Daily Meditations

Psalm 68:13 Sheep pens and feathers This is an extraordinarily beautiful verse of Scripture. At first reading it does not make sense and looks completely out of place. Let’s unpack what is being said here. Firstly, the sheep pens accompanied Israel wherever they travelled. We know that the people had herds and flocks and that animals were very much part of the ongoing procession through the wilderness. Now that Sinai was behind them, many of those animals were being bred and nurtured to furnish the sacrificial rituals that had become part of everyday life. So,  “sleeping among the sheep pens”  is a figure of speech for the times when the people were at rest, surrounded by their animals, their campfires and the bags being carried by the oxen and donkeys, and they were free from the demands of travel or the threat of their enemies. Israel is now portrayed as a dove, a bird of peace. The nation is described in this manner in Psalm 74:19 and Hosea 7:11 and it seems to be a term of endearme

Psalm 68:12 Where are the men? The victorious procession from Sinai to Canaan continues. Nation after nation is swept aside as the Lord marches forth and conquers the land. It was not just the indigenous tribes who lived in Canaan that faced His wrath, the Lord cleared a path for His people even over territory that they had no intention of retaining. We tend to think of the travelling Israelites as a grumbling, disorganised rabble whereas, in fact, they were mostly highly organised and bristling with intent. Their very presence filled the surrounding nations with dread, especially when every contest ended in victory for the travellers. Of course, it was the presence and miraculous aid of the Lord God that brought this about, and thus the local kings and armies had good reason to flee in haste. These were not just military victories, the pagan nations were plundered and the spoils taken back to camp for the women to evaluate, and then divide amongst their tribes and families.  Today’s t

Psalm 68:11 A mighty throng of women! At first reading, this verse, and those that immediately follow it, seems rather bizarre. What are the women doing here and who are this mighty throng? We are going back to an era when only the men became soldiers and went out to fight. Women were not expected, or trained, to take up arms, they remained at home with their children and awaited news of the battle. Israel had many Canaanite foes to overcome on their journey from Sinai to the Promised Land, and they were constantly engaged with hostile forces. The Land they had been promised was surrounded by well-armed and obstinate nations who were prepared to go to any lengths to stop the progress of this rabble of Hebrew slaves! So, whenever, and wherever the people moved, they had to be prepared for battle and all of the eligible menfolk were expected to join the army. What is special about this verse is that those patient wives and mothers who waited for news of military success received the conf

Psalm 68:10 God who provides Let’s just unpack who and what is being referred to here in this verse. Firstly, “ Your people”  are Israel. The land that they settled in was the Land of Promise – Israel. And I rather suspect that the  “poor ” mentioned here, are the people who had nothing, who were homeless, nomadic and without a permanent resting place; they owned little of value and their only identity was in the God who led them. That was Israel. When these people eventually settled in the land that God provided, it was weary, as were they! But the Lord God had plans, He sent the abundant showers, the land became productive, and the people prospered. It was God’s doing, He provided from His bounty. Everything about this extraordinary story has the fingerprint of Adonai all over it.  So it is with us my friends, we are His Chosen People. Our inheritance is the Land of Promise. This world is not our resting place, we are strangers and foreigners here. 1 Peter 2:11. We are told not to la

Psalm 68:9 Abundant showers My first visit to Israel was in May 1992 and I remember travelling the road from Jerusalem to Jericho and our excited guide telling us of the unprecedented rains of the winter. “We even had some snow in Jerusalem,” he said. Returning 25 years later, what was striking was the progress that had been made in the cultivation of the land. Where there had been wilderness for nearly 2,000 years there are now plantations and vast fields with irrigation systems and luxuriant crops. Of course, there are barren regions, especially in the south around the Dead Sea, but in general the landscape has changed dramatically, and the desert has bloomed!  The Lord God did this for his people in ancient times, “ You gave abundant showers, O God; You refreshed Your weary inheritance.”  He is doing it in Israel again today, how sad it is that the world does not see it! What is even more sad is that most Jews do not see it either!  Has the Lord refreshed your land? Do you give Him

Psalm 68:7-8 God, the God of Israel I love these verses! They speak of a God who is on the move and a creation that responds to His presence. God was on the march and the Children of Israel were going with Him as they broke camp and moved away from Sinai. Judges 5:4-5 says, “ When you, Lord, went out from Seir, when you marched from the land of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens poured, the clouds poured down water. The mountains quaked before the Lord, the One of Sinai, before the Lord, the God of Israel.”  (If you want more of this kind of reading, go to Habakkuk 3.) There is no reason to doubt that these phenomena were real and that the earth did shake, the mountains quaked, and the clouds literally poured down their water. How else could 2 million plus people with herds and flocks, quench their thirst and cook their food?  With our modern, scientific explanations for everything it is easy to forget that creation is one with its Creator, that things happen naturally because He makes

Psalm 68:6 God sets the lonely in families There is a well-known and beautiful story in our Bible that tells us of two lonely widows called Naomi and Ruth who left their land of Moab and returned to Naomi’s home in Bethlehem. Naomi’s husband had taken her into exile shamefully and shown that he had little faith in God in a time of crisis. He had died, as had his sons and now, years later, Naomi decided that she would be better off back in Israel. Ruth, her Moabite daughter-in-law, decided to stick with her. In Bethlehem both women found a family, a kinsman redeemer and Ruth gave birth to a son called Obed – David’s grandad! I wonder if this amazing part of his recent past was in the King’s mind as he penned this verse? There is mention here too, of prisoners being led out of their slavery by the Lord, surely a reference to the Hebrew slaves as they escaped from Egypt. All of these people, who seemed to be cursed, are brought by the Lord out of their darkness into a glorious future full

Psalm 68:5 A father and defender Let’s remember that this Psalm was written to celebrate the fact that a nomadic nation was on the move. They were marching to Emmanuel’s Land and their God was with them, in fact He marched before them! Some of the marchers were eager-eyed and excited by the prospect, others dragged their feet and pondered over the uncertainty of it all! Amongst that vast multitude of people were orphans and widows and every other kind of woe-begotten soul trudging along and wondering what exactly lay ahead. In those vast crowds were young and old who had lost loved ones because of the rigors of Egypt and the violent attentions of the slave masters. Oh, how they wished that mum and dad or their wife or husband could be with them! How many of those children and widowed women must have worried about who would look after them if they were attacked by hostile forces? However, they must press on and take whatever the journey threw their way.  What an extraordinary moment of

Psalm 68:4 Sing to Him! The ancient Canaanites worshipped a god they called Baal and one of his perceived characteristics was that he rode upon the clouds. The clouds were his chariots and thus he sped across the sky! Our verse today, invites us to “ extol Him who rides on the clouds”  and I don’t think that David was promoting Baal, do you! Obviously, these words encourage us to sing out the praises of our glorious God and Father, but have you noticed that each little expression says something slightly different?  Firstly, we are to sing to Him. Not so-called worship songs that are all about me or about us, but songs that personally address Him and glorify Him.  “To God be the glory, great things He has done.”  “You are the King of glory, You are the Prince of Peace.”  “I worship You Almighty God, there is none like You.”  Even if you don’t recognise those songs, there are others that are addressed to Him personally, and if you can’t think of one, make one up or borrow one from David.

Psalm 68:3 May the righteous be glad It’s quite simple really, you are either for Him or against Him! I’m talking about the Lord God here. Those who are against Him are the “wicked.” Those who are for Him are the “righteous.” The chosen people of Israel are the righteous in the context of this Psalm. All other peoples are the wicked, with very few exceptions.  Thank God that we are in an era where His grace is extended to all nations and all peoples, however, the basic distinction remains, those who are His chosen people are the righteous and the rest are the wicked. They oppose His coming kingdom and do not want His rule or reign over their lives. The contrast between the two positions is so clear and so dramatic that it becomes powerfully evident; the righteous are people who are glad, they rejoice before God and they have every reason to be happy and joyful. The wicked have no hope, no prospects, no protection, no provision, no Fatherly love, no forgiveness and no sense of belonging

Psalm 68:2 Blow them away like smoke! We’re back to that old dilemma; how should we view our enemies? Jesus talked about praying for them and loving them!  “ Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,   bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.   If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.   Do to others as you would have them do to you.”  Luke 6:27-31. I would not have wanted to be the one to suggest this to David, would you?  He wants to see his foes blown away like smoke, he wants them to melt like wax before the fire and to perish before God. The difference between David and you and me is that he was a tool in God’s hands who spent a lifetime fighting off enemies both inside his family and nation, and through the surrounding, pagan neighbours. He had a lifetime of bloodshed and f

Psalm 68:1 We're marching to Zion! This is a Psalm to relish, for it glorifies the Lord God in nationalistic and universal terms and therefore it is quite unique. David penned these words when he was at the very zenith of his composing powers, and it is a celebration of his faith in the victorious ways of God. The song is unique because it describes the journey that God Himself completed, with Israel, from Sinai to the Promised Land and then to the Holy Place on Mount Zion. We tend to view the “exodus” as a human undertaking, with Moses leading the Israelites through the wilderness, and then Joshua and Samuel and David and others fulfilling their destiny which ultimately led to the establishment of the Temple in Jerusalem. Psalm 68 is so special because it declares that these were not just human endeavours, this was the Lord Adonai, going before His Chosen People in a triumphant procession, to ultimately rule and reign over the earth. As such, it foreshadows the resurrection, ascen

Psalm 67:7 The ends of the earth will fear Him This Psalm has been a delightful little interlude but, sadly, we have to move on to new pastures! It ends with a further hope that God will continue to bless His people, for whilst the context has generally been about the present, His abundant care and provision are something to hope for in the future. However, the underlying purpose of God’s blessings has not changed – “ so that all the ends of the earth will fear Him .”  In the late 19 th  Century and for most of the 20 th  Century Christian missionaries took the Good News about Jesus Christ to all four corners of the earth. Bibles were translated into every language imaginable, and churches were planted in the most pagan of places. As a child I remember regular missionary evenings where men and women came to share their experiences of preaching the Gospel in foreign lands. Young and eager candidates were commissioned to go to the far-off continents of the world to tell others of the gre

Psalm 67:6 God, our God, blesses us It is only when we put God in His rightful place, on the throne of our hearts and minds, that we start to get a right perspective on all that is going on around us. For most people, the provision of harvest is just a seasonal benefit that passes. The productivity of the land is down to fertilizers, pest control and the hard work of the farmers. In the minds of most, the land will always be productive, it always has been, and science and country lore combined, provide us with all that we need. Some do not even go that far, they do not have a clue how food is produced, so long as the supermarket shelves are full, nothing else matters. As believers, we have to have a different perspective. The land is fertile because the Lord made it so. It is an incredibly complex process and all farmers do is to work in harmony with the Creator. There would be no life, and no plants if it were not for God’s hand of provision, the land is not a conveyor belt that keeps

Psalm 67:4-5 Ruling with equity How unjust a world it is that we live in! So many decisions are based on financial expediency or the protection of the rich and powerful. I read yesterday, on two adjacent pages of a national newspaper, of the plight of refugees and the race for hypersonic missiles. Alongside an article about the growing threat of Covid infections in Europe was another talking about the equally growing threat of the production of nuclear weapons in Iran! This was in late November 2021, and I asked myself, “If climate change is such a problem and millions agree that we are in danger of damaging our planet for all time, why are so many countries intent on building weapons that will destroy it completely?”  How refreshing to turn to my Bible and to read about a God who rules the people with equity and guides the nations of the earth. Under God’s command and rule, all peoples will be treated the same, no one nation will trample over another, and justice and peace will prevai

Psalm 67:3 Let all the peoples praise You So, verse 2 reflects a longing that the evidence of the Lord’s blessing of His people is so obvious, all the world will take note. We can see that this is not happening so far as Israel’s restoration is concerned and it has rarely happened so far as the church is concerned. Sadly, God’s Holy temple, His people, is a divided, misrepresented, man-controlled, slumbering giant that never seems to move out of first gear. Divisions, scandals, apathy and lack of dynamic leadership have turned the church into anything but a worldwide reflection of the blessings of God. How we need His Holy Spirit to waken us all up! v3 tells us that God’s blessing is designed to prompt an international response of praise to Him. There should be such an abundance of life in the only truly spiritual organism on earth, that the whole world will take notice and offer their praises to the Lord Most High. Well, that day will come, once the evil one is bound, and we will witn

Psalm 67:2 Let every nation know about the Lord Our desire for the Lord’s blessing should never be selfish! How often we pray for His help, guidance and provision, out of selfish motives. “Lord I don’t feel well, heal me. Lord, give us a fine day today for our Outing. Lord, I pray that the worship music will go well this morning.” And so on. This Psalm begins with a prayer that God will be gracious to us and bless us and make His face shine upon us. Why? So that His ways may be known on earth and His salvation among all nations. It's evident that this prayer was not just an individual cry to God, this was the prayer of Israel. Lord, show Your blessing to us, Your people, so that the whole world will know who You are and what are Your ways. Let very nation know about Your salvation.  This cry for help and blessing has been heard in heaven in the past 75 years, as the nation of Israel has been re-established on the earth and the land has turned from being a wilderness to a place of a

Psalm 67:1 May God shine His face on us It’s another morning at the temple in Jerusalem and the sacrifices have been made and the priests have fulfilled their solemn duties. The people who have gathered to worship and praise, wait for the traditional priestly blessing that could only be given by a descendant of Aaron. A priest would lift up his hands with the palms facing downwards and the thumbs of his outspread hands touching. (Hence the command to lift up holy hands unto the Lord.) The sacred words would then be repeated out loud,  “May the Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.” It is thought that this Psalm 67 could be the liturgical response of the people to the “Blessing”, and as we read the words it is possible to see the connection. Perhaps this would be a good way to start each day? “ May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face shine upon us.”  Hallelujah!

Psalm 66:20 Praise be to God! Our Psalm ends on a note of praise. They so often do!  When all the angst and grief has been poured out, there is only one thing left. It is to praise Him, the Lord Almighty who reigns.  Praise be to our God who is the only King, our Saviour and the Prince of Peace whose kingdom has no end. Hallelujah!  How easy it would be for God to overlook our prayers or to reject our helpless ramblings! Most of the time we do not have a clue what to pray for and how to pray in accordance with His will. How do we know if a situation is going to play out the way we want it to? That is why ‘the gift of tongues” is so helpful, we can allow the Holy Spirit to pray through us in words we do not understand but knowing that He always prays in accordance with God’s will.  The Lord does not reject our prayers and He does not withhold His love from us. That love is eternal and unrelenting, it comes from the heart of a faithful God and once we accept Him and start to live by fait

Psalm 66:18-19 Is God listening? Imagine going to visit a girlfriend or boyfriend, but they know full well that you are actually wanting to be with someone else. It happens, and before long the truth will out and unless there is genuine repentance, the relationship is doomed! A similar scenario is being described in these verses, the Lord God is anticipating a conversation when it becomes clear that we have another love; there is a particular sin that we cherish, someone or something else has stolen our affection and replaced Him in our priorities. We still keep the appointment with the Lord, but it is a half-hearted encounter for our mind is elsewhere, and there are other demands that take precedence over pleasing Him. If that is true, why should the Lord listen to our prayers? To be heard by Him we should at least be honest, and since He is God, do Him the courtesy of our full attention. You and I know that the story is not quite that simple, there are a thousand and one things that

Psalm 66:17 Praying and praising The guidance from the pulpit, and in the many books that have been written about prayer, usually separate it from praise. These two methods of communication with the Lord God are different but they also complement each other and in the Hebrew Scriptures they generally go together. When we come before the Lord with our needs and our requests, we should remember to thank Him for all that He has already done, and we must glorify Him for who He is. It is the sense of wonder, of humble thanksgiving, and an awareness of who we are by comparison, that bring us to the place where we may present our requests.  Paul is not averse to mixing prayer and praise and thanksgiving either. “ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  Philippians 4:6.  “I urge you then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people …..”  1 Timothy 2:1. I

Psalm 66:16 Come and hear Jesus once said, “ I tell you my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him.”  Luke 12:4-5. The majority of the world’s population do not fear God and have never feared Him. It is easy to worship a false god or an idol for they do not hold you accountable, they have no means of punishing wrong-doing and they are as useless as the materials they are made of. There is only One whom we should fear for there is only one God! The psalm-writer here invites everyone to draw near and listen for he is about to recount all that the Lord has done for Him. As we shall discover he does not go into great detail, but simply tells how the Lord answered his prayer. This feels like an evangelistic invitation, “Gather round everyone, come and hear what the Lord has done for me.”  Those wh

 Psalm 66:14-15 My vows to the Lord We learn a little bit more here about the vows that the Psalm writer had made to the Lord. These were promises, made maybe under oath, that had been uttered when the individual concerned had been in dire straits. We do not know the nature of his troubles but can guess that there had been a conversation with the Lord God that went along these lines,   “My circumstances are extremely difficult at this time Oh Lord. If you will deliver me, one of the first things that I will do is to go to Your Temple and offer the finest of burnt offerings. I will go to my flocks and herds and pick out the fattest of my rams and bulls and goats. I will select the best of each of these animals and take them to Your holy altar as a show of my gratitude for Your deliverance and protection.”   These were generous offerings, people would have taken note, the priests would have looked on this as a memorable act of thanksgiving and God Himself would receive glory from the han

Psalm 66:13 I will fulfil my vows to you If we are in need, we should pray. If God delivers us, we should give thanks. Both responses should be automatic as we learn to walk with our Lord. Children do it, if they are in trouble they go to mum and dad or an adult and ask for help. If their problem is resolved. most should be able to say, “Thank you.” We learned from Psalm 50:14 that the “Thank Offering” (also called the Fellowship Offering) was a voluntary offering that anyone could present to the Lord. You can read in detail about this in Leviticus 3 and 7. The offeror could bring any animal without defect to the Lord as well as various breads. These were brought to the Temple as an act of thanksgiving and fellowship. Part of the offering was to God, part to the priests, the rest was for the offeror who would take his share home for a communal meal. It was for this very event that the Israelites bred what was called the “fatted calf.”  Many people make solemn promises to God when thing

Psalm 66:11-12  You brought us to a place of abundance These two verses probably refer to the dark days in Israel’s experience many years previously. Jacob had gone down to Egypt with his 11 sons and his daughter, taking a household of 80, and there he had been reconciled with his favourite boy, Joseph. Joseph had cared for his family and placed them in the land of Goshen where they prospered with their flocks and avoided the worst excesses of a famine that had devastated that part of the world. 400 years later, the family party had expanded to over 2 million people and they had become a threat to the Egyptians. Pharaoh brutally killed their firstborn sons and turned the survivors into slaves who worked on his latest building projects. Life was ridiculously hard until the Lord God devised a scheme to deliver them and appointed Moses to take them to a land of promise and of plenty.  The writer sees these experiences as being orchestrated by God, both the bad and the good times. With hin

Psalm 66:10 For you, God, tested us It’s one thing to praise God for His deliverance, preservation and provision in our lives. Perhaps we can recount occasions when we have been kept from danger as yesterday’s verse reminded us. But testing? Who wants testing? The statement,  “For you, God, tested us”  is one that we may not have considered. It suggests that, on the one hand, the Lord is watching over us and deliberately intervening when we are in danger, on the other hand He allows us to face difficulties and trials in order to test us! So, the good things that happen are down to Him, but the bad things may also be under His watch? If this is true, then everything that happens is subject to divine control and planning be it good or bad. Is that correct? Yes it is if we are walking humbly with Him and are purposed to obey His will.  My wife recently suffered a health scare caused by a pulmonary embolism (a clot on her lungs). It was enough to get me praying for hours and for two days w

Psalm 66:9 He preserves our lives This statement follows on, of course, from the invitation to praise that we considered yesterday. Verse 8 encourages us to praise the Lord audibly and verse 9 gives two powerful reasons why. The first of these is obvious. We praise the Lord because we are still alive! Have you had any brushes with death? Have you suffered serious illness? Have you been in an accident?  Are you aware of any situation when danger lurked and somehow, miraculously, you were saved from serious injury? My wife tells of an incident in a car with our children. When driving down a narrow road she was suddenly confronted by a lorry, travelling at speed,  that filled the space in front of her, there was no room to move aside and no time to stop. She closed her eyes and prayed and when she opened them, she saw the lorry in her rear-view mirror, driving away.  “ He has preserved our lives!”  It may be that we can offer praise because without Him we would not be here, and we certain

Psalm 66:8 Let the sound of His praise be heard I heard once of a church pastor who ordered his congregation to leave their building and go out into the street and shout, “I am a fool for Christ!” Some of the “fools” declined his invitation! However, there is a time and place for our praises to be heard. There is a place also for joyful and exuberant celebration of all that God is and all that He has done. Not everyone will want to join in and there are many who probably think that we are foolish but maybe our joy could be a bit more evident? Maybe it is because we don’t think we have much to celebrate? Perhaps today is a good time to sit and think about, or write down, all the things that faith in the Lord God means to you. List them, add up all the blessing and privileges that are part of being a member of God’s family and under His protection and care. The List will be a long one and it is only after we meditate on such things that we realise how privileged we are. So, whether it be