Daily Meditations

Psalm 116:5-6 He saved me One of the side effects of a traumatic or calamitous event in one’s life is that there is a deep sense of gratitude at having survived! Near death experiences are particularly relevant; to sense the end of life, to see the gates of death, to edge close to that fateful encounter and then be freed is a very special kind of liberation. Our psalm writer obviously understands this for he is overwhelmed with gratitude to the Lord who delivered Him. For myself, I can say that having survived a similar experience, the world is a far more beautiful place than the one I inhabited before, colours are richer, birdsong is sweeter, relationships are more meaningful and there is so much to be savoured and enjoyed. After a close encounter with death, our attention is brought to focus on the One who gives life and who manages our time on this earth, our gratitude is extended to Him for His grace and righteousness and His compassion. To approach death and avoid it brings Him cl

Psalm 116:3-4 Lord save me! There was, undoubtedly, a common practice in force when the Psalms were written, of binding prisoners and captives with cords. Presumably these were made of rope, or maybe manacles of iron, but the result was that the offender hade no chance of escape. They would be tightly bound and incapable of making a break for freedom. The psalmists describe the cords of death and of the grave in this dramatic language, once bound you will never be free, the cords are both inevitable and terminal, those who are fastened by them recognise their fate! The moment of death itself can be a welcome relief but the ever-tightening grip that it holds over those who are still alive and breathing, is terrifying. Our psalmist was  “overcome by distress and sorrow. ” We often speak of a quick death as being a rather charmed way to leave this world, as compared to those poor souls who spend endless days, weeks, even months, slowing slipping away as the cords tighten themselves around

Psalm 116:2 I will call on Him I guess we often take it for granted that the Lord God hears us when we pray to Him! Prayer can become a habit, and a very good one at that, at least a daily exercise when we bring our requests and our concerns to the throne of our God. (By the way, have you noticed how the prayers of the Psalms are very much a mixture of praise, thanksgiving and of requests.) There needs to be a balance. To get back to the point, whether you are an occasional pray-er or one who talks incessantly to the Lord, we all have an expectation that we are heard – that He “turns His ear towards us.” I’m not in a position to judge, but I wonder if there is a different response in heaven to the endless, monotonous, monologues of some and the heartfelt cries of others? In other words, if we want the Lord God to listen, we need to be passionate ourselves about the things we bring to Him. Our prayers are described as incense in the Scriptures, they arise as a sweet-smelling aroma that

Psalm 116 Deliverance from death This Psalm is the fourth in the “Hallel” and it praises and thanks the Lord for His deliverance from death. No author is mentioned although it reads like a Psalm of David. Some indeed attribute it to a king and have noticed that it mirrors the thoughts of Hezekiah after he was saved from dying. Isaiah 38:9-20. The Psalm has some beautiful sentiments and is particularly poignant for me having suffered a heart attack and what was described as “catastrophic heart failure,” just 6 months ago! Let’s enjoy this tribute to the Lord who guards and keeps us all despite what life may throw at us.    V1        What a beautiful opening statement of humble praise,  “I love the Lord!”  We could stop and muse over this one statement for a long time. Before we investigate some of the reasons why we love Him perhaps it’s good to remember that we love Him because He is! His existence and His holiness and purity, His power and His glory are as good a reason as any to “lov

Psalm 115:18 We will praise Him for evermore The previous verse speaks of the desolation and silence of Hades and the grave. How awful! How terrifying! How heart-wrenching to find oneself in a god-forsaken state and in a god-forsaken place. Thank God for this last verse of Psalm 115. Those who fear the Lord and who die in safety, protected by His salvation, are going to anything but a quiet place!  “The presence of the Lord is fullness of joy.”  Psalm 16:11. For those who dwell for eternity in the Lord’s presence there will be singing and music and laughter and joy and light and warmth and an overwhelming awareness of love. This will not be a transitory or momentary experience; it will be both for the present and forevermore! No more fear, no more isolation, no more evil; no more heartache, no more loneliness, no more anger and hate, no more depression and anguish, just pure unadulterated joy and contentment in the presence of the Lord.  It is obvious that our heavenly inheritance is s

Psalm 115:17 The place silence In November 2020 I had a vision of the “place of silence” and this seems to be an appropriate place to repeat it!    “The silence was deafening, and no one dare speak. We were travelling, on foot, just a small family group, across a vast plain. The surface beneath our feet was black and reflective, almost like ice, although it was not slippery. There was a strange, ethereal light that came not from the sun or the moon. It was a gloomy light, oppressive and full of foreboding – nothing stood out, you could not read in that light. Everything was shadowy and yet there were no objects to create shadows. It felt like a moonlit night but there was no orb in the sky just a reflection of light off the ebony ground beneath our feet. And that silence!    The panorama around us seemed to stretch all the way to the horizon as if the path we took was flat, but there was also a strange sensation of occasional rising and falling that suggested we were moving through a l