Category Archives: Psalms

Singing with the King (25) – One Thing: (1) Priority

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One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD. (Psalm 27:4)

At the CrossOut of all the myriad of choices that one can make, there really is only one. When all of our excuses, questions, posings, musings, debates, and complaints are exhausted, we are left with one inescapable truth: there is none other to whom we can turn; none other who can deliver and protect us; none other who can love and care for us; for You alone are God. (Nehemiah 9:6) And to deny this places our eternal soul in peril, and places us in opposition to God, rather than in His care.

David understood this; that is why his desire was to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD.

One thing. This is a very unifying approach to life, to faith—to whatever. The Hebrew text could actually say: One one I have asked. It may sound redundant, but think about it. Life is filled with one things that we must do, that need our attention. But what is the one One? Or should I say, Who is the one One. Four areas of your life will be changed forever by making the Lord, The One: Priority, Perspective, Purpose, and Practice.

Priority:

Not only Putting God First, but Only

You shall have no other gods before Me. (Exodus 20:3)

The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; The world and all it contains, You have founded them. (Psalm 89:11)

I am the LORD, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God. (Isaiah 45:5)

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)

“The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The LORD our God is the one and only LORD. And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ (Mark 12:29-30)

We must keep our eyes on Jesus, who leads us and makes our faith complete. (Hebrews 12:2)

Here’s where it all starts. There is no doubt Who our priority must be. He must be the One one-thing. To have God as our priority places our life within the proper context—we are where we were made to be. To have God as our priority puts Him where He is to be: Alpha and Omega, both in nature and in relationship.

 

Singing with the King (24) – The Ways of the Lord

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For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God. (Psalm 18:21)

Walking On RoadFor us to keep the word of the Lord requires commitment, it requires the heart as well as the mind; is that not the nature of obedience? Two verses to put this into the proper context:

Jesus answered, “the foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The LORD our God is one LORD, and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and all your mind, and all your strength.’” (Mark 12:29-30)

If you love Me, you’ll keep My commandments. (John 14:15)

After reading that previous verse, it should be obvious what it is we are to keep, if we do indeed love the Lord. And in this Psalm, David kept the ways of the LORD.

Some of the definitions of the way, are path, journey, direction, manner, habit, course of life, and moral character. Do you see how this is so much more than simple obedience? Indeed, keeping or walking in His way defines us: how we think, what we think, what we do, our attitudes, our perception, our character, our ambition; indeed our very lives. Why is that? Consider the radical change that has taken place within us:

When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions. (Colossians 2:13)

For you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light. (Ephesians 5:8)

You have been radically transformed from death to life, from darkness to light. Go out there and live Christ, and light up the lives around you!

Singing with the King (23) – Ends of the Earth

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All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. ( Psalm 98:3b)

You are Here

God could have done a quiet work of salvation, for He chose a small, even insignificant, people, in a remote part of the planet. They had many huge and notable empires nearby: Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, etc. But there was tiny Israel, always with another conqueror breezing through, and making them a (remote and inconsequential) part of an “intergalactic” empire. But one of the reasons God chose a small people was to ensure that they would never (try though they must) get the credit for their salvation. This was very much a God-thing, and could not be confused for anything else. So when All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God, they were seeing the salvation of our God.

Now the question needs to be asked: Why? If this was an “Israel only” to-do, why should all the earth see it.

Well, Israel may have been God’s Chosen people, but all earth’s peoples were made by Him—all had His image stamped upon them.

There were those who were aliens who would recognize that the God of Israel was indeed the Lord of all. In the context of this Psalm, it was because they had seen the salvation of our God.

The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God. ( Leviticus 19:34)

So show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10:19)

God had spoken to Israel on many occasions, reminding them they were aliens; Perhaps the greatest thing about the New Covenant—all of us aliens can now draw close to the Lord God through the shed blood of Jesus.

But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:13)

After all, We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. (1 John 2:2)

Singing with the King (22) – Too Wonderful

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Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it. (Psalm 139:6)

mountain sun2

So, what knowledge is too wonderful for David; so high that he cannot attain it? Well, everything he said in the first five verses:

The LORD has searched and known; He understands, He scrutinizes and is intimately acquainted; He surrounds him, and has laid His hand upon him.

All these actions of the LORD have to do with David’s character, his everyday actions, his thoughts, his directions, his life, his words, and his relationship with the Lord.

If we even had a glimpse of what it means to understand—or rather not understand—all this, how would we respond? Would we not cry out as David, it is too wonderful, it is too high, I cannot attain it?

For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified to the Jews a stumbling block and the Gentiles foolishness. (1 Corinthians 1:22-23) What are you searching for? Are you searching for wisdom and understanding? Those are indeed good things, but they are only a means to an end. If they are your goal, then you have stopped short.

Searching for wisdom and understanding is not just a Greek thing, it is a Western thing. We want to understand the genome and the cosmos; the brain and the mind; the beginning of things and the end of things. But David has looked beyond that, or maybe behind that, and has found The One Who is beyond measurement, beyond our understanding, and yet has called us to know Him.

We have been called to pursue The One is too wonderful and too high. Is that a task which will lead to frustration and failure? No, rather it puts life into context; His context. Life is big, the universe is huge, creation is awesome; but the God who created all this and sustains all this is way beyond even that. This is no fool’s errand; rather, it is the pursuit and the privilege of a lifetime, of an eternity, of which we will barely scratch the surface, but we will know enough that we are loved beyond measure, by a God who is beyond measure.

Singing with the King (21) – Every Day

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Every day I will bless You and l will praise your name for ever and ever. (Psalm 145:2)

Shout to the Lord5In our contemporary, over-booked, over-stressed culture, how often do you praise the Lord? Once a week? But then perhaps Sunday is more about the performance, or the preaching. So how much time do you really spend praising the Lord? David realized praising God once a week at tabernacle worship just wasn’t enough. It become a daily event. And as such, David became quite creative on how to praise the Lord.

The first thing He does is I will extol (rûm) …to raise up, to be high and lofty, to lift up

I will bless (barak)… to kneel, be blessed, be adored

I will praise (halal)… to boast, to glory, to shine, to flash

I will meditate (siyach)… to muse, study, ponder, to talk, sing, speak

I will tell (saphar)… to take account, to number, to declare, to reckon (verb); a scribe (noun)

My mouth will speak (dabar)… to promise, commune, command, declare

Of course praising God this much will probably get people’s attention. And you not only have their attention, you have their involvement in praise. It’s contagious.

Many Hands in Worship

One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts.

Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts.

They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness and will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.

Your godly ones shall bless You.

They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom and talk of Your power; to make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts and the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom.

All flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.

So why should we praise Him every day?

The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in due time. You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. The LORD is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds. The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them. (v. 15-19)

What do you think would happen if you praised Him every day?

 

Singing with the King (20) – Overwhelmed

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Iniquities prevail against me; as for our transgressions, You forgive them. (Psalm 65:3)

alone on road

How powerful is sin? When you look at the different translations of the word prevail, you find phrases like: get us down, overwhelmed, fill our hearts, too much for us. David knew he was stuck; there was nothing he could do except confess. His iniquity got him down; was overwhelmed by it; it filled his heart; and was too much for him. Sounds pretty bleak and hopeless. It should. Until Christ came, there was not an answer for the devastation of sin. For the rituals which came by the law couldn’t help: But the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins. It only reminds people of their sins from one year to the next.The priests do their work each day, and they keep on offering sacrifices that can never take away sins. But Christ offered himself as a sacrifice that is good forever. (Heb 10:3, 4; 11,12)

So how ruined by sin are we? How about helpless and hopeless. That’s why Christ had to die for our sins, because nothing in this world could pay for it.

Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. (Ephesians 2:12)

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6)

Like David, we too have been overwhelmed by sin. But God has forgiven us through Christ. Indeed, the word forgiven is most often translated as atoned. It literally means to be covered over. And that is what Christ did for us with His blood.

Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. (Hebrews 9:14)

We are all dead in our sins. But you can find forgiveness and new life in Christ!

 

Singing with the King (19) – Mercy

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Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. (Psalm 51:1)

alone on road3

Have you ever committed a sin you thought was too big for God to forgive? How about adultery, murder, and deceit? For the whole story about David and Bathsheba, and why He wrote this Psalm, read 2 Samuel 11:1-12:20

Because of the magnitude of these offenses, David appealed to the LORD’s nature; and there are three characteristics and one action to which David pleads:

Be gracious. It means take pity, have mercy, and show favor. David asking for a change in attitude—the Lord who was angry, may He now be moved by pity.

Lovingkindness. This too is translated as mercy, goodness and kindness. The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:21-23)

Compassion. Not just compassion, but the greatness of Your compassion. Other definitions are: to love deeply, to have tender affections, and mercy. Psalm 131:2 reveals how we respond to the depth of the LORD’s compassion: Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; like a weaned child rests against his mother, my soul is like a weaned child within me.

Three words, and in their meanings, you find mercy. David asks God to be merciful; he knows it is in His nature to be merciful. The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. (Psalm 103:8-10)

David is pleading for God to act according to His nature. These attributes, grace, mercy, lovingkindness, and compassion are all characteristics which are aimed at another; toward David, and toward you and me.

Why plead for mercy? Here’s the one action: so his transgressions would be blotted out, wiped out, obliterated, and exterminated. David is seeking is for God to destroy his transgressions, his rebellion.

Strong words, but God is merciful. What do you need blotted out?

Singing with the King (18) – Shout

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Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth. (Psalm 100:1)

Dancing in the Sun7

The word shout can have a negative meaning; but fortunately the Psalmist tells us to do more than just shout, we are to shout joyfully.

In the Hebrew, the word shout is a joyful shout; it is also a shout of triumph, as well as a battle cry, the sounding of alarm, and the signal for war. The LORD gave specific instructions for both in one place: When you go to war in your land against the adversary who attacks you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the LORD your God, and be saved from your enemies. Also in the day of your gladness and in your appointed feasts, and on the first days of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be as a reminder of you before your God. I am the LORD your God. (Numbers 10:9-10)

Whether going to war, or going to worship, it’s all about the LORD.

At the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout! For the LORD has given you the city. (Joshua 6:16)

Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises. Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, With the lyre and the sound of melody. With trumpets and the sound of the horn shout joyfully before the King, the LORD. (Psalm 98:4-6)

Shouting in war accomplishes three things:

  • It’s a warning to our enemy
  • It reveals to our enemy Who we trust
  • And it reminds God: “Hey. We’re down here in the middle of a battle and we’re kinda depending on You to help.”

To whom do you shout? What do you shout about?

Shouting for joy to the LORD in worship is not much of a stretch; you’re actually there to be in His Presence, to worship. But when you’re in the midst of a battle, a tragedy, an emergency, or whatever, shout to the LORD. It gets your eyes back on Him, and He’s the Only One Who gives victory.

 

Singing with the King (17) – Power & Beauty

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Give honor and praise  to the Lord, whose power and beauty fill His holy temple. (Psalm 96:6 CEV)

Sunrise Road1What does it look like for the Lord to fill His holy temple with power and beauty? Power is most often translated as strength, and in Hebrew, refers not only to strength in force, but character, security, and is praiseworthy. Beauty is that which is beautiful and fair; and is also translated as glorious and honor. Since these words are referring to characteristics belonging to the LORD, then they are of divine and supernatural extremes, perhaps so strong and so glorious, it is beyond our comprehension and perception.

As soon as Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and burned up the offerings. The Lord’s dazzling glory then filled the temple, and the priests could not go in. When the crowd of people saw the fire and the Lord’s glory, they knelt down and worshiped the Lord. They prayed: “The Lord is good, and His love never ends.” (2 Chronicles 7:1-3)

On the day Solomon dedicated the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem, there was a tangible, palpable manifestation of the Lord filling His temple with His power and beauty. So much so, the priests could not fulfill their ordained tasks.

So what does this have to do with you? I’m glad you asked. Here’s what the Temple is, starting in the New Covenant : Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

May the LORD so fill you with His power and beauty, that He may be tangibly seen and felt by those around you. Amen.

Singing with the King (16) – Walk, Stand, Sit

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Who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked…
(Psalm 1:1b)

Walk Alone

The Hebrew word for walk also means to come and go, depart, proceed, to move and go away. It can also be translated as your manner or way of life (i.e.—your walk).

Wicked also means ungodly and criminal, and specifically are those hostile to God.

If you want to be blessed, do not walk in the advice of those who are hostile to God; do not make it a part of your life. Another way to put it, while you are coming and going, do not accompany the wicked.

… or stand in the way of sinners. (Psalm 1:1c)

Stand Alone

The Hebrew word for stand means as to remain, endure; to take one’s stand, to persist, and become a servant of such.

Here you’re no longer walking, but are taking a stand, not against sinners, but with sinners. You could also say that you have become a slave to sin.

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. (John 8:34)

 

…or sit in the seat of mockers. (Psalm 1:1d)

US-POLITICS-CONGRESS

The Hebrew word for sit also means dwell, remain, and abide. It also has a meaning as to be set (in one’s ways).

Seat has similar meanings to sit: dwell, dwelling, assembly.  Mockers means scorner, scoffer, and interpreter, one who should translate but instead of bringing understanding, makes it a mockery.

Finally our dwelling place is no longer with the godly, but the ungodly. With whom do you live?

Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. (Psalm 84:10)

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Note the downward spiral, the devolution as it were in our actions: from walking to standing to sitting with the ungodly.

Even though this part of the verse has dealt with that which we are NOT to do, the following verse shows us what we are to do: “But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.” May God give you the wisdom to know the difference between what to do, and what not to do.