He does not delight in the strength of the horse;
He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.
11 The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him,
In those who hope in His mercy. vv.10-11
Read chapter 147
It's funny as I read this psalm while the summer olympics are going on right now. Strength is everything to be a winner of a gold medal. Many athletes glory is in their legs. The whole world sees and honors the strongest. Even last night I was watching the swimming and the swimmers kick can make or break if they're going to win or not. Yet I don't think the Lord would be cheering for one specific person if He were sitting in the stands at the olympics, but cheering for all before, during, and after the race has been won. The Lord has equal pleasure in the strongest as well as the weakest. God does not need or desire the strongest as if they could give him more glory or more power as kings in this world do, but it's the weakness and their need that delights Him. What strength (physical or mental) do you take most pride in (either yourself or of others)? Can you take pride in your weakness and necessity on God? How or why not?
While the bodily powers give no content to God, spiritual qualities are his delight. He cares most for those emotions which centre in himself: the fear which he approves is fear of him, and the hope which he accepts is hope in his mercy. It is a striking thought that God should not only be at peace with some kinds of men, but even find a solace and a joy in their company. Oh! the matchless condescension of the Lord, that his greatness should take pleasure in the insignificant creatures of his hand. Charles Spurgeon
Do not put your trust in princes,
Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.
His spirit departs, he returns to his earth;
In that very day his plans perish. vv.3-4
Read chapter 146
Has anyone ever let you down? Many if not all of us put our trust in man more than we do God. No matter how much someone loves us or how much we love someone we will eventually be let down or let them down. We're all sinners and cant do all that only God can do. We can have hope from others but let's not turn those hopes into expectations. Even in death we can feel lost without them like we can only live if they're there. But oh how wrong we got it. It is only by the grace of God that we can live and survive in this world.
When have you let false expectations of someone cause you sadness, anger, or other emotions? When have you felt trusting in the Lord outweighing trust in man? Who is someone you put expectations on as if they're God and how can you change that?
You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing. v.16
Read chapter 145
This psalm of David is one of thanksgiving and praise. We see the vertical praises up to God and the horizontal declarations to men of God's goodness. We may not always agree with statements like "the Lord upholds all who fall" (v.14) because of circumstances in our life or others, but the deep waters of the knowledge of God are unfathomable and unsearchable. So does this make Him a god you are suspicious of? Or One you mistrust? Oh I hope not. Let us not be staggered by what is dark in this dispensation of grace to all.
God's hands are outstretched for us. And as we see the picture of God's hand in verse sixteen we must think of the difference between the hand and the heart. Charles Spurgeon puts it, "God opens his hand, in the way of providence, towards his worst enemies. He gave Nebuchadnezzar all the kingdoms of the earth. But he opens his heart in the gospel of his Son. This is the better portion of the two. While we are thankful for the one, let us not rest satisfied in it: it is merely a hand portion. Rather let us pray with Jabez to be blessed indeed; and that we might have a Joseph's portion; not only the precious things of the earth and the fulness thereof, but "the good will of him that dwelt in the bush!"
What desires do you need from God's hand right now? "The hand of grace is never closed while the sinner live."
Man is like a breath;
His days are like a passing shadow. v.4
Read chapter 144
Didn't junior high school seem like the biggest deal, a matter of life or death of every little thing when you were in the midst of that season in life that most people never want to relive? Don't you just wish you could tell yourself back then that that time is but a breath in your life and that there's so much more after those years of junior high or high school. Yet there are so many teen suicides today because of the stress it is to be a teen in the world today by so many different factors. Even as we get older life doesnt just get easier but we understand more seasons in our lives some harder than others. It's not about just getting through the days but making the most of those days for it will pass faster than you realize. So many would say in their old age how fast life passes you by. The average age a person lives is around 70 years, depending on how old you think the earth is, whether thousands or millions of years, 70 years is but a breath to the Lord, yet He still is mindful of us as verse three says, "Lord, what is man, that You take knowledge of him?Or the son of man, that You are mindful of him?" Thank the Lord He doesn't just hurry his way past our life, but is with us every moment and season we're in. There may be people in your life only for a passing moment, but even those passing moments can be life giving, life changing, life worth living for. How has someone's momentary passing in your life effected you? How can you make the most of those that are in your life for a breath of time?
Answer me speedily, O Lord;
My spirit fails!
Do not hide Your face from me,
Lest I be like those who go down into the pit.
8 Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning,
For in You do I trust;
Cause me to know the way in which I should walk,
For I lift up my soul to You. vv.7-8
Read chapter 143
Oh how fast do we desire the Lord's answer to our prayers, especially when there seems like a deadline to them. Here David's life is in jeopardy that he will die soon, no argument to ask for speed when it comes to life and death. When one is facing near death the cry to the Lord is ever more real (even to those who may never have believed), yet even David knew that death was a separation from God where he would no longer be able to seek God's face. David was pleading to last through the night that he here God's lovingkindness in the morning. He was desiring life still, knowing that death didn't lead to heaven yet but to sheol (the pit where all go) where there is no work, no praise, no consciousness. There is but one voice that can cheer and revive the spirit of man, and that is hearing God's lovingkindness.
My favorite time of the day is morning. "A sense of divine love is to the soul both dawn and dew." I've been a morning person all my life but what I've come to love about it is the quietness while everyone is still sleeping and I can sit alone with God with no one else causing distractions. It starts my day off with God, a springboard in to whatever the day may hold. I know not everyone is a morning person, yet the Lord seems to repeat throughout the scriptures that serene time with Him in the morning. To ask the way in which we should walk each day is what we should seek each day no matter how mundane or crazy the day may be.
How can you protect your time with the Lord at whatever time of day it may be for you?
Look on my right hand and see,
For there is no one who acknowledges me;
Refuge has failed me;
No one cares for my soul. v.4
Read chapter 142
How often have you felt this cry? No one acknowledging you or seems like no one cares for your soul? This psalm is a prayer of David when he was hiding in a cave from Saul, a crazed insane king, who was trying to kill him. We know that there were some men (400) that followed David during this time, but sometimes when you're in a place of being bullied or facing a difficult situation you can feel all alone with no one seeming to care. And there may be situations when this is literally true in some people's lives. There are those that do care, even in the deepest pit of emotions or situations we are in, but the enemy likes to make us think it's not true. We all want to be acknowledged and felt cared for and we may seek that more from someone that doesn't show it to us than those that do. And when we don't get that attention we become in bondage to that person of what they say or don't say. In verse seven David's prayer goes on to say, "Bring my soul out of prison that I may praise your name." Nancy DeMoss Walgamuth comments, "That's the objective. It's not about me; it's not about my feelings. It's not about me being loved. Ultimately, it's about being able to praise God, to bring Him glory, to reflect His love to our world."
If you had the affirmation and blessing of every single person in the world, do you think you'd finally feel cared for? If that were true, it still would mean diddly squat compared to the care and affirmation God has for you!
Let the righteous strike me;
It shall be a kindness.
And let him rebuke me;
It shall be as excellent oil;
Let my head not refuse it. v.5
Read chapter 141
David writing here seeming to compare the two different companies he found himself going between in certain periods of his life: followers of God and non followers of Yahweh. He realizes he'd rather have the hardship of believers than the delicacies of wicked men. Lately I have been debating about changing careers with thoughts of not working as a leader in a ministry because it's been so hard being let down by believers and wondering if working with nonbelievers would be easier having lower expectations for them. Yet this verse is a good reminder on both ends of striking and being struck. Knowing that the righteous' hard love is good and edifying is not always easy. David not only permits it though, he asks for it too: "Let the righteous strike me." Sometimes godly men hit harder like a hammer then hints or taps of reproof. Yet it shall be excellent as oil, that does not hit or feel hard but is smooth and fragrant.
Do you have people in your life that love you hard but good? When have you felt a strike feel as smooth oil to you? How have you felt the difference in companies of believers and nonbelievers in this area?
