Blogging the Bible: Psalms 3 & 4

                Psalms 3 and 4 are both fairly short and deal with God’s protection and peace.  Both Psalms were written by David around the time his son, Absalom, led a rebellion against him.  As you might imagine, King David was not in the best situation.  His son was leading an army numbering more than 10,000 in open rebellion against him.  King David, being wise, didn’t take his army out to face Absalom in open battle.  Instead, David ran and hid in caves while he waited for the Lord to resolve the situation.

                Both of these psalms show David’s trust in God.  In Psalm 3, David refers to the Lord as “a shield around me” (Psalm 3:3).  David expresses his faith that God hears and answers his prayers.  David does not fear the army that surrounds him and he sleeps soundly at night because he trusts in God’s protection.  The notes here make a good point regarding our actions in a crisis.  So often we lose many a sleepless night to worry, doubt, and fear.  Yet David didn’t because he knew God heard his pleas and he had absolute faith that God would watch over him.  This theme comes out again in Psalm 4:8, “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

                I’ll admit that not all is well in my life.  I don’t have anyone trying to usurp my power or kill me, but I still have my fears and struggles.  I have those circumstances that I wish would change, but they haven’t.  Sometimes it seems that God isn’t listening.  Intellectually I know that is not true, but my heart isn’t so convinced.  These Psalms offer a reminder that God does hear our cries.  I’m sure David wasn’t real happy to be hiding out in caves while running for his life.  David took comfort in God’s protection.  He trusted that God had a plan and that God would bring justice.  He knew that deliverance would come from the Lord, but he had to be patient and wait.  While I might not yet see a relief from my circumstances, I have to put my hope and trust in God.  I have to trust that He hears my prayers, He knows my desires and He will see me through.  Not an easy thing to do, but I have to try.

Blogging the Bible: Psalm 2

                Psalm 2 is a celebration of the coronation of a king.  As such, it mirrors the crowning of Christ the King.  David also focuses on God’s ultimate authority over earthly kings.  In verse 4 he writes, “The One enthroned in heaven laughs, the Lord scoffs at them.”  The notes on this passage suggest that God is laughing at nations in the same way a father laughs when his child boasts that he or she can out run dad or wrestle him to the ground.   I really have to disagree with this view.  A father does not scoff at his offspring when they boast.  He does laugh, and the laughter comes from the fact that he knows how empty the boast really is, but he still lets the child win the race or pin him to the ground.   To be honest, even the child realizes that he or she can’t really beat dad, but it is fun anyway.

                To me, this particular section suggests that God is laughing at earthly kings who think they actually have true power, when, in fact, they don’t.  These earthly kings actually think they have it all under control and God scoffs at them because he knows how little they really control.  God doesn’t laugh and then let them win the way a father does.  Unlike the child, the kings of earth think they are on top of the world and no one is taking them down.  Pick your tyrant from history and think about their boasts.  Since I am a history guy who is fascinated by World War II, Hitler quickly comes to mind.  Hitler’s boasts are not anywhere close to the same thing as the boasts of a small child.  It wasn’t a fun little game for Hitler.  No, he was deadly serious.  And he’s not the only one – the Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Byzantine Empire – they all had leaders who thought they ruled the world and they all fell.

                Verses 5 and 6 seem to further illustrate my point.  “Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, ‘I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.’”  When my brother and I boasted about beating dad in a race or wrestling him to the ground, we were not rebuked in anger or terrified by our father’s wrath.  Dad laughed and let us win.  It was fun.  David writes about God establishing his chosen to rule over all the other kings and rebuking those rulers who would dare to challenge God’s chosen king.

                In the second half of the psalm, David writes,

Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth.  Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.  Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. (Psalm 2: 10-12)

David is pointing out that the kings of this earth must recognize that there is one greater than them who is the final authority on all things.  Even though earthly rulers are powerful, they must submit to God’s final authority.  The phrase “Kiss the Son” apparently means to fully submit to God’s will and allow him to lead us.  Psalm 2 calls me to submit to God’s leadership and let him guide my steps.

Blogging the Bible: More Thoughts on Psalm 1

As I have been thinking and reflecting on Psalm 1, I have been struck by this particular line in verse 2, “on his law he meditates day and night.”  Now, I don’t know about you, but my life is busy.  I have a job that consumes somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 hours of my week.  I enjoy sleep and usually have better days when I get a good night’s sleep, so there’s another 56 hours.  Quick math check here, let’s see, 7 x 24 = 168 and 168 – 106 = 62.  Okay, so after work and sleep I have 62 hours left.  Not too bad really.  However, I need a few other things like food and showers.  The morning wake up and get ready for work/church takes about an hour and a half(-10.5).  Take at least 2 hours to spend with my wife eating dinner and hanging out each night (-14).  Now we are down to 35.5 hours left.  Church on Sunday eats up 3 hours and practice on Thursday takes another 3 so now I’m left with 29.5 hours.  Okay, wait a minute.  As I’m writing this I’m starting to realize that I must be wasting some serious time in my week because I still have more than a full day left. 

Okay, so what am I doing with all that leftover time?  Most of it comes on Saturday and Sunday.  Saturday afternoon is usually spent hanging out with my wife and/or watching TV.  It’s also a chance to clean the apartment.  Sunday afternoon is spent watching something sports related and washing the sheets and towels.  During the week I usually manage the rest of the laundry and I do the dishes each night.  Still it seems that there should be time for me to focus on God’s Word and meditate upon it. 

During my morning routine I should take time to check in on the passage of scripture I am working on for the week.  I should also take time each night to do the same.  What’s it saying to me?  Is it challenging me?  Encouraging me? Helping me in my daily walk with Christ?  That’s part of what this blog is for – a way to help me focus on those questions and figure out how to answer them.  Psalm 1 challenges me to think about the Bible and what it means for me in my daily life.  It challenges me to meditate on scripture and think about what it means to be a Christian and if I am doing what I believe I should be doing as a follower of Christ.  I’m taking time to focus and meditate on scripture by taking time to write these posts.  This is still in the early stages, but I want to find more ways to think about scripture and apply it to my daily activities and interactions. 

This is the challenge of Psalm 1 – find a way to spend time meditating on God’s word.  I don’t believe David meant for us to literally meditate on it day and night.  But he did mean for us to have it in our thoughts throughout the day and allow God’s Word to guide us in our actions.  How do you find time to spend in the Bible and how do you keep it in your heart and allow it to guide you?