Tag: Psalms

Digging in Deeper: Psalm 107:6, 13, 19, 28

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“Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

This refrain echoes four different times in this Psalm.  “Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.”  This was the God they served and the people of Israel experienced it over and over and over again.  They found themselves in all kinds of trouble, most of which was of their own making.  Each time they fell headlong into the mess and from the perspective of the moment, it looked like they were going to be goners. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Psalm 106:45

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“For their sake he remembered his covenant, and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

God doesn’t have mercy on us for His sake.  He doesn’t extend to us His steadfast love because it does something for Him.  He does it for us.  He does it because His love naturally moves outward and we are the only creatures in the world made in His image.  He does not deal with us according to our deeds, but quickly offers mercy when we cry out to Him for our sake.  He doesn’t want to see us destroyed.  He wants to see us live abundantly and flourish. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Psalm 106:16-17

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“When men in the camp were jealous of Moses and Aaron, the holy one of the Lord, the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Reading through verses 16-31 here leaves a couple of strong impressions, both of which are important for us today.

The first is that the people of Israel were stupid.  There were times they were misled and times they were weak or short-sighted and even times when they were deceived.  But on many occasions they made the wrong decision in full awareness of the consequences and without any prodding from the enemy.  They were stupid.  They turned away from the Lord constantly.  And they did it in spite of what we can now see as His obvious action in their midst.  They did it in spite of experiencing the consequences of such actions in ways that were both dramatic and, often, immediate.  It’s like they were dead set on going their own way instead of in the direction the Lord was leading them.  They couldn’t even receive the good things He wanted to give them.  Again, they were stupid. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Psalm 104:1

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“Bless the Lord, O my soul!  O Lord my God, you are very great!  You are clothed with splendor and majesty.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

One of the things popular in sports psychology is self-talk.  How we talk to ourselves can affect how we perform, and not just in sports.  Folks with a positive conversation going on in their minds and hearts will tend to do a bit better in life on the whole than folks with a negative conversation going.  Constantly telling ourselves we’re no good isn’t terribly helpful.  When we can point our hearts to hope instead of doubt, faith instead of fear, joy instead of gloom, we will be better off than otherwise. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Psalm 103:8-12

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“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.  He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.  He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.  For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

For anyone who would argue that the God of the Old Testament is somehow different from the God of the New Testament by being much angrier and more focused on judgment, you have to explain away passages like this one.  And this is not the only time this characterization appears in the Old Testament.   Read the rest…