Psalm 11 - When all seems lost

Psalm 11

David was under pressure. In fact he spent most of his life under pressure of various sorts. Sometimes it was his own fault, as after the Bathsheba incident, at others it was because of others such as Saul. At such times we can think that retreating into “safety”, it can seem as if we are defeated. David is reacting to such a situation. Circumstances tell us to “Flee like a bird to our mountain”, “what can the righteous do?” Then David reminds himself of who the Lord is. The Lord is in His temple, He observes everything, He is not unaware of our situation, and HE hates the violent and the wicked. The Lord will take action. We need to listen to the Lord, not to the voices (even from within ourselves) telling us we are defeated and that our situation is hopeless.

Psalm 10 - When the Lord seems far off

Psalm 10

There are times when God seems to be far off, to be oblivious to our situation, and doing nothing about it. David wrote this psalm in one of those times The wicked seemed to be abounding,  hunting down the weak. The wicked were doing well having no regard for the Lord, boastful in his success.

He was full of lies, waiting for more people to trap. He thinks he cannot be seen by God.

David calls upon the Lord to rise up and do something about the situation. He is convinced that God does see the afflicted, and that “the Lord is king for ever and ever”. Even when things seem dark and God seems to be far off we should still call upon the Lord and trust in Him.

Psalm 9 - The Lord reigns forever

Psalm 9

The psalm is a psalm of praise.The introduction has “to the tune of “The death of the Son”, it does not indicate whether David has just suffered loss, whatever the case, David responds by praising the Lord. David declares that He will give thanks to the Lord, with his whole heart, and tell of God’s wonderful deeds. He will rejoice in the Lord and sing praises to Him. This is what we should always do. Sometimes it will be very difficult to do so, but we should persist.

Things can seem bad, but God has never forgotten us, So in v3 David says his enemies turn back, stumble and perish. God has upheld his cause, God has brought forth justice, He has taken action.

“The Lord reigns forever, evil does not reign forever, our enemies do not reign forever. God is a refuge for His people, so we should seek him out when it is all so difficult.

V13 makes it clear that David is fully aware of the difficulties, yet still calls upon the Lord. He calls on the Lord to act. We should follow the line that David takes.

Psalm 8 - How majestic is your name!

Psalm 8

Gittith is another musical term. As is quite common in the psalms, David sees the glory of God in creation. We should all dwell on the wonder of creation, seeing the glory of God reflected in it. Likewise, in science we can see the glory of God. Problems arise if we start worshipping creation itself, as humans are prone to do. Many are keen to write God out of the picture, an equally foolish approach is to denigrate all science. God has set His glory in the heavens. Children and infants can sometimes be wiser than the so-called sages of an age. The universe is vast, yet God has still given man a special place. David is amazed at this. Why are we so special? It is simply because God has decided that it is so, he chose us, and He cares for us. He has “crowned us with glory and honour”. Our importance comes from God, and when we try to detach ourselves from God we lose our place of glory and honour. It is when we get back in right relationship with God that we find our true place in life. God made us rulers over creation (Gen 1:26).  The fundamental fact of the universe is not evolution, but that the Lord’s name is majestic in all the earth.

Psalm 7 - How to react when others work against us

Psalm 7

Shiggaion is probably a musical term, this is its only occurrence in the Bible. Cush was a

Benjamite, and hence probably a supporter of Saul and so working against David.

There will sometimes be those who are working against us. In this Psalm we see

how David responds, and he does so by seeking refuge in the Lord, and calls on

the Lord to “save and deliver” him. If God does not do so, the danger is real, he

could be torn and ripped apart.

David was being accused of all sorts of things, but he was innocent in this matter.

We are saved by grace, by God’s mercy and forgiveness, even so it is better

if we obey the Lord. David seems to rely on his innocence in this matter.

Living a righteous life gives us a certain strength,

but we must not rely on self-righteousness, there is a difficult balance

to hold here.David calls on the Lord to act. We worship the

God who acts. We often look at situations as if the Lord will

do nothing, the God of the Bible is not a do-nothing God. God is our shield

“who displays His wrath everyday”. We should seek to live righteous lives (which

we can only do with the help of the Holy Spirit). Then we will see the deliverance

of the Lord, and give praise to Him.

Psalm 6 - the unfailing love of the Lord

Psalm 6

It seems that David knew he had done something wrong, something against the Lord, though we are given no indication of what. Whatever the details David asks the Lord not to rebuke him in His anger, but instead to have mercy on Him. We are all reliant upon the Lord treating us with mercy, David was not feeling good, he felt faint, and his bones were in agony. Moreover his soul was in anguish. Many of us go through times of feeling terrible, there is nothing unusual about this. We, like David, may wonder “how long?” David calls upon the Lord to deliver him on the basis of His “unfailing love”. He reminds God that the dead do not praise Him. We are more likely to praise the Lord when we are well than we are under pressure.

David was having a very difficult time, but he knew that the Lord had heard him and would answer his prayers. It is his enemies who would be put to shame. The unfailing love of the Lord is our strength and security.

Psalm 5 - The right side of God

For some reason David is experiencing hard times, so he has written a lament. Most of God’s people in the Bible experienced hard times. David called upon the Lord for  help, and acknowledged the Lord as his king and his God. He knew that the Lord was the One who ultimately determined the course of his life.

David made his requests known to God at the start of  the day. He knew that God stood for righteousness. So the arrogant people who opposed David were also on the wrong side of God. Today people talk about being on the wrong side of history, being on the wrong side of God is a far more serious place to be in. So when the unrighteous oppose us we need not fear.

David asks the Lord to lead him in His righteousness. The unrighteous are full of evil and deceit, but those who take refuge in the Lord can be glad and full of joy. The Lord is a shield around us.