March 26 – April 1 Daily Meditations in the Psalms
March 26
Psalms 27:1-8
1.
The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is
the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
2.
When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up
my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
3.
Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though
war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
4.
One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may
dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of
the LORD, and to inquire in his temple.
5.
For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the
secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
6.
And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me:
therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I
will sing praises unto the LORD.
7.
Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and
answer me.
8.
When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face,
LORD, will I seek.
God’s ability eclipses the natural assets,
which came to me through birth or which I have acquired. The Lord is the source
of light, salvation and strength. When the attributes of God become mine, the
fear of man is removed. I can trust in the Lord and rest assured, though
surrounded by enemies. What foe can stand before Him?
The Lord is secretary of our
department of defense, leaving us free for one
single-hearted purpose: “One thing have I desired of the Lord” (verse 4). Paul
said, “This one thing I do....” Jesus
said, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God.” The one
passion, the one goal in the life of
every saint is to dwell in the place of God’s presence. There are two good
reasons for it: First, it is to enjoy and to contemplate Him; to be as the
living creatures, full of eyes, in order to attempt to take in as much of Him,
as we possibly can. Secondly, we seek to inquire at the source of wisdom for
the answers to those things, which pertain to Christ and His kingdom. It is the
theme of this Psalm.
We sense the attraction and hear the call.
I believe it to be the cry of the Spirit
of God today – “seek ye my face” It is the single quest, which we are now
considering. The born-again spirit warms and responds, “Thy face, Lord, will I
seek.”
March 27
Psalms 27:9-14
9.
Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou
hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.
10.
When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.
11.
Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine
enemies.
12.
Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses
are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.
13.
I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in
the land of the living.
14.
Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine
heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
The need for God is greater than the need
for relationships in the world. Let father and mother forsake me, but Lord, do
not hide Your face. Oh God, cause me to pray from the heart, to plead with You
in desperation, “Hide not, forsake me not, and put me not away.” I must be
teachable so “teach me and lead me” or my enemies will overcome me. No wisdom
or plan of mine can overcome them. You are my salvation against the cruel
intentions and inventions of false witnesses. Let my ways be so clearly defined
as God’s ways, my life so obviously blessed of God, that enemies will find nothing
valid to say.
How can I become a victor? Is there a part
that I must play in order to have success? The Psalmist said, “Unless I had
believed…”. We either cast ourselves upon the goodness of God or we will faint
somewhere along the way. He is the only Answer. We must tell ourselves to wait
until God gives His strength, but meanwhile we can take courage: “He shall strengthen thine heart.” The
admonition, “Wait, I say, on the LORD”, is repeated for emphasis. Apparently,
we need to hear it.
March 28
Psalms 28:1-5
1.
Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou
be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.
2.
Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up
my hands toward thy holy oracle.
3.
Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity,
which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts.
4.
Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of
their endeavours: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their
desert.
5.
Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his
hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up.
In essence, the Psalmist is crying,
“Speak, God, or I perish!” Whether we realize it or not, the word of God is
more vital than our natural necessities. We are to esteem it above our
necessary food. “Man shall not live by
bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
When Christians come to believe that, there will be more fasting and prayer.
Plead to hear and be heard in the holy place of God’s dwelling.
Crookedness and hypocrisy is the hallmark
of the wicked. Flattery is his mother tongue and friendliness is superficial.
What a grief and confusion it is to live in a realm, where a man’s word is not
only worthless, but also malicious! There, words are weapons covered with a
pleasant sheath in order to woo, then extract and plunder. God never listens to
words unless the heart is behind them. David said that they speak peace, but
mischief is in their hearts. He asks God to repay, not according to their
words, but their deeds.
Selfishness is the driving
motivation and the focal point of the ungodly. They are blind to anything, but
themselves and their goals. They miss God completely and are not very
interested in listening to anybody else. He, as far as they are concerned, is
remote and out of the picture, unattached to anything that concerns them.
March 29
Psalms 28:5-9
5.
Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his
hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up.
6.
Blessed be the LORD, because he hath heard the voice of my
supplications.
7.
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am
helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise
him.
8.
The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his
anointed.
9.
Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift
them up for ever.
God is the God of those who
have time for Him and consider Him to be vital. While the wicked give
themselves to a world of pleasure, ambition and selfish concerns, the righteous
one cannot live without his God. Only he can say, “Blessed be the Lord, because
He hath heard the voice of my supplications.” The Lord is his strength (that is
his offense) and his shield (that is his defense). His life revolves around
God. His ins and outs, his ups and downs are all blessed with a divine touch.
The Lord is the reason for rejoicing and the inspiration for praise. How
opposite are the hearts of the godly from the godless! They are literally
worlds apart. One lives in the natural and immediate world. The other dwells in
an eternal, supernatural kingdom
From prayer, which concerns him
individually, David embraces the congregation. What God can do for one, He can
do for all. Let the heart expand in the abundance of God and overflow into
intercession for all His people. Pray for church revival. Learn the Psalmist’s
terms: “Save them…bless them…feed them and lift them up for ever.”
March 30
Psalms 29:1-3
1.
Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength.
2.
Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the
beauty of holiness.
3.
The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth:
the LORD is upon many waters.
The mighty should recognize the source of
their strength. They should understand that they are empowered, not
self-powered, and they have nothing that they have not received. The glory and
strength should return to the source to whom it is due.
The old timers were right, who related
Holy Spirit-empowering with holiness. The mighty are those who are mighty in
holiness and they alone worship in the beauty of holiness. God neither desires
nor deserves less. Those who do not return unto Him holiness, return unto Him
nothing. “Lifting up holy hands, without
wrath or doubting” In this sense, we are not considering a substitutionary
holiness offered for them, but a practical outgrowth of holiness, which begins
in the heart.
Those who enter His strength have done so
in response to the voice of the Lord. They have ceased from their own labor and
have entered into rest. “Today, if ye
will hear His voice, harden not your hearts” (Hebrews 4). Thunder and
lightning come at the approach of a storm, so the voice of the Lord comes
ominously with threatenings of impending judgment. Following in the wake of the
cracks and rumblings, however, abundant waters rain upon dry ground. We are
dependent on His voice for the waters that quicken and endue with power.
March 31
Psalms 29:4-9
4.
The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of
majesty.
5.
The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the
cedars of Lebanon.
6.
He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young
unicorn.
7.
The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire.
8.
The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the
wilderness of Kadesh.
9.
The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the
forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.
In order to operate in His strength, we
must first be broken. The voice of the Lord breaks pride. The wind, sent in
obedience to His voice, strikes and breaks the beautiful, high-and-mighty
cedars of Lebanon. Those deep-rooted giants sway like reeds until the mountain
seems to be alive. The power of God is demonstrated, which alone can make the
mighty skip like a young calf in unsophisticated, supernatural energy. So human
confidence shakes and God’s power drives us almost to despair, as the sailors
on Paul’s ship.
Then come the flames of fire, as the voice
of the Lord imparts to every man severally as He will. “It sat upon each of them.” The Lord is sovereign in imparting
heavenly fire and no human dictates to Him how and upon whom it should fall.
The barren wilderness awakens from its
sleep and shakes as a living presence sweeps its surface. “And fear came upon every soul.” The voice of the Lord thunders
and brings souls to birth. “And the Lord
added daily…such as should be saved.” We can save no one. We need to pray
for rain, accompanied by the quickening voice of the Lord. The hidden things
are brought to light. The voice of the Lord will uncover it.
2nd Quarter
Along with the other chapters, into which we delve this quarter, we
are going to concentrate on chapter Psalm 36; in fact, we will meditate upon
this chapter from April 18th until May 14th. It is a
study that will inform us of the actual state of an unbeliever. We will learn,
not the things which he wants us to think about him, but that which is the
truth about his lifestyle and mentality, as God sees him.
Why should we take so much time with this material? Why is it so
important? We need to remember that the Psalms are teaching us to pray. In a
progressive manner, we want to adjust our prayers, so that they will become
totally biblical. Many of us have loved ones, for whom we are praying. So that
our prayers for them will be most effective, we must learn as much as we can
about their motives, their way of thinking, and, most important of all, who
they really are at the core of their being. The Psalmist, observing the man of
the world with spiritual eyes, could penetrate his heart and tell us what he
saw. It is a privilege to be able to learn from David and the Holy Spirit, who
inspired him. Let us be eager students!
April 1
Psalms 29:9-11
9.
The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the
forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.
10.
The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever.
11. The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD
will bless
his people with peace.
When God speaks in power, it gives His
people plenty to talk about. There have been special times in the history of
the church, when God was very close. Christians get heavenly reinforcement and
come alive in praise, publishing the good news in every direction. The flood
rages out of human control and Jesus takes His place, sitting as supreme Head.
He alone governs the flow of events.
“It’s
not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit”, says the voice of the Lord. The Holy Spirit is
the only real source of strength for God’s people and He effects them mightily.
His voice and approach can be as frightening as the thunder, yet the end and
purpose are ways of peace and an empowered host of saints worship Him.
Oh Lord, the heavens are as brass. The sun
beats mercilessly from a steel-blue sky and the earth is parched. Send forth
refreshing and come with clouds of glory. Let the voice of the Lord thunder
forth. Rain upon us, then reign over the floods. This, Lord, is the plea of
dry, parched lips weary of speaking to a desert of unresponsive ears.
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