Friday 30 May 2014

PSALM 88 Nightprayer

Psalm 88:1-2 NRSV
O LORD, God of my salvation,
When, at night I cry out in your presence,
let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my cry.

"incline your ear" suggests a child whispering to a parent,
as in a personal relationship.
In Psalm 88, the address "O LORD, God of My salvation"
really implies reverence and awe.
"I cry out in your presence" suggests that the psalmist
is experiencing an awareness of the divine presence.

Psalm 88:13 NRSV
But I, O LORD, cry out to you
in the morning my prayer comes before you.

The words "cry out before you", imply a most earnest,
heartfelt, reaching out to God in prayer.

People who have prayed through the darkness of war
have been glad to give thanks for the daylight of peace.
The  overnight prayer of anguish can become prayer of relief
in the morning, but that is not always the way.
If we listen we will hear our Lord speak peace into the new day.
.

Wednesday 28 May 2014

PSALM 86:11 Fear Thy Name

Psalm 86:11 ESV  Teach me your way, O LORD,
           that I may walk in your truth:
           unite my heart to fear your name.

Psalm 86:11  Coverdale Psalter
Teach me thy way, O Lord, and I will walk in truth:
O knit my heart unto thee, that I may fear thy name.

When we pray Ps86:11 ,in our heart we might be praying
that our heart may be more united with the heart of Jesus.
and that our will be more in harmony with the will of our Father.
We need to receive the teaching of God's word in scripture
We also need to be taught by the Holy Spirit so that we may
discern both God's will and our Duty in every circumstance.

On swearing the oath in court , Almighty God is addressed.
and in His presence people will speak having sworn to speak
only the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Our own experience shows that in reverence and awe
we are more aware of the Lord's presence.
So we can echo the psalmist's prayer
           "Unite my heart to fear thy Name"

Tuesday 27 May 2014

PSALM 85 God will speak

When we are spoken to;-  information is conveyed
                                         and feelings are expressed!
And we hear because we are listening.
Psalm 85:8 ESV
Let me hear what God the LORD will speak
     for he will speak peace to his people........
God the LORD will speak peace into our lives
and through us into our communities.
They will know we are Christians by our love.
Psalm 85:10 ESV
Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;
     righteousness and peace kiss each other.
Families prosper where love and faithfulness meet.
Psalm 85:12 ESV
Yes, the LORD will give what is good,
    and our land will yield it's increase.
We will prosper in the peace of the LORD.
Lands have a chance to prosper in times of peace.
Communities and families of love and faithfulness
prosper in righteousness and peace.

Let us pray that all men may hear what God will speak.
                                         

Monday 26 May 2014

PSALM 84 Living in the Love of God

Psalm 84:1-2 ESV
How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts!
My soul longs,yes, faints for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.

The psalmist knows and appreciates the presence of God.
His soul longs and faints....and his heart and flesh sing for joy!
So he is talking about something much more than an academic
understanding.
Also there is no cerebral heartless dogma crushing his spirit.
In expressing his feelings, what he is sharing with the reader
is his own genuine experience of living in the love of God.

Psalm 84:3 ESV
Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars , O LORD of hosts,
my King and my God.

The love which motivates two people to want to be together in marriage,
 is closely related to the love which unites the three persons of the Trinity.
A family in the love of the Trinity is a biological reality, encompassed by
social cohesion in a union which involves  attraction and commitment.
This family is an entity in the community which forms the body of Christ.

Psalm 84:4 ESV
Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever singing your praise!

Joshua 24:15 KJV
.......as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Psalm 84:5  ESV
Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.

Psalm 84:12 ESV
O Lord of hosts,
blessed is the one who trusts in you !

The gentle presence of God enfolds us,
and always has enfolded us.
But now may we be drawn more and more
into loving awareness of  dwelling in  Your presence,
to be more consciously  trusting in You
and more and more may we find our strength in You.

Psalm 84:10 ESV
For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the 
house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
                                                               AMEN.

Tuesday 20 May 2014

PSALM 83 Awareness

God's people can tell when things are not right.
Others don't even notice.
In Psalm 83, the psalmist expresses heart felt prayer
because he is aware that forces are attempting to undermine all that is good.
Psalm 83:1-4  NIV
O God, do not keep silent, be not quiet, O God, be not still.
See how your enemies are astir, how your foes rear their heads.
With cunning they conspire against your people;
they plot against those you cherish.
"Come," they say,"let us destroy them as a nation
that the name of Israel be remembered no more."

Governments in the West have reduced restrictions on the sale of alcohol .
They have permitted "social use" of drugs.
They have reduced restrictions on gambling .
They have enacted legislation which has led to the breakdown of the family
and damaged the institution of marriage while  increasing adultery and divorce.
      People of ill intent , in politics and in the media
      mock all that is wholesome and decent.
      They conspire to discredit good people and good organisations .
Those in authority have permitted false religions to flourish
while Christian institutions have been undermined by
"politically correct" --anti Christian regulations.
     True Christians are aware just how far the media has gone
to undermine everything clean and decent .
Yet others don't seem to notice how Un-Christian the media has become.
      This psalm underscores the need, to-day, for Christians
to live reflected, contemplative lives and to be guided by the Spirit of God
to be aware and to pray. The psalmist did so.
He prays that God will act against the wicked;-
in urgent defense  of God's people,
and to cause the wicked to reform their behaviour .

Psalm 83:16-17 ESV
Fill their faces with shame;
    that they may seek your name, O LORD.
Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever;
    let them perish in disgrace,
that they may know that you alone,
    whose name is the LORD,
    are the Most High over all the earth.

The wicked hate God
Psalm 83:2 ESV
For behold, your enemies make an uproar;
those who hate you raise their heads.

The wicked hate his people
Psalm 34:21 ESV
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned

While many worldly folk have no interest in God, it is self
evident that those who actually hate God and hate the righteous
are not guided by the Holy Spirit. They live in a darker dynamic
They persecute and oppress God's people, imprisoning Christians
taking hostages and abducting the righteous, bombing churches
and killing believers
Believers who practice Christian discernment are aware that
hatred of God and the people of God,
is indicative of  those who have chosen evil ways.


Monday 19 May 2014

PSALM 82:3-4

Psalm 82:3-4 NIV
Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless
     maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed
Rescue the weak and the needy;
     deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

Since Christ lives within us
we identify with the afflicted in a Christlike way.
                                                           see Romans 8:10

Since we are guided by the Spirit of God
we can , in love, do the best for people
according to their need.                        see Romans 8:14

Since we are strengthened with power through His Spirit
in the inner man, we are able to share the love of Christ
in deed and word.
                                                            see  Ephesians 3:14-19
Just as we recognize Christ in the hungry
the housebound, the weak and the needy,
we become Christ to the needy and afflicted
when our own lifestyle fulfills all we are called to in Psalm 82:3-4

In the Spirit,
contemplatives become social workers
and social workers become contemplative.

Saturday 17 May 2014

PSALM 82 Sons of the Most High

We realize our spiritual potential to the measure in which
we are raised towards God and united with Him.
No one can become God.
Yet because Jesus Christ is God Incarnate,
our motivation to aspire to the divine nature is a possibility .
Our new life in Christ causes a recreation of our nature.
It is a work of the Spirit which requires our lifetime's cooperation.

Psalm 82:1 & 6 NIV
1    God presides in the great assembly
              he gives judgment among the "gods"
6    I said, " You are gods
              you are all sons of the Most High.

Being "born of God" makes us "sons of the Most High"

Galatians 3:26  NIV
You are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Matthew 23:9 KJV
call no man father upon earth
one is your Father which is in heaven.

Galatians 4:6 KJV 
    God hath sent forth the Spirit  of his Son into your hearts.

Romans 8:14 NJB
    All who are guided by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Romans 8:14 NRSV
    For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

Romans 8:10 NLB
    Since Christ lives within you, even though your body will die
    the Spirit will bring you to eternal life.

Ephesians 3:14-19 NASB
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
from whom every family in heaven and on the earth derives its name,
that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory,
to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;
and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
may be able to comprehend with all the saints
what is the length and the height and the depth,
and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge,
that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 4:4-6 NKJV
4   There is one body and one Spirit,
     just as you were called in one hope of your calling
5   one Lord, and one faith, one baptism;
6   one God and Father of all, who is above all
    and through all , and in you all.

"God within us" # "The indwelling presence"# "The sons of the Most High"#

Friday 16 May 2014

PSALM 81 God Our Strength

Every time we tell what the Lord has done for us
we remember His power.
Every time we sing of  "God our Strength"
we remember His strength.
Psalm 28:7  NIV
     The LORD is my strength and my shield;
     my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
     My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.

Psalm 29:11  NIV
     The LORD gives strength to his people with peace.

Psalm 59:17 NIV
     You are my strength, I sing praise to you;
     You are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely.

Psalm 73:26 NIV
     My flesh and my heart may fail , but God is the strength
     of my heart and my portion forever .

Psalm 81: 1  NIV
     Sing for joy to God our strength.

Wednesday 14 May 2014

PSALM 80 Voice of the Martyrs

Psalm 80 verse 4     addresses the LORD God of Hosts
" how long ? "         is the cry of the martyr.
The voice of the individual suffering righteous person
who cries out to God.
The suffering of the martyr is a life poured out in sacrifice.
The suffering of an individual person is a kind of participation
in the shed blood of the Lamb.
"the outpoured blood of your servants" (Psalm 79:10)
 is the blood of the martyrs.
"Suffering servants" are Christlike and a witness to the world.
MARTYRDOM
Psalm 44:22 KJV
   Yea, for thy sake are we killed all day long;
   we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.

Down the centuries, the wicked have chosen to display
the loveless evil of false religion
by burning churches and killing God's people.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday 13 May 2014

PALM 80 Life in the Trinity

The psalmists cry "Restore us" (psalm 80:19) indicates the psalmists awareness
of the personal and corporate need for continuing conversion
and continual spiritual renewal.
That is continual help by the Spirit to develop gracious selfless lives.
In psalm 78:52 the psalmist indicates that he is aware of the need to be
"guided through" by the Spirit of God.

The person who lives dynamically his love for God the Father,
The person who chooses to be led by the Holy Spirit,
The person who sees all men with the eyes of Christ,
The person whose speech and action exudes the love of Christ,
lives in the dynamic of the Holy Trinity.

Psalm 80:17 NIV
Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand
the  son of man you have raised up for yourself.

Reference is made here to the" Son of Man" who we recognize
as our Lord  Jesus who God raised up and now sits
at the right hand of God the Father.
We have life in the Trinity.
The psalmist has life in the Trinity.

PSALM 79 God for us

Psalms 78,79 and 80 reveal something of the nature of God.
God is our Deliverer and Saviour , physically and spiritually.
Psalm 79:9 NIV
Help us, O God our Saviour
   for the glory of your name
deliver us and forgive our sins
   for your name's sake.

According to the faith of the psalmist,
God helps us, saves us, delivers us and forgives us!
God also restores us!

Psalm 80:19 NIV
Restore us , O Lord God Almighty

Psalm 80: 1 NIV
....you who sit enthroned between the cherubims,
shine forth.

God who is enthroned between the cherubims
is also God with us.
Mat 28:20 I am with you always to the end of the age.

PSALM 78 To whom we turn

The God, before whom we walk and to whom we turn in prayer
is described by the psalmist in Psalms 78, 79 and 80.
The God who leads and guides us is always active.

Psalm 78:52 NLT  he led his own people like a flock of sheep
                     guiding them safely through the wilderness.

Psalm 78:24 NASB  He rained down manna upon them to eat
                     And gave them food from heaven.
HE IS THE GOD WHO PROVIDES

Psalm 78:38 KJV  But he, being full of compassion,
                               forgave their iniquity.
That is our God--FULL OF COMPASSION.
THE GOD WHO FORGIVES IS OUR TEACHER
AND  HE WANTS US TO LISTEN TO HIM.
Psalm 78:1 ESV  Give ear, O my people, to my teaching:
                             incline your ears to the words of my mouth!

The God to whom we turn, before whom we walk
is actively our shepherd, leading and guiding us.
He provides for us. He is full of compassion and He forgives us.
He is our teacher and calls us to listen to him.

Tuesday 6 May 2014

PSALM 78 Joy of the angels

Psalm 78 has 72 verses in which God's people are addressed,
given God's teaching and given responsibility to
"tell the coming generation" (Psalm 78:42)
People need to know what God has done for them
in order to convince succeeding generations.
It is not good enough for the next generation
to be " left to it ".
We give our personal testimony of what God has done for us
and in doing so, we remember His power. (Psalm 78:42 )
Neither should we forget that "God is our Rock and that
God Most High is our Redeemer  (Psalm 78:35)

With all this constantly in mind.......
With all this in our heart as well as in our head.......
With all the aids to discernment we receive
     from spiritual reading and contemplation.......
With all the comfort, support and inspiration
     we find in prayer......
We share the joy of the angels
over each fellow creature drawn to God..

Sunday 4 May 2014

PSALM 78 Remember You are Redeemed

We can be redeemed from self indulgence, self-centredness
and all sorts of self induced strife.
2nd Corinthians 5:17-19 NIV
.....if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation,
the old has gone, the new has come.

Psalm 78:35 NIV
They remembered that God was their Rock
and that God most High was their redeemer.
 Some failed to remember .
Psalm 78:42
They did not remember his power
the day he redeemed them from the oppressor.
 The consequences of forgetting God's Power
forgetting that God Most High is our redeemer
is given in;-
Psalm 81:12 NIV
So I gave them over to their stubborn  hearts
to follow their own devices.
We remember that God is our Rock
and that God Most High is our Redeemer.



PSALM 77 You are Redeemed

Psalm 77:15 NIV
With your mighty arm you redeemed your people

Psalm 77:20 NIV
You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Psalm 78:70-72 NIV
He chose David his servant
and took him from the sheep pens;
from tending sheep he brought him
to be the shepherd of his people Jacob,
of Israel his inheritance.
And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;
with skillful hands he led them.

Isaiah 44:22 NIV
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you:
I have summoned you by name: you are mine.

Isaiah 44:22 NIV  I have swept away your offences like a cloud,
your sins like the morning mist.
Return to me, for I have redeemed you.

PSALM 76:9 Lifestyle of the blessed

Psalm 76:9
NLT  You stand up to judge those who do evil, O God.
          and to rescue the oppressed of the earth.

NIV  when you, O God, rose up to judge
         to save all the afflicted of the land.

NASB    When God arose to judgement
               to save all the humble of the earth.

When we allow the words of the psalms to influence our thoughts
we are disposed to make better choices .

Psalm 1:1  Blessed is the man who does not walk in the
                  counsel of the wicked.

Psalm 128:1  Blessed are all who fear the LORD,
                       who walk in his ways.

Psalm 41:1  Blessed is he who has regard for the weak. 

We can choose the lifestyle that is pronounced blessed
and adopt the lifestyle of the blessed.........
rescue the oppressed , save the afflicted,  save the humble,
fear the LORD, have regard for the weak.