Daily Meditations

Psalm 100:4 Praise His name! Do you remember the cries of the Levite song-writer in Psalm 84? “ My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord ….. better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere, I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked .” Such were the longings of many of Israel’s inhabitants at times in their history. To travel to Zion, to climb the Temple Mount, to enter through the gates and into its courts was the high point of any year. In this instance the worshipper comes with one particular purpose, to make a Thank Offering to the Lord and then to celebrate afterwards with family and friends. Set against the gruelling days of hard labour and monotony that many endured there is every reason to understand their joy as they arrived at Jerusalem.  However, the Psalm does not just celebrate the events, it is His gates they are entering, it Is His courts that they fill with praise, it is to the Lord that they gi

Psalm 100:3 We are His people There are some very important statements of fact in this verse, so important that they need to be permanently imprinted on our minds! Firstly, is the fact that the Lord is God, and we are commanded to know this. Our English word “Lord” is a translation of the Hebrew YHWH or Yahweh. There are many theories about its literal meaning for it is a sequence of consonants, Yod, Heh, Waw and Heh, known as the tetragrammaton. Many scholars believe that the most proper meaning should be “He Brings into Existence Whatever Exists.” Whichever way you look at it, His Name proclaims that He is not only God but the Most High God, superior to any other Being anywhere. He is way beyond the rule and authority of the gods of all other religions and faiths. He is the supreme Being to be elevated above all others. Instead of embracing the followers of the gods of other faiths, Christian leaders should be proclaiming to them all that there is only one, true God and that their de

Psalm 100:1-2 Come before Him with joyful songs The setting of this short Psalm is given away by its title –  “For giving grateful praise.”  It was almost certainly written for those who came to the Temple with the intention of offering a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God or a Thank Offering, often called the Peace Offering or the Fellowship Offering. The Offering had several names, but they all mean the same thing and the regulations for this are set out in Leviticus 7:11-34. A special requirement of this sacrifice is that it had to be eaten on the day it was offered so the day would usually be one of feasting! The fat portion of an animal sacrifice was given to the Lord and burned on the Temple altar, another portion belonged to the priests who would be allowed to take the best meat from the breast or the thigh, the rest could be taken home by the offeror and shared with family and friends, hence the feast element!    V1-2    As we have already discovered, the presentation of a Fellow

Psalm 99:9 He is holy! Psalm 15 begins;  “Lord, who may dwell in Your sacred tent? Who may live on Your holy mountain?”  The Psalm goes on to list the characteristics of the ones who may experience this privilege. The list includes a blameless walk, speaking the truth from the heart, a tongue free from slander and casting no slur on others. Such a one despises vile people but honours those who fear the Lord and keeps an oath even though it hurts, they lend money to the poor without interest and do not accept bribes against the innocent. Such a person may ascend the hill of the Lord and worship on His holy mountain. A further condition is revealed here in the last verse of Psalm 99, those who worship at the holy mountain must recognise the holiness of the Lord and exalt Him for He is holy. This Christian faith of ours is not a game, this amazing Being who we call Father is not to be taken for granted or to be treated with disdain. Reverent fear, obedience and love accompany those who en

Psalm 99:8 A forgiving God We have seen how Moses, Aaron and Samuel are singled out here as being men who faithfully interceded for God’s people. They devoted themselves to pleading Israel’s cause and listening for God to make known His will. These men even dared to try and bargain with the Lord, such was their heart for the people that they beseeched Him to be merciful and to hold back on His judgements.  God answered the pleas of these intercessors who cared so passionately for their fellow countrymen. God forgave the sins of the people, He forgave their law-breaking, their lack of faith, their disobedience and their complaining. However, this verse tells us something more, for while God forgives, that does not mean that He does not punish. Our deeds and words and thoughts carry consequences. Just as we may forgive a child its disobedience and its naughtiness, that child needs to know that sin has consequences, that misdeeds have to be put right, that wrongs must be righted. In fact,

Psalm 99:7 They kept His statutes This verse needs a bit of unpacking! The first question we might ask is, “How did God speak to Samuel from the pillar of cloud? Was not the pillar of cloud a phenomenon associated solely with the Israelites’ journey in the wilderness?” I think we need to understand that the glory of God was in the cloud, and that the cloud of His glory was later seen at times over the Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacle and also in the Temple. You will remember that, as a young boy, Samuel was actually sleeping close to Eli, the High Priest, in the Tabernacle tent, when the Lord God first spoke to him,  “The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was.”  1 Samuel 3:3. There is an association here between Moses and Aaron and Samuel, when the Lord later spoke powerfully to His servants it was when they came humbly before Him, and that meant visiting the Holy Place where His glory was seen and felt.  The

Psalm 99:6 The intercessors The role of the priesthood in Israel had many facets and the three men mentioned here were very different, however, one function was common to them all, they were intermediaries between man and God. They were called to intercede on behalf of the people and to instruct them about the will of the Lord. Moses and Aaron are mentioned here because they were the first to officially fulfil this priestly role. We could look back and say that Abraham, Melchizadek, Joseph and others were the forerunners, but it was Moses and Aaron who were specifically appointed to the intercessory task as members of the priestly tribe of Levi.  Samuel’s family came from Ephraim but were probably Levites who lived in one of the towns that had been designated to them. Samuel was another priestly man who interceded for Israel and who instructed them about the will of the Lord, especially with regard to their monarchs!  So, Moses and Aaron helped to establish the priesthood and Samuel wa

Psalm 99:5 Worship at His footstool Art works and artifacts from ancient times depict kings sitting on their thrones and many have a footstool, it’s built into the throne and it’s obviously the step upon which the monarch places his feet. The description of King Solomon’s throne is a case in point,  “Then the king made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with pure gold. The throne had six steps, and a footstool of gold was attached to it. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of the step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom.”  2 Chronicles 9:17-19. From the above we get a picture of the kind of throne and footstool that the psalm-writer envisages the Lord God might be sitting upon! In the minds of these people, when God sat upon His heavenly throne, Mount Zion was His earthly footstool. In fact, David actually says this. 1 Chronicles 28:2. We do not have t

Psalm 99:4 The King of justice Let’s be clear at the outset, God’s might does not prompt Him to do as He pleases or to act out of self-interest or personal ambition. His might does not allow Him to have favourites or prejudices or to overlook evil. Unlike all earthly rulers, He does not use His might for personal gain in any way, but rather that the twin attributes of His justice and equity will be practiced to the ultimate degree. When He judges, His judgements are and will be based on facts, on absolute truth, and no one will be able to accuse Him of unfairness.  This verse holds Jacob up as an example of the equitable justice of the Lord; Jacob being, of course, another name for Israel. The Jews are God’s Chosen people, who have been allowed to live in His Promised Land, but careful research will show that God’s dealings with them have never been anything other than fair. He has blessed them way beyond what they deserve but He has also punished their sins. Their rejection of Him has

Psalm 99:3 He is Holy! Verse 1 of this Psalm reminds us that because the Lord reigns, the nations should tremble. This verse tells us that because He is holy, the nations should praise His great and awesome name. I can’t think of any nations that do that, can you? This “calling on His holy name” was a function of the priests, so the verse is effectively saying that all nations should have a priesthood that intercedes for the people by calling on the holy name of the Lord.  One of the Satan’s most used ploys is to replicate what God has already put in place and if he can, to divide and conquer. In the context of this verse, he has given other “holy names” to the nations such as Buddha and Allah, Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu. Millions around the world praise these names but hold the name of Elohim Elyon or Yahweh or Jesus Christ in complete distain.  The reason that the Lord is the only one worthy of praise is that He is holy. In being holy, He alone is worthy of complete devotion for He is

Psalm 99:2 All about Zion As we have seen before, Zion is repeatedly mentioned in the Scriptures as the dwelling place of God. He could have chosen any other land in the world for His people to dwell, but He chose Israel. He could have chosen any other city in Israel, but He chose Jerusalem. He could have chosen any other hill or mount, but Zion was the place where David first erected the Tabernacle at God’s command.  The word   Zion   occurs over 150 times in the Bible. It essentially means “fortification” and has the idea of being “raised up” as a “monument.” Zion is described both as the city of David and the city of God. As the Bible progresses, the word   Zion   expands in scope and takes on an additional, spiritual meaning.  The first mention of Zion in the Bible is  in 2 Samuel 5:7.   “David captured the fortress of Zion—which is the City of David.”  Zion was originally an ancient Jebusite fortress in the city of Jerusalem. After David’s conquest of the fortress, Jerusalem came

Psalm 99:1 He sits enthroned between the cherubim Commentators have noted that the Hebrew tetragrammaton YHWH or JHVH is used 7 times in this Psalm. This, of course, is the sacred name for God, the name that Jews would not and do not speak, out of reverence and awe. The Jews get round their problem by using words like Adonai which means “Lord”, or Elohim which is “God” and HaShem which is translated “The Name.” Thus, YHWH Elohim is usually translated the “Lord God” in the Scriptures.  This is a vibrant song that celebrates the rule and reign of the Holy King from Mount Zion and that encourages us to worship and exalt Him at His holy mountain.    V1        Psalm 97:1 begins with the words,  “The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad.”  I believe that the earth in that verse refers to all of creation. It’s a different story here in Psalm 99 for here the Lord still reigns, but the nations should tremble! Nations, of course, refers to mankind. In other words, when the Lord comes to the earth

Psalm 98:9 He is coming! This verse is a summary of what has already been written, there is an anticipation in this Psalm of a Day of Justice and liberation for all of creation. Righteousness and truth will prevail, and the curses of the Garden of Eden will be lifted. Almost exactly the same words were used in Psalm 96:13 to describe this Day, the Day of the Lord, for He will come and right all wrongs and restore His Kingdom and His sovereign reign over all the earth. That is why creation must sing and shout and clap its hands, that is the time when the whole earth will resonate with His praises. And this is the point, while the world waits for that day, while creation anticipates its liberation, we who are already liberated need to get on with it! That is why our praises should be loud and expressive, they are essential to our witness and our existence. Let the church rise up and praise the Maker of heaven and earth, let the whole world take note that the Lord God is alive and well an

Psalm 98:8 All creation praises Him When we first read, in the Psalms, of parts of creation praising God, I thought that this was just an expression, a way for exuberant song writers to encourage we humans to give voice to our joy. Now, I see that, as ever, the Scriptures are far more literal than that. These elements of God’s created world really do praise Him in their way and just because we do not understand, it does not mean that it does not happen! If such an immediate interpretation is wrong, then these words from the Psalm are prophetic and tell us of a day when creation will be able to praise. Perhaps that it what the Apostle Paul meant when he wrote; - “ I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.   For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God   to be revealed.   For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it,   in hope   that

Psalm 98:7 A "resounding" call This call to celebrate before the Lord is not just confined to the human race, as we have seen. In fact, if it were, it might be very limited! The call goes out to all of creation, even those things that we might describe as inanimate and therefore lifeless. The Bible doesn’t seem to view creation in this way, all things that are the work of God’s hands are  deemed to be capable of a response to their Maker. So, as humans, we stare at the seas and view them as just large masses of water that support life and that are subject to the tides and the gravitational pull of the moon. In the Bible, the seas resound or resonate with joy before their Maker! We have mentioned before that everything has a resonant frequency, researchers have found for instance, that 432 Hz may be the frequency at which the whole universe vibrates! Sounds at that frequency are especially pleasing to the human ear and music theorists have discovered that they enhance relaxati

Psalm 98:5-6 Make music and shout for joy! Let’s refresh our knowledge of ancient musical instruments, shall we?  ·        The earliest harps were shaped like bows but had very few strings when compared with modern instruments because they lacked the central column which is needed to support string tension. ·        In ancient times the trumpet was long and made of metal but without the sophisticated valves of modern instruments. It was used for many purposes as well as being an instrument of praise. ·        The ram’s horn is another name for the Shofar, that gives a loud cry that is usually a summons for people to gather. It is an instrument that cries out from deep within the soul! Frankly, if you put this lot together you do not get gentle melodies or harmonies, imagine the racket when they are all playing! And that’s the point! This is about a joyful noise, it’s about jubilant songs, and shouts of joy, the Lord invites His people to come together and make a rumpus, to let go and c

Psalm 98:4 Shout for joy to the Lord This is not a polite request, it is a command and one day it will be fulfilled, the whole earth will shout for joy to the Lord. Every person and all living things are embraced by this command and yes there will be a day when all nations will praise the living God and shout for joy to Him. The religions and the gods of the world will be exposed for what they are - delusions masterminded by the Satan. Leaders and rulers will see who the Lord is and pay Him obeisance. Yeshua Himself will reign over the world from Jerusalem and His saints will join with Him on that glorious day, and the world will be filled with His music. How interesting that in these last days, the Satan is trying so hard to replicate this command by pulling huge crowds together just to sing his music. It is as if he is taunting the Lord God, “I can draw huge crowds and make music as loud as they can bear it. Your lot are just whimpering by comparison.”   We don’t have to wait until t

Psalm 98:3 His faithfulness and love to Israel Last night I watched the BBC News (28 th  August 2023) and there was an item about the tensions in the West Bank in Israel. The report was highly biased in favour of the Palestinian cause and the main thrust was to do with the Israeli right-wing government and the way Palestinians are being driven out of their land by the growth of Jewish settlements. The Palestinians argued that this was land that they had occupied for many years; the Jews argued that it was land given to them centuries ago, by God! Later I watched the ILTV news broadcast on YouTube, it was entirely devoted to Palestinian attacks against Israelis in the area around Samaria. There was a section to do with Israeli bombing of Russian military equipment at Aleppo airport, in Syria, and the capture of Iranian arms being smuggled into Israel through Jordan.   It was a job to know who was telling the truth because both Channels were highly biased and took opposing sides in their

Psalm 98:2 His salvation and righteousness are obvious There are probably two events driving this cry from for David for deliverance from “the guilt of bloodshed.” The first is the death or Uriah, the former husband of Bathsheba and one of David’s “mighty fighting men.” Uriah was his friend and trusted ally and yet David had connived to get him drunk so that he would go home and sleep with his wife, in the hope that this would cover the possibility that Bathsheba was pregnant. When Uriah refused because of his loyalty to his comrades in the army, David ordered that he be placed in a position where fighting was fiercest and then be abandoned and left to die! The plan worked and David had Uriah’s blood on his hands.  A child was born to David and Bathsheba, but because of their sinful actions it too would die. 7 days after the birth, their son, who had become seriously ill, passed away. His life was so short that he remained uncircumcised and unnamed and therefore was not counted among t

Psalm 98:1b His right hand and His holy arm It might be a helpful aid if someone was appointed in every church congregation to write down all the marvellous things that the Lord is doing! Hopefully there would be a lot to record and every deed would rank in the marvellous category, bearing in mind that appropriate synonyms for “marvellous” are amazing, astounding, astonishing, awesome, breath-taking, sensational et al! It is good to remind ourselves that when we seek the help of Almighty God to bring about marvellous things, we are actually asking Him to wield the powers of His right hand and His holy arm. Throughout Scripture the right hand is used as a picture of strength and capability. A large portion of the world is right-handed, so most people resonate with the sense of dexterity, strength, and ability coming from the right hand versus the left. However, when Scripture uses the image of God’s right hand, it is meant to be a picture of the pinnacle of strength and ability. In pass

Psalm 98:1a Sing to the Lord I wonder if we will be singing many of these Psalm when the Lord reigns in righteousness over the world. The Bible suggests that Yeshua will one day return to the earth and establish a millennial kingdom. The Satan will be bound and all nations will bow the knee to the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Psalm 93,95 and 96 all have similar themes where different parts of the universe demonstrate the power and authority of our God and give praise to Him. In this Psalm the order of worshippers is: - ·        The faithful Israelites who assemble at the Temple v1-3 ·        All the peoples of the earth v4-6 ·        The whole of creation v7-9   V1a        What are we doing when we sing songs to the Lord? 10 things – at least! 1.       We are proclaiming that He alone is God.  2.       We are expressing our belief in Him. 3.       We are putting Him in His rightful place in our affections. 4.       We are humbling ourselves and exalting Him. 5.       We are sin

Psalm 97:12 Rejoice IN the Lord We are not told here to rejoice  to  the Lord or  at  the Lord but  in  the Lord. This means that we don’t just praise and worship Him for what He has done for us, but we rejoice because of who He is. In becoming one of His people or part of His body we have come into Him. He is not distant or obscure, He is part of us and we are part of Him. Our joy is founded on His works, His revelations, His inspiration and a thousand and one other things but it is also rooted in who He is. His very existence and the fact that we know Him is cause enough to rejoice. Where would we be without Him? What would be the reason for living without Him? If He did not exist, nor would we and so we rejoice in Him. We are not strangers and aliens but those who have been brought near and who benefit from the comfort and daily strength of His company. This privilege is only available to the righteous. In the psalm writer’s time, the righteous were those who kept God’s commandments

Psalm 97:11 Light and joy What an amazing verse, there is so much depth to this that it’s a job to know where to start! Firstly, we need to remember that our God is the One who introduced light to the world and He has been a light to His people ever since. He was a light in the darkness when the Children of Israel stumbled for 40 years in the wilderness. He was represented by the Golden Lampstand in the Tabernacle and the Temple, and when Yeshua arrived amongst us He declared Himself to be the light of the world. Notice that the light is shed upon the righteous. Our God lights up our path by guiding us and directing us and showing us the way that we should go. If we have difficulties in understanding how to proceed, then His light will shine and direct our path. We do not have to stumble around in confusion and in darkness, if we live His way and obey His commands, all will become clear!  Our God is also the light of truth, and He has written everything we need to know in this life, in

Psalm 97:10 Let's hate evil Let’s be honest here, things are not the way they should be! We are born again believers in the Most High, we recognise His power and His presence, we are aware of His righteousness, His justice and His truth. In fact, we would go further and say that we love Him and that He is the single most important influence in our lives, and yet, and yet we still sin. We are still enticed by evil, our warped minds still succumb to the devil’s lures and we still, occasionally, find some satisfaction in embracing temptation. “Oh God, help me to hate evil. Teach me to hate evil. Let me reach that point when my mind is so attuned to You and Your truth that I cannot entertain evil in any of its ghastly, grisly guises!” The verse today gives us two good reasons to hate evil. Firstly, because those who are faithful to the Lord are especially guarded by Him. As soon as we hanker after evil, as soon as we listen to the voice of temptation and follow its silky undertones, we

Psalm 97:9 The Most High I wonder how many times the phrase “the Most High” occurs in the Scriptures? I wonder how many times, godly men and women have raised their hands to the Most High? How many times has this title appeared in songs and hymns and expressions of worship? When we think about it, it is incredibly humbling to approach this One who is the Most High. How dare we speak? How dare we even lift our eyes to Him? Who are we to even enter His presence? All those other gods can have all the noise and singing and jabbering, but is this appropriate for the Most High? The One who is exalted far above all lesser gods?  Sometimes, it is good to just stop and think about it, to stop talking, to stop bothering Him with our petty worries and just take in who this is, the One we say we believe in. For if we do believe, who exactly is this God and what kind of mental image have we built up of Him? Let’s hope we’ve got it right for who wants to worship an imitation? This is the God who say

Psalm 97:8 Glad because of judgements? Although we do not know exactly when this Psalm was written, or indeed who wrote it, you will notice that this verse does not mention the northern tribes of Israel. The 10 northern tribes were extinguished by the Assyrians in around 720BC which suggests that the Psalm may have been written later. It is Zion and the villages of Judah who are glad because of the judgements of the Lord.  We might think that there is little about the Lord’s judgements to make us glad, however, we have learned that He is wholly righteous, that His judgements are founded on absolute truth and that when He judges, evil is exposed and removed. Imagine the way this world would be run if the Lord judged and removed the evil. No more greed, no more corruption, no more lies, no more jealousy and selfishness. Instead of widespread rebellion against God, all nations would live in fear and awe of Him. Instead of rulers and leaders dictating and driving forward their Satanic mast

Psalm 97:7 Worship Him, all you gods! The previous verses of this Psalm have concentrated on revealing the Lord to us in all of His power and glory. He is a God who both discloses Himself but is so majestic that He is hidden from our earthly eyes! That is, until He came to us in human form. In the light of His revelations all lesser gods are put to shame, what are these pointless, man-made objects that so many people worship? Why would mankind bow to them and venerate them when the God above all gods is so clearly visible? Why do mortal men take such comfort and give such honour to objects made of wood and stone and metal when the true God who made these things is there for all to see?  The Satan has done a remarkable job in deceiving so many although we would not want to give him any credit!  Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glo

Psalm 97:6 The heavens declare His righteousness What do we know about the heavens? The first thing is that they are vast, the ancients thought so, the sophisticated technology of modern man has proved them right. Various excursions into space and the discoveries of Hubble and the James Webb telescopes has proved our forefathers to be correct, the heavens are indeed infinite and populated by billions of galaxies. A new piece of kit has recently been launched that is primed to help scientists to understand how these things hang together, listen out for the findings from Euclid!  Another wonder of the heavens is that the sun, moon and stars are unwavering in their orbits and their cycles throughout the skies, using them we are able to tell time and to construct calendars and timetables for all of our earthly activities. Interestingly atomic clocks now tell us the same time using, yes, you’ve guessed it, atoms. In other words, the vast structures in the heavens work on the same principles