Archive for the 'Psalms' Category

Suppose at the Thanksgiving table . . .

Published on November 25, 2010 in Psalms and Worship. 0 Comments

Praise is due to you O God in Zion (Psalm 65:1a).

Use this Norman Rockwell image to picture several generations sitting around a Thanksgiving table.

Imagine that as the turkey is set in place, a mother says to her daughter, “Thank Grandma for the turkey.”

And, then picture that the little girl sasses in response, “I am not thanking grandma.  What did the old lady ever do for me?”

How do you suppose that you would process that in your home?

It makes one cringe just to think about it.  The debt that a family owes to the matriarch is incalculable.  Such ingratitude would be despicable.

If we understand that it is wrong to not thank the matriarch of a family, how much more should we see that a failure to thank God is despicable?

The right sort of Sunshine on our shoulders makes us happy

Published on July 14, 2010 in Chris Brauns Radio Spots and Psalms. 0 Comments

If you are looking for a verse for this week, think about this one. Psalm 84:11 says,

11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

Reflect on the picture that God is a “sun” and “shield.” The idea of God being the sun symbolizes power. To even look at the sun hurts our eyes. God is an atomic explosion. All power, light inaccessible hid from our eyes.

And, yet, the sun also brings the idea that God is not simply power in isolation. He shines into the lives of His people and as the verse says, offers us favor, or a better translation would be “grace,” and “honor,” or “glory.” The light of his goodness shines into every corner of His creation.

Not only is God a sun, but he is also a “shield.” So many different things can threaten our well-being. Many of you will hear this radio spot while you are in your cars. And, we know that over 40,000 people will probably die in car related accidents this year. Think about that. 40,000 people. Yet, God is a shield for those who know Him and trust in Him. As Psalm 91 says, “a thousand may fall at our side, ten thousand at our right hand, but it will not come near us,” and God commands his angels concerning those who fear Him.

Even when we do meet with tragedy or disaster, we can be sure that God is a sun and a shield for those whose walk is blameless.

No wonder the Psalmist says in the same Psalm, 10 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

Psalms, too

Published on February 1, 2010 in Psalms. 2 Comments

Along with reading the day’s chapter of Proverbs (today is the 1st so you’re reading Proverbs 1), it is a good discipline to read the day’s chapter of Psalms (and every 30th chapter after that.  So, today you read Psalms 1, 31, 61, 91, 121.

If you’re not up to 5 Psalms, at least read the 1st chapter.  There are two kinds of people in this Psalm.

  1. What distinguishes the blessed person from the wicked?
  2. Which are you going to be?

For more on Psalm 1, read There is No Third.

Whenever you read a chapter of Psalms, write the date in small letters at the top of the chapter.  This will allow you to track which Psalms you have meditated on the most.

Whether or not they heard the muffled scream of human smoke . . .

Published on January 24, 2010 in abortion and Psalms. 0 Comments

God only knows.  But, he does know.  This is the point of Psalm 139.

Think of it this way on Sanctity of Life Sunday — When the Nazis gassed Jews and then incinerated them, the soot of image bearers curled into the air before falling over the land like coal dust.

No one remained clean.  A layer of human soot spoiled the soil.

And, whether or not the citizens of Dachau, Treblinka and Auschwitz tasted the human dust when it poisoned their cultural water, whether or not they saw the ash of the murdered when they swept it off their streets, whether or not they heard the muffled scream of human smoke, the God of heaven and earth, who knit the Holocaust victims together in their mother’s womb – - He knew, and knows, and will repay (Romans 12:19).

Read Psalm 139, the whole thing, and remember that God knows.

“. . . every bush and tree with fire of God”

Published on September 30, 2009 in Psalms. 0 Comments

Earth’s cramm’d wi’ heav’n

And every bush and tree with fire of God;

But only he who sees

Takes off his shoes … 

                    Author unknown.*

How can we look at the magnificence of this tree and not take off our shoes in worship?

National Geographic has a story about photographing the biggest tree ever.  You can watch the video below or click here to see the story.

 

HT: Joe Thorn for the tree story.

*Quoted in Kelly Clark, Return to Reason, page 123.  See also Psalm 19:1-6 !