Through the Bible in 66 Days - Psalms

 

The book of Psalms is one of God's greatest gifts to weary, wandering and worshipping people. It asks the questions we're often afraid to ask: What is prayer all about? Can you be honest? Can you be raw? Would you talk to God when life is too painful? Can you come to God when you doubt He's even listening?

The book of Psalms shines a light on all of this and so much more.

Within the Psalms, there are heartfelt prayers, cries of pain, songs of worship and praise, and shouts of thankfulness. There are echoes of every other emotion known to men. The Psalms are often messy and raw—but the most important point is this: they're genuine expressions of real feelings. They often give words to whatever we're feeling but cannot articulate. And that is precisely why they matter.

Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it

Passage to read - Psalm 78:12-54

Verse 35 – ‘then they remembered that God was their Rock, and the Most High God their Redeemer’

Are you into history? Do you find it fascinating to talk to old people about their memories? I often forget that old people once were young (sounds pretty obvious) and that they faced lots of situations in life and can teach us so much. One of the problems of being energetic and busy is that you don’t take time to think and learn from others. Maybe you are like that.

Psalm 130 - There is forgiveness with God

This psalm is one of a group of fifteen which are called the ‘Songs of degrees’. The 19^th Century preacher Mr. Spurgeon said that they could also be called ‘The Songs of the Goings Up’ as it is certain that they were sung by Jewish pilgrims as they made their journey up to the temple. In these fifteen psalms selected truths are highlighted. This highlights the issues that God thought were important for his people to attend to if they were to know his presence and his blessing on their arrival.

Manchester - your reaction ?

After the events that have taken place in Manchester this week we in the United Kingdom are feeling very vulnerable. 

You wonder sometimes about the twists and turns that life takes and why the road goes the way it does. Evil seems to be given free range and acts of evil are perpetrated to the devastation of society.

Psalm 143 - Getting what you don't deserve!

David is not asking for what he deserves in this Psalm, he is asking for mercy from God. He is reminding God of His excellent character and saying that it would be out of character for Him not to show mercy, kindness etc. David is not ignoring the fact that God is holy but he has learned that no one will ever live up to the holy standard of God (v2) and therefore everyone needs mercy.

Psalm 38 - The effects of sin in a believer's life

 King David, despite his periods of failure was a man who was really in touch with God. He is called ‘a man after God’s own heart’ in 1 Samuel chapter 13 verse 14 and in Acts chapter 13 verse 22. It appears that he knew the way that God thought and was happy to talk honestly with him. The question is, am I, are you?

Psalm 32 - Learning from your mistakes

In the book of Psalms there are different categories of Psalms. Some Psalms are grouped according the author i.e. David, Moses etc. Some are called Messianic Psalms as they focus on the coming Messiah who Christians believe was Jesus. This Psalm is in the group of ‘maschil’ Psalms. Maschil means that the reader should learn something from the Psalm. It is a good principle to learn from your own mistakes but it is even wiser to learn from another person’s mistakes.

Psalm 6 - Heartbroken in the Presence of God

Have you ever felt heart broken in the presence of God as a result of sin? You might say that thankfully this has not been your experience very often since conversion. Great men of God, like David, had these experiences on a fairly regular basis. If you have never felt like that maybe you have become desensitised to sin in your life.  

Psalm 6 has three sections. 

Studies in the Psalms - The Seven Penitential Psalms

Most people will be aware that the Americans talk about their prisons as ‘penitentiaries’. You may also be vaguely familiar with the concept of ‘penance’. In religious circles this normally means either a feeling of regret for misdeeds or some religious payment for sin.  In Biblical terms the word ‘penitential’ means to ‘repent of sin and to seek forgiveness’. We are going to discover in these psalms a number of lessons about sin, the sinner and how God deals with sin. 

Let me summarise them:

1.    There is nothing that can be done by an individual to atone for sin;

2.    God is extremely angry about our sin;

3.    Sin weakens and exhausts a person morally and physically;

4.    Sin has a defiling and contaminating effect in the life of the believer;

5.    Sin ruins our relationship with God;

6.    God alone can forgive sin;

7.    God is gracious and merciful as well as holy and just;

8.    There are forces against the believer that would seek their downfall (i.e. our flesh, the world and the Devil).

He's got the whole world in His hands!

Remember the song?  

It's a celebration of God's loving embrace of everyone in this big old world, and a good tune as well! I think it's a bit of an exaggeration though. God doesn't need both hands to hold the world, in fact the Bible states He is the One who has measured the waters ‘in the hollow of his hand’ (Isa 40 v 12), and that 'In his hand are the deep places of the earth' (Ps 95:4).

Also the lives and destinies of every man, woman and child that have ever lived are held in that mighty clasp. He's the God in whose hand is the 'soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind' Job 12 v 10. Daniel, an Old Testament Prophet, when talking to the most important man on the planet at the time spoke of 'the God in whose hand your breath is'.

But God has done more than create and maintain the universe we live in and all the people in it. He saw us, lost, hopeless and heading for judgement. He loved us, and gave His Son to die on our behalf. Then He raised Him from the dead demonstrating that death's grip had been broken. It took the supreme sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross to achieve this. It is significant that both of the Saviour’s hands are used as proof of His death and resurrection when one of His disciple’s, Thomas, is looking for evidence that He is alive from the dead.

So sure, ‘He's got the itty bitty baby in his hand’, and ‘He's got the whole wide world in His hand’. But in both of His hands, are the indelible marks of the suffering He went through to deliver us from death and Hell itself.

We come under God's protection by accepting that we are sinners, that Jesus ‘Christ died for our sins’ and that He rose from the dead to prove that death had been conquered. He says about those who believe on Him and who have trusted in Him to be their Good Shepherd  'I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand' (John 10:28). 

A terrified man once cried out saying, 'Lord, save me'.  And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him. The same strong, wounded hands stretch out to you today. 

Will you trust Him to be your Saviour?

Written by a guest blogger