Daily Meditations

Psalm 85:13 Righteous goes before Him This is the last verse of what has been a Psalm full of surprises and delights. Verse 13 is no different. What can it mean? The imagery here is borrowed from the either the military or from processional occasions or maybe, the journey of a stranger in an unfamiliar place where a guide is needed. In each instance a someone goes before, be it as the vanguard of the army or the regal herald or the leader who shows the way. The Psalm is telling us that when God comes to His people, righteousness prepares the way.  John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus,  “A voice of one calling in the wilderness. “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all people will see God’s salvation.””  Luke 3:4-6. On the Day of Pentecost Peter preached to the crowds,  “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name

Psalm 85:12 Our land will yield its harvest Psalm 4:6-7 read as follows,  “Many, Lord, are asking, “Who will bring us prosperity?” Let the light of your face shine on us. Fill my heart with joy when their grain and new wine abound.”  Those words, penned by David, are typical of the prayers of the Israelites. They believed that God gave only good things, that He would watch over their land and that it would be fertile and productive so long as He cared for it. Autumn, winter, springtime and harvest were in God’s hands, all they could do was to till the ground and plant their seeds, the outcome was out of their control. Nothing much has changed; we do not control the weather or the seasons. We cannot make seeds germinate or buds’ blossom. We have no power over the birds, bees and other insects that pollinate the plants. Farmers and horticulturists have the same tasks as Adam and they are in God’s hands when it comes to harvest. It does us good to remind ourselves of this especially when,

Psalm 85:11 Faithfulness and righteousness What a remarkable verse, it’s tempting to build a new theology from it!  I believe that what the verse is saying is that faithfulness is evidential, it is not an abstract quality or attribute of God. To know and understand His faithfulness, we must experience it. Faithfulness in Hebrew is the word “emet” which can also be translated as “truth”. It also relates to stability and reliability. A faithful person is someone who is truthful, reliable and trustworthy. When applied to God we can use all of these terms, He is our rock, our fortress, our strong tower and there is nothing and no one who is more trustworthy. I think the psalm writer was looking at the land around him and marvelling at how it turns from barren terrain to fertile fields throughout the seasons. The spring, summer, autumn and winter cycles never fail for most of us. They are there to remind us that God is faithful.  Righteousness is a very different attribute of our God. This

Psalm 85:10 Two couples Today’s verse invites us to meet two couples who are very much in love. Wherever one goes, the other follows, they are inseparable. Their relationships are as romantic as any you will find in the Bible, but they are also bound together by truth and long-term commitment.  The first couple give us an insight into the heart of God Himself for two of His qualities are love and faithfulness. Where His love is active, His faithfulness is equally visible. Our God cannot love without revealing His faithfulness, when He loves He is in it for the long haul, this love is no fleeting, passionate fling, it is a lifetime pledge of loyalty and beyond. Once we have tasted His love, we can be assured that we will always be loved. If only we could love like Him, there would be no divorce! The second couple are called righteousness and peace. Righteousness is more than just being good or doing good, it is an attribute of God that can only truly be found in Him. In Old Testament ti

Psalm 85:9 His salvation is near those who fear Him If you have no time for God and no understanding of who He is or you don’t believe that He exists and live life without reference to Him, you will have no expectation that He will save you. You don’t believe in Him therefore you won’t believe that He is a God who saves. The converse is equally true, the greater our knowledge and understanding of the Lord, the more we will fear Him and the greater will be our expectation of His salvation. That salvation is already a past event that centres on the redeeming work of Christ and His death and resurrection. God’s salvation is a present experience as we wrestle with the enemies’ taunts and struggle with the walk of faith in a faithless world. The Lord God walks with us and saves us from the lure and the corrupting power of sin. There is, of course, a future salvation for all who believe, the hope of being taken from the world to enjoy the presence of the Lord and to reign with Him when He co

Psalm 85:8 He promises peace Let us not forget that this Psalm was written at a time of national crisis. The situation in the land of Israel was pretty bleak, the country had been rendered desolate and there may have been a drought. (v11-12). The plea in the opening verses has been for restoration and for God to relinquish His anger and show mercy again to His people. Now, the writer awaits a word from the Lord,  “I will listen to what God the Lord says.”  That’s not a bad place to be! Just waiting and listening and expecting, because the Lord God is never quiet for very long. Remember, that Israel is God’s chosen people. He watches over them in their successes and in their failures. Their present rehabilitation of the land shows that even though the Jews were dispersed throughout the world for nearly 1900 years, the Lord God preserved them and always planned to restore them. In this He teaches us about His faithfulness and that none who believe in Him are forgotten. Indeed, many who d

Psalm 85:7 His unfailing love According to your point of a view, it would be easy to read the Old Testament and conclude that God was nothing less than a brutal dictator. In fact, I know some people who have reached such a conclusion. Others might see the Lord as a harsh school master or an overbearing parent. He never seems to let His children “get away with it”. There always seem to be consequences for actions and Israel suffer a great deal for simply being God’s children. As for their enemies, their lives are simply not worth living. Once God Almighty is on their case, the future is very bleak. Well, that’s what some folk think! Against that very cynical backdrop we read today’s verse which describes a God of unfailing love who is the instigator of salvation for His people. The cynics are unable to look at themselves and their actions and see any cause for regret or repentance. To them God appears as a harsh slavedriver who demands far too much from His people and from the human rac

Psalm 85:6 Revive us again I wonder how many times the Lord God has heard this whimpering cry from the troubled hearts of His chosen people – Israel? How often have they slid into exile, if not geographically then spiritually. How fickle they have been. Their history is littered with accounts of God’s blessing and provision, and their constant falling away into idolatry and unbelief. With that “falling away” has come captivity, banishment, and deeply felt heartbreak at the loss of security, independence and hope. And it is all to do with the Land and their inability to live within its boundaries to the standards that the Lord had commanded they must obey.  We can hardly point the finger! God’s blessing is still a never-ending stream, He still cares for His people, and He still expects some kind of loyalty in return. Too many Christians accept a cart load of blessing and feast on it but have no intention of ever moving on with the One who provided. They talk of past blessings but become

Psalm 85:5 Will You prolong Your anger? The history of Israel reveals a rather disturbing fact, that God’s displeasure is not always a momentary thing. Of course, He dispenses justice and reveals His wrath in ways that quickly pass. The Philistines were routed in a day, the Egyptian and Midianite armies were destroyed in a night. Jericho fell in 7 days and in more recent times, the Six Day War in Israel lasted – just 6 days! However, sometimes the anger of God affects whole generations. The Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years and because of their unbelief, a whole generation was wiped out. The captivity in Babylon lasted for 70 years because the people had turned to other gods and had failed to obey the Lord’s commandments. It’s obvious that God can display His displeasure over a long period of time, and this is what concerns the writer of the Psalm.  I think that we can sometimes view the Christian faith as an easy fix, some preachers encourage us to just ask the Lord,

Psalm 85:4 Restore us again This verse reminds me of a Graham Kendrick song that was very popular in the 1980’s: RESTORE, O LORD, The honour of Your name, In works of sovereign power Come shake the earth again; That men may see And come with reverent fear To the living God, Whose kingdom shall outlast the years. Restore, O Lord, In all the earth Your fame, And in our time revive The church that bears Your name. And in Your anger, Lord, remember mercy, O living God, Whose mercy shall outlast the years.   There are other verses, but 40 years ago Christians were praying fervently for God’s restoration of His church. You will note that verse 2 mentions God’s anger (see yesterday’s reading), and a plea for the Lord to remember His mercy. Our verse, and Graham’s song, are just as relevant today as the world plummets towards disaster and many Christians display a half-hearted faith in their God.  “Restore us again, God our Saviour, and put away your displeasure towards us.” 

Psalm 85:3 The wrath of God We need to understand the difference between the wrath of God and the normal human expressions of wrath. Wrath is, of course, rage, fury and anger and when expressed by humans it is almost always driven by emotion and accompanied by verbal outbursts or physical violence. Wrath comes to us all, it can be the above but it can also be a simmering fire within that one day demands expression and bursts into flame. Woe betides the victim who stands in the way! Seething wrath is not good for us, it activates negative thinking and pushes the human spirit into dark places. If all of this is true, does God’s wrath have similar causes and effects?  The first thing we need to remember is that the wrath of God is driven by righteousness. He is holy, His thoughts, emotions, and actions are holy. God does not lash out, take revenge or simmer with indignation. Any act of wrath against human beings is driven by righteous justice and vindicated by carefully considered motives

Psalm 85:2 The God who forgives sins At the heart of the Christian faith is the foundational truth that God forgives sins. This truth separates the faith from all other religions and belief systems. None of them are as concerned with the sinful, guilt-ridden state of man. None of their holy books make this single problem the root cause of man’s broken relationships with the divine beings. In fact, most other gods appear to be self-absorbed and rather dismissive of the poor spiritual state of their followers. They leave the “cleaning-up” business to us and insist that we have to make ourselves better in order to approach them! This cultural norm even divides Christians, many of whom believe that they have to be better people in order to be accepted by God. Our Father has known about our fallen state from the very beginning, its causes are highlighted in the opening chapters of the Bible and our wrestling with the evil within, our sinful thoughts, words and actions, is at the very heart

Psalm 85:1 A plea for restoration Another offering from the sons of Korah and a Psalm that speaks about “the land”; it talks about God showing favour to the land (v1), His glory returning to the land (v9), His faithfulness springing from the earth (v10) and the land yielding its harvest (v12). This suggests that there had either been a drought or some natural misfortune or, it was written at a time when the nation was returning from exile and the land had become arid and desolate. That was the state of the area called Palestine before the Jews returned in the mid 20 th  Century and the Lord has restored their land in miraculous ways since then! Psalm 85 has been re-fulfilled in our lifetime!   V1        It's not a bad idea, when pleading with the Lord for restoration, to remind Him of past blessings. In Israel’s case they could clearly refer back to historic mercies and how the Lord had rebuilt and re-established the nation.  “Jacob’s fortunes”  were like the tide of the sea, ever

Psalm 84:12 Blessed is the one who trusts in You Have you ever asked, “Why do I trust in God? Why do I even believe in Him? Why do I believe when millions do not? Why is it that I have avoided the lures of other religions and faiths? Why Do I read the Bible every day and talk to a Being that I’ve never seen? Why me Lord, what have I ever done to deserve this?” It is because we are blessed. The Lord God Almighty has chosen to reveal Himself and you and I saw and believed. It’s not the intellectual study or the rationalisation of the facts that brought us to Him. It’s not our good works that made us deserving cases. It’s not our status or our good nature that singles us out. Somehow, the Lord reached out and touched us with a ray of light, He reached down from His heavenly throne and that divine beam opened our eyes and from that moment we were inexplicably hooked! We dared to trust that He was real, we quickly discovered that He was not remote or aloof but intrinsically part of our inne

Psalm 84:11b Those whose walk is blameless In Genesis 6: we read of the wickedness that filled the earth and God confesses to regretting the fact that He created man! There was just one individual who found favour in the eyes of the Lord. “ Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.”  V9.  In Genesis 17:1-2 we read that the Lord appeared to Abraham at the age of 99 and said,  “I am God Almighty, walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”  We all know how that turned out! You see God always looks for those who trust in Him and who are faithful, and those whose walk is blameless as a consequence of their faith. He does not reward us according to our deeds but according to what He has done for us. But now that we are His children, He still has the right to expect faithfulness and a blameless life. He is our sun and shield, He pours His favour

Psalm 84:11a The Lord God is a sun I suppose you could say that the sun and the shield symbolise two things, provision and protection. Without the sun there is no light. Without the sun there is no warmth. Without the sun the earth would just be a lifeless mass spinning in the darkness, useless and unremarkable. But God is our sun. The sun miraculously provides every corner of the earth with the right amounts of heat and light to allow vegetation to grow, for the seas to be rich with life and for the many cycles of seasonal energy, precipitation, and sustenance to flourish on this dynamic planet where, according to the experts, everything happens by accident! Isn’t it good to know that He who is our sun, is also our divine Protector? He shields us from disaster, from enemy onslaughts, from spiritual darkness and from the forces that could destroy us in moments. The world that God created is a world that He protects. And there is special care and provision for those whom He loves, who a

Psalm 84:10 A doorkeeper in the house of my God This plaintive declaration sums up Psalm 84. The writer loved the Temple and its rituals and ceremonies so much, that he would rather have one day in the environs of Mount Zion than 1,000 days in any other location! Close to God. Close to His people. At the centre of the whole world. Maybe the psalmist had been humble doorkeeper at the temple? Maybe he had spent his days opening and closing the doors that led into the Holy Place? If so, his job was more than just “opening and closing,” he was guardian of the sacred artifacts and a man who ensured that those who entered were entitled to do so. Guardian, custodian, bouncer, official representative and guide, the job was a responsible one and this man loved what he did!  We need to remember that this song may have been composed at a time when either foreign priests and religion were dominating Israel or, it was a time when many of the Israelites had been deported. The writer yearned for rest

  Psalm 84:9 The shield who is the anointed one The concept that a King or Sovereign was the shield of his people was a common one in Israel in ancient times and these leaders saw themselves as the  “anointed one.”  This way of thinking has been highlighted in earlier Psalms and there’s no doubt that the nations looked to their leaders to take protective action against their enemies, and to ensure that they were safe and secure at all times. Such a view has been lost to some extent although we still appoint leaders to act for us and to negotiate peace or to call to arms where the situations demand it. So, the request in this verse that “ God should look with favour on His anointed one”  is appropriate. Before we move on, it is important to point out that the major responsibility of all appointed leaders is to be a shield for those who are under their care. In God’s view there is no place for greedy exploitation, or self-exaltation or the grasping of power for any other cause than to se

Psalm 84:8 The imperatives The psalm writer here is giving a command, in English grammar we call this an imperative. In many of the psalms the imperative is preceded by a call to “arise.” In other words, the psalmists have the nerve to command God to “get up” and “get moving!” Bearing in mind that the psalms were written in a poetic format, there are two imperatives in this verse and two titles for God are also used:- “Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty.” “Listen to me. God of Jacob.” I don’t know about you but I’m squirming just a little here; firstly, how dare anyone issue a command to God, not just once but twice, and secondly how dare they use two different addresses? Is that a way of hedging your bets? “If He doesn’t answer to the first name, I’ll try another one!” Whatever the justification, the language shows how desperate the writer is and how frustrated and empty his estrangement from Zion has made him. I wonder if we are that anguished when distanced from the Lord? I’m sure th

Psalm 84:7 Till each appears before God in Zion The picture I get here is of pilgrims who have passed through the grim scenery of the Valley of Baca and who now have their eyes firmly fixed on their destination. Zion! The journey from any direction is uphill although the peaks of the mountains of Jerusalem are only around 2,500 feet above sea level. Never-the-less, there is a tiresome walk in the final stages of the pilgrimage. Do the travellers care? No, they do not, for the end is in sight, the beauty and wonder of the Holy City awaits and so their pace quickens. It must have been especially breath-taking for those who came over the brow of the Mount of Olives where the panorama of Jerusalem greets the eyes of the traveller in stunning glory.  I’m sure these moments were in the mind of the psalmist, and he speaks of the pilgrims who go from “strength to strength” as they approach the Temple Mount. Here was God’s dwelling place. Here was the holiest place on earth. Here was the purpos

Psalm 84:6b The autumn rains It never ceases to amaze me how the Lord God is able to dramatically transform every situation, when we invite Him to become part of it. Darkness becomes light. Barrenness becomes fruitfulness. Deadness becomes life. Here in this verse, the desolate Valley of Baka turns into a place of springs; as the joyful pilgrims pass through, water bubbles up and the arid landscape is transformed into a place of refreshing.  Autumn rains fall of course in autumn! These “latter” rains in Israel refresh the ground after months of drought and the landscape is completely changed. After a few days the desolate countryside turns to green once more, and the desert starts to bloom. In the Judean desert there are rushing torrents and water pours and collects where only a few days before, there appeared to have been centuries of nothing but sand and rocks.  Pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem at this time of the year were intent on celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot,

Psalm 84:6a The Valley of Baka The Valley of Baka is mentioned in the Bible only once, here in Psalm 84.  Baca  is rendered “weeping” in most translations. (The Hebrew word  baca  is related to  bakah , which means “to weep.”)  Baca  refers to a type of “weeping” tree; that is, one that drips resin or gum-like tears, such as a balsam, mulberry, or aspen tree. In 2 Samuel 2:23  bakaim  is translated as balsam trees.  The Valley of Baka was probably a literal place located near Jerusalem, some suggest that the Valley of Rephaim is a possible identification. It was obviously a waterless place and had a dark foreboding about it, a place that pilgrims hurried through! Maybe this valley was in David’s mind when he wrote, “Even  though I walk through the Valley of the shadow of darkness (better  translation than the Valley of the shadow of death), I will fear no evil for You are with me, Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. ” Psalm 23:4.  The psalmist uses the Valley of Baka symbolically