War & Punishment

In Psalms 50-60 there is so much about war and the struggles of war.  It also seems that God is punishing people through many of these Psalms.  What do you think is the reason for all of these Psalms?

Equipping the Saints Prayer

Day 3: Give Thanks for the abundant blessings from those who have already made their commitment to the campaign!

Equipping the Saints Prayer - Day 2

Day 2: Give thanks for the vision God has given St. Luke's to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ.

The Lord upholds my life

In Psalm 54, David amazes me with how much he trusts God.  Even when his life is in danger, he trusts that the Lord is with him and will protect him.  He knows the Lord will destroy evil with His truth and promises to worship, serve and praise the Lord.

What would my life be like if each day I could live with that assurance?  How would it change me today?

Extra post - Join the 21 day prayer for Equipping the Saints

Join us in the 21 Days of Prayer for the Equipping the Saints Campaign. Today is Day 1:
Give thanks for God's faithfulness and rich blessings to St. Luke's for more than 101 years.

Create in me a clean heart, O God

Psalm 51 is a Psalm of David written sometime after Nathan the prophet had confronted him about his sin with Bathsheba.

Have mercy...  David knows he has done wrong.  He asks the Lord the wash and cleanse him.  He acknowledges that he has no one to blame but himself.

In verse 7, he asks God to cleanse him with hyssop.  This is a branch from a bush with fragrant leaves used for sprinkling blood or water in rituals prescribed by God.

In verse 8, he seems to imply that living in the guilt of his sin has been crushing him and he seeks relief from that guilt.

Verses 10-12 should sound familiar from our weekly liturgy. Once we have been forgiven and released from the hold of sin and guilt, our response, as David's, is to let others know so they can experience the same joy and peace.

How important is it for our church service to include a confession of sins and a pronouncement of forgiveness?
The practice of confession to the pastor used to be much more common than it is today. Are we missing out?
What part does confession play when we hear the Gospel?

O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger,

Psalm 38 is a plea for mercy.  It was interesting to me that David doesn't seem to be asking to 'not be punished' but for God to not punish him in anger.  This occurs in several other Psalms as well.  The results of his sin weigh him down to a point that he cannot handle.  He pleads to God for mercy and rescue.

Do you recognize the words of verse 22?  Where do we use those?

Do you ever use words like those in verses 1 and 18 in your prayers?  The world tries to convince us that sin is not a serious matter.  Consider those words in your prayers tonight.

Whom shall I fear?

Very sorry for falling behind on the blog.  I'll try to catch up a little.

Psalm 27 
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
    whom shall I fear?The Lord is the stronghold of my life;    of whom shall I be afraid?


These words state very simply what peace and joy I can have in life.  I think of the Nike slogan "No Fear" and know that God is the one who can really make that be true.

David was confident going into battle that God would be on his side against the heathen nations.  Where might these verses be true for us today?

What is important in verse 4?  (and again in verse 9)

At what times of life might verses 13 & 14 be especially comforting?

Psalm 6-10

In Psalm 6-10 start with a psalm of repentance.  David seems to be worried that the Lord will punish him in anger and he asks that the Lord would deal with him in mercy.  At the end of the Psalm, he is confident that the Lord will answer his prayer.

I love the start of Psalm 8.  O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!  I guess some of that is thanks to the Michael W. Smith version.  David praises God for the great creation of this earth and creating us!  Verses 5-9 seem to have two meanings.  Check out those references.

Psalms 9-10 are telling again about the struggles of dealing with all the sin and problems.  David reminds us though that God has been faithful in rescuing us in the past and will be faithful in rescuing us in the future.

Thanks for the comments.  Keep up that reading!

Psalms 1-5

Welcome to the blog.  At the bottom of each 'post', you will see the word Comment.  Please click to add your own comments to each post.  (You can post anonymously so please include your name at the bottom if you would like.  I am moderating so comments will not post immediately but must be approved first.  This is necessary when allowing anonymous postings.)

I am looking at Psalms 1-5 today.  I notice how David talks in Psalm 2 about just trusting in God and how silly it is to do anything else.  If you are comparing translations, please notice that verse 7 uses the word son.  Some translations capitalize as this is a reference to Jesus while others keep it lowercase as God is making me his son.  Please look at the  references of where this verse is used in the New Testament to help us.

Psalms 2 ESV vs The Message

Check the cross references

Psalms 3-5 sound more like prayers to me.  They all talk about suffering and how we struggle against so many things in this world.  At the end of each section we also see David trusting in the Lord for protection and comfort.

Psalm 1

English Standard Version (ESV) 
Book One

The Way of the Righteous and the Wicked

1 Blessed is the man
     who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
     nor stands in the way of sinners,
     nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
     and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree
     planted by streams of water
     that yields its fruit in its season,
     and its leaf does not wither.
     In all that he does, he prospers.

4 The wicked are not so,
     but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

5 Therefore the wicked will 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 wicked will perish.