Wow! This is a hectic psalm so grab your Bible or google the passage and read the whole thing. This is God claiming His position in the Universe [‘The Mighty One, God, the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to where it sets’ verse 1] and as the Lord of peoples lives [‘“Listen, my people, and I will speak; I will testify against you, Israel: I am God, your God.’ verse 7]. This is God showing a bit of wit or sarcasm [‘If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?’ verse 12, 13] And this is God sending out a warning to those who claim to be followers but who are not living lives that demonstrate that at all [‘“What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on your lips? You hate my instruction and cast my words behind you. When you see a thief, you join with him; you throw in your lot with adulterers. You use your mouth for evil and harness your tongue to deceit. You sit and testify against your brother and slander your own mother’s son. When you did these things and I kept silent, you thought I was exactly[c] like you. But I now arraign you and set my accusations before you.’ verse 17-21]

i love it! It’s like a “BOOM!” Psalm – God announcing His Presence, majesty and power and reminding us of the relationship and where He stands in it [because how often do we reduce Him to manlike status both in how we treat Him with so much less than the praise and honour He rightfully deserves and also when we treat Him with contempt or suspicion and blame] and what we have been called towards – free gift yes but it comes with a commitment, with a covenant, with a call to lay down everything of us and take on everything of Him and be a part of living in and creating His kingdom [on earth as it is in heaven]

This Psalm conjures up imagery of Aslan the lion from C.S. Lewis ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.’

‘If there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than me or else just silly.’

‘Then he isn’t safe?’ asked Lucy.

‘Safe?’ said Mr. Beaver. ‘Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.’

man, we have lost this aspect of God so much – with phrases like ‘Jesus is my homeboy’ or ‘i’m dating Jesus’ and comments like ‘Jesus is my dude’ or ‘me and Jesus are like this [indicate the ‘tight’ two fingers together sign] – No, you and Jesus are not like “this” – He is your King! Get down on your face in His presence and worship Him!

Yes, He has brought the gap closer and invited us in as friends and children, but don’t ever mistake that for buddies because that takes something away from who He is. All powerful, majestic, saviour of the world, life-transforming, radiant and until you can claim to be any or all of those things then remember your place and stay respectful and live from the resources of the Love He has poured into your life…

[To return to the Intro page and be connected to any of the other Psalms i have walked through before now, click here]