Saturday 26 May 2012 Psalm 38:1-22

I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.  (v.18)

A leading Boston Puritan, Samuel Sewall, was one of the judges during the notorious Salem witch trials in early American history. Afterwards, his conscience began to eat at him. One day he heard his son reciting Matthew 12:7: ‘If you had known what these words mean, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice,” you would not have condemned the innocent.’ Sewall knew he had to repent. On January 14, 1697, he stood before his church with head bowed while his pastor read out his humble confession.

Confessing our sins before God is another type of prayer we should practice often. Psalm 38 is traditionally considered one of the seven “penitential psalms,” with the others being Psalms 6, 32, 51, 102, 130, and 143. The main point is found in verse 18: ‘I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.’ Thus, when the psalmist asked the Lord to help him, we understand that he was talking primarily about forgiveness.

David’s soul was sick, and he described these feelings in intense bodily terms. He had no health, his bones were unsound, his back ached, his wounds festered, he was mute and deaf, he felt crushed and helpless. All these symptoms afflicted him because he knew he had offended God (v.4). God was disciplining His child, exercising holy wrath to bring him to the painful point of repentance. The physical imagery is so vivid here that some commentators actually think the psalmist had a life-threatening illness! Have you ever confessed your sins with this kind of spiritual intensity? In addition, because David was Israel’s king, God had made his sin and its consequences public. As a result, his friends had dropped away and his enemies were waiting to pounce.

As 1 John 1:9 reminds us it is good to keep a short account of our sins and to regularly confess them before God who is faithful and just to forgive us.

Pray: confessing your sin before God and asking Him to forgive you.

Reflect: do I make a regular practice of confession?

Friday 25 May 2012 Psalm 37:1-40

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.  (v.4)

 

A certain airline pilot had a peculiar habit. Whenever he took off from his hometown ofMinneapolis, he would ask the co-pilot to take the controls. Then he would stare intently out the window for a few moments. Finally the co-pilot’s curiosity got the best of him, so he asked, “What do you always look at down there?”

 

“See that boy fishing on that riverbank?” the pilot asked. “I used to fish from that same spot when I was a kid. Whenever a plane flew over, I would watch it until it disappeared and wish that I could be the pilot.” With a sigh he added, “Now I wish I could be back down there fishing.”

 

It’s natural to spend time thinking about where we’d like to be or what we’d like to have. But we must evaluate our desires to make sure they are consistent with what God says will truly satisfy. King David was satisfied by putting first things first. Here in Psalm 37 we find him say ‘trust in the LORD and do good…delight yourself in the LORD…commit your way to the LORD.’

 

David found that trusting God and following His ways was the best way to live life. God has never made a promise He has not kept. He sent Jesus to the cross to save us from our sins. We can trust Him for our salvation and look forward to a place in heaven with him.

 

Interestingly we often misread verse 4 and think that if we live good and godly lives, God will give us all that we desire. What this verse really means is that if we truly delight in the Lord, then the chief desire of our heart will be to know Him better so that we can delight in Him even more, and the Lord will satisfy that desire.    

 

Pray: asking God to help us know Him better so we can delight in Him.

 

Reflect: what are the desires of my heart at the moment?

Thursday 24 May 2012 Psalm 36:1-12

Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.  (v.6)

 

Here in Psalm 36 David ponders the reality of evil in God’s world, he praised God’s character and then he prayed that God would protect him from evil and eventually judge the wicked. He solved the perplexing problem of evil in the world by being a worshipper, not a philosopher, and by taking personal responsibility to obey God and serve Him.

 

When evil things happen in the world we can get all worried and worked up and try to work it all out. We never do work it out though. Evil will continue to exist in the world until Christ’s return on the clouds but it need not have dominion over us. We should not let Satan control us and we should not let the evil around us get us down. Rather we ought to take a leaf out of David’s book and turn from the reality of evil to look at God. And as we look at God we should take some time to ponder His character. As we ponder His character we will be drawn to praise Him for who He is and for all He has and continues to do.

 

David recognises that God’s love reaches to the heavens and his faithfulness to the skies. God’s love here is that great word ‘hesed’ which pictures the loving kindness, the steadfast love and mercy of God. And God’s faithful love is limitless. That’s what David means when he writes that they reach the heavens and skies. He also recognises God’s righteousness and justice. As we ponder these four characteristics of God (love, faithfulness, righteousness and justice) we remember how the holy and righteous God had to punish sin but on account of his grace and love and mercy he forgave sinners by allowing His own Son to die in our place. That’s enough to get us praising God too.

 

And then of course David prayed for protection from evil. Jesus taught his disciples that line in the Lord’s Prayer as well. God as we know already from the Psalms is our refuge and strength, our shield and defender.

 

Pray: praising God for His love, faithfulness, righteousness and justice.

 

Reflect: list a few of God’s characteristics and praise Him for them.

Wednesday 23 May 2012 Psalm 35:1-28

My tongue will speak of your righteousness and of your praises all day long.  (v.28)

 

In times of war, soldiers and generals often become popular heroes. Their brave exploits frequently attain legendary status. During World War II, General Douglas MacArthur came to signify firm, unflinching resolve when he left the Philippines declaring, “I will return.” When he did, in fact, return to liberate the Philippines from Japanese control, a famous photo of him wading ashore captured the American sense of commitment to be defenders of freedom against aggression.

 

Today’s reading portrays God as a divine Warrior or Defender. David calls on the Lord to come to his aid, picturing him as a mighty, rescuing soldier wielding all-powerful weapons (v.1-3). The king, himself a famous military commander, knew that his successes and victories resulted not from human strength, but from God’s supernatural power (2 Samuel 22).

 

This passage alternates between accusations against the wicked and prayers for God to save the psalmist. David’s enemies had attacked him without cause, so he hoped their downfall would be sudden and complete. They repaid evil for good, betrayed friendship, made false accusations, and took malicious delight in all of it. Showing faith in God’s righteousness, David prayed that his enemies would be routed: “God, come and fight for me! Vindicate me! Defend me! Strap on your armour and rush to my aid!” When that day comes, he said, ‘My tongue will speak of your righteousness and of your praises all day long’ (v. 28).

 

David was in trouble; his enemies were accusing him and lying about him. What did he do? He prayed. And there is the lesson for us when trouble comes our way…take it the Lord in prayer. Allow God to deal with it on our behalf. Leave it with him.

 

Pray: asking God to help you in the midst of the trouble you are currently facing.

 

Reflect: do I turn everything over to God or do I try to resolve it on my own?

Tuesday 22 May 2012 Psalm 34:1-22

Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days…  (v.12)

 

How often has someone said to you, “Have a good day”? That’s a nice statement, but what does it mean? When you review the day’s activities before you go to bed, how do you know whether the day was good or bad? When Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, that was a bad day. But God turned it into good for him. When Potiphar’s wife lied about Joseph and had him put into prison, it was a bad day. But God turned that into good for him also. You see, we don’t always know what a good day is. However, we can make our days good if we follow the instructions given in today’s passage.

 

David says in verse 12 ‘whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and you lips from speaking lies. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.’ There are three actions there for us to follow. The first is for us to control our tongues. The tongue is a dangerous weapon – it can slice someone down in an instant with a wrong word spoken. It has the power for good but also for evil. So David says watch what you say.

 

He goes on to say ‘do good’. He encourages us to turn from evil and do good instead. We do good when we help others, when we act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8). Go out of your way today to help someone and do a kind act.

 

And then David says seek peace. We are to be peacemakers rather than troublemakers. Don’t be bothered by every little slight or by everything that people say. If somebody cuts in front of you in a line, don’t let it bother you. Be a peacemaker, not a troublemaker.

 

“Have a good day!” may be a trite expression, but you can have a good day if you follow certain instructions from Scripture. Try following the guidelines of this psalm. Not only will you have a good day, but those with whom you come in contact will be blessed.

 

Pray: asking God to help you have a good day and share it with others.

Reflect: how can I “do good” today?

Monday 21 May 2012 Psalm 33:1-22

By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.  (v.6)

 

Annie Jump Cannon, a pioneering astronomer of the early twentieth century, invented the modern system of classifying stars according to their spectra. She grouped them into seven categories, each labelled by a single letter, so that today we speak, for example, of a “K-type star.” Since her day, three new categories have been added, but her system is still taught in basic astronomy classes.

 

Cannon catalogued more than 400,000 stars over a career of more than 40 years. She is also credited with discovering 300 variable stars. For her work, she was given the first honorary doctorate ever presented byOxfordUniversity, and was the first woman elected as an officer of the American Astronomical Society.

 

The stars observed and classified by Annie Jump Cannon should prompt praise for the God who created and organised them. He alone is worthy! Psalm 33 urges us to praise God and to sing to him a new song. We have been singing a new song recently called 10,000 reasons. When we think on all that God has done we are drawn to praise him.

 

The Psalmist here offers some reasons for singing that new song. He speaks of God’s character: ‘the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does.’ (v.4) Then he speaks of God’s creation: ‘By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.’ (v.6) And he finishes by praying for God’s compassion: ‘May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD.’ (v.22).

 

Let’s sing a new song to God today as we consider his character, his creation and his compassion.

 

Pray: praising God for who He is and for all He has done for you.

 

Reflect: list some of the reasons you have personally for praising God.

Sunday 20 May 2012 Psalm 32:1-11

Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.  (v.1)

 

Bible teacher Chuck Swindoll warns us that our society’s message of “instant gratification” holds a danger for believers, the way an undertow in the surf can sweep away an unsuspecting swimmer. The danger is that our “instant” society can lead us to believe there are shortcuts to getting where we want to go. The fact, Swindoll writes, is that “there are no shortcuts to anything meaningful.”

 

This observation really rings true when it comes to the issue of confession, forgiveness, and restoration. We all want peace of heart and a clear conscience before God. These blessings are available on a daily basis to every believer – but there is no shortcut to achieving them.

 

David found that out the hard way. For about a year after his sin of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband (2 Samuel 11), David tried to find peace in his kingly activities and his family. But the poison leaked out of the sin he had worked so hard to cover, eating away at his body and spirit. The pain didn’t stop until David fell on his face before God in confession and repentance.

 

He speaks of that here in this Psalm. He speaks of keeping quiet and hiding the sin away. His bones wasted away and his strength was sapped like it would have been in the summer heat. For some of us who have holidayed in hot countries you know the feeling where the heat is such that it seems to sap the energy right from you.  David felt rotten. But then he confessed his sin before God and the Lord forgave him.

 

None of us like to confess our sin – we feel ashamed by it and guilty of letting God and others down. Yet hiding it away does us no good. The best thing to do is confess our sin before a righteous and compassionate God who will forgive us (1 John 1:9).

 

Pray: thanking God for covering your sins with the blood of Christ.

Reflect: am I hiding sin from God? Confess it now and seek His forgiveness.