Month: June 2025

Psalm 144:9 I will sing a new song unto thee O God: upon the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee.

Our Lord, as a warrior, fights for us and delivers us from evil. He gives salvation by grace for Christ’s sake. Therefore, as a thankful response we will sing praises to the Lord, and part of that praise will be the singing of a new song. Of course, new songs of praise are not new to Him, for He originates the song in our hearts and it comes back to Him in worship, thanks and praise. But every time we sing to the Lord it is new and fresh for us, even when we sing an old song. It is new because God’s mercies are new every morning. We awake with a new song in our hearts and are refreshed each new day.

At times we use, or at least imagine, musical instruments to accompany our songs of praise every day. We may sing off key and out of tune, but we “make a joyful unto the Lord,” for He is good every day, He delivered us, and His power and love remain with us always. This new song may be in our thoughts, whispered, or sung out loud; it may be by us alone in private or it may be with others; but our Savior and Shepherd is eternally present with us.

Psalm 143:6-7 I stretch forth my hands unto thee; my soul thirsted after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah. Hear me speedily, O Lord: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.

David was losing hope, caught in paralyzing fear and deep depression. At times we get depressed and can’t pull ourselves out. At those times we can come to the Lord and express our true feelings. Then He will help us as we remember His works, reach out in prayer, trust Him, and pursue His will. God offers His help in many ways, including His Word, His Spirit, and other people.

When we are down, overwhelmed, and empty we stretch our hands to Him, seeking His present help, and we thirst after Him, as the only living water that quenches our dryness and emptiness. There is a purpose to depression: that is to turn to Lord the to be lifted up. “Seek first the kingdom.” “Come into me.” What you need will be added and you will find rest for your soul. Jesus is the living water. Believe Him and never thirst again.

Psalm 243:4-5 Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate. I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.

David is persecuted and smitten and in darkness. Feeling overwhelmed and desolate his response is to remember who God is, what He has done, and His works of salvation in the past. To remember is to bring an event up from the past and make it active in the present. We do this when we take Communion, “doing this in remembrance of Me.”

When we feel overwhelmed and alone, the best thing we can do for ourselves is remember the Gospel of the Christ event, the works of God working out our salvation in our human history. When we get down, remember what great things Christ has done for us. We do this weekly in worship and daily in repentance and faith in the Gospel. Life in this world can be overwhelming at times; therefore, we need to bring to mind again and again the greater overwhelming power of Jesus’ love. We pause, and take the time to meditate and muse.

Psalm 143:1 Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.

David’s response to life is to turn to the Lord in prayer and supplication. He is weak and dependent, but God is strong, loving, and capable. He is faithful to His Word and promises to answer our plea, and He is righteous to answer according to His holiness and what is right and good. He is faithful love and wants to answer our prayers, and He is right and holy and can answer our prayers.

We pray in time of need (which is always) to our Father (He loves us) in heaven (He is all-powerful). He is willing and He can. Therefore, we believe and we pray in faith, trusting in His mercy and strength. We pray daily, for we are always weak and in need, and God is always listening, loving, and capable.

Psalm 142:5-6 I cried unto thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living. Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I.

When I am brought down, I look to the Lord to deliver me and lift me up. I cry out to the Lord and trust Him to pay attention to my need. He is my refuge and my portion while I am alive on earth. When I am down I look up to the Lord, for He lifts me up and delivers me from those who fight against me, like sin, death, and the devil. By myself I am weak, but Jesus is strong for me. He listens to my cry.

Life in the world has the ability to drag me down, but my Lord is always there with a hand out to lift me up. There is no weakness or shame in crying out for help and a hand. Jesus is watching and listening for me to cry. He is ever present, just a mere call away. He is always nearby watching and waiting for us to ask.

Psalm 142:1-2 I cried unto the Lord with my voice; with my voice unto the Lord did make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble.

When in trouble, we respond by crying unto the Lord. We cry out loud with a voice, and we cry tears of sorrow. In making a prayer I pour out my complaint and tell Him my trouble. It is not that God needs to know my problems, for He already knows, but I need to say it aloud and tell Him so that I know where answers come from and deepen our relationship.

This kind of complaining is putting into words what we are experiencing with the faith that God hears and cares. A sinful kind of complaining is blaming God for our problems instead of ourselves, like Israel in the wilderness. A complaint can be either faith that God is involved with our lives or unbelief that He is really good. Either way God hears our cry and answers with manna. So it is good for us to “pour out our complaint” with faith that God hears and cares. It is not good for us to just gripe about our misfortunes and blame God for our troubles. But we repent, believe, and pray.

Psalm 141:1-2 Lord, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee, Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

When I need help I cry unto the Lord. I expect him to hear my voice and listen. Cry is used in both senses: with tears and loudly. Prayer is like incense, in that it rises up to the Lord in his holy dwelling-place. I lift up my hands as a symbol of sacrificing myself to His good and gracious will. I can cry, shout, and lift hands to the Lord in the calm quietude of my heart. I am praising the Lord while pleading in prayer. I surrender my will to the Lord’s, while praising Him for lovingkindness and tender mercy.

in my prayer and pleading I praise Him in advance for hearing me, for I know that He does for the sake of Christ. In this way, prayer and praise go together, like request and thanks. This attitude permeates our prayer with faith. We praise Him for His mercy, thank Him for His answer, and make our requests known to the Lord. In that attitude we cry.

Psalm 140:13 Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence.

We turn to the Lord in the presence of evil and wicked men. We are declared righteous and upright because of Jesus Christ. In the midst of enemies and problems, we will give thanks unto the Lord. Believers in Christ dwell in the presence of the Lord and enjoy His protection and blessing, even while dwelling in the presence of sin and evil.

No problem is too great nor any enemy too fierce that that God our Savior cannot overcome. We can take rest, take heart, and give thanks all the time. We can dwell securely in His presence, for He is always there where we are. “He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world.”

Psalm 140:1, 6 Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man, preserve me from the violent man….i said unto the Lord, Thou art my God: hear the voice of my supplications, O Lord.

”Deliver us from evil,” or “ from the evil one.” We respond to threats of trouble and dangers from our spiritual enemies by turning to the Lord in prayer. Sometimes the Evil One uses flesh and blood people to persecute us. This is an Imprecatory Psalm, which prays curses on the enemies of body and soul. Sin, death, and the Devil are the real enemy, and they mean us harm.

As God has cursed the serpent in the garden, so the Lord, our Champion and Victor, has cursed our Enemy by His death and resurrection. He has delivered us from the evil that the Enemy has planned for us. Because of Christ, we “fear not them who are able to destroy the body,” but we fear Him, that is, put our trust and hope completely in Christ to deliver and preserve.

This is the Gospel message: the perfect love of Jesus casts out fear. Through the Word and the Spirit we believe that word and pray for deliverance and preservation. The Lord hears our prayer and takes care of us.

Psalm 139:21-22 Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.

My love for the Lord is so strong that I feel what He feels. Sin, unbelief, and rebellion against God becomes so repugnant to me that I sense the righteous wrath of a Holy God against Sin. However, God says, “love your enemies.” So which is it? The distinction lies in the Biblical saying: “Hate the sin, but love the sinner.” We can hate the words and deeds of sinners and still pray for their forgiveness and salvation.

Sin cannot be tolerated in any form, and the holiness of God demands judgment and punishment for every sin. But God still loves people, and so He gave His Son to bear the judgment of their sin upon Himself. Thus, by this substitution, God forgives the sinner and replaces his hatred with His love.

We remember that the hatred we feel toward Sin is what we feel toward our own sin. Therefore, we repent with godly sorrow and believe the Gospel. Hatred is turned into love, by faith in His name.