Southern Cross Presbyterian Church

So much happening in the life of the psalmist and what are they clinging to? God’s grace in providing salvation. I think I have always missed the glimpses of grace that is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus. It has been a great encouragement to read these psalms.

Psalm 72 mentions the greatness of Solomon – his righteous judgment, his defence of the weak, his prosperity… but how does it end? The psalmist praises God for his marvellous deeds – that Him alone deserves praise because all the “greatness” of Solomon comes only from God.

Psalm 73 is something we can relate to – envying the wicked, seeing all their prosperity, seeing their health but there was no punishment for their blasphemy, no punishment for their pride… until their final destiny was understood. Without the firm foundation of Jesus, the ground of the wicked will crumble. The psalm is blunt about the final destiny of those who are far from God – they will perish. Without the salvation offered through Jesus dying on the cross (that takes us from being far from God to being near to God), judgment will fall…

This is a heavy end to a psalm… but it also should give us great joy in what God has given us in Jesus. Praise God that he has provided us a way to be near to him…

Psalm 62

Psalm 62 may be set at a time of chaos for Gods people or whether there is some specific time in mind it is hard to know. The psalm does not tell us.

What it does tell us in that the psalmist finds great comfort in God. It is repeated a number of times in the Psalm:

¹ My soul finds rest in God alone;
my salvation comes from him.

² He alone is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

⁵ Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from him.

⁶ He alone is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

⁷ My salvation and my honor depend on God ^[h] ;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.

⁸ Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.

In the midst of hardship they find confidence in God.

As I was thinking about this I thought of some other songs that remind us of the confidence we can have in God, who in the midst of the trials of our lives guarantees our salvation:

On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand

I have shelter in the storm… Jesus I will hide in you.

What songs come to mind for you?

Psalm 42 and 43 belong together.

In these Psalms we hear a passionate cry for the presence of God:

As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, O God.

² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?

It seems they are deported captives away from Gods holy city and desire to return:

³ Send forth your light and your truth,
let them guide me;
let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to the place where you dwell.

⁴ Then will I go to the altar of God,
to God, my joy and my delight.
I will praise you with the harp,
O God, my God.

They found comfort in the knowledge of the holy mountain, they knew where God was. They knew he dwelt within the walls of Jerusalem, within the walls of the holy of holies.

They were desperate to return to the presence of God.

On Sunday we were reminded that the presence of God, that God himself would dwell in us:

¹⁸I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. John 14:18-20.

God’s people have his presence dwelling within them. Now longer can we be separated from him.

Do we rejoice with a passionate cry? For God dwells in us.

Psalm 29:1 – 34:22

Reading God’s word is a timely refuge – we’ve just read the stories of David’s life, the struggles, the joys, the sin and the repentance. Remembering this put the psalms from today’s reading in perspective.

Over and over again, David cries out to God when the weight of the world’s evilness was upon on him, surrounding him from all sides. David isn’t just crying out for help because he thinks he deserves to be helped, that God owes him something; instead he is crying out to God, but on the basis of God’s unfailing love to his people (psalm 31:16, 32:10, 33:5, 33:18, 33:22), on His faithfulness to his promises. It is also not just a cry for physical help but a cry for salvation, a cry for forgiveness of sins (psalm 32:1–5).

There is great encouragement from reading this today – that David lived, trusting in God’s faithfulness to bring salvation to his people, and we live, trusting in the salvation that has come in Jesus. God’s plan and purposes can’t be thwarted, they stand firm forever (33:11) and this is shown in the victory of Jesus on the cross.

What is our response? Our response is to live, as Pete encouraged us and spurred us on to do last Sunday.

To live.

To love those around us by the strength that God gives us.

To be praising God as in the psalms, knowing that our salvation has come, at such a great cost to our Heavenly Father.

Praise God for his great faithfulness to his people that are rebellious and sinful. Praise God that he gives us his Spirit to keep living and loving, even when its tough.