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Read Psalm 39:7-l3 David asked, "And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You" (v. 7). That's a good question. What are you waiting for? And how can you be sure that what you're waiting for is going to come? David said his hope was in the Lord. Biblical hope means confidence in the future. It's a confidence born of faith. Faith, hope and love go together ( I Cor. 13 ). When we have faith in God, we claim His promises, and they give us hope for the future. Hope for the

Read Psalm 40:1-3 When we wait for the Lord and wait on Him, we aren't being idle. In this psalm David cries out to the Lord and asks for help. "He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps" (v. 2). Waiting on the Lord is worthwhile because of what He is going to do for us. It is not idleness, nor is it carelessness. And it certainly isn't complacency. Instead, waiting is that divine activity of expec

Read Psalm 40:4, 5 What are the blessings that come to us when we make the Lord our trust? First, we start seeing life through His eyes. Look at verse 4: "Blessed is that man who . . . does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies." When we walk by faith, we have God's discernment. We see the world more clearly. But that's not all. We also start appreciating God's works. "Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done" (v. 5). He is always at w

Read Psalm 40:6-8 "I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart" (v. 8). Ponder that statement. The will of God is not _ something we do; it's something we enjoy and delight in. His will is the expression of His love. He doesn't declare things and do things because He hates us but because He loves us. We may not always understand His ways. Sometimes we may even think that God has forsaken us. But we should love His will. If our hearts are delighting in

Read Psalm 40:9-17 A little boy asked his father, "Dad, what does God think about?" Now that is a profound question. After all, if God knows everything--past, present and future--what does He have to think about? According to verse 17, He thinks about you and me. "But I am poor and needy," David said, "yet the Lord thinks upon me." God thinks about us personally. He doesn't have to be told about us. He doesn't have to send a committee of angels to investigate our feelings, pr

Read Psalm 41:1-13 When was the last time you heard a preacher or Sunday school teacher talk about integrity? I hope it's been recently, because integrity is an important part of the Christian life. To have integrity means to have character. Integrity is the opposite of duplicity. A person who practices duplicity is a hypocrite, a pretender. Integrity means to have one heart and one mind and to serve one master. It means not being divided, not always changing. David wrote, "A

Read Psalm 42:1-11 Twice in Psalm 42 the writer asks: "Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me?" (vv. 5,11). Perhaps you have asked the same thing. Why do we have hours, sometimes days, perhaps weeks of depression and discouragement? There may be times when we are not at our best physically. I think of Elijah, who had that difficult experience on Mount Carmel when he battled the prophets of Baal and God sent fire from heaven. When it was over, h

Read Psalm 43:1-5 We all have days when we feel as though God has forsaken us, when it seems as if the Enemy is winning and we are losing. On such a day the psalmist prayed, "Oh, send out Your light and Your truth!" (v. 3). These words represent the deep desire of the psalmist to know and do the will of God. He was not having an easy time. I like the words light and truth. We live in a world smothered in moral and spiritual darkness. "Everyone practicing evil hates the light

Read Psalm 42-43 The next time you feel like quitting, read these chapters. The psalmist presents contrasts that depict the ups and downs of life. First, he contrasts the desert and the temple (42:1-4). He is thirsting for God. In fact, he is so thirsty he is using his tears as food. We, too, have spiritual senses: taste, hearing and sight. When your soul is thirsting for the living God, you won't be satisfied with substitutes. Don't feed on your feelings, because you will po

Read Psalm 44:1-8 The older we get, the more we are inclined to start talking about "the good old days." The writer of this psalm must have been listening to such a discussion, because he writes, "We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, the deeds You did in their days, in days of old" (v. 1). Then he describes how God had driven out other nations and planted the nation of Israel. When Jewish people reviewed their history, they reviewed one miracle after

Read Psalm 44:9-16 Israel in its early days recorded one victory after another. God delivered Israel from Egypt. He then took the Israelites through the terrible wilderness and brought them victoriously into the Promised Land. And there they defeated nation after nation. But the writer of this psalm is concerned that the people of God are no longer experiencing victories. "But You have cast us off and put us to shame, and You do not go out with our armies. You make us turn ba

Read Psalm 44:17-26 Have you ever thought that God is asleep? Maybe it seems He isn't concerned about your problems and difficulties. Or perhaps you feel He isn't listening to your prayers. The writer of Psalm 44 had a similar feeling in his difficult situation. He writes: "Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord? Arise! Do not cast us off forever. Why do You hide Your face, and forget our affliction and our oppression? . . . Arise for our help" (vv. 23,24,26). God does not sleep! Ho

Read Psalm 45:1-5 We often think of Jesus as gentle, meek and mild. He was that, of course. "I am gentle and lowly in heart" ( Matt. 11:29 ) is what He said in His invitation to us. But the Lord is also a conqueror. The psalmist said about Him: "Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Mighty One, with Your glory and Your majesty. And in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility and righteousness" (vv. 3,4). That doesn't sound like the meek and gentle carpenter of N

Read Psalm 45:6-12 Whenever things are shaky around you, whenever you are afraid, just remember that God is on His righteous throne, which He deserves. It was not given to Him. He didn't purchase it. He didn't have to conquer kingdoms to get it. Our eternal God is on His eternal throne. "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever." Many rulers in history thought their thrones would endure forever. But those thrones were toppled. In fact, we have to search through history books j

Read Psalm 45:13-17 Psalm 45 is a wedding psalm. It says this about the bride: "The king's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold" (v. 13, KJV). Often after a wedding someone will ask, "What did the bride wear?" Her gown draws everyone's attention. But notice what the bride wore at this wedding. "The king's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold." It's not important what we wear on the outside, but it is important what we we

Read Psalm 46:1-3 "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble" (v. 1). This assurance from the Lord ought to take care of all of our fears and problems. God is our refuge--He hides us. God is our strength--He helps us. These two go together. At times in our lives we need a refuge. The storm is blowing and the battle is raging, and we have to run somewhere to hide. It's not a sin to hide, but it is a sin to stay hidden. God hides us so that He can help us.

Read Psalm 46:4-7 God is our Refuge, so we need not fear. But He is also our River, so we need not faint. "There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High" (v. 4). Until I visited the Holy Land, I had no idea how critical water is there. Without water almost nothing can exist there. Jerusalem is one of the great ancient cities that was not founded on a river. It wasn't until Hezekiah dug his famous tunnel that

Read Psalm 46:8-11 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" (v. 10). The Hebrew word translated "be still" actually means "take your hands off." God is saying to us, "Take your hands off, and let Me be God in your life." So often we want to manipulate and control. We talk about those who are "hands on" people. In the Christian life, God uses our hands. He used Noah's hands to build the ark. He used David's hands

Read Psalm 46:1-11 Agnostic writer H. G. Wells said, "God is an ever absentee help in times of trouble." He was wrong. Psalms 46-48 grew out of a marvelous miracle in Israel's history. Hezekiah was king of Judah when the Assyrians invaded the land. The king took this crisis to the Lord, and He protected Israel. One morning 185,000 Assyrians died by the hand of the Lord's angel. We, too, can stand strong because of the divine resources God gives us. God is our refuge; we need

Read Psalm 47:1-9 "For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with understanding" (v. 7). If anything should turn our hearts to joy and praise, it is that God is the King of all the earth. "God reigns over the nations" (v. 8). Circumstances may not always reflect this. What we read in the newspapers or see on the news may not give evidence that God is reigning, but He is! The Lord Jesus is enthroned in heaven today, and everything is under His sovereign control. Someo

Read Psalm 47:1-9 Our praise of God is a timeless act of worship. We can look at this psalm from three different points in time. First, we can view it from the historic past. This is one of three psalms that highlight Hezekiah's great victory over Sennacherib ( Ps. 46-8 ). What did the Lord do for the people of Judah? He came down (vv. 1-4), went up (v. 5) and sat down (vv. 8,9). This is a picture of what the Lord did for us: He came to earth to die for our sins, was resurrec

Read Psalm 48:1-8 The people of Israel always have been proud of Jerusalem. Psalm 48 describes the city this way: "Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion" (v. 2). Not everyone would agree with that description today, especially in light of the serious political and racial problems connected with Jerusalem. But I think the psalmist is referring here to the heavenly Mount Zion as well. Hebrews 12 tells us that Christians are citizens of the heavenly Z

Read Psalm 48:9-14 No one has more civic pride than the Jewish people who live in Jerusalem. While talking to a tour guide in Israel, my wife asked, "Where were you born?" The guide stood tall, his face brightened, and he said, "I was born in Jerusalem." The Jews love their city, and for good reason. The psalmist says, "Walk about Zion, and go all around her. Count her towers; mark well her bulwarks; consider her palaces; that you may tell it to the generation following" (vv.

Read Psalm 49:1-13 The writer of this psalm certainly had the right attitude toward wealth. He warns, "Those who trust in their wealth and boast in the multitude of their riches, none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him" (vv. 6,7). Money cannot take us to heaven, "for the redemption of their souls is costly" (v. 8). It cost the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ! In fact, Jesus warned that money keeps some people out of heaven. "