Daily Meditations

Psalm 107:41 The families increased like flocks The nation of Israel has suffered many times throughout its history from being needy! It happened to the wandering tribes in the wilderness. It was a problem for King David who, more than once, found himself betrayed and living as a fugitive. It happened to the peoples who were overcome by occupational forces and who found themselves in slavery to foreign powers. It has also happened to the entire nation of the Jews since AD 70 and the diaspora that saw them scattered to the four winds. It happens to God’s people when they rebel and disobey Him and His blessings are replaced with curses.  However, our God is just and faithful, He does not let His people suffer forever and so, when they call out to Him, He lifts them out of their affliction and gives them back their dignity and also their productivity. In this instance the psalmist notes that their numbers grow like the flocks of animals they tend.  These principles should be...

Psalm 107:40 He pours contempt on nobles This is a chilling verse! It’s very hard to think of many national and international leaders throughout history who were humble, not ambitious and self-interested, and who cared only for the needs of the poor and downtrodden. It seems to be a prerequisite for any leadership task that candidates must show themselves to be driven, with more than average ability and able to command respect, usually this is demonstrated by their wealth and their self-confidence. In our verse today, these people are referred to as “nobles”. Noble in their own eyes maybe and in the eyes of the sycophants who serve them, but not so in the eyes of the Lord God. We have commented before that if the Satan is the ruler of this world, the higher up the chain of command an individual rises, the closer to him they become! How many leaders think only of those who are below them? How many see themselves as just servants of the people rather than masters? How many lead by exampl...

Psalm 107:39 They were humbled The previous verse talks about how the number of Israelite settlers in the land greatly increased, and the Lord blessed them – the upside. Now, the opposite has happened, and the numbers have decreased once again – the downside. As we have noted before, this process is like a Yo-yo, first there is blessing, provision and contentment with God’s love and faithfulness, but this never lasts, before we know it the people have sunk into rebellion, idol worship and self-dependency, they have taken their eyes off the Lord their God and their foolishness is accompanied by oppression, calamity and sorrow.  Notice that the removal of God’s provision is used to humble His people! By nature, the Jews often seem to be arrogant, in fact their pride has helped to preserve them against impossible odds! But that pride has also been their downfall, as time and again they have turned their backs on the Lord God and suffered the consequences. This process characterises th...

Psalm 107:37-38 He blessed them I’ve probably mentioned this before, but the parable of God’s dealings with Israel is so powerful here that I must repeat myself. Although it’s not really a parable, these events happened, and are recorded for us to help us believe. I first visited the land of Israel in 1992, it was already flourishing under Jewish occupation although there was plenty of evidence of the ravages of the various wars since 1948. However, the fields were abundant with crops and dates, palms and fruit trees lined the roadsides in many places. This was a far cry from the wilderness that had been tamed by the early settlers.  My last trip to Israel was in 2019 and the changes, over the years, have been astonishing! The orchards extend all the way down to the Dead Sea and the road north from Jericho up to Galilee is accompanied by mile after mile of arable land producing crops and watered by vast irrigation networks. Beehives line the sides of the fields, and the hotels are ...

Psalm 107:35-36 He turned to desert into pools of water During the drought in Elijah’s time there was an altercation between God’s prophet and the 450 prophets of Baal. This took place on Mount Carmel and it’s a powerful story about one man’s faith and courage in the face of the demonic powers of God’s enemies. Only the demonic powers didn’t turn up! Baal’s men shouted and chanted and whipped themselves for a whole day and the hoped-for fire from heaven never materialised, their carefully prepared bull of sacrifice laid raw and useless on their altar.  In the evening Elijah offered his bull on an altar to the Lord. He asked for 4 jars of water to be poured over it, then he asked for the jars to be filled and poured a second time ….. and a third time! Not an easy task on a mountain, after 3 years of drought. As you will know, fire descended from heaven and burned the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and soil, and also licked up the water in the trench around the altar. Following thes...

Psalm 107:33-34 Because of the wickedness of those who lived there We’ve all played with Yo-yos in our childhood, up and down, up and down, up and down…… This Psalm is a bit like a Yo-yo and it is meant to teach us the wisdom and blessings that come from obedience to the Lord; and the foolishness and curses that accompany our rebellion against Him. And let’s face it, we’ve all had our highs and lows in our relationship with Him.  The verses before us talk about a low point in the history of God’s people, in fact there were many low points. In the context of this Psalm, let’s think about one or two of them. The story of Elijah is one example of when God turned the land of plenty into a land of drought. It happened during the reign of a godless king called Ahab who set up altars to Baal and paraded a wooden pole as an act of worship to the Canaanite goddess, Asherah. God was angry and used Elijah to tell Ahab that there would be “ neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at ...

Psalm 107:32 Time to praise the Lord The tradition of “eldership” first comes to our attention with Moses at the burning bush. After God had revealed His Name, the I AM WHO I AM, the God whom the Israelites would name as YAHWEH, Moses was told, “ Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, “The Lord, the God of your fathers – the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – appeared to me and said…..”  Exodus 3:14-17. The Hebrew word for elders literally means “bearded ones” which may be why Orthodox Jews all sport long beards! Commentators suggest that this reflects the age, wisdom, influence and experience that a man needed to function as an elder amongst the people. It’s interesting to note that even whilst they were slaves, the Hebrews had organised themselves and had men who were appointed to look after the peoples needs. By the way, there is no reason to believe that all church elders have to sport beards! This Psalm is encouraging worshippers to exalt the Lord, presumably in mus...