Why It's Okay to Pray Against Your Enemies - Psalm 35

Psalm 35

Of David.

1 Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me;
    fight against those who fight against me!
2 Take hold of shield and buckler
    and rise for my help!
3 Draw the spear and javelin
    against my pursuers! Say to my soul,
    “I am your salvation!”
4 Let them be put to shame and dishonor
    who seek after my life! Let them be turned back and disappointed
    who devise evil against me!
5 Let them be like chaff before the wind,
    with the angel of the Lord driving them away!
6 Let their way be dark and slippery,
    with the angel of the Lord pursuing them!
7 For without cause they hid their net for me;
    without cause they dug a pit for my life.
8 Let destruction come upon him when he does not know it!
And let the net that he hid ensnare him;
    let him fall into it—to his destruction!
9 Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord,
    exulting in his salvation.
10 All my bones shall say,
    “O Lord, who is like you, delivering the poor
    from him who is too strong for him,
    the poor and needy from him who robs him?”
11 Malicious witnesses rise up;
    they ask me of things that I do not know.
12 They repay me evil for good;
    my soul is bereft.
13 But I, when they were sick—
    I wore sackcloth;
    I afflicted myself with fasting;
I prayed with head bowed on my chest.
14 I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother;
as one who laments his mother,
    I bowed down in mourning.
15 But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered;
    they gathered together against me; wretches whom I did not know
    tore at me without ceasing;
16 like profane mockers at a feast,
    they gnash at me with their teeth.
17 How long, O Lord, will you look on?
    Rescue me from their destruction,
    my precious life from the lions!
18 I will thank you in the great congregation;
    in the mighty throng I will praise you.
19 Let not those rejoice over me
    who are wrongfully my foes, and let not those wink the eye
    who hate me without cause.
20 For they do not speak peace,
    but against those who are quiet in the land
    they devise words of deceit.
21 They open wide their mouths against me;
    they say, “Aha, Aha!
    Our eyes have seen it!”
22 You have seen, O Lord; be not silent!
    O Lord, be not far from me!
23 Awake and rouse yourself for my vindication,
    for my cause, my God and my Lord!
24 Vindicate me, O Lord, my God,
    according to your righteousness,
    and let them not rejoice over me!
25 Let them not say in their hearts,
    “Aha, our heart's desire!”
Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.”
26 Let them be put to shame and disappointed altogether
    who rejoice at my calamity!
Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor
    who magnify themselves against me!
27 Let those who delight in my righteousness
    shout for joy and be glad
    and say evermore,
“Great is the Lord,
    who delights in the welfare of his servant!”
28 Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness
    and of your praise all the day long.

---

Like so many psalms, the Thirty-Fifth Psalm is a prayer for the Lord to defeat David’s enemies.

Question: Praying against my enemies—is that even allowed?

Answer: Yes. More than allowed, it is required.

---

Remember, the psalms teach us to pray through our emotions, and sooner or later you will have the emotions that come with enemy opposition. Enemies are people who deliberately work to harm you or your loved ones in some way, and if you tell me that you’ve never had any enemies, I’ll tell you it’s only a matter of time: enemies are inevitable. When enemies attack, we have two choices:

• Lie and pretend that we are so holy that enemy attacks don’t cause us pain;

• Tell the truth and ask the Lord to defend us.

Honesty in prayer is essential, and asking the Lord to defeat your enemies does NOT mean you are hating them. To love is to will the good of the other, and if your enemies are wrong, then it is to their good that the Lord stop them from doing greater evil. In fact, the surest way to end up hating your enemies is to refuse to pray honestly to the Lord (thereby letting your hurt fester into hate); and have them do more evil to you (thereby fanning the flames of hurt into hate in your heart).

When we pray for the Lord to defeat our enemies we are doing a very important thing: we are giving a desire for vengeance over to the Lord and trusting him to judge justly.

Praying in this way is a way to remove the venom from the bite before it turns your heart black.

---

The psalms teach us to pray through our emotions.

Through what feelings do you need to be praying today?

He Pretended He Was Insane By having Spit run down His Beard - Psalm 34

Psalm 34

Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.

1 I will bless the Lord at all times;
    his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
    let the humble hear and be glad.
3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
    and let us exalt his name together!
4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me
    and delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant,
    and their faces shall never be ashamed.
6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
    and saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps
    around those who fear him, and delivers them.
8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
    Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,
    for those who fear him have no lack!
10 The young lions suffer want and hunger;
    but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
11 Come, O children, listen to me;
    I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 What man is there who desires life
    and loves many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil
    and your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Turn away from evil and do good;
    seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
    and his ears toward their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
    to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
    and delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
    and saves the crushed in spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
    but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones;
    not one of them is broken.
21 Affliction will slay the wicked,
    and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord redeems the life of his servants;
    none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

---

The background to Psalm 34 is fascinating—no wonder it’s such a psalm of praise.

10 That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath. 11 But the servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances:
“‘Saul has slain his thousands,
    and David his tens of thousands’?”
12 David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. 13 So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard. 14 Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? 15 Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?” - 1 Samuel 21:10-15

You Just Need to Understand This One Word - Psalm 29

Psalm 29

A Psalm of David

1 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,
    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
    worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.
3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
    the God of glory thunders,
    the Lord, over many waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful;
    the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
    the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf,
    and Sirion like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
    the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth
    and strips the forests bare,
    and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
    the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.
11 May the Lord give strength to his people!
    May the Lord bless his people with peace!

---

This psalm requires you to understand one Hebrew word, and then the whole psalm opens up.  It’s the word “qol,” [pronounced “coal”] which in Hebrew means “voice” or “sounds” or “thunder.”  When you read “voice” in our English translation, it could also be translated “sound” or “thunder;” in Psalm 29 the psalmist is playing with those resonances.

In fact, it might be fun to read through Psalm 29 and say “qol” every time you read “voice.”

The psalm is a meditation on the power of God as experienced in a thunderstorm, as it blows in from the Mediterranean!

---

A Psalm of David.

1 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,
    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
    worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.

The psalmist reminds the spiritual beings—we usually call them “angels”—that only God is the source of glory and strength, and not any other created being.

---

3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
    the God of glory thunders,
    the Lord, over many waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful;
    the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

The psalmist imagines a thunderstorm moving inland from the Mediterranean Sea, thundering over the waters.

---

5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
    the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf,
    and Sirion like a young wild ox.

Lebanon is in the north of Israel, and was known for its mountains and its great cedar trees.  Mount Sirion (also called Mount Hermon in the Bible) is north of the Sea of Galilee and is the tallest mountain in Israel.  The psalmist imagines the voice of the Lord causing the mountain itself to skip like an adolescent animal.

---

7 The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
    the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth
    and strips the forests bare,
    and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

The psalmist imagines God’s words as lightning, streaking through the storm-filled sky.

---

10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
    the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.
11 May the Lord give strength to his people!
    May the Lord bless his people with peace!

God is in control of even the waters of chaos!

And then the psalmist says something amazing:

Do you know what the effect is on the people of God of the mighty strength of God?

PEACE.

God’s strength gives his people peace.

Sneak Peak

Sneak Peak of Genesis Part 1 from Andrew Forrest on Vimeo.

I’ve not only been catching up on my telenovelas and learning how to yodel this summer—I’ve also been writing daily commentary on Genesis for my scripture reading plan that begins on 8/22.

Well, this morning I received in the overnight mail the printer’s proof for Genesis Part 1, Creation to Babel. I’m SO PUMPED. Part 1 runs 5 weeks, and then Part 2 (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) and Part 3 (Joseph in Egypt) will take us to Thanksgiving. (Books will start being handed out at Asbury on 8/7, 8/14, and 8/21.)

I’m teaching a church-wide Bible study on Wednesday, August 17, and then will kick off my Genesis sermon series on 8/21. Live in the Tulsa area? Do not miss Bible study on 8/17. Seriously.

Live out of town? If you email Sandie Tomlinson, she’ll mail you a book.

I will also send out the daily commentary every morning at 4 AM via email.

---

My August Preaching/Teaching Schedule

• August 7, my first Sunday at Asbury—What the Lord is Asking Me to Do Next

• August 11, Thursday evening service launches

• August 14, my second Sunday at Asbury—What it Takes for the Bible to Change Your Life

• August 17, Wednesday churchwide Bible study—Intro and Overview of Genesis

• August 21, Genesis sermon series begins

• August 22, Genesis reading plan begins (Part 1)

---

Today’s Psalm: Tuesday, July 19 [Psalm 79]

I’m still reading one psalm a day, every day. You keeping up? If not, cut your losses and join me tomorrow, Wednesday, with Psalm 80!

Psalm 79

A Psalm of Asaph.

1 O God, the nations have come into your inheritance;
    they have defiled your holy temple;
    they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
2 They have given the bodies of your servants
    to the birds of the heavens for food,
    the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.
3 They have poured out their blood like water
    all around Jerusalem,
    and there was no one to bury them.
4 We have become a taunt to our neighbors,
    mocked and derided by those around us.

5 How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever?
    Will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your anger on the nations
    that do not know you,
and on the kingdoms
    that do not call upon your name!
7 For they have devoured Jacob
    and laid waste his habitation.

8 Do not remember against us our former iniquities;
    let your compassion come speedily to meet us,
    for we are brought very low.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation,
    for the glory of your name;
deliver us, and atone for our sins,
    for your name's sake!
10 Why should the nations say,
    “Where is their God?”
Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants
    be known among the nations before our eyes!

11 Let the groans of the prisoners come before you;
    according to your great power, preserve those doomed to die!
12 Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors
    the taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!
13 But we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
    will give thanks to you forever;
    from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

---

586 BC. This is a CRUCIAL date in the history of Israel. It’s when the Babylonians came and conquered Jerusalem, razed the Temple, and carried off the best and the brightest of Israel into exile in Babylon.

This psalm is written after that moment, which is why the psalmist writes:

1 O God, the nations have come into your inheritance;
    they have defiled your holy temple;
    they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
2 They have given the bodies of your servants
    to the birds of the heavens for food,
    the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.
3 They have poured out their blood like water
    all around Jerusalem,
    and there was no one to bury them.
4 We have become a taunt to our neighbors,
    mocked and derided by those around us.

Remember, in the Bible “the nations” are the non-Israelite peoples, the non-chosen peoples. The psalmist cries out to God and wonders why the Lord seems to have abandoned his people. The psalmist wants vengeance on Israel’s enemies.

5 How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever?
Will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your anger on the nations
that do not know you,
and on the kingdoms
that do not call upon your name!

Often, modern American people are shocked when they read passages in the Bible asking for vengeance. We clutch our pearls in horror, which just shows how easy and—dare I say it—privileged our lives have been.

Do you not think that there are people in the Ukraine right now, people who have lost their homes and their sons, seen their women raped, who aren’t crying out to God for vengeance?

Wanting the Lord to avenge one’s enemies’ wrongs has been a normal part of the lives of God’s people for centuries. And, as I’ve pointed out many times before, if we do NOT pray to God for vengeance, we end up keeping that poison inside. Where it festers and can lead to great evil.

Still, though, the psalmist ends on a note of hope. He’s in exile in a foreign land and yet he makes sure to remind himself that God is watching, that the Lord is faithful to his promises to Israel:

13 But we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will give thanks to you forever;
from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

Don’t ever give up hope—God will prove himself faithful.

"I Am Like a Green Olive Tree"

I haven’t posted here for a few weeks, not since we concluded the Gospel of John and I had my last Sunday at Munger on June 5. I’ve missed writing my daily Bible post, and also been grateful for the break! Even James Brown needed some time off every now and then.

The Plan Going Forward

My first Sunday at Asbury will be August 7, but I’m not going to start preaching through a book of the Bible until August 21, when we will begin Genesis! (I’m going to take my first 2 Sundays to introduce myself and help the Asbury folks get to know what I’m about.) I’ll be preaching through Genesis all fall, concluding the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I’m really looking forward to this.

Just as I’ve done the last several years at Munger, there will be a daily reading plan through the entire book I’m preaching through. The Genesis reading plan will begin Monday, August 22, and will continue every weekday, right up until Thanksgiving.

I’ll be sending out my brief daily commentary starting that Monday, 8/22. Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.

The Plan This Summer

I’m not going to be writing daily commentary this summer, but I am continuing my own personal practice of reading one psalm a day, every day. I started this practice on Easter Monday, 2020, and am now in my fourth time through the psalms. When I get to Psalm 150, I’ll start over again. There’s something about the simplicity of this schedule that really appeals to me.

Today is Psalm 52 (more on this psalm, below); and if you’re not following another reading plan, I’d love to have you join me until Genesis begins. Tomorrow is Psalm 53, Thursday is Psalm 54, etc.

For those of you interested, my friend Fred created a document laying out the entire schedule of this cycle. As a workaround, I actually use a daily count-up app on my phone that I restart every time I reach Psalm 150. Every morning at 4:30, this is what I see (this was from Saturday):

So, it’s one psalm a day, every day (including Sundays). Wanna join me?

(I actually keep this going even when I’m doing another reading plan, like the Genesis one this fall—I just love the routine of it.)

With all that being said, here are some brief thoughts on today’s psalm.

---

Today’s Psalm

Psalm 52

To the choirmaster. A Maskil of David, when Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”

52 Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?
    The steadfast love of God endures all the day.
2 Your tongue plots destruction,
    like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.
3 You love evil more than good,
    and lying more than speaking what is right. Selah
4 You love all words that devour,
    O deceitful tongue.

5 But God will break you down forever;
    he will snatch and tear you from your tent;
    he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
6 The righteous shall see and fear,
    and shall laugh at him, saying,
7 “See the man who would not make
    God his refuge,
but trusted in the abundance of his riches
    and sought refuge in his own destruction!”

8 But I am like a green olive tree
    in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
    forever and ever.
9 I will thank you forever,
    because you have done it.
I will wait for your name, for it is good,
    in the presence of the godly.

---

Whoever compiled and edited the Psalms together gives us a helpful superscription on Psalm 52, namely that this psalm was inspired by a treachery David experienced. (You can read the story in 1 Samuel 21-22.) But this psalm is not so much about one specific instance of backstabbing treachery, but about the general human experience of it.

The psalmist addresses his bragging enemy:

“Your tongue plots destruction”

but, though he has been harmed by his enemy’s actions, the psalm doesn’t end with curse and complaint. Instead, he reminds himself that bad guys won’t ultimately win:

“But God will break you down forever;
he will snatch and tear you from your tent;
he will uproot you from the land of the living.”

And then the psalmist forces himself to remember that, despite the treachery he has received at the hand of man, the Lord has been faithful to bless him:

“But I am like a green olive tree
in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
forever and ever.
I will thank you forever,
because you have done it.
I will wait for your name, for it is good,
in the presence of the godly.”

---

I just love that image.

“I am like a green olive tree.”

The bad guys aren’t going to get away with it forever. Let the Lord worry about them. Today, let’s us remember all the Lord’s blessings to us.

And today, may you be like a green olive tree in the house of your God.

What If We Forget Our Past?

I believe we are on the cusp of a new dark age, a great cultural forgetting. And, this amnesia is entirely self-caused—in the name of Progress, we are unlearning much of which we used to know.

I’ve heard it said that with the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century, it was centuries and centuries before hot running water was again a part of European city life.

I think about the way homes used to be built and I wonder, Will we even remember how to build houses like that anymore? If you’ve ever watched an episode of This Old House, it seems obvious that the vast amount of knowledge these old artisans have stored up is likely to die with them. No one ever intends to forget this sort of valuable knowledge; what happens is that in easy times everyone just assumes that we’ll all remember what we need to remember forever, but times change slowly, and then all of a sudden, and when we need what we used to know, no one will remember.

---

Religious memory is even more important, as the story of Israel shows over and over and over. In the Bible, the Lord commands the Israelites to remember that they were slaves in Egypt, and that he brought them out with a strong arm and an outstretched hand and led them through the wilderness into The Promised Land.

Many of the psalms, therefore, rehearse Israel’s history so as to teach the next generation the great story of their people. Today’s psalm is one such psalm.

Psalm 89 comes from the time of Exile, after the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem in 586 B.C. It’s a song of remembering and also a cry for help—”Lord, this is what you did before, please come again and rescue us!”

---

Psalm 89

I Will Sing of the Steadfast Love of the Lord

A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.

89 I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever;
    with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
2 For I said, “Steadfast love will be built up forever;
    in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.”
3 You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
    I have sworn to David my servant:
4 ‘I will establish your offspring forever,
    and build your throne for all generations.’” Selah

5 Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,
    your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!
6 For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?
    Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord,
7 a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones,
    and awesome above all who are around him?
8 O Lord God of hosts,
    who is mighty as you are, O Lord,
    with your faithfulness all around you?
9 You rule the raging of the sea;
    when its waves rise, you still them.
10 You crushed Rahab like a carcass;
    you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
11 The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;
    the world and all that is in it, you have founded them.
12 The north and the south, you have created them;
    Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.
13 You have a mighty arm;
    strong is your hand, high your right hand.
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
    steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
15 Blessed are the people who know the festal shout,
    who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face,
16 who exult in your name all the day
    and in your righteousness are exalted.
17 For you are the glory of their strength;
    by your favor our horn is exalted.
18 For our shield belongs to the Lord,
    our king to the Holy One of Israel.

---

The psalmist begins by recounting the Lord’s great act of Creation, and he imagines God controlling and bringing order to the primeval chaos.

---

19 Of old you spoke in a vision to your godly one, and said:
“I have granted help to one who is mighty;
I have exalted one chosen from the people.
20 I have found David, my servant;
with my holy oil I have anointed him,
21 so that my hand shall be established with him;
my arm also shall strengthen him.
22 The enemy shall not outwit him;
the wicked shall not humble him.
23 I will crush his foes before him
and strike down those who hate him.
24 My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him,
and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
25 I will set his hand on the sea
and his right hand on the rivers.
26 He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father,
my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’
27 And I will make him the firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the earth.
28 My steadfast love I will keep for him forever,
and my covenant will stand firm for him.
29 I will establish his offspring forever
and his throne as the days of the heavens.

30 If his children forsake my law
and do not walk according to my rules,
31 if they violate my statutes
and do not keep my commandments,
32 then I will punish their transgression with the rod
and their iniquity with stripes,
33 but I will not remove from him my steadfast love
or be false to my faithfulness.
34 I will not violate my covenant
or alter the word that went forth from my lips.
35 Once for all I have sworn by my holiness;
I will not lie to David.
36 His offspring shall endure forever,
his throne as long as the sun before me.
37 Like the moon it shall be established forever,
a faithful witness in the skies.” Selah

---

The Lord establishes David’s family on the throne and promises never to forsake them. But, that doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences for their idolatry and disobedience.

---

38 But now you have cast off and rejected;
    you are full of wrath against your anointed.
39 You have renounced the covenant with your servant;
    you have defiled his crown in the dust.
40 You have breached all his walls;
    you have laid his strongholds in ruins.
41 All who pass by plunder him;
    he has become the scorn of his neighbors.
42 You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
    you have made all his enemies rejoice.
43 You have also turned back the edge of his sword,
    and you have not made him stand in battle.
44 You have made his splendor to cease
    and cast his throne to the ground.
45 You have cut short the days of his youth;
    you have covered him with shame. Selah

46 How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?
    How long will your wrath burn like fire?
47 Remember how short my time is!
    For what vanity you have created all the children of man!
48 What man can live and never see death?
    Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah

49 Lord, where is your steadfast love of old,
    which by your faithfulness you swore to David?
50 Remember, O Lord, how your servants are mocked,
    and how I bear in my heart the insults of all the many nations,
51 with which your enemies mock, O Lord,
    with which they mock the footsteps of your anointed.

---

And so the psalmist says, “Lord, don’t forget your promises to us! We are suffering under the hands of the Babylonians, and it’s our fault, but please rescue us anyway.”

---

52 Blessed be the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen.

---

And the psalmist ends with a defiant note of praise, which seems exactly fitting and is a good lesson to all us:

always come back to praise.

Darkness

My Morning Routine

Starting on April 13, 2020, I’ve read one psalm a day, every day. When I get to the last psalm in the Bible—Psalm 150, I just start the next day with Psalm 1; every 150 days I read through the entire psalter, and then begin again.

There is something attractively simple about this plan; I use a countdown app on my iPhone to remind me each morning of that day’s psalm. I do our church reading plans, too, but reading a psalm a day has been a constant.

Today I’m on Psalm 88. If you’d like to join in, my friend Fred has put together a list for the Psalms reading plan I’m currently in. When we get to Monday, May 2, I’ll start over again.

The Psalms teach us how to pray because they give us words for all the emotions of life; today’s psalm—as we will see below—is bitter and dark, but tomorrow’s will be more hopeful and joy-filled.

Mark Begins Wednesday!

Our Lenten reading plan through the Gospel of Mark begins Wednesday, and since our Ephesians plan concluded on Friday, I thought I’d write a post for today and again for tomorrow on each day’s psalm.

---

The Bitterest Psalm in the Bible

Today, I read Psalm 88—a psalm without hope or joy or peace: it is an anguished cry of bitter despair.

When you visit Jerusalem, one of the places you go is the high priest’s residence, which was built over a dungeon. When we were there, we went down into the pit and read this psalm. The idea is that it’s possible that Jesus might have been held in that dungeon as Caiaphas waited to transfer him to Pilate’s custody, late Thursday night/early Friday morning.

How to Read Psalm 88 Today

If you are in a pit of despair yourself, then use this psalm to shape your cries to the Lord today. The psalms give us the language of prayer, and since life include both misery and joy, so do the psalms.

If you are in a good place today—and I hope you are—then the way to read this psalm is to think of Jesus being held by the Temple soldiers, having been interrogated and humiliated by the Jewish authorities, waiting to be transferred to Pilate’s custody, knowing what will befall him.

This is a dark psalm, but the Passion of the Christ was a dark thing, and it’s good for us to remember that today.

---

Psalm 88

I Cry Out Day and Night Before You

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.

1 O Lord, God of my salvation,
    I cry out day and night before you.
2 Let my prayer come before you;
    incline your ear to my cry!

3 For my soul is full of troubles,
    and my life draws near to Sheol.
4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
    I am a man who has no strength,
5 like one set loose among the dead,
    like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom you remember no more,
    for they are cut off from your hand.
6 You have put me in the depths of the pit,
    in the regions dark and deep.
7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
    and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah

8 You have caused my companions to shun me;
    you have made me a horror to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
9     my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call upon you, O Lord;
    I spread out my hands to you.
10 Do you work wonders for the dead?
    Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah
11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
    or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
12 Are your wonders known in the darkness,
    or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

13 But I, O Lord, cry to you;
    in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 O Lord, why do you cast my soul away?
    Why do you hide your face from me?
15 Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
    I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.
16 Your wrath has swept over me;
    your dreadful assaults destroy me.
17 They surround me like a flood all day long;
    they close in on me together.
18 You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;
    my companions have become darkness.

Personal Update - Last Bible Post for a While

Personal Update

Friends, I’ve enjoyed blogging through the Psalms with you each day in May. Reading one psalm a day has been a life-giving habit for me, and I’m going to keep going. Since we started reading through the Psalms in April 2020, I’m now on my 3rd time through, and each time gets better. (To keep track of the days, I use an app on my iPhone called Days.)

I’m not going to be writing daily blog posts until school resumes in late August, when we’ll begin reading and studying Paul’s great Letter to the Romans. One of the things I’ll be doing this summer is reading like crazy to prepare for this! Right now, the plan is to take our time through Romans, August-Advent.

Though I personally won’t be blogging here, we’ll continue reading through Paul’s letters at Munger this summer. Be sure to check www.mungerplace.org/bible for info.

In late June I’m going to preach (6/20 and 6/27) through Paul’s little letter to Philemon. Instead of blogging about it, however, I’m going to be teaching on Philemon at an all-church Bible study on Wednesday, June 23, 6-7 PM, in the Munger sanctuary; we’ll have food trucks outside afterwards, and a separate study for kids at the same time as the adults. This will be the only Bible study I’m teaching all summer, so if you’re in town, don’t miss it.

In the mean time, I hope to be doing a bit more blogging on the general section of my blog: www.andrewforrest.org.

Now, back to today’s regularly scheduled programming.

---

“May the Lord cause you to flourish,
both you and your children.
May you be blessed by the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.”

— Psalm 115:14-15

---

Psalm 115

The psalmist marvels at the stupidity at worshipping idols made with human hands, rather than the Lord all Creation, who made all things, including both the raw materials for idols and the human hands that fashion the idols into object of worship.

Because we know the truth, the message is simple:

“Praise the Lord!”

— Psalm 115:18

---

Psalm 115

1 Not to us, Lord, not to us
    but to your name be the glory,
    because of your love and faithfulness.

2 Why do the nations say,
    “Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in heaven;
    he does whatever pleases him.
4 But their idols are silver and gold,
    made by human hands.
5 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
    eyes, but cannot see.
6 They have ears, but cannot hear,
    noses, but cannot smell.
7 They have hands, but cannot feel,
    feet, but cannot walk,
    nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
8 Those who make them will be like them,
    and so will all who trust in them.

9 All you Israelites, trust in the Lord—
    he is their help and shield.
10 House of Aaron, trust in the Lord—
    he is their help and shield.
11 You who fear him, trust in the Lord—
    he is their help and shield.

12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us:
    He will bless his people Israel,
    he will bless the house of Aaron,
13 he will bless those who fear the Lord—
    small and great alike.

14 May the Lord cause you to flourish,
    both you and your children.
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

16 The highest heavens belong to the Lord,
    but the earth he has given to mankind.
17 It is not the dead who praise the Lord,
    those who go down to the place of silence;
18 it is we who extol the Lord,
    both now and forevermore.

Praise the Lord.

Israel's Song

Psalm 114

---

1 When Israel came out of Egypt,
Jacob from a people of foreign tongue,
2 Judah became God’s sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.

So much of the message of the psalms is memory: remember Israel’s story.

Jacob was the patriarch who was given a new name by the Lord: Israel. Jacob/Israel had 12 sons, who became over the centuries the 12 Tribes of Israel.

When Israel was enslaved among the Egyptians—”people of a foreign tongue”—the Lord brought them out. Judah was one of the tribes—the one that settled in Jerusalem and the one from whom David came.

---

3 The sea looked and fled,
the Jordan turned back;
4 the mountains leaped like rams,
the hills like lambs.

5 Why was it, sea, that you fled?
    Why, Jordan, did you turn back?
6 Why, mountains, did you leap like rams,
    you hills, like lambs?

The psalmist imagines the glory of God leading the the Israelites across the River Jordan into the Promised Land. It was as if, says the psalmist, nature itself was awed and cowed by God’s power on behalf of Israel.

---

7 Tremble, earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 who turned the rock into a pool,
the hard rock into springs of water.

Here the psalmist references the famous story of how as Israel wandered in the desert, the Lord brought water up out of the rock for them.

---

What should be instructive for us is how many of the psalms retell over and over again the stories of how the Lord blesses his people.

What past blessings do you need to specifically praise God for today?

From the Rising of the Sun

Psalm 113

There’s nothing to say about this psalm, but just to read it.

How beautiful are those last 3 verses, by the way? When the Kingdom comes, no one is left out, and all sorrow will be reversed.

All things new.

---

Psalm 113

1 Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord, you his servants;
    praise the name of the Lord.
2 Let the name of the Lord be praised,
    both now and forevermore.
3 From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,
    the name of the Lord is to be praised.

4 The Lord is exalted over all the nations,
    his glory above the heavens.
5 Who is like the Lord our God,
    the One who sits enthroned on high,
6 who stoops down to look
    on the heavens and the earth?

7 He raises the poor from the dust
    and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
8 he seats them with princes,
    with the princes of his people.
9 He settles the childless woman in her home
    as a happy mother of children.

Praise the Lord.

The Verse I Always Quote to New Parents

Psalm 112

This is a lovely psalm about the blessings that come from trusting the Lord.

There’s a line from this psalm that I always text to parents on the occasion of the birth of a new baby:

“May the child be mighty in the land!”

But honestly, every line of this beautiful psalm is gold.

Be blessed today.

---

Psalm 112

1 Praise the Lord.

Blessed are those who fear the Lord,
    who find great delight in his commands.

2 Their children will be mighty in the land;
    the generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in their houses,
    and their righteousness endures forever.
4 Even in darkness light dawns for the upright,
    for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous.
5 Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely,
    who conduct their affairs with justice.

6 Surely the righteous will never be shaken;
    they will be remembered forever.
7 They will have no fear of bad news;
    their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
8 Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear;
    in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.
9 They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor,
    their righteousness endures forever;
    their horn will be lifted high in honor.

10 The wicked will see and be vexed,
    they will gnash their teeth and waste away;
    the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.

The Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom

Psalm 111

What does it mean to have “the fear of the Lord”?

It means to remember that the Lord is God, and I am not. Once I accept that, I will be on the road to wisdom.

In Eden, Adam and Eve decided they didn’t want to acknowledge God’s authority and guidance, and so they rebelled. What they thought would make them wise made them fools.

P.S. You might find the NIV footnote interesting: “This psalm is an acrostic poem, the lines of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.”

---

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all who follow his precepts have good understanding.
To him belongs eternal praise.”

— Psalm 111:10

---

Psalm 111

1 Praise the Lord.

I will extol the Lord with all my heart
    in the council of the upright and in the assembly.

2 Great are the works of the Lord;
    they are pondered by all who delight in them.
3 Glorious and majestic are his deeds,
    and his righteousness endures forever.
4 He has caused his wonders to be remembered;
    the Lord is gracious and compassionate.
5 He provides food for those who fear him;
    he remembers his covenant forever.

6 He has shown his people the power of his works,
    giving them the lands of other nations.
7 The works of his hands are faithful and just;
    all his precepts are trustworthy.
8 They are established for ever and ever,
    enacted in faithfulness and uprightness.
9 He provided redemption for his people;
    he ordained his covenant forever—
    holy and awesome is his name.

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
    all who follow his precepts have good understanding.
    To him belongs eternal praise.

Why Was This Jesus's Favorite Psalm?

Psalm 110

Psalm 110 is the most-quoted psalm in the New Testament, and was a favorite of both Jesus and the Apostles because of its startling message. I’m going to walk through it verse by verse so you can get the most out of your reading for today. The good news is that it’s not a long psalm!

---

Psalm 110

Of David. A psalm.

This psalm comes from David psalm, a fact that Jesus references in his remarks on this psalm to the Pharisees in Matthew 22:41-46.

---

1 The Lord says to my lord:

“Sit at my right hand
    until I make your enemies
    a footstool for your feet.”

So, it’s as if David is hearing a conversation between The Lord (i.e., God) and David’s lord, in which God says to this unnamed person that he is to sit at his right hand and that God will defeat all his enemies.

This raises the question, of course: to whom is God speaking? Whom would David call “my lord”?

---

2 The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying,
“Rule in the midst of your enemies!”
3 Your troops will be willing
on your day of battle.
Arrayed in holy splendor,
your young men will come to you
like dew from the morning’s womb.

David says that God will bless the unnamed other person with power right from Mount Zion. And then the poetry uses a variety of metaphors: it will be a great army, but the soldiers will be dressed like priests (“arrayed in holy splendor”) and will be there at the dawn, as if the world has been made new.

---

4 The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind:
“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.”

David says that God is committed to this promise, and then he references the strange character of Melchizedek, a priest-king who blesses Abraham.

So, this unnamed person will be a priest-king who will bless the children of Abraham.

---

5 The Lord is at your right hand;
he will crush kings on the day of his wrath.
6 He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead
and crushing the rulers of the whole earth.
7 He will drink from a brook along the way,
and so he will lift his head high.

The psalm closes with another image of the unnamed person’s victories over his enemies. God is with him and he is the judge of the nations. Clean, fresh water is available to him, and he is unafraid.

---

So, to recap:

The psalm is from David, who writes about a mysterious person who sits with God but is separate from God, a priest-king who will bring blessing to the family of Abraham, and who will be given victory over his enemies.

Why do you think Jesus and the Apostles thought this psalm was so important?

Reply in the comments or shoot me an email and let me know your thoughts.

Pray This Psalm Against Wicked People

Psalm 109

This is a psalm of vengeance and anger for when you or someone you love has been grievously wronged or for the time when it looks like the wicked are going to get away with it.

I have a friend who lost a court case once because the other side lied and covered up their wrongdoing. He was very low, and the only thing I could tell him to do was to pray this psalm of vengeance.

Sometimes the only way to keep yourself from hating your enemy is to pray for the Lord’s vengeance against the unrepentant wicked. If you keep the hatred and anger in, your soul will turn gangrenous. These words are in the Bible to teach us to give our hatred and desire for revenge over to the Lord. And the Lord will not forbear judgment forever.

---

Psalm 109

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

1 My God, whom I praise,
    do not remain silent,
2 for people who are wicked and deceitful
    have opened their mouths against me;
    they have spoken against me with lying tongues.
3 With words of hatred they surround me;
    they attack me without cause.
4 In return for my friendship they accuse me,
    but I am a man of prayer.
5 They repay me evil for good,
    and hatred for my friendship.

6 Appoint someone evil to oppose my enemy;
    let an accuser stand at his right hand.
7 When he is tried, let him be found guilty,
    and may his prayers condemn him.
8 May his days be few;
    may another take his place of leadership.
9 May his children be fatherless
    and his wife a widow.
10 May his children be wandering beggars;
    may they be driven from their ruined homes.
11 May a creditor seize all he has;
    may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.
12 May no one extend kindness to him
    or take pity on his fatherless children.
13 May his descendants be cut off,
    their names blotted out from the next generation.
14 May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord;
    may the sin of his mother never be blotted out.
15 May their sins always remain before the Lord,
    that he may blot out their name from the earth.

16 For he never thought of doing a kindness,
    but hounded to death the poor
    and the needy and the brokenhearted.
17 He loved to pronounce a curse—
    may it come back on him.
He found no pleasure in blessing—
    may it be far from him.
18 He wore cursing as his garment;
    it entered into his body like water,
    into his bones like oil.
19 May it be like a cloak wrapped about him,
    like a belt tied forever around him.
20 May this be the Lord’s payment to my accusers,
    to those who speak evil of me.

21 But you, Sovereign Lord,
    help me for your name’s sake;
    out of the goodness of your love, deliver me.
22 For I am poor and needy,
    and my heart is wounded within me.
23 I fade away like an evening shadow;
    I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees give way from fasting;
    my body is thin and gaunt.
25 I am an object of scorn to my accusers;
    when they see me, they shake their heads.

26 Help me, Lord my God;
    save me according to your unfailing love.
27 Let them know that it is your hand,
    that you, Lord, have done it.
28 While they curse, may you bless;
    may those who attack me be put to shame,
    but may your servant rejoice.
29 May my accusers be clothed with disgrace
    and wrapped in shame as in a cloak.

30 With my mouth I will greatly extol the Lord;
    in the great throng of worshipers I will praise him.
31 For he stands at the right hand of the needy,
    to save their lives from those who would condemn them.

I Will Awaken the Dawn

Psalm 108

David is feeling good, so good that he can hardly contain himself in praising the Lord.

“Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.”

— Psalm 108:2

One quick word of explanation about this part:

6 Save us and help us with your right hand,
that those you love may be delivered.
7 God has spoken from his sanctuary:
“In triumph I will parcel out Shechem
and measure off the Valley of Sukkoth.
8 Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim is my helmet,
Judah is my scepter.
9 Moab is my washbasin,
on Edom I toss my sandal;
over Philistia I shout in triumph.”

Those are all place names—in verse 8 names for areas of Israel, in verse 9 enemies of Israel.

David knows that any military success he’s had is due to the Lord’s favor on his life.

Let’s not make the mistake of thinking that any success we’ve had is due to our own efforts alone.

---

Psalm 108

A song. A psalm of David.

1 My heart, O God, is steadfast;
    I will sing and make music with all my soul.
2 Awake, harp and lyre!
    I will awaken the dawn.
3 I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
    I will sing of you among the peoples.
4 For great is your love, higher than the heavens;
    your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
    let your glory be over all the earth.

6 Save us and help us with your right hand,
    that those you love may be delivered.
7 God has spoken from his sanctuary:
    “In triumph I will parcel out Shechem
    and measure off the Valley of Sukkoth.
8 Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine;
    Ephraim is my helmet,
    Judah is my scepter.
9 Moab is my washbasin,
    on Edom I toss my sandal;
    over Philistia I shout in triumph.”

10 Who will bring me to the fortified city?
    Who will lead me to Edom?
11 Is it not you, God, you who have rejected us
    and no longer go out with our armies?
12 Give us aid against the enemy,
    for human help is worthless.
13 With God we will gain the victory,
    and he will trample down our enemies.

"Let The One Who Is Wise Heed These Things"

Psalm 107

A beautiful psalm about rescue and redemption.

---

“Let the one who is wise heed these things
and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord.”

— Psalm 107:43

---

BOOK V

Psalms 107–150

Psalm 107

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    his love endures forever.

2 Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—
    those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
3 those he gathered from the lands,
    from east and west, from north and south.

4 Some wandered in desert wastelands,
    finding no way to a city where they could settle.
5 They were hungry and thirsty,
    and their lives ebbed away.
6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them by a straight way
    to a city where they could settle.
8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
    and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
9 for he satisfies the thirsty
    and fills the hungry with good things.

10 Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness,
    prisoners suffering in iron chains,
11 because they rebelled against God’s commands
    and despised the plans of the Most High.
12 So he subjected them to bitter labor;
    they stumbled, and there was no one to help.
13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he saved them from their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness,
    and broke away their chains.
15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
    and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
16 for he breaks down gates of bronze
    and cuts through bars of iron.

17 Some became fools through their rebellious ways
    and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.
18 They loathed all food
    and drew near the gates of death.
19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he saved them from their distress.
20 He sent out his word and healed them;
    he rescued them from the grave.
21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
    and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
22 Let them sacrifice thank offerings
    and tell of his works with songs of joy.

23 Some went out on the sea in ships;
    they were merchants on the mighty waters.
24 They saw the works of the Lord,
    his wonderful deeds in the deep.
25 For he spoke and stirred up a tempest
    that lifted high the waves.
26 They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths;
    in their peril their courage melted away.
27 They reeled and staggered like drunkards;
    they were at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he brought them out of their distress.
29 He stilled the storm to a whisper;
    the waves of the sea were hushed.
30 They were glad when it grew calm,
    and he guided them to their desired haven.
31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
    and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
32 Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people
    and praise him in the council of the elders.

33 He turned rivers into a desert,
    flowing springs into thirsty ground,
34 and fruitful land into a salt waste,
    because of the wickedness of those who lived there.
35 He turned the desert into pools of water
    and the parched ground into flowing springs;
36 there he brought the hungry to live,
    and they founded a city where they could settle.
37 They sowed fields and planted vineyards
    that yielded a fruitful harvest;
38 he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased,
    and he did not let their herds diminish.

39 Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled
    by oppression, calamity and sorrow;
40 he who pours contempt on nobles
    made them wander in a trackless waste.
41 But he lifted the needy out of their affliction
    and increased their families like flocks.
42 The upright see and rejoice,
    but all the wicked shut their mouths.

43 Let the one who is wise heed these things
    and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord.

The Consequences of Forgetting

Psalm 106

Yesterday we talked about the importance of memory for God’s people—we must never forget all that the Lord has done for us.

Today’s psalm is about the consequences of forgetting. The psalmist tells how Israel forgot its story and turned away from the Lord.

How can you receive this psalm as a warning today?

---

“We have sinned, even as our ancestors did;
we have done wrong and acted wickedly.
When our ancestors were in Egypt,
they gave no thought to your miracles;
they did not remember your many kindnesses,
and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.”

— Psalm 106:6-7

---

Psalm 106

1 Praise the Lord.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    his love endures forever.

2 Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord
    or fully declare his praise?
3 Blessed are those who act justly,
    who always do what is right.

4 Remember me, Lord, when you show favor to your people,
    come to my aid when you save them,
5 that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones,
    that I may share in the joy of your nation
    and join your inheritance in giving praise.

6 We have sinned, even as our ancestors did;
    we have done wrong and acted wickedly.
7 When our ancestors were in Egypt,
    they gave no thought to your miracles;
they did not remember your many kindnesses,
    and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.[b]
8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,
    to make his mighty power known.
9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up;
    he led them through the depths as through a desert.
10 He saved them from the hand of the foe;
    from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them.
11 The waters covered their adversaries;
    not one of them survived.
12 Then they believed his promises
    and sang his praise.

13 But they soon forgot what he had done
    and did not wait for his plan to unfold.
14 In the desert they gave in to their craving;
    in the wilderness they put God to the test.
15 So he gave them what they asked for,
    but sent a wasting disease among them.

16 In the camp they grew envious of Moses
    and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the Lord.
17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;
    it buried the company of Abiram.
18 Fire blazed among their followers;
    a flame consumed the wicked.
19 At Horeb they made a calf
    and worshiped an idol cast from metal.
20 They exchanged their glorious God
    for an image of a bull, which eats grass.
21 They forgot the God who saved them,
    who had done great things in Egypt,
22 miracles in the land of Ham
    and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
23 So he said he would destroy them—
    had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him
    to keep his wrath from destroying them.

24 Then they despised the pleasant land;
    they did not believe his promise.
25 They grumbled in their tents
    and did not obey the Lord.
26 So he swore to them with uplifted hand
    that he would make them fall in the wilderness,
27 make their descendants fall among the nations
    and scatter them throughout the lands.

28 They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor
    and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;
29 they aroused the Lord’s anger by their wicked deeds,
    and a plague broke out among them.
30 But Phinehas stood up and intervened,
    and the plague was checked.
31 This was credited to him as righteousness
    for endless generations to come.
32 By the waters of Meribah they angered the Lord,
    and trouble came to Moses because of them;
33 for they rebelled against the Spirit of God,
    and rash words came from Moses’ lips.[c]

34 They did not destroy the peoples
    as the Lord had commanded them,
35 but they mingled with the nations
    and adopted their customs.
36 They worshiped their idols,
    which became a snare to them.
37 They sacrificed their sons
    and their daughters to false gods.
38 They shed innocent blood,
    the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
    and the land was desecrated by their blood.
39 They defiled themselves by what they did;
    by their deeds they prostituted themselves.

40 Therefore the Lord was angry with his people
    and abhorred his inheritance.
41 He gave them into the hands of the nations,
    and their foes ruled over them.
42 Their enemies oppressed them
    and subjected them to their power.
43 Many times he delivered them,
    but they were bent on rebellion
    and they wasted away in their sin.
44 Yet he took note of their distress
    when he heard their cry;
45 for their sake he remembered his covenant
    and out of his great love he relented.
46 He caused all who held them captive
    to show them mercy.

47 Save us, Lord our God,
    and gather us from the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
    and glory in your praise.

48 Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
    from everlasting to everlasting.

Let all the people say, “Amen!”

Praise the Lord.

Remember

Psalm 105

Psalm 105 is a psalm about memory—the psalmist wants to remind Israel of the great story of salvation, of how the Lord is faithful even though Israel has been faithless.

Strong families and strong nations tell and retell the stories of their past to prepare them for the future.

This is why the theme of memory is an important theme in the Bible; throughout scripture, the same command is given over and over:

Remember.

What do you need to do today to remember all that the Lord has done for you?

---

“Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
you his servants, the descendants of Abraham,
his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.”

— Psalm 105:5-6

---

Psalm 105

1 Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;
    make known among the nations what he has done.
2 Sing to him, sing praise to him;
    tell of all his wonderful acts.
3 Glory in his holy name;
    let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
4 Look to the Lord and his strength;
    seek his face always.

5 Remember the wonders he has done,
    his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
6 you his servants, the descendants of Abraham,
    his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.
7 He is the Lord our God;
    his judgments are in all the earth.

8 He remembers his covenant forever,
    the promise he made, for a thousand generations,
9 the covenant he made with Abraham,
    the oath he swore to Isaac.
10 He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,
    to Israel as an everlasting covenant:
11 “To you I will give the land of Canaan
    as the portion you will inherit.”

12 When they were but few in number,
    few indeed, and strangers in it,
13 they wandered from nation to nation,
    from one kingdom to another.
14 He allowed no one to oppress them;
    for their sake he rebuked kings:
15 “Do not touch my anointed ones;
    do my prophets no harm.”

16 He called down famine on the land
    and destroyed all their supplies of food;
17 and he sent a man before them—
    Joseph, sold as a slave.
18 They bruised his feet with shackles,
    his neck was put in irons,
19 till what he foretold came to pass,
    till the word of the Lord proved him true.
20 The king sent and released him,
    the ruler of peoples set him free.
21 He made him master of his household,
    ruler over all he possessed,
22 to instruct his princes as he pleased
    and teach his elders wisdom.

23 Then Israel entered Egypt;
    Jacob resided as a foreigner in the land of Ham.
24 The Lord made his people very fruitful;
    he made them too numerous for their foes,
25 whose hearts he turned to hate his people,
    to conspire against his servants.
26 He sent Moses his servant,
    and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
27 They performed his signs among them,
    his wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness and made the land dark—
    for had they not rebelled against his words?
29 He turned their waters into blood,
    causing their fish to die.
30 Their land teemed with frogs,
    which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers.
31 He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,
    and gnats throughout their country.
32 He turned their rain into hail,
    with lightning throughout their land;
33 he struck down their vines and fig trees
    and shattered the trees of their country.
34 He spoke, and the locusts came,
    grasshoppers without number;
35 they ate up every green thing in their land,
    ate up the produce of their soil.
36 Then he struck down all the firstborn in their land,
    the firstfruits of all their manhood.
37 He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold,
    and from among their tribes no one faltered.
38 Egypt was glad when they left,
    because dread of Israel had fallen on them.

39 He spread out a cloud as a covering,
    and a fire to give light at night.
40 They asked, and he brought them quail;
    he fed them well with the bread of heaven.
41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
    it flowed like a river in the desert.

42 For he remembered his holy promise
    given to his servant Abraham.
43 He brought out his people with rejoicing,
    his chosen ones with shouts of joy;
44 he gave them the lands of the nations,
    and they fell heir to what others had toiled for—
45 that they might keep his precepts
    and observe his laws.

Praise the Lord.

Wrapped in Light

Psalm 104

A beautiful psalm that describes the Lord’s creation of and care over the natural world.

What if when Jesus said, “Consider the lilies” he meant it literally?

---

“He made the moon to mark the seasons,
and the sun knows when to go down.
You bring darkness, it becomes night,
and all the beasts of the forest prowl.
The lions roar for their prey
and seek their food from God.
The sun rises, and they steal away;
they return and lie down in their dens.
Then people go out to their work,
to their labor until evening.”

— Psalm 104:19-23

---

Psalm 104

1 Praise the Lord, my soul.

Lord my God, you are very great;
    you are clothed with splendor and majesty.

2 The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment;
    he stretches out the heavens like a tent
3     and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.
He makes the clouds his chariot
    and rides on the wings of the wind.
4 He makes winds his messengers,
    flames of fire his servants.

5 He set the earth on its foundations;
    it can never be moved.
6 You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment;
    the waters stood above the mountains.
7 But at your rebuke the waters fled,
    at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;
8 they flowed over the mountains,
    they went down into the valleys,
    to the place you assigned for them.
9 You set a boundary they cannot cross;
    never again will they cover the earth.

10 He makes springs pour water into the ravines;
    it flows between the mountains.
11 They give water to all the beasts of the field;
    the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds of the sky nest by the waters;
    they sing among the branches.
13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;
    the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.
14 He makes grass grow for the cattle,
    and plants for people to cultivate—
    bringing forth food from the earth:
15 wine that gladdens human hearts,
    oil to make their faces shine,
    and bread that sustains their hearts.
16 The trees of the Lord are well watered,
    the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 There the birds make their nests;
    the stork has its home in the junipers.
18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats;
    the crags are a refuge for the hyrax.

19 He made the moon to mark the seasons,
    and the sun knows when to go down.
20 You bring darkness, it becomes night,
    and all the beasts of the forest prowl.
21 The lions roar for their prey
    and seek their food from God.
22 The sun rises, and they steal away;
    they return and lie down in their dens.
23 Then people go out to their work,
    to their labor until evening.

24 How many are your works, Lord!
    In wisdom you made them all;
    the earth is full of your creatures.
25 There is the sea, vast and spacious,
    teeming with creatures beyond number—
    living things both large and small.
26 There the ships go to and fro,
    and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.

27 All creatures look to you
    to give them their food at the proper time.
28 When you give it to them,
    they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
    they are satisfied with good things.
29 When you hide your face,
    they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
    they die and return to the dust.
30 When you send your Spirit,
    they are created,
    and you renew the face of the ground.

31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
    may the Lord rejoice in his works—
32 he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
    who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

33 I will sing to the Lord all my life;
    I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
    as I rejoice in the Lord.
35 But may sinners vanish from the earth
    and the wicked be no more.

Praise the Lord, my soul.

Praise the Lord.

God's Mercy, Our Mortality

Psalm 103

This is a beautiful, expansive psalm of praise which is worth reading through slowly several times. One part I’ve always found interesting is the psalmist’s statement that one of the reasons the Lord has compassion on humanity is because our lives are so short:

“As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—
with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.”

— Psalm 103:13-18

And then the psalmist contrasts our mortality with the Lord’s long-suffering love for us.

How does Psalm 103 speak to you today?

---

Psalm 103

Of David.

1 Praise the Lord, my soul;
    all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
    and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
    and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

6 The Lord works righteousness
    and justice for all the oppressed.

7 He made known his ways to Moses,
    his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
    slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
    nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
    or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

13 As a father has compassion on his children,
    so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
    he remembers that we are dust.
15 The life of mortals is like grass,
    they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
    and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting
    the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
    and his righteousness with their children’s children—
18 with those who keep his covenant
    and remember to obey his precepts.

19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven,
    and his kingdom rules over all.

20 Praise the Lord, you his angels,
    you mighty ones who do his bidding,
    who obey his word.
21 Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,
    you his servants who do his will.
22 Praise the Lord, all his works
    everywhere in his dominion.

Praise the Lord, my soul.