Psalm 4 - peace under trial

Psalm 4

This was a psalm of David, and may have been written while his kingship was being slandered. So David feels in distress, and his response is to call upon the Lord. The kingship was his glory, but there were those who were turning it into shame. These people preferred delusions and false gods. David was the Lord’s chosen servant, and the Lord back his servants, and hears David when he calls upon Him. We too can be confident in the Lord.

The people were plotting sin, instead they should tremble before the Lord. What sorts of thoughts do we have when lying on our beds? We should offer the sacrifices of the righteous, we should humble ourselves before the Lord and seek his purposes.

David asks the Lord to bring prosperity upon the land and to fill his heart with joy. When we are under pressure we do not normally feel joy, but we should ask the Lord for joy, joy is part of the fruit of the spirit. Neither do we feel peace, but again, we should ask for peace. Our prayers should be guided by what the Holy Spirit can give, not by what we think we can achieve.

Psalm 3 - Our deliverer

Psalm 3

As the text indicates David wrote this psalm when he fled from his son, Absalom. THis happened as after his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah. God was judging him, so the taunts of the enemy  that God would not deliver Him would be all the more poignant. Even so David still had faith in God, God was still a shield around him. Go answered his prayers from his holy mountain. The Lord was still His strength and His protector. For all of us there are times when we are acutely aware of our failings, our sinfulness, even in those times God is still our saviour. This is not to belittle our sins in any way, but we must still trust in the Lord, He is our only hope. When Jesus told Peter that despite his protestations he would deny Jesus, Jesus also said He had prayed for Peter that his faith would not fail (Lk 21: 31,32).

So even in this situation, David prays for help from The Lord and knows that deliverance comes from Him.

Psalm 2 - serve the Lord

Psalm 2

This Psalm talks about the futility of man raging against God. Men (and women) of all sorts often present themselves as superior to God, knowing better than Him. We should not fear when this happens. The psalmist begins by asking why do the nations conspire, they are plotting in vain. The rulers of the earth rise up both against the Lord, and His anointed (i.e. against Jesus). They see God as imposing unnecessary and unwanted restrictions on us. So they seek to break free of the supposed shackles.

However, God is enthroned in heaven and merely laughs at their futile efforts. He rebukes them, and terrifies them in His wrath. Why? Because His ways are actually good for us, and going against them harms us and others. God has installed Jesus as Lord of All. The Lord has made the nations His inheritance, Jesus will break them with a rod of iron.

So anyone who is wise, whether kings or ordinary mortals, should humble themselves before the Lord, and chose to serve Him. We can either become objects of wrath, or recipients of blessing.

Psalm 1 - follow the Lord

Psalm 1

\as well as expressing feelings. Praising God, and calling out for help, the Psalms also give instruction, and this psalm is a prime example.The Psalm reminds us that it is wiser and better to walk in the ways of the Lord, than to follow the ways of the wicked. This was something that Israel repeatedly forgot to do. The one who shuns the ways of the wicked is the one who is blessed, Parallelism is a common feature of Hebrew poetry, with an idea being repeated. We have an example here in v 1. We are not to follow the ways of the wicked, and this means not standing in the way of dinners, nor sitting in the company of  mockers.Sinners are, by definition, fools, so it makes sense to avoid standing in their place. Mockers have no regard for the ways of the Lords, so we should not keep company with them. 

Instead we should delight in the law of the Lord. We should meditate on His Law, not on the ramblings of the wicker or of mockers. If we do this we ill be like a tree planted by streams of water, we will receive sustenance and refreshment. If we are in a difficult situation right now, but turn to God we can be confident that we will receive strength. Success lies in following the Lord.

The wicked may seem OK for a time, but they are like chaff, they will not stand in the judgement. It is axiomatic in the Bible that all things will eventually be brought under judgement.

Conversely the Lord watches over the way of the righteous. Right now the Lord is watching over us, we are always in His care, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Psalms - Introduction

Psalms - Introduction

 The Psalms are many people’s favourite part of the Old Testament. Many, but not all, were written by David, 73 are attributed to David, Psalm 90 is attributed to Moses, and others are credited to various temple musicians. They cover a wide range of emotions, Some are pure praise, others deal with David in various situations he encountered as recorded in the Old Testament. The psalms are split into five “books”, and they formed an important part of Israel's worship. The five books are:

Book 1 - 1-41

Book 2 - 42-72

Book 3 - 73-89

Book 4 - 90-106

Book 5 - 107-150

It is worth noting that the New Testament makes use of the psalms, including two of the most “theological” books, Romans and Hebrews. God teaches us through a combination of His word and our experiences. When we are going through testing times I find it helpful to let the psalms correct my thinking, for in the midst of difficultues we often have a number of wrong thoughts, we forget who God is and His promises to us.

3 John 11-15 - Closing remarks

3:11,12

What we do matters, we should not do evil but good. So anyone who promotes what is evil has not seen God. It may be that in John’s day some of the false teachers were actually claiming to have seen God, but anyone who promotes what is evil clearly does not know God at all.  These false teachers may even denigrate those who hold to the truth. WE can see both these factors playing out in regard to the issue of sexual morality. John then positively promotes Demetrius. We should commend those who faithfully speak and teach the truth.

3:13-15

As at the end of 2 John, John says he has much more to say, but wants to see them face to face. He closes with a friendly greeting.

3 John 1:5-10 - Pointing out error

3:5-8

John encourages Gaius that what he is doing is helping the brothers and sisters. Moreover the brothers and sisters were appreciative of his efforts and were reporting how helpful he was being. Gaius is encouraged to continue to treat them well. These brothers and sisters were going “for the sake of the Name. In the previous letter John had warned about not helping those who were opposed to the gospel, conversely it was important to help those who were for the gospel.

3:9,10

Now there comes a warning about a church leader, Diotrephes. This man was all about self promotion and was even opposing John. We should honour church leaders, but there is also a time to point out clear errors and wrong behaviour. Moreover Diotrophes was spreading malicious rumours about John. Thus man was a clear destructive influence.