Psalm 104

Psalm 104 is just like psalm 103 in that it starts and ends with "Bless the Lord oh my soul."  But this psalm is much more focused on the greatness of God in creation.  Then, the response that should be ours is found in verse 33.

[33] I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have being.

In think that the litery device here is something like parraller synonyms.  "As long as I live" is the same as "while I have my being.  This assures me that singing praise is to be a life-long endeavor - what a pleasure that is and will be.

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Psalm 103

You can't miss with a Psalm, it seems to me.  The repeated phrase in Psalm 103 is "Bless the Lord, O my soul!".  The idea is repeated several times and then it lists really great reasons why we should bless Him - all things that he does for us.  Just now, that is seeming a little self focused to me.

Another repeated theme is the fear of the Lord.  In several places through the psalm, it described a blessing from God but then qualifies it - "to those who fear Him".  Verses 10-12 below is an example.

He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

This a REALLY good benefit.  Transgressions removed, steadfast love of God, release from answering to God for our sin - how great is that?  So what does it mean to fear Him?  I will postulate that it is not (at least not primarily) a matter of being afraid of God in the sense that we expect something bad from Him.  It more a matter of being amazed and awed with a sense of the incredible power and glory of His person and an appreciation that His involvement with us is incomprehensible and amazing (there should be more words than "amazing" but nothing comes to mind and I am not going to a thesaurus for this.

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Psalm 102

There is much in Psalm 102 that I do not understand, but there is a section in the middle (18-22) that really resonates with me.  By the way - this is one of the psalms where the header is part of the scripture and I think it emphasize what I observed in that middle section


A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord.


18 Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord:
19 that he looked down from his holy height; from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,
20 to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die,
21 that they may declare in Zion the name of the Lord, and in Jerusalem his praise,
22 when peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.

I was doomed to die but now I am set free.  Right now, I am tearing up as I consider the impact of that idea.  Free from Satan and free from myself.  Free to trust and free to love.  WOW!


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Psalm 101

I have just been considering how to improve my life in the area of personal integrity and opened to this Psalm, which has a heading in my bible of "I Will Walk With Integrity"

2b I will walk with integrity of heart within my house;
3  I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless.

One aspect of integrity that I have been working on is secrets.  As the level of secrecy drops the level of energy goes up.  That is a principle I learned and then an experience I had.  Details are not necessary but I can tell you, it is quite remarkable.

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Psalm 97

For me, highlights of Psalm 97 are listed below.

1a The Lord reigns
2b Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
10 O you who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints;
   He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11 Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.

My feelings from considering these words:
God is totally in control of everything, but His power has an amazing base - righteousness and justice.  An earthly throne would more likely be based on fear and oppression.  His kingdom is a kingdom of life.  How fortunate we are!

What is the relationship between loving the Lord and hating evil?  My opening thought on this line is that He himself hates evil and when we love Him we become like Him.

Verse 11 speaks of sowing light and joy.  I normally think of seeds as the natural object of the verb, sow.  Sowing involves scattering and expecting a large return on investment.  That is a great principle to apply to light and joy.  OK, this is getting good.  I think that the parallelism of this line allows for a synonym match between "righteous" and "upright in heart".  Verse 10 seems to identify the recipient of the writing as righteous ("You who love the Lord").  Therefore, I am eligible for the sowing of light and joy on my life.  Yippee!

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Psalm 96

In Psalm 96, there are 2 verses that resonated with me.
3 - Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!
6 - Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

Verse 3 is a purpose that I can and should adopt and give my life to - publish His praise to everyone I can.  I can start with my natural relationships, family, work and whoever I come in contact with.  Then I can stretch my comfort zone and find ways to reach out to the world.  The internet comes to mind.  Blogging and commenting on others blogs can be a means to that end.
Verse 6 lists the qualities to be found in His presence - splendor, majesty, strength and beauty are certainly wonderful rewards for doing what is best for me anyway.  Seeking to dwell with Him is a great thing and worthy of a high priority.


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Psalm 95

Here is another psalm that contains verses that are a familiar praise song, "Come Let Us Worship and Bow Down" (vs 6-7).  The earlier part of the psalm also is a call to praise - sing, make a joyful noise (I have heard that is for those who can't sing - they are called to rejoice anyway, even if it is just a noise).  For He is great.
Then comes this interesting idea - "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah.".  I have been doing some reading and thinking about the issue of addiction.  One of the concepts is that it is insanity - doing things that you know are bad for you for no reason.  This verse brings that to mind.  Even though His voice is clear, a behavior that is contrary to His voice is a hardening of the heart.  The result for that generation (from Meribah) is given in vs 10-11.
"For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,
and they have not known my ways.”  Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter my rest.”"

I pray that I will be spared that.  I know the dispensation is different for me but my heart is called to respond to the voice in softness and worship - not hardness exhibited by the insanity of addictive behavior.


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Psalm 94

There are 3 really great declarations in this psalm.
12 Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O Lord, and whom you teach out of your law,
13a to give him rest from days of trouble,

18 When I thought, “My foot slips,” your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.
19 When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.

22 But the Lord has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge.

The main idea for this psalm according to the heading in my Bible is "The Lord will not forsake His people."  The first section, however presents God in His role as avenger and judge.  It is very wonderful that He does not turn that face toward us, but rather gives us these gifts - teach, rest, held me up, cheer my soul, stronghold and rock.  What a comfort and encouragement.  Especially in light of what we deserve.  This is another reminder of our place in Him as His people and the treasures of His gifts to us.


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