Daily Meditations

Psalm 49:7-8 Kinsman Redeemer Some of the laws of the Israelites were quite extraordinary, one of them covers the situation when your bull gores someone to death! If it was in the habit of goring people you could be held accountable and put to death along with the animal. The only “get out” clause was to pay a redemption price for your own life if the injured party demanded it. Exodus 21:28-32. Redemption monies could also be paid by an Israelite slave to a foreigner to gain freedom. Each family or clan had a kinsman redeemer who was responsible for such matters and who would pay a price according to the number of years remaining until the next Year of Jubilee. In the Year of Jubilee people were released from all their debts including slavery.  Leviticus 25:47-49. (You will remember that Boaz was the kinsman redeemer in the story of Ruth.) This Psalm is really saying that despite these rules, none of us can cheat death completely. It is not possible to pay such a redemption price that

Psalm 49:5-6 Boasting in wealth A rather twee song of my youth began,  “Why should I fear if the sun doesn’t shine, Jesus is mine, all of the time. Why should I fear if the storm clouds are low, Jesus is with me I know!”  I think this Psalm probably puts it better, but the sentiment is the same! The problem here are the wicked deceivers who do not fear God but trust in their riches; so wealthy are they, that they constantly boast about their prosperity and abundance. The reason that such people are wicked deceivers is that everything they do and say speaks about where their heart is. “Look at me. Look at how successful I am. Look at my house, my car, my clothes, my holidays, my leisure time, my Bank Balance. I am somebody. This is how you gain power and influence in the world.” Sadly, the world agrees and divides itself up into those who have it all – the deceivers, and those who have little – the deceived. Power and position can only be bought by wealth in our world, the Presidents of

Psalm 49:4 A riddle of a song Well, here we are, waiting to plunge into the meat of the subject of this Psalm and to our surprise we get a little musical aside! We are reminded that the writer is actually a songster, a composer, a musician who is intent on have a composition that can be played and sung and remembered! I don’t think the subject here in Psalm 49 would make much of a song today, do you? Congregations would not look forward to hearing the opening bars of this melody, they would squirm and say, “Can’t we have a jollier one, we need to be uplifted, the subject here is not really singing material.”  We need to remember that most, if not all of the Psalms, were written to music and they also used a poetic methodology. Apparently, this one had a 4 line introduction and it was arranged in 22 lines, in accordance with the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. There are two stanzas with 8 lines each followed by a refrain! In addition, the song is not a personal complaint about the ri

Psalm 48:14 Our God for ever and ever And so this delightful Psalm ends on a note of affirmation,  “For this God is our God for ever and ever; He will be our guide even to the end .” This is a heart cry, and it wouldn’t hurt if we all shouted it out when we meet together in our congregations. It is a shout of triumph, of certainty, of hope and of faith. The God who has been described in previous verses in the Psalm, who dwells on Mount Zion, the Holy Mountain, He is our God. In saying these words, we make Him personal, we compare Him with all other gods and we are proud to proclaim that this supreme being is ours, and He will be forever and ever. All other nations can have their gods and worship them, but they are nothing compared to Jehovah, to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Whatever happens in the future, He will be there for His people, He will never fail us and He will be our Shepherd King to the very end. Presumably “the end” signifies death? But we know, unlike the Sons of

Psalm 49:3 Words of wisdom The Hebrew Scriptures are divided into three major groupings. The Law (Torah), The Prophets (former and latter) and The Writings. This latter category includes the Psalms and the Books of Wisdom. Some Psalms are regarded as “Wisdom” and this is one of them. The Son of Korah sets himself up to  “speak words of wisdom; the meditation of my heart will give you understanding.”  It was Jesus who said,  “the mouth speaks what the heart is full of”  (Matthew 12:34) and the author here has meditated a great deal on the matters he is about to address.  It is a beautiful thing to be constantly meditating on the Word of God, be it a passage or a subject or theme. Teachers of the Word often find themselves thinking of little else as they try to understand what the Lord is saying so that they may pass this on to others. Our constant goal is that those who hear may gain understanding. As a young preacher / teacher I gained almost everything I learned from the writings and

Psalm 49:1-2 Hear ye! Hear ye! There have been many denunciations of the wicked in the Psalms that precede this one, and there will, no doubt, be later Psalms that equally censure their godlessness and their selfish intent. However, Psalm 49 is aimed at one particular group of godless people – the wealthy! Being wealthy in itself is not a sin and those who have wealth are not more wicked than the rest of us, but those who trust in their riches are violating the blessings that God has given them in this life. According to the Psalmist they are rich fools who proudly rely on their possessions and themselves to ensure their place in this world.  The Psalm clearly points out that it is foolish to envy the wealthy or to be in awe of their accumulated riches, and the Son of Korah who wrote these words takes pains to remind us that the selfish rich die with nothing while those who hope in the Lord God will be  “redeemed from the realm of the dead.”  This is a hard-hitting song, unlike any tha

Psalm 48:12-13 Walk about Zion Well, you can walk around Zion today and there is very little left of the great Temple that was once towering over the city of Jerusalem. Herod’s Temple was destroyed 6 years after it was completed and there are still piles of rubble that have not been cleared away! Of course, the writers of this Psalm were talking about Solomon’s temple, a towering citadel that was built for the glory of God and, of course, the glory of God filled that ancient building - the “shekinah” glory, for this was His dwelling place amongst His people on earth. Maybe there was a sense of anxiety about the future, that the Temple would not always be there in all its splendour, on Mount Zion? Maybe that is why those who served there and the pilgrims who visited were encouraged to take it all in, to survey the site, to walk around its circumference and store up memories to be shared with future generations? The strength of our God is not in a building! We can walk around many of the

Psalm 48:11 Because of Your judgements If you are a parent and truly love your children, you will know that, much as it hurts, they have to be disciplined. Discipline does many things; it shows a child the error of its ways, it instils good habits, it prepares for the rigors of adulthood, it helps to build a moral compass and a sense of right and wrong. Discipline also establishes a sense of respect; if a child understands that its parents know best; that they are aware of danger and where to draw the line and that it is best to obey mum and dad, then they learn respect for other elders too. Discipline thus establishes a parent as a stronger, more knowledgeable and totally reliable human being. And what does all of that do? It means that the child knows it is safe, that it is surrounded by boundaries and that it does not need to traverse them. It teaches trust and dependence. It means that learning and play can be conducted in a protected environment and that frees the child from fear

Psalm 48:10 Praise for His righteousness Wherever God’s name is influential and there are those who believe in Him, then praise arises. Even creation is able to respond in praise, hence,  “The trees of the field shall clap their hands and the mountains and the hills shall break forth with joy.”  Isaiah 55:12. Jewish worshippers believed that all praise started with the Temple because that is where the Shekinah glory of God was. (Shekinah means His dwelling place or His Presence.) As human beings we are gifted to offer praise to the Lord primarily with our lips and with words and vocal expressions of glory and honour. This is a huge privilege, but it is only “praise” if it comes from believing hearts.  One of the grounds of our praise is that the right hand of God, the source of His power, authority and salvation, is filled with righteousness. All righteousness emanates from God alone, without Him the world would be full of darkness and evil, even more than it is now. To taste and exper

Psalm 48:9 Meditate on His unfailing love Continuing from verse 8, we get an insight here into the behaviour patterns of the Jewish people as they made their many pilgrimages to the holy site of the Temple on Mount Zion. Yes, there was great joy and singing and celebration. Yes, there were feasts to observe and offerings to be brought to the priests. Yes, it was noisy, and the site was full of jostling crowds at times, but there were also opportunities to stop and reflect. “ Within Your Temple, O God, we meditate on Your unfailing love.”  These words were penned by the Sons of Korah – Levites who, even if they were not priests, may have had access to less crowded places in the Temple Courts, where it was possible to just stand and reflect. In particular to reflect on the amazing saving acts of God who had built a nation from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who had led His people in and out of Egypt and who had brought them to a land that He had promised long ago. Now, in the sanctuary of the

Psalm 48:8 As we have heard, so we have seen We are beckoned to stop and reflect here about what we know of the city of the Lord Almighty. Firstly, the song considers what we have heard? In times past the ancestors of Israel had lived out amazing lives that had seen the intervention of the Lord time and time again. The stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the Hebrew slaves, Moses and Aaron, Joshua and the Judges, David and Solomon - all of these men and women and their experiences were told and retold in families and in the community, endlessly. Now, when the pilgrims came to Jerusalem and saw the Holy Mountain and the Temple and the priests and the sacred place, they saw the fulfilment of God’s purposes for their nation and they knew who they were. When a congregation of God’s people meet today, surely we should be retelling the stories of what we have heard and what we have seen? Surely, we should be encouraging one another with accounts of the Lord’s intervention and His blessing in ou

Psalm 48:6-7 The enemy trembles The story of how the Lord God overpowered Israel’s enemies is continued in these verses. When the people walked with their God and lived in obedience to Him, He intervened again and again to overpower the enemy forces, by supernatural means. Verse 7 talks of the ships of Tarshish; this was a large seaport in the North West and in its day was a place of wonder for many, for great merchant ships came and went, bringing goods from all over the then-known world. There’s an enlightening verse in 1 Kings 10:22 which tells us about Solomon’s fleet harboured at Tarshish, “ The king had a fleet of trading ships at sea along with the ships of Hiram (King of Lebanon). Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.”  The reference to a shattering east wind tells us that there  were obviously threatening storms in those days, in fact even the Apostle Paul suffered a maritime hurricane called the Northeaster, when he was at

Psalm 48:4-5 His enemies will flee in terror In 2 Chronicles 20, we read the story of King Jehoshaphat and the defeat of the army of Moab and Ammon. These tribal peoples lived to the south of Canaan in wilderness places and they had escaped conflict with Israel when God’s people passed through their lands. In fact, God had forbidden the His people to attack these tribes (2 Chron 20:10), so it was guiling to discover that they had formed a pact and were moving north in an attempt to destroy Israel. Judah, and the people of Jerusalem, armed themselves and headed south for a fight but the Lord God reassured them, through a Levite prophet called Jahaziel, that the battle was the Lord’s, and He would overcome the vast enemy forces. The next day when Jehoshaphat and his army came to a vantage point, overlooking the desert to the south, instead of an army bristling with hostile intent, they discovered a vast burial ground littered with the corpses of the enemy! The men of Moab and Ammon and S

Psalm 48:3 God is our fortress Over the centuries, mankind has built countless castles, fortresses, battlements and citadels. There is this earthly desire to defend ourselves by building strong walls and impregnable barriers against our enemies. This goes on to our day, I even have to “build a wall” around my computer to keep unwanted influences out. This Psalm asks us to put our trust for our defence in the Lord God, it is reminding us that if He is “at home” then no enemy can touch us and no outside influence can infiltrate.  When besieged Israelites made their way to Jerusalem there was comfort in knowing that they entered the City of God. If He dwelt in the Holy Place, who could harm them? Zechariah 2 speaks of a coming day when Jerusalem will be a city without walls  “And I myself will be a wall of fire around it, declares the Lord”  v5.  We who are called by Him, are described in the Scriptures, as God’s Holy Temple, His dwelling place, so may we not also depend on His protection

Psalm 48:2 The city of the Great King Visitors to Israel, who have read this Psalm and others like it, might well be disappointed on their first visit to Jerusalem as they look across the city from the Mount of Olives.  “Where is this lofty mountain, I thought that Mount Zion was a soaring high peak?”  As previously explained, Jerusalem’s mountains are no more than squat hills, if you want physically high mountains then you must go much further north, to the snow-capped summits of Hermon.  The height of Mount Zion is not in its elevation from the earth but in its elevation before God. In spiritual terms it is the highest mountain on earth, much higher than Everest! (Read Psalm 68:15-16 to see how the northern mountains are jealous of the loftiness of Zion.) If God dwells in a place, then it is the most prized and loved of all by those who know Him on earth. What a privilege it is to be part of His Holy Temple in this age of His grace! (There is a curious reference in this verse to Mt Z

Psalm 48:1 The Holy City Once again, we have a Psalm that takes us to the centre of Jerusalem, to the Holy Mountain of God – Mount Zion, and to the Temple - the centre of Jewish national pride and worship. For here is the dwelling place of the Most High, here Is the beautiful Temple building with its courts and its Holy Place. Here are the priests, the Levites, the musicians and choirs and the altar of burnt offering. No ordinary Israelite was ever allowed to enter beyond the curtains of the Sanctuary, but all knew that here God’s Presence was found, in all His glory. Mount Zion was by no means the highest mountain, even in Jerusalem, but it was sacred and in Jewish minds, impregnable. It was their fortress, their spiritual mountain, the place of their worship and thanksgiving and because the Lord God dwelt there, it was the most glorious place on earth. Let’s go and pay a visit, shall we?    V1        I love this verse! Some of you may know one of a number of more modern Songs or Hymn

 Sorry everyone, or anyone! I will be taking a break for a week and then we will return for the glorious Psalm 48.  See you soon. God bless!

Psalm 47:9 He is greatly exalted There is obviously a major prophetic twist to this final verse of Psalm 47. The song writer anticipates a day when all of the nobles, rulers, royalty and authorities of the world’s countries will be gathered before the Lord God. I think that the verse suggests that they will assemble before the Lord God in the same way as the people of the God of Abraham. This is no more than the Lord had promised Abraham when He said,  “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”  Genesis 12:3. God also promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations (Genesis 17:4-6) and that through his offspring all nations on earth will be blessed. (Genesis 22;17-18.) In other words, because of their special status on the earth, and because they were the only ones who worshipped the true God, then the Jews are the spiritual fathers of all the nations. We need to realise that we would not h

Psalm 47:8 The Lord reigns! This verse is at first, a little perplexing. In the preceding verse we noted that the Satan is the Prince of this world and that most of its population pay him lip service even if they do not realise who he is. How then can the Psalm go on to say that,  “God reigns over the nations?”  It is because, despite all that the enemy does, he does not have the final say on the future destiny of our planet or its inhabitants. God does. It’s a bit like the leadership of the UK. A Prime Minister and his government run the country, but they come under the ultimate authority of the Sovereign, Queen Elizabeth, and they have to account to her. The Lord God is the Royal Sovereign; the Satan is not royalty, he is no more than a jumped-up dictator who is followed by the masses but who will have to give an account. His days are numbered, and his influence will be taken away. Never forget that there is a throne in heaven where God dwells; it is the place of final judgement and

Psalm 47:7 Our God is the King Let’s just straighten out a few things here. The Satan is the Prince of this world, he is the head of the powers and authorities that control the way the world thinks, speaks and acts. A visiting alien would conclude that it is the Satan who is in complete control, for mankind, in rejecting the Lord God, has handed authority and power to him. We do not regulate our own destiny, greater powers than the earthly ones control our planet. It follows that the further up the chain of command men and women advance, the closer to the head they must come; for they take their instructions from him and they obey his will. That is why so many rulers are greedy, power-hungry, manipulative and arrogant. How they love the acclaim of the crowds and the plaudits of the press. How they love to parade and be photographed and appear before their people.  Our Psalm echoes the cries of the adoring masses as they pay homage to their rulers and then calls us to name another ruler

Psalm 47:6 Sing praises to our King It will do us no harm if we view this verse as a command! There is a lot of confusion today about the difference between the various words that are used to describe how we Christians acclaim our God. As mentioned before in these musings, worship is not about singing songs, it is about a life of service and humble obedience, it is about acknowledging the Lord in all that we say and do, it is about surrender to His name. Praise, quite obviously, is what comes from our lips. Most “worship leaders” would be far better described as “praise leaders” because they encourage congregations to think, sing and pray out words of adoration and devotion to the Lord God and to His Son, Jesus Christ.  It’s amazing, isn’t it, that we have so many words for our acknowledgement of the Lord? Acclaim, honour, adoration, devotion, glory, celebration, blessing, thanksgiving, admiration, hail, laud, exaltation, magnify, extol. This Psalm invites, nay commands, that we sing H