Psalm 78

Psalm 78:4

We will not conceal them from their children,
But tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD,
And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.

Teaching children about God is very important.  As a kid, you're captivated by all the amazing things that God did, all the miracles and stuff your little mind can't wrap itself around.  It makes believing in God as a kid fairly easy.

However, I've become concerned about this focus on children for a couple reasons.  First, I wonder if we're putting too much emphasis on the miracles, and not enough on the relationship.  I fear we're setting these kids up to expect God to do miracles in their lives, and they'll become disillusioned when that doesn't happen.  Second, I worry that in the focus on kids, we're leaving the non-believing adults behind.  Kids are easy pickings, the statistics say; they are much more likely to come to faith at that age.  But are we as a result giving up on those cynical adults?

Psalm 77

Psalm 77:11

I shall remember the deeds of the LORD;
Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.

I've read/studied the Bible for my entire life, essentially.  I don't think it would be incorrect to say that I probably have better knowledge of the Bible than the average Christian.  I've been learning about all of God's miracles and blessings for us as far back as my memory goes.

And yet, with all that, I still can easily fall in to the trap of "and what have you done for me lately?"  I know all He has done, but still feel much of the time like He's ignoring me now.  I feel I deserve for Him to do something amazing for me now, to prove He cares, when I really know better.

Psalm 76

Psalm 76:10

For the wrath of man shall praise You;
With a remnant of wrath You will gird Yourself.

I'll admit, I'm confused.  How does the wrath of man praise God?  Wrath is generally considered a bad thing.  Man's wrath is usually misdirected, and causes pain and grief.  God's wrath is pure and proper, ours rarely is.  So how would wrath be praise to God?

Also, why would God gird himself with our wrath?  Why use our wrath as a belt?  He definitely doesn't need it.  And again, most of the time our wrath is sin, so why would He use sin to gird himself?  Is that what the remnant of wrath is, the little wrath that is proper?  This one, I have no clue on.

Psalm 75

Psalm 75:6

For not from the east, nor from the west,
Nor from the desert comes exaltation;

You can't play to a crowd for true judgment.  Some think that if they just make the right people happy, they get praised.  But true praise doesn't come from Babylon, or Egypt, or Edom.  It comes from God alone, and only He can exalt someone.

Today, we might say that praise doesn't come form Washington politicians, or San Francisco activists.  It doesn't come from foreign governments, or even from our bosses and co-workers.  It can only come from God, because all other exaltation is fleeting and miniscule, compared to what He can do when we follow Him.

Psalm 74

Psalm 74:9

We do not see our signs;
There is no longer any prophet,
Nor is there any among us who knows how long.

The Israelites were given many signs from God, which represented his promises to them.  When God was going to do something miraculous later, He would sometimes give them a specific sign beforehand, so they would know His promise was coming.

However, at this point those signs seem to have vanished.  God has not provided notification of His coming intervention.  He hasn't sent a prophet to speak His word or portend anything coming.  Therefore, the people claim they don't have any guidance, no idea how long until they are saved from their current plight (whatever it was).  It sounds like they were running out of patience, or hope.

Psalm 73

Psalm 73:2

But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling,
My steps had almost slipped.

I feel this way quite a bit.  In fact, I probably feel worse; it seems a lot of times like I didn't come close, I actually did slip and stumble.  The wording makes me think of Pilgrim's Progress, and how often the path was left.

I often feel like, for me to still even know where the path is, it must somehow be glued to my feet.  I mess up so often, how is it I'm still going in the right direction?  Only by God's grace have I not forgotten that the path is even there, or given up on finding it again.

Psalm 72

Psalm 72:15

So may he live, and may the gold of Sheba be given to him;
And let them pray for him continually;
Let them bless him all day long.

At first, I thought that this was another psalm praising God.  Then I realized that none of the "he"s are capitalized.  That's when I realized that this is Solomon, essentially praising himself.  I don't know when in his rule this was written, but it's either what he hopes will happen in the future (much of which does), or retelling of how he sees what did happen.

Either way, it's both arrogant, and somewhat vain.  Solomon is basically tooting his own horn.  He actually was, true, very wealthy and respected by other rulers.  But he also wasn't looked upon well by his own people.  He could be cruel and hard, but what king ever recounts their failings?

Psalm 71

Psalm 71:14

But as for me, I will hope continually,
And will praise You yet more and more.

This is what we, as believers, are called to do.  We are told to hope.  I'm currently working on teaching 1 Peter in my Sunday school class, and one of the predominant themes of 1 Peter is hope.  Without hope, we have no reason for faith.  And hope is something that can't run out.  There is always more to hope about, even as some things are determined.


We are also to praise.  In fact, I could argue that hope can be a type of praise.  Praise, like hope, never runs out.  It can always get bigger and larger.  As we progress through our Christian walk, as we become more like Jesus, we have even more reason to praise Him.

Psalm 70

Psalm 70:4

Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
And let those who love Your salvation say continually,
"Let God be magnified."

What would happen if Christians today took this verse to heart?  What if we all did rejoice and were glad, because of God?  What would that look like?  How would we live our lives differently?  Would the cares of everyday life get us down?  Or would they lose significance?

What would happen if we did constantly say, at least in our minds, "Let God be magnified"?  How would that change our disposition?  How much would what we think is important diminish?  How much more would we consider carefully every little thing we do, to check if it was glorifying of God?  How would that change how Christians are viewed?

Psalm 69

Psalm 69:6

May those who wait for You not be ashamed through me, O Lord GOD of hosts;
May those who seek You not be dishonored through me, O God of Israel.

It's interesting how timing works out.  I'm in the middle of studying/teaching on 1 Peter.  Right now, the passage I'm working on is about submission to authorities.  One of the repeating reasons that we're taught to submit is so that others, seeing our good works, will recognize the reason we do them and honor God.

Here, we see the other side of the coin.  If we fail, we cause damage to God's name.  People see us messing up, and can say that we're no different from non-believers.  If we're not any different, why should they follow Him?  If they're already followers, we can shake their faith with our misdeeds.

Psalm 68

Psalm 68:19

Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden,
The God who is our salvation.  Selah.

Part of this is very easy to understand.  God is, of course, our salvation.  He is the only way we can ever hope to be made perfect, or even improved.  Without Him, we are doomed, and it is amazing that He has given us the opportunity to know Him through Jesus.  Think on that a moment.

However, we have trouble with the idea that God bears our burden.  First, I find it interesting that it's a plural linked to a singular.  It's not our burdens, or my burden, it's our burden.  We all have one burden together, and I don't know exactly what that's supposed to be.  I suppose it might be Israel's protection against its enemies, for which God definitely protected them.  But it might also be our sin, and what Christ would eventually take upon Himself.  I can't say I'm confident in my answer here, though.

Psalm 67

Psalm 67:4

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
For You will judge the peoples with uprightness
And guide the nations on the earth.
Selah.

Many nations are fundamentally unjust.  They allow, even encourage corruption.  Police are exploitative, judges prejudicial, politicians and rulers greedy.  Few in these nations have a chance for true justice, as they are not deemed worthy.

God will one day correct that.  He will hold the corrupt accountable, and make them pay for their crimes against Him.  He will rule directly, ensuring that justice is proper.  When that day comes, the peoples of the oppressed will praise Him, for He will have given them what man would not.

Psalm 66

Psalm 66:3

Say to God, "How awesome are Your works!
Because of the greatness of Your power
Your enemies will give feigned obedience to You.

God's works are amazing.  Everything we see is evidence of His power.  He created everything, and made everything mankind has developed possible.  Even those who doubt Him must obey.

However, that doesn't mean that they will obey because they want to.  They do it because they have no choice.  They see His power and His greatness, but don't really want to believe it.  So they obey, but it's fake.  They're looking for some way to discredit Him, or for Him to make a mistake.  They don't understand that that chance can never come.

Psalm 65

Psalm 65:10

You water its furrows abundantly,
You settle its ridges,
You soften it with showers,
You bless its growth.

The ground is naturally rather hard and barren, especially around Israel.  But God sends the rain, to soften the ground and smooth it.  This makes it possible for plants to grow.  And it's all because God causes it to be so.

In the end, God gives us all we need.  It may not be what we want, or what we think we need.  However, God knows better than we do what we actually need.  He will do what is required for us to be supplied.

Psalm 64

Psalm 64:9

Then all men will fear,
And they will declare the work of God,
And will consider what He has done.

God has just thwarted the plans of evil men, and brought them down.  This causes others to recognize what He has done.  They know that He is powerful, and that He cares about what happens on this earth.

Some will come to understand, and will tell others.  This spreads the knowledge that God is active, not something you pray and sacrifice to, and hope that it responds somehow.  He will do what He promises to do, and danger will come upon the one who ignores Him.

Psalm 63

Psalm 63:3

Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips will praise You.

Some translations, I believe, change "lovinkindness" into "mercy."  That's a word we're more familiar with the meaning of, though "lovingkindness" captures it more accurately.  Without God's mercy, or the kindness He shows us because He loves us, we would have no hope of salvation.  When we die, we would be cut off from God forever.  With God's mercy, through Christ, we have the chance to be with Him forever.

Therefore, it is true that His loving kindness is better than life, for without it life would be nothing but the beginning of eternal torment.  Without the chance for mercy, we just go from one pain to another, infinitely worse one.  It then makes a lot of sense to praise God for that opportunity, and what He paid for us to have it.

Psalm 62

Psalm 62:10

Do not trust in oppression
And do not vainly hope in robbery;
If riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.

This should be the verse of dictators and criminals.  Oppression can not keep people in line forever.  It may work for a time, perhaps even a long time.  However, the day will come when someone will challenge you.  No one stays on top forever.

Similarly, robbery can not make one rich enough.  You will always want more, if you are focused on possessions.  There will always be something else to get, something else to help you keep score.  If your heart is on money or things, you will crumble when they do.

Psalm 61

Psalm 61:8

So I will sing praise to Your name forever,
That I may pay my vows day by day.

What vows did David make?  It appears his praise is related to them.  Are they vows of praise, then?  A promise to praise God daily for all He has done?  Perhaps they are a promise to God that he remembers God's faithfulness every day.

Another possibility is that they are recompense for something.  Perhaps one of the times that God intervened, David took a vow to praise him daily.  If this is the case, was the vow made before or after His intervention?  God isn't one who bargains normally, so did David's vow matter to God in whether He intervened?

Psalm 60

Psalm 60:12

Through God we shall do valiantly,
And it is He who will tread down our adversaries.

The word in this verse that caught my attention is "through."  God will probably not act in a vacuum.  He is perfectly capable of doing whatever He wants, of course.  However, when He is going to act in the earth, He is most likely to do so through someone.

However, at the same time, those who are used by God should not look at themselves as somehow better.  Pride can impede God's ability to use someone.  God may work through someone, but that doesn't mean he's the only one He can work through in a situation.  God could choose someone else.  We must never forget that we are an instrument for God, not the instrument.

Psalm 59

Psalm 59:11

Do not slay them, or my people will forget;
Scatter them by Your power, and bring them down,
O Lord, our shield.

Many people, myself probably among them, have a simple solution for dealing with those we think are evil:  kill them all and let God sort them out.  I once saw a picture of a billboard for either the Army or Marines, that said "It's God's job to judge.  It's our job to arrange the meeting."  This goes with my mostly-black-and-white view of the world fairly well.

However, here David isn't asking for that.  He feels that if they die, the people will forget.  And that does make sense.  Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein are already becoming memories and textbook notes.  Instead, he wants them brought low, where people who see them will remember how far they have fallen, and hopefully take warning.

Psalm 58

Psalm 58:3

The wicked are estranged from the womb;
These who speak lies go astray from birth.

Since man is fallen, all have sinned.  We all have gone astray.  We have all spoken lies.  Therefore, we are all estranged from God.  But at what point does this happen?  Are we separated from Him at birth?  Or are merely some, those God knows will not accept Him?

There is a belief among many Christians that children below a certain age are not sinful.  It is said that below this age, if they die, God will accept them.  I can't recall the Biblical basis for his belief.  Honestly, I've always been skeptical of that belief.  I think it's a nice thing to believe, but I'm not certain it's true, and the root of my skepticism is things like this verse, where people are deemed to be sinful from before they're even born.  I realize this is poetry, but the underlying theme comes up elsewhere.

Psalm 57

Psalm 57:5

Be exalted above the heavens, O God;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.

This exact phrase is repeated in the Psalm.  That gives it significance.  Obviously, what was said here is important to David.  He uses it as a chorus, in a sense, for the song.

So, why do we need to proclaim that God be exalted?  I think it's because we need to put things in proper perspective.  Many, even today, think the cosmos are the most amazing thing, and can explain everything if we study them enough.  However, they can't explain God.  He created the heavens and the earth, and therefore is automatically superior to them.  Therefore, His glory is also superior to creation, since without Him there would be no creation.  This is something that we need to keep in mind, to have a small inkling of what is truly important.

Psalm 56

Psalm 56:4

In God, whose word I praise,
In God I have put my trust;
I shall not be afraid.
What can mere man do to me?

David praises God's word, as he well should.  He knows what God has said, and the promises God has made for those who obey Him.  He praises God for those promises, and for providing the opportunity to reach those goals.  Therefore, he is not afraid of anything.

He asks what man can do.  Man could kill him, but that would merely allow him to see God all the sooner.  Man could cause pain and suffering, but compared to eternity any pain would be so short as to be unnoticed, and possibly garner him greater reward from God.  So what can man do that should cause David to fear them, when he has God on his side?

Psalm 55

Psalm 55:13

But it is you, a man my equal,
My companion and my familiar friend;

Who is David referring to here?  It seems, from the surrounding verses, that it is someone who has either criticized David, or outright betrayed him.  There's not much detail given, besides that he is an equal, and they have been in the Tabernacle together.

So, who could this mysterious person be?  There are two possibilities that come to mind for me.  First, it might be Absalom, his son who rebelled against him.  As his son, and a potential heir, he could be considered to be David's equal.  The other option I can think of is Joab, who disobeyed several of David's commands.  I don't know if either of these is actually who's being thought of, but they're the only candidates that come to mind.

Psalm 54

Psalm 54:4

Behold, God is my helper;
The Lord is the sustainer of my soul.

What does it mean to be a sustainer?  The dictionary says the word means to support or strengthen.  I guess that ties in with helper.  But is God a helper?  When I think of the term helper, I think of a someone of a "lower" status, like a servant or an apprentice.  I tend to be a helper on construction projects; I hand someone the tools, or hold something while it's worked on.  But God can't be that kind of helper, for He is not below us in any way.

Instead, He is more like a doctor.  He is one who improves people, makes them better.  He keeps the soul alive, and heals it.  He patches up its wounds, covers up the bruises, dulls the pain of the hurts.  He gives us the strength to keep going, until He is finished with us.  Until that day comes for each of us, we are to trust that He will hold us together, especially when we can't hold ourselves.

Psalm 53

Psalm 53:6

Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When God restores His captive people,
Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

I wonder which salvation is being talked about here?  This was written by David, so it can't be just a normal, physical salvation.  There were no occupying forces in Israel at the time.  So, what is in/on Zion that David is looking for?

Is he speaking to future peoples and times, when they would be enslaved?  Or is he speaking of the spiritual, and the salvation of people's souls by Jesus?  If so, why does he only refer to Israel, rather than all peoples?  Does he too have an incomplete view of who Jesus would come to save?

Psalm 52

Psalm 52:9

I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it,
And I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones.

God deserves our thanks, because He gives us everything.  Whatever He does for others, He has given us what is ours, and we should be grateful to Him just for that.  He will supply our needs, not our wants.  And if our need is to go home to Him, He will supply that, as well.

But until that day, we are to be with Him here.  We are to wait on His direction, and do what He tells us.  We do this because He does know what will happen, and He knows how He wants to use us best.  He has the vision that we do not, and the only way we can know what we should be doing is to stay close to Him and others He commands.

Psalm 51

Psalm 51:17

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

First and foremost, God looks at the heart.  If the heart is not right, nothing else matters.  It's easy to fall into the position of being proud at your faithfulness.  I've been there too often.  I'm a very "do-good" type of person.  I'm at church often; if there's a service or a group I'm involved in, they can depend on me to show up.

Then I see friends whose attendance if iffy, or will get up and wander around in sight of everyone, and it really bugs me that they're being so disrespectful to God.  But the issue is probably in my heart, at judging theirs.  If I'm willing to put my personal feeling aside and simply be available for God, to do as He wishes though them and me, I think things would go better.

Psalm 50

Psalm 50:12

"If I were hungry I would not tell you,
For the world is Mine, and all it contains.

This is a continuation of the previous verses, where God is making it clear, through Asaph, that He does not need anything from man.  Most gods of the time required man for their continuation.  They needed food, or human sacrifices, or worship, in order to keep existing.  Without that continued giving up to the god, it would die.  Not much of a god, then, if it required man to keep it going.

However, God doesn't need us.  We need Him, instead.  He doesn't eat, or thirst, or need.  Everything is His.  He merely lets us use it, should He see fit.  Also, He does not have any needs.  He doesn't eat, or drink.  That would imply that He could be deprived, and He can't.  He does not need something He created to continue; He has always existed, and always will.

Psalm 49

Psalm 49:10

For he sees that even wise men die;
The stupid and the senseless alike perish
And leave their wealth to others.

This brings back the old saw, "you can't take it with you."  A man's wealth will do him no good when he dies.  At the best, he'll be remembered for how he spent it, or designated it to be spent.  But that will help (or hurt) others, not himself.  For him, material possessions are a thing of the past.

So, why should we care about gaining wealth?  Why shouldn't we all live on the bare minimum, and give away the rest?  I see it as a management issue.  We can all do good with the money we do have, but you have to have money to get more money.  You have to invest wisely, to grow what you have, so it can do more.  You shouldn't hoard like mad; always be giving some.  But you should be working to increase what you do have, so that you can give more later.

Psalm 48

Psalm 48:3

God, in her palaces,
Has made Himself known as a stronghold.

This verse was chosen simply because it made me do a double-take.  "Her palaces?"  Whatasec...did God suddenly become female?  But then it's back to "Himself."  Is He now androgynous?  Or changing?  I thought for sure this was a typo, or something.

Then I double-checked the context.  The "her" isn't referring to God.  It's referring to Jerusalem.  The entire chapter is about how wonderful Jerusalem is, and how God has made it a city of marvel.  God has made the city great, and they refer to the city as "her" for some reason (no clue why).  Makes sense now, but had me very confused for a minute.

Psalm 47

Psalm 47:7

For God is the King of all the earth;
Sing praises with a skillful psalm.

I find it interesting that the command here is to sing with a skillful psalm.  It's not a joyful psalm.  It's not a loud psalm, or a heartfelt psalm.  It's a skillful psalm.  This suggests that skill really does matter to God.  Doing something because you want to, or because you think you should, isn't enough.  In fact, it might be detrimental.

There are times when "Christian pop" really irritates me.  A song doesn't just need a catchy tune, and use words that don't really say anything significant.  There has to be a true skill to what is written and performed.  This is a reason I go to a church that doesn't just go through the "Christian top 10" for its worship.  A song has to mean something, or it's not real praise, just exhibition.

Psalm 46

Psalm 46:9

He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
He burns the chariots with fire.

There will come a day, where God puts and end to our conflicts.  He will come in, and simply put an end to it.  He will destroy every gun, every tank, every fighter jet, every attack helicopter.  He will blunt knives, disarm grenades, disconnect mines, and stall trucks.

He may do all this simply by making them fail to work.  He might physically destroy them.  He may just come in, and be so overwhelming to us that no one dares touch a weapon.  I remember a scene in Star Trek, where an alien force made all warships' controls too hot to handle as they approached a battle; maybe he'll do something like that.  We don't know how, but on that day, our fights will end, forever.

Psalm 45

Psalm 45:6

Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;
A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

God has a kingdom.  Part of that kingdom we can see, because we live in it.  The entire universe is part of His kingdom, and while our bit of it is not quite going as He would have liked, He still has control over it all.  Also, He rules over all that which is not physical, what we would consider Heaven and Hell, or the spiritual realm.  While He has permitted Satan to rule Hell, He still has ultimate control, and will destroy it some day, as well.

I'm not quite sure what the scepter part here is about.  My only guess would be that a king's scepter signified his rule.  Maybe it was something benevolent, or relatively unthreatening.  Maybe it was richly ornate, showing his wealth.  Or maybe it was fierce and intimidating, showing his strength.  But God's is upright, showing His purity and how He is the source of all good and true.

Psalm 44

Psalm 44:21

Would not God find this out?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.

There is someone who knows what you did last summer.  And last year, and last decade, and when you were three years old.  In fact, he knows what you'll do next summer, too.  Nothing can be hidden from God, no matter how hard we try, and how well we hide it from man.  Every secret thought is known to Him.

So why do we keep trying?  Why do we think there are things that don't matter to Him?  Why do we think there are things we can't talk to Him about?  He knows them all anyway.  The only person we're hiding from when we refuse to confess our sins to God is ourselves, for we rob ourselves of His forgiving us.  As believers in Christ, the sins won't count against us in the end, but how much will they damage our walk before then?

Psalm 43

Psalm 43:3

O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me;
Let them bring me to Your holy hill
And to Your dwelling places.

How often do we ask God for His guidance?  How often do we want to know what His plan is, and where we fit into it?  How often do we want to have that experience of open-hearted worship, where there is nothing separating us from Him?

Sorry, but the author isn't really looking for that.  He's in trouble, and is seeking God for the peace that He can bring.  He wants to go to God's place because he knows he'll be safe there.  He's wanting a guide to flee from persecution, to the place where everything will be all right.

Psalm 42

Psalm 42:2

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;
When shall I come and appear before God?

I know the first verse of this Psalm from a song we sang all the time while I was growing up.  I always took it as a Psalm of praise, of longing to worship before God.  However, reading it now, I think I had the wrong idea.

This is a Psalm for a time of oppression.  This is someone who isn't looking so much to worship before God, but to either be rescued from his affliction, or to be relieved of his life.  He is hurting and being ridiculed, because God is not there.  He wants God to change his circumstances, or else to die and be relieved of the burdens of his life.

Psalm 41

Psalm 41:1

How blessed is he who considers the helpless;
The LORD will deliver him in a day of trouble.

I'll admit, I'm not one whose heart goes out to the helpless.  I think a lot of that is because I can't tell, most of the time, who is truly helpless, and who is lazy.  There are people who I help in small, who I know could be doing better, but are just too lazy to put in the effort.  This I consider the height of sloth.  I realize that I am not the world's most driven person.  However, I get my work done, and I'll do what is necessary to keep my commitments, if at all possible.  I'm a firm believer in that verse in Thessalonians that if someone will not work, they shouldn't eat.

However, I do understand that there are some who are not able to provide, those who truly are helpless.  I feel sorry for these people, but am uncomfortable around them as well.  I'm not a people person, and just don't know how to relate to them.  I can financially support those who do tend to them, but am never certain whether they're being duped by another con man.  I know there are those caught in sexual slavery, but don't really know how to help, given I'm in one of the worst demographics to directly assist (single white adult male).  I'm not good with kids, and don't have a clue how to assist them to make something better of their lives.  However, this verse reminds me that I need to look for more ways to do so anyhow.

Psalm 40

Psalm 40:5

Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders which You have done,
And Your thoughts toward us;
There is none to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of them,
They would be too numerous to count.

God created the entire universe, out of nothing.  That in itself is a miraculous occurrence.  He also created the physical laws that control how the universe works, which are so delicately balanced that if one of them were a percent different, we could not exist in our present form.  Then He shaped the universe, just so we could be here, and see it.

He created every star, every planet, every moon.  Every nebula, every pulsar, every black hole, every galaxy was made for us to observe and see His greatness.  He made it all from a single thought.  No one else could possibly have done anything even remotely close to it, because no one else existed to make it all.

Psalm 39

Psalm 39:4

"LORD, make me to know my end
And what is the extent of my days;
Let me know how transient I am.

It's easy to lose perspective of our lives.  Many days seem to drag on forever.  Occasionally they flit by, and I wonder where it went.  However, from the perspective of the next day, they almost always seem to have flitted by.  And that's only measuring against one day out.  Years then seem to have vanished.  Eventually decades have disappeared.

Now, take that from God's perspective, just looking at all of creation's timeline.  We live maybe a century.  Just in recorded history, that's 1/6 of 1%.  We have no clue how far time will span on before the end of the Millenium.  But 0.16% is already a tiny amount.  That's the most we get to see of God's view, and only from our extremely limited perspective.  How much more is there that God knows, while we're just sitting here dumb and ignorant?

Psalm 38

Psalm 38:18

For I confess my iniquity;
I am full of anxiety because of my sin.

I've written before about the fear of God.  It's a fear of both respect, and concern.  God is the one in charge; we don't have anything we can do to change what He wants to happen.  He has everything, we have nothing.  But also, we know that, so we don't want to tick Him off.  He has the ability to punish us as severely as He sees fit.

Now, we know that He knows everything we do.  There's nothing we can hide from Him.  Yet, when we admit that we've messed up, we still feel the shame especially strong.  It's like when we were kids, and we had to come clean to dad.  Mom had already told Him what we did, but we still had to admit it.  That shameful, sick-to-your-stomach feeling is likely what David is expressing here.

Psalm 37

Psalm 37:39

But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD;
He is their strength in time of trouble.

Man cannot do his own salvation.  He can't be good enough, or right enough, or pure enough, or strong enough.  He can't be smart enough, or humble enough.  No matter what we try, we will always come up short.  Only God can grant us salvation.

However, God can make us good enough for a situation.  He can make use strong enough to resist temptation.  He can make us smart enough to run when we need to.  He can make us humble enough to ask for His help.  He can even make us ask for others' help, when needed.  He could force us to do all this, but doesn't.  We have to choose it, or else it wouldn't matter, because it wouldn't be our choice to come to Him.

Psalm 36

Psalm 36:1

Transgression speaks tot he ungodly within his heart;
There is no fear of God before his eyes.

Fear can be a useful tool.  It can prevent us from doing something we shouldn't because of the possible consequences.  Those consequences can be natural, like burning your hand on a hot stove.  They can also be directed, like your parents spanking you for disobeying them.

God can punish us, too.  He can discipline us when we sin.  The purpose of this discipline is to teach us to not do the same thing again.  However, we don't always listen.  Maybe we think our punishment was man-made, or just random, since we can't see God directly doing the punishing.  Maybe we think we won't get caught again.  Maybe we just don't care, because we think the benefits are worth the risk of punishment.  But whichever it is, we do not have a proper fear of God.

Psalm 35

Psalm 35:18

I will give You thanks in the great congregation;
I will praise You among a mighty throng.

This man is not like me.  In a group, I prefer to keep quiet.  I don't want to bring attention to myself.  Even if I have something to say, I prefer not to jump in, wait to see if someone else had the same thought.  But David here is not like that.  He is going to stand and make the whole congregation know what God has done for him.

And he is right to do so.  God has done something significant, and he is giving credit where credit is due.  He has been delivered not by his own work, but through God's intervention.  Even in the places where I know God has directly come in, It tend not to say much about it.  David does the exact opposite.  I need to learn to be more like David, and announce when God has done something for me.

Psalm 34

Psalm 34:3

O magnify the LORD with me,
And let us exalt His name together.

I always saw this as just a call to worship.  But reading it today, it means something different to me.  Maybe because it's a Sunday, this other meaning has clicked.  But it's not just a call to worship, it's a call to worship together.  It's a call to communal worship.

Worshiping with others is often significantly different from worshiping alone.  Together, we worship in different ways than normally alone.  Most people don't sing alone much.  Most don't lift their hands when alone.  Most feel something more personal, more intimate when alone.  Together, we are bringing our commonalities together, and use them to focus our praise to God.  Our differences get set aside, so that we can do the thing we're supposed to always do, together.

Psalm 33

Psalm 33:8

Let all the earth fear the LORD;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.

We have every reason to be in awe of what God has done.  The evidence presented to us that He created the earth is knows as general revelation.  In this, we are to understand how impossible it is for the universe to have been created naturally.  First, everything has to come from somewhere, unless something supernatural exists to start thing off.  The mathematics show how ridiculously improbable it is that this all came into existence naturally, given how narrow the tolerances are for everything to fall apart.

Therefore, we know what power God has.  We know that He set things up in this delicate balance.  Through Scripture, we also know why He did it, so that we could be here and come to know Him.  He has all the power, which is why we should be in awe, and more than a little fear, of Him.

Psalm 32

Psalm 32:1

How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered!

This is a very simple statement, yet very powerful.  This could be the foreword to the entire New Testament.  This is an excellent summation of the reason many put their faith in Christ.  He took the penalty we could not pay, and extended its benefit to us.

Because of that sacrifice, our sins our covered.  Our transgressions are forgiven.  God can once again look upon us with joy, because we are not acceptable.  Christ has taken the transgressions and sins upon himself, so that we don't have to.  He has given us the opportunity to truly know God once again, for the first time since Eden.  How blessed we are because of that.

Psalm 31

Psalm 31:7

I will rejoice and be glad in Your lovingkindness,
Because You have seen my affliction;
You have known the troubles of my soul,

God knows.  He knows everything.  He knows everything about everything.  He knows everything about you.  All those things you don't like about yourself, all those things you know you shouldn't do.  All those things you do anyway.  All those things you do unintentionally, but still feel guilty about.  God knows them all.

God has every reason to condemn us for our sins.  And yet, He doesn't immediately.  He has every right to burn you to a crisp, or erase you from history altogether.  He has every reason necessary to wipe out the entire universe.  By the way, He doesn't need a reason, He could do it regardless.  And yet, here we sit.  We should bask in His love and kindness, and be reverently grateful, because we certainly don't deserve them.

Psalm 30

Psalm 30:12

That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent.
O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

David had been mourning, and God had given him some sort of relief.  From what's said earlier in the chapter, I think maybe it was that David had been stubborn and not obeying God's directions.  God therefore withdrew from him and David felt the absence and despaired.

He cried to God, and He revealed Himself again.  Therefore, David is praising God.  He is thankful that he was not destroyed when God was not supporting him.  He now is so grateful, he wants to praise Him for the rest of his life, and afterwards.  He does not want to be silent anymore.

Psalm 29

Psalm 29:4

The voice of the LORD is powerful,
The voice of the LORD is majestic.

Let's see, how can you describe God?  Lots of ways.  You can talk about His qualities, His power, His omniscience, His purity.  Anything that is good, you can multiple to infinity to describe God.  But how do you describe just His voice?

In this verse there are two descriptors used.  The first is power.  His voice alone can break mountains, cause earthquakes, and bring the world to heel.  Much of the rest of the chapter describes its power.  But it's also majestic.  Is it fitting for majesty, for a ruler.  It has its own beauty, its own dignity.  I don't really know what that means, besides that it is amazing to behold.

Psalm 28

Psalm 28:8

The LORD is their strength,
And He is a saving defense to His anointed.

I chose this verse, over several others in the chapter that say very similar things, because of the focus.  Many of the other verses in this chapter talk about the righteous one calling out to God, and being protected by Him.  I realize that that was how it generally worked in the Old Testament times, but those times are not today.

Instead, with Christ's coming, the old rules don't quite apply the same way.  God doesn't always save those who call upon Him.  Sometimes, they still fall, or fail.  Some would say that it's because their faith wasn't great enough.  Some would say it's all part of God's plan, and we can't know how those failures will work for His future glory.  But I think that, while not discounting those answers, this verse gives a different perspective.  God will do as He chooses, and He does the anointing.  If He chooses someone, He will supply the strength they need when they need it (that doesn't necessarily mean that He will give that strength when we think we need it).

Psalm 27

Psalm 27:11

Teach me Your way, O LORD,
And lead me in a level path
Because of my foes.

If you want to know what is right, you need a source.  You obviously don't know what's right and what isn't, or you wouldn't be asking.  However, your choices will only be as good as the origin of your decision-making.  If you choose the wrong source for your reasoning, the end result will be flawed.

God will lead us in a level path, if we let Him.  That much is obvious.  However, what does that last line mean?  Is it asking God to lead him levelly, because his foes are trying to mess the path up?  Or is it saying that he want to know how to go levelly, by using his foes appropriately?  If he comes across a dip in the path, and can cause his foes to fall into that dip and step over them, the path stays level.  But this sounds odd (though, of course, not outside God's ability), so which is it (if either)?

Psalm 26

Psalms 26:8

O LORD, I love the habitation of Your house
And the place where Your glory dwells.

What house is David referring to here?  At this point in time, the Temple hasn't been built yet, so there is no actual house for God.  Is this some reference to David's palace, since he wasn't allowed to build the Temple?  Did he consider that God's house?

Or was he referring to the Tabernacle as a house, even though it wasn't a permanent building?  He denigrates it as a tent, when he wanted to build the Temple.  But it is where God's glory dwells, so it would fit.  Or maybe it was the house related to wherever the Ark was at the time?  It doesn't say when David wrote this, so I can't be sure.  It might even have been written in anticipation of the Temple's construction.

Psalm 25

Psalm 25:8

Good and upright is the LORD;
Therefore He instructs sinners in the way.

I like the simplicity of this verse.  By definition, good is what is in God's character.  Therefore, in everything He is good and upright.  He is the source of all things good, and nothing that goes against Him can possibly be good.

If sinners (i.e., all who have ever done anything God would not) are to learn how to do good (i.e., be like God), they have to learn on their own, or be taught.  In order to learn themselves, they would have to have a way to observe God, which is impossible because He is incorporeal.  Therefore, God has to teach them, either directly, or by leaving something that they can learn through.  Simple, right?

Psalm 24

Psalm 24:1

The earth is the LORD's, and all it contains,
The world, and those who dwell in it.

This is one of the base statements of belief in God.  The first thing that must be true, if God exists, is that He created everything.  If it was not created by God, then it had to come from somewhere/something else.  That would mean that there is something outside of God, which leads to one of two possibilities.

First, it could be that there is another god out there, which would raise the possibility that there is a struggle between them.  That means they don't always agree, which means there is no absolute right or wrong.  The second possibility is that something created God, which also created us.  If that's true, then it means that we're worshiping the wrong person, and should be worshiping the true creator of everything.  Either way, this verse has to be true, or we've made a terrible mistake.

Psalm 23

Psalm 23:1

The LORD is my shepherd,
I shall not want.

What does a shepherd do?  He guides the flock, for starters.  He knows where the food is, and how to get from here to there.  He knows when it's time to move on, and when to let the flock stop and rest.  He watches out for the flock, and protects it from predators.

God does all these things.  He knows what we need (not want, but need), and when we need it.  He knows how to get us from here to there, if we'll obey his instructions.  He knows when we need to change, and when we need to rest.  We are very good at finding trouble, but God will not let it become overpowering.  The only thing that can keep us from contentment is ourselves.  We may not have what we want, but we will have what we need, according to His plan.

Psalm 22

Psalm 22:27

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD,
And all the families of the nations will worship before You.

The people of the earth are many and varied, more so than ever before.  Many do not recognize the existence of any supernatural, much less a single deity.  Those who do accept a deity, do not believe that it is a specific one known as Jehovah or Yahweh.  This prediction has never come true.

However, that does not mean that it never will.  Revelations tells us of a time when Christ will come back, and physically take command of the earth.  At that point, everyone on the planet will know that He is God.  They may not like it, they may not think it's the whole story, but they will know the truth.  Those who do not accept it will face the worst consequences possible, but those who do will see delights beyond their greatest imaginations.

Psalm 21

Psalm 21:11

Though they intended evil against You
And devised a plot,
They will not succeed.

Many try to hurt God in some way.  Some do it be going directly against His plans, damaging the church or believers or good works.  Others do it unintentionally, by not believing that He exists, or just think that He doesn't care about us.  Others simply ignore Him, and do what they want to do.

However, none of these can succeed.  We cannot hurt the indestructible.  We can't harm the flawless.  We can't damage the definition of perfection.  He sets the standards by which everything is judged.  We can make Him regret our choices, but that's all.  No damage we can do will cause evil to Him in any way.

Psalm 20

Psalm 20:7

Some boast in chariots and some in horses,
But we will boast in the name of the LORD, our God.

Many people are proud of their accomplishments.  They are important because of what they have done, or what they know, or what they can do.  Some are important because of what they have.  Armies are considered important based on how big the army is, and especially what technology they have.  Today, this would be saying that some boast because of their tanks and humvees.

However, all this is meaningless against the power of God.  He has the power to wipe out anything we could ever do in a second.  All of human history combined, with all the terrible weapons we've made, would not even make him notice the tap.  That power is on our side, and it is the only thing that we can be proud of.  But that pride must be mixed with submission and reverence, we are on its side, not it on ours.

Psalm 19

Psalm 19:1

The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.

The fancy term for this is "natural revelation."  It means that the universe itself is telling of how great God is, and how He has created all things.  The idea is that everything is so beautiful, so detailed, so precise, and so well balanced, that it is evidence that God exists, and that He made everything.

Personally, I've always found this argument gets stretched a little too far in some Christian circles.  I've heard it said that just by studying nature, one will arrive at the existence of Jehovah.  While I can follow to the point of some sort of supernatural that created everything, getting from there to Jehovah specifically takes a lot more stretching than I can picture.  If that view were true, then the deep dark tribes of Africa or Indonesia would have been worshiping Jehovah instead of spirits.

Psalm 18

Psalm 18:26

With the pure You show Yourself pure,
And with the crooked You show Yourself astute.

God isn't someone who has a physical body, or presence.  He can't been seen by someone.  You can't physically hang out with Him, to learn what He's like.  You only learn about Him based upon your own actions.  Therefore, those who are upright and holy will see Him respond to their actions with matching holiness.

But those who do wrong won't see Him doing wrong.  That would be impossible.  Instead, they find someone who can see straight through their deceptions.  He brushes aside their best fakery, blows past their tricks, and nudges aside their masks to reveal the truth.  In Him, there is no deception, and no one can deceive Him.

Psalm 17

Psalm 17:6

I have called upon You, for You will answer me, O God;
Incline your ear to me, hear my speech.

Everyone talks about prayer, even many nonbelievers.  Prayer is seen as a means of communicating with the supernatural.  For most, that communication is one-way, merely sending one's thoughts out.  Maybe someone listens, maybe not.  For believers, there is the guarantee that someone is listening.

However, I have to admit, that I've always struggled with the answer part.  You hear about the people who got a direct answer back from God, and "audible voice" types of things.  I can only point to one time that happened with me, maybe.  You hear about the physical answers to prayer, and those I can deal with better.  But the idea that prayer is a conversation, that's never sat well with me.  I can point to times where I was forming a thought or question or doubt in my head, and an answer immediately popped in, but I don't know if that's the Spirit responding, or just my ADD-full brain racing ahead.  It's certainly never been any sort of conversation, of more than a couple words.

Psalm 16

Psalm 16:2

I said of the LORD, "You are my Lord;
I have no good besides You."

We are fallen creatures.  As such, everything we do is flawed.  Even when we set out with the best intentions, and do everything right that we're able, it's still never enough.  The weight pushing down upon the bad side of the scale cannot be countered fast enough.

Therefore, our only hope is to surrender to God.  He has the ability to remove the scales.  Not to just counter the balance, but to make it meaningless.  Only through faith in Christ can we be made acceptable in His sight, and be able to really do God's will and serve Him.

Psalm 15

Psalm 15:4

In whose eyes a reprobate is despised,
But who honors those who fear the LORD;
He swears to his own hurt and does not change;

David is describing the kind of person who God finds acceptable.  I had to look up the definition of "reprobate," to make sure I understood this right.  Basically, it means an disreputable person, someone with no principles.  So in essence, someone who finds the unethical opportunist despicable is someone who might find God's favor.

Rather than liking the unprincipled person, someone who honors God is instead preferred.  Someone who will make a promise, and keep it, even if it will cost him.  Someone who will take the hit, because his word is really his bond.  However, today even these people are not guaranteed acceptance by God, since it is only by Christ's blood that we are redeemed.

Psalms 14

Psalms 14:3

They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good, not even one.

I'm not quite sure if David was intending to refer to the entire human race.  However, if he was, he certainly got it right.  We are a fallen people, and because of that, all our actions are corrupted.  Even when we try to do "good things," they are tainted by our sinful nature.  We all have chosen, to some extent or another, to turn aside from God's path.

However, we now have an advantage that David lacked.  Since Jesus came, we now have the means to be deemed "good" by God again.  We are still imperfect people, but through Jesus' salvation and the Spirit's guidance, we can at least be going in the right direction again.

Psalm 13

Psalm 13:1

How long, O LORD?  Will you forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?

How often do we feel like God has ignored us?  We're told by many that God will always bless the believer, and if he isn't, it's because we've done something very wrong.  We're told that a Christian's life runs smoothly, and any bumps must be our faults.  Even Jesus' disciples believed this to be the case, given their reaction to the blind beggar.

However, this feeling is a lie to discourage us.  God will not remove all the bumps from our roads.  In fact, He will place some of them there to help improve us.  Troubles along the way do not mean we've done something wrong.  Jesus himself felt this way on the cross, when he obviously hadn't done anything wrong.  Just because we can't see God's face, doesn't mean He's turned it away from us.

Psalm 12

Psalm 12:6

The words of the LORD are pure words;
As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times.

Imagine a bunch of silver ore, dropped into the pot and heated to several hundred degrees.  As it turns liquid, the different metals begin to separate, some floating to the top.  Silver is heavier, so the non-silver floats up, and is carefully removed.  When there is nothing left to see, the silver is poured out.  But the smith decides that's not good enough, and sends it through again.  Some additional dross eventually surfaces, and the purer silver is poured out.  Still he's not satisfied.  He sends it through seven times, until not a trace of impurity can be found.

This is what God's words are like. His pronouncements and instructions do not have the slightest impurity in them.  They are completely correct, without shade of any hint of imperfection.  This is the God we server, one who has absolutely no fault.

Psalm 11

Psalm 11:5

The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked,
And the one who loves violence his soul hates.

God tests everyone.  That would mean that all who are wicked, and all who are righteous, get tested.  But we don't all get tested the same way.  God knows where each of us needs improvement the most, and how to test us to bring that improvement about, if we so choose.  For some, that test may involve violence.

That violence can change people.  Some it causes to retreat, to make themselves less likely to be subject, or even around, violence again.  Some accept what has happened, and continue on.  Some become champions of anti-violence campaigns, trying to rid the world of what did them harm. But some learn to like the violence, to seek to do it more because it brings them power, or pleasure, or advancement.  Violence is at times a necessary tool, but it should never be sought.  I think these are the ones who God is opposed to in this passage.

Psalm 10

Psalm 10:11

He says to himself, "God has forgotten;
He has hidden His face; He will never see it."

The evildoer may or may not acknowledge God's existence.  If he does, he may or may not acknowledge God's power.  If he does, then he's denying God's omniscience.  He thinks that God is limited in some way, that He can't see the evil that's being done, or He'd surely do something.  Therefore, since He hasn't done something, it means He can't.

This is, of course, wrong.  He does see everything, and knows everything.  The fact that evil even exists is a sign of how much God loves us.  He is willing to let us do wrong, because the alternatives are to either destroy us, or to force us to do right.  If He destroyed us, we could no longer have any knowledge of Him.  If he forced us, we would no longer have the ability to choose to love Him.  So He lets us go on our way, even though it hurts Him.

Psalm 9

Psalm 9:12

For He who requires blood remembers them;
He does not forget the cry of the afflicted.

God pays attention to those who have been harmed.  He knows everything, and doesn't just ignore most of it to focus on the "big picture."  He sees every slight, every small wound, every unintentional hurt.  But He also sees every derision, every single insult, every "accidental" injury, as well as every obvious attack.  Nothing escapes His notice.

All these are sins, and there must be a price paid.  That price is blood.  If we have sinned, only our blood can cover that sin.  But we don't have enough blood to cover our sins, so we have to die.  Only by substituting the blood of something else, acceptable to God, can we cover our sins.  In this time, that blood was certain animals, sacrificed a certain way.  Today, Christ's blood covers all, for those who accept it and claim it.

Psalms 8

Psalms 8:4

What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him?

David is awed by how great God is, and how much He towers over everything in creation.  In fact, compared to Him, mankind is nothing at all.  Yet God gives us attention, and is interested in our doings and well being.  He doesn't want us to suffer, or make mistakes.  And David is wondering why this is.

The answer, of course, is that God created mankind in the image of Himself.  He put qualities of Himself into us, and that makes us interesting to Him.  We have the capability to understand Him in ways that nothing else can, and to react to what He has done.  He cares for us because He made us most like Him of everything in all of His creation.

Psalm 7

Psalm 7:10

My shield is with God,
Who saves the upright in heart.

David is putting his trust in God.  He has come under attack, and must rely on God to come through the other side.  Elsewhere in the passage, he calls on God to be his judge and condemn the evil-doers.  But here, he relies on God to be his shield, his defense.

He believe God will defend him, that the shield will hold firm, because God knows the hearts of men.  He knows that David is faultless in this matter, and that the other person is doing evil.  No matter what appearances may be, God knows both men's hearts, and knows who is right.

Psalm 6

Psalm 6:4

Return, O LORD, rescue my soul;
Save me because of Your lovingkindness.

David is pleading for God to save him.  He seems to be in the midst of some long trial, and feels like he is losing.  He cries out to God, for Him to come to his rescue, for he has no other options.  He knows that he will not be able to persevere alone.

He also knows that God has no reason that He needs to save him.  He can only ask that God do it, for lack of a better term, out of the goodness of His heart.  He throws himself upon God's mercy, because he knows he is undeserving.  He cannot earn the right, or claim the privilege, of being saved.  So if God is going to rescue him, He will do it simply because because He chooses to.

Psalm 5

Psalm 5:11

But let all who take refuge in You be glad,
Let them ever sing for joy;
And may You shelter them,
That those who love Your name may exult in You.

Some people try to force their way to God.  They push and push, doing more and more.  But all that effort is for nothing, because God can't be forced.  However, we can hide with Him.  We can ask for sanctuary, and He will grant it.  No matter what happens outside, none of it can touch Him, and we are safe with Him.  For this reason, we should give Him our praise.

God gives us shelter from our (and His) enemies, and He does it for a reason.  He wants our worship.  Not in a vain way, where He needs it or wants something He doesn't deserve.  But He does deserve every bit of it.  He gives us everything, and we owe Him everything in return.

Psalm 4

Psalm 4:4

Tremble, and do not sin;
Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still.
     Selah.

In my previous post, I talked about how we should tremble, because God's power is able to do anything.  But we should worship Him, because of that power and how He does use it.  Here, we see the next thing we should do.  God has called us to do His work.  By sinning, we are saying that His work isn't right, when we know that's not true.  Therefore, if that power is working for His will, and we are doing something against that will, we should tremble, for suddenly God's power is not on our side anymore.

Personally, I find the second half of this verse to be troublesome.  I don't do well doing nothing.  If I'm doing nothing, my ADD kicks in, and my mind goes three directions at once, few of them ever good.  My darkest fantasies happen when I'm lying in bed, yet this is where we're called to meditate, presumably upon God and His will?  This is one that will take a lot of work for me.

Psalms 3

Psalms 3:5

I lay down and slept;
I awoke, for the LORD sustains me.

There's a very simple truth in this, that we overlook frequently.  First, there's the fact that we are able to sleep.  We don't simply go go go go go go, until we burn out and drop dead.  If we did that as babies, especially, we wouldn't last long enough to figure out how to control our limbs, much less anything else.  God has given us the possibility of rest, and we should avail ourselves of it when needed (and even wanted, occasionally).

Second, God allows us to wake again.  He could call any of us home at any time.  Any one of us could die in his sleep any night, with no warning.  But He doesn't do that.  Instead, he allows us to wake for a new day, to do His work.  I know I frequently don't think about what His work might be, and that's to my shame.

Psalms 2

Psalms 2:11

Worship the LORD with reverence
And rejoice with trembling.

At first glance, this seems like an odd set of statements to put together.  Of course one worships with reverence.  To most people, the two words could mean the same thing.  To worship is to give respect and praise, to acknowledge someone's superiority.  To revere is to acknowledge the importance or rarity of someone or something.  So, you can give respect to something important, or acknowledge the rarity of something as being superior.  Makes sense.

However, how does one rejoice with trembling?  To rejoice is to celebrate.  Rejoicing is what you do at a party or festival.  Why would someone tremble at a party?  Why shake when you're celebrating?  Because you understand that God has all power, and can do with it whatever he wishes.  He could wipe you from existence, if He wanted to.  But He won't, because all that power is on your side.  So you respect the power He has, but you also understand what it means.

Psalms 1

Psalms 1:5

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

I'm assuming from how this is constructed, that the judgment means those who judge, not those who are judged.  This would make sense, given that the evil cannot judge others who are evil in heaven, and sinners would of course not be part of the righteous.

However, I always feel a bit guilty when this comes up.  Even though I know Christ has saved me, I feel like a sinner.  I have a very acute knowledge of my evil, and know that I deserve to be among the condemned.  It makes me squirm to think that I won't be, as if I've tricked God into accepting me because I did one thing right.  I know it doesn't work like that, but my gut always says I cheated, and should be down there with the rest of them being punished.

Job 42

Job 42:8

Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you.  For I will accept him so that I may not do with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has."

God has pronounced sentence on Job's ignorant friends.  They said that He would not punish Job unless he had sinned.  God has now personally repudiated that assumption, by saying that they were wrong.  They now have to face the penalty for their poor counsel, with a significant sacrifice.

Interesting how Job, despite having been shown to be wrong himself, is the one who is made the intercessor for them.  Job's error was in believing that he had a right to an answer.  Even though God provided him one, he had no such right, and has now repented.  He, therefore, is still the most righteous man on earth, and is therefore in a position to serve as priest for the others.

Job 41

Job 41:11

"Who has given to Me that I should repay him?
Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine.

I could just say this speaks for itself, but that would be cheating.  However, God does make His point very clearly.  We constantly hear in Christian circles that everything is God's, and we are merely stewards of His stuff.  He has chosen us each to manage some of His resources, for their improvement and use in building His kingdom.

I have to be honest, I sometimes feel like I'm not doing a great job.  I tend to think of my stuff as mine, not His.  I give a considerable amount, but it still feels like I'm squandering what I'm given at times.  Like I should do more, but I'm not for whatever reason.  I pray for God's guidance in how I can improve.

Job 40

Job 40:4

"Behold, I am insignificant; wheat can I reply to You?
I lay my hand on my mouth.

Job got what he wanted.  God has come down to answer his challenges.  He wanted to know why God was punishing him, why he was suffering when he had not done anything wrong.  Now He's shown up, and is answering the question.  Suddenly, Job realizes that he wasn't prepared for the answer after all.

How often do we ask questions that we aren't prepared to learn the answers to?  What happens to us when we do ask, and find out?  Is it shocking?  Humbling?  Do we learn the mistakes of our arrogance?  Or do are we simply shocked into silence, realizing that we should have kept our big mouths shut?

Job 39

Job 39:17

Because God has made her forget wisdom,
And has not given her a share of understanding.

First off, before anyone gets sexist, I want to clarify that the "her" in this passage is a female ostrich.  So we're not denigrating humans here, this is about the wisdom (or folly) that God has given animals.

Now, this is interesting in that it says God has specifically deprived ostriches of wisdom on how to care for their young.  They lay their eggs, bury them down a bit maybe, and then leave.  They don't protect their eggs, to prevent accidents or predators from getting to them.  If they live they live, and if they die they die.  God has made them foolish, perhaps specifically to give Job this example.

Job 38

Job 38:21

"You know, for you were born then,
And the number of your days is great!

It's odd to see God using sarcasm.  He's berating Job by asking him about all the things God has done and can do, which no man can really even fathom, much lest attest to.  God created the heavens and the earth, not man.  God controls the weather and natural cycles, while man has to merely endure them.

Job obviously doesn't know any of these things, and God is driving home that point.  If he did know, if he had seen it all happen, then he would be exceedingly ancient, and should be venerated for that.  But since he didn't, and he isn't, He's merely taunting him.  God's using His power, and Job's lack thereof, to prove His point.

Job 37

Job 37:24

"Therefore men fear Him;
He does not regard any who are wise of heart."

The entire chapter was the proof of why men fear God.  It goes into detail about God's power and knowledge.  It explains how He has control of the things that we don't have the slightest clue about how they work.  The item primarily used is the weather, which is appropriate since God is about to speak out of a storm.

I'm not sure how to interpret the phrase "wise of heart."  My best guess would be that it means someone who thinks himself wise.  If that is the case, then this does make sense, since God is the source of all wisdom.  Any who claim to be wise, or even those who are wise, are just a pale shadow of that wisdom that comes from Him.  Therefore, He rightly should have no regard for our wisdom, since it is infinitesimal compared to His.

Job 36

Job 36:26

"Behold, God is exalted, and we do not know Him;
The number of His years is unsearchable.

Once again, Elihu is showing how far above us God is.  We have no ability to even understand Him, much less consider that He owes us something.  About the best we can do is know that He exists.  He has the ability to control anything He so chooses, including us.  However, He does not do so, but lets us make our own choices.

Today, we have a much better understanding of God than the people of Job's time, since we have the Bible to reveal parts of His nature to us.  We now know that He loved us so much He made a way for us to come back to Him.  But at the time, all they knew was that He was all-powerful, and had existed forever.

Job 35

Job 35:14

"How much less when you say you do not behold Him,
The case is before Him, and you must wait for Him!

Job here is accused of being impatient.  He thinks God owes him and answer, and he wants that answer from Him right now!  Most people are fine with a "yes" answer from God.  A number can deal fine with a "no" answer, even.  But "wait" is the one we chafe at.  We think we haven't heard Him, or we missed a sign He gave us.  We decide that He answered in our hearts, and is blessing what we want to do anyhow (not saying He isn't, but there's an assumption there).  But merely being told to wait is unbearable for many.

I'm waiting on answers to many questions I've posed to God.  I can't pretend for a moment that I enjoy the waiting, but I'm trying not to let my impatience cause me to do the wrong thing.  Most people say I'm pretty good at waiting.  Really, I'm not.  If I'm early to something, I'll wait, because I don't expect the other party(ies) to be there yet.  But if it's after the time things were supposed to start, I get very impatient, and start to think the worse of the other party(ies), rather quickly.  People think I'm patient merely because I've learned to hide the signs of my impatience.  But believe me, they're there in force.  In the biggest cases that I'm waiting on God to answer, as I've told people who have asked about the topic, I'd rather get it right than get it fast.

Job 34

Job 34:33

"Shall He recompense on your terms, because you have rejected it?
For you must choose, and not I;
Therefore declare what you know.

Elihu makes a challenge to what Job has said.  Job has been bemoaning what has happened to him, and saying that God owes him an answer to his questioning.  Elihu slaps that reasoning down.  He says that God is not accountable to us.  We hold no authority over Him.  He has all the power and authority, we have none.  He will do what He wants, and we must accept that it is for the good.

However, we are not forced to make that choice the way He wants.  We can decide to reject reality, to do things our own way.  We are held responsible for our choices, but we do get to make a choice.  Our choice, however, does not change that reality; it merely affects our perception of it.  So each must choose, and choose carefully.

Job 33

Job 33:13

"Why do you complain against Him
That He does not give an account of all His doings?

Elihu claims to be speaking from God here, though I question his accuracy in that.  However, he does raise a valid point here.  What right do we have to complain that God doesn't explain Himself?  Is He a child who has to account for his whereabouts, so that His parents know what's happening?

Rather, He is the parent.  However, He doesn't need us to tell Him where we go or what we do; He already knows it all.  He is the one with the master plan, and the one who knows everything that has happened and will happen.  He has the account, but He is under no circumstances compelled or obligated to reveal it to us.  In fact, if we knew, oftentimes we would be embarrassed or humbled by what He is causing/allowing to happen.

Job 32

Job 32:7

"I thought age should speak,
And increased years should teach wisdom.

I'm in several church groups where I'm far and away the youngest there, or where not youngest I'm the least experienced.  I have my reasons for being in those groups, yet I can't say it isn't wearying sometimes.  In general, I keep my mouth shut during discussions.  This is partly due to my introversion, and partly because I tend to be thinking about things from a perspective that is not really on-topic.

However, a large portion of the reason I keep quiet is summarized in this verse.  As the junior, it is my place to listen and learn from those more experienced.  They have years, often decades, of dealing with these issues, when I've never faced them, or at least only studied for relatively few years.  If I'm to become the "wise elder" (in experience, not church title) some day, I should be soaking up all the learning and wisdom of the others that I can, so that when my time comes I have that information to dole out, and hopefully can avoid making some of the mistakes that they did.

Job 31

Job 31:23

"For calamity from God is a terror to me,
And because of His majesty I can do nothing.

I can understand Job's feelings about what has happened.  God has apparently decided to destroy him.  If this were a temporal foe, he probably has a force he could bring against it.  He'd at least have a battle, so even if he were outnumbered there would be a chance.  However, against God, there is no opposition.  There's no avoidance, no escape, no chance to prevent what God decides will happen.

In comparison to the power God can bring, Job by comparison can do nothing.  This is obvious from what he's said, but I wonder if there's a second meaning here?  Could it be that experiencing God's power is enough to shock Job into inaction?  Is he saying he is so overwhelmed just by the the knowledge of what God can do, that he can't even think about trying to do anything himself?  He realizes it would be futile, but many would still try; Job can't, he is so humbled by what he knows is coming.

Job 30

Job 30:24

"Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand,
Or in his disaster therefore cry out for help?

Job believes (more-or-less correctly, as it happens) that God decided to smite him, and has turned His back on him (incorrect).  He thinks God wants this all to happen, and is hurting him unjustly.  However, he is still asking God for help.  He still hopes that God will be merciful in the end, and save him from this ruin.

Doesn't this make sense?  Elsewhere in the Bible (which, granted, Job did not have), we see God having mercy on those who have sinned and are being punished, once they realize their fault and repent.  Job has nothing to repent for, so he is going straight to asking for help.  There's not likely to be any harm in asking, and at least he might get a reason for why this has all happened.

Job 29

Job 29:2

"Oh that I were as in months gone by,
As in the days when God watched over me;

We all tend to long for "the good old days," when things seemed better and our troubles were fewer.  Perhaps time brings perspective that we lacked then, forgetting the little problems and remembering the larger good.  There are always things that we'd like to tweak, to make the good even better, but overall we all long for those better times.

In Job's case, he is remembering much of his life.  Until this event, he was a well-respected person in the community.  He did what was right, punished those who did wrong, and received honor for it.  God had blessed him, and he used that blessing to bless others, and to do further good.  Now that has all been stripped away from him, and he longs to be able to go back.  Wouldn't we all, in that situation?

Job 28

Job 28:28

"And to man He said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
And to depart from evil is understanding.'"

Job has just spent the entire chapter speaking of the glories of the earth, and the marvelous things it contains.  Man can find them, when no other creature can, and they bring us great delight.  However, no one can find where wisdom in the earth, no matter how hard they look.  But God can, and here we learn how.

Fearing God is wisdom.  I believe this means honoring Him, and being aware of His power and position.  It's not a matter of being scared of Him, for fear He will squash us.  He could do that, but doesn't for our sakes.  Instead, it's a matter of giving Him what He deserves from us, which is everything He asks for.  Also, understanding (knowledge) is avoiding evil.  Since God cannot be or do evil, then one must avoid it to know God.  In the process of avoiding evil, one will move closer to God, and understand His wisdom better.

Job 27

Job 27:6

"I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go.
My heart does not reproach any of my days.

Despite all that has happened to him, Job still maintains his innocence.  Despite the accusations of his friends that he is hiding some secret sin, he still is certain that he has committed no wrong that would cause God to afflict him.  He maintains that he has nothing to be ashamed of, nor regretful about.  His conscience is clear.

However, I do have to wonder if it should be.  Job seems to be saying that he has never done a single thing wrong.  We all know that man is sinful, and cannot live without sinning (except for Christ).  While the capability to not sin is within us, no one (except Christ) has ever succeeded is following that side of their nature every day.  I couldn't tell you a day ever where I did not sin.  Yet Job is claiming to not have a single thing to regret.  Is he saying he's never sinned, or just that he has atoned for all the sins he has committed?

Job 26

Job 26:14

"Behold, these are the fringes of His ways;
And how faint a word we hear of Him!
But His mighty thunder, who can understand?"

Job has just described the amazing things that God has control over.  He has told of how He controls all the activities of this natural world, from light and darkness, to rain in clouds.  All of those processes that make our world habitable, and beautiful, are all under God's direct control.

We understand all of this, all the ways God runs our world.  However, even with all we can see, we can't hear him.  We cannot comprehend His words to us.  They are both faint and overpowering.  They are both the still small voice, and the all-encompasing blast.  We we to even slightly understand what He is trying to say to each of us, we would be overwhelmed.

Job 25

Job 25:4

"How then can a man be just with God?
Or how can he be clean who is born of woman?

Bildad has a good question here.  He is saying that God is supreme over all, including man.  He has total control over everything.  He is the definition of holiness and purity, where man is fallen and sinful.  Therefore, how can a person presume to be on equal moral footing with God?

The answer, of course, is that he can't.  No one can be just innately before God.  We all have sinned, and therefore are below God.  However, God has given us a pathway to become acceptable to him.  It is difficult, and different now from what it was in Job's day, but it is there.  Then it was by works, but constantly having to sacrifice for every sin (which meant knowing when you had sinned).  Today it is by surrendering ourselves to Christ, and accepting his death in exchange for ours.  Both are simply, but neither is easy.  And there can be no other way to attain that righteousness.

Job 24

Job 24:13

"Others have been with those who rebel against the light;
They do not want to know its ways
Nor abide in its paths.

I wonder who these others Job is talking about are?  It sounds like they are people who had left God, but have since returned to following His ways.  Is Job thinking of some specifically?  Is it related to his talk of those in cities from the previous verse?  Some who hang around with the wrong crowd for a while?

Whoever they are, they definitely know who they're talking about.  Rebels have always been around, since Adam and Eve.  They want to do things their own way, and don't care if the rules, or God, says that's wrong.  They care about themselves, not anyone else (or at least, not enough to treat them the same).  For them, God isn't important, and they don't care what He wants.

Job 23

Job 23:5

"I would learn the words which He would answer,
And perceive what he would say to me.

Job wants to go to court with God, and make an argument to Him like a lawyer to a judge.  He feels that if he were able to do this, at least he would then get a response, as a judge hands down a ruling.  He believes that he would be absolved by that ruling, but I don't think the result would really matter.

What Job is seeking here is two-fold.  First, he wants to actually see his tormenter.  He knows God has to have had a hand in this, and wants a chance to confront Him.  He knows the risks involved, but still wants that chance to take Him on.  Second, he wants to know why.  He wants to hear, from God's own lips, why He has chosen to strike him so low.  Even if he doesn't like the answer, he would at least have an answer, and knowing the reason alone would give him comfort.

Job 22

Job 22:3

"Is there any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous,
Or profit if you make your ways perfect?

This is an interesting way for Eliphaz to start his accusation.  I would expect that he would start be defending his previous statements, or telling Job that he was wrong about the wicked profiting.  Instead, he starts with a good set of questions, about how our goodness benefits God.

He is right here that there is no profit for God whether we do good or evil.  However, he's probably coming at it from the wrong angle.  I think that he may have been thinking of profit to Job for being perfect, as in God rewarding him for his perfection.  These people seem to understand that no one is perfect, but must repent of their evil.  However, he is definitely wrong about God not being pleased when we are righteous.  Since this is before Jesus paid the price for our sins, righteous action was counted in our favor, though sins still had to be atoned for.  Therefore, while there is definitely no profit, there may be pleasure for Him.

Job 21

Job 21:8

"Their descendants are established with them in their sight,
And their offspring before their eyes,

Job has come out swinging in this chapter, directly challenging Zophar's statements from the last.  Zophar was claiming that God punished the evil-doers in short order, and that they would not benefit from their deeds.  As I've said before, his philosophy holds disturbing similarities to the "health-wealth gospel" of modern times.

Job, however, will have none of this claptrap.  He goes straight in, showing how Zophar is wrong.  Here, he shows how the evil-doers are not punished right away.  In fact, they live to a ripe old age.  They see their children grow up, and them their children's children.  This takes a matter of decades.  So, of course, they are not punished by God right away.  Instead, they often live long, happy lives.

Job 20

Job 20:5

That the triumphing of the wicked is short,
And the joy of the godless momentary?

Once again, Job's friends are mistaking the temporal for the eternal.  They are under the impression that God has promised to punish sins here, in this life.  They seem to think that no matter how good things may look at the moment, God will see to it that they are brought down in the end.  Of course, anyone today knows from looking around that that isn't often the case.  Many do wrong, and then go on to life wonderful lives.

However, God's judgment our actions' consequences do happen in eternity.  Those who do wrong will be judged, and condemned, unless they have trusted to Christ for their salvation.  If they do trust Christ, then he takes (has taken?) the punishment for their sins.  Otherwise, they have to take that punishment themselves.  Either way, there is a punishment that must be meted out, and all one's success can't prevent that.

Job 19

Job 19:26

"Even after my skin is destroyed,
Yet from my flesh I shall see God;

This seems odd.  Job is saying that he will see God in his flesh, after his skin (that is, his flesh) is destroyed.  How is this possible?  What is he saying here?  How does one physically see God, who is not physical, after one's physical body has been destroyed?

I'm guessing for all this, but I have a couple ideas.  First, this may be figurative.  Though he dies, he will live on and see God.  Second, it's referring to God's eventual reunion with His people.  He will see God again at the second coming, and all believers shall see Him in new bodies.  Third, it could be that he means that even if he loses his skin, he will live on, and see God when He comes.

Job 18

Job 18:5

"Indeed, the light of the wicked goes out,
And the flame of his fire gives no light.

The first time I read this through today, I thought he was being figurative.  The light is the person, and it goes out.  This much is true, though only in the sense that everyone's light goes out.  We all die, sooner or later, and are no more.  In the temporal sense, this would be foolish, since many evildoers prosper greatly.

Then, when I typed it in here, after having read the rest of the chapter, I realized he was speaking literally.  Supposedly, the evil man's light is darkened by God, and his fires cast no light, only shadow.  This, of course, is completely ridiculous.  Everyone knows about those who have done wrong, and succeeded greatly regardless.  Even if all we have to look upon is history, it's filled with such figures who are remembered only for the bad things they did.  The idea that God will snuff out the lights of those who do wrong, and leave them with only shadows and darkness, is ludicrous.

Job 17

Job 17:8

"The upright will be appalled at this,
And the innocent will stir up himself against the godless.

Job had previously been talking about how he has been afflicted.  Now he moves into how others view him.  He correctly sees how those who are uninvolved, and not guilty of any sins related to this matter, look down upon his plight.  They see his misery, and are appalled.

Job seems to be saying that it's only natural for those who are innocent to look upon the bad circumstances of others and feel superior.  That's certainly what Job's friends are doing.  It may be that he's saying if the situation were reversed, he would be doing the same thing.  The innocent should be hostile to the ungodly, and appalled by what happens to those who sin.  Of course, Christ has now taught us differently, but this is still our base reaction.

Job 16

Job 16:11

"God hands me over to ruffians
And tosses me into the hands of the wicked.

I'm not certain what Job is saying in the verse.  It almost sounds like he's blaming God for what's happened to him.  However, that doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the book.  Elsewhere, it seems that he is accepting of what God has allowed to happen to him, even though he doesn't understand it.

Here, it seems that he holds God directly responsible for what's occurred.  It's not just that God has withdrawn his protection.  God has intentionally handed him over to evildoers, to do with as they will.  This moves God from passive (former) benefactor to active co-conspirator in his losses.  It's the strongest indictment against God yet that I can recall Job making.

Job 15

Job 15:8

"Do you hear the secret counsel of God,
And limit wisdom to yourself?

It's an interesting question posed to Job here.  Did he get special wisdom from God?  Was God partial to him in some way?  And if so, did he hide that wisdom away, so that others would not know?  Was he keeping God's favor to himself, and the rest of the world could burn?

While this would be possible, it doesn't at all seem likely. God may well have given Job special knowledge of Himself, but I doubt it was because he alone was chosen.  Instead, it's more likely that it would have been because he was the only one who was looking for it.  The knowledge of God is open to anyone willing to hear it, but most aren't.  In the same way, Job obviously didn't keep it to himself, because he sacrificed for his family to atone for their sins.  They had to know what he was doing, and probably those around him did, too.

Job 14

Job 14:16

"For now You number my steps,
You do not observe my sin.

I'll admit, this confuses me somewhat.  The first part is simple enough.  God numbers our steps, and He knows how many steps we take.  He also knows how many we are going to take, over the course of our lives.  And we should know that when we reach the number He has given us, He will take us home.

The confusing part is the second line.  It almost sounds like Job is saying that God ignores his sin.  Is God the inferior here?  Job can do no wrong, no matter what?  Were this the case, his friends would truly be correct about his failure to admit his faults, and why God is punishing him.  I have to assume that he is referring to how he has made atonement for his sins, and therefore God has forgiven them and does not count them against him.  But the wording is rather odd.

Job 13

Job 13:23

"How many are my iniquities and sins?
Make known to me my rebellion and my sin.

My only thought on this verse is how brave Job is to ask this of God.  This is something that very few people would really ask of God.  Many might say the words, but I doubt few would really mean it.  I know I've asked this, but don't think I ever really wanted to know.

However, what would happen today, if Christians did ask God this question?  If we really asked this, and we willing to get a complete reply?  I'm sure that for most of us, the reply would be much longer than we'd expected, and probably rather scathing, as well.  I don't think many, if any, of us are really living how God wants us to, myself included.  So if we inquired of God as to what He wants us to fix, how humbled would we be by the answer?  How much would the church change if all believers did this today?