Building on the Foundation

We have two Psalms left in this series, but that's not the end of our journey through the Psalms. We have another one hundred and forty two psalms to go once we finish with these first eight, and I fully intend to make it through them all by the time I finish. As I said in my first post on the Psalms, the Psalms are some of my favorite writings in the Bible. They are full of prophecy, poetry, pain, courage, worship, and love, with many of them being written by a man who God said was a man after His own heart. A man who loved God with everything he had and followed Him clear to the end because of that utter devotion. We are blessed that God preserved his writings for us today because there is much that we need to learn from them. I'm under no illusion that I am bringing you everything contained in these Psalms, but perhaps there will be one thing that you did not see before that is brought to light by my thoughts.  The seventh Psalm nicely corresponds to the first day of the Fea...

It's been a hot minute since I visited the Psalms, but other projects have consumed my time and attention, from the three-part study on the clean and unclean laws to my upcoming history and study of feminism and communism. There's only so much time to study and write, so some projects get more attention than others. I'm quite excited about the upcoming post about feminism, and I learned a lot while doing the research for it and writing it, so I think it will at least be thought-provoking and hopefully educational. Stay tuned for that one. Without further ado, here are my thoughts on Psalm 6! Slash! The blood gushed out of the gaping gash in the neck of the massive bull and gurgled as it splashed sparkling red into the golden bowl. The giant bull's head slumped to the ground and the priest rose to his feet. He turned toward the door of the tent, took a deep breath, and prepared to enter, a thick rope dragging along behind him.  Atonement for sin used to be quite a compl...

A t the end of the fourth Psalm, there is an exciting line, and it is far from the only place in the Bible where this idea is found. David has just finished listing out some of the blessings that the set apart of God enjoys when he says, “I will both lie down in peace and sleep.” My mind naturally went to the verse that says that to God’s beloved, He gives sleep or rest, but in the process of looking for that verse, I found several others that hadn’t immediately come to mind. It turns out that rest is mentioned quite a lot as one of the blessings that obeying God brings.  Psalm 4:8 NKJV I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. We find several different types of rest mentioned in the Bible, from death to ceasing from work to sleep, but they all point to something greater, with none of them being an end unto themselves.  Following God enables us to be able to lie down and go to sleep without fear of what will befall us in the nig...

The second Psalm is the first prophetic Psalm, and it is a prophecy of Jesus Christ , the Son of God. The first of many Messianic prophecies in the Psalms, we get into some major elements that later Psalms will address more fully, and it also raises some interesting questions. Something to keep in mind is that while this is poetry, it is poetry that tells the truth. Not every flowery element of poetry is literal (a vault of snow in heaven, for example), but the image it paints is the truth. A vault of snow is an analogy for the clouds and utilizes poetic language. Just because the language is poetic does not mean that it is not describing something very real; it is not the language itself that is literal; it is the thing being described. I bring this up because as we move through the Psalms, we will run into a lot of poetic language (it is a book of poetry, after all), but the picture or prophecy being painted is still very real.  Another thing of interest is that this whole Psalm ...

What an incredible book Psalms is! I have always loved the Psalms; they share a special place in my heart. It’s easy to identify with them, seek comfort from them, and simply enjoy their beauty, yet there is always a deeper layer to them. They contain doctrine and prophecy in abundance and even the deeper message God has for each one of us. Most of the Psalms were written by David, a man after God’s own heart, and each one was a song written to the creator He loved. Growing up, as part of our schooling, we read a psalm every day, and it has been something I’ve gotten away from. I think it’s about time to revisit the Psalms and explore the beauty, wildness, and the voice of God in each one. Join me for thoughts on the Psalms as we read through some of the most beautiful poetry ever written and see through the eyes of men deep in a romance with their creator.  I thought about starting with my favorite Psalm, 119, but as I read through Psalm one, a couple of key things jumped out to ...

  The Book of Psalms encompasses five books, like the five books of Moses that begin the Bible, and the second book begins with Psalm 42. Like the second book of Moses, Exodus, the second book of Psalms begins with oppression and deliverance. Psalms 42-44 all speak of oppression; Psalm 45 transitions to God’s deliverance. The psalms are amazing psalms that lay out the plan of God. In particular, as the title suggests, I’d like to focus on Psalms 44-46, a narrow slice of these themes. As with all Scripture references, please look them up on your own. In this case, it ’ s particularly important, for the full context increases their impact. Psalm 44 Psa. 44:1-8 recounts God’s mighty works of old, the wonders He worked on behalf of Israel. V. 1 sums this up nicely: “We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, the deeds You did in their days, in days of old.” In v. 9, though, the psalm shifts gears and begins to focus on the present, an excruciating distress. The write...