Psalms / chapter 150 (read the chapter)
Psalm 150 is a prescription for praise: “Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.” (vs 3-5) Continue Reading »
Psalms / chapter 149 (read the chapter)
I find it interesting that in the Bible’s hymnal, the next to the last song would begin, “Praise the Lord. Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of his faithful people.” (vs 1) The book holds 150 of the greatest praise songs of all time, yet the psalmist says we should always be looking to sing “a new song.” Continue Reading »
Psalms / chapter 148 (read the chapter)
As I read this psalm, I was struck by the movement from “far” to “near.” The psalmist begins in his admonition of praise by describing things that are “far” from us: the heavens, angels, heavenly hosts, sun, moon, and stars. (vs 1-4) Then, he continues to ask for praise from things a little “closer” to home: the animals, the weather, nature, and people. (vs 7-12) Continue Reading »
Psalms / chapter 147 (read the chapter)
This text from today’s psalm caught my eye: “His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of the warrior; the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.” (vs 10-11) Continue Reading »
Psalms / chapter 146 (read the chapter)
On the surface of it, I have to admit that the title of this blog might be a little hard to believe. If you look around at the world and all the awful things that happen every day, it’s pretty easy to conclude that God is not taking care of very much. Continue Reading »
Psalms / chapter 145 (read the chapter)
I wrestled for a long time over the title of this blog post. I wanted to be blunt and just title it God destroys the wicked. But I was afraid that might turn some people off before they even read what I had written, so I decided to leave it as a question and, hopefully, invite investigation. Continue Reading »
Psalms / chapter 144 (read the chapter)
As I began reading today’s psalm, I noticed something interesting in the first two verses. Let’s see if you notice it, too: “Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.” (vs 1-2) Continue Reading »
Psalms / chapter 143 (read the chapter)
Have you ever been to a whispering gallery? There’s a famous one in the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. There’s one in the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. I’m sure there are many others around the world. A whispering gallery is a room built in such a way that you can stand at one end and hear another person who is only whispering, even though they are standing far away from you. Continue Reading »
Psalms / chapter 142 (read the chapter)
David wrote this psalm while he was “in the cave,” presumably hiding away from Saul. At this point, he had already been declared the future king of Israel by God, but the fruition of that prophecy wasn’t coming very quickly. David was still spending much of his time running from his enemies and hiding out in dark places. Continue Reading »
Psalms / chapter 141 (read the chapter)
In the Old Testament, God instituted an elaborate system of sacrifices and offerings for the Israelites to bring to Him at the temple. If you’ve been following this blog, you’ll remember that we went over those sacrifices and offerings in detail in the Book of Leviticus. There are a variety of opinions about what that sanctuary system meant and how the life and death of Jesus impacted it. Obviously, we no longer sacrifice animals as a way of worshiping God. But was that what God ever really wanted in the first place? Burnt offerings? Sacrifices? Blood? Continue Reading »
