August 31 - September 6 Daily Meditations in the Psalms
August 31
Psalms 85:6-13
6. Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?
7. Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation.
8. I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.
9. Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.
10. Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
11. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
12. Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase.
13. Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.
From time to time through the years, fresh outpourings of the Spirit have come and we look desperately heavenward once again with the same prayerful question that the Psalmist uttered: “Wilt thou not revive us again?” Oh, for a time when God is at peace with His people and there is rejoicing in heaven and on earth, when mercy is evident and salvation comes to and through the church. The word of the Lord to us is peace, as to the woman taken in adultery, with a caution, “Go and sin no more.” His salvation is not far off, for “in Him we live, and move and have our being.” Ever since He came to earth, the potential has been attainable. Mercy and truth have been companions. His word of peace and His power for righteousness enable a people to serve Him faithfully in love. Heaven and earth meet, as earth’s people are reborn from above, God raining righteousness down from heaven and truth springing up from the earth. The ministry of Elijah and John the Baptist precede revival, calling for righteousness and tuning hearts to His ways. “Wilt Thou not revive us again?” Grant us, oh Lord, the answer to that prayer. Prepare our hearts.
September 1
Psalms 86:1-4
1. Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy.
2. Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee.
3. Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily.
4. Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
It is only the poor and needy who find audience with God, whether they are kings or beggars. The Lord pays attention to needs and it is the first prerequisite to gain divine assistance. The second is holiness. It begins, when we are washed in the blood of Christ and through the new birth, we put on Christ Jesus. God calls for a walk of blamelessness and a total dedication and separation unto Him, none of which is possible without trust or faith. The just shall live by faith and no man is holy through self-effort, but by yielding in trust to the working of the Holy Spirit. The third prerequisite is a vocalized, consistent heart cry. A daily cry denotes confidence and a recognition of our one source of supply. The fourth, the lifting up of the soul, is distinct from the third. It is a spiritual place of total commitment. We offer our being as a whole burnt offering. We submit ourselves before God and say, “Here I am, Lord, for your care and keeping.” We conclude that the Lord hears the needy, preserves the holy, trusting servant, shows mercy to a cry from the heart, and causes the soul to rejoice, when we lift it up into His presence. Let us incline our hearts in this direction, until these traits become habitual.
September 2
Psalms 86:5-7, 15
5. For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.
6. Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications.
7. In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.
15. But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.
To approach the Lord, we always follow the pathway of mercy and grace. We sense our unworthiness and recognize our sin. In turn, we see the goodness of the Lord, which overrules it all and forgives. When we call to Him, it exalts His mercy and not our worthiness. We see His willingness to hear and answer, attend to us and do His work in our lives on the basis of His own goodness. See the bountiful attributes, with which He is ready and willing to assist us. He is full of compassion, gracious, longsuffering, plenteous in mercy and truth.
September 3
Psalms 86:11-13
11. Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.
12. I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore.
13. For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
The Lord teaches us His way. “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid.” Our prayer should be that of the Psalmist: “Lord, I recognize my fallibility. I am not perfect in knowledge, righteousness, or purity. I come trusting in your mercy. Forgive and cleanse me from even my unknown sins. And now, Lord, teach me your ways so that my ways will be pleasant to You. Let my life and words manifest Your truth. Give me an undivided heart that fears Your name. Then I will praise You with all my heart and never cease to glorify you. Your mercy has lifted me far higher than I can ever imagine or appreciate. (How low is the lowest hell?) Now let me walk on a high plain in a way that is worthy of Your name.”
September 4
Psalms 86:8-10, 14-17
8. Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works.
9. All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name.
10. For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone.
14. O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul; and have not set thee before them.
15. But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.
16. O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid.
17. Shew me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because thou, LORD, hast holpen me, and comforted me.
Once again, David’s prayers reach beyond himself. The man after God’s own heart has a burden to bring the nations to God. It is evident in many Psalms and he did more than any other Israelite to bring the glory of God to them. He had concluded that their gods were no gods at all and he envisioned that those, “whom thou has made” among their numbers, would come, worship and glorify the God of Israel. They would join him in experiencing His mercy and learn His ways.
It is legitimate to request a sign from the Lord, to show that “God is in you of a truth.” The Lord desires to have a testimony among the nations. When we pray that we would be a “good testimony”, this is what we mean. There should be clear evidence that the true and living God dwells within us and is manifesting his supernatural nature through us. Let the proud, hateful, and violent, who have forgotten Him, see Him through His people.
September 5
Psalms 87
1. His foundation is in the holy mountains.
2. The LORD loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
3. Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah.
4. I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there.
5. And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her: and the highest himself shall establish her.
6. The LORD shall count, when he writeth up the people, that this man was born there. Selah.
7. As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there: all my springs are in thee.
There is one thing of which we can be sure and that is that God is way ahead of us in everything that He does. He founded the city of Salem on Mt. Zion in Genesis. Then He called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees and sent him to the area, which surrounded it, and brought him into contact with His mysterious priest, Melchizadek. The foundation of everything belongs to God.
The source of life in Salem was a spring, certainly placed by God so that His people might know that He was their source, brought them into being, gave them their first gasping breath and the strength for the first step they took. Before the first human cell was created, they were born in His mind.
Glorious things are spoken of Salem because it is the city of God. “Jerusalem, which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.” How glorious are the manifestations of heaven on earth’s drab surface! Men glow when they are quickened from heaven! Paul was separated from his mother’s womb and born again in the city of Zion. Peter and John left their nets and found employment in her streets. Wesley was saved from an early death by fire and became an ambassador for heaven, shocking England in the process. Whitefield left his mother’s inn and stirred America. Finney left the law office to plead God’s case just before the Civil War. These were all born on the lofty heights of Mt. Zion, in the pure air of God’s grace, teeming with life and shining with light. May we also recognize our high birth and drink from the same spring. Stay in Mt. Zion and say, “All my springs are in thee.”
September 6
Psalms 88:1-12, 15
1. O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:
2. Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry;
3. For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.
4. I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength:
5. Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand.
6. Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.
7. Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah.
8. Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.
9. Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: LORD, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.
10. Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.
11. Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?
12. Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
15. I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.
Here is day and night prayer of a desperate soul. Three things have come to his attention: 1.) He is a man that has no strength, 2) he had lost his acquaintances, 3) and he has been born for trouble.
God is all-powerful to a man, who discovers he has no strength. He is companion and counsellor to the man who has lost his friends. He is a flow of living water to the one who is kept in a perpetual, life-threatening position. “For Thy sake we are killed all the day long”, we “die daily”, “that we might trust in God, who raises the dead.”
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