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Category Archives: Psalms

Psalm 119:1-8

15 Mar

Psalm 119

The Glories of God’s Law

1 Happy are those whose way is blameless,
    who walk in the law of the Lord.
2 Happy are those who keep his decrees,
    who seek him with their whole heart,
3 who also do no wrong
    but walk in his ways.
4 You have commanded your precepts
    to be kept diligently.
5 O that my ways may be steadfast
    in keeping your statutes!
6 Then I shall not be put to shame,
    having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
7 I will praise you with an upright heart,
    when I learn your righteous ordinances.
8 I will observe your statutes;
    do not utterly forsake me.

Dear God, verse 2 is the focus for Sister Miriam this morning from Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation.

2 Happy are those who keep his decrees,
    who seek him with their whole heart

When I read all of these verses together, it brought to mind a video I saw this week. A coworker’s one-year-old granddaughter was caught on video by her mother playing with a roll of toilet paper. Sitting on the floor next to the spindle on the wall and unrolling it. Playing with it. When the mom is heard on the video coming around the corner and saying, “Well, hello there,” the toddler baby turns and instantly starts crying–wailing really. It was so funny to watch this child either 1. experience instant guilt which means there was a knowledge of their bad behavior all along or 2. throw out the wailing and tears instantly in an effort to manipulate and mitigate her mother’s anger.

Whatever the reason for this child’s wailing, every person who watched that video could instantly relate to what was going on. We’ve all been there, going all the way back to Adam and Eve. Ohhh, that apple looks so good (whatever the “apple” might represent for me). And I’ve had those times when I’ve walked around with the guilt of known sin. I’ve hoped I can hide it and no one will discover it. I’ve even foolishly tried to hide it from you by not acknowledging it and pretending like it didn’t happen. Or by telling myself that it’s not a big deal and you don’t care. Or by telling myself I’m in for a penny so I might as well be in for a pound.

As we know, all of that puts a barrier up between us and everything around us. It puts up a barrier between me and you as well as me and others around me. There’s a part of me I cannot let them know. And if they know it and feel betrayed in any way, it puts something between us in that way too. It takes away transparency.

Quoting Sister Miriam for today: “A house may look lovely on the exterior, but if the foundation is flawed, the house will develop acute problems. We see this in our own lives: The Lord spends much time healing and restoring the roots of our lives. This happens little by little over time. Yes, we experience deep shifts and major breakthroughs within that are seismic and felt and lasting. And we also have tiny reverberations of the tender work of the Artist who knows exactly what he is creating.”

Father, of course, the easiest and best thing to do is to keep your testimony and seek you with my whole heart. It is to be blameless, do no wrong, and walk in your way. Oh that my ways will be steadfast in keeping your laws. But I know I have failed you. I know I will fail you. I am sorry. I bring the sin I’m aware of to you in this moment. I am sorry, Father. I am sorry, Jesus. I am sorry, Holy Spirit. Thank you for everything you have done, are doing, and will do for me as my Triune God. I know your ways are best for me. They lead me to life. Thank you for not utterly forsaking me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 15, 2025 in Psalms, Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

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Psalm 51

13 Mar

Psalm 51

Prayer for Cleansing and Pardon

To the leader. A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy,
    blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
    and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you alone, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
    and blameless when you pass judgment.
5 Indeed, I was born guilty,
    a sinner when my mother conceived me.

6 You desire truth in the inward being;
    therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
    and blot out all my iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and put a new and right spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from your presence,
    and do not take your holy spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and sustain in me a willing spirit.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
    and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,
    O God of my salvation,
    and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.

15 O Lord, open my lips,
    and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you have no delight in sacrifice;
    if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased.
17 The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
    rebuild the walls of Jerusalem;
19 then you will delight in right sacrifices,
    in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
    then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Dear God, as I think of David’s state of mine while he wrote this poem, this psalm after Nathan’s confrontation, I think of the devastation he felt. How unique it is to get this kind of a view of the heart of a man when he is confronted with his grievous sin: murder, adultery, rape?, lies, secrets, manipulation, corrupting others (Joab, messengers, etc.). And not only did David write this down before you, but he shared it. The part of the poem that says, “13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you,” really touches me because this is him saying that he and his pride are at your mercy. If it takes humiliating himself to achieve your forgiveness, he’ll do it. He didn’t want this pain to be wasted. He knew it was too late to rectify what he had done to Uriah, Bathsheba, Joab, the messengers, and even Nathan. They were forever damaged. He could apologize privately, but to do this publicly and show his remorse publicly like this was a huge step.

The downside is that there was no stopping him losing the moral high ground with his children. When his eldest son Amnon rapes his daughter, Tamar, David has nothing to say. When Absalom kills Amnon in revenge, David has nothing to do but exile Absalom. Then Solomon grew up knowing how David treated his mother and her first husband before he was born, and that likely impacted his view of women. The repentance was good, but there was still unfixable damage.

Sister Miriam in Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation focused on verses 10 and 12 today. It’s interesting because she takes those and then focuses on how your covenant with us is unbreakable by you. And that’s all good and well. And I’m grateful that you love me through Jesus life, death, blood, and resurrection. Without that, I’m not sure what my life would even be about. Why I would even be here. Without my relationship with you, I would have no reason to do anything for anyone else. Why love my neighbor when that is a waste of the years I have here on earth. Without you, then my life should be all about me and my happiness.

Father, oh how grateful I am that I do have you! Being part of you and having you in me makes it okay that I’m so small. It makes it good to give others around me as much love as I can. “I love you, Lord. And I lift my voice to worship you. Oh, my soul, rejoice! Take joy my King in what you hear. Let it be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear.” (Shout out Laurie Klein for her song.)

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 13, 2025 in Psalms, Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

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Psalm 90:1-4

11 Mar

Psalm 90:1-4

God’s Eternity and Human Frailty

A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.

1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place
    in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth
    or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
    from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

3 You turn us back to dust
    and say, “Turn back, you mortals.”
4 For a thousand years in your sight
    are like yesterday when it is past
    or like a watch in the night.

Dear God, I have had so many reminders during this Lenten series, but the big one is the one I always seem to need. You are so big. More than I can even imagine. More than I can even imagine imagining. And I am so small. Smaller than I can imagine imagining.

I have a relative whose health is failing. He may die fairly soon. While his life is as small as mine, is soul is as precious as the finest things in the universe to you, and therefore to me. It’s hard to know how to reach out to him or to those relatives I have who are closer to him than I am. Help me to know how to do that.

My wife and I were talking this morning about a couple we know who are in the throws of busyness with their children, careers, and even building a house. It sounded completely overwhelming. And yet to remember that their lives are so small, but their souls are so precious.

I guess that’s the reality I’ve been sitting with the last few months. As I’ve seen larges people groups suffer. People die by the tens of thousands. Hundreds of thousands. Lives are so small, but each soul is so precious to you and to those who know them.

In Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation, Sister Miriam focuses in on your trustworthiness from Psalm 90:1 when it says, “Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.” You are trustworthy, although I would say that many would say you are not. It kind of goes back to what I said I heard Dustin Hoffman say when asked what he would ask you were there to be a heaven. He quoted Robert De Niro and said you’d have a lot of explaining to do. They don’t see you as a dwelling place, trustworthy for protection. They have listened to Satan in the garden when he says, “Would an all-loving God really allow you to suffer at all?” But they’ve missed the point, in my mind. In my way of thinking, we are once again seeing our lives as so big, but I think our lives are so small. It is just our souls that are precious to you.

Father, I could be wrong about all of this. I’m not promoting anything I’m saying as accurate or even theologically sound. It’s just how I’m thinking about it this morning. If I’m wrong, show me where I am wrong. If I’m right, show me how to use this knowledge to love others and show them how precious they are to you. You are the great God. You are precious to me. Thank you for making my soul precious to you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 11, 2025 in Psalms, Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

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Psalm 69:16

08 Mar

Psalm 69

Prayer for Deliverance from Persecution

To the leader: according to Lilies. Of David.

1 Save me, O God,
    for the waters have come up to my neck.
2 I sink in deep mire,
    where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
    and the flood sweeps over me.
3 I am weary with my crying;
    my throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim
    with waiting for my God.

4 More in number than the hairs of my head
    are those who hate me without cause;
many are those who would destroy me,
    my enemies who accuse me falsely.
What I did not steal,
    must I now restore?
5 O God, you know my folly;
    the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.

6 Do not let those who hope in you be put to shame because of me,
    O Lord God of hosts;
do not let those who seek you be dishonored because of me,
    O God of Israel.
7 It is for your sake that I have borne reproach,
    that shame has covered my face.
8 I have become a stranger to my kindred,
    an alien to my mother’s children.

9 It is zeal for your house that has consumed me;
    the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.
10 When I humbled my soul with fasting,[a]
    they insulted me for doing so.
11 When I made sackcloth my clothing,
    I became a byword to them.
12 I am the subject of gossip for those who sit in the gate,
    and the drunkards make songs about me.

13 But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.
    At an acceptable time, O God,
    in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me.
With your faithful help 14 rescue me
    from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
    and from the deep waters.
15 Do not let the flood sweep over me
    or the deep swallow me up
    or the Pit close its mouth over me.

16 Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;
    according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.
17 Do not hide your face from your servant,
    for I am in distress—make haste to answer me.
18 Draw near to me; redeem me;
    set me free because of my enemies.

19 You know the insults I receive
    and my shame and dishonor;
    my foes are all known to you.
20 Insults have broken my heart,
    so that I am in despair.
I looked for pity, but there was none;
    and for comforters, but I found none.
21 They gave me poison for food,
    and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

22 Let their table be a trap for them,
    a snare for their allies.
23 Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
    and make their loins tremble continually.
24 Pour out your indignation upon them,
    and let your burning anger overtake them.
25 May their camp be a desolation;
    let no one live in their tents.
26 For they persecute those whom you have struck down,
    and those whom you have wounded they attack still more.[b]
27 Add guilt to their guilt;
    may they have no acquittal from you.
28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living;
    let them not be enrolled among the righteous.
29 But I am lowly and in pain;
    let your salvation, O God, protect me.

30 I will praise the name of God with a song;
    I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31 This will please the Lord more than an ox
    or a bull with horns and hoofs.
32 Let the oppressed see it and be glad;
    you who seek God, let your hearts revive.
33 For the Lord hears the needy
    and does not despise his own who are in bonds.

34 Let heaven and earth praise him,
    the seas and everything that moves in them.
35 For God will save Zion
    and rebuild the cities of Judah,
and his servants shall live[c] there and possess it;
36     the children of his servants shall inherit it,
    and those who love his name shall live in it.

Dear God, this is the passage for today’s Lenten meditation from Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation. Sister Miriam has us focusing on verse 16, but as I read the psalm this morning, it was verse 6 that struck me:

6 Do not let those who hope in you be put to shame because of me,
    O Lord God of hosts;
do not let those who seek you be dishonored because of me,
    O God of Israel.

I want to love you. I want to love others. But one thing that scares me is leading others who earnestly love you astray. Or leading those who are earnestly seeking you astray. Or just having some failing that comes back on you and on those around me who worship you. I have a friend who is becoming a good friend. He is a pastor. I have my little pieces of theology that go against the grain and can be considered kind of weird. And I could be incredibly wrong. I have found myself regretting saying some things about what I think to him because, if it is heresy, I don’t want to lead him down the wrong path and away from you.

Father, I am about to spend time today with that very friend, a relative, and many other men as we hear encouragement about what boys in our world need to be a man in today’s culture. I confess I am skeptical of the topic and what will be taught. But with this reading today, I want to be careful about how I share that. I want to be careful how I love them, love the boys in my life, and love my own children, who are now grown. I certainly made mistakes in their lives. I might have done things that put a wedge between them and you, I don’t know. But I know that I have this day. This moment. Help me to be very careful in it.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 8, 2025 in Psalms

 

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Psalm 30

06 Mar

Psalm 30

Thanksgiving for Recovery from Grave Illness

A Psalm. A Song at the dedication of the temple. Of David.

1 I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up
    and did not let my foes rejoice over me.
2 O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,
    and you have healed me.
3 O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol,
    restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.

4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones,
    and give thanks to his holy name.
5 For his anger is but for a moment;
    his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may linger for the night,
    but joy comes with the morning.

6 As for me, I said in my prosperity,
    “I shall never be moved.”
7 By your favor, O Lord,
    you had established me as a strong mountain;
you hid your face;
    I was dismayed.

8 To you, O Lord, I cried,
    and to the Lord I made supplication:
9 “What profit is there in my death,
    if I go down to the Pit?
Will the dust praise you?
    Will it tell of your faithfulness?
10 Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me!
    O Lord, be my helper!”

11 You have turned my mourning into dancing;
    you have taken off my sackcloth
    and clothed me with joy,
12 so that my soul may praise you and not be silent.
    O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

Dear God, a psalm of reorientation. That’s what this is. I thought about Walter Brueggemann’s classifications for psalms as I read that this morning, and also as I saw the heading for this psalm the compiler of Psalms provided. Things were good, then they were bad, now they are good again because you provided. I was oriented, I was disoriented for a time, and now I am reoriented in a wiser, better position that I was before the disorientation. I’ve lived this psalm. I am still living it in some ways. In some ways I am oriented. There are parts of my life that are disoriented, and I still can’t make sense of them. And then there are areas in which I am reoriented and wiser than I was before. I suppose that is the journey I will continue to be on as long as I am here.

Sister Miriam James Heidland, the author of Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation focused on verse 10 today: “Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me! O Lord, be my helper.” That is the cry of a lot of hearts right now. It is the cry of people in war zones. It is the cry of victims of domestic abuse, human trafficking, the poor, the sick, parents, etc. It is the cry of so many.

Here is a quote from Sr. Miriam’s entry for today on this verse that resonates with me: “Each person’s relationship with Christ is unique and unrepeatable. As God loves each of us in a way he loves no other person, so too we love God in a way that no one else loves God. The shape of our heart is precious to him; he knows the distinct contours that belong to us alone.”

Father, one of the reasons I like to be around other Christians is that I get to know they God they know. And I get to share with them the God I know. The piece of you that I feel like is unique to me. The pieces of you that is unknown to me, but they can share. Thank you for…well, everything. Thank you for everything, Father. Thank you for everything, Jesus. Thank you for everything, Holy Spirit. May I use everything you’ve given me to honor you and take the piece of you I know about to others.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 6, 2025 in Psalms, Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

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Psalm 33:10-15

21 Feb


10 The Lord frustrates the plans of the nations
    and thwarts all their schemes.
11 But the Lord’s plans stand firm forever;
    his intentions can never be shaken.

12 What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord,
    whose people he has chosen as his inheritance.

13 The Lord looks down from heaven
    and sees the whole human race.
14 From his throne he observes
    all who live on the earth.
15 He made their hearts,
    so he understands everything they do.

Psalm 33:10-15

Dear God, this is the Psalm of the day for the Catholic Church. I think it is meant to be a sort of rebuke for people who look for power and presume they can do things themselves. Somehow, this morning, it is a comfort to me. It reminds me that the most arrogant of people are nothing before you. The most powerful women and men on earth are nothing before you. Yet, the meekest person on earth is everything before you. You embrace them. You love them. You lift them up. “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” “Blessed are those who mourn.”

There are people with earthly power right now who really concern me. Their hearts are arrogant and full of themselves. They feel unchecked and like they can impose their will as they see fit. And, to some extent, they can. In a worldly sense, they have incredible power. In a heavenly sense, I almost feel like you are giving them enough rope to really do themselves in. The hard part is the suffering that will happen. The awkward part for me is that the suffering will likely not be done as much by me as by other completely innocent people who are hungry and need fed or sick and need healed. Who are trying to work, but under physical attack. Who are pawns in the hands of people. That’s where my lament comes from. I lament for them.

Father, I am in my mid-50s. I likely have no more than 30 to 40 years left this side of the death divide. And I have zero idea how those 30 to 40 years will play out. Honestly, I’m hoping it’s closer to 30 than 40. At the same time, it could be today. I have no idea. In fact, I am going to a funeral today for a friend who was my age. We just don’t know. My point is, I have a limited amount of time to leave a mark on this world. Help me to do it well. Let it start by worshipping you. Let it continue by serving others. To quote a song, “Make me a servant, humble and meek. Lord, let me lift up those who are weak. And may the prayer of my heart always be, ‘Make me a servant. Make me a servant. Make me a servant, today.'”

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 21, 2025 in Psalms

 

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Psalm 1

05 Feb

Psalm 1

1 Oh, the joys of those who do not
    follow the advice of the wicked,
    or stand around with sinners,
    or join in with mockers.
2 But they delight in the law of the Lord,
    meditating on it day and night.
3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
    bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
    and they prosper in all they do.

4 But not the wicked!
    They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind.
5 They will be condemned at the time of judgment.
    Sinners will have no place among the godly.
6 For the Lord watches over the path of the godly,
    but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.

Psalm 1

Dear God, my wife and I were talking about the poetry of the Book of Psalms last night, and she mentioned that Psalm 1 is a nice straightforward one that is a good entry point into appreciating the poetic imagery the words paint. So I looked at the Catholic passages of the day and then Bible Gateway’s verse of the day, and since none of those really spoke to me I thought I would double back and see what I might get out of Psalm 1 today.

So this psalm is in two parts. The first stanza, which is physically separated from the second in the New Living Translation, talks about the good person. The second talks about the wicked.

When it comes to the good person, it reminds me once again of the saying that we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with. I would extend that to the five things we allow to speak into our lives the most. So it could be people. My wife is the person I spend the most time with. Then there are coworkers. I don’t spend constant time with them, but I get time with them four days a week, and we share a bit with each other throughout the day. Then there are my friends. But before friends, there is the media I consume because I can’t think of any friends I spend more than an hour or so a week with, and that is only if we have lunch that week. Outside of that, it’s possibly a text here or there.

So if I am planting myself somewhere, am I a tree planted by water, am I a tree in a rainy climate that is away from the stream but still getting some nourishment, or am I planted where there is no rain and I am dependent upon the accidental rain that might drift by me to nourish me? As it relates to this passage, I believe I keep myself from getting counsel and input from the wicked, the sinners, and the mockers. But I don’t know that I’m planted by a river. I think I am probably in the area that gets pretty consistent rain, but my roots are not always getting the water they need.

Father, help me to see how I might improve where my tree is planted. How I might improve the inputs I allow into my life, the average of which influences who I am. Help me to be the positive source of your nourishment for others around me. Use me however you will. I want to be a fully nourished tree so that my life might be glorifying to you and you alone.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 5, 2025 in Psalms

 

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Psalm 118:1-9

11 Jan

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
    His faithful love endures forever.

2 Let all Israel repeat:
    “His faithful love endures forever.”
3 Let Aaron’s descendants, the priests, repeat:
    “His faithful love endures forever.”
4 Let all who fear the Lord repeat:
    “His faithful love endures forever.”

5 In my distress I prayed to the Lord,
    and the Lord answered me and set me free.
6 The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear.
    What can mere people do to me?
7 Yes, the Lord is for me; he will help me.
    I will look in triumph at those who hate me.
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to trust in people.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to trust in princes.

Psalm 118:1-9

Dear God, pain and trials cause us to call on you in ways that are wholly unique. Yesterday morning, I was calling on you and your power in unique ways. I was calling on the Holy Spirit. I was calling on angels. There are no foxhole atheists, and, at that moment, there was no theology beyond what I was willing to consider or avail myself of. DISORIENTATION. The stress was about helping a relative through a difficult time, but I was at the end of my physical, mental, and emotional abilities. I was completely disoriented. So was everyone else in the room. But I called on you and you chose to answer our prayers. I know you might not always. I know there are times when it is not within your design to do my bidding. I’m not sitting here this morning thinking about what I expect of you. I’m thinking about my faith and how different situations reveal the depths it can go to, and how shallowly I might normally operate.

So, sitting here now, I am “reoriented.” In Brueggemann’s psalm categorization system of “orientation,” “disorientation,” and “reorientation,” I was disoriented yesterday morning, but I am reoriented right now. So why don’t I call on you and really plunge into the depths of my faith here? Is it too fatiguing to let myself go that deep and that desperate continuously? Are you working all of this for my good? Are you taking the difficult situations and not wasting them by “reorienting” everyone involved?

Father, show me what to do today. I’m still with that relative and they still need my help, although it’s not as dire as it was. Help me to be what they need. Give me the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual strength to walk the path you have for me today. Use this situation to heal all of us who are involved. Use it to teach us. To draw each of us closer to you. To refine us. If there must be fire, Father, at least use its flame to refine me. Don’t let it be wasted.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 11, 2025 in Psalms

 

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Psalm 90

02 Jan

Psalm 90

A prayer of Moses, the man of God.

1 Lord, through all the generations
    you have been our home!
2 Before the mountains were born,
    before you gave birth to the earth and the world,
    from beginning to end, you are God.

3 You turn people back to dust, saying,
    “Return to dust, you mortals!”
4 For you, a thousand years are as a passing day,
    as brief as a few night hours.
5 You sweep people away like dreams that disappear.
    They are like grass that springs up in the morning.
6 In the morning it blooms and flourishes,
    but by evening it is dry and withered.
7 We wither beneath your anger;
    we are overwhelmed by your fury.
8 You spread out our sins before you—
    our secret sins—and you see them all.
9 We live our lives beneath your wrath,
    ending our years with a groan.

10 Seventy years are given to us!
    Some even live to eighty.
But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble;
    soon they disappear, and we fly away.
11 Who can comprehend the power of your anger?
    Your wrath is as awesome as the fear you deserve.
12 Teach us to realize the brevity of life,
    so that we may grow in wisdom.

13 O Lord, come back to us!
    How long will you delay?
    Take pity on your servants!
14 Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love,
    so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives.
15 Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery!
    Replace the evil years with good.
16 Let us, your servants, see you work again;
    let our children see your glory.
17 And may the Lord our God show us his approval
    and make our efforts successful.
    Yes, make our efforts successful!

Dear God, I thought about stopping reading just after verse 1. “Lord, through all the generations you have been our home.” Considering this was prayed by a man who led the Israelites after over 400 years of slavery–many, many generations of slaves–I think this is remarkable. For him to say that, even for those enslaved generations, you have been their home is powerful.

I was watching something this morning that made me cry. It is related to something that is my life’s great sorrow. An area in which I failed greatly. I’m still not sure exactly what I did to fail, but the evidence is that I failed spectacularly. I only pray that, like you used the hundreds of years of slavery to build up the children of Jacob into a nation, you will use my failings for your glory.

So let me paraphrase Moses’s closing with my own. Let me see what you are doing and how you are working. Help me to see your glory. And may my labor be pleasing to you. May it accomplish what you need it to accomplish. May it achieve what you need it to achieve. And I’ll just add, please heal my sorrowful situation.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 2, 2025 in Psalms

 

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Psalm 103

27 Dec

Psalm 103

A psalm of David.

1 Let all that I am praise the Lord;
    with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
2 Let all that I am praise the Lord;
    may I never forget the good things he does for me.
3 He forgives all my sins
    and heals all my diseases.
4 He redeems me from death
    and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
5 He fills my life with good things.
    My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!

6 The Lord gives righteousness
    and justice to all who are treated unfairly.

7 He revealed his character to Moses
    and his deeds to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
    slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
9 He will not constantly accuse us,
    nor remain angry forever.
10 He does not punish us for all our sins;
    he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.
11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him
    is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
12 He has removed our sins as far from us
    as the east is from the west.
13 The Lord is like a father to his children,
    tender and compassionate to those who fear him.
14 For he knows how weak we are;
    he remembers we are only dust.
15 Our days on earth are like grass;
    like wildflowers, we bloom and die.
16 The wind blows, and we are gone—
    as though we had never been here.
17 But the love of the Lord remains forever
    with those who fear him.
His salvation extends to the children’s children
18     of those who are faithful to his covenant,
    of those who obey his commandments!

19 The Lord has made the heavens his throne;
    from there he rules over everything.

20 Praise the Lord, you angels,
    you mighty ones who carry out his plans,
    listening for each of his commands.
21 Yes, praise the Lord, you armies of angels
    who serve him and do his will!
22 Praise the Lord, everything he has created,
    everything in all his kingdom.

Let all that I am praise the Lord.

Dear God, sometimes it’s nice to just stop and worship. I feel like for the last five weeks I’ve been trying to think deep Advent thoughts as I moved through the season and tried to uncover you. But in a moment like this, it’s kind of nice to read a “psalm of orientation” out loud and just worship you. To be reminded how good you are by David from thousands of years ago. You are the same God to me that you were to him. The only difference is that I now have Jesus. Oh, how David would love to have known Jesus. To learn from Jesus. To repent to Jesus. To worship Jesus. He would have found that you are even better than he knew when he wrote this psalm.

So, here I am to worship you this morning and remember all of the good things about you. You are gracious. You are slow to anger. You are good to all who love you and call on you. You are better to me than I deserve. You are love. You are amazing, God.

Father, help me to turn loose of all of my idols today. All of the little things I hold on to that I think will bring me security and certainty. Help me to go to work this morning and work as unto you. Help me to love my wife well. Help me to love my friends well. Lord, I give you my heart. I offer it to you. Take it and use it and my life however you will for your kingdom to come and your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on December 27, 2024 in Psalms

 

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