Daily Meditations

Psalm 42:11 True well being The final verse of the Psalm is a repeat of verse 5. When words are repeated like this it is obviously to emphasize the effect. I love the guy who wrote this, whoever he was, because he keeps taking control of his emotions and his mind and giving them a good talking to. This is a “telling off”, a command to get in line and stop feeling sorry for yourself. We hinted at that strategy earlier in the Psalm, sometimes you just have to lift your head up and tell your soul to get into line.  This is the era of positive thinking and mind-control, I heard a lady on the radio, this week, giving advice to people who are feeling downhearted because of all the negative things that are going on in the world. She was a “well-being” advocate and so-called expert and she had lots of advice for her hearers. As I listened, I realised that her advice could have come straight out of the Psalms! The difference was that she was asking people to be positive within themselves wherea

Psalm 42:10 Where is your God? We have no reason to believe that the man writing this Psalm used excessive, flowery language or exaggerated his predicament, so we can assume that he was in a lot of pain and that he felt like he was dying. Mortal agony, slaughter in his bones. We would probably say, “The pain is killing me.” In addition, he has to endure the taunts of his enemies all day long. It sounds as if he is not only incarcerated and under surveillance, but he is also severely injured or beaten. “ Where is your God”  are the jeering cries of the oppressors and indeed, the prisoner is beginning to ask the same question. He feels abandoned and afraid. This so reminds us of the Lord Jesus who must also undergo such suffering. The pain and the oppression were not just aimed at Him, they were a direct challenge to the Lord God; the taunts were from men who belittled and arrogantly challenged the authority, the existence and the abilities of God Almighty! It's very easy to take per

Psalm 42:9 God my Rock In Psalm 18 we looked at the different Hebrew variants of our word for rock. Here in this verse, the word used describes a rock cliff; in other words, God is a towering structure from which His people can look down on their enemies, and outwards to the surrounding country. He is a place for a watchtower where early warning of danger may be given. He is also a refuge from the roaring waves far below. This does appear to be a contradiction for the writer speaks, in verse 7, of having waves and breakers sweeping over him! Obviously, the psalmist has not lost his faith or his dependence on the Lord, “You are God my rock cliff” however, he is clearly troubled by his circumstances and the lack of response from heaven. On the one hand it makes me wonder if he is goading the Lord, “You are my rock cliff, so why aren’t you rescuing me from the waves and breakers?” Or maybe he is truly troubled by the lack of help from the Lord. We often forget that these heart cries in th

Psalm 42:8 At night His song is with me This is a confession of hope amidst the darkness of circumstances. In the bitter bleakness of his suffering this dear man sees a ray of light. Why, in the light of day the Lord commands His loving kindness. Even though he might be enduring the most awful pain or loss or depression the Lord sends a comforting ray of hope, a reminder of His love. In the night, this son of Korah, (who you will remember was a music man, a writer of songs, a chorister, an instrumentalist, a man of music and celebration) hears a melody. His prayers to the Lord God are not just a torrent of pleas and cries but there is music in his heart and the words become a lament, a musical outpouring before the Lord to the One whom he calls, “the God of my life.” Never forget this, however dire the circumstances, we are not forgotten. When we hit rock bottom the Lord still directs his loving kindness and seeks to remind us that we are still in His hands. And maybe there are some wh

Psalm 42:7 The roar of Your waterfalls The writer here sounds like he has been to Niagara! Waterfalls are not common in Israel but there are places where the melting snow pours down off Mount Hermon in spring, and there is a beautiful waterfall at Ein Gedi in the south. Heavy rains, even in Judea and the southern wilderness, can produce flash floods, so the language here is not at all fanciful. However, the expression  “deep calls to deep”  alludes to a much grander scenario, maybe to Genesis 1:2 where  “darkness was over the surface of the deep”  and  “the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”  Thus, the waters of the clouds above and the waters of the oceans and seas below echo the majestic voice of Almighty God amid their mysterious thundering torrents and currents. These phenomena were not understood by the Psalmist and even today we cannot explain fully how this beautiful planet operates so perfectly. If we could, we would not be ruining it!  Somewhere in this picture our s

Psalm 42:6 The places I remember This verse is a little bit confusing and commentators have debated over the literal translation of the Hebrew text. Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of this godly man who we know has been taken away from his home and his people and who is deeply feeling the loss and isolation of his situation. It’s small wonder that his soul is downcast. We need to bear in mind that for Israelites who lived in the Promised Land there were two identities that marked them out. One was their tribe or family with its ancestry and ties to the patriarchs and the history of God’s blessing upon them. The other identity was the land itself. These people were chosen by God and given the land by Him as their own, they identified with its rivers and mountains and deserts and valleys as if each square inch was part of them. In particular they loved the area that was designated to their family and tribe. Being a Levite, the writer here did not own a particular plot, he was part of al

Psalm 42:5 Put your hope in God We all have debates with ourselves at times and it can be a stressful and tiring business as we try to way up options and to work out a plan of action. This inner turmoil is common amongst believers in Christ because there is more than one influence within us. Some folk just follow their emotions and live for the moment, so they can be happy and joyful on occasions and miserable and gloomy at other times. That’s a dangerous way to be, we say that such people wear their hearts on their sleeves.  It is dangerous to be always moody and irritable or to be so shallow that you never experience sadness, or anxiety or doubt. Most of us have to tell ourselves to cheer up or to shut up, or to buckle down or to move on. These are the times when our rational mind gives instructions to our souls and we make an effort to change our attitude. There is another way. Most of you, who read these blogs, will know that you have the Holy Spirit within you and hopefully you wi

Psalm 42:4 The festive throngs This is a sad verse that is all about joy! The wistful reminiscences of the elderly or the sick, or anyone who is confined and precluded from doing things they once did, are heart-breaking at times. As we get older most of us tend to view the past through some kind of rose-tinted spectacles, the summers were warmer, and the winters were snowier, and the air was cleaner, and we were free-er! My heart goes out to the man who wrote this verse as he too remembers the good times. The daily visits to the House of God, the shouts and laughter of the pilgrims, the joy that filled the air as they sang the Songs of Zion. The music, the choirs, the excitement and the ceremonial festivals, all of these were days of great celebration and significance, and they have passed.  As we have surmised, our songwriter is probably incarcerated by foreign invaders and now his days are long and silent and fearful, for who knows his fate? Perhaps the lesson here is never to take t

Psalm 42:3 Where is your God? Something had gone wrong! The Kohathite who wrote this Psalm had been kept from visiting or serving in the Holy Place and the loss of connection with his role and his fellow worshippers grieved this man deeply. He may have been taken captive by the Arameans during one of their raids on Judah – who knows? Whatever the circumstances it was enough to make the man weep day and night, how he missed the fellowship, the celebrations, the daily routine, the worship and the service in the presence of Almighty God. His place was valued, he had a privileged existence and vocation and most of all, He had a deep faith in the Lord God whom He served. To lose all of this, whatever the reason, was deeply distressing. The suggestion is that he is surrounded by the taunts of foreign enemies for all he hears from them is the mocking, “Where is your God?”  It saddens me that few people really cherish the congregation, the fellowship, the worship and even the ceremonial aspect

Psalm 42:2 My soul thirsts for God Do you remember the words of Jesus?  “If any man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink and out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.”  John 7:37-38. The spiritual life is often linked to hunger and thirst, Jesus used these analogies in the Sermon on the Mount and the writers of the Epistles talk of similar longings. And that’s what the thirst is, a longing for relationship, for meaning, for love and satisfaction, for peace and for joy, for intimacy. That is what our souls are all about, they long to be satisfied and so they drive our thoughts, our emotions and, ultimately, our actions. Temporal, worldly cravings are never satisfied because worldly desires can never be completely fulfilled, there is always a need for more or for better. I heard one of the Bee Gees being interviewed just yesterday and he admitted that by the age of 21 he had 6 Rolls Royce’s and added that fabulous wealth at a young age just makes you very self-cent

Psalm 42:1 Why Lord?   This Psalm and the one that follows offer painful pleas to the Lord.  “Why have You forsaken me? When can I go and meet with God? Why must I go about mourning? Why is my soul so downcast?”  The good news is that the writer knows the answer, “ Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Saviour and my God.”  You will note that these two Psalms (41 and 42) are written by the Sons of Korah. These men, the Korahites, were Levites whose particular role was the worship and ceremonial or liturgical activities at the Tabernacle and later the Temple. They would, therefore, have composed music and songs like this as part of their role and also been engaged with the choir that sang at various times during the day and on festive occasions.    V1        The Psalm starts poetically but also with a heart cry;  “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.”  I’ve recently watched some films about “Wild Israel” and there are certainly a number

Psalm 41:13 Praise be to the Lord Four Psalms of pain and anguish have drawn to a close; they started with the words, “ Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. Your arrows have pierced me. and your hand has come down on me. Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; there is no soundness in my bones because of my sin.”  What follows is a torturous journey with David through the traumas brought on by his physical and mental sickness. We have accompanied this broken man as he faced shattered friendships, threats to the kingdom and the plotting and scheming of his bitter enemies. There have been moments when David thought he would die and that the Lord had abandoned him, there have been few rays of sunshine! So, isn’t it good to end with this verse? Say it out loud,  “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.”   I am reminded of another very well-known sentence penned by the same man, “ Even though I wa

Psalm 41:11-12 You are pleased with me! We all like to know that someone is pleased with us. Children vie for the attention of their parents and their teachers; a word of affirmation, a pat on the back, a “Well done” in an exercise book means a great deal. We use such means to get the best out of them and to encourage progress. Not much changes in adult life; a husband seeks to please his wife – or vice versa. An employee works to please his / her boss, an athlete seeks to please the crowd, a musician plays to please an audience. The list is a long one, life for us all is about having people who are pleased with us. What a sad person it is who neither pleases others or takes pleasure from them, this gift to please and be pleased should be common to all. So, how do we get to please the Lord? There must be a thousand ways; from service, to worship, to lifestyle, to study, to prayer, to the way we think, there are so many opportunities to please Him. The closer we become the more we reali

Psalm 41:10 Raise me up We might read this verse and “Tut-tut” a little, “Surely David, you know better. Revenge belongs to the Lord, let Him be the judge of your contemporaries and those who have turned against you.” Well, there are a number of ways of understanding this. Firstly, David may indeed be pleading for restoration so that he can go and take revenge on all those who have spoken evilly against him. I suppose it could be argued that he must be feeling better because instead of bewailing his illness and his weakness, he is starting to think about getting his own back!  Let’s give David the benefit of the doubt though, shall we? This is a genuine request for mercy from the Lord. We know the king has sinned and suffered severely for it, I don’t think his first thoughts would be to get up from his sick bed and go and execute his enemies! I think that this is another part of the plea of this righteous man. He has had many attempts to get the Lord’s attention and he is not giving up

Psalm 41:9 One who shared my bread What a sad verse this is! Someone who sat at King David’s table and shared his food had turned against him. In those days, trusted friends and associates were not invited to your Mediterranean yacht, or your Caribbean Island retreat or to dinner at the Ritz. No, the way you showed intimacy, close friendship and appreciation of others was to invite them to dine at your table. I understand that the same principle applies with our Royal family today and if you break that trust you will never be invited again! In David’s time and in Jewish families today, the festive meals were and are incredibly important. The Jews share Passover and other times of thanksgiving with those who are dearest and closest.  Jesus quoted this verse at the Passover meal, shortly after having washed his disciples’ feet. One of that intimate band was disloyal and the Lord knew who it was;  “I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfil this pa

Psalm 41:7-8 Imagining the worst These verses continue where the previous ones left off. David ponders further the news about his enemies, their whispering and gossiping and their malevolent schemes. I don’t think these words are the ramblings of a hallucinating, fever-struck, dying man; this situation is very real and the patient cannot get off his bed to fight the accusations. So, he lies in his feeble state and imagines what is happening, maybe there was someone who was constantly feeding back reports of all that was being said? Well, if David was in a bad place, so were his enemies. They too speculated and imagined what would happen to him and what their plotting and scheming might achieve when he was gone. Whatever was really wrong with the king, in their minds he had such a dreadful illness that he would never again leave his sickbed. His reign was over!  Please beware of speculation and heightened imagination when you hear of the problems faced by another. I have worked in offic

Psalm 41:5-6 Its politics Phew! This is not nice reading; I mean who wants to know that there are people who are hanging around waiting for us to die! Who wants to hear that there are individuals meeting together socially and purposefully to discuss our demise and its implications?  Who wants to be told that there are people out there who hate us so much that they cannot wait for our life to end? David had to live with the knowledge that there were those who wanted him dead. Such was their evil malevolence that they had already schemed what would happen when the news got out.  To make matters worse, a visit from one of these men was just an excuse to make up further lies, to take any statement that the sick king made and turn it into slanderous accusations and complaints about him and against him. These evildoers stood by his bed nodding gravely at his words, feigning friendship and concern and prompting him to speak about affairs of state. Then they would leave his bedchamber, go out

Psalm 41:4 Have mercy on me, Lord It takes a bit of courage to testify, personally, that you are a pathetic sinner and that you need the pardoning hand of God to forgive and set you free. It takes even more courage if you are a prominent leader or king of a nation. It takes courage to admit, that such is the nature of your sin, God’s hand has been hard upon you and His silence has been deafening. How many of us would attribute bad health, groaning and deep sorrow to the weight of our unconfessed sin? If we go public, surely others will speculate and gossip and question just what that sin is?  We do not know the actual cause of David’s suffering, all we know is that his weakness and foolishness led him into a dark place and it was not only guilt that drove him there – it was the heavy hand of the Lord’s discipline too. That is why David cries out for mercy. That is why he admits that it is against the Lord that he has sinned. That is why his only hope is that God will relent and lift th

Psalm 41:3 The Lord sustains There are further signs here that the king’s health is improving! If you recall, Psalm 38 is full of woe and desperation. David is at his lowest ebb; “ There is no health in my body – I am feeble and utterly crushed – my strength fails me and the light has gone from my eyes – my pain is ever with me.”  But here in Psalm 41 he can testify that the Lord has sustained him on his sickbed and that the Lord restores from the bed of illness. You just get the feeling that life is becoming a little more positive and that he now believes he will recover.  As I write, this is a dark and difficult time for many as we are in the midst of the Covid pandemic. Many will have taken to their sick beds and wondered if they will ever recover. Some have not. Of course, the battle with sickness and death is not exclusively caused by a virus, millions of people have faced the grasping tentacles of the grave and in fact we must all do this eventually. That is why these Psalms of D

Psalm 41:2 Counted among the blessed The Psalms speak often of the desperate plight of the needy and the weak. It usually follows that a special blessing is upon those who care for them and look after their needs. This verse promises that “as we do unto others, the Lord will do unto us!” In truth, if we have the right attitude, we will know that in some way or other, we are all poor and needy. David has demonstrated this in these recent Psalms and yet, apparently he was prosperous, successful and anything but needy – in worldly terms. It is how we appraise ourselves before the Lord that demonstrates our spirituality and dependability. The closer we grow to Him, the poorer we should become – in our own eyes! The Lord preserves us in our weakness not in our strength, when we are strong we don’t think we need Him. It is a strange paradox that the more we depend on Him, the poorer we are and the richer and stronger we become. So, let us humble ourselves and admit our poverty, let us learn

Psalm 41:1 A prayer for mercy   Psalms 38 to 41 form a quadruple set of songs by David that have a common theme. He is a sick man, and his sickness is caused by his sin. We have noted that there has been a gradual improvement although David is not out of the woods yet. As ever, his enemies are gathered like wolves around a dying animal, they await his demise and gleefully lick their evil lips as they plot and scheme their route to the throne. But David is not finished, he trusts in One who is greater than them all and He anticipates that God will deliver him and save him from death and disaster. Thank the Lord that His ways have not changed and, however dark the situation may be, we can trust in Him for our safety and deliverance.    V1        I think that David is talking about himself here! There’s still some self-pity to be expressed and a battle-scarred personality that needs to be encouraged and comforted. Maybe these words were spoken out to his friends publicly or maybe they wer

Psalm 40:17 You are my help. It’s hard to imagine isn’t it? Here is one of the greatest men who ever lived; his place in history is cemented forever and even if you are not Jewish or Christian you will probably know about King David. He was the young man who slayed a giant called Goliath when an army trembled with fear and foreboding. He was the man who killed a lion with his bare hands. He led armies and he reigned as a successful king. In human terms, such a man does not describe himself as poor and needy! Most successful statemen and leaders come across as anything but! The difference with David is that everything that he was, that he did, and that he thought and said, was usually measured in the context of his relationship with the Lord God. He rarely thought highly of himself. When he did step out of line and he counted the fighting men in Israel to make himself feel good, the result was a spiritual disaster. God expects high standards of His leaders and taking undue pleasure in t

Psalm 40:16 The Lord is great! What a beautiful verse for us today; this should be the heart cry and prayer of every pastor and Christian leader. As we look at the flock, the sheep and lambs entrusted to our care, we see those who are seeking Him. To be honest it’s not all of them, there are those who don’t seek Him but we’ll put them to one side for the moment. It’s the seekers, the men and women and young people who have fervent hearts, who have a passion for the Lord and who earnestly study His truth and listen for His voice; these are those who will seek and shall find. If you are reading this it is probably because you are a seeker. What joy and gladness there is in the searching. What anticipation and hope the quest brings. What a purpose to each day as we set out to seek Him. Do we long for His saving help? The Lord’s salvation is multi-faceted. Salvation from our sins. Salvation from God’s wrath. Salvation from temptation. Salvation from our enemies. Salvation from the dreadful

Psalm 40:15 Aha! Aha! “That’s the way, aha, aha, I like it.” So went the pop song from 1975 by KC and the Sunshine Band. David’s version of events was that he didn’t like it; he did not like the way his enemies had banded together against him. He did not like their accusations and lies. He did not like the whispering campaign they had started, and he didn’t like the talk of overthrow by these power-hungry opponents who were waiting in the wings to snatch the kingdom from him. However, what he liked the least was their willingness to blame his failure on the Lord God. “Aha, Aha, where is your God now David. What hope do you have, He has deserted you. Aha, aha, you are loser, and we will soon take over the kingdom.”  David feels these jibes intensely, but he is also angry, and he asks that the shame of the accusations should bounce back on his accusers. He asks God to bring these people to an awareness of their folly and their haughty arrogance. It is noticeable that he does not act hims