Author: Jon Green

If you’ve ever experienced a long period of darkness and dreary weather, you’ve also felt the warm relief of the sun coming back out and lighting up the sky. This is just a small glimpse of how we feel knowing God’s face is shining on us.

Psalm 67 begins with a blessing request: Lord, be gracious to us; shine Your face upon us. Written in a time before Jesus, the psalmist and God’s people were requesting that God graciously fulfill His promises. Praise God that we now know that God’s Son fulfilled the ultimate promise. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we can have life eternal⏤the greatest blessing of all (John 3:16, Romans 10:9-10).

For those who have received God’s blessing of salvation (Ephesians 2:8), let us share who God is with others. Let’s lock arms and all work toward the goal of every single person on earth knowing our Heavenly Father. There are people in our neighborhood, our city, our country, and throughout the world who have never heard of God’s blessings! We are called to bless others by sharing the greatest blessing bestowed upon us. It’s exciting just thinking about it! Yet, we can get carried away and forget that we have a role to play. We aren’t meant to hold tightly to God’s blessings but to share them with the world around us.

Blessings also call for praises! Be glad. Sing for joy. It’s contagious. Others will notice. Even for what may feel like a very small blessing, we remain faithful by praising a gracious God who continues to shine His face upon us. The Doxology sums it up well:

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host:
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen.

After imploring the righteous to participate in their fitting worship and calling to remembrance the God who created the world with His breath, the psalmist centers on God’s counsel. He writes, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen for his heritage.” This verse may elicit a range of initial emotions depending on the reader. We could feel pride in thinking we are the nation whose God is the LORD. We may feel sorrow or a longing to be a part of such a nation. Or our initial reaction could be jealousy or anger. Wherever we find ourselves, God has good news for us. 

God chose to reveal His character to the world through His relationship with the nation of Israel, Abraham’s descendants. He chose them not because they were mighty or great in number but because He loved them and because of His oath made to Abraham to bless him and make him a great nation (Deuteronomy 7:7-8, Genesis 12:2-3). He chose them to be the vehicle through which the world would come to know of His steadfast love. Israel is God’s chosen nation, and through the work of Jesus Christ, we have been grafted into the promises and the family (Romans 11:17-21). 

Peter writes to a mixed audience in 1 Peter 2:9. He states, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” So, if we have put our faith in Jesus Christ, we are the nation whose God is the LORD, regardless of our physical location or any worldly documentation. In Christ, we are God’s chosen inheritance. Ephesians 1:18 describes those bought by the blood of Jesus as His “glorious inheritance!” As His chosen people, we have a call to represent Him to the world around us. The earth is full of His steadfast love, and we get to share the name of that love, Jesus Christ. 

Throughout Scripture, we see that being chosen and giving praise go hand in hand. As soon as we cease praising, we lose sight of our source of joy, strength, wisdom, and hope. We start looking to created things to fill the void in our hearts that only the Creator truly can. Psalm 33:15 reminds us that God fashions the heart of man. He not only knows what we need, but He is what we need. It doesn’t make sense for the people of God to grumble about the fallen condition of the world. What “befits” the people of God are hearts that continue to compose new songs of the wondrous works of the LORD in and around us, even as we hope in Him.

Psalm 8 begins and ends by proclaiming God’s majesty (some Biblical interpretations use “excellent” instead). Because it holds the important place of the start and finish to David’s song, let’s dig a little deeper to understand the meaning.

Psalm 8 claims the Lord’s name is majestic, or “addir” in Hebrew. This was the same word used to describe kings, nobles, and rulers – those who held authority over lands, nations, and people. Their words would determine the fate of countries and write the history of civilizations. So, when David proclaims that the Lord’s name is “addir,” we know the song will speak to the power and authority of God as creator and ruler.

In Psalm 8, we see David mirror Genesis 1, where God creates the heavens, the earth, and all its inhabitants. God breathed words and galaxies materialized, some of which we haven’t even discovered yet. He subdued the raging waters with earth to create land that bears fruit. He carefully designed each bird, animal, and sea creature for His specific purpose, and it began to fly, run, and swim at His command. Then, He created humans, which seem so small compared to the vastness of the universe, and yet, it all was created with us in mind. Not only do we get to be here, created and living in the midst of His glory, but then He bestowed on us the power and authority over all His creation. What an awesome responsibility we hold!

How often do we take a moment to recognize this? In the midst of our work, school, and schedules, we mistakenly can begin to think our lives revolve around our activities in our world. The truth is our lives were created to actively care for God’s activities in His world. We (humans) have been anointed His representatives on earth with “a crown of glory and honor” (verse 5) so that we might share in the joy of His majesty.

The most important thing to note while reading this psalm is that it is a psalm of exile. This chapter is written after the Hebrew people have been taken from their land and brought into captivity by the Babylonians. In the Old Testament, the exile took place after God was so exhausted by the Israelites’ sin that He handed them over to those who do not know Him. These Israelites had grown comfortable with their sin, and God used exile to wake them up to the dangers of their rebellion. 

When we think of exile, we cannot just assume the Israelites were carried off peacefully into a foreign land. What really happened was that the temple was destroyed, fellow Israelites were killed, and their homes were taken from them. This traumatic experience filled the Israelites with so much anger towards their captors that they would even say here in verse 9, “Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.” This was likely written because this is precisely what happened to the Israelite families (Isaiah 13:16).

Since they had lived through this incredibly painful experience, the people of God were without hope. While their captors mocked them and asked them to sing, they responded by saying, “How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?” (v. 4). In other words, “How can we sing songs of hope when our situation is hopeless?”

While we are not currently held captive by our enemies, we too, are in a state of exile. As believers, we aren’t living in our true home. We are made to be at home in heaven with our Lord as king. As we are in a state of exile while on earth, there will be much that will bring us discouragement. There will be times of pain, exhaustion, and despair. But because of Jesus, we can respond differently than the writer of this psalm. While they are driven to anger and dejection, we can be driven to peace and confidence. Our hope does not need to be in the future destruction of our enemies because we know that Christ has defeated Satan and death, our true enemies. Today, we can sing songs of hope while in exile because we have a faithful God who will one day bring us home.

Today’s reading is another communal lament, written on behalf of a group of people. This psalm is also written by Moses, making it the oldest psalm in the Bible! 

The fourth verse of this chapter helps us to see the main focus of today: “For you, a thousand years are a passing day, as brief as a few night hours.” A thousand years is a long time, but let’s take a moment to think about how long that actually is. A thousand years ago, in the year 1021, the city we live in wasn’t even an idea in someone’s mind. The United States did not even exist yet. In America today, the average lifespan is 79 years. We would have to live our entire lives thirteen times to be alive for 1,000 years. Yet to God, 1,000 years is “a passing day, as brief as a few night hours.” God is eternal, all-knowing, all-present, and all-powerful, and we are far from that. 

So how should we respond to this? Ephesians 5:15-16 gives us some insight: “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (ESV). Read that again. “Look carefully then how you walk…making the best use of the time.” We don’t know how long we will live; only God does. Instead of wasting the time we do have, we should be intentional with it. Instead of saying we’ll get serious about God or start serving sometime in the future, we should do it today. Our life could end in a moment, and even if it doesn’t, our life is still short. We should be on fire for God while we can, storing up treasures in heaven that don’t fade when we die (Luke 12:33). 

Ephesians 2:10 says that “we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Even though God is eternal and so much bigger than us, we are still His workmanship, created for good works that God has laid out for us. Instead of waiting, let’s pick up our cross daily and follow Him.

The year is 594 BC, and the Jews were returning to Israel after 70 years of exile and captivity in Babylon. They longed for a renewed future in Israel, and this psalm of lament expressed their need for God to show His steadfast love and faithfulness by restoring and reviving and granting salvation once again. (v. 4, 6, 7). This is not before affirming what God had done in the past for the nation of Israel and their vast land of inheritance (v. 1-3).

Don’t miss the active language the psalmist uses to describe the grace extended to the chosen people of God long before their exile. He showed favor, restored fortunes, forgave iniquity, covered sins, set aside wrath, and turned from His fierce anger. Now they are returning to their land, longing to experience the restorative love of God that they may rejoice once again in His unfailing love.

While we may not be in exile and captivity, we often find ourselves enslaved to our own self-imposed exile from God. It is marked by our fears, doubts, isolation, and unrepentant sin. At these moments, deliverance is found by clinging to the gospel which saved us. We can use these prophetic gospel words of the psalmist as they point us directly to the cross of Christ that restores us to God, covers our sins, and shelters us from His just and fierce wrath. In short, this gospel psalm reminds us that we are favored by God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And on the heels of this declaration, we find the joy of the exiles and experience the great love of our redemptive God.

Just as the psalmist used powerful language to describe salvation from sin, he now offers beautiful poetic words and imagery to display the intimate love of our heavenly Father. His attributes of love and faithfulness to His children and righteousness and peace for you and me are beautifully united. What a gift Psalm 85 is to us today! Read it again and delight in your salvation story that “His glory may dwell” in your life!

In this psalm, Asaph shares all the enemies that surround the people of God. In verses 6-8, these people and places seem to fit two categories: 1) enemies who geographically surrounded Israel and 2) the major superpower at the time responsible for the destruction of the northern kingdom. It seems then that Psalm 83 paints a picture of an Israel hemmed in by enemies on every side who can find no escape from a superpower who is ready to pounce.

In verses 9-11, Asaph, in using these names, recalls many victories in Israel’s past before founding the kingdom and the crowning of a king. Asaph is teaching us to reflect and remember God’s faithfulness! He used God’s past victories to sing a hopeful song for what God would do to their present enemies.

Sometimes, we’ve felt like this too – surrounded by our enemies. However, unlike Asaph, maybe we’ve asked for God’s vengeance for our own reasons and in our own timing. But Asaph’s words hold a lesson for us about how to respond to problems. Asaph trusts that God will eventually take care of his enemies even in the void of a consistent silence. Such trust is not easy, but it is worth it. And trust is not the only lesson to be learned from Asaph’s prayer.

We also learn that Asaph longs for God’s voice to be heard so that his enemies know God is the only God and Lord over all. Asaph’s cry for justice is not for his own benefit: it is that God’s glory would be known throughout the earth. This is a humbling lesson to learn. How often are our prayers for relief selfish and for our revenge, rather than for God’s glory? Asaph’s prayer for his enemies’ destruction is ultimately that they would be humbled so that they would seek God. His cry is not only for their defeat, but for their restoration.

Psalm 80 is a prayer of lament on behalf of God’s people, likely around the time of the Babylonian exile. As modern day readers of this psalm, we can relate to the plight of the nation of Israel like we would the pain, suffering, and disorientation of God’s people or the Church today. It’s important to note that this prayer is offered up for the collective, for the sin and the suffering of God’s people as a whole, and for their restoration, return to God, and healing as a community of faith. 

Surely many of us can relate, as we look around at the disarray, division, and idolatry in the Church in our community, culture, and nation. We may feel complete and utter despair for the suffering and brokenness in our society that has resulted from our faithlessness and straying from God and His ways.

We can all relate to feeling overwhelmed with pain and sorrow at the way things are, so keenly aware that things aren’t as they should be, and feeling powerless to affect change. This psalmist shows us what to do with all of that:   

• He remembers that as sheep, we need to be tended to and gathered by the shepherd. 
• He acknowledges the sin of God’s people, that it is us who have chosen to turn away and how grave of a mistake it was to do so.
• He proclaims God’s track record of generous mercy, how He rescued His people from Egypt and tenderly nurtured the flourishing and fruitfulness of His people. 

Finally, he draws our attention to three things we can continually be in prayer for: 

• An outpouring of mercy. We understand that it is only by God’s grace that we are able to return to Him. 
• The hearts of God’s people, that they would be fertile soil for God’s grace.  
• The leadership of the Church in our community and in our nation. Strong, faithful and courageous leadership is required to lead the Church back into faithfulness to God.

While verses 17-19 are prayers for the literal king of Israel, they are also a foreshadowing pointing Israel and us toward Jesus Christ. Under the leadership of the Messiah, the Church will be restored and once again know the shining radiance of God’s face. Jesus Christ is the fulfilment of this prayer, and through Him alone are we reconciled to God.

Reading Psalm 79, you can envision the author, Asaph, staring at a scene of devastation. Jerusalem had been conquered by the Babylonians and everything was destroyed, including God’s holy temple. Asaph describes not only God’s people being mocked, but the horror of dead bodies strewn through the streets without even respect for a proper burial. In the midst of Asaph’s grief, he cries out to the Lord in complete transparency on behalf of those around him. 

He proceeds to beg God for forgiveness as the Israelites were far from Him and Babylon’s invasion was a direct consequence of their sin. Asaph pleads, “Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name, deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name’s sake!” (v. 9). He knows God alone is their Rescuer. However, in the midst of sorrow, he is able to close with rejoicing. “But we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation, we will recount your praise.” (v. 13) How? Asaph remembers who God is (their Shepherd) and who they belong to.

Can we not relate to Asaph? We may not be sitting in the midst of war ruins but we have most likely all been in the midst of what feels like ruin through destructive sin, loss, sickness, anxiety, grief, etc. Just like Asaph, we can pour out our hearts to a God who loves us and says we can cast all of our cares and anxieties on Him (1 Peter 5:7). We, too, can ask God for forgiveness. The best news is that Psalm 79:8-9 has been answered through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He has rescued us! Because of Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice for us on the cross, He has atoned for our sins, setting us free. “In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us” (Ephesians 1:7). 

Psalm 79 transitions from hopeless to hopeful! Because God is our shepherd and we are His sheep, we too can praise Him in midst of the storm. When we spend time with God, we begin to remember who He is and who we belong to. Throughout Psalm 79, Asaph’s circumstances did not change but his demeanor did. This is because he was comforted in our God who never changes! (Revelation 1:8, Hebrews 13:8, Malachi 3:6, Isaiah 40:8). 

In this psalm, we can see that Asaph and Israel as a whole are going through a tough time (a major understatement). This chapter is full of vivid, powerful imagery; as we read through it, the truths really sink in, as we picture in our heads everything described on the page. Reading verses 3 through 9, we picture walking through the ruins of a city, looking in the distance to see the church building burned to the ground, smoke pouring out of the place in which we would frequently meet (or maybe where we now wish we had visited more). Enemies come in with battle axes, yelling and destroying everything that is familiar to us. It feels like God is gone, and there is no longer anyone who speaks for Him (v. 9). 

As we have seen in many of the Psalms so far, there is a clear shift, a move from despair to praise. Although the tone changes, the imagery continues. Instead of picturing a ruined city, we see God splitting the ocean and smashing the heads of sea monsters, letting desert animals eat them! He causes springs to gush forth and dries up rivers that never run dry! He creates everything, including the stars in the sky and the boundaries of the earth and the seasons we experience! People might come and ruin the temporary, worldly things that we have built, but God is in control, so powerful and mighty. People might come after us for our faith and take our sanctuary, but our Church was never a building, and our hope was never in the places where we worshiped. Our hope is found in the all-powerful, all-knowing, almighty God of the universe. 

Israel was going through a tough time, and we might be, too. We might feel like we are under attack, either by loud men with battle axes or by work, school, other people, etc. Whatever comes after us, God is far more powerful. When we feel overwhelmed, we can follow the example of this psalm, remembering how God has been faithful in the past (v. 12) and how He has promised that He will triumph in His good and perfect timing (v. 20).