Psalms for Shepherds

Holly Culhane, Founder & President/CEO of Presence Point, concludes the Psalms for Shepherds series by reflecting on how researching, writing, and recording this series has impacted her life and her ability to shepherd more effectively.

This psalm takes us the end of the five Hallelujah Psalms and the Book of Psalms, as well. It builds upon previous Hallelujah songs and emphasizes where we are to praise God, why we are to praise God, and how we are to praise God.

As you read this psalm, it will be clear that a symphony of praise is what the Father is commanding us to offer.

We pray it touches your soul and leads you to shepherd well as you praise our remarkable Good, Great, and Chief Shepherd.

Psalm 149 makes it clear the followers of God are to praise, sing, rejoice, exult, and dance in worship to the Lord.

That praise, however, should never be rote, rehearsed, or routine. No matter where we worship, this psalm reminds us to wholeheartedly celebrate, worship, and praise the One from whom all blessings flow. After all, we are worshipping our Creator, the One who delights in us and crowns those who are humble, the literal and exalted the King of Kings!

“This is the glorious privilege of the faithful ones”, the psalmist tells us.

May we in fact, as His under-shepherds, remember our responsibility to praise the God of the universe, and may the challenge in this song remind us of the reason for such joy and praise.

If there was ever a doubt whether or not we have been commanded to praise the name of the Lord our God, this song makes it clear that everyone, and every living and created thing should indeed praise His Name, doing so with the enthusiasm, joy, and confidence that only comes from intimate knowledge of our God. 

Of this psalm, C. H. Spurgeon notes, “It is a song of nature and of grace. As a flash of lightning flames through space and enwraps both heaven and earth in one vestment of glory, so does the adoration of the Lord in this Psalm light up all the universe and cause it to glow with a radiance of praise. The song begins in the heavens, sweeps downward to dragons and all deeps, and then ascends again, till the people near unto Jehovah take up the strain.” 

We pray you will set aside time today to ponder Psalm 148 and the related challenge to shepherd well, evaluating how often you truly acknowledge Who God is, what He has done in your life, and the gifts He has given you that has put you in a position of influence. 

There are such varied opinions regarding who wrote this psalm. Some believe it was penned after the return of the Jews from their captivity, while others think it was written by David referring to the building and fortifying of Jerusalem in his time and the gathering in of those who had been out-casts during Saul’s reign. And still others believe it was written for the great assembly called by Nehemiah to celebrate and dedicate the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem 500 years later.

One thing is certain, no matter which human figure recorded this psalm, the Holy Spirit’s divine inspiration clearly brings us all a call to worship, along with a reminder of Who the God is that we worship.

May we all respond in both song and praise, leading us to live an example of an awe-filled under-shepherd for those entrusted to our care.

Of the last five psalter songs, theologian, Bible teacher, author, and speaker James Montgomery Boice, once said:

 “In the earlier psalms, we have studied the writers’ griefs, shames, sins, doubts, and fears. We have witnessed the people of God in their defeats and victories, their ups and downs in life. We have encountered rebellious words and struggling faith. All this is behind us now. In these final psalms every word is praise.”

Join us in digging into the second of the five Hallelujah Palms, Psalm 146, and praise Him, praise Him, today for all He has done for you and does for you to help you shepherd well!

Psalm 145 is a praise-filled acrostic poem that is the last song in the book of Psalms attributed to David.

We see our God’s Provision, His Protection, and His Presence throughout this psalm that is filled with truths we need to memorize!

Verse 3, “Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! No one can measure his greatness” is one example.

Another is verse 5, “I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor and your wonderful miracles.”

Verse 8 is yet another: “The Lord is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.”

“The Lord always keeps his promises; he is gracious in all he does.” and “The Lord helps the fallen and lifts those bent beneath their heads”

How wonderful are the reminders in just a few of the verses of this chapter, but oh, how often we shy away from fully loving and appreciating our Good Shepherd!!

May this psalm and all of the truths and promises it holds help you more deeply praise our Father and shepherd exceedingly well today!

Today we are in Psalm 144, a psalm David wrote to honor God for being his protection, for blessing him as a successful warrior and king, and to ask for God for His continued blessing on the Jewish people.

Even in moments when our need is not great for God to be our rock, our fortress, our tower of safety, our rescuer, and our shield, we are encouraged by this psalm – that God is in fact all of those places of protection for us! Just as He was for David.

David’s description of God, also, as a loving ally – friend, helper, supporter – who is present with us when needed and close by even when we don’t, demonstrates how personal the God is that we serve. He is by our side, cheering us on, standing by us when we fail, and holding us accountable, open and honest with us when we need to hear hard truths.

This is exactly what David had needed in God and that is exactly what God provided. The nations who were Israel’s enemies seemed to be at every turn and, as David knew, the best protection was the Almighty, the warrior Shepherd. He who had protected David as He knew was best for him, for his good, for the nation of Israel and, ultimately, for God’s glory was not just the meek, gentle shepherd, but also the One who fights for His own.

It is important to realize that David did not seek just mere survival from God, but he asked that Israel flourish. David never engaged in battle just for the sake of conquering another kingdom and expanding his own. His wars were always to defend the land God had given them so the Israelites could live peaceful and rewarding lives. 

Be encouraged, dear fellow under-shepherd, to do what David did. Go to the Good, Great, and Chief Shepherd. He will be your rock, your shield, your fortress, your loving ally, your tower of safety – no matter the circumstances.

Today we are in Psalm 143, the last of seven penitential prayers scattered throughout book of Psalms. As you will hear in this psalm, the subject of the lament changes from the writer’s adversary to the author’s own failure, because the “enemy” is the psalmist’s personal sin and guilt.

With regard to this psalm, David – the author – does not assert his innocence, as we have often heard in earlier psalms, but instead he confesses his guilt. Therefore, his petition is for God’s forgiveness.     

In the devotional entitled In the Lord I Take Refuge, Dane Ortland writes, “This psalm is written out of profound understanding of the human heart and the deep need each of us have of the grace of God.”

David is modeling what we must do when we allow sin to creep into our lives: We must humbly reach out to the Father. Then, we must tell God what we are facing and ask Him to answer us.         

But, if our hearts are not right – if sin is lurking in our lives – we need to do what David did in this psalm and ask for mercy,     stretch out our hands, and ensure our souls thirst for the Father like a parched land.

We must ensure the communication lines are open between us and the Almighty. And we must be honest with the Good Shepherd and let Him know how we are feeling, what we are experiencing, and how very much we want to see His face, hear His voice, experience His protection, sit in His presence, know His will, and bring Him glory.

David, the shepherd-king knew that and demonstrated it so beautifully in this psalm. We know it, too, dear fellow-shepherd, so let’s live like it; let’s sink deep into God’s Word; and let’s pour out our hearts to Him, so that we can pour into others.

Today we are in Psalm 142, another of David’s prayerful songs of lament.

Like all literature, the Bible must be understood in its own historical context and, in this psalm, we have a gift through the subscript found in the heading. The heading reads, “A maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A prayer.”

We find two such occurrences in the 2nd book of Samuel, when David was in exile in a cave. In both instances, David is on the run from Saul, who had, without reason, made himself an enemy to David. It is about his experiences in one of these two caves that David wrote this lament-filled song.

This psalm is an example of how we, as the Father’s under-shepherds, are to live in the midst of disappointment, depression, grief, and desperation.

David is claiming that God is his protector and sustaining power, on whom he can fully and completely rely and depend for provision.

The Lord always hears our prayers.

The Lord always knows our circumstances.

The Lord always meets our needs. We must remember, however, that the Good Shepherd does so as He sees fit, as He knows is best for the sheep of His pasture, and as He knows will bring Him the most glory.           

Dear fellow under-shepherd, I pray this emotion-filled lament of David speaks deeply to your soul this week and that you allow it to spur you into a place of complete trust and praise for the One we serve and worship – our Good, Great, and Chief Shepherd.