Daily Meditations

Psalm 9:11  Enthroned in Zion   The preceding verse takes us exactly to where the Psalmist wants to go, if we depend on the Lord’s name, we have to sing praises to that name. The holiest place in the physical universe or the spiritual universe is Zion for that is where the Lord dwells, where He is enthroned and where we lift our eyes and acknowledge His authority and power. On a coming day, the physical Mount Zion will be elevated and the throne of the Lord Jesus on earth will be established there. At that time all nations will bow and acknowledge Jesus Christ is Lord. We are privileged insiders if you like, we already know how the plot is going to pan out. We know the end and the beginning. We are the minority but immensely important for we are chosen ambassadors preparing the world for what is to come. Instead of gloom and doom we see nothing but hope and a future to anticipate.  Jesus is coming to reign, all of the Satan’s plans will fall to pieces. The earth will be restored to

Psalm 9:10    A ll in the name      It is important to know that God’s name is synonymous with who He is. His name is His character and His character is His name – He is God Almighty, Jehovah, Lord of all. To invoke His name is to invoke Him because He is God, supreme above any other living being. The greatest insult to God is to use His name casually or without discernment or a as a swear word. Blasphemy, as a word, does not have an equivalent in Hebrew but in Exodus 22:28 the Israelites are told not to revile (blaspheme) God or His chosen leaders, to do so was punishable by death. Reviling God’s name was to call into question His holiness and integrity, to show a complete lack of understanding of who He is or worse to have no respect for Him even if we do know who He is!  So, those who know His name trust in Him. Those who know His name, know that He will never forsake them for that is contrary to who He is. The name of the Lord protects us, like ambassadors who enter a hostil

Psalm 9:9    Warfare!                 There are many expressions, in the Scriptures, that describe the Lord as a place of safety and confidence when trouble strikes. He is our refuge, He is our rock, our sure foundation. He is a strong tower and our shield, the horn of our salvation.  All of these metaphors have profound implications, in Proverbs 18:10 we read, “ The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.”    His very existence and His presence and the power of His name will protect us from evil and all kinds of trouble. When David was delivered from Saul and all his enemies, he used these expressions in a song of praise. 2 Samuel 22:1-4. In Deuteronomy 33:27 the Lord tells Israel, through Moses.  “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemies before you, saying “Destroy them!” The Cities of Refuge in Israel are described in Numbers 35. There were 6 of them, owned by the Levites. T

Psalm 9:8    Absolute justice          This verse sets out the nature of the rule and reign of Almighty God. How often we are perplexed by injustice, discrimination and prejudice. The justice systems around the world seem to favour the rich and powerful. Juries get tied up by clever barristers and often, on hearing the evidence, we all scratch our heads wondering who is telling the truth and who is telling lies. Factor in the likelihood that witnesses see situations subjectively and thus are prejudiced, even without knowing it, and you wonder “what is truth?” Well, God knows, for under His rule there will be absolute truth, leading to perfect justice based on a strict definition of what is right and what is wrong.  Some people fear such legal clarity but for most vindication and absolution founded on accurate evidence is what they have longed for. What a relief to know that no one will “get away with it” and no one will be wrongly implicated. The Satan’s devious nature will be exp

Psalm 9:7  T hrone of Judgement   Against the backdrop of the fickle nature of human civilisation David reminds us of the unchanging rule and reign of the Lord – He reigns forever. His ways never change, His kingdom cannot be taken.  There is only one ancient nation that has survived against all the odds, through the annals of history – God’s people, Israel. Where is this throne of judgement that is occupied by our righteous judge?  Psalm 11:4 tells us,  “The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne.”   That statement alone tells us that the historic conflicts on earth have a spiritual and out-of-this-world context. As Paul says in Ephesians 6:12,  “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” That is why it is so important for believers to know that God is on His throne, His reign is eternal, and justice will

Psalm 9:5 - 6  Where are they now? We tend to think of God as the Lord of individuals; salvation and redemption are personal, Christ died for me, He hears my prayers, He gives His Holy Spirit to those who believe. In each case the relationship is personal, yes the church is corporate but composed of individuals who have received Christ. However, the Hebrew Scriptures present us also with a God whose actions are far broader, encompassing whole nations and peoples, in fact His activity embraces the whole world. If a country or nation engages in idol worship, godlessness or pagan religion they can be expected to experience the Lord’s rebuke. This can even happen to a previously God-fearing nation, for instance Israel when they worshipped the golden calf or when they chased after the gods of the Canaanite tribes.  A rebuke is a telling off, a warning, a prophetic reminder to “change your ways.” Romans chapters 1-2 are such a rebuke as they set out the dangers of ignoring God, of breaki

Psalm 9:3   Praise Him!               Praise and thanksgiving work on a spiritual level; not only are we lifted from the pit of despair, but our spiritual enemies flee before us. Just as evil spirits reacted when Jesus entered a synagogue or preached to a crowd or visited the caves of the possessed on the far side of Galilee, so they react to the adoration of a man or woman of faith who loudly exclaims the virtues of Almighty God. They stagger back in disarray and perish before the onslaught of truth and exaltation that puts the Lord on the throne in any situation, time or place. Praise and thanksgiving are hugely powerful weapons and underestimated. Just as mystical, religious exorcists shout out in the name of Jesus, so our praise and worship clear the ground like flamethrowers so that our enemies stumble and perish. A praising, thanks-based church or community will be powerful against its enemies.  V4   What is at the heart of our exclamations of praise? God is on our side!

Psalm 9:1-2  The sound of music   This Song of Praise begins with thanksgiving to the Lord which is at once both personal and public. It comes from the heart, from the seat of David’s emotions and his soul but it becomes a public proclamation where he must tell of the wonderful deeds of the Lord, probably at the Temple site. David has concluded that, however dark the circumstances, he will be glad, he will rejoice in the Lord, he will sing the praises of the name of the Most High. It is not just a question of will-power but also of faith.  King David was a complex man but also a man after God’s heart. Many of his songs speak openly of his woes, his fears and his distress but it seems that he never forgets, however dark the oppression may be, to praise the Lord and to give thanks for all that He has done. David has learned the profound lesson that praise and thanksgiving to God is one of the most powerful weapons that we possess. On this earth we are surrounded by sinister foes,

Psalm8:9    How Majestic You are     There are special moments in time when the past seems to be calling to us; sweet, evocative moments of innocence that seem to be echoes of memories lost. Maybe that wistful sentimentality that the song of a bird, or the gentle breeze, a beautiful scene or a descriptive passage of music evokes, resonates back to the Garden of Eden itself. But what if these flashes of longing are not just of a fleeting memory that lingers from the past, but an anticipation of something glorious to come?  What if they are pointers, precedents of the longing for liberation that our Creator has planted within us?  It is as if nature is beckoning, assuring us that all creation craves for that day of redemption and liberation. May that yearning provoke not sadness but hopeful anticipation as we give thanks to Him who has called us and who tasted death for everyone.  100 Billion X by Hillsong God of creation There at the start Before the beginning of time With no

Psalm 8:6-8    He reigns!               The subjection of creation to the rule of man will be absolute and complete.  There will be no creature, no spiritual or physical being that will not be in submission.  It seems that this era of compliance with the rule of God can only be the much-heralded administration that will come to the earth when Christ returns to reign with His people; this great hope of the church is described in prophecy as a millennium of peace.  At that time there will be no crime, no armies, no prisons and no arms manufacturers, the world will experience, for a while, the government that God always intended and in that sense it will be mankind’s finest hour. However, that is to come, indeed what we see at present is the very opposite! The eye of faith is a wonderful thing.  When the storm clouds of trouble gather on the horizon or the persistent wind of suffering begins to blow, the eye of faith looks through and beyond to a different place.  The Christian b

Psalm 8:5      L ower than angels?       This verse takes us back to the place of angels in the scheme of things and we are told that mankind is a little lower in status than the heavenly beings; although some think that the original meaning is that man is a little lower than the angels “for a little while”. In truth both of these connotations are correct for human beings are temporarily lower in status than the heavenly beings. However, God’s purpose has always been to crown man with  glory and honour and to put everything under his feet.  There is no point in pretending that this has happened; rather than exercising leadership and sovereignty, mankind is in slavery to sin; historically human power and authority have too often led to bloodshed, repression and tyranny. That is the outcome of having rulers who rule without God, who will not subject themselves to God, who rule by suppression instead of liberation, who use fear and abuse as tools of authority instead of compassion and

Psalm 8:4   What is man?            Now let us turn to the parallel Scripture in Hebrews 2:5-9.  It is not to angels that He has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking.  But there is a place where someone has testified: “What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honour and put everything under his feet.” In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honour because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. Having extolled the virtues of Christ who is far above the angels, the writer of Hebrews turns to the role and place of man in God’s scheme of things.   The context is  the world to come , and the correct interpretation of this phrase

Psalm 8:4    Contractual obligations!  It takes only a few seconds to be wowed by a night sky in all its glory; however not only do we see the majesty of God but also the insignificance of man. We are just a fleeting breath, a breeze that ruffles the landscape for a second or two, here today and gone tomorrow. How is that such a mighty God should care about us – about me? The text that follows can be taken to describe the authority given to man to rule planet earth but also taken further to describe the authority given to the man Jesus Christ who will be empowered to restore the earth to its fullest glory. This latter train of thought is described in Hebrews chapter 2 and we need to look at both interpretations. [We will look at Hebrews in the next blog.] The contractual power given to mankind is described in Genesis 1:26-30. It is not unlike a lease where the owner and landlord, who is Almighty God, contracts with His tenants to inhabit and manage His property. Here are the Ter

Psalm 8:3    T he finger of God        David now moves from the praises of infants and children to consider the wonders revealed in the heavens.     The Satan has manipulated the minds of countless individuals and cultures to worship the sun and the moon and the stars. These objects have inspired cults, demon worship, idolatry and obsessive superstitions since man’s time began. We are called to look up at them and see only the work of the fingers of Almighty God; that’s all it takes, just a finger writing in the skies and the billions of stars and galaxies were formed.     Jesus drove out demons by the finger of God (Luke 11:20), it is as if God paints a picture in the skies with His finger and but He also points at the enemy and neither can resist Him. His finger instigates acts of creative power but also spiritual authority. We do well here, to remember again, because they have already been quoted, Paul’s words in Romans 1:20   “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible

Psalm 8:2      Continued                     The only writer who I could find who had even begun to understand what this Psalm is saying was Charles Spurgeon, I love his words: - "Aha! Aha! O adversary! To be overcome by behemoth or leviathan might make thee angry; but to be smitten out of infants' mouths causes thee to bite the dust in utter dishonor. Thou art sore broken, now that 'out of the mouth of babes and sucklings' thou art put to shame." (Spurgeon) The Satan has hit back with an insidious attack on the human race in our lifetime. He has destroyed countless numbers of little children before they are born. His most evil weapon, abortion, has prevented millions from having the opportunity to sing their songs of praise. This is one of the greatest reasons why the evil of this present age surpasses anything that has occurred before. Unborn babies have no rights and no human protectors, yet while their praise may not be heard on earth it is certainly

Psalm 8:2     Praising children               And so we come to one of the most extraordinary verses in the whole Bible! It has to be written down in the text so we can see it! Verse 2,  “Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.” This incredible statement is like a stew pot bubbling with richness and flavour. While the arrogant adults of this world are pursuing their latest theories to denounce God, their children are singing His praise! While educated men and women proudly proclaim, “There is no God”, their little infants are gurgling with joy in His presence. I pushed my two year old grandson backwards and forwards on a swing at a village park recently. It was a marathon effort because he didn’t want it to stop, even after nearly an hour had passed. For most of that time he sang at the top of his voice and he sang his own language – a language of uninhibited joy. Behind him stood an e

Psalm 8:1    T he Majestic Name       The Hebrew word for Lord is a four-letter word (tetragrammaton) that was not used in normal conversation for it was considered too sacred. The Hebrew language did not include vowels (in fact Hebrew newspapers today still use just consonants) and so YHWH became the name of the LORD. It was probably pronounced Yah’weh. It literally means, “I was, I AM, I always will be.” David has written this beautiful Psalm, loved and memorized by many, as an exaltation of the power and glory of the name of the Lord throughout the earth. So far as God is concerned, everything is in the name. It is indeed sacred but just as He is THE LORD, He is also OUR LORD! His name is glorified and worshipped throughout the entire earth, it is only man who refuses to acknowledge Him. Even creation knows who its Maker is and offers praise and glory, for created things are not part of the moral universe. Every unfolding flower bud, every birdsong, every rustling leaf reflec

Psalm7:17      Give thanks                    I don’t know about you but thoughts of God’s wrath cause me to stop and consider my own walk and to earnestly seek to earn God’s favour not His judgements. We know, of course, that through Christ Jesus the wrath of God has been appeased at the cross. The songwriter Stuart Townend expresses this so well: - In Christ alone! - who took on flesh, Fullness of God in helpless babe. This gift of love and righteousness, Scorned by the ones He came to save Till on that cross as Jesus died, The wrath of God was satisfied For every sin on Him was laid Here in the death of Christ I live. The Psalm writer David must have caught a fragrant whiff of this truth for at the end of his song he is able to say, with us,  “I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High.”  Can we fully appreciate this incredible truth that, because of Jesus, we will not bear the punishment for ou

Psalm 7:14-16    Reap what you sow          We have a saying that “crime does not pay!” These verses remind us that this is not a new concept, it was equally true 1,000 years BC because, of course, human nature never changes. The interesting parallel here is between the wrath and judgements of God described in verses 11-13 and the consequences of evil activity in these next few verses of the Psalm. It seems that David is making a link here, he is effectively saying that God’s judgement is present and immediate, that part of its outworking is in the lives of those who pursue evil. We prefer to think that God’s judgement is only future and that we can distance ourselves from it. What a fearful thing to see our fellow men suffering under judgement brought about their sinful actions but appropriated by a righteous, relentless God who “displays his wrath every day.” In this scenario wicked men and women, driven by their satanic master cause trouble, disillusionment, despair, falsehood and

Psalm 7:10-13  The armour of God is God's armour!      What is noticeable here is the correlation between these verses and the armour of God described by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 6. As mentioned above, we have the shield in v10 and additionally a sharpened sword in v12 and flaming arrows in v13. This righteous, holy, angry God is not a pacifist nor is He inactive, rather His wrath is vented against all who rebel and who are wicked. There is still room for God to relent v12, for who can predict His ways or His vengeance? The sword that proceeds from the mouth of God is His Word in the New Testament and just as the Satan’s fiery arrows are very often words and thoughts that assail us, so God’s words and thoughts assail His enemies. We very often forget the power that His words possess; if God speaks it is irrefutable. When God says, “Let there be light”, there is light! Woe betide anyone or anything that comes under the force of His words. The image of God Almighty bending

Psalm 7:10-11 The anger of God        In Ephesians 6:16 Paul exhorts his readers to “ take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”   This was not really an original thought because David had written about this shield centuries earlier. There is no doubting the kind of warfare that Paul was engaged in, it was spiritual, and it was relentless. When we are assailed by enemy arrows, we MUST hold up our Shield of Faith. That shield is the absolute conviction that God Most High is with us, He is our defence and beyond that shield no enemy arrows can go, it is impenetrable.  If our cause and our conscience is upright, then the righteous God WILL judge rightly, and we need not fear the opponent.  It is worth noting that God’s judgement is not some intended arbitration stored in His memory bank for future reference.  God displays His wrath every day.  This is a good moment to stop and consider the wrath or anger of God.  Firstly, i

Psalm7:9        God is not fooled!           There are many places in our world today where wickedness seems to triumph and where innocent people are being persecuted and abused.  If we have any compassion for our fellow men surely the words of v9 should be our heart cry.  These pleas do not fall on deaf ears, God hears and will answer, maybe all He is waiting for is someone to ask!  What if the greater problem is, that nobody cares?   Note also that it is not just the actions of wicked men and women that are being watched by the Almighty.  In human Law Courts it is the deeds of the wicked that are ascertained and eventually judged.  Our laws are based on what is seen and heard and can be testified to by witnesses.  God’s judgement takes in the minds and hearts of the wicked; He knows their intentions and their motivation. That is why His justice is absolutely fair and right, you cannot fool One who knows every thought and inclination of our hearts. It is so easy for people to du

Psalm7:7-8      Let the Lord be the judge     There is a suggestion here that the kingship of David is under threat, that maybe his enemies have grasped the throne?  These verses are an appeal for the people to gather before the throne of God and to come under His sovereign rule. He begs for the Lord to sit upon His throne of Judgement and bring about justice.  We can sense the longing in David’s heart for the time to come when wrongs will be righted and he can declare his integrity to all. How frustrating it must have been for him to wait and wait to be vindicated and to assert his rightful position as king.   Have you been in a helpless place where your authority has been over-ruled, where your position has been given to another less able or someone has been promoted or elevated when you know full well that it’s all a “fix.” There are other times in life, for the believer, when we have stood up for truth and integrity and yet find ourselves judged for our position. We look into

Psalm 7:6       Awake, my God!            Now David starts to get angry, the injustice of it all, this is so unfair.  “Arise, Lord, in your anger: rise up against the rage of my enemies.”  Let’s stop here for a moment.  Where do we go for justice?  Who do we appeal to when wronged?  Is the first thought one of revenge against our enemies?  Do we plan a campaign of retribution?  What happens if our adversaries are hidden or we are in fear of our lives?  Even worse, what do we do when we know that the devil himself has master-minded the attack? Surely, we should learn from David, whatever the circumstances and the root cause of our anguish let us take it to the Lord and ask Him to silence the offenders, for we have right on our side.  However, the tone of this plea suggests that David is getting impatient; why isn’t God acting? Why is it taking so long? Wake up Lord and sort this out because right now my enemies seem to be winning.  Dare we appeal to God in this way? Are our plat

Psalm 7:3-5     Clean hands               David’s only appeal is to God Almighty and in Him David takes refuge and seeks deliverance.  It is often the case that when one person accuses us, it feels like the whole world is against us!  If the Satan is behind the accusations, we can be sure that he will twist them to lead us to believe that they come from more than one source. One individual can make a negative or threatening comment and we immediately assume that all their friends and associates are in on it and concur with them! This is a common tactic used against us by our enemy.  The true cause however, of David’s distress, is the lies that have been told about him.  He comes before the Lord with his hands open and pleads innocence; he will even accept death by his enemy if he is guilty of any ill doing.   Thank God that when the accusations rage and the lies circulate we can stand before the Judge of all men and plead our case.   If our conscience is guilt-free then we know