Psalm 117 - The Lord is faithful

Well this is the shortest psalm in the Bible, and in a couple of psalms time we will have the longest.

All nations are to praise the Lord. The world speaks as if all religions are the same, as if each person can choose for themselves what to believe or not believe. Well it is true that each person can and does choose, but some make better choices than others! 

The truth is that there is only one God who created the whole universe, seen and unseen. It does not actually make any sense to worship anything else.

So all peoples are called upon to worship and extol the Lord. Now today's society gets all hot under the collar about this, but it really shouldn't. One of the recurrent themes in the New Testament is that there is no distinction, and that God does not show favouritism. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are saved by faith in Christ (Rom 3:23). The gospel is not saying Christians are right and Muslims or Hindus or Atheists are wrong. It is saying that all of us need to come to Christ. It is not Christians who are right, it is Christ who is right.

See what verse 2 says, "For great is His steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever". The call is for all people to come to Christ to be adopted as children into His family. Muslims are not the enemy, atheists are not the enemy. Jesus died and rose again for all people, He desires that all people come to Him in faith and so are saved.

Psalm 116 - The Lord is Good

Many of the psalms begin with the psalmist calling to the Lord out of his distress. In this one he is calling after being rescued by the Lord out of his distress. 

He loves the Lord because God heard his cry for mercy. There is nothing at all wrong with loving the Lord for what He has done for us. Indeed it is perfectly right and proper to do so. The psalmist learnt from the incident, so he dedicated his whole life to the Lord. 

He had been overwhelmed by circumstances, his very life in danger. Then he called upon the name of the Lord.

The Lord is gracious and righteous, He protects the unwary. We can become obsessed with what might go wrong in life. Indeed society encourages us to be like this. We are told to take out insurance for this that and the other, then there are programmes on various health scares, then another one on how people can steal your identity, and how various companies can defraud you, next how you are going to lose your job next year. And so it goes on. Now we absolutely should be prudent and careful, and there is nothing wrong with insurance. But we cannot cater for every eventuality, we cannot foresee all the things that might or will happen (in fact you will end up fearing lots of things that will never happen). Our source of security is the Lord. He protects us.

Our soul will only find rest in the Lord, not in insurance policies or whatever.

And the Lord rescues us so that we can walk in the land of the living, so that we can live as God's people in this world.

So how do we respond to the Lord? We lift up a cup of thanksgiving to Him, we fulfill our vows to the Lord. We live a life of obedience and service to the Lord.

Psalm 115 - Not an idol

This Psalm contrasts the nations and the nation that belongs to God. The Psalm starts off with the call that it is God's name that should be glorified. Nations, churches and individuals go wrong when we seek glory for ourselves. The psalmist appeals to the steadfast love and faithfulness of the Lord. These two aspects of His character should be bedrocks of our lives. Whatever our circumstances, we can rely on God's love and His faithfulness.

The nations mocked Israel, saying where is her God. They had idols of silver and gold and boasted that their idols would give them victory. But these idols were just hunks of metal, unable to speak, see or hear. Those who make them become like them. Today people still mock God. Atheists delight in the supposed purposelessness and meaninglessness of the universe. Just as in David's day, those who worship the idols of atheism will become like them, having no purpose or meaning.

Then the psalmist calls upon Israel to trust in the Lord. He is our help and shield. It can be tempting to turn to other things, to think that God will not help. We need to resist this temptation.

The Lord will bless those who fear Him, those who turn to Him and trust Him.

The whole universe belongs to God, and He will make us prosper, and we will praise His name.

Psalm 114 - The Lord and His People

This is a great psalm. It talks about what happened when Israel came out of Egypt. I would like to draw some parallels between this and what happens when we get saved. Israel was set free from slavery. It talks about "a people of strange language". Egypt was a place they did not belong. Likewise we were never meant to live as people separated from God. When we came to Jesus we came home.

Then Israel became God's dwelling place, the holy place where He lives. Paul talks of us being temples of the Holy Spirit. Israel also became His dominion. We become the place where God's rule exists and then extends from us to the world around us. This was the way things were meant to be with Israel. She was meant to be an example to the nations around her.

Then see what happened. The Jordan fled and turned back. This is a reference to Israel entering the promised land through the Jordan. The presence of the Lord opens up a way for us. Nature itself obeys the Lord. This was demonstrated most vividly when Jesus commanded the waves to be still.

Psalm113 - Praise the Lord

We are now into a season of psalms where praise is the dominant theme, rather than calling for help.

We are to praise the Name of the Lord, that means praising His character, His nature. And this is to happen at all times. It is never a mistake to praise the Lord.

The Lord is exalted above all natural power (above the heavens) and above all human power ( the nations).

God is far above all things and sees them exactly as they are. We have a blinkered and restricted view of what is going on. When we are in circumstances that frighten or intimidate us we need to remind ourselves that we do not see everything, but our God sees all things, including how He is going to rescue us.

Our God is a God who transforms peoples lives, He lift us up to places which could not reach, and gives joy we could never know. Praise the Lord.

Psalm 112 - True Prosperity

This psalm describes the character and the benefits of the man or woman of God.

The man who fears the Lord is a blessed man,  and this blessedness shows itself in all sorts of practical ways.

If you are a regular reader of this blog you will know that I am critical of some aspects of so-called prosperity teaching. However, I do believe in Biblical prosperity. This psalm makes it clear that God is interested in our material well being, and there is nothing wrong with being financially blessed. We must never make money our goal , 1 Timothy 6:9 contains a serious warning on this. The condition of our heart is what counts

"Even in darkness ...". We are not ruled by the circumstances, we can triumph at all times. So what do we do when times are tough? We react with grace, compassion and righteousness. We act generously  and justly. Then we will be truly secure. Note that it does not say how our victory will come. We live by faith. Part of living by faith is doing God's will not knowing how things will work out, only that they will work out.

A generous heart is the key and the sign of true prosperity.

Psalm 111 - Praise the Lord

The psalmist gives thanks to the Lord with his whole heart. We are to love the Lord with all that we have.

Why are we to do this? It is because His works are great, so we should study them. Science should be a noble enterprise, but it only remains so if fear of the lord is our foundation.

When we look at the world we see  a world full of splendour and majesty, every scientist would admit that.

There are also the works of the Lord in our lives, we need to remember these, and ponder on them as well. We will see His graciousness and mercy. He is a God who provides for us as well. He has made a covenant with His people and He is faithful to that covenant.

His works are faithful. He does not lead us down a path only to abandon us. His commands and ways are trustworthy, we can follow them with confidence. We too are to reflect His nature by being faithful and upright too.

He has sent redemption to His people.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, Proverbs says the same thing.It gives us good understanding.