and rulers and wise men of the earth will come to nothing.

Even more significantly, Psalm 2 is a messianic psalm and points ahead to the true King and Anointed One of God, Jesus Christ. From verse 7, Christ speaks about the declaration the Father has made concerning Him and the promises that He has received after His suffering. The nations belong to Him even though some of them do not realize it yet.

There is a warning of judgment at the end of the psalm for all those who do not make peace with the Son of God. Now is the day of salvation. Now is the day when grace has been extended. Kiss the Son for the time is coming when His wrath will be unleashed upon all the children of wrath and it will be justified.

What about you today? Do you truly know Christ or are you still fighting God at every turn of your life?

Fellow Christian, I leave you with this:

1 John 5:3-4 (ESV)

3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

 

Every word He has spoken is designed for His glory, our good and our flourishing. Do not allow the world to influence your thinking that it is oppressive somehow. Rightly divide the word and obey! God bless you this week!

Psalm for the Week – 25th September, 2017

PSALM 1

1 Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
    Nor stands in the path of sinners,
    Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
    And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He shall be like a tree
    Planted by the rivers of water,
    That brings forth its fruit in its season,
    Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.

4 The ungodly are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

 

This psalm has been a cherished one for many of the saints of God over the centuries and millenia and God has used it mightily in my own life. I find myself coming time and time again back to this simple but profound psalm. It is a beatitude and speaks of blessing or happiness. God pronounces the means by which a person will know true spiritual blessing.

Firstly, it starts by stating the negative. No one is blessed who walks in ungodliness (anything against God’s character and word) and it is interesting to note the progression here. You see it starts with walking, then standing and finally sitting. The world has its own wisdom and counsel and to be blessed, we must be far from that or else very soon we will find ourselves standing and then finally partaking.

On the other hand, the truly blessed person is one who finds his counsel in the law of God (His revealed will, the Scriptures) and He meditates or basically delves deeply into His word. This is not the casual attitude of grabbing a quick 5 minutes read here and there because we are too busy to make time but rather a deliberate attempt to know what God desires and making it our goal to conform our lives to this. How often do we seek God’s will in every aspect of our lives. How we work, how we use the gifts He has given us, how we seek a spouse, how we treat others, how we evangelize, how we forgive, how we give to His work, how we run our home. Indeed everything should be brought to His word and humbly and faithfully applied and in that we can know that God’s blessing is upon us.

The psalmist then contrasts the end of the righteous (those living like above) and that of the ungodly who refuses to be ruled by God’s word. Do not fret Dear Reader when it seems like by the world’s standards, the ungodly are doing well or prospering. God will vindicate His own at the due time. There is eternity ahead. Have a blessed week. Go serve your King!!!