Psalm 118: Don’t Think You Learned it All

Today’s reading is Psalm 118.

But maybe you should reread Psalm 117 as well.

I Learned Something Too Late to Share it Last Week

Perhaps this isn’t right, but since I run this blog, I think I can alter the rules. I know we are on Psalm 118 this week, but my study of the Psalms in various settings revealed a valuable lesson to me which should prompt our increased devotion to read and study God’s Word. I want to share it with you.

We spent five days last week on Psalm 117. It’s the shortest psalm in the book. It only has five lines. On average, we spent an entire post per line (and an entire discussion on Text Talk). We covered it pretty thoroughly, right?

And now this week, it’s time to move on to a much longer psalm that has so much more to learn in it. In fact, while we might quote Psalm 117 sometime in the future, surely after five posts we figured it out. Surely we learned all we could learn. We can devote our time to other studies and not really look back at Psalm 117. Right?

Today, while reading the psalms for a completely different reason, I read Psalm 98. The first three verses say:

Oh sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done marvelous things!
His right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
The LORD has made known his salvation;
he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of God (ESV).

As I read, I thought, “Wait a minute! That is precisely the point of Psalm 117.” This is an expanded version of calling on the nations to praise the Lord because of His steadfast love for Israel. That is exactly the kind of connection I like to share in these posts, but I missed the opportunity. How could I study five verses for hours, read multiple commentaries, write 5 blog posts, have five conversations, and not discover this? But that is precisely what happened.

And that is exactly why we must never think we’ve got it all figured out. That is precisely why we should read and reread and reread. That is precisely why we should study and restudy and restudy. We didn’t learn it all.

Thanks for continuing to read and study with us.

Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 118

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 118 prompt or improve your praise of God?

Psalm 85: Restore Us Again!

Today’s reading is Psalm 85.

Have you been there? You committed sin. You came to your senses. You sought forgiveness. You enjoyed it. You praised God. Having experienced the grace and mercy of God, you doubled down and committed to serve Him even more faithfully from here on out.

Then you sinned again.

And I don’t mean found yourself in some other sin (though that would apply as well). I mean, you ended up right back where you were in that previously forgiven sin. In fact, not right back where you were. That almost never happens. No. This time, you are even deeper.

Now what?!

Enter Psalm 85. “Restore us again, O God of our salvation,” Korah’s son begs. God had forgiven Israel before (see vs. 2). He had removed His anger before (see vs. 3). He had been favorable and restored fortunes for Israel before (see vs. 1). But here they are again, in sin, under God’s wrath, needing God’s forgiveness, favor, and restoration again.

What does the psalmist do? He prays. He prays with confidence. On top of that, this is actually the second time the sons of Korah have been in this situation. As we noticed last week, Psalm 84 mirrors Psalms 42-43, separate from but longing for God. Psalm 85 mirrors Psalm 44. Both look at Israel’s repeated falls into sin and repeated need for God’s forgiveness, favor, and restoration.

Of course, neither of these psalms give permission to turn back to sin when God has forgiven us. But, please, see the permission to turn back to God when we have sinned. See the permission to turn back to God when it has been a return to sin. See the permission to turn back to God when it’s a sin that has been forgiven before. Don’t listen to the whispers of the enemy telling you to linger in your sins. Don’t listen to the whispers of the enemy telling you God won’t forgive and restore you.

If you have gone back into sin, turn back to God today. Seek His favor. Seek His restoration. He will provide.

Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 85.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 85 prompt or improve your praise of God?

Psalm 78: Learn from History

Today’s reading is Psalm 78.

We started a second cycle of Asaph psalms last week. In Psalm 77:11-12, the Asaphite author declared:

I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
I will ponder all your work,
and meditate on your mighty deeds (ESV).

That is precisely what Psalm 78 does. It rehearses the history of Israel “From Zoan to Zion” as Derek Kidner subtitles the psalm (see vss. 12, 68). Over and again, we read the history of rebellion from God’s people and yet patience, forgiveness, and atonement from God. We are reminded of the plagues in Egypt. We are reminded of the time the ark was captured by the Philistines. We are told about God choosing David. All of this so we will remember and not forget the works of God (Psalm 78:7).

Why rehearse these things? Because as the more modern historians tell us, “Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.” And as the parodyists claim, “Those who remember history are doomed to watch others doom us all by repeating it.”

The stories of God’s intervention in history need to be our shared stories. We need to repeat them over and over again. We need to know them. We need to pass them on. We can learn from our ancestors. We can avoid their mistakes. We can repeat their victories. But only when the stories are in our hearts and minds. We don’t have to learn everything from experience. We don’t have to go to the school of hard knocks for every important lesson. We are wise to learn from the experience of others. Learn from history.

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 78.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 78 prompt or improve your trust in God?