Savoring the Scripture

I Trust You Even When… Psalm 143 Trust implies more than this, it sees and feels, and leans upon a person, a great, true, living heart of love. So let us ‘trust also in him,’ through all the delays, in spite of all the difficulties, in the face of all the denials, notwithstanding all the seemings, even when we cannot understand the way, and know not the issue; still ‘trust also in him, and he will bring it to pass.’ The way will open, the right issue will come, the end will be peace, the cloud will be lifted, and the light of an eternal noonday shall shine at last. Streams in the Desert Earlier in the Psalms, the psalmist beautifully said, “I believed, even when I spoke: ‘I am greatly afflicted’”(116:10). I thought of that verse as I read and studied Psalm 143. Tucked into the middle of this lament psalm, David says, “in you I trust” (143:8). I cling to these examples of saints who, even when they are afflicted and their hardships seem more than they can bear, they choose to believe an...

Loneliness in Suffering Psalm 142 Suffering is a wilderness experience. We feel very much alone and helpless, cut off from others who cannot know how we suffer. We long for someone to come to our aid, be “company” for us, get us out of this. Someone will. Some One will certainly come to our aid. He will be company for us if we’ll let Him. But get us out of it? Not necessarily. Elisabeth Elliot Loneliness. The word itself ushers in a sense of bleakness and desolation. Being without companionship. Feeling cut off from others. Having no meaningful relationships. Or perhaps the loss of someone dear and close leaves an emptiness no one else can fill. Suffering can bring its own sense of loneliness as it can seem, and may even be true, that no one can truly understand what we are experiencing and enduring with all its complexities and intricacies. David, here in Psalm 142, sits in a cave hiding from his enemies, and he says, “there is none who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me; no ...

  My Eyes are Toward You Psalm 141 This may give us some idea of the heroical courage of David, who could continue to direct his eyes to God even under such overwhelming difficulties; this being the very part faith ought to discharge, in making us collected and composed when our senses would otherwise be confounded. Calvin “But my eyes are toward you, O God, my Lord” (Psalm 141:8). David, yet again, finds himself in a place of desperation. As I have studied these psalms, my appreciation for David’s sufferings and hardships has grown as we come time and again to another of his lament psalms. We are witnesses to the inner turmoil he feels. At the same time, we see the resiliency of his faith as he comes again to the Lord, again crying for help, again taking refuge in Him, and again turning his gaze to the only One who can save him. In this psalm, David exemplifies for us what it means to have our eyes toward the Lord in the midst of trouble. What evidence do we see in this psalm that...

Pleas of Mercy to Songs of Triumph Psalm 140 Prayer is the privilege of bringing one’s concerns before God with confident hope that he will respond. VanGemeren Surely there is no doubt that evil exists in this world. One simply must turn on the TV or access the internet to see story after story of evil and its deeds. But we don’t even have to go looking for a news story, we have each been the recipient of sinful words and works. Behind violent men planning evil in their heart and others with venom under their lips is the Serpent. Where nets and traps are hidden to ensnare others, or wicked men planning and devising ways to trip up others, behind the scheming and destructive plans is the Evil One. And we must not be ignorant of his schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11). We must know how to wisely respond to those who wrong us and plan evil against us.  No matter how small or large the sins done against us may seem, we can still apply the principles we see David use in Psalm 140. He repeatedl...

You Lay Your Hand Upon Me Psalm 139  The child of God sees God’s presence everywhere and experiences the joy of God’s watchful eye over him. VanGemeren  The presence of the Lord. The nearness of our God. Immanuel: God with us. Psalm 139 celebrates the intimacy of a relationship with the living God. From the Garden of Eden when God walked with Adam and Eve until the story of God’s redemption plan reaches its consummation in the final chapters of Revelation with the promise that our God shall dwell among us (Revelation 21:3), the Scripture paints a beautifully merciful and glorious picture of the Lord as the One who is with us. Wherever God’s people were, there He was with them guiding, protecting, providing, purifying, and loving. But it was not just the fact of His presence, but it was the intimacy of His touch, the depth of His knowing, and the tenderness of His heart toward the people who “are but dust” (Psalm 103:14). Our God is both transcendent, dwelling in a high and hol...

Prayer for the Transforming Power of God Psalm 138 It is not always the situation which most needs changing; it is, as often as not, the man involved in it.  Derek Kidner God kindly grants us examples in nature of truths in His Word so that we can more readily understand. One such example is the process of metamorphosis, where a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly. Unless we had learned and observed the process of metamorphosis, we would never imagine that a butterfly in its larva stage would ever transform into a butterfly. The change is too radical. The appearance too altered. And yet, that is exactly what takes place. This familiar transformation demonstrates the power of God. God’s power radically transforms. What situation, loved one, or sinfulness within yourself needs that kind of metamorphosis? “God is in the business of transformation” (BSF, Lesson 3 Notes).  David’s confidence in God’s work Psalm 138 begins a final collection of Davidic psalms which extends from ...

Night Songs Psalm 137 To believe in Christ when He is shrouded in darkness, to stick hard and fast by the Savior when all men speak ill of Him and forsake Him—that is true faith. He who singeth a song to Christ in the night, singeth the best song in all the world; for he singeth from the heart. Charles Spurgeon Psalm 137 is a communal lament. The people have been captured and taken to a foreign land. They have witnessed the brutality of their captors and are mourning deeply for their many losses. And to make it worse, their captors are taunting them to sing, to sing a song of Zion, their beloved city that now lay in ruins. The psalmist cries, “How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land?” (137:4). How do we sing the Lord’s song while living as sojourners in a foreign land? While experiencing hardship and loss? While waiting in the dark, longing to see a ray of light on the horizon? For surely, in this world we will have trouble, and our Lord was and is not ignorant of this, and...

Will You Forget Me Forever? Psalm 136 Passages in which God “remembers” are always followed by proofs that God never forgets. gotquestions.org An enslaved people. A barren woman. A broken man. All in impossible situations. And all servants of a God who, in His faithfulness, remembers them and acts.   Exodus records the plight of the Israelites enslaved in Egypt. In their oppression, they cried out to God and “their cry for help because of their bondage rose up to God. So God heard their groaning and God remembered His covenant” (Exodus 2:23-24 NASB). God was aware of their sufferings, and God delivered them. Hannah, barren and in great anguish, prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly, and “the Lord remembered her. And it came about in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son” (1 Samuel 1:19-20 NASB). In the days of the kings, King Hezekiah became deathly ill. He prayed to the Lord, “‘Now, O Lord, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness an...