Month: July 2024

Psalm 11:7 For the righteous loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.

Our hope in times of trouble and threats from the Enemy is to count on the Lord to defend and protect us. And He does so because we are righteous and upright, by faith in Jesus. Of course, we have no righteousness of our own, for we are filthy sinners, and we do not walk uprightly. Thus God has no right or reason to defend us.

However, God loves us so that He made a way where there was no way. He sent His Son. Jesus died for us and earned for us God’s righteousness. By faith in Him we are declared righteous. God loves righteousness. God loves the Son. God loves us. Now He smiles upon us when He sees us (and He sees all the time). In times of fear and doubt in the face of the Evil One’s flaming darts we put on the breastplate of righteousness and hold up the shield of faith. Both of these are gifts of God granted freely and abundantly because of Christ and implanted in by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel.

Romans 4:3: “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” We also believe and are righteous. And God loves the righteous, those who believe in Jesus and are counted righteous. Therefore, we shall not fear anything but God alone.

Psalm 11:1 In the Lord put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?

When faced with troublesome issues or difficult problems, David directly faces them by trusting in the Lord. He is tempted to run away like a bird, but instead he deals with spiritual enemies by standing his ground with faith. The enemy readies his bow and arrow to shoot, but the Lord sees and defends.

God does not shield the believer from difficult circumstances, but He examines both the righteous and the wicked. For some, God’s tests become a refining fire; for others they become an incinerator for destruction. We don’t ignore the tests and challenges that come our way, but we use them as opportunities to grow. Faith is refined and strengthened.

Our Enemy is always nearby with his flaming darts. But our Champion, the Lord Jesus Christ, is also close by with the gospel power of the cross and the empty tomb. We believe in that power. When the foundations are shaking (v. 3) and you wish you could hide, remember that the Lord is in control. When you feel like running away, run to God. He will restore justice and goodness to the earth in His good timing. Put your trust in Him.

Psalm 10:7, 11, 13 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity….He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it….Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? He hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it.

The sinful man thinks he can get away with sinful words and deeds, because God is not present, He has forgotten, He does not see him, and He will not hold him accountable. David is talking about a Deist, not an Atheist. He believes God exists, but that He is distant, that He does not see what’s going on, that He does not care about human affairs, and that therefore He will not judge us.

When we sin in word or deed we are tempted to think that God doesn’t really notice and that He won’t hold us accountable. We are just like the wicked in that way and pretend that it didn’t really happen. But honest confession admits the hidden sin and brings it into the open so that we can know the Lord heard our confession and forgives it for Jesus’ sake. Confession denies the false notion that God forgets so we can forget. And God promises that He doesn’t remember our sins any longer because of Christ. In truth God forgets nothing, but because of Christ He promises to forget our sins and to remember me.

So instead of ignoring, forgetting, or despising God, we face Him, remember Him, and love Him. At the same time, we admit we are like the unbelieving sinner who pretends God doesn’t see, but confession and repentance exposes our sins so we can be relieved of guilt and shame.

Psalm 10:3-4 For the wicked boasted of his heart’s desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth. The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.

The wicked unbelieving people respond to God by ignoring Him. They consider themselves and their own thoughts as more important than God or others. What’s in it for me? They even brag about their own desires as being right and good, because they think of themselves first and put God aside. Then they even go so far as to bless the covetous with his self-centered thoughts and desires. And they refuse to seek after God. He is not in their thoughts all the time. Pride prevents them from giving God a thought,

By implication, the righteous believing people fear God, love Him, seek Him, are mindful of Him, and keep Him in their thoughts all day long. They practice the presence of God and seek His kingdom first. This kind of thinking and remembering affects our words and behavior.

The issue is this: David is not just talking about them. He is describing us. The truth is, the believer is both saint and sinner at the same time all the time. And the two struggle with each other. We are the wicked, who forget God; and we are, through faith in Christ, the righteous who remember God. Jesus forgives our thoughtlessness and gives His life that keeps God in mind. The Spirit in us does everything we can to remind us of God in the heart. For this reason, we go to church, attend Bible study, and spend time alone with God in His Word and in repentance.

We may not be able to keep the Lord in our thoughts all the time, but the Gospel reminds us that He is faithfully there all the time, whether we are consciously aware or not.

Psalm 9:10-11 And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee. Sing praises to the Lord, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings.

The Lord will judge the enemies (which He did at the Cross) and be a refuge in times of trouble (which He does at the empty Tomb). Because God judged our enemies (sin, death, and the devil) and became a refuge for us, we respond with faith and praise. And, especially since Christ came, we can do the same as David.

Believers know the name of Jesus: it is Yahweh saves. And because we know Him we can respond with trust in Him to save and protect us. We are certain that He will not forsake those who seek Him. And so we look for Him, in every circumstance. Therefore, we sing praises to the God who saves us, to the Lord who dwells with His people, to Jesus who is present in our bodies as the temple of the Lord. How can we not respond with praise to such a wonderful Jesus? And then we tell everyone what He has done. We declare His doings by supporting the preaching of the Gospel in our home, in our church, in our community, and in the whole world.

Psalm 9:1-2 I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works, I will be glad and rejoice in thee; I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.

David responds to the Lord’s marvelous works by singing praises with his whole heart and rejoicing in the Lord. Praise is expressing our appreciation and understanding of His great worth. We say thank you for each aspect of His divine nature. Our inward attitude becomes an outward expression. And also vice versa: when we outwardly praise God we inwardly feel better.

God is always good, always faithful, always loving and forgiving, and always doing marvelous works on our behalf. Therefore, He can always be praised in every circumstance we find ourselves in, and we can always rejoice in the Lord. When we praise God we expand our awareness of who He is. When we study the Word we can find many characteristics of God for which we can give Him thanks. Praising God and thanking Him for everything lifts our spirits above the circumstances. And the Enemy of our soul must flee and let us alone.

Psalm 8:3-4 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him?

Wherever we are in the created world, we may at any time stop and consider the heavens and the earth, the entire universe. When I feel the sun during the day or see the moon and stars at night I am struck with awe that this vast expanse was created by the hand, and the word, of God, the awesome Creator. It is good for us to gaze into the heavens at night and meditate on the greatness of Creation. And then we realize that the Maker of this vast universe is even greater. Once in a while we should stop to consider that. We may look through a telescope or a microscope and be blown away by the wisdom and power of God Almighty.

Then we realize how small, weak, and powerless I am, like a speck. I see that I am like nothing in God’s created universe, contrary to my own self-centered conception of my own importance. If I am a speck in the universe, I am nothing in God’s view. Yet the truth that really blows me away is that this awesome God is actually mindful of me. He thinks about me. And He cares. He deeply desires a loving relationship with me. Consider!

Psalm 7:17 I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the Lord most high.

Martin Luther said, “He who sings prays twice.” David praises the Lord for hearing his prayer, overcoming his enemies, and granting salvation. He praises the Lord with singing. The Lord has been so good to him that he cannot respond in any other way than to sing praises to the name of the Lord. David was the psalmist of God’s people singing Psalms of thanksgiving on the lyre. Praise, like prayer, came as naturally to David as breathing.

God gives every breath, and thanking God all the time is a way of life for the believer. And it is natural to sing hymns and spiritual songs and make melody in our hearts to God. For He is always good and His mercy endures forever. As His goodness and mercy is constant so also is our singing praises to our wonderful Savior. Singing hymns of praise is also a useful way of reminding ourselves of the gracious gospel of love, forgiveness, and salvation, and we particularly need this reminder in tough times. Our response of song not only arises when we become aware of answers to prayer, but singing praises is always appropriate. For God is always good.

Psalm 7:1 O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me.

David sings to the Lord concerning the words of Cush the Benjamite. He feels the sting of the Enemy’s persecution and mocking. Yet he responds by turning to the Lord and puts his trust in the Lord his God. He believes his God has the ability and the desire to save and deliver him. He does not trust in his own strength nor in the help of anyone else, but in the Lord alone.

Because of Christ we can trust in the Lord when we are undergoing trouble and trial. Even though our problems may seem to overwhelm us at times we can trust in the Lord alone. Our spiritual enemies, the devil, the world, and the self, are always tempting and threatening us, but the Lord is also present as the greater power to save and deliver us. We can be certain of this because we know and believe that God loves us like this: He sent His only Son. By the power of the Gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit we are able to believe and so have life.

Psalm 6:9 The Lord hath heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer.

David’s feelings shifted from fear to confidence after he prayed. His faith knew that the Lord heard his plea and received his prayer. He knew God’s goodness enough to believe that God hears his prayers.

We also can respond to life’s difficulties with believing prayer to a kind and merciful God. We can believe God. We can believe God personally cares about us and our problems. We can believe God hears and receives our prayers. We believe God answers our prayers because of Jesus Christ, not because of us, and we believe in Jesus and pray in His name. We pray with confidence.

1 John 5:14-15: “This is the confidence that have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” This describes the faith of David, and of us. It is a blessing of God when we have a “knowing” in our spirit. Not a wish. Not a hope. The Holy Spirit gives us this gift of knowing that the Lord hears and receives. Then we may rise from our knees with a spring in our step.