In today’s section, we read Psalm 70-89
Some thoughts from today:
Today, we see these names for God
My helper (70:5)
My Saviour (70:5)
A rock (71:3; 78:35; 89:26)
A fortress (71:3)
My strength (73:26; 89:17)
Our redeemer (78:35)
Our Shepherd (80:1)
Our sun (84:11)
Our shield (84:11)
Our king (89:18)
Our father (89:26)
Ps 70 (a prayer for help) – v5 “as for me, I am poor and needy; / please hurry to my aid, O God. / You are my helper and my saviour; / O Lord, do not delay.”
Ps 71 (a prayer for God to rescue and praise for His lifelong faithfulness) – v5-6 “O Lord, you alone are my hope. / I’ve trusted you, O Lord, from childhood. / Yes, you have been with me from birth: / from my mother’s womb you have cared for me. / No wonder I am always praising you.” v20-21 “You have allowed me to suffer much hardship, / but you will restore me to life again / and lift me up from the depth of the earth. / You will restore me to even greater honour / and comfort me once again.”
Ps 72 (a prayer for the king to do what is right) – this is the first psalm of Solomon we have read. The prayer in v1 is similar to the prayer David made on behalf of Solomon in 1 Chr 22:12. v18-19 “Praise the Lord God, the God of Israel, / who alone does such wonderful things. / Praise his glorious name forever! / Let the whole earth be filled with his glory.”
Ps 73 (a prayer of rededication to the Lord) – what was Asaph’s problem? He envied the wicked and the proud, and grumbled and moaned that he had followed God for nothing (v13). v16-17 are revealing, as Asaph finally finds perspective – “I tried to understand why the wicked prosper. / But what a difficult task it is! / The I went to your sanctuary, O God, / and I finally understood.” With perspective, comes repentance – v21 “then I realised that my heart was bitter, / and I was all torn up inside.” Then there is recommitment – v23-26 “Yet I still belong to you; / you hold my right hand. / You guide be with your counsel, / leading me to a glorious destiny. / Whom have I in heaven but you? / I desire you more than anything on earth. / My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, / but God remains the strength of my heart; / he is mine forever.”
Ps 74 (a pray for God to remember) – v16-17 “Both day and night belong to you: / you made the starlight and the sun. / You set the boundaries of the earth, / and you made both summer and winter.”
Ps 75 (praise for the God of justice) – v2-3 “God says, “At the time I planned, / I will bring justice against the wicked. / When the earth quakes and its people live in turmoil, / I am the one who keeps its foundations firm.”
Ps 76 (praise the God of might) – v4 “You are glorious and more majestic / than the everlasting mountains.” I found v10 really intriguing “human defiance only enhances your glory, / for you use it as a weapon.”
Ps 77 (a prayer to be close to God again) – v11 “But then I recall all you have done, O Lord; / I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago.” v13-14 “O God, your ways are holy, / Is there any god as mighty as you? / You are the God of great wonders! / You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations.”
Ps 78 (remember and learn the lessons from Israel’s history) – v3 “we will not hide these truths from our children; / we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, /about his power and his mighty wonders,” which is the whole point of this psalm. v7 “So each generation should set its hope anew on God, / not forgetting his glorious miracles / and obeying his commands.” v67-68 are interesting – Joseph was given the rights as firstborn (1 Chr 5:2), yet here it is saying that the blessing has passed to Judah.
Ps 79 (a prayer for God to justify Israel from their conquerors) - v13 "Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, / will thank you forever and ever, / praising your greatness from generation to generation."
Ps 80 (a prayer for God to come near again and restore his favour) - "Turn us again to yourself, O God. / Make your face shine down upon us. / Only then will we be saved."
Ps 81 (a call to obedience) - v6 cf Matt 11:29-30. v10 "Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things." v16 "But I would feed you with the finest wheat. / I would satisfy you with wild honey from the rock."
Ps 82 (a plea for God's justice on earth) - v3-4 "Give justice to the poor and the orphan; / uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. / Rescue the poor and helpless; / deliver them from the grasp of evil people."
Ps 83 (a prayer for God to defeat Israel's enemies) - v4-5 remind me of the EU Constitution, where nations conspired to wipe out memory of our Christian heritage. v18 "Then they will learn that you alone are called the Lord, / that you alone are the Most High, / supreme over all the earth."
Ps 84 (praise God who blesses the faithful) - v5-7 "What joy for those whose strength comes from the Lord, / who have set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. / When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, / it will become a place of refreshing springs. / The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings. / They will continue to grow stronger, / and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem." v10-12 "A single day in your courts / is better than a thousand anywhere else! / I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God / than live the good life in the homes of the wicked. / For the Lord God is our sun and our shield. / He gives us grace and glory. / The Lord will withhold no good thing / from those who do what is right. / O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, / what joy for those who trust in you."
Ps 85 (praise the God who blesses) - v8-9 "I listen carefully to what God the Lord is saying, / for he speaks peace to his faithful people. / But let them not return to their foolish ways. / Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, / so our land will be filled with his glory." v10-11 "Unfailing love and truth have met together. / Righteousness and peace have kissed! / Truth springs up from the earth, / and righteousness smiles down from heaven."
Ps 86 (a prayer for help) - v5 "O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, / so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help." v15 "But you, O Lord, / are a God of compassion and mercy, / slow to get angry / and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness", cf Ex 34:6
Ps 87 (God's universal plan of creation) - the promise of Rev 21 is that God will live among his people, and here is a wonderful description of people coming from Egypt, Babylon, Philistia, Tyre and Ethiopia to become citizens of God's kingdom, like Rev 7:9. v5-6 "Regarding Jerusalem it will be said, / “Everyone enjoys the rights of citizenship there.”/ And the Most High will personally bless this city. / When the Lord registers the nations, he will say, / “They have all become citizens of Jerusalem.”"
Ps 88 (a prayer born of desperation) - v12 "Can the darkness speak of your wonderful deeds? / Can anyone in the land of forgetfulness talk about your righteousness?"
Ps 89 (a prayer for God to remember all he promised) - this psalm is magnificent in its praise of God and His promises. v2 "Your unfailing love will last forever. / Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens." v3-4 "The Lord said, “I have made a covenant with David, my chosen servant. / I have sworn this oath to him: / ‘I will establish your descendants as kings forever; / they will sit on your throne from now until eternity.’”" v5 - "All heaven will praise", v7 "the highest angelic powers stand in awe". v15-16 "Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship, / for they will walk in the light of your presence, Lord. / They rejoice all day long in your wonderful reputation. / They exult in your righteousness." Then it goes on to talk about God's love and promises for David - v24-29 "My faithfulness and unfailing love will be with him, / and by my authority he will grow in power. / I will extend his rule over the sea, / his dominion over the rivers. / And he will call out to me, ‘You are my Father, / my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’ / I will make him my firstborn son, / the mightiest king on earth. / I will love him and be kind to him forever; / my covenant with him will never end. / I will preserve an heir for him; / his throne will be as endless as the days of heaven." And even if his descendants turn away, v33-35 "But I will never stop loving him / nor fail to keep my promise to him. / No, I will not break my covenant; / I will not take back a single word I said. / I have sworn an oath to David, / and in my holiness I cannot lie."
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