Psalm 33

When you read this psalm there are a number of things that jump out at you.  First, this is one of the few psalms, up to this point, that are ALL praise and worship of God. Secondly, this is the first psalm where a musical instrument is mentioned out right. Lastly, this is the first psalm that we do not know who the author is. It may have been David, but when you notice the different  "feel" of this psalm, I am not convinced it was written by David.

" By the word of the Lord the Heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth." (Verse 6)  This is a spiritual lesson we should all use when praising God ! Always recount the things He has done for you or has done. This shows God that we know it was and is Him that keeps us. Here the author starts at the very start by letting God see that he is aware That He created the Heaven, the earth, and all that is in, on, or under them is !!!  The author goes on to give the very definition of worship ! "Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him" (Verse 8) In Jewish writing if they want to make a point, they repeat it. Here we can see that he repeats the same line with different words !  He makes it very clear that fear and awe mean the same thing. This is important for us when we are told to fear the Lord. It means to stand in awe of God, not to cower in the corner !!

This psalm closes with " For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name." (Verse 21) The same is true for Christians today ! If you are a born again follower of Jesus, you have placed your life in this world and the next in His hand ! That means you have trusted in the Lord. When you have done this your heart will ALWAYS rejoice. The new testament calls it a peace that surpasses all understanding. It is also a fruit of the Spirit. Thank you Jesus for all you have done and giving us the opportunity to trust in You !!!

Psalm 32

Some say this is a psalm of instruction and others say it is a psalm of repentance. I think they are both right, we can not try to put God's word into a nice neat little box! As an example, in the first verse David says," Blessed is he whose transgressions is forgiven, whose sin is covered."  David is instructing us that if we confess our sin to God we will be blessed and forgiven. ALSO he is showing us that he has sinned and has his sin covered. So in the first verse we can see BOTH repentance and instruction. This pattern can be seen throughout this psalm.

To make his point stronger David tells us in verse three," When I kept silent, my bones grew old..." Here David is telling us about his sin with Bathsheba. He had hid it well from everyone. No one knew of his sin, yet inside even his bones were hurting him ! That is exactly how it is for followers of Jesus. We can sin but the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin and we feel miserable UNTIL we confess our sin and ask for forgiveness ! Here again David is confessing AND instructing.

This psalm concludes by saying that all men sin and great sorrow will be on the ungodly, but he who trust in the Lord shall have mercy surrounding him. This is because Jesus has taken all of our sin upon himself and has paid for that sin ! But the only people who will be shown mercy are those who believe in their heart and confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord !!!

Psalm 31

Set up in classic prayer format, this psalm of David shows his reliance on God and God's answer ! The first three versus praise God for who He is to David. " For you are my rock and my fortress; Therefore, for your names sake, lead me and guide me."  Throughout this psalm David lays it all out for God about how he is worthless, hated, despised, hunted, and forgotten...yet right up front he acknowledges God as his rock and tells God how important He is to David. This reliance on Gog is made very plain in verse 5, " Into your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth"

After David takes most of the psalm to lay out how unworthy he is and how hated he is...he then asked God for His help and protection. NOT for David's sake  but for God's name sake !! He then ends the psalm with praise for God and thanks for answered prayer !! The last verse of this psalm says, "Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the Lord."  From this verse we can learn a couple of things. First, David has faith that God is going to answer his prayer ! Secondly, we learn that all of this applies ONLY to those who hope in the Lord. Are you saved ?  Then these promises apply to and for you !  If you are not saved, God loves you but will not save you until you acknowledge and give your live to Jesus. THEN every promise in God's word will apply to You.  The choice has always been up to You !!!

Psalm 30

This is a psalm of David and most believe was written for the dedication of the tent for the arc of the covenant. In this psalm David acknowledges that he was boasting and proud just like his enemies. Then he cries out to God ! " Now in my prosperity I said, " I shall never be moved.""  Then their is the phrase in verse 2 that shows that David had a life threatening sickness and he cries out to God !!  " O Lord my God, I cried out to you, and you healed me." Some have called this verse the healing psalm or the cancer psalm. Throughout this psalm David cries out to God and He heals him, comforts him, and protects him !!  The final verse sums up, " O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever." The Great Physician shows up all the way through this psalm. If you know anyone who is very sick, please give this psalm to comfort and to heal them. Then give God glory and praise forever !!

Psalm 28 And 29

Psalm 28 is also written by David. This is yet another psalm written when he was in trouble and had asked God for protection and retribution. It can easily be broken up into 3 parts. The first part is verses 1 thru 2. Here David is where he comes to God and begs Him to listen as he asks and prays !  The second part is verses 3 thru 5. Here is where David asks for retribution. " Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavors;" is what verse 4 says. Finally, the third part is where David gives thanks to God for hearing his cry for help and for saving them in advance of God doing it.

We should NOT pray for retribution for those who harms us. David was under law and we are under grace. Under grace God WILL protect His people and we should pray FOR them ! The last part of this psalm we should practice at all times; and that is thanking God for all He has done and for all He is going to do !

Psalm 29 carries on the same theme as 28 in that David sees a storm coming ! David uses nature and Hebrew poetry to show the power and majesty of God ! Verse 5 says " The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars, yes the Lord splinters the cedars of Lebanon."  As you can see the voice of the Lord ( Thunder) splinters the cedars ( Lightening ). The visual poetry here is amazing. Are you in a storm right now ? The message of this psalm is if you are saved God is going to protect you and go through it with you !! If He chooses He can end the storm, as Jesus did for the disciples when He said, " peace be still ". Or He will go through it with you to help and to comfort you !!

Psalm 27

Have you ever felt that the word of God was talking about someone other than you ??  This psalm is written by David and it talks about you and me right where we live !!  About our sin and our wish to be with Jesus. These are at odds with each other but is right where most of us live. In the the first 6 verses David talks about wanting to be with Jesus now and for eternity. Note the first verse, " The Lord is my salvation; whom shall I fear ?The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid ?"  Then if you look at verse 4 you see, "One thing I have desired of the Lord, that I shall seek;That I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life."  David then starts to talk about all that God has done for a relationship, including sending His Son to die on a cross, with us. Then realizes that he is a sinful man and does not deserve any of it !! Verse 7 says," Hear o Lord, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me and answer me. "  David ends this psalm with a beautiful summation in verse 14 when he says, " Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord ! " We are ALL sinners and do not deserve salvation ! This psalm shows how well David knew that even before Jesus had come !!

Psalm 26

This psalm talks of David's righteousness !  Many of you are saying...wait a minute, none of us has any righteousness but only that which comes from Jesus !!! Exactly. Remember Jesus has not come yet, so as we read on we will find that David cleanses himself from unholy people and bathes himself in God's word. Verse 6 says, " I will wash my hands in innocence..". David then says how much he loves God and God's glory.  He goes on to beg God to not gather him with sinners and bloodthirsty people who take bribes. Verse 11 and 12 end the psalm by saying, " But as for me, I will walk in my integrity; Redeem me and be merciful to me. My foot stands in an even place; in the congregations I will bless the Lord." A beautiful way to end this psalm by saying that any and all righteousness David has is because of God and David will always praise and love the Lord !!  Amen