responding to betrayal

Posted on October 8, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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responding to betrayal

Psalm 109:1-3

Psalm 109:1 To the Supervisor. — A Psalm of David. O God of my praise song, don’t be silent,
Psalm 109:2 They have opened the wicked mouth and the betraying mouth against me, They have spoken against me with a false tongue.
Psalm 109:3 They surround me and fight me without a reason.

responding to betrayal

Being betrayed can cause a good person to do very bad things. But David had the right idea here. He chose to respond to his betrayal by going to God in prayer and praise. Instead of reacting to the hurt and making things worse by letting it produce bitterness and malice, he went to the God of his praise and appealed to him. Instead of letting the wicked mouth in others make his mouth wicked, he chose to let his glorious LORD pick up the problem. Good choice.

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In God

Posted on October 7, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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In God

Psalm 108:10-13

Psalm 108:10 Who will bring me in to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?
Psalm 108:11 Haven’t you, O God, excluded us? O God, you don’t deploy with our armies!
Psalm 108:12 Give to us help from distress, deliverance from Adam is empty.
Psalm 108:13 In God we do strongly, He will trample down our enemies!

IN God

After confessing that the enemies of his people are merely the furniture in God’s house (vs. 9), David now laments that God has excluded Israel. In what way? He has not deployed with their armies. Help from Adam (other nations) is empty. Israel’s only hope is in God. They will only be able to conquer their enemies and find peace from their distress if God leads them to those nations. One might expect that David would ask for God to be with his army. Instead, he asks for the armies to be “in God” (vs. 13).

LORD, we do not ask that you be with us. We ask, rather, that you give us the wisdom to be in you.

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my enemies — my furniture

Posted on October 6, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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my enemies — my furniture

Psalm 108:9

Psalm 108:9 Moab — my washtub. I throw my shoe at Edom. I shout in triumph over Philistia.

my enemies — my furniture

Three foreign nations are mentioned, and David claims possession of them all because of the faithfulness of his God. They may not be his yet, but they will. He does not have to worry about those enemies. He treats them like the furniture in his own house.

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he elevates

Posted on October 5, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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he elevates

Psalm 108:7-8

Psalm 108:7 God has spoken in His sacredness: “I elevate! I allot Shechem and I measure the valley of Succoth
Psalm 108:8 Gilead — mine; Manasseh — mine, and Ephraim — the helmet for my head. Judah — my scepter.”

he elevates

God is sovereign over the affairs of humanity. If anyone is prominent or has a position of leadership, it is because God has a purpose for them. They may not know that God put them in power. They may not acknowledge his authority over them. But he is involved in their lives just the same.

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the worship rescue circle

Posted on October 4, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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the worship rescue circle

Psalm 108:5-6

Psalm 108:5 Be lifted high above the sky, O God, and honored above all the land.
Psalm 108:6 So that your loved ones may be rescued, deliver them by your right hand and answer us.

the worship rescue circle

When God rescues someone from sin, poverty, or bondage, worship is a natural result. But this text points out that the circle completes itself when God is lifted up and honored by our worship. Rescue is a natural result. Worship is not something else we do besides evangelism. It is one of our methods of reaching the lost.

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relevant everywhere

Posted on October 3, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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relevant everywhere

Psalm 108:3-4

Psalm 108:3 I thank you among peoples, O Yahveh, And I praise you among the nations
Psalm 108:4 because your covenant faithfulness is great above the sky and your truth to the clouds.

relevant everywhere

God is relevant everywhere because he’s not particular to anywhere. No place is really “God’s country” because He is above it all. When we look up at the sky above us, we get it. That’s why any place we go, we can talk about our great God, and some of them will get it too.

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wake up, worship

Posted on October 2, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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wake up, worship

Psalm 108:1-2

Psalm 108:1 A Song, a Psalm of David. My heart is determined, O God! I am singing praise, and also showing my respect.
Psalm 108:2 Wake up, stringed instrument and harp, I will wake up the dawn.

wake up, worship

David apparently borrows the text from two other psalms and reworks it into this psalm. Psalm 57:8 is reused to produce 108:2.

A warrior preparing for conquest is usually most cautious about the condition of his or her weapons. But David is most concerned about his musical instruments. Why? Because he knows that the battle is the LORD’s and so he is most concerned about how well he worships.

This should be our concern as well. Our Lord will bring us victory as he sees fit. Our concern should be acknowledging him.

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BOLO

Posted on October 1, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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BOLO

Psalm 107:43 (JDV)

Psalm 107:43 Whoever is wise should keep watching these things. They should consider Yahveh’s covenant loyalty!

BOLO

For the past few days, we have been looking at the ten reasons to praise God found in Psalm 107. The psalm concludes with an admonition for the wise to keep watching these things. We should be on the lookout for all of the reasons to praise our God because of his covenant loyalty.

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tenth question

Posted on September 30, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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tenth question

Psalm 107:39-42 (JDV)

Psalm 107:39 They have become few and bowed down because of evil and trouble.
Psalm 107:40 He is pouring out contempt on nobles and making them go astray in a wasteland with no road.
Psalm 107:41 Yet he protected the needy from misery and cared for his families like a flock of sheep.
Psalm 107:42 When the godly see this, they rejoice, and every sinner shuts his mouth.

tenth question

These verses suggest the tenth and final question from this amazing psalm: Do you realize that God is caring for your family? You are part of his flock, and he takes care of you. Every instance where you see God’s protection and care reminds you that he is the Good Shepherd, and you belong to him.

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ninth question

Posted on September 29, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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ninth question

Psalm 107:33-38 (JDV)

Psalm 107:33 He turned rivers into an open country and springs of water became thirsty land.
Psalm 107:34 A fruitful land became a barren place, because of the wickedness of those who lived in it.
Psalm 107:35 He made an open country become a pool of water and a dry land become springs of water.
Psalm 107:36 He allowed the hungry to settle there, and they established a city in which to live.
Psalm 107:37 They sowed fields and planted vineyards and they yielded fruit.
Psalm 107:38 He blessed them and they multiply very much and He did not reduce their cattle.

ninth question

If you don’t feel like praising God today, ask yourself this question: Has God ever changed a circumstance in your life so that you can be more fruitful? Has he turned a dry spot into a spring of water? If you look closely into the circumstances of your life, you will find a reason to praise him.

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