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Read Psalm 106:34-48 It has been well said that the one thing we learn from history is that we don't learn from history. Anyone who has raised children or is trying to help raise grandchildren knows this. Somehow the new generation doesn't believe that the older generation knows anything. Psalm 106 certainly bears this out. It is a record of how the people of Israel were blessed and then sinned. God helped them repeatedly, and they repeatedly sinned. We see one cause of their

Read Psalm 107:1-8 One phrase is repeated four times in Psalm 107: "Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!" (v. 8). The psalmist gives us five vivid illustrations of what God has done for us and why we should praise His name. He talks about wanderers, prisoners, hospital patients, mariners and people seeking to build the city and sow the seed. About wanderers the psalmist writes, "They wandered in the w

Read Psalm 107:9-15 It is dangerous to rebel against the will and the Word of God and to turn away from His path. Psalm 107 describes the fate of people who did. "Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, bound in affliction and irons . . . therefore He brought down their heart with labor; they fell down, and there was none to help" (vv. 10,12). Verse 11 tells us why this happened: "Because they rebelled against the words of God, and despised the counsel of the Mo

Read Psalm 107:16-21 Psalm 107 contains four vivid pictures of sin and salvation. In today's passage, the psalmist likens sin to a disease and God's Word to medicine: "Fools, because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, were afflicted.... He sent His word and healed them" (vv. 17,20). Disease starts secretly. It enters your body secretly and grows secretly. Then it begins to sap your strength, rob your appetite and weaken you. Unless something is done, it

Read Psalm 107:16-21 Yesterday we learned that the Bible is the only medicine that can cure the disease of sin. Now let's consider the Great Physician, who administers the medicine. Jesus Christ came to call sinners to repent, and only He can save them. There are false physicians in this world today. What they offer does not solve the problems of the soul. The false prophets of Jeremiah's day were guilty of applying salves when they should have performed surgery ( Jer. 8:11 ,

Read Psalm 107:22-31 Quite frankly, I don't like large bodies of water. I don't like to be on them, and I don't like to be in them. I don't mind being by them; to sit by the ocean and watch the waves is fine. When I read these verses I almost get seasick. They describe a storm at sea. "For He commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves of the sea. They mount up to the heavens, they go down again to the depths; their soul melts because of trouble. They reel t

Read Psalm 107:32-43 It is dangerous for Christians to depend on comfortable circumstances. When God sees that we are depending on our circumstances and not on Him, He will change those circumstances in a hurry. "He turns rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground; a fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of those who dwell in it. He turns a wilderness into pools of water, and dry land into watersprings. There He makes the hungry dwell, that the

Read Psalm 108:1-13 "O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise." David begins this psalm by reminding us of the importance of a steadfast or "fixed" heart in the Christian life. What is a fixed heart? First, it trusts in the Lord for salvation. Jesus died for us on the cross. If we have trusted Him, we have fixed our hearts upon Him, and we have experienced His mercy. "For Your mercy is great above the heavens, and Your truth reaches to the clouds" (v. 4). A f

Read Psalm 109:1-13 What do you do when heaven is silent? What do you do when you cry out to God and there is no answer, or at least you can't hear it? This happened to David. He kept crying out to God, "Do not keep silent, O God of my praise!" (v. 1). David was being attacked by the wicked--a frequent occurrence in his life. You must remember that when he prayed these prayers of judgment (v. 13), he was not seeking personal revenge. No, he was praying as God's king over Isra

Read Psalm 109:14-20 What we love determines how we live. What delights us also directs us. David wrote about his enemies, "As he loved cursing, so let it come to him; as he did not delight in blessing, so let it be far from him." What do you love? What do you delight in? You reap exactly what you sow. David's enemies were sowing curses, and he knew they were going to reap a harvest of misery. They were running away from the blessing of God, and David knew that in missing the

Read Psalm 109:21-31 When David wrote this psalm he was being sorely persecuted by his enemies. He was praying for them; they were preying on him. Yet throughout this psalm he expresses some rather vehement thoughts. He calls upon God to bring judgment upon them because of the way they lived. Again, keep in mind that David was not seeking personal revenge. He was above that. Instead, he was praying as God's anointed king, concerned about the needs of his people. I like the wa

Read Psalm 110:1-7 It is not usually polite to listen in on other people's conversations, but in Psalm 110 we can do that. We hear God the Father speaking to God the Son. "The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool"' (v. 1). This is quoted often in the New Testament. It talks about when our Lord Jesus Christ returned to heaven and was enthroned at the right hand of the Majesty. What does this Father-Son conversation say to us? Fir

Read Psalm 111:1-10 We live in a world with a great deal of knowledge but not a great deal of wisdom. So-called smart people do stupid things. David tells us the secret of wisdom and understanding in Psalm 111. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever" (v. 10). Here we have three secrets of wisdom, and a person doesn't have to go through a university to learn them. Fear God. "The

Read Psalm 112:1-10 Psychiatrists call the fear of certain things phobias. There are people who fear heights (acrophobia) and people who fear closed-in places (claustrophobia). There are people afraid of water, dogs and even other people. But there is one fear that drives out all other fears, and we find it in Psalm 112. "Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments" (v. 1). All kinds of fears are taken care of if we fear th

Read Psalm 113:1-9 "Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore! From the rising of the sun to its going down the Lord's name is to be praised" (vv. 2,3). These verses tell us that we have some responsibilities. First, we are to praise God. It's tragic when we forget to praise the Lord. Someone has said that he feels sorry for atheists and agnostics because when they want to be thankful, they have no one to talk to. How can a person really enjoy a bea

Read Psalm 114:1-8 Have you ever seen the sea flee? Have you ever seen the mountains skip like rams or the hills run like lambs? That's the vivid description the psalmist gives of the Exodus of Israel from Egypt. "The sea saw it and fled; Jordan turned back. The mountains skipped like rams, the little hills like lambs.... Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, who turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a fountain of w

Read Psalm 115:1-8 Psalm 115 tells us about the blessings we have because our God is the living God. He's not one of the "idols of the nations." "Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands" (v. 4). How true that is today also. Many people worship silver and gold as their god. They think money can do anything. We do need money for some of the practical things in life. But what good are the things that money can buy if you don't have the things that money can't bu

Read Psalm 115:9-18 Years ago there was a "God is dead" movement in theology. Of course, He is very much alive, as Psalm 115 tells us: "But our God is in heaven. He does whatever He pleases" (v. 3). The problem with people is not that God is dead but that their faith is dead. They do not have living faith in the living God. The psalmist addresses three groups of people in this passage. First, he speaks to the nation. "O Israel, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their sh

Read Psalm 116:1-11 Whoever wrote Psalm 116 went through some difficult experiences to give us these verses. In fact, he almost died. But the Lord heard his cry and delivered him, and that's why he wrote, "I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me" (vv. 1,2). Picture God leaning down to His little child, getting close enough to hear. Sometimes I have to get close to people who are speaking because my hearing is

Read Psalm 116:12-19 Few people really want to talk about death. Yet verse 15 says, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." This statement is often misunderstood, so let's examine it and see what it means to our lives today. Death is the penalty of sin; God is the Author of life. When God made His original creation, there was no death. But when man sinned, death came on the scene. It now reigns as a king. "It is appointed for men to die once, but after

Read Psalm 117:1-2 Psalm 117 is the shortest of the psalms--only two verses. "Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples! For His merciful kindness is great toward us, and the truth of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!" What a tremendous psalm of praise this is; it's short but deep. We don't find too much difficulty in thanking people for what they have done for us. Even when we pay someone to work for us, we still say thank you. But sometimes we ta

Read Psalm 118:1-9 "The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" (v. 6). This is a word of assurance. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" ( Rom. 8:31 ). The God of the universe is on our side--Father, Son and Holy Spirit. No matter who may be against us, He is on our side. It's also a word of confidence. "I will not fear." As I look at the past, I see that God has cared for me every step of the way. As I look at the present, I know He is with me. As

Read Psalm 118:10-18 "The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation" (v. 14). This also is found in Exodus 15:2 and Isaiah 12:2 . The Israelites sang these words when they were delivered from Egypt, as they saw their enemy drowned in the sea. And Isaiah 12 promises that Israel will sing this song in the future when God restores her and establishes His kingdom. We, too, can rejoice for what these words mean for us today. God is our Strength. That takes care

Read Psalm 118:19-29 "This is the day which the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it" (v. 24). When you are having one of those difficult days--a day when the storm is blowing and the battle is raging, when the burdens are heavy, when your heart is broken and your tears are flowing, when it feels like everybody is turned against you, including your Heavenly Father--that's the time to heed this verse by faith. The psalmist was going through battles and difficulties