Daily Meditations

Psalm 22:9-10   The true baby Jesus     This verse is yet another remarkable insight into the Messianic place that the Son of God would have in this world. Today we are allowed to take a glimpse of a very private and hidden part of Jesus’ life – His birth and early childhood! Yes, we all know about Bethlehem and the stable and the shepherds and the wise men, but what about the little baby boy held close to His mother’s breast? How did baby Jesus survive those early minutes, hours, days weeks, months and years of his time on earth? Birth is arguably the most vulnerable experience for all human beings although we know nothing about it! The dangers inherent in that journey from the womb into the world of independence are immense and yet very few fail to make it! Jesus Christ, the Son of God was that defenceless, tiny little child who came through the open door of Mary’s womb into a world full of hatred, rejection and unbelief. Even as He suckled at his mother’s bre...

Psalm 22:7-8    The mocking crowds      Following on from the previous, incredible, verse we now have described for us the very obvious rejection of Jesus by the crowds and onlookers who witnessed His crucifixion. In fact, that rejection extended to the vast crowds who had followed Him for three years, hanging on His every word and grabbing every opportunity to benefit from His miraculous powers. Where are they now, as He hangs on the stark Roman crucifix? Matthew 27:39-44 describes the scene;  “Those who passed by hurled insults at Him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who are going to destroy the Temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked Him. “He saved others,” they said, “Let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue Him now if He wants Him, for He...

Psalm 22:6   I am a worm      The meaning of this verse is so amazing that it’s only right to explain, in depth, what the Psalm is saying here. And I confess to copying a fair bit of this! T he Hebrew word for a worm is “rimmah,” which is defined as a maggot or a worm.  However, in this verse the word for “worm” is towla’ or tola’ath.  Strong’s Dictionary defines this word as:   a maggot;  the crimson-grub, but used only of the colour from it, and cloths dyed therewith:– crimson, scarlet, worm . So the word “tola’ath” used in verse 6  denotes not only a worm but also a crimson or scarlet worm that is common to the Middle East, predominantly in Israel.  It should be noted that crimson and scarlet are the colours of blood – a very deep, blackish red. And, in this crimson worm, we find a hidden meaning, of biblical significance. The Crimson Worm looks more like a grub than a worm. When the female crimso...

Psalm 22:4-5   God always comes good!     When the opposition uses deceit, lies, innuendo, twisted facts, half-truths and unsubstantiated rumours to undermine us, there is one weapon that cannot be broken. It is the impregnable juggernaut of fact! Too often we are so busy repelling the enemy arrows that we forget what it is we are standing on. The nasty little arrows cannot undermine our foundation and the incontrovertible history of truth that stand behind and beneath us. God has always been there, blessing the righteous, supporting His people, miraculously delivering them and protecting them. He is the great Deliverer and there are times when we have to deploy the solid defence of historic fact. No doubt our Lord Jesus did just this. He remembered the countless times that Almighty God had reached down and rescued His people, when they trusted and they were not put to shame. He could recall every moment and every event from the covenant with Abraham, to th...

Psalm 22:3   The Lord is enthroned     The Lord Jesus, through King David, teaches us a vital lesson here. In the midst of His anguish, His longing, His loneliness, He reminds Himself of the power and glory of God the Father. Deserted by heaven, forsaken and abandoned to fight with sin and the Satan’s forces alone; Jesus mentally reminds Himself of one incontrovertible fact – the Lord God is still enthroned as the Holy One and Israel praises Him. Even though it is Israel who have accused and condemned Him, and sanctioned His crucifixion, Jesus knows that there are men and women of faith, the true Israel, who still honour and worship the true God. Why did He need to stop and remind Himself of this fact? It was because He was suffering the taunts and provocation of the enemy, and you can be sure that every deception and lie conceivable was being thrown at Him. “Did God really say?” ‘Are you the Son of God?” “Save yourself.” Believe me, the mass of devious, sinister acc...

Psalm 22:2   How He must love us!          There is little recorded of the actual words of Jesus as He hung on that brutal Roman crucifix. This Psalm tells us what He cried in His soul. You will remember that He was crucified in the daytime but that there were 3 hours of darkness, Luke writes, “ It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining.”     Those long hours were a time of intense suffering, where the body of Jesus was contorted by the agony of the nails and the effort to breathe but no one can know what He suffered in His mind and deep in His soul. We talk of the “dark night of the soul” and some of us have been in harsh, lonely places where death seems like a relief! However, we can never know what it must be like to take upon ourselves the darkness, the pain, the misery and the guilt of all mankind. So much so that heaven had deserted Him. Our Lord had cri...

Psalm 22:1      Silence in heaven    This heart-rending cry from the cross recorded by Matthew 27:46 (in an Aramaic dialect) as “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani,” is familiar to so many and opens a window into the soul of the Lord Jesus as He approached the final few moments of His earthly life. At this point in the Calvary chronicle He had lost all contact with His Father and was utterly alone.  Father had always been there for Him, He could boast that whatever He said, whatever He did, it was Father working through Him, but now …… now He was alone. He must bear the anguish felt by all men and women who face the jaws of death without God, for Jesus must suffer in every way as we suffer. As He gazed into that darkness and understood the journey He must take, He did so, not out of ignorance or disobedience, but voluntarily so that He might taste death for everyone. The cries that came from His lips were heard but there was no response fro...

Psalm 22    The suffering Lamb      There is no song ever written that depicts the suffering of the Lamb of God quite like this one. It takes us into the depths of His physical, psychological and spiritual agonies and gives us a glimpse of the torments of the Cross, especially of what it meant to Christ to be cut off from His Father. It follows on from the scenes of triumph, in Psalm 21, as He entered heaven’s splendour, as if we need to be prepared for the suffering by first tasting the glory! Or is it possible that it was Christ Himself, who learned these Psalms as a child, who needed to learn the sweetness of victory before He could be educated about the darkness of Calvary?  Could David have directly endured some of the indignities and travails of this Psalm? In some ways it seems unlikely although there must have been an element of personal experience as he suffered the vicious attacks of enemies he had not even provoked. I think that David was ...

Psalm 21:12-13   We will sing and praise your might     We have encountered the bows of the Lord God before, notably in Psalm 18 where we discovered that He is equipped with two of them. The bow of God’s wrath that shoots arrows at His enemies and the multi-coloured bow of His blessing that fills the sky with promise and points to the heavens. Here, our eyes are drawn again to the bow that is strung and prepared for action. The arrows are pointed at the enemies of God who have plotted evil against Him and who planned to overthrow Him. It seems that it is not God they turn their backs on, but their own plans and their own co-conspirators and now they must face the judgement of an angry God.  Sin does not pay, atheism does not pay, plotting to outdo and outwit God does not pay. We are nothing, He is all things and those who treat Him like dirt will grovel in the dirt before Him. Just as love is an emotion and a characteristic of God that He has passed on to huma...

Psalm 21:10-11     He judges the nations!      The judgement of God is not just a personal thing, it is all embracing and all enveloping. These verses tell us a lot more about the extent of the judgement of God against sinners. One version translates v10 as follows,  “You will destroy their fruit from the earth and their seed from among the children of men.”  The judgement reaches out to material wealth, possessions and status in the community and it also affects human descendants. This is a fearful thing and not to be scoffed at. When God passes judgement, He does a proper job! The background to the Psalm has been the suffering and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. If we think that the Psalm writer is exaggerating somewhat, then think again. The men who judged and murdered the Son of God came from Israel and Italy. They were part of two ancient, thriving civilisations that lost all of their status, wealth and inheritance after the time of Chr...

Psalm 21:9   The fire of God!     The ferocious anger of God’s judgement described in this verse is enough to put many people off God altogether! We live in a tolerant society; we cannot entertain a God who would behave in such a way. Well those sentiments can be attributed mainly to people who don’t believe in God and who use any excuse to justify their reasons for dismissing Him.  What they forget is that God is Holy, we are a million miles away from Him in our sins and one day He must clean up this broken world and remove the wickedness that has so corrupted it. The converse of this is that we are so helpless and so sin-ridden that God, out of grace and love, decided to help us. The death of Christ was a merciful God taking the judgement of our sin upon Himself. He felt the pain and rejection of His own wrath!! Because of this we can draw near to Him, He loves us, He will forgive us, He welcomes us as children into His family. If we accept Jesus and beli...

Psalm 21:8   Triumphing over them by the cross       Let us be clear once again, the enemies of God and the enemies of Christ and the enemies of true believers are not flesh and blood. They may present themselves in human form and through human behaviour but the source of evil, the plotters and schemers, the armies of wickedness, the rulers and authorities and powers of this dark world are spiritual, and they operate from the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:10-12) As we have seen in earlier Psalms, their leader is Lucifer which means Morning Star or Son of the Dawn, in astrology – Venus. We call him Satan but that is incorrect for he does not have that name in the ancient Scriptures, he is “The Satan”, a description of his character, it means the liar, the deceiver, the accuser.  All of the idols and false religions of this world bear the stamp of the Satan, every arrogant world leader is in his pay, and much of our earthly culture is master-minded by ...

Psalm 21:7   We will not be shaken!      If prayer springs from need, then praise must follow deliverance. King David had learned that the amazing victories and successes granted him were not of his own doing. Whilst many had fallen at his side, whilst many had doubted his purpose and chances of prevailing, he had trusted in the Lord. The love of God Almighty had preserved and kept him and that was foremost in his mind as he wrote this beautiful song.  As we look at the suffering and the trials of the Lord Jesus we realise that He too, trusted in God Almighty. This was not trust in a creed or a set of beliefs, it was more than that, it was a deep emotional trust founded on a relationship that had never failed or waned. Jesus knew in the very depths of His being that His Father loved Him and therefore He would not be shaken.  It says much about the Father’s love, to be able to affirm that it is bigger and greater than all circumstances, even t...

Psalm 21:6   The party has started      Unending blessings eh? Well, the commentators argue about this one! Does it mean that the value of God’s blessings never fade – they last forever ,or does it mean those who know God will go on being blessed – forever? Or, better still, does it mean both? All I can say is this. Because I know the Lord my God, the only true God, I am blessed for ever and ever and ever! And to think that an ordinary country boy like me can draw near to the Almighty One and instead of fear of judgement and rejection I find the joy of acceptance. There is such joy in His presence, it cannot be explained. Neither can we explain what it means to be granted the favour of His presence, for once we have this all other blessings flow from it. Just think, today God Almighty grants you access, He requests your presence before Him and He calls you His child.  How can we begin to grasp how it must have felt for the Lord Jesus, as He approached the...

Psalm 21:5   To God be the glory!         It is a feature of the Psalms that when it comes to describing victory and glory and honour and splendour, all of the credit must be given to God Himself. David certainly accredited all his successes to God Almighty and this Psalm teaches us that Jesus does the same. Who was it who preserved His life in the grave? Who was it who raised Him back to life?  Who gave Him the victory over the enemies of sin and death and the devil?  It was God the Father working out His plan and purpose, through His Son, in keeping with His promises. The victories attained by Jesus at the cross came from God the Father. The glory now heaped upon Jesus comes from the Father too. The splendour and majesty accredited to Jesus were bestowed by the Father. We too cannot take credit for the victories we may have won in our lives. I have noted that athletes and in particular, footballers, often make some kind of ...

Psalm 21:4  He asked for life!!        What a statement now confronts us.  “He asked You for life, and You gave it to Him – length of days, for ever and ever. ” Remember that this Psalm is giving us a prophetic insight into the thoughts and words of the Lord Jesus as He faced His suffering and what lay beyond it. Jesus asked for life! As He wept and pleaded in the Garden of Gethsemane His prayer included the request that He might live. As He cried out on Calvary’s cruel cross,  “Father into Your hands, I commit my Spirit,”  He was trusting that Father would grant His request for life. As He breathed His last breath and let go of physical life, it was in anticipation that heaven would answer and that He would indeed be raised again on the third day as He had promised.  Almighty God did not abandon His Son to the grave; at the appointed time, somewhere in the early hours of that Resurrection Morning, the bruised and battered corps...

Psalm 21:3    A heavenly scene      It is hard for us to picture the scene, perhaps it was something like this?  The courts of heaven are silent as the myriads of angelic beings watch the Lord Jesus giving His final instructions to His disciples.  “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, ” He tells them.  “Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Two messengers are despatched to earth to comfort the disciples as Jesus literally takes off into the clouds. As He approaches the gates of the celestial city, God rises to meet Him with a warm greeting,  “Welcome my beloved Son.” Instead of a crown of thorns the Father places a crown of pure gold upon the head of His Son and heaven erupts,  “Wo...

Psalm 21:2   The heart's desire         I wonder what David’s heart’s desire was? Peace and security in the land? Peace in the royal family? The development of plans for the Temple in Jerusalem? Military victories? Somehow, as you read his writings, you get a sense that David longed for more than all of this.  He was grateful, of course, for all his earthly success, but there is the poignant longing in the Psalms of a man who wanted peace with God. And that peace comes when the battles of Psalm 20 are won, and the weary soldier may rest in the presence of the Lord and give thanks for His deliverance.  Our dear Lord Jesus fought the good fight, battled against demons and evil powers, faced the enemies of God and, with His help, won a great victory at the cross. But He desired to live, not to remain festering in a borrowed grave. His heart’s desire was to return to the throne room of God, as we saw in v1, and stand at His Father’s s...

Psalm 21:1   Joy unspeakable       What a song of joy this is, following on from Psalm 20 it celebrates the victories and ascendance of the king. No doubt, it was written to salute King David’s own triumphs BUT we will take it into the spiritual realm and read it as a celebration of the victory and exaltation of our King – King Jeshua, the Messiah, Jesus Christ the Lord. V1        What an opening! Our King, Jesus, rejoices in the strength of the Father and His joy knows no bounds as He recognises that all of His victories come from the Lord Most High. The life of Jesus on earth was not full of much joy was it? Long hours, demanding crowds, dull-witted disciples and the anger of the authorities were faced every day and then, always before Him, was the shadow of the cross.  A shadow that lengthened and darkened His path as the weeks and months passed. And yet we read, in Hebrews 12:2,  “For the joy set bef...

Psalm 20:9    Give victory to the king.        Who is the King? “My King is Jesus.” Who is your King? May God give Him victory. A victory that is promised, that is prophesied, that is declared from heaven, that is written in the Scriptures. May He ride valiantly to the rescue of this world and claim victory over all His enemies. What a day that will be and when you think about it, who else can we hope in? Who else can defeat sin and death and the Satan? Only Jesus, only He can do this. And so to the last plaintive cry of the Psalm writer who was himself an earthly king;  “Answer us when we call.”  This is not the polite prayer request of “God bless us all” or part of the oft-repeated  liturgical mantras heard in so many churches. This is the heart cry of the beleaguered soldier awaiting the coming King. And He is coming! Oh Lord, this world is so full of darkness and despair. We cry out to You for help and for hope. Surrounded by...

Psalm 20:8   Stand firm        Oh what a declaration of victory this is! The wicked, the deniers of God, the disobedient and faithless, the legions of the Satan will be brought to their knees in submission and deference, they are the fallen. But we, those who trust in the Lord God Almighty, the chosen and the righteous, those who have been faithful and true, we rise up and stand firm! When sin is exposed, when lies, murder and hatred are uncovered there is no escape from the burning light of truth and the deeds of those who have perpetrated darkness will be laid bare. The weak and poor, who have stumbled but remained faithful will rise to their feet and be held in the loving embrace of the Lord. This verse reminds me so much of Isaiah’s beautiful words found in Isaiah 40:31; “ Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar of wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”  If we are n...

Psalm 20:7   Our God is a great big God!      Oh, isn’t it always the way of men, from the school playground to the heights of Office they boast, “My dad is bigger than your dad.” “My weapons are more powerful than your weapons.” The history of our world has been dominated by nations and rulers who have sought to overcome or suppress their neighbours by the strength of their armoury. The past 70 years have seen the development and stockpiling or weapons that could blow us all sky high in seconds and the most powerful nations are the ones who have the nuclear, chemical and biological ability to threaten and dictate to the rest of us. What a sad indictment of humanity! And who do you think is behind it all? Who has plotted to destroy the beautiful world that our God created? The Satan. Who made life instead of death? Who promoted love instead of domination and destruction? Who works through grace and mercy rather than bullying and dictatorship? Our God does! Let...

Psalm 20:6   Anointed by God      This is a declaration of faith based on experience. Sometimes faith demands that we leap into the dark. Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as being,  “Confident in what we hope for and having assurance about what we do not see.”  Saving faith, life-changing faith urges us to embrace the unknown and to move out of our comfort zones into an uncertain future but with the knowledge that the Lord is with us and will not fail us. However, there are times when we reflect on our experience of faith and wonder at how things turned out. Then we can say, “Now I know!” In this instance David has bravely followed the Lord’s leading and faced his enemies with faith, he has prevailed, the battle is won, and his ecstatic heart cry is;  “Now I know: The Lord gives victory to His anointed.” There is no question that David was anointed, not just by Samuel before he became king, but also by the Lord God Almighty. I love the first verse of ...

Psalm 20:5    Raising our banners       Have you been in a football crowd when the home team scores, or at an athletics event, or some other sporting experience when everyone jumps to their feet with joy? Joy can be an individual thing but it is best expressed corporately, it is infectious and inspiring when it is shared with others. How often do we shout for joy at the victory of our God and the victory of the Lamb? Is there corporate joy in our churches when the Lord prevails and victory against the enemy is won?  The Christian faith was NEVER meant to be experienced privately or personally, we are born into a body, placed in a family; the church becomes our household and here we laugh and cry together and share the highs and lows of the journey.  The church is also a place to lift up our banners! This literally means flag waving but of a particular kind. If you read Numbers 1:52 you will find that Moses has been instructed by t...

Psalm 20:4   Hopes and dreams         This is a much-used verse for it confers a special blessing on individuals and can be passed on to others that they too may enjoy its positive expectations. Who would not want this blessing to become a reality for family and friends and members of the body of Christ?    However, maybe it should not be used too lightly! There comes a point, in the spiritual journey of godly men and women, where their desires change. It is, perhaps, normal for young people to be ambitious and eager to make a difference. When we are young we want to marry the right person, have a family, prosper in our work, have our own home and possessions and be “looked up to” if only for our achievements. These desires are common to all and it is rare to find younger people who have different desires, to honour God, to see His name and His kingdom prosper above all else. It is only when we have either achieved our earthly goals or maybe realise...

Psalm 20:3a   Sacrifices and offerings      Just a bit more about sacrifices and offerings! In Philippians 4:18 the Apostle Paul talks about fragrant offerings and acceptable sacrifices, pleasing to God. In this case it was a financial offering. Romans 12:1 talks of bodies offered to God as living sacrifices and these voluntary acts are described as true and proper worship.  Hebrews 13:15-16 also refers to a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that openly profess His name. Doing good and sharing with others are also deemed to be pleasing sacrifices. It is clear from all of these verses that though we may not queue up at a Temple to make our grain and burnt offerings, we may still offer voluntary acts of worship and devotion that are noted and remembered in heaven! Look at the list just in these verses: - ·        Financial giving is a pleasing sacrifice to God ·        Offering our bod...