I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Psalms 45-51.

    I know what I want to write about today, but I am struggling with how to introduce the topics (see, what I did there. I couldn’t figure out an introduction, so I used that as the introduction). The psalmist tells us that if we place our trust in God we do not need to fear trouble. In Psalm 46, he sets aside the fear of natural disasters. In Psalm 49, he sets aside the fear of human beings. When all is going crazy around us, we just need to be calm and recognize that God has power over all of it. Panic and fright will not aid us in any way, but calmly waiting for God to tell us what to do will. Others may trust in their wealth and/or political power, but no matter how rich they are, no matter how powerful they are, they cannot buy their way out of dying. Only God can redeem us from death.

    God has no need of our wealth or possessions. All of the earth is His. What He desires from us is thankfulness. The psalmist warns us to not think that talking about God and His commands will do us any good if we spend our time commending those who violate them. Slandering our brother (and I want to point out that I think Jesus’ example about who our neighbor is applies to who our brother is as well) is an indication that we are not living with the thankfulness which God desires. Ultimately, we have all sinned. Let us throw ourselves on God’s mercy and pray for Him to wipe us clean from those sins. Then strive to sin no more. As I read these psalms and write this blog, I am reminded once more how much less skilled I am at word crafting than the psalmist. Please read these psalms, my ability to express the thoughts they evoke is inadequate to the task.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Psalms 38-44.

    The first of today’s psalms, Psalm 38, is a counterpoint to the Book of Job; sometimes we suffer because of our sins. Of course, today’s set of psalms ends with one which supports the point of the Book of Job, that sometimes our suffering is from no fault of our own. In either case, the psalmist tells us confess our sins, for all of us have sinned whether that causes us suffering or not, and wait patiently for God. If we put our confidence in Him, He will give us joy. God does not desire offerings; He wants us to do His will. And in Psalm 41, he tells us what is God’s will: that we be kind to the poor. In Matthew 25 Jesus tells the story of the sheep and the goats which gives us a little more detail about God’s will for us.

    I am not going to write about all of the things which these psalms cover, but I really want to talk about Psalm 43. The psalmist is feeling sad and unhappy, put upon. He remembers being happy, but feels like that has all gone away. I think that we have all felt that way at some point in our lives. He identifies what was different about the good times from “now”. During the good times he walked among a crowd of people praising and worshiping God. Now God feels distant. Then comes the insight. It was not God who changed, it was himself. He will once again put his trust in God, worshiping and praising Him. The psalmist is expressing the same thought as in Psalm 34 where he said, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Sometimes we need to move forward in faith in order to experience the joy that comes from obeying God. Singing joyful songs praising God will often bring us joy, even if we were sad when we began to sing.