Category: Pondering Passages

Psalm 127

A song of ascents. Of Solomon.

¹ Unless the Lord builds the house,
    its builders labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
    the watchmen stand guard in vain.
² In vain you rise early
    and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat—
    for he grants sleep to those he loves.

Here are the verses that grabbed my attention this week and why:

v. 133  “Direct my footsteps according to your Word; let no sin rule over me.”

It wasn’t enough for the Psalmist to just know what God’s Word said, he wanted his life to be dictated by God’s Word. And he knew that if this were true then sin would not rule his life.The familiar maxim comes to mind again – Sin will keep you from God’s Word or the Word of God will keep you from sin. So the Psalmist did two things: 1) He spent time reading and learning and pondering the Word of God and 2) He prayed – he prayed that God would use the  Word in the Psalmist’s life to “direct my footsteps.” This is a great example of how the Word of God and prayer go hand in hand. As you read, pray. And when you pray ask God to work his Word into your life in practical ways.

v. 135  “Make your face shine upon your servant and teach me your decrees.”

Knowing the Word of God wasn’t just a mental exercise for the Psalmist. He didn’t read and ponder so that he could impress people with how much he knew. He did so in order to know God. This was the desire of his heart. And he knew that hearing God’s voice through His Word was the pathway to seeing His face. There is a huge difference between reading the Bible and hearing the voice of God. I’m reminded of what David prayed in Psalm 27:8 – “My heart says of you, “Seek His face!” Your face,  Lord, I will seek.”

v.136  “Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed.”

The Psalmist was a passionate man. This is quickly obvious as you read through Psalm 119. He was passionate about God’s Word. He was passionate about knowing God. He was passionate about hearing His voice and seeking His face. But he was also passionate about God’s glory. This verse reflects his passion to see God honored and obeyed. And when people do not give God the honor that is His due it literally brought the Psalmist to tears. Question: As you and I look around at our world and see the egregious way that people have rebelled against God are we brought to tears? Do we have the same kind of passion that the Psalmist had for God’s glory. And if not, why not?

I’m just sayin’!

Next Week: Psalm 127

Here are a few of the verses from this section that caught my attention. Good stuff!

v.83  “Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget your decrees.” 

Huh? What does he mean by that? The Psalmist uses the term “wineskin in the smoke” as an illustration of how he felt. Drinking containers in ancient times were usually made of skin. These skin bottles were often used out in the wilderness to hang in a tent when the use of fire was needed inside and there was no chimney. The skin would absorb the smoke for a long period of time. The skin would become hard and shriveled because of the smoke and afterwards it turned black and was useless. The psalmist is saying that he felt useless – dried out, shrivelled, and soot-covered spiritually but he wasn’t giving up. And he would not forget God’s Word no matter how he felt.

The lesson for us is this: No matter what life brings and no matter how distant from God you might feel, hold on to God’s Word. Don’t let go. Cling to it as you would a life preserver in the open sea when you have had to abandon ship.

v 89  “Your word , O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.”

This verse reminds me of my call to ministry. In college I heard a speaker say that there were only two things that were eternal in this world – God’s Word and people. And that we should spend our lives investing in these two eternal things. I knew after hearing that that I would be a Biomedical engineer, which is what I majored in in college. I knew that I would pursue a life of vocational ministry which would enable me to maximize my time as I invested in eternal things.

v 101, 104, 127-128  “I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word./ I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path./  because I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold, and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path.”

So there seems to be two things going on here. Because the Psalmist loves the Word of God, he hates evil and does whatever it takes to steer clear of it. And because his desire is to obey God’s Word, he avoids sin so that it does not short circuit his relationship with God. Do you see the difference? On the one hand, the Word of God keeps him from sinning. And on the other hand, he know that sinning would keep him from the Word of God so he is very intentional about staying away from it.

So here is the question to me… and to you: Do I love God and His Word more than I love sin? We don’t have to look very far to find the answer to that question.

I’m just sayin’!

Next Week: Psalm 119: 129-176

There were several verses from this section of Psalm 119 that grabbed my attention. Here they are and a few comments about each one.

v. 43 “Do not snatch the word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws.”

Why would God snatch His word away from the Psalmist? Literally, He would not. But figuratively, it might at times feel that way to the writer. For instance his voice would be silenced were he to fall into open and unrepentant sin. Or were he to lose his health in a tragic way. Or were he to be captured by his enemies and put to death. So another way to say what the Psalmist is saying would be this: “Lord, protect me, guard me, enable me to always have a voice that can speak with boldness about your Word.” (see similar verses such as v.29,36-37)

v.59 “I have considered my ways and turned my steps to your statutes.”

There is a lot of intentionality in this verse. The Psalmist has been very intentional about looking at his own life and doing some self evaluation. He has seen where his way of doing things does not line up with God’s way of doing things and has then deliberately and intentionally changed the direction of his life. There is repentance in this verse. There is a statement of faith in this verse. There is metamorphosis in this verse. What a great thing to be able to exclaim to God: “I have considered my ways and turned my steps to your statutes.”

v.67,71,75  “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word./It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees./I know, O Lord, that you are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me.

No one would ever say “Lord please send affliction upon me that I might learn to obey your word.” But, often, after the fact, it is easy to see how God has used affliction in our life to shape us. I know that this has proven true for me in the wake of the accident we had last year in India. I can easily say with the Psalmist, “in faithfulness you have afflicted me.”

Perhaps you are realizing along with me why I love Psalm 119. So many choice verses to ponder and pray. Already looking forward to this next week.

Next Week: Psalm 119: 81-128

Posting this as we wake up to the news of all the election results. I will say 2 things: 1) I am glad that I have been elected by God, and 2) My hope and trust is Him and not in our government (no matter who was elected.) And I am grateful for His Word…

Psalm 119:1-40

As may be true for many people, Psalm 119 is my favorite Psalm. So this is not my first time pondering it. It is a Psalm that I frequently come back to when I feel like I am going through a period when I do not feel like reading Scripture. There are so many choice verses that reinvigorate me spiritually and help to re-create a hunger for God and His Word. Here are some of the verses from this week’s pondering and a few comments about them.

¹³ With my lips I recount
    all the laws that come from your mouth.

The Psalmist evidently loved God’s Word so much that it was the subject of  conversations that he had with people. I find that I talk much more about sports, politics, and current events than I do about the Word of God. Is this an indication of how passionate I am about Scripture? I think probably yes.

¹⁴ I rejoice in following your statutes
    as one rejoices in great riches.

We live in a very materialistic culture. I am very much a materialist myself. I find that it is easy for me to be a God-follower as long as I have all my material needs being met. I often wonder would I do so if to the same degree if these were stripped away from me. In other words, where does my joy come from?

¹⁸ Open my eyes that I may see
    wonderful things in your law.

What a great prayer! I am so blind so much of the time to the truths of the Word and to the power in God’s promises that I need my eyes to be opened. “Lord open my eyes that I may see…”

³⁶ Turn my heart toward your statutes
    and not toward selfish gain.
³⁷ Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
    preserve my life according to your word.

Another great prayer that I find myself coming back to. Again and again. And again! I find that more often than  not I pursue selfish gain and worthless things rather than the Word of God. This prayer right here needs to be my daily Scripture mantra.

I’m Just sayin’!

Next Week: Psalm 119: 41-80

To read all of Psalm 103 click HERE

Here are the first 5 verses…

Psalm 103:1-5

Of David.

Psalm 95

To read Psalm 90 in it’s entirety click HERE.

Verse 1: “Lord You have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.” What might Moses have been thinking as he penned these words in the wilderness? Charles Spurgeon does such a great job detailing this that I will let him speak as I could do no better.  He uses some words that we don’t use and it is a little lengthy but worth the picture it paints.

At nightfall, or when the pillar stayed its motion, the tents were pitched, and the Israelites laid themselves down to rest. Perhaps to-morrow, ere the morning sun had risen, the trumpet sounded, they stirred themselves from their beds and found the ark was in motion, and the fiery cloudy pillar was leading the way through the narrow defiles of the mountain up the hillside, or along the arid waste of the wilderness. They had scarcely time to arrange their little property in their tents and make all things comfortable for themselves, before they heard the sound of “Away! away! away! this is not your rest; you must still be onward journeying toward Cannan!” They could not plant a little patch of ground around their tents, they could not lay out their house in order, and arrange their furniture, they could not become attached to the spot of ground.

Even though just now their father had been buried in a place where a tent had tarried for a time yet they must be off. They must have no attachment to the place, they must have nothing of what we call comfort, ease, and peace; but be always journeying, always traveling. Moreover, so exposed were they, that they never could be very easy in their tents. At one time the sand, with the hot simoom behind it, would drive through the tent and cover them almost to burial. On frequent occasions the hot sun would scorch them, and their canvas would scarce be a preservation; at another time the biting north wind would freeze around them, so that within their tents they sat shivering and cowering around their fires.

They had little ease; but behold the contrast which Moses, the man of God, discerns with gratitude, “Thou art not our tent, but thou art our dwelling-place. Though we are uneasy here, though we are tossed from side to side by troubles, though we travel through a wilderness, and find it a rough pathway, though when we sit down here we know not what comfort means, O Lord, in thee we possess all the comfort which a house can afford, we have all that a mansion or palace can give the prince, who can loll upon his couch, and rest upon his bed of down. Lord, thou art to us comfort, thou art a house and habitation.”

Have you ever known what it is to have God for your dwelling-place in the sense of comfort? Do you know what it is, when you have storms behind you, to feel like a sea-bird, blown to the land by the very storm? Do you know what it is, when you have been caged sometimes by adversity, to have the string cut by divine grace, and like the pigeon that flies at once to its own dovecot, have you sped your way across the ether, and found yourself in God? Do you know what it is, when you are tossed on the waves, to go down into the depths of Godhead, there rejoicing that not a wave of trouble ruffles your spirit, but that you are serenely at home with God your own Almighty Father? Can you, amid all the uneasiness of this desert journey, find a comfort there? Is the breast of Jesus a sweet pillow for your head? Can you, lie thus on the breast of Deity? Can you put yourself in the stream of Providence and float along without a struggle, while angels sing around you—divinely guided, divinely led—”We are bearing thee along the stream of Providence to the ocean of eternal bliss!” Do you know what it is to lie on God, to give up all care, to drive anxiety away, and there—not in a recklessness of spirit, but in a holy carelessness—to be careful for nothing, “but in every thing by supplication to make known your wants unto God?” If so you have gained the first idea; “Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place throughout all generations.” Charles Spurgeon

I underlined the phrase “holy carelessness” because I liked it. There is a lot to ponder in that phrase alone. But I thought Spurgeon did a great job of helping us understand that this is not our home. And even though we are settlers and not sojourners, so to speak, we must never forget that God is our home. God is our dwelling place. This place is is our temporary home-away-from-home and we MUST not get too attached. And yet we do.

I’m just sayin’!

Next Week: Psalm 95

Click HERE to read Psalm 84 in its entirety

Here are some thoughts about a few of the verses…

But before we get to them there is a note that tells us that this Psalm is “Of the sons of Korah”. Here is a good article that will give you some background information on who the sons of Korah are. To sum up, they were doorkeepers and musicians in the court of David. Their lineage however went back hundreds of years to their ancestor Korah. Korah incited a rebellion (Numbers 16) against Moses that involved over 250 people. God had to deal with him severely (the earth swallowed him up) but some of his descendants went on to serve faithfully in the house of the Lord. As I read this account I was reminded that God can always redeem our past. It doesn’t matter what kind of a home that we have grown up in, or how bad our parents were, or what influences we had early in life – God can use us to bring Him honor and glory as we follow after Him. We are not victims of our past we are victors with a future!

¹ How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty!
² My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God…

¹⁰ 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.

These guys loved God. They loved to be in His presence. You can hear the passion oozing out of them. They were singing from the heart. Here is the question that I have to ask myself: When I am in the “court of the Lord” and singing with the community of believers, do I sing to Him with this kind of passion? Or do I just go through the motions of singing but my heart is far from God? Does my “heart and flesh cry out for the living God?” Would I rather be in God’s presence than anywhere else? Than at my favorite Sunday restaurant? Than home watching the NFL pre-game show? Than on the golf course? Than taking a nap? Need to move on before too much conviction sets in…

⁵ Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
⁶ As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs…
⁷ They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.

We are sojourners. Not of this world. Journeying through this world on our way to another place. A better place. A holy place. Our hearts MUST be set on that place if we are going to make sense of this place. We must keep our focus on the future if we want to thrive in the present. Otherwise the best we can hope for is to make it through this world in survival mode. But in God we find our strength. And even when we go through those dark and desperate valley times we can still “make it a place of springs.” We can still see the hand of God. We can still find hope when those without Christ would be hopeless. We can still see the goodness of God “though the darkness hide thee.”

And we can draw strength to continue our pilgrimage in Him. In the valleys we find strength. On the mountaintops we find strength. On the long and winding road we find our strength in Him. We “go from strength to strength” until one day we find ourselves in the strong arms of the One who stretched out His arms on the cross and secured our salvation and procured for us an eternal home in the Heavenly Zion.

I’m just sayin’!

Next Week: Psalm 90