Category: Devotions

TUESDAY 19th

Psalm 11

NIV (v7) – ‘For the LORD is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will see his face.’

ESV (v7) – ‘For the LORD is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.’

A few days ago, (January 14^th) we looked at the word righteous and its meaning in relation to our standing before God. In todays psalm it crops up again, firstly to say that the LORD is righteous and then to say that the upright will see his face, that is in David’s day, those who lived by faith trusting in the LORD God  and in the post cross era, those who have come to a believing faith and trust in him through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Today we will consider the words ‘For the LORD is righteous’. We will have heard of the various titles given to the LORD God and found throughout the Old Testament:

Jehovah Jireh – The LORD who provides (Genesis 22:12-14)

Jehovah Rapha – The LORD who heals (Exodus 15:22-26)

Jehovah Nissi – The LORD our banner (Exodus 17:8-15)

Jehovah Rohi – The LORD our Shepherd (Psalm 23)

Jehovah Shalom – The LORD is peace (Judges 6:24)

Jehovah Tsidkenu – The LORD our righteousness (Jeremiah 23:5-6 ‘Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’’)

It is Jehovah Tsidkenu, we are concerned with today, the LORD our righteousness, and he can only be our righteousness if he himself is righteous, and as the psalmist says, ‘For the LORD is righteous.’ That is that the LORD is righteous in himself in every way, and as a result only ever acts in righteous ways toward mankind. This is linked to his love toward sinful humanity in which he is willing to become our righteousness as we respond to his call through the gospel, and he is also righteous in his justice toward sin, it may seem difficult for us to understand, but it is because the LORD is righteous that he will eventually banish the unbeliever from his presence, for that which is unholy can not be where God dwells. We see a glimpse of this in Ezra 9:15, where we read ‘O LORD, the God of Israel, you are just, for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this.”’ If the unrighteous could not stand before a holy and righteous God then, how much less if they have refused the gift of grace that he has offered them, salvation through Jesus, which when received pardons sin and brings justification.

This is the wonder of the gospel message that through Jesus, the righteousness of the righteous one is made available to us. We see this in such Scriptures as 1 Corinthians 1:30-31 ‘And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”’ and Romans 10:1-4 ‘Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.’

The prophet Isaiah in his vision saw this holy, righteous God and heard the seraphim crying out ‘“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”’ and he himself cried out ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”’ He had seen the righteous LORD and became aware of his unrighteousness, but there was good news, it continues ‘Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”’ We are certainly living in days that are full of unrighteousness, where men and women are living without a care or thought concerning eternal matters, we need to pray that the thrice holy God who has revealed himself through the message of the Cross will move again in whatever way is needed with the fire of revival to bring men and women onto their knees as they see his holiness and their uncleanness, that as Isaiah was touched and as we have been touched, so many more will be touched by his divine power.

Today thank God for his wonderful salvation and pray that there may yet again be a fresh outpouring of the Spirit of God upon our nation leading to the salvation of souls.

MONDAY 18^th

Psalm 10

NIV (v4) – ‘In his pride the wicked man does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.’

ESV (v4) – ‘In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”’

I also include today from two other translations:

NET (v4) – ‘The wicked man is so arrogant he always thinks, “God won’t hold me accountable; he doesn’t care.”’

CSB (v4) – ‘In all his scheming, the wicked person arrogantly thinks, “There’s no accountability, since there’s no God.”’

In this Psalm, the psalmist is making some points about the wicked and how they seemingly seem to prosper, with no regard whatsoever for who they may hurt, destroy or steam roller over in their pursuit of earthly gain. He highlights amongst other things their ‘arrogance’ that is their attitude of ‘I don’t care’ for even God does not care. The arrogant man in his pursuit dares to think or believe that God does not care, I can do whatever I like, and I will get away with it. Before we look at this further I have included the text from some extra translations today for on the surface it would seem that the different translations are saying different things about the arrogant person and their belief in God. The NIV suggests he has no room for God, the ESV & CSB suggests he thinks that there is no God,  the NET suggests that he thinks it is a simple case of ‘so what, God doesn’t care’.

The NET Bible notes for this verse says, ‘Hebrew – “the wicked [one], according to the height of his nose, he does not seek, there is no God, all his thoughts.” The phrase “height of his nose” probably refers to an arrogant or snooty attitude; it likely pictures one with his nose turned upward toward the sky in pride. One could take the “wicked” as the subject of the negated verb “seek,” in which case the point is that the wicked do not “seek” God. The translation assumes that this statement, along with “there is no God,” is what the wicked man thinks to himself. In this case God is the subject of the verb “seek,” and the point is that God will not hold the wicked man accountable for his actions. Verse 13 strongly favours this interpretation. The statement “there is no God” is not a philosophical assertion that God does not exist, but rather a confident affirmation that he is unconcerned about how men live morally and ethically (see v. 11).’ (END OF QUOTE) The CSB notes for here say, ‘The arrogance of the wicked one climaxes in a statement denying God’s existence. This is not metaphysical atheism, in which there is absolute unbelief in God’s existence, but practical atheism, which denies that God pays any attention to what people are doing.’ (END OF QUOTE)

These notes help us to understand what the different translations are all saying, the arrogant acts as if there is no God, but how foolish! For we know what Scripture has to say, that although it would seem that God doesn’t care and he seems to allow the wicked to prosper, in reality he does care, and  the day is coming when an account will have to be given, when all that man has done will come under the scrutiny of the Judge of the earth and whatever verdict he gives will be final, there will be no option of a retrial. And although the arrogant seem to be getting away with it, their actions will catch up with them unless they come to a place of genuine repentance and conversion. (See Psalm 1:6b, Ecclesiastes 12:14, Acts17:31, Romans 2:16, Revelation 20:12)

It may seem odd in our devotions to be dealing with the arrogant and wicked but we need to remind ourselves that such were we before we came to the Cross, and such could we still be if God’s grace hadn’t met with us and transformed us, but we must not become complacent thinking that now I am saved all will be well, for we need to beware that we do not become arrogant and consider ourselves as being any better, for apart from the grace of  God we too would stand before the judge of the world, condemned and damned to a lost eternity. I think that when we consider these things, we need to pray for ourselves to be kept in the grace of God, but also to pray for the arrogant, that their seeming uncaring attitude towards the God who really does care will change and their hearts will be opened up to the wonder of his eternal love and grace. And maybe, even as believers we think that there may be things we can get away with, but God sees all things and one day we will all have to give account for the things we have done. (Romans 14:10,12, Hebrews 4:13)

SUNDAY 17^th

Psalm 9

NIV (vv1-2) ‘I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.’

ESV (vv1-2) ‘I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.’

Well, today we would normally be making our way to the Church building, the house of God in Caris Street to worship the Lord and come to spend time in fellowship together, but because of the decision we have made to close the Church for a few weeks it is not possible, but, it doesn’t mean we can’t still praise the Lord and give thanks to him. Our surroundings in that respect are not important, it is the expression that comes from our heart and out through our lips that matters, in the words of an older chorus, ‘Wherever I am I’ll praise him, whenever I can I’ll praise him.’ We can worship him anywhere as we have been captivated by his love toward us and we can thank him anywhere as our hearts overflow with thanksgiving.

David was a man who constantly desired to worship the Lord and to give him thanks, and at the same time he loved to express to others what the LORD had done for him, ‘I will tell of your wonderful deeds’ (v1) ‘Tell among the people his wonderful deeds!’ (v11) In a later Psalm he talks again of the wondrous deeds of the LORD ‘You have multiplied, O LORD my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.’ (40:5) The deeds and thoughts of the LORD toward David were so many they were more than could be told or recounted.

Worship, thanksgiving and testimony should be part and parcel of the life of every believer, Worship which comes out of a heart that is full of thanksgiving or gratitude for what the LORD has done for us and as a result it should excite us to want to tell others. I grew up in an environment in Church where opportunity was always given for the congregation to give testimony of the goodness of God as a part of the collective worship and praise, the sharing of testimony was often a means of igniting praise and worship as we rejoiced together in the goodness of God and his hand at work upon the life of a brother or sister in Christ.

God is good, God is faithful, God is daily bestowing his blessing upon us and although we may not be together today, don’t let that stop you from worshipping the Lord, don’t let it stop you from coming before him with a heart of thanksgiving, and don’t let it stop you from telling others of what the LORD has done for you, tell someone through a text message or via a phone call, so that together you may rejoice in our wonderful God and Saviour.

The song I mentioned earlier goes on to say, ‘I’ll praise the name of Jesus, lift up the name of Jesus for the name of Jesus lifted me.’ Lift him up today with your praises.

Psalm 8

NIV (v9) – ‘LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!’

ESV (v9) – ‘O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!’

I love this Psalm, we looked at this Psalm way back on April 20^th last year. After the two previous ones where the David seems to be in a valley, he has come onto the mountain top with this one, and from there, he views all he can see, the majesty of the Lord’s name in all the earth, the glory of the Lord displayed in the heavens, he sees the stars, the moon, and stands in awe and then his thoughts then turn to wonder about the fact that God in all his glory and his magnificence and his majesty thinks of man and cares for him.

It is sobering to stop and think that God should be mindful of us, that he should care for you and should care for me, when we consider the rebellion that took place in the garden of Eden, the ongoing depravity of human nature and man’s selfishness and pride which we as individuals also inherited and yet God still cares, so much so that he has demonstrated his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. As John reminds us ‘In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.’ (1 John 4:10)

Just stop and pause for a moment on the wonder of the love of God.

David ends this Psalm in the same way that he started it, ‘O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!’ His heart has been filled with wonder, and as a result he wants that all the glory goes to the one who deserves it, to the one to whom it rightfully belongs, he exalts the LORD, calling him his Lord, and then magnifies his name, he wants to ensure that just as God had thought of him, so he also wanted to set his thoughts toward God, and toward his glory.

Today may we also turn our thought toward God and toward his glory

FRIDAY 15^th

Psalm 6 and 7

NIV (6:8) – ‘Away from me, all you who do evil, for the LORD has heard my weeping.’

ESV (6:8) – ‘Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.’

We are considering two chapters together today.

I am actually preparing this devotion on the day that we in England were placed into another lockdown as the Government seek to make all the effort possible to quell this pandemic, but of course we know that we too have to make all the effort we can to quell it as well, we all have our part to play, we all need to take responsibility toward our actions and in following the advice given. Sadly, it will probably lead to more people becoming lonely, depressed or a feeling of wanting to  give up as so much of our lives are governed through the ongoing restrictions.

In our two chapters today, the Psalmist was going through tough and difficult circumstances. The whole tone of Psalm 6 is of an individual who to use his own words, is languishing, troubled, weary, growing weak, he is also troubled with thoughts of death, (v5) he can’t take things as they are for much longer. But in it all we see that he thankfully knew where to turn, he turns to the LORD, asking that the LORD will heal him, deliver him.

He makes reference to his enemies, in the context of the short chapters it could be literal enemies of people, we know from chapter 3 he was troubled from even family members who had become his enemies, people who opposed him for who he was as the servant of God, but in the context it could also be referring to the enemies of depression, or of fear, or anxiety, or worry, feelings that were eating away at him both mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually, feelings that were bringing him to the lowest ebb he had ever been in regard to life, feelings that tormented him with thoughts that should not be allowed to control our minds. But thankfully he knew where the answer to all these things was to be found, in the LORD God, and he cries out to him, he readily admits how he is feeling, he spills it all out as he supplicates the LORD God, and he comes to the positive answer that the LORD had heard him, the LORD had accepted his prayer and that the tide would be turned, the anxious, depressing thoughts would be replaced with hope and victory.

Many may be feeling like David today, even someone who is reading this devotion, you may be asking the question, ‘How much longer?’ or thinking to yourself, ‘I cannot take much more of this’. Then today can I suggest a couple of things, yes seek help, seek spiritual help and counsel, but more importantly seek help from the LORD God, he is the one who is able to come and to replace all that is presently negatively eating away at you, mentally and emotionally and he can turn your mourning into dancing, he can defeat the enemies of fear, depression and anxiety, he can take your troubled heart and mind and turn them into a heart and mind that are filled with his joy and his peace. In jumping across to chapter 7, we find these words, firstly in verse 10 ‘My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart.’ and then at the end of the chapter verse 17, as the Psalmist is found again in a place of victory. ‘I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.’

There is something powerful about praise, it lifts the spirit, it lifts the soul, it lifts a heart and brings us nearer to God.

THURSDAY 14^th

Psalm 5

NIV (v12) – ‘Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favour as with a shield.’

ESV (v12) – ‘For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover him with favour as with a shield.’

I have chosen to take verse 12 today from this chapter because in a sense it continues from our theme yesterday where we considered those who the LORD considered as being godly (recap 4:3 ‘But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself . . .’) In the verse before us today we see that the ‘godly’ in Psalm 4 are referred to as the ‘righteous’ in Psalm 5 ‘. . . you bless the righteous . . .’ This reaffirms that to be set apart or considered in the group of the godly, one needs to be righteous. But what is meant by righteous? How can one become righteous? It is almost too big a subject for one devotion, but we will consider it briefly.

To be righteous means to have a right standing that leads to right behaviour, in the context of Christianity it means therefore to be in a right place or position before God, it means to be found with a right standing before God. But how can this be achieved. It can only be found in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, for in the New Testament we find that our righteousness, our standing before God comes through what Jesus has done for us in going to Calvary and being raised from the dead.

Any righteousness we may feel that we have apart from the Cross is as filthy rags in the eyes of God, (Isaiah 64:6) it is self-righteousness, that is our own attempts to become holy or godly, it could be good works we are performing, it could even be living honest and upright lives, good and right things and yet without the inclusion of what the Lord Jesus has done on our behalf they will achieve nothing in regard to bringing us into a right standing before God and an eternity with the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the book of Hebrews 11 we have the catalogue of the ‘Heroes of faith’ many times we read  ‘by faith’ and this is also the clue as to how we become or are made righteous, it is ‘by faith’ in the full and complete work of Christ in his redemptive act at Calvary, it is a total belief in that going to Calvary, Jesus went on our behalf as our representative to pay the full price for our sin, to receive the full punishment for it and to take the penalty for it on our place, he has done everything that is necessary on our behalf to give to us a right standing before God and all we have to do is to believe and accept by faith. It is believing that when we come to the Cross in repentance and acceptance that Jesus takes from off us our own filthy rags of (self) righteousness and gives to us (or imputes ) his righteousness, that is he washes us, cleanses us through his shed blood and makes us new and gives us a new and a right standing before God. We are made righteousness. ‘For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.’ 2 Corinthians 5:21 ‘For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”’ Romans 1:17 ‘But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.’ Romans 3:21–28

Our doing therefore must not be an attempt to obtain righteousness, our doing is our outward obedience or response because we have been made righteous through the redeeming work of the Cross.

And David says, ‘For you bless the righteous, O LORD . . .’  In a later Psalm we read ‘Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.’ (32:1-2) In other words, blessed is the one to whom the righteousness of Christ has been imputed! To be in the place of true blessedness we need to come to the one who clothes us with his righteousness, the one who welcomes us with arms wide open at Calvary.

In Ephesians 1:3 Paul says, ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places . . .’ He blesses the righteous, that is the ones who have been made anew through Christ by the Spirit of God.

We cannot make ourselves righteous, but we can hunger and thirst after righteousness and when we do, we will be satisfied. (Matthew 5:6) For our righteousness comes from the one who is both the living bread and water of life, it is he alone who we hunger for and he alone who we thirst after.

WEDNESDAY 13^th

Psalm 4

NIV (v3) ‘Know that the LORD has set apart his faithful servant for himself; the LORD hears when I call to him.’

ESV (v3) ‘But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself; the LORD hears when I call to him.’

In the first Psalm, we saw that there are two different ways, and two different groups, those who walk on the wide road to destruction and those who walk on the narrow road that leads to everlasting life. This Psalm also like the first suggests that there are two groups of people, for, in verse 3 we read, ‘But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself; the LORD hears when I call to him.’ ‘The godly’* infers there must be another group who are ‘the ungodly’, the godly are those who have put their trust in the LORD God, the ungodly are those who choose to reject him and to do their own thing. Comparing this to the good news of the gospel, the godly are those who have listened to and accepted the good news of the gospel, they have put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and the ungodly are those who have chosen not to heed and not to accept the message of the good news of the gospel. The sad thing is that it also means there are many people who seem to be godly in the eyes of the world but are not so in the eyes of the Lord, because they have chosen not to accept Jesus, many relying on good works rather than his grace.

Verse 3 says ‘that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself’, so it is when we come to the Church, we are a set apart community, a called out people who have been brought out of darkness into the light, we have been separated by his grace to form a new community, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ which is his body. Peter puts it this way, ‘But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.’ (1 Peter 2:9) Notice we have been called out of darkness, that is from out of the domain of Satan, from out of the domain of the ungodly to become a godly community. And in this Psalm, David says, ‘. . . the LORD has set apart the godly for himself: the LORD hears when I call to him.’ Being set apart brings privileges and one of them is that the LORD hears the prayers and petitions of those who are his. We are able to come to the LORD God not as some distant far off God, but as a child to his or her father, we can call him our Father because we being the set apart ones are also adopted into his family.

What a place to be, set apart, firstly set apart from the ungodly, secondly set apart to God, thirdly set apart to form a new community, the Church, and fourthly set apart to be included in the family of God.

In this Psalm David is in a place of distress again, as he was in the previous Psalm, but he rests assured in the knowledge that God is in control, and he says something in verse 8 that is very similar to his response in v5 of the previous Psalm. V8 here reads ‘In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.’ In Psalm 3 he had said ‘I lay down and slept;  I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.’ He had a confident assurance in the place of security he had in God.

No wonder David could rest or sleep, for he knew that his being set apart from the ungodly had also set him apart into a place of safety, and we too the Church as the set apart ones today are in a place of safety, a position of being safe in Christ, and safe for eternity. 

(* later editions of the NIV replace ‘godly’ with ‘faithful servant’, earlier editions had godly as is found in the ESV, KJV, NKJV, NASB)

TUESDAY 12^th

Psalm 3

NIV (v8) – ‘From the LORD comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people.’

ESV (v8) – ‘Salvation belongs to the LORD;  your blessing be on your people!’

The Psalmist commences by stating in prayer that his enemies have risen against him, declaring that they are saying ‘there is no salvation for him in God’. They (his enemies) were saying that David who was fleeing from his son Absalom (2 Samuel 15:14-17) was a lost cause, without hope, but David knew and saw what his enemies didn’t know and see, and he states it in verse 3 ‘But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.’ He knew that the one whom he had proven in the past would not abandon him in his time of trouble, but would come to his aid, and so he ‘cried unto the LORD, and he answered me from his holy hill’. It reminds us of Psalm 121:1-2 which says, ‘I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.’ He knew where his help was, he knew his helper would come, he knew that he would be victorious and so he continued ‘I lay down and slept’ in the midst of his trial he had a peace that sustained him, a peace that became his confidence, a peace that gave him boldness against the many enemies that came against him.

In the final verse, our text, he makes a declaration that ‘Salvation belongs to the LORD’ this means that the LORD is the Saviour, the one who is the LORD was not only his shield, his safety, his security but also his Saviour. He was speaking out of personal experience, but also prophetically, for the helper would come from his holy hill to another hill called Golgotha and there give himself as the ransom, as the Saviour of the world. And we who have come by faith to believe and trust can also declare, ‘Salvation belongs to the LORD.’

As I am preparing this devotion, I am listening to an old recording from 1977 and the congregation has just sung ‘Full salvation! Full salvation! Lo the fountain opened wide, streams through ev’ry land and nation, from the Saviour’s wounded side. Full salvation! Streams and endless crimson tide.’ Thank God that when our enemy was pursuing us, hounding us and seeking to destroy us, our help also came, in the person of Jesus, the one born to be the ‘Saviour of the world’, he saves us with a full salvation and defeats our enemy.

Revelation 12:10 ‘And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.”’

In the book of Revelation we also read in 7:9-10 ‘After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”’

Acts 2:12 ‘And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.’

Revelation 19:1 ‘After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God . . .’

MONDAY 11^th

Psalm 2

NIV (vv11-12) – ‘Serve the LORD with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling. Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.’

ESV (vv11-12) – ‘Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.’

There is an older hymn that goes ‘Hail to the Lord’s anointed, great David’s greater Son’ This Psalm has a prophetical inference pointing to the magnificent day when the Lord Jesus Christ will sit upon the throne of David, and what a day it will be as he establishes his reign upon the earth. It is a Psalm of triumph, for it reminds us that even though the nations rage and people plot, ultimately God has already triumphed. In the present he allows what is taking place among the nations of the earth, because it will all eventually lead to the coronation of his eternal Son.

The world schemes, the people seek to plot, the sinner continues in his sin, they walk as I mentioned yesterday on the road to destruction not realising that God is in control, God is sovereign and his will and purpose will finally be seen and acknowledged by all.

The Psalmist says here in this chapter that God laughs, he sees the plotting and the scheming, the activity that is inspired from the pit of hell itself to try and frustrate the purposes of God, but it is God who will have the last laugh for he has already procured the victory through the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.

What is pictured in this Psalm is continuing to happen through the realm of time and in particular the day of grace, the era of the building of the church. The nations still rage, the people still plot, the kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Church, the people of God, the ones who have been called out to become His body, the bride of Christ. It happened immediately after the day of Pentecost through the persecution that broke out against those who belonged to the Way, it has continued throughout each succeeding generation, it is happening in a widespread way today as the Church is fast becoming marginalised and becoming an unwanted company of people, but they can plot, they can scheme for the promise of Jesus stands sure that they will not prevail, his Church will be competed and one day after he has raptured his Church to become his bride in heaven, he will return with her as his saints to sit upon the throne of his Father David. And when he comes, he will break the plotters and schemers with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

His rule and reign is guaranteed, the day will fast approach when all will bow the knee and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, therefore as the words of this Psalm say, ‘Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling, kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way for his wrath is quickly kindled’ thankfully the Psalm ends with these words, ‘Blessed (there it is again ‘happy’) are all who take refuge in him.’

Today, ‘Hail the Lord’s anointed’, know him as your Saviour and know him as your Lord and King. Take refuge in him, daily kiss him with your love and devotion, allow him to rule in your heart and life.

SUNDAY 10^th

Psalm 1

NIV (vv1-2) – ‘Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night.’

ESV (vv1-2) – ‘Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.’

The first word here in this Psalm is ‘blessed’ which can be translated to the word ‘happy’ or ‘truly happy’, or ‘how happy’ is the man (or woman) who . . .’

True happiness or the real state of blessedness can only be found in walking on the road that leads to life everlasting and in delighting in the law (instruction, guidance) of the LORD, which is his Word. For the psalmist writing the instruction in this first Psalm, it would have pointed to the first five books of the Scripture, but for us today as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ it points to the whole of Scripture, the 66 books of the Bible, which becomes as I mentioned yesterday ‘a lamp to our feet and a light to our path’ as we walk the Pilgrim way.

To walk on the Pilgrim way, we need to transfer from the road that leads to destruction and on to the road that leads to life eternal and this takes place by coming to the ‘CROSSroad’ and placing our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

As we are walking on the road that leads to life everlasting, so we need as instructed in this Psalm to ensure that we do not get side tracked by walking in the counsel of the wicked, nor standing in the way of sinners, nor sitting in the seat of the scornful. By choosing to accept Jesus as our Way, we have also chosen to steer away from the ungodly, this means the ways of the ungodly, the wickedness of the ungodly, the sinful activity of the ungodly. We are still living among them, but instead should stand out as shining lights, examples of the difference that the grace of God has made in our lives.

This short Psalm is the gospel in a nutshell, for it clearly defines the eternal difference to those who walk on the narrow road and those who remain on the wide road. The narrow road will lead to the congregation of the righteous, I like to think that this congregation is revealed to us in the book of Revelation where we see the great throng standing around the throne, ‘And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.’ (Revelation 5:9-10) The wide road will lead to eternal destruction, verse 6 says, ‘but the way of the wicked will perish.’ And the book of Revelation also reveals to us what this will be ‘And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.’ (Revelation 20:15)

Just as we all have a destiny in this life, where we get to is determined upon the choices we make, career, relationships, family etc. so we all have an eternal destiny, and where it will be is also determined by the choices we make now. We choose God’s way, God’s Book and the company of God’s people or we choose the counsel of the wicked, the way of sinners and the seat of scoffers. God’s way will lead to us being blessed and brought into his eternal home, the other way will lead to us being blown away like chaff, and eternally cut off from the presence of God.  

There is so much more that I could bring from this Psalm, but may we all take stock, as we begin our journey through the Psalms to ensure that our feet are walking on the right road, the pathway that leads to being blessed now and which will lead us to the place of eternal blessing, the very presence of the eternal God.