Today, I am reading and commenting on  Psalms 105-107.

Often when we think of the ways in which the Israelites were saved by God, and then turned away from following His commands only to cry out to Him again and be saved, we think of the first being one generation, the turning away to be another, and often the crying out to be a third generation.  However, the psalmist points out here that during Exodus, God saved the Israelites from Egypt only for the same generation to turn to idolatry, suffer for it, turn back to Him and be rescued.  Repeating this pattern multiple times.  We must strive not to repeat this pattern, but we probably will.  Let us praise God because He will forgive us our sins when we genuinely turn to Him.  The psalmist further writes that God will bless us in order that we might observe His laws.  (I actually like that phrasing because it hints at the idea that we can actually see God’s laws by looking at the world around us.)  But perhaps my favorite part of today’s psalms is in Psalm 107, where the psalmist tells those whom God has rescued from adversity to tell their story.  Or, as the King James Version translates it, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.”  Let us tell the story of how God has rescued us from difficult situations.  I have been in terrible situations where I cried out to God and He rescued me from them.  Yet, I am well aware that those situations were, as the saying goes, “first world problems” compared to what others have faced.  In fact, even many others have had “first world problems” which made my greatest struggles seem incidental and those in less fortunate parts of the world have suffered in ways I find hard to imagine.  I have been blessed all of my life and I still fail to be as faithful to God as I ought.  As I write this I pray to God that He transform me into someone more faithful to Him.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Psalms 98-104.

Well today is relatively easy, the psalms in today’s passage have pretty much all the same theme: sing praises to God.  Our joy in the Lord should be such that we cannot help but sing a new song about the marvelous things He has done.  I am not much of a singer, but I can make a joyful noise.  God judges the world in righteousness and people with equity.  God has made the world so that rulers who love justice and establish equity will be mighty.  Let those who have called on the Lord sing His praises because He has answered them.

God made us, so we belong to Him, let us live accordingly.  I will strive to live a blameless life, but I know that I will fail. Which make me glad that God does not treat us as our sin deserves.  His love for us is from everlasting to everlasting so that He will forgive all of our sins and cure our diseases if we truly fear Him.   Because of all of this, I will have no part in what faithless people do, and will have nothing to do with what is evil.

I feel bad about paraphrasing the psalmist this way.  So, I will end with this.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Psalms 90-97.

Today’s psalms lay out reasons for us to praise God and to joyfully sing to Him.  Human studies of this earth suggest that once upon a time snow and ice covered most of the land, and that another time most of earth’s land mass was covered with what we now consider tropical vegetation because the earth was so warm.  The oceans rise and they recede.  Over time, everything changes, but God is from everlasting to everlasting.  From before time began God has remained the same without change, and He will remain the same when time is no more.  The psalmist also reminds us that we gain wisdom by recognizing that we are the opposite.  God is an unchanging constant, while we have only a few short years to do God’s will upon this earth.  Yet, if we make God our refuge we will not need to fear the terrors of night, nor attacks by day…if we truly put our faith in Him, we not only will not need to fear but we will not fear those things.  God will send angels to guard us in all that we do, and every where we go.  So, let us take joy in praising God and proclaiming His love and faithfulness, morning, noon, and night.

The wicked believe that God will take no notice of their evil.  They have convinced themselves that there is no such thing as evil and thus are free to do as they please.  But God is the one who avenges those who were wronged.  The God who made us in all of our being hears us and sees us, He knows all of our plans.  He will repay the wicked for the evil they have done to others, but even today if they would only hear His voice and turn to Him He would forgive them.  God will come to this earth to pass judgement and He desires that all creation rejoice at His coming.   Love the Lord and hate evil and then light will shine on you, giving you joy.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Psalms 82-89.

I am going to write the thoughts which came to me as I read today’s psalms, even though today’s psalms have disparate themes.  The first psalm starts out with a challenge to those in positions of authority.  All too often those with power and authority defend the unjust and show favor to the wicked.  The psalmist calls on them to instead defend the weak and uphold the cause of the oppressed, to rescue the weak from the hand of the wicked.  Paul writes in his letter to the Church in Rome that God established the government to punish the wicked.  The psalmist points out here that many in positions of authority not only fail that purpose, but actively aid the wicked.  However, the psalmist also warns them that if they fail to administer justice, God will take matters into His own hands and they will be on the receiving end along with the wicked whom they aided.  All too often those whom the psalmist was addressing here respond to the knowledge that God will judge them by plotting against those who faithfully follow Him.  They come to believe that they can escape God’s judgement by silencing those who speak His word.  However, God alone is the Most High over all of the earth and will show Himself to them.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Psalms 78-81.

I am not sure that the theme I am going to write about today truly flows through all of these psalms.  Nevertheless, it is what I see when I read them in light of what is going on in the world around us: the terrible economy, the war in Ukraine, the violence in the U.S. over recent Supreme Court rulings, etc..  What should our reaction to all of these be?  Well, let us tell the world, especially the next generation, about the praiseworthy deeds of God, about His power and the wonders He has performed.  Our goal should be that this will lead them to put their trust in God and keep His commands.  Let us remind ourselves, and those who will listen, about how our ancestors, and perhaps even ourselves, witnessed God’s power but still put Him to the test by failing to keep His laws.  Our failure to act according to His will has led us to the circumstances in which we find ourselves.  Let us call out to God, asking Him to restore us, to make His face shine on us so that we might see His light and be saved.  I am going to paraphrase the psalmist here to say what I believe God is saying to us today:

“If my people would only listen to me,
    if they would only follow my ways,
how quickly I would subdue their enemies
    and turn my hand against their foes!”

If we will listen to God, He will restore us to prosperity, but if we refuse, the problems we see now will soon be eclipsed by even greater disaster.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Psalms 72-77.

The first of today’s psalms calls on God to endow the king with justice as God see justice.  The psalmist asks God to make it so that the king defends the afflicted, saves the children of the needy, and crushes the oppressor.  Let us pray something similar for those in positions of government authority today.   And yet, we often do not have such rulers.  Instead we have the opposite.  It would be all too easy for us to slip when such is the case and conclude that the effort to keep our hearts pure and our hands innocent is in vain.   We begin to envy the wicked and the arrogant.  When we see how they appear to prosper, we may begin to wonder if perhaps we should have acted similarly.  But, if we enter into God’s presence, we will see that nothing they possess compares to being able to commune with God.  When the time is right, God will sweep them aside, but those who love and obey God will be taken into His glory.  Today we may see the wicked mock and revile God, but I will praise Him and tell of His deeds.  There are those who speak of “settled science” and “settled law”, but God reveals that only that which conforms to His will is truly settled for all time.  Let us praise God, and tell all who will listen of what He has done.

Surely God is good to Israel,

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Psalms 68-71.

The psalmist begins the first of today’s psalms by asking God to arise and scatter His enemies.  If God does so the psalmist tells us that the righteous will be glad and will rejoice.  That reads as if the righteous will only rejoice after they see God scatter His enemies, but I believe that the psalmist is calling on the righteous to rejoice because they know that God will scatter His enemies.  Let us proclaim the power of God, even while it appears that His enemies are thriving, because God will give strength to his people to do His will.

Elsewhere we are told that if we faithfully follow God, many will hate us without reason and become our enemies for no cause other than our desire to do God’s will.  I will follow the psalmist’s example and pray to God that He keep me from doing anything which might cause those who seek Him, who put their hope in Him, to be disgraced because of me.  I pray that He will keep me from doing anything of which I should be ashamed.  May He rescue me from the mire which will inevitably rise around me and help me to always have hope because I rely on Him.  With God’s help I will praise Him as long as I live and call on everyone to do likewise.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Psalms 52-59.

The psalmist begins Psalm 53 by writing that the fool says in his heart that there is no God.  We often read the rest of that psalm from that perspective, but I believe the second line tells us better whom the psalmist is writing about.  There he writes, “They are corrupt, and their ways are vile.”  He goes on to tell us that no one does good and that everyone has turned away.  In a later psalm in today’s passage he writes that the wicked go astray from birth, that no sooner are they born than they begin spreading lies.  There is no room in this for us to set ourselves apart.  If no one does good, than neither do we.  However, this brings me back to that first line.  However, if we acknowledge that God exists, then we may cry out to Him in our distress and He will hear us.  Then He will rescue us from our sin and teach us/cause us to do good.  I will praise God, not because I am good, but because He is good.  I will put my trust in Him and He will transform me.  And even here the psalmist gives us great advice.  When we fear, let us put our trust in Him.  Then, if we put our trust in Him, we need, and He will make it so that we do not, fear anyone.  If God Almighty will speak for us, and act as our protector, what can someone who is merely mortal do to us?  So, join me in praising God in front of everyone.  I will not hide that my trust, my faith, and my hope lies in God.  He has never let me down.

I use 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 often feel inadequate when I try to write about the psalms because the psalmist is a much better wordsmith than I could ever be.   Nevertheless, I want to write a few things about today’s Psalms.  Psalm 46 reminds us of the importance of meditating on God and God’s word.  Sometimes we need to silence our minds in order to appreciate what God has done.  And yet, there are times when God’s glory should inspire us to make noise. clapping, shouting, crying out, and singing praises to God.  From there he goes on to tell us that we should not fear when evil days come, nor when the wicked surround us, because God will redeem us from the realm of the dead and take us to Himself.  In fact, He has already redeemed us and claimed us as His own.  Finally for today, the psalmist reminds us the purpose for which we pray to God for deliverance and for which we teach others about sin.  Our goal in all of this should be to inspire sinners to turn to God for the deliverance which we have experienced.

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

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

As I read these Psalms today I thought I saw a flow of ideas.  Let’s see how that works out.   I am going to write this the way I see it applying to me.  I start with seeing how the psalmist acknowledged that God had reason to be angry with him and begged God not to discipline him in that anger.  He goes on the beg God not to leave him, not to go away from him.  I recognize this in my own life.  God has ample reason to be angry with me, to abandon me to my fate.   The psalmist goes on to write of how he tried to keep silent, to avoid saying the wrong thing at the wrong time by saying nothing at all.  Perhaps I am misreading it, but it seems like the psalmist said something which caused hurt in another and regretted it.  In any case, I know that I have said things which upset people, things I wish I had not said.  Every time after doing so, I promise to keep my big mouth shut.  But just as the psalmist wrote, I soon find the words welling up within me.  Soon I cannot help myself and I must speak out against the foolishness I hear others saying.  I feel the spirit, and some of the time, the Spirit, compelling me to speak.  For a time, I seek to only speak the words which the Spirit gives me, but eventually I lose my humility and begin to say that which comes from me, not from God and I find myself back where I started.  So, I will strive to wait patiently for the Lord, and only speak the words He desires me to speak.  When I fail once more, and I know that I will fail once more, I will still put my hope in Him and praise the Lord with all that I am.

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