Savoring the Scripture

His Steadfast Love: the bedrock for the believer Psalm 117 He is a God of uncompromising justice, and yet mercy. A God with a backbone of steel, and a warm heart of compassion toward His people “abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” His love is not thin, fleeting, or fragile. His love is not impulsive or unreliable. For His people, His heart is tender, gentle, lowly. And with staying power—steadfast and unchanging. David Mathis Psalm 117 is the shortest psalm and shortest chapter in the Bible. The psalmist directs our hearts in praise to God reminding us of the Lord’s steadfast love toward us and His faithfulness that endures forever (117:2). Praise acknowledges the worthiness of the Lord by putting into words, and also song, the truth of His character and how that anchors our soul. My aim in this post is two-fold. I want to look briefly at the definitions of His steadfast love and faithfulness and help us to speak praise to Him for who He is but also for how that truth helps ...

Asking More from our Generous God Psalm 116 The Lord hath dealt bountifully with us, for he hath given us his Son, and in him he hath given us all things: he hath sent us his Spirit, and by him he conveys to us all spiritual blessings...let us come back to him who has treated us with such exceeding kindness. Charles Spurgeon      Psalm 116 begins, “I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.” He starts with a declaration of love to the Lord in response to the Lord’s answer to his cries for help. The psalmist had been surrounded by the snares of death, distressed and anguished, brought low and greatly afflicted, but the Lord had saved him. Because he had experienced the Lord’s deliverance on his behalf, he said, “therefore I will call on him as long as I live” (Psalm 116:2). His answered prayer worked in his heart to commit to keep coming back to his God. He even saw it as his gift to the Lord. “What shall I render to the LORD for all his benefit...

Prayer for a Quiet and Composed Soul Psalm 115 We set ourselves to believe in the overruling goodness, providence, and sovereignty of God and refuse to turn aside no matter what may come, no matter how we feel. Margaret Clarkson      Psalm 115 calls for Israel to place their confidence and trust in the Lord alone. Repetition in the Scriptures is important, and here in Psalm 115 the psalmist pleads three times in a row, “trust in the Lord! He is their help and shield” (Psalm 115:9-11). Following this repetition of trust, the psalmist tells them, again in a repeated way, that the Lord will bless them (115:12-13). It is believed that this psalm was written for the time of battle. The psalmist gives words of encouragement for those facing their adversaries. His aim is that the Lord receive the glory (15:1). He reminds the people and us that the Lord is the maker of the heavens and earth, and He does as He pleases. Their enemies have gods, but their gods cannot speak, or hear,...

A Prayer of Grace for the Languishing Psalm 114 The Psalms also teach us to live with hope, with hope that the King is coming. Mark Futato, Transformed by Praise Psalm 114 poetically reminds Israel of God’s mighty works on their behalf. The psalmist describes the Exodus, the parting of the Red Sea and the Jordan River, the quaking of Mount Sinai at the presence of the Lord, and God’s provision of water in the wilderness. These miraculous events were evidence of the leading, providing, and shepherding the God of Jacob had performed for His people. But for post-exilic Jews, this was not the end of the story. This reminder of God’s faithfulness would hopefully recall to their minds the words of Jeremiah, “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out ...

The Lord Exalts the Humble Psalm 113 Prayer is a very hard thing to do because it seems like we aren’t doing anything. But it’s also hard because it’s a humble act. We must humble ourselves before God’s mighty hand regularly and cast our cares on Him. Tony Merida       What is humility? Humility is entire dependence upon God for everything, trusting Him through everything, seeing Him as all and ourselves as nothing. It is a right estimation of who God is as well as who we are. Humility is to be humble, having a low estimation of our own importance. It is to be a self-forgetful person (Keller). To no longer be pre-occupied with self, but rather it makes one willing to be the servant or helper of all. Humility seeks only the honor that comes from God and no longer thinks of its honor before men. Jerry Bridges stated humility manifests itself in our relationships to God, to ourselves, and to others.        Humility in our relationship with God will p...

Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled  Psalm 112 The only cure for fear is for the eye to remain steadfastly fixed on the Lord. To be occupied with our circumstances and surroundings is fatal to our peace. A.W. Pink  Fear. None of us are immune to this emotion. We have all felt it at times in our lives, sometimes legitimately when we’ve been in danger. Other times, fear has proved to be a foolish waste of time. Some people seem to lack a fear over anything. Others are fearful most of the time. Most of us live somewhere in between, not completely consumed with fear but occupied too often with anxious thoughts. “While fear is a normal emotional response to life in a fallen world, when it grips our heart, we turn our gaze away from God and to the circumstances around us. We focus on the problem instead of the One who rules over all things. We place our trust not in God to help and rescue us but in things, methods, or even ourselves. This is idolatry” (Holy Fear, Cristina Fox). Psalm 112...

To Know Him, To Love Him, and to Live for Him Psalm 111 Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord, and to practice it. Ezra 7:10 This past week in Sunday school we discussed a couple of words that are not very familiar for some: orthodoxy and orthopraxy. While I was reading this morning, I came across another word connected to the first two: orthokardia. All three share the same beginning, all three play an important role in our spiritual lives, and all three are found in Psalm 111.  Simply defined, orthodoxy is right doctrine, orthopraxy is right practice, and orthokardia is right-heartedness. All three are needed in the Christian life and are interwoven together. What we know about God (orthodoxy) increases our affection for Him and our right posture before Him (orthokardia). Both what we love and the truth we know shape our daily practical living (orthopraxy). In Psalm 111, the psalmist begins by praising the Lord and giving thanks to Him “with my whole heart” (111:1)....

Our Mighty and Merciful Priest King Psalm 110 Consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession. Hebrews 3:1 One of the most beautiful images of Christ in the Scriptures is found in the beginning of Hebrews where it tells us “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3). David longed for and sought to behold the beauty we see here (Psalm 27:4), and it is astounding to think that God became flesh, and we have seen “His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Psalm 110, a Psalm of David, leads us to look at the Lord, our Savior, as both mighty King and merciful High Priest. “The writers of the New Testament quote Psalm 110 some fourteen times, more than any other psalm in the psalter. For them the words of Psalm 110 were brought to life in t...

A Prayer for the Abused Psalm 109 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18 Abuse is defined “as any action that intentionally harms or injures another person” ( healthyplace.com ). Abuse can take many forms: physical, sexual, emotional, verbal, and other forms. One of the reasons abuse continues is because it is often cloaked in secrecy, deception, and manipulation. Victims feel powerless and at times even feel they are somehow responsible for the abuse they have suffered. The effects of abuse are long term. If you or a loved one have suffered abuse, you know personally the suffering and sorrow that accompany abuse, where a person of power, in position, influence, or physicality, preys on another in order to take advantage.  In Psalm 109, the psalmist is crying out to the Lord for justice. It is a very strong imprecatory psalm. The imprecatory psalms are ones in which the author “calls down calamity, destruction, and God’s anger a...