As you read, keep in mind our two questions:

1. What things in this Psalm can I relate to?

2. Is there anything in the Psalm that makes me think of Jesus?

For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. When Nathan the prophet came to him after his adultery with Bathsheba.

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to Your loving devotion;
according to Your great compassion,
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me clean of my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against You, You only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in Your sight,
so that You may be proved right when You speak
and blameless when You judge.
5 Surely I was brought forth in iniquity;
I was sinful when my mother conceived me.

6 Surely You desire truth in the inmost being;
You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones You have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide Your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from Your presence;
take not Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
and sustain me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
and sinners will return to You.

14 Deliver me from bloodguilt, O God,
the God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare Your praise.
16 For You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
You take no pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and a contrite heart,
O God, You will not despise.

18 In Your good pleasure, cause Zion to prosper;
build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices,
in whole burnt offerings;
then bulls will be offered on Your altar.

REFLECTIONS

Now think about the two questions:

1. What things in this Psalm can I relate to?

2. Is there anything in the Psalm that makes me think of Jesus?

Then pray, seeking to delight in God or to depend on God.

As you read, keep in mind our two questions:

1. What things in this Psalm can I relate to?

2. Is there anything in the Psalm that makes me think of Jesus?

A Psalm of Asaph.

1 The Mighty One, God the LORD,
speaks and summons the earth
from where the sun rises to where it sets.
2 From Zion, perfect in beauty,
God shines forth.
3 Our God approaches and will not be silent!
Consuming fire precedes Him,
and a tempest rages around Him.
4 He summons the heavens above,
and the earth, that He may judge His people:
5 “Gather to Me My saints,
who made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”
6 And the heavens proclaim His righteousness,
for God Himself is Judge.

Selah

7 “Hear, O My people, and I will speak,
O Israel, and I will testify against you:
I am God, your God.
8 I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices,
and your burnt offerings are ever before Me.
9 I have no need for a bull from your stall
or goats from your pens,
10 for every beast of the forest is Mine—
the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird in the mountains,
and the creatures of the field are Mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world is Mine, and the fullness thereof.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls,
or drink the blood of goats?
14 Sacrifice a thank offering to God,
and fulfill your vows to the Most High.
15 Call upon Me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”

16 To the wicked, however, God says,
“What right have you to recite My statutes
and to bear My covenant on your lips?
17 For you hate My instruction
and cast My words behind you.
18 When you see a thief, you befriend him,
and throw in your lot with adulterers.
19 You unleash your mouth for evil
and unharness your tongue for deceit.
20 You sit and malign your brother;
you slander your own mother’s son.
21 You have done these things, and I kept silent;
you thought I was just like you.
But now I rebuke you
and accuse you to your face.

22 Now consider this, you who forget God,
lest I tear you to pieces,
with no one to rescue you:
23 He who sacrifices a thank offering honors Me,
and to him who rights his way,
I will show the salvation of God.”

REFLECTIONS

Now think about the two questions:

1. What things in this Psalm can I relate to?

2. Is there anything in the Psalm that makes me think of Jesus?

Then pray, seeking to delight in God or to depend on God.

As you read, keep in mind our two questions:

1. What things in this Psalm can I relate to?

2. Is there anything in the Psalm that makes me think of Jesus?

For the choirmaster. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

1 Hear this, all you peoples;
listen, all inhabitants of the world,2 both low and high,
rich and poor alike.
3 My mouth will impart wisdom,
and the meditation of my heart will bring understanding.
4 I will incline my ear to a proverb;
I will express my riddle with the harp:

5 Why should I fear in times of trouble,
when wicked usurpers surround me?
6 They trust in their wealth
and boast in their great riches.
7 No man can possibly redeem his brother
or pay his ransom to God.
8 For the redemption of his soul is costly,
and never can payment suffice,
9 that he should live on forever
and not see decay.

10 For it is clear that wise men die,
and the foolish and the senseless both perish
and leave their wealth to others.
11 Their graves are their eternal homes—
their dwellings for endless generations—
even though their lands were their namesakes.
12 But a man, despite his wealth, cannot endure;
he is like the beasts that perish.

13 This is the fate of the self-confident
and their followers who endorse their sayings.

Selah

14 Like sheep they are destined for Sheol.
Death will be their shepherd.
The upright will rule them in the morning,
and their form will decay in Sheol,
far from their lofty abode.
15 But God will redeem my life from Sheol,
for He will surely take me to Himself.

Selah

16 Do not be amazed when a man grows rich,
when the splendor of his house increases.
17 For when he dies, he will carry nothing away;
his abundance will not follow him down.
18 Though in his lifetime he blesses his soul—
and men praise you when you prosper—
19 he will join the generation of his fathers,
who will never see the light of day.
20 A man who has riches without understanding
is like the beasts that perish.

REFLECTIONS

Now think about the two questions:

1. What things in this Psalm can I relate to?

2. Is there anything in the Psalm that makes me think of Jesus?

Then pray, seeking to delight in God or to depend on God.

A reminder: This month, we are using our do-it-yourself method for reading the Psalms. Each day, after the reading, I’ll ask you to reflect on two questions:

1. What things in this Psalm can I relate to?

2. Is there anything in the Psalm that makes me think of Jesus? It could be something about his ministry, his suffering and death, his resurrection, his kingdom, or what God has done for us through Jesus.

PSALM 47

For the choirmaster. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

1 Clap your hands, all you peoples;
shout unto God with a voice of triumph.

2 How awesome is the LORD Most High,
the great King over all the earth!
3 He subdues nations beneath us,
and peoples under our feet.
4 He chooses our inheritance for us,
the pride of Jacob, whom He loves.

Selah

5 God has ascended amid shouts of joy,
the LORD with the sound of the horn.
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises!
7 For God is King of all the earth;
sing profound praises to Him.

8 God reigns over the nations;
God is seated on His holy throne.
9 The nobles of the nations have assembled
as the people of the God of Abraham;
for the shields of the earth belong to God;
He is highly exalted.

PSALM 48

A song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

1 Great is the LORD,
and greatly to be praised
in the city of our God,
His holy mountain.
2 Beautiful in loftiness,
the joy of all the earth,
like the peaks of Zaphon is Mount Zion,
the city of the great King.
3 God is in her citadels;
He has shown Himself to be a fortress.

4 For behold, the kings assembled;
they all advanced together.
5 They saw and were astounded;
they fled in terror.
6 Trembling seized them there,
anguish like a woman in labor.
7 With a wind from the east
You wrecked the ships of Tarshish.

8 As we have heard, so we have seen
in the city of the LORD of Hosts,
in the city of our God:
God will establish her forever.

Selah

9 Within Your temple, O God,
we contemplate Your loving devotion.
10 Your name, O God, like Your praise,
reaches to the ends of the earth;
Your right hand is full of righteousness.
11 Mount Zion is glad,
the daughters of Judah rejoice,
on account of Your judgments.

12 March around Zion, encircle her,
count her towers,
13 consider her ramparts, tour her citadels,
that you may tell the next generation.
14 For this God is our God forever and ever;
He will be our guide even till death.

REFLECTIONS

Now think about the two questions:

1. What things in this Psalm can I relate to?

2. Is there anything in the Psalm that makes me think of Jesus?

Then pray, seeking to delight in God or to depend on God.

As you read, keep in mind our two questions:

1. What things in this Psalm can I relate to?

2. Is there anything in the Psalm that makes me think of Jesus?

For the choirmaster. Of the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A song.

1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in times of trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear,
though the earth is transformed
and the mountains are toppled
into the depths of the seas,
3 though their waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake in the surge.

Selah

4 There is a river whose streams delight the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her; she will not be moved.
God will help her when morning dawns.
6 Nations rage, kingdoms crumble;
the earth melts when He lifts His voice.
7 The LORD of Hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Selah

8 Come, see the works of the LORD,
who brings devastation upon the earth.
9 He makes wars to cease throughout the earth;
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
He burns the shields in the fire.

10 “Be still and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted over the earth.”

11 The LORD of Hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Selah

REFLECTIONS

Now think about the two questions:

1. What things in this Psalm can I relate to?

2. Is there anything in the Psalm that makes me think of Jesus?

Then pray, seeking to delight in God or to depend on God.

Today, I thought it would be helpful to introduce the Psalm before you read it. In its original context, it seems this Psalm was written to celebrate the wedding of the king of Israel – presumably David or one of his descendants on the throne in Jerusalem. But as the poet writes, inspired by the Spirit of God, he is clearly seeing into the future and describing a king who is far more glorious than any merely human king. This king will defeat all God’s enemies, subdue all the nations, and establish God’s everlasting kingdom of truth and justice. The writer even calls the king “O God” – and Hebrews 1:8-9 quotes this Psalm as an Old Testament prophecy that Jesus the Son of God is himself God.

The poem also describes the beauty of the king’s bride. He was no doubt describing the normal, earthly bride of the king in Jerusalem. But in the light of the New Testament, it is clear that the Spirit was inspiring him to describe the beauty of Jesus’ true bride: the church, his precious people whom he bought with his own blood and purified to make his very own (Eph. 5:25-27).

As you read, keep in mind our two questions:

1. What things in this Psalm can I relate to?

2. Is there anything in the Psalm that makes me think of Jesus?

For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Lilies.” A Maskil of the sons of Korah. A love song.

1 My heart is stirred by a noble theme
as I recite my verses to the king;
my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.
2 You are the most handsome of men;
grace has anointed your lips,
since God has blessed you forever.
3 Strap your sword at your side, O mighty warrior;
appear in your majesty and splendor.
4 In your splendor ride forth in victory
on behalf of truth and humility and justice;
may your right hand show your awesome deeds.
5 Your arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s foes;
the nations fall beneath your feet.

6 Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever,
and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom.
7 You have loved righteousness
and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
above your companions with the oil of joy.

8 All your garments are fragrant
with myrrh and aloes and cassia;
from palaces of ivory the harps make you glad.
9 The daughters of kings are among your honored women;
the queen stands at your right hand,
adorned with the gold of Ophir.

10 Listen, O daughter! Consider and incline your ear:
Forget your people and your father’s house,
11 and the king will desire your beauty;
bow to him, for he is your lord.
12 The Daughter of Tyre will come with a gift;
men of wealth will seek your favor.

13 All glorious is the princess in her chamber;
her gown is embroidered with gold.
14 In colorful garments she is led to the king;
her virgin companions are brought before you.
15 They are led in with joy and gladness;
they enter the palace of the king.

16 Your sons will succeed your fathers;
you will make them princes throughout the land.
17 I will commemorate your name through all generations;
therefore the nations will praise you forever and ever.

REFLECTIONS

Now think about the two questions:

1. What things in this Psalm can I relate to?

2. Is there anything in the Psalm that makes me think of Jesus?

Then pray, seeking to delight in God or to depend on God.

As you read, keep in mind our two questions:

1. What things in this Psalm can I relate to?

2. Is there anything in the Psalm that makes me think of Jesus?

For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.

44 We have heard with our ears, O God;
our fathers have told us
the work You did in their days,
in the days of old.
2 With Your hand You drove out the nations
and planted our fathers there;
You crushed the peoples
and cast them out.
3 For it was not by their sword that they took the land;
their arm did not bring them victory.
It was by Your right hand,
Your arm, and the light of Your face,
because You favored them.

4 You are my King, O God,
who ordains victories for Jacob.
5 Through You we repel our foes;
through Your name we trample our enemies.
6 For I do not trust in my bow,
nor does my sword save me.
7 For You save us from our enemies;
You put those who hate us to shame.
8 In God we have boasted all day long,
and Your name we will praise forever.

Selah
9 But You have rejected and humbled us;
You no longer go forth with our armies.
10 You have made us retreat from the foe,
and those who hate us have plundered us.
11 You have given us up as sheep to be devoured;
You have scattered us among the nations.
12 You sell Your people for nothing;
no profit do You gain from their sale.

13 You have made us a reproach to our neighbors,
a mockery and derision to those around us.
14 You have made us a byword among the nations,
a laughingstock among the peoples.
15 All day long my disgrace is before me,
and shame has covered my face,
16 at the voice of the scorner and reviler,
because of the enemy, bent on revenge.

17 All this has come upon us,
though we have not forgotten You
or betrayed Your covenant.
18 Our hearts have not turned back;
our steps have not strayed from Your path.
19 But You have crushed us in the lair of jackals;
You have covered us with deepest darkness.

20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
21 would not God have discovered,
since He knows the secrets of the heart?
22 Yet for Your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

23 Wake up, O Lord! Why are You sleeping?
Arise! Do not reject us forever.
24 Why do You hide Your face
and forget our affliction and oppression?
25 For our soul has sunk to the dust;
our bodies cling to the earth.
26 Rise up; be our help!
Redeem us on account of Your loving devotion.

REFLECTIONS

Now think about the two questions:

1. What things in this Psalm can I relate to?

2. Is there anything in the Psalm that makes me think of Jesus?

Then pray, seeking to delight in God or to depend on God.

As you read, keep in mind our two questions:

1. What things in this Psalm can I relate to?

2. Is there anything in the Psalm that makes me think of Jesus?

PSALM 42

For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.

42 As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul longs after You, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, the living God.
When shall I come and appear in God’s presence?
3 My tears have been my food
both day and night,
while men ask me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
4 These things come to mind as I pour out my soul:
how I walked with the multitude,
leading the procession to the house of God
with shouts of joy and praise.

5 Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why the unease within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him
for the salvation of His presence.

6 O my God, my soul despairs within me.
Therefore I remember You
from the land of Jordan and the peaks of Hermon—
even from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
in the roar of Your waterfalls;
all Your breakers and waves
have rolled over me.
8 The LORD decrees His loving devotion by day,
and at night His song is with me
as a prayer to the God of my life.

9 I say to God my Rock,
“Why have You forgotten me?
Why must I walk in sorrow
because of the enemy’s oppression?”
10 Like the crushing of my bones,
my enemies taunt me,
while they say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”

11 Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why the unease within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him,
my Savior and my God.

PSALM 43

1 Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case
against an ungodly nation;
deliver me from deceitful and unjust men.

2 For You are the God of my refuge.
Why have You rejected me?
Why must I walk in sorrow
because of the enemy’s oppression?

3 Send out Your light and Your truth;
let them lead me.
Let them bring me to Your holy mountain,
and to the place where You dwell.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God, my greatest joy.
I will praise You with the harp,
O God, my God.

5 Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why the unease within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him,
my Savior and my God.

REFLECTIONS

Now think about the two questions:

1. What things in this Psalm can I relate to?

2. Is there anything in the Psalm that makes me think of Jesus?

Then pray, seeking to delight in God or to depend on God.

As you read, keep in mind our two questions:

1. What things in this Psalm can I relate to?

2. Is there anything in the Psalm that makes me think of Jesus?

The book of Psalms is divided into 5 parts or smaller “books.” Today we are reading Psalm 41, which is the last psalm in book 1.

For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

1 Blessed is the one who cares for the poor;
the LORD will deliver him in the day of trouble.
2 The LORD will protect and preserve him;
He will bless him in the land
and refuse to surrender him
to the will of his foes.
3 The LORD will sustain him on his bed of illness
and restore him from his bed of sickness.

4 I said, “O LORD, be gracious to me;
heal me, for I have sinned against You.”
5 My enemies say with malice:
“When will he die and be forgotten?”
6 My visitor speaks falsehood;
he gathers slander in his heart;
he goes out and spreads it abroad.
7 All who hate me whisper against me;
they imagine the worst for me:
8 “A vile disease has been poured into him;
he will never get up from where he lies!”
9 Even my close friend whom I trusted,
the one who shared my bread,
has lifted up his heel against me.

10 But You, O LORD, be gracious to me and raise me up,
that I may repay them.
11 By this I know that You delight in me,
for my enemy does not triumph over me.
12 In my integrity You uphold me
and set me in Your presence forever.

13 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.

Amen and Amen.

REFLECTIONS

Now think about the two questions:

1. What things in this Psalm can I relate to?

2. Is there anything in the Psalm that makes me think of Jesus?

Then pray, seeking to delight in God or to depend on God.

A reminder: This month, we are using our do-it-yourself method for reading the Psalms. Each day, after the reading, I’ll ask you to reflect on two questions:

1. What things in this Psalm can I relate to?

2. Is there anything in the Psalm that makes me think of Jesus?

For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

1 I waited patiently for the LORD;
He inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me up from the pit of despair,
out of the miry clay;
He set my feet upon a rock,
and made my footsteps firm.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the LORD.

4 Blessed is the man
who has made the LORD his trust,
who has not turned to the proud,
nor to those who lapse into falsehood.
5 Many, O LORD my God,
are the wonders You have done,
and the plans You have for us—
none can compare to You—
if I proclaim and declare them,
they are more than I can count.

6 Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
but my ears You have opened.
Burnt offerings and sin offerings
You did not require.
7 Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—
it is written about me in the scroll:
8 I delight to do Your will, O my God;
Your law is within my heart.”

9 I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly;
behold, I do not seal my lips,
as You, O LORD, do know.
10 I have not covered up Your righteousness in my heart;
I have declared Your faithfulness and salvation;
I have not concealed Your loving devotion and faithfulness
from the great assembly.

11 O LORD, do not withhold Your mercy from me;
Your loving devotion and faithfulness will always guard me.
12 For evils without number surround me;
my sins have overtaken me, so that I cannot see.
They are more than the hairs of my head,
and my heart has failed within me.
13 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me;
hurry, O LORD, to help me.

14 May those who seek my life
be ashamed and confounded;
may those who wish me harm
be repelled and humiliated.
15 May those who say to me, “Aha, aha!”
be appalled at their own shame.
16 May all who seek You
rejoice and be glad in You;
may those who love Your salvation
always say, “The LORD be magnified!”

17 But I am poor and needy;
may the Lord think of me.
You are my helper and deliverer;
O my God, do not delay.

REFLECTIONS

Now think about the two questions:

1. What things in this Psalm can I relate to?

2. Is there anything in the Psalm that makes me think of Jesus?

Then pray, seeking to delight in God or to depend on God.