Daily Meditations

Psalm 29:5 Breaking the cedars!      In ancient times one of the most powerful symbols of strength and durability were the cedars of Lebanon. Their height and circumference were unprecedented in the plant world and these great trees were viewed with awe. They still grow in abundance in Lebanon today and they still have a sense of majesty and timelessness. The wood of the cedar was highly prized for the building of temples and palaces. If you had travelled through Israel or came from the east and the wilderness lands you would have seen acacias and sycamores and dates and olives, even oaks, but there was nothing so grand as the cedars of Lebanon.  In the light of the symbolism and power of the mighty cedars and the respect in which they were held, the words of David in this verse make more sense. He is effectively saying that the strength of these great trees is no match for the voice of Almighty God. All God has to do is speak and the cedars of Lebanon will break into pieces. There was

Psalm 29:4   Listen for His voice! Well, we’ve all met people with powerful voices, haven’t we? Some opera singers or rock singers barely need a microphone, you can hear them metres away. But, who has a voice so powerful that when He speaks the whole world hears Him? Imagine being able to shout a command and people the other side of the world hear it. When our God chooses to, He speaks and all creation listens. When our God speaks every living thing trembles. The amazing thing is that God does not have to shout! When He speaks it is very often a gentle whisper, but the word is so potent that it feels like everyone on the planet must have heard it. The Lord God is also persistent, if we choose to ignore Him the first time we can be sure He will repeat the message. Eventually, we have to stop and listen and take stock and choose whether or not we are going to obey. It’s funny how we can love and fear that voice, all at the same time!   No only so, but this is a majestic voice, not some d

Psalm 29:3  My God did it all!      Job wrote, “ God’s voice thunders in marvellous ways; He does great things beyond our understanding.”  Job 37:5. There are educated, superior minds out there who would laugh at the simplistic faith of those who attribute nature’s powerful acts to the gods! They would especially mock those who believe there is one God, who is creator of all things and who has the whole world in His hands. The truth is however, that mankind does not really have a clue about how nature works, about the sun and the moon and the atmosphere and the heavens and the galaxies and the mysteries of the oceans and created life and seasons and time and space. Our sophisticated knowledge is merely scratching at the surface of the intricate processes that made all things and that holds them together; so the Psalm reminds us that when the mighty voice of our God spoke over the waters land appeared and oceans were divided from sky. When God spoke, the Red Sea parted and the Jordan di

Psalm 29:2   “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name.”        Think about this phrase…… Is it possible to give to God the glory that His name is due? How do we do it? Sing Him a song? Read Him a prayer? Go to a church service? Or, lay down our lives completely at His feet and submit in awe and wonder? “You are God and I fall down before You.” The word “worship” in this verse literally means to “bow down.” It speaks of subservience, of recognising His greatness and our own poverty. We bow down in humility and honour before One who is so much greater than we are and who is worthy of our complete respect. We let go of self completely and throw ourselves on His mercy. The second part of the verse gives us a clue what is in David’s mind; translated literally it says,  “Worship the Lord in the adornment of holiness.”  When the Levitical priests went to work it was not in jeans and a t-shirt! They were required to robe themselves in fine white linen garments that had been set apart for th

Psalm 29:1  Give to the Lord       This Psalm is a song of praise to the King of all creation.  In this Psalm we are about to discover that the voice of the Lord is speaking out everywhere; the problem with mankind is that our senses are dulled or we choose not to hear what creation is telling us. This is a thrilling song and it starts – in heaven! It is from heaven that our Father first spoke,  “Let there be light.”  It was from heaven that our Father devised a plan to create a beautiful world and to visit it in the form of His Son. The voice of our Father is the Word of our Father and yes, everything trembles when He speaks for nothing can withstand the power and authority of His voice.    V1        1 Chronicles 16:7-36 sets down the anthem of praise that David wrote for Asaph (the chief musician) and all who would serve in the Tabernacle in Jerusalem. This great anthem uses the word “ascribe” a great deal. It simply means “give.”  Give to the Lord, the glory, the honour, the credit

Psalm 28:9b   Be my shepherd      Our Psalm ends on what seems to be a sentimental note. David, having asked that the Lord God will save His people and bless His inheritance, now has a final request. “ Be their shepherd and carry them forever.”  In 2 Samuel 5:1-3 we read that all Israel came together to anoint David as their king, at Hebron. They believed that he had been appointed by God to be their shepherd or ruler. But David had already admitted his dependence on another shepherd –  “The Lord is my Shepherd.”  In other words, he is setting out a chain of command; he doesn’t mind being the shepherd of Israel so long as he is being shepherded himself by the Lord God. The problem with so many leaders is that they think the buck stops with them and that they are not accountable. David’s success was founded on the premise that he was merely a go-between, that there was a higher authority and that he could do the job so long as the Lord was with him. That thought needs to guide every chu

Psalm 28:9a   Bless Your inheritance   The one pro-active verb that crops up through all of Scripture and that best describes God’s dealings with the human race is “He saves.” From the beginning of time when Adam and Eve were first lured away from God through disobedience, He has been in the salvation business. He has saved individuals and He has saved a nation time and again – Israel. He sent His Son to save us all and He called Him Jesus,  “For He shall save His people from their sins.”  God is intent on saving us from the wrath to come and those who are saved, His church, are tasked with taking the good news of His salvation to those who are unsafe. The Lord God is all about salvation.  “Lord save Your people”  cries David,  “and bless Your inheritance.”  The inheritance then was Israel, today it is all who believe and who are saved from sin and judgement.  After salvation the word that best describes God’s dealings with mankind is blessing. The word suggests a favour or gift from G

Psalm 28:8   You are my fortress      When I started these mediations in the Psalms it was with the intention of learning more about spiritual warfare. A brief reading of some of David’s writings had convinced me that there was a definite parallel between the enemies that he fought and the spiritual battles that we undergo. And so it has proved. The opposition tactics are the same, the weapons have the same effect, the nature of the conflict between David and his earthly opponents is a mirror of the spiritual warfare that is the calling of the Christian soldier. The surprise factor in all of this, is not the offensive side of the battle but the defensive. I had not realised how well protected we are. In fact, the defences are well-nigh impregnable unless the Lord allows us to be strategically embroiled in offensive warfare or we are daft enough to put ourselves in the firing line! This verse highlights the nature of the security forces around us; “ the Lord is our strength and He is a

Psalm 28:7   The Lord is my strength and shield      There are no words to describe the sense of well-being that comes from knowing that the Lord is helping us. How often has our physical energy been depleted and the tanks are on empty? How often have we been faced by an impossible situation and have had no idea what to do? How often has the spiritual battle been so intense that we cannot stand and we sink to our knees in desperation? How often have we confronted illness, depression, despair, confusion, anxiety and all the other negative experiences common to man? How often have we, like David, cried out in anguish and suddenly the way becomes clear, our eyes are opened, the enemy beats a retreat and the clouds are lifted? As such times we can and should proclaim,  “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and He helps me.”  This is the story we have to tell; God is our Helper, the Lord is our strength and our shield. One of these is proactive and the other is def

Psalm 28:6   He has heard!      And now, suddenly, the whole nature of this Psalm changes. David has voiced his complaints, he has passed the buck, he has got it all off his chest and, if his faith means anything, he should now be able to “move on.” He does more than move on, he breaks into a proclamation of praise to the Lord who has heard his requests. It is so easy to keep on praying the same old prayers, with the same old complaints and the same old, weary diatribes against those who would harm us. If faith means anything at all, we have to come to the point that David has reached here, when we realise that the Lord has heard. Our complaints have been registered. There is nothing more to say. The Lord heard, therefore, “Praise be to the Lord!” All prayer should eventually lead us to the place of praise and wonder. The whole point of prayer is to bring our requests to a far greater Being and believe that He has heard us. Why would He not hear? He is not deaf to our needs; He knows t

Psalm 28:5   Torn down forever      This is the last part of David’s prayer before he moves on to praise. He is still seething with resentment at the behaviour of the wicked and seeking justice for their evil actions. One characteristic of the wicked is their rejection of all that God has done. In our day and age, they reject His creation of a beautiful world and solar system. They reject His dealings with Israel. They reject the gift of His Son Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for sin. They reject His moral laws and His commandments. They reject His intervention in human history and the way He has blessed the nations. They reject His written Word and they reject His church. They reject all godly men and women and they reject His warnings about the future. I’m afraid that little has changed in 3,000 years and the Lord will ultimately deal with the wicked in the ways described by David. Israel today is littered with the remains of ancient cultures and cities, places like Capernaum, Masada, T

Psalm 28:4 The Lord will repay      It doesn’t sit well with us does it; this calling down of curses on our enemies, this pleading with God to bring about restitution and to punish those who have harmed us? Surely Jesus taught that we should pray for our enemies and that we should turn the other cheek? After all, He died for His enemies and He asked God to forgive those who crucified Him because they didn’t know what they were doing!  God is never contradictory, His ways are just and true, if there appears to be a contradiction it is usually because we have not grasped what is really being said. I believe that to be the case here. David is not suggesting that we should avenge ourselves when we are wronged, but he is asking that the Lord God will deal justly with those who have wronged us. After all, the Scripture says of the Lord, “ It is mine to avenge, I will repay.”  Deut 32:35. We do have the right, as redeemed believers, to appeal to the Judge of all men, who is also our Father, t

  Psalm 28:3   Those who harbour malice Come to think of it, the most often-used weapon against David was the tongue! Rarely do we read in the Psalms of swords and spears and bows and arrows, but malicious talk and deceit and evil accusations are regularly encountered. And our beleaguered Psalm writer does not want to be one of those people who condemns others and who constantly speaks evil of them.   “Don’t let me be dragged away with them. I don’t want to be numbered with those who do evil” writes David. There is a particular kind of evil speaking mentioned here; those who charm and talk to us like a friend but in their hearts are plotting harm. There is nothing more cruel than spite, meanness and sheer nastiness hiding behind a smile and a cheery face. As Christians our hearts and our words and our demeanour should be married together as one, we present to the world the face that reflects the heart. Some people are incredibly adept at saying one thing but meaning another. “Lord keep

Psalm 28:2   Lift up your hands                 David provides us here with a brief picture of his attitude in prayer. Here is a desperate man turning to His God with cries for mercy and for deliverance. Firstly, notice that He turns towards the Most Holy Place. We all know that this is the inner sanctum of the Tent of Meeting, the Tabernacle, later to become the Temple. Presumably David would visit the site on a daily basis and would stand before the Tent of Meeting to make his pleas. Even if he prayed at a distance, it seems that he turned to face the place where Almighty God had His throne on earth. Do we need to do this? After all, many church sites are visited by pilgrims and believers who bow to an altar and face the east as they pray. However, Jesus talked of the Holy Spirit of God being both with us and in us, and it seems that the early Christian church abandoned places and buildings and worshipped and prayed anywhere and everywhere.  The other characteristic of David’s prayer

Psalm 28:1   Please don't ignore me      We have speculated before about the timing of many of David’s Psalms and the precise moments in time when he called out for help and deliverance. It seems that this great man had a number of life-threatening experiences where he had no other resort than to cry out to the Lord. On most of these occasions the trouble seems to be deadly and caused by human persecutors – those who were intent on ending his life. Of course, there have been Christian men and women who have faced similar circumstances and who have succumbed to death threats and eventual martyrdom; there are many who are being persecuted for their faith even today and whose existence is in peril because of human enemies. Even if we do not face similar dilemmas, we are still engaged in a battle, one that has now been mentioned many times on our journey through these Psalms. The Satan [described thus, as you will remember, because Satan is not a proper noun it is an adjective that mea

Psalm 27:14   Wait!      I write this on January 1 st  2020 – a New Year – a New decade. This is the verse the Lord asks me to dwell upon.  “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”  But Lord I have lots of plans and am anxious to get moving.  “Wait”.  But Lord the church is in a bit of a slump and we need to set new goals for the decade ahead.  “Wait.”  But Lord I want to write books and set up teaching seminars and work on blogs and spread the truth of Your Word.  “Wait.”   But Lord I hate waiting, I’m a doer, I’m someone who gets things moving and is full of ideas.  “Wait. Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”  OK, Lord but don’t take too long about it! Are you like me? The waiting game is the hardest of all isn’t it? But in waiting we renew our strength and we learn to depend not on our own ideas but on His power. A few seconds of the Lord’s intervention and our lives are changed forever. So, take heart, join with me and let’s wait and see what

Psalm 27:13 The goodness of the Lord      This is a good text to memorise, it’s full of positivity! Forget the “10 steps to thinking positively” and their like, that are promoted by the booksellers, and instead put your trust in the Lord God who keeps His word. What was the  “goodness of the Lord”  that David hoped to see? 2 Samuel 7 gives us a good idea for in that chapter the king prays to the Lord and give thanks for all that has been done and will be done. There are two dominant themes: - firstly that David’s house and line will be established forever, as the Lord had promised. We know, of course, that this happened, and that Messiah came from the house and lineage of David, for both Mary and Joseph could trace their ancestry back to the great king. It is an intriguing thought that the earthly “parents” of the Lord Jesus might, in different circumstances, have been members of the royal family! The other promise was that the Lord would build a house for David, knowing that David lon

Psalm 27:12 False accusations      One of the hardest things to live with, as a Christian is false accusations. I mean, some people deserve what is said about them and others revel in creating mayhem and enjoy the pernicious finger-pointing that follows them. But we follow Jesus, our aim is to give a good account of ourselves, to lead blameless lives, to be free of allegations by walking the path of holiness. That is why the accusations, if they do arise, are particularly hurtful. The Satan, of course, knows all of this, so he will be intent on causing as much trouble as possible and if he can smear a few Godly characters by some false charges then, let’s be in no doubt, he will do it. Some Christians know this and if they have a bit of scandal somewhere in their past, they lie low and keep out of the limelight. But we are meant to be fighting men and women who are prepared to step out of the shadows, that’s why the enemy uses fear and intimidation. That is why we must pray like David,

Psalm 27:11   Equipped to travel      I have to confess to having a love of maps, especially Ordinance Survey Maps! There was a joke in the family that when we went on holiday, Geoff had already been to the destination, before we arrived. He knew the best walks, where the footpaths went and where there were woods and streams and coastal paths etc. I liked to know the car route in advance and would carefully memorise road names and numbers, and plan ahead for stops if it was longer journey. This was long before Sat-Nav, (which I still very rarely use) became the “in” thing. I was teaching myself the way, which is fine if you are travelling by car or walking in the countryside, but what about our spiritual journeys? Do you think that it is possible to keep going in wild country or even on smooth carriageways without a guide? Of course not! This is hostile territory, rife with bandits and other hazards and yet many think they can make it on their own. As the Psalm says, we need the Lord t

Psalm 27:10   Accepted in the family      There must have been a time, in the middle of David’s troubles, when he hurried home to Bethlehem to see his parents and instead of acceptance he was turned away. We know that Jesse was David’s father and that Jesse married a woman who was previously the wife of an Ammonite king called Nahash. We also know that Nahash had two daughters called Abigail and Zeruiah so these were David’s half-sisters. Additionally, there were other brothers and sisters back home; in other words, life back in the family was complicated. No one knows the name of David’s mother, although he was descended from Ruth and Boaz – his great grandparents. David brothers were jealous of him and so it may well be that when he was running away from Saul and the royal family, allegiances at his parental home caused him to be rejected. How comforting it is to know, that even if we are not welcome in the natural family, we are welcome with the Lord. He never rejects us! He is our

Psalm 27:9   Do not hide Your face      The message of the Psalms is clear; there are times when the face of God seems to be hidden and there are times when His face can be discerned, albeit indistinctly. The hiding of God’s face is often associated with our sin and foolishness, however there can be times in life’s struggles when it feels as if God is a million miles away and we don’t know why. In Psalm 88:14 we read,  “Why, Lord, do you reject me and hide Your face from me?”  The inference is that there are occasions when we just don’t know why the Lord seems so distant. Oh, the sense of despair and emptiness as our devotional lives take a on a monotony and we plod along in the cold night of isolation! Then, inexplicably, we find ourselves back in the warmth of the sun and intimacy and blessing are rekindled. Perhaps that is the point of faith, if everything were rosy all of the time would we learn true dependence and stickability? The life of discipleship is not a sprint, it is a mar

Psalm 27:8   Seek His face      In 1 Chronicles 16 we read that David appointed Levites to minister before the Lord at the re-established Tabernacle at its new site in Jerusalem. Their ministry was   “to extol, thank and praise the Lord, the God of Israel.”   This was a new ministry, there is little evidence that such celebrations accompanied visitors to the Tabernacle in the wilderness, at the time of Moses. The chief musician and “worship leader” was Asaph who later went on to write a number of the Psalms. Asaph was undoubtedly a close friend of David and his confidante, a man who could be trusted with this sacred task. It’s worth reading David’s instructions, to Asaph and his associates, about praise and worship in 1 Chronicles 16:8-36, especially if you aspire to lead others in praise and worship! This group of musicians and singers were to ensure that music was continuously offered before the Lord so that the Tabernacle site became a place of joy and celebration as well as repenta

Psalm 27:7 Be merciful to me      This plaintive cry to be heard by the Lord, is a feature of David’s songs. Having danced with him in the sacred tent and rejoiced with him in the face of our enemies, we now better  understand his heart. How easy it is to still feel vulnerable and alone, to sense the might of the enemy and be anxious at the sheer size of the task ahead of us. I think it is ok to feel vulnerable, for one simple reason, it means that we must trust the Lord completely. The problems, the scale of the battle and the helplessness of our humanity are meant to throw us on the mercy of the Lord. It is one thing to dance and sing and rejoice in His presence but sooner or later we must step out and face the obstacles around us. That is when we look up to the Lord and cry,  “Be merciful to me and answer me.”   How often we have left the exhilaration of a celebration with God, be it alone or with a vast crowd. The joy and wonder of His presence have been overwhelming and filled us

Psalm 27:6   At His sacred tent      We should, by now, have got the picture! David is surrounded by enemies, vicious enemies, bloodthirsty men armed to the teeth who plan to destroy him. Their armour is ready, the soldiers are well equipped and battle hardened, all they await is the command to advance. Psalm 22:12 likens these armies to the bulls of Bashan.  Ancient Bashan was renowned for its forests and fertile grazing land and herds of cattle were bred there; there was no bull so powerful or great as a Bashan bull.  There is a sense of gloom and impending disaster in the air as the bulls loom over Israel. And where is David? He’s still at the Tabernacle, the sacred tent, and he is shouting for joy and singing and making music to the Lord!  This verse is a game-changer, it follows directly on from the security features of verse 5; the man who has hidden in the sacred tent and who stands on the rock will not be intimidated. His head will be exalted above the enemies who surround him.

Psalm 27:5   The solid rock       “For in the day of trouble He will keep me safe in His dwelling.”  The Tabernacle, after it was removed from Shiloh and brought by David to Jerusalem, was referred to at the time as the Tabernacle of David. He went to great trouble to track down the furniture and fittings that went into its construction, but it was not just the materials that were important, for David also re-established the worship of God centre stage in Israel. Later he would draw up the blueprint for a magnificent, permanent Temple, to be built by his son, Solomon. As we have seen, there is no question that the simple Tabernacle was at the heart of all that David achieved in his lifetime, for it was here that the Lord God dwelt and where David could reconnect with the faith of his ancestors and also meet with the Lord himself. I doubt that there was anything he achieved in his lifetime that was as important to him as this glorious construction with all of its significance to Israel.