Psalm 146: Trust in The Helper alone

Even though most believers basically know and fundamentally profess that trust in God alone is the only way, it is tempting to look for help to the things we can see before turning to God whom we cannot see. When we need help we tend to turn to the Lord last instead of first.

God will use humans in most instances as the instruments through which He brings the help we need, and when we see the providential hand of God behind the human help we will believe Him first and trust Him more. “While I live will I Praise the Lord.”

God helps, saves, rescues, restores and gives life and hope to the weak, the vulnerable and the helpless. Look at the list: oppressed, hungry, prisoners, blind, bowed down, righteous, strangers, fatherless and widow. The “righteous” are included in that list because they have accepted the risk of dependence. They put their trust on God alone and have given up on their own strength and invincibility, their own self-righteous understanding, and their own independent do-it-myself spirit.

Only God can make us righteous, and God loves the righteous. And God helps the helpless, the best position from which to pray.

 

 

 

 

Psalm 145: God is Great; God is Good

God is so great and so good it takes all of space and time to praise Him; every living creature needs all of eternity to give God adequate praise. God’s kingdom is not even actually in space or time; His reign is universal and eternal, infinite and unlimited.

When and where the rule of God is unchallenged and there is no rebellion anywhere, then and there the subjects who willingly submit are extremely well taken care of, abundantly provided for, and securely protected. Every sin is a challenge to God’s authority and causes a breakdown in His care, provision and protection. Every praise is a strengthening of God’s authority, which brings about the greater wellbeing of His subjects.

God’s kingdom rule comes into our hearts and lives when the Gospel is proclaimed and believed. His rule is strengthened when we pray, praise and give thanks, and when His authority is strengthened blessings and good things are poured out abundantly like Holy Spirit rain. He fulfills our desires and hears our prayers. He preserves and saves those who respond to His compassion and mercy, grace and kindness, His willing subjects; but the wicked who do not respond to His love will be destroyed.

 

 

 

 

 

Psalm 144: Victory and Prosperity from the Lord

 

Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord. Yahweh is our God; He is the God of His people. His people worship Him, praise Him, and trust in Him. When they do they will experience victory and prosperity.

As long as enemies threaten our lives and families and property there can be no peace, and without peace there can be no prosperity. So it is spiritually: we make Jesus Christ our God and Lord every day by repentance and faith; we confess our sins; we confess our sins are forgiven; we confess Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

This Lord, this Yahweh, this Jesus, teaches us to war, takes notice of us, shows up in our life, gives victory over sin, death and devil, grants health and prosperity to our family and property and business. God grants it all: my response is only to thank and praise, to serve and obey Him.

The logic is simple: Jesus is my Lord; the Lord Jesus is my God; blessed am I. Focus on Him, praise Him, trust Him, not the blessings, for they follow.

 

 

 

Psalm 143: God’s Grace the only Hope

There is no help and no hope for any man or woman from any source or under any condition; there is only one place to turn for help and hope, and that is to God. God must be merciful because there is no place else to turn. God will be merciful and hear our prayer and save us because he made a covenant promise, and He is faithful to do what he said.

I may feel like I am in or near death, but the Lord will deliver me; I may feel overwhelmed by spiritual enemies, but the Lord will destroy them; I may feel like I am in despair with no visible hope, but the Lord will lift me up out of trouble.

The Lord’s commitment to the covenant is the only basis of the appeal for aid. And the only way the covenant can be sustained is by the continual forgiveness from God. The Lord must be, and He will be, true to His Word and promise in the covenant for His name’s sake and His righteousness’ sake. If the OT believer could be certain of this, so much more can the NT believer hope in God.

 

 

 

 

Psalm 142: My Refuge and My Portion

The Levites were not given any allotment of land , as all the other tribes of Israel were given a heritage of land by which they could support themselves. For the Levites the Lord was their “portion.” God Himself was their life support system by which they would sustain themselves. “The Lord is my portion” came to be a statement of faith for every believer whether he had land or not, for it was the Lord who sustained him through the land anyway.

When in the course of our pilgrimage we find ourselves on a sickbed or a deathbed, in prison or in distress, or all alone and no one cares, then the Lord is my refuge and my portion. I trust God alone to keep me safe and keep me alive.

if God uses land, livelihood, and other people to keep me safe and alive He is still my refuge and portion. If I feel deserted and stressed out with no tangible support then I believe the same truth: the Lord is my refuge and portion in the land of the living.

In the presence of enemies I cry to the Lord; He will deal bountifully with me. That’s a promise.

 

 

 

Psalm 141: Overcome Temptation and Snares

“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” These daily petitions are desperately needed by every child of God. Jesus is so wise to give this prayer.

One way to avoid temptation is to avoid the circles of people and places where sins in word and deed are evidently right in the open. Ask the Lord for simple strength and wisdom to say no to such parties and socials. Ask the Lord to set a watch at your mouth. Ask the Lord to not let your heart incline to any evil thing. In many cases we know well enough the right thing to do and to say, but we can only do the right thing if given the grace and strength. We can admit the sinfulness and weakness inside of us and ask for help in avoiding and resisting the temptation. Ask for grace and strength.

At other times we walk into temptations oblivious and unaware. We do not even see the evil or the harm in speaking or activity. Satan sets camouflaged snares and traps that we don’t even notice until too late. We pray for wisdom and discernment while admitting blindness and stupidity. Our Lord delivers.

 

 

 

 

 

Psalm 140: Prayer for Protection against Enemies

The NT believer loves his enemies, turns the other cheek, blesses persecutors and does not avenge. This applies to flesh and blood human beings, whom we will love, pray for, and be kind to. The spiritual forces driving people to evil words and deeds, however, are real enemies that must be prayed against. The vengeance is God’s and our prayer is for His justice. Most of these imprecatory prayers are prophetic in nature and for reaping the consequences.

Sin, death and the devil are not to be loved and treated kindly. But we are too weak to fight them alone, so we pray for our Lord, our Shepherd, our Savior, our Warrior to fight for us and crush our enemies in serious spiritual warfare.

I am in danger from wars against me, poisonous snakebite, and from hunters’ snares. It’s OK to ask the Lord to send coals of fire from above and open up the pits of earth beneath. This warfare is deadly serious: ask your Defender and Protector to maintain your cause and bring you into His Presence.

 

 

 

Psalm 139: Innocence under Scrutiny

Spirituality is theology intersecting with the realities of human life. Omniscience, Omnipresence and Omnipotence are abstract attributes of God in a textbook, but they are not at all abstract, as the omnipresence of God is apt to break into my awareness as blessing or curse any time.

My spiritual enemies, and God’s, are speaking evil, and we hate them. Before they accuse me falsely and bring me into shame and despair, I ask the Lord to search me and know my thoughts and see if their is any harmful way (unconfessed sin) in me; if so, the enemy has a right to come into that place and mess up my life. I ask the Lord to clean it up and lead me in the way everlasting.

After asking for such soul searching I discover the depth of His penetration and the width of His coverage. I can’t get away with anything! But I have confessed every known sin and repented of every hidden sin and the blood of Jesus cleanses me from every sin. The penetrating search of my soul has revealed only Jesus. I an innocent. Now the Presence of God to bless surrounds me and defends against anxious and terrifying thoughts.

 

 

 

 

 

Psalm 138: Theory of God works out in Real Life

Although real life is much messier, a normal sequence of events often works out as follows: sin and rebellion – trouble and distress – prayer for help – promise of deliverance – rescue and salvation – praise and thanks. Then the cycle repeats.

How the believer sees life with God: First, the resolution of the crisis in my life is interpreted as engineered by the Lord. “On the day I called you answered me, and increased my strength.” My prayer and your answer was not coincidence.

Second, God’s attributes of steadfast love and faithfulness (grace and truth) have intervened in my life to deliver me. Though far off in distant power your have come near to deliver me.

Third, I believe your lovingkindness lasts forever. I see the pattern of delivering love in the past and I am bold to ask for continuing care in the future. He will preserve me from my troubles, save me from my enemies, and fulfill his purpose for me. And that is a forever promise.

Therefore, I will praise Him with my whole heart. I will praise Him in front of all demons and false gods, and I will proclaim God before kings and rulers. God is good forever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Psalm 137: The Passionate Sorrow of Exile

War is hell! War is violence. It can’t be romanticized or glamourized; there is no two ways about it. War kills people, breaks things, and causes years of untold trauma. Spiritual warfare is the same. Killing babies is an act of total warfare (to prevent a rising of the next generation). Spiritually, little sins grow up to be killer sins; so stop it now. The Sin and Death Enemies (called Edom and Babylon) must be violently overthrown. The most violent overthrow and total destruction was the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was violence to our enemies and it was hell for them.

The heartfelt passion that the Exiles felt toward enemies was caused by being blocked and removed from the Presence of God in Zion. (They did not yet know that the Presence could be recovered in the Word of God.) This passion drove them to pray a violent curse on the enemies of God. They were too weak to take vengeance into their own hands so they wisely left justice up to the Lord.

We also can ask to feel this kind of violent passion for the presence of God, seek Him with our whole heart, and not be squeamish about hellish spiritual warfare.