he’ll do it again

Posted on July 2, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

Psalms (book 2) - 1

he’ll do it again

Psalm 71:22-24 (JDV)

Psalm 71:22 That is why I will praise you with a harp for your faithfulness, my God; I will sing to you with a lyre, Holy One of Israel.
Psalm 71:23 My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you because you have redeemed me.
Psalm 71:24 That is why my tongue will proclaim your righteousness all day long, for those who intend to harm me will be disgraced and confounded.

he’ll do it again

His enemies are plotting his destruction. Life is falling apart around him. What does this man of God do with his shame and discomfort? He turns them against his enemies, by praising God while he waits for him to respond to his prayer!

Many commentators think that verse 23 reflects a transition in the psalm where the psalmist informs his readers that God has already come through. I don’t think that is a correct conclusion for this context. The psalmist is not saying that his crisis is over. Instead, he is remembering back to his conversion. He points to God’s redemption when he came to faith as reason to praise him, anticipating his second “spiritual resurrection” to come.

The psalmist is not out of the woods yet, but he is confident that there is a way out. His enemies are not yet disgraced and confounded by God’s intervention, but they will be. God is consistent; he is faithful. He has raised this psalmist from death before, and he will do it again. In fact, he will do it again twice. He will rescue the psalmist from his current crisis, and he will bring him up from the depths of the ground on resurrection day.

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life again

Posted on July 1, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

Psalms (book 2) - 1

life again

Psalm 71:19-21 (JDV)

Psalm 71:19 Your righteousness reaches the heights, God, you who have done great things; God, who is like you?
Psalm 71:20 You have shown me many troubles and misfortunes, but you will bring me to life again. You will bring me up again, even from the depths of the ground.
Psalm 71:21 You will increase my honor and comfort me once again.

life again

The psalmist knows what it is like to have been brought to life. He has known the joy of what we call regeneration — being born again to spiritual life. He now is experiencing some of those troubles and misfortunes, and admits that they have been shown to him by God as well. But he trusts that God will restore his life once again, by bringing him up, even from the depths of the ground. He trusts God to erase his shame, and restore his comfort.

In fact, the wording of this psalm hints at the hope of a literal resurrection.

So, we see the whole of the Christian hope reflected in its words. We trusted Christ to deliver us from spiritual death when we repented. We trust Christ to bring us through our troubles and misfortunes. We trust Christ to bring us up from the grave at his return.

Thank you LORD, for the new life you have given us, and the eternal life that awaits us.

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old and gray

Posted on June 30, 2021 by Jefferson Vann
old woman sitting on chair near girl while reading a book

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old and gray

Psalm 71:17-18 (JDV)

Psalm 71:17 God, you have taught me from my youth, and I still proclaim your wondrous works.
Psalm 71:18 Even while I am old and gray, God, do not abandon me, while I proclaim your power to another generation, your strength to all who are to come.

old and gray

You would think that it would be a simple question. The lady at the counter at DMV asked me what color my hair is. Alas, it is no longer a simple question.

My hair started out blonde. I was a toe-head until my teens, and then the hair turned brown. So, I told the lady that my hair is brown. At some point I am going to have to face up to reality and say that it is gray.

Those of us who are getting older and grayer have an opportunity to proclaim God’s power to another generation.

Lord, thank you for that gift.

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his righteousness and rescue

Posted on June 29, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

Psalms (book 2)- - 1

his righteousness and rescue

Psalm 71:14-16 (JDV)

Psalm 71:14 But I will hope continually and will praise you more and more.
Psalm 71:15 My mouth will tell about your righteousness and your rescue all day long, though I cannot sum them up.
Psalm 71:16 I come because of the mighty acts of the Lord Yahveh; I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone.

his righteousness and rescue

We need to train our minds with good biblical theology and effective evangelistic witness. Like the psalmist here, our mouths should always be ready to explain our God’s righteousness of character and his mighty acts by which he has rescued us from our sin and its consequences.

Lord, discipline our minds so that our mouths can tell about your righteousness and rescue.

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them apples

Posted on June 28, 2021 by Jefferson Vann
photography of pile of apples

Photo by Maria Lindsey Content Creator on Pexels.com

them apples

Psalm 71:12-13 (JDV)

Psalm 71:12 God, do not be far from me; my God, hurry to help me.
Psalm 71:13 May my adversaries be disgraced and consumed; may those who intend to harm me be covered with disgrace and humiliation.

them apples

This is a prayer for God to reverse the psalmist’s situation so that his enemies are experiencing shame and defeat. Our saying “how do you like them apples?” fits here. It is not merely a prayer for revenge. It is a prayer to set right a wrong and to teach the enemy not to attack the godly, because God is there to step in and reverse the situation.

Lord, turn our enemies’ attacks against them. Take back our lives for us.

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do not discard

Posted on June 27, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

Psalms (book 2)- - 1

do not discard

Psalm 71:7-11 (JDV)

Psalm 71:7 I am like a miraculous sign to many, and you are my strong refuge.
Psalm 71:8 My mouth is full of praise and honor to you all day long.
Psalm 71:9 Don’t discard me in my old age. As my strength fails, do not abandon me
Psalm 71:10 because my enemies talk about me, and those who spy on me plot together,
Psalm 71:11 saying, “God has abandoned him; chase him and catch him, because there is no one to rescue him.”

do not discard

Many of us who are getting on in years feel like the world is forgetting we exist. The psalmist was an old man, and felt that he was in danger of being discarded by God. He pleaded for God to keep up being his strong refuge. He thought his enemies were recognizing his new vulnerability because God had left him along with his dark hair.

Our God will not abandon us, but we will probably feel like he has. Like this psalmist, we can use those abandoned feelings to get back in touch with our rock and fortress.

Lord, do not discard us. We are not beyond our “use by date.”

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leaning on him

Posted on June 26, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

Psalms (book 2)- - 1

leaning on him

Psalm 71:4-6 (JDV)

Psalm 71:4 Deliver me, my God, from the power of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and oppressive
Psalm 71:5 because you are my hope, Lord Yahveh, my confidence from my youth.
Psalm 71:6 I have leaned on you from birth; you took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is always about you.

leaning on him

What does it mean to lean on the Lord? It means that you can stand in his power, not your own. The psalmist learned to do that from his youth, because God took him and made himself available to him as a source of stability, hope and confidence. He can do the same for us.

LORD, we choose to lean on you.

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safe and saved

Posted on June 25, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

Psalms (book 2)- - 1

safe and saved

Psalm 71:1 Lord, I seek refuge in you; let me never be disgraced.
Psalm 71:2 In your justice, deliver and help me escape; listen closely to me and rescue me.
Psalm 71:3 Be a rock of refuge for me, where I can always go. Give the command to rescue me, because you are my rock and fortress.

safe and saved

This psalm declares dependence upon God for safety — a rock and fortress to escape to in times of distress and danger. But it also asks God to give the command to rescue. It asks for deliverance as well as escape, to be safe and to be saved.

Lord, thank you for being a place we can hide, until your power prevails over our enemies.

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loving his salvation

Posted on June 24, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

Psalms (book 2)- - 1

loving his salvation

Psalm 70:4 Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; let those who love your salvation continually say, “God is great!”
Psalm 70:5 I am oppressed and needy; hurry to me, God. You are my help and my deliverer; Yahveh, do not delay.

loving his salvation

The question for myself today is: Do I love his salvation? I want to start there, because it is so easy for me to talk about loving God and have other reasons in the back of my mind. When I am at my worst — totally strung out on problems I am facing at work, can I still cling to the God of my salvation, and declare that he is great?

I think, sometimes those problems are allowed to come into my life as a sort-of test to see if my joy at just being saved will be enough to sustain me. In the middle of my stressful situation that oppresses me and reminds me of my need, can I stop and say “God is great!?

Lord, I trust you with my current mess, and I declare in the midst of it that you are great!

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turn them back

Posted on June 23, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

Psalms (book 2)- - 1

turn them back

Psalm 70:1-3 (JDV)

Psalm 70:132 God, hurry to rescue me. Yahveh, hurry to help me!
Psalm 70:2 Let those who seek to kill me be disgraced and confounded; let those who wish me harm be turned back and humiliated.

Psalm 70:3 Let those who say, “Aha, aha!” retreat because of their shame.

turn them back

What joy it is to note all the people and things in your life that are determined to undermine your faith, and and to see God turn them back. What glorious failure it is when the enemy fails to defeat you. This is a way for us to pray. It doesn’t ignore our problems. It brings them to God seeking rescue.

Often our prayers for ourselves and our loved ones miss this step. After we have told our Savior just what is hindering us, we should ask God to rescue us from it.

Lord, turn our problems back in shame and defeat. Reign over us in victory.

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