psalmthing to chew on: psalm 49

this psalm is like a shout out to the world – to those who are rich and those who are poor – with the major theme being the question of where you put your trust. the psalmist suggests that putting your truth in your wealth is not a sign of wisdom:

‘Why should I fear when evil days come, when wicked deceivers surround me — those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches?’ [5,6]

‘For all can see that the wise die, that the foolish and the senseless also perish, leaving their wealth to others’ [10]

‘People, despite their wealth, do not endure; they are like the beasts that perish.’ [12]

‘This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings. They are like sheep and are destined to die; death will be their shepherd (but the upright will prevail over them in the morning). Their forms will decay in the grave, far from their princely mansions.’ [13,14]

‘People who have wealth but lack understanding are like the beasts that perish.’ [20]

Kind of a, “Yes, you have money now, but one day you will die [like everyone else] and then what good will your money have done you?

A warning to those who are rich to make sure that life goes beyond their riches – that the ‘life to the full’ they may feel like they are living now also extends into an everlasting life to the full.

And a warning or maybe comforting reminder to those who are not rich to not get caught up in envying those who are or distracted by the wealth of others but to focus on living well here and also take heart in the fact that we do look to life beyond this one.

‘But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead; He will surely take me to himself.’ [15]

[To return to the Intro page and be connected to any of the other Psalms i have walked through before now, click here]

psalmthing to chew on: psalm 48

Wow, this is a great little psalm – just a delightful praise-filled mantra, but there were one or two lines which really jumped out at me:

verse 9 reads, ‘Within your temple, O God,  we meditate on your unfailing love.’

if you read the second half of the Bible carefully, you quickly find out that God’s temple is us – the Holy Spirit of Jesus resides in us, guiding and nudging and pointing us back towards God…

and so in that temple [within ourselves] we should be meditating on the Father’s unfailing Love.

we had dinner with friends of ours last night and were talking about some of the things we had loved about our time with the Simple Way in Philadelphia and one of those was the morning prayer times we did monday to friday. we were introduced to a form of liturgy we were not used to and for that reason perhaps really grew to like it as a different expression of worship to God. [you can access some of what we did in the book of Common Prayer on the commonprayer.net website which i was exploring before we went over]

last night we spoke about how a lot of people don’t meditate on God a lot – it’s the ‘be still and KNOW that i am God’ of psalm 46 – and it is a great ongoing reminder that this story is all about Him and not us [how we do like to think it is!] and so creating places to stop and just be still and know and then also to meditate, deeply experience and feel and think upon, on His Love which is unfailing.

i also really enjoyed the ending to this psalm:

Walk about Zion, go around her, count her towers, consider well her ramparts,
    view her citadels, that you may tell of them to the next generation.

For this God is our God for ever and ever;
    he will be our guide even to the end.

[verse 12-14]

for me it’s the reminder to talk it all in, to remember, drink it in and soak in the goodness of God right now so that when there is a time when God may not feel so good [and there will be] you will be reminded of times past and be able to continue telling the victorious stories[which are often all that keeps us going when times are hard] – it just feels like such a triumphant victorious and celebrationary ending to this testament of praise.

[To return to the Intro page and be connected to any of the other Psalms i have walked through before now, click here]

psalmthing to chew on: psalm 47

this is a short psalm with a big focus on praising God:

‘Clap your hands, all you nations;
shout to God with cries of joy.
For the Lord Most High is awesome,
the great King over all the earth.’ [verse 1-2]

which is a great thing to be reminded of.
especially when times are tough and we feel more at home reading how God is with us even when we are walking through the valley of the shadow of death [psalm 23] or that the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in Spirit [psalm 34] – those psalms are great and a can be a really helpful source of comfort, but sometimes we just need to be reminded that God is great and just get loud and crazy and worshipful and lose it a little bit for Him

which brings me to the word ‘awesome’ – ‘For the Lord Most High is awesome’ – this is a personal thing, but i love sharing it with others in case anyone else decides to make it a personal for them as well.

a couple of years ago [in the midst of ‘awesome’ being quite the much used synonym for all things ‘cool’ ‘rad’ and even ‘wicked’] i decided that i wanted to reserve the word ‘awesome’ for God.

i think i might have gotten the idea from someone else but it hit me that i was using the same word ‘awesome’ to describe an ice-cream on a hot day and also to describe a movie i really liked and then also to describe the Creator and Father God who spoke a word and the whole Universe came into being… and who Loved the world so much that He sent His only Son to die that we might live… it just didn’t seem right.

and so i decided, from that day forward, that i would only ever use the word ‘awesome’ to describe God [or on the rare occasion something God-related as in ‘that was an awesome worship session’] and it has helped the word become more special for me.

i am not suggesting we take this to extremes and hold back all the other words we use to describe God, otherwise we would soon run out of words. but it does feel kinda special knowing that i have one word that is reserved for God. it becomes like an act of worship for me. a gift from me to God. this word is for You. You are the Lord Most High… and you ARE Awesome!

[To return to the Intro page and be connected to any of the other Psalms i have walked through before now, click here]

psalmthing to chew on: psalm 46

ah, Psalm 46 – if you come for a visit to the Simple Way, chances are good you will be faced by it in some form or other, and particularly verse 10 [a great one to set to memory] which says:

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”

So give yourself a minute now if you have time… even better if you have five to spare…

and be still…
and even stop, if you dare.

and know, that He is God.
Know!
That He is God.

Two amazing rules to live by:

[1] There is only one God
[2] It is not me!

So be still… and be reminded… that He is God…
that this is the story about Him [what? yes, this life thing is actually not the story about you]
and He has graciously and curiously invited you and me to be walk on players [with dialogue] in this tale of life and Love and beauty and depth and wonder…

so be still. and be reminded.
think back to that time, those times, when you absolutely with all your heart knew God to be true
remember that time when He spoke to you and you heard it clearly
remember that time when He intervened in your life
remember back to when you really had a strong sense of His presence – was it a time of worship? a camp moment? sitting in nature and just taking in the shouted message of a Creator that creation brings?

be strengthened by those memories [especially if now God is not feeling so real or close or present or involved]
let the strength of the times when He was, remind you to trust once again

to be still
and KNOW
that He is God

and He will be exalted.

God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.

Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

so, in light of that, join with me, in being still, and knowing that He. is. God.

[To return to the Intro page and be connected to any of the other Psalms i have walked through before now, click here]

psalmthing to chew on: psalm 45

‘My heart is stirred by a noble theme
as I recite my verses for the king;
my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.’ (verse 1)

this psalm is billed as a wedding song and so that poetic opening feels like a suitable way to get things started – and a good reminder to those of us who get caught up in the lifeness of life to be reminded that we serve a stunningly imaginative and creative God [could YOU have envisaged the duck-billed platypus? or a giraffe?]

the whole psalm is quite a lyrically stunning one, but i just want to pull out one or two lines that jumped at me in a less than menacingly way:

‘In your majesty ride forth victoriously
    in the cause of truth, humility and justice;
    let your right hand achieve awesome deeds.’ (verse 4)

Truth. Humility. Justice. Good causes to have. Worth taking a moment to self reflect and ask myself, ‘What are the causes i ride forth towards?’

And if these are three that God takes seriously, then how seriously am i taking them? They would probably suffice as worthwhile pursuits for me as well.

Truth: It is interesting to note that you can say a lot of true things, but still not necessarily be speaking Truth

Humility: This is something that has to be called by others – the moment you realise you have achieved humility, you haven’t!

Justice: We are quick to rally on this one when the justice relates to us… but how quick when it speaks of ‘the least of these?’

‘You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
    therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
    by anointing you with the oil of joy.’ (verse 7)

is this true of me? do i absolutely LOVE righteousness [or simply think it’s a pretty okay thing?]

do i hate wickedness? or do i merely turn my nose down at it, while still allowing it to lurk inside or near me? do i hide it under the bed so no-one else can see, but so that it remains close, just in case…

have i been anointed with the oil of joy? for me, joy is different to happiness [which is situation dependent – you give me chocolate i am happy, you dent my car i am umhappy] and if the Holy Spirit of God lives in me and has been given free reign in my life through invitation, then i should naturally Love and be drawn towards righteousness and hate and be repelled by wickedness… and Joy should be a natural offshoot of that.

‘I will perpetuate your memory through all generations;
    therefore the nations will praise you for ever and ever.’ (verse 17)

what a powerful image and lyric to finish with – i will perpetuate…

i will continue to tell the stories of how God has worked in me… through me… around me…

and the result will be the praise and awe of the people… and me… for ever!

Psalmthing to chew on: From 36 to 72

continuing the easy access of the psalms – here are the next group of psalms i have walked or am walking through – the idea was always to grab a thought or two from each psalm and comment and hope that others would jump in and do the same so please feel free to add your comments on any of the psalms i have looked at so far – be great to get your thoughts, insights and observations…

psalm 36

psalm 37

psalm 38

psalm 39

psalm 40

psalm 41

psalm 42

psalm 43

psalm 44

psalm 45

psalm 46

psalm 47

psalm 48

psalm 49

psalm 50

psalm 51

psalm 52

psalm 53

psalm 54

psalm 55

psalm 56

psalm 57

psalm 58

psalm 59

psalm 60

psalm 61

psalm 62

psalm 63

psalm 64

psalm 65

psalm 66

psalm 67

psalm 68

psalm 69

psalm 70

psalm 71

psalm 72

to head back to the beginning and the first 35 psalms go here.

psalmthing to chew on: psalm 44

‘We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us what You did in their days, in days long ago…’ [verse 1]

i found this a difficult psalm to grab a lot from, but one thing that jumped out at me was that line at the beginning which is such a powerful line. it reminds me of a contradictionary line found in Judges which says:

‘After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. 11 Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. 12 They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They aroused the Lord’s anger 13 because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.’ [Judges 2.10-13]

this psalm stresses the importance of story-telling – in the days of the early church before they had printed copies of the bible in their hands [and before even the priests had copied versions of what we now see as scripture] they had to rely on story-telling – we see this on many occasions in the book of Acts with Peter and Paul and Philip and Stephen among those who share the story of Jesus and see peoples lives transformed.

but it is on an even more intimate level in families where we see the importance of this. so as to avoid a generation growing up who have not heard of God or the things He has done. we have to continue to speak out the stories of what God has done in our lives.

in fact in the book of Revelations verse 10-11 it says, ‘For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.’

talking about how the enemy is ultimately defeated, it mentions that it is by the blood of the Lamb [what Jesus did for us in dying on the cross] and by the word of our testimony [the stories of what Jesus has done in and through us] which is so powerful – it means that these testimonies, these stories of how God is at work in and through our lives, have the power to defeat the enemy.

don’t stop telling the stories. don’t stop living them!

[To return to the Intro page and be connected to any of the other Psalms i have walked through before now, click here]