I WILL BLESS THE LORD AT ALL TIMES!
KING DAVID, SONG WRITER, MUSICIAN, SINGER,
AUTHOR OF PSALMS
INTRODUCTION
The book of the Psalms is not a single book but a collection of many poems and other similar works composed mostly by King David but include many other authors such as Moses and Solomon. In the Psalms, joy, suffering, the desire and fear of death are all interwoven and expressed.
Psalms were the most common prayer of Jesus in the New Testament who loved singing them with his disciples. As they left the Last Supper they sang psalms on their way to Gethsemane. “Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” Matthew 26:30
On the cross Jesus prayed from Psalm 22, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me” (Matthew 27:46) “Into thine hands I commend my spirit.” Psalm 31:5 (Luke 23:46)
God is the true author of the Bible including the Psalms. Since Psalms are the Word of God, the pray-er who prays the Psalms speaks to God with the very words that God has given to us. Psalms are a school of prayer. When I pray the words of the Psalms, I don’t just think about how this is my prayer, I think about how it is the prayer of Jesus Christ. It is his prayer for his church and for the world. Excerpts of Psalms are copied below.
PSALM 101
I sing of mercy and justice; to you, LORD, I sing praise. I study the way of integrity; when will you come to me? I act with integrity of heart within my household. I do not allow into my presence anything base. I hate wrongdoing; I will have no part of it. May the devious heart keep far from me; the wicked I will not acknowledge….
Haughty eyes and arrogant hearts I cannot endure. Whoever follows the way of integrity, is the one to enter my house… No one who speaks falsely can last in my presence. Morning after morning, I clear the wicked from the land, to rid the city of the LORD of all doers of evil.
REFLECTION
In this Psalm, the Psalmist prays that he will remain holy and not be subject to the enticements of the world. We live in this world but we are not to be part of this world. John 17:15-17 Our standards are much higher. There is a heavenly world, a holy world, alongside this earthly world, seek it, grasp it. By example build the reign of God in this world that we may persevere into the heavenly kingdom.
PSALM 103
Bless the LORD, my soul; all my being, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, my soul; and do not forget all his gifts, Who pardons all your sins, and heals all your ills, Who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with mercy and compassion, Who fills your days with good things.
Merciful and gracious is the LORD, slow to anger, abounding in mercy. He will not always accuse, and nurses no lasting anger; He has not dealt with us as our sins merit, nor requited us as our wrongs deserve….
As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him. For he knows how we are formed, remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like the grass; he blossoms like a flower in the field. A wind sweeps over it and it is gone; its place knows it no more. But the LORD’s mercy is from age to age toward those who fear him….
REFLECTION
We acknowledge God’s infinite mercy and beg that His mercy continues as we are fallible, a fallen people. We are mere dust formed Creator God who loves us even to death on the cross and intends us to live in His holy image with Him for all eternity.
We may wander away for a bit but His mercy and forgiveness calls us back. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26 We know God in our very being now, some call it a conscience but God calls it our hearts.
PSALM 111
Hallelujah! I will praise the LORD with all my heart in the assembled congregation of the upright. Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them. Majestic and glorious is his work, his righteousness endures forever…He gives food to those who fear him, he remembers his covenant forever…The works of his hands are true and just, reliable all his decrees, Established forever and ever…holy and fearsome is his name. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; prudent are all who practice it. His praise endures forever.
REFLECTION
Here we acknowledge the great works of the Lord that may be found by those who study and read Scripture
God gives us food for the soul. The fear of the Lord is beginning of wisdom. Here fear is not so much about God’s final judgment on us as a profound awe of who God is and who we are. Our good lies in humble acceptance and trust in self-abandonment into His hands. Trust in God who wills the salvation of all.
PSALM 115
Not to us, LORD, not to us but to your name give glory because of your mercy and faithfulness. Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Our God is in heaven and does whatever he wills. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths but do not speak, eyes but do not see. They have ears but do not hear, noses but do not smell. They have hands but do not feel, feet but do not walk; they produce no sound from their throats.
Their makers will be like them, and anyone who trusts in them. *The house of Israel trusts in the LORD, who is their help and shield…. Those who fear the LORD trust in the LORD, who is their help and shield. The LORD remembers us and will bless us…
REFLECTION
Here we are instructed about false idols. Our ancestors, the Hebrews, fell in and out of God’s blessings throughout the Old Testament. Even when Moses was receiving God’s Law on Sinai, the Jews below were making a golden calf.
Even today, we build golden calves. Where is your treasure? What do you follow? Idols today, you know will result in the same thing as it did in the Hebrew Scriptures. Separation from the one true God will result in disaster in our lives and risk our eternal life. Are our idols worth it? And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:17
JESUS PRAYING THE PSALMS