Category: Psalm97-

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Psalm97-

The Creator and his creation

Psalms

And so we come to the end of Book IV of the Psalms (actually it ends with Psalm 106, but we’ve already covered 105 and 106 earlier).

Whether David is the author of this psalm or not is unknown, but it does start the same way as Psalm 103.

Praise the Lord, my soul. (Psalm 104:1)

But whereas in the previous psalm, David praised God for his love and mercy, here the psalmist praises him for his creation. And as he looks at creation he marvels at the awesomeness of God, singing,

Lord my God, you are very great;
you are clothed with splendor and majesty.

The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment. (1–2)

As I read this, I can’t help but think of John’s words when he said,

God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5)

In other words, he is holy. And so in the light, we see glimpses of his glory and his holiness.

The psalmist then marvels at the night sky, and how God stretches out the heavens, and as high as they are, they are but the foundation of his dwelling place, and the clouds are but his chariot.

Verse 4 as originally written seems to refer to how even the wind and the lightning are his messengers and servants. They proclaim his glory and do his will.

In the book of Hebrews, the writer uses this verse to talk about angels, and says they are merely God’s servants, as are the wind and fire, compared with Jesus who is uniquely the Son of God.

He then basically relates the Genesis account: how God brought about dry land, created the plants, trees, and the animals; how he created the times, days, and seasons; how he provides food for all creation, and gives it its very life.

Having recounted all these things, the psalmist extols his creator, singing,

How many are your works, Lord!
In wisdom you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.

There is the sea, vast and spacious,
teeming with creatures beyond number—
living things both large and small. (24–25)

Toward the end of the psalm he sings further,

May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works—
he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
who touches the mountains, and they smoke. (31–32)

He then concludes by singing,

I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

May my meditation be pleasing to him,
as I rejoice in the Lord. (33–34)

When it comes down to it, that is what we need to remember from this psalm. Because he is our Creator, he is worthy of our praise.

And so every day, we ought to praise him not only with our words, but with our thoughts and actions as well.

For all who fail to do so will perish. (35a)

So as the psalmist wrote,

Praise the Lord, my soul.
Praise the Lord. (35b)

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Psalm97-

The love and mercy of God

Psalms

Psalm 103 is a song of praise for the love and mercy of God.

When David wrote this, we don’t know, but I kind of think it was written after his sin with Bathsheba or perhaps his sin concerning the census.

And having known the forgiveness of God, he sings,

Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name. (Psalm 103:1)

This verse reminds me of what Jesus said: that those who have been forgiven much, love much. (Luke 7:47)

Because David had been forgiven much, his love for God was so much greater.

He had seen in his own life the forgiveness of the most awful of sins, the restoration of his health and salvation from death, and the love and compassion God had crowned him with despite all his failings. (2–4)

He then recalled the words of God to Moses, how God had said of himself,

The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love. (8)

To that, David added his own words,

He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us. (9–12)

I love these verses.

He will not always accuse.

Some of us have had fathers or mothers that always found fault with us—who never praised us, but only criticized us. And because of that, we think God is that way. But God does not always accuse.

And neither does he harbor his anger toward us when we repent.

Some people will tell us that they forgive us, but when we fail again, they remind us of all the other times we have failed them.

But God is not that way. When he forgives, he forgives completely and remembers our sins no more.

He has compassion on us because he knows we are weak. He knows what it is to be human, because he himself became like us. He understands us because he was tempted as we are, only without sin.

And if we will turn to him and repent, if we will honor him with our lives, David says his love will be with us from everlasting to everlasting. (13–17)

Because of all these things, David calls on all in heaven and earth to praise God, and he himself joins in concluding,

Praise the Lord, my soul. (22)

Lord, I again thank you for your love and mercy. That though I am frail and weak, though I sin, yet you forgive me.

You don’t look at me to accuse me, but you look on me with great love and compassion.

Lord, help me to extend that love and compassion I’ve received to those around me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Psalm97-

The God who never changes

Psalms

I love how Psalm 102 ends.

In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.

They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.

Like clothing you will change them
and they will be discarded.

But you remain the same,
and your years will never end. (Psalm 102:25–27)

In other words, while even this world will someday perish and will have to be made anew, God never changes.

Why is that so important? Because it means that no matter how much we may fail, his mercy toward us will never fail.

This psalm was probably written during Israel’s time of exile in Babylon. And the psalmist weeps at the suffering he and his people went through.

Their enemies mocked them, their hope seemed to be all but gone, and all they had left was despair because of God’s wrath that had been poured down on them.

But then the psalmist cries out,

But you, Lord, sit enthroned forever;
your renown endures through all generations.

You will arise and have compassion on Zion,
for it is time to show favor to her;
the appointed time has come. (12–13)

It’s possible that the 70 years of exile prophesied by Jeremiah were coming to an end when this psalm was written.

And so the psalmist says, “Lord, it’s time to show favor to Jerusalem again. The time you appointed has come. Now arise and show us compassion once again.”

He then looked to the time when God himself would have Jerusalem rebuilt, and the resulting wonder of the nations around them. He sang,

The nations will fear the name of the Lord,
all the kings of the earth will revere your glory.

For the Lord will rebuild Zion
and appear in his glory. (15–16)

As he looks toward that day, he rejoices in the Lord’s mercy, singing,

He will respond to the prayer of the destitute;
he will not despise their plea. (17)

And again,

The Lord looked down from his sanctuary on high,
from heaven he viewed the earth,
to hear the groans of the prisoners
and release those condemned to death. (19–20)

I love these verses because it shows that though we were spiritually bankrupt, bound to sin and condemned to death, yet God heard our cries and set us free.

And the day will come when all will assemble to worship the One who redeemed us, and we’ll dwell in his presence forever. (22, 28)

Lord, I thank you that you are from everlasting. That though people change, you never change. That though we sin, your mercy never fails.

So Lord, until the day comes when you come again, may your mercies toward me be made new every morning. Thank you for your faithfulness. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Psalm97-

Becoming like Him

Psalms

In Psalm 101, we see a glimpse of why God called David a man after his own heart.

He starts by singing,

I will sing of your love and justice;
to you, Lord, I will sing praise. (Psalm 101:1)

Because of God’s love for him, and his love for God, David desired to become more like him. To become a person of righteousness and justice, just as God is.

And so he said,

I will be careful to lead a blameless life. (2)

He then lists all the ways he desired to be like God.

To run his household in a way pleasing to God. And to not let any vile things pass before his eyes even at home (2–3).

It’s so easy to pretend to be godly outside of your home when everyone is looking. But integrity is being the same person at home as you are outside.

David then said he would hate the evil that people do, to have no part with it, nor with the people who commit it.

When people slandered others, he would silence them.

When people walked in arrogance and pride, looking down on others and despising God, he would not tolerate it. (3–5)

But how often do we tolerate evil in our lives? When people gossip, how often do we join in? How often do we ourselves become proud and look down on others?

Because David loved God, he despised these things and refused to have anything to do with them.

On the other hand, David was very careful who he called his friends. And he was careful about who he took advice from.

He said,

My eyes will be on the faithful in the land,
that they may dwell with me;
the one whose walk is blameless
will minister to me. (6)

Finally, as leader in his house, and as leader of a nation, he was equally determined that truth and justice would reign. (7–8)

If we truly love God, these are the attitudes that should reign in our hearts. This is what it means to be people after God’s own heart.

May we all, like David, become more like the one we love and who loves us.

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Psalm97-

True worship

sheep and shepherd worship

Psalm 100, above all, is a song of worship.

It starts out with a call to worship, as the psalmist sings,

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs. (Psalm 100:1–2)

It then gives us the basis for our worship, reflecting on who God is, who we are, and what our relationship with him is.

Who is God? He is the LORD. Or more literally “Yahweh.” Or perhaps even more literally, “I AM.”

That is, the one who is, who was, and who is to come. The everlasting one.

And this God is our creator.

Who are we? What’s our relationship with him?

We are his. We belong to him.

Why? As the NASB puts it, it is God who made us, and not we ourselves. Because God is our creator, we rightfully belong to him. So we are his people. And we are his sheep.

As his sheep, what should we do?

Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name. (4)

Jim Elliot, in the book Shadow of the Almighty, said something about this passage that really struck me. He said,

What are sheep doing going into the gate? What is their purpose inside those courts? To bleat melodies and enjoy the company of the flock?

No. Those sheep were destined for the altar. Their pasture feeding had been for one purpose, to test them and fatten them for bloody sacrifice.

Give Him thanks, then, that you have been counted worthy of His altars. Enter into the work with praise…

Father, take my life, yea, my blood if Thou wilt, and consume it with Thine enveloping fire. I would not save it, for it is not mine to save.

Have it, Lord, have it all. Pour out my life as an oblation for the world. Blood is only of value as it flows before Thine altar.

I think Elliot grasped what the apostle Paul was saying, when Paul wrote,

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. (Romans 12:1)

Indeed, he did offer his very blood for the sake of Christ and his gospel, spilling it that the Auca Indians might be saved.

You see worship is much more than just singing songs to God. It’s being a living sacrifice for him. It’s being set apart for his purposes, and not your own. It’s making your purpose in life to please him. That is true worship.

It can be costly. But there is a joy that comes from offering your all to him. For as the psalmist wrote,

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations. (Psalm 100:5)

If we do not believe these things, then it becomes difficult to lay down our lives for him.

But if we do believe that he truly is good, that he’s looking out for our best, that he loves us, and that he is faithful, then it becomes only natural to lay down our lives for him.

How about you? Do you believe these things? If so, are you living a life of true worship?

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Psalm97-

The God who is holy

Psalms

So often, when we think of God and his character, the first word that comes to mind is “love.”

And it is true. God is love. But here we see another aspect of his character: his holiness.

And so while Psalm 97 says, “The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice,” Psalm 99 starts out,

The Lord reigns, let the nations tremble;
he sits enthroned between the cherubim,
let the earth shake. (Psalm 99:1)

Why do we tremble? Why does the earth shake?

Because God is holy, and we are not. Time and again, the psalmist sings about God’s holiness. He says,

Let them praise your great and awesome name—
he is holy. (3)

And again,

Exalt the Lord our God
and worship at his footstool;
he is holy. (5)

And yet again,

Exalt the Lord our God
and worship at his holy mountain,
for the Lord our God is holy. (9)

It is because of his holiness that time and again, people fell before God in fear, whether it was Moses (Exodus 3:5–6), Isaiah (Isaiah 6:5), or even John (Revelation 1:17).

They knew they were not worthy to look upon God. They knew that by rights, this holy God should destroy them because of their sin.

Yet time and again, God showed his mercy to these men and to his people.

The psalmist writes about this mercy, singing,

You were to Israel a forgiving God,
though you punished their misdeeds. (8)

Though Israel often failed to trust God, though they often defiled themselves with their sin and God punished them for it, still he never abandoned them. He continued to extend his forgiveness to them.

And when people like Moses, Aaron, and Samuel, imperfect vessels though they were, called on God, he answered them.

The good news is that God does all of this for us. Though God is holy, and we are not, though we fail so many times, yet God forgives us and hears us when we call.

So let us remember his holiness and his mercy both, and as the psalmist says, exalt and worship him each day.

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Psalm97-

Rejoicing in our salvation

Psalms

Psalm 98 is anonymous, so it could’ve been written in any number of contexts.

It could’ve been written following the Israelites’ deliverance from Egypt, or perhaps it was written by David after his reign was firmly established.

Or it could’ve been written after the exile to Babylon when God brought his people back to the promised land.

We simply do not know, but as I read it, I see in it the joy of salvation.

The psalmist starts out by singing,

Sing to the Lord a new song (Psalm 98:1).

Recently, I’ve been picking up my guitar again and have been playing some of the songs I played back when I was in university, and when I first moved to Japan. It’s nice to go retro at times.

But at the same time, I love it when we have new songs at church. As great as the old songs are, they can get stale if sung too much.

We stop thinking about what we’re singing, and we start just doing karaoke, instead of singing prayers to God.

But with the new songs, we have to think about what we’re singing and can remember anew all that God has done for us.

And that’s what the psalmist does with this new song. He sings,

For he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.

The Lord has made his salvation known
and revealed his righteousness to the nations.

He has remembered his love
and his faithfulness to Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God. (Psalm 98:1–3)

This passage reminds me of what Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 59.

The Lord looked and was displeased
that there was no justice.

He saw that there was no one,
he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;
so his own arm achieved salvation for him (Isaiah 59:15–16).

God saw the evil in this world, and that there was no one to deal with it. And so he himself did something.

When we weren’t even looking to be saved, blinded by our sin as we were, God worked his salvation. As Paul wrote,

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

Now salvation has come not just to the Jews, but to all who would believe. As the psalmist put it,

All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God. (3)

He then cries out,

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,
burst into jubilant song with music;
make music to the Lord with the harp,
with the harp and the sound of singing,
with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—
shout for joy before the Lord, the King. (4–6)

The psalmist concludes the psalm by calling for creation itself to praise the Lord for the salvation that is to come.

It is good to rejoice in our salvation. We should do it. But let us also remember the final words of the psalmist.

For he comes to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples with equity. (9)

We can rejoice in the judgment to come because we who believe in Jesus as our Savior are no longer condemned.

But are all those we know and love as ready for judgment as we are?

Let us rejoice in our salvation. But let us also be sure to share our joy and hope with those around us, that they may know the joy of salvation too.

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Psalm97-

Rejoicing in our King

Psalms

This is another psalm that rejoices in the greatness of our King.

The psalmist starts by shouting out,

The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad;
let the distant shores rejoice. (Psalm 97:1)

“Let the earth be glad.”

In a perfect world, all would rejoice in our King, and the fact that he reigns.

They would rejoice that he reigns in righteousness and justice (2).

They would rejoice in his power (3–5).

And they would rejoice in awesome glory (6).

But the truth is so many do not. Instead, they cling to their idols, whether it’s literal ones, or the “gods” of money, possessions, sex, or whatever it may be.

And the day will come when they will be put to shame (7).

I suppose the question is what do we rejoice in? Do we rejoice in the greatness of our King? Or do we rejoice in that which ultimately brings shame?

If we truly rejoice in God, the psalmist tells us,

Let those who love the LORD hate evil. (10)

It’s impossible to love the Lord and embrace evil at the same time. And so if we really love God, we need to learn to hate what he hates, and to put what is evil away in our lives.

For those who do, the psalmist says,

[The Lord] guards the lives of his faithful ones
and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

Light is shed upon the righteous
and joy on the upright in heart. (10–11)

He then concludes,

Rejoice in the LORD, you who are righteous,
and praise his holy name. (12)

What do you rejoice in?