Psalm 30

Thanksgiving (individual)

God Deserves My Thanks and Praise

                12 That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent.

                O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

·         If [God] humbles us without destroying us, let us count it a great mercy, and give thanks.

·         Anything is good for us that puts us to praying earnestly.

·         What we want is mercy. Not a good thing do we deserve.

·         It is not wicked to be very sad, to mourn and put on sackcloth. It is not sinful to shed tears and heave sighs. Jesus wept. His soul was sorrowful even unto death. There is a time to weep, and a time to mourn. “It becometh the child of God to weep when he is beaten, and to humble himself in the exercise of prayer and fasting.” (Dickson) One of the worst signs is to be scourged and refuse to be humbled.

Psalm 29

Praise

Give God the Glory Due His Name

                2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due to His name;

                Worship the LORD in holy array.

·         We have made but little progress in religion till we see that there is a transcendent beauty in holiness. There is no beauty like that, because it is the beauty of the Lord, and makes us like him.

·         Omnipotence is never balked.

·         It is monstrous that men should so study second causes as to forget him who is the sole Author of universal nature.

·         It is by God and by God alone that we live. All our strength is from him. This is true of the natural life of all; it is delightfully true of the spiritual life of the saints.

Psalm 28

Lamentation / Praise

Help Me, God

                1 To You, O LORD, I call;

                My rock, do not be deaf to me,

                For if You are silent to me,

                I will become like those who go down to the pit.

·         Whoever leaves his prayer, as the ostrich leaves her egg in the sand, and cares no more for it, does not pray at all.

·         It is no hindrance, but a help to have a sense of utter personal helplessness.

·         However sad the case and dark the mind of the genuine believer may at any time be, better days are coming. “The scene of sorrow and persecution shall be exchanged for the bright shining of a day alike cloudless and serene. The wailings of penitence shall be succeeded by the sweet consciousness of forgiving mercy; the sorrowing of affliction shall usher in a long day of joy and prosperity; and the cry of oppressed innocence shall bring down upon some guilty head the ministers of divine wrath.” (Morison)

·         “Those and those only, whom God feeds and rules, who are willing to be taught, and guided, and governed by him, shall be saved, and blessed, and lifted up forever.”

Psalm 27

Lamentation (persecuted and accused) / Trust (individual)

God Is My Light and My Salvation

                ¹ The LORD is my light and my salvation;

                Whom shall I fear?

                The LORD is the defense of my life;

                Whom shall I dread?

·         Were our faith as strong as it should be, nothing could fill us with dismay or terror. Because God changes not, the state of his people is never desperate.

·         Surely those, who hope to spend their eternity in the praises of God, ought to get their harps in tune to his service before they leave this world.

·         Those, who exercise the grace they have, shall have more grace.

·         “Albeit the Lord let the trouble lie on, and strong temptations to increase, and grief of heart to grow, yet must we still wait: for at the due time the outgate shall come.” (Dickson)

Psalm 26

Wisdom

God Is Gracious When I Walk in Integrity

                11 But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity;

                Redeem me, and be gracious to me.

·         It is always wise to be more afraid of sin than of temporal evil, of doing wrong than of suffering wrong. Nothing hurts us till our souls are hurt.

·         [A]ny successful appeal to God is effectually hindered by our willful wrong-doing.

·         If we would have the comforts of religion we must maintain habits of piety. When David says, I have trusted also in the Lord, he does not refer to some occasional act, but to the tenor of his life.

·         It would be better for us, if we should think more of God’s lovingkindness, and more frequently celebrate it. It should ever be before our eyes as a theme of contemplation, and on our lips as a theme of praise.

·         “[H]e who sits with the wicked, and finds delight in their unholy conversation, proves himself to be an enemy of God, and a destroyer of his own soul.”

·         The friendship of the world is enmity with God.

·         A heart to pray and praise, to adore God and confess sin is never given in vain.

·         Antinomianism . . . is indigenous to the human heart.

·         He, who lives wickedly cannot worship acceptably. “It is a fearful thing to approach God’s ordinances with a heart cherishing its own evil desires.” (Morison)

Psalm 25

Wisdom

My Salvation Is In God

                5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me,

                For You are the God of my salvation;

                For You I wait all the day.

·         [T]hey that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength.

·         One of the greatest trials is perplexity. Commonly Satan has a great advantage over us when he can make us seriously doubt respecting truth or duty. Clearness of mind is a great blessing. God alone can give it.

·         Perseverance in duty is the only infallible mark to ourselves and the world that we are born of God.

·         “Though the course of kindness and mercy seem to be interrupted by affliction and temporal desertion, and to be forgotten on God’s part; yet faith must make use of experiences, and read them over unto God out of the register of a sanctified memory.” (Dickson)

·         Afflictions often possess remarkable power to remind us of our sins.

·         Anything is good for us, if it humbles us and leads us to the mercy seat.

·         True meekness not only tames the ferocity, but it checks the impetuosity of men. It is essential to true piety. It would not be a miracle, but a contradiction for God to guide the proud, the self-conceited, into all truth. If any would learn he must be docile.

·         No ceremonies, professions, raptures or revelations did ever, can ever take the place of sincere, hearty, unquestioning obedience to all God’s known will.

·         None can look too steadfastly and confidingly to God. We never honor him more, nor please him better than when in trouble and darkness we still trust him and believe that he will do all things well.

·         We may not complain of God, but we may complain to God. With submission to his holy will we may earnestly cry for help and deliverance.

Psalm 24

Wisdom / Royal (heavenly King)

The Mighty God Sees Those With Clean Hands and Pure Hearts

                3 Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD?

                And who may stand in His holy place?

                4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

                Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood

                And has not sworn deceitfully.

·         Each kind [of vanity] shows a great lack of understanding, leads to self-deception, is unfriendly to truth, is without holidays, makes men sooner or later appear foolish, is very common, is very difficult of cure; and is always odious to right-minded people.

·         From age to age Christ is gracious to the penitent, who tremble at his word, and call on his name.

Psalm 23

Lamentation (persecuted and accused) / Trust (individual)

God Is My Shepherd

                1 The LORD is my shepherd,

                I shall not want.

·         If you would be happy, set your hope in God alone.

·         Nothing created or liable to change can do us permanent good.

·         David, though he lived long, never wrote but one twenty-third Psalm.

·         God’s people have their seasons of darkness and their times of rejoicing.

·         “The prophet has not at all times been so happy; he has not been able at all times to sing as he does here.” (Luther)

·         Never hew out cisterns which can hold no water.

Psalm 22

Lamentation

Commit My Way to God

                8 “Commit yourself to the LORD; let Him deliver him;

                Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.”

·         “No man knows the exceeding sinfulness of sin, but he who learns it at the cross of Christ.”

·         There is but one method of satisfactorily explaining the awful scenes of the crucifixion. “That was the judgment-day of the Savior of the world. At the tribunals of men he was condemned—under their sentence he was executed: and while his body hung in torture on the cross, he was arraigned in spirit before the bar of God, under the imputation of human guilt. The court of heaven, as it were, descended to Mount Calvary. . . . These awful words, ‘Let the law take its course,’ are uttered by the eternal Judge.” (Stevenson) This explanation alone is sufficient. With his stripes we are healed. By his chastisement we have peace. By his death we live. Otherwise we never can defend the character of God concerning the humiliation of Christ. He never permitted a holy angel to suffer even the slightest indignity.

·         When sore pressed, our resort must be to earnest prayer and strong crying to God. “The true rule of praying is this, that he who seems to have beaten the air to no purpose, or to have lost his labor in praying for a long time, should not, on that account, leave off, or desist from that duty.” (Calvin)

·         “Were temptations ever so black, faith will not hearken to an ill word spoken against God, but will justify God always.” (Dickson) This is much wiser than to plunge into reasonings too deep for us. Often is silence eminent wisdom. Trust is better than logic. Let us never charge God foolishly, as we shall surely do, if we attempt to solve all the mysteries of providence.

Psalm 21

Royal (earthly king)

Even Kings Must Trust in God

                7 For the king trusts in the LORD,

                And through the lovingkindness of the Most High he will not be shaken.

·         “God is never a moment too late with his mercies, but he sometimes comes just at the last moment.”

·         When the heart and lips unite in seeking things agreeable to God’s will, we may confidently expect speedy answers and great mercies. [My lips readily express what my heart seeks; but does my heart desire what God designs? Trial and testing are designed to refine my heart, and God will extend them until He has accomplished His purpose.]

·         God is a sovereign over sovereigns.

·         What a glorious person is the Lord Jesus Christ! All honor, majesty, glory, comeliness center in him. He is THE WONDERFUL.

Psalm 20

Royal (earthly king)

I Will Trust in God’s Name

                7 Some boast in chariots and some in horses,

                But we will boast in the name of the LORD, our God.

·         The greatest men, even mighty kings, are subject to sorrow, and need the prayers of others, and the help of God.

·         When our troubles are so great and grievous as to lead us directly to God, we often get a safe deliverance from them, or a sanctified use of them much sooner than when they are lighter or less sharp.

·         When in anything we get help in God’s appointed way, it is not only sweet in itself, but a pledge of farther good.

·         Accepted worship is an amazing mercy.

·         The more we have prayed for a deliverance, and the more manifestly it is from God, the greater our joy.

·         As often as the grasp of true faith is weakened or slackened, it must and will renew its hold on the covenant and perfections of God.

·         In the great conflict between Christ and the dragon the issue is not doubtful. A battle may seem to be lost, but the war must end in the triumph of truth, in the reign of righteousness, in the crowning of Messiah.

Psalm 19

Praise / Wisdom / Torah

Meditation on God’s Works and Word Is Acceptable in His Sight

                14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

                Be acceptable in Your sight,

                O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.

·         In salvation everything is of mercy.

·         He who loves God must love his law, for it is a transcript of his character.

·         There is great folly in claiming to be without fault. Modern perfectionism gets no countenance from Scripture.

·         Blessed be God, he sees all our sins, and if he loves us, he will not leave us under their power.

·         When a man has learned to deceive others, he has learned still more effectually to deceive himself. In fact, our very familiarity with our own faults hides their deformity from us. How many men mistake their talents and their manners, thinking the latter agreeable when they are highly offensive, and the former shining when they are hardly up to a tedious mediocrity. Good men deplore their want of self-knowledge; and bad men evince it in many ways.

·         Constantly and in all things we need divine grace. “As pardoning grace, and preventing grace, and restraining grace must be prayed for; so also powerful, sanctifying, or enabling grace, both for inward and outward service; yea, and grace accepting the service when it is offered, must be sought for by prayer to God.” (Dickson)

Psalm 18

Thanksgiving (individual) / Royal (earthly king)

God is My Rock, Fortress, Deliverer, Refuge, Shield, Horn, Stronghold

                1 “I love You, O LORD, my strength.”

                2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,

                My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;

                My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

·         “Let us learn to apply to our own use those titles which are here ascribed to God, and to apply them as an antidote against all the perplexities and distresses, which may assail us.” (Calvin)

·         To what great straits even good men are often brought. The sorrows of death and of hell, the floods of ungodly men and the snares of death surround and beset them. In this way they are disciplined and made courageous. Good soldiers are not made in parlors. [“the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot” – Thomas Paine]

·         “[N]o man ever offended his own conscience, but first or last it was revenged upon him for it.”

·         Even prayer will not save a bad cause.

·         “We may learn from this Psalm, that the best of men, that such even as are after God’s own heart, may be greatly overwhelmed with the sorrows, afflictions and persecutions of life. Such was David’s condition; but he sought and found relief at a throne of grace; and so will every one who honors God in this exercise.” (Morison)

Psalm 17

Lamentation (persecuted and accused)

God Sanctifies the Honest Heart

                1 Hear a just cause, O LORD, give heed to my cry;

                Give ear to my prayer, which is not from deceitful lips.

                15 As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness;

                I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake.

·         A blessed privilege is prayer. Without it, what could the righteous do? The very goodness of his cause makes David bold in prayer. Verse 9 proves that “the greater the terror, with which we are stricken by the cruelty of our enemies, the more ought we to be quickened in prayer.” If we are wrong, we need forgiveness; if we are right, we still need protection. If we are prosperous, we should beg for caution and moderation; if we are afflicted, we should ask for support, sanctification and timely relief.

·         It is not unusual for God to delay for a season the execution of justice, even in behalf of his people. Delay is not refusal. He will come at the best time. “Shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you, that he will avenge them speedily.” Therefore “men ought always to pray and not to faint.”

·         A good resolution is one of the means of preserving us. No man will be free from sins of heart, of tongue, or of life, unless he is purposed to avoid iniquity.

·         Past supports and deliverances should make us humble and watchful. If our weakness is our strength, as Paul teaches, surely our strength may become our weakness. “Certainly the more any one excels in grace, the more ought he to be afraid of falling; for it is the usual policy of Satan to endeavor, even from the virtue and strength which God has given us, to produce in us carnal confidence, which may induce carelessness.” (Calvin)

·         How often must our resort be to prayer. Often we can do nothing but pray, never can we do anything better, than to call upon God.

·         It is dreadful for a poor tempted or persecuted soul to lose sight of the divine mercy. Let him hope in God’s marvelous loving-kindness. “The believer must hold his eye in times of dangers and straits especially upon God’s good-will and kindness, as a counter-balance to all the malice of men.” (Dickson)

·         In afflictions it is a great thing to be able to acknowledge God as the author of our distresses, even though he employs men as instruments. . . . He, who in affliction dwells much on second causes will have sorrow on sorrow. The wickedest men are but God’s rod, and hand, and sword.

·         The way to heaven is rough. Yet two things greatly support the saints. One is that they have many comforts and cordials by the way. Sometimes they have a blessed vision of God. They walk with him and he shows them his covenant. The other is, they have a heaven to go to, and of that they have a blessed assurance in God’s word, and a sure hope in their souls. “Wondrously enlightened by the Holy Ghost, David speaks with a clearness, which seems possible to Christian minds only, of the glories of heaven, where the struggle with sin shall be changed into perfect righteousness, faith into face-to-face vision, satiation with the divided goods of this life into satiation with the one perfect good, which renders everything besides unnecessary.” (Tholuck) How such a ray from the throne above pierces the darkness of this world!

Psalm 16

Lamentation (trust) / Trust (individual)

God Is My Only Good

                1 Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You.

                2 I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord;

                I have no good besides You.”

·         Anything is good for us, if it leads us to hearty, believing prayer.

·         It is impossible that any mere man on earth should live in holiness and peace without constant help from God.

Psalm 15

Wisdom

God Undergirds the One of Integrity

                1 O Lord, who may abide in Your tent?

                Who may dwell on Your holy hill?

                2 He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness,

                And speaks truth in his heart.

·         Religion without morality is monstrous.

·         Justification is by faith sole, but not solitary.

·         “I am resolved by the grace of God, to speak of other men’s sins only before their faces, and of their virtues only behind their backs.” (Beveridge)

·         “The citizen of Zion knows the worth of a good name, and therefore he backbites not, defames no man, speaks evil of no man, makes not others’ faults the subject of his common talk, much less of his sport and ridicule, nor speaks of them with pleasure, nor at all but for edification; he makes the best of everybody and the worst of nobody.” (Henry)

·         “The longer I live, the more I feel the importance of adhering to the following rules, which I have laid down for myself in relation to such matters:

o   To hear as little as possible what is to the prejudice of others.

§  To believe nothing of the kind until I am absolutely forced to it.

§  Never to drink into the spirit of one who circulates an ill report.

§  Always to moderate, as far as I can, the unkindness which is expressed toward others.

§  Always to believe that if the other side were heard, a very different account would be given of the matter.

Psalm 14

Lamentation

My Salvation Comes from God

                7 Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!

                When the LORD restores His captive people,

                Jacob will rejoice, Israel will be glad.

·         No utterances are decisive of character but the utterances of the heart. Words are cheap; but what a man says in his heart shows whether he is a wise man or a fool, a saint or a sinner.

Psalm 13

Lamentation

God is Good

                5 But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness;

                My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.

                6 I will sing to the LORD,

                Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

·         When God delays his visits of relief, he has wise reasons for his conduct. God’s time of deliverance is commonly further off than man’s ignorance esteems best. Yet it is often nearer than man’s unbelief allows him to hope. The reason is, God is wiser and greater than man.

·         To cry out under the hidings of God’s countenance is not sinful. Even the man without sin cried, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Let us imitate his lowliness and his faith. [But] [w]e must guard our souls against the great error of inferring refusal from postponement of deliverance. We must give God his time.

Psalm 12

Lamentation / Imprecatory / Wisdom

God Preserves the Spiritually Poor and Needy

                7 You, O LORD, will keep them;

                You will preserve him from this generation forever.

·         Wherever sin is dominant, it is sure to manifest itself in vanity, falsehood, flatter and deceit. In other words as society forsakes God, it becomes hollow; hollowness requires deception to disguise its baseness; and so instead of hearty good wishes we hear idle compliments; instead of serious profitable discourse we have froth and vanity.

·         Blood and tears both have voices. They cry louder and are heard father than thunder. They travel even to the throne of God, though shed in some secret place on earth.

·         [W]hat Christians need is not less trial, or lighter affliction, but stronger and simpler faith.

Psalm 11

Lamentation (persecuted and accused)

The Righteous Lord Loves the Upright

                7 For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness;

                The upright will behold His face.

·         There is always ground of hope to one who trusts in God. All is not lost, that is brought into jeopardy.

·         [L]isten to no counsel however kindly it may seem to be given, if it conflicts with the known will of God.

·         Crooked ways belong not to godliness. When we find ourselves inclined to an uncandid course, we may know all is not right.

·         It is always necessary to adhere to first principles. “If you destroy the foundations, if you take good people from off their hope in God, if you can persuade them that their religion is a cheat and a jest, and can banter them out of that, you ruin them, and break their hearts indeed, and make them of all men most miserable.” (Henry) With care and examination adopt first principles. When adopted, stick to them.

·         Those, who have impiously shaken off their allegiance to the Almighty, cannot be supposed to treat with much deference his humble and devoted servants.

·         The more wholly the springs of earthly comfort go dry, the more should we come to the wells of salvation, and with delight draw thence all needed refreshments.

·         “All men acknowledge that the world is governed by the providence of God; but when there comes some sad confusion of things, which disturbs their case and involves them in difficulty, there are few who retain in their minds the firm persuasion of truth.” (Calvin) Yet that is the very time, when faith is most needed and may be most illustrious.

·         It should make men solemn to know that God searches and tries them. Many make in words very solemn appeals to their Maker, but in their hearts they are light and vain. The heart-searcher has no pleasure in fools. He trifles with none. He will not be trifled with by any.

·         If God does try the righteous, it is for their good; and so there is a vast difference between the sufferings of saints and of sinners, not in the degree, so much as in the design, end and effects. “We here perceive the unspeakable difference between fatherly chastisements and the infliction of God’s displeasure on his enemies. The one is for correction, the other is an intimation of righteous displeasure and approaching judgment; the one is the rebuke of a father, justly offended; the other is the uplifted rod of a judge, who will, ere long, smite down all his foes.” (Morison)