Category: Uncategorized

Psalms 88:48-49 (89:47-48)

Let my substance be remembered, as to what sort it is,
For did You create all the sons of men in vain?
What kind of man is there who will live and not see death?
Will he deliver his soul from the hand of Hades?

Personal Challenge

The Psalmist knows that there is no one who can escape death except God alone. He knows that because of our sinfulness we are destined for Hades. That is why he pleads to God to remember him, to remember that he was created by God and that God does not create anything in vain. That is why he, and we like him, can call out to our Lord to remember us, o Lord when we die. We also plea that God remembers the work His Son did to deliver our souls from the hand of Hades. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner and remember me!

Psalms 85:15 (86:15)

But You, O Lord, are compassionate and merciful,
Longsuffering and very merciful and truthful.

Encouraging Words

I feel sorrow and compassion for many of my western Christian friends who have embraced the doctrine that our Lord is an angry and judgmental God. The teaching goes so far as to say that He had to kill His only Son in order to pay off His anger toward us. I am so appreciative that in our eastern Christian teaching we see our Lord as loving, compassionate, and merciful. We are taught that Jesus became incarnate and died for us so that He could put eternal death, or separation from God to death. He broke the bonds of death that were the result of Adam and Eve’s sin so that we could all have life, abundant and eternal life. Glory be to God!

Psalms 85:12 (84:12)

I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
And I shall glorify Your name forever;

Personal Challenge

What do we have to give thanks to God for? Everything! We have nothing in our lives that does not originate from Him. Even the very breath that we take and the beat that our heart produces comes from Him. I shall glorify His name forever!

Psalms 84 (85)

O Lord, You were pleased with Your land; You turned back the captivity of Jacob;
You forgave the transgressions of Your people;
You covered all their sins. (Pause)
You ended all Your wrath;
You turned from the wrath of Your anger.
Turn us, O God of our salvation,
And turn away Your anger from us.
Will You be angry with us forever,
Or will You prolong Your anger from generation to generation?
O God, You will turn and give us life,
And Your people will be glad in You.
Show us Your mercy, O Lord,
And grant us Your salvation.
I will hear what the Lord God will speak in me,
For He will speak peace
To His people and to His holy ones,
And to those who turn their heart to Him.

His salvation is very close at hand to those who fear Him,
That glory may dwell in our land.
Mercy and truth met together;
Righteousness and peace kissed each other;
Truth arose from the earth,
And righteousness looked down from heaven.
For the Lord will give goodness,
And our land shall yield its fruit.
Righteousness shall go before Him
And establish His footsteps as our pathway.

Encouraging Words

This is a Psalm that could apply to our lives today. First of all, I will not jump on the bandwagon proclaiming that God is using this pandemic to punish us for our sinful ways. That is not the God that I worship. Secondly, if we proclaim to be followers of Christ then we must remember that we are citizens of the heavenly kingdom and now living as ambassadors for Him on this earth. It is our responsibility as ambassadors to represent Him, especially in times such as this pandemic. How do we do this? By loving our neighbor and taking care of those in need around us. By being beacons of hope showing to everyone around us that our God has our eternal lives in His strong and protective hands. By being obedient to the laws of the land that He has placed us in, as His representatives. Now is the time for His followers to turn to Him and really follow in His footsteps, even to the cross, for Him and our neighbor. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Psalms 83:12-13

For the Lord God loves mercy and truth;
He will give grace and glory;
The Lord’s hand will not remove good things from those who walk in innocence.
O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who hopes in You.

Encouraging Words

Do we want to be blessed by our God? Do we want to see His hand at work in our lives? I believe we all do have this desire. We receive this blessing by putting our hope in Him. We put all of our dependency on Him and not ourselves or the things of this world. This means we shift our focus off of what is going on around us, no matter how good or how bad, and put our focus on Him. He is our God and He loves mercy and truth. He will give us His grace and His glory. He will bless us if we walk in innocence, or humility, before Him. Glory be to God!

Psalms 83:2-3 (84:1-2)

How beloved are Your dwellings, O Lord of hosts.
My soul longs and faints for the courts of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh greatly rejoice in the living God.

Encouraging Words

In these unprecedented days of the closure of schools, businesses, and even our churches, we might begin to think that our Lord has abandoned us. That is not so. The Psalmist reminds us that the dwellings of our Lord of hosts are beloved. He also cries out saying that our soul longs and faints to be in the courts of the Lord. Skip ahead in time to our Lord Jesus Christ and we are told by Him that He will dwell in our hearts until He comes again. Our hearts are the dwellings of the Lord of hosts that are beloved and we can meet Him there, in His courts, every moment of every day. Think about it! Glory be to God!

Psalms 72:24 (73:24)

With Your counsel You guide me,
And with glory You take hold of me.

Personal Challenge

So, if I never spend time with God, in worship, in prayer, in the reading of His scriptures, then how will I ever receive His counsel? I will not. Our relationship with God is not just a one-sided relationship with Him doing all the work. We must engage Him, pursue Him, submit to Him if we are to receive His counsel and glory. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Psalms 72:26-27 (73:26-27)

My heart and my flesh fail,
O God of my heart; and God is my portion forever.
For behold, those who keep themselves far away from You shall perish;
You destroy away from You all who act unfaithfully.

Personal Challenge

Is my God the God of my heart or just something that makes me feel good when I need Him? Is my relationship with Him a total commitment or one that is based on my fickle whims? Have I given my all to Him? If we live our lives with our hearts of stone and our fleshly desires only, we will fail. By loving this way we will find ourselves far away from Him, perishing, and feeling destroyed. Jesus promised us that if we follow Him and abandon this world, this life of the flesh, that He will replace our heart of stone with a heart for God, a new heart. Now is the time to abandon the world and to pursue Him! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Psalms 70:6 (71:5)

By You I have been supported from birth;
From my mother’s womb You have been my protector;
My song shall be always of You.

Encouraging Words

It is so encouraging to know that our relationship with God doesn’t start when we say some prayer or make some kind of a decision. He was there when we were formed in our mother’s womb and He will be with us through­out eternity. He has always, and always will, be our protector. Thank you, God!