HOLY PSALM OF DAVID (ZABUR) SEVENTEEN

1 O Lord, hear my plea for justice. Listen to my cry for help … 3 You have tested my thoughts and examined my heart in the night. You have scrutinised me and found nothing wrong. I am determined not to sin in what I say. 4 I have followed your commands, which keep me from following cruel and evil people.

David’s cry for justice is a fundamental human cry and starts in early childhood.  We want justice in our world and we believe that almighty God should also be concerned with justice, which he is.  So, David cried out to God, but he was wise enough to know that he needed to look at himself first.  What was he like?  Had he acted justly to others, or, in God’s eyes, was he receiving his just deserts?

6 I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God. … 7 Show me your unfailing love in wonderful ways. By your mighty power you rescue those who seek refuge from their enemies. … 8 Guard me as you would guard your own eyes. Hide me in the shadow of your wings.

This psalm written some three millennia ago (before he was appointed King) reflects a very modern faith in God’s great graciousness and love not so much for the proud and self-righteous as for the penitent and those without pretence.

And David pleaded for God to see and protect him from his unjust enemies who wanted to attack him (v.8 to 12). David used the metaphor of our eyes (which we protect most diligently) and the metaphor of an eagle watching over its young as they learn to fly, to describe God’s protection of him. In this psalm David doesn’t claim he has the power or desire to destroy his enemies (he could have killed his oppressor King Saul several times), rather he believed that God would protect him from persecution as he was innocent.  We will not necessarily be protected from persecution however much faith we have, but we can be assured that God will give us strength to endure despite persecution.  Nor does this mean that God is indifferent to those who persecute others, rather God is patient waiting for the proud to come to repentance.

14 By the power of your hand, O Lord, destroy those who look to this world for their reward. But satisfy the hunger of your treasured ones. … 15 When I awake, I will see you face to face and be satisfied.

David here was looking to eternity.  When he awoke from the dream of this world after his death, he had confidence that he would be satisfied with all God’s graciousness towards him in this life, and that God will reward those who have faith and bring to judgment those who care only for themselves in this life.

A poem based on Psalm 17: -

O God please treat me as the apple of your eye!

But search me and show me all of my hidden sin.

You know I have tried to uphold your mighty cause,

One day I will see just how gracious you have b' n.

A prayer: - God search me and keep me true to you! Amen

mjk 17/12/17 c. mikereflects

HOLY PSALM OF DAVID (ZABUR) SIXTEEN

1 Keep me safe, O God, for I have come to you for refuge. 2 I said to the Lord, “You are my Master! Every good thing comes from you.”  3 The godly people in the land are my true heroes! I take pleasure in them!

David acknowledged that every good thing comes from God. And because he submitted to God’s authority, he wanted to spend time with those who trusted God and lived good lives. It may be questioned whether his love for God rested on the fact that God had blessed him and whether he would still love God, if he had been tested in the way God allowed righteous Job to be tested by Satan. Job had suffered much loss in this life (family and possessions) for which he could not understand the reason, but never once would he deny God’s faithfulness despite his suffering.  But we need to recall that David also had a hard time hounded as a refugee and despite that, he persisted in loving God. And in all his trials he also never once denied God’s faithfulness, often writing psalms in the midst of his trials.

6 The land you have given me is a pleasant land. … 7 I will bless the Lord who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me.

Even though at times God allowed his servants Job and David to lose everything, God did eventually restore their fortunes and re-establish them in the land.  So we in turn should not despair, but always hope that better times will come.  It is important to hold on to the faithfulness of God whatever our circumstances and how ever we feel about our situation.

10 For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave. 11 You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.

This was the hope David hung on to – living in God’s presence forever. And this has been taken as a glimpse of eternal life.  The NT (Ingil) also takes this verse as prophetic to the resurrection of Jesus Christ (ref. Acts 13 v.35-38).  

A poem from Psalm 16: -

Joy is the heritage God gives the godly;

His promise in Christ given eternally!

A prayer: - At your side is joy forever! Amen

mjk 14/12/17 c. mikereflects

HOLY PSALM OF DAVID (ZABUR) FIFTEEN

1 Who may worship in your sanctuary Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?  2 Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking truth from sincere hearts. 3 Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbours or speak evil of their friends. 4 Those who … honour the faithful … and keep their promises even when it hurts.

If we are to sincerely worship God we need to be righteous. However, as David has told us (Psalm 14) none of us can naturally stand in God’s presence: we all desperately need God’s grace. But with God’s grace we can be counted as righteous not on our own, but with the righteousness of Jesus Christ (NT/ Ingil Rom.3 v.24). David goes on to describe what this ‘righteousness’ looks like in the flesh.

Some Christians (and some Muslims) get stuck on proclaiming the necessity of faith in God without proclaiming or demonstrating what this looks like. As the NT/Ingil tells us ‘Faith without works is dead (Jam.2 v.17).’  King David is quite clear about it. Those who may rightfully enter God’s presence are those who have faith in and pursue the one God who forgives sins and are those who do good, speak the truth from sincere hearts, love their neighbours, honour the faithful and keep their promises.  Jesus Christ went further proclaiming that this means people of faith should also love their enemies and do good to everyone (refer. NT/Ingil Matt.5 v.1-12).  David goes on to include how this affects our business and social actions.

5 Those who lend money without charging interest, and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent. Such people will stand firm forever.

David’s culture had no sophisticated banking system and when he speaks of not charging interest in his subsistence farming economy, I believe he was pointing to what we would term ‘loan sharks.’  In a modern economy (and in Islamic economies) it is recognised that the lending of money helps a nation plant crops and develop their industries and that this essential process must be done with reasonable income for the lender.  Our economies also need to be regulated so as to try and prevent unscrupulous people form exploiting the poor and desperate.

A poem inspired by Psalm 15: -

Lord keep our tongues from lies and slander

May our hearts pure spotless be,

As by grace we remain united

To your root of Jesse tree.

Help us lord to keep our promise

And honour those who trust your name

May we care for all in business

Be true to you and all the same.

A prayer: - Lord may our lives demonstrate the beauty of your grace! Amen

mjk 12/12/17 c. mikereflects

HOLY PSALM OF DAVID (ZABUR) FOURTEEN

When he wrote this psalm, David was feeling frustrated and oppressed by those who attacked and harassed his nation.

1 Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.”  They are corrupt and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!  2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God. 3 But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt. No one does good, not a single one!

Wow!  Are we to take these words literally or look to see what God’s Spirit is saying? If we look, we can see that some atheists for example do better works than some Christians and people of other faiths. Is David saying that no atheist does good?  I don’t believe so.

David goes on to state (v.2) that God sees the entire human race and looks for anyone who is truly wise and seeks to know God and he concludes that all have turned away from God’s Spirit (at some time in their lives) resulting in them being less than perfect however you may look at it (v.3)! The same statement (viz., 14 v.1-3) is repeated in psalm 53 and is quoted again from the Greek version by the NT prophet Paul (Rom.3 v.10-12) who goes on to clarify that ‘All have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom.3 v.23)!’ 

So, on the face of it, David was condemning himself and everyone else regardless of whether or not they have faith in God.  From verse 3, we can see that when David spoke of all being corrupt, doing evil and not doing good, he was including those who don’t believe in an intervening God (verse 1) alongside the whole human race including those who do believe!  We can all identify with this notion to a degree, since we all know we do wrong and do not always act in kind and forgiving ways to all other people. Yet we do recognise that we and most other people also do some altruistic good in the world.  So, we need to see this psalm as an anguished cry by David about the wickedness that he saw in the world around him. As he goes on to state: -

4 Will those who do evil never learn? They eat up my people like bread and wouldn’t think of praying to the Lord. 5 Terror will grip them, for God is with those who obey him. 6 The wicked frustrate the plans of the oppressed, but the Lord will protect his people. 7 When the Lord restores his people … Israel will rejoice.

So, it is in the context of verse 4, that David has described those who don’t believe in God as foolish, since as he states, (v.6b) God will protect his people.

We are left with the question what does Scripture mean by implying here that no-one does good?  I believe we need to understand this as, ‘no one does good all of the time.  Clearly, we also need to affirm that many people do good a lot of the time and most people do good some of the time, even if there are a few highly self-centred people who seldom do good for anyone!  In terms of God’s perfection, every one of us desperately needs the grace of God to live by.

A poem inspired by Psalm 14

O God of grace, help us do good

All ways and not for some of time!

We pray for grace – Christ showed the way -

Grace gives us strength his love to mime.

A prayer: - Lord grant us strength your way to go! Amen

mjk 11/12/17 c.mikereflects

HOLY PSALM OF DAVID (ZABUR) THIRTEEN

Do you ever feel desolate? David felt that way at times, when he felt oppressed and discouraged by the world he lived in and God seemed far away.  In this psalm, he had reached his wits end and he took his complaint to God and asked for his joy to be restored.

1 O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever? … 2 How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day? How long will my enemy have the upper hand? 3 Turn and answer me, O Lord my God! Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die.

Yet David also in faith anticipated God answering his prayer and coming to his aid: and he reminded himself of God’s overwhelming goodness despite his feeling bereft.

5 But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me.  6 I will sing to the Lord because he is good to me.

A poem inspired by Psalm 13: -

God is so good! He deeply loves me

Yet knowing all my faults he heals me.

Help me each day his praise to sing!

A prayer: - Thank you God for loving me! Amen

mjk 10/12/17 c.mikereflects

HOLY PSALM OF DAVID (ZABUR) TWELVE

When it seems that evil stalks the land and neighbours lie to each other speaking with flattering lips and deceitful hearts, David’s words remind the oppressed that God hears their groans and promises to preserve them.

1 Help, O Lord, for the godly are fast disappearing!

People think they can lie to their hearts’ content, but God says,

5 “I have seen violence done to the helpless, and I have heard the groans of the poor. Now I will rise up to rescue them, as they have longed for me to do.”

David concludes confidently …

7,8 Therefore, Lord, we know you will protect the oppressed … even though the wicked strut about and evil is praised throughout the land.

We can find similar situations in the world today and trust that God will preserve the oppressed peoples of those lands.

A poem inspired by Psalm 12: -

Help Lord! Their lying lips require your justice now:

So, strengthen us your truth to tell.

Rescue Lord the oppressed who suffer when the proud

Roam around making living hell.

A prayer: - Lord God uphold the godly in the land! Amen

mjk 09/12/17  c. mikereflects 

HOLY PSALM OF DAVID (ZABUR) ELEVEN

When King David had to flee his capital due to rebellion, his kingdom was vulnerable to injustice (see end notes).

1 I trust in the Lord (God) for protection. So why do you say to me, “Fly like a bird to the mountains for safety! … 3 The foundations of law and order have collapsed. What can the righteous do?”

David was being urged to flee from his enemies. He was in danger of ambush (v.2), but this fear being put on him by others was not inspired by God’s Spirit.  He rebuffed this suggestion with his strong faith that God is in control.  God is still …

‘… in his holy temple – the Lord still rules from heaven and is watching everyone closely (v.4)!’  5 The Lord examines both the righteous and the wicked. He hates those who love violence.

I understand the meaning of ‘examine’ here is that of ‘testing out’.  God’s word is clear: God hates those who love violence!  Those who wage war on others either do so in a restrained and responsible manner as a necessary defence of the defenceless, or they do so with the aggression of those who love violence. David is confident that God will (metaphorically) rain down blazing coals on the wicked because …

7 For the righteous Lord (God) loves justice. The virtuous will see his face.

David here was speaking of true justice not that meted out by violent people who think they have a right to act in God’s name!  God is looking for the ‘righteous’, i.e., those whom God sees as pure in heart (ref. words of Jesus, NT/ Ingil).

A poem from Psalm 11: -

God grant our leaders vision

To see your justice come

That they may rule in righteousness

And we may live in peace!

A prayer: - Lord help our government to uphold equal justice for all our people.

mjk 08/12/17 c. mikereflects