Day 14 - Psalms 66-70

Psalm 66:

The author of this psalm is reminding the reader of the many things God has done for His people over the ages. The author is giving his testimony as to why we should give praise to God.  It's always important to give God the praise.


Psalm 67:

If only the author of this psalm could have seen how the gospel has been shared throughout the earth and to all the nations.  Even today miracles continue to happen that bring people to Jesus Christ.  In the Koran, Jesus is named as a great healer of all people.  So when the people of Islam have medical needs they pray to Jesus for healing.  There have been thousands of reports of people that have been visited by Jesus in a dream (go ahead - Google it!) and they have been saved for all eternity.  


Psalm 68:

This psalm highlights the final stages of the journey of the Arc of the Covenant from Mount Sinai to Mount Zion.  God sets his people free and crushes His enemies.  Those that refuse to embrace God will be crushed as enemies of God.  They will be crushed by the sin they loved and destroyed by the death they feared.  How much better will be for those who love the God and fear the consequences of sin.


Psalm 69:

David cried out until he was physically exhausted, with a parched throat and eyes swollen from weeping.  Yet he still trusted God to save him.  When devastated by death or tragedy, we need not collapse or despair because we can turn to God and ask Him to save us and help us.  The tears will still come, but we will not be crying in vain.

David faced so many problems, but he still prayed.  When we are completely beaten down, we are tempted to turn from God, give up, and quit trusting him.  When your situation seems hopeless, determine that no matter how bad things are you will continue to pray.  God will hear your prayer and he will rescue you.  When others reject us, we need God the most.  Don't turn from your most faithful friend.


Psalm 70:

Praise is important part of our prayers.  Too many times we fill our prayers with requests for ourselves and our friend and we forget to praise God for what He has done.  Don't take God for granted or treat Him like a vending machine.  Praise God through the good times and the bad.


The Shepherd


Psalms 71-75

Day 13 - Psalms 61-65

Psalm 61:

Hear my prayer, Oh  Lord, from the ends of the earth I cry.  Your peace will lead me to the rock that is higher than I.  For you have been my strength in times of trouble, a tower above my enemies.  And Lord, I will abide in you forever, in the shelter of your wings.

The psalms are the basis for many of our hymns as you may have already noticed.  This particular psalm is a cry for security and safety.  When we need assurance that God is with us, where ever we may find ourselves, we can trust that God is with us and will answer our cries for help.  David made a vow to praise God daily through the good times and the bad.  Can you find something to praise God about on a daily basis?  When you do you will find your heart elevated above the daily distractions to a level of lasting confidence.

Try it, and if you have difficulties coming up with something you can always praise him for your ability to read this blog.  


Psalm 62:

In times of emotional stress, prayer has a way of releasing our tensions.  David poured out his heart to God in prayer and reaffirmed trust in God as his rock, his salvation and his fortress.  His entire outlook changed through this process.  When you follow this simple process, your outlook on life will change as well.  No longer will you feel locked into a cell of resentment when others turn against you.  When we fully rely on God (FROG), we rest in God's strength and nothing can shake us.

David warns us not to use the world's benchmark measure the wealth and prestige of a person. Instead, we should focus on God's work and God's will and not be concerned with measuring the value of people.  God values all equally - wealth, power, honor and prestige do not add to our value in God's eyes.  Only our faithful works done in His name and for His glory have any eternal value.  But let's be clear... our works do not gain our salvation.  Accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior is the only way to get to heaven.  Once we receive this gift, we show our appreciation for this gift by staying in the word, and performing God's will in this world.  These task add to our eternal value but do nothing toward gaining our salvation.

Psalm 63:

If the word of God is like a river flowing through a thirsty land, then when we spend time in the word, we give our thirsty souls a refreshing and renewing drink of water.  The satisfaction we get from this "refreshing drink" is something that nothing else compares to.  We thirst for more.  I guess you could say that spending time in God's word is very addicting... but in a very good way.  Since there are so many people that do not spend time in God's word, David refers to them as a parched and weary land.  Their souls thirst for this refreshing drink from God's word.

When the world was keeping David awake at night, he would spend time thinking of God instead of counting sheep.  He would give thanks to God and praise Him for all the benefits that He has bestowed on him.  This gave reminded him that God was always with him and gave him comfort so he could sleep.  This is a comfort that surpasses all understanding by those that don't spend time in His word.  


Psalm 64:

Now that my kids are grown and out on their own, my wife and I love to hear from them as often as we can.  It really doesn't matter what we talk about - it's more about hearing their voice and hearing about their experiences from their perspective.  That's how God feels when we spend time with Him.  He wants to hear from us.  It doesn't matter what you share with Him - remember He knows everything that you're doing already, but to hear it from your perspective is very fulfilling to Him.  Spend time with Him.


Psalm 65:

Access to God was reserved for the members of the tribe of Levi.  They were chosen by God to serve as the Temple priests and had the honor of being the only ones allowed to enter the sacred rooms where God's presence resided.  When Jesus died on the cross, the access to the sacred rooms given to ALL believers through the tearing of the veil.  Believer's today have access to God's presence in every place and at any time.

This psalm is often referred to as the harvest psalm because it glorifies God the Creator as reflected in the beauty of nature.  Nature helps us understand the complexity and beauty of God's character.  The Jews believed that God's care of nature was a sign of His love and provision for them.  Nature shows God's generosity - giving us more than we need or deserve.  God's abundant generosity should make us grateful to Him and generous to others.

Please share your thoughts and comments.



The Shepherd


Psalms 66-70

Day 12 - Psalms 56-60

Psalm 56:

What can mere mortals do to me, indeed?  They cannot strip my name from the Lord's Book of Life or capture my soul from the Lord's grasp.  My purpose in life is to praise Jesus and direct others to the Bible so they may be saved.  I put my trust in the Lord and focus on His works. When He is done with me and my tasks have been completed then He will call me home.

God cares about us and knows everything about us.  This is difficult to understand but He knows us better than we know ourselves.  He knows what brings us the most happiness.  He knows this because He created us.  We don't know ourselves well enough to know what brings us THE MOST happiness.  We can only think back through all of our earthly experiences to see what has brought us the most happiness thus far.  God knows what will fill us to overflowing happiness.  And, He wants to give us that joy.  He only asks that you allow Him to do that.

Won't you ask Him to come into your life today so He can provide you with this happiness?


Psalm 57:

Bible scholars tell us that this psalm was most likely written when David was thinking back to the time when he was hiding out from King Saul in the caves.  Throughout our lives we may encounter situations where strangers, friends or even family members are trying to destroy us.  Continue praise God and seek His guidance.  Do not turn inward to self-pity or turn outward in revenge but instead turn upward to God.  When confronted with attacks, the best defense is simply to be quiet and praise God, realizing that our confidence is in His love and faithfulness.


Psalm 58:

Justice - do you rulers know the meaning of the word?  David starts this psalm with an intense cry for justice and then seems to drive right into the heart of intense revenge.  His words create graphic images of the results of sin on our lives.  The ironic part of this psalm is that David would later occupy the throne and then be subject to the vengeful deeds he called down on others.  We can be grateful that God hears our prayers, but we can also be grateful that He doesn't act on our requests.


Psalm 59:

Someone told me once that the true character of a man is found in what he does when no one is looking.  So many people go through life as if no one is looking.  They'll never know who did that... or  they'll never catch me if I do this...   God sees all.  He is always with us and sees what we do.  We must be careful to fully evaluate the consequences of all of our actions.  We may think that we can steal and not get caught by the police but our actions are recorded for God to judge us with when we die.  We need to make sure we are trying to keep others from sinning as well as trying to keep ourselves from sinning.  Yes, it's very difficult!  But remember the path to heaven is very narrow and traveled by very few.  As Robert Frost said, "and I, - I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference."


Psalm 60:

David was fighting Aram to the north and was surrounded by enemy nations.  Israel had Edom to the south, Moab to the east and Philistia to the west.  Although David was surrounded he remembered that God had promised triumph over these nations.  He knew that Israel's future was closely tied to God's reputation of keeping His promises.  Although, David's forces met with stiff resistance, and apparently even a temporary defeat, he continue to praise God and trust that He would hand David a victory.  The closer we get to God the more our enemies will attack us because we threaten their evil and selfish way of living.  

Satan has been given dominion over this world and he does not like it when we trample on his authority.  When we win over people to Christ, we deplete his army.  He focuses his attacks on us to keep us from winning over more of his people.  If you're not feeling his pressures, you may need to take a detailed look at where your allegiances really lie.  If Christianity were to become a crime, and trust me if will be in the near future, would there be enough evidence to convict you.  If not, you may be on the wrong side and not even realize it.


The Shepherd



Psalms 61-65

Day 11 - Psalms 51-55

Psalm 51:

This is an excellent example of a repentant heart.  David is aware of the sins he's committed and he says they haunt him continuously.  He knows that he did wrong in God's eyes and he is asking for forgiveness.  Through his words you can feel his remorse.  You can also feel that he has confidence that God will forgive him.  Being able to let the sins go is very important.  When you present your sins to God know that He has forgiven them completely.  Let them go.  Satan will try to dig these up and throw them in your face in the future in order to show that you're not worthy of something.  You must have confidence that God has forgiven your sins and they are no longer an issue.  Trust that God will do this.  Have confidence that He has done this.

Sometimes I hear people say 'Well, God may forgive me but I can't forgive myself."  I'm not really sure what sins you may have committed but keep in mind David committed murder over an adulterous affair.  God forgave David's sins - He has forgiven your sins as well.  When someone says "God may forgive me but I can't forgive myself."  they are saying that they have a higher standard for perfection than God does.  Also, they need to understand that they don't have the power to forgive sins.  Only God does... and it sounds like it's good thing because God forgave their sins and they wouldn't.  Let go of those sins.  Don't hold onto them like a security blanket.  They will not ever comfort you.  Drop them and grab hold of Jesus' hand.  That's all the comfort you will ever need!


Psalm 52:

David wrote this psalm about the Edomite named Doeg who considered himself to be a great warrior.  He killed God's priests and boasted about it as if it were a great deed.  Sometimes we confuse doing a job well and doing good for God.  He certainly was proficient at killing but God did not see it as a good deed.  David compared himself to an olive tree that thrives in the house of the Lord by trusting in God's unfailing love.  An olive tree is one of the most longest living trees so David was referring to eternal life in God when he made this comparison.  Some trust in their own skills to get them through life, David puts his trust in God, and by doing so receives guidance, providence and eternal life.


Psalm 53:

There is a school of thought that is unfortunately growing across the land that goes something like this:  "The more educated you become the less you need to rely on the existence of a god because only the uneducated believe in such udder foolishness."  At some point, the educated start to believe in their own importance and, like Satan, believe that they know everything... that they are more knowledgeable than others... that they are more powerful because of this knowledge.   Oh, how foolish they are!!  This is nothing more than their prideful nature taking over their vision, their thinking, their life.  Their whole being is so wrapped up in themselves that their couldn't possibly be a god because there's not enough room in the universe for both the atheist and a god.  When you speak to an atheist, and I mean have a heart-to-heart with one (if you can), you most likely will find that some where in their past something awful happened that caused them to hate God... to lash out at Him in anger... in rage...  with a vengeful nature.  They are going to make sure that everyone knows that God doesn't exist.   

Charles Darwin, for example the author of "On the Origin of Species", was well-known and respected for his biological knowledge of all creatures.  What most people don't realize is that his mother died when he was 8 yrs old.  He began to question the existence of God since God did not save her.  But it wasn't until later in life, when his 10-year old daughter Annie died from a disease, that he focused his hatred on God, Christianity and all religions for not saving her.  His goal was to create a theory that would undermine and destroy the basis for a god.  His theory of "natural selection" was created and embraced by a society eager to believe anything - except God.  Just before dying, he made it known that he had embellished major sections of the work in order to make the theory more plausible.  Unfortunately, this non-sense is what is taught to our children today, even though there isn't ANY substantial proof to support the hypothesis.

Need another example, research Stephen Hawking.  His own research and findings support the fact that the universe was created in a "Big Bang" yet his own pride keeps him from aligning that big bang to Genesis 1:3 "God spoke into the darkness saying 'Let there be light, and there was.'"  Come on, Stephen.  How smart do you have to be to know that.  It's on page 1 of the Bible!!!  Everything that science has uncovered, is in the Bible, which is why the schools should just use the Bible as a textbook.

I could go on and on and on in this area but I need to focus.  Perhaps, you could post your questions and we could chat about it.  I'd love to share some of my conversations with atheist (Ha - even there title is lie - it has God in it.  If God doesn't exist then how can you be anti-God - you'd be against nothing).  I truly relish these conversational opportunities when they present themselves.  


Psalm 54:

Many of the psalms move from prayer to praise as David's spirit is lifted up through the process of communicating with God.  This will happen to you as well.  As you lay your emotional baggage at the foot of the cross, God will put His arm around you and comfort you and give you the guidance you're looking for.  Try it - I dare you.  

I'm reminded of a story about a man and his wife who spent their entire life working in the mission fields of Africa.  They were finally leaving the mission fields and heading back to the states.  They had raised their family in the mission fields but they had grown and went their separate ways.  Now they were going to have more time to spend with their children and grandchildren.  They really didn't know what they were going to do when they got to New York but they knew that God would help them figure it out.  As they boarded the ocean liner, there was much fanfare.  It turns out the President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, was going to be on the same ship.  He was returning from one of his famous big game hunting trips. 

All the pomp and circumstance of having the president on board was beginning to agitate the man.  He had spent his entire adult life tending to the needs of the tribal people of Africa.  Here the president had gone hunting for a few days and was receiving all kinds of attention.  As they came into the harbor, there were marching bands playing and thousands of people cheering for the president, but no one was there for them.  No signs waving welcoming the home, no fanfare whatsoever.  This continued to eat at the man more and more.  

Finally, the couple made there way to there modest little apartment and unpacked.  The man said to his wife that he just can't stand it any more.  It's just not right and it's eating at me.  I've got to do something about this.  His wife told him to go into the bedroom and pray about.  Ask God to help you understand.  So he did.  He prayed for a long time and when emerged from the bedroom he had a new perspective.  His wife asked him how he was doing and what God had said.  He turned to his wife and said "God listened and comforted me as I laid all of my concerns out to him.  Then it was as if He put His arm around me and told me "You're not home yet, my son."  

As Christians, we must realize that this world is not our home, we're just passing through.  The world has everything upside down.  The things the world puts importance on, Christians do not.
I'm sure when those missionaries returned home to heaven there was great fanfare and a party like never before.


Psalm 55:

God wants us to give our burdens over to Him so He can dispose of them for us.  Trust Him to take them from us and replace their weight on our shoulders with unending joy in our hearts!  He is the truth, the way and the life.  Find the truth and the truth shall set you free.  Free at last, free at last, thank God above, I'm free at last!


The Shepherd


Psalms 56-60

Day 10 - Psalms 46-50

Psalm 46:

God is our refuge and strength.  Even when the mountains crumble into the ocean, or the waters overflow our homeland, God is still in control.  Even in the face of utter destruction, or our imminent demise, we should still have confidence that God is with us.  We should take comfort in knowing that absent from the body means present with the Lord.  

Many great cities were built around a fresh supply of water, on the banks of rivers or streams, to provide food and trade for the people as well as to sustain life.  Jerusalem, however, did not have a river, but it had God, who, like a river, sustained the lives of its people.  As long as God lived among the people, the city was invincible.  But when the people abandoned God, God no longer protected them and Jerusalem fell to the Babylonian army.

The United States was founded on Christian beliefs.  Our forefathers were persecuted for their religious beliefs and sought a new land where they could freely practice their beliefs without persecution.  How ironic that this once great nation has allowed the citizen's to remove God from the schools, from the government and out of the public eye.  Can it be much longer until this nation falls?   Without God in our schools, we have witnessed a massive increase in gun violence in our schools.  Without God in our Government, we have witnessed a massive increase in criminal behavior, immoral behavior, and violence in our Government.  Without God in the public square, we have witnessed a massive increase in violence in our cities.  And as sad as it sounds, as we move God out of our churches, by teaching warm fuzzy sermons instead of the teachings of the Bible, we will see a massive increase in violence there as well.

How long does this need to continue before we bring God back into our schools, back into our Government and back into the public?   Do we actually think it will get worse if we bring God into our lives?   Really?


Psalm 47:

Have you ever tried to describe something is completely indescribable because the words that we have to describe something just don't compare to the awe of seeing it?  We fumble for a way to magnify the beauty or the power using more adjectives or colorful descriptors but in the end we just shake our head and say "You had to be there to see it!"  Imagine how difficult it must have been for the authors of the Psalms, or any book of the Bible for that matter, to describe for us what they were witnessing first hand.  In Revelation for example, John tries to describe Heaven for us but words cannot describe it.  I'm sure it is a thousand times more beautiful than what John could describe and he did a pretty good job at getting an image across.  

Don't let the indescribable aspects of God's greatness keep you from telling others about what you've experienced about God.  Spread the word!  Shout it from the highest mountains and through any media possible!


Psalm 48:

Jerusalem is a city that sits on a large hill over looking the Kidron Valley on one side and the Valley of Hinnom on the other side.   From these two points the city appears to be a fortress on a mountain because of the very high walls that surround it.  Jerusalem was seen as the center of God's presence in the world.  The people of Jerusalem were from the tribe of Judah, Isreal's largest tribe.  The psalmist is giving God praise for protecting the city.  

After an enemy army would unsuccessfully attack the city, the people of Jerusalem would take a tour of the city to inspect its defenses and praise God for the protection He provided.  It is important for us to take time to praise God in times of joy and after coming through trials.  Our faith in God is our foundation of life, our defenses if you will, and we need to spend time inspecting our foundations to ensure there aren't any cracks or weak spots in our defenses.  

We often pray for guidance, but what we really need is a map to give us directions and a navigator that knows the way and will make sure interpret the map correctly.  The Bible is the map that gives us directions on how to live our lives.  The Holy Spirit is our navigator.  As you begin your day, every day, make sure you have your spiritual map and navigator with you.  You can call it your spiritual GPS -  God's Provisioning System.



Psalm 49:

Trusting in worldly possessions is futile.  You cannot take your possessions with you when you die and they cannot be used to buy forgiveness from sin.  The rich and the poor share one similarity:  When they die, they both leave their possessions on earth.  When we die, both the rich and poor are naked and empty-handed before God.  The only "riches" we have are those we have already invested in our eternal heritage.  At the time of our death, each of us will wish we would have invested more in our eternal life - no matter how much we've already invested.

This might be a good time to check up on your spiritual investments.  Are they a little light? Take the time to balance your spiritual portfolio.


Psalm 50:

Asaph begins this psalm by describing God's final judgement of the people on earth. Surprisingly, we read that God's great fury is directed against His own people first.  God's judgement begins with His own children.  He must first differentiate between His superficially religious people, those that go through the motions, checking boxes, but don't have a servants heart, and those that honor God with true praise and thankfulness.

God sees through us to our heart and soul - the core of our being - to see what the real meaning is for the things we did in this life.  We were trying to make ourselves look better in the eyes of those around us or were we truly trying to do God's will in this land.  What are the actions that you are doing that could be viewed as "superficially religious?"  

Share your thoughts and comments with the group!  I'd love to read them.



The Shepherd


Psalms 51-55 

Day 9 - Psalms 41-45

Psalm 41:

God is always with us - through the good times and the bad.  As the poem goes, He is either walking beside us or He is carrying us, but either way He is with us.  He gives us His generosity and He expects us to follow His model of caring for the weak, the poor, the elderly and the needy.  He has blessed us and He asks us to give these blessings to others.  When we do, He continues to bless us.  When He sees that we are doing as He asks, He is not only pleased but He gives you more to share with others.  This is the model the world cannot understand.  You cannot out give God.  When you give, He gives you blessings.  When you give more, He multiplies your blessing allowing you to give even more.  Oh, the joys of those who are kind to the poor!


Book Two:
Psalm 42:

As we begin to read the Bible more, we long to know more about God.  We thirst for this knowledge of our creator.  The more we learn, the more we thirst for more knowledge.  At some point we begin reading the Bible every day.  We feel that we need to in order to have enough energy to make it through the day.  There is no longer the question of is God real.  That question was answered long ago.  Now the question is what does the living God want to share with me today.  You will find yourself praying multiple times throughout the day for strength to make it through this situation.  Asking for guidance to say just the right words to help others understand.  Praying for God to light the correct pathway so you can lead your group through this mess we call life.

But everyday you will be taunted by the non-believers;  mocked for being so naive and thick-skulled to believe in an all powerful God when science has proven that He doesn't exist.  I reminded of the scene in "Field of Dreams" where the one guy suddenly sees the players on the field and asks "When did they get here?" when they've been there the whole time.  God is with us always, it's just a matter of whether we see Him or not.  When we believe He is there, we see proof to support that belief.  When we believe He is not there, we see proof to support that as well.  Which proof are you looking for?  It's easy when you start with believing in Him.


Psalm 43:

In the face of discouragement, it is easy to lose hope and lose sight of God.  Our only true hope is in God.  When we feel our emotions starting to turn toward discouragement, it is time to be rejuvenated by spending more time in the word.  Find a quiet spot and spend a few minutes in prayer if you don't have your Bible handy.  Now a days, there's an app for that.


Psalm 44:

The author of this psalm, Korah, seems to think that God has fallen asleep at the wheel.  It's not that he thinks that God is no longer in control.  He tells Him to wake up and help us.  Many times God is building faith in His followers.  Testing us to see how long we will wait before we jump in and take over to do it our way instead of His way.

Here the psalmist is reminding God that He did all of these things for us in the past and we know that you will continue to help us in the future as well as the here and now.


Psalm  45:

This psalm is called the messianic psalm because it prophetically describes the Messiah's future relationship with the church and it's body of believers.  This beautiful section of poetry pictures Christ's bride, the church, with the richest blessings as she unites forever with Him. More details of this union can be found in the book of Revelation.


Please share your thoughts and comments with me.


The Shepherd.