Psalm 33

Psalm 33 is 22 verses jammed packed with so much.  I’m gonna break into into groupings of verses and hopefully not miss anything.  So here we go:

Verses 1-3: What I took from these verses is the praising of God.  We are to praise Him with instruments and with our voices.  I think this is way cool!  Verse three even says to “play skillfully”.  So we aren’t supposed to praise half heartedly, we are supposed to give our best.  “Playing skillfully” got me thinking in another direction as well.  To do something with skill, especially playing of an instrument, it takes much time and effort.  So to praise God we need to being giving Him our time and effort.  I know, this is easier said than done, but like an instrument we can practice it each day.  So, how are you praising God?  Are you praising Him daily?  Are you using the skills and talents He’s given you to bring Him glory?

Verses 4-5: These two little verses are full of God’s wonderful attributes.  He is right, trustworthy, righteous, just, and loving.  How do you measure up to these attributes?  The attributes of God give us a clear vision of who God really is.  They are also things we should be striving to be as well.  We should want to do right, and be trustworthy, righteous, just and loving.  We can’t achieve any of these on our own though, but we can we trust in Christ.  What attribute do you need to work on?  Maybe you need to be more loving to others; maybe it’s working on being trustworthy.  Whatever it is, you can take it to Jesus and He will help you be more like Him.

Verses 6-9:  These verses focus on God the creator.  Verse 9 says “For He spoke, and it came into being; He commanded, and it came into existence.”  Can you imagine how powerful God must really be if all He has to do is speak, and what He says is created?  I can’t even begin to comprehend!!  And I might be chasing rabbits here, but think how powerful the Word of God really is.  The Bible, the True Word of God, is powerful!  The same God who spoke everything into existence is the same God who speaks to us through the Bible.  How encouraging that is!!  When we read the Bible and study His word, we can experience a power that only come from God alone.  Are you studying the word of God, or are you choosing to read something less powerful?

Verses 10-12: What I took from these verses was the nations who choose to live according to God’s plans will be happy and will stand forever.  This can be applied to our personal lives as well.  When one gives their life to Christ and chooses to follow His plans, their life is transformed and they will stand forever with Him.  It is not on our own accord but only through His provision.  Are you choosing to live for God or for yourself?

Verses 13-17: Here it tells us the Lord sees everything. Yikes!!  That’s kind of scary to think about.  It made me look inward and think about those things I’m doing that are for myself and not for God.  No one can hide from God, and God knows everything we say and do.  That’s very humbling for me because I know I fall short of His standards quite frequently.  In Romans 3:23 it says “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  That includes me and you, but guess what, there is hope. Romans 3:24 ” They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”.  We are justified and saved by grace through Jesus when we put our faith in Him.  What is God seeing you do?  What areas are you falling short in?  Take those things to God and he will cleanse you and justify you through His grace.

Verses 18-22:  These last few verses share what we receive from the Lord when we put our faith in Him.  They tell us we can depend on His faithful love; He delivers us from death; He is our help and shield.  What great promises!!  These promises come true when we put our faith in Christ.  Have you put your faith in Christ?  If not, what is holding you back?  You have to make the choice, no one can make it for you. So, what are you going to choose?

Attributes of God in Psalm 33: Righteous, Worthy of Praise, Beautiful, Right, Trustworthy, Just, Loving, Creator, Powerful, Speaks, Everlasting, Omniscient, Faithful, Life, Helper, Shield, Holy

 

Psalm 32

I really enjoyed this Psalm, I encourage you to read it. It gave a wonderful description of our lives before we accept Christ and after. In verses 1-2, it states how happy the one is who has been forgiven of their sin. Isn’t this true!! When we confess our sin and choose the accept the gift of salvation we are filled with joy. Have you received this joy? Are you still holding on to your sin?

Verses 3-4 tell us how David felt before he confessed his sin. He says “my bones became brittle,” and “my strength drained.” He also mentions that the hand of the Lord was heavy on him. Have you ever done something you know was wrong and kept it to yourself? Then because you were afraid to confess this wrong, it kept eating away at you, and it caused you more anguish because you didn’t confess. That is what sin in our lives does. It eats away at us until we become brittle and drained, or worse, our hearts become hard. What sin are you holding on to and not confessing?

In verse 5 we see that David acknowledges his sin and confesses them to the Lord. The Lord took away his guilt of the sin. This is such a wonderful thing. When we confess our sin to the Lord, he completely wipes them clean, and our guilt will melt away. 1 John 1:9 says ” If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” What a great promise this is!! All we have to do is acknowledge that we are sinners and confess our sin to God and He will wipe the slate clean. Have you confessed your sin to God? If not, what is holding you back?

Verse 6-7 speak of the protection we receive from God when we are faithful to Him. Verse 7 (one of my favorite verses) says, “You are my hiding place; You protect my from trouble. You surround me with joyful shouts of deliverance.” I truly believe God protects those who put their faith in Him. I have heard countless stories from many different people where God has protected them from immediate danger, and provided in ways they could never have imagined. Have you ever experienced the protection of God? If so, have you thanked Him for that provision? Also, please feel free to comment and share how God has protected you.

I really like verse 8 as well. It says, “I will instruct you and show you the way to go; with My eye on you, I will give counsel.” What a comforting thought, that God will give us counsel and tell us what we should do. He has a plan for each of us and we need to make sure we are answering the call He has for us. In Isaiah 6, Isaiah was called by the Lord and Isaiah answered, “Here am I, send me!”. Isaiah answered immediately and was totally willing. Are you responding to the calling God has for your life, or are you following your own plan? Are you willing to say “Here I am, send me?”.

In verses 9-11 we see warnings to stay away from wickedness and the effects of trusting the Lord. It states pain will come to the wicked, and faithful love will surround the faithful. Again what a wonderful promise. When we trust in the Lord we will have the joy of knowing our sins/transgressions are forgiven and wiped away. So again, have you come to the Lord and confessed your sin? If not will you do so today? Belief in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only way we can have a joyful and abundant life.

Attributes of God in Psalm 32:

Savior, Righteous, Holy, Forgives, Listener, Protector, Joyful, Instructor, Counselor, Loving, Faithful…

Feel free to comment and add attributes you see!!

Psalm 31

I attend a bible study and this year we are studying the book of Isaiah. This week in my study I really saw how God doesn’t like it when we are prideful. I guess that’s the lesson I needed to learn. Well, here in Psalm 31 David is crying out to God. Some of the verses that popped out at me were those dealing with pride. In verse 6 it says, “I hate those who are devoted to worthless idol, but I trust in the Lord.” I might be going out on a limb here, but stay with me. When we put things before God, like idols, we are doing it out of pride. We are saying we think we know a better way and I’m going to focus my attention to it. Now idols don’t have to be a physical object, it could be a t.v. show, a job, your appearance, the list could go on and on. We choose to allow these things to take over our lives because of pride. Are you putting your trust in the Lord, or are you allowing idols to take over your life because of your pride?

In verse 18 it says “Let lying lips be quieted; they speak arrogantly against the righteous with pride and contempt.” Those who are prideful usually don’t want it pointed out. Sometimes they are so full of their pride it results to even more sinning. Here David is asking that those who are speaking against those who are seeking God to be quieted. Most of the time when people choose to speak against God it is because of their pride. They are unwilling to admit they need Jesus and so they pridefully choose to speak out against and make fun of those who have trusted Christ. I also think some Christians tend to down grade others because of their pride. They say things like, “I’m better than that guy because I’ve never done (fill in the blank). Or they think because they serve more in the church than others do they are better. They probably don’t voice these things out loud, but just thinking them shows their pride. What prideful thinking do you need to remove from your life? Will you ask God to help you get rid of it?

In verse 23 and 24 say, “Love the LORD, all His faithful ones. The LORD protects the loyal, but fully repays the arrogant. Be strong and courageous all you who put your hope in the LORD.”  So these verses offer hope to those who choose to repent of their prideful ways.  When we trust in the LORD, He washes away our sin and our pride fades away.  I love how David tells us to be strong and courageous.  Keeping pride out of our lives can be very difficult to do in today’s society.  The only way we can stay free from pride is to put our faith and love in the Lord Jesus Christ.  He is the one who gives us the strength and courage to combat pride.  So, are you willing to combat the pride in your life?  I’m not saying it will be easy, but if you ask God for the strength and courage, He will be faithful in answering that prayer.

Attributes of God in Chapter 31:

Righteous, Rock, Refuge, Fortress, Leads and Guides, Truth, Faithful, Loving, Gracious, Trustworthy, Powerful, Good, Protector, Shelter, Praise Worthy, Wonderful, Listener

As always, feel free to add the attributes you see in this chapter.

Psalm 30 (verses 4-5)

While reading Psalm 30 verses 4-5 really popped out at me. This is mymusicorHis, so when I saw the word “sing” it caught my eye. Verse 4 & 5 are:

“Sing to the LORD, you His faithful ones, and praise His holy name. For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor, a lifetime. Weeping may spend the night, but there is joy in the morning.”

I love these verses. In verse 4 it tells us to praise the Lord. How are we to do this?? With singing!!! Singing and creating music that glorifies and brings praise to God is the best music there could ever be. I think it’s way cool that we are instructed to praise God this way. What better use of our musical abilities than to use it to praise and honor God.
Verse 5 is great too! God’s anger only lasts for a moment, but guess what His favor for a lifetime…..Wow! So when we do sin and mess up, yes it hurts God and He is probably anger, but when we repent and accept His precious gift of life, His favor lasts forever. What a wonderful promise.

So to pull out some applications from these verses, are you singing praises to God for all the great things He has done for you, or are you sulking in your trouble and not glorifying God at all? Are you involved in a sin you need to repent of so that you can receive the favor of God?

God’s attributes in Psalm 30:

Triumphant, Lord, Helper, Healer, Savior, Holy, Merciful, Joyous, Strong, , Listener, Gracious, Glad, Everlasting

If you found other attributes, feel free to comment and share!

Psalm 29

Psalm 29

Here in Psalm 29 David is describing the Lord and listing His attributes.  In verses 1-2 it says,

“Ascribe to the Lord, O mighty ones, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.”

Well for these verses I looked up the word “ascribe”. Basically it means to assign certain attributes to someone. So in this verse David is saying these are the attributes of God. He is glorious, strength, and holy. So, here again we see attributes of God, those things who make Him who He is. His attributes are perfect in every way. These are attributes we need to strive to have in our lives. What attribute of God do you need to work on in your life? Maybe it’s grace towards others, maybe it’s working on being honest. Whatever it is take it to the Lord and He will help you make it your attribute.

What other attributes of God can we see in Chapter 29?  I’m going to list all I find below, but feel free to comment and share what attributes you see.

Attributes of God in Psalm 29

Glorious, Strength or Strong, Holy, Voice over all, Thunderous, Powerful, Majestic, Speaks, Blesses, Peaceful, King

Psalm 28

For Psalm 28 I want to focus on verses 6 and 7. They say:

“May the Lord be praised, for He has heard the sound of my pleading. The LORD is my strength and my shield: my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart rejoices, and I praise Him with my song. “

These verses should bring us great comfort. We have a God who hears us when we cry out to Him. He is always faithful and we can always trust Him. Often times we forget to put our trust in Him and we stumble, but when we turn back to Him he quickly opens His arms wide and helps us and accepts us, if we truly are repentant.   Did you notice the Psalmist said “my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped”?  He was helped because of his trust in the Lord.  Have you been crying out for God but haven’t truly trusted and repented of sin in your life? In Isaiah 1:15 it says God will not listen to countless prayers. Are you offering countless prayers, or are you coming with a true heart of repentance?  When we come to before God with a true heart of repentance, and true reverence for who He is and what He has done for us, that’s when He can show us His true power.  I know sometimes this is easier said than done, but if we start practicing this, just think how much more effective our prayer lives will be.

Fail

So as you noticed, I had a big epic fail with the challenge of going through the Psalms and keeping my blog updated. I could l sit here and write tons of excuses of why I was able to do finish, but I have decided that I’m not going to do that. Instead, I’m going to finish, starting where I left off, and finish the book of Psalm. I feel I need to finish this commitment, even though I let the ball drop. So, my next post I will start with Psalms 28 and go from there.

Even though I failed, there is one who will never fail us.  The Lord Jesus Christ will never fail us, even though we fail Him.  Below are some verses I found regarding this.

Psalms 73:26 “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever.”

Lamentations 3:22-23 “Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!”

Isn’t amazing even though we fail, Jesus will never fail us!! He is always faithful to those who put their trust in Him.  So, are you trusting in Jesus?  If you are, is there a failing you need to take to Him?  We can never work past our failings with out Jesus, He is the only one who can take them away, and turn them into successes.

Psalms 20-27

Psalms 20:4 “May he five you the desire of ;your heart and make all your plans succeed.”
Psalms 21:2 “You have granted him the desire of his heart and have not withheld the request of his lips”

After reading this two chapters these verses stuck out to me, and here are my thoughts. God wants us to have the desires of our hearts and wants our plans to succeed. As I thought about this it cause me to think how this comes true when we are obedient to God’s plan for our lives. Often times we do things that go against God and complain when he doesn’t give us what we think we desire. Our desire should be to align our desires with God’s desires for us, then He will truly give us the desires of our hearts.

Psalms 22:5 “They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.”

When we truly cry out to God, He will save us. He is the only one we can completely trust in and He alone is the only one who will never disappoint us. How comforting this is for us. Have you allowed God to save you? Have you put your trust in Him? If you do He will not disappoint you.

Psalms 23

This is probably the most familiar Psalm there is. In the six verses of this Psalm we receive hope, comfort and strength. I’m going to focus on verse 4. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” When we have put our faith and trust in God what should we fear? God is greater than all evil, all troubles, everything. Through Him we will overcome everything life throws at us. It may not always be easy, but to truly know God is right there beside us can give us great comfort. Are you able to say God is with you? Have you accepted Him as your Lord and Savior? If not will you do so today?

Psalms 24:3-4 “Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.”

Here a question is asked and answered. Are you one who will stand in the holy place of the Lord? Do you have clean hands and a pure heart? Do you have idols in your life or follow what is false? How can we truly be clean? A way was made for us and it is through Jesus Christ alone! He alone makes us clean -He alone can take all things false away. In 1 John 1:9 it says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Have you taken the burden of your sins to Jesus so that he can purify and make you clean?

Psalms 25:4-5 “Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

Reading this I could help think how this prayer of David should be ours everyday. If we are seeking the ways of the Lord, He will show us what they are, all we have to do is ask. Are you asking God daily to show you His truths, or are you selfishly seeking your own?

Psalms 26:11 “But I lead a blameless life; redeem me and be merciful to me.”

I found this verse very interesting. David is stating he is living a blameless life, but then he asks for redemption. It’s almost like David is saying “Lord, I know I am being obedient to your will, but I also know I am imperfect and cannot be blameless without you, so take away everything that is not in alignment with you, so that I can be blameless.” Now I don’t know if this was really David’s intent in this verse of this Psalm but that is kind of what I pictured in my mind. Feel free to let me know if you think I’m way off base.

Psalm 27:14 “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

Waiting on the Lord. This is easier said than done. It takes great patience and obedience to wait for the Lord. In today’s culture we want things right here right now and we don’t like waiting for anything. But we need to remember God’s timing is not our timing. His timing is always perfect. Are you willing to wait for His timing in your life, your are you seeking your own time schedule?

Psalms 12-19

So I haven’t been on here for a week, so there is quite a bit to cover, but I think I can do it. I’m just going to pull out verses from each chapter that gave me encouragement.

12:6 “And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times.”

When I thought of this I was just in awe. It confirmed again how scripture is infallible, and there is no flaw in it. How often do we hear and see people trying to change scripture to fit their life styles, but here it clearly tells us that the words of the Lord are without flaw, and when we try to change it we are the ones who mess it up.

13:5 “But I trust in your unfailing love, my heart rejoices in your salvation.”

Can you say your trust is in Christ’s unfailing love, can you rejoice in your salvation? If not will you ask God to forgive you today and accept the gift of salvation that is only possible through the Lord Jesus Christ?

Psalms 14:2 “The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand any who seek God.”

This verse got me to thinking- when God looks down from heaven does He see me as one who understands and one that seeks Him? I like to think He does, but am I that way 24/7? What about you, are you able to say that you are one that understands and are seeking God? If not, what in your life do you need to give over to the Lord in order to be able to say this?

Psalms 15 – Well, I’m gonna let you read all of this for yourself. It was so good I wanted to write down every verse and share it with you. The chapter starts with a question “Lord, who may dwell in you sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?” After this it lists several things we must do. So, go read it and think about if you are doing all these things?

Psalms 16 – Wow! Another great chapter! Isn’t God’s word great. There were several verses I wanted to share, but I narrowed it to one.
16:11 “You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at you right hand.”

God has a plan for each one of us, and He will make it known to us. Do you know the plan he has for you? If not, will you go to Him in prayer and ask Him to reveal what His plan is for you?

Psalms 17:6 “I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer.”

I find it interesting that David continually asks for God to hear his prayer. I know that God hears our prayers and He answers them, but how often do I ask Him to hear them? I think David in doing this was showing his humility towards God. He was saying, I know I can not do this on my own, please hear my prayer and help me, I need your help!  How much more effective would our prayers be if we would ask God to hear and answer them?

Psalms 18:31 “For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God?”

So what is the answer to this??  NOONE!!!! It seems in today’s culture many our making god’s out of whatever they feel like.  The Bible is very clear.  God is the one and only, there are no other gods but Him!!  So what false gods have you created in your life?  Do you believe that God is the one and only?  If not will you today?

Psalms 19:14 ” May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

This should be the prayer all of us pray.  When our thinking and hearts are aligned with God, then we will be pleasing in the sight of the Lord.  This right thinking starts with salvation; believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and accepting  He died and rose for the forgiveness of our sin.  So, is you thinking right? Or do you need to give it over to Jesus and accept the wonderful gift He has for us?  When you accept Jesus, he immediately becomes your Lord, Rock and Redeemer, and there is no greater gift than this!

Psalms 9, 10, 11

When I gave myself this challenge, I wasn’t thinking of how I wouldn’t be around a computer everyday to blog. I apologize for not writing everyday, but that doesn’t mean I have stopped reading. So since I haven’t been on here in a few days, I’m going to pull a verse or two from each chapter to focus on. Here we go.

For Chapter 9 I will focus on verses 1 & 2. ” I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.” What would it be like to praise the Lord with all our heart? We often let other things get in the way of praising God. We worry what others will think, or how we don’t have all the things we want, or the list could go on and on. Here David says he is praising with His whole heart and we should do the same. So what in your life is getting in the way of giving over your whole heart to God? Is it pride or selfishness? Is it some secret sin no one else knows about? Whatever it is will you give it over to God so that you can praise Him with your whole heart?

For Chapter 10 I want to focus on verse 4. “The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts.” This was a scary thought for me, and I saw it as a warning for myself. How often do I not seek or have God in my thoughts? Probably more often than I want to admit. The chapter goes on to list other attributes of a wicked person like deceit and oppressive, murders the innocent, and sneering at his enemies. There are many more listed, these were just a few. So what in your life could be considered wicked and not of God? This is something we don’t like to think about; we like to think we are genuinely good. But the truth is only Jesus can take all our wickedness away. Are you willing to let Him do that?

In chapter 11 lets focus on verse 7. ” For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright.” So the Lord is righteous, that means he hates evil or wickedness. We as humans are flawed, that means we are unrighteous. How do we obtain righteousness? Is it doing good deeds? Is it performing some ceremony? No, the only way we obtain righteousness is accepting Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior. Have you done this? If not will you today?