Psalm Twenty Four

A Psalm David wrote which declares that everything, yes EVERYTHING, belongs to God.

The earth, and all that it contains, belongs to You Lord. 

For You created it. 

You formed the Seas and laid down their boundaries.

You built it anew after Noah's flood.

That said, who may climb Your holy mountain, Lord?

Who can stand up straight in the presence of Your Holiness?

Only those who are righteous ... who have a pure heart,

a clear conscience and hands empty of malice and evil.

Men and women who will not even think to break Your law.

These shall be blessed by Your hands;

for they have received, and accepted, Your Salvation.

They have victory in all their ways!

These are my children, oh Jacob. My very seed, oh Israel.

They that seek my face, my favor ... and I bless them for it.

Stop, take a moment to dwell on all of this. 

Listen! Bring yourselves back to attention, 

you keepers of the Way. 

Come to full conscientiousness, full attentiveness, 

All you leaders - and members - of the church. 

Let the King of glory come in.

Who is this all-glorious King? 

The Lord God, your most formidable adversary. 

The Lord God, 

a valiant and forceful champion of and for His people.

Listen! Bring yourselves back to attention, 

you keepers of the Way. 

Come to full conscientiousness, full attentiveness, 

All you leaders - and members - of the church.  

Let the King of glory come in.

Who is this all-glorious King? 

The Lord God, Ruler of heaven and earth; 

Head of The Church.

The Lord God, Leader of all the angel armies.

Stop, take a moment to dwell on all of this. 

Amen!

Psalm Twenty One

*This is a Psalm of King David written after he had been victorious in battle. We, as Christians, have been made Kings/Queens and Priests unto the Most High God. We find this designation in Revelation 1: 5-7, which reads; "... and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." So I have re-written this Psalm to reflect this as our position in Jesus.

Oh Lord, my God, this king rejoices in Your strength

How great is my joy in the victories You give!

You have given me my heart's desires

and have not kept from me any of the requests I have made.

Selah 

* I will stop and meditate on this! *

You have welcomed me with many rich blessing

and placed Your crown of pure gold on my head.

I asked You to spare my life, to give me another chance,

and You gave it to me. 

Yes, You gave me a new life and so much more.

Through the many victories You have given me, 

I have received the praise and adulation of many.

Great is Your Glory in ALL of this!

And that glory, You have poured out on me.

You have given me Life Eternal and all of its many blessings

and have given me great joy by Your presence within me.

In You ALONE will I trust forevermore!

Because of Your unfailing love, 

I will not be shaken in my faith.

You will find all of Your enemies and all who hate Your name.

With Your mighty right hand, You will capture them.

When You choose to show Yourself, 

Your glory will radiate with such brilliance

that those you have captured will cringe as You if before a great furnace. 

It will swallow them up in Your fierce anger. 

Yes, even their descendants, their very posterity 

will You remove from Your presence forever.

For they had planned wickedness against You and Your children.

They devised these evil plots, but You have made them useless ...

They will never succeed.

They went running away from You and Your presence

when they became aware of their failures.

By Your own Power, In Your own Strength, You are exalted forever.

And I, yes even the whole church, 

will ever sing Your praises because of Your Great Strength!

Amen.

AND WE ALWAYS SHOULD!

Psalm Thirteen and some thoughts on David's version

Intro:

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

Lord, how long will You forget all about me? How long will You turn Your face away from me? How long will You leave me alone with my own thoughts as my guide? How long will I be fulled with grief deep in my soul? How long will You allow my enemies to rule over me? How long, Lord? How Long?

Listen to me, oh Lord, and consider what I have to say. Then fill my soul with the wisdom I need to give me insight that will keep me safe from death at the hands of my enemies. This will keep them from spewing his lies ... from saying, "See, I beat her at her own game." This will keep them from rejoicing over my perils .... gloating over my calamities.

I trust You, Lord. I trust in Your mercy. I rejoice in Your Salvation. And I will ever sing to You the praises You have filled my heart and soul with, for You and blessed me exceedingly. You have given me that "abundant life" You spoke of to the first disciples You trained.

Thoughts:

As I read through this Psalm, I saw David as throwing a great pity party, so let's see how that goes:

Boo who! God is sooo far away. Why has He placed me in such isolation while my enemies are on the loose? How long will I have only my dark thoughts of fear and dread to guide me? Forever?

Listen to me, God! Now ... Before I Die!*

(*This kind and of reminds me of when my kids would argue, then come crying to me for help. I always told them they would have to work it out for themselves.)

"Hear me before my enemies laugh as they are conquering me."

(Here I see David getting a glimpse of Truth once again. So he starts to refocus his thoughts on the Lord rightly.)

"I have always trusted You, for You alone are worthy of my trust. I know that Your mercy prevails and that I will rejoice in Your Salvation evermore. Then I will sing allowed once more. I will lift my voice in songs of praise to You; for You have always dealt with exceeding grace and bountiful mercy toward me.

Thank You, Lord for all of Your wondrous Love and Mercy!

Amen

Psalm Seven - Again

Intro (same):

This Psalm is a meditation of David which he sang to the Lord. It was written when David was troubled by a man of the line of Cush from the tribe of Benjamin ... King Saul was a descendant of  Cush the Benjaminite. Tradition says that it probably had a wildly irregular and unpredictable beat among its strains.
By this intro we know that David was greatly offended and upset with the speech of a certain Benjaminite named Cush. He was so angry with what this man had been saying that he lifted up this frustration in this song unto the Lord, His God. And seeing that some scholars have attributed this Psalm to the time of Saul's ongoing search and destroy operation against David, I could see this here.

God Almighty, I put all of my hope and trust in You. Protect me from all who speak and do evil to persecute me. Deliver me from those that hunt me down , planning to do me harm, just as you have done before ... and save my life.

But Lord, if I have done this to myself, if I have done any harm to those at peace with me, then let my life be forfeit. Let my enemies trample me down in the dust, extinguishing my life, squelching out my voice and squeezing out my very breath ... I think I will ponder that thought very deeply for a while.

Lord, I know that the actions of wicked men riles Your anger. So rise up in Your anger, stand firm in Your wrath against my enemies and stir up the justice You have planned for my foes.

Gather together the congregation of Your people, Lord. Sit on Your Throne, on the Dias that seats You above them, and judge the peoples. And while You're at it, judge me too, Lord. Give me the justice that I deserve by my righteous - my right standing in You - by Your very integrity within me.

And let all the evil words, thoughts and deeds of the wicked ones abruptly come to and end. Establish Your righteousness, Your harmony, in all who walk uprightly in Your presence. For I know that You see and hear the thoughts, words and emotions of all; You alone understand our very hearts' desires.

Lord, You are my Defenses; the Shield and Fortress of ALL who are upright in heart; our Very Protection! Yes Lord, for You are a righteous judge; the Mighty God, Who becomes indignant with the wicked on a daily basis.

If a person, man or woman, refuses to repent of their wicked ways, I know that You will sharpen Your double-edged sword and cut them off from Your own. I see that You are already prepared for the battles that lay ahead. Stepping on the end of Your bow, You have strung it in readiness for your arrows. The arrows have been dipped in an oily substance and laid on the coals so that they will flame through the air and ignite their targets. All of Your weapons are waiting in preparation.

But the wicked are filled to the bursting point with their evil thoughts and plans. They are about to explode with their mischievous ways. See the huge pit they have dug? they will all fall into it before their plans are complete.  All of their wicked and vile ways will return to haunt them; their violence will fall as rain on their own heads.

And I will sing songs of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord because of His righteousness and justice. I will sing songs of praise to the Lord God Most High.

Amen!

Psalm Five

Intro:

To the Chief Musician; 
To be played on wind instruments. 
A Psalm of David.

Lord, please listen to what I have to say. Think about the things that dwell in my mind. Listen to the very cries of my heart oh King! For I will always lift my prayers to You. Early in the morning, as I lay waking up, I will focus my thoughts and share them with You.Yes Lord, I will speak them out so that we can both hear them, all while I am looking up to view Your face.

For I know You Lord. You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil. Nor will You allow evil to dwell in Your sight. I know there are boastful people who would brag of their exploits. But You do not allow them a speck of ground within Your presence on which to stand. I know that You hate all that practice evil in their hearts and minds. You destroy those who speak lies and abhor all who seek to shed blood and those who are filled with deceit.

But I choose to come into Your mercy filled house. In truth of heart, reverent fear, respect and honor I will worship You in Your holy Temple .... deep within my heart. Lead me in Your righteousness - Standing a right in Your presence - because of my enemies, those who would seek to harm me in word or deed. Make Your path plain before me, that I may walk see You clearly. 

You know that there is no faithfulness in their mouths; their innermost beings are pure destruction. Their throats spew forth meaningless compliments and their lips with vile flattery, as an open grave wafts the fumes of rotting, decaying flesh.

So pronounce them guilty already, Lord. Allow them to know the failure of their plans and fall by their own evil counsel. Then cast them of Your presence for the great pile of their sin, their very rebellion against You.

But oh the joy of those who have trusted in You completely. They will shout in the streets of how they love You, for You have defended and protected them. And in their joy You will bless them with Your favor and continuously surround them with the Shield of Your righteousness and peace.

Psalm Four

Intro:

To the Chief Musician; 
To be played on stringed instruments. 
A Psalm of David

Standing before the Lord I cry with David; God, can I have some relief here? I know that You are able, for there have been many times that I was trapped and You freed me.

Oh you sons of men, how long will you seek to dishonor me. How long will you search for lies when the truth is right in front of you? You know that the Lord has separated those who walk uprightly from all of the rest. He has placed them in a class by themselves. He listens when I call and He answers me.

So, sons of men, it is OK to be angry, but do not sin in the process. Speak to yourselves within, silently dwell on your inner most thoughts and your own intentions.

Offer to God the proper and correct sacrifices AND for the right reasons. And confidently lean on the Lord, trusting completely in Him.

Lord, I know that there have been many that have asked You to smile on them so that they can see Your goodness all around them. But I love how You treat me. For You have placed Your pure joy and true merriment in my heart than they will ever know. More even than their wheat fields and vineyards have yielded - even in bumper crop years.

Yes my Lord, You fill me with Your great peace, so that I can lay down to rest confident that I am completely safe, and assured that I can trust You wholeheartedly. For You are my King and My God.