Category: Psalm 71

My mouth is filled with your praise, declaring your splendor all day long (Psalm 71:8).

I want this.

I really, really want this.

We just read about how the Psalmist took refuge in God in the middle of all his garbage and grief.

Now we see how he did it.

Praise, Beloved. He declared the praises of his God all day long.

I wonder if Paul and Silas were thinking of this passage when they were in jail, praising God, watching as their chains fell to the ground and the prison doors opened.

I wouldn’t be a bit surprised.

Praise him today, Beloved.

Declare his splendor.

Happy Tuesday

I have become like a portent to many, but you are my strong refuge (Psalm 71:7).

So…the word portent can go a couple of ways here.

I mean, the word signifies something big, something that grabs peoples’ attention.

But is that in a good way, or in a bad way? Even the word important (full of portent) can be a good thing or a bad thing.

So which is it?

I remind you at this point that I am not a Bible scholar.

Looking at the context, I see that the Psalmist is asking for protection against his enemies, and that those enemies believe that God has forsaken him (v 11). Given those clues, I’m gonna go with the negative connotation here. The writer is old and weak and surrounded by enemies. People steer clear of him, just in case his bad luck is contagious. He’s the “Don’t let this happen to you” poster boy.

But he trusts God.

He believes God. 

He takes refuge in God.

He’s my hero.

Beloved, I don’t know what your life looks like today. Could be that things are grand, the larder is full, and your day is shining with hope and promise.

If so, enjoy it and give God the glory.

But, you might just identify with the Psalmist today. If so, know that God is your refuge. Go to him, lift your day, life, everything, to him. Trust him to protect you in the storm.

Because he is trustworthy.

Happy Monday, Beloved.

From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise you (Psalm 71:6).

Before you knew him, he knew you. 

Before you were capable of loving, he loved you.

Before you had any idea that you needed rescuing, he had rescued you.

Every blink

Every breath

Every heartbeat

From forever ago til eternity hence

Are in his highly capable hands.

He’s got you, Beloved.

Happy Friday.

For you have been my hope, O Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth (Psalm 71:5).

Think about it.

It doesn’t say, “You have given me hope.”

Or “You give me reason to hope.”

It says, “You have been my hope.”

God himself is our hope.  He is our confidence.

I gotta tell you…I’m not even sure what that means–it’s kind of hard to wrap my brain around it– but this passage seems to be talking not about what God does, but about who he is.

I’ve been walking, stumbling, slipping, and striding with Christ for thirty-three years now.  I can’t count the number of times he has been hope and confidence and joy and strength and peace for me, when there was no earthly reason I should have any of those things.

I can’t count the number of times…but it’s fun to try.

As you head into your day, consider the times that God has supported you, not just with his gifts, but by his very nature.  And praise him, not just for what he does, but for who he is.

Happy Thursday, Beloved.

Deliver me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of evil and cruel men (Psalm 71:4).

Who do you think of when you read this verse?

The robber at the ATM?

The abductor of children?

The serial killer sneaking in through your unlocked bathroom window?

The unjust politician?

The backstabbing coworker?

The arrogant boss?

The driver who totally saw you there but still cut you off like he owned the whole road…

Sorry.

The point is, evil is out there. A lot of it is beyond our ability to defeat. But it is never, no never, beyond God’s.

But Michael, sometimes God lets people get away with stuff; sometimes he lets evil win.

I hear you, Beloved of Christ. And it does look that way. But it’s only for the moment. We’re in this for the long haul, ya? And in the long haul, God is very clear: we win.

Do you believe him, Beloved?

Then call on him.

Happy Wednesday.

Be my rock of refuge, to which I can always go; give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress (Psalm 71:3).

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus’ love and righteousness.

I dare not trust the sweetest frame

But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

On Christ, the solid rock, I stand.

All other ground is sinking sand.

All other ground is sinking sand.

Yep.  Stole that one.  But hey, why reinvent the wheel?

Or the Rock?

It’s Tuesday, Beloved.  Stand firm.

In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame. Rescue me and deliver me in your righteousness; turn your ear to me and save me (Psalm 71:1-2).

Some days he calls me to stand firm, armor gleaming and sword sharp, and do battle in his name.

Some days he calls me to hide myself in him, to pull his protection over me like a child hiding under the blankets, and let him do all the fighting.

Why the difference?  I don’t know for sure.

I do know that if I could stand tall all the time, I would probably start thinking that I was doing it on my own.

I’m foolish that way.

So, today I am reminded that there are things out there, both physical and spiritual, that are too big, too strong, too much for me.

But not for the One who loves me.  Not for the One who rescues me.

Beloved, you can’t be strong every day.

And that’s OK.  He doesn’t call you to be strong every day.

He just calls you to be his every day.

Happy Monday, Beloved.

My tongue will tell of your righteous acts all day long, for those who wanted to harm me have been put to shame and confusion (Psalm 71:24).

I love to tell the story of unseen things above,

Of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love;

I love to tell the story, because I know ’tis true,

It satisfies my longings as nothing else would do.

Refrain:

I love to tell the story,

’Twill be my theme in glory,

To tell the old, old story

Of Jesus and His love.

Thank you, Arabella Hankey!

Happy Wednesday, Beloved.

I will praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, my God; I will sing praise to you with the lyre, Holy One of Israel. My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you–I whom you have delivered (Psalm 71:22-23).

Is your praise unfettered?

Are you able to throw your hands up, throw your head back, and dance and sing and shout your praise to God with all your heart and absolutely no reservations?

Me neither.

I go to church, and the music starts, and people around me begin to stand up and  I start to stand up too but then I think that maybe I’m only standing because other people are standing and I want to look as spiritual as they are and not like some pagan who doesn’t stand during the happy clappy song and then I see a guy three rows up on the aisle who isn’t standing either and I think “Good! Someone else isn’t standing” but then I realize he’s in a wheelchair so I really can’t count him and now I feel guilty because I was happy about a guy being in a wheelchair and I still feel like a pagan for not standing but I also feel resentful that I’m supposed to stand like somehow you’re not connecting with God if you don’t stand and people are going to see me and think I’m deeply disturbed or thoroughly backslidden because I’m not standing and now it’s the power chorus and people are raising their hands but I’m still sitting and I can’t raise my hands even if I want to because I’m sitting and I might accidentally smack somebody on the bottom and that would be significantly uncool and besides if I raise my hands while I’m sitting people will think I’m having a cardiac incident and waving for help or worse yet that I’m mocking the guy in a wheelchair because he’s raising his hands and finally the song is over and I have the announcements and the say howdy to your neighbor time to get a grip before it starts again…

But One Day, Beloved.  One Glorious Day…

Happy Tuesday.