PSALM JUBILATION 3

“As soon as I called out to Him, there was already a song of praise on my lips.” (Ps 66:17). A friend of mine’s father used to say: “I can only start complaining once I’ve counted all my blessings.” We all knew his life was not a bed of roses. Early in his marriage, his wife passed away, leaving him to raise his daughter (my friend) on his own. After my friend’s divorce, she moved […]

“Store my tears in your leather bag” (Ps 56:9b – The 2020 translation). These words from Psalm 56:9 remind us that tears shed are never wasted. Someone takes notice. They do not go unnoticed. The 1983 translation states: “You have kept a record of my tears” (v9b). The NLT version (verse 8b) reads: “You have collected all my tears in your bottle.” The Message translation puts it this way: “You’ve kept track of my every

“You will never get enough money to pay for your own life. A human life costs too much to buy it back. Nobody could ever pay enough. ” (Ps 49:8) Someone called Psalm 49 a “Psalm for recession times.” A recession makes all of us—rich and poor—panic. Let’s be honest: both the rich and the poor can be equally materialistic, albeit for different reasons—the one desires to grow even wealthier, the other wishes to be

“Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Ps 37:1-4) Only four psalms begin with a warning, and Psalm 37’s

“Into Your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, LORD, my faithful God.” (Ps 31:6) I’m having tea with a friend, sharing deep thoughts. Her eyes fill with tears: “I long for the Lord’s return. The pain is too heavy.” It echoes David’s lament in Psalm 31:11: “My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak.” Psalm 31 is a psalm

“You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.” (Ps 18:29-30) Today, we’re skipping a few psalms (as they were discussed in two previous Al Psalmend series) and diving into the longest psalm in the first Book of Psalms (Ps 3-41). Psalm 18 is perfect for a “blue Monday.” On those days when everything

“I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praises to Your name, O Most High.” (Ps 9:3) Matthew Henry, an 18th-century theologian, wrote a precious line in one of his commentaries on Psalm 9. I share it here in the original English: “Holy joy is the life of thankful praise, as thankful praise is the language of holy joy.” How can one know if the joy you experience in life is a

“O Lord, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but you.” (Ps 5:2-3) Did you notice? Not once, but three times, directly after one another, David prays in Psalm 5: “Listen to my words.” “Hear my sighing.” “Pay attention to my cry.” Why is this so important? Why does he keep asking? It reminds me

“In peace I will lie down and fall asleep, for you alone, Lord, make me secure.” (Ps 4:9) Where Psalm 3 is called “The Morning Psalm,” Psalm 4 is “The Evening Psalm.” In Psalm 3:4, the poet declares, “When I lie down, I sleep well; I wake up again because the Lord watches over me.” But in Psalm 4, sleep does not come easily at first. This is the psalm of a restless person with

“I laid me down and slept; I awaked, for the Lord sustained me.” (Ps 3:6) The Psalms were written by people who felt life’s pain cut deep. How hard it must have been to – as a father – flee from your own son. This is what David writes about in Psalm 3. Just listen to his desperate cry: “I have so many enemies, Lord!” (Verse 2). Yet David does something I can certainly learn