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We will never be able to find a piece of nature that didn’t come from the mind of our God. Not only was He creative enough to think of it, but He was powerful enough to form it into being. Everything from the seas, the stars, and the seals are all from His creative power. This psalm helps us realize that God genuinely cares for His creation. He didn’t just create and then step away but is still involved in the happenings on Earth. He is an active God all throughout His vast creation. This psalm helps us understand the grandeur and wisdom of God. He’s not distant from His creation, nor is He inept in His power.

 It’s easy for us to get overwhelmed with the things on our immediate to-do list. We are so consumed with our work, our relationships, or our finances that sometimes we begin to believe we are the god of our lives. We have our own kingdom to run. It’s our job to run our life and we need to make sure we have it under control. However, this psalm allows us to step back and get perspective on what is actually true. We have a God that is so big and so great, that He is able to create and sustain everything on Earth. He is the One who has authority over every living thing. He is the One who is overseeing our lives. He’s not taking a role in our kingdom, but rather we are taking part in His. 

 We don’t have to be consumed with making sure all is well with our world because we aren’t the ones in charge of it. Psalm 104 should be a comforting reminder that we aren’t the sustainers of our life. Instead, we get the opportunity to rely on God to provide for us in every season. There is nothing too great for Him. He isn’t overwhelmed by your situation. As we meditate on all He has done, it should prompt us to the place where this psalm ends: with praise to our God. 

While the previous psalm was a cry for distress, Psalm 103 is one of the most familiar psalms of praise. Yesterday we heard David crying out for help and likening himself to a desert owl among the ruins and a bird alone on a roof (102:6-7). Both of these word pictures describe isolation and defeat.

Notice today then, how David describes what God can do for your soul in verse 5: [He] satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. In comparison to the birds described in Psalm 102, the eagle is a picture of strength and victory. In fact, an eagle’s gripping strength is ten times stronger than the average grip of an adult hand, exerting upwards of 400 pounds per square inch. Despite this strength, the eagle also must go through the continual process of molting its feathers from head to tail in order to be able to survive. The eagle never loses all its feathers at once; instead it goes through this process losing only a few feathers at a time so that it can continue to fly and hunt.

David didn’t use this word picture without reason. He knew that as a follower of God, there would be a continual process of rebirth and restoration as we walk through life on this earth. But, David also knew that God was faithful to renew our strength and ultimately make us victorious. How did he know? Let’s look again at verses 3-4.

God forgives all our sins. He heals all our diseases. He redeems our lives from the pit. He crowns us with love and compassion. David knew these things to be true because he had seen God’s faithfulness through his own life and the lives of those before him.  

The same is still true. Jesus came to earth, died on the cross, and was raised to life three days later so that we could be fully restored and renewed. Sometimes in life we might feel like we are going through the molting process or feel more like the desert owl isolated among the ruins. But this chapter is a merciful reminder that God isn’t finished. He will satisfy our desires with good things and renew our strength like the eagle’s. If you’re in the “victory” period right now, praise Him for His kindness. If you feel like you’re in the middle of molting and isolation, don’t give up. He will not let you lose all your feathers at once. It might be slow and it might feel like it’s taking too long—but He is still good, and His promises stand true. You will survive the renewal process and come out the other side exactly as God created you to be: victorious in Him. For as high as the heavens are above this earth, so great is His love for you.

Psalm 100 serves as a powerful reminder of the fact that the Lord reigns as King and we are His people. Through no effort or accomplishments of our own doing, the Lord has invited us into His eternal presence. He’s worthy of our praise and worship, songs of joy, and eternal gratitude. When we’re faithless, His faithfulness endures through all generations. 

Yet, when we’re honest with ourselves, we forget about this amazing, undeserving invitation we’ve received. We don’t shout for joy and our hearts are often filled with complaint and comparison, rather than gladness, gratitude, and joy. Many Sundays, we find ourselves going through the motions as we sing songs, pray, and listen to a sermon. 

Would someone ever accuse you of “shouting for joy to the Lord”? What does it look like to live a life that shouts out in joy to the Lord? The world, and even the church, is not marked by this type of “joy-shouting” life. In moments of authentic reflection, you might admit your life looks like the lives of those in the rest of the world. We’re often no different than our non-believing friends, family members, co-workers, and neighbors.

We’ve been invited into the courts of the living God. The psalmist wrote this psalm around three thousand years ago. The Son died on the cross for our sins two thousand years ago. But the Father’s love endures forever, and His faithfulness continues for generation after generation after generation (and so on!).

Take a moment to reread this short psalm. It’s only five verses—certainly you can read it or listen to it again. Be reminded of His enduring, never-ending, faithful love for you. Take a moment to thank Him for it. And don’t be afraid to shout for joy to Him in worship and in the way you live your life today. (Just don’t wake up your roommates or any sleeping family members!)

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.