22 Sunday Apr 2018
Posted in Bible, God's word, Psalm 119, Psalms, Sunday's Psalm
Tags
commands, freedom, kings, Law, love, meditate, obey, praise, promise, salvation, trust, truth, Victoria, word of God
Azaleas in bloom, Victoria, BC — photo by David Kitz
21 Saturday Apr 2018
Posted in Bible, Psalm 119, Psalms, Saturday's Psalm
Tags
commands, delight, God's word, life, obey, praise, promise, Righteousness, selfish, teach, the LORD, understanding
All creation speaks its praise — photo courtesy of Karen Kitz
27 Wednesday Dec 2017
Posted in Bible, Devotionals, Psalm 71, Psalms
Tags
Christ, Christians, faithfulness, hope, Jesus, New Testament, Old Testament, Pentecost, promise, prophetic, psalmist, redemption, resurrection
Reading: Psalm 71
(Verses 19-24)
Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens,
you who have done great things.
Who is like you, God?
Though you have made me see troubles,
many and bitter, you will restore my life again;
from the depths of the earth
you will again bring me up.
You will increase my honor
and comfort me once more.
I will praise you with the harp
for your faithfulness, my God;
I will sing praise to you with the lyre,
Holy One of Israel.
My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you—
I whom you have delivered.
My tongue will tell of your righteous acts all day long,
for those who wanted to harm me
have been put to shame and confusion (NIV).
Reflection
Typically Christians view resurrection as a New Testament concept, but here in the conclusion to Psalm 71, we can see that the Old Testament psalmist had a solid grasp of resurrection truths. Consider his words. Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up.
Icy sunset, Grey Nuns Park, Ottawa, ON — photo by David Kitz
That sounds like resurrection to me. Jesus fulfilled the prophetic words of the psalmist when he stepped out of the tomb on resurrection morning. Elsewhere David spoke prophetically of Christ and his resurrection when he wrote, “I am your chosen one. You won’t leave me in the grave or let my body decay” (Psalm 16:10).
Peter sited this verse as proof of Jesus’ resurrection when he preached to the crowd that gathered on the Day of Pentecost. See Acts 2:22-36.
The promise of the resurrection filled the psalmist with hope and it should do the same for us. Because Jesus is alive now, we too will be raised to life. That thought should buoy us on tough days. When we lose a loved one, whose faith was rooted in God’s redeeming love, we can rest assured that our farewell is not forever. We will see them again at the resurrection. On that great day we can join with the psalmist and declare, “My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you—I whom you have delivered.”
Response: LORD God, thank you for the promise of resurrection. Thank you for the hope we have in Jesus. Through Jesus’ shed blood we have redemption, and the forgiveness that makes resurrection possible. Hallelujah! Amen.
Your Turn: Why is the resurrection meaningful to you?
20 Monday Feb 2017
Tags
covenant, David, descendants, God, king, King David, obey, promise, the LORD, Zion
Reading: Psalm 132
(Verses 11-18)
The LORD swore an oath to David,
a sure oath he will not revoke:
“One of your own descendants
I will place on your throne.
If your sons keep my covenant
and the statutes I teach them,
then their sons will sit on your throne for ever and ever.”
For the LORD has chosen Zion,
he has desired it for his dwelling, saying,
“This is my resting place for ever and ever;
here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it.
I will bless her with abundant provisions;
her poor I will satisfy with food.
I will clothe her priests with salvation,
and her faithful people will ever sing for joy.
“Here I will make a horn grow for David
and set up a lamp for my anointed one.
I will clothe his enemies with shame,
but his head will be adorned with a radiant crown” (NIV).
Reflection
I am an armchair student of history. I enjoy reading history books, particularly books about war and great epic battles. In recent years, several books have appeared on the market, which examine alternate scenarios in history. The authors of these books imagine what might have happened if historic events had unfolded differently. For instance what might have happened if Lee Harvey Oswald’s gun had jammed as he attempted to shoot President Kennedy? How would the Kennedy presidency have unfolded? Or what would the world look like today, if cooler heads had prevailed and the great blood bath known as World War I had been avoided? These are fascinating questions.
Statue of King David, Jerusalem — photo by Lois Morrow
I call these “What if…” books. They imagine history unfolding differently. Today’s reading from Psalm 132 leaves me in a “What if…” frame of mind.
The LORD made this promise to King David: “One of your own descendants I will place on your throne. If your sons keep my covenant and the statutes I teach them, then their sons will sit on your throne for ever and ever.”
God promised that history would unfold in a certain way. A descendant of David would sit on the throne of Israel in perpetuity. But there was a condition attached to that promise. God’s promise would be fulfilled, if the sons of David kept the covenant and the statutes. Unfortunately, that did not happen. The descendants of David disobeyed and succumbed to idolatry. But what if those sons had obeyed…
How will history be different if I wholeheartedly obey the LORD?
Response: Father God, I thank you for your son, Jesus. He is the descendant of King David who fulfilled your covenant and now he reigns forever. King Jesus, I am your servant. Reign in my life today. Amen.
Your Turn: Is Jesus your king? How are you serving him?
I love the Psalms 