446 BC
For the next 3 weeks (weekdays only), I’m going to be reading through the Old Testament book of Nehemiah, which is all about rebuilding after disaster.
Talk about timely.
You in?
(Trust me—it’s one of the most inspiring stories in the Bible, and most of it is told in first-person as a direct memoir from Nehemiah himself.)
Scripture for Day 1 (9/14/2020):
The story begins in November 446 BC, and to understand what’s happening, a few historical facts are in order:
In 586 BC, the Babylonian empire destroyed Jerusalem and carried off the Israelites into exile in Babylon;
In 539 BC, the Persian empire conquered the Babylonian empire;
In 538 BC, the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great permitted the Jews to return home to begin to rebuild, and a small group of them did so;
Over the next several generations, the rebuilding moved forward slowly, in fits and starts (this story is told in the Book of Ezra).
Much of the book of Nehemiah is a memoir written by Nehemiah himself, and as the story begins in November-December 446 BC, he is working for the Persian emperor in the Persian citadel of Susa.
Prayer becomes an essential part of Nehemiah’s story, and before he makes his move (we’ll read about it tomorrow), he spends 4 months in prayer.
What do you need to circle with that kind of intense prayer today?
P.S.
My sermon yesterday was about today’s Nehemiah passage, and it centered on this question:
What if God needs to change you before he changes your circumstances?
The Nastiest Verse in the Entire Bible - Psalm 137
In 586 BC, the Babylonia Empire razed Jerusalem to the ground and removed its people into exile in Babylon, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Psalm 137 comes from the time immediately following that cataclysm; it closes with what is perhaps the nastiest verse in the entire Bible.
137 By the waters of Babylon,
there we sat down and wept,
when we remembered Zion.
Unsurprisingly, the exiles first action upon arriving in Babylon (between “the rivers”) is to lay down and weep.
2 On the willows there
we hung up our lyres.
3 For there our captors
required of us songs,
and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
Willow trees grow alongside rivers, and when the exiles arrived their oppressors taunted them to “sing about Zion!” It wasn’t just that Zion had been their home; it was that Zion was the home of the Temple, the Lord’s “house.” Did the Babylonian victory mean that the Babylonian god was stronger than the Lord?
And so the Israelite exiles resisted and hung up their harps and refused to sing.
4 How shall we sing the Lord's song
in a foreign land?
This is the central question of exile, isn’t it? How can we stay faithful even when it looks like we’ve been abandoned by God?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget its skill!
6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
above my highest joy!
And so the psalmist declares: if I forget from where I came, then let my hand cease to work and my mouth cease to speak.
7 Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites
the day of Jerusalem,
how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare,
down to its foundations!”
Edom was an historic enemy of Israel, located to the south and east of the Dead Sea (in present day Jordan). We don’t know to what v. 7 is specifically referring, but it seems the Edomites rejoiced over Jerusalem’s fall, and the psalmist wants to be sure they receive punishment for their gloating.
8 O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed,
blessed shall he be who repays you
with what you have done to us!
The prophets had said that the Lord would use Babylon to punish Israel, but that Babylon would itself subsequently be punished for its wickedness. The psalmist says that whoever punishes Babylon will be blessed! (Historical note—Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered Babylon in 539 BC, not even 50 years later.)
The Nastiest Verse in the Bible?
And then we come to the nastiest verse in the entire Bible. After the psalmist sings of his misery at living in Babylonian captivity, he closes his psalm:
9 Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
and dashes them against the rock!
The psalmist pronounces blessing on anyone who beats out the brains of Babylonian babies. Presumably, he is saying this in a language the Babylonians don’t understand, as a bitter ironic response to the Babylonian guards’ taunts that the Israelites “sing”.
What do we do with that kind of language?
Let us not clutch our pearls and imagine ourselves to be so much above such emotions. It is literally unimaginable for us to consider what it would be like to have your city razed, women raped, children killed, and to be carried off into exile.
The psalms are our prayers to God. Because honesty in prayer is so important, there are times when are prayers to God will disclose just how evil are some of the thoughts of our hearts.
If we keep these sorts of emotions in, they will still be there, festering. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
Evil produces evil. Babylonian wickedness provokes Israelite hatred. This is one of the many reasons our evil actions toward others are so dangerous—they provoke them to hate me, thereby doubling injuring them, both body and soul.
The only way out of this trap is grace, and the only way out of the evil of the world is Jesus. Jesus died for his enemies, thereby showing us what God is like.
It seems counterintuitive, but the more we consistently pray our true emotions and read scripture, the more the Spirit will conform us into Christ’s image.
Some Cool Videos with Call and Response [Psalm 136]
Call and Response is found in musical styles all over the world.
Here’s Andrew Peterson’s beautiful song (based on a passage from Revelation) Is He Worthy?
I’ve written before about U2’s great song “40,” and in this famous recording from Red Rocks there is a fun call and response at the end. (How appropriate that it’s a psalm!)
I love the dancing of the school kids at the beginning of this video:
Psalm 136 is obviously a call-and-response song from Israel, with the leader working through the song and the congregation singing the refrain “for his steadfast love endures forever.” It’s fun to imagine the ancient Israelites singing this back and forth at the top of their lungs!
136 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his steadfast love endures forever;4 to him who alone does great wonders,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
5 to him who by understanding made the heavens,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
6 to him who spread out the earth above the waters,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
7 to him who made the great lights,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
8 the sun to rule over the day,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
9 the moon and stars to rule over the night,
for his steadfast love endures forever;10 to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
11 and brought Israel out from among them,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
12 with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
13 to him who divided the Red Sea in two,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
14 and made Israel pass through the midst of it,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
15 but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
16 to him who led his people through the wilderness,
for his steadfast love endures forever;17 to him who struck down great kings,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
18 and killed mighty kings,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
19 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
20 and Og, king of Bashan,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
21 and gave their land as a heritage,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
22 a heritage to Israel his servant,
for his steadfast love endures forever.23 It is he who remembered us in our low estate,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
24 and rescued us from our foes,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
25 he who gives food to all flesh,
for his steadfast love endures forever.26 Give thanks to the God of heaven,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Why You Need to Stay Connected to Your Past - Psalm 135
It’s part of our national identity—forget the past, and look ahead. Almost all of our ancestors came from over the oceans (whether by choice or not) and made a new life in this country, and so Americans have been a forward-looking people, cut off from our past by thousands of miles of grey water. But the digital age in which we live is even more relentlessly-focused on an eternal NOW than were ages past: there’s no past and not really any future—just NOW.
The problem is that humans were not made to live disconnected to our past, because each of us is a product of the world that’s come before us. We will never be able to understand ourselves if we don’t acknowledge that we came from the past. One of the reasons modern man is so unhappy is because he is disconnected from his historical roots.
The Israelites knew this truth—they knew they lost a connection to the past at their peril. And so they sang songs to remind themselves—and teach their children—of who they are, from whence they came, and of whose they are.
Because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, someone like me—who comes from the pagan peoples of northwestern Europe—has been adopted into Israel. Which means that Israel’s stories are now my stories.
Which means Psalm 135 is my family’s song!
135 Praise the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord,
give praise, O servants of the Lord,
2 who stand in the house of the Lord,
in the courts of the house of our God!
3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
sing to his name, for it is pleasant!
4 For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel as his own possession.
The Lord chose “Jacob” and “Israel” for himself, not because they deserved it, but because of the so-called scandal of particularity—that the One God would use one family—that of Abraham—and through that family would bring blessing to the whole world.
The church is the New Israel, and we are blessed so that we can be a blessing to everyone.
5 For I know that the Lord is great,
and that our Lord is above all gods.
6 Whatever the Lord pleases, he does,
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all deeps.
7 He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth,
who makes lightnings for the rain
and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
“Whatever the Lord pleases, he does….” How great is that?!
Pray BOLDLY today—nothing can stop the Lord Almighty.
8 He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
both of man and of beast;
9 who in your midst, O Egypt,
sent signs and wonders
against Pharaoh and all his servants;
10 who struck down many nations
and killed mighty kings,
11 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
and Og, king of Bashan,
and all the kingdoms of Canaan,
12 and gave their land as a heritage,
a heritage to his people Israel.13 Your name, O Lord, endures forever,
your renown, O Lord, throughout all ages.
14 For the Lord will vindicate his people
and have compassion on his servants.
Israel could never forget Egyptian slavery or the difficult journey to the Promised Land. There was opposition, yes—”Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan”—but by the mighty hand of God, Israel prevailed.
15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
16 They have mouths, but do not speak;
they have eyes, but do not see;
17 they have ears, but do not hear,
nor is there any breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them become like them,
so do all who trust in them.
There but for the grace of God go I. If it weren’t for God’s grace, I could think that sex and money and power are gods, and I could give my life to them. Thanks be to God I know who the Creator is and am blessed to live my life for a worthy purpose!
19 O house of Israel, bless the Lord!
O house of Aaron, bless the Lord!
20 O house of Levi, bless the Lord!
You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord!
21 Blessed be the Lord from Zion,
he who dwells in Jerusalem!
Praise the Lord!
AMEN!
Use This at the Bottom of Your Emails! - Psalm 134
This is a quick little psalm, and I think the final verse is a perfect blessing to send to someone:
May the Lord bless you from Zion,
he who made heaven and earth!
We Cannot Let This Election Divide Us! - Psalm 133
Psalm 133 is about the beauty of unity among God’s people.
133 Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers dwell in unity!
2 It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down on the collar of his robes!
3 It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,
life forevermore.
Unity among God’s people, says the psalmist, is like luxuriant oil on the head (in the ancient world, it was a good thing and a sign of prosperity to be anointed with oil). It’s like the life-giving dew that gathers on Mount Hermon, north of the sea of Galilee, and gives water to Israel.
Brothers and sisters, let us not let this coming presidential election divide us!
Some Simple Ways to Maintain Unity and Fight Off Hate
Pray for friends who support the other party.
Pray for the candidates by name.
Avoid social media as much as possible—it will just get you riled up.
Remember:
13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
In other words, loving the people who are wrong is more important than being right!
The Danger of Arrogance - Psalm 132
Psalm 132 is about the Israelites’ confidence in the Lord’s commitment to Jerusalem generally and David’s line specifically. That’s good, and the Lord was committed to Jerusalem and David.
The problem is that the Israelites then behaved as if God’s grace toward them came without any expectations. They thought, “We can behave however we want—worship foreign gods, even practice child sacrifice—and the Lord won’t punish us, because we’re the Chosen People.”
That’s a dangerous way to live. Yes, the grace of the Lord is inexhaustible, but God’s grace doesn’t mean we will be exempt from the consequences of our unrepentant actions.
What do you need to turn away from today?
The Sweetest Psalm in the Scripture - Psalm 131
I think Psalm 131 might be the sweetest psalm in the scripture.
131 O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.3 O Israel, hope in the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore.
The imagery is simple:
I’m not allowing my mind to wander into fears or worries, and I’m not trying to be somewhere else—I’m just totally present and totally calm. In fact, I’m like a little child, sleeping on his mother.
I’m trusting the Lord, and things are going to be okay.
When’s the last time you had that sense of calm?
More Than The Watchmen - Psalm 130
I took this picture of my son this summer; it’s from Monomoy Island, Chatham, Cape Cod, MA.
Cape Cod has historically been a ships’ graveyard because of its treacherous shoals and currents, and just beyond view at the left of the picture is Chatham Light, which flashes forth day and night to warn ships of approaching danger.
Can you imagine being the lookout on a ship in the black of night, scanning the horizon for the light, desperate to know if you are approaching an unseen, underwater danger?
Can you imagine how desperate you’d be for dawn to come?
In the ancient times, watchmen kept watch on the city’s walls, ready to sound the alarm and rouse the city at the sight of approaching danger.
How desperate must the watchmen have felt in the midnight watches for dawn to come?
This is the image the psalmist plays with in Psalm 130:
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.
“More than watchmen wait for the morning, so desperate is my soul for the Lord.”
What if the people of God across our country felt that kind of desperation today for the Holy Spirit to work in our lives and communities?
P.P.S. I’ve always liked this praise song from 20 years ago, and I really like the Shane and Shane version that they recently released.
“Lord, I’m desperate for you….”
Want Antifragile Kids? Make Them Listen to This Kind of Music. [Psalm 129]
Remember, these “Songs of Ascents” are the songs that the Israelite pilgrims would sing as they made their way up to Jerusalem every year for the big festivals. The boy Jesus certainly sang these with his family.
Think about how singing something like this would shape a child for life!
Something antifragile is something that not only withstands hardship but actually thrives as a result of hardship.
(Americans are not antifragile these days.)
Psalm 129
A Song of Ascents
1 “Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth”—
let Israel now say—
2 “Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth,
yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 The plowers plowed upon my back;
they made long their furrows.”
So, the Israelites taught their kids to SING that, though they had been sorely oppressed by their enemies— “they plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows”—they were not defeated.
They acknowledge difficulty—they sing about it!—but they all tell themselves they’ve not been defeated.
Can you imagine singing that your whole life? Can you imagine how antifragile that would make you?
The psalm closes with a defiant statement that God will defeat Israel’s enemies:
4 The Lord is righteous;
he has cut the cords of the wicked.
5 May all who hate Zion
be put to shame and turned backward!
6 Let them be like the grass on the housetops,
which withers before it grows up,
7 with which the reaper does not fill his hand
nor the binder of sheaves his arms,
8 nor do those who pass by say,
“The blessing of the Lord be upon you!
We bless you in the name of the Lord!”
It strikes me that this is EXACTLY the kind of music we need to be singing and memorizing these days.
What do you think?
Obedience-->Blessing [Psalm 128]
Stop over-thinking it!
Psalm 128 reminds us again of the Bible’s clear teaching:
obedience leads to blessing.
Stop over-thinking it. Where do you need to be obedient today?
P.S. Isn’t it interesting that the images the psalmist uses to illustrate blessing are all domestic? We get it totally BACKWARDS—we think the primary form of prosperity is OUTSIDE the home, whereas the Bible sees prosperity’s ultimate form to be domestic harmony and abundance.
Roadtrip Music - Psalm 127
The last Psalms post I wrote was for Psalm 79 on June 30! Today is my first Monday back after taking the last 6 weeks off, and today we find ourselves at Psalm 127. Let’s look at it.
Songs of Ascents=Roadtrip Music
Psalms 120-134 each have the same superscription: “A Song of Ascents”. These psalms were sung by the Israelite pilgrims as they made they way “up” to the Temple Mount for the big religious festivals every year. (To the Israelites, you always go “up” to Jerusalem, even if you are coming from a higher elevation. Mount Zion was spiritually high, so to speak.)
So, these psalms were roadtrip music.
No doubt the boy Jesus sang these songs as he made the 3 week journey from the Galilee to Jerusalem every year!
What are you listening to as you make your journey through life? With what are you filling your thoughts?
A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.
127 Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
2 It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.
The Lord is the ultimate source of all strength and success, and unless we are building on his principles, what we are doing will be both exhausting and ephemeral.
The reason so many people are so tired is because they are trying to do it on their own.
What would it look like for you to partner with the Holy Spirit today in whatever it is you are doing?
P.S.
3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children of one's youth.
5 Blessed is the man
who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
What a great image! “Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.”
They Put Out The King's Eyes [Psalm 79]
In 586 BC, the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and carried off its citizens into exile. That event is the background to today’s psalm. I’ve pasted below the account in 2 Kings 25 of the downfall of Jerusalem. Warning—it’s not for the faint of heart.
2 Kings 25 New International Version (NIV)
25 So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. He encamped outside the city and built siege works all around it. 2 The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
3 By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat.4 Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled at night through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Babylonians were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah, 5 but the Babylonian army pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered, 6 and he was captured.
He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where sentence was pronounced on him. 7 They killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.
8 On the seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, an official of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9 He set fire to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. 10 The whole Babylonian army under the commander of the imperial guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem. 11 Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile the people who remained in the city, along with the rest of the populace and those who had deserted to the king of Babylon. 12 But the commander left behind some of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields.
13 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the movable stands and the bronze Sea that were at the temple of the Lord and they carried the bronze to Babylon. 14 They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, dishes and all the bronze articles used in the temple service. 15 The commander of the imperial guard took away the censers and sprinkling bowls—all that were made of pure gold or silver.
16 The bronze from the two pillars, the Sea and the movable stands, which Solomon had made for the temple of the Lord, was more than could be weighed. 17 Each pillar was eighteen cubits high. The bronze capital on top of one pillar was three cubits[f] high and was decorated with a network and pomegranates of bronze all around. The other pillar, with its network, was similar.
18 The commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank and the three doorkeepers. 19 Of those still in the city, he took the officer in charge of the fighting men, and five royal advisers. He also took the secretary who was chief officer in charge of conscripting the people of the land and sixty of the conscripts who were found in the city.20 Nebuzaradan the commander took them all and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21 There at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king had them executed.
So Judah went into captivity, away from her land.
22 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to be over the people he had left behind in Judah. 23 When all the army officers and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, Jaazaniah the son of the Maakathite, and their men. 24 Gedaliah took an oath to reassure them and their men. “Do not be afraid of the Babylonian officials,” he said. “Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you.”
25 In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was of royal blood, came with ten men and assassinated Gedaliah and also the men of Judah and the Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah. 26 At this, all the people from the least to the greatest, together with the army officers, fled to Egypt for fear of the Babylonians.
Jehoiachin Released
27 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon, he released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. He did this on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month. 28 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table. 30 Day by day the king gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived.
Quick Primer on Israelite History
[No, you didn’t miss any posts from me—I’ve not written anything since 6/24.]
Psalm 78 draws on Israelite history, so here’s a quick primer:
God gives Jacob the name Israel—from now on in the Bible, Jacob/Israel is a shorthand way of referring to the people of God;
Jacob has 12 sons;
The 12 sons give their names to the 12 tribes of Israel;
The 12 tribes are enslaved in Egypt;
After the Exodus, the Israelites live in the Promised Land, but they constantly forsake the Lord and turn after foreign gods;
Saul is the first king of Israel—he’s from the tribe of Benjamin, but he’s a bad king;
David follows Saul around 1000 BC—he unites all 12 tribes under his leadership;
Rehoboam is David’s grandson, and during his reign the 10 northern tribes rebel and form their own country called—confusingly—Israel;
The 2 southern tribes—Judah and Benjamin—form the nation of Judah, with Jerusalem as their capital;
In 722 BC, the Assyrian Empire destroys the 10 northern tribes (“Israel”);
In 586 BC, the Babylonian Empire conquers Judah and destroys Jerusalem, carrying off the best and the brightest of Judean society into exile.
Do This When You Get Upset That Bad People Are Getting Away With It [Psalm 73]
Psalm 73
There is nothing new under the sun.
Psalm 73 is about a perennial complaint:
Why does it seem like bad people are getting away with doing bad stuff?
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.4 For they have no pangs until death;
their bodies are fat and sleek.
5 They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
There’s nothing new.
If you fixate on the seeming impunity of the wicked, it will make you crazy with anger.
What should you do?
The psalmist takes his confusion and complaint to the Temple, and through worship, he no longer feels so angry and discouraged:
16 But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their end.
It’s not that we get all our questions answered; rather, it’s that we get a sense that God sees what’s going on and that the wicked will ultimately be held to account.
So, when you find yourself getting upset because it seems as if bad people are getting away with bad stuff, make a practice of taking those concerns to God in worship.
Let's Talk Politics [Psalm 72]
Psalm 72 is a royal coronation psalm. It’s a prayer for Israel’s king. The psalmist asks the Lord to bless him and make him just.
We have no kings here; today, this psalm can be a model for how to pray for our leaders, as well as a model for what godly leadership looks like.
Of course, Israel’s kings never actually lived up to this promise; many of them were wicked, and none of them was perfect.
Our leaders also fail us, and they will always do so. This is because we cannot save ourselves: we need a savior.
And so, this psalm is finally a messianic psalm—it’s about the Jesus, and his future reign.
When we pray, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” this is what we’re praying for.
Politics is important, but it won’t ultimately fix what’s wrong with us. Therefore, put not your ultimate trust in princes—put your ultimate trust in the Prince of Peace.
P.S. This also means that you should not put your ultimate trust or focus in politics—it can’t save us. Is your current level of anger or frustration or contempt for folks of other political opinions therefore appropriate?
Zeal [Psalm 69]
All four Gospels tell the story of Jesus cleansing the Temple by flipping over the tables of the money-changers. I think it’s fair to say that it’s that act that gets him killed—it is extremely provocative.
Here’s how John tells the story:
13 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15 Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. [John 2:13-22]
Did you catch that? The disciples see Jesus flip over the tables, and they immediately think of a line from today’s psalm:
9 For zeal for your house has consumed me,
and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. [Psalm 69:9]
This is a good example of how the early Christians used the Psalms as a way of understanding the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. They see Jesus as zealous for the Lord’s righteousness, and punished for it.
Friends, this is one reason why it is so important that we are reading through the Psalms—without understanding the Psalms, we won’t understand Jesus.
A second reason we’re reading the Psalms is that they teach us to pray through our emotions, thereby giving our emotions over to the Lord.
Psalm 69 is a prayer of desperate complaint. If you have ever been in a difficulty way, the 69th Psalm is for you.
“This is one of the longest prayers for help in the book of Psalms. Its petitions are complex, covering multiple themes. The prayer opens with a proclamation of personal trouble (vv. 2-3), followed quickly by cries about the enemies (v. 4). Next is a declaration of one’s own sin (vv. 5-6). The prayer also addresses problems with God’s inaction (v. 26). Another element is an expression of suffering because of dedication to God, a Suffering Servant motif (vv. 7-12). In and of themselves, none of these motifs are unusual in prayers for help. What is unusual is that they all appear in one prayer. The psalm shows just how complicated life can be and that one can suffer because of God’s action and/or inaction and that enemies can threaten because of personal pain, sin, or because of a person’s faithfulness—or in this case, all of the above at the same time. The remainder of the psalm is typical for a prayer. It offers petitions for God’s action followed by the praise that testifies to the promise of being heard.”
The Warrior God [Psalm 68]
Psalm 68
The past is another country. It’s very hard to get in the minds of the people who’ve come before us, but it’s still important to try. Psalm 68 is a song celebrating the Warrior God of Israel, and it’s very different from how we modern, mild-mannered Christians think of God today.
All the more reason to be challenged by it.
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.
1 God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered;
and those who hate him shall flee before him!
2 As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away;
as wax melts before fire,
so the wicked shall perish before God!
3 But the righteous shall be glad;
they shall exult before God;
they shall be jubilant with joy!
Verse 1 is what the Israelites would sing under the leadership of Moses whenever they took the Ark of the Covenant and set out for battle:
Whenever the ark set out, Moses said,
“Rise up, Lord!
May your enemies be scattered;
may your foes flee before you.”(Numbers 10:35)
This is a psalm that’s about Israel’s ancient warrior past. Once God rises up, his enemies melt!
4 Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;
his name is the Lord;
exult before him!
5 Father of the fatherless and protector of widows
is God in his holy habitation.
6 God settles the solitary in a home;
he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
We praise God because of who he is. I love the description of God as “father to the fatherless and protector of widows.” That is, God is a warrior who cares for the vulnerable.
7 O God, when you went out before your people,
when you marched through the wilderness, Selah
8 the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain,
before God, the One of Sinai,
before God, the God of Israel.
9 Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad;
you restored your inheritance as it languished;
10 your flock found a dwelling in it;
in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.
The psalmist looks back and recounts Israel’s journey from Egyptian slavery into the Promised Land as a victorious procession. God is the God of the storm and the God of life (and not the Canaanite god Baal).
11 The Lord gives the word;
the women who announce the news are a great host:
12 “The kings of the armies—they flee, they flee!”
The women at home divide the spoil—
13 though you men lie among the sheepfolds—
the wings of a dove covered with silver,
its pinions with shimmering gold.
14 When the Almighty scatters kings there,
let snow fall on Zalmon.
A victory song from the women in which they criticize the men who stayed behind in the sheepfolds and didn’t fight in the battle. God scatters foreign kings like snow on a mountain.
15 O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan;
O many-peaked mountain, mountain of Bashan!
16 Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain,
at the mount that God desired for his abode,
yes, where the Lord will dwell forever?
17 The chariots of God are twice ten thousand,
thousands upon thousands;
the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.
18 You ascended on high,
leading a host of captives in your train
and receiving gifts among men,
even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there.
Bashan is north of Galilee, in present day Syria. The psalmist imagines that the mountain of Bashan is jealous of Mount Zion, which is just a small hill in Jerusalem. But, God is so powerful that he makes a small mountain mighty, and has defeated all his enemies.
19 Blessed be the Lord,
who daily bears us up;
God is our salvation. Selah
20 Our God is a God of salvation,
and to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.
21 But God will strike the heads of his enemies,
the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways.
22 The Lord said,
“I will bring them back from Bashan,
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
23 that you may strike your feet in their blood,
that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe.”
God fights for his people! When the Israelites said “our God is a God of salvation,” they meant that he defeated their enemies. The language of blood is the language of humiliation—even the dogs will be better off than their enemies.
24 Your procession is seen, O God,
the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary—
25 the singers in front, the musicians last,
between them virgins playing tambourines:
26 “Bless God in the great congregation,
the Lord, O you who are of Israel's fountain!”
27 There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead,
the princes of Judah in their throng,
the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.
“The psalmist speaks as if he is someone in the audience as a procession appears. In the context of this warfare song, the procession is likely a post-battle victory parade, probably heading towards the temple, perhaps even to return the ark of the covenant to its resting place after being with the army on the battlefield (see Ps. 24). As the procession winds its way to the sanctuary, they sing praises to God. Among the singers are women playing the timbrel (see v. 11, above). Representatives of the tribes are mentioned by name, beginning with Benjamin, one of the smallest tribes, followed by Judah one of the largest. Zebulun and Naphtali are two northern tribes. These tribes may be named to represent the whole nation of Israel.”
28 Summon your power, O God,
the power, O God, by which you have worked for us.
29 Because of your temple at Jerusalem
kings shall bear gifts to you.
30 Rebuke the beasts that dwell among the reeds,
the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples.
Trample underfoot those who lust after tribute;
scatter the peoples who delight in war.
31 Nobles shall come from Egypt;
Cush shall hasten to stretch out her hands to God.
“Cush” is the region south of Egypt, near present-day Sudan.
32 O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;
sing praises to the Lord, Selah
33 to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens;
behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.
34 Ascribe power to God,
whose majesty is over Israel,
and whose power is in the skies.
35 Awesome is God from his sanctuary;
the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people.
Blessed be God!
“Jesus is our Warrior who defeats Satan by his death on the cross (Col. 2:13-15).”
This is why Christians should be confident—evil isn’t going to win!
What You Need Today [Psalm 65]
This psalm can be divided into 3 parts:
God forgives (vv. 1-4);
God gives order to creation (vv.5-8);
God provides life’s necessities (vv. 9-13).
That what you and I need today: forgiveness, order, and life.
Be grateful!
Stand Up Straight, With Your Shoulders Back [Psalm 64]
The last line of this Sixty-Fourth Psalm caught my attention:
“Let all the upright in heart exult!”
If you are walking with God today, be confident! Stand up straight with your shoulders back. The Lord will vindicate you and will bring the wicked to account, and that is the reason for our confidence and joy.
If you are not walking with God today, turn around and repent!