Now I Pray Me Down To Sleep (Psalm 4)

How often do you get a good night’s rest? The answer might depend on what state you live in. The states with the highest percentage of bad sleep are Kentucky, West Virginia, and Hawaii. Finally a list California isn’t in the worst spot! The best states for sleep? Colorado, Vermont, and Minnesota.^[1]

We all have nighttime rituals before heading off to bed. Usually that includes a sweep through the house to make sure the doors are locked. Why? Because we live in a frightening world with some very real dangers. And the dark of night tends to turn our molehills into mountains and amplify those anxious situations, those confusing decisions, those difficult circumstances of life.

Even the smallest bump in the night can set our hearts racing as we wonder what sort of creature could’ve made it and how many more bumps till they’re inside the house! Some of you are very early risers. You’re up and at ‘em well before sunrise. Have you noticed that a bump in the early morning is not nearly as scary as a thud in the night?

We’re between book studies right now. It’s always nice to take a pitstop in the Psalms because not only are they full of theological treasure, they’re also very relatable and encouraging. In Psalms, we find the full range of human experience and emotion. Prayers when things are good and when they are very bad. Songs written by people who had absolute assurance of God’s ability and others who wondered when God was going to come through. People rejoicing and people despairing.

Psalm 4 is a nighttime song. David hopes to get a good night’s rest. But as was so often the case, he was facing some very scary enemies. We don’t know the specific setting, but he was dealing with some sort of rejection or revolution. The Absalom rebellion is a good candidate, because Psalm 3 and 4 are thematically and linguistically a pair.^[2] How could David get a good night’s rest?

As David lays himself down to sleep, part of his evening ritual is not only to call out to God, but to sing about what is true about God’s love for His people. We don’t know whether he composed this in the comfort of his palace, or while laying on the dirt, exhausted, after crossing the Jordan before Absalom could kill him.  We’ll find that he could’ve written these same words from either position.

The point of Psalm 4 is that our circumstances are not what determines whether life is good or not. Rather, David declares to us that rest and joy – the good life – is found in the love of God.

Psalm 4:1 – For the choir director: with stringed instruments. A psalm of David. ¹ Answer me when I call, God, who vindicates me. You freed me from affliction; be gracious to me and hear my prayer.

We learn in verse 2 that David is in trouble. He boldly asks God to hear and answer by His grace. In the middle is that all-important testimony: God vindicates and God frees from affliction. The term refers to distress or being in a tight corner.^[3]

Undoubtedly everyone here faces some sort of pressure. Maybe not as lethal as David had to face, but some difficulty. Some cloud on the horizon. Some tight corner.

David knew the Lord would not leave him hanging. But he still spoke to God about what was going on. Strong faith doesn’t mean we talk to God less about our lives. The Lord wants us to commune with Him day by day. Not to just mechanically or ritualistically pray, but pray without ceasing.

“You freed me from my distress.” David had been in a tight corner, but Who was in his corner with him? A Christian has God’s presence and power in every circumstance. God in your corner. Not to be subservient to your will, but to be with you to accomplish His good purposes for you.

Now here’s what’s amazing: It would be enough if God only freed us. Here we are, guilty sinners on death row. But God gives us a pardon and then does more. He is also willing to hear when we call and answer us back and continually pour out His grace on our behalf. He takes the guilty, gives them a pardon, then makes them sons and daughters. Presidents and governors don’t do that!

David knew he could count on the grace of God. And we should, too. God is a Savior and a Shepherd. Charles Spurgeon writes, “God does nothing by halves and He will never cease to help us until we cease to need.”^[4] He does not grow weary of helping us or hearing from us.

Psalm 4:2 – ² How long, exalted ones, will my honor be insulted? How long will you love what is worthless and pursue a lie?

The “exalted ones” refer to the prominent, wealthy, powerful leaders of Israel.^[5] They were in opposition to David at the time. This group had it all. And this was their chance to gain power even over the king himself. David speaks in verse 2 to warn them about the folly of their choices.

Worldly success is not always an indicator of truth or God’s favor. We need to clear our minds of this idea that, if God is happy with me, I’ll always get more in this life. Or that God’s best goal for my life is always upward mobility and greater accumulation of material things. Just because someone is successful doesn’t mean they’re on the right path. In fact, David says that these particular fellows loved what is worthless and pursued a lie. The term he uses can refer to an empty sack.^[6]

Jesus gave a similar warning in the parable of the sower. He said that the deceitfulness of wealth can choke out the word of God and the growth of spiritual fruit in our lives.^[7]

As Christians, we want to be sure we understand what God considers success – what greatness looks like to Him. God’s view of success is in loving service, in humility, in obedience, in sacrificial living, and that’s what we should pursue, not the things the unbelieving world around us calls great.

Psalm 4:3 – ³ Know that the LORD has set apart the faithful for himself; the LORD will hear when I call to him.

What a great and tender promise that God will always hear us when we call. This is not the only place where we are reminded that God will hear. This is God’s heart for us when we cry out to Him:

Isaiah 65:24 – ²⁴ Even before they call, I will answer; while they are still speaking, I will hear.

A God Who loves and listens. A God who hears and answers. He answers His people. Those David calls “the faithful.”

What does it mean to be one of “the faithful?” The word comes from that wonderful Old Testament term for God’s love, hesed. The faithful are those who are recipients of God’s hesed.^[8]

In human society, promotion and status are often given to those who perform at a certain level for an extended period of time. What merits you to be recognized or awarded or commissioned?

But God doesn’t give grace based on our merit. And good thing, too, because none of us could ever earn or deserve God’s favor or His grace or His attention. Instead, God pours out His grace on those who will receive it because He loves us. “The faithful” are those who abide in His love. And not only do we receive it, but “the faithful” also become characterized by hesed themselves.

What have you been set apart for? We call out to God in prayer, but remember: God has called you. He’s called you to be saved. He’s called you to walk in a path that He has carved out for you.

2 Timothy 1:9 –  ⁹ He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.

If you’re a Christian here today, what has God called you to do? Ephesians 4 says you’ve received a calling you’re meant to walk in. Something you’ve been marvelously chosen for.^[9] That’s another way you can translate “set apart.”

So what has God set your life apart for? If you aren’t sure, start by asking what spiritual gifts the Lord has given you. What opportunities are available to you? Where has God placed you and who do you interact with? All of us need to answer His call. We need to hear Him the way He hears us.

Psalm 4:4 – ⁴ Be angry and do not sin; reflect in your heart while on your bed and be silent.   

Originally, this verse is directed at the exalted ones of verse 2. But then, in Ephesians, Paul quotes this verse and applies it directly to Christians, as well.

When we find ourselves angry or agitated or excited or disturbed,^[10] we should pause and reflect on the word of God, on the leading of God, the heart of God, to put our lives in perspective.

The Christian life should be a thoughtful life. Not letting our fears or emotions have the helm, but calmly considering what is true. What is God’s opinion and direction and intention? Having the spiritual fruit of self-control so that our reactions don’t lead us into sin or unfaithfulness.

Psalm 4:5 – ⁵ Offer sacrifices in righteousness, and trust in the LORD.

David was in trouble – maybe life-threatening trouble – and here’s his advice: Offer sacrifices before the resolution. It wasn’t, “Once the Lord comes through, be sure to pay Him back.” It was, “Be in fellowship with the Lord, worship the Lord and trust Him, because, after all, He’s good for it.”

Our relationship with God is always the priority over the resolution of problems. Rather than worry about the specific resolution or depressurization, the questions are: Can we trust the God Who loves us? The God Who has set us apart for something marvelous? Is God faithful? We find the answer in the Psalms. Where we see people struggling with intense difficulty asking those same questions and coming to the conclusion again and again that, yes, God is faithful, He is able, He really does love us, He will not allow us to slip through the cracks.

So I can trust and worship and bring my life as a sacrifice before I see the resolution of problems in my life. But listen – it’s not enough to give God lip service. It’s not that He wants you to go through the motions of spirituality. Remember: The Psalms also tell us that for sacrifices to be acceptable to the Lord we must have clean hands and a pure heart, meaning we truly repent and believe.

Psalm 4:6 – ⁶ Many are asking, “Who can show us anything good?” Let the light of your face shine on us, LORD.

People were asking, “How can we get the good life?” David’s reminder is simple, but counter-cultural. The good life is not found in circumstances, but in covenant with Yahweh. If God’s face is shining on us, then we can be sure He is working all things together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose.^[11]

It seems though that some of David’s friends were struggling with trusting God. They “wanted to see rather than believe.”^[12] Faith means we actively choose to believe even though we don’t see. That we trust what God has revealed. That we trust His character. That we pursue closeness with Him, knowing that’s the good life. That He will show us what is truly good.

Psalm 4:7 – ⁷ You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and new wine abound.

In this song, David describes the life of a believer as faithful, as thoughtful, and as experiential. I don’t mean we go through life chasing religious experiences. But David can look back on what the Lord has done in his life. “You have put joy in my heart.” David had a living testimony of the faithfulness of God. He walked with God and, as a result, he knew God to be true and faithful.

This is what God promises: As we walk with Him, He will provide things the world cannot supply. Peace and joy and contentment and perspective and endurance and eternal purpose.

There’s nothing so far in this song to indicate that David’s negative circumstances had changed. But we see the calm and the rest running through his mind as he lays down to sleep.

If your happiness is dependent on circumstances, what are you going to do when you’re in the valley of the shadow of death? When the pressure is greater than you can bear? There are times when grain abounds, but what happens if the crop doesn’t come in? Will your life crumble apart? Is the weight of your life hanging on circumstances or on covenant?

Jesus’ wants to make your joy complete.^[13] Joy in every circumstance. In the palace or on the run. And David had it, so he was able to rest even when his own son was trying to assassinate him.

Psalm 4:8 – ⁸ I will both lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, LORD, make me live in safety.

Today people talk about “safe spaces.” Christians, you are safe in the Lord. That doesn’t mean we won’t suffer or face tight corners. But no matter what happens, God will never leave or abandon us.

Hopefully Psalm 4 gives us not only things to think about, but truths to rest in. God loves you! He has set you apart for a marvelous purpose. He has called you to be a meaningful portion of His good work. His hesed will not only shield us, but transform us, and give us the supply we need for the pressure we face. And along the way, He will hear us, He will free us, He will put joy in our hearts. Our part is to abide in His love, live by His perspective, and trust Him. Trust Him with our futures, our choices, our goals, our reactions, our whole lives. And to rest in His grace, no matter what state we find ourselves in.

Praise Of Thunder (Psalm 98)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! It’s the 28th, so we’re right in the middle. Three days from Christmas, three days till New Year. Whether you’re a New Years resolutions person or not, at the close of December we tend reflect on the year behind and anticipate the year ahead.

And the truth is, that’s a good practice for our spiritual lives. It’s up to you if you want to exercise more in 2026 or quit a bad habit or make some financial goals. But Christians should make it a habit of remembering what God has done, both personally and throughout history and we should think forward about what He might want to do in our midst and through our lives in the days ahead. Because our lives belong to Him – it’s His breath in our lungs. And none of our plans really matter if they’re outside of His plans for us.

The Apostle Peter was big into this in his writing. At one point, as he was talking about the work of God in the lives of Christians, he said, “I will always remind you about these things, even though you already know them.” And he goes on to talk about what the Lord has done in the past and also about the coming, future Kingdom. His argument is that this sort of spiritual reflection of both past and future will help us remember what God has called us to, give us hope in His promises, and help us prepare for the days ahead.

Psalm 98 fits in really well with this theme. It’s a great end-of-year/new-year song because it looks back and it looks forward. It even has Christmas ties, because when Mary sings her song of praise in Luke chapter 1, she echoes words and themes from this Psalm.^[1]

In many ways, this is a very straight-forward song. It breaks up well into three sets of three verses. Charles Spurgeon said that verses 1 through 3 show us the subject of praise, verses 4 through 6 the manner of praise, and verses 7 through 9 the universal extent of the praise.^[2]

So let’s take a look together, starting in verse 1.

Psalm 98:1 – ¹ Sing a new song to the LORD, for he has performed wonders; his right hand and holy arm have won him victory.

Psalm 98 is not only a call to reflect, it is a call to rejoice. All of us. All the world! After realizing the power of God, the goodness of God, the promises of God, all the work He has done and will do in the world – all of that should make us join in an orchestra of praise.

The song this great orchestra performs is a celebration of God’s victory. Music used to be a way of commemorating great battles and victories. That’s where our own national anthem came from: The defense of Fort McHenry and the American victory in the Battle of Baltimore.^[3] Tchaikovsky’s famous 1812 Overture celebrates the Russian victory over Napoleon’s invasion.

God’s work deserves musical celebration. We see that happen many times in the Bible. After the Israelites escape Pharaoh through the Red Sea, Moses writes a song and teaches it to the people. Then right after that, Miriam sings a song of her own. In the book of Judges, Deborah composes a song of victory after God delivers them from the Canaanites. I already mentioned Mary’s song, commonly called the Magnificat, after her visit from Gabriel.

We can move through Christian history and see again and again the presence of celebratory music commemorating the wonderful acts of God. Great hymns coming out of the Reformation and the Wesleyan Awakening.^[4] Skip forward to the Jesus Movement of the 60’s and 70’s and all the songs that came out of that work of God – songs we still sing today.

These songs, from I Love You Lord to Amazing Grace to A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, can serve as landmarks of what God has so faithfully and so powerfully done generation after generation.

Psalm 98:2 – ² The LORD has made his victory known; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.

The focus of this opening stanza is the victory of God. But there’s something important for us to understand: Man’s victory often comes by means of destruction. God’s victory is about deliverance. Verse 3 will say, “The ends of the earth have seen God’s victory.” The word there is Yeshua. It means “deliverance,” or “salvation.”^[5] But most of you know it’s not just a noun, it’s a proper noun, too.

You see, after Jesus was born, He was presented in the Temple. There was a man there named Simeon. He was a devout man, full of the Holy Spirit. God promised Simeon that before he died he would see the Messiah – the Deliverer – with his own eyes. When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus into the Temple, the Holy Spirit told Simeon that this Child was that Deliverer. And Simeon says (in his commemorative song of praise), “God, You’ve kept Your promise. I have seen Your salvation.”

God’s victorious deliverance has a name, and it’s Jesus. As many of you know, His name is the Greek version of the Hebrew word we’re reading in Psalm 98. Jesus is salvation. He is victory. He is the Deliverer not only for a select few, but for all the nations.

We remember that famous hymn from 1939: Oh victory in Jesus, our Savior forever. Victory has a name. A name above any other name. Any other power. Any other leader. Any other victor.

Psalm 98:3 – ³ He has remembered his love and faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen our God’s victory.

God gives victory to His people. They don’t receive it because they have anything to trade. They don’t receive it because God owes them something. It is a gift given purely out of grace and kindness. We are totally dependent on God’s love and mercy. Without that, there’s no victory, there’s no forgiveness, there’s no deliverance, there’s no hope.

But the good news is that God doesn’t just have a little love, He is love.^[6] And His love cannot be exhausted. His love is hesed and is agape. It is generous and devoted and compassionate and faithful. It is active on our behalf.

As we think back over 2025, we should remind ourselves of how God has loved us and how well God has loved us. The ways He provided and sustained and blessed and strengthened us. And as we think about what 2026 might hold, we should consistently remind ourselves that – no matter what – we are loved by God. Actively loved by Him. And that nothing can separate us from that love.

Maybe you’re here and you haven’t received the love of God. It’s not because God doesn’t want you to have it. He does. It’s because the only way to get it is through being in covenant relationship with Him. You must believe and receive. Believe that Jesus Christ is the only way for you to be saved, and receive Him as Lord and Savior and Friend. You start with belief and then the Lord will come into your life and deliver you from sin. He will start accomplishing the wonderful work that this psalm sings about in your life. And you will grow in your knowledge of Him and your love for Him. But it begins with a choice to believe. If you confess with your lips Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. You receive deliverance.

And if you’re wondering whether God can be trusted, whether He can be counted on, whether He really keeps His promises, look at Israel! The nation of Israel is one of the greatest proofs of how faithful and how powerful God’s love is. How He will never fail.

Psalm 98:4-6 – ⁴ Let the whole earth shout to the LORD; be jubilant, shout for joy, and sing. ⁵ Sing to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and melodious song. ⁶ With trumpets and the blast of the trumpet shout triumphantly in the presence of the LORD, our King.

Here we see many different parts. Trumpets and stringed instruments and voices. Later we’ll see percussion. It’s an orchestra.

The Guinness World Record for largest orchestra was set in Venezuela in 2021 when 8,573 musicians performed another Tchaikovsky piece celebrating military history: The Slavic March.^[7]

But one day Psalm 98 is going to beat that record. Because this song is meant to be sung by a planetary orchestra. “Let the whole earth” sing and shout and play and make melody.

Like most churches, we make it a habit to sing praise to God at our services. God loves to hear His children sing. It pleases God when we worship Him. But our singing can also remind us of what is still to come. Derek Kidner writes, “The [songs] we sing now are a rehearsal and God’s presence among His worshippers is a prelude to His appearing to the world.”^[8]

It’s fun to think about how many people are worshiping God today. You know, if you go around the globe, with all the time zones, it will be 10am 38 times today. Meaning that for all the Sunday morning churches, the praise will keep flowing again and again 38 times as the world turns.

But of course, praise doesn’t only happen Sunday mornings. There is, undoubtedly, an unbroken stream of worship to our God moment by moment around the globe. Each gathering a piece of God’s orchestra. And we get to joyfully recount the goodness and grace of God as we lift His name high song by song, week by week in His presence. God inhabits the praises of His people.^[9]

Psalm 98:7-9a – ⁷ Let the sea and all that fills it, the world and those who live in it, resound. ⁸ Let the rivers clap their hands; let the mountains shout together for joy ⁹ before the LORD,

One day, creation itself will join in the song. Today, creation groans, waiting to be set free from the ruin and decay of sin.^[10] But redemption is coming. A Kingdom is coming. The Lord is coming to solve every problem. To bring total restoration to every place and all who have joined His family.

There have been times in human history when a conquering commander will wage what is called “Total war.” That the invaders would destroy everything as they went. The Mongols utilized total war. They would divert rivers, destroy property, decimate whole populations. Not too many songs today celebrating that empire. I haven’t heard a Mongol hymn recently.

When Christ returns, He will conquer His enemies, and those who reject Him will be destroyed. But remember He is a Deliverer. And the final result is total worship. Psalm 98 shows every person, every fish, every animal, the water itself, and all the rocks resounding in joyful praise to God.

Resounding refers to the rumble of thunder.^[11] We rarely get to hear real thunder in our area. A few months ago we had that one day with real thunder. Of course, thunder comes after lightning. In Matthew 24, Jesus says that His return will be like lightning flashing from east to west. And after He returns comes the thunder of praise from all creation. The whole world reverberating His glory.^[12]

Reverb is a specific effect in sound. It’s not just an echo. It’s when a sound fills a space and reflects off the surfaces of that space, creating a persistence of sound. And so the original is not simply copied, but it continues.

We did a lot of singing in 2025. Hopefully in 2026 we’ll get to do even more. Not just going through the motions and zoning out, but that our hearts would reverberate with praise. That the joyful truth of God’s work would fill our hearts and reflect off of us. A persisting testimony of how wonderful God is. That the joy of His presence and accomplishment would resound from us.

Psalm 98:9b-d – for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world righteously and the peoples fairly.

When I hear the word “judge,” I generally have a sort of anxious dread. I doubt any of us want to be brought before a judge tomorrow morning. But remember: God is a Judge Who freely offers us His righteousness. He says, “I’ll trade your iniquity for My righteousness.” And His “fairness” is to forgive us, remember our guilt no more, and share all He has with us. In fact, the word used for “fairly” there was a term comparable to one used in Mesopotamia for when someone was released from their debts.^[13]

Jesus Christ is coming to do that for those who put their trust in Him. He’s coming to bring restoration and victory and joy to this world. That’s the message of Psalm 98. Which is why it was a perfect text for Isaac Watts to use when writing Joy To The World.^[14]

The Lord is good. He is always good. And His goodness is always active. His strong arm of love and grace was working in 2025 and it will be in 2026. And our Deliverer is coming back one day and then all the earth will join the song of celebration to the forever King.

No matter what happens in 2026, this verse should be our perspective. But the New Testament gives us an interesting plot twist: We Christians can actually hasten His return.^[15] We can orient our lives in such a way that the good work of God can spread and accelerate. Until one day God’s righteousness and fairness will cover the whole earth. And our praise won’t be a prelude, it will be the performance creation has anticipated for thousands of years.

In 2025, God has been active and faithful. We want to take time to celebrate that and thank Him for it. In 2026, we not only get to prepare ourselves for what He wants to do, we get to participate in what He is doing. His hand is still moving. He is still accomplishing wonderful things. He wants to make a melody with your life if you’ll believe Him, walk by faith, and take your place in His orchestra.

Bless Testing (Psalm 67)

One of the most common prayers in the life of a Christian is for God to “bless” us. To bless our families, to bless our travel, to bless our food, to bless our sneezes. I bet some of you have “bless this mess” framed and hanging somewhere in your home.

God’s people have always asked Him for blessing: That God would divert some of His power and attention and activity toward our lives and our situations.

In the very first book of the Bible, nearly 4,000 years ago, we see Jacob awake and alone in the middle of the night. His clothes wet from crossing the brook of Jabbok. He’s pretty sure that his estranged brother is going to try to kill him and his family when the morning comes.

In that moment, the Lord comes to Jacob. Jacob wrestles with Him all night. As the sun began to rise, the Lord said, “It’s time to let Me go.” Jacob said: “I will not let You go until You bless me.”^[1]

It’s not a bad request. The Lord wants to interact and intervene and invigorate our lives. In fact, hundreds of years later, when God gave the Law to Moses, He gave special attention to how He wanted Aarons and his sons to tell the people about how God wants to bless them.

Numbers 6:22-27 – ²² The LORD spoke to Moses: ²³ “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. You should say to them, ²⁴ “May the LORD bless you and protect you; ²⁵ may the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; ²⁶ may the LORD look with favor on you and give you peace.” ’ ²⁷ In this way they will pronounce my name over the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

In the New Testament, when the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Teach us to pray,” He gave them what is commonly called the Lord’s prayer. And though the word “bless” isn’t found in it, we see it has multiple requests of God for help and for forgiveness and for provision – for God’s favor.

This morning we have Psalm 67. A song that begins and ends with blessing. It has been called the Lord’s prayer of the Old Testament,^[2] and is centered around the hope that God would bless us.

So we want God to bless us. We see that God wants to bless us. Great! So should I get my wish list going? Should I start to let God know all the things He needs to do for me?

As we examine the Scripture, we begin to understand that our ideas of blessing are not necessarily what the Lord intends to do or to give. Our definition of “bless” often means, “Give us certain things.” Chariots. Horses. Deliverance. God’s definition of blessing might include tangible provision, but it really is about His presence. His presence with us and His present work in our lives. His blessing is not meant to simple be a bailout when we’re in a jam. Rather, it is about the Lord’s global enterprise spanning every generation to accomplish His glorious will for all the world.

So let’s look at this song and consider what it means when we pray, “Lord, bless us.”

Psalm 67:1 – ¹ May God be gracious to us and bless us; may he make his face shine upon us    Selah

Pastor Chuck Smith was right when he said God’s grace changes everything. His has true sympathy and compassion for us. Rather than look on our weakness with disgust, He extends mercy and kindness, freely given. In His grace, He is willing to grant pardons to people like Nebuchadnezzar or Saul of Tarsus. He even showed a measure of mercy to Ahab at the end of his life.^[3]

But His grace is not only a pardon on the judicial level. That would be enough, but God isn’t just a Judge, He’s also our Father. He loves us and wants to be present in our lives. Verse 1 invokes the priestly blessing of Numbers 6, reminding us that not only do we want a pardon, but also His abiding presence – that His face would shine upon us day in and day out.

Linguists point out that the Hebrew terms used here literally say make He make His face shine with us,^[4] or among us.^[5] And so the prayer here asks God to be near, shining His light that brings life and growth and cleansing and vision for us, with us, among us.

Now, right after the very first verse we have a Selah. It’s the earliest time out in all the Psalter. Back in 2016, the Cleveland Browns once called a timeout before the first play of the game!^[6] There’s debate over the exact meaning, but essentially Selah was an interlude. Some scholars believe it meant, “There, what do you think of that?”^[7] A person singing this Psalm has just said, “God, graciously bless us.” And now, they should stop and evaluate what kind of blessing they want.

Do we think of God as a genie and our prayer as rubbing the lamp? Don’t get me wrong: God absolutely wants and commands us to bring our problems and our cares and our requests to Him. But I know it’s much easier in my own life to pray, “Lord, make Your bank overflow in payouts to me,” than it is to pray, “Lord, just let Your presence to shine in my life.” But one of the things Psalm 67 helps us understand is that what we really need is God’s presence and activity, more than we need finite worldly provisions. In fact, let’s see the point of God blessing us in verse 2:

Psalm 67:2 – ² so that your way may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.

When God blesses us, He does so because He truly loves and cares for us. But He also wants to build a testimony through our lives. A testimony of His grace, His power, His ability, His deliverance. His intention is not only to address my need, but also to address the needs of the world through His activity in my life circumstances.

Look at the scope of God’s plan: all the nations, all the earth. Again, we can go back to Genesis and listen to God explain His intentions. He said to Abram, “I’m going to bless you with a new life, a new identity, a wonderful, hopeful future, but I also want to bless all the nations through you.”^[8]

As God interacted with Abraham, it wasn’t only for him to feel better or be more comfortable or financially secure. There was always this larger goal of showing the world. Revealing to a watching world what God wanted and what God can do and the way God does things.

So that Your way may be known on earth. God’s grace and blessing in our lives is meant to reveal Him to a needy world – a lost world. As we seek God’s blessing, we want to remind ourselves that the end goal is not that I always have easier circumstances, but that redemption and providence and revelation would take place through my life. As I receive God’s grace and exercise my faith, the world around me should be able to visibly see that the God of the Bible is a Deliverer. That He has delivered me from worry. That He has delivered me from hate. That He has delivered me from greed. That instead of going the way of the world, I’m walking on a totally separate road, which leads to life and joy and peace and contentment, even when the path in front of me is difficult.

Psalm 67:3-4 – ³ Let the peoples praise you, God; let all the peoples praise you. ⁴ Let the nations rejoice and shout for joy, for you judge the peoples with fairness and lead the nations on earth.   Selah

How many times do the Psalms need to tell us to worship the Lord? Do we really need 150 chapters? Is it really that important for me to stop and offer a melody of praise when God already knows how I feel about Him?

Sometimes we become less impressed with things the more familiar we are with them. The first time you saw a card trick, it was thrilling. The 10th time we agree with B.B. King: The thrill is gone.

It’s easy for humans to take amazing things for granted. It may be 100 degrees outside, but not in here. We push a button and, thanks to the genius and engineering and hard work of many people long ago, it’s a much more enjoyable 75 in here. I don’t even think about it.

Or, when we pick up bacteria that would’ve absolutely killed us a couple generations ago, now we just take little pill and we’ll be absolutely fine. We get used to incredible things.

But listen: We don’t want our adoration of God’s greatness to become numb. We don’t want the object of our faith to become commonplace in our minds. The more we know God, the more in awe of Him we should be. The more we meditate on Him, the more thrilled we should be.

As we look again and again at the Word of God and grow in our knowledge of Jesus and see Who He is and what He’s done, hopefully we’ll realize we don’t know the half of His goodness, His grace, His power, His love for us. That we will be more and more astonished at His greatness.

The worship we see described in verses 3 and 4 is an informed worship. This is praise from a people who have seen God’s will played out over the long term – people who have seen the marvels of God’s grace not just on the personal level, but even at the societal level. How God sovereignly accomplishes His gracious and providential work for the good of the people of earth.

One day, God’s work will culminate in total victory where every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Jesus Christ is Lord. A day when His Kingdom will be established and all the wrongs will be righted. The nations will flow to Jerusalem to obey the Lamb and worship Him.

But it’s not today. Because of God’s long-suffering, today we are still waiting for His work to be completed. And we Christians are invited to be a part of the effort. We’re invited to be led now.

Did you see there in verse 4? God leads the nations. He leads, we follow. We watch for Him, listen to Him, walk after Him as He shows us the way to go. And as we go, we sing with an informed worship. Knowing He is able. Knowing He can be trusted. Knowing He has a plan for this world.

In this song of praise, the believers acknowledge that Christ is in charge. He is Captain and Savior. He is our Representative and Advocate. He is our Shield and Exceedingly Great Reward.

Psalm 67:5 – ⁵ Let the peoples praise you, God, let all the peoples praise you.

This is a repetition of verse 3. Once was not enough. Psalms always reminds us of the importance and power of praise. That it matters when God’s people pause what we’re doing, set aside hurts and concerns for a few moments, and lift high the name of our God. It is not only a good thing, it is truly an end goal for all humanity. And as believers, we choose to do now what we know everyone will do someday. We align our behavior with that perfect future where Christ is on His throne and all the world is under His reign.

Psalm 67:6 – ⁶ The earth has produced its harvest; God, our God, blesses us.

In verse 1 we ask God to bless us. Here in verse 6 we acknowledge that He really does! It’s not just something we say – not a hope in vain. God is blessing us in countless ways, day by day.

Right now, on our kitchen window, we have a little science experiment running. Three little beans were put in a plastic bag on a wet paper towel and taped onto the window. After a few days, those beans have sent roots downward and shoots upward. From those dry little beans has come leaves and growth that is amazing to behold.

The Christian knows that happens not because of random chance, but only by God’s grace. He has designed and sustained a world for us where if you put a bean in the ground, it will make more beans. God gives us a system that works all day, every day, for our survival and growth and blessing. The earth producing harvest after harvest, again and again, because God loves us.

Notice the personal attachment: God, our God, blesses us. Is He your God? You see, God gives what we call “common grace” to all the world. Sunlight, rain, wind to spread seed. But to truly receive God’s grace for life and eternity, He must be your God. You must belong to Him.

What an amazing thing that the Creator of Heaven and Earth has given Himself to us. He has made a covenant: “I will be their God and they will be My people.”^[9] And now we get to participate in the harvest of His grace in our lives if we are willing to receive this covenant in His blood.

Psalm 67:7 – ⁷ God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him.

So we start the song saying, “God, please bless us.” By the end we’re assured this is a God Who wants to bless His people, a God Who does bless day-by-day, and a God Who will continue to do this gracious work in the future.

The Lord can be counted on because He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is always faithful, always true, full of love toward us.

And so, as we seek the Lord’s work of blessing in our lives, notice how the song closes: The fear of God. This does not mean terror, but an awed recognition of Who God is. A recognition of what He has done which will then show us the purpose of our lives.

Most of us pray every day for God to bless us in some way. He wants to, according to His compassionate care for us and according to His wonderful, merciful intentions for the whole world. But as we ask, let’s remember the examples we’ve been given in Genesis, in Psalms, in the Gospels. Remembering that God’s blessing is part of a grand work of grace. And that from His perspective, what we need is His presence and present work in our lives more than temporal things we might have on our minds. And His blessing might really change our lives in ways we can’t anticipate.

Jacob said, “I won’t let You go unless you bless me.” God did bless him with a hopeful future, a new identity, a greater purpose than Jacob had ever known. And He blessed Jacob with a limp for the rest of his life. But what a good thing He did. What a good thing God blessed Abraham with the life of a sojourner. What a good thing the Lord blesses us according to His favor, not only our feelings.

Dissing A Fool (Psalm 52)

A diss track is a song written with a particular target in mind, attacking their character or choices, often mockingly, while promoting the author’s choices and perspective. They’re most often associated with rap and hip hop, but the fact of the matter is you can find examples in pop, country, rock, folk, soul, thrash metal, and samba, too.^[1] One list traces diss tracks as far back as 1933 and many big name artists have their own entries.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney traded diss tracks after the Beatles broke up. Pink Floyd has a couple. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bob Dylan, Queen, Fleetwood Mac, Green Day, Ed Sheeran, and Justin Timberlake all have diss tracks of their own. And then there are artists like Eminem and Taylor Swift who have built whole careers around writings songs that target certain people for public criticism.

Does it surprise you that there is a diss track in the Psalter? In Psalm 52, David calls out Doeg, trashes his choices and character, and declares he is a washed up failure headed for a grizzly end.

David wasn’t being petty like so many modern artists. Remember: David was a prophet on top of being a poet.^[2] But Psalm 52 is also given to us as an instructional guide. That’s what a Maskil is, by the way – a song that will help us skillfully understand God’s wisdom for life.^[3]

This is one of the rare Psalms that gives us a specific time or situation connected to its writing. We see it there in the superscript above verse 1.

Psalm 52:Title – For the choir director. A Maskil of David. When Doeg the Edomite went and reported to Saul, telling him, “David went to Ahimelech’s house.”

The context of this song is important. Saul, the first king of Israel, refused to obey God. So, the Lord announced the kingdom would be taken from him and given to David. Saul wasn’t happy about that, so he started a long campaign of trying to kill David.

At one point while David fled to the city of Nob where the priest Ahimelech lived. Ahimelech gave him some provisions. The problem is, Doeg was there and he was loyal to Saul. Eventually he told Saul what happened and killed Ahimelech and 85 members of his family. Doeg is a very bad guy.

Psalm 52:1 – ¹ Why boast about evil, you hero! God’s faithful love is constant.

Right from the start, we see this is not just a song about one person, it’s a song about good and evil. As Doeg is contrasted with David, we realize it’s about the choice each of us has to either love God and go His way or love evil and go our own way. God’s way will end in life, man’s way will end in death. It’s not just a diss track, for us it’s a decision track. Which way will we go?

The two men representing these two paths have more similarities than we might think. David was a shepherd who was put in charge of all the fighting men of Israel.^[4] Doeg was also a shepherd – Saul’s chief shepherd – who was also put in charge of all Saul’s servants.^[5]

Both were fierce warriors – cunning and valiant. Both were mighty. Both had horrible instances of slaughtering whole towns of people. So what made them different in the end? It’s that the inclination of their hearts took them on separate paths to separate destinations.

Doeg was was proud and selfish – ready to do anything he had to to get ahead. David was humble and loved the Lord. He was ready to do whatever was necessary to serve God and submit to Him.

Psalm 52:2-4 – ² Like a sharpened razor, your tongue devises destruction, working treachery. ³ You love evil instead of good, lying instead of speaking truthfully.  Selah  ⁴ You love any words that destroy, you treacherous tongue!

Doeg held onto the news about David and Ahimelech until it was most advantageous for him to share it – until the moment it would win him the most favor with an increasingly paranoid Saul.

But Doeg wasn’t just doing some dirty work to get ahead in life. He really loved evil. It’s shown in stomach-churning carnage when Doeg goes to Nob at Saul’s command and doesn’t just kill Ahimelech, but every man, woman, child, and even the animals there.

While David’s life was being used by God to save Israel from her enemies and build up the spiritual life of the nation with songs and poems praising God, Doeg became a lethal wrecking ball.

It started with his wicked words. Of course, words aren’t the cause of evil, they’re a symptom of it. From the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. But words fan the flame of our hearts’ desires. Where it says, “Your tongue devises destruction,” the word denotes Doeg’s “evil desires.”^[6]

Have you ever talked yourself into something? Talked yourself into being upset? You weren’t really bothered by that thing someone said or did, but then you started talking about it with someone else, and by the end you’re all fired up and angry?

Our words matter. The tongue has enough destructive power to set the world on fire.^[7] We can look at a life, whether it’s ours or someone else’s, and know a lot about the trajectory that life is on based on the speech coming out of a person. Do they speak the truth or do they lie? Do they tear down or build up? Do they always find something to complain about or are they thankful to God?

Doeg was a person who had dedicated himself to words that destroy.^[8] What are we dedicated to? What do our hearts desire? What do we love most in life? Our words will tell us.

Psalm 52:5 – ⁵ This is why God will bring you down forever. He will take you, ripping you out of your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah

The song opened with David asked Doeg, “Why? Why are you like this? Why are you doing what you’re doing?” He may have been taunting Doeg, but the question was also a warning. When a person lives out verses 1 through 4, they only have verse 5 to look forward to.

God will not stand idly by while the wicked work their evil in the world. They are definitely, certainly, without exception headed toward a terrible judgment.

Verse 5 is like one of those scenes where the hero is on the phone with the bad guy and says, “If you hurt them, I’m going to hunt you down and tear you limb from limb,” and they start to detail all the ways they’re going to destroy them.

There are four intense verbs used here. First, He will bring them down. Those who reject God and go their own way often think they’re elevated themselves above others – they’ve fought their way to the top of the heap – but God says, “I’m bringing you down.” But not just back down to earth, down to the grave. Down to sheol. Ultimately, the weight of their sin will bring them down to the Lake of Fire, paying the penalty for their rejection of Jesus Christ for all eternity.

Second, God will take them. They will be snatched wherever they are. There is no place they can hide, nowhere they can run where God’s justice won’t find them, where His arm can’t reach them.

Third, they will be ripped out of their tent. No home. No safety. Isolated and laid bare.

Finally, they will be uprooted from the land of the living. Their way has only one destination: Death.

God’s judgment isn’t just a slap on the wrist. When sinners refuse to receive His salvation, this is what they’re choosing. You may be powerful, mighty, successful – you may tower above all the weaker people around you, but you’re not greater than God. And all of us must answer to Him. And if you are not willing to let Him deliver you from the guilt of your wickedness, He will destroy you.

Psalm 52:6-7 – ⁶ The righteous will see and fear, and they will derisively say about that hero, ⁷ “Here is the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, taking refuge in his destructive behavior.”

Doeg was a murderer who scoffed at God’s laws but what does Psalm 52 say was his biggest mistake? “Here is the man who would not make God his refuge.”

Don’t get me wrong: His violence and murders were horrible crimes against God and man. But remember: David committed similar sins. When he was in Philistine country, he would go to towns and kill everyone so no one could reveal what he was up to.^[9] It was a very dark time for David.

The difference was that David was cleansed from his guilt because he loved the Lord and he would turn back to the Lord and take refuge in his God.

By contrast, Doeg said, “I’ll take care of my own life. My wealth will save me. My abilities will protect me. I will command my own future through the force of my will and the strength of my sword.”

But it all led to destruction and death. Yes, he gained wealth for a time, but the bill came due. The charges for his wicked words, his evil deeds, his rebellion against the King of heaven. Instead of repenting, he rejected the God of Israel. So, instead of being cleansed, he was condemned.

This year on the Isle of Man, a tourist was stopped for speeding only for the police to discover they had been ticketed for the same thing when they visited 12 years earlier – only they never paid the fine. The driver was arrested and brought to the station and forced to pay their debt.^[10]

You and I are sinners. We’ve all fallen short of the glory of God – of His standard of perfection. We’ve done wrong things in thought, word, and deed against our Creator and our fellow man. For these wrongs, we must pay the penalty. The bad news is that these infractions are capital offenses. The wages of our sin is death. But, the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

If you will not believe – if you decide you’re going to try something else – some other religion, or your own good deeds or just ignoring the issue altogether, then you will die in your sin. But if you surrender and repent and take refuge in Jesus Christ, then He is able to take your debt, pay the penalty Himself, and give you the wealth of His righteousness. That’s the difference between David and Doeg. One man trusted God. The other trusted himself, trusted his wealth, trusted his own strength and greatness. And in the end, one had everlasting life and the other, death.

Now, David was far from perfect. And, like David, we still make mistakes and fall into sin. But when you trust in God, He continually cleanses you and restores you and makes your right, conforming your life and transforming you from the inside out so that your end is glory, not guilt – life, not death. Look at what happens for David in verse 8.

Psalm 52:8 – ⁸ But I am like a flourishing olive tree in the house of God; I trust in God’s faithful love forever and ever. 

Physically, David was not safe and snug in the Tabernacle. He was on the run as Saul used all his resources to hunt him. But David knew what was true on a higher level: The care God had for him and the future God planned for him. He could say with confidence, “I am flourishing in the house of my God.” Because God’s ability and affection are more consequential than our predicaments.

Olive trees were the most important tree in Israeli life.^[11] They could live for hundreds of years and yielded gallons of oil year after year.^[12] Olive oil was used for cooking, for lamps, for ointments and medicines, for cosmetics, and in formal worship in the house of God. These trees have a root system that combines a deep taproot with wide spreading fibrous roots, giving the tree stability and great nutrient uptake and the ability to adapt to various soil conditions.^[13]

David said, “That’s my life. Not just being watched by God, but safe in His presence. He’s brought me into His own home and allows the tap root of my life to reach into Him. And He is going to cultivate my life so that it can produce gallon after gallon of oil for all sorts of purposes.”

Because of that, even while he had to run for his life, he knew that God’s love would see him through, because God’s love is loyal and active and never fails. And so, David chose to root his life, his hope, his future in Who God is and the promises He has made.

Psalm 52:9 – ⁹ I will praise you forever for what you have done. In the presence of your faithful people, I will put my hope in your name, for it is good.

And so the contrast has been laid out for us. Instead of being destroyed, David would endure. The end for the righteous is goodness and hope and eternity. Doeg has been obliterated since verse 5. He only made it half way into the song before it all came crashing down.

In the meantime, David chose to not only praise the Lord, but to wait on Him. That’s what he meant by “put my hope in Your name.”^[14] To wait with faith and endurance.^[15]

Doeg wanted to make a name for himself, and he did – a terrible name. David concentrated on the name of His God. He knew that what we really need is God’s leading, His action, His provision. That He will accomplish what He desires in us. That’s our hope. And it is a hope that will not disappoint.

And so, whatever you’re facing, whether it’s a period of waiting, or a time of frustration or fear, of danger or discouragement or simply the unknown, choose the path of David. Sing a song of hope in your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And “may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”^[16]

The Exalt In Our Stars (Psalm 19)

I’d like to congratulate you on the trip you just made. In the time it took us to listen to Psalm 19, you traveled more than 2,000 miles in our orbit around the sun. That’s as far as here to Cleveland.

If that doesn’t impress you, maybe this will: In these last 2 minutes you also travelled over 16,000 miles as our sun (with it’s solar system in tow) orbits the center of the Milky Way.^[1] That’s the same as crossing the United States six times. We didn’t cover much ground, but we covered a lot of space.

Psalm 19 covers a lot of space, from the cosmos to the Canon to the conscience. It’s a heavyweight Psalms. Of course, all of them are wonderful but a few stand out in their majesty and magnitude.

Psalm 19 is one of those. C.S. Lewis called it the greatest poem in the Psalter.^[2] Beethoven, Bach, and Haydn all wrote pieces inspired by these words. Verse 9 is inscribed on the Lincoln Memorial. When the James Webb space telescope launched on Christmas Day in 2021, NASA’s chief officer quoted the opening line of this Psalm, marveling at the greatness of God.^[3]

This truly is one of the greatest songs ever written in all of human history. In it both creation and revelation are unfolded to show us a magnificent God. Through creation, we see His power. Through revelation, we see His character. By the end, we discover that we can not only see Him, but we can serve Him, and He can save us.

Psalm 19:1-4b – ¹ The heavens declare the glory of God, and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands. ² Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge. ³ There is no speech; there are no words; their voice is not heard. ⁴ Their message has gone out to the whole earth, and their words to the ends of the world.

Our universe is not random. It didn’t come from nothing. It is a purposefully designed, Master-crafted work of art and perfect engineering. The more we look out into the stars beyond with our eyes and our telescopes and our satellites, the more amazing things we learn.

Thousands of years ago, man discovered the moon has cycles. In 500 B.C., Pythagoras figured out the earth is a sphere. Centuries later, humans grasped our planet orbits the sun. That was all before the invention of the refracting telescope in 1608 AD. In the late 1,700s, science realized that dark stars or black holes must exist. In 1924 Edwin Hubble observed a galaxy outside of our own – the Andromeda galaxy. Five years later he saw the universe is expanding. In 1992 we had the first confirmed discovery of an exoplanet. And eight days ago, a new member was added to our own solar system when scientists conclusively discovered a dwarf planet beyond Neptune.^[4]

We keep discovering new things and having our understanding changed and refined, but one thing has always been absolutely clear: the Person Who made this cosmos is unimaginably powerful and precise. The universe is bubbling up, gushing^[5] with testimony of the glory of God.

The Psalms love to use this term, glory. It refers to His might, His weightiness.^[6] Each planet and pulsar a demonstration of His greatness. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then what is a whole universe worth?

Today our culture, classrooms, and content-creation sites are full of scientists who mock the idea of God. They’re convinced that all the something came from nothing. Which means you are ultimately nothing, by the way. Sadly, they sneer at the idea of this intricate design having a Designer.

And yet, they ignore the fact that every few years science dramatically changes. Did you know we’ve added 14 elements to the periodic table in the last 55 years? There are more hypothetical elements scientists are working to discover. So when a non-believing scientist mocks Christianity, just remember: They don’t even know all the building blocks this universe is working with.

Rather than a heap of randomness, Psalm 19 explains the universe is spreading the message of God’s infinite power and genius. His incredible artistry. His meticulous design. His careful administration. His love of variety. His abundance. His faithfulness. His excellence. The cosmos broadcasts this message, generation after generation, so that people can look to the stars and realize there is a God beyond them – a scripted melody put there by God for us to pick up on.

The New King James has a vivid translation of verse 4: “Their line has gone out through all the earth.” A line that points right back to God Himself. This creation doesn’t only reveal His power, but also shows something about Who He is.

You can know something about an artist from the mediums they use. Do they use paint or pencils or photographs? Do they work three dimensionally or two dimensionally? What about the mediums God uses? He uses light and life and beauty and truth and love.

From the wide lens of all the stars in the sky, the song now zooms in to look at just one – our sun.

Psalm 19:4c-6 – In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun. ⁵ It is like a bridegroom coming from his home; it rejoices like an athlete running a course. ⁶ It rises from one end of the heavens and circles to their other end; nothing is hidden from its heat.

Our sun is so essential to human life, such a major aspect of so much of earth’s our activity, yet it has no proper scientific name. It’s not Polaris or Arcturus. It’s just “the sun.”

Here we learn God fashioned the sun as a caring gift for planet earth. We are at just the right spot for it to not only give light but also heat, energy, even nutrients! Have you ever thought about how amazing it is that the sun – 94 million miles away – can provide Vitamin D for your body? The sun even helps to clean our planet, killing bacteria for us day-by-day.

You don’t want to look at the sun for too long, but as we consider it, we can start to piece together that God’s glory is gracious and generous and faithful. Look at what it does for us.

But the witness of the stars is not enough for us to know the Lord, personally. We can see there must be a divine Being outside of space, but Who is He? For that answer we need more than creation, we need revelation. Amazingly, the same God Who made the stars has given us a Book.

Psalm 19:7-11 – ⁷ The instruction of the LORD is perfect, renewing one’s life; the testimony of the LORD is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise. ⁸ The precepts of the LORD are right, making the heart glad; the command of the LORD is radiant, making the eyes light up. ⁹ The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the LORD are reliable and altogether righteous. ¹⁰ They are more desirable than gold—than an abundance of pure gold; and sweeter than honey dripping from a honeycomb. ¹¹ In addition, your servant is warned by them, and in keeping them there is an abundant reward.

If you want to know God, you must find Him in His Word. In verses 1 through 6, David refers to God. Starting in verse 7 things change. He is “the LORD.” All capitals. In the first half, “God” is the general term El, which was used of many deities. In the second half, He is revealed to be Yahweh – the God of the Bible. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The God Who put on flesh and dwelt among us. The One True God, Who exists in Three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

His Word is displayed in these verses with the kind of admiration an astronomer has looking at the night sky. Look at the list, see what God’s Word does. Everything is positive and beneficial. It touches our hearts, our minds, our eyes. It restores us to life.^[7] It instructs us and gives us guidance. It brings joy and sweetness to life. In fact, in verse 10 David uses what scholars call hyperintensification. That God’s Word is the sweetest of imaginable honeys.^[8]

There is no evidence of bee domestication in Israel at this time.^[9] If they wanted honey, they had to happen upon it. In the same way, the people of earth cannot generate the truth and wisdom and life-giving power found in the Word of God on their own. It must be prepared and preserved for them, and that’s exactly what God did.

But God’s Word is not only to be enjoyed, but also obeyed. Look: Precepts. Ordinances. Commands. The stars reveal what God can do, the Bible reveals what God desires. It is not only a benefit to life, it is a necessity for life. It must be used medicinally and for regular nourishment. It is the highest, most valuable treasure we could lay hold of for our life now and for our future.

On top of all that, it serves as a warning system for us. It helps us see the dangers ahead and around us while at the same time revealing areas of weakness or blindness in our lives. But, once revealed, we discover that those areas of weakness are a big issue.

Psalm 19:12-13 – ¹² Who perceives his unintentional sins? Cleanse me from my hidden faults. ¹³ Moreover, keep your servant from willful sins; do not let them rule me. Then I will be blameless and cleansed from blatant rebellion. 

As David looked into the wonders of God’s Word, he found a life-threatening problem – like looking into a telescope to see a huge asteroid headed our way. That problem is sin. The ways we disobey God – rules of His that we break. Choices we make that reject His rule over our lives.

We have all sorts of sin issues, from the unintentional to the willful, spit-in-the-face-of-God rebellions. It’s not just “innocent” mistakes here and there. Sin brings death into the world.^[10]

God’s Word not only reveals Who He is and what He desires, it also reveals the truth about us. David discovered these truths but when he did, he didn’t try to hide from the light and heat of God’s Word. Neither should we. We must allow God’s Word to shine on us.

When we do, it will not only expose the darkness and the impurity in our hearts and lives, but it will do a cleansing work. Paul tells us we’re washed by the water of the Word.^[11]

Notice verse 12. David recognizes that he cannot clean himself. He can’t even know himself. Just like all the best scientists still haven’t unraveled all the secrets of the cosmos or all the elements of the periodic table, so we cannot know all the depths of sin within our hearts. Even if we did, we are powerless to heal the infection on our own. Even with the best of intentions and attempts, all fall short of the glory of God because of our sin.

We need an intervention from the God Who created our universe. Unless He saves us, we’re not just making mistakes or failing to live up to the best standards, but sin will actually rule over us.

That word was used back in Genesis 1 when we’re told the sun was made to rule the day. Later, in Genesis 4, God told Adam’s son Cain that if he did not rule over sin, then sin would devour him.^[12]

So, unless God intervenes and washes us and sets us free, sin’s fiery power will control us with it’s gravitational pull. It will burn us and dominate our lives, bringing death instead of life.

David sees only one antidote to the scourge of sin, and that’s to know the God of the Bible and to serve Him. Twice now he has spoken of being a servant to this powerful, purifying God. And in the closing verse, he doubles down, bringing the song to a close.

Psalm 19:14 – ¹⁴ May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.

Many peoples throughout history worshipped the sun. Of course, the sun never spoke back to them and doesn’t care for them. David decided his life would not be about orbiting the sun, but anchoring on Yahweh. Yahweh was his rock. But not just his rock – Yahweh was his Redeemer.

David knew all about redemption. His great-grandmother Ruth’s story was all about redemption and grace and a life transformed by God’s goodness and mercy and providence. Like Job, David knew that his Redeemer lives and that His desire is to save us and transform us and nourish us and display the fantastic power of His grace through us like stars in the sky.^[13]

That His glory would shine through our lives – His special creation displayed for all the ages to come.

And so, the song does not end with, “Ok God, I see how great You are, so I promise to try really hard.”^[14] It ends with, “God, You made me, only You can save me. And that salvation will not just be a rescue, but a re-creation of who I am from the inside out.”

David’s desire was that his words and the motivations behind them would be so in line with God’s designs and principles that they would bring pleasure to Him.^[15]

Ever the poet, David used a lovely term. Meditation here refers to the sound of cooing doves or growling lions.^[16] And so we might say, “God, I want my melodies and my mutterings to glorify You.” Just as the stars in the night sky proclaim the glory of the Almighty God, so my life can shine as a beautiful example of His grace, His power, His goodness, His faithfulness, His splendor, His majesty.

The sun and moon and stars are impressive. Mankind spends billions of dollars trying to get to the moon. Now, we’re talking about whether we can get to Mars. But consider this: The sun is not eternal. None of this universe is…except you and me. We will endure long after our sun is destroyed because Christ has redeemed us. And He has left us here on earth to be light. To be scattered stars illuminating His glory.

Astronomers look at different stars and say, “That’s a neutron star,” or, “That’s a dying star,” or, “That’s a dwarf star,” or, “A giant star.” What sort of Christian are we? Do we shine with grace and truth and love? Or have the melodies and mutterings of our lives started to change from His glory to our groanings? May we exalt the Lord as His amazing universe continues to do, age after age.

Sing City (Psalm 48)

New cities have been making headlines. Starbase, Texas is the new city designed for SpaceX’s headquarters, future rocket launches, and dwellings for on-site workers.

EPIC City has also been in the news. It is a Muslim-centered planned community near Dallas, large enough for more than 1,000 homes plus schools, assisted living, athletic fields, and one of the state’s largest mosques.^[1]

Starbase was just officially incorporated as a city five days ago. Things aren’t going so well for EPIC City – a federal investigation has brought building and development to a halt for the time being.

Psalm 48 is about a magnificent city. A city full of beauty, strength, joy, brilliance and worship. The most magnificent thing about this city is its chief Resident: God Himself. He brings the splendor to this city which He designed, built, protects, and fills with gladness. His home reveals His greatness and His matchlessness. No competitor or attacker could ever rival the God of this city.

Psalm 48:1-2 – ¹ The LORD is great and highly praised in the city of our God. His holy mountain, ² rising splendidly, is the joy of the whole earth. Mount Zion—the summit of Zaphon— is the city of the great King.

The song begins with the bottom line up front: The Lord is great. Great in everything He is. Great in power, great in love, great in beauty, great in patience, great in kindness.

Sports have their superstars – players who do amazing things on the court or field. Yet all of them have some area of weakness. Steph Curry was once asked in an interview, “Why can’t Steph Curry dunk?” His answer was simple, “[You] can’t be good at everything.”^[2]

But God is great at all He is. No area of failure or weakness. The city He dwells in fits His greatness. As we look at His dwelling place, it should make us more in awe of Him.

Now, when the Old Testament refers to Zion, it usually means the real, physical Jerusalem. But throughout this Psalm, there are hints that we’re not just talking about a city built of wood and stone in the hills of Israel. The sons of Korah have in mind the true dwelling place of Yahweh.

They reference the height of the city, rising to the uttermost parts of the north. Physical Jerusalem is surrounded by higher mountains with better views.^[3] That’s our first clue that this is a different city.

They say this city is the joy of the whole earth. That certainly does not describe current Jerusalem.

They call Zion “the summit of Zaphon.” That doesn’t mean anything to us but it would to the ancient audience. In Canaanite belief, Zaphon was the home of Baal. Over time, it became a generic term for a sacred mountain.^[4] Think of how we use Mount Everest or Mount Rushmore descriptively.

In this song, Zion is the place where God dwells, especially in the ultimate sense. As Christians, we have a different experience when it comes to God’s dwelling place than Jewish singers in 1,000 B.C. did. We know that God dwells within our hearts – that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit – and we know that ultimately we will dwell in a New Jerusalem for all eternity. The city that Abraham faithfully looked forward to.

Cities become known for what goes on on their streets. Vegas is known for gambling, Detroit for cars. In high school history we learned Athens was known for philosophy, Corinth for commerce, Sparta for military training. The city of God is known for worship. It’s filled with His praises.

Zion is splendid and holy because God is splendid and holy. Without Him, the city is nothing. Think of most olympic cities. They’re only full of pageantry and glory and excitement as long as the games are there. Once the closing ceremonies are over, many of those cities fall into disrepair.

We look forward to the New Jerusalem which is absolutely perfect and glorious and eternal because God is there. Meanwhile, my life is an outpost of God’s presence, His promises, His holiness. So not only should my life reflect His attributes, but it should be full of worship of God – a prelude of praise before eternity’s symphony. An embassy of His joy and greatness.

Psalm 48:3 – ³ God is known as a stronghold in its citadels.

Stronghold means a palace, a haven, a refuge. We can hide ourselves in Him and that any corner of the world can be a place of joy and peace and safety because He is the refuge.

This truth is made known again and again in Scripture. David in the cave. Paul and Silas in a dungeon. The children of Israel on the shore of the Red Sea. Daniel in the lions’ den. All were safe in the Lord their refuge. They did not need a physical palace, they had a heavenly haven.

Psalm 48:4-7 – ⁴ Look! The kings assembled; they advanced together. ⁵ They looked and froze with fear; they fled in terror. ⁶ Trembling seized them there, agony like that of a woman in labor, ⁷ as you wrecked the ships of Tarshish with the east wind.

One day all the kings and all the nations will flow to Zion to worship the Lord and learn from Him.^[5] But not yet. That is part of the coming Kingdom.

Today, the nations of the world still rebel against God. They rage against Him. Here we see it depicted: Despite the splendor, despite the greatness and the glory and the goodness, they come to attack and destroy. But they never make it to the siege – God brings the fight to them. They assemble in this conspiracy and the Lord heads them off in the waters, wiping out their navies.

They looked and were frozen in fear. Why? Because they realized they could not defeat the Lord. And they had not been welcomed into the city as His friends and children. They were driven out.

In contrast, what does the Lord say to His people? Do not fear. Isaiah 41 says, “The LORD your God, who holds your right hand, says to you, “Do not fear, I will help you.’”^[6] We run to Him, not from Him.

Psalm 48:8 – ⁸ Just as we heard, so we have seen in the city of the LORD of Armies, in the city of our God; God will establish it forever.   Selah

God is not the only inhabitant of this city. The sons of Korah sing as though they have seen it from the inside! So how can I become a citizen of this incredible city? Is there a wait list or what?

In the 1990’s, the Disney Corporation developed a city in Florida named Celebration. Interest was so high Disney had to use a lottery system when selling the first batch of picture-perfect homes.^[7]

Do we have to win a lottery? How do we get to God’s city? That question is asked in Psalm 24.

Psalm 24:3-6 – Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not appealed to what is false,  and who has not sworn deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Such is the generation of those who inquire of him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.

Those who seek the Lord and receive salvation from Him, who receive His gift of righteousness, are who are welcomed to dwell with Him in His glorious city forever. Hebrews tells us we come to this city through Jesus Christ Who brings us into covenant with the living God.^[8]

Disney didn’t make it forever. In fact, they didn’t even make it 10 years before they sold off Celebration. By 2016 there was more trouble in paradise. Residents brought a civil suit saying their roofs leaked, balconies were separating from the sides of buildings, and a host of other problems.^[9]

Nothing like that happens in Zion. God will establish it forever. No leaks. No moths. No rust.

Psalm 48:9 – ⁹ God, within your temple, we contemplate your faithful love.

We’ve heard it asked, “How can you think of food at a time like this?” Well, how could the sons of Korah sing of love when a war was going on outside? The Bible is clear that contemplation of God’s hesed, agape love should fill our minds day and night – especially when we gather together.

Sometimes churches make the mistake of either making our Christian faith all about what you do for God or how God can make you feel good in this life. God does call us to do things and He does care about our problems. But before we consider our feelings or doings, we must emphasize the love of God. Focus your attention on the magnitude of His love. That God so loved the world. That nothing could ever separate us from His love. That this love has been shed abroad – poured out in our hearts and changes the whole trajectory and experience of human life for those who walk in it.

The sons of Korah took God’s love seriously. Not in passing, but with passion. One commentary writes, “Their meditation was more than a devotional reading. They took comfort in, rejoiced in, and made offerings in gratitude to the revelation of God’s perfections.”^[10]

Psalm 48:10-11 –  ¹⁰ Like your name, God, so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth;

your right hand is filled with justice. ¹¹ Mount Zion is glad. Judah’s villages rejoice because of your judgments.

Usually civic pride doesn’t spread very far outside the city. We don’t care that much about what’s going on in Bogota or Bruges. But God’s greatness is so great that the celebration of His goodness and love and power and grace spread through the whole earth.

We become participants in praise from our outposts here in Hanford, in Lemoore, or wherever God sends us. We spread the rejoicing – not only praising the great deeds He has done, but also praising and elevating His holy way of life.

God’s people rejoice over His judgments. That word means His decisions, His standards, His ordinances.^[11] Today, very few people celebrate the HOA, but God’s mode of life is not something to be mad at or annoyed by. The guidelines He gives do not take anything away from us. They enrich our lives and spare us from many of the terrible consequences of sin. When we walk His path, within His boundaries, it leads to life. To satisfaction. To lasting purpose and eternal reward.

Psalm 48:12-14 – ¹² Go around Zion, encircle it; count its towers, ¹³ note its ramparts; tour its citadels so that you can tell a future generation: ¹⁴ “This God, our God forever and ever—he will always lead us.”

The sons of Korah challenge us to take a good look. Examine God’s work carefully. Check it out from every angle. We’ll find there is no flaw. But, it is only great if God is there. He is the focus, He is the reason, He is the cause, He is the hero.

As we build things, as we fight battles, as we live life through choices and actions, we must always remember that “Unless the LORD builds a house, its builders labor over it in vain – unless the LORD watches over a city, the watchman stays alert in vain.”^[12] God must be the leader. He must be infusing the life and the work with His love and His grace and His holiness and His transformation.

This message and the story of God’s love and power must be passed “from one generation to another until the end of time.”^[13] Your children need to know God is real. Real in history. Real in your life. Real in their future. He is proven real as we yield to Him and walk with Him and He is able to accomplish His perfect work in and through us. He is proven real as we allow Him to be our guide and our refuge. As we walk by faith He will always lead us. Leading us into victory, into service, into transformation according to His design and by His accomplishment.

Where is He guiding us? He guides us into truth. He guides us on the way we should go in a world that is often difficult and confusing to navigate. Ultimately, He guides us to this Psalm 48 city. The New Jerusalem in His forever Kingdom. That’s where Christians are going. Revelation ends with a tour of the heavenly city very reminiscent of these last verses. The most glorious place, the place where God dwells and where He has a prepared a place for us to dwell forever with Him.

We keep hearing about ideas for new cities that governments are planning. Smart cities, 15 minute cities. IBM defines Smart cities as “an urban area where technology and data collection help improve quality of life.”^[14] Not sure I want to hear about urban quality of life from a company who helped collect the data the Nazis needed for their “final solution.”

15 minute cities sound more like prisons than utopias. I don’t really want to live in Starbase, Texas or EPIC City. Ironically, both of those communities are in what we sometimes refer to as “God’s country.” But man’s best cities all still have graveyards and garbage dumps.

There is a perfect city, inhabited by a perfect God. I don’t have to fight my way in, cheat my way in, win a spot through a lottery. I’ve been invited in, and so have you. His faithful love has made it possible and so I know that I am a citizen there, on my way home.

What about you? Have you accepted the invitation? If you haven’t, you can right now. If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

And if you have received that invitation, remember that your life is a prelude to the praise of eternity. You life is an outpost of this great God and His great city. Fill the borders of your life with His joy and His praise and His love until you make it home, too.

The Talking Dead (Psalm 12)

Did you know Hollywood has been making zombie movies for almost 100 years? They were first brought to the silver screen in 1932’s White Zombie.^[1] We’re fascinated by stories of how the uninfected will survive in a world that has been overrun by the living dead.

Often those stories begin with one individual who believes they are the last healthy human on earth. I Am Legend, Omega Man, there are many others. Even though they think they’re alone, they hold out hope for a cure, hope that they will make it out alive.

By the end of these movies we always discover that the protagonists are not alone. There are others still alive. Together they do what they can to avoid the plague and escape danger.

Believe it or not, David paints a similar image in Psalms 11 and 12. Of course, his world wasn’t reeling from a global pathogen or nuclear fallout. David looked at the spiritual state of of the world and it looks like Omega Man. In Psalm 11 he wrote, “When the foundations have collapsed, what can the righteous do?” In Psalm 12 he says, “The Godly have all disappeared from the human race.”

Today’s Psalm serves as a soundtrack for the children of God living in a crumbling world – a world plagued by sin and suffering its consequences. But it is not a song of resignation. It’s not It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine), it’s a song of confidence that God is a Savior and He not only moves to protect us, but He has provided us with a cure that can undo the devastation this plague has wrought on the culture and institutions around us.

Psalm 12:1 – ¹ Help, Lord, for no faithful one remains; the loyal have disappeared from the human race.

Did David really think he was the last faithful believer in the entire human race? Well, apparently he felt that way. We have these sort of hyperbolic feelings sometimes in our lives, right? Flashes of hopelessness or confusion, even complaint against God? This song begins as a complaint.

We don’t have to pretend like we never feel this way. We don’t have to fake our prayers or act like we’re never frustrated or discouraged. There’s a whole category of Psalms called lament Psalms. This is one of them.^[2] A lament is an expression of some sort of complaint or hurt or sorrow to God.

Now, we don’t stay in an attitude of complaining. We’ll see David moves from confusion and complaint to clarity and confidence. But God wants you to be open and honest with Him when you pray to Him, when you sing to Him. He already knows what you’re thinking and feeling, anyway.

David’s song opens with a simple word: HELP! God, SAVE! What would we do if right now, from outside, we heard someone screaming for help? I imagine a whole bunch of people would go outside to see what they could do. And David knows that God not only has power to save, but that He is listening for the cries of His people.

The Psalms are very clear on this fact. God listens closely and carefully to us.^[3] Our calls, our needs, our desires, our questions. God hears them and answers.

David’s assessment was that the Godly were fast disappearing from the human community. The result was not pretty. He realized we have an urgent need to be saved not from a comet hitting the planet, not from a virus, not from alien invasion. We need to be saved from ourselves.

But what does it mean to be faithful or loyal? These terms refer to people who keep covenant with God.^[4] Those who believe God and respond with faith and obedience and go His way through life according to the principles and directives and leading He gives. And that can apply to anyone.

Psalm 12:2 – ² They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and deceptive hearts.

In the movies, zombies are usually identified by how they look. In this song, they are identified by what they say. Their words are categorized as lies and deceit and flattery. The term here literally means, “a lip of slipperiness.”^[5] The human tongue spouts empty talk, smooth talk, and double talk.^[6]

The problem is we’re all naturally infected with this condition. You don’t have to teach a child to lie. Humans are so prone to lying we have to start judicial questioning by making people promise they won’t lie. David wasn’t immune. He lied to Achish. He lied to Ahimelech. He lied about Bathsheba.

Lying is a part of the human condition. But it’s something we need to be saved from. It’s a malignancy we must partner with God to root out of our lives if we want to bear spiritual fruit.

As David moved through the hordes of humanity, he heard lie after lie. Why do we lie to people? Our friends and family and neighbors? Sometimes it’s because of jealousy, sometimes fear. Sometimes we’re trying to manipulate others for our own purposes. But lying is destructive to societies and to relationships and to our own hearts. It is a deadly virus.

Flattery is a form of lying that doesn’t feel like a big deal to us. But God’s Word gives us warnings even about this lesser type of lying speech. Proverbs explains that flattery causes ruin.^[7] Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians that it is not a tool we should use.^[8] Our relationships and institutions cannot survive if they aren’t built on truth and trust and honesty and genuine unity. So, if you give your language life an audit and discover traces of flattery or manipulation, allow the Lord to deal with it in a loving, cleansing way, because we don’t want Him to deal with it this way:

Psalm 12:3 – ³ May the Lord cut off all flattering lips and the tongue that speaks boastfully.

That escalated quickly! But this plague has to be dealt with. We see in Acts how Ananias and Sapphira lie to the Holy Spirit and to the church and what does God do? He cut them off by killing them. Now, that isn’t what He usually does these days, but it illustrates the seriousness of this issue.

It’s not actually about the words themselves, it’s about what’s going on in our hearts. From the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.^[9] And what we see is that, among the ungodly, the plague of pride has infiltrated their hearts and spread to their lips and then corrupts their relationships and their whole perspective. Look at verse 4.

Psalm 12:4 – ⁴ They say, “Through our tongues we have power; our lips are our own—who can be our master?”

The truth is, our tongues do have power. The words you say can change lives. James says your tongue can set the course of a life on fire.^[10] Or we can use our words also to build up and draw people out of darkness by preaching the truth that will set them free.

The people speaking in verse 4 are so impressed with their powers of speech they say, “Who can be our master?” The term they use is a play on Adonai.^[11] “Who’s my God? I’m my own God and master!” That’s what the person who is not in covenant with Jesus has convinced themselves of.

But here’s the truth: You are not your own master. Your tongue is not your own. In fact, it’s not even your breath in your lungs. It’s God’s. The Bible makes that very clear in Job and Isaiah and Acts. You’re alive by God’s grace and mercy. And you belong to Him, not only because you are His creation, but also because He bought you with the blood of His Son Jesus Christ.

Today, if you’re not a Christian, you may think you’re your own master, but you’re not. In reality, you are enslaved to sin. You are held captive by the Devil. You are a citizen of the kingdom of darkness and will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire unless you are rescued and the only way for you to be rescued is by being in covenant with Jesus Christ, Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. You can be saved today, right now, by believing and calling out to this rescuing God.

Psalm 12:5 – ⁵ “Because of the devastation of the needy and the groaning of the poor, I will now rise up,” says the Lord. “I will provide safety for the one who longs for it.”

“Longs for” here can also mean the person who puffs or pants for it.^[12] Those who realize they don’t want to stay trapped in the plague of sin and the devastation it brings to life.

You see, it’s not just about little white lies, it’s not just about a little flattery here and there. Words lead to actions. This plague has led to a world where violence is done to the helpless. Where the weak are crushed and left defenseless. But God will not allow that to continue. He hears their cries. He sees their suffering and He moves with power and compassion on their behalf.

You Christians, be encouraged that God still hears your groanings. Paul tells us in Romans how the Holy Spirit is here to help us in our weakness, interceding for us with inexpressible groanings.^[13]

But notice that David is no longer alone. In verse 1 it was as if he was the last man standing. But now we see there are others. God sees them and He is mindful of them all.

Psalm 12:6 – ⁶ The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in an earthen furnace, purified seven times.

The antidote to the plague of proud hearts and corrupted tongues is the eternal word of God. His word is not proud, it is pure. In fact, “seven times” here is actually the dual form. So David is saying that God’s word has been refined and purified seven times twice.^[14]

Why does that matter? Well, here we are in a sin-ridden world, a world where the truth of God is often under attack. A world where we sometimes face pressure for being in covenant with Jesus.

What happened when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego were faced with pressure and opposition and attack? They told Nebuchadnezzar they would not bow to him as master. They remained faithful to the Lord. They trust His promises. So what did Nebuchadnezzar do? He had the furnace heated seven times hotter. And what happened? God intervened to save these faithful ones. His word, His promises not only withstand the furnace of life, they withstand a furnace heated seven times hotter. They could’ve gone another seven times hotter still and God’s truth would’ve remained just as pure, just as valuable, just as reliable in any circumstance.

We sing God’s words, we decorate our homes with them, that’s good. But they are not only good for melody or decoration. They are as beautiful and useful and valuable as the purest silver.

Psalm 12:7 – ⁷ You, Lord, will guard us; you will protect us from this generation forever.

Which generation? The one we’re in. David sang this song many centuries ago. We can still sing it today. Because God is always faithful in every generation. His mercy, His power, His goodness, His care for us is never diminished.

David is no longer alone. Now it’s “us.” What a good thing that God connects us with one another, as living stones knit together for strength and encouragement and cooperation and community.

The complaint has given way to confidence. Though at times we may be outnumbered, we are never outmatched because our God is with us and He says that He is ready to perform His word.^[15]

Psalm 12:8 – ⁸ The wicked prowl all around, and what is worthless is exalted by the human race.

We get one more similarity to the zombie flick here. The wicked, we’re told, “prowl all around.” They’re wandering in the dark, not really going anywhere, just looking for victims. That’s what sin does to humanity – to the sons of Adam. That’s the second time David uses that terminology. Where we read “human race” he says the sons of Adam.

Christians were sons of Adam, but we’ve been born again thanks to the work of the Second Adam. Now, we are sons and daughters of God. So great is the love of God that He allows us to be called His children.^[16] And we do not wander through life aimlessly, trying to satisfy cheap and worthless desires. Now we walk with God toward glory, toward life, toward the future He has set aside for us.

The ungodly heart elevates what is worthless. It exalts insignificant things. Cheap and gluttonous and shameful excess.^[17] That’s what a heart and a society dominated by sin celebrates and worships and builds up for itself. But we don’t have to be infected with that plague. We are people who walk with purpose – people who know where we’re going, and so we lift up and build and worship that which is eternal.

In most zombie movies, the hero’s goal is to kill as many of them as they can. Or, at least, the goal is to get as far away from them as possible. God’s way of doing things is not like that. Yes, He rises up to protect His people and fight for them when need be, but He has delivered the cure and then sends us out to try to rescue the infected so that they, too, can join our assembly of the living. Because His merciful, loving care extends to all the lost of this world. They need help just like we do. And before He rises up in ultimate judgment, He sends us out with the cure of the Gospel, to seek and to save others just as we were sought and saved. So they, too, can become children of God.

What do the righteous do when the foundations are crumbling? When it seems like the Godly are fast disappearing? Go and make disciples, knowing that God is with us, protecting us, caring for us, sending us out in His grace and His life and His power.

Take Cover (Psalm 57)

Certain songs take on new life when another artist covers them. Aretha Franklin’s Respect. Johnny Cash’s Hurt. Jimi Hendrix’s All Along The Watchtower. Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You. Ray Charles’ Georgia On My Mind. All covers.

Psalm 57 is a cover in more ways than one. In the superscript above verse 1, we read:

Psalm 57:Superscript – For the choir director: “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David. When he fled before Saul into the cave.

Do Not Destroy was probably a known tune at the time.^[1] Four Psalms are set to this melody: 57, 58, 59, and 75. I guess it was the Ba Ba Black Sheep/Twinkle Twinkle Little Star/ABCs of it’s generation.

We’re also told that this is one of David’s Miktam songs. Just like a band may have a power ballad, an anthem, a love song, and a deep cut all on the same album, there are different styles of Psalms.

There are six Psalms labeled as Miktams – all written by David – and linguists believe it can mean “a song of covering.”^[2] Scholars also suggest that it was a type of song that was particularly precious.^[3]

In Psalm 57, David finds himself in very serious trouble. His life is threatened by Saul, and he has fled to a cave. From the cave he authors this prayer to the Lord, trusting not in the limestone that’s concealing him for the time being, but in the Solid Rock on which David has anchored his life.

Psalm 57:1 – ¹ Be gracious to me, God, be gracious to me, for I take refuge in you. I will seek refuge in the shadow of your wings until danger passes.

David hid from Saul in a cave twice. Strategically speaking, they were great hiding places. Strong. Secluded. Secure. That is, unless your enemy also comes in the cave! That’s exactly what happened in David’s case in 1 Samuel 24. Things worked out – thanks to God’s providence – but it illustrates a very important truth for us when we find ourselves in a time of trouble: The cave isn’t going to solve the problem. The cave might be able to conceal you for a time, but it can’t ultimately deliver you.

David knew the cave wasn’t his destination – it was a layover. Deliverance must come from the Lord. The Lord was his true refuge. It wasn’t just a naive hope – his faith was anchored in God’s word and track-record. As David considered this and wrote Psalm 57, it seems he had Moses’ song in mind.

Deuteronomy 32:4, 11 – ⁴ The Rock—his work is perfect; all his ways are just. A faithful God, without bias, he is righteous and true…¹¹ He watches over his nest like an eagle and hovers over his young; he spreads his wings, catches him, and carries him on his feathers.

David doesn’t just hope that God will help him. He believes God is Who He says He is. David roots his life choices and his mental perspective on what has been revealed about God in Scripture.

Yahweh as Refuge is the familiar melody of David’s life. Our English versions hide how David’s past experience with God assured his future hope. What he said was: “In You has my soul found refuge; and in the shadow of Your wings will I find refuge.”^[4]

Psalm 57:2 – ² I call to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.

How many people have plans for your life? You have plans. Your parents have plans for you. Some of you have friends that have plans to set you up with someone. The Devil has plans for you.

More important than any of the plans anyone has for your life are the purposes God Most High has for you. A life full of good, full of grace, full of growth. A life He describes as “more abundantly.”^[5] Do you know what God’s purposes for you are?

If you surrender your life to this Most High God, your Creator, your Savior, the One Person in the universe Who loves you more than anyone else, then He will fulfill His plans for you.

“Fulfill” means to complete or finish. That sends us to Philippians 1 where Paul said, “I’m sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”^[6]

But, it’s interesting: This Hebrew word for “fulfill” (or your version might say “performs”), when used negatively refers to the abrupt, seemingly permanent termination of that which previously existed.^[7] So, as we walk with God, He not only absolutely will complete the work that He began in us, but at the same time, the old person that we used to be, with all our weakness and all our failure and all our wretchedness will also be wiped away. Replaced with a transformed heart, a transformed mind, a sanctified future, secured and ensured by the power and the promise and the purposes of God.

Psalm 57:3 – ³ He reaches down from heaven and saves me, challenging the one who tramples me…God sends his faithful love and truth.

When a fugitive is being chased, we say they’re “run to ground.” David was quite literally run to ground. In fact, he was below ground, deep in a cave. And yet, he will keep speaking of the hope of heaven. The power of heaven. Heaven is a focal point for him in this crisis and throughout the song.

The Bible explains that the eternal God has decided to reach down from His throne in heaven so that He can rescue people on earth. And, unlike Zeus or Odin or other man-made gods, He doesn’t just “reach down” with lightning bolts. No, He came down Himself, put on flesh, died in our place, and rose again so we could be made right with Him and dwell with Him in heaven forever.

David knew that his God was a Deliverer – One Who cares about the suffering and struggles and hard times His people endure. One Who gives real help to us in our time of need. And, as David points out, the specific help the Lord sent in this situation was: Faithful love and truth.

“I don’t know God…Saul and his army are right outside this cave…how about a lighting bolt after all? Send a Samson or something!” But, no – the Lord would save with hesed love and truth.

It’s hard for us to really believe that the love of God will make the difference in some troubles, isn’t it? We’re convinced we need some other strength, some other supply, something more substantial. But there is nothing more powerful or more effective than the love of God and the truth of God.

With His truth, He sets us free and with His love He covers us, quiets us, and strengthens us.

Psalm 57:4 – ⁴ I am surrounded by lions; I lie down among devouring lions—people whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.

His enemies used their words to destroy – teeth like spears and arrows, tongues like swords. David was a fierce warrior, but he was also the Sweet Psalmist of Israel. He used his words for prayer, for worship, for the spreading of the good news about God. I often forget that David was, in fact, one of the Old Testament prophets. In that first sermon of the book of Acts, Peter said this about David:

Acts 2:30-31a – ³⁰ Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn an oath to him to seat one of his descendants on his throne. ³¹ Seeing what was to come, he spoke concerning the resurrection of the Messiah…

David talked to people about the resurrection! His tongue was an instrument of worship, not a weapon of war. And because he inclined his heart and his mind to the Lord, filling his thoughts with the truth of God’s character and purposes, he found rest, even in these terrible circumstances.

“I lie down among devouring lions.” That’s not something we would normally do. But it’s a common behavior of Believers who trust the Lord. Instead of fight-or-flight it’s nighty-night. Daniel in the lion’s den. Peter, on the night before he is to be beheaded, chained between two soldiers, slept soundly – his soul at rest because he knew that deliverance was coming. Maybe not physical deliverance, but absolutely, without a doubt, ultimate, eternal deliverance is ours. It’s on the way.

David spent his night in this cave writing a song. Not sharpening a sword. Not drilling with his soldiers. He spent it in worship, in prayer, in contemplation of God’s power and goodness.

Psalm 57:5 – ⁵ God, be exalted above the heavens; let your glory be over the whole earth.

The term “be exalted” has been translated as, “Loom over the heavens and over the whole earth.”^[8] Saul the maniac king loomed large in David’s mind. His threats caused David so much anxiety that, at some points, David reacted with terrible decisions. But at this moment, in this cave, David reminded himself of what was true. It was the Lord Who loomed largest: A God Who cannot be defeated. A God Who cannot be outsmarted. A God Who cannot be thwarted or outdone. If that is Who my God is, if an unstoppable God has made me His friend and taken responsibility for my life, then I can stop worrying about my tomorrow and instead concern myself with His glory.

Psalm 57:6 – ⁶ They prepared a net for my steps; I was despondent. They dug a pit ahead of me, but they fell into it! Selah

Just like that everything changed. In the cave at En-Gedi, David and his men were hiding, hoping to survive. Saul came in to relieve himself and suddenly he was at David’s mercy.

Saul fell into his own pit. The hunter became the hunted. Not by David’s cunning, but by God’s compassion. A compassion that providentially works on behalf of His people.

Here in verse 6, David said, “I was despondent.” He was terribly low, like an enemy pressed his neck into the ground.^[9] But in that darkness, David received hope. Not just in feelings, but in reality. His worry gave way to worship. As he exercised his faith in Who God is, David was brought out of his despondency and into thanksgiving and excitement and confidence.

Psalm 57:7 – ⁷ My heart is confident, God, my heart is confident. I will sing; I will sing praises.

This is not what you would expect from a man running for his life. Instead of whimpers, there was worship. How? While the enemies was setting a trap, David was setting his heart on truth.^[10]

We can take our thoughts captive. It can be incredibly difficult but we can do it and we must do it if we want to obey Christ and walk with Him and enjoy the transforming work He wants to accomplish in our lives. David was made a singing strategy, not just a scrambling strategy.

Psalm 57:8 – ⁸ Wake up, my soul! Wake up, harp and lyre! I will wake up the dawn.

John Goldingay writes, “We can stir up our inner beings…to the end that they come alive, like a parent waking a child.”^[11] Being a Christian doesn’t mean you always feel like things are great. It doesn’t mean you always feel like you’re at rest or everything is working out the way you wanted. The world is full of trouble. We have enemies. Not flesh and blood, but evil, cosmic powers of darkness.^[12] We might feel discouragement, anxiety, fear, despondency, and many other painful emotions. But what does the Bible reveal to be true about our lives? About our futures? About God’s faithfulness? Psalm 55 says plainly: “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you.”

Sometimes, we need to wake up our souls. Wake them up to pray. Wake them up to worship. Wake them up to truly believe what we say we believe – to believe in action and practice.

And David wanted others to join him in this wakefulness. He talks about harp and lyre. This song is sent to the whole choir. Multiple people on multiple instruments. He wants all the people to come together to rest in the Lord, to exalt the Lord, to be invigorated through worship as they exercise their faith. It was not time to whimper, but to worship.

Psalm 57:9 – ⁹ I will praise you, Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations.

David hoped not only all Israel would sing it, but eventually even Gentile nations, too. That people who were currently his enemies would eventually become part of God’s family of faith.

Psalm 57:10 – ¹⁰ For your faithful love is as high as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches the clouds.

The God of the Bible is faithful at every level. Faithful to His plans, faithful to His creation, faithful to you. But He works not only to free you – to unshackle you from your sin – but also to lead you. In Psalm 43, the prayer to God is, “Send Your light and Your truth and let them lead me, let them bring me to Your holy mountain, Your dwelling place, Your altar.” God is faithful to love you, faithful to help you, and faithful to lead you day by day.

Psalm 57:11 – ¹¹ God, be exalted above the heavens; let your glory be over the whole earth.

David repeats verse 5. No matter what was going on, his focus was that God’s glory be poured out all over the world – on earth as it is in heaven. He closes the song by reminding us again that God has eternal, cosmic plans that He will accomplish. That heaven be more in view than the cave.

Since 1905, Sherwin-Williams has had an iconic logo. It’s a globe, and above it is a gallon of blood-red paint pouring out all over it with the words “Cover The Earth.” That’s their mission. Cover everything with their paint.

In the midst of terrible circumstances, David chose to fill his mind with the truth of God’s power, His purpose, His compassion, and His faithfulness. He prophetically looked to that time when God’s glory will cover the whole earth. And then David decided to react and behave as if it was not only going to be true one day, but as though it was being carried out through his life – which it was!

David was in a great spiritual headspace as he wrote Psalm 57. But how quickly our minds can change. Awhile after the famous scene in the cave at En-Gedi, David would change his tune. He said, “One of these days, I’ll be swept away by Saul.”^[13] And he runs off to hide among the Philistines. It’s one of the worst chapters of David’s life and almost ends in total disaster.

He needed to cover this song again. To sing it in his own heart and to those around Him. That God is faithful. That God’s compassionate love is on the move. That God fulfills His purposes. That In Him our souls have found refuge; and in the shadow of His wings we will find refuge.

It’s a song we should cover in our own lives. These precious truths aren’t meant to just make us feel better, but to live with hope, with peace in our hearts, with perspective on our circumstances, with minds at rest as we walk with God, Who is fulfilling all His purpose for us.

Scholars also think that a miktam might refer to a song engraved on a stone slab with gold letters. And so, let’s certify this song as gold in our lives. A familiar and beloved melody of confidence and praise in the Most High God, Who is our Rock, Who is with us, working to fulfill all His purpose in us. Our part is to believe, to receive from Him, and to respond in faith and worship.

The Hallelujah Chorus (Psalm 117)

In the AD 1295, Marco Polo returned to Venice with his father Nicolo and his uncle Maffeo. Gone for 24 years, their family had long given them up for dead. In fact, the 3 Polos weren’t recognized at first when they arrived at the Polo estate. But, once they were cleaned up and identified by relatives, the weary travelers called for a feast that very night.

At the meal, Marco shared about the places they had been – Sumatra, Java, Tibet, India, Ceylon, Burma, and Mongolia. Moreover, Marco told of a king – one richer and more powerful than all the kings of the world. His name was Kublai Khan and he ruled over the largest contiguous empire in history.^[1] Marco Polo had not only been welcomed in to the dazzling courts of this great king, the king made him his friend, had sent him out on missions, and given him great rewards.

It sounded like a fable. After all, the Polos had arrived in coarse clothing – old and torn. But then Marco, Nicolo, and Maffeo ripped open the seams of their tattered traveling garments and out spilled piles and piles of gemstones. Diamonds, pearls, emeralds, and rubies. The people of Venice had never seen treasures so great in size and number.^[2] The story was true. The King was real.

Psalm 117 might come up on a trivia night for two reasons: First, it is the shortest chapter in the Bible. Second, it is actually the middle chapter of the Bible. The song may be little, but it isn’t trivial. Derek Kidner writes, “the shortest Psalm proves to be one of the most potent.” It reaches to every corner of the globe – a universal call to praise. But it also extols the greatness of heaven’s King.

As we’ve looked at almost 70 of the Psalms in the last few years, we’ve learned that there are collections of songs within the book. Psalm 117 is part of a group called the Egyptian Hallel Psalms – Psalm 113 through 118. As Israel’s history developed, these songs became associated with the annual religious festivals, especially Passover. Eventually, Psalms 113 and 114 would be sung before the eating of Passover and 115 through 118 sung after the meal.^[3]

And it is for this reason that Psalm 117 reminds me of the Marco Polo’s dramatic banquet. Because this Psalm invites all of us in to hear the story of the greatest King, Who shares His Kingdom, lavishes His treasures, changes history, and makes us His friends. A King Who redefines everything we thought we knew about the world and who has called all of us – no matter who we are, where we’re from, what we have, or what we’ve done – into relationship with Him.

Psalm 117:1 – ¹ Praise the Lord, all nations! Glorify him, all peoples!

In Hebrew, the opening and closing of the song are the same: Hallelujah! This is a Hallelujah chorus. Thanks to the Bible, hallelujah is a familiar word to us, but what does it mean? It’s not just giving God an attaboy, not just that passing feeling of “oh wow” we sometimes have when we see an impressive card trick or hear something interesting. A hallelujah is a special kind of reaction.

The word “connotes being sincerely and deeply thankful and satisfied” in the Lord.^[4] It is an essential part of human life. One Bible dictionary puts it this way: “The frequency and mood [with which this word is used] emphasizes the vital necessity of this action.”^[5]

The object of our hallelujah praise is presented very clearly: We are to praise Yahweh – the One true God revealed on the pages of Scripture.

There are so many religions in the world, so many philosophies and perspectives. But there’s only One God. There is no other.^[6] And here all the nations of the world are commanded to worship the God of the Bible. Deism isn’t enough. Spiritualism isn’t enough. Meditation isn’t enough. The One true God demands that you respond to His revelation – that you acknowledge Him, turn to Him, surrender to Him.

In the last few years, a lot of big time comedians have adopted no-cell-phone policies at their shows. Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart, Chris Rock, John Mulaney, and others. If you want to go to their show, you have to lock up your phone. If you take your phone out, you’re taken out of the venue.

I saw an interview with Dave Chappelle where they were talking about this policy and the interviewer was totally on board and they were saying that, really, if the audience didn’t go along, they were only cheating themselves.

These people have said, “If you want to be a part of what I’m doing, this is the requirement.” And, whether we agree with their policy or not, they sell out arena after arena.

God has requirements for us – commands and precepts and principles. He requires that we go His way and not our own. This response to God is somewhat encapsulated in the word, hallelujah. Acknowledge God, believe Him, be filled with thanks and satisfaction as God works in your life.

But here is where this little song becomes absolutely radical: “Praise the Lord all nations.”

Remember: This is a song sung by Israelites in the Temple or at their Passover celebrations. The nations refer to the Gentiles outside of Israel’s borders and outside the Mosaic covenant. Not only are they outside, in the Old Testament they were almost always at odds with the Jews. In fact, the next time we see “the nations” referenced in the Psalms is right next door in Psalm 118 where the nations are gathered in violent opposition against God’s people.

There are other Psalms where we see “the whole earth” praising God, but this is the only one where we specifically see the Gentile nations joining in.^[7]

This line would remind Israel that, one day, God would reconcile the whole world under His authority and His truth. But not only that, singing these words should have reminded them of their calling to be light in the dark. To be a beacon of God’s love and salvation even for Gentiles.

This had always been the plan. Back when God chose Abraham to start the family of faith, which would grow to be the nation of Israel, the Lord said, “Abraham, through you all the peoples of the earth are going to be blessed.”^[8] In the Law we read of this evangelical intention. In Deuteronomy the Lord tells Israel, “Follow My statutes and ordinances because, when you do, the nations of the world will see it and think, ‘Oh, we want to have a relationship with a real God they way you do.’”^[9]

Of course, this reminds us that we are meant to be lights in this world. If you’re a Christian, you are meant to preach the Gospel through the way you live your life. The words you speak, the choices you make, your attitudes and actions, so that a watching world will see the love of God and the grace of God and be drawn to Him. Your life is designed to be a beacon of the grace of Jesus.

Sometimes we forget that that is our function – not our only function but a major function that we’re all commissioned into: Go and make disciples. In God’s eyes, every Christian is a missionary.

Now, we might look at this first line and say, “Fat chance the nations of the world would really turn to God.” And it is a rare thing, but it has happened. Look at the city of Nineveh in the book of Jonah: Everyone from the greatest to the least repented and turned to the Lord. Look at historical revivals like what happened in Wales in the early 1900s. Stories are told of police precincts having nothing to do, so they closed down and formed choirs to sing at the revival meetings.^[10]

But, we recognize that those sort of wide-scale turnings to Christ are few and far between. Ultimately, this looks forward to the day when the Lord Jesus comes and establishes His physical, global Kingdom on the earth and all nations will bow before Him in obedience and worship.

But in the second line of verse 1 we see it’s not just about nations, but the people within them. Any person in any nation can glorify God. That’s possible because you and I were designed to glorify God. That is the purpose of your life. Isaiah 43 says we were created for God’s glory.^[11]

How do we bring glory to God? Good news! Your heart can bring glory to God. Your lips can bring glory to God. Your hands, your feet, your home, your wallet, your day-to-day life – all of it can bring glory to God. 1 Corinthians says your body can bring God glory.^[12] Peter says our suffering as Christians and our regular conduct can bring God glory.^[13] In 2 Corinthians we see our ministry and preaching and generosity can bring God glory.^[14] In John we learn that even our deaths can bring God glory.^[15] In Colossians it’s set out plainly: Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord.^[16]

We can glorify the Lord through great actions and small, in the home or out of it, from the solitude of a prayerful heart or in public proclamation of the Gospel. But all of us have been created for this purpose: To glorify God and to be crowned with glory and honor^[17] by Him as He transforms us more and more into His image, set apart for His purposes.

Psalm 117:2a – ² For his faithful love to us is great; the Lord’s faithfulness endures forever.

What does Yahweh do with all His unstoppable power? With His undefeated record? With His authority and strength and freedom to do anything He wants? He uses His power to love you.

This is hesed love which is based on compassion, loyalty, and mercy – an active love that rescues a weaker person in need. God doesn’t have to save us. He wants to save us because He loves us.

Verse 1 already showed us that this love is extended to everyone. All the people of all the nations of the world. And the rest of the Bible shows us that anyone is welcome. Israel was the chosen nation to show the world that God loved them all. That His active love was also extended to Ruth the Moabitess, Rahab from Jericho, Naaman the Aramean, Uriah the Hittite, Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonian, Cornelius the Roman, the Samaritan woman at the well. You and me.

God’s love toward us is great. The word means it is a love that has prevailed in power.^[18] Prevailed over what? Well, in Psalm 65 we read that our iniquities “overwhelm” us, and the same word is used there as is used describing God’s love fr us here. Meaning that God’s love has prevailed over the sin that hold us captive in guilt and shame and failure.

Not only does God’s love prevail, it also protects.^[19] The love of God through Christ Jesus is our atonement and shield and refuge. And so, He prevails over our sin and protects us from death.

This song shows God fighting foes we could never hope to stand against and overwhelming us with His kindness.^[20] And what good news that His tender mercy, His faithfulness will always endure.

I read a story this week of an Italian couple who got divorced after being married for 77 years!^[21] The husband was 99 years old. The wife was 97.

We never have to worry about God’s love for us growing cold. His faithful love endures forever. The greatness of His love never lessens, it never weakens. Which also means that every single thing He has promised to us out of His love will absolutely come to pass.

The song ends where it began:

Psalm 117:2b – Hallelujah!

The song leader practices what he preaches. He’s commanded all of us everywhere to look on the revelation of God’s love and power and then to respond with praise and then he praises!

Real praise happens when a person is in right relationship with the God of the Bible. Real praise flows from knowledge and revelation. His work is brought to our attention and we respond with adulation. Or we learn something more of Who God is – His heart, His kindness, His goodness, His character and we run into His loving embrace, thanking Him and lifting His name high.

The more we understand what God has revealed about Himself, the more we will see how great His faithful love is. And that’s what God wants. Yes, His is strong and yes, He is holy – yes, we need to know those things and understand what they mean. But when God called Moses up to Mount Sinai and said, “Ok, I’m going to show you Who I am,” He appeared to Moses and said, “I am gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth.”^[22] And after that revelation, Moses worshipped. Yes, God warns us of the wrath that must pour out on sin, but He warns us about it so we can avoid it – so He can save us by His love and grace.

God loves you and invites you into a lifetime relationship where He saves you and transforms you and rescues you from sin and the grave and then you begin to glorify Him as you live out worship and evangelism to a lost and dying world so that others can be saved just like you. The offer is open to anyone. Everyone. The nations of the world.

Sadly, we look around and agree with Psalm 2: The nations rage and the people plot in vain against the Lord Jesus.

One day there will be no more opposition. All the nations of the earth will bow in worship and harmony before the King of kings. But before that wonderful day, there will be a time of great judgment where those who refuse God’s love will be destroyed by His wrath.

You can be saved from that judgment by believing on the Lord Jesus – by accepting the gift of salvation by grace, through faith.

During the feast at the Polo estate, Marco and his father and uncle changed robes after each course. They had taken off their tattered rags and now were sporting beautiful, luxurious garments. But each time they changed into a new robe, they carefully folded the previous robe and then presented it as a gift to one of their guests. “This,” explained Marco, “is in strict accordance with Mongol custom.”^[23] The robes they were handing out had been presented to Marco by the Khan himself.

What a greater King is Jesus, Who not only gives of His riches to His servants, but He laid down His own life to save you from your guilt. He doesn’t give you a robe of satin or velvet, but a robe of righteousness which is full of life and strength and hope and peace and promise and eternal reward.

Praise this King and His unfailing love! And now we who have been welcomed into His family can go out with the Good News that there is room for other weary travelers to come in and be refreshed by His grace, saved from death, protected by His power.

This Is Our Fight Song (Psalm 20)

“It was a gray morning. Fog hid the enemy, but they were there, just across the field. The king commanded his men to kneel. The king too fell to his knees and lifted up his prayer to the Lord of hosts, the God of all battles. As he concluded, the whole army thundered back with conviction: A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; our helper he, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing. When the hymn died away, the king of Sweden, mounted his white horse and called out to his troops. He told them to remember that they fought for God, country, and king. And with that, the Snow King of Sweden led his men onto the field to save the German Reformation.”^[1]

The year was 1631. At the Battle of Breitenfeld, the Swedish-Saxon protestants faced an invasion from the Holy Roman Empire. When the dust settled, after 13 years, they had won their first major victory in the Thirty Years War.^[2]

Martin Luther wrote A Mighty Fortress Is Our God in the 1520’s. It was known as the “battle hymn of the reformation.”^[3] In the case of Breitenfeld, it was a literal battle hymn.

Psalm 20 is a battle hymn – a anthem meant to be sung before the God’s people go out to fight.^[4] The main focus of this song is the king – that God would grant him victory. So, scholars will call this a royal Psalm. But, not only is this a royal Psalm, it’s also a Messianic Psalm. Ultimately, it’s not just talking about a king, but the King of kings. It’s not just a song for David, but ultimately for the Son of David, Who wins total victory over every foe and over death itself.

But does that mean we should pass over this song as not applying to us? Sometimes songs are out of place, like if I sang Happy Birthday to most of you today. Or if I sang Auld Lang Syne. It’s not the right time for those songs, they don’t apply.

If this song is a royal, Messianic song, can it minister to me? The full and final fulfillment of the great promises in these verses are accomplished through Christ Jesus. He is the King. He is the anointed One referenced in verse 6. But we then remember that Christ has invited us into His redemptive work. If you’re a Christian here this morning, then you, too, have been anointed by God. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:21:

2 Corinthians 1:21 – ²¹ Now it is God who strengthens us together with you in Christ, and who has anointed us.

You are not the anointed Messiah, but you are an anointed messenger, an anointed minister, an anointed missionary, set apart for specific purposes that God reveals as you walk with Him.

So let’s take a look at this wonderful song, and allow it to be a melody of hope and confidence and triumph as we face the spiritual battles of life.

Psalm 20:Superscript-1 – For the choir director. A psalm of David. ¹ May the Lord answer you in a day of trouble; may the name of Jacob’s God protect you.

Are you facing trouble today? Some sort of adversity or anguish or affliction or tightness?^[5] God’s desire is to give you an answer for your trouble. But an answer follows a call, right?

Verse 1 reminds us of Who we’re calling out to. It’s the God of Jacob. David says, “May the name of Jacob’s God protect you.” What is His name? God is called by many names in the Bible, each expounding His greatness and strength and goodness and grace and love. But, most of all, it’s Yahweh.^[6] When God explained His name to Moses in Exodus 3, He said, “I AM WHO I AM. I am the God Who has been with your ancestors from the beginning. I’m the God Who sends and reveals.”

Linguists tell us that this name speaks of God’s “faithful presence.” Yahweh is the God Who is there. One source writes, “It connotes God’s nearness, His concern for man, and the revelation of His redemptive covenant.”^[7] Yawweh is the God Who makes promises to Jacobs like us. Stiff-hearted, rebellious deceivers who do nothing but slow Him down. Yet, out of His love and grace, God enters into and keeps covenant with us.

Psalm 20:2 – ² May he send you help from the sanctuary and sustain you from Zion.

Not from the treasury. Not from the armory. From the sanctuary. That’s where God’s presence was. That’s where help comes from. When trouble came to Israel, their first stop shouldn’t be to the forge of the blacksmith, but to the altar of the Lord. To draw near to Him so they could hear from Him and be cleansed by Him and be covered by His favor.

We don’t live in a theocracy, nor do we have physical temples which house the visible glory of God. If you’re a Christian now you are the Temple of the Lord. But, this song demonstrates that in the day of trouble the Lord wants to send help from the sanctuary. How does that work in the Church age?

In the temple there were priests and Levites on duty, around the clock, to minster to the people on behalf of the Lord. Today, God has made Christians a royal priesthood. He calls us to support one another, to sustain one another, to bear one another’s burdens. You and I should expect God to send us as help to others in their day of trouble – as member of the working Body of Christ.

Psalm 20:3 – ³ May he remember all your offerings and accept your burnt offering. Selah

Remember: This Psalm is first about Christ’s Kingship and victory before principles start to apply to us. And here we receive the history-changing, life-saving news that Christ’s offering was accepted. When Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice on the cross, that offering was sufficient for all your sin, all my sin, all the sins of all the world. It was sufficient. It was effective. That is very good news!

But then on the secondary level, we see here someone who is in covenant with God. They offer according to His demands and expectations, and He receives it. This is what God requires.

Many people have absolutely no interest in God until the day of trouble. It’s the classic scene where someone cries out, “God, if you get me through this, I promise I’ll go to church every Sunday.” They want the deliverance without devotion. And, God is gracious – more than we deserve. But He wants a relationship with you based on love and trust. He’s offered you a covenant.

When David wrote this Psalm, God’s people were under the old covenant, with all its rites and rituals. Today believers are brought into the new covenant where God gives us a new heart. A covenant where His word is written on our hearts and He is our God and we are His people and He gives us lives to lead full of faith and proclamation and a desire to obey the Lord and go His way.

How appropriate that David puts a selah after this moment for each of us to ask ourselves whether we’re in covenant with the Lord. Are we devoted to Him? We’re called to present our whole selves as living sacrifices to God Who loves us and has saved us. How is that relationship going?

Psalm 20:4 – ⁴ May he give you what your heart desires and fulfill your whole purpose.

Of course, this isn’t suggesting that God gives us anything we want. Remember: In the new covenant, God gives us a new heart – His heart. But at the same time, we shouldn’t allow ourselves to think of God as withholding or that He always wants to take things from us. Sometimes we get that sort of idea about God – that whatever we really like in life He’s going to crush. Whatever we don’t want to do, that’s what He’s going to command us to do. But that’s not how Yahweh is presented in this song. He is a God of kindness and incredible generosity.

But then notice the second half of that verse. What is your purpose? In our secular culture, a default goal we hear sometimes is, “Are you doing better than your parents’ generation?” But that’s really not a measure of real purpose, is it?

What is your purpose? Christ came with purpose: Not to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.^[8] Part of His purpose was also to give you purpose. Listen to 1 Peter 2:24:

1 Peter 2:24 – ²⁴ [Christ] himself bore our sins in his body on the tree; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness.

Your life was saved on purpose for purposes. Purposes God wants you to discover as you walk with Him and trust Him. A life of growth and fullness and value that brings praise to His glory.

Psalm 20:5 – ⁵ Let us shout for joy at your victory and lift the banner in the name of our God. May the Lord fulfill all your requests.

A banner, of course, is a symbol of who we identify with, who we’ve pledged our allegiance to, who our authority is. Our Kingdom and cause.

The banner reminds us we’re not individualists, at least not spiritually. We’re not to be detached and heading out on our own. To enjoy God’s victory, we must be participants in His work.

And it is His victory, not ours. Our excitement, our enthusiasm, our worship should be a response to the victorious work of Christ. In fact, there’s something remarkable in the language here.

Scholars point out that the Hebrew says, “Let us shout for joy at God’s Yeshua.”^[9] Yeshua, some of you know, is the Hebrew name of Jesus. Success isn’t our victory. Earthly power or position isn’t our victory. Comfort and safety are not even our victory. Christ Jesus is our victory. He is our salvation. He is the fount of our joy and rejoicing. Jesus Christ, the Gift of God, given for us, given to us, to overcome all the foes that we are too weak to resist.

Psalm 20:6 – ⁶ Now I know that the Lord gives victory to his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with mighty victories from his right hand.

There are a lot of great promises of rescue and deliverance and heavenly help in this song, but how can we know it’s true? How can we know that Jesus is the answer to our trouble?

We can know it’s true because Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. The tomb was empty. He was seen by more than 500 people at one time.^[10] The apostles who hid in fear after the crucifixion endured torture and death, never deviating from their testimony that Christ had risen. This living King continues to change countless lives and transform the world.

Through Christ we receive victory over sin and death. It’s not a maybe, it’s a certainty.

Scholars note that David uses the past tense here. The victory is won. The fight ahead is a formality.^[11] That doesn’t mean we won’t face difficulty, but we can know the outcome is sure. Christ is the King of kings and His Kingdom will be established and He will reign forever and ever.

Psalm 20:7 – ⁷ Some take pride in chariots, and others in horses, but we take pride in the name of the Lord our God.

David is absolutely confident but that doesn’t mean he sits back and does nothing. He knew God would defeat Goliath, but he still got his sling and five smooth stones. At the end of this song, he goes out with sword in hand to the field of battle before him. He knows there is work to be done – a fight to fight – but his heart is at peace. Because God is with him, he has no fear of chariots.

Chariots were the pinnacle of death technology. From man’s point of view, there was no better weapon.^[12] But David was wise enough to not fear them. He was also wise enough to not trust them. Like us, he would’ve been tempted to stockpile what the world offers for help and defense. But God shows what can happen to chariots when His people crossed the Red Sea on dry ground.

What do we trust in? What do we boast about? Where do we look for help? David said there’s no greater shield or resource than the name of the Lord our God.

Do you know what the most valuable name on earth is? Believe it or not, it’s Mark. Bloomberg compiled a list of 500 billionaires. The most common names among them were David, John, and Mark, with Mark boasting the highest average wealth at $41 billion each.^[13]

While the world pursues fleeting fortunes, we look to the name of Jesus. That term also means that we remember His name. We bring it to mind. We mention it and confess it and celebrate it.^[14]

Psalm 20:8 – ⁸ They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand firm.

This is the second time David spoke of God’s people being lifted up. Back in verse 1 where it says “may God protect you,” the term means to set you in an elevated fortress.^[15] In your day of trouble, the Lord’s desire is to lift you up and make you stand. To elevate your thoughts to not be on things of earth, but to be on the truths of heaven. When we fight spiritual battles, we don’t get in the mud with our opponents. We go the high route of heaven.

There is no battlefield where God is outmatched, where His methods don’t work, or where we can be separated from His love. He lifts us up. Because Christ rose from the dead, we also will rise.

Psalm 20:9 – ⁹ Lord, give victory to the king! May he answer us on the day that we call.

And so we have circled back to verse 1 – us calling and trust God to answer. The song begins again because the fight is not over. There are still days of trouble ahead for God’s people, but we know victory is coming. We know that Yahweh is a God Who hears prayer and answers them and Who never stops working on our behalf. If we know Him, then we know we can trust Him. And if we trust Him, then we can praise Him before the battle, in the fray, and after the victory.