Psalm 46:10

“Be still and know that I am God”

God’s been teaching me a lesson about slowing down and this fits right in. I don’t have to be go-go-go all the time. When we are too busy, we can’t be still- and it’s in the stillness that our hearts and souls come to know God. Also, we don’t need to be so busy all the time because He is God and He’s already provided for all of our needs so all we really need to do is be still and relish in Him. When He tells us to move, we move. As long as we are focused on obeying God and not on being busy, we will live the life He planned for us and how could that be anything but righteous?

Lord, today I pray that you help me find stillness in you. I know that you provide for all of my needs, and I wholeheartedly trust in you. Amen.

Psalm 42

Psalm 42: 1-2, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.”

Our SOULS thirst for God. I know how thirsty I get if I have to go even an hour without water and that’s how our souls are for God. Many times when our souls thirst for the Lord, we try to fill up with other things but nothing can satisfy our souls except for Him.

The authors of this Psalm were sad because they have been sent out of Israel and can no longer worship at Mount Zion and they want to return. “I used to go with the multitude; I went with them to the house of God.” (verse 4). This Covid has also kicked many of us out of our churches, and I also have been reminiscing about the days when I used to go with the multitudes to the house of God. But, as this Psalm suggests, “I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.” And just as the Lord eventually brought His people back to Israel, we will eventually be allowed to go back to church and worship in fellowship again.

Psalm 34 and 35

Psalm 34:8, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.”

This is so important! God loves His children and He will take care of us. As long as we seek Him (and He knows our hearts) we shall not lack any good thing. BUT, that doesn’t mean our lives will be free of pain and suffering. Verse 19 says, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”

We still have bad things happen to us and around us, but we know that the Lord will deliver us and ultimately we will not “lack any good thing.” A non-Christian is hopeLESS during trying times because they don’t have the Lord to rely on. A Christian is hopeFUL during trying times because we rely on the Lord. Either way, the hard times will come but our reactions are different.

Psalm 35

35:3, “…Say to my soul, I am your salvation.”

I LOVE this! Amen, amen, amen! Sometimes we need God to speak directly to our souls and he does! Our brains and hearts are human but our soul has been replaced by the Holy Spirit and we can pray to Him just like we can pray to God the Father and Jesus. I think I often pray for God to give my soul peace and rest- and it’s great to see a biblical character do something similar.

35:15, “But in my adversity they rejoiced.”

David’s enemies rejoiced over his adversity- people who were his family and friends. Sometimes I do this, and it’s not good. When I see someone do something that I think is a bad decision and I’m right in the end, my heart silently rejoices. The Holy Spirit is convicting me of this and revealing my sin right now. I repent and pray for forgiveness and I’m thankful to receive it. I also pray that the Holy Spirit guards and guides my heart to prevent me from acting this way in the future. I do not want to act as an enemy of the Lord.

Lord, I pray thank you for your forgiveness, your protection, and your blessings. May I walk in your ways today and obey all your commands. You are everything I will ever need, my hope in trying times, and the Lord over all my life. I praise you and worship you. Please guide my steps and protect my loved ones and bring us all together in your family. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Psalm 24

ALL who dwell in the Earth belong to the Lord. That’s all living things! To me, that is just extraordinary to consider.

Psalm 24:3-4, “Who…may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart.”

The bible often references, “clean hands” and we sing about it in worship music. Today I realized that I don’t really know what that means. So, I looked it up and it pretty much just means innocent. That our hands haven’t sinned or done evil. There is only one man who can achieve this standard- Jesus. And through Him, we are pardoned and also allowed to “stand in His holy place.” But without Jesus, we would be separated from the Lord.

Because Jesus cleanses us and gives us access to the Lord, we should try and keep ourselves clean. Think about right after you get a car wash (or clean anything, for that matter) you don’t immediately throw trash and food everywhere in your car. You try and keep it clean. It will inevitably get messy again, and you will need another car wash, just like we will inevitably need to repent and be cleansed again. But once we are cleansed, we should try and stay that way for as long as possible. And, we have help from the Holy Spirit (who is kind of like a Roomba?) to help keep us clean. Therefore, we should still pay attention to the commandments and laws of the bible as well as the next verses of this Psalm in which David tells us 2 things to keep our hands and hearts clean:

  1. Don’t lift up our souls to an idol
  2. Don’t lie

Praise God that He gave us Jesus to give us clean hands and a pure heart. I pray every day that the Holy Spirit would make my heart a little more like His. Amen.

Psalm 23

There are some super famous verses in this Psalm.

Psalm 23: 1-2, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures.”

Our culture is so out of touch with shepherding that I must pause and really think about what David is saying and the impact it would’ve had during that time. A shepherd watches over and cares for his sheep. The sheep are free to roam, but the shepherd keeps them near. A shepherd wouldn’t make his flock lie down on a rocky landscape-no-he chooses GREEN PASTURES. Sheep are meek and they trust in their shepherd. God wants to give us the peace of resting in a green pasture and He wants to take care of all our needs.

Psalm 23: 2-3, “He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul;”

Hallelujah! Jesus restores our souls. We often search and search for things to restore our souls like alcohol, relationships, work, kids, to-do lists…but the only One who can restore us is our shepherd- the Lord, who will lead us calmly, by still waters.

Psalm 23: 3, “He leads me in the paths of the righteous for His name’s sake.”

Shepherds must have relied on a good reputation in order to get hired and make a living. Their sheep needed to stay safe and well for the shepherd’s name sake. Similarly, God needs His sheep to be safe, well, and righteous for His name’s sake, to get more followers. When you think, “I don’t deserve God’s love, blessings, etc.” Well, it’s probably true, but God is going to take care of you anyway- for HIS name’s sake. That gives me some peace to know that there’s nothing I can do to deserve, or lose, His love and kindness. He’s just going to give it to me anyway, because He is our good shepherd.

Psalm 19-20

Psalm 19:9-10, “…The judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold…”

David repeats the idea that God’s judgements are much more desired than gold. It’s so important that he repeated it. We should desire the Lord’s judgements more than we desire gold (or anything else). He is pure and righteous and His judgements will be everything we need.

David asks that the Lord cleanse him and make him blameless in His eyes. We should desire to be right in God’s eyes, but we don’t have to do it on our own. He will mold us and cleanse us (through Jesus) so that He can have a relationship with us because we are His beloved children.

In Psalm 19 verse 14, David mentions the meditation of his heart- this is often mentioned in the bible and we have to pray this prayer and read the word of the Lord to set our hearts up for success.

Psalm 20 is a great benediction- it could be written on a card and sent out. If someone asks for a prayer and you don’t know what to say, Psalm 20 is a great prayer.

I really like verse 7, “some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.”

I take it to mean that we will not place our trust solely in things of the Earth and our possessions- but we will remember all the great things God has done and place our trust in Him. Because of the bible, we have centuries worth of history plus our own testimonies to remind us of God’s goodness and help us trust wholly in Him. He has never failed us, and won’t start now. Thank the Lord for the bible!

Today I pray thank you, Lord for your righteousness, justness, and holiness. Thank you for being trustworthy and a faithful, loving father. I give you all the praise and pray that you cleanse me and make me blameless in your eyes. In Jesus name, Amen.

Psalm 18

David attributes everything to God in verses 1-2: strength, fortress, deliverer, trust, shield, salvation, and stronghold. Then, in verses 31-34 David describes that God, “makes my way perfect, He makes my feet like the feet of deer, and sets me on my high places. He teaches my hands to make war so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.”

God makes us able to do things. We, or I, often struggle with my purpose– what does God want me to do? Well, based off of the verses above, I think God makes us good at what He will for us to do. He wanted David to be a good fighter and a mighty leader- so God gave him the ability to do so. I also think a point can be made about medicine, science, and healthcare. If God can give David feet like deer, hands for war, and muscles strong enough to bend bronze, can’t God give someone hands for medicine and muscles to build healthcare tools? God is with us, He uses us, and forms us to do His will. The most important thing is to be in relationship with Him and study His word and be in prayer and He will lead you the correct way.

I absolutely LOVE the next part, verses 35-36, “You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; Your right hand (which we now know is Jesus) has held me up, Your gentleness has made me great. You enlarged my path under me, so my feet did not slip.”

I love that David describes it as Gods gentleness that made him great and that God enlarged the path for him. As someone who takes care of children all day, I get this. I want them to be successful so I am gentle and I enlarge their path. That’s how much God loves His children. This is an especially nice passage after reading verses 7-15 in which David describes the angry, mean version of the Lord that destroyed his enemies. I really want to make sure I am on God’s side after reading this chapter.

The only thing David attributes to himself is his faithfulness to the Lord (verses 20-24). David made the claim that he was blameless before the Lord and not wicked. All other things, David gives to God. David says, “You have armed me with strength for the battle.” (verse 39). The only thing we can claim is our faithfulness to God (and really, I”m not even so sure about that one because God is the one who saved me after all) but ALL other successes belong to Him.

Finally, the Psalm ends in a great prayer (46-50) which I bookmarked in my own bible to refer to later on.

Today I agree with the prayer in 46-50 and I am thankful to belong to the Lord and for all He has given me, all He has brought me through, and all the work He has yet to do in me. Amen.

Psalm 10

Even though David is king and could try and serve justice- he begs God to do it. He pleads with God to take control and defend the humble and weak people against the wicked and corrupt. This tells me that we don’t have to try and take matters into our own hands- God is a just God and will defend His people.

For me, this makes me think of my friend (and I’m sure this passage would bring someone to mind for you as well) who has seemingly renounced God in her heart (like David refers to in the poem). She seems consumed with worldly obsessions. I often find myself wondering, what can I do to save her? Well, I don’t have to teach her or save her (nor could I) but, as David shows in this passage, I need to pray for her and I pray that the Lord has justice and because I love her, I pray the Lord saves her rather than destroy her as David suggests.

I’m also compelled to take stock of my own heart because David doesn’t write that the wicked people verbally betray God, but that their hearts betray God. Are there defiant parts of my heart? Are there parts of my heart that believe it knows better than God? Yes.

So I pray the Holy Spirit cleans my heart and it is made pure by the blood of Jesus and any parts of me that are wicked are made righteous to God. Forgive me Lord, for having a rebellious heart, and help make me righteous in your eyes. Amen.

Psalm 4

Before reading Psalms, I didn’t really think I was able to relate to King David. I’ve never been a king, I’ve never had to hide from my enemies in the desert before, and I don’t really write poetry.

But, to my surprise, I’m relating to him so much. All those years that I had trouble sleeping, God was teaching me to trust Him- really trust Him. Verse 4, “meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still.” My mom told me to do a version of this when I was little and my nightmares were just starting. She told me to pray and to say out loud that I’m a child of God and Jesus loves me. I would repeat it over and over, trembling and sometimes crying, and even though I was trying to trust God, I was still afraid. Now, it even happened last night, I can be still and meditate on the Lord when I’m afraid. Last night I was not demonically attacked, but I was woken up by a loud noise that scared me. I remembered Psalm 3 (by the goodness of the Holy Spirit) in which David proclaimed that he would sleep and wake up because the Lord would sustain him through the night and that he wasn’t afraid. I meditated on this word and thanked God and was asleep in no time. I even pray in my sleep! All those years of suffering through the night taught my soul how to respond to fear- by turning to God. He has never failed me.

I didn’t realize that David struggled with sleep like I did or that by reading Psalms all of this would be brought out of me. It goes to show that God has a BIG plan, that we can’t even comprehend and I’m so thankful to be His. Psalm 4:3, “But know that the Lord has set apart for Himself him who is godly; the Lord will hear when I call to Him.” Praise God, Hallelujah, what a beautiful blessing to be set apart and heard by the One Most High!

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