Daily Meditations

Psalm 139:6 Super-computers! We mentioned before, in verse 4, the capacity of the world’s most powerful computers. I write this in 2025 and whilst many of us do not believe that the world can keep going as it is, just imagine what might happen if it did! In 50 short years technology has transformed our world. What might it be like in another 50 years? For many people, the complexity of modern electronic devices is way beyond understanding so it is not difficult to understand David’s musings on the knowledge possessed by God. He has already considered the facts that the Lord knows him completely. The Lord knows when he sits down and when he stands up. The Lord knows everything about his thoughts. He knows when David rises from his bed and leaves his house, He also knows when he returns at the end of the day to enjoy a night of rest. God knows David’s words before he even speaks them and has watched over him from the moment he was born (more about this to come), to whatever he plans for ...

Psalm 139:5 Behind me and before me David’s understanding of the deeply personal knowledge that God has of him, goes further. He realises that the Lord keeps him under scrutiny at all times and that whilst he exists in the present, every action in the past has been watched by the Lord God who also has his future planned out before him. God occupies time in a way that we can never understand, He is omnipresent, and He is as much part of past and future events as He is of what is happening right now.  I have recently had some revelations about my past that have been quite troubling for they deeply influenced the person I turned out to be. A psychotherapist would take a human view of this but God, by His grace, showed me His spiritual perspective, He took me back over many years and helped me relive some events that happened and then revealed why they happened, suddenly I had an understanding of all this that had never entered my head before!  I realised that He had always h...

Psalm 139:4 Words and thoughts According to research, the process between when we think through what we are about to say and when we actually say it, is only a fraction of a second, some studies show that it takes 0.6 seconds from when the brain kicks in and the tongue speaks! During this “long period” the brain has processed our thoughts, formulated the words and then sent signals to our mouths. (This all took evolution millions of years to perfect of course!) Tactics like stammering, going “Um”, “Well”, Uh”, are clever delaying tools that play for time while the brain searches for the correct words to express the thoughts. The brain is also calculating possible outcomes of what is about to be expressed and whether there are risks or deeper meanings. It also evaluates the consequences of the spoken words based on previous outcomes! Because of this safeguard, we might check what we are about say and remain silent, keeping the words within. Some people do not have this filter, sadly! Th...

Psalm 139:3 Familiar with all my ways The phrase “going out”, as opposed to “lying down” is not difficult to comprehend, it covers all our activities, from the moment we arise from our beds in the morning, to the moment we eventually rest our heads at the end of the day. When God discerns these things, He doesn’t just watch from afar with a slightly weary look in His eyes, He actually searches us out and watches with interest what it is we are about during the course of a day. He is far more than a bored spectator, He is an interested witness to our activities, our conversations and our thoughts. That is why He knows us so well, that is why He, and only He, can help us to uncover our secrets and find our full potential as human beings. He cares about us, He loves us, He has a vested interest in our lives and in everything we do. And when we lay down at the end of all the busy-ness, the same God is still observing for He has guided us safely through another day, He has protected us, sen...

Psalm 139:2 He knows, you know. One of the first hurdles in our journey of self-discovery is to acknowledge that the Lord God already knows everything there is to know about us! Most people have “skeletons in their cupboards”, all of us have moments or events in our lives that we would never share with anyone. These are often vivid memories, and they haunt us for we are ashamed of what we said or did and thought, or what was said or done to us. We often hear the phrase that infers that someone “got away with it”, in other words they did something wrong but were not caught, the victim or maybe the authorities never found out. Please do not think of God in these terms, He sees it all and He knows it all. If He did not, how could He ever be a fair and righteous judge? His treatment of us is based on the “whole truth and nothing but the truth” because He has access to all the facts. That applies not only to you and me but also to anyone who has caused us hurt or shame.  Let us not thin...

Psalm 139:1 You know me, Lord Psalm 139 is often quoted, and it is many people’s favourite, but it may not be as comforting as first appears. David, as ever, wrote these profound words, but in them he is asking the Lord to examine his heart and to determine if he is as devoted as he claims to be! This is a Psalm that, on the surface, appears to reassure us about the ever-present God who watches over our lives, but more intense study shows that it also an invitation for the same God to look even deeper within us, to search us and know us intimately.    V1        As human beings we are prone to believe that we know ourselves as well as anyone knows us, that the one person who understands me – is me! David has pondered this idea and is mature enough to know that self-knowledge is not enough, in fact our views of ourselves are usually way off mark. There are many people who “ think more highly of themselves than they ought to think”  (R...

Psalm 138:8 The Lord will vindicate me Can we say with absolute assurance that “the Lord will vindicate me?” According to some commentators this means that “He will bring an end to my troubles.” In other words, David is saying that despite all the suffering and trouble that life brings, ultimately it will end, and I will “rest in peace.” And this will be God’s doing. One day our enemies will know that they were wrong to persecute us. One day the temporary troubles of life will be put into perspective by the eternal protection and provision of our God. One day, the trials and difficulties will fade like a dream as we enjoy the future provision that God has prepared for all who believe in Him. Why? Because His love endures forever. Psalm 137 made us think a little about God’s judgement of the wicked, a judgement that will be unrestrained and unrelenting; this verse reassures those who are righteous and who believe that we will be eternally saved and loved. Which side would we rather be o...

Psalm 138:7 The hand of God! Woah, there’s a huge amount to think about in this verse! Firstly, David’s life journey brought him much trouble, from early bullying and disparagement by his brothers, to battles against just about every nation that surrounded Israel. He faced internal uprisings, even from one of his sons, to multiple conflicts with pagan armies, not least the Philistines. A quick glance through 1-2 Samuel shows a life lived on the edge and many was the time that David’s life was preserved despite the intentions of his enemies. Historians might give the credit for this to David’s own initiative and ability to escape from endless dangers; the king himself however attributes the preservation of his life solely to God. His victories over his enemies, to the point that Israel was at peace for many years, was always because the hand of God guarded the King and his people.  We have talked before about the right hand of God, it’s a metaphor used to describe His power, authori...

Psalm 138:6 Let’s remind ourselves of these verses in Psalm 113:4-9. “The   Lord   is exalted   over all the nations, his glory above the heavens. Who is like the   Lord   our God, the One who sits enthroned   on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor   from the dust and lifts the needy   from   the ash heap; he seats them   with princes, with the princes of his people. He settles the childless   woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the   Lord .” It is impossible to overstate the kindness of the Lord and the compassion He shows to the poor and the needy. There is a sense in which He is distant from us in that His throne room in heaven is far beyond the confines of this planet or probably this galaxy! It’s not just time and distance that separates us from Him but also status. An itinerant beggar may dream of a nice walk in the park at Sandringham with King Charles a...

Psalm 138:5 Sing of the ways of the Lord The “ways of the Lord” are basically, twofold. To those who believe and who are counted as His children, God’s ways are ways of blessing, provision, protection and they are beneficial beyond imagination. His ways are righteous and just and eternal, they can never be fathomed but they are evident every single day of our lives, hence the great symphony of praise that wells up from the hearts of those who are the beneficiaries of His ways. There is another side to this coin of course. To those who do not believe in our God, His ways are either deeply mysterious or so unlikely that there is no point in wasting time on their discovery. To the vast majority of people in our world, the better option to faith in YAHWEH is to worship objects or ideals that are perceived to be tangible and much more easily understood. For them it is better to have a god who is identifiable with the earth than some obscure being who exists in another realm. These people ar...

Psalm 138:4 May the kings of the earth praise Him Verse 2 of this Psalm drew our attention to God’s solemn decree, a decree that was recognised and known far beyond Israel. In fact, there is an expectation, in today’s verse, that all the kings of the earth will be aware of what the Lord has spoken and its implications for the whole world. God speaks to individuals and also, of course, to nations and in ancient times, to Israel in particular. They were, and are, His people and His dealings with them send out a message to all leaders and rulers across the earth. Sadly, very few have listened throughout the history of the world, and it has always been to their detriment. We have looked on several occasions, at God’s promises regarding the people of Israel and also the ownership of their land, whatever we may think of them, God has promised to uphold His decree forever. In the same way He upholds His promises to us who believe for we too are His chosen ones.  God’s ways are perfect, th...

Psalm 138:3 Prayer emboldens Prayer is many things; the word can be applied to any communication we have with the Lord our God. Those daily encounters can range from long sessions on our knees accompanied by fervent pleas, to a quick shout-out to heaven as we go about our daily lives. It is important that we establish times of quiet on a daily basis, when we close the door and allow ourselves, and God, to be in fellowship together. During such times we can read His Word and inevitably find that He speaks back to us, and the communication is two-way. Some of the Psalm-writers talk of such times when the Lord brings them out of a tight situation and into “a spacious place.”  Can I boast of regular times of deep regular intimacy with my Father? No, like so many, I find prayer to be hard work at times and often it is easier to pray with others than to be alone with God. There are so many distractions! David has been calling out to God because of the proximity of his enemies and their d...

Psalm 138:2 The Temple and the Word This verse causes some scholars to question the authorship of the Psalm. They ask, “If David wrote this how could he talk about bowing down towards God’s holy temple?” As we know, the Temple in Jerusalem was not built until after David’s death, it would be put in place by his son, Solomon. David himself was responsible for bringing the ancient Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem and setting it up there pending the construction of the Temple. David visited this place daily, it was the dwelling place of God Almighty and therefore, in his mind, the Temple of God. As he worshiped there, the King dreamed of what would be, of the outstanding structure that would ultimately stand as a magnificent statement to the world of a God who lives forever amongst His people. As David bowed and worshipped his mind was occupied with two glorious themes: the unfailing love of God and the faithfulness of God. These recurring attributes of the Lord have occupied our thoughts...

Psalm 138:1 Universal praise Psalms 138 to 145 are all attributed to David, and we can certainly detect his style and personality in each of these songs. The Psalm before us praises God for His protection and salvation from deadly foes although it is difficult to determine if David is writing personally or on behalf of Israel. Or maybe, both! David’s desire is that praise to the Lord should not just be confined to him and to Israel but that all the kings of the earth might praise the name of our God (v4). They never have David, but one day, they will!   V1        We need to reflect back on Psalm 82 (and others) that introduce us to the  “bene elohim”  or the “sons of God”. These songs, along with other Scriptures, describe to us the divine council and the celestial beings that serve before the Lord and who engage with Him over matters on earth. Psalm 82 introduces us to the  “great assembly”  and to a God who not only judg...

Psalm 137:8-9 Babylon, doomed to destruction The last two verses of this Psalm cry out vengeance against the land of Babylon. As we have seen, Hebrew poetry often personified royal cities, nations or peoples as women, thus Zion is referred to as “Virgin Daughter Zion” in 2 Kings 19:21. Babylon here is a daughter who is doomed to destruction as the prophets had foretold. (Isaiah 13 and 47 predict this as does Jeremiah 50-51.) Isaiah speaks of a  “cruel day when the day of the Lord comes with wrath and fierce anger – to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it.”  Isaiah 13:9. He talks of  “the children being dashed to pieces before their very eyes!”  Isaiah 13:16. Isaiah 47 speaks of calamity and catastrophe hitting the land, although it is worthy of note that the following chapter (48) is headed “Stubborn Israel” in many Bibles!  Jeremiah is no less vitriolic in his condemnation of Babylon and the chapters mentioned above make chilling readin...

Psalm 137:7 Tear down Jerusalem! The Edomites were   an ancient Semitic people who lived in the region of Edom, south of Israel, in what is now mainly southern Jordan.  This later became the Kingdom of the Nabataeans and housed the city of Petra, much visited by tourists today. The Edomites we re the descendants of  Esau ,   Jacob's twin brother.   The name "Edom" is derived from the Hebrew word for "red," and the Bible associates it with Esau's reddish appearance at birth.  The verse we are studying shows that the tense relationship between Israel and Edom was at its lowest on the day that Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians. The Edomites were jubilant and cried out,  “Tear it down – tear down its foundations!”  Apparently, the phrase  “tear it down” in Hebrew means  “strip her”  for cities were portrayed as women. In other words, the Edomites hoped for the complete humiliation of Jerusalem and its people. Edom is a symbolic term in ...

Psalm 137:6 The God who never forsakes His people Strong words these aren’t they? The author is suggesting that his tongue should become glued to the roof of his mouth if he failed to remember the Lord and the joys of Jerusalem. In other words, he would prefer to be dumb! Notice that the only comfort this man and his contemporaries had, were their memories. In their view God was 750 miles away, for that was the distance from Babylon to Jerusalem. What this shows us is that the Jews had become over-dependent on their religion, on their temple, on the Holy City and all the rites and regulations that were integral to their faith, they had no concept of a God who remained with them and who was still watching over them. As previously mentioned, Daniel understood this as did his friends, Shadrach, Meshak and Abednego. For these men God was not confined to a place or to a time, He was always present with those who worshipped and obeyed Him. Here is a vital lesson, if we need to go to a place,...

Psalm 137:5 If I forget you It seems likely that some of the Jewish exiles to Babylon had actually disowned their God and had little time for the Holy City of Jerusalem and its rituals. These people may have welcomed a new start in a land that was open to all the gods, indeed some jews remained in Babylon and never returned to Israel. Let’s face it, there are people like that today, who once appeared to have faith but have turned their backs on the Lord and prefer to live as the world lives. Of course, there were many other exiled Jews who are truly reflected in the sentiments of this Psalm. Their hearts were broken, their livelihoods were gone, their homes and their land were trashed to the ground, and they had no hope of ever being able to return. Their culture and religion had not taught them that God was with them anyway, that He was not dependant on a time and a place. Thankfully, men like Daniel and his friends did understand this. The best that the hopeless majority could do was...

Psalm 137:3-4 Sing the songs of Zion What a horrible place to be in! Taken captive by an oppressive regime, the Israelites were transported to Babylon, a land of pagan deities with temples and sacrifices to Marduk, Ishtar, Nabu et al. The Israelites only had one God and now they were exposed to a culture that was pantheistic and that was steeped in superstition and idol worship.  Faith in YAHWEH was at the very heart of what the Jewish people lived for, their Temple and their holy city were sources of great national pride and now they were learning the lessons of their disobedience and their neglect. They had taken God for granted and lived with little regard for His laws, now they were exiles in Babylon and the shame of their foolishness hit home very hard. To add insult to injury the Babylonians asked to hear their psalms, their songs of joy, they wanted to be entertained by the Jewish musicians and singers, they demanded to listen to one of Zion’s songs. It was a hard call,...

Psalm 137:2 The sound of silence. What a strange verse! I live in a village that is renowned for its poplars! Apparently, a wealthy landowner from the past decided to line the roads with these trees and they have been tended and planted ever since. Poplars are fast growing and can reach up to 40 meters in height (that’s 130 feet). These trees can also live for up to 400 years, presumably they were “popular” in Babylon. (Excuse the pun.) The Psalm now adds a strange fact; it was on the poplar trees that the exiled Jews hung their harps! Isaiah writes of the Tribulation of the last days, and he uses these words,  “The joyful timbrels are stilled, the noise of the revellers has stopped, the joyful harp is silent.”  Isaiah 24:8. Job writes as follows, “ My lyre is tuned to mourning, and my pipe to the sound of wailing.”  Job 30:31. I am a very amateur musician, but I do know that minor keys, especially D minor, are associated with sadness and melancholy. It seems that the Bab...

Psalm 137:1 By the rivers of Babylon The notes in my Study Bible introduce this Psalm as follows: - “A plaintive song of the exile – of one who has recently returned from Babylon but in whose soul there lingers the bitter memories of the years in a foreign land and of the cruel events that led to that enforced stay.” Previous Psalms have described the love that the Israelites had for Zion and the Temple of God and its feasts and ceremonies that accompanied their faith. This Psalm also reflects those sentiments and the pain of being separated from the City of God.  Boney M turned these words into an international hit song in 1978, these are the lyrics they sang. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered Zion By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered Zion When the wicked Carried us away in captivity Required from us a song Now how shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land When the wicked Carried us away i...

Psalm 136:26 His love endures forever! What a Psalm this has turned out to be! At first sight it appeared to present a number of well-known Biblical events and then follow them up with a repetitive slogan that promotes God’s enduring love. Perhaps we’ve all skimmed over these words and failed to grasp the deep lessons that underly them. The final verse is similar to verse 1, an injunction to give thanks to the Lord, plus a reminder of who He is. But note, whilst preceding verses have described God’s creative powers and His interaction with the earth, this last verse takes us to a different place, beyond the stratosphere, to a spiritual world that all of us have yet to enter. Why end in this way? It’s because the Lord wants to remind us that His enduring love is not just earthbound, but it exists in a world beyond this earth, and it is here that love will accompany us forever. In other words, God will continue to love us just as much when we leave this planet as He does while we are her...

Psalm 136:25 The Creator's intricate designs It has become almost a daily occurrence now, that my attention is drawn to some wonder or object of God’s creative genius; a fact about a bird or a plant, the sight of a butterfly on the wing, the awe-inspiring pillars of cloud on the horizon, I could go on and on. On every occasion, I find myself asking the question, “How could anyone believe that all of this came together by accident rather than design? How could intelligent people miss the complexity, beauty and creative design that is evident all around us?” Paul states succinctly, in Romans 1:18-23, that the truth about God is plain, it can be seen in all that He has made, there is no excuse for people’s ignorance. But rather than acknowledge God, men dream up alternative theories as to how the heavens and the earth came into being and then they parade their so-called knowledge as wisdom, a wisdom that, in their view, far outshines the pathetic notions and ignorance of the “God-fear...

Psalm 136:23-24 When will it end? There were many occasions when the fortunes of Israel hit rock bottom. They ran out of food and water in the wilderness. They faced the perils of the Red Sea, as we saw in v13-14. There were endless occasions when they confronted overwhelming enemy forces, and it seemed that their fate was sealed. The ultimate ignominy was being crushed by all-powerful empires such as the Assyrians and Babylonians and later of course, the Romans. The existence of that nation has been a flickering flame against the backdrop of human history and at times the flame has almost been completely snuffed out.  Modern history is no different, today’s headline news (23/07/2025) has to do with accusations of genocide aimed at Israel because of their treatment of the Palestinians in Gaza. The Jews would argue that they suffered far worse in the holocaust and for centuries before, wherever they went in the world. They might also argue that they are surrounded by Muslim nations ...

Psalm 136:21-22 The land of Israel is an inheritance Remember those Scriptures that we have quoted on several occasions? God first promised the ancient land of Canaan to Abraham,   “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”   Genesis 15:7. Jacob heard a similar pronouncement from heaven when he dreamed of a stairway with angels ascending and descending, the Lord spoke to him with these words,   “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.”   Genesis 28:13. Moses had similar instructions when God told him, at the burning bush, that he intended to bring the Israelites out of Egypt   “into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey – the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.”   Exodus 3:8 But note also the words of the Lord as He announces that t...

Psalm 136:19-20 Removing the nephilim The Amorite kings were Sihon and Og, (king of Bashan) and you may remember that it was Moses who defeated these two when he led the Israelites up the eastern border of the River Jordan, thus clearing the way for those tribes who would inhabit the eastern lands, namely Reuben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh. (Numbers 21:21-25) Various Scriptures, including  Deuteronomy 2:24-37, 3:1-11 and Amos 2:9-10, describe these events showing that they had considerable significance in Israel’s history.  This was not just a battle for land, it was a conflict between YAHWEH and other gods! Bashan (fertile land) was considered to be a pagan place. In ancient Mesopotamian writings it was ruled over by divine but dead warrior kings who inhabited the underworld! In that language it was called “Bathan” which means serpent. The ancient people called Bathan “the gates of hell.” In later times, one of its cities, Caesarea Philippi, was devoted to the go...

Psalm 136:17-18 The God who fights for His people Who are the great kings who were struck down by the Lord as He helped the Israelites to reach, and then take, the land of Canaan? Joshua 24:8-13 has an impressive list: - 8  “‘I brought you to the land of the Amorites   who lived east of the Jordan. They fought against you, but I gave them into your hands. I destroyed them from before you, and you took possession of their land.   9  When Balak son of Zippor,   the king of Moab, prepared to fight against Israel, he sent for Balaam son of Beor   to put a curse on you.   10  But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you   again and again, and I delivered you out of his hand. 11  “‘Then you crossed the Jordan   and came to Jericho.   The citizens of Jericho fought against you, as did also the Amorites, Perizzites,   Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites,   but I gave them into your hands.   12...

Psalm 136:16 He leads His people through the wilderness The Lord God knew the Israelites better than they knew themselves! For instance, when they first left Egypt, He deliberately led them south on an elongated route towards the desert rather than have them head off on the obvious road to Canaan, that headed directly northeast. Why?  “When Phraoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by the desert road towards the Red Sea.”  Exodus 13:17-18. Psalm 78:52-53 says,  “But the Lord brought His people out like a flock; He led them like sheep through the wilderness. He guided them safely, so they were unafraid. ” Our spiritual lives should never be static, and the Lord certainly does not want us to turn around and head back towards Egypt. That is why we sometimes find ourselves on a torturous ro...

Psalm 136:15 A God of love or a tyrant? There is a distinct conflict here in the way that people view the Lord God. As we have seen, in verse10, He was a mighty and miraculous deliverer so far as Israel was concerned. He brought them out of Egypt and freed them from slavery and oppression, and so, they could say  “His love endures forever!”  However, the same events were viewed from a completely opposite perspective by Pharaoh and the Egyptians. To them, the God of the Hebrews was a vicious tyrant who had slaughtered their male offspring and humiliated them as a nation. When Pharaoh sent his army in hot pursuit, he had still not learned his lesson. He believed that he could overcome the Israelites and drag them back to Egypt for further decades of enforced slavery. Neither did it enter his head that there was a God who was mightier and greater than the armed forces of Egypt. Once again, he would be proved wrong. Once again, the Egyptians would suffer because of his pride and u...

Psalm 136:13-14 He divided the Red Sea There have long been debates about the exact location where the Israelites crossed the Red Sea. Some people say that the Red Sea is actually the Reed Sea and that there may have been passably dry areas where the people were able to cross over! Others look for shallower waters further south and there are modern discoveries that suggest that the crossing took place at the southern end of the modern-day Gulf of Suez, opposite Mount Sinai.  Let’s look at the facts as described in Exodus 14. Firstly, God used a strong east wind that blew all night to turn the proposed route into dry land. Secondly, the water that was parted stood like a wall on the left and the right of the travellers as they passed through. Thirdly, when the water flowed back into place, it was sufficiently deep to drown the entire Egyptian army! By the way, my wife and I learned recently, on a guided trip round the British Museum, that when ancient civilisations like the Egyptian...