Daily Meditations

Psalm 3:7       Heaven is open, the Lord is on the throne, He hears my cry, I do not have to fight this war, I am not defenceless, furthermore, now that I know this, I may make a request.  “ Arise, Lord! Deliver me, my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.” Have we considered the incredibly powerful forces that are for us in this battle ground of spiritual warfare? A cry from the heart of a righteous man or woman is heard in heaven and there is an immediate response. The Lord will never leave us defenceless; He will answer and save us from our spiritual enemies. Never forget, our battle is NOT against flesh and blood but spiritual forces in the heavenly realms.  Why would anyone ask God to break the teeth and strike the jaws of their enemies?  Why not go for their throats or even their hearts?  We should remember that this cry comes from a man who, as a youngster, had fought against ...

Psalm 3:5       Having established his standing before God, David can now lie down and sleep in peace. No matter how dark the situation, God has it under control and therefore he is at rest.  Many of us have suffered the curse of sleeplessness, once it visits us it is a job to shake it off. That wretched alertness that comes in the early hours when a thousand and one thoughts and anxieties fill our heads – jobs undone, conversations to be had, bills unpaid, the list goes on. As our anxiety level rises so sleep becomes impossible and the intensity of the “voices of fear” increases. The Satan loves to get us into this kind of miserable routine and it is the opposite of the place of rest that is our by right. Our only hope is the Lord, to pray to Him and, one by one, lay each of these burdens down until there are none left. We have to rest in His promises and that means imbibing His truth, learning it, meditating on it and then trusting Him to deliver! I know...

Psalm3:3-4    The foes who are against us are indeed many and there will be those who will say that God will not deliver us.  Jesus was surrounded by the hosts of sin plus armies of demonic fiends and the twin enemies of death and hell. But when the serpent dashed his sting into the heart of the Lord, he lost His power, just like a bee when it stings us. It is easy in such situations, to throw in the towel, to let the enemy win, to believe that the battle is already lost.  Countless numbers have taken that route, especially in the face of popular opinion and so we do well to learn from David;  “But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. I call out to the Lord, and he hears me from his holy mountain.”  Of course, if we are not walking rightly before God and do not have confidence in His salvation, we cannot pray these words, so it pays to consistently be in the holy place with Him.  Such a ...

Psalm 3:1-2     The Satan uses flattery, deceit, trickery and lies to undermine Christians, he has been doing it for centuries. People you think you can trust, turn out to be plotting and scheming and instead of gearing up for a fight we sometimes need to take a lesson from David and “get out of there”, trusting that the Lord has it all in hand and He will let righteousness and justice prevail.  There is a tendency with some believers to regard this whole “spiritual warfare” business as a bit of a joke, they compare us to medieval warriors going out to fight the hordes of an imaginary enemy.  You will not find much of that kind of talk in the Scriptures, instead we are urged to stand firm or, sometimes, just “run for it” all the while trusting in the Lord. It is He who will battle and fight for us.  My take on this is that the Satan doesn’t bother those who do not bother him! David turned and fled when Absalom declared himself; you...

Psalm 3 The shield around us        This is a wonderful Psalm for those who feel that they have been unjustly treated. Sometimes, in life, we may feel that all of the world is against us and that the Satan has backed us into a dark place from which we cannot be rescued.  We do not know who to turn to or who to trust, even our friends and family have sided against us.  Where do we turn?  Who can help us? The historic background to this song of hope, by King David, is the bid by his son Absalom to take over the throne of Israel.  Absalom had used deceit, trickery and lies to steal the hearts of the people and it seems that David continued to only see the best in his son while all this scheming was going on. 1 Samuel 15.  When the king heard of his son’s duplicity and that the allegiance of the people had transferred to Absalom, he did not stay and fight but left the city and the throne.  The Ark of t...

Psalm 2:12     Here is a curious instruction commanding the rulers and leaders to, “Kiss His Son or He will be angry ……….” In the time of David, a kiss was a sign of submission to a higher being. Thus, worshippers kissed their idols, humble peasants kissed the feet of their king and lesser courtiers kissed the hand or the cheek of their “betters”. This verse is therefore asking for the obeisance of all appointed heads of state in acknowledgement that there is One who is greater, to whom they owe allegiance. The consequences of ignorance or disobedience are frightening! The Son will be angry, the reign of the ruler will lead to destruction.  Rulers, more than any of us, are accountable to the Lord who will take action against them. There are devastating verses in Revelation 6:15-17 that show that this is no idle threat. “ Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves an...

Psalm 2:10-11  It is in the light of this judgement and the ultimate rule of righteousness that the rulers and kings of the earth are warned to be wise.  The Satan will never back down, the evil spirits that serve him will remain in rebellion but there is still time for kings, queens, presidents, prime ministers, emperors et al. to acknowledge the true Lord of the universe.  They should do so with fear and trembling and maybe our Queen Elizabeth has done that?  “ Listen all you rulers, pay homage to the Son, serve Him, honour Him with awe and reverence. If you do not, your destination is destruction and you will be held accountable and be judged for the way that you used your power.” How tragic it is that these men and women of influence unknowingly come and go within the plan of God; they believe that they earned their privilege and responsibility and that it was borne out of their own invention and supremacy. But the Bible teaches that all of...

Psalm2:9       The description of the reign of the Messiah in this verse sounds brutal.   It is spoken of in Revelation 19:15-16 and we believe that Jesus will reign over the earth for a millennium when all nations will come under His authority. He wears on His robe and on His thigh the inscription; KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.  This will no longer be a time of grace where God is patient with men, this is the time when God will install His King on Zion, His holy mountain.  The reign of Christ anticipates a final judgement for the Satan, his servants, and all human beings who obey him. There will be no room for “Gentle Jesus, meek and mild!”  We once had a very handsome Border Collie called Taffy who was virtually unmanageable. He went away for 6 weeks training, as a pup, but came back just the same. We loved Taff to bits and he was great company for our growing family, it was just that if Taff decided he w...

Psalm2:8       Whatever else is going on in the universe, whatever else may happen in the heavenly realms, there is only due to be one supreme King on planet earth.  Jesus Christ alone has earned the right to inherit the earth and its nations, the people He died for.  Once again, the Satan knows the score, he knows what has been said and to whom all authority has been given.   However, we must remember that he is consumed with pride and arrogance, that was the cause of his downfall.  The truly arrogant never see their weaknesses, they never back down, the Satan is NOT on the run, he still believes that he can turn things around and take possession away from the Messiah.  So, he will never give up! At the point when he calculates that the Lord Jesus is about to make His appearance, when earth’s history prepares it for the intervention of the King of Kings, the Satan will launch his own counter offe...

Psalm 2:7        This amazing Psalm continues with a dialogue between God the Father and His Son. This could be interpreted as God reassuring King David, it could also be, as some commentators suggest, a conversation between a great king and one of his subject kings.  As the Psalm was written by David it is most likely an anticipation of the coronation of his son Solomon who sadly turned out to be a failure as a king; he dabbled with pagan gods and forgot his God-given wisdom. However, we only need to go to the 1 st chapter of Hebrews to discover that this the future fulfilment of this prophetic Psalm is found in the Messiah; God the Father is speaking to Jesus,  “You are my son; today I have become your father.”    This conversation took place when Jesus returned to heaven at His ascension. The whole of Hebrews chapter 1 describes this event that took place over the 7 days before the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pe...

Psalm 2:6       This one phrase is potent with meaning.  Look where it takes us – to Mount Zion, to Jerusalem; the city that has been at the centre of the world’s troubles since the time that this Psalm was written.  Jerusalem has been fought over, destroyed, rebuilt and changed hands more than any other city and yet it has no river, no vast natural resources, no great strategic value or purpose. It is currently dominated by Jews, Christians and Moslems who all worship in their various synagogues, temples, churches and mosques.  Mount Zion’s dominant buildings are the Moslem Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque and the atmosphere in the city is constantly filled with the Adhan [call to prayer] which is called out by the muezzins from the various mosques five times a day, traditionally from the minarets, summoning Muslims for mandatory worship. The Jews venerate this site because it was here, on Mount Moriah, that A...

Psalm 2:5       Our God is angry. Our God shakes with righteous fury. His wrath and His judgement will be unleashed, the Satan will NEVER have the final say for the Lord will speak and the Lord will act and every human life will have to account for their time on God’s created planet living as His guests, provided for, loved and protected by Him. Most have ignored Him, even cursed and blasphemed Him and the day will come when they will fall in terror at His feet. What will they be afraid of? A super weapon? A terrible plague? No, the event that will bring terror to the Satan and all God’s enemies is unveiled in verse 6 and it is a simple statement.  These are the words that they will never want to hear: - “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.”

Psalm 2:4       What is God’s take on all of this?  Well He knows exactly what is going on and what a picture is painted in the Psalm.  Instead of indignation, we are told that the Lord God Almighty guffaws with scorn at the pathetic endeavours of the rulers to obstruct His plans! But let us be aware, He is also angry at the rebellious attempts of the wicked to abandon His laws and He is angry with the one who masterminds their rebellion.  It is impossible to imagine God upon His heavenly throne, in all His glory, power and holiness, watching the pathetic attempts of feeble men to become gods themselves. As they seek power, adulation and authority upon earth, demanding to be revered and taken seriously, using military might to achieve their ends; the true God laughs. He sees their self-aggrandisement, their hunger for supremacy, their corruption and their wicked arrogance and He scoffs with suppressed anger. Whilst we see...

Psalm 2:3       When men grow in power and importance they predictably start to kick against long established rules and safeguards. They want to be remembered, they want the plaudits of people and to achieve “new things.” One way to do this is to question the wisdom of their ancestors, but some go further, they question the wisdom of God. They scoff at the Lord God and His anointed, “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.” In their eyes the ways of the Lord are restrictive and faith is an inhibiting influence. God’s moral law is open to question and increasingly to be replaced with new laws that “liberate people” allowing excesses and the freedom of the individual.  It is the same old Satan working his peculiar magic using the same old question, “Did God really say?” Rulers and leaders are both vulnerable and responsible and, as history shows, their answer to this question alone will determine the future of their people....

Psalm 2:1       It seems that power does corrupt, and absolute power does corrupt absolutely because the higher individuals rise up the chain of human command, the more likely they are to become tools in the hands of the enemy.  No wonder we are asked to pray for them!  1 Timothy 2:1-2. Since the time of Babel nations and races have plotted against God but that is only because they are driven by their master – the Satan.  He is desperate to wrest control of this planet from its Creator, but Psalm 2 reassures us that this plotting and scheming is all in vain, all the skulduggery and deviousness of the father of lies will get him nowhere!   V2       For centuries kings and rulers have formed alliances and done deals that they think will make them all powerful and all conquering.  Inevitably the stronger and more self-reliant a nation or an alliance becomes the ...