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Psalm 70
The other day this kid came up to me and asked me for some change. “I’m sorry I don’t have anything,” I said. Not because my pockets were empty but because I was afraid he’d use whatever I gave him for drugs or alcohol. I walked along, then turned in my tracks. “I’d be glad to buy you something to eat,” I said.
We went into a nearby store and he asked for a muffin and a Coke (I wish I could have encouraged him to eat something more healthy). “Do you know where I can get a job?” he asked. I suggested he talk to people at the church down the block where they have a ministry for the homeless.
Okay, my help wasn’t ideal, but it was something. I didn’t feel so cold and heartless. His neediness opened me up to my own.
1. Make haste, O God, to deliver me. Make haste to help me, O Lord.
2. Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul. Let them be turned backward and put to confusion that desire my hurt.
3. Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame that say, Aha, aha.
4. Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified.
5. But I am poor and needy, make haste unto me, O God. Thou art my help and my deliverer, O Lord, make no tarrying.
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Psalm 69
If you’re sinking you put out a hand for someone to rescue you. If you’re about to drowned you beg for help. You wave, you cry out, you shout.
It seems so logical and yet people forget to ask all the time. I forget to ask for help myself. When you’re sinking sometimes you don’t even know where to turn. “Save me, O God,” I say in prayer. “Rescue me and help me.” I remember when I worked on a story about a lady who sank into quicksand. The most important thing to do was not to panic. If you struggle in quicksand, you’ll only get stuck. If you move slowly, spreading yourself out, you can swim to safety. You also have to give up any heavy things you’re carrying.
That’s the rescuing of prayer. It saves me from panicking.
1. Save me, O God, for the waters are come up to my neck.
2. I sink in deep mire where there is no standing. I am come into deep waters where the floods overflow me.
3. I am weary of my crying. My throat is dried. My eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4. They that hate me without cause are more than the hairs of my head. They that would destroy me, being my enemies wrongfully are mighty. Then I restored that which I took not away.
5. O God, thou knowest my foolishness and my sins are not hid from thee.
6. Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake. Let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.
7. Because for thy sake I have borne reproach, shame hath covered my face.
8. I am become a stranger unto my brethren and an alien unto my mother’s children.
9. For the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.
10. When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.
11. I made sackcloth also my garment and I became a proverb to them.
12. They that sit in the gate speak against me and I was the song of the drunkards.
13. But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time. O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.
14. Deliver me out of the mire and let me not sink. Let me be delivered from them that hate me and out of the deep waters.
15. Let not the water flood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
16. Hear me, O Lord, for thy loving kindness is good. Turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.
17. And hide not thy face from thy servant for I am in trouble. Hear me speedily.
18. Draw nigh unto my soul and redeem it. Deliver me because of my enemies.
19. Thou hast known my reproach and my shame and my dishonor. My adversaries are all before thee.
20. Reproach hath broken my heart and I am full of heaviness and I looked for some to take pity but there was none and for comforters but I found none.
21. They gave me also gall for my meat and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22. Let their table become a snare before them and that which should have been for their welfare let it become a trap.
23. Let their eyes be darkened that they see not and make their loins continually to shake.
24. Pour out thy indignation upon them and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them.
25. Let their habitation be desolate and let none dwell in their tents.
26. For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.
27. Add iniquity unto their iniquity and let them not come into thy righteousness.
28. Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.
29. But I am poor and sorrowful. Let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.
30. I will praise the name of God with a song and will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31. This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.
32. The humble shall see this and be glad and your heart shall live that seek God.
33. For the Lord hears the poor and despises not his prisoners.
34. Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas and every thing that moves therein.
35. For God will save Zion and will build the cities of Judah that they may dwell there and have it in possession.
36. The seed also of his servants shall inherit it and they that love his name shall dwell therein.
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Psalm 68
In the middle of a long, complicated, visually rich psalm there’s this one verse that is stunning for its clarity, “God sets the solitary in families.” At our church I recently heard the phrase “families with children.” It was a reminder that you can be a family without children – younger couples, older couples, singles who feel connected to their siblings however far away or those of us who are part of that universal family of God. If I started talking about my family I would be referring to my sons and my wife, my siblings and my parents, my wife’s family and finally my church family.
No reason to ever feel alone. God has put us all in families.
1. Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered. Let them also that hate him flee before him.
2. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away. As wax melts before the fire so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
3. But let the righteous be glad. Let them rejoice before God. Yea, let them exceedingly rejoice.
4. Sing unto God, sing praises to his name. Extol him that rides upon the heavens by his name and rejoice before him.
5. A father of the fatherless and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.
6. God sets the solitary in families. He brings out those which are bound with chains, but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.
7. O God, when thou went forth before thy people, when thou did march through the wilderness,
8. The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God. Even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
9. Thou, O God, did send a plentiful rain, whereby thou did confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary.
10. Thy congregation hath dwelt therein. Thou, O God, has prepared of thy goodness for the poor.
11. The Lord gave the word. Great was the company of those that published it.
12. Kings of armies did flee apace and she that tarried at home divided the spoil.
13. Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver and her feathers with yellow gold.
14. When the Almighty scattered kings in it, it was white as snow in Salmon.
15. The hill of God is as the hill of Bashan, a high hill as the hill of Bashan.
16. Why leap ye, ye high hills? This is the hill which God desires to dwell in, yea, the Lord will dwell in it for ever.
17. The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels, the Lord is among them as in Sinai, in the holy place.
18. Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive. Thou hast received gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them.
19. Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, even the God of our salvation.
20. He that is our God is the God of salvation and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death.
21. But God shall wound the head of his enemies and the hairy scalp of such a one as goes on still in his trespasses.
22. The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring my people again from the depths of the sea.
23. That thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thine enemies and the tongue of thy dogs in the same.
24. They have seen thy goings, O God, even the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary.
25. The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after, among them were the damsels playing with timbrels.
26. Bless ye God in the congregations, even the Lord, from the fountain of Israel.
27. There is little Benjamin with their ruler, the princes of Judah and their council, the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali.
28. Thy God hath commanded thy strength. Strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us.
29. Because of thy temple at Jerusalem shall kings bring presents unto thee.
30. Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people, till every one submit himself with pieces of silver. Scatter thou the people that delight in war.
31. Princes shall come out of Egypt. Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.
32. Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth. O sing praises unto the Lord.
33. To him that rides upon the heavens of heavens, which were of old. Lo, he doth send out his voice and that a mighty voice.
34. Ascribe ye strength unto God. His excellence is over Israel and his strength is in the clouds.
35. O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places. The God of Israel is he that gives strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God.
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Psalm 67
I was jogging through the park this morning and somebody had set up a tent right on the pathway I normally take. With some irritation I jogged around it and took another route through some unfamiliar flowerbeds. All of the sudden I was in an enchanting world of blooming iris, roses and stephanotis. It was like Monet’s garden at Giverny. “Why don’t I usually come this way?” I thought. Well, because, I was stuck in my pleasant enough rut. I didn’t find something more pleasant until the old route was blocked.
Every new psalm takes me out of a rut. The idea here that the earth yields her increase, that bounty is something she naturally gives up, reminds me of those flowers I saw this morning.
1. God be merciful to us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon us.
2. That your way may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise you, O God. Let all the peoples praise you.
4. Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for you! For you shall judge the people righteously and govern the nations on earth.
5. Let the people praise you, O God. Let all the peoples praise you.
6. Then the earth shall yield her increase. God, our own God, shall bless us.
7. God shall bless us and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.
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We do it in our household whenever the whole family gets together. “Remember the time?” we ask ourselves. We retell old stories that we all know but we retell them so we can all enjoy the moments from our past again. The same thing happens when we tell stories about our faith. The psalms are always recalling the good old days – like when God turned the sea into dry land. We remember the time. Remember when we were refined by fire? Remember when things were hard for a while and how it all turned out all right?
It’s likely looking through the old family album of the faithful. God was with us back then. God will be with us now.
1. Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth!
2. Sing out the honor of his name. Make his praise glorious.
3. Say to God, “How awesome are your works! Through the greatness of your power your enemies shall submit themselves to you.
4. All the earth shall worship you and sing praises to you. They shall sing praises to your name.”
5. Come and see the works of God. He is awesome in his doing toward the sons of men.
6. He turned the sea into dry land. They went through the river on foot. There we will rejoice in him.
7. He rules by his power forever. His eyes observe the nations. Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves.
8. Oh, bless our God, you peoples. And make the voice of his praise to be heard.
9. Who keeps our soul among the living, and does not allow our feet to be moved.
10. For you, O God, have tested us. You have refined us as silver is refined.
11. You brought us into the net. You laid affliction on our backs.
12. You have caused men to ride over our heads. We went through fire and water, but you brought us out to rich fulfillment.
13. I will go into your house with burnt offerings. I will pay you my vows.
14. Which my lips have uttered and my mouth has spoken when I was in trouble.
15. I will offer you burnt sacrifices of fat animals with the sweet aroma of rams. I will offer bulls with goats.
16. Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will declare what he has done for my soul.
17. I cried to him with my mouth and he was extolled with my tongue.
18. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.
19. But certainly God has heard me. He has attended to the voice of my prayer.
20. Blessed be God who has not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me!
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I read this the morning after a thunderstorm raged through our corner of the city. I never cease to marvel how a summer thunderstorm can dump inches in one place and leave only a few sprinkles elsewhere. Our garden had been looking parched and the rain was indeed a blessing. But I was thinking of other parts of the world – and now far beyond the blessed place I live – that haven’t been so lucky.
So to think of God’s abundance was important. To remind myself that God isn’t as capricious as a summer storm. “You crown the year with your goodness and your paths drip with abundance.” What a wonderful reminder that is. It turns all of the outdoors into a pageant for the great Author of it all.
1. Praise is awaiting you, O God, in Zion, and to you the vow shall be performed.
2. O you who hear prayer, to you all flesh will come.
3. Iniquities prevail against me; as for our transgressions, you will provide atonement for them.
4. Blessed is the man you choose and cause to approach you, that he may dwell in your courts. We
shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, or your holy temple.
5. By awesome deeds in righteousness you will answer us, O God of our salvation. You who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of the far-off seas.
6 Who established the mountains by his strength, being clothed with power.
7. You who still the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the peoples.
8. They also who dwell in the farthest parts are afraid of your signs. You make the outgoings of the morning and evening rejoice.
9. You visit the earth and water it, you greatly enrich it. The river of God is full of water. You provide their grain, for so you have prepared it.
10. You water its ridges abundantly. You settle its furrows. You make it soft with showers, you bless its growth.
11. You crown the year with your goodness and your paths drip with abundance.
12. They drop on the pastures of the wilderness, and the little hills rejoice on every side.
13. The pastures are clothed with flocks. The valleys also are covered with grain. They shout for joy, they also sing.
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Psalm 64
Right at the start this psalm states the problem. It’s not the enemy that’s the big problem. It’s fear of the enemy. It’s fear that runs rampant and makes it so we can’t sleep at night.
But then there’s another fear here towards the end of the psalm that’s not so bad. Fear of the Lord. Fear of God. I’ve had people tell me that all fear is bad, and yes, they’re right. Maybe it’s easier to substitute some other idea. I’m in awe of God. I’m overwhelmed. I’m stunned by God. Like when you see somebody do something amazing and your jaw drops.
So put your fear in the right things.
1. Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer. Preserve my life from fear of the enemy.
2. Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked, from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity,
3. Who whet their tongue like a sword and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter
words,
4. That they may shoot in secret at the perfect – suddenly do they shoot at him and fear not.
5. They encourage themselves in an evil matter. They commune of laying snares privately, saying, “Who shall see them?”
6. They search out iniquities. They accomplish a diligent search, both the inward thought of every one of them and the heart is deep.
7. But God shall shoot at them with an arrow. Suddenly shall they be wounded.
8. So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves. All that see them shall flee away.
9. And all men shall fear and shall declare the work of God, for they shall wisely consider of his doing.
10. The righteous shall be glad in the Lord and shall trust in him and all the upright in heart shall glory.
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Psalm 63
I pray these psalms in the morning. In the afternoon I might look at them, but in the morning is when I do the crucial work. Looking at myself, listening to myself, listening for God, reading these words and thinking about them.
Does it have to be morning? Not necessarily. I know plenty of people who save their devotional time for evening. But here’s what I find about morning. I am fresh, but I’m also at loose ends. I need something to ground me. Something to set my course. “Early will I seek thee,” I say. I might continue the search all day long, but first things first. It’s like getting the day’s assignment right at the start. Not a moment to waste.
1. O God, thou art my God. Early will I seek thee. My soul thirsts for thee, my flesh longs for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.
2. To see thy power and thy glory so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.
3. Because thy loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.
4. Thus will I bless thee while I live. I will lift up my hands in thy name.
5. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips,
6. When I remember thee upon my bed and meditate on thee in the night watches.
7. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.
8. My soul follows hard after thee. Thy right hand upholds me.
9. But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.
10. They shall fall by the sword. They shall be a portion for the foxes.
11. But the king shall rejoice in God. Every one that swears by him shall glory, but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.
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Psalm 62
I become way too obsessed with the financial markets. Logging online, I quickly check which way stocks are going. Up? Down? Flat? If it’s early in the day, I wonder if they’ll recover. If it’s late, I wonder if there’s a new trend. Quite frankly I’m really only looking for the numbers to go up – as if they’re the perfect judge of how a day might have been. I want to think that the modest funds I’ve got in the market, all of them pledged to my retirement someday, have increased.
If the numbers go down, I try to rationalize it: things couldn’t be all that bad. But if the markets go up, I take real pleasure. I even congratulate myself, as if I had anything to do with it. The psalmist, writing long before there was the Dow or the S&P, knew just how I feel. That one line in this psalm speaks volumes to me: “If riches increase, set not your heart upon them.” It’s so easy to think that this temporary good fortune really counts.
1. Truly my soul waits upon God. From him comes my salvation.
2. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense, I shall not be greatly moved.
3. How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? Ye shall be slain all of you, as a bowing wall shall you be and as a tottering fence.
4. They only consult to cast him down from his excellence. They delight in lies. They bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly.
5. My soul, wait thou only upon God. For my expectation is from him.
6. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense, I shall not be moved.
7. In God is my salvation and my glory. The rock of my strength and my refuge is God.
8. Trust in him at all times, ye people, pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us.
9. Surely men of low degree are vanity and men of high degree are a lie. To be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.
10. Trust not in oppression and become not vain in robbery. If riches increase, set not your heart upon them.
11. God hath spoken once. Twice have I heard this: that power belongs unto God.
12. Also unto thee, O Lord, belongs mercy for thou renders to every man according to his work.
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Psalm 61
Nothing sets me back faster than a sleepless night. It’s usually not something big that gets the ball rolling – an appointment the next day, an email that has me worried, something someone said that didn’t seem to bother me in the light of day but then has me tossing and turning in bed.
After 45 minutes of this, when it didn’t look like it would stop, I remembered an old remedy: go through the prayer list. I thought of all the people I knew who needed prayer. I sent my restless mind wandering down office aisles, past church pews, through rooms at home, down those email addresses. I considered what I wished and held that thought. Lastly I went through my own worries.
I will tell you the truth: I didn’t fall asleep immediately, but at least I felt I wasn’t wasting time. From the end of the sleepless night, I urged God to listen.
1. Hear my cry, O God, attend unto my prayer.
2. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee. When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
3. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.
4. I will abide in thy tabernacle forever. I will trust in the cover of thy wings.
5. For thou, O God, hast heard my vows. Thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name.
6. Thou will prolong the king’s life and his years as many generations.
7. He shall abide before God forever. O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him.
8. So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever that I may daily perform my vows.
