Sunday Psalm

Psalm 38 (New International Version – UK)

A psalm of David. A petition.

1 O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath.

2 For your arrows have pierced me, and your hand has come down upon me.

3 Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; my bones have no soundness because of my sin.

4 My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.

5My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly.

6 I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning.

7 My back is filled with searing pain; there is no health in my body.

8 I am feeble and utterly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart.

9All my longings lie open before you, O Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you.

10 My heart pounds, my strength fails me; even the light has gone from my eyes.

11 My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds; my neighbours stay far away.

12 Those who seek my life set their traps, those who would harm me talk of my ruin; all day long they plot deception.

13I am like a deaf man, who cannot hear, like a mute, who cannot open his mouth;

14 I have become like a man who does not hear, whose mouth can offer no reply.

15 I wait for you, O LORD; you will answer, O Lord my God.

16 For I said, Do not let them gloat or exalt themselves over me when my foot slips.

17For I am about to fall, and my pain is ever with me.

18 I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.

19 Many are those who are my vigorous enemies; those who hate me without reason are numerous.

20 Those who repay my good with evil slander me when I pursue what is good.

21O LORD, do not forsake me; be not far from me, O my God.

22 Come quickly to help me, O Lord my Saviour

I prayed about what Psalm I should use today and the choice God led me to surprised me, I must admit. Lately my life has been so blessed – I mean, God heaps blessings on us all the time, even when we don’t notice, but recently life has been great for me. However, I remembered that many of you, those I know and those I don’t, are not having such a good time. I know that for many of you, God may seem distant and life is very hard. Although at first glance, this Psalm may seem gloomy and without much hope in sight, in reality it shows us that God is the only one in which we should hope because He is the only one in which we NEED to hope. The mightiest world leader seems like a schoolboy compared to Him (and no I am not making a political judgement*! :p). ‘All my longings lie open before you, O Lord’ shows us that by rendering ourselves completely vulnerable before God, we truly learn to be dependant on Him and His great mercies.

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Sunday Psalm

Psalm 42

A maskil of the sons of Korah.

¹ As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.

² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?

³ My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”

⁴ These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
under the protection of the Mighty One

with shouts of joy and praise
among the festive throng.

⁵ Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

⁶ My soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.

⁷ Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.

⁸ By day the LORD directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.

⁹ I say to God my Rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?”

¹⁰ My bones suffer mortal agony
as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”

¹¹ Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

TNIV

I’m sure most of you will be familiar with this wonderful hymn of praise to the Lord. In the book ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’, the meaning of life is the number 42. In Psalm 42, however, we discover the real source of life – our Lord and Saviour. I have been going through a hard time spiritually in these past couple of days and have felt haunted and hounded by the Enemy. This Psalm really puts into perspective the joy that comes with perseverence and still praising God even when ‘I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy’. Pray that we will fight the good fight, with the prize in sight!

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Sunday Psalm

Psalm 52

A maskil of David

¹ Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero?
Why do you boast all day long,
you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?

² You who practice deceit,
your tongue plots destruction;
it is like a sharpened razor.

³ You love evil rather than good,
falsehood rather than speaking the truth.

⁴ You love every harmful word,
you deceitful tongue!

⁵ Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin:
He will snatch you up and pluck you from your tent;
he will uproot you from the land of the living.

⁶ The righteous will see and fear;
they will laugh at you, saying,

⁷ “Here now is the one
who did not make God his stronghold
but trusted in his great wealth
and grew strong by destroying others!”

⁸ But I am like an olive tree
flourishing in the house of God;
I trust in God’s unfailing love
for ever and ever.

⁹ For what you have done I will always praise you
in the presence of your faithful people.
And I will hope in your name,
for your name is good.

TNIV

I am not feeling well today so I will be brief. Lately I have been under spiritual attack and whilst I have since repented of the things and behaviours that gave Satan a foot-hold in my life, it is still an issue that haunts me. However, this Psalm reminds me that evil has been conquered by our Risen Lord, and that when He returns, justice will reign forever. As the last verse says, ‘and [we] will hope in Your name, for Your name is good’.

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Sunday Psalm

Psalm 32

A Psalm of David.

¹ Blessed is he
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.

² Blessed is the man
whose sin the LORD does not count against him
and in whose spirit is no deceit.

³ When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.

⁴ For day and night
your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer.
Selah

⁵ Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the LORD “—
and you forgave
the guilt of my sin.
Selah

⁶ Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you
while you may be found;
surely when the mighty waters rise,
they will not reach him.

⁷ You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.
Selah

⁸ I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you and watch over you.

⁹ Do not be like the horse or the mule,
which have no understanding
but must be controlled by bit and bridle
or they will not come to you.

¹⁰ Many are the woes of the wicked,
but the LORD’s unfailing love
surrounds the man who trusts in him.

¹¹ Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous;
sing, all you who are upright in heart!

NIV

Apologies for not doing a Sunday Psalm last week, I was not feeling well.  I am particularly struck by verse 9 – God gave us independant thinking for a reason. Now, obviously this can lead us into sinfulness but if we surrender our minds and our thoughts to God, His Holy Spirit will work in us and help us to make wise decisions. God is wise and rational – we were not created to be mindless animals but in His image. We cannot be as wise and rational as He is, but through prayer and submission to Him, we can try.

Another (perhaps more obvious) thing that strikes me about this Psalm is the wretchedness of the sinner. We have all gone astray like sheep and to our own ways – we all sin. However, God has great news for us! No sin is too great for God to forgive, and if we truly repent, He forgives us. Like I mentioned above with regards to verse 9, if we submit our hearts and minds fully to God, ‘[His] unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him.’

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Sunday Psalm

Psalm 46

A Psalm of the Sons of Korah

¹ God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.

² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

³ though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.

⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.

⁵ God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.

⁶ Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

⁷ The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

⁸ Come and see what the LORD has done,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.

⁹ He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.

¹⁰ “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”

¹¹ The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

NIV

If you’re having a hard time at the moment (as I am – I am having difficulties finding and income and housing for when I start my theology course in September, plus I’m not feeling well today and worrying that it is swine flu), then this is such a reassuring psalm. Even when disaster strikes (and what bigger disaster than mountains falling into the sea?), God is still there as our refuge and strength.

When things get to much, pull away for a moment from the hubbub of everyday life and spend some quiet time alone with the LORD. Being still to know that the LORD is God will soothe your frazzled heart, mind and soul, and your relationship with Him and others will be much improved.  It’s easy to get lost in the worries of the day, but spend some time with God and He will bring you peace that you could never find on your own.

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Sunday Psalm

Psalm 4

A Psalm of David

¹ Answer me when I call to you,
O my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress;
be merciful to me and hear my prayer.

² How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame

How long will you love delusions and seek false gods

Selah

³ Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself;
the LORD will hear when I call to him.

⁴ In your anger do not sin;
when you are on your beds,
search your hearts and be silent.
Selah

⁵ Offer right sacrifices
and trust in the LORD.

⁶ Many are asking, “Who can show us any good?”
Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD.

⁷ You have filled my heart with greater joy
than when their grain and new wine abound.

⁸ I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O LORD,
make me dwell in safety.

NIV

The LORD is the only one who can keep us safe from all the evil in the world. Many of us are facing hard times at the moment, whether due to the shape of the economy or for other reasons. Put your trust in the LORD and it doesn’t mean that all the bad stuff will go away, but He will give you a peace and security that you could never have imagined before.

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