The psalmist here is not writing about the person who denies the existence of God. That would have been unheard of in ancient Israel. But there were, then as now, plenty of people who went about their everyday lives as if God could not see what they were doing. The Hebrew word for that kind of person is “nabal” and a man of that name died for his refusal to give food to David when he needed it (1 Sam 25).
Read More protection, foolsAugustine summed up the heart of this psalm. “You have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they find rest in you.”
Daily we are bombarded with luring messages that promise contentment. The advertising industry is built with promises that come up short on delivery. Nothing is new under the sun and nothing of this world will bring deep inner peace.
Read More resurrection, contentment, purposeThis is one of the so-called “royal psalms,” celebrating God’s appointment of David as king, and giving him victory. It anticipates the reign of Jesus Christ and life “forever and ever” (v4).
David is bursting with joy. This was not the time for a private “thank you,” but a public proclamation, a press conference, declaring God’s strength and power.
Read More trust, praise, joyPsalm 43 opens with a desperate cry. “Vindicate me, O God and plead my cause” (v1, NIV). While it is not clear who wrote this psalm or what the exact troubling situation was, the message is clear.
Something has gone terribly wrong. An injustice has been done
Read More prayer, disappointment, God’s presenceThe ancient Israelites were storytellers. They were given a God-directive to keep their history alive by sharing their stories. “These are things we learned from our ancestors and we will tell them to the next generation.”
Read More pain, prayer, faithfulnessPsalm 45 overflows with love language. Perhaps it was written for Solomon, or perhaps it was intended to be used for any of Israel’s kings. But the quotation from this Psalm in Hebrews 1:8 leaves no doubt that the early church took the Psalm to be Messianic. This double-entendre is captured in vv 6-7, where the distinction between the king and Christ is blurred. The psalm pulsates with life and points forward to the relationship between Christ, the groom, and the Church, his bride.
Read More love, Jesus, churchThe top of this psalm is an attention grabber. “Everyone on this earth, now listen to what I say!” (v1). In our upside-down culture which applauds and envies celebrities, the rich and famous, the psalmist delivers words of wisdom.
He had lived through enough to know that God has designed life to be a potent and convincing teacher.
Read More hope, wealthPsalm 84 comes from the depth of the psalmist’s heart. It describes the kind of worship expressed in the Westminster Catechism: “The chief end of man is to love God and to enjoy him forever.”
Worship is not something that should be pulled out of us.
Read More worship, perseveranceStudy the history of the children of Israel and you will see a pattern emerge. The psalmist sees a pattern in the story of the children of Isreal.
He begins with a long distance view and sees the hand of God in the past. God blessed His people with favour. Crops grew. The economy was strong. Peace reigned in the land. But in experiencing plenty, the Israelites forgot God. They slowly drifted away from his righteous ways and fell into sin – often heinous sin.
Read More anger, blessing, expectation