Psalm 67 - May all the peoples praise you

Psalm 67

Again we are not told who wrote this psalm, and it seems to be a fairly straightforward psalm of praise. It begins by calling on God to bless them so that His ways may be known earth, and His salvation among all nations. 

The goal is that all the peoples will praise the Lord, and that all the nations be glad. Then the land will yield its harvest. If man had obeyed God, and not rebelled against Him then all would have been well. And the wisest thing that mankind could do is to repent and turn to God. In the meantime God’s people are meant to be an example of what living under God’s lordship means, and the blessings that it brings

Psalm 66 - shout for joy to God!

Psalm 66

We are not told who wrote this psalm,nor the occasion. However, it is a call to praise the Lord. Praising the Lord is what we were created for. When we praise Him we are doing what we were designed for. Say to God how awesome are your deeds! Our God is a God who acts, and He defeats His enemies, so that they cringe before Him.

“Come and see what God has done, His awesome deeds for mankind!”. God acts on man’s behalf, his greatest acts in this regard are His creation of us in the first place, and then sending His Son to redeem us. And He rules by His power.

The psalm calls on all peoples to praise the Lord God disciplines His people, but only to refine us. They were oppressed for a time, but then He brings them into a place of abundance. So the psalmist will come to the temple to make offerings to the Lord. He had been rescued by the Lord.

Psalm 65 - You who answer prayer

Psalm 65

For once David doesn’t seem to be in trouble, in fact this is more David reflecting on things after God has delivered him. God is referred to as “you who answer prayer”, indeed this is a fundamental feature of God and his relationship to His people, He hears our prayers and answers them. And praise awaits God in Zion. And to Him all people will come. We are filled with the good things of His house. 

God answers us with awesome and righteous deeds. He is the hope of all the ends of the earth. His goodness will spread throughout the earth. He is armed with strength and stilled the roaring of the waves, remember that Jesus calmed the storm.

God cares for the land. God is lord of all

Psalm 64 - Protect my life

Psalm 64

The psalm starts with David saying he wants God to hear his complaint, but then seems to be a fairly normal prayer psalm. Even so we should recognise that God seems quite happy for his people to complain directly to him, the problem arises when people complain to others about God. Examples of people complaining to God, include some of the psalms, Job, parts of Jeremiah and Moses.

David asks God to protect his life from the threat of the enemy., and the conspiracy of the wicked, and the plots of evildoers. David then describes the ways of the evildoers. They encourage each other in evil plans and think they have devised a perfect plan, but they have not taken account of God who will shoot them down. The wicked will be defeated, then the righteous will rejoice in the Lord.

Psalm 63 - When God seems to be far off

Psalm 63

David was in a desert, hence his use of thirsting metaphors. He earnestly sought the Lord, yet He seemed to be nowhere to be found. There had been times when David had seen the Lord and knew of his presence. He praised the Lord because he knew of God’s love. Though now God seemed to be far off David would still praise the Lord. We should praise the Lord, even when we don’t feel like it.

David thought about the Lord even on his bed. He clung to God. He knew his enemies would be defeated.

So what we see in this psalm is David praising God and trusting in Him even when his feelings are not cooperating.

Psalm 62 - Trust in God

Psalm 62

The psalm was for Jeduthun. He was one of David’ musicians, and this was one of three psalms assigned to him. David wants Jeduthun to learn from him. First, his soul finds rest in God, and salvation comes from him. Whatever the situation we are facing, we need to look for God. What do we want most? We want peace of mind, and we want the situation to be resolved, both of these come from God. He is our salvation and our fortress.

David then speaks to those assaulting him. He admits that he is a “tottering fence”, and his enemies intended to topple him. Even so, he instructs his soul to find rest in God. His salvation and honour depend upon God. We are to trust in Him at all times., He is our refuge.

We are not to fear men, and must not rely on extortion. Power and unfailing love belong to God, so if we put our trust in Him, how can we lose?

Psalm 61 - The rock which is higher than I

Psalm 61

David is, as always, calling upon the Lord. This time  he calls from a state of weakness, he is calling from the ends of the earth and his heart grows faint. “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” Even when all our strength is gone, there is still hope.For there is one who is higher than us, and David had known times in the past when God had been his refuge, and had been a strong tower.

So there are two things that we can learn. One is that we should dwell upon the times when we have known God’s help, the other is that we are not limited by the extent of our own resources, but by God’s resources,which are unlimited. We should stand upon the lord.

David longed to dwell in the Lord’s tent, we need to know the presence of the Lord. David calls upon God to increase the years of his life. When he knew the reality of the presence of the Lord he would sing God’s praises, and fulfil his vows to the Lord.