Psalms Readings – Week 11
March 14 – Psalm 78:1-37
A maskil of Asaph.
1 My people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth with a parable;
I will utter hidden things, things from of old—
3 things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.
5 He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach their children,
6 so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.
7 Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.
8 They would not be like their ancestors– a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him.
9 The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows,
turned back on the day of battle;
10 they did not keep God’s covenant and refused to live by his law.
11 They forgot what he had done, the wonders he had shown them.
12 He did miracles in the sight of their ancestors in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
13 He divided the sea and led them through;
he made the water stand up like a wall.
14 He guided them with the cloud by day and with light from the fire all night.
15 He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
16 he brought streams out of a rocky crag and made water flow down like rivers.
17 But they continued to sin against him, rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High.
18 They willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved.
19 They spoke against God; they said, “Can God really spread a table in the wilderness?
20 True, he struck the rock, and water gushed out, streams flowed abundantly, but can he also give us bread? Can he supply meat for his people?”
21 When the Lord heard them, he was furious, his fire broke out against Jacob, and his wrath rose against Israel,
22 for they did not believe in God or trust in his deliverance.
23 Yet he gave a command to the skies above and opened the doors of the heavens;
24 he rained down manna for the people to eat, he gave them the grain of heaven.
25 Human beings ate the bread of angels; he sent them all the food they could eat.
26 He let loose the east wind from the heavens and by his power made the south wind blow.
27 He rained meat down on them like dust, birds like sand on the seashore.
28 He made them come down inside their camp, all around their tents.
29 They ate till they were gorged—he had given them what they craved.
30 But before they turned from what they craved, even while the food was still in their mouths,
31 God’s anger rose against them; he put to death the sturdiest among them,
cutting down the young men of Israel.
32 In spite of all this, they kept on sinning; in spite of his wonders, they did not believe.
33 So he ended their days in futility and their years in terror.
34 Whenever God slew them, they would seek him; they eagerly turned to him again.
35 They remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.
36 But then they would flatter him with their mouths, lying to him with their tongues;
37 their hearts were not loyal to him, they were not faithful to his covenant.
Asaph teaches the history of Israel so that all following generations would learn from their ancestors. This is an example of family discipleship where generation after generation pass the stories of faith along to the next. The stated goal is that “they would put their trust in God and not forget his deeds but would keep his commands. They would not be like their ancestors– a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him.”
May we be found faithful to repeat the stories of faith to our children and grandchildren so they might be found full of faith in Jesus and tell their children and grandchildren.
Memory Verse: Psalm 80:3, Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.
Question(s) to Consider: How are you passing the faith along to the next generation?
March 15 – Psalm 78:38-72
38 Yet he was merciful; he forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them. Time after time he restrained his anger and did not stir up his full wrath.
39 He remembered that they were but flesh,
a passing breeze that does not return.
40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the wasteland!
41 Again and again they put God to the test; they vexed the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not remember his power— the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,
43 the day he displayed his signs in Egypt, his wonders in the region of Zoan.
44 He turned their river into blood; they could not drink from their streams.
45 He sent swarms of flies that devoured them,
and frogs that devastated them.
46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper, their produce to the locust.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
48 He gave over their cattle to the hail, their livestock to bolts of lightning.
49 He unleashed against them his hot anger, his wrath, indignation and hostility— a band of destroying angels.
50 He prepared a path for his anger;
he did not spare them from death but gave them over to the plague.
51 He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt, the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.
52 But he brought his people out like a flock;
he led them like sheep through the wilderness.
53 He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;
but the sea engulfed their enemies.
54 And so he brought them to the border of his holy land, to the hill country his right hand had taken.
55 He drove out nations before them and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance; he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.
56 But they put God to the test
and rebelled against the Most High; they did not keep his statutes.
57 Like their ancestors they were disloyal and faithless, as unreliable as a faulty bow.
58 They angered him with their high places;
they aroused his jealousy with their idols.
59 When God heard them, he was furious; he rejected Israel completely.
60 He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent he had set up among humans.
61 He sent the ark of his might into captivity, his splendor into the hands of the enemy.
62 He gave his people over to the sword; he was furious with his inheritance.
63 Fire consumed their young men, and their young women had no wedding songs;
64 their priests were put to the sword, and their widows could not weep.
65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, as a warrior wakes from the stupor of wine.
66 He beat back his enemies; he put them to everlasting shame.
67 Then he rejected the tents of Joseph, he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim;
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loved.
69 He built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth that he established forever.
70 He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens;
71 from tending the sheep he brought him
to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance.
72 And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.
We left off yesterday with these words, “their hearts were not loyal to him, they were not faithful to his covenant.” And we begin with the most encouraging words today, “Yet He was merciful; He forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them.” God restrained his anger and did not give them His full wrath because He remembered how weak they were. It is a sad history to forget and rebel against God.
We must wrestle with the thought if we are any different from them. Do we remember all that God has done for us and continue to worship Him as our only God? Have we forgotten and turned to other gods and placed our trust in objects of our own choosing?
Even if we have done so, we can always come back to God. We can repent of our errant ways and return wholeheartedly in love to the One whose love for us has never waned. Never forget that in spite of our sin and stumbling, God is merciful and desires to forgive and welcome you back.
Memory Verse: Psalm 80:3, Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.
Question(s) to Consider: Have you drifted away from God? Have you forgotten how good and great God has been throughout your life and all of history? Will you return to Him in humble repentance today?
March 16 – Psalm 79
A psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple,
they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
2 They have left the dead bodies of your servants as food for the birds of the sky,
the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild.
3 They have poured out blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury the dead.
4 We are objects of contempt to our neighbors, of scorn and derision to those around us.
5 How long, Lord? Will you be angry forever? How long will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you, on the kingdoms
that do not call on your name;
7 for they have devoured Jacob and devastated his homeland.
8 Do not hold against us the sins of past generations; may your mercy come quickly to meet us,
for we are in desperate need.
9 Help us, God our Savior, for the glory of your name;
deliver us and forgive our sins for your name’s sake.
10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
Before our eyes, make known among the nations
that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants.
11 May the groans of the prisoners come before you;
with your strong arm preserve those condemned to die.
12 Pay back into the laps of our neighbors seven times
the contempt they have hurled at you, Lord.
13 Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will praise you forever; from generation to generation, we will proclaim your praise.
This lament begins with a description of the conditions in which God’s people find themselves. The temple has been defiled, and Jerusalem has been reduced to rubble. The dead are lying all around the city because there is no one to bury them. Neighboring nations ridicule Israel and their God. It is a very dark time in their history. The setting appears to be the Babylonian exile that occurred in 586 BC.
The traditional questions of a lament are asked, How long, Lord? Will you be angry forever? Then the psalmist turns to his requests. He asks that God would judge the nations that have devastated His people. He asks that God will pay back 7 times the amount of dishonor they have poured out upon the Lord. He trusts God to do the avenging because that is the Lord’s work, not ours.
He also asks that God would not hold against them the sins of those generations who have gone before them but instead would forgive their sins. He prays that the Lord would come quickly to help them for they are in desperate need. He asks this for the glory of God’s name to be elevated to its rightful place. All answers to prayers should not only benefit us but bring glory to God’s holy name.
The psalmist promises that when the answers come, they will praise God into future generations. Such praise is the ultimate goal of prayer. Yes, we need and want answers to our problems. We daily need God’s help, but may we never forget to give God the glory that He is due at all times.
Memory Verse: Psalm 80:3, Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.
Question(s) to Consider: Are your prayers just focused on your need? Or do you desire God to be highly honored through them? How do you make sure God gets the glory He is due?
March 17 – Psalm 80
For the director of music. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” Of Asaph. A psalm.
1 Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth
2 before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Awaken your might; come and save us.
3 Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.
4 How long, Lord God Almighty, will your anger smolder against the prayers of your people?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears;
you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.
6 You have made us an object of derision to our neighbors, and our enemies mock us.
7 Restore us, God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.
8 You transplanted a vine from Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches.
11 Its branches reached as far as the Sea, its shoots as far as the River.
12 Why have you broken down its walls so that all who pass by pick its grapes?
13 Boars from the forest ravage it, and insects from the fields feed on it.
14 Return to us, God Almighty! Look down from heaven and see!
Watch over this vine,
15 the root your right hand has planted,
the son you have raised up for yourself.
16 Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire; at your rebuke your people perish.
17 Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,
the son of man you have raised up for yourself.
18 Then we will not turn away from you; revive us, and we will call on your name.
19 Restore us, Lord God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.
Like Psalm 79, Psalm 80 urgently petitions God to deliver and restore his people out of their distressing exile. It speaks of God as the Shepherd of Israel and asks Him to shine forth His mercy and power upon them.
We are given the refrain three times in verses 3, 7, and 19, “Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.” Each time the name of God becomes more descriptive.
They need God’s restoring work to be done among them. They desperately plead for God’s face, His favor, to once again shine upon them so they can be saved from their exile.
He remembers what God had done to transplant Israel out of Egypt into Canaan. God cleared the way, and they took root and grew into a massive nation, but now they are cut down because of their rebellion against God. The psalmist pleads with God that they will be restored to where they once were.
Maybe, this is our situation today. Our circumstances may be a result of sin, or, more than likely, they are because we live in a broken world where we need God’s restoring work in the midst of a loss, a broken relationship, impaired health, or some other challenging circumstance. The repeated prayer can be our prayer and is the reason for it to be our memory verse for the week.
Memory Verse: Psalm 80:3, Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.
Question(s) to Consider: What is broken or cut down in your life? How are you asking God to restore you today?
March 18 – Psalm 81
For the director of music. According to gittith. Of Asaph.
1 Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
2 Begin the music, strike the timbrel, play the melodious harp and lyre.
3 Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival;
4 this is a decree for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5 When God went out against Egypt,
he established it as a statute for Joseph. I heard an unknown voice say:
6 “I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket.
7 In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
8 Hear me, my people, and I will warn you— if you would only listen to me, Israel!
9 You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not worship any god other than me.
10 I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.
11 “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.
13 “If my people would only listen to me, if Israel would only follow my ways,
14 how quickly I would subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!
15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever.
16 But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
Psalm 82
A psalm of Asaph.
1 God presides in the great assembly; he renders judgment among the “gods”:
2 “How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked?
3 Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
5 “The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 “I said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.’
7 But you will die like mere mortals; you will fall like every other ruler.”
8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance.
Psalm 81 begins on a joyful note, with five imperative verbs: sing, shout, begin, strike, and play. Overwhelming joy was to be the common expression of their worship. However, this psalm turns to reveal a sad reality as God speaks to the people in verses 6-16. God reminds them how he set their ancestors free in Egypt and provided for them along the way. If only, they would look to Him now and receive what He has for them. Because they refused to obey Him, He gave them over to their own devices. The worst kind of judgment is giving us what our rebellious hearts want. Even now, if God’s people would follow humble themselves and follow His ways, He would feed them the finest foods. Imagine what God will provide for us if only we will fully submit to His holy word and ways.
Like Psalm 81, Psalm 82 has a large section (verses 2-7) where God speaks. In 81, God spoke to the nation, in 82 God indicts the leaders because they have failed to do justice for the weak and needy. Instead, they have defended the very ones who perpetrate injustice. A common question in laments is, “How long?” Here, God asks that of the earthly “gods” or leaders. Leadership carries a hefty responsibility because it is not about elevating oneself but elevating others, especially, the needy.
Memory Verse: Psalm 80:3, Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.
Question(s) to Consider: What specific message does God have for us, our leaders, and for me?
March 19 – Psalm 83
A song. A psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, do not remain silent; do not turn a deaf ear, do not stand aloof, O God.
2 See how your enemies growl, how your foes rear their heads.
3 With cunning they conspire against your people; they plot against those you cherish.
4 “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation, so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.”
5 With one mind they plot together; they form an alliance against you—
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagrites,
7 Byblos, Ammon and Amalek, Philistia, with the people of Tyre.
8 Even Assyria has joined them to reinforce Lot’s descendants.
9 Do to them as you did to Midian, as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon,
10 who perished at Endor and became like dung on the ground.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 who said, “Let us take possession of the pasturelands of God.”
13 Make them like tumbleweed, my God, like chaff before the wind.
14 As fire consumes the forest or a flame sets the mountains ablaze,
15 so pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your storm.
16 Cover their faces with shame, Lord, so that they will seek your name.
17 May they ever be ashamed and dismayed; may they perish in disgrace.
18 Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord—
that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.
The nations are crushing God’s people, so the psalmist cries out for God to punish them. They seek to eliminate Israel so that they are no longer remembered. He names an impressive array of countries which had made an alliance against Israel. Most of them had been in ongoing conflict with God’s people throughout their history. We, also, discover that the superpower of Assyria has joined forces with them.
Israel felt absolutely overwhelmed by the large threat that this alliance presented to them. How could they possibly defend themselves when every nation on every side of them were prepared to attack and annihilate them from the face of the earth? There was only one place to go for help. Only God could deliver them from this impending doom.
So, the psalmist calls on God to do what He had previously done to Israel’s opponents and bring His heavy hand of judgment upon them. He asks God to pursue and terrify them with both tempest and storm. It sounds as if he wants God to totally obliterate them so they will never be a threat again.
However, we encounter a surprising ending. The psalmist has a much bigger vision in mind of what he desires God to do. “Cover their faces with shame, Lord, so they will seek your name.” He pleads for God’s judgment and their shame to result in them praising God’s name! And, again, in verse 18, “Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord—that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.”
The psalmist knows that God’s heart is never to punish for punishment’s sake but always to redeem and restore all peoples to Himself. There is one God over all and to Him all must surrender their all.
Memory Verse: Psalm 80:3, Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.
Question(s) to Consider: Do we have the ultimate desire that our enemies will be changed by the grace of God? How will we pray for those with whom we may be at odds?
March 20 – Psalm 84
For the director of music. According to gittith. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.
1 How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty!
2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
3 Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young—a place near your altar, Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.
8 Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty; listen to me, God of Jacob.
9 Look on our shield, O God; look with favor on your anointed one.
10 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
12 Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you.
This psalm of Zion reminds us of Psalms 42-49 which, also, speak of delighting in God’s dwelling place, the temple established on Mount Zion in Jerusalem.
The psalmist is separated from Jerusalem and thinks about how beautiful the temple area is. He has such a deep yearning that his soul even faints to be there. His whole being cries out to go and meet with the Lord in this glorious place. He speaks with envy that the most insignificant birds have found a home near the very altar of God.
There are three different “blesseds” in this psalm. The first is for those who live in God’s presence and are continually worshiping Him. The second is for those who have found their strength in the Lord as they make pilgrimage to worship Him in Jerusalem.
The Valley of Baka is not a known location in Scripture, but Baka means a balsam tree and sounds like the word for “weeping.” If we go with the imagery of weeping, we can imagine the pilgrims are shedding tears because of the pain of being separated from God, and yet weeping for joy as they go to worship God. Their tears are so profuse that they turn the arid ground into a place of springs as God also provides rain which should be recognized as showers of blessing. It is on such difficult spiritual journeys that our inner strength grows stronger and stronger.
Our spiritual pilgrimage may not be an actual trip, but is one that, inevitably, goes through dry valleys, where we, with God’s presence and provision, leave behind blessing for others who travel the same path. Ultimately, our spiritual journey to meet with and worship the Lord demonstrates our faith and trust in Him which, also, makes us among the blessed.
Memory Verse: Psalm 80:3, Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.
Question(s) to Consider: Do you have the same passion and drive to be present with Jesus as the psalmist did? How can you see your life as a pilgrimage of growing closer to Christ each and every day? Will you do anything differently to make it so?