Daily Meditations

Psalm 36:7 Love and wings! The unfailing love of the Lord is a big subject in the Scriptures. There is a word in Hebrew that describes this – “Hesed”. It is love that exists in an established relationship. It is love that is all-embracing and that never fails. It can exist between people but it is used, more often, to describe the love between God and man. It is a love that can be relied upon in times when we are struggling and need help. It is a love that embraces many other facets of God’s personality - His kindness, His mercy and, here in this verse, His faithfulness. The faithfulness of the Lord God is founded upon His love for us. It is the love of a God who promises to provide  and care for His people, who makes Covenants to express His intent and who then keeps His word, no matter what.  That is the unfailing love of God and David makes a point of telling us that he is ever mindful of it. In other words, he never doubts that God is at work, and God is working because of love for

Psalm 36:6 The vastness of God Don’t you love Bible verses that try to give us some appreciation of the immensity of our God? It’s the sheer vastness of His character, His attributes, His abilities that make us gasp with wonder. In this verse we are told that His righteousness is like the highest mountains. Picturesque language, I know, but David is striving to use a picture that will help us to see just how amazing is the holiness and perfection of the Lord our God. Mount Everest, K2, Kilimanjaro, Fuji, Jungfrau you name them, they are mighty peaks but as we stand and stare in awe we should be reminded of the mighty peak of the righteousness of God. It towers over the sinful morality of earth, it stands out against the heavens with its immensity, it is a solid foundation. It puts into the shade all the attempts of men and their religions to create standards of truth and morality. Our God is a great big mountain and His laws and rules are the very best footing we can ever build upon. A

Psalm 36:5 Infinite love This is a beautiful verse of Scripture and well worth memorising. Imagine yourself on a vast ocean, or atop mountain or in a wilderness place and looking up to the heavens with no light pollution. You are allowed to peer through the clouds and the blue-reflected heavens to the millions of galaxies that lay beyond, the vast expanse of the universe is all around you. The love of the Lord is as great as that; it has no horizons, it has no limits, it reaches to the far-flung corners of our galaxy and way beyond. In so doing, everything on earth is embraced by that love, it cannot be escaped, it can be measured, it is the very air that we breathe. The faithfulness of the Lord is no less extraordinary. The heavens and the skies declare His love and faithfulness. We still know so little about the heavenly worlds, man has only visited the moon and that is on our doorstep. What lies beyond should be chaotic and yet it is anything but. There are stars and suns and planet

Psalm 36:4 Bedtime! I wonder what you think about on your bed? Do you have some kind of fantasy that indulges you? Maybe you have a favourite place or time in your imagination that brings comfort and rest. Or, maybe like the Psalm suggests, you use those quiet moments to plot your next devious scheme. You have violent thoughts, and your hatred of a certain person or people controls your thinking, you plot revenge or destruction. Frankly, I hope I’m not talking to people like that but we are all capable of it. The problem with the wicked is not just their thoughts, it is the fact that when they awake the next morning they intend to put them into action. For them, bedtime is scheming time and wake-up time is application time. The ideas and schemes that have whirled around in their heads are destined to become a reality. I hope we all awake at the beginning of a new day and dismiss negative thoughts for what they are and attune ourselves to doing good. Reject all plans to harm others, to

Psalm 36:3 The words of the wicked This is the pinch point, this is what tells you and I if someone is wicked maybe beyond redemption, it’s what comes out of their mouths. Only God can see the intentions of the heart but you and I can hear the words that come from that heart. Have you had those conversations that you ponder later and realise that what a person was saying was not what they were saying at all. They made comments and you accepted them at the time, later, with hindsight, you see that you were being manipulated, that the conversation was shrouded in intrigue and deceit. Some people live their lives this way, they are adept at twisting and engineering conversations so that they control the agenda. Then, as you contemplate the person and what was said, you realise that there is no wisdom in their ideas, it was all said to wrest control, to turn things their way. I love an honest person. God loves an honest person. Someone who says it as it is, who does not practice flattery o

Psalm 36:2 Hating sin One of the overriding characteristics of the wicked is their arrogance. We are talking here about people who trust only in themselves. They do not need a God; they can work it out for themselves. They say, “Humanity has the answers, why look to some kind of heavenly fantasy when reality is man-made. Science has all the answers, as we push back the barriers of our knowledge, so we take greater control of our own destinies. Science has proved there is no God. Philosophy gives us the guidelines we need to run our lives. Great human organisations allow us to organise ourselves and run our world.” ……… And then Covid 19 came along! Those who are arrogant do not see their faults, it takes humility to recognise that we have sinned or defaulted in any way. It takes even more humility to bow before a wooden cross, planted outside Jerusalem, of all places, and acknowledge that the abused body of a crucified Nazarene is actually the sacrificial Lamb of God. Even if such peopl

Psalm 36:1 The sin of the wicked v the love of God   The title of this Psalm says, “Of David the servant of the Lord.” This was a high title indeed for it is used often of Moses, the great leader of Israel and the one to whom God had given the first books of the Scriptures. Very few men would dare to call themselves “the servant of the Lord.” There is no doubt, that David put himself at God’s disposal and spent most of his life seeking to do God’s work and to be God’s man, particularly as head of the nation of Israel. David had his moments, as do we all, when he muttered and cried and blamed God if things went wrong. His adulterous affair and his marriages made his domestic life very complicated and yet, and yet, at all times he possessed a humble and contrite heart that was open to the Lord God, that sought God’s will and ultimately always accepted that will. May we be like him as we read and cherish these honest but beautiful songs.    V1        It is usually either the cranks or the

Psalm 35:28 Praise Him - all day long! So we come to the last verse of a troubled song of David. His travails are over and there is light and hope at the end of a particularly dark tunnel. The tongue that has given vent to woes and sufferings has been released! We all need times when are tongues are used for celebration. If our tongue only bewails and moans and complains it is a very sad thing, for what comes out of our mouths indicates what is happening in our hearts. There are times to complain and give vent to our frustrations, but they need to be balanced with songs of joy and what better way to do this than to proclaim the righteousness of the Lord. Most worship songs do this, they proclaim the power, strength, wisdom, love, patience, kindness, grace – the list is a long one, of our God. And since He is a righteous God, everything that He is, that He says, that He does is righteous, so there is plenty of scope for our worship! That’s why David suggests we do it, “ all day long!” H

Psalm 35:27 True friends Well, it’s good to know that there were people who had David’s best interest at heart, they were not all plotters and schemers and knife-twisters! There were true friends who delighted in his integrity and rejoiced to see him vindicated, who were glad his enemies were exposed and taken down. David wants a party! He wants there to be a celebration with shouting and dancing and whoops of joy that the enemy camp has been defeated. But, the celebration is not for the king, it is for the King of Kings; let the Lord have all the credit and all the glory, may the Lord be exalted for the Lord  “delights in the well-being of His servant.” This is a difficult subject but there are times when we have to evaluate our “friends.” Experience teaches that they are divided into the two camps described in this Psalm. On the one hand are the people who say all the right things, who smile and present as being our best allies, who listen and nod and offer support but when the chips

Psalm 35:26 Shame my enemies It’s been a long haul hasn’t it! The woes and troubles of David have not been light reading and some of his outpourings have been really depressing. But, this is real life, this is what we all face, the journey to heaven is not all singing, dancing and glory, instead it is often about gritting our teeth and pressing on regardless. By so doing we learn to trust in our God who will bring us through the bad times and reward us with His grace and His blessing. David’s woes here are not imaginary, he most certainly suffered at the hands of countless deceitful people, some of them related to him, others hungry for power and willing to exploit his weaknesses and his troubled emotions. That is the “norm” for many of us, it is the place where we learn to doggedly press on, clinging tightly to the hand of our Lord.  This verse that ends these tribulations demands justice and punishment for David’s enemies.  “May they be put to shame and confusion. May they be clothed

Psalm 35:25 We can never be defeated As we have seen, David’s travails are linked to a particular set of circumstances, arising at a particular time in his life, although we do not know for sure when that was. However, the lessons we can learn from this depressing state of affairs are many. In this verse he contemplates the victory of his enemies; he muses over what it will be like when, or if, they prevail in their accusations and ultimately bring him down. He imagines their crowing, sneering moments of triumph as they proclaim his demise to the world and to one another; “Aha, just what we wanted! We’ve swallowed him up. He’s finished!” Once again, I cannot help but think of the demonic powers that surrounded the Cross of the Lord Jesus and imagine their snivelling, triumphant jibes as they watched Him breathe His last breath. I wonder what they made of that final cry of victory?  “It is finished!”  Did those words send a shiver of fear through the corridors of the satanic powers? Let

Psalm 35:24   Vindicate me in Your righteousness      What does it mean to be vindicated? What was David asking for? To be proven right or correct? To be defended and exonerated? To be publicly acquitted of the false charges that had been laid against him so that he could hold his head up high and so that everyone knew that he was right, all along! This is asking a lot of God, is it not? I mean, it’s one thing to seek a deeper inner relationship, the forgiveness of past sins, the hope of blessings to come, but what kind of God will intervene in our reputation, expose our accusers and give us back the esteem that we have lost? Our God will! Broken relationships, group politics, church power struggles, family conflicts and the rest are usually viewed as situations that we have to resolve with good judgement and using our Christian principles. But, David takes it one step further, he asks that God will vindicate him, that God will work His heavenly power and silence the accusers and resto

Psalm 35:22-23 Do not be silent These two verses fit together because they show the opposite sides of the same problem. David is no different to the rest of us, he believes in a God who sees all things, knows all things and understands all things. There are no surprises so far as God is concerned, He  is aware of events before they even unfold. So, like David, we ask ourselves, “Why does He not intervene? Why does He not speak out and make His way clear? Why does He not heal the injustices and expose the deceivers? Why is the Lord so far away when we need Him?” There are many who argue in this manner and to be fair, most of us would love instant answers, immediate intervention and an ongoing relationship with a God who acts every time we ask Him to! Some people take the view that David espouses in verse 23, that maybe God is asleep! Now, we know that is not true because  “He neither slumbers nor sleeps.”  Psalm 121:3-4. David also knows that is not true but sometimes it just feels that

Psalm 35:21  Aha! Aha! I guess we’ve all been the victims. Victims of sneers and accusations. We’ve heard the haughty voices of those who nod and finger-point and eagerly identify our faults or what they perceive to be our faults. They whisper and gossip and spread their sordid little stories and we have no means of defence. Often, what is said is completely untrue but there is little point in denying the accusations because the harm has already been done and no one will believe our protestations. This feels a bit like a review of daily newspaper headlines, full of innuendo and political bias; how glad I am that I am not in the public limelight, having to put up with that on a daily basis! But David did have to put up with it, he is describing exactly what it felt like and the injustice of it all hurts him deeply. Perhaps one of the lessons to learn here is to keep our opinions of others to ourselves and to not join the ranks of the haughty, even though we may believe we are in the rig

Psalm 35:20 Live quietly in the land Israel was God’s land of choice for His chosen people. Under Joshua, the Israelites conquered that land and began to settle their families and tribes in their appointed areas. In David’s time the boundaries were extended to include most of the land that had been promised by God. Like Joshua, his predecessor, David’s major aim was to bring peace to the land, to remove all of its pagan occupants and to start to build a faithful community that was true to the living God. It was utterly galling therefore, to discover that even if external threats were overcome, there were those within the families of Israel who plotted and schemed rebellion and conflict. As we have seen many of those who rebelled were David’s friends and close allies.  History shows us that the greatest threat to the stability and security of nations has too often come from within. The same applies in families, in commerce and in communities of all kinds. Sadly, it happens in marriages

Psalm 35:19 Religious hatred?     We have discussed David’s suffering and indignation at those who were supposed to be his friends but who plotted and schemed against him. He is justifiably livid that the accusations of his enemies are unfounded and based on lies and deception. Such things are indeed more than infuriating; we long to retaliate, to get our own back! We have seen that this kind of treatment was meted out to Jesus on many occasions and it found its fulfilment at His trial and execution where even the Roman Governor could find no fault in Him. Blasphemers and false witnesses were bad enough, but it was the religious establishment that most wanted Jesus disposed of. Those who knew the Scriptures, those for who He came, those who represented Almighty God and who should have been His friends and supporters, these were they who hated Him the most.  In John 15:18-25 the Lord refers to David’s writing in this verse as He warns the disciples about the hatred they will suffer from

Psalm 35:18 One day soon!    As you will recall, there were days of festivities in Israel’s calendar. These were all called Sabbaths but they were not just Saturdays; on any Sabbath the whole community stopped its business and people devoted themselves to the Lord. These were days of thanksgiving, of celebration, of offerings and remembrance. Passover, Festival of Weeks, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles – all of these were celebrated on an annual basis and the people would crowd around the Tabernacle (later the Temple) and remember their God and His power, His deliverance, His provision and His protection. Through years of struggle and unbelief the Lord had remained faithful and there was much to celebrate. As David looked forward to another Feast Day hope arose in his heart, “I will be there, in Jerusalem. I will give thanks to the Lord once again. I will join the vast assembly and sing songs of triumph and victory. I will praise the Lord my God amongst the gr

Psalm 35:17   How long Lord?      The first sentence of this verse appears to be a cry of impatience, it seems that David is fed up with hanging on in a state of humiliation and despair and is crying out to the Lord to get His act together! “How long is this going to carry on Lord? Isn’t it time You did something about this?” There are two positive lessons to take from this cry, the first is that David has not a shadow of a doubt that the Lord is aware of his situation. Secondly, he is bold enough to ask when the relief that is most certainly coming, is going to arrive. In other words, this is a cry of conviction more than a cry of despair. We need to remember that with God it is never a question of “if” but of “when!  Salvation will come, but sometimes we get impatient and would just love to know when. Prayers will be answered. Solutions will be found. The trial will have an end. That is the journey of faith that we are all on, it is all about absolute trust even though we do not know

Psalm 35:16   How to make enemies      Do you remember, in the school playground, when some unfortunate kid became the centre of attention and a group would gather round and start to jeer and chant and mock the victim. The taunts were personal, nasty and vindictive and the target suffered a terrible indignity and would usually be in tears. In my childhood and youth there were always some popular, dominant kids who master-minded such events and there were unpopular, cowering weaklings who were the butt of the taunting.  This verse of the Psalm suggests that the mighty King David was in the second group, that a crowd of jeering accusers encircled the King and mocked him with malicious jibes and evil allegations. I find myself empathising with David as he cowered before the bullies and slumped into despair at their triumphant mockery. If you have been the victim of such abuse, isn’t it encouraging to know that a man like David also endured it? He used it to make him stronger and wiser but

Psalm 35:15   He watches over me      Oh dear, the situation is not improving, David’s complaint against certain close confidantes, intensifies. he is, brought low by difficult circumstances, humbled and troubled and he turns to his closest allies. They appear to be supportive and sympathetic but, out of earshot, away from the palace, they cannot contain their smug jubilation. The poor king, bewildered by the lack of advice and positive assistance from these people, sinks further into despair, meanwhile they are all laughing at him. When did their scheming come to light? We don’t know, but obviously David wakes up to himself at some point and realises that these people are not allies but assailants! They are out to supervise his downfall, he is a laughingstock, not least because of his innocence. Doesn’t it make you squirm with indignation and anger, especially if, like me, you’ve had this kind of thing happen to you. “Why didn’t I see it coming? Why didn’t I read the signs? It’s so ob

Psalm 35:14   Unanswered prayers The prayers of David, for restoration of his close friends and allies, went unanswered! So says the last part of verse 13. That is an unusual state of affairs, especially for a man of God like King David. However, now we know the context of the Psalm and now we have discovered what these so-called friends were like, we begin to understand. This godly man was distraught by the sickness of men, and women perhaps, who were close to him. He viewed them as loyal and trusted companions and of course he was upset when they became ill. So much so that he went through all of the cultural formalities of the day to show how much he cared. He also prostrated himself before the Lord in plaintive pleading for these people but his request returned unanswered. A curious phrase this, it is as if he sent a message to heaven by post and it came back with a note to say, “undelivered.” David’s grief was like that of a devoted family man praying for his mother or brother or

Psalm 35:13 Who to trust?      Sackcloth was a very coarse fabric made from goat’s hair, tough and durable it was ideal for making sacks and rough garments. I suspect it was irritating to wear but it also sent a message, it told people that you were not in a good place, that you had lost someone dear and you were mourning their passing. It was not uncommon for those who were in this sad state to fast as a further sign that they were going through a troubling time and food and drink were of little importance. This is very different to British culture where, too often, we try to be normal and carry on regardless. It is deemed selfish and weak to show off your pain to the world – stiff upper lip and all that!  It is becoming apparent here in the Psalm that David’s woes were not general, his foes were particular, the enemies were people who he had held in great affection, men who had been close to him. So much so that when they suffered illness he had put on the sackcloth and fasted and hu

Psalm 35:12 Evil for good Have you been involved in those scenarios where however hard you try to do good it is always perceived as bad? Even worse are the situations where we go out of our way to do good to someone and all we get back is an evil retort or we discover that they have been scheming and plotting against us. I have to say that I have faced this kind of devious activity time and again, especially in office politics. You help others and give your very best and then find out, crushingly, that all the time your good efforts were being scorned and there was always a hidden agenda of spite and opposition to your every move. This kind of situation sadly often arises in families where a sibling is honoured above another or even in marriage where one partner is leading a double life but acting innocently and manipulating their husband or wife at the same time. There are many, many such situations played out in the lives of all of us and in truth, those who treat good as evil and re

Psalm 35:11 Ruthless witnesses      Oh dear! David is now in a Court Room, trembling in the dock as his enemies close in. The questions flow thick and fast, he is bewildered by the direction they take. “What are they talking about? What am I being accused of? They are making it up, I know nothing of these accusations. They are being very clever; they give the impression that I am guilty even when they know that I am innocent. Some of these witnesses are outright liars, how can I defend myself, they sound so plausible. They are asking me things in ways that suggest I am implicated when in fact I have no knowledge of these accusations.” Listen! The enemy is clever and you and I are embroiled in very similar situations far more than we realise. This is the nitty, gritty heart of spiritual warfare, when our minds are subject to an onslaught of innuendo, with fantasy images, with events that never happened, with accusations that are groundless. Most of our problems start this way, an imagin

Psalm 35:10b   We've been robbed!      It would be easy to skip over the second part of this verse and think, “It doesn’t apply to me. I have never been needy and I’ve never been robbed.” Oh yes you have. As the previous comments have highlighted, we are desperately needy people, our problem, most of the time, is that we don’t realise it! We need God’s help, protection, provision and input every moment we breathe, but we have been duped into believing that we can go it alone, we can manage our own lives, we only need to call on the Lord our God in a crisis. Thankfully, He is there watching and guarding and gently calling our name, even when we don’t realise it.  As for being robbed – are you the person you want to be? Have you fulfilled every calling on your life? Do the people around you look up to you as a spiritual man or woman of God, who lives in intimacy with Him? Does your Bible come alive when you read and meditate upon it? Is your prayer life vibrant and powerful? Are you

Psalm 35:10a You rescue the poor   If you remember, in Psalm 34:6 we commented on the poor man who called on the Lord. “Poor” does not usually mean someone who is destitute or impoverished financially, it embraces those who cannot deliver themselves from their enemies, who cannot safely manage their own affairs or livelihoods, who have learned to depend completely on the Lord. Jesus said,  “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  Matthew 5:3. He was effectively saying that if we are brash, self-confident and arrogant in our spiritual lives, we are unlikely to taste the joys of God’s Kingdom. Such people are too busy enjoying their own kingdoms! This sentiment of trust and dependency on the Lord and His resources just keeps coming back to us as we read David’s Psalms. The spiritual life is all about throwing ourselves in submission on the Lord God, about letting Him have control, about humbling ourselves and following His ways instead of our own intuition

Psalm 35:10 My whole being will exclaim      One Bible version translates this verse as,  “All my bones will say, Lord, who is like You?”  That’s a strange turn of phrase, the NIV puts it like this, “ My whole being will exclaim, “Who is like You, Lord?”  Whichever way you look at it, the joy and wonder and gratitude that flowed from David is more than just a verbal expression, it affected every part of him. I suspect that if we just pay lip service to God for His wondrous deeds, we are not really communicating full and true worship. David was known to dance before the Lord. When he was full of joy, he didn’t just sing, he picked up an instrument and played and he wrote his own songs. Maybe we can’t all do that but there is so much more we can do, letting go, letting our praise course through our bones, letting the wonder of God’s salvation and deliverance and His love for us affect every part of our being. We are not meant to be stiff-upper-lipped people, our God is over all and in al

Psalm 35:9 Rejoice in the Lord      I don’t trust my ego, do you? It has bothered me at times that I could have done some great things for the Lord but I know my ego cannot cope. How lovely it is to have people’s adulation and to be highly thought of in the right circles. I could have been a performer of miracles or preached great sermons that moved large crowds or proclaimed prophetic insights that wowed the churches. Sadly, I was not up to the task, Geoff Abbott could not take the acclaim, he would love it too much. That is why this verse needs to be written on our hearts. Whatever the sizeable, powerful and influential forces were that troubled David, he was able to give the Lord all of the glory when they were defeated. When victory came, when his enemies were overcome, he remembered who had brought the end to the conflict; the One to whom he had cried out when all was dark and hopeless. It was the Lord who got the credit! Does your soul rejoice so much in Him that when prayers are

 Psalm 35:7-8 Traps and snares   The bloodthirsty nature of these verses continue the theme of their predecessors. The King of Israel is not a happy man, he is angry with his enemies for their duplicitous scheming and their endless plots and plans for his demise. His anger is founded on a sense of injustice – he has done nothing to deserve such treatment. Why do men aim to destroy him? David uses the analogy of the hunter / poacher’s nets and pits; as you will be aware, these were often dug on pathways regularly used by the hunted quarry. They would be concealed and the unsuspecting victim would walk straight into them and be snared. In David’s mind the best thing that could happen is that his foes suffer the same fate that they had planned for him! May they be caught by surprise, hoisted by their own petard! If you are under attack right now and the cause of your enemies is unjust, it does not hurt to pray like David. In fact, it’s a whole lot better to give voice to frustration and a

Psalm 35:6   The angel of the Lord     Have you had people in your life that you really didn’t like? Has that dislike turned to hatred? Have you ever pondered what it might be like to see them suffer the way they made you suffer? Has there been anyone who you wished dead? Those are thoughts that are probably best kept to ourselves but there is more than a hint of similar malice in this verse. David is imagining that his foes are lured on to a treacherous, narrow mountain path perhaps? The night is dark, the way is slippery and uncertain and he would love his enemies to be stuck on it. Furthermore, he would be even more satisfied if they were being pursued by a vengeful angel of the Lord, armed to the teeth and rapidly gaining ground. There’s no doubt in my mind what David hoped the outcome of such a pursuit would be! Hopefully, we do not harbour such thoughts about another human being and if we do, it’s time to put them in God’s hands and let Him sort it. However, there are other enemi

Psalm 35:5 Blow them away!      I spent my early years on a local farm in the village where I grew up. Harvest was an important time of the year, obviously. In one of our barns was a machine called a “dresser”, so named because it was used to dress the barley or wheat that came off the fields. Trailers dumped the corn from the combine harvester, working in the fields, into a pit where it could be taken by auger to large grain holders. However, if the corn was particularly dirty, i.e. full of grass seeds or other rubbish or if it was being sold for seed, it had to be “dressed.” The dresser was a machine driven by a motor with various sieves and shakers and it would take out impurities and chaff which would fall through to the ground. Modern combine harvesters do all of this in the fields and the chaff is blown away on the wind. Chaff is useless, it is just the empty husks around the grain, it has no purpose other than to be thrown away. This verse in Psalm 35 reminds me of those days ma