so in trying to find a way to make the psalms more accessible to someone looking for a specific one i came up with the idea of this blog which can send you to any of the first 35 psalms you might want to check out - the idea was always to grab a thought or two from each psalm and comment and hope that others would jump in and do the same so please [...]
been great hearing some thoughts from my friends and may have some more at a later stage but back to me for now... with psalm 35: as i was reading this psalm [of david once again calling besmitement upon his enemies for all the nasty things they are doing or plotting against him] i had the thought that david's only reference was the old testament God... now one of the big contentions of the Bible [...]
i attended a workshop by Brian Mclaren entitled 'Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road?' now anyone who knows my Brian Mclaren history knows it didn't start well - i read a book of his whose title i can't remember but who most fans of his writing have told me is not one of his greatest books and i wasn't that impressed - don't even know if i finished it - [...]
verse 23 jumped out at me: 'Love the Lord, all his faithful people! The Lord preserves those who are true to him, but the proud he pays back in full.' my translation says, 'The Lord preserves the faithful...' and i found it an interesting contrast - faithful vs proud - because i don't think we would naturally see them as opposites... yet when i think of being faithful the immediate connection is the idea of [...]
i have two parts underlined in this psalm so i'll stick with those: 'Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy name. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.' [vs. 4-5] this is a very light and hopeful psalm [and well you hope it should be as it was used for the [...]
what struck me immediately about this psalm is where it begins, with a loud chorus of praise to God, acknowledging Who He is: 'Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his[a] holiness.' [vs.1-2] that even the heavenly beings must sing praises to God. that is great - often i rush into prayer [...]
ooh, i'm not sure i like this psalm, or maybe more importantly where my reading of it took me... cos it's david again, being a self-righteous plonker: 'Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those who do evil, who speak cordially with their neighbors but harbor malice in their hearts. Repay them for their deeds and for their evil work; repay them for what their hands have done and bring back on them [...]
this is a great psalm... so rich... but i am just going to pull out one or two things as usual and once again would love to hear what stood out for you... 'The Lord is my light and my salvation — whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life — of whom shall I be afraid?' [vs.1] such a strong, powerful start and the reminder to us that this is [...]
and i move on to psalm 26, and another psalm of david clearly set before the little bathsheba incident [2 samuel 11] where he starts by proclaiming how good and righteous he has been and inviting God to 'examine my heart and my mind' [vs. 2] which is a great practice to take from this psalm [altho maybe without the assumption of being clean and pure and righteous, unless it's been a good week for [...]
me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, Israel... that is how psalm 25 reads to me - starts off really good and positive and kind of like the sunday picture of a christian - look at me God, everything is together, You are good, i can sing all the words in all the worship songs and even believe that i believe them and You're great and thanks for all You've done and You're control [...]