Category: Psalm

My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon–from Mt. Mizar (Psalm 42:6).

Whatever

Whenever

However

Whoever 

Wherever God takes you in this life, remember that it is He who takes you.

You know, the One who 

loves you and

calls you and

keeps you and

guides you and

redeems you.

He’s got you, Beloved.

Happy Monday

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. (Psalm 42:5)

What, you never talk to yourself?

Sure you do.

That’s what the Psalmist is doing here. He’s giving himself a pep talk, looking in the mirror and saying “Suck it up, Boyo! God is still God, and you’re gonna praise him, come what may!”

Kinda one part cheerleader, two parts drill sergeant.

I love this. I love that the Psalmist is not giving in to despair, nor is he letting his emotions rule the day. He is making a conscious decision that he will praise God.

And it is a matter of will.

Lord, let me hope in you, even when I see no hope. Let me praise you even when I don’t feel like it. 

Happy Friday, Beloved.

These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng (Psalm 42:4).

So…church this Sunday.

You excited?

As the Psalmist writes this, he is unable to go to the temple. Don’t know why–maybe he has been carried off by a foreign army, maybe he is sick or disgraced in some way. Whatever it is, it’s resulting in mocking by the ungodly and anguish in his soul.

And what is on his mind, in the midst of all this trouble?

He wants to go to church.

He wants to lead the crowd, singing at the top of his lungs and crying “Hallelujah” from the pews/folding chairs.

Because of his circumstances, he can’t.

But you can.

Will you?

Happy Thursday, Beloved.

My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” (Psalm 42:3)

When life is hard, the world is watching.

When you are at your lowest, they wait and wonder how you will respond.

Perhaps they mock, or taunt, or ridicule.

Perhaps they simply stand back to see how you handle this dark day.

You see, though they may not show it, they want to see how real God is to you

for  you

in you. 

This is your chance, Beloved.

This is your witness.

When the tears pour out

let your heart hold firm

that the world may see

and know

that you are Beloved.

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. (Psalm 1:6)

It’s a promise.

It’s a warning.

It brings comfort

or terror.

It provides hope

or despair.

It’s the beginning

or the end

but either way

it is

forever. 

Happy Friday, Beloved.

Not so the wicked!  They are like chaff that the wind blows away.  Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous (Psalm 1:4-5).

I forget.

Sometimes I look at the nonbelievers around me, and I envy their “freedom.”

I forget.

I forget their destiny.  I forget that, without Christ, they are like chaff that the wind blows away.  Ever wonder why chaff blows away, while the wheat (that would be you) remains?  It’s because chaff has no substance, no weight. There is nothing solid to it, nothing to keep it from drifting away on the breeze.

So…it does.

What the world calls  “freedom” is often just the aimless drifting of an empty soul.

One day they, like we, will stand before the Father.  They will not be clothed in the righteousness of Christ—they will be naked in their sin.  They will not stand firm in the armor of God—they will be crushed under the weight of their own well-earned guilt.  They will not rejoice in the fellowship of the saints—they will be ever, forever alone.

Father, sometimes I forget.  But when I remember, let me rejoice in your grace, and let me remember never to envy the lost, but ever to pity them, to pray for them, to reason and wrestle and reach for them.

But for God’s grace, we are chaff.

Happy Thursday, Beloved.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. (Psalm 1:3)

OK, I really appreciate the tree image.  On a day like today, when I’m running crazy, the idea of solid, deep stillness is delicious.  On a day like today, when so little that I do seems to be of real value, the thought of being useful, of fulfilling my purpose, is profoundly satisfying.  On a day like today, when my body aches and the gray is spreading, the hope of not withering invigorates me.

But I gotta tell you, I struggle with the rest of the verse.  I’m trying to be a Psalm 1 kinda guy, but I can’t honestly say that whatever I do prospers.  Maybe I’m not Psalm 1ish enough. Maybe I sit in the seat of mockers more often than I like to admit.  Maybe my meditation isn’t up to snuff.

Maybe.

On the other hand, maybe I don’t have a good enough grip on what it means to “prosper.”  Maybe God is prospering me in ways I can’t see, can’t even imagine.

Yeah, I like that “Maybe” better.

For all that I am not—which is plenty—there is one thing I am.

I am the Beloved.

Just like you

Happy Wednesday, Beloved.

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the council of the wicked, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.  (Psalm 1:2).

Do you delight in God’s word?

No guilt here—it’s an honest question.

Frankly, I ask myself the same question.  I mean, I read his word, I study his word, on occasion I even commit his word to memory…but do I delight in it?  Do I meditate on it?

Do I even really know what that looks like?

I know I’d like to.

I know that biblical meditation is different from what they’ll teach you at yoga class—and what are you doing at yoga class, anyway?  They’ll teach you to empty your mind, and allow the void to be filled by narcissism and demons. 

OK, they probably won’t say it that way, but that’s what it amounts to.  

Biblical meditation is about filling your mind with Scripture, sort of letting a particular verse roll around in your head.  You pray that God would illuminate the passage for you, and help you to see what he wants you to see in it.

Let’s experiment today.  Pick a passage of Scripture—it could be this passage, or yesterday’s, or just your favorite verse—and ask God to help you meditate on it.  Ask him to help you delight in it. Let it roll around your head today, and see what he has to show you. 

C’mon, trust me—it’ll be fun.

Happy Tuesday, Beloved.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me, and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:23-24).

This psalm ends with a request.  Like I said when we started, this is a powerful way to check the state of your relationship with Christ.  If the thought of God searching your heart frightens you, you’ve got to ask, why? A few things to notice here:

1. The psalmist invites God in.  God is a gentleman when it comes to our hearts; he won’t barge in where he’s not invited.
2. The psalm began with the line, “O Lord, you have searched me…”  So this is not a one-time event. It is a recurring, ongoing process.
3. The psalmist asks for four things: search me, test me, examine me, and lead me.  We present ourselves before God so that he can show us what is getting in the way of our relationship.  Essentially, we’re trying to clear out the junk so that God can bring us closer to him.

Are you in a place where you can ask this of God?  Can you afford not to?

Be courageous, Beloved.  Ask him in.

Happy Monday.