Psalm 70
David calling on God for help. His enemies wanted to take his life, they sought his ruin. Our enemies have evil plans regarding us, but God can protect us.
David admits that he is "poor and needy”, and knows that the Lord is his help and deliverer. We can go through all sorts of situations, and experience all sorts of emotions and thoughts, but God is our saviour in all circumstances. He is able.
Psalm 69
We are back to a psalm where David is in trouble. He thinks he is in a desperate situation and is losing control. He has been calling out for some time, but there is no answer, and his enemies are increasing in number. He is also being treated unjustly, being forced to restore what he did not steal. He is also aware of his own folly and guilt, and his number one concern is that those who hope in the lord are not disgraced because of him.\v9 was quoted in the gospels when Jesus cleared the temple. David is suffering for the sake of the Lord.
Despite all the negatives, David still prays to the Lord, and believes that God will answer and will rescue him. He relies on God's great love and mercy. V21 reminds us of the crucifixion He wants God to pour out His wrath on his enemies. God’s wrath is not a senseless out of control rage, but considered, righteous judgement on sin.
Psalm 68
This time we are told that this is a psalm of David.
The psalm begins with David calling on God to arise and to defeat His enemies. Often it seem as if God is doing nothing, but the righteous would be glad and would rejoice if God would defeat his enemies.
David then calls on us to sing to God, to extol Him, and describes some of God’s virtues, He is a father to the fatherless and a defender of widows.
\When \god goes out before \his people they are victorious. Towards the end of the psalm David seems assured that God will indeed arise and defeat his enemies.
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
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
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
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.
