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Ancient copy of Psalms from the first century

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these brief studies were first written in 2007, and some were updated in 2011

Bible study for Psalm 1

Psalm 1 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

Psalm 1 is a powerful description of faithful living that is pleasing to God.  It contrasts the dire consequences of worldly living with the fruitfulness of godliness, and offers the Lord’s protection to the faithful.

The book of Psalms is a collection of poems used for centuries as the hymn book of God’s people.  For all this time, it has given spiritual expression to their thoughts and feelings, and it is quite different from any other book of the Bible.  The Psalms bring us close to the faith of real people in all the circumstances of life, in joy, sorrow, thanksgiving, trouble and anguish; and throughout the ages, people have found that the Psalms help them understand both God Himself and the life He has given them.

Psalm 1 begins with thanksgiving to God for His ‘Law’, which defines godliness and right living (1:1-3).  Christians are not used to thinking about the Law in this way because Jesus has shown that the Law cannot save.  However, the Law still has a place in God’s plan, and Psalm 1 explains what this is.

In the Old Testament, ‘Law’ means far more than mere rules and regulations, for God’s Law describes what the world is like and why.  Today, we turn to science with such questions; for example, the law of gravity describes why we remain on the earth and do not float away into space.  However, ancient peoples saw the world from a very different perspective.  They believed that God was present in the world they experienced, and He had created it according to certain spiritual, practical and moral principles.  In the Bible, this is conveyed in different ways; in stories such as that of Creation or the life of Abraham, and in regulations such as the Ten Commandments and the moral laws found in Leviticus (e.g. Lev 19).

This psalm also presents people with a clear choice.  They either accept God’s Law and live by its light (1:1) or live according to human desires, characterised by sin and wickedness (1:4-6).  Consequently, those who choose God’s way enjoy His favour and the on-going benefits of His world, ‘they are like trees planted by streams of water’ (1:3); but those who choose their own ways have decided to walk away from the Maker of the World.  They have nowhere to go and their lives are fruitless (1:6).

Some do not like the way that this psalm speaks of judgement, and they baulk at the idea of God dismissing people (1:4-6), even the wicked.  The psalm has also been dismissed by those who say that it is clearly untrue, because wicked people appear to have lives that are no better or worse than those of anyone else.  This is to miss the point, however, because the psalm is not talking just about earthly life.  It describes life from the perspective of God’s eternity.  It says that those who live according to what God has revealed will benefit from their obedience, but those who reject God have given themselves no future.  All this is most obvious in verse 6, which contains a strong word of caution for those who reject God, and a beautiful promise for those who seek the Lord and long for good to prevail!

Psalm 1 offers an inspiring message for those who seek the Lord, and it paints a vivid picture of God’s blessing.  Firstly, it describes the things of God such as His Law as a delight to the soul (1:2), and dwelling on this will fill the mind with godliness and all that is good.  Next, it contains a dynamic picture of growth leading to fruitfulness and prosperity; a tree is planted and watered, and in these perfect conditions will definitely bear fruit (1:3).  Lastly, it confirms God’s watchful care in the midst of a sinful world (1:6).

These are precious promises for God’s people of any age or place, and they connect strongly with the New Testament.  For example, Jesus talks about a tree that bears good fruit (Matt 7:17) and Paul famously describes the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22).  All together, Psalm 1 provides God’s people with a straightforward spiritual assessment of the path of faith.  It also confirms the truth about God and His moral authority, and it promises His sustenance and counsel for this life.  As such, it is a powerful and succinct song with which to praise God at the beginning of the book of Psalms!

Psalm 1 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. What is meant by the phrase ‘the counsel of the wicked … the way of sinners’ (1:1), and how does this tempt people away from God’s path today?
2. Look at verse 3 and discuss in your group what this picture tells you about God’s blessings.
3. Consider whether ‘the judgement’ (1:5) is something that happens in the present or the future?

Personal comments by author

This Psalm has reminded me afresh that the ‘two paths’ are always there before me, and yet I frequently do not perceive them.  I often see only one option in life and carry on as if there is nothing to do except follow the path before me.  However, this is a little blind.  I need to realise that at all time I face choices to follow the Lord’s ways or become trapped by my own, and I need a full and godly perspective on everything that is before me.  Looking back, I have faced far more ‘right or wrong’ decisions than I perceived at the time.  For me, the message is that I must ensure that I am more acutely aware of the Lord’s presence with me at all times.  Then, I will be able to check out what He requires of me at each step of the way.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Try to pick up one or two things from the psalm that suggest how better you might live for the Lord and keep close to Him in everyday life.  For example, spending time meditating on Scripture, and ensuring that you are consuming the spiritual food God gives.
• Pray for those who have lost their way with God.  Pray for any individuals you know, and do your best to be of practical help to these people if at all possible.  Make yourself ready to be a means God can use to bring a person back to faith.

Final Prayer

Eternal and ever loving God, You have been the help and refuge of Your people for generations.  May we live in Your presence, love all that is good and true, and serve you throughout our lives, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  AMEN

Bible study for Psalm 2

Psalm 2 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

The Lord deals with rebellion against Him in the world by sending His Son to rule in Zion!  This is the Old Testament’s answer to the ills of the world, and it speaks prophetically of the coming of Christ!

Whereas Psalm 1 was about the individual and God, Psalm 2 is about nations and God.  It describes conflict between nations and the Lord (2:1-3), the enthronement of God’s Son as King in Zion (2:4-6), the Lord’s commission of His servant, the king (2:7-9) and God’s warning to the nations to pay homage to the King in Zion (2:10-12).

Now, this may not appear to have much in common with Psalm 1, but it does.  Psalm 1 presents people with a choice between two ‘ways’, the righteous way of the Lord or the way of sinners, with each having clear consequences; and in a similar way, Psalm 2 presents nations with two pathways, again, with equally clear consequences.  They can either rebel against the Lord and his ‘anointed’ and incur His wrath (2:3f.), or they can serve Him with fear and trembling (2:11) and receive His blessing (2:12).  This sounds straightforward, but despite this framework to the psalm, it is not always easy to follow exactly who is talking to whom, and about what. 

We can start by trying to imagine the circumstances in which this psalm may have been written.  The phrase ‘I have set my King in Zion’ (2:6) suggests the enthronement of a King, perhaps David, and the title of the King is ‘the Lord’s anointed’ (2:2).  The enthronement of a King was an important part of the life of Israel, because the King was a descendant of David and visible evidence of God’s blessing on His people.  He was expected to maintain the peace and security of the land and to prevent the surrounding nations from attacking the country (as described in verses 2 to 4).

However, there are other ways to understand the psalm depending on how we interpret the title ‘the Lord’s anointed’ (2:2).  For example, there was no king in Jerusalem for considerable periods of Israel’s history, such as after the exile in 587BC.  Without a King, the Israelites had to interpret this psalm differently, and they came to believe that it was about the ‘Messiah’, God’s ‘Anointed One’, who would come to liberate His people and rule over them like David.  For them, this Psalm described how their Messiah would subdue the nations and protect God’s people, like another great ‘Son of David’ (see 2:7,12).  In addition to this, Christians today quickly see connections between this psalm and Jesus, and read it as a prophecy of His coming Kingdom and His rule over the nations.

With all this in mind, it becomes easier to interpret the psalm.  It begins with the question ‘why do the nations rage?’ (2:1) but this is asked by the Lord who sits in heaven and ‘holds them in derision’ (2:4).  He mocks the plotting of the nations because He alone has all authority.  He then tells the nations that He will set His ‘King’ (2:6) in authority over them.  It is now easy to see that although the ancient Israelites thought this was their King, later generations believed this was their Messiah, and we now believe that this is Jesus.  Then, in verse 7 to 9 we read God’s promises to His anointed One.  In the same way, these were once thought to be God’s promise of authority to the King in Jerusalem, but later generations read this as God’s promise to defend His people through the Messiah.  For us, however, they remind us of God’s promise to Jesus at His baptism (2:7) and also of the authority He will have over the nations when He comes again.

Lastly, verses 10 to 12 have a clear message, whatever period of history you have in mind, whether ancient Israel, the Jewish people of later times, or the Christian church today.  They are a challenge to other ‘nations’ to accept God’s authority and rule, and a powerful proclamation of God’s Good News, inviting people to worship Him and take refuge in Him (2:12).  It also warns people that ignoring this invitation is to invite disaster. 

Psalm 2 is therefore a stirring proclamation of God’s rule in this world.  In the past, he ruled though David and his descendants, and now He rules through Jesus Christ His Son, and He calls the whole world to recognise this authority.

Psalm 2 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. In what ways do nations, philosophies and religions today reject God, and what does this Psalm say about this rejection?
2. How does Jesus Christ fulfil this psalm, and how may we, as His followers, interpret what this psalm says now?
3. Psalm 2 describes ‘taking refuge’ in Him (2:12).  What does this phrase mean to you?

Personal comments by author

I have found that the Old Testament has always been a source of inspiration to me because of the way it describes God’s ultimate victory over evil; despite so many problems experienced by the people of Israel, their prophets always spoke about God’s victory.  I have also met other Christians who have found it hard to think in those terms and believe that it is inappropriate for us to have such confidence, they say that it sounds too ‘triumphalist’.  Over the years, however, I have not been able to find any good scriptural reason to hold back from believing in Christ’s victory.  There is of course no need for us to be arrogant in our manner when talking about the things of God, but unless we believe that the Creator of the world will indeed be victorious over all evil, then it seems to me that the Gospel is incomplete.  Jesus’ death is a triumph not a disaster!

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• This Psalm challenges us to identify with our Christian heritage going back through Jesus into Old Testament times.  Read through the psalm and think about what it meant for people of past generations, and consider what can be learned from their experiences.
• Pray for the church of God and ask the Lord to help it declare the truths it has been given, especially about the ultimate victory of good over evil.  This is a fundamentally Christian message that needs to be proclaimed whether we like it or not.

Final Prayer

Speak to me Lord in the quiet moments offered by this day.  Touch me when I need to be reminded to turn to You and choose Your way.  Encourage me to exercise the gifts and graces You have given me, as a child of God.  Walk beside me all the way, Your wisdom ever present in what I do and say;  AMEN

Bible study for Psalm 3

Psalm 3 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

Psalm 3 describes how to deal with life’s troubles.  It is a simple psalm, but like so many others, it hides considerable spiritual and practical advice about how to trust God and live as His people.

The best way to appreciate this psalm is to begin with the brief sentence that comes just before it starts; it reads ‘A psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom’.  These words are called a ’superscription’, and psalm 3 is the first of the psalms to have this feature, and is part of the sacred text of Scripture and should not be confused with the various editorial headings found in most modern Bible translations.  Many psalms have superscriptions, and some of them are insignificant.  However, many of them, as here, can give us helpful insight and background to the writing of the psalm.

Here, the superscription of Psalm 3 recalls a dreadful incident in David’s life when his reign was severely threatened.  As an old man, David’s sons squabbled over who would succeed him, and on one occasion, his son Absalom seized power and ousted King David.  It was a terrible act of rebellion, and it had dire consequences (2 Sam 15, to the end).  In this light, the psalm is clearly about the victory of God’s people over evil.

The psalm captures David’s sense of devastation, betrayal and deception, but it also conveys something of his spiritual strength and insight.  It begins with a description of the horror of betrayal (3:1-2), but turns swiftly to the glory of God’s presence (3:3-4) which brings peace (3:5,6), before the last two verses speak of victory over evil (3:7,8).  However, the genius of the psalm is not that it describes David’s experience.  It has been written in a general manner so that although it obviously comes from David’s experience, it can easily relate to the experience of a reader.  The same Lord who helped David helps all those who turn to Him.

The first stanza describes the way in which evil attacks the soul, firstly by creating panic within, ‘O Lord ... how many rise up against me!’, and then by questioning faith in God, ‘Many are saying ... God will not deliver him’ (3:1).  All too often, such an attack creates confusion, and it is hard to know where to go.  Yet after a pause, signified by the word ‘selah’ (3:2), David makes the one move always open to a person of faith, which is to turn to God; he cries out ‘but You are a shield around me, O Lord ...’ (3:3).  This cry is pivotal, because it is the soul’s decision to turn away from evil to God, who is the source of all good.  David then prays to the Lord, as if worshipping Him in Jerusalem (3:4).  Remember, according to the superscription, David had been thrown out of Jerusalem and longed to return, so this verse is like a parable of the soul’s longing to be with the Lord.

In the second half of the psalm, David describes the peace that accompanies such a decision as like peaceful sleep (3:5).  More than this, the Lord’s protection has removed all fear, and the size of the enemy no longer matters, ‘I will fear not the tens of thousands drawn up against me ...’ (3:6)!

The last two verses are somewhat fierce, and they call on the Lord to defeat the foe.  The phrases ‘strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked ...’ (3:7) seems somewhat violent, but it simply expresses the fact that God defeats all evil completely.  However the psalm expresses this, we surely need to know it.

This is a powerful psalm, which is of great help when dealing with the pain of rejection from loved ones (as David did with Absalom).  Those who are closest to us can sometimes be the cause of great trials!  Yet in the midst of such ordeals the best we can do for everyone is to seek the Lord’s will and be centred upon Him.  It may be hard to see how everything will work out, but if we trust Him then we can have peace.  We may need to do much work in order to sort things out, as David did when he had to recapture Jerusalem from Absalom, but if we keep close to Him, He will guide us through our problems even if we cannot see this.

Psalm 3 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Are you conscious of enemies who prevent you doing what you believe to be God’s will in your own life, or your church?  Who or what are they?
2. If you were to you ‘cry aloud to the Lord’ (3:4), would you be able to recognise God’s voice, speaking in return?
3. In your group, discuss what this psalm says about how to deal with trouble and distress in personal life.

Personal comments by author

I have always found it useful to ask for the Lord’s protection, and I know that I live under the essential shield of God’s love and care.  Nevertheless, I have a serious physical condition that keeps me from normal work, and many people pray for me that I will be healed, indeed I pray for this myself, but as yet I am not healed!  I believe that the Lord will overcome this trouble in my own life in His own good time, but in the meantime, the Lord uses this physical problem of mine for His purposes.  I accept that, in order to deny Satan the chance to use my circumstances in any other way.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• It is part of the discipline of the Christian life to take one’s stance against the works of the enemy that compromise faith.  Think about this, and about how the enemy can work to compromise your own faith.  Pray to ask the Lord to help you stand firm against evil in whatever form it take.
• Pray for any in your family who are experiencing a troubled time at the moment, and ask the Lord to bless them spiritually, and practically, as appropriate.

Final Prayer

Thank You, Heavenly Father, for the assurance that when we place our trust in You, all things become possible; our sins are forgiven, our lives are empowered and the Holy Spirit blesses us with His gifts.  Your graciousness is far more than we could ask.    AMEN

Bible study for Psalm 4

Psalm 4 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

Psalm 4 is just like psalm 3, which expresses confidence in God in the midst of uncertainty.  It encourages the faithful to face adversity with courage, and to turn to the Lord in the midst of difficult circumstances. 

At the very beginning, psalm 4 has a heading (a ‘superscription’), which refers to David but this says nothing to help us interpret the psalm.  It refers to some form of musical accompaniment, and it says ‘a psalm of David’ (4:1), which means either that David himself wrote the psalm or that it was part his own collection.  The association with David is therefore strong enough for us to assume that it was written by him.

The psalm has been written in response to those who grumble about life and about God, who say, ‘many are asking “who can show us any good?”’ (4:6).  In this, David had the same problems as previous leaders of Israel such a Moses, who dealt with Israel’s grumbling in the desert (Ex 17:1-7, Deut 1:19ff), but David does not succumb to such questioning of the Lord.  Rather, his psalm suggests that trials are a reason to refrain from sin and turn to the Lord (4:4,5), and this leads to the hope we read about in the last two verses (4:7,8). 

Elsewhere the psalm speaks about lying down to sleep (4:8), so the psalm is traditionally regarded as an evening psalm and it has been used for centuries as part of the ancient order of Compline, said at night before sleeping.  By contrast, if you look back at psalm 3, it contains a brief reference to rising from sleep (3:5).  So psalms 3 and 4 are regarded traditionally as being a pair, one for the morning and one for the evening! 

Psalm 4 begins without any introduction or polite request to God, but with a call for help.  David asks the Lord to hear and answer his prayer, which is to ‘give relief from my distress’ (4:1).  He is concerned about godlessness amongst the people, especially the way that they seek after ‘other gods’ (4:2) and complain against God (4:6).  He also expresses concern about wrong attitudes towards God and towards others found within the community, such as the ‘delusions’ of false religion (4:2), the prevalence of anger in the community (4:4) and the offering of right sacrifices in worship (4:5).  David is resolute in the face of all these problems, and he brings them before the Lord to seek His counsel (4:1), trusting the faith of his forefathers (4:5) and praising the Lord despite the problems (4:7,8).  Doing this enables him to sleep at night (4:4,8).

Although this is all interesting, the psalm is far more than a description of what happened to David.  The psalm tells us how we should respond in a godly manner to the problems we face each day.  We can easily look at the sins we observe in people around us and in the church, and we too will sometime see godlessness and false religion, anger and complaint.  However, this psalm shows us that if we follow David and bring our problems to the Lord, then He will help us and lead us towards the peace for which we long.

Much of this psalm is about being set free from the power of sin.  Now today, we call this ‘salvation’ and honour Jesus Christ who has won for us our salvation, yet the Old Testament can help us gain a wider understanding of the saving work of God.  We read in verse 1, ‘give me relief from my distress’, and this is a classic Hebrew cry for God to save His people from oppression and a call for God to save.  The people of Israel called out in a similar way when they were enslaved in Egypt (Exodus 2:23,24).  Here in this psalm, David’s salvation is from the tyranny of people’s attitudes and words, and these can be just as oppressive as slavery!  Most importantly, the psalm tells us that God’s salvation and liberation bring peace, and although this is not the eternal peace of salvation in Christ, it is the peace of one who brings everything to God in prayer.

Psalm 4 describes living in a true relationship with God.  It encourages God’s people to stand against the sins of bitterness and complaint, and put their trust in God for everything, from their own feelings to all the difficult circumstances of life, and the sins of others.  This sounds simple but it can be hard to do and we need to be encouraged, for this is how we find our peace.

Psalm 4 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Recall occasions when you have had to wait until the Lord has helped you.  Why do you think you have had to wait?
2. What difficult in your life cause you to sin, and how may they be overcome?
3. How does the Lord enable you to find peace in the midst of trouble?

Personal comments by author

It can be profoundly difficult to stop complaining about a problem and start believing that the Lord has a solution!  We do need to take a step of faith if we are to be set free from our problems however, as this psalm clearly shows.  In the light of Jesus’ life and death, we may have confidence that God will deal with us and help us take such steps, so we need to put together our own desire to find solutions to life’s problems with God’s desire to help us.  If we can do this in worship, then we are on our way to resolving many of life’s problems!

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• This psalm challenges us to keep returning to the Lord when we feel that either we or others around us are complaining.  Complaint can quickly lead to a downward spiral of unhappiness.  Try to turn away consciously from complaining to trusting in the Lord.
• Pray for all who have difficulty accepting God because of the terrible things that happen in their lives.  Pray for any you know.

Final Prayer

Lord Jesus, You give perspective to my life.  Some things that seem so all embracing are really just another part of life when seen in the light of your love.  Other things that I quickly pass by are important signposts you have placed for me to notice.  Keep working on me, Lord Jesus, and fill me with Your Holy Spirit, so that I do not miss my way!

Bible study for Psalm 5

Psalm 5 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

Psalm 5 describes a worshipper praying to God about the evil that can be found within the world.  Evil separates people from God, but those who turn to Him in worship find a blessing

Psalm 5 describes how evil is dealt with by God, and although it begins by presenting God with human need (5:1f.) it ends with a worshipful call for God to bless His people (5:11).  It is best read by imagining someone at worship who is speaking to God, and talking with Him about evil and its consequences. 

At the beginning, the worshipper comes into God’s presence (5:1-3) and approaches the Lord in a worshipful manner.  God is addressed by His holy name ‘the Lord’, (Hebrew JHWH – 5:1), and then as ‘my King’, and ‘my God’ (5:2).  The worshipper then expresses caution, watching for the Lord to answer to the prayers that have been said (5:3).  All this shows us that it is wrong to barge in to the Lord’s presence, and all who wish to worship Him would be wise to honour Him respectfully.

After this, the worshipper reads a statement saying evil and wickedness have no place before God (5:4-6).  Together, these verses describe evil very generally, and there are many others like it in the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments.  There is no special meaning in the words mentioned here, such as ‘bloodthirsty’ or ‘deceitful’, because they simply illustrate all that is contrary to God’s moral laws.  There are many such lists throughout the Bible, for example in the Old Testament Law, or in Paul’s lists of the ‘sins of the flesh’, and someone who is god-fearing must to be wary these things and know God’s Word well enough to understand what is truly evil and what is not.

After being reminded of these things, the worshipper then continues to worship (5:7), and asks the Lord for help to avoid evil (5:8).  In Old Testament times, such worship was located in the Temple, where God was supposed to live.  So when the psalm says ‘I will bow down towards your holy Temple’ (5:7), the worshipper is not honouring a building, but respecting the place where God dwells.  For Christians today, God’s location is not important, for in Jesus Christ He is everywhere.  It is nevertheless important for us to demonstrate physically that we are worshipping God, whether by bowing down or in some other demonstrable way. 

The second statement about evil is found next (5:9,10), and this confirms its true nature (5:9,10).  It serves as a warning, and strengthens the resolve of the worshipper to stay away from evil.  It emphasises the consequences of evil, which are all destructive and lead to conviction (5:9,10).  Now, some dislike the psalm because it says that God rejects evildoers (5:10), and they dislike the idea of God rejecting anyone.  However, the truth is that evil and sinfulness are unacceptable to God, and although He saves people from sin who turn to Him, those who wish to go their own way always set themselves up for God’s rejection.

The psalm ends with two verses of praise to God for His protection of those who turn to Him; ‘You bless the righteous, O Lord, You cover them with favour ...’ (5:11).  But here, we notice something interesting.  At the beginning, the psalm was spoken in the first person (see; ‘I pray’, ‘I plead’, ‘I bow down’ 5:2,3,7), but towards the end, the psalm changes as the worshipper addresses God; ‘make them bear their guilt, O God ... let all who take refuge in You rejoice ...’ (5:10,11).  What has happened is this; the worshipper began by focussing on personal needs, but has ended up focussing on God Himself!

This psalm appears to reflect the feelings of someone who has suffered.  Here, the problem has been submitted to the Lord God so that the worshipper may not be taken captive by evil’s power, but receive the Lord’s protective covering.  But at the end there is more, for the worshipper concludes by calling on God not only for personal protection, but protection for the whole community (5:11).  One person has taken action for the sake of all, as would be expected of a priest, for example, and some think that this psalm was said on the ‘day of atonement’ when all Israel confessed and were cleansed from their sins.  For us, today, of course, this priest is Christ.  He identifies with sin for us, and He brings it into the presence of the Father and deals with it for our benefit, bringing our salvation and also fulfilling Psalm 5!

Psalm 5 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. What does this psalm teach us about how to deal with evil in our lives and also the life of the church community?
2. Which verses of this psalm speak most directly and effectively to a new Christian about how to deal with evil?
3. How we use our voices is important.  How does the Lord God help us with controlling our voices so that we do not pass on evil?

Personal comments by author

We can easily forget that the right way to deal with problems is to bring them to God in prayer and in worship.  Unfortunately many services of worship we go to today seem more like social occasions, not events where we meet with God to do business.  In my view it is impossible to deal with evil in the community when people come to church on Sundays with a personal agenda to enjoy their worship and with a social agenda to meet others and converse.  So if the Gospel is to be proclaimed and Satan is to be defeated, then we need to be ready for a complete change in our attitude to worship.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Pray for the community of God’s people in your village, town or city, and pray that evil will be rooted out in your midst and destroyed by the grace of God.  In this world, the enemy may well seek to return to do more damage, so we must not cease our determination to fight against it and be victorious in Christ’s name.
• In prayer, ask the Lord to help you make godly discernments about the nature of evil around you in your national and community life.  Let the Lord be your guide.

Final Prayer

This day, Lord God, is Your precious gift to each of us.  Keep us from falling and fulfil Your purposes in us throughout our lives.  Bring us to the end of each day rejoicing, and as Your disciples, may we be glad to be Your servant and praise You through all we do and say.  AMEN

Bible study for Psalm 6

Psalm 6 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

This is the fourth psalm of David (Psalms 3-6) in which a worshipper comes before the Lord with troubles.  This Psalm is different from the others however, because it deals with the suffering of an individual.  Here, the worshipper pours out feelings of distress, physical pain and mental anguish (6:1-7) before finally finding deliverance (6:8-10).  These themes make the psalm particularly suitable for use in the church’s healing ministry.  In addition, Christian tradition links the psalm with Jesus’ weeping in the garden of Gethsemane (6:6,7), and because it speaks of deliverance (6:8-10) coming after death (6:5), it seems to tell the story of salvation, as won for us by Jesus!

Before we go further, there are two things of interest within the psalm.  Firstly, most of it can be found elsewhere in Scripture, either in the Psalms or in Jeremiah (Psalm 38:1, 42:4, 109:26, Jeremiah 45:3, Psalm 31:10, 119:115, 35:4,26 and 83:13).  This suggests that Psalm 6 may have been important in Old Testament times.  Also, the superscription (before verse 1) gives interesting musical instructions, but also contains a rare word, ‘sheminith’, which means ‘eighth’.  This could be a request to sing in ‘eighth’s’, or as a musician would understand it, in ‘octaves’, meaning in unison.  If sung in this way the psalm would have a considerable sense of ‘gravitas’, in line with its theme!

Historically, psalm 6 is the first of the seven ‘Penitential Psalms’ (6,32,38,51,102,130,143), used in Christian worship for confessing sin and asking the Lord for help.  Most of the psalm is an anguished cry for help, and it seems obvious that it would be used by someone who was in trouble.  The striking feature of the psalm is the way that the worshipper ultimately calls out to the Lord confident that He has done what was asked of Him, and given victory!  The worshipper has cried out for help, and is almost startled by God’s answers to prayer (6:8-10)!

Most of this psalm describes suffering of one kind or another, so in verse 3 the worshipper calls out, ‘my soul is in anguish’ (6:3).  We assume that this means mental suffering, but we need to be careful, because in the Old Testament, the word ‘soul’ refers to the whole person, it does not mean the ‘spirit’ bit, as we think today!  So, the suffering in psalm 6:3 might be either physical, mental, or spiritual.  But whatever it is, it causes the worshipper to break down and cry out to God ‘how long, O Lord, how long’ (6:3)!  The psalm is an appeal for God’s mercy rather than His discipline, and in verse 4 the worshipper calls on God’s ‘unfailing love’, that great covenant love of God He is always ready to show His own people.

Then, a pertinent question is asked, does this love of God extend beyond the grave (6:5)?  The worshipper in Old Testament times does not know the answer to this, and continues to pour out troubles to God; fear of death (6:5), loss of sleep with worry (6:6), and physical distress (6:7).  Moreover, these verses describe the consequences of such suffering; exhaustion, weeping and failure.  Will God hear the suffering of His own?

Then quite suddenly, verse 8 comes on us with surprise!  The worshipper cries ‘away from me, you evil doers!’  What does this mean?  This cry is a shout of confidence from the heart of the worshipper who has come to the Lord in deep suffering but has been inspired to be utterly confident in the Lord.  Then, having accepted the Lord’s mercy, the worshipper looks to the future in confidence; ‘all my enemies will be ashamed and dismayed, they will turn away in disgrace!’ (6:10).

All this is inspiring, but how does it connect with us today?  To begin with, we could imagine a worshipper coming before the Lord in the Temple, presenting these troubles to the Lord, perhaps reading from the psalm and therefore being encouraged by the uplifting tone of the last three verses.  The psalm might also have been used as a prayer, said by a King of Israel or Judah in the midst of troubled times and gaining confidence from the assurance of the psalm that God would save His people.

Whatever use the psalm had in the past, we now read this as Christians, and the psalm seems to reflect the saving work of God in Christ.  Each worshipper brings to the Lord the troubles of life, knowing that in Christ, they may be confident of victory over all troubles.  The victory of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection encompasses all things, and all life and death are in the Lord’s hands.  Ultimately this is what matters, whatever our health issues, whether or not the Lord grants us special healing for particular woes.  In this psalm, we claim all that our Lord has already done for us and for our ultimate deliverance!

Psalm 6 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Recall times when you believe that God has saved you.  What has changed in your life as a consequence?
2. Look at the expression ‘save me because of Your unfailing love’ (6:4).  Reflect on God’s ‘unfailing love’.  Is that how you experience God now?
3. What enemies do you feel it right to ask God to ‘strike down’ or ‘put to shame’ (6:10)?

Personal comments by author

I have found that the resolution of suffering can come through prayer for healing, or it can come through handing over my condition to God and being content that He is in control of my life.  It is so sad that many people leave the church because they can find no way of coping with suffering or sadness, when in reality, the Lord alone is able to offer the only way out of such inner turmoil and distress. It is therefore all the more important that I and everyone else with a testimony of God’s grace, should speak out about what God has done for us.  The message of God’s love is needed out there!

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Within this psalm, a great deal of suffering is resolved eventually by faith.  What does trouble and strife do to your life of Christian discipleship?  Ask yourself some hard questions about whether anything stops you from following the path of discipleship.  How can you deal with it?
• Pray for those who struggle with suffering, and especially any people you know personally who have difficulty with suffering and their faith.

Final Prayer

Lord God, we are restless in our spirits until we find our rest in You.  Give us a purposeful and single-mindedness approach to life, so that nothing stops us from pursuing all that is good, true and beautiful in this world, and nothing stops us from finding You within Your world.  AMEN

Bible study for Psalm 7

Psalm 7 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

Psalm 7 is a famous psalm of David, and it describes God’s work of deliverance from enemies.  Throughout his life, David had many enemies, and he had to struggle physically and spiritually against them in order to fulfil his calling to rule over all Israel and unite God’s people in the Promised Land.

The first eight verses of psalm 7 are a quest for vindication, for David is being pursued and is in fear of his life.  At first, he prays for deliverance from all his enemies (7:1), but after verse 2, he refers to one enemy only, and according to the psalm’s superscription, this is Cush, the Benjaminite.  It would be good if we could connect this psalm with an event in David’s life, but unfortunately, there is no mention of anyone named Cush in the stories of David, but that does not have to stop us guessing at who he might be.  As a Benjaminite, Cush was almost certainly a supporter of King Saul, either one of the soldiers who pursued David during Saul’s reign (1 Samuel 16f.), or one of Saul’s family who sought vengeance against the old King David when he had been thrown out of Jerusalem by his own son Absalom (2 Samuel 15f.).

Whatever the scenario, David fight with Cush was fierce, because lives were at stake.  David describes it as like being hunted by a lion (7:2) a picture that has demonic undertones in the Bible (see 1 Peter 5:8).  With typical honesty, David agrees that he deserves to be set upon by his enemies if he has done anything wrong, but believes that God will judge him right (7:8).  For a Christian, it may sound strange for David to claim before God that he is ‘in the right’, but we must be careful because David was not claiming ‘righteousness’ in the sense of claiming his salvation and eternal life.  He was coming to the Lord for help in the struggles of life, and quite properly, he made his request believing that he was right to do so.  In the same way, we should not be afraid to come to the Lord when we need His help.  The Lord saves those who are ‘upright in heart’ (7:10), and the enemy cannot hound those who are in His hands (7:9,10).

In order to present this theme, David paints a picture like that of a courtroom (7:8), a technique often used in Scripture to present the idea of justice (see also Job 1 and 2).  Here, the public is gathered, the Lord takes his raised seat as the Judge, and we can imagine David calling upon the court for justice (7:8).  The psalm then speaks of God’s authority as judge, and describes Him as One who is righteous and whose judgements are to be feared (7:11f.).  David then describes the fate of those who oppose God (7:14-16), and there is a certain amount of ridicule in his words, ‘he who digs a hole falls into the pit he has made’ (7:15).  Those who are evil are ultimately foolish, because evil and wrongdoing can never produce anything other than further trouble and distress; as David says, ‘he who is pregnant with evil and conceives trouble gives birth to disillusionment’ (7:13).  Such wisdom should be more widely known!

These verses have been passed on to us as proverbs of the futility of violence, and they reflect what happens throughout the world.  Those who will not repent receive the same violence they have meted out to others, with the same vigour, force and weaponry that they themselves have used (7:12,13).  We may be concerned about the sheer violence of what we read in this psalm, but we should not close our ears or cut out such sections of the psalms.  Today, many are cushioned from violence and strife, but we should still be able to empathise with those who are not, and who need to find out what God is doing in the midst of the trouble and war they experience. 

The hope of all who place their trust in God is that he is strong enough to deliver and save His people (7:17), and He is.  Of course, this hope is not a vague expectation because we, like David, have every reason to be confident that God will fulfil the promises in His Word.  So David concludes his psalm with praise for God’s ‘righteousness’ (7:17), and in the same way, Christians today should praise God for His deliverance from evil through the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the Lord and Saviour of all.

Psalm 7 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Today, who pursues God’s people, the Church, with false accusations?  How should Christians deal with this?
2. Is the picture of God as a judge helpful, and what does it mean to you? 
3. Psalm 7 talks about the ‘enemy’.  Discuss what this means in the psalm and what it might mean for people today.

Personal comments by author

The origins of this psalm lie in conflict between two individuals, one of whom calls on God for vindication.  I have experienced personality clashes or conflicts at various times in my life and work, and they have always affected me deeply.  It is always the stiffest of challenges to respond to such problems in a godly way, and the temptation is to fight against those who have cause upset.  Yet each of us must find a way to deal with our enemies and fight them in God’s name.  He reveals our enemies and gives us the strength and the ability we need to deal with them.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Have you experienced clashes of personality or other conflicts at work or at church?  Consider how you deal with such things and whether you are able to be victorious over your own feelings.  Prayerfully hand over such things to the Lord.
• Pray for any people you know who are embroiled in conflict, and ask the Lord to act with justice to help people find resolution.

Final Prayer

Bring us, Lord Jesus, to that happy place where we can look back and be content that we have learned from the past, and to where we can look forward and anticipate with joy the future you have in store for us.  May we be content that our lives reflect the faith that has been handed down to us, and bring us to that place of peace, we pray.  AMEN

Bible study for Psalm 8

Psalm 8 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

Psalm 8 is a unique psalm of praise and there is no other psalm quite like it.  The words of the psalm are full of praise to God as the Creator of all things and the creator of humanity, and before the time of Christ, such praise was the true characteristic of God’s people.  God had revealed Himself to Israel and it was her privilege and duty to praise and worship Him.

Now, we sometimes use the two words ‘praise ‘ and ‘worship’ interchangeably today, and this is because most people reckon that worship has not taken place unless they have been led to praise God.  Nevertheless, here in the Bible, these two words mean different things, and if we do not know the difference then we could easily misinterpret this psalm.

Praise is the outpouring of the heart in thanksgiving to God; it is an emotional response to God’s glory and majesty, typically expressed in shouts (Ezra 3:11, Ps 25:20, Zech 2:10) or in song (2 Sam 22:50, Ps 9:2, James 5:13).  Praise is also one part, perhaps the best part, of what we mean by worship, which is the duty and service of God’s people.  Worship is expressed through praise or course, but also through everything from reading God’s Word and praying for others, to living a life of service for others.

Psalm 8, therefore, is a psalm of praise and it is frequently used in worship, and it is also highly emotional and is best sung with a majestic tune or spoken in shouts of praise!  However, if we try to unpick the song as if its words and phrases should all boil down to clear and specific points about God as Creator, then we will lose the plot.  A psalm of praise such as this works because it speaks of things that are bigger and greater than people understand, for such is God’s power as Creator.

Of course, the psalm is based upon an ancient understanding of the universe very different from ours today, but this does not matter; the song transcends this limitation.  For example, an ancient Israelite would sing this song believing that the earth was a flat disc with the sky as a dome mounted over it on pillars.  He also knew what he meant by talking about God’s glory being set ‘above the heavens’ (8:1), or placing people lower than the angels in heaven, on earth (8:5).  But these great words are poetry, and they mean far more than just this.  When we read them, we think of God’s glory as set far beyond all known boundaries of the Universe (8:1), and we marvel at God’s gracious gift in making people with identity as well as feelings, quite different from either animals and with the likeness of God (8:5, Gen 1:26,27)

Verse 2 is the most difficult part of the psalm, and you will find that each Bible version is different.  The confusion arises because the original Hebrew of verse 2 is unclear, and no one knows what was meant when it was written.  In general, even though the words sound a little odd, it is something to do with the sheer power of true praise on the lips of even the youngest of children, for it is powerful enough to defeat evil!  Clearly this is not some disinterested fact that needs to be tested out, it is poetry, and it expresses the sheer glory of God.  How wonderful that the devil may be defeated by praise, and that even children (children in age or children in faith) can be victors over evil!

In psalm 8, praise is offered to God for His majestic glory in Creation, but also for the relationship He has with humanity.  Because of this, the psalm has been studied for clues about human nature and the nature of God, and books have been written about the verse that describes people as made ‘a little lower than the angels’ (8:5).  The last few verses of the psalm also reveal more about the nature of humanity, confirming the dominion over all the earth granted to humanity by God at Creation (1:26f.).

However, the very last verse echoes the first, and brings us back to praise.  Psalm 8 is not a theological or a religious statement, it is a song written from the heart, by someone who was overwhelmed by the majesty of Creation and of God’s care in making humanity.  A detailed study of the psalm will yield much of interest, but no one will gain more from this psalm than the person who sings it from the heart, in praise of the God is Lord of All and who loves and cares all He has created.

Psalm 8 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. What do you think is meant by the word ‘glory’, where it is used in this psalm?
2. When you look at the heavens, the moon and the stars, do you think of God?  What do you think of, and why?
3. What does it mean for God to place things on earth under human authority?

Personal comments by author

Praise is liberating, and I have found that expressing my feelings to the Lord on a regular basis throughout the day has helped change many things for the better in my life.  Praise is also something that it is easy to avoid and can slip away from you in life almost without thinking.  If you do not do it, then nothing ’happens’.  I have discovered that some people find praise easier if they read a psalm out loud, for example, a psalm such as Psalm 8 (and there are many others that can be used). 

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• How can you develop praise as a natural part of your life?  As ‘praising God’ means addressing God with all our hopes, desires and feelings, seek to find new ways of including Him in everything that happens, through a brief prayer, for example, talking to Him as someone present with us.
• Pray for the life of your church and the praise of God that it offers.  Pray that God will enable all His people to praise Him through what is done.

Final Prayer

Help us, Lord Jesus, to look back and be happy that we have learned from the past, look forward and anticipate the future you have in store for us with joy, and be content that we do indeed reflect the Faith that has been handed down to us.  Bring us to that place of peace, Lord Jesus;  AMEN

Bible study for Psalm 9:1-8

Psalm 9:1-8 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

Psalm 9 has some real gems on the theme of praise.  Today we look at the first eight verses which set the scene for the praise of God’s power and justice.  Before we start, take a look at the ‘superscription’, which is the sentence before the start of the first verse.  The Hebrew for this is almost untranslatable, particularly the word for ‘the death of a Son’, but even though the psalm is not about this at all, the word are there in scripture; some things are mysteries!

There is one other thing about psalm 9, which is to do with its structure, and its relationship to psalm 10.  Each stanza of psalm 9 (roughly each two verses) begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, but only the first half of the alphabet, and psalm 10 (more or less) contains the second half!  It appears that the two must have some combined at some point in the past.  There are some versions of the Bible they are presented as being one psalm.  As far as our studies are concerned, we will see that there are some distinct connections between the two psalms.

Verses 1 and 2 of psalm 9 are a wonderful expression of praise.  The Lord is praised for who he is ‘I praise you, O Lord’, ‘I … rejoice in you’, and he is praised because of what he has done ‘I will tell of your wonders’.  These two aspects of praising God go hand in hand, and one does not happen without the other.  A similar example of this can be found in psalm 18 ‘I love you O Lord, my strength … my deliverer’ (Ps18:1); here, the praise is for who God is (His strength) and then what he has done (to deliver).  Within the psalms generally, praise is given to God as Creator, Judge, Redeemer, Saviour, or Deliverer, and you can find many of these represented in our psalm. 

It is typical of our times that the existence of God is discussed as something different from his actions.  People still ask, does God exist or not?  Abstract arguments about the existence of God have been around for centuries.  However, if you believe God is the creator of all things then there is no ‘argument’.  This is a statement of faith, of course, but faith is built on more than the strength of an argument.  I, like many, have come across senior churchmen such as the retired Bishop of Edinburgh, Richard Holloway, who preaches openly that God does not exist; yet I have never heard a person such as this explain how their faith can be considered as ‘Christian’.  Without a Christian understanding of Creation and the Fall, there is no message of the hope of Salvation, as we celebrate in the Gospel!  Such thinking is not Christianity in any real sense; it is secular humanism.  I would rather praise our Creator with those who have sung this ancient psalm for centuries, than praise the Bishop’s ‘new world order’ with no Creator.

Verses 3 to 8 show how one such as David went about praising God.  Having won a battle, he offered God the glory and praise he could have taken to himself to bolster his own position as King in the eyes of his people.  David was a godly leader, and he always point to the source of his authority rather than claim it for himself.  Being a witness to God was a sacred duty for a leader (Ps 89:1ff and Is 55:3,4), as was giving thanks to the Lord when battles were won or justice established.  Look at the word ‘my’ in verses 3 and 4; in speaking as he does, David is conscious of himself, but as he speaks to God about his concerns (9:5,6) however, this little word disappears, and he praises God for his defeat of enemies.  Then, in verses 7 and 8, He gives the Lord full honour for his right judgement, which is the basis for peace and prosperity.

Again, we are not told who the enemy is.  If we were, how limited this psalm would be!  If verse 4 had the words ‘against the Amorites’, for example, then we would find it impossible to use the psalm.  As it is, we can use the psalm and apply it to our own situation.  Each of us face enemies.  They come in different forms; people, events, tasks we dread, family we have fallen out with, and sometimes an enemy within.  The Bible uses many words to talk about evil and the enemies we face.  In whatever way the enemy is manifest (that is, ‘made known’), our battle is the Lord’s, and our testimony is that He will win the day for us! 

Psalm 9 teaches us about the true meaning of praise of God, and can be used to remind ‘the enemy’ that God has the victory.  These words give glory where it is due, which is to the Lord as our Creator and Saviour.

Psalm 9:1-8 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Is it possible to praise God ‘for who He is’ separately from ‘what He has done’?  What is the difference between the two?
2. Do you find your prayers always seem to speak about ‘me’, or ‘I’?  What can you do about it?
3. Think of church leaders you have known.  Who, in your opinion, have done a good job of ‘giving glory to God’ rather than claiming it themselves?

Personal comments by author

In order for me to praise God within my daily life and work, I need reminders.  I find I can do this with a grace before meals, a cross placed beside my computer, a plaque on the wall with a psalm near a light switch, and saying prayers before and after sleep.  All these things are important to me in everyday life, and each of us can be blessed by using simple things to remind us of God and all He has done for us.  Each of us can design our homes and our lifestyle to help us express faith, and find great blessing in so doing.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Do you find it possible to offer praise to God whilst you are doing something?  It is perhaps true that if we are walking in the Lord’s ways, then it may not be necessary to consciously ‘praise’ God in the midst of what we are doing.  The very act of doing becomes the praise we offer to God.
• Pray for the ‘praise’ in the life of your own church community.  Pray that everyone will be inspired to help each other become focussed on God who is worthy of our praise.

Final Prayer

Almighty God, we praise and bless you for the peace we can have with You through the work of Jesus Christ, and for the work of the Holy Spirit which energises us to continue the same work of reconciliation throughout the world.  Glory be to You, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  AMEN

Bible study for Psalm 9:9-14

Psalm 9:9-14 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

Psalm 9 is full of praise to God, and here in the middle, we discover the reason for the praise.  David has just escaped death, and he gives God the glory for having rescued him (no specific event in David’s life is described, but it is helpful to have this in mind in order to create a mental picture).  Death was particularly abhorrent to an Israelite, because Sheol, the place of the dead, was believed to be a place set apart from God and to be saved from it was a matter for great rejoicing.

Within this passage, however, is one verse (9:12) that does not seem to fit the general theme.  It speaks about the avenging of blood, and this does not quite fit with other descriptions of God, such as ‘refuge for the oppressed’ (v9).  However, the words ‘blood’ and ‘avenger’, have other meanings in Hebrew that can help us to understand the passage.  Firstly, the Israelites equated ‘blood’ with ‘life’, as did many ancient peoples, and as we do when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper (or ‘Holy Communion’).  Secondly, the word ‘avenger’ is from a similar Hebrew found in verse 10 translated ‘seek’.  It means something like ‘active pursuit’, and it adds urgency to the meaning of ‘seek’ in verse 10, and in verse 12 it means ‘one who actively pursues justice’; you can see that this fits well with the words that come next, ‘He does not ignore the cry of the afflicted’.  In other words, God is just and is actively interested in what happens to us when we are in trouble.  This is a good reason for praise and thanksgiving to God! 

Closely associated with the praise of God in psalm 9 is Zion, mentioned in verses 11 and 14.  Zion originally referred to the south east corner of Jerusalem, known as the ‘City of David’ (2 Sam 5:7), the Jebusite city captured by David.  It had a reputation as a stronghold long before this, and as time went by, ‘Zion’ was gradually used for all Jerusalem, including the Temple, and after the destruction of Jerusalem in 587BC, ‘the word referred to the ideal spiritual home of God’s people.  Many of these ideas are found in our psalm; for example, verse 9 speaks about God as a stronghold for people in ‘time of trouble’, and in verse 11, God is described as ‘enthroned’ in Zion, as a place to which he gathers His people.  Then, in verse 14, David praises God ‘in the gates of the Daughter of Zion’ having been saved from death (9:13), and these words help us feel we are talking about a living city rather than bricks and mortar.  Zion is a word with a substantial Biblical heritage, and whenever we hear about Zion, the praises of God are not far behind!

There are other fascinating parts to the psalm.  In verse 9, we read that God is a ‘stronghold in times of trouble’.  This expression sounds very familiar, and it sums up much of what the Psalms say when they bring various personal troubles to God.  The exact expression, however, occurs only here and in Psalm 10 verse 1 (related but not identical words are found in Psalm 41:1 and 59:16).  This phrase is a powerful statement of faith, and one that relate strongly to Israelite and Christian experience.  But because it occurs only in Psalms 9 and 10, it is often mentioned as a good reason why these two Psalms belong together!

Secondly, in verse 14, David praises God in the ‘gates’ of Daughter Zion.  You might gloss over this quite quickly unless you know from elsewhere that the ‘gates’ of a city were very important as the place where the elders of the community met to do business.  However, more than business happened when the elders of a city gathered; they were also there to dispense justice.  When Amos was appalled at the lack of justice for the poor and needy (Amos 5:10, 12) he asked for ‘justice in the gate’ (Amos 5:15); so when Psalm 9 talks of praising God ‘in the gates…’ it means that God is present and honoured in the justice of a community.  This is just a small point in the psalm, but it reminds us that the words of scripture tell a consistent story.  Our passage starts with God described as a refuge for the oppressed, and ends with praising God ‘in the gate of Daughter Zion’, where justice may be found for all.  Justice is the characteristic of a God you can trust, who also saves and has consistently provided for his people.

It is worth looking at one feature of this passage.  Verse 11 asks God’s people to proclaim what he has done ‘among the nations’.  This is a clear call to testimony, and remarkably, the ancient Israelites are asked to tell all peoples about the amazing acts of God; it is a call to mission!  The people of Israel were God’s people, chosen by him for his praise and glory.  In much of the Old Testament, the idea that God might be interested in anything other than his own nation can seem remote; but this notion is wrong.  God chose his people to be a ‘light to the nations’ (Isaiah 42:6, 49:6), which meant that they had a duty to declare the Lord to all other peoples in order to fulfil their place in God’s plan of salvation for the whole world.  If David called the people of Israel to this task in psalm 9, how much more are we called to speak about the greatness of our God to other people today?

Psalm 9:9-14 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Write a list of reasons why some people might find this psalm a little difficult.  Discuss how this psalm can be used or presented so that its message is clear today
2. What does the word ‘Zion’ mean to people today?  Is it wise to use this term given that it has a political meaning today?
3. How can Christians make their message of the Gospel known to the whole world today?  Is it a realistic aim in today’s religiously sensitive world?

Personal comments by author

I have always found it liberating to think that we should praise God wherever He may be found.  The very idea encourages us to think of looking for God in all aspects of life and in all circumstances, so that we may enjoy praising Him.  It is too easy to go through life and compartmentalise everything, and in this way, we fail to perceive that God is involved in different aspects of life.  When we realise we have been wrong to do this, then it can be profoundly liberating to discover that God is deeply involved in far more of life than we ever imagined!

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• How does this Psalm encourage you to find new ways of praising God?  In talking about Zion, does it help you think about where God ‘dwells’, such as in places of worship?  Write your own poem of praise to God, covering all the places where you have come across Him today.
• Pray for the many people in this world who do not find it possible to equate God with substantial parts of their lives.  Pray that the Holy Spirit will break down the barriers that prevent people from perceiving God, despite the testimony of so many people over the centuries.

Final Prayer

Lord, grant me peace this night, I pray.  Strengthen my heart so that I may trust in your everlasting promises, and confidently rest in the knowledge that You can defeat all the powers of the Evil One.  Glory be to God the Father who is faithful; glory be to God the Son who is compassionate; glory be to God the Spirit who is ever mindful of my soul.  AMEN

Bible study for Psalm 9:15-20

Psalm 9:15-20 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

We left psalm 9 at a high point of praise in verse 14.  Having been saved from death, God’s people praised Him for their deliverance (9:10,13) and were told to tell everyone about the greatness of God (9:11,14).  Now, however, the psalm comes to an end with a more strident declaration of God’s justice works, which gives hope to God’s people but condemns the wicked (9:17-20).

These verses are straightforward, even if they sound rather brutal.  It is easy to be side-tracked by the manner in which the psalm talks of death and war, but we must remember that this was real life for many people then, as it is today.  We will not find the meaning of the psalm by focussing on this, rather, we should look through individual words to the real message of the psalm.  Then, we will discover that God’s justice works through the seeds of self-destruction within evil - ‘the wicked are ensnared by the work of their own hands’ (9:16).  Also, God remembers the poor and needy (9:18), and the psalm ends with a call for the Lord to complete his victory over the nations to give hope to His people.

In Psalm 7:15, we read; ‘they make a pit … and fall into the hole they have made’ and this passage makes a similar point (9:15).  This is important, for if God has made the world so that that wickedness and evil have within them the seeds of their own destruction, then this gives enormous hope to all who do God’s work fighting injustice today, whether in local or international affairs.  Working for justice can seem like a thankless task when faced with evils such as the dictatorships or military autocracies of the world.  However, these regimes contain the seeds of their own destruction and those who work for God’s justice can, by His grace, identify such seeds and help them grow. 

Given all this, psalm 9 affirms that fighting for justice is God’s work, and evil will always, in the end, be defeated.  We may not see this here and now, but without such a hope, we could quickly become discouraged, but this is not an option for a Christian.  We should work with God by challenging nations that do not acting according to justice and God’s laws.  Verse 17 says quite specifically that nations that forget God have no future, they will ‘return to the grave’.  Does this mean that Israel would one day forget her God and reap the consequences?  Or could this refer to nations such as those today that were once based on Christian law and ethos but have now rejected this in favour of secularism?  Anything is possible, and Psalm 9 stands as a warning to all who forget God by becoming ensnared by evil.

Within this passage a hope is expressed for the needy and the afflicted (9:18).  Justice is needed so that such people may have salvation and deliverance from evil.  As this psalm says, this was a task laid upon the Israelites, though it was not fulfilled through them.  Time and time again they fell short of their calling as the Old Testament records.  The Jewish hope was for a new Zion, from where God would rule amongst his people.  But now Christ has come, there is no more focus on place, land or time.  Though we work for justice and against all evil within our world, we know it will only be finally accomplished in God’s New Creation, a new Jerusalem in which His Kingly reign will be complete, and the injustices of the world will be finally exposed and overcome (Revelation 21:2). 

Some people find it hard to talk about God’s justice coming only at the end, when there is so much injustice in the world that needs to be tackled today.  They suggest that by focussing too much upon the future to the detriment of our everyday responsibilities, we let injustice off the hook.  However, what we believe about the future deeply affects how we each behave in the present, and in my opinion those who are most sure of their future in Christ are those who are most confident in their work for justice in the world now, and this fulfils what is said in psalm 9.

When Jesus began His teaching (Matthew 5:1ff) he said ‘Blessed are the poor in heart, for they shall see God’, and He went on to make it clear that the needy, oppressed and afflicted will inherit the Kingdom of God.  His concern for justice in the affairs of this world and the raising up of the afflicted is not just a feature of Psalm 9, but it was the starting point of the Gospel as preached by Jesus.

Psalm 9:15-20 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. How do you respond when you read about God’s justice like this here in psalm 9?  Can this be a God of Love at work?
2. Is it always possible to see the seeds of destruction that lie within evil?  How can we find out about evil and tackle it in the world?
3. Do you know what it is like to be in desperate need for help?  How did God answer that need?

Personal comments by author

It is not easy to speak about God’s judgement of evil, partly because we can sometimes find it hard to make judgements about what is evil and what is not.  It is always easier to back out of making judgements in a world that says ‘each to their own’.  But society may just be beginning to realise again that unless good people fight evil, many people suffer.  Christians, however, are called to challenge all evil in and through Jesus Christ, and we need to be close to our Lord in order to make right judgements.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• How easy do you find it to say this or that is evil and needs to be defeated or destroyed? Do you feel confident to make judgements about the nature of evil and its presence in our communities?  To what extent do you believe that a disciple of Christ should identify what is wrong in society or in other people?
• Pray for those who are engaged in attempting to put right some of the evils in our world, whether they be of inequality or of famine or maltreatment of people.

Final Prayer

You are our healer, Lord Jesus.  You made each one of us and You know everything about why we are the people that we are.  We commit ourselves into Your hands and we ask You to heal our damaged bodies and heal our wounded souls, so that we might have peace with ourselves, with others and with You.  Thank You Lord Jesus, AMEN

Bible study for Psalm 10:1-11

Psalm 10:1-11 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

The first verse of Psalm 10 describes the frustration of feeling that the Lord is distant, if not absent.  The well-known poem ‘footprints’ describes something similar: a believer imagines walking with the Lord along the seashore, but only sees one set of footprints; finally it is revealed that the footprints belong to the Lord who carries the believer during a time of trial.  Psalm 10 does not deal with the issue of God’s apparent absence in the same way, however!  After verse 1, the psalm describes the rebellious schemes of the wicked who believe that God is indeed absent, and it begins with a powerful reminder that the behaviour of the wicked is ignorant (10:2), however successful it may appear to be.  If we feel sorely tested by the apparent absence of our Lord, then later verses in this psalm encourage us not to believe that God is absent, but to hold firm to our faith; but these verses focus resolutely on wickedness and rebellion against God.

Verses 2 to 6 are about wickedness.  It is an interesting poetic reflection which goes backwards, showing step by step what lies behind wicked actions, and it starts by describing the persecution of the poor (verse 2).  The psalm then looks to see what attitudes lie behind such perversity (boastfulness, greed - verse 3) and what gives rise to this evil; people say God is not just absent, He doesn’t exist (10:4).  Then, in verse 6, the root of the problems is made clear.  The wicked are content without God and believe they can live quite happily without Him.

I recently came across a young Indian lady who worked in a factory under illegal conditions.  When asked why she put up with it she said that the factory would close if the boss paid the legal rates; national insurance, holiday pay, etc.  On another occasion I asked her about her boss; to which she said, ‘he is very rich, he has big houses …’!  We do not have to look hard to find example of such godlessness today.  Christian faith has taught for thousands of years that interdependence and respect for the value of each human being lie at the heart of successful human endeavour, but this is meaningless to people who live in a materialistic society where you can get all you want by trampling on others.  Those who abandon God and discover that things go well start on the slippery slope to many evils.  Their world revolves around their own needs to the exclusion of others; this is the root of wickedness and evil.

In verses 7 to 11, the psalm gives us a glimpse of a world of wickedness that seems almost surreal.  Indeed, some commentators regard verses 7-11 as a metaphor, a pictorial description of wrongdoing, rather than a realistic assessment of ultimate wickedness and evil; for while the wicked continue to believe that God is not watching, the stage is set for the most heinous crimes of murder and savagery, preceded by threats and cursing (10:8-10).  The language of this section reads like a description of demonic activity.  Certainly, Satan ensnares the Lord’s people with the same guile and cunning described here (10:8,9), and Peter picks up this theme in his letter: ‘Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour’ (1 Peter 5:8).  We should remember, though, that it is people who do evil, however Satan has enticed them or used situations to ensnare people, and the further people move away from God the more extreme and violent their deeds. 

Few of us have been close to murder and threats of personal harm, though we have seen it in films and television.  Those of us who have experienced it know how utterly life changing such evil can be.  My wife, my family and I were caught up in the evil power games of ZANU-PF in Zimbabwe and saw the country’s tragedy played out on a local scale, resulting in the death and martyrdom of Jean & Luke Khumalo at Thekwane School, Plumtree, in December 1985.  The evil in that country continues, yet it is only a small sample of the true force of evil in our world.

A Christian who reads this psalm will know that Jesus bore the force of godless evil as he died on the Cross.  This psalm is not directly about Jesus, but it is a description of the evil that was focussed upon Him as he died.  Throughout His life, the religious people around Him denied God, rejected Him, and condemned Him to death.  However, we know that this is not the end of the story and that evil has been conquered by Christ.  Because of this, we need have no fear when our Lord seems far away.  He may be carrying us or He may be testing us, but there is no reason or need for us to abandon hope in Him, however tough the call.

Psalm 10:1-11 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. When are you tempted to say that God is ‘far away’ and does not care?  Is this like rebellion against God, or is this too harsh a judgement?
2. How many of the evil acts recorded in this passage are typical of what can be observe today, and how?
3. Jesus suffered because of the unbelief of those around him.  How is unbelief expressed today in the church and in society?

Personal comments by author

I find it an ever present challenge to keep the Lord in mind as I do my daily work, and also as I do those things each day that mark my own discipleship; my prayer, reading of God’s word etc.  However, I feel deeply aware that my discipleship should be expressed in far more ways than this, and I also know that whilst doing the daily routine of work and leisure, it is easy to forget that I have any obligations to the Lord.  Somehow, the things of God need to become part of my very existence, so that I am open to the guidance of the Spirit at any time.  This is what I need to keep me from going astray.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• How do you feel when you do something that is specifically ‘for the Lord’?  How often does this happen?  Life can roll on by without much happening for weeks, months, years, and we barely feel that we have stepped out of ‘normal’.  The Lord has better for us than this, but we need to seek it.
• Pray for young Christians who are striving to be disciples and learning the art of living a Christian life, and are subject to many influences.  Pray that God will work powerfully through the younger Christians you know, and enable them to discover ways of living that are truly godly.

Final Prayer

Help me Lord God, to make sense of what you are teaching me this day.  Show me how to be as ‘wise as a serpent and gentle as a dove’.  Give me the eyes of an eagle to see Satan prowling around like a roaring lion, and strengthen my heart so that love motivates my every deed.  I seek this for Your glory;  AMEN

Bible study for Psalm 10:12-18

Psalm 10:12-18 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

Psalm 10 began by asking the question ‘why does God appear to be absent’ (10:1), but told us that this belief was at the heart of wickedness, because those who believed that God could not see them oppressed the poor and needy (see verses 8-10).  Today we read the rest of the psalm, which talks about God’s concern for the underprivileged and what He does to protect them from the wicked.  The Lord acts with justice in dealing with the wicked and mercy towards the poor and needy.

Throughout Scripture, the Lord showed special concern for those who suffered because of the wickedness of others, especially at the hands of those who had forgotten God or ignored Him (as in 10:13).  The Old Testament records many times when God’s people forgot Him, yet when they cry out, he responded.  This happened when the people of Israel were in Egypt and the Lord saved them through Moses (Exodus 1&2), and also in the famous stories of the Judges (Judges 2:11-23) who came to the rescue of God’s people even though they kept falling away from Him.  The most famous example of this was when Judah was taken into captivity into Babylon (e.g. Isaiah 17:12; Jeremiah 3:18-4:2), and while they were in their deepest troubles, the prophets gave them God’s word of love and salvation (see Isaiah 53).  These powerful works of God are reflected in this psalm, for at the end, He is the one who hears the cry of the afflicted (10:17), acts justly against the wicked who have caused suffering (10:15), and moreover, will help victims (10:14,17).

This psalm is typical of all scriptures in painting a picture of God acting with both justice and mercy, sometimes at the same time.  In psalm 10, the arrogance of the wicked who think of Him as distant and uncaring is met by His righteous judgement of them; ‘Break the arm (which means ‘stop his power’) of the wicked and evil man; call him to account for his wickedness ...’ (10:15).  Yet this action is integrally linked to His compassion for the victims of the wicked; ‘You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry’ (10:17).  The psalm tells us that God is entirely consistent in His judgments, and He is also never failing in His mercy to all who turn to Him.

Psalm 10 has a couple of interesting things to say about how the Lord deals with the wicked.  The first of these is found in verse 12, which calls on God to ‘arise … lift up Your hand’ (10:12).  This phrase is like an ancient battle cry (as, for example, in Exodus 15:12), summoning the Lord to battle to confront the wicked who have sinned because they thought he would not do anything (see the first half of the psalm).  Verse 15 continues the same theme of judgement as the Lord turns the tables on those who oppressed the poor and needy.  Ultimately, we need the help of the Lord to defeat evil, however hard we try!

The second interesting section is found in verse 16.  The Lord is described as King, and as a result of His warlike actions, ‘the nations will perish from His land’.  It would be easy to gloss over this brief reference, but it hides the fact that while God told His people to make Canaan a land of exclusive worship to God, they failed in this task, as the book of Judges shows (see Judges 1 and 2).  As a consequence, the ‘other nations’ remained within Canaan for many centuries.  The leaders and kings of the people had failed to remove these peoples from Israel, but here, the Lord Himself promised to do this work and make the land ‘pure’.  In God’s Kingdom, there would be no place for other nation and the worship of other gods.  No other ‘Kingdoms’ would be allowed, because the Kingdom of God was exclusive.

The reassuring words of this psalm in verse 17 that God will ‘hear the meek’ and ‘strengthen their heart’ are powerful.  Now, in New Testament times when the Kingdom of God has comes through Christ, the lord hears those who call on Him for help and salvation; but more than that, he acts for their defence.  God has acted in Christ to fulfil this psalm by defeating evil and raising up those who need His help.  Now, we have the God-given task of identifying the equivalent of the oppressed, fatherless and widow in our own society, and we are called act on their behalf for both justice and mercy, by means of His power, authority and strength.

Psalm 10:12-18 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Are justice and mercy two different things, or are they completely dependent?  Is it too simplistic to say they are two sides of the same coin of righteousness?
2. Is it possible to define wickedness?  Do the laws of our land give us confidence that we know what is wrong in society?
3. When you call out to God, what is your experience?  Have you called out to him as the victim of injustice?  What has been God’s response?

Personal comments by author

The call to act with justice in today’s world will not go away.  Some in the church prefer to focus their efforts on evangelism and making disciples, and they believe that this is a sufficient response to what God calls His people to do in the world.  However, God knows that there will always be evil in the world and there will always be people who need help.  These are the people we can go to with the Gospel, because they know that they need salvation and will be willing to receive a message of hope and of help.  Ideally, the Gospel of God’s saving grace and the message of justice and salvation go hand in hand; the work of evangelism and of Christian action for justice are at best, one and the same.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• What can you do to help bring justice in the world?  The answer to this may be convoluted, but it is still worth asking.  God is always looking towards the interests of the poor and underprivileged, and that should be reflected in both your discipleship and mine.
• Pray for those who are poor in your own country.  There is no country without poor people, and every human being is a child of God.

Final Prayer

This day is Yours, Jesus my Saviour.  You gave it, you help me as I live through it, and at its end I will give it back to You.  May I always remember that what I think is mine is really Yours, and when I mistakenly think that I control my day, remind me of my frailty and turn me back to You.  I owe You everything, Jesus my Saviour: AMEN

Bible study for Psalm 11

Psalm 11 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

This psalm is different from all those before it in the Book of Psalms.  The writer does not address God directly, he simply describes Him and speaks about Him.  Overall, the psalm is about trusting in God.  It begins with a picture of someone fleeing from an enemy, but it ends by confirming God's power and authority to test those who are called ‘righteous’, and to bring judgement down on the wicked.

As a psalm of David, the opening verses remind us of his life and the many years he spent ‘on the run’ from his nemesis Saul (e.g. 1 Samuel 20-31).  At the time, David was not so much fleeing from Saul as following God’s instructions, which were to remain in Judah despite being pursued and establish himself with his own band of followers.  From these small beginnings, David was eventually able to defeat Saul and claim the leadership of all Israel (2 Samuel 1-5).  Our psalm paints a picture of one like David while being pursued and in danger of being captured by enemies, but it is written in such an open style that it is easy for us to apply it to circumstances in which we are being pursued by others.  It speaks to all who struggle with an enemy, whether this is Satan himself or just the circumstances of life.

The psalm begins on a positive note, with this assertion, ‘I take refuge in the Lord ...’ (11:1).  This reflects the natural faith of someone like David, who has confidence in God and refuses to run away from a problem.  However, the psalm continues in this strange way, ‘how can you say to me, flee like a bird to the hills …’ (11:1)!  It sounds as if someone has suggested to David that he run away from his enemies, and reminds us that some will always suggest we run away from our problems instead of face them.  David, of course, will have none of this, and neither should we.  He turns to the Lord and to his presence in the world, signified by his temple and his throne (11:4), and places his trust in Him.

In verse 2, we read a description of pursuit; the psalm speaks of bows and arrows read to be shot, and figures in ‘the shadows’ (11:2).  Again, it is easy to picture David evading capture in a skirmish with Saul’s troops (e.g. 1 Samuel 24).  The message of the whole psalm however is one of great encouragement, for it encourages us to believe that like David, if we follow the Lord’s ways, then He will lead us to our ultimate victory.  When we are in the midst of troubles, it may seem as if the ‘the foundations are destroyed’, and the ‘righteous’ are not able to do God’s will, as it says in verse 3, but the rest of the psalm (11:4-7) offers us a picture of God’s powerful authority and justice; He will prevail.

Whatever happens to us, and whatever happened to David centuries ago, the Lord is watching; ‘He looks with His eyes, His gaze examines everyone ...’, and all life is like a test set by the Lord (11:4).  Of course, the psalm was written in ancient times, when God was said to live in the either the ‘Tabernacle’ (in the time of the Exodus and the occupation of Canaan) or the ‘Jerusalem Temple’ (after it was built by Solomon).  When Psalm 11 says ‘the Lord is in His holy temple’ (11:4), the word used here can refer to either dwelling place.  Today, now that Christ has broken down the barriers between earth and heaven and come to be with his people, we think of God's Temple in a different way.  He is present with us personally and within the church, the ‘body of Christ’.  Wherever He dwells, the psalm says, God sees and judges the actions of all.

The psalm reflects the traditional biblical teaching that God is never merely watching the world, and never far from His people.  He is active in his world.  He tests all people including His own (11:4,5), but those who work against Him will reap the rewards of rebellion.  Note that their judgement is by fire, but what does the Bible mean by ‘fire and hot coals’, and the coming of a ‘blistering wind’?  The Hebrew words used here tell us that the Psalmist is speaking about the blistering heat of the hot dry wind that blows from the deserts of Judea (11:6); it regularly scorched crops like a fire and could render a crop useless.  In Bible times it left people destitute, rich and poor alike, and it was thought that this was a form of divine justice.  To us it has become a classic description of hellfire! 

Ultimately, Psalm 11 is a psalm of confidence; it encourages the believer to stand firm before all physical and spiritual troubles, and trust in the Lord.  In the face of difficulty, there may indeed be times when it is wise to ‘fly away’, or bide time before fighting back.  But in general, God's people are not encouraged to try and escape their problems, such things must be faced and conquered, in faith and in the power of Christ.

Psalm 11 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Have a look at verses 1-3 of the psalm, and discuss what these verses might mean to a Christian today.
2. How does this psalm help a Christian to be confident in the Lord?  How does it challenge you?
3. It is all very well to talk of standing firm in the Lord, but this can be difficult.  Can you give examples both of standing firm in the midst of trials, and also of the consequences of failing to do this?

Personal comments by author

It is all too easy to do things ‘for the Lord’ in a routine way, without taking seriously the spiritual issues at stake; for example, when preaching or taking responsibility for the leading of meetings.  I find that this psalm challenges me to trust God in the many different circumstances of life that would otherwise feel too difficult.  I know what it is like to prefer to stand back and run away, when in truth, it is important to stand firm and trust in God’s provision.  Simple faith deals best with life’s difficulties.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Something to do:   The attitude we have when facing life’s tasks can be all important.  This psalm asks us to face all things with confidence and optimism in the God who has saved us and who leads us into all life’s challenges.  Think carefully, what can you do to ensure that you face life’s tasks positively and with a godly perspective?
• Something to pray about:   Pray for those who face difficult decisions, and find it hard to know how to trust in the Lord.  For example, pray for those facing illness, redundancy, or the problems of old age.

Final Prayer

Lord God, you have trusted Your disciples with the message of eternal salvation; help us therefore to follow You and do Your will.  Lord God, You have confidence in Your people to be victorious over the evil one; strengthen us therefore as we stand against the enemy.  In trust, confidence and determination, may we always be doing Your will.  AMEN

Bible study for Psalm 12

Psalm 12 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

Psalm 12 is a remarkably simple Psalm.  It is a cry to the Lord from someone who has seen the evils and injustices of society and is appalled.  The Psalm begins with a complaint about the evils of dishonest speech (12:1,2), and continues with a request to the Lord to deal with this evil (12:3,4).  The Lord will of course do this, a fact that is celebrated in verses 5 and 6, and the Psalm concludes with two simple and contrasting statements that describe the reality of the world in which we live.  God will of course protect and guard his people (12:7), even though evil persists all around (12:8).

At the beginning of the psalm, we read a brief introduction, which is different from any other within the Psalms.  It seems to contain a musical instruction to a worship leader, with the phrase 'on the eighth'.  What does this mean?  There are a number of options, but my own opinion is that the phrase 'eighth' is a musical term meaning 'sing in unison' (rather than 'in harmony'), because an 'eighth' defines a standard musical scale, and a musical ‘octave’.  It may be that the Psalm was sung first in Solomon's Temple, either by priests so that the people could hear it, or perhaps with the people so that they might in part, join in.

Godly people have always had to endure ungodliness within society; sometimes this is easy and sometimes it is not.  The first two verses of the Psalm reflect the cry of a godly heart that has grown weary with all this, it is a complaint against those who deceitfully use words to manipulate people and influence events for their own purposes.  All those who are concerned about the moral and ethical backbone of society will recognise what the psalm is saying here!  Its cry is no casual complaint; it is the product of a heart that strongly objects to evil and longs to find integrity and uprightness within society.

Verses three and four of our Psalm focus on the evils of the tongue, and it is not the only passage of Scripture dealing with this subject.  We can find similar pieces of advice in Proverbs (Prov. 10:19,20; 12:18,19; 15:4; 17:4,20 etc.), and the letter of James (James 1:26 and 3:5f.).  The power of evil words is considerable, as we all know, and Scripture reminds us here not to forget this.  The task of the believer is to pay attention to this, and do everything possible to avoid succumbing to the evils of 'flattering lips' and 'boastful tongues'.  It is perhaps understandable that we find the evils of bad language extensively within society, but within the church, surely God’s people should actively seek the help of the Holy Spirit to overcome and destroy the evil power of the tongue.

In the middle of the Psalm, the Psalmist confirms the power of God to work within this world to establish justice.  Although most of the Psalm has so far been about the evils of bad speech, it focuses here on justice for the poor.  It is perhaps true that when there is dishonesty and ungodliness within society, the poor will ultimately suffer, and God wants to liberate the poor.  '”I will now rise up” says the Lord, ‘I will give them the security for which they long.“’ (12:5).  The writer here speaks like a prophet, for there are few places in Scripture outside of the prophetic writings themselves that use the famous prophetic phrase 'says the Lord'.  This is the central highlight of the Psalm; the solution to all life’s ills and all evil is the active power of God to do what is right; 'the Lord's words are pure' (12:6).

The Psalm now winds down towards its end, declaring the power of the Lord to guide and protect his own.  In the midst of difficulties, we may be blessed by remembering that God has always intervened in history to help and bless His people.  Time passes by, and most of us find it hard to see God at work in some of the situations in which we are involved, but when we look back, we undoubtedly see his faithfulness despite the ever present existence of evil all around us.  Psalm 12 ends with a reminder of evil’s continued presence in the world, 'the wicked strut about everywhere ...  worthlessness is valued by everyone' (12:8) but the psalm has already raised the spirit of the worshipper.  God's love and His desire to help and save is far greater than any human evil.  We all need to be reminded of this from time to time, and Psalm 12 can help.

Psalm 12 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Can you give examples of when words have been used to deceive or confuse, despite appearing to be honest?  Unfortunately the worlds of politics and religion are usually full of such examples!.
2. How do you react when people speak to you aggressively?  How often do you speak aggressively to others?  How can God help?
3. How does this psalm help God’s people today, and how may it be best used in worship?

Personal comments by author

It is hard to control one’s own tongue, especially when the heart is stirred up by something.  I have found it hard to read words such as these not because I fail to be encouraged by them, but because I find it hard to keep my own tongue under control.  It is not that I swear at people or am known as confrontational, it is just that like everyone, there are times when I speak unguardedly and can ‘put my foot in it’.  With the best will in the world, all of us will do this from time to time.  I am of the opinion that although we cannot avoid offending people simply by having pure motives when we speak, it is nevertheless important that we keep ourselves as pure in our motives as possible.  I have come to the conclusion that God forgives someone for ‘getting things wrong’ without intending it, but He judges those who, as this psalm says, use the power of the tongue to manipulate and do evil.  The difference is clear and important.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Something to do:   Ask yourself whether you have a problem with your own speech, and place the issue before the Lord in prayer.  Let Him be the judge of your motives; so do not be afraid if you are doing your best.  Nevertheless, ask Him to help you avoid unintended offence to others through your speech.
• Something to pray about:  Pray for your local church and for those who find it difficult to tolerate each other because of offence, whether from the past or present.  Ask the Lord to bless your church with a heart to be pure in speech, for the good of all.

Final Prayer

Lord Jesus, give me a heart that is open to Your will and Your guidance.  May I be prepared to go wherever you may call, and may I have the courage to stand against any evil, using the gifts You have given me.  Help me to be always willing to serve others, so that God may be glorified in all I do.  AMEN

Bible study for Psalm 13

Psalm 13 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

This remarkable Psalm begins with what sounds like a cry of despair.  It reflects the experience of the believer who has known great trouble and distress and cries out to the Lord; but the despair is not total.  The Psalm begins by recording the believer’s anguished appeal and heartfelt feelings at the work of an ‘enemy’ (13:4).  But after a brief song of praise expressing confidence in God (13:5) it ends with a promise of further worship (13:6).

A Psalm such as this makes for fascinating study.  So we would be wise to remember that whatever its origins, perhaps in the life of David, it has been used by countless people of faith both before the time of Christ and afterwards.  More than two and a half thousand years ago, Judaeans said this Psalm in the Temple in Jerusalem.  It helped them express the natural human frustrations that arise when evil persists and appears to gain the upper hand.  But however troublesome the enemy (13:4), godly Jewish people persisted in the historic faith of their fathers (13:5-6), and Christians today remain confident in their salvation through the death of Jesus Christ.  It is good to express confidence in the things of faith (13:5,6) when enemies appear intractable (13:4)!

If we delve into the Psalm in more detail, we can see how saying these words might help someone to determine their true feelings in the midst of trouble.  To begin with, the Psalm expresses that simple human feeling of being forgotten by God (13:1); but it moves quickly on, saying, 'How long will you hide yourself from me?'.  One who feels forgotten by God will naturally ask questions such as these.  How long will God stay absent?  When will God do something?  When will God remember those who have trusted in him?  There are few who have not said or thought these things, and we all know that to question in this way is not necessarily an expression of doubt.  These questions express the natural longing of the human heart for God and for salvation in the midst of very difficult circumstances.

When the Psalm uses the words, 'how long', for a third time (13:2), it goes deeper into the heart of the human condition.  The phrase, 'how long must my soul be in anguish with sorrow in my heart all day long’, sets out the strength of feeling one who feels neglected.  Finally, the fourth 'how long' penetrates what may be called the source of the problem, which is that at the heart such distress lies the belief that an enemy has gained the upper hand.  However strong our faith, if we believe that we have been overcome by an enemy, we will feel very vulnerable.  Of all the Psalms, Psalm 13 expresses this well.

The central section of the Psalm now dwells upon what it means to feel defeated by an enemy, and asks the Lord God directly for help; 'consider me and answer me O Lord my God' (13:3).  The gravity of the situation now becomes apparent, for whatever particular circumstances are represented here, the believer is in fear of death (13:3).  What kind of enemy and what kind of circumstances might give rise to such words in a Psalm? 

We could look back at the life of David for help to answer this question.  There are almost two books of the Bible devoted to the large number of ancient stories about David, any number of which might contain the circumstances for such a Psalm; for example, his eviction from court and flight from Saul (1 Samuel 19-31), and his penitence after adultery with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 8).  Surely, David writes here for every believer, and the Psalm expresses our spiritual journey now, far more than his.

This Psalm is surely not about the casual events of human life, it is about those that are at its extreme, and of all the enemies we face today, the ultimate enemy is Satan himself and all the evils of this world.  It is Satan who loves to thwart the efforts of God's people to build the kingdom of God, it is Satan who likes to disrupt the lives of faithful people and make them miserable, or distort faith by argument and contradiction.  Ultimately, Psalm 13 exposes Satan and all the evils of this world, and offers the believer a template for how to withstand his attacks and remain firm in faith. 

The last two verses of the Psalm 13 explain how this is done.  Verse 5, is a simple song of trust in God, reflecting faith from before the time of Christ and afterwards.  It focuses on the great Biblical word for God's covenant love, ‘cheseth’, translated here has 'faithful love', and the theme of rejoicing in God's salvation.  The Jew gives thanks to God for deliverance through the Red Sea, and the Christian gives thanks to God for salvation through Jesus Christ.

Lastly, verse 6 records a challenging and fascinating vow; the believer promises to continue to worship God whenever God has done ‘good things’.  This is not an exclusive promise, as if the believer will only offer worship when blessed; it is a pledge of additional worship in response to real victories in everyday life, which is different from the regular, formal worship of a believer’s fellowship.  Surely, any one of us would benefit from making such a vow!

Psalm 13 leads the believer through understandable distress to real, practical faith, and can be a great blessing for all who use it.

Psalm 13 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Application

Use this Psalm!

No one who attempts to live the Christian life is immune from the attacks of the ‘enemy’.  In the midst of trials struggles, it is easy to forget that there are good spiritual ways to keep close to the Lord and ensure that we do not come to the enemies temptations.  Ultimately, this Psalm invites us to make a vow that we will give God our special worship, indeed 'sins of the Lord', when He delivers us from the evils we experience.  The time will surely come when He will do this, so we had better be ready!

Questions (for use in groups)

1. How easy do you find it to ask the Lord for help in the midst of trouble?  What manner of trouble will afflict you before you feel that you should pray?
2. What does this Psalm teach you about how to face adversity?
3. What is meant by a vow today, and would you be ready to make a vow to the Lord God, such as the one in this Psalm?

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Consider carefully what it would mean for you to make a vow to the Lord to worship Him when He blesses you.  What would you do to worship the Lord?  How easy do you find it to think about worshipping the Lord by yourself, and not within a service of worship at church or at a meeting or event?
• Pray for any who you know, who are experiencing great difficulties in life at the moment.  Pray Psalm 13 as if for them.  Of course, you cannot make a vow for someone else, but you could make a vow to worship the Lord yourself when you see that someone else has been saved from trouble!

Final Prayer

May God the Father bless us, may Jesus Christ take care of us, and may the Holy Spirit enlighten us all the days of our life.  The Lord is our defender and the keeper of our souls and bodies, both now and for ever, to the end of ages.  AMEN

Bible study for Psalm 14

Psalm 14 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

Psalm 14 reads rather like a sermon!  Some of the psalms prior to this have reflected personal thoughts (Psalm 13), others have declared God’s words (Psalm 2), and a number of others have expressed personal concerns (Psalm 9).  Psalm 14 however comes across with the craft and vigour of a preacher who wants to make a point and challenge all who are listening!

Before we look further at this Psalm, we should look at a couple of its significant features.  Firstly, Psalm 14 is the same as Psalm 53!  There are a number of other places in Scripture where words are repeated (e.g. 2 Chronicles 36:22,23 and Ezra 1:1,2), but this is a whole psalm not just a few verses!  It is almost impossible to know why this came to be.  Nevertheless, a careful look at the whole Book of Psalms shows that it has five smaller ‘books’, numbered 1-41, 42-72, 73-89, 90-106, 107-150.  At the very least, it seems that Psalm 14 was in the first book and Psalm 53 was in the second book, before they were collated into one ‘book’ of Psalms.  Moreover, when collated, scholars were unwilling to remove one, perhaps because they regarded the collections as too holy to be changed.  But imagine the outcry today if a publisher were to change just one number from a well known collection of songs or hymns!

Secondly, the first few verses of Psalm 14 are used by Paul in his letter to the Romans.  He uses the psalm as part of his argument defining the unique saving work of God in Jesus Christ.  He says that the work of salvation is necessary because of the endemic nature of sin, and quotes Psalm 14 as Scriptural evidence (Romans 3:11).  This section of Romans is similar to other letters of Paul that explain the Gospel, and the notion that all people fall short of the glory of God has now become a central plank in the preaching of the Gospel in Protestant and Evangelical faith.  Our small Psalm is very important.

Psalm 14 begins with the famous words, 'the fool says in his heart, "there is no God"' (14:1).  This is a dramatic beginning, in which the writer accuses all people of being corrupt, concluding 'no good is done by anyone'.  Verses 2 and 3 continue this theme, giving us a picture of God gazing down from His throne to try and spot the faithful remnant of those who are earnestly seeking him (14:2).  The conclusion comes in verse three, 'they have all gone astray', and by this, the author really does mean everyone (14:3); none of God’s people are ‘good enough’.

Yet we need to be clearer about those who are spoken to by this Psalm.  When we read it now, we think that it refers to everybody in the whole world, but when people of ancient times read it, they would have assumed that it was speaking about them as God’s people, indeed, all of them.  The whole history of Israel and Judah is one of rebellion against God, and it is a tragic story.  Their rejection began after the giving of the Law, where we read that Israel rejected her God as soon as Moses disappeared up into the mountain for 40 days (Exodus 32:1f.).  In the following centuries, God was able to do wonderful works through great leaders and prophets (such as David and Elijah), but the people of Israel always turned away from obedience to God to their own ways (see Judges, Isaiah 7:1-14 and 2 Kings 17).  They eventually paid the penalty when their kingdoms were destroyed first by the Assyrians (2 Kings 17) and then the Babylonians (2 Kings 24:1f.).  The writer of Psalm 14 either foresaw these things or knew that they had happened!

For us, however, the Bible has been written so that we might understand more than just the history of Israel and Judah.  The relationship between God and his people reflects the relationship between God and all the people of the world.  Paul himself made the jump of perceiving this, as is clear from Romans chapter 3, where he applies this passage to all people everywhere.  For him, it was Scriptural proof that the basic human condition was one of 'fallen-ness', and the only answer to this was the sacrificial work of Christ .

Psalm 14 concludes by offering an answer to the devouring evils of those who 'do not call upon the Lord' (14:4).  Despite the persistent failures of God's people, the Psalm has an optimistic feel, and ends with what amounts to a prophecy, ‘O that salvation for God's people would come from Zion' (14:7)!  It also anticipates the joy of God's people when the Lord finally restores them and gives them hope.  Because of this prophecy, countless generations of Christians have read Psalm 14 as pointing the way to the redeeming work of Jesus Christ, and rejoiced.

As a whole, Psalm 14 reads rather like a theological statement rather than a simple song of praise.  But it is a very important passage because of how it connects with God’s grand scheme salvation written about within the whole Bible.

Psalm 14 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Application

Telling people that they have sinned

Psalm 14 is basic to Evangelical Christian faith.  However, we should ask ourselves very carefully whether these words are appropriate for preaching.  If you tell someone that he or she has sinned, they will most likely walk away unless they already feel within them some concern about their own moral strength and ability.  This may be the case for some, but not for everyone.  We have all come across those who are fed up with listening to preaching which tells them they have sinned, when they need to hear about love of God.

In truth, the best place for explaining the Gospel, about the sin of humanity and Christ’s salvation, is surely in a setting where one person can explain to another what it means to be saved, in relative private.  In this way, a Christian can explore with someone else what it means for the Bible to say 'the fool says in his heart that is no God'. Each preacher must decide for himself or herself whether it is right for him or her to appear to attack a group of people by telling them they have sinned, perhaps using Psalm 14.  If they do, then those who hear are surely owed the opportunity to discuss further what this means.

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Is it is true that no one is perfect for God?  How can this be true?
2. What kind of foolishness distracts the church from its mission these days?  How does this psalm help us deal with this?
3. Why do people not learn the lessons of the past?  What is the difference between God's people today and God’s people of Israel?

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Write down a list of those things you might consider foolish, and subject to the judgement of God.  Consider carefully whether you are prone to any of these sins, and pray for Jesus Christ to deal with your sins.  It is difficult to face dealing with sin directly, but we each of these there are times when you need to do it.
• Pray that the Gospel will be preached well and properly to all people who need to hear about the saving love of Jesus Christ.

Final Prayer

May the peace of Christ inspire my soul this day; may His peace be my guide through the all its pitfalls; may His peace be my strength when trouble is at hand; may His peace be my help when I feel downcast; and may His peace be my joy as the day concludes.     AMEN

Bible study for Psalm 15

Psalm 15 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

What a delightful and yet challenging psalm.  It begins with a simple and penetrating question, asking who is entitled to enter into the presence of Almighty God and remain there on His ‘holy hill’ (15:1).  This is followed by a series of answers to this question grouped within the four verses at the heart of the psalm (15:2-5).  The last two lines confirm that God will bless those who have such characteristics, and offers a promise; ‘those who do these things will never be shaken’ (15:5).  It is a brief and compelling psalm, which makes the reader want to do what is right to please God.

We read this Psalm, of course, as Christians, but do we need it?  We have a Saviour in Jesus Christ who has opened up the way to the Father (Romans 5:1,2), the Holy Spirit enables us to live as Jesus’ disciples (John 14:25-31), and we can find the path of 'sanctification' in Christ (1 Cor 6:11, 1 Thess 5:23f. – remember, sanctification means 'the pathway of holiness').  Also, most of Paul’s letters contain lists of what a Christian should or should not do, all of which are a substantial challenge to Christians of every age.  Read, for example, the 'works of the flesh' and the 'fruit of the spirit' (Galatians 5:19-23).  With these as our guide, what does Psalm 15 have to say to us today?

As we will often find in passages from the Old Testament, Psalm 15 offers helpful advice about godly living.  Such advice was helpful to ancient Jewish people who wished to enter the tabernacle or the Temple (15:1).  However, when we read it as people who have been saved and received the Holy Spirit in baptism, its value is not diluted.  It is still part of the revealed Word of God, teaching His moral law for our benefit, and it should not be ignored.

What moral and spiritual advice then, is given by Psalm 15.  From its opening question, we might expect it to continue with a list of ritual requirements, but it does not; it contains plain and penetrating comment.  Any of us can read verses 2 to 5 and understand what is meant perfectly well.  For example, verse 2 says that those welcome into God’s presence are those who 'walk without blame ... do what is right, and speak the truth from their hearts'.  We do not have to interpret such words, they are plain enough!  The remaining verses are equally clear.

As they stand, the four verses, 2, 3, 4 and 5, each offer a distinct theme around the same subject of those acceptable to God.  Verse 2 speaks of those who have an approach to life that is godly and moral.  Verse three identifies characteristics of speech that are appropriate to godliness.  Verse four pinpoints the attitude of heart of those who enter God's presence.  Verse five, which seems a little truncated, goes one step further.  It offers a practical example of godliness in one of the most contentious areas of human life and interaction, that of money; and what it says raises issues that are extraordinarily pertinent to our day.

We can play around with the advice given in these four verses in a number of different ways.  You can analyse it all in terms of advice that is positive, and that which is negative; you can also group the advice around various relevant themes, and those I have given above are certainly not exclusive.  The Psalm invites us to allow God to interpret His words into our hearts and minds so that we may discover His truth for our time.

Psalm 15 ends with these affirming words ‘He who does these things will never be shaken’ (15:5).  It is a wonderful promise.  If we hold fast both to the moral teachings of the Old Testament and the means to live by them provided by our Saviour Jesus, then we will not suffer the trials of doubt and fear that beset so many in today’s turbulent world.  Many Christians today are buffeted by the storms of life, and ask about the secrets of the Christian life; and holiness remains a mysterious thing to many, merely something that preachers talk about.

Yet if we care to read passages of Scripture such as Psalm 15, then we will find straightforward and understandable advice about godly living.  Psalm 15 also assures us that the Lord will keep us in His company if we will keep Him in ours, by living with His help, in a just and upright manner, and to the best of our intent.  If we want to follow the path of holiness, then we need to know this advice.  Psalm 15 does not explain to us how we may be saved, but it does explain something of the path of holiness to which we are all called, in plain and simple language.

Psalm 15 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Application

Putting holiness into action

It is of course rather too simplistic to say that the path of holiness can be made easy.  However, we should not make it more complicated than it is, and it is not intended to be something only a few special people can do.  God does not doom anyone to failure, He seeks to empower people to faith.

To this end, the plain preaching of simple truths such as found in Psalm 13 is surely a part of a preacher’s task.  It is also the responsibility of all God’s people to hear such words today and heed them; there is no part of this psalm that is not penetratingly relevant.  For example, speaking the ‘truth from the heart’ is not an abstract concept, it is a direct challenge, for we alone can judge our own intensions and attitude when we speak.  Another plain requirement of holiness is that of ‘standing firm by their oath’, something which roughly means keeping one’s word and honouring pledges made.  In today’s world of electronic communication, I have found that many do not honour others by replying to emails or following up messages sent; it feels that for some, a message delivered electronically does not contain the force of a personal request.  Of course, this does not describe everyone, but surely, God’s people can aim for a higher standard of honest working relationships.

Psalm 15 asks the reader to consider where he or she stands against its plain standards of godliness.  No one can stand back from Psalm 15 and claim purity, all should be careful and consider these things, which are God’s Word.

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Holiness is a contentious subject amongst some Christians.  Is it possible or wise to talk of ‘being holy’?  How can we safeguard ourselves from the accusation of hypocrisy when pursuing holiness?
2. To what extent do you think that the instructions of Psalm 15 are common sense, and what are religious requirement?
3. Is it really possible to live up to what God requires of us?  How can we make sure practically and spiritually that we live ‘in the Lord’s presence’.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Make a list of those things that challenge you personally within this psalm.  Work out which of them is the most important, and resolve to work at them one my one.  Work at them by making them a subject of prayer, and then following what you believe is the right and godly way to deal with each issue.
• Prayerfully ask the Lord to help you live a life of transparent holiness to His glory.  Make this a regular prayer and be bold.  The Lord wants to fulfil your heart’s desire because it is His as well!

Final Prayer

Purify my life and make me holy O Lord.  Show me the path I must walk to be in Your will.  Give me courage and strength for a life of holiness, O Lord; and where ignorance or blindness holds me back, set me free, and heal me in body, mind or spirit.  Thanks be to God for his incredible blessings.  AMEN

Bible study for Psalm 16

Psalm 16 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

Psalm 16 reads like an interesting and straightforward psalm, and there are signs within the ancient text that it was a much used favourite of the Israelites.  It is, however, a very complicated piece of literature, and scholars have long been aware of its difficulties.  For this reason, you will find that the different Bible versions of the psalm differ greatly.  These things must be the subject of deeper study, but most who read it will agree that it speaks encouragingly of the relationship between the believer and God.

This is a psalm of praise and confidence in God.  As we read its bright and encouraging words, we are led to recognise the Lord as the only ‘good thing’ (16:2), to give thanks for godly friends and speak positively about them (16:3), to turn away from the worship of other gods (16:4); and to accept that God has given us our place within His world (16:5,6).  Psalm 16 firmly points the believer in a positive direction, highlighting the Lord’s interest in every aspect of life, including wealth and prosperity.  It also describes the Christian life as blessed (16:5,6), glad (16:9) and full of happiness (16:11), and it encourages us that all this is possible through being content in God’s provision, and content with God Himself.

How easy it would be, particularly today, to take the opposite view; society is defined by powerful desires and motives that are in complete contrast to what we read here.  Our world is full of materialism (contra 16:2); self sufficiency (contra 16:5,6); bickering, sarcasm and complaint (contra 16:3); irreligion (contra 16:4); and all manner of dissatisfactions.  If this is the life and culture of many in the West, then it is not godly and it will not last.  The future cannot be built on selfish, bigoted attitudes and the putting of self before others.

The world of psalm 16 is so much better.  It does not describe a static state of contentment, but a dynamic state of trust in the Lord, which can handle all life’s changes.  In this world, the Christian rejoices in God’s good gifts, especially that of the faith by which he or she is saved; hearts, minds and emotions are willingly placed under God’s guidance at all times, even at night (16:7), and the turmoil of the world leaves God’s people unshaken (16:8). 

At the heart of the psalm lies verses 5 and 6, which express thanks to God for material blessings.  It is easy to misunderstand this passage, perhaps to say that God will give wealth to those who are faithful.  However, it expresses a far more basic emotion of contentment in God’s gifts.  The text refers back to God’s provision of the Promised Land to His people after the Exodus (Exodus 32:13, Deut 31:23), and the time when Joshua led the people into Canaan and portioned out the land to all (Joshua 13-21), to be kept within families according to the laws given them (e.g. see Leviticus 25:23). 

Behind these rules however, is the clear understanding that the land belonged to God firstly and was given to God’s people for their use and pleasure (Gen 1:28, 2:15).  But for the ancients, ‘land’ stood for a great deal more than it does today; it meant belongings, a place to live and work, and also the potential of wealth.  Because of this, we should broaden out our interpretation of verses 5 and 6 to include all possessions.  Now one of the greatest temptations of our day is to think of what we own as private gain, and where we live and work as something of a right and not as a gift from God.  Psalm 16 therefore reminds us that all our possessions and even the circumstances of our lives are given to us by God, and the best way to enjoy it is to be thankful to God for all His many gifts.

The psalm ends with an astonishing couple of verses, which go further than even this.  They looks beyond ‘the grave’ to see God’s care extending even there (16:10)!  God will not abandon His people the decay of death, He will ‘show ... the path of life’ that leads to ‘eternal happiness’ (16:11)!  Some reckon that these verses can be read without any necessary inference about the afterlife, but I suggest that to do so is devious and avoids the plain meaning of Scripture.  Moreover, this fits with the rest of the Old Testament, which frequently prophesies hope beyond the grave, even though the traditional beliefs of the time did not included an ‘afterlife’. 

The Jews certainly believed that after death, the soul was condemned to  ‘Sheol’ (or in Greek, ‘Hades’), but traditionally, they dared not hope for anything more.  Yet the Bible often points further, suggesting that God’s love will continue beyond death (see Psalm 22:29-31, 30:3 Job 19:25f. Isaiah 25:8, Hosea 13:14, and more).  For this reason, Christians often quote Psalm 16 as ‘Messianic’, that is, it points the way not only to a good life here on earth, but to Christ and His victory over the powers of death and hell!

Altogether, Psalm 16 is a wonderfully expressive and informative psalm, full of confidence in God and containing some wisdom for all people about the attitudes they should have to their possessions and their place in society.  It beckons us to come and join the delights of being one of God’s children, who, by rejoicing in His presence, put all earthly things in their place and look forward to God’s eternal blessings.  Such a life is not a fairy tale, but it is free and readily available!

Psalm 16 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Application

Being content with God

We may be surprised that a psalm of praise and contentment makes so much mention of land and belongings.  It is because these things are important to us, and God knows it.  We are truly content when we are ‘happy with our lot’, our circumstances and resources; but if we spend our lives fretting over increasing our standard of living, buying new products and maintaining fashion, then it is unlikely that we will be in a place of contentment, even with God.  Psalm 16 reminds us that God is the author of our happiness, and, as the New Testament says, when we put the Lord first, ‘all these things will be added to you’ (Matt 6:33).

Questions (for use in groups)

1. As the years go by, do you feel more confident or less confident in God, and His love for you?
2. How important is land and property to you and to your life?  Discuss what things are essential to life for you, and why.
3. How important is it to you to know that the resurrection is foretold in the Old Testament?  Would it matter if it were not?

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Make a list of things that you can praise God for a) privately, b) with loved ones, c) with friends, d) in public.  Why is it that some are suitable for one list and not another?
• Consider what proportion of your giving should go towards organisations not directly attached to your church; charities, special events, and pan-church organisations such as the Bible Society.  Pray about the priorities you feel you must exercise and ask the Lord to help you.  Try to put aside your personal preferences in order to demonstrate those of God.

Final Prayer

May my life be a testimony of praise to You, my Lord and God; may my life be an expression of love and compassion for all I meet; may my life be complete, and may I be content with all I have; may my life be full of hope because I know my future is safe in You; may my life be in Your hands, returned to You, with thank, so that I may do Your will.   AMEN

Bible study for Psalm 17

Psalm 17 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

Psalm 17 is a personal prayer asking the Lord for help, and it is properly called a prayer of petition rather than a prayer of intercession (which is normally about other people).  As with many psalms, it is unclear whether it was written primarily for personal use or to be used in the Temple or a synagogue, but it is useful for us both for private prayer and for public worship.

The Psalm begins with a cry asking the Lord to accept that the believer is right about something.  Indeed, this is the theme of the whole Psalm.  Because of this, many Christians find it difficult to read Psalm 17.  What it says may sound right from the perspective of the Jewish people of the old Testament, but today, we have been brought up with a traditional Protestant emphasis on 'original sin', and the idea that all are sinners before God, without exception.  So, to read these words makes for uncomfortable reading; 'hear my plea for what is right; listen to my cry‘ (17:1).  Nevertheless, this is Scripture, and our Psalm reflects the natural and frequent prayer of those who believe they are right about something, are troubled by wrongdoing, and call upon the Lord to confirm what they believe.

There is much we can learn from this Psalm, and it begins by asking us to measure our words and actions against God’s.  It tells us that we should  seek vindication from the Lord, and not by means of our own judgement (17:2), that we should ensure we do not sin in our speech (17:3), that we should avoid violence (17:4) and that we should walk in the Lord’s ways (17:5).  All of this reflects an intent to live a godly life, and if we read this now as advice for how to live the life of faith rather than about how to go about being saved, then we are on the right track. 

After this advice, verses 6, 7 and 8 demonstrate a remarkable and controversial confidence in God.  It talks of confidence that the Lord will listen to our prayers, saying, ‘for you will answer me; listen to me and hear my prayer’ (17:6).  Many people feel very coy about presuming God will answer our requests, because their experience is either that they feel God does not answer or they do not get what they want.  This psalm, however, is not about the ordinary wants and desires of everyday life, it is about seeking refuge from evil and all that is wrong in this world, and God is always ready to save His people from evil.  In verse 7, the writer of the psalm turns away from complaining about problems to having confidence in God’s character, to, ‘powerfully save those who take refuge in You from their enemies’.  God is passionate about people and longs to hear and act on requests for help.  He has been doing this for centuries, showing His faithful, covenant love by saving His people individually and collectively.  We can therefore pray for the Lord to do this His will in total confidence that He will do this despite all difficulties.

The next verse (17:8) is well known, and contains a great hidden treasures; ‘keep me as the apple of Your eye’.  The ‘apple of the eye’ is a loose translation of the Hebrew, in which the word of ‘apple’ could well refer to the ‘pupil’ of the eye, meaning the centre of the eye.  What a remarkable description of the closeness of God to His own, that they are so close to Him that each can see the other in the pupil of the eye!  The second half of the verse is just as graphic, for the phrase, ‘hide me in the shadow of Your wings’ is a picture of a mother hen brooding over her chicks!  It is right that we do not approach God with presumptuous familiarity, but those who have been saved through Christ know that they have been drawn close to God.

However, to be close to the Lord is not what Satan wants!  Evil has always defined itself by opposing God’s people and deflecting them away from God, and it is not surprising that the psalm now sounds a note of caution.  It speaks of the evil of being assaulted (17:9) by those who have callous and arrogant hearts (17:10), and the fear of being hunted down by evil (17:11).  The picture of a lion hunting prey further illustrates the animal nature of evil in the hearts of people (17:12).  The language is prosaic, but it reflects the truth about all life, for evil is always at hand, and we would be foolish not to recognise this. 

Verse 14 goes on to warn God’s people that the source of evil is often riches and worldly prosperity.  The last few verses of Psalm 17 are difficult to translate and some Bible versions do not make this clear, but the translation above says clearly that evil resides in, ‘those of this world who have all they need and enjoy the rewards of this life, who have plenty of children and pass on their inheritance to them’ (17:14).  These words are typical of the large number of Biblical passages that warn us today of the dangers of wealth, and we need to hear this message.  Perhaps the best way for us to interpret this is not to blame rich people for evil, but to recognise that with riches lie the most dangers; this gets more to the heart of what the Psalm says here.

All in all, this psalm does not encourage God’s people to act on their own against evil (17:13).  Rather, it suggests they should cherish their salvation.  They should prayerfully bring their troubles to the Lord and trust in His strength to bring justice; in addition, they should do His will on a daily basis, as He directs, and avoid the evils especially those found in wealth.  In this way, they do not ignore the evil, rather, they are active in prayer, obedient in all things and willing to do God’s will.

The psalm ends with a confident affirmation of what it means to be in the Lord’s presence, ‘I shall see Your face … I shall be satisfied …’ (17:15).  If there were any doubts, this confirms that our Psalm stands firmly in the Old Testament tradition of the privilege of God’s people to draw very close to Him, and their duty to do His will.

Psalm 17 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Have you felt at any time that others have accused you of dishonesty when you truly believe you have acted properly?  How does this psalm help or hope for this context?
2. Do you feel ‘treasured’ (17:8) by God?  How important is it to feel close to the Lord of all?  Are there times when we should stand back  from God in awe, and if so, when?
3. Is it right to pray for the downfall of those who oppose God?  In your circumstances, who might this be?

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Think about some of the difficult circumstance you have faced over this last week.  Read carefully through this psalm to see if it offers you any help or guidance in dealing with these situations.
• Psalm 17 is written in the ‘first person’, which means that it is a direct address to God.  Are you able to speak directly to God, as if he was someone else in your presence?  Read through this psalm gain bearing all this in mind.

Final Prayer

Dear Jesus, may we speak to You honestly and listen to You carefully, so that we may learn to distinguish Your voice from the clamour of everything around us.  We long to learn more of Your will and be obedient throughout our lives, and therefore demonstrate the abiding faith we have in You; AMEN

Bible study for Psalm 18:1-6

Psalm 18:1-6 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

Psalm 18 is the first lengthy psalm within the whole collection, and throughout, it is a magnificent statement of the saving work of God.  Much of it is the same as 2 Samuel 22, and for this and other literary reasons, scholars reckon that this is one of the earliest psalms, written around a thousand years BC.  Written centuries before Christ, it goes on beyond our reading today to speak of God’s power to deliver His people from their enemies (18:16-19) and bring them justice and righteousness (18:21-30), and also His personal care for those who love Him (18:31-35) and His desire to grant them victory over evil and death (18:4-6 and 18:49,50). 

Immediately before it begins, Scripture gives us a lengthy introduction to Psalm 18, which sets the scene.  The words of this introduction are identical to 2 Samuel 22:1, and if we look back to this part of Scripture we can easily discover the true background to this great song of redemption.  It was sung by David not when he gained power in the middle of his life, but towards its end.  In David’s latter years, the Kingship of Israel had been threatened by a revolt led by David’s son Absalom.  The story of how David eventually overcame this tragedy and returned to Jerusalem concludes the stories of his reign found in 2 Samuel, and this song, Psalm 18, is sung by David as praise to God for everything He has done to help him, throughout his life.

The psalm begins with a bold declaration to God, ‘I love you …’ (18:1).  This is David’s great cry to God, and if you read the introduction, you will see how the one flows into the other, in order to emphasise this great characteristic of God’s love.  The rest of the Psalm then declares the nature of this love of God, especially in helping His people, and ‘saving’ them.

The word used for ‘love’ (18:1), is one of a number of Hebrew words for ‘love’, but it is not the great Hebrew word ‘Cheseth’ (‘faithful love’) found elsewhere throughout the Psalms referring to the faithful, everlasting, Covenant love of God.  Neither is it the other common Hebrew word for love ‘Ahavvah’, which describes God’s love as unconditional.  Here, it is the word ‘Raham’, meaning the love of emotional affection.  This word is used in the Old Testament to describe strong human commitment, and it reminds us that love is an essential part of faith, for one who does not feel love towards God is unlikely to accept His grace and His gifts.

Whilst we traditionally focus on ‘faith’ as the proper response to the saving work of God, we should remember that it is also about love.  For example, Jesus called on His disciples to ‘love God ...’ and ‘love your neighbour ...’ (Matt 22:37,38).  Psalm 18 conveys the idea that our love of God is inseparable from what we call faith; these two are partners, making up the proper human response to God.  Certainly, Paul places these great qualities alongside each other on a number of occasions, notably in his famous ‘hymn of love’, 1 Corinthians 13; ‘these three remain, faith, hope and love ..’ (verse 13).

David had been touched deeply by God’s love and care during his difficult and complicated life, and he loved Him.  He called to the Lord for salvation and received deliverance from his enemies on many occasions, as found from 1 Samuel 20 through to the end of 2 Samuel.  David speaks of the characteristics of God as a ‘rock’, and ‘deliverer’, ‘fortress’, ‘shield’, and much more (18:2,3).  Each word describes some way in which God works to help His people practically, to show them His love and care.  Most of them are used throughout Scripture and some become significant in the New Testament, for example, in Paul’s description of the ‘whole armour of God’ (Ephesians 6:13-20). 

The second half of our reading today speaks of David’s deliverance from all manner of evils, beginning, ‘the cords of death entangle me ...’ (18:4, see also Jonah 2:5).  This is one of a number of Hebrew expressions that speaks not of death itself, but of being imperilled to the point of being in fear of death.  Certainly, this is what David experienced, whether at the hands of Saul (1 Samuel 22:1f.), or in later years, from those who wanted to take his throne from him (2 Sam 15:14).  What set David apart as a man of God was his ability to turn to God in such situations, and trust Him to help; in due course, this meant that he loved God, and he therefore spoke of Him in this way.

Altogether, these verses speak to us not just of God’s saving love, but also the love that His people have for Him because of their knowledge of His salvation.  This may be why the psalm has captured the imagination of so many through the ages; the first three verses alone being reflected in countless songs and hymns.  Remember, though, that at the heart of the Lord’s saving work is ‘love’.  Today, we can freely sing this Psalm because our faith is a loving relationship with God, through Christ.

Psalm 18:1-6 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. What do you think of when Scripture speaks of God as the one who ‘saves’?  How has God ‘saved’ you and from what have you been ‘saved’
2. What does ‘prophecy’ mean to you?  Measure this against the definition given in the notes
3. How would you describe your ‘love’ of God?  What words would you use to convey this love to Him?

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• How do you praise God within your everyday life?  This is not an easy question for some to answer, but try to do so.  Whatever your answer, try taking some of the words of this Psalm, perhaps verses 1 or 3, and use them regularly as a means of praising God in the midst of the day.
• How do you deal with difficulties within your everyday life?  Again, this is not an easy question to answer.  Try taking the example of this Psalm, and putting your frustrations and difficulties to the Lord in the form of a brief prayer, as we find in verses 4 to 6 of today's psalm.

Final Prayer

If You have blessed us this day, we thank You O Lord.  If Your present blessing has been held back so that we might gain Your eventual blessing, we also thank You O Lord.  If You have withheld Your blessing because of our sin, may we confess and so receive the blessing of Your forgiveness.  We thank You, Lord God, for You are always ready to bless:  AMEN

Bible study for Psalm 18:7-19

Psalm 18:7-19 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

Psalm 18 is a cry to God for help.  In the previous six verses, we read about David's commitment to the Lord (18:1,2), in whom he trusted for help.  Some great trouble has come his way (18:4,5), and the psalm records both his cry for help and his confidence that God would hear him from His dwelling place, from His 'Temple' (18:6).  Now, in verses 7 to 19, we read God's response to this cry of help.

Most people who read psalm 18 find that it comes as something of a shock.  The language of these verses is sharp, moreover, the psalm describes God's wrath, and most people are not used to the idea that God acts in anger or with vengeance.  If we are willing to lay aside our preconceived ideas, however, and accept that a God of love is as entitled to feelings of anger and wrath as ourselves, then we will begin to find out what this psalm has to say to us.

To begin with, we must remember that God is ultimately just, and He knows the difference between what is right and what is wrong, and what is good and what is evil.  When He shows His wrath, it is against what is wrong and all that is evil.  So here in this passage, we may assume that God is angry against evil and injustice, because David is suffering and has called out to Him for help.  In this sense, God is acting with empathy; He sees David’s distress, and responds accordingly.  This shows the closeness of the relationship between David and God.  Moreover, it also shows that God is deeply concerned for people generally, and especially those who call on Him for help.  We can hardly complain at that.  God is a God whose passion is aroused when evil assails, and He will act. 

So in the first two verses of our reading today we read about the wrath of God in its fullness, and verse 7 describes what is commonly called a ‘theophany’.  This word refers to those occasions recorded in the Old Testament where God's very presence causes creation to respond violently.  The language of verse seven is very similar to that in Exodus chapter 19, which records God’s coming to Mount Sinai to speak to the people of Israel.  Scriptures such as this (see also Job 4:9f. Psalm 46:2,3) explain to us that God is in control of His Creation and can come in power to do with it what He will, and sometimes He will show His anger at wrongdoing through what appears to us to be something like an earthquake.  Verse 8 adds another dramatic picture of God’s wrath, in the form of 'spitting fire'!

It is best to separate out the short stanzas that follow, for this enables us to see more clearly the purpose of God’s wrath; it is not just anger for anger’s sake, for God intends to do something to help David.  Of course, Psalm 18 is a long Psalm and there is a long way to go, but our passage today tells us that God's wrath at David's distress is no mere show of force; it is purposeful.  God acts ultimately to save David (18:16,17); he deals with his enemies, and delivers David into a safe place (18:18,19).

God’s majesty (9,10)

Firstly, God comes to help His people from heaven; He rides on cherubs, who are the guardians of heaven (Gen 3:24), the guardians of the holy of holies (Ex 26:31ff), guardians of the mercy seat (Ex 25:18-22) and bearers of the chariot throne of God (Ezekiel 1:22, 10:1ff).  By this, we know who God is; He is the God of heaven who has made all things.

God’s nature (11,12)

In these verses, God is described as not entirely visible but clouded and concealed.  In New Testament times, we claim our knowledge of God through Jesus Christ, but we have perhaps forgotten the Old Testament truth that whilst we remain human the fullness of God remains clouded to our eyes.  The writer of Psalm 18 uses dramatic pictures of darkened crowds to convey God’s coming to earth like a storm, and ready to burst out in power.

God’s action – striking home  (13,14)

God’s coming is like a sudden thunderbolt of lightning accompanied by hail; the storm has started!  The picture language of shooting arrows (18:14), tells us that God does not act as random.  He is purposeful, and His wrath is directed against evil and wrong doing.  Verse 14 does not say exactly this here, but we are entitled to believe this for two reasons, firstly, it is a constant theme of the book of Psalms, and secondly, Psalm 18 eventually tells us precisely this about the object of God's wrath, later on (see 18:25f.).

God’s action – covering all  (15)

Verse 15 is a long verse, making up one four line stanza, describing God’s ultimately powerful wrath coming over the sea.  Now we do not think of the sea in this way today, but in ancient times people thought of the sea as a primaeval force out of which Creation was made (Genesis 1, 1,2).  Psalm 18 declares God's power even to the depths of the sea and the limits of Creation, or as we might say, to ‘the ends of the universe’.

God’s action – salvation (16-19)

In the last two stanzas, God acts to help David.  Intriguingly, Psalm 18 talks of God lifting David up out of 'deep water' (18:16).  At first, this may seem obvious because of previous references to the ocean depths, but it means more.  In the days of Jesus, John the Baptist baptised people for the repentance of sins, specifically drawing them up 'out of water'.  Jesus and His disciples continued to do this, and when Jesus ascended, He commanded His disciples to 'baptise' those who believed in Him (Matthew 28:19).  Today, baptism is a powerful reminder of God’s salvation, and one that God blesses for all who repent of their sins and turn to Christ by faith.

Of course we have no idea whether this Psalm was written to celebrate any specific incident in David’s life, such as his victories over Saul, for example.  The important point is that David knew God's help and could depend upon it, and so can we.  He writes 'He rescued me from my strong enemy, those who hated me and were too strong for me’ (18:17). As we have begun to discover in our studies of Psalms, words like these enable David's Psalms to rise above and beyond the days in which they were written, so that they help us, even today.

Psalm 18:7-19 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. How many occasions can you think of in which people are saved in the Bible ‘through water’.  What do these events teach us?
2. What does it mean to be saved through water?  What does your baptism mean to you?
3. Are there any parts of the description of the anger of God in this passage that you find difficult?  Discuss this with others to try and find some perspective on the passage.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• When God expresses His anger, it is for a good reason, but this is not necessarily true for us.  How often do you get angry, and is it usually for a good reason?  What can you do to ‘disciple’ your own soul so that your anger is in control. as God’s anger is in control?
• Write down a list of evils within the world today, and pray that God will deal with them in power and authority

Final Prayer

Lord God, If we come into Your presence, will You be angry with us?  Will you see in us the hidden evils of which we have lost sight, and act in wrath to confront it?  Deal with us kindly, we pray, for we do not knowingly harbour the enemy and we long for Your salvation.  We trust that You will faithfully hear our prayer and save us, in the name of Jesus Christ;    AMEN

Bible study for Psalm 18:20-30

Psalm 18:20-30 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

In stark contrast to all we read yesterday about the wrath of God, today's passage of Scripture is rather more easy to read!  The first five verses are the words of David as he seeks to justify himself before God.  He has called on the Lord for help, and claims that he has always been loyal and faithful (18:20-24).  The next three verses (18:25-27) are more general and they talk about God’s deep and abiding knowledge of humanity, and His desire both to save those who are 'afflicted', and also 'humiliate the high and mighty' (18:27).  The reading then ends with three remarkable verses of personal devotion.  Verse 28 is a classic description of God as the light who 'lights up my darkness', verse 29 describes the liberty of one who is saved by God, and verse 30 is another great statement of trust in God; His ‘way is perfect ... He is a shield for all who trust Him'.

There are a number of intriguing verses here that might tempt a preacher, but these are mostly from the second half of the reading (18:25-30).  However, it is difficult to know exactly how to interpret the whole passage.  The first five verses do not read like something a Christian might say, because they are self-justification, an unworthy sentiment for those who seek salvation as penitent sinners!  So what do these verses mean, and how do they connect with either what went before in this psalm or the more appealing verses that come after them?

Yet again, it is by looking back to the time of David, the author of the psalm, that we can begin to find some resolution to these questions.  Of course, David did not know Christ.  Nevertheless, he was entitled to call upon God and claim that he was doing everything possible to be pure and worthy of God's love.  We know from Scripture that David was unable to sustain his desire to be good, for it records that he committed some dire sins (e.g. adultery with Bathsheba - 2 Sam. 11).  David’s desire was nevertheless to do what was right, something that is always commendable to God.  Moreover, in the course of his varied life, David came to know the truth that God saved him not because of his goodness, but by His gracious love (e.g. Psalm 53).  So we should accept that these verses are not mere self-justification, but a reflection of a godly and heartfelt desire to do what is right before God.

Words such as these (18:20-25) were probably used in the days of the 'kingship' in Israel, when descendants of David ruled over Israel and Judah (950 BC to 600 BC).  Their purpose was to instruct the kings in their duties towards God; they certainly make sense when read in this way, urging kings to be righteous and clean before God (18:20), loyal (18:21), honest in judgement (18:22,23), and devout (18:24,25).  We can therefore read this for ourselves as a call to holiness and godly living.

Before we go on, there is one other thing worth considering.  Christians have traditionally believed that where the earthly descendants of David failed, Jesus succeeded.  With this in mind, these verses (18:20-25) make perfect sense, for they speak of Christ.  He indeed was righteous and clean before God, loyal, honest in judgement and devout, and the perfect example of a human being.  This is why we have faith in Him, and why His sacrifice is a perfect sacrifice of redemption for our sins in God’s eyes, sufficient for the salvation of all.

Perhaps it is only when read in this way that verses 26 and 27 come to light; their words speak to us of Jesus, ‘with the pure you show yourself pure ... You will save the afflicted ... and humiliate the high and mighty’ (18:26,27).  This says a great deal about the merciful work of God in sharing human flesh, living in human life in Jesus Christ, and winning the battle against evil for the salvation of all humanity.  These verses encourage a Christian today to be like Christ, and both identify with those who suffer so that they may be saved, and also defeat of the ’high and mighty’.

The last three verses of this passage now leap out of the page at us, as a wonderful expression of faith in God.  Verse 28 describes God as a light who gives light in order to light up the darkness of this world.  It is a theme that Jesus takes up in his sermon on the Mount, when He says, 'you are the light of the world ...’ (Matt 5:14), and ‘I am the light of the world’ (John 8:12, 9:5).  The last verse (18:30) is a powerful doxology (or prayer of praise to God); when spoken, they form a wonderful offering of praise and worship to God.

One small treasure remains, in verse 29.  It will be easy to gloss over it, but the words, ‘with your help I can overcome armed intruders, and by my God I can scale a wall ’, express the confidence and joy of those who have been saved, in straightforward picture language.  Our passage today presents us with no static formal religion, but a real picture of the saving love of God and the liberty of those who trust in Him for help.

Psalm 18:20-30 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. What does this passage of Scripture reveal to you about your own walk of faith, and what contribution does this psalm make to Christian thought?
2. Do you aspire to do what is right, or do you simply believe you are always right?  What is the difference?
3. If God’s people should aspire to justice and purity, what does this mean, practically, for ordinary Christians?

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Write down your own reactions to this psalm, especially what you think about purity and how anyone who is a Christian can aspire to it.  Make what you have written a subject of your prayer in the coming days.
• Pray for your own church to be a light in the darkness.  Try to add flesh to this picture, by being specific about what you mean.  For you, to be a light will mean something quite different to someone else, and the darkness you experience will be different for people in other countries and places.

Final Prayer

Father in heaven, make us day by day into the likeness of Your Son Jesus Christ, and deepen His life within us.  Send us as witnesses the Gospel into a fragile world of tragedy and strife; and touch the hearts of people with Your love, so that they in turn may love one another.   AMEN

Bible study for Psalm 18:31-45

Psalm 18:31-45 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

Throughout Psalm 18, we hear the echoes of David's life.  Indeed, the superscription at the beginning of the Psalm says that David sang it on the day he defeated King Saul.  We can well imagine his emotions, reflecting on the glories of the past, on years of difficulty and trouble when pursued by King Saul, and finally achieving victory over his great foe.  All these sentiments are expressed in the verses of Psalm 18 previous to our passage today, but here, we see him in the aftermath of battle, reflecting on the mighty work of God by which he has achieved victory.

So it is that David begins this part of the Psalm by calling upon God, who has been his 'rock' over many difficult years (18:31).  God has given him strength and safety (18:32,33), and has enabled him to stand firm (18:33).  Verse 33 contains a wonderful vision of security; David pictures a deer standing high on a rocky mount, serenely surveying everything around.  Now in more recent times, Christians have turned to this passage of Scripture for devotional inspiration, for this picture inspires us with its marvellous description of both the effort of the deer to rise to high ground and the provision of God who enables it to stand firm, 'on the heights'.

The Psalm continues with a series of stanzas, each possessing its own emphasis, and adding to the picture we have already painted.  In verses 35 and 36, David acknowledges that God has given him victory and has saved him.  This is what he means by saying 'You give me Your shield of salvation, Your right hand sustains me' (18:35).  This phrase is interesting to Christians because it contains a reference to a 'shield of salvation', something mentioned in Paul's letter to the Ephesians, and the first item in his 'whole armour of God'.  This picture of God’s work reminds us that it is He who makes us victorious in the battles of life. 

The next stanza (verses 37 and 38) changes tack, for David now speaks about his own achievements (you can see that the previous stanza, 18:35,36 is addressed to God using the word 'you', but this one uses the word 'I', referring to David).  You could say that David is blowing his own trumpet here, but we are perhaps too critical.  For God certainly requires that His people put in some effort to achieve what is right, and everything David says here in these two verses reveal that he has indeed done this.  It is obvious from the whole of the Psalm that David gives God all the glory for what has happened, but he does not sit back and expect God to do everything for him, for he has fought for these victories, he says, 'I pursued my enemies and overtook them ... I wounded them ... They fell under my feet' (18:37,38). 

After saying this, David immediately gives thanks to God for His provision, and verses 39 and 40 continue the theme of praise that weaves throughout the Psalm.  David gives thanks to God for the strength to do battle (18:39), and he perceives that because God has given him strength to fight, the victory belongs to Him also.  He says, 'You made my opponents flee in defeat ...’ (18:40).  This is a helpful reminder to us to give thanks to God for his provision in the midst of our own life’s battles.

Verses 41 and 42 are rather different.  Here, David appears to gloat over those he has defeated, he says, 'they cried for help, but there was no one to save them' (18:41).  In truth, David is rejoicing in his relationship with God, and the fact that God has blessed him and given him victory over his enemy king Saul.  However, verse 41 is akin to saying that God was not with King Saul or his servants but with David, God was on David’s ‘side’, hence his victory.  This may have been clear enough in Bible times, but today, we are cautious about claiming that God is 'on our side'.  The history of war in recent centuries is testimony to the fact that too many people believed God was on their side and as a consequence fought with each other with such force that millions died (especially in the First World War).  But we should not mistake this caution for what is said here, which is about the leadership of God’s people Israel.  In the affairs of His people today, God always has a plan and He is working to put that into effect through leaders of the church.  He is on the side of those who are doing His work and achieving His plan, and His blessing is withdrawn from those who will not do it.  This is something for God's people to reflect upon.

This part of Psalm 18 closes with three remarkable verses.  Here David gives thanks to God, because the results of his victory are far more than he could possibly have imagined.  To begin with, he says, 'you have delivered me from the peoples strife' (18:43), a phrase that accurately describes the state of Israel before David’s victory; they were a people riven by trouble and strife.  But God made David a leader not just of His own people, David says, ‘You have made me a leader of nations, people I did not know are subject to me!’ (18:43).  It is a remarkable fact that as soon as David becomes king of a united Israel, the neighbouring nations are drawn to Israel and the boundaries of the nation are extended to include them (2 Samuel 8:11).  David attributes this to the fact that the God who has been victorious in battle is more powerful than the nations had previously imagined, and they come trembling to pay their respects (18:44,45).

There are many wonderful pictures within this part of the Psalm 18, though they are not immediately obvious.  It would be easy to read through it and gain little inspiration, but by looking back at the life of David and the time when he defeated Saul to become King of all Israel, these words come alive.  At the very least, they have much to say to God's people about keeping close to Him, doing His will, and therefore reap the rewards of His victory.

Psalm 18:31-45 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Discuss whether this Psalm can help God's people understand spiritual warfare.  What lessons does it teach us?
2. In your group, summarise your understanding of each stanza of this passage.
3. What two verses 43 to 45 tell us, and how does this apply to the life of God's people today.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• There is a battle going on in the world today for the proclamation of Gospel.  What contribution can you make to this, and are you willing to make it?  Think carefully about these things.  The language of this request maybe a little unfamiliar to you, but the language of spiritual warfare is important within Scripture.  It teaches us to remember that we are fighting against evil.  In what ways are you fighting against evil?
• What do verses 43 to 45 mean for God's people today?  Does the church expect that those outside of His will be drawn to it?  If it does not it may be that it has ceased to wage war against evil, and thus expect its rewards.  Pray that God people will take up the call of Jesus Christ against evil within the world, wherever it is found, and so gain His victory, and reap His rewards.

Final Prayer

God and Father of all, and grant that we praise You may spend our lives in praise of Your Holy name.  We thank You for redeeming us through Jesus Christ Your Son and enabling us to live victorious over the enemy through all of our days, be they many or few.  We owe everything to You, Lord God;   amen

Bible study for Psalm 18:46-50

Psalm 18:46-50 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

It should not surprise us to find words such as this at the end of Psalm 18.  The whole Psalm reflects on David’s experience of finally defeating his enemy King Saul in battle, so it naturally concludes with a great shout of victory.  David cries out to God in praise and thanks (18:46-48), but he ascribes his victory not to his own strength and perseverance, or to the justice of his cause, but to God (18:47f.).  Finally, David makes a promise to Almighty God.  He says he will continue to praise the God who has saved him, and celebrates His Almighty love and power (18:49,50).

Of all the things David could shout in victory, he cries out 'the Lord lives! Praise be to my rock!  Exalted be God my Saviour!'  (18:46).  This verse is a wonderful example of praise, and it offers a preacher three points upon which to preach!  In this cry, David celebrates God as 'living', 'my rock', and 'my Saviour'.  Each one of these attributes is important and can be traced throughout the Bible.

The earliest records of God's people Israel tell us that Moses knew of God as a 'living' God (Deut 5:26), and David himself called out to 'the living God' when shouting out to Goliath in the battle against the Philistines (1 Sam 17:26,36).  In later generations, the prophet Jeremiah also speaks of a 'living God' (Jer 10:10, 23:56), as do the prophets Daniel and Hosea (Dan 6:20,26 and Hos 1:10).  Most remarkably, when Jesus asks His disciples to say what they think of Him, Peter replies, 'You are the Son of the living God' (Matthew 16:16).  Throughout, the Bible testifies that there is only one true living God.  All other deities are either made by people in the form of idols, or they are the product of human imagination and aspiration (e,g, the fertility God Ba’al).

It is possible to do a similar Bible study on the idea of God as a 'rock'.  This demonstrates God’s qualities of steadfastness and strength (Gen 49:24, Deut 32:4,15, 1 Sam 2:2, 2 Sam 22:3,32, Is 17:10 etc.), and Paul writes enigmatically in his first letter to the Corinthians about the 'rock that is Christ’ from which God's people gain spiritual drink.  The third quality of God celebrated by David is that he is 'my Saviour'.  Although David was celebrating salvation from the field of battle, he knew as well as we do today that the word ‘Saviour’ means much more.  The entire story of the Old Testament and the New is about God’s plan to save the world, and to save sinful people.  David is one of the first in the Bible to speak personally of God as 'my Saviour', and in this, he prophesies the great work that God will eventually do through Christ for the whole world.

Verses 47 and 48 may not appear to be so rich in preaching material, but they are still important.  For David, salvation is always specific, for God saved him from his enemies, principally King Saul, and in this sense, God avenged him.  Of course, this is one example of salvation, and it describes in earthly terms the fact that God is moral, and is always seeking out truth and justice.  He aims to save the world from evil, and men and women from the trap of that evil, which is sin.  However, God does not just save us from peril, He saves us for a purpose.  In the case of David, God has saved him so that he might become a leader of nations.  David's power and authority as a leader did not come from his own abilities, they came from God who intended this to be so (18:47).  For us who read this Psalm, this verse reminds us that God also saves us for a purpose; God has a plan for those he saves.

The last two verses of Psalm 18 continues the theme of praise, and they begin with David‘s great vision of praise extending throughout the world: 'therefore I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations ...’ (18:49).  We might expect David to have a vision of praise in Israel, but it is remarkable that the vision is extended this far.  Most of the Old Testament appears to us to be about the relationship between God and his people Israel alone, as if this was all that mattered, but in truth, it reveals far more.  Just as David has a vision of God’s praise throughout the nations, the great prophet Isaiah also prophesies that Israel is to be 'a light to the nations' (Is 42:6, 49:6), and remember, Jonah was famously told to preach the Gospel not to God's people Israel, but to the Gentile nation of Assyria in their capital, Nineveh.

Verses 49 and 50 are an important text, for in the New Testament, Paul quotes it in his famous letter to the Romans.  Right towards its end, Paul concludes his great message with these words:

For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on the half of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy.  As it is written, 'therefore I will confess you among the nations, and sing praises to your name ...’  (Rom 15:8,9)

The passage continues with three other quotes from throughout the Old Testament, all supporting Paul's theme, which is that God has been made known through Christ in order that 'the Gentiles' might come to know the glory of God.  In other words, he says that God’s love in Christ is available for all people of all time and in all places, who have faith in Him.  Most significantly, the first quote in this passage is from Psalm 18, our reading for today, and in particular, verse 49.

Altogether, there is no doubt that these few verses at the end of Psalm 18 are some of the most powerful words of praise we find in the Psalms.  Other Psalms may be better known, and many say things that are similar to what we find here.  Nevertheless, these words summarise the heart of God’s saving plan for the whole world.  How wonderful that God, in his wisdom, gave David a vision of these things at the point of his triumph over his enemy King Saul.

Psalm 18:46-50 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Write out a list of the different themes found in this part of Psalm 18.  What do they tell us about true worship of God?
2. Does the church today hold a vision of extending the Gospel to the whole world?  Indeed, is it possible that God be made known to all people?
3. What does this passage of Scripture teaches about the worship of God, and how can we put that into practice within our own churches?

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• How do you like to worship God?  Think back over your own recent life, and write down the different ways in which you have worshipped God, and what you worship God for.  Using this passage of Scripture, work out whether there are any areas of worship that you have been missing, and make a plan to put that right.
• In the course of your own prayers, pray that God will make himself known to all the nations.  As you pray this prayer, try to make sense of it.  Think about what you are saying, and explain your feelings about this to God.  When you pray in private, it does not matter of words you use, for God will understand what you mean from the heart, so take the opportunity to try to get to the root of what it means to pray that God will be made known to the whole world.

Final Prayer

Jesus, You are seated at the right hand of the Father; out of your majesty and privilege, give me a taste of wonders of Your Kingdom.  Send us Your Holy Spirit, touch us with Your healing hand, empower us to fight evil, renew our minds, restore our consciences, and fill us with Your awesome love.  We ask this so that we might be more like You, Jesus Christ our Lord:   AMEN

Bible study for Psalm 19:1-6

Psalm 19:1-6 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

Psalm 19 divides into two halves; verse 1-6 and 7-14.  The first half is about God’s creative power and the second is about His Law, but as a whole, the Psalm is about the glory of God's creative Word, and it is indeed a truly remarkable piece of literature.  In contrast to previous psalms which focussed on God’s help for the troubled believer (see psalms 3-7,10,13,17, for example), this psalm takes the reader on a journey of discovery as we read about God as Creator, and it offers praise to Him as the One who has both made all things and revealed Himself through His Creation.

Psalm 19 begins with the heavens praising the ‘glory of God’ (19:1).  ‘Glory’ is a fascinating word.  In an earthly sense, it means ‘the evidence of something awesome’.  Today, we might use the word 'glorious' to describe some great event or sporting feat, but this pales into insignificance against the glory of the God who made the world and everything in it.  Creation is itself the evidence of the God who has made it, as Psalm 19 announces, right from its beginning (19:1,2).

These opening verses describe a pouring forth of evidence (19:2), as God makes available to humanity a vast amount of information about Himself, all of which awaits discovery.  Now the ancients thought of the world as like a plate, with a dome over it to make the heavens; their understanding of creation was limited, but their understanding of God's revelation through it was not.  Today, we possess much more information about the world in which we live, so how much more should we, together with the Psalmist, celebrate all we can know about God from the wonders of His creation?  Of course, we find salvation in Jesus Christ, not in Creation, but God still has much to tell us about Himself within His world, and if we follow His revelation we will invariably be led to Christ. 

God’s glory is described in Psalm 19 as something like speech continually flowing out from the heavens (19:1,2), but this is not language as we understand it.  The glory of God is not available to us in mere words, it is like silent communication, reaching out to us (19:4).  But what does this mean?  In truth, most communication is indeed non-verbal; gestures and expressions are all readily understood as part of language today, and all of us ‘read’ the expression on people’s faces, it is a part of life.  In the same way, the life God has given us tells us something about God himself, for He is indeed a 'living' God, and we believe this not because God says so in so many words, but because he has given us the gift of life.  This is a form of silent communication, and it is very real!

Halfway through verse four, the Psalm gives us an illustration of how God communicates to us through his Creation, but it is not easy to understand.  It paints a picture of the sun rising on one side of the heavens and going round to the other (19:6); now this is straightforward, but the three lines before this are not.  Here, the sun is described as something like a medieval bridegroom after a marriage ceremony, parading himself like an athlete (19:4,5)!  These verses hide something rather important.  In ancient times, most ancient people believed that the sun was a god, or to use the imagery of our text, that the bridegroom was a god!

The writer of psalm 19, however, has turned everything on its head, and the sun is no god, it is merely a constituent part of the created order.  The sun illustrates God; it is a life-giving, energising, awe-inspiring part of the Universe without which we would not exist, but it is no god, and the talk of a bridegroom running out of a wedding suite is mere poetic license.  It is hard for us to grasp the significance of this for the people who first heard this psalm.  Instead of being puzzled these verses, we should rather read them as a powerful revelation of God.  He is greater than all things and beyond every ‘why’ we can ask; He alone is responsible for every part of the Universe.

We tend look at things in our own way today, but it is surely not possible to lose sight of the awesomeness of God as Creator?  He is there in the intricate and magnificent colour schemes of nature, in the complex life-cycles of butterflies, in the amazing heat of the sun and so much more.  Surely, we cannot be content merely to accept Creation exists and do experiments with it for our own advancement?  How hard and blindfolded we must be if we cannot see the hand of the Creator even in the midst of the sin, decay and mortality all around us. 

There is much we can learn from this psalm.  It stands as a testimony to the powerful words and deeds of the One who made all things and holds them even now in existence.  We owe Him all things.

Psalm 19:1-6 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Which verse of this psalm catches your attention with the most powerful description of God’s creative power? 
2. Try to think of examples (other than given above) of where and when we ‘hear’ without speech or other form of language.  What can we learn from this about listening to God?
3. Many ancients believed that the sun was a god.  That sounds strange to us today - but what similar strange beliefs do people have today?

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• As you go about your daily routine, have a look around you, and written down some of the interesting things you see.  Ask yourself what God might be saying to you through these things.
• If possible, discuss Psalm 19 with someone who is studying sciences, perhaps someone at school or university.  Find out what they have to say about what they read hear in Psalm 19

Final Prayer

Heavenly Father, I praise you for the world all around me, for the life that you have given me, for the family you have placed me in, for the work you have given me, for the country in which I was born and for so many things that have become a part of my life.  I thank you for all things because you are the God of all creation.  Lift up my life as an offering of praise to your holy Name;   AMEN

Bible study for Psalm 19:7-14

Psalm 19:7-14 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

The second half of Psalm 19 speaks of God’s revelation in a quite different way to the first.  The silent ‘speech’ testifying to the work of the Creator found in verses 1-6 now gives way to the revelation of God in powerful spoken words, ‘the Law of the Lord is perfect, rescuing the soul ...’ (19:7).  This is a classic Hebrew call for God’s people to look into the ‘Torah’, the revealed law of God found in the first five books of the Bible, and summarised in the Ten Commandments.  This, says Psalm 19, is where the devoted heart will find the evidence of God.

Our reading opens with a series of six couplets (pairs of lines) in verses 7, 8 and 9, each one describing some aspect of God’s law.  The six Hebrew words used are TORAH (law), EDUT (testimony, decree or statute), PIQQUDIM (precept or ordinance), MIZOTH (command), YIRATH (fear or promise) and MISHPATIM (judgement).  We will use these for our study.  The next three verses describe the value of God’s law in teaching and revealing sin (19:10-13), and the last verse (19:14) is a blessing. 

TORAH and EDUT (verse 7)

‘TORAH’ is the word for ‘Law’, but it means something more like the ‘ground rules’ of life rather than lists of rules.  For the Jews, God’s ‘Torah’ was the first five books of the Bible, containing not just laws like the Ten Commandments, but stories about how people can have a relationship with God (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses).  Altogether, the stories, instructions, law codes and histories of the Torah reveal the truth about God, and they also describe God’s intervention in human history to rescue His people.  They show that God seeks to redeem fallen humanity, or as Psalm 19 puts it, His Law ‘rescues the soul’ (19:7)!

In the second half of verse 7, the Lord’s ‘EDUT’ is described as sure, and giving wisdom to the open minded.  But what is ‘EDUT’?  The word is often translated as ‘decrees’ or ‘statutes’, but it is best translated as ‘testimony’, meaning a legal declaration of someone’s intentions, such as an affidavit or a will.  God’s testimony (‘EDUT’) is His intention to save both His people and the whole world from its fallen-ness.  As verse 7 says, those who are open to this have touched on supreme wisdom.

PIQQUDIM and MIZOTH (verse 8)

In verse 8, the precepts (PIQQUDIM) and commands (MIZOTH) are the subject of rejoicing and enlightenment, but what do they mean?  We will look firstly at commandments (MIZOTH) and secondly at precepts (PIQQUDIM).   MIZOTH are legal statements, such as the Ten Commandments and other laws in Exodus (20-33) and Leviticus; these establish the national identity of God’s people, and are mostly designed to set out the rules for a compassionate and caring community.

PIQQUDIM however means ‘something appointed’, or ‘past precedent’, and the difference to ‘MIZOTH’ is subtle.  Now in order for laws of the land (MIZOTH) to work, they must be applied to real circumstances of life and to ‘normal practice’.  Today, courts make judgements about how laws made by parliament might be applied, and this application of the law is the PIQQUDIM.  A society that has a good system of both law (government) and interpretation (the courts), posses something of great value, and this is God’s intention.

YIRATH and MISHPATHIM (verse 9)

These two words in verse 9 are a fascinating pairing.  The ‘fear’ of the Lord (YIRATH) is the beginning of wisdom, as it says in Psalm 111:10 and Proverbs 9:10.  This is not fear in the sense of being afraid, rather, true awe which reduces the soul to utter admiration, wonder and respect.  Psalm 19:9 describes ‘YIRATH’ as ‘pure’, which means ‘ritually pure’.  We think the Old Testament as saying that purity is found through the sacrificial system, but here, Psalm 19 says that a right attitude of heart is pure in God’s eyes. 

The ‘fear’ of the Lord (‘YIRATH’) is paired with the Lord’s ordinances or judgements (MISHPATHIM).  At first glance it is not clear what this word could add to our understanding of God’s Law.  But using the examples I have given above, judgements are best thought of as the general outcome of court cases, and in Scripture they are therefore God's decision.  Practically, MISHPASTIM are God’s judgements on things that affect us, and by definition, God is always ‘right’, and His decisions are ‘righteous’.

Finally

Our study has been dominated rightly by the first three verses of this reading, because it is an important text in the Bible for understanding God's Word and the Law.  Verses 10 to 13, confirm the importance of God's Law (19:10), and they offer a picture typical of wisdom literature, reminding us that God's law is something that must be taught.  God’s people will perish if they do not have God’s Law taught and explained to them.

Verses 12 and 13 describe the value of God's Law as something that reveals sin, and the recognition of sin is an essential starting point for all who wish to approach God.  The Old Testament sacrificial system was designed to deal with sin and the prerequisite for baptism today is also repentance from sin, so in both cases, God’s people need His Law in order to get to know exactly what sin is, so they may repent!  Some of this is obvious, but we need to learn!  Certainly, the New Testament speaks of the Law as God's means of revealing sin (Romans 3:20), so all those who seek God will value Psalm 19.

The psalm ends with a famous verse, which is often used as a prayer by preachers when entering the pulpit.

‘May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.’

This prayer is of great value to preachers, but it is also of great value to all who wish to speak in a manner that is pure and wholesome.  It forms a wonderful conclusion the Psalm that has indeed lead us to meditate on the creative wonders of God’s world, and everything He has done to make Himself known within it.

Psalm 19:7-14 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. What is the differences between ‘government’ and the ‘courts of justice’?  What role does each one have within society?  What does this teach us about ‘commandments’ and ‘ordinances’?
2. Discuss in your group the value of God's law and revealing sin.  How does the old Testament teaches about sin?  To what extent do we rejoice to know what sin is, or is this taking the matter to far?
3. Read Psalm 19:14 again.  Discus whether or not it is possible for our own words to measure up to the standards of this verse.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Think back over your day, and consider all the words spoken, and whether they measure up to the standards of purity and righteousness suggested by Psalm 19.  If you feel you have problems with anything that you have said, pray about this, and seek advice from someone else.
• Read through parts of the book of exodus, and identify what kind of Law is being written at any point.  You will readily find Law in the form of narrative, in the form of commands, and in the form of God's judgement or precepts, at the very least.

Final Prayer

All praise to You, Almighty Lord, for You have spoken to me today.  I heard You in the silence when I drew aside to pray, I heard You in the scriptures that I read, and  I heard You in the words of people that I met.  It was You who opened my ears; so now open my mouth to praise Your holy Name!     AMEN

Bible study for XX

XX (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

XX (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Application

Questions (for use in groups)

1. H

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• L

Final Prayer