God gives what can't be bought.

God gives what can't be bought.

Proverbs 2

There are many things that can be bought, but wisdom isn’t one of them: “My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” (vs 1-6)

God likes new music.

God likes new music.

Psalm 149

I find it interesting that in the Bible’s hymnal, the next to the last song would begin, “Praise the Lord. Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of his faithful people.” (vs 1) The book holds 150 of the greatest praise songs of all time, yet the psalmist says we should always be looking to sing “a new song.”

God is near.

God is near.

Psalm 148

As I read this psalm, I was struck by the movement from “far” to “near.” The psalmist begins in his admonition of praise by describing things that are “far” from us: the heavens, angels, heavenly hosts, sun, moon, and stars. (vs 1-4) Then, he continues to ask for praise from things a little “closer” to home: the animals, the weather, nature, and people. (vs 7-12)

God wants to be owned.

God wants to be owned.

Psalm 144

As I began reading today’s psalm, I noticed something interesting in the first two verses. Let’s see if you notice it, too: “Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.” (vs 1-2)

God hears you.

God hears you.

Psalm 143

Have you ever been to a whispering gallery? There’s a famous one in the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. There’s one in the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. I’m sure there are many others around the world. A whispering gallery is a room built in such a way that you can stand at one end and hear another person who is only whispering, even though they are standing far away from you.

God puts prisoners in the palace.

God puts prisoners in the palace.

Psalm 142

David wrote this psalm while he was “in the cave,” presumably hiding away from Saul. At this point, he had already been declared the future king of Israel by God, but the fruition of that prophecy wasn’t coming very quickly. David was still spending much of his time running from his enemies and hiding out in dark places.

God wants real worship.

God wants real worship.

Psalm 141

In the Old Testament, God instituted an elaborate system of sacrifices and offerings for the Israelites to bring to Him at the temple. If you’ve been following this blog, you’ll remember that we went over those sacrifices and offerings in detail in the book of Leviticus. There are a variety of opinions about what that sanctuary system meant and how the life and death of Jesus impacted it. Obviously, we no longer sacrifice animals as a way of worshiping God. But was that what God ever really wanted in the first place? Burnt offerings? Sacrifices? Blood?

God wants to make us bold.

God wants to make us bold.

Psalm 138

Have you ever felt it? That moment when it seems like nothing else in the world matters except God, and at that moment, you would go anywhere and do anything—no matter the cost—if He called you to it? What happens to those moments? They come suddenly and go just as quickly, as the world and all its glittering promises come flooding back in.

God wants us to keep singing.

God wants us to keep singing.

Psalm 137

This is a very sad psalm. Not only was it written when the Israelites were in Babylonian exile, but you can almost feel their despair as they are mocked by their captors: “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’” (vs 1-3)

God doesn't want us to be disabled.

God doesn't want us to be disabled.

Psalm 135

After recounting some of the amazing feats of the God of Israel, the psalmist said this: “The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. They have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.” (vs 15-18)

God's trickle-down economics.

God's trickle-down economics.

Psalm 133

I have heard the first verse of this psalm many times in my life as a Christian: “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” As far as I can recollect, I have never actually heard the remainder of the psalm. How do I know that? Because I was somewhat taken aback by similes used to describe this unity—especially the first one. Unity is like precious oil running down an old man’s beard? Huh?