The Psalms Challenge

[Jayne]

DAY 110 - PSALM 86 [Book 3]

Great Is Your Steadfast Love

A Prayer of David.

Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,
    for I am poor and needy.
2 Preserve my life, for I am godly;
    save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God.
3 Be gracious to me, O Lord,
    for to you do I cry all the day.
4 Gladden the soul of your servant,
    for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
    abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
    listen to my plea for grace.
7 In the day of my trouble I call upon you,
    for you answer me.

8 There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
    nor are there any works like yours.
9 All the nations you have made shall come
    and worship before you, O Lord,
    and shall glorify your name.
10 For you are great and do wondrous things;
    you alone are God.
11 Teach me your way, O Lord,
    that I may walk in your truth;
    unite my heart to fear your name.
12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
    and I will glorify your name forever.
13 For great is your steadfast love toward me;
    you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

14 O God, insolent men have risen up against me;
    a band of ruthless men seeks my life,
    and they do not set you before them.
15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me;
    give your strength to your servant,
    and save the son of your maidservant.
17 Show me a sign of your favor,
    that those who hate me may see and be put to shame
    because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

[In Him]

I will hear what God the LORD will speak;
for He will speak peace unto His people, and to His saints; but let them not turn back to folly.

Surely His salvation is nigh them that fear Him; that glory may dwell in our land.

Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

Truth springeth out of the earth; and righteousness hath looked down from heaven.

Yea, the LORD will give that which is good; and our land shall yield her produce.

Righteousness shall go before Him, and shall make His footsteps a way. 

[Jayne]

DAY 111 - PSALM 87 [Book 3]

Glorious Things of You Are Spoken

A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. A Song.

God’s foundation is set on the holy mountains.
²  The Lord loves Zion’s gates
    more than all of Jacob’s houses combined.
³ Glorious things are said about you,
    the city of God! Selah
⁴ I count Rahab and Babel among those who know me;
    also Philistia and Tyre, along with Cush—
    each of these was born there.
⁵ And of Zion it is said:
    “Each person was born in it,
    but the one who will establish it is the Most High.”
⁶ The Lord makes a record as he registers the peoples:
    “Each one was born there.” Selah
⁷ And while they dance, people sing:
    “The source of my life comes from you.”

Edited November 29, 2019 by Jayne

[Jayne]

Rahab [Egpyt] - not Rahab the harlot

God loves Jerusalem.  It is very special to him and always will be.

Yet, God even lists some pagan nation that he considers some "to have been born in" Jerusalem.  That's because in these Gentile nations, many were and have been saved.  God specifically love the geographical Jerusalem, but his people come from all over the world.

Those who are saved KNOW that  our source of life comes from God.

Edited November 29, 2019 by Jayne

[In Him]

A psalm of the sons of Korach. A song:

On the holy mountains is the city’s foundation.
 Adonai loves the gates of Tziyon
more than all the dwellings in Ya‘akov.
 Glorious things are said about you,
city of God. (Selah)

I count Rahav and Bavel
among those who know me;
Of P’leshet, Tzor and Ethiopia they will say,
“This one was born there.”
 

But of Tziyon it will be said,
“This one and that was born in it,
for the Most High himself establishes it.”

When he registers the peoples, Adonai will record,
“This one was born there.” (Selah)

Singers and dancers alike say,
“For me, you are the source of everything.”

 

 

[Jayne]

DAY 112 - PSALM 88 [Book 3]

I Cry Out Day and Night Before You

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.

 O Lord, God of my salvation,
    I cry out day and night before you.
2 Let my prayer come before you;
    incline your ear to my cry!

3 For my soul is full of troubles,
    and my life draws near to Sheol.
4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
    I am a man who has no strength,
5 like one set loose among the dead,
    like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom you remember no more,
    for they are cut off from your hand.
6 You have put me in the depths of the pit,
    in the regions dark and deep.
7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
    and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah

8 You have caused my companions to shun me;
    you have made me a horror to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
9     my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call upon you, O Lord;
    I spread out my hands to you.
10 Do you work wonders for the dead?
    Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah
11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
    or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
12 Are your wonders known in the darkness,
    or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

13 But I, O Lord, cry to you;
    in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 O Lord, why do you cast my soul away?
    Why do you hide your face from me?
15 Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
    I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.
16 Your wrath has swept over me;
    your dreadful assaults destroy me.
17 They surround me like a flood all day long;
    they close in on me together.
18 You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;
    my companions have become darkness.

 

[Jayne]

This psalm says that it's author is Heman the Ezrahite.

This is what David Guzik has to say about this psalm.

Quote

 

As for the author and singer of the psalm, Heman the Ezrahite, there are many mentions of a Heman in the days of David and Solomon. Assuming that they all refer to the same man, he was noted for:

· His great wisdom (1 Kings 4:31).

· His being a Kohathite, among the sons of Korah (1 Chronicles 6:33).

· His musical ability and service (1 Chronicles 6:33, 15:17-19, 16:41-42, 25:1; 2 Chronicles 5:12, 35:15).

· His many and exceptional sons and daughters (1 Chronicles 25:5-6).

· His service to the king (1 Chronicles 25:6).

The identity of the singer of this dark song helps us to understand it. It came from a wise, talented, accomplished, and blessed man.

 

Here's what I have to say.  

No matter who this man is - he is in a deep, deep well of remorse and shame over his sin - whatever it may be.  Both his beloved and his friends are against him because of it and he recognizes that God is not happy.

His wisdom, talent, accomplishments, nor his blessings stopped him from sinning.  Only God and his ways of escape can do that.

But it was very wise of him to acknowledge that he has sinned against God.  Have you or I ever been here because of sin?  The remedy is to flee from the devil and run to Jesus to do these sins no more.

I like what Charles Spurgeon has to say about Heman.

Quote

“He had his house full and his hands full of sorrow; but, worse than that, he had his heart full of it. Trouble in the soul is the soul of trouble.” 

 

[Jayne]

I'll be out for a while.  My mother is very sick.  Please pray.

[Jayne]

DAY 113 - PSALM 89:1-18  [Book 3]

I Will Sing of the Steadfast Love of the Lord

A Maski of Ethan the Ezrahite.

I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever;
    with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
2 For I said, “Steadfast love will be built up forever;
    in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.”
3 You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
    I have sworn to David my servant:
4 ‘I will establish your offspring forever,
    and build your throne for all generations.’” Selah

5 Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,
    your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!
6 For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?
    Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord,
7 a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones,
    and awesome above all who are around him?
8 O Lord God of hosts,
    who is mighty as you are, O Lord,
    with your faithfulness all around you?
9 You rule the raging of the sea;
    when its waves rise, you still them.
10 You crushed Rahab like a carcass;
    you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
11 The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;
    the world and all that is in it, you have founded them.
12 The north and the south, you have created them;
    Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.
13 You have a mighty arm;
    strong is your hand, high your right hand.
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
    steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
15 Blessed are the people who know the festal shout,
    who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face,
16 who exult in your name all the day
    and in your righteousness are exalted.
17 For you are the glory of their strength;
    by your favor our horn is exalted.
18 For our shield belongs to the Lord,
    our king to the Holy One of Israel.......

 

[In Him]

 

 Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,
    your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!
For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?
    Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord,
a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones,
    and awesome above all who are around him?