Month: September 2024

Psalm 30:4 Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

Our response to God’s grace and goodness is to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual song, making melody in the heart to the Lord. It is natural to sing unto the Lord when Christians gather in His name, and we sing in our hearts throughout the day. God gave us the gift of music that we might praise the Lord regularly.

And we give thanks always when we remember His holiness, power, and love, and particularly when we remember that because of Christ God has shared His Life, Love, and Holiness with us. We thank Him for eternity, and even that is not enough time to properly remember Him. To remember is to call to mind something from the past, like the death and resurrection of Christ, and make it active and effective in the present. Remembering by faith makes it real today, and we cannot repress our thankfulness. Singing aids our faithful thanksgiving.

Psalm 30:1-2 I will extol thee, O Lord; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.

David’s response to the Lord’s care, protection and healing is to extol Him. He enlarged God and made Him big in his own mind and thought. God is already a huge almighty giant, but extolling Him brings our own mind to match up to the greatness and grandeur of God.

We extol the Lord for lifting us up and for overcoming our enemies, sin, death, and the devil, once, continually, and forever. We make Him as big as He actually is, even though our thoughts are not His thoughts. It will take all eternity for us to comprehend how long, deep, and wide is the love of God. But meanwhile, we lift Him up because He has lifted us up to be seated with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Extolling Him places us there with Jesus.

We also praise Him because He has heard my cries and prayers. For He has healed, saved, delivered, rescued, and set me on high. When I am weak and needy and troubled I cry to my big God and He hears me. And I will never stop praising and thanking Him for being my Father who art in heaven for His is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.

Psalm 29:1-2 Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and Strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

David responds to God, and encourages us to respond, by giving Him glory and worship. This response is expected to be a daily and constant response to God’s presence and love in our lives, for God is always good and His mercy endures forever.

God is glorious in Himself and possesses glory all the time, and it is not something He can receive from us. So we don’t actually “give” glory to God as something He lacks or needs. But we need to recognize it and acknowledge for ourselves that the Lord is always all-glorious. When we believe it we feel better.

Glory is the outward evidence and shining forth of inner character. Blinding glory is the radiant beaming of the love of God. We see it gloriously evident at the cross and we hear it powerfully revealed in the Gospel. We thankfully receive brilliant love and holiness of God by faith in Jesus. And we give Him glory, thanks, praise, and worship for His indescribable gift of grace and forgiveness. The outcome of giving glory to God is that it lifts our spirit and we feel better.

Brilliance is seen in the Transfiguration, and the dazzling glow of undeserved kindness is seen at the cross. We respond by giving glory, praise, and worship to the awesome beauty of holiness all of our life in word and deed.

Psalm 28:7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

Because the Lord is my strength and my shield I can respond to that truth with heartfelt trust. The outcome of His grace and my God-given faith is that I am helped. He helps me in my need and weakness. I am weak, but He is strong. He is able to help, and I believe it with all my heart.

My response to His gracious hearing and powerful caring is that I am filled with joy and I greatly rejoice. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit and a hallmark of the Christian’s life. We can constantly rejoice in Lord for He is always there to help. This inner joy leads us to praise Him always with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, making melody in our hearts unto the Lord. Thanksgiving expresses itself in joy and praise for His present help. We know it from the Gospel of Love and Salvation. The Spirit generates a life of rejoicing and grateful praise. We live in Him for He lives in us.

Psalm 28:1-2 Unto thee will I cry, O Lord my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit. Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.

David is ever attentive to the Lord in his life, and especially does he respond to need by crying unto the Lord. He gives voice to his needs and expects the Lord to hear him. He lifts up hands in a posture of praise and reaching out for help. He praises and prays to the holy sanctuary, the place where God dwells. Today God dwells in our hearts by faith, and that where we cry and lift up hands.

If the Lord does not help him he would go down to the pit (go to hell). The Lord is his only hope for help and salvation. If the Lord should fail him, he would be lost forever. But he trusts the Lord, turns to Him, cries out, and lifts up holy hands of praise and supplication toward the holy place where God dwells.

We do the same: turn to the Lord in need, cry unto Him, and lift up hands. And if the Lord does not help we are in deep trouble. We turn to God as first resort, not last. And the Lord does hear our cry and help us in our need. We will not go down to the pit.

Psalm 27:14 Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.

David responds, and encourages us to respond, to trouble and need by praying to and trusting in the Lord. Then there may be a period of time between our prayer and our receiving an answer. In that interim time we wait in faith. We trust that God heard our prayer and is preparing to act. During this waiting time we rest in confidence and peace while the Lord fights for us and prepares the answer according to His will. We go about our daily duties praising the Lord for being our God and thanking Him for hearing our prayer. We wait in faith, trusting the Lord to respond to our need and act in His time and in His way.

Isaiah 40:31: “Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength…they shall walk and not faint.” God will strengthen the heart of those who wait in faith and don’t give up. The temptation while waiting is to give up on God. We say, “How long?” But when we wait in faith the Lord strengthens our weak heart instead of letting us faint. Going through difficult times with trust is what God uses to build courage and confidence in place of weakness and weariness. Faith grows while we wait. We believe God when He says, “Wait patiently, I’m working on it, the answer will come.” During the waiting faith grows instead of diminishes.

Psalm 27:8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.

The Lord calls on us to seek His face. My response to His invitation is to seek His face. God’s face is His presence. His Presence is in the temple. We know where it is on earth, for we know that the human body is the residence of the living God on earth. Through Baptism and faith in the Gospel the Lord enters in to live and rule with us and in us.

But do not look for Him in order to find Him, for He has already found us. Our Father sent His Son to be with us, and the Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. We don’t see His Presence with physical eyes, but with the eyes of faith we see and believe the Gospel Truth: God is here. To seek means to bring to conscience awareness what and who is already present. To seek is to practice the presence of God. We seek His face (presence) by hearing and reading His Word, believing the gospel of grace, and responding with prayer and praise and thanks. We are reminded of His Presence in our time alone with God, in the fellowship of two or three gathered in His name, and in the worshiping congregation of believers. We desire God’s presence first above all things and we enjoy Him forever.

And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in the tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.

David knew that in a time of trouble the Lord would hide him in His presence and set him on a rock. The rock is Christ, who will be with us always to hide and keep us from our enemies. Therefore, the response is to offer sacrifices of joy and to sing praises unto the Lord. He knew where to go and what to do when the enemies lurk around and threaten.

We, too, respond to a time of trouble by hiding in His Presence, which is always near us and in us, to sacrifice and praise. We know where to go, to Him who loved and gave Himself for us. The sacrifices we offer are the good works we do giving up our time, talent, and treasure for the service of others. And it is a joyful thing to do, as it is for God our Savior.

In the Presence of God, where we are safe, we sing praises unto the Lord. We praise Him for He is good and His mercy endures forever and for His salvation and protection. It is a response of faith. And praise consciously reminds us of the love and care of God, that we are safe in His Presence. Singing praises does not bring us into the temple, but it reminds us that we already there by faith.

The good news for the NT believer is that any time (in a time of trouble or not) and anywhere (in church or at home) we may respond by dying to self with joy by giving and serving others, and we may sing and make melody in our heart to the Lord. Then my head will be lifted up above my enemies, above the troublous circumstances of life in this world. This God does for us.

Psalm 27:4 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in the temple.

The evil ones, my spiritual enemies, may come against me all the time, and temptations and troubles surround me without and within. I am distracted about many things and harassed on every side. But my response is to desire and seek one thing. That one thing is God and the awareness of His Presence with me. That one thing is to live in His Presence (dwell in the house), to see the beauty of Holiness and Love, and to pray.

Martha was distracted by many things, but one thing is needful and Mary had chosen the good part (to listen to Jesus), to kneel at his feet. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” “Seek the things that are above, where Christ is.” It is not easy to desire the one thing, but when we succeed by the Word and the Spirit life is better.

For David the Presence of God was in the temple. For us, the Presence of God dwells within our body, as a temple. “The kingdom of God is within you.” Seek Him there, see, by faith in the gospel, Him there, live in conscious awareness of His being with you. He is. Believe it. See it. Center your life, thoughts and emotions in Jesus and be safe from destructive and death-dealing enemies. Just One Thing!

Psalm 27:1, 3 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?…Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

One of the blessings and joys of fearing, loving, and trusting in God alone is that I have nothing and no one to be afraid of. My spiritual enemies, sin, death, and the devil will war against me all the time, yet I will not fear. In confident faith I will live my life.

Romans 8:31: “If God be for us who can be against us?” Because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Almighty God our Father is on our side. V. 35: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” V. 37: “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us” These Truths and Comforts may be easy to profess on Sunday morning, but it gets harder when life happens every day. Therefore, we make use of Gospel reminders daily, even if it is just singing, thanking, and praising God during the day.

The Enemy is always nearby, but our Lord and Savior is always closer. We respond with faith so that we can confidently say: I will not fear, worry, doubt, nor be afraid.