justice from him

Posted on October 10, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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justice from him

Psalm 109:6-13

Psalm 109:6 Appoint someone wicked over him, may an opponent stand at his right hand.
Psalm 109:7 When he is judged, let him be found wicked and his prayer a failure.
Psalm 109:8 May his days be few; may another take his post,
Psalm 109:9 May his children be orphans, and his wife a widow.
Psalm 109:10 May his children go astray continually, begging and sifting through the rubble.
Psalm 109:11 May a money-lender take all he has and foreigners plunder all his work.
Psalm 109:12 May no one show him covenant faithfulness; may no one show compassion to his orphans.
Psalm 109:13 May his line of descendants be cut off; may another generation blot them out.

justice from him

This imprecatory psalm can be misread. It can sound like David is seeking revenge. In reality, he says what he says here because he has decided not to seek revenge. Instead, he is turning his betrayer over for God to deal with. He wants the world to know that he has been wronged and that he trusts God to bring justice. No matter how long it takes, David is going to wait and let God deal with his problem.

It is not enough for us to seek vindication. We must find justice so that our great God gets the credit. We must seek justice from him.

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just praying

Posted on October 9, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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just praying

Psalm 109:4-5

Psalm 109:4 In response to my love they harbor animosity toward me, and I just pray!
Psalm 109:5 They repay me evil instead of good, And hatred instead of my love.

just praying

David reveals the heartache of praying through a situation that takes a very very long time to change. We would all like our prayers to be answered immediately — to see a sudden dramatic change that shows us how powerful and faithful our God is to us. But we need to be prepared for a long period of testing. Our faith is real, and our God is real, but there is more at stake than just his reputation. He is building a kingdom of people who are willing to stay with him for the long haul. He is creating an empire of faithful warriors. Are you willing to “just pray” for a while?

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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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