"Surely every man is a vapor." Verse 11. This verse is used twice in this psalm, but the IDEA of this verse resonates throughout ! The meaning in this psalm is the same basic meaning in "The Song of Solomon" and that is all is useless without God. The psalmist gives several examples of this, " ... he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them." ( verse 6) After making this point, David turns to God.... he wanted to do right by God because now he realizes that without God all is in vain. " Deliver me from all my transgressions; do not make me the reproach of the foolish." (verse 7) Once again in the psalms we see David asking for salvation before Jesus !!!
When the word of God talks about fearing the Lord, it does not mean to quake in your boots all the time. As we can see in this psalm it means to understand your place in God's world and how you really appear to the God of the universe. This psalm ends by David making this point very clear. As if saying man is like a vapor and is nothing before a righteous God David says," Remove your gaze from me, that I may regain strength, before I go away and am no more." This is a beautiful picture David paints to show the smallness of man and the greatness of God that He would want a relationship with us !!!
Saturday, February 25, 2017
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Psalm 38
This is a very unusual psalm in that the WHOLE psalm is David repenting to God for his sin !! Why so unusual ? There is no pattern of worship....there is David acknowledging who God is and what He can do but no worshiping !!
This psalm is called Prayer in time of chastening.In this psalm we also learn another spiritual truth and that is that disease of our bodies is caused by sin. " There is no soundness in my flesh because of your anger, nor any health in my bones because of my sin." (Verse 3) It is plain to see that David is writing this psalm as he is a very ill man. In this psalm he confesses to God of his sin and the connection of sin and disease. He is begging God for mercy and tells God how his disease will and has affected all of those around him. " My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague, and my relatives stand afar off. Those also who seek my life lay snares for me." (verse 11) David continues to beg for mercy and ask God to relent from chastening him. In the last verse of this psalm, David lays it on the line," Do not forsake me, O Lord;O my God, be not far from me ! Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation !"
This psalm is called Prayer in time of chastening.In this psalm we also learn another spiritual truth and that is that disease of our bodies is caused by sin. " There is no soundness in my flesh because of your anger, nor any health in my bones because of my sin." (Verse 3) It is plain to see that David is writing this psalm as he is a very ill man. In this psalm he confesses to God of his sin and the connection of sin and disease. He is begging God for mercy and tells God how his disease will and has affected all of those around him. " My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague, and my relatives stand afar off. Those also who seek my life lay snares for me." (verse 11) David continues to beg for mercy and ask God to relent from chastening him. In the last verse of this psalm, David lays it on the line," Do not forsake me, O Lord;O my God, be not far from me ! Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation !"
Saturday, February 11, 2017
Psalm 37
Psalm 37 is different than any other psalm so far in several ways. First, it is a psalm that is written for man and NOT written to or for God. Secondly, it is written in a literary style known as an acrostic. Every two verses start with the same letter and goes through the Jewish alphabet. For example, the first two lines start with "A", the next two start with "B" and so forth through the Jewish alphabet. Lastly, it concentrates on one major thought : Why do the wicked people seem to prosper and the righteous seem to suffer ?
Right from the first verse we can see that David is warning Gods people to stand strong even though it looks like the wicked are winning. " Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of inequity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb." The best example I have read about this was by J. Vernon McGee when he addresses this psalm, he talks about how strong and powerful Hitler was. At the time the whole world was in fear and no one could stop him. Or so it seemed ! Now here we are and Hitler and all the evil people of that time are gone and the Jews have their land back !!
This 40 verse psalm ends by saying," And the Lord shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust Him." This verse is awesome. Yes, he is talking about saving His people from the evil and danger that is all around them BUT... he is also talking about God will save those that trust Him with their salvation. Praise God !!
Right from the first verse we can see that David is warning Gods people to stand strong even though it looks like the wicked are winning. " Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of inequity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb." The best example I have read about this was by J. Vernon McGee when he addresses this psalm, he talks about how strong and powerful Hitler was. At the time the whole world was in fear and no one could stop him. Or so it seemed ! Now here we are and Hitler and all the evil people of that time are gone and the Jews have their land back !!
This 40 verse psalm ends by saying," And the Lord shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust Him." This verse is awesome. Yes, he is talking about saving His people from the evil and danger that is all around them BUT... he is also talking about God will save those that trust Him with their salvation. Praise God !!
Sunday, February 5, 2017
Psalm 36
This psalm is easily divided in half. The first half talks about the "lost" man and his wickedness. The second half talks about God's love and mercy. Another interesting part of this psalm is in the title that says, "A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord." When he uses the term "servant" it shows his position to God in his heart. David sees himself as a servant, in contrast the wicked people talked about in the psalm have no fear of God !!!
In the very first verse it says, " There is no fear of God before his eyes." For the next 5 verses David goes on to explain what this looks like. He says they flatter their self, he hates, the words of his mouth are wicked, he ceased to be wise, devises wickedness on his bed, and he does not abhor evil ! When it says devises wickedness on his bed, it refers to a man who lays awake at night thinking of ways to do evil.
Verse 7 starts the second part that talks about God's love. It starts by saying," How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God !" It goes on to talk about how His children are taken care of. They put their trust under the shadow of His wing, They are satisfied, He gives them drink from the river of His pleasure, and in light we see Your light. It closes with David asking that God would continue to watch over and protect him from evil. We should all pray this on a daily basis. God will ALWAYS watch over and protect His children.
In the very first verse it says, " There is no fear of God before his eyes." For the next 5 verses David goes on to explain what this looks like. He says they flatter their self, he hates, the words of his mouth are wicked, he ceased to be wise, devises wickedness on his bed, and he does not abhor evil ! When it says devises wickedness on his bed, it refers to a man who lays awake at night thinking of ways to do evil.
Verse 7 starts the second part that talks about God's love. It starts by saying," How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God !" It goes on to talk about how His children are taken care of. They put their trust under the shadow of His wing, They are satisfied, He gives them drink from the river of His pleasure, and in light we see Your light. It closes with David asking that God would continue to watch over and protect him from evil. We should all pray this on a daily basis. God will ALWAYS watch over and protect His children.
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