You Can Read the Bible Guided Podcast

Fitting a theme we’ve followed throughout the book of Psalms, all four of those we’ll read today reach out to the LORD as a refuge:…”He is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield and He in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.”  If you’ve been paying any attention to the rest of the Bible, it’s not at all surprising that the Israelites’ worship book would reflect this.  The LORD who sets apart, preserves, and rescues His people is the predominant theme of the Old Testament.    

All four of our Psalms today also make reference to some enemy, danger, or outright terror that the writer is facing.  In Psalm 141, David asks the LORD to “Keep me from the trap that they have laid for me and from the snares of evildoers!”  Two chapters later, the enemy has David within arms’ reach: “…the enemy has pursued my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.” 

As we near the end of the book of Psalms, let’s reflect on the importance of the threat-and-rescue motif in Israelite worship.  Given the history of Israel, and especially the experience of David, it should also not be surprising that appeals for rescue were composed.  But remember that the Psalms were compiled and arranged much later.  We’ve seen evidence of intentionality in the way they’re arranged, so surely there were editorial decisions about what to include and exclude. 

So what does it tell us that the worship leaders of Israel, the scribes who had most intimate knowledge of all the writings concerning Yahweh, considered these as so central?  What does it say, furthermore, that the LORD’s governance would permit it? 

What you hear of today are not abstract fears – terrors simply of the author’s mind.  They appear as real characters in a living drama with tangible consequences.  As you read today, focus your mind just as much on the fear and lament as you do on the faith and trust, and allow the very human story and response to sink in. 

Our verse for this week is James 5:16: Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Psalms 141 through 144.  Now let’s read it!

Fitting a theme we’ve followed throughout the book of Psalms, all four of those we’ll read today reach out to the LORD as a refuge:…”He is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield and He in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.”  If you’ve been paying any attention to the rest of the Bible, it’s not at all surprising that the Israelites’ worship book would reflect this.  The LORD who sets apart, preserves, and rescues His people is the predominant theme of the Old Testament.    

All four of our Psalms today also make reference to some enemy, danger, or outright terror that the writer is facing.  In Psalm 141, David asks the LORD to “Keep me from the trap that they have laid for me and from the snares of evildoers!”  Two chapters later, the enemy has David within arms’ reach: “…the enemy has pursued my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.” 

As we near the end of the book of Psalms, let’s reflect on the importance of the threat-and-rescue motif in Israelite worship.  Given the history of Israel, and especially the experience of David, it should also not be surprising that appeals for rescue were composed.  But remember that the Psalms were compiled and arranged much later.  We’ve seen evidence of intentionality in the way they’re arranged, so surely there were editorial decisions about what to include and exclude. 

So what does it tell us that the worship leaders of Israel, the scribes who had most intimate knowledge of all the writings concerning Yahweh, considered these as so central?  What does it say, furthermore, that the LORD’s governance would permit it? 

What you hear of today are not abstract fears – terrors simply of the author’s mind.  They appear as real characters in a living drama with tangible consequences.  As you read today, focus your mind just as much on the fear and lament as you do on the faith and trust, and allow the very human story and response to sink in. 

Our verse for this week is James 5:16: Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Psalms 141 through 144.  Now let’s read it!

Your name, O LORD, endures forever, Your renown, O LORD, throughout all ages.  For the LORD will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants.  – Psalm 135:13-14

Psalm 135 opened the subject of the LORD’s steadfastness, especially toward the children of Israel.  This will be explored more thoroughly in our first three Psalms today. 

You will notice that Psalm 136 has a unique structure, as the steadfast love of the LORD is drilled home in a call and response pattern.  This faith will be critical to the audience of Psalm 137, a lament from the exiles in Babylon who ask, “How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land?”  They pray to the LORD, hoping that His love is indeed steadfast, as they long for justice toward Edom and Babylon.    

This is followed by a Psalm “Of David” that rejoices that All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O LORD, for they have heard the words of Your mouth, and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD, for great is the glory of the LORD.  For though the LORD is high, He regards the lowly, but the haughty He knows from afar. 

Did you notice what happened there?  Three Psalms, which could have been written hundreds of years apart, have been compiled in such a way that they form a complete message.  In the universe and in Israel’s experience, the LORD has shown His steadfast love.  In the particular, personal life of King David, the LORD has shown His steadfast love.  To the exile then, and to all who would cry out, “How shall we sing the LORD’s song?...” there is a hope-filled answer. 

The final two Psalms are again of David.  Psalm 139 is notable as a contemplation on the all-present God from Whom there is no escape.  Rather than despair on anger, the writer settles on grateful yielding: “Search me, O God, and know my heart!  Try me and know my thoughts!  And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way of life everlasting!”  Its successor, Psalm 140,

Our verse for this week is James 5:16: Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Psalms 136 through 140.  Now let’s read it!

Your name, O LORD, endures forever, Your renown, O LORD, throughout all ages.  For the LORD will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants.  – Psalm 135:13-14

Psalm 135 opened the subject of the LORD’s steadfastness, especially toward the children of Israel.  This will be explored more thoroughly in our first three Psalms today. 

You will notice that Psalm 136 has a unique structure, as the steadfast love of the LORD is drilled home in a call and response pattern.  This faith will be critical to the audience of Psalm 137, a lament from the exiles in Babylon who ask, “How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land?”  They pray to the LORD, hoping that His love is indeed steadfast, as they long for justice toward Edom and Babylon.    

This is followed by a Psalm “Of David” that rejoices that All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O LORD, for they have heard the words of Your mouth, and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD, for great is the glory of the LORD.  For though the LORD is high, He regards the lowly, but the haughty He knows from afar. 

Did you notice what happened there?  Three Psalms, which could have been written hundreds of years apart, have been compiled in such a way that they form a complete message.  In the universe and in Israel’s experience, the LORD has shown His steadfast love.  In the particular, personal life of King David, the LORD has shown His steadfast love.  To the exile then, and to all who would cry out, “How shall we sing the LORD’s song?...” there is a hope-filled answer. 

The final two Psalms are again of David.  Psalm 139 is notable as a contemplation on the all-present God from Whom there is no escape.  Rather than despair on anger, the writer settles on grateful yielding: “Search me, O God, and know my heart!  Try me and know my thoughts!  And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way of life everlasting!”  Its successor, Psalm 140,

Our verse for this week is James 5:16: Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Psalms 136 through 140.  Now let’s read it!

And David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod.  So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the horn.  – 2 Samuel 6:14-15

The Songs of Ascents continue today with a celebration of the events recorded in 2 Samuel 6 and 7.  If you’ll recall, David’s conquest of Jerusalem and establishment of his capital there was a moment of national celebration.  The Philistines were subdued, the nation was united, and the Ark of the Covenant was brought, after hundreds of years of temporary residences, to a permanent home.  Later, David wishes to build a temple for the LORD in Jerusalem, but instead the LORD promises to build him a house, which 2 Samuel 7 explains and Psalm 132 celebrates.  It’s possible that Psalm 133, which celebrates how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!... connects to this moment as well. 

Psalm 135 introduces a unit that will carry through a series of chapters.  The Psalm itself has six distinct sections.  It is introduced with a call to Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good… For the LORD has chosen Jacob for Himself.  This is followed by an affirmation of the LORD’s supremacy, for whatever the LORD pleases, He does, in heaven and on earth…

In the third section, beginning in verse 8, the writer gives his listeners a brief history lesson, the details of which support his previous assertions.  Verses 13 and 14 are in the second person – directed toward the LORD Himself – but its pronouncements are for human ears.  This is followed by a commentary on the idols of the nations, and, finally, a benediction that lands back where it started: O house of Israel, Bless the LORD…

Our verse for this week is James 5:16: Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Psalms 132 through 135.  Now let’s read it!

And David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod.  So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the horn.  – 2 Samuel 6:14-15

The Songs of Ascents continue today with a celebration of the events recorded in 2 Samuel 6 and 7.  If you’ll recall, David’s conquest of Jerusalem and establishment of his capital there was a moment of national celebration.  The Philistines were subdued, the nation was united, and the Ark of the Covenant was brought, after hundreds of years of temporary residences, to a permanent home.  Later, David wishes to build a temple for the LORD in Jerusalem, but instead the LORD promises to build him a house, which 2 Samuel 7 explains and Psalm 132 celebrates.  It’s possible that Psalm 133, which celebrates how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!... connects to this moment as well. 

Psalm 135 introduces a unit that will carry through a series of chapters.  The Psalm itself has six distinct sections.  It is introduced with a call to Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good… For the LORD has chosen Jacob for Himself.  This is followed by an affirmation of the LORD’s supremacy, for whatever the LORD pleases, He does, in heaven and on earth…

In the third section, beginning in verse 8, the writer gives his listeners a brief history lesson, the details of which support his previous assertions.  Verses 13 and 14 are in the second person – directed toward the LORD Himself – but its pronouncements are for human ears.  This is followed by a commentary on the idols of the nations, and, finally, a benediction that lands back where it started: O house of Israel, Bless the LORD…

Our verse for this week is James 5:16: Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Psalms 132 through 135.  Now let’s read it!

After the lengthy Psalm 119 and its celebration of God’s law, it seems like a good time for a series of brief, focused Psalms of praise.  Each of them is labeled as a “Song of Ascents,” the meaning of which is unclear.  They could be songs that were sung while journeying toward Jerusalem, or while climbing the steps of the Temple mount.  It’s possible they are to strive toward a musical crescendo.  Or there is possibly, even likely, another meaning altogether that escapes us. 

Regardless of the true meaning, you’ll get to know what a “Song of Ascents” feels like by the end of today’s reading.  A number of them have an idea near the center around which they pivot, such as 123 around “mercy” and 129 around “wait.”  You’ll also notice an emphasis on Zion’s position, as in Psalm 122: Jerusalem—built as a city that is bound firmly together, to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD.  There thrones for judgment were set, the thrones of the house of David.

Notice the hopeful tension that inhabits many of the prayers.  Individual and national distress are often close to the composer’s mind.  But the Psalmist faithfully proclaims that Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth...  O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with Him is plentiful redemption.   And He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Our verse for this week is James 5:16: Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Psalms 120 through 131.  Now let’s read it!