Psalm 121 – A pilgrim song My help comes from the LORD We are pilgrims on a journey to our heavenly home. Psalm 121 is a hymn of trust and faith in God from the book of Psalms. It expresses the belief that God is always watching over and protecting those who put their trust in him. The psalmist acknowledges God’s care and assurance, emphasising that the Lord is their help and protector. Psalm 121 …
The Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 146–150) Introduction Have you ever heard people criticising that Christian praise songs are too repetitive? Well, the five psalms that the Book of Psalms concludes with are also a bit repetitive! Each psalm starts and ends with the Hebrew word: Hallelujah. In your English translation, you should have “Praise the Lord” or something similar. (Hallelujah means Praise the Lord.) The Book of Psalms concludes with 10 Hallelujahs (opening and closing of …
Psalm 139 (God our biographer) I am an open book to God The man in this psalm has experienced the scrutiny of God. God knows everything about him, down to the most trivial of details. He knows when the man sits down to dinner and when he gets up to go to work. Even when the man isn’t thinking about God, God is thinking about him and knows what he is thinking about. Before the …
Psalms – Hymns and Prayers of God’s People Book 5 (Psalms 107–145) Introduction Many see this collection of psalms as having the theme of “return from exile”. When compiled, they would have been of great comfort to those during the Babylonian/Persian captivity and to those who returned to rebuild the temple and Jerusalem. However, this is also a common theme in Scripture. The Exodus can be seen as a return to the land after an …
Book 4 (Psalms 90–106) Psalm 103 – Thanksgiving for God’s goodness Let’s begin our time of studying God’s Word with prayer: Gracious Heavenly Father, be with us as we come together to study your Word, and also protect our loved ones who are not with us. Through the Holy Spirit open our hearts and our ears so that we may be nurtured and sustained by your Word that is spoken through the psalms. In Jesus’ …
Psalm 103 David’s psalm celebrates what the Lord does for us and speaks again of God’s mercies to his people, Israel. These mercies are showered on us, in and through Jesus. We meditate on the goodness of God and how we ought to worship the Lord because of his goodness. David expressed this in the opening words, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! David wanted …
Psalm 90: A Prayer of Moses, man of God The death column is never without names. It is said that the one thing certain about life is that we must leave it. Being confronted with death personally, our mortality confronts us. We are out of our comfort zone when we stand by a casket being lowered in the ground, never to be part of our family/friend circle ever again this side of eternity. Our lives …
Book 4 (Psalms 90–106) Psalm 90 As we gather around God’s Word to study another psalm, let us pray together that God the Father will speak to us through the Holy Spirit: Gracious Heavenly Father, we come as individuals and groups into your presence. We come from the busy-ness of life, and we sit at your feet as Mary did. We ask and pray that you will lessen the distractions of life, that you will …
Book 3 (Psalms 73–89) We continue our journey through the psalms of “Book 3”. Following last month, we will pick two psalms that are not by David. These are from the sons of Korah. Korah led a rebellion against Moses and Aaron (see Numbers 16). His sons, however, did not die (see Numbers 26:9–11). The descendants of Korah served the Lord God faithfully. Do the sins of our parents (or grandparents) stop us from serving …
Psalm 85 In Psalm 85, I am reminded that the words SILENT and LISTEN have the same letters. My Lord teach me to listen. The times are noisy and my ears are weary with the thousand raucous sounds which continuously assault me … Let me hear Thee speaking in my heart. Let me get to[sic] used to the sounds of your voice, that its tones may be familiar when the sounds of earth die away …
Psalm 73 Have any of us struggled with our faith, being perplexed by wicked prospering, often at the expense of us ordinary “Joe Bloggs” of this world, accepting also the ultimate justice and goodness of God, and soldiering on relentless? Psalm 73, written by musician Asaph, resonates with many believers, because it reflects the timeless human experience of grappling with doubt and finding solace in God’s presence. The psalm begins with a declaration of God’s …
Psalms – Hymns and Prayers of God’s people Book 3 (Psalms 73–89) Introduction Christopher Ash gives a fine introduction to Book 3 of the Psalms: Book 3 consists of Psalms 73–89. It has the scent of the Babylonian exile; this is most evident in Psalms 74, 79, and (probably) 80. The tone changes sharply from the emphatically Davidic themes of books 1 and 2. This is not to say that every psalm in book 3 …