Category Archives: Psalms

Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.” A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.

Psalm 90:2-4

Dear God, why do people avoid the middle verse about us being dust and mortal? Two of these three verses are Bible Gateways verse of the day, but the verses they chose are 2 and 4. They skipped verse 3. I wonder why.

I think that one of the important parts about human maturation is that we start to realize how big time is and how small our lives are. If we learn that lesson well then there is freedom in it. In this case, this is a concept the psalmist (Moses?) is embracing. It puts us in our place and we get to embrace the humility of our limitations and the greatness of you.

Father, help me to grow into more and more of a peaceful place with my role in the universe, embracing the idea that my role is very small. Help me to do the things that you would have me do. Help me to spend my time and energy in the right areas, starting with worshipping you and spending time in pursuing relationship with you. I consider my life worth nothing to me. I only want to finish the race and complete the task you’ve given me. The task of testifying to the Gospel of your grace (Acts 20:24).

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

For the sake of your name, Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

Psalm 25:11

Dear God, any moment when I lose sight of my sin and need for you is a moment when I am most vulnerable. I go back to the Charlie Peacock song and the part of the chorus I love so much: “What’s going on inside of me? I despise my own behavior. This only serves to confirm my suspicion—that I’m still a man in need of a savior.”

It can be very easy to judge others and miss the little things that I do on a moment-to-moment basis that draw me away from you. But I know I allow all kinds of thoughts to distract me from you. I act impulsively. I judge instead of loving.

Father, forgive my iniquity, though it is great. I am truly sorry for all of the little and large things I do that ultimately come between us and steal the joy you have for me.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die. The wind blows, and we are gone— as though we had never been here. But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear him.

Psalm 103:15-17a

Dear God, I don’t think there are many people who ever get comfortable with the idea of this passage. Because it only happens once to us and it’s so final (and we have very few reports as to what the experience is like after having gone through it, the idea of our death is daunting and scary. We avoid it with everything we have. And now our technology has made it so that we have moral questions to face about quality of life and keeping someone alive artificially. Those are questions we didn’t have to ask 100 years ago.

My wife and I updated our wills and powers of attorney just last week. I’ll admit that I really struggled with the documents that addressed life support and resuscitation. It was and is really hard for me to know how to make a decision now about something that could happen in any number of ways in the future.

But the psalmist reminds me here that my life is short, but my access to your love is forever. And it’s okay for my life to be short (in relation to all of time) and finite. I can be at peace with whatever the length of my life is because, in the grand scheme of things, it is a rounding error compared with your eternity.

Father, help me to be responsible to use the days you have given me for whatever purposes you have for me. I know I’m going to miss opportunities, but please be with me and guide me into kissing as few as possible. I really don’t want to waste any of the days you have for me here on earth.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

Psalm 139:13-14

Dear God, there is nothing like being completely known and loved anyway. All my sin. All my weaknesses. All of my mistakes. You know all of this and you love me anyway.

The trick is to allow myself to be completely known to others. My wife. My children. My friends. Shame is a terrible thing. I think it’s one of Satan’s most powerful weapons against us. He can use it to tear us down, make us ineffective, separate us from family and friends, isolate us, and, in the end, bring us to ruin. All because we are too ashamed to let someone else know the truth about us. We have our secrets that must be protected at all costs.

Father, help me to seek out accountability. I want to be accountable to you, but I also need accountability to others. My wife. My board. My children. My friends. I pledge that I will endeavor to humble myself and try to make myself known. And then you can not only keep me free from the bondage, but you can also be a blessing to those who know my truth.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony! For harmony is as precious as the anointing oil that was poured over Aaron’s head, that ran down his beard and onto the border of his robe. Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon that falls on the mountains of Zion. And there the Lord has pronounced his blessing, even life everlasting.

Psalm 133

Dear God, I ran across this Psalm this morning, and it was so nice and short I thought I would just spend some time with it. Maybe I’ll even try to evaluate it as my wife would a poem.

First, I try to imagine what David was experiencing when he wrote it. Thankfully, the text gives us a hint. Before the Psalm starts it says, “A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem. A psalm of David.” So it’s not a song ABOUT pilgrims. It’s FOR them. David loved them. He loved his fellow Israelites, and he felt a kindred brotherhood with them. He appreciated their unity. He gave them a song to sing to help encourage their camaraderie and bind their spirits together. Since it was a pilgrimage (perhaps to celebrate the Passover), perhaps it was about worshipping you and remembering what you have done for all of them. Regardless, it was the unity of spirit that touched him and he wanted to say something about it.

Harmony is repeated a couple of times. It is precious. It is refreshing. Precious as the anointing oil poured over Aaron. Harmony often has to fight out sinful nature. We have our own brilliant thoughts and when people don’t agree with us we lose that harmony. But when we can find a common cause around which to rally, it can be “wonderful” and “pleasant.” David is making sure they don’t overlook how precious this experience is because it doesn’t happen all of the time.

“Refreshing as dew.” I wonder how much dew Israel gets. It’s so dry there, does it often get humid enough / cold enough to leave dew in the mountains? Is it unique? I always think of dew as kind of messy. It messes up my shoes when I walk through wet grass. It keeps me from mowing on a cool morning. But David calls it refreshing. And he calls this unity refreshing. When is the last time I experienced unity with a group of people? Whenever I do, refreshing is a good description of how it feels. Energizing would be another word.

And over all of this, in the midst of this unity, you pronounce your blessing. You love it when we come together. You anoint it. You encourage it. You redeem us in it and remind us that the world is not about us.

Father, this psalm should probably be read at the beginning of every Christian retreat, every church service, and every holiday gathering for family. It reminds us of how tying our hearts and purposes together with others and joking together for a common goal can a beautiful experience through which you can bless us with your peace and joy.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.

Psalm 62:7

Dear God, this is one of my biggest struggles. Man, do I love to receive glory and praise from others! I have different board committee meetings this week and an actual board meeting for the nonprofit where I work. These people are my bosses and I want them to be impressed with me. The irony is that the purpose of these meetings is for me to be accountable to them—not impress them with any type of bravado.

But when things are down, where do I run? To you. You are my refuge. I’ve fasted and prayed for things before. I’ve even gotten better about praying to you in real time for problems that come up throughout the day. In fact, I have a couple of meeting topics today that could use your blessing and wisdom. And there are times where I feel like one of my roles in these particular meetings is to remind people that all of our victory and honor come from you and that you alone are our refuge.

Father, this is a day where my tendency is for me to want to increase in the eyes of others. I’m sorry for that. Help me to decrease as you increase. Be glorified in me so that others might become closer to you in their own lives. And please guide us and give us wisdom. Provide for our needs so that others might feel a touch of your presence.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen