Psalm 120: The Lord Answered Me

Today’s reading is Psalm 120.

Seek Your Servant

Obviously, Psalm 119 stood out as a singularly unique psalm. And, no doubt, the Songs of Ascents by the very nature of their headings demonstrate they are a unit of songs to themselves. However, as is often the case in the psalms, while we struggle to outline an overarching order and structure, we often see hints as to why the psalms were placed next to each other.

Why go from Psalm 119 into the Songs of Ascents? I obviously can only speculate. But can we who have spent almost three months walking step by step through the acrostic poem in memorial to God’s Word miss a connection? How many times in Psalm 119 did the psalmist declare distress and ask for God’s deliverance? The longest psalm ends with the surprising request:

I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant,
for I do not forget your commandments.
Psalm 119:176 (ESV)

Prais the Lord, the Songs of Ascents begin:

In my distress I called to the LORD,
and he answered me.
Psalm 120:1 (ESV)

Most certainly, that declaration has a point in the psalm itself. Liars and false accusers abound around the Ascents psalmist. He has already laid his plea before the Lord and he has already received an answer. However, surely we can’t help but find comfort that immediately following the desperate plea of the straying sheep who longs to be close to his Shepherd but cannot traverse the way on his own are the words, “I called to the LORD, and he answered me.” And if the LORD will answer that sheep’s bleating cries, we who have been purchased by the blood of the Lamb can trust He will respond to ours.

Recognize this. We are on a pilgrimage. It will be a long journey. We will go through pleasant fields but also through harsh wilderness. As in Psalm 23, we will sometimes lie down in green pastures and drink from still waters, but sometimes we will go through the valley of the shadow of death. Enemies will surround us. They will attack us. They will distract us. But we are not traveling alone. The Lord is our Shepherd. We know His voice. He hears ours.

We can climb this hill and make this pilgrimage because when we cry to the Lord, He listens. When we call out to Him, He responds.

Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 120.

PODCAST!!!

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PATHS:
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How does Psalm 120 admonish you?

Psalm 119:17-32: Open My Eyes

Today’s reading is Psalm 119 (vss. 17-32).

Eyes to See

God has not revealed His Word through strange language, secret code, or hidden meanings. In God’s Word, the words mean what they mean in any other writing. The grammar is the same. The logic and rhetoric proceed in the same vein as those of the cultures in which God’s Word was written.

However, for all that, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:14-16, the teaching from God is spiritual and only those who are spiritual will truly discern them. The natural person, the person fixated on natural things, earthly things, worldly things will always read God’s spiritual word through fleshly eyes. Filtering it through darkened eyes, the earthly, natural person will not understand God’s Word.

Therefore, our psalmist prays:

Open my eyes, that I may behold
wondrous things out of your law.
–Psalm 119:18 (ESV)

In Deuteronomy 29:2-4, Moses explained Israel had gone through the wilderness. They had seen the plagues in Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, the wonders in the wilderness. All these things happened before their eyes. However, the LORD had not given Israel either a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear. The true weight and meaning of the wonders had escaped Israel. But, let us not sand down this seeming rough edge. Moses declared God had not given them eyes to see. Certainly, the rest of Moses’s speech makes Israel culpable for his own failures. We do not have to fear God is to blame for Israel’s sins and rebellions. However, we have to be honest–eyes to see and ears to hear come from God.

Therefore, what must we do as we approach God’s Word? We must ask Him to open our eyes and let us see. In fact, this is much like Jesus’s point when explaining why He used parables in Matthew 13:10-17. He did not teach in parables to make His teaching easier to understand. He did so to obscure His meaning and make people have to work for it. Who had the eyes to see the meaning of His teaching? Not those with secret knowledge or special initiation. Those who had eyes to see asked. They worked at it.

Let us not think we are so wise we can just open the Bible and understand it. No, we need eyes from God to see. However, let us not think we are to sit around waiting for God to give us those. Let us, like the Psalmist, ask. “Open my eyes, Lord. Let me see.” Then let us dive in, read, study, apply. God will give us sight. God will grow us.

Praise the Lord!

PODCAST!!!

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

PATHS:
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How does Psalm 119:17-32 prompt or improve your praise of God?

Psalm 105: The Rock that Followed Them

Today’s reading is Psalm 105.

Where on earth will we find Jesus in Psalm 105? The whole psalm looks back to Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, the Exodus, the wilderness wanderings. It doesn’t look ahead to Jesus, does it?

Paul gives us some help here.

For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.

1 Corinthians 9:1-4 (ESV)

Do you see Jesus in Psalm 105 now?

He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
it flowed through the desert like a river.
For he remembered his holy promise,
and Abraham his servant.

Psalm 105: 41-42 (ESV)

In Exodus 17 and in Numbers 20, God made water flow from the rock so Israel could drink. Paul explains the rock is Jesus. Of course, Paul didn’t mean the rocks were literally Jesus as if Jesus came into the world in the form of a rock on those two occasions. Rather, his point was the water didn’t come from some previously unknown fountain or spring breaking forth when Moses struck those rocks. The water came from Jesus.

Because Jesus followed Israel, because Jesus was with Israel, Israel found blessing. Paul’s point is we are one with Israel. They weren’t drinking from a different source than we drink. The living water we receive (the Holy Spirit) is from Jesus. In the same way, Jesus is the bread of life. We eat the same spiritual food as they did. No, we don’t eat manna, but we eat from the same sustaining life giving power they did.

The great part of this though is not simply noticing the food and drink which is Jesus. But noticing why God provides the food and drink. Because He remembers the promise He made to Abraham. Because He promised to Abraham to provide a blessing to all nations through Abraham’s offspring. That offspring is Jesus Christ. God keeps His Word not because we deserve it. Not because we’ve earned it. He keeps His Word because He is trustworthy. He made a promise. He will keep it. And if we are in Christ, we are Abraham’s offspring and we will receive His blessing.

Praise the Lord!

Next week’s reading is Psalm 106.

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:
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What do you want to share with others from Psalm 105?

Psalm 91: The Lord’s Angels

Today’s reading is Psalm 91.

Can we just be amazed at Psalm 91:11 for a minute?

For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways (ESV).

Of course, this corresponds to God’s promise to the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness and as they moved into the conquest of Palestine (Exodus 23:20-33). But we are not to read this verse and say, “That was them, this is us.” Hebrews 1:14 explains angels are even still “ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation” (ESV).

I’m not saying you have a guardian angel. I am saying angels guard us. I am saying God has given commands to angels concerning us. I am saying we are not alone. I don’t know how they do that. I don’t know exactly their work. I don’t expect we will actually see them. I doubt we will know this side of eternity what they did. But they are there. God has commanded them to give thought to us and work on our behalf.

Be amazed! And give thanks.

That is how special we who take our refuge in God are. He has tasked angels with protecting us.

Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 91.

PODCAST!!!

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PATHS:
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How does Psalm 91 prompt or improve your trust in God?

Psalm 90: Establish the Work of Our Hands

Today’s reading is Psalm 90.

As the psalm began by addressing Israel’s Lord and Master as their dwelling place, their refuge, it ends addressing Israel’s Lord and Master as the one who would make their work and service useful. Part of the gladness and blessing Moses sought for Israel was that God would “establish the work of our hands.”

If Moses was writing during the final years of Israel’s slavery, this would be a general request for God to make their service and work something more than submission to a tyrannical dictator. Let their work be for God and for God’s own kingdom, not simple slavery to the Pharaoh. If Moses was writing in the wilderness wanderings, he may have been specifically referencing the building of the tabernacle, asking God to establish the work of their hands by taking residence in that tent.

Naturally, that makes this a great prayer for post-exilic Israel. As we’ve gone through the psalms, we have seen the editors piece together psalms from different parts of Israel’s history to present a story and response to the years under the kings and then into the judgment on Jerusalem and captivity of Judah in Babylon. Though this psalm starts a new book of the psalms, Moses’s prayer would fit a time of captivity and looking forward to a return home and an opportunity to rebuild the city and house of God.

However, more importantly for us than its historical context and potential application for Israel is seeing God’s ultimate answer to this request. We Christians find it in 1 Corinthians 15:58:

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain (ESV).

Paul wrote this at the end of a discussion of the resurrection. Because Jesus rose from the dead, the work of our hands is not in vain. It is established. This is great news and the exact opposite of what many believe. Sadly, many who claim to be Christian believe the grace of Jesus’s resurrection means our work doesn’t matter at all. Not true. Because of Jesus’s resurrection, what we do actually matters. Our obedience actually accomplishes something. Our service actually means something. Moses prayed God would establish the work of our hands. And in the resurrection of Jesus that is precisely what God did.

Praise the Lord!

Next week’s reading is Psalm 91.

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:
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What do you want to share with others from Psalm 90?

Psalm 90: Turn and Have Pity, O LORD!

Today’s reading is Psalm 90.

Moses might have been writing after a couple of generations of slavery in Egypt, giving voice to the cries and moans of his people. On the other hand, he might have been writing as Israel wandered in the wilderness. In either case, the suffering was due to sin (See Numbers 14 and Ezekiel 23:3, 8, 19). Additionally, in either case, Israel had only one hope. The Lord’s pity and compassion.

They had experienced the anger of the Lord and His wrath over their sins. Moses pleaded with God to turn and offer them His pity, to let them have a new dawn anchored in God’s steadfast love. In the same way God had afflicted them, He could make them glad. As they had been afflicted for generations in Egypt and years in the wilderness, Moses asked for years and generations of gladness.

Of course, here is the point. Gladness doesn’t happen accidentally. It comes from God working and extending His glorious power (see vs. 16). Remember that. We tend to think of discipline, judgment, and punishment as God working and administering His power. Actually, that is usually God withdrawing His protective hand, His working, and His power, allowing us to simply face the outcomes of our own folly, stupidity, and sin. It takes God’s work and power to have blessing, favor, and gladness.

Like Moses, then, we need to pray. Pray for God’s work and power in our lives. He loves to bless His people who ask. He is a giver of good gifts.

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 90.

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:
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Psalm 63: Praise in the Dry Times

Today’s reading is Psalm 63.

We’ve been in the Psalms for over two months. We’ve asked you to personally walk the P.A.T.H.S. of righteousness as you read each day. It’s been a while since we’ve walked that path in our blog posts and podcasts. Psalm 63 provides an excellent psalm to remember these paths, especially since this psalm shows David in the wilderness. This week we’re going to walk the P.A.T.H.S. of righteousness in our dry times. Each day, I’ll share a brief foray into the day’s topic. Don’t forget to check out the Text Talk Podcast to get more.

Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.

Psalm 63:3

What a verse! Absalom chased David out of Jerusalem. He, David, doesn’t know God’s plans for him. He may die. What does he say? God’s steadfast love is better than life. That is, David would rather have God’s steadfast love than life. David would rather die than lose God’s steadfast love. David faces a dry time. In the dry time, we don’t feel God’s love. But David believes God’s love. David walks in the dry times by faith. Perhaps he recalls previous dry times. Maybe he recalls the wilderness wanderings of his forbears between Egypt and the Promised Land. Perhaps he recalls his own wilderness wanderings when chased by Saul. God has carried him through dry times before. Whatever anchors David, he knows God loves him. Therefore, he faces death in the dry time by faith. However the dry time will end, David believes God will carry him through. Which, by the way, means David had some concept if he died in the dry time, God’s steadfast love promised him something after this life.

So in the dry time, he commits to praise.

So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.

Psalm 63:4

What dry times have you faced? Are you in a dry time now? Know God loves you. He proved it by sacrificing Jesus, His Son, on your behalf. Maybe you don’t feel the love right now. May I encourage you to believe the love. Know the love. Commit to praise God because you know He loves you no matter how it feels in the present moment. He will carry you through the dry time.

Let’s praise God even in the dry times.

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 63.

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:
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How does Psalm 63 help you praise God, especially in the dry times?

Psalm 56: God Sees Our Tears

Today’s reading is Psalm 56.

Have you ever had the feeling of being watched? David did. He claimed his enemies lurked, watching his steps. They lay in wait for his life. It’s no wonder he spent nights tossing and turning. Some claim “wanderings” more accurately translates the word than “tossings.” “Wanderings” fits the historical context given in the ancient heading for the psalm. When Saul pursued David, he wandered in the wilderness just like the ancient Israelites. In 1 Samuel 21:10-15, he wandered into Gath. However, that didn’t work out well for him. The Philistines took hold of him and demanded Achish do something drastic with him.

Enemies and attacks pervade David’s life. The lurking enemies may be the Philistines in this psalm, possibly Saul, maybe both. The fear, the torment, the emotional pain increased as time went on. No wonder David cried. But what good did those tears accomplish?

Tears embarrass us. We wish we were stronger than to cry in the face of our pain and anguish. David cried. Did those tears mean anything? Yes. While the enemies kept track of David’s steps, God kept track of David’s tears. He collected them in a bottle. He wrote them in His book. God records these not merely for the sake of having a record. Rather, this record indicates God has a plan. He knows exactly how much pain our enemies cause. We leave vengeance to God because He knows precisely the degree of vengeance our enemies deserve. He knows the pain, the torment, the agony they caused. He collects the tears.

God sees your tears. Do not be embarrassed. Let God collect your tears. He will wipe them away. He will take vengeance on the impenitent enemy who causes them. Blessed are those who mourn. God will comfort you.

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 56.

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:
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How does Psalm 56 increase your hope in God?

The Destiny of the Saint

Today’s reading is Psalm 23.

We’ve been on a journey this week as we walked with the sheep from the pasture to the palace, and then again with David as he traveled that same path, and then with Israel as they did the same. With this week’s discoveries in mind, what is the message for us today? Of course, we must first remember who our Shepherd is. In John 10:11, Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd.” It’s not that Yahweh was Israel’s Shepherd, while Jesus is ours. Rather, Jesus is Yahweh who is the Good Shepherd. You see, our Shepherd is more than that. He is also the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He went through the crucifixion to prepare a place for us. He defeated death to prepare a path for us. Today, we are wandering through the wilderness of this life. We wander in the pastures as Jesus lets us lie down there and then leads us by still waters. He restores our soul when we are harassed, distressed, downcast. When our way is dark as death, so dark we can’t even see Him, He is still there. With His rod and staff He guides us through paths of righteousness. And, yes, sometimes the path of righteousness goes right through the valley of the shadow and darkness of death. However, He is leading us somewhere. He is leading us to the palace. He is leading us to the marriage feast of the Lamb (see Revelation 19:9). Yahweh took Israel from the pasture to the palace. Yahweh took David from the pasture to the palace. Yahweh is taking us from the pasture to the palace. Hang on to the Shepherd, He will become our eternal host. And we will dwell in His house forever. Praise the Lord!

Next week’s reading is Psalm 24.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes and listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier that expands on this post!

The History of Israel

Today’s reading is Psalm 23.

When we compare Psalm 23 to 2 Samuel 7, we see David’s autobiography, being taken from the pasture to the palace. But we see more. David’s life mirrored the history of Israel. Therefore, so does Psalm 23. Though I admit it isn’t spelled out quite as plainly, in 2 Samuel 7, God reminds David of the years Israel spent wandering in the wilderness in tents. He does specifically call the judges He used during those days as shepherds of His people in 2 Samuel 7:7. In 2 Samuel 7:10, He explains His plans to plant Israel so they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. He will give them rest from their enemies. In other words, though not quite as literally as David, God took Israel from the pasture to the palace. There are other connections. For instance, in Deuteronomy 2:7, Moses reminded Israel that as God led them through the wilderness, they lacked nothing. In Psalm 78:19, Asaph refers to God’s work in the wilderness as spreading a table before Israel and then explained that when the rock gushed water it overflowed streams. And God was considered the Shepherd of Israel since Genesis 48:15. In other words, the story of Psalm 23 is not just an idyllic picture of comfort. But it is also more than the autobiography of David, it is the history of Israel. A pattern is emerging. This is how God deals with His people. He leads them from the pasture to the palace. Praise the Lord!

PODCAST!!

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