January 17
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PSALM 114 TREMBLE AT GOD’S PRESENCE
When Israel went out from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
2 Judah became his sanctuary, Israel his dominion. 3 The sea looked and fled; Jordan turned back.4 The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs. 5 What ails you, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back? 6 O mountains, that you skip like rams?
O hills, like lambs? 7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, 8 who turns the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of water.
– Psalm 114:1-8
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Charles Spurgeon had high praise for this psalm. This is second in the series of psalms known as the Egyptian Hallel and sung as part of Israel’s Passover ceremony. He says that “This sublime SONG OF THE EXODUS is one and indivisible. True poetry has here reached its climax: no human mind has ever been able to equal, much less to excel, the grandeur of this psalm.”
In verse 1, the psalmist poetically wrote the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. “People of strange Language” in this verse would indicate that the Israelites had to speak foreign language since they were captured by the Egyptians for 400 years. Guzik comments on verse 2: “The leading tribe of Israel (Judah) represented the whole nation which became the dwelling place of God (His sanctuary). The godly in Israel always understood that God’s dwelling in the tabernacle or temple was only symbolic of His presence in His people.”
When I read this psalm, I was so amazed at the personification of nature. I am a very visual person and the figures of speech used in this psalm jumped at my creative mind and touched my heart so deeply. Verse 3 describes who the body of water opened up from the Red Sea up to the Jordan in obedience to God’s order to deliver his people. Verse 4 according to some commentary has reference to the strong earthquakes and similar phenomena that happened at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:16-20) when God manifested His presence there. They shook and “skipped” like sheep.
The psalmist ends this wonderful exultation of God’s power with a command to shudder in awe from the power and might and love that God manifests to his beloved people. The God Almighty who created everything would set His eyes on providing, protecting and delivering his own people from slavery and enter into His promised land.
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REFLECTION
• How can we remember to tremble at God’s presence at all times?
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PSALM 121- LIFT UP YOUR EYES ON THE LORD
January 16
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PSALM 121- LIFT UP YOUR EYES ON THE LORD
I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not
strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will
keep your life. 8 The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. – Psalm 121:1-8
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According to biblestudytools.com, some call this psalm the soldier’s psalm. Some think that it was written while he was in the camp, when David was going through the high places in the field where he is exposed to danger. and thus trusted God to cover his head in the day of battle. Others call it the traveller’s psalm and think David penned it when he was going abroad, and designed it for a good man’s convoy and companion in a journey or voyage.
This psalm is an acknowledgement of God’s promise of protection to his own people. David starts this psalm with a focus on the source of his help who is God alone. In verse 3, he stands on God’s promise that God will never let him be moved or overcome by evil. David stands on Samuel’s prophecy written in 1 Samuel 2:9 which says “He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail. David’s complete faith and hopeful expectation of God’s promises of protection and deliverance is quite remarkable. In verse 4, he inspires other believers that the God they serve doesn’t sleep and always watches over them. This psalm is full of God’s promises and amazing attributes of a loving Father who always ensures that his children are not going to be crushed by evil and will have victory and authority over darkness.
The apostle Paul repeats the theme of this psalm in Ephesians 6 when he mentions God’s armor in verse 13. Without God’s armor, we can be defeated by the enemy, but by putting on the full armor of God, each one of his children will be able to withstand the evil schemes and forces of the devil.
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REFLECTION
• Why is it important to keep looking up on the Lord and wear our protective gear of God’s armour when faced with attacks and schemes from the devil?
PSALM 130- WITH GOD THERE IS FORGIVENESS
January 15
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PSALM 130- WITH GOD THERE IS FORGIVENESS
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! 2 O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! 3 If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. 5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; 6 my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. 7 O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. 8 And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities – Psalm 130:1-8
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According to Enduring.com, this psalm is another in the series titled A Song of Ascents. Psalm 130 begins with a personal testimony of God’s rescue from the depths of guilt. From there, the author ascends step by step to a place where he can give confidence to others in their trust in God. Because Psalm 130 is marked by an awareness of sin and a powerful assurance of forgiveness, tradition numbers it among the seven penitential psalms (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143).
In this psalm, the writer cries out to God and recognizes his sinfulness. How often do we plead God to forgive us? Do we do it regularly when we pray? Often times, we only resort to pleas of mercy when we have been suffering from the consequences of our sins. I love how David always acknowledges how God’s mercy is so undeserving for sinners like us. In verse 3, he is thankful that God doesn’t keep a score of one’s sins, or if He did, then no one can even come to ask for his mercy. We will be so fearful that a fair and just God will bring down his wrath and punishment for what we deserve. God continually forgives us if we acknowledge our sins and come to his Son to be cleansed from it.
John Trapp comments on this psalm as a “treasury of great comfort to all in distress.” In verse 5-6, David chooses to wait patiently for God’s answer to his plea for forgiveness. In our world today, many of us are impatient and wants to be forgiven right away. David compares himself as more persistent and enduring than a watchman. We hear hope in the act of waiting. Many of us do not even have that faith to hope for God to fulfill his promises. In verse 7, David encourages the Israelites to put their hopes up and always look up to God’s promises in Scripture. I think that the more we read the bible, the more we discover how much promises there are to focus on. There’s no reason to feel despair when we reflect on them and on God’s attributes. David surely knows his Master.
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REFLECTION
• Is forgiveness possible to those who do not know God? Why or why not?
PSALM 124- DELIVERANCE FROM THE FOWLER’S SNARE
January 14
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PSALM 124- DELIVERANCE FROM THE FOWLER’S SNARE
If it had not been the LORD who was on our side—let Israel now say—2 if it had not been the LORD who was on our side when people rose up against us,3 then they would have us
up alive, when their anger was kindled against us; 4 then the flood would have swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us; 5 then over us would have gone the raging waters.6 Blessed be the LORD, who has not given us as prey to their teeth! 7 We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped! 8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
– Psalm 124:1-8
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According to ESV study bible commentary, this psalm is a thanksgiving hymn for the community for a time when God’s people have been under threat but have been delivered. David was oozing with gratitude for the Lord’s presence in all that they have encountered with the enemy. He always acknowledged God and attributed all the victory, protection and deliverance to his Lord who never leaves his side. In this psalm, he also mentions a flood that they were spared from and how they were delivered from those who were running after them. He described the deliverance like a bird that escaped the snare of the fowlers. That it is the Lord who is Creator of all, who made that deliverance possible. Spurgeon’s sermons on the Snare of the fowler mentions that “The prince of the power of this world, the spirit which still worketh in the children of disobedience is like a fowler, always attempting to destroy us. First, the fowler’s snare is intimately connected with secrecy. Surely in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird. Therefore, the fowler carefully covers up his trap.”
Isn’t this psalm a good reminder for us today as we continue live in this corrupt world? This world is Satan’s playground. If we can only see Satan’s schemes with our own eyes, we will surely never let go of God’s armor. Satan is invisible and yet his schemes are very real. When we suddenly experience anxiety, paralysis, doubts, accusations, divisions, conflicts, we might be falling into the snare of the devil. He is always on the lookout for an open door in our minds and hearts to devour us. Let us remember that our help is in the name of the Lord, who created all things. We need to run to him for protection and deliverance so that these invisible traps that the enemy constantly put in our lives will be exposed. Let us not be hindered in our walk with the Spirit so we can grow in the Lord.
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REFLECTION
• How can we continue to keep walking in the Spirit amidst the traps of Satan?
PSALM 127- WITHOUT THE LORD EVERYTHING WE BUILD IS FUTILE
January 13
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PSALM 127- WITHOUT THE LORD EVERYTHING WE BUILD IS FUTILE
Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep. 3 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. 5 Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. – Psalm 127:1-5
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This psalm is a song of ascent, which were a collection of 15 Psalms that were traditionally sung by Hebrew pilgrims, who ascended the uphill road to Jerusalem to attend annual festivals in the Temple. Some say that Solomon wrote this psalm, but other scholars think that David wrote it for his son, Solomon.
This psalm focuses on building and guarding a house or a dwelling place. It may also refer to the home or family life. In verse 1, the writer emphasizes the importance of God’s blessing in building a home or a dwelling place. In other words, when we build our house or family life without God’s involvement, we are doing it in vain. If you were to start a family and you do not know or serve the Lord, it will not last long. No wonder many marriages break down because they are building a home or family without including God in it. Without a strong foundation, a house will collapse. Without God, no marriage or family will thrive.
Solomon talks about “anxious toil” in verse 2. It is living life for the sake of life itself and not honoring God. People who do not acknowledge the Lord in their work is ingratitude. They won’t have contentment and peace without being thankful, our work is in vain.There is also a mention of the importance of depending on God for protection and not on human effort because when we count out God on this aspect of our lives, we will be depending on our own strength and not on His grace. Solomon expounds on these useless things we do in life in the book of Ecclesiastes. The psalmist also mentions the blessings of having children. It is a gift from God to have children. Sadly, many people fail to acknowledge that they are a gift and treat their own children as their property. Parents are vessels so that the children that are given to them will be trained to glorify the Lord himself. It is their responsibility to bring them into the praising of God.
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REFLECTION
• Why is it important to remember that without God, whatever we do is futile?
PSALM 93 – THE LORD’S MAJESTY AND POWER
January 12
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PSALM 93 – THE LORD’S MAJESTY AND POWER
The LORD reigns; he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed; he has put on strength as his belt. Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved. 2 Your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting. 3 The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring. 4 Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the LORD on high is mighty! 5 Your decrees are very trustworthy; holiness befits your house, O LORD, forevermore. – Psalm 93:1-5
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This psalm is a royal psalm and sources say that the author is unknown, although some suspect that it may have been David who wrote it. Hermann Gunkel categorized ten psalms by their subject matter of kingship as royal psalms. Specifically, the royal psalms deal with the spiritual role of kings in the worship of Yahweh.
The psalmist describes the Lord God as robed in majesty and has strength as his belt. According to Boice’s commentary, “Majesty is a hard idea to define, but it has to do with dignity, authority of sovereign power, stateliness, and grandeur. It is the proper characteristic of earthly monarchs, who have often gone to great lengths to enhance the impression of their majesty by multiplications of trappings of power. But it is supremely the attribute of him who is the Monarch over all and who does not need to multiply the trappings of his power.” God didn’t need anything else to adorn him because He himself is the beginning and the end and he is the source of everything and the Creator of all. He alone has the power to make anything just by his spoken word and his command. He can make anything and destroy it anytime he wants to. No one else has that kind of power. God’s kingdom is well established and firm and no other kingdoms is at par or can even come close to his sovereignty. All earthly thrones cannot have that same power as God has. They are all inferior to the Lord’s might and majesty.
In verse 4, the psalmist describes the sounds produced by the splashing waves of the sea that may seem so powerful; yet God himself created the sea. He can control it and his voice is mightier than the sounds of the waves splashing. He is in control of everything and he can do whatever he wants done to his own creation.
The writer ends this royal psalm with a note of praise to God’s decrees and commands. God’s laws are all reliable and beneficial to all who worship the majestic and one an only true God.
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REFLECTION
• How did the psalmist honor and acknowledged the Lord’s majesty in this psalm?
PSALM 70 – HASTEN TO HELP ME O GOD FOR I AM POOR AND NEEDY
January 11
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PSALM 70 – HASTEN TO HELP ME O GOD FOR I AM POOR AND NEEDY
Make haste, O God, to deliver me! O LORD, make haste to help me! 2 Let them be put to shame and confusion who seek my life! Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt! 3 Let them turn back because of their shame who say, “Aha, Aha!” 4 May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you! May those who love your salvation say evermore, “God is great!” 5 But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay! – Psalm 70:1-5
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Martin Luther comment on this psalm as “This prayer is the shield, spear, thunderbolt and defense against every attack of fear, presumption [and] lukewarmness…which are especially dominant today.”
When you hear the urgency in the first verse of this psalm, you wonder why David would hasten the Lord to deliver him. We know that during his lifetime, David had so many enemies who were in pursuit to kill him. The rush is not about demanding his God to do something for him, but it is about his complete dependency on Him. It is almost like a child who would run to his parents for safety. It sounds like a helpless person wanting to be helped by someone whom he knows would surely come to his rescue. We hear intimacy from the way he addressed his Lord. David sounded so sure that God will do something about the plea because he is faithful to Him. How many of us Christians have this confidence in God? Sadly, many of us resort to relying on our own strength and try to solve our problems instead of running to our Lord God.
David even prays for the enemy’s confusion and shame. Boice comments on this verse as “The kindest thing we can pray for people who do wrong is that their plans will fail, for it may be that in their frustration they will see the folly and true end of evil and be reached for God.” The expression Aha! Aha is an exclamation of ridicule according to Easton’s bible dictionary. When David mentions this, he was emphasizing how these wicked people scornfully mocked him.
He ends this psalm with a praise of God, proclaiming how great He is and acknowledging his neediness and weakness. He also declares him as his only deliverer and help. Who can say “no” to such confident plea for deliverance? Do you think God will ignore the request of someone who knows him and trust him so well?
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REFLECTION
• Do you have an intimate relationship with God that you can ask Him anything just like how David asks Him?
PSALM 53 THERE’S NONE WHO DOES GOOD, NOT EVEN ONE
January 10
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PSALM 53 THERE’S NONE WHO DOES GOOD, NOT EVEN ONE
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good. 2 God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. 3 They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.
4 Have those who work evil no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon God? 5 There they are, in great terror, where there is no terror! For God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you; you put them to shame, for God has rejected them. 6 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When God restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad. – Psalm 53:1-6
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This psalm is identified as a maskil of David. Most Bible translations suggest that maskil is a literary or musical term. Most likely, it relates to the purpose of specific psalms or how they were performed or recited. Certain Bible translations have rendered the word in English, referring to it as “a contemplation” or “insight”. It sounds like a soliloquy in a theatrical literary form where the character is thinking aloud while contemplating.
The psalm focuses on fools who don’t believe in God. The psalmist describes them as worldly and loves to engage in detestable evil acts. They can not do anything right. He describes a picture of how God watches over this man whom he created in his image and yet they haven’t been able to live in purpose that he made them to be. Everyone has sinned and have become so tainted by evil. In verse 3, David repeats again the phrase “There is none who does good, not even one.” It is a good reminder for all of us that we are all sinners. In verse 4, David gives his insight on fools who are ungrateful and never acknowledge the Giver of life who provides for all their needs. Isn’t this so true for most of us, even those who claim they are believers? We forget to count our blessings, thus we become fools ourselves.
In verse 5, David further illustrates the fear that is so prevalent in those who reject God. They fear anything and everything because God has left them to the sins they love to do. When they deny God’s existence, they are rejected by God as well. David mentions how God protects his people from such fools who doesn’t acknowledge God. He gives them shame and makes them live in that humiliation. In verse 6, once again, we hear David ends on a hopeful contemplation of the restoration that God promised to his people.
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REFLECTION
• How is this psalm reminding you of man’s fallen nature?
PSALM 1 – DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED
January 9
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PSALM 1 – DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law, he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the
wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
– Psalm1:1-6
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The psalmist gives us a distinction between the wicked and the righteous. He clearly illustrates the manifestation of righteousness in a man. They do not follow the system of the world. They do not tolerate sin but expose them instead. They do not take part in mockery of others or in doing unjust things. They take pleasure in the commands and statutes of the Lord and reflect on it day and night and obey them.
The psalmist gives a picture of the righteous. He likens them to a tree that are near streams of water. They are always bearing fruits in its season. They do not scorch or its leaves never dry up because of the water supply that feeds in its root system. It is healthy because of the proximity to water source which is the food of the tree.
Verses 4-6 describes the wicked. The psalmist illustrates that evil people are like chaff which are the seed coverings and other debris separated from the seed in threshing grain. They are very easily blown away. It gives us an image of a very unstable object that easily gets blown by the wind. It is opposite to the description about the tree planted by the river bank that is so solid in its foundation because of the deep root system. The wicked are shallow and easily swayed and blown away by any movement around it. They are very fickle and unstable. In verse 5, it describes that the wicked cannot stand the judgment. They cannot stand truth because they are full of lies and thrive only in corrupt and worldly ways. They cannot follow the way of God since they are so full of themselves and only concerned with satisfying their cravings and pleasures. What is interesting to know is that the wicked are clueless to the truth because they have been blinded by their own desires and unrighteousness. They cannot get the filters of selfishness out of their minds and hearts. God destroys the ways of the wicked but blesses and prospers the righteous.
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REFLECTION
• Why is wisdom and fruitfulness reserved only for the righteous people of God?
PSALM 143-MAKE ME KNOW THE WAY I SHOULD GO
January 8
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PSALM 143-MAKE ME KNOW THE WAY I SHOULD GO
Answer me quickly, O LORD! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit. 8 Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,
for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
9 Deliver me from my enemies, O LORD I have fled to you for refuge. 10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground! 11 For your name’s sake, O LORD, preserve my life! In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble! 12 And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies, and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul, for I am your servant. – Psalm 143:7-12
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In this psalm, David continues to ask God to show him the way that he should go. At the beginning of this psalm, we hear David getting discouraged and exhausted from the many attacks of the enemy on him. In verses 1-6, we hear his despair and anguish that seemed as deep as Jesus’ agony in the garden of Gethsemane just before he was about to die.
In verses 5-6 (previous to these verses) we hear a shift from despair to hope. In verse 7, he continues on to plead God to manifest his presence to him. His request to end his isolation in verse 7 is a manifestation of his humility and his dependence on God. He almost declares that without God, he will be like those godless people. Verse 8 is a declaration of his trust in God and how he longs for his lead and guidance to him so he can face all these trials and sufferings.
I love that he says “Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.” It is a complete reliance on him. How many of us Christians actually exhibit this kind of dependence and trust and submission to God? We often act on our own will. It is automatic for us to do what we know or what we think is good for us. In verse 9, David reminds God once again of his promise for deliverance from the enemy. Verse 10 declares God as his teacher and that without God’s instructions, he will never be able to obey his will. It shows how David lives under the grace and mercy and will of God. He asks God to show him how to live in this world. In verse 11, he beseeches God to deliver his soul from being corrupted by the world. In verse 12, he reminds God again of his promise for vindication and deliverance from his enemies.
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REFLECTION
• Why is asking God to tell you what to do and where to go an important habit that all believers must include in their daily walk with the Holy Spirit?
• What happens when we rush into doing things without consulting God’s Spirit?