Thoughts

Psalm 108

David begins this psalm with a declaration: I am determined, O God! I will sing and praise you with my whole heart.

Many years ago I read the book “Experiencing God” by Henry Blackaby. It changed my life. Truly. In this book, the author made this point: Decide in advance that no matter what God asks you to do, your answer will be YES. That’s an easy decision if you trust God and believe that He will only ask you to do something that will ultimately be good for you, and will further His kingdom. 

Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God, Revised and Expanded By Henry & Richard Blackaby, Claude King / B&H Books The modern classic that has helped millions worldwide experience the height, depth, and breadth of God’s love is now even better! With over 70 percent revised material, this expanded edition features a new personal introduction by Henry, updated stories and examples, a clearly outlined plan of salvation, and seven new chapters. 341 pages, softcover from B&H.

Another way to put it is: Be determined that whatever God asks you to do, your answer will be YES.

David, in the opening verse says: I am determined, O God! I will sing and praise you with my whole heart. I can’t think of a better way to say it. No matter what happens, Lord, I will sing and praise you with my whole heart. 

David closed the psalm with: By God’s power we will conquer; he will trample down our enemies.

When we are His, when we cling to Him, He will bring us victory. There are battles in life; no one gets through life without them. But we need not fear if God is with us. Surely, heartbreak will come our way, but we need not be defeated. Through the darkest times, we can and we must trust God, and continue to be determined to sing and praise Him with our whole heart.

Psalm 109

Have you ever been falsely accused? Attacked? I have. And it hurts. The human part of us wants to strike back, but then we remember what Jesus said in His sermon on the mount in Matthew 5:38 and 39, “38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, do not resist the evildoer. But whoever strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other to him as well.” And also, Paul said in Romans 12:19-21, “19 Do not avenge yourselves, dear friends, but give place to God’s wrath, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 Rather, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing this you will be heaping burning coals on his head. 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” 

But then, if we are falsely accused of something, and we are known as believers, as Christians, false accusations can sometimes not only give us a personally bad name, but the cause of Christ as well. Here in Psalm 109, David calls upon God to deal harshly with those who accused him falsely. And in verse 21 he says, “O sovereign Lord,intervene on my behalf for the sake of your reputation!”. 

My friend, when we are falsely accused, the way I see it, according to scripture we are not to strike back. We are to respond with kindness, and pray that God comes to our defense. David asked God to deal harshly with evil doers, for us and for His own reputation. We don’t have to just take it and say, “Well, I know I haven’t done wrong. It is what it is.” No. God is our Rock and our Defender. Ask Him to deal with the evil doers, and if His name is being slandered because of lies being told about you, ask Him to intervene. We are not the world’s doormat. We belong to the King!

Psalm 110

What we have in the first verse of Psalm 110 is an example of how the English language is not as clear as the original language. Verse one begins with the words, “The LORD said to my Lord”. Not all that clear, right? Let’s see what the original language reveals. 

We’ll start with the first: “The LORD” . This is the Hebrew word that we pronounce as Jehovah, which means “the self-existent or eternal”. The second: “said to my Lord”. The Hebrew word here is “Adon” (uh-DOHN), which means “to rule; sovereign, controller, master, owner.”

Psalm 110 is considered by scholars to be a song by David about the coming Messiah. When you listen to the words with this in mind, it seems clear that this is true. 

For this chapter, most commentators I read took at least three times as many words to discuss chapter 110 than the chapter itself has. 

Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 108-109 NET, Ch. 110 NKJV

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