Daily Meditations

Psalm 118:2-4 His love endures forever As we know, our psalm-writer is about to embark on an explanation of all that has been learned and gained from a particularly brutal time of national, military conflict. Before starting however, he wishes to express his gratitude to the Lord and encourages all the fighting men, their families and all landowners in Israel to proclaim that the Lord’s love endures forever. No sooner have these words been penned than it is obvious that the Levite tribe, the non-military house of Aaron, should also be prepared to join in the celebrations. They too have every reason to be grateful that the love of the Lord endures forever. Then, and I don’t think this is an afterthought, the psalmist realises that every man, woman and child who has ever lived, who has faith in and who fears the Lord, has good reason to acknowledge and proclaim that the love of the Lord endures forever! That, of course, includes you and me. It needs to be emphasised here that true “fear ...

Psalm 118:1 Give thanks to the Lord The opening verses of this Psalm reveal few clues as to what is about to unfold.  The Psalm starts with acknowledgements of God’s enduring love for all His people and it’s only at verse 5 that there is a dramatic change of direction; then we get a true flavour of what is really in the heart of the writer. Many believe that this was written by one of Judah’s kings and that it may well celebrate the end of a particularly hard series of conflicts with surrounding nations working together to defeat Israel. A Psalm for today then? It becomes clearer, as the writer writes his song, that it is probably the thoughts of the king himself, who is encouraging his people to praise the Lord for deliverance and victory. This is the last Psalm in the Hallel (Psalm 113-118) and may therefore have been sung by Jesus and His disciples before they left the upper room at Passover and thus shortly before His arrest!    V1     ...

  Psalm 117:1-2 The shortest Psalm of all   This Psalm is not only the shortest in the Psalter, but it is also the shortest chapter in our Bibles. As you will recall, Psalms 111 – 118 form the “Hallel”, a series of songs and poems that were used at celebrations throughout the Jewish year, in particular, Passover. This Psalm 117 was the seventh and it may be that it was added as a kind of “Hallelujah” that concluded the preceding six Hallelujah Psalms.    V1-2    Notice that the Psalm begins with an injunction to all the nations to “Praise the Lord.” Then we are given two reasons for so doing, one is the greatness of the love of the Lord and the other is His faithfulness. What commentators have noted is that the Bible often orders the nations of the world to sit up and take note, for all our destinies are tied up with Israel. Whatever God is doing for His ancient people, affects every nation, tribe and family and individual throughout the world....

Psalm 116:19 The house of the Lord It was one of the Sons of Korah who, when writing Psalm 84, admitted that his  “soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord,”  and  “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.”  He was, of course, longing for the Temple and its courts, and he wrote the Psalm at a time when the Jews had been banished from Jerusalem. This man longed for the sweetness of knowing that he was near to His God.  I suspect that the writer of Psalm 116 had experienced similar longings and now that he had recovered sufficiently from his calamities, he intended to make that journey, to fulfil his vows and offer praise in the  “courts of the house of the Lord .” Whilst we no longer need a building or an altar to experience the closeness of our God, many still find comfort in seeking Him in the consecrated stillness of a familiar place...

Psalm 116:17-18 Thank Offerings Thank Offerings and the fulfilment of vows were the subjects of verses 13-14. The rules and requirements of these ceremonial rituals are found in Leviticus 3. Any animal without defect could be offered, along with various breads. The offering was voluntary, an act of thanksgiving and fellowship and it included a communal meal. As we saw, p art of the offering was to God, part to the priests, the rest was for the offeror. See Leviticus 7:11-21, 28-34. So, the question is, how do we partake in peace offerings? One way is to be reconciled to Jews but also to our enemies. Ephesians 2:13-18,   “ But now in Christ Jesus you who once   were far away have been brought nearby the blood of Christ.    For he himself is our peace,   who has made the two groups one   and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,   by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations.   His purpose was to ...

Psalm 116:16 Thanks for godly mothers In Psalm 86:16, a prayer of David, we commented on part of a verse that is replicated exactly here: -  “ T his is, as far as I know, the only reference that David ever makes to his mother, although the statement here is repeated word for word in Psalm 116:16. In  Psalm 35:14 he writes,  “I bowed down heavily as one that mourns for his mother” but it’s not clear if he is referring to a specific situation involving the loss of his own mum. We have no clues anywhere else as to the character of David’s mother and it is not easy to determine who she was. The language here, however, would seem to imply that she was a godly woman, in some versions this verse is translated as “your handmaid,” a lady then who belonged to the Lord and who served Him faithfully. David now prays that, as he had been devoted to God by her, and had been trained up by her, God would remember all this, and would interfere on his behalf.” It would not be hard to imagi...

Psalm 116:15 All about death There’s a lot about death in this Psalm! In verse 3 the writer remembers being entangled by the cords of death. In verse 8-9 he gives the Lord credit for saving him from death and allowing him to walk in the land of the living. And now we have this curious statement that seems to suggest that the Lord places great value on the death of one of His servants! Death is often an elaborate and time-consuming process. Few people pass straight from this world to the next in the blink of an eye. It can be done, through an accident or a heart attack, however, for most, the manner by which we die occupies us for a considerable time. Many have noted that they do not fear death, but they do fear the means by which they will die, especially if it involves illness, dependency, and months or even years, of slow deterioration.  The word translated as “precious” means “of high worth, value, or cost.” In the original Hebrew, the term rendered “saints or servants” refers t...

Psalm 116:14 Fulfilling our vows to the Lord This verse carries a deep and meaningful message about the importance of keeping our promises and being faithful to our commitments, especially in the presence of witnesses. As we have seen, the psalmist has described a time when he was in distress and called on the Lord for help, and the Lord answered his prayers. In response to this deliverance, he expresses his gratitude, and vows to fulfil his promises to the Lord. In ancient Israel, making a vow or promise to the Lord was a serious commitment that was not to be taken lightly. It was a way of expressing devotion and dedication to the Lord, and failing to fulfil a vow was considered a grave offense. Note that the psalmist declares his intention to fulfil his vows to the Lord " in the presence of all his people,"  indicating that he is making a public declaration of his faithfulness and devotion. By openly declaring his commitment to the Lord, the psalmist is setting an example f...

Psalm 116:13 The Cup of Salvation This verse is by way of an answer to the question previously posed,  “What shall I return to the Lord for all His goodness to me?”  One answer, is to lift up the Cup of Salvation, but this is where things get complicated, because there is more than one contender for the title of “cup of salvation.” At Passover, it is traditional for 4 cups of wine to be drunk during the annual festivities, one of these is the Cup of Salvation that celebrates the deliverance of God’s people from Egyptian slavery and captivity. The writer of this Psalm has already made it clear that he is rejoicing on account of his salvation from the cords of death and the anguish of the grave.  However, it was also common practice to lift up a cup of salvation as the climax of the ritual meal that accompanied a Thank Offering or a Fellowship Offering. These were voluntary sacrifices that were made to the Lord and the priests were allowed to take part of the offering for t...

Psalm 116:12 What shall I return to the Lord for all His goodness to me? This verse poses a question that has occupied many minds over the centuries, and it is still being answered with a wide variety of responses. There is no doubt that many individuals, families and even some nations feel an indebtedness to the Lord, for all that He has done. The UK used to be part of that equation although we have long since ceased to give the Lord God credit for anything! So, we must face this question as individuals, families and churches, “What can we give to the Lord in return for all His goodness to us?”  “What can I give Him for all His goodness to me?” The Jews saw the answer in their sacrificial offerings, especially the “Thank” or “Freewill” offerings. Through these rituals, they had an opportunity to sacrifice the very best of what they owned, and the sacrifice would benefit the priesthood as well as themselves. Some Christians have viewed isolation, celibacy and taking orders, as a wa...

Psalm 116:10-11 I trusted in the Lord It sorrows me that many of our friends and members of our families, our neighbours, work colleagues and other associates, have absolutely no one to turn to when calamity strikes. Yes, there is the NHS and yes, there are innumerable experts and online advisers but, at the end of the day, most people do not have a higher authority, a supreme Being in whom they can place their trust. For those of us who know the Lord, when troubles are about to overwhelm us, there is someone who we can confidently turn to and who is more than capable of guiding us through the afflictions that life brings. It is so reassuring and so comforting to know that a far greater mind is attuned to our needs and if there is any way through, He knows it and He will carry us to safety. He even opens doors and makes things happen for our good when there seems to be no way forwards!   Psalm 109 is a Psalm of David, written when he was going through great suffering and tribulati...

Psalm 116:8-9 That I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living Any traumatic health scare is dealt with today by the professionals; we summon the paramedics, get rushed off to hospital or to the GP and expect to receive the treatment to which we are entitled. Health care, in the time this Psalm was written, was much more primitive and there were few treatments and even less in the way of after-care. These things that we take for granted were not available to our victim and he can only therefore, think of one source of his healing and restoration, the Lord God Himself! Perhaps we should remember that the drugs we are given, the healing processes that we are offered, the knowledge and skills that are used in the modern Health Service are not all down to the genius of man. The drugs and medicines were provided when the earth was created and the ability and knowledge to repair the human body were also God-given. There is not man or woman alive who can actually heal us, the final b...

Psalm 116:7 Return to your rest What an extraordinary and beautiful statement this is! What is the “ rest of the soul”  that is referred to here?” Psalm 23:2-3 helps to answer this question by painting an idyllic picture, “ He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for His name’s sake .” Put simply, the “ rest of the Lord”  is quiet contentment, it is when we trust in Him completely. The storm has passed, the catastrophic events have ended, and we have been delivered from what seemed to be a complete disaster. Now, on reflection, we realise that we had no control of the situation, that the skills and ingenuity of those who helped were gratefully welcomed but the final say, the turning point rested in the hands of the One who is the arbiter between life and death. God alone can save us and deliver us and no one else can challenge His authority in this matter.  This state of rest does no...

Psalm 116:5-6 He saved me One of the side effects of a traumatic or calamitous event in one’s life is that there is a deep sense of gratitude at having survived! Near death experiences are particularly relevant; to sense the end of life, to see the gates of death, to edge close to that fateful encounter and then be freed is a very special kind of liberation. Our psalm writer obviously understands this for he is overwhelmed with gratitude to the Lord who delivered Him. For myself, I can say that having survived a similar experience, the world is a far more beautiful place than the one I inhabited before, colours are richer, birdsong is sweeter, relationships are more meaningful and there is so much to be savoured and enjoyed. After a close encounter with death, our attention is brought to focus on the One who gives life and who manages our time on this earth, our gratitude is extended to Him for His grace and righteousness and His compassion. To approach death and avoid it brings Him cl...

Psalm 116:3-4 Lord save me! There was, undoubtedly, a common practice in force when the Psalms were written, of binding prisoners and captives with cords. Presumably these were made of rope, or maybe manacles of iron, but the result was that the offender hade no chance of escape. They would be tightly bound and incapable of making a break for freedom. The psalmists describe the cords of death and of the grave in this dramatic language, once bound you will never be free, the cords are both inevitable and terminal, those who are fastened by them recognise their fate! The moment of death itself can be a welcome relief but the ever-tightening grip that it holds over those who are still alive and breathing, is terrifying. Our psalmist was  “overcome by distress and sorrow. ” We often speak of a quick death as being a rather charmed way to leave this world, as compared to those poor souls who spend endless days, weeks, even months, slowing slipping away as the cords tighten themselves ar...

Psalm 116:2 I will call on Him I guess we often take it for granted that the Lord God hears us when we pray to Him! Prayer can become a habit, and a very good one at that, at least a daily exercise when we bring our requests and our concerns to the throne of our God. (By the way, have you noticed how the prayers of the Psalms are very much a mixture of praise, thanksgiving and of requests.) There needs to be a balance. To get back to the point, whether you are an occasional pray-er or one who talks incessantly to the Lord, we all have an expectation that we are heard – that He “turns His ear towards us.” I’m not in a position to judge, but I wonder if there is a different response in heaven to the endless, monotonous, monologues of some and the heartfelt cries of others? In other words, if we want the Lord God to listen, we need to be passionate ourselves about the things we bring to Him. Our prayers are described as incense in the Scriptures, they arise as a sweet-smelling aroma that ...

Psalm 116 Deliverance from death This Psalm is the fourth in the “Hallel” and it praises and thanks the Lord for His deliverance from death. No author is mentioned although it reads like a Psalm of David. Some indeed attribute it to a king and have noticed that it mirrors the thoughts of Hezekiah after he was saved from dying. Isaiah 38:9-20. The Psalm has some beautiful sentiments and is particularly poignant for me having suffered a heart attack and what was described as “catastrophic heart failure,” just 6 months ago! Let’s enjoy this tribute to the Lord who guards and keeps us all despite what life may throw at us.    V1        What a beautiful opening statement of humble praise,  “I love the Lord!”  We could stop and muse over this one statement for a long time. Before we investigate some of the reasons why we love Him perhaps it’s good to remember that we love Him because He is! His existence and His holiness and purity, ...

Psalm 115:18 We will praise Him for evermore The previous verse speaks of the desolation and silence of Hades and the grave. How awful! How terrifying! How heart-wrenching to find oneself in a god-forsaken state and in a god-forsaken place. Thank God for this last verse of Psalm 115. Those who fear the Lord and who die in safety, protected by His salvation, are going to anything but a quiet place!  “The presence of the Lord is fullness of joy.”  Psalm 16:11. For those who dwell for eternity in the Lord’s presence there will be singing and music and laughter and joy and light and warmth and an overwhelming awareness of love. This will not be a transitory or momentary experience; it will be both for the present and forevermore! No more fear, no more isolation, no more evil; no more heartache, no more loneliness, no more anger and hate, no more depression and anguish, just pure unadulterated joy and contentment in the presence of the Lord.  It is obvious that our heavenly in...

Psalm 115:17 The place silence In November 2020 I had a vision of the “place of silence” and this seems to be an appropriate place to repeat it!    “The silence was deafening, and no one dare speak. We were travelling, on foot, just a small family group, across a vast plain. The surface beneath our feet was black and reflective, almost like ice, although it was not slippery. There was a strange, ethereal light that came not from the sun or the moon. It was a gloomy light, oppressive and full of foreboding – nothing stood out, you could not read in that light. Everything was shadowy and yet there were no objects to create shadows. It felt like a moonlit night but there was no orb in the sky just a reflection of light off the ebony ground beneath our feet. And that silence!    The panorama around us seemed to stretch all the way to the horizon as if the path we took was flat, but there was also a strange sensation of occasional rising and falling that suggested we were...

Psalm 115:16 What a mighty God! Wow! We need to take time to allow the significance of these words to sink in! Firstly, let’s be aware that the vastness of space is not a breeding ground for UFO’s and their interstellar inhabitants, nor is it the habitation of little green men with pointed ears. The heavens are so vast, so beyond human calculation; why even the Milky Way, our own galaxy, has 100 billion stars in it, give or take one or two! And there are billions of galaxies! And this is so we might have some appreciation of the immensity and complexity of this Being who we call God. When the Scriptures speak of the heavens, we have to ask if they are referring to the physical, tangible universe or the spiritual realms that exists beyond, or maybe to both? In this instance the psalmist was probably gazing at the skies above him, but let’s be honest, it doesn’t matter which realm you choose, our God is over all and above all and as the supreme spiritual Being, He rules over all. Man has...

Psalm 115:15 May the Lord bless you As we saw, when meditating upon verses earlier in the Psalm, the fundamental foundation of faith is the simple belief that the Lord God is our Creator and Maker. Not only that, but He is Creator and Maker of the whole universe, the heavens and the earth were all made by Him. Anyone struggling with that truth is going to have a tough time trying to absorb and align themselves with everything else we know about God. There are many Christians today who are willing to embrace the concept of a spiritual being who is light and love, but to acknowledge that He is the towering genius who made all things is too much for them to handle. The effect is a limp and weak faith that constantly questions and tries to rationalise, whereas the Lord asks us to bow down before Him and to humble ourselves, trust in His Word and learn dependence on the One who made all things. What a joy this position gives us, the questions are answered, the alternatives are not worth con...

Psalm 115:14 May the Lord cause you to flourish The idea that faith in the Lord God promotes increased wealth and status is one that the “so-called” prosperity preachers like to endorse. It is true that for some people, the transformation of their lives from addictive habits, rough sleeping, living on benefits to law-abiding, hard-working contributors to society, is very dramatic. The culture of South Korea was radically changed some decades ago when Christianity swept through the country and churches were suddenly filled with converts who not only had a change of heart but also a change of lifestyle. However, following Jesus Christ is not necessarily to adopt a life of middle-class contentment! He was scornful of the rich, spent most of His time with the poor and promised His disciples that,  “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world.”  John 16:33. So, what does it mean that the Lord will cause His people to flourish? For Israel there was...

  Psalm 115:13 Fear the Lord These words are carefully penned by the psalmist in preparation for the singers who will perform the song. You will remember that it is part of the Hallel, and it was repeated on numerous festive occasions, and it was very familiar to the Jews. They rejoiced as they sang,  “He will remember us and will bless us; He will bless His people Israel, He will bless the house of Aaron, He will bless those who fear the Lord – small and great alike .” This was a confession of faith and trust that was repeated by individuals, families, congregations and at mass assemblies in Jerusalem on Holy days. Remember that to fear the Lord is to believe in Him completely, to acknowledge Him as Creator, provider and protector. God was the author of salvation, and the only hope of His people and as such He was worthy of praise and honour. But He was also to be feared with a sense of awe and wonder, He was not to be trifled with or belittled in any way. And it didn’t matte...

Psalm 115:12 The Lord remembers us There is one foundation stone of our faith than none of us should ever forget - the Lord remembers us and will bless us. Israel thought that they were forgotten when they were slaves in Egypt, until the Lord sent Moses and delivered them. They definitely felt forgotten when they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years and then, as promised, He remembered them and brought them into the Promised Land. They felt forgotten when the Assyrians invaded the northern tribes and obliterated them. Nothing has been heard of them since, but I often wonder if, one day, they will be rediscovered! Judah felt forgotten when the Babylonians carried most of the tribe off to Mesopotamia, but the Lord had a plan for restoration.  Those Jews who were dispersed by the Roman Empire and who fled to the four corners of the earth must have felt that their identity as a nation and their occupation of the land of Israel was finished forever, but 1948 tells us that this w...

Psalm 115:9-11 Trust in the Lord It’s so easy to skim over verses like these and miss the powerful point that is being made. Obviously, we have triple repetition of the phrase,  “Trust in the Lord – He is their help and their shield.”  These repeated statements have three different subjects in mind and each one defers to the other. So, for instance, if you are an Israelite, you should look at the House of Aaron because they trust in the Lord, and you will see that He is their help and their shield. The three subjects of the Lord’s blessing are firstly, “all of the Israelites”, secondly, “the House of Aaron” and lastly, “You who fear Him.”  Israel and the House of Aaron are separated because Aaron’s House, was not counted as one of the traditional 12 tribes of God’s people, they were Levites and set apart to exclusively worship and serve the Lord. As such they inherited no land and did not join the fighting forces, they lived on the generosity of the other tribes and famil...

Psalm 115:8 Who to worship? As we commented in v4-5, abandonment of God as Creator starts the decline into idol worship. As soon as the Lord is dismissed as the ultimate power who made us and to whom we are accountable, the enemy is waiting with a thousand and one other substitutes to take His place. The essence of the Christian faith is the worship of one God and His Son Jesus Christ. The journey of faith is an ever-increasing awareness of who we are dealing with and our accountability to Him. With that awareness comes a growing sense of His love, His grace, His guidance and provision and thus an understanding of how completely dependent on Him we all are. How ridiculous to worship idols of gold and silver when, all the time, our Creator is overseeing our journey through life! The psalmist is quite right, if we transfer our allegiance to man-made objects or the worship of created things we become senseless, dead and powerless, just as they are! When the Lord God divided the nations, H...