Daily Meditations

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 around

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, His power and His glory are as good a reason as any to “lov

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 inheritance is s

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 moving through a l

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 definite

  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 matter if you

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 was not so

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 families and in man

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