Psalms Readings – Week 14
April 4 – Psalm 101
Of David. A psalm.
1 I will sing of your love and justice;
to you, Lord, I will sing praise.
2 I will be careful to lead a blameless life—
when will you come to me?
I will conduct the affairs of my house with a blameless heart.
3 I will not look with approval
on anything that is vile.
I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it.
4 The perverse of heart shall be far from me;
I will have nothing to do with what is evil.
5 Whoever slanders their neighbor in secret,
I will put to silence;
whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not tolerate.
6 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.
7 No one who practices deceit
will dwell in my house;
no one who speaks falsely will stand in my presence.
8 Every morning I will put to silence
all the wicked in the land;
I will cut off every evildoer from the city of the Lord.
David declares praise to God for both His love and justice. God is equally both. He forgives and yet holds us accountable. The New Testament speaks of Jesus in the same way as being full of grace and truth. Unless both qualities are deemed as equal importance in defining God’s character, we fail to know the true God of the Bible.
David, as king, makes a commitment to conduct the affairs of his house with a blameless heart. He refuses to approve that which is vile and will not participate in evil. He will not allow others in his circle to slander or have a proud heart.
Instead, he chooses to look to associate with faithful followers of God and give him counsel. Because one’s reputation, both legally and socially, was so important He would not allow the deceitful or liars to be a part of his kingdom.
Every morning he made the decision to execute justice in his kingdom. In both his personal life and his leadership, David embodies the ideal king who ensures righteousness is accomplished. David sinned in some spectacular ways, but he confessed his sins and God forgave him. Overall, the Bible judges David as a man who sought after God’s own heart. Will you have the same legacy?
Memory Verse: Psalm 103:11-12, 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.
Question(s) to Consider: What kind of commitment have you made to conduct the affairs of your house with integrity? Who are the followers of Jesus from whom you receive your counsel?
April 5 – Psalm 102
A prayer of an afflicted person who has grown weak and pours out a lament before the Lord.
1 Hear my prayer, Lord; let my cry for help come to you.
2 Do not hide your face from me
when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly.
3 For my days vanish like smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers.
4 My heart is blighted and withered like grass; I forget to eat my food.
5 In my distress I groan aloud and am reduced to skin and bones.
6 I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins.
7 I lie awake; I have become like a bird alone on a roof.
8 All day long my enemies taunt me; those who rail against me use my name as a curse.
9 For I eat ashes as my food and mingle my drink with tears
10 because of your great wrath,
for you have taken me up and thrown me aside.
11 My days are like the evening shadow; I wither away like grass.
12 But you, Lord, sit enthroned forever; your renown endures through all generations.
13 You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show favor to her; the appointed time has come.
14 For her stones are dear to your servants; her very dust moves them to pity.
15 The nations will fear the name of the Lord, all the kings of the earth will revere your glory.
16 For the Lord will rebuild Zion and appear in his glory.
17 He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; he will not despise their plea.
18 Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord:
19 “The Lord looked down from his sanctuary on high, from heaven he viewed the earth,
20 to hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death.”
21 So the name of the Lord will be declared in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem
22 when the peoples and the kingdoms assemble to worship the Lord.
23 In the course of my life he broke my strength; he cut short my days.
24 So I said: “Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days; your years go on through all generations.
25 In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 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.
27 But you remain the same, and your years will never end.
28 The children of your servants will live in your presence; their descendants will be established before you.”
The ancient church identified this as one of seven penitential psalms and is a lament of an “afflicted person.” The psalmist complains in a familiar way found in other laments. In verse 11, he says he will wither away like grass. But then his tone shifts at verse 12 speaking that God is enthroned as king forever and His fame continues through all generations.
In the midst of his lamenting, the psalmist can confidently proclaim God’s eternal and powerful nature and declare that God will act and show compassion once again. God will not despise the prayer of the destitute. He can envision the day when the name of the Lord will be praised in Jerusalem once again, and peoples from many nations will gather to worship the Lord.
This passage points ahead to Jesus: His birth as the Magi came to worship from faraway places, the praise He received from the multi-ethnic crowd on His triumphal entry, and, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. May we be included among those who bow in worship as Christ advances His eternal kingdom throughout the earth.
Memory Verse: Psalm 103:11-12, 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.
Question(s) to Consider: In the midst of all our laments concerning the condition of our world, can we declare that Christ is enthroned as King and trust that His kingdom is advancing in the world?
April 6 – Psalm 103
Of David.
1 Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.
15 The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—
18 with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.
19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word.
21 Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will.
22 Praise the Lord, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the Lord, my soul.
David calls on his soul to give praise to God. Praise aids us in our memory for it calls us to remember who God is and what God has done. David gives us a long list of attributes and actions of how he has grown to know and love God.
God forgives our sins and heals our diseases. He saves us and showers His love and compassion upon us. He alone satisfies our deepest longing with good things so that we have renewed strength.
The Lord is constantly at work for the oppressed just as He did for Moses and the Israelites leading them out of bondage. In one of the most repeated verses in Scripture, God is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, and abounds in love. He does not repay us equally for the guilt of our sin. Out of His infinite love, He removes our sins from us by an immeasurable distance.
God’s natural relationship with us is a compassionate Father for He knows how frail we really are as His children. His covenant love continues for all who trust and obey Him. David ends his song by calling all of heaven and earth to praise the Lord for He is the King who rules over all.
If we need to be reminded for what we can praise the Lord, this psalm is a great place to begin.
Memory Verse: Psalm 103:11-12, 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.
Question(s) to Consider: For which of these attributes or actions will you offer praise today? What would you add to this list?
April 7 – Psalm 104
1 Praise the Lord, my soul. Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty.
2 The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent
3 and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot
and rides on the wings of the wind.
4 He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.
5 He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.
6 You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.
7 But at your rebuke the waters fled,
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;
8 they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them.
9 You set a boundary they cannot cross; never again will they cover the earth.
10 He makes springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains.
11 They give water to all the beasts of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds of the sky nest by the waters; they sing among the branches.
13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.
14 He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate— bringing forth food from the earth:
15 wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts.
16 The trees of the Lord are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 There the birds make their nests; the stork has its home in the junipers.
18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats;
the crags are a refuge for the hyrax.
19 He made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down.
20 You bring darkness, it becomes night, and all the beasts of the forest prowl.
21 The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God.
22 The sun rises, and they steal away;
they return and lie down in their dens.
23 Then people go out to their work, to their labor until evening.
24 How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
25 There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number—living things both large and small.
26 There the ships go to and fro, and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.
27 All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time.
28 When you give it to them,
they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things.
29 When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust.
30 When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.
31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works—
32 he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord.
35 But may sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more.
Praise the Lord, my soul. Praise the Lord.
This is the first of three psalms that trace salvation history from creation to exile. This psalm celebrates the Lord’s work at creation. What is unique about its message is that it views creation as both a past event and a present reality. The verb tenses shift between past and present throughout. This emphasizes how the Lord, not only created all things but continues to maintain their order and sustains them. By God’s Spirit, creation comes to life and the face of the earth is renewed.
Verse 1-4 describe the Lord’s glory and majestic dwelling. Verses 5-26 describe how God from His elevated reign oversees land and sea, disperses water, provides for creation, maintains the calendar by sun and moon, and enjoys watching the great sea creatures play. Verses 27-30 speak of God’s sustenance, and the final verses give praise to the Lord for what He has done and is doing.
Memory Verse: Psalm 103:11-12, 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.
Question(s) to Consider: What images stand out for you that describe the glory of the Lord? For which of His actions do you, especially, offer praise to Him today?
April 8 – Psalm 105
1 Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.
2 Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.
3 Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
4 Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.
5 Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
6 you his servants, the descendants of Abraham, his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.
7 He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth.
8 He remembers his covenant forever, the promise he made, for a thousand generations,
9 the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac.
10 He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant:
11 “To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit.”
12 When they were but few in number, few indeed, and strangers in it,
13 they wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another.
14 He allowed no one to oppress them; for their sake he rebuked kings:
15 “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.”
16 He called down famine on the land and destroyed all their supplies of food;
17 and he sent a man before them—Joseph, sold as a slave.
18 They bruised his feet with shackles,
his neck was put in irons,
19 till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the Lord proved him true.
20 The king sent and released him, the ruler of peoples set him free.
21 He made him master of his household, ruler over all he possessed,
22 to instruct his princes as he pleased and teach his elders wisdom.
23 Then Israel entered Egypt; Jacob resided as a foreigner in the land of Ham.
24 The Lord made his people very fruitful; he made them too numerous for their foes,
25 whose hearts he turned to hate his people, to conspire against his servants.
26 He sent Moses his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
27 They performed his signs among them, his wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness and made the land dark— for had they not rebelled against his words?
29 He turned their waters into blood, causing their fish to die.
30 Their land teemed with frogs, which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers.
31 He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and gnats throughout their country.
32 He turned their rain into hail, with lightning throughout their land;
33 he struck down their vines and fig trees and shattered the trees of their country.
34 He spoke, and the locusts came, grasshoppers without number;
35 they ate up every green thing in their land, ate up the produce of their soil.
36 Then he struck down all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their manhood.
37 He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold, and from among their tribes no one faltered.
38 Egypt was glad when they left, because dread of Israel had fallen on them.
39 He spread out a cloud as a covering, and a fire to give light at night.
40 They asked, and he brought them quail;
he fed them well with the bread of heaven.
41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed like a river in the desert.
42 For he remembered his holy promise given to his servant Abraham.
43 He brought out his people with rejoicing, his chosen ones with shouts of joy;
44 he gave them the lands of the nations, and they fell heir to what others had toiled for—
45 that they might keep his precepts
and observe his laws. Praise the Lord.
This continues the story of salvation history as it reviews the exodus, with episodes from before and after the release from Egypt. The Lord made promises to the patriarchs, and the exodus was the way He fulfilled those promises. This psalm then explains how the Lord faithfully kept his covenant regarding the land, in particular, how this led him to overcome the most powerful nation on earth and the challenges that the harsh desert journey created before and after the exodus.
We can trust and give praise to the Lord that He will not allow anything to stop Him from fulfilling the promises He has made to His people. God’s word will be done on earth just as He said it would.
Memory Verse: Psalm 103:11-12, 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.
Question(s) to Consider: What promise from God’s word are you trusting in today?
April 9 – Psalm 106
1 Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
2 Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord or fully declare his praise?
3 Blessed are those who act justly,
who always do what is right.
4 Remember me, Lord, when you show favor to your people, come to my aid when you save them,
5 that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may share in the joy of your nation and join your inheritance in giving praise.
6 We have sinned, even as our ancestors did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly.
7 When our ancestors were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.
8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, to make his mighty power known.
9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; he led them through the depths as through a desert.
10 He saved them from the hand of the foe; from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them.
11 The waters covered their adversaries; not one of them survived.
12 Then they believed his promises and sang his praise.
13 But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his plan to unfold.
14 In the desert they gave in to their craving; in the wilderness they put God to the test.
15 So he gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease among them.
16 In the camp they grew envious of Moses
and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the Lord.
17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan; it buried the company of Abiram.
18 Fire blazed among their followers; a flame consumed the wicked.
19 At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped an idol cast from metal.
20 They exchanged their glorious God for an image of a bull, which eats grass.
21 They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt,
22 miracles in the land of Ham and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
23 So he said he would destroy them— had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them.
24 Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe his promise.
25 They grumbled in their tents and did not obey the Lord.
26 So he swore to them with uplifted hand that he would make them fall in the wilderness,
27 make their descendants fall among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands.
28 They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor
and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;
29 they aroused the Lord’s anger by their wicked deeds,
and a plague broke out among them.
30 But Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was checked.
31 This was credited to him as righteousness for endless generations to come.
32 By the waters of Meribah they angered the Lord, and trouble came to Moses because of them;
33 for they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses’ lips.
34 They did not destroy the peoples as the Lord had commanded them,
35 but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs.
36 They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them.
37 They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to false gods.
38 They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was desecrated by their blood.
39 They defiled themselves by what they did; by their deeds they prostituted themselves.
40 Therefore the Lord was angry with his people and abhorred his inheritance.
41 He gave them into the hands of the nations, and their foes ruled over them.
42 Their enemies oppressed them and subjected them to their power.
43 Many times he delivered them, but they were bent on rebellion and they wasted away in their sin.
44 Yet he took note of their distress when he heard their cry;
45 for their sake he remembered his covenant and out of his great love he relented.
46 He caused all who held them captive to show them mercy.
47 Save us, Lord our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.
48 Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the Lord.
After the previous psalm about the Lord’s faithfulness to his covenant, this psalm highlights the people’s unfaithfulness, yet shows God’s love and faithfulness remains. The Israelites quickly forgot what God had done and refused to obey His instructions. They became like the very people God had driven out from Canaan because of such grotesque evil. What the Israelites did can be summed up in verse 20, “They exchanged their glorious God for an image of a bull, which eats grass.” How ludicrous! I can hear the psalmist laughing in disbelief that they did such a foolish thing. May we refuse to exchange our worship of God’s glory for anything lesser. All other things are far lesser!
Memory Verse: Psalm 103:11-12, 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.
Question(s) to Consider: What are the lesser things we tend to worship? When are we tempted to worship them? How do you protect yourself from doing so?
April 10 – Psalm 107
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story— those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
3 those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.
4 Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle.
5 They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away.
6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle.
8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
9 for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.
10 Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains,
11 because they rebelled against God’s commands and despised the plans of the Most High.
12 So he subjected them to bitter labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help.
13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness,
and broke away their chains.
15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
16 for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron.
17 Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.
18 They loathed all food and drew near the gates of death.
19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.
20 He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.
21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
22 Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.
23 Some went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters.
24 They saw the works of the Lord, his wonderful deeds in the deep.
25 For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves.
26 They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away.
27 They reeled and staggered like drunkards; they were at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.
29 He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.
30 They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven.
31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
32 Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people and praise him in the council of the elders.
33 He turned rivers into a desert, flowing springs into thirsty ground,
34 and fruitful land into a salt waste, because of the wickedness of those who lived there.
35 He turned the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs;
36 there he brought the hungry to live, and they founded a city where they could settle.
37 They sowed fields and planted vineyards that yielded a fruitful harvest;
38 he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased, and he did not let their herds diminish.
39 Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled by oppression, calamity and sorrow;
40 he who pours contempt on nobles made them wander in a trackless waste.
41 But he lifted the needy out of their affliction and increased their families like flocks.
42 The upright see and rejoice, but all the wicked shut their mouths.
43 Let the one who is wise heed these things and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord.
This psalm describes how God rescues people because of his unfailing love. After a call to praise, the psalm offers four crises: wilderness wanderings, prison bondage, suffering from sin, and distress at sea. There is a similar structure to all four: the problem, the cry for help, and the call to give praise to God. The psalm ends by showing how God can reverse what man has done both in salvation and judgment. God’s unfailing love promises that the great reversal will ultimately be known in the final judgment. Even now, with the coming of Christ, that reversal has begun its work, and the church has been entrusted with the message to announce God’s kingdom in the world. May we pay attention to verse 43, “Let the one who is wise heed these things and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord.”
Memory Verse: Psalm 103:11-12, 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.
Question(s) to Consider: As you ponder, what are the loving deeds for which you offer praise?