OT: The Book of Psalms, Psalm 72

Psalm 72:1-20

72:1-4 For himself, the king asked for judgement. The king asked God to instruct him and to discipline him. He did so because he knew that God's judgement is a light and a path. It corrects and supports. It also leads, for God's commandments beckon us forward into the kingdom and away from the detritus that distracts and draws us away. 

But for the world, for humanity, the king prayed for Jesus. As the embodiment of righteousness, Jesus does and will bring peace and justice. He is the savior of the poor of the people. The people who are poor in spirit, poor in strength, poor in the world. Jesus exists as our chain-breaker; freeing us from all forms of enslavement. 

72:5-7 Jesus has been established eternally by God. The sun will rise and the moon will curve through the sky, every day and night, through every generation, Jesus will reign. The abundance of His compassion and righteousness will endure longer than anything else; will bloom brighter than any plant. 

72:8-11 Abundant and comprehensive is His righteousness. He will be revered and served across the entire earth. Humanity will cherish His dominion, as He will put wickedness and chaos, grief and pain to sleep, forever. 

With their dominion over the world, humans have caused disparity and injustice. Our dominion therefore will not last. We cannot be trusted with it, we are not smart or strong and selfless enough to deserve it. But Jesus is, and thus humanity has been given to Him. Dominion is His. 

72:12-14 Jesus will be served because humanity will love to serve Him. Our love for Jesus is and will be authentic because He is the one who delivers us. His heart empathizes with our sorrow and heals it. He helps and provides and saves and redeems. Though we are so often harsh and unappreciative, we matter to Him. He has adopted us and our cause; even though we benefit so much more than He does from the adoption.

72:15 For His love we will respond with love and praise, prayer. We will live with gratitude and dedication. We will live to love and emulate our precious savior. 

72:16 Strife and lack will be replaced, by Him, with joy and abundance. Jesus' selfless nature has been given the keys to the storehouses of the fruits of righteousness and God's provision. He has chosen to open those storehouses to us. 

72:17 Jesus forever. And therefore: blessing eternal.

72:18-20 The psalmist understood, with gratitude, the nature of our God. Live with praise in your heart; understand that our God is justice and righteousness and compassion. Everything He does is wise and for good. Forever. He is worthy of the whole earth's glorification of Him, for His nature is kind and He has provided a Savior.

OT: The Book of Psalms, Psalm 71

Psalm 71:1-24

71:1-2 Psalm 71 is a prayer request written directly to God. It serves as a reminder that when we put our trust, and sincere love, in God, we have the right to ask for His protection. We have access to His rescue. We can believe and find comfort in the fact that He fights shame and enemies for us. He assists us in our recovery from defeats, and reminds us that in Him, we have the ultimate victory. 

71:3 Our God is our refuge; He is the place, the only place, we have absolute peace. As the Psalmist did, ask that rest from Him. God always provides what His children need and trust Him to provide. He is our foundation as well as our fortress. He is our stronghold and headquarters in the battle that life can sometimes be.

71:4 Our Savior retrieves us from the hand of the wicked. He retrieves us from the places and people and states of mind that harm us; notice that we should make that request. We should ask Him to perform His promises, that way He knows we have listened to them and that we trust in them.

71:5 Our Father is our continual hope. He is the light in the darkness. He is the possible in the impossible. Every day, He is our sun rise. His love propels us onward, toward the home and purpose He has built for us. 

71:6 The psalmist acknowledged that he had been supported by God throughout his life, even since the womb. He promised to live in perpetual gratitude for God's perpetual presence and faithfulness. And a life of gratitude should be so easy for a child of God, for His love is evident when we have worked to have a relationship with Him. 

71:7-8 No matter what the opinion or situation of external circumstances, the Psalmist declared that His refuge in God was more than enough... enough to praise God His entire life. 

71:9-11 The Psalmist was aware that there were people against him, but they became irrelevant the moment the psalmist prayed to God about them.

71:12-13 When we love God, we can count on Him to be with us. Always. We can count on Him to thwart the plans of our enemies. To halt the processes which seek to hinder or harm us. 

Our relationship with God is strongest when we give our whole self and life over to His will. The more places, and the deeper, we invite Him, the more powerful His will is in every circumstance, endeavor and relationship in our life.

71:14-16 Make these declarations also:

I will hope continually; I will praise You more and more; I will speak of Your limitless righteousness and salvation; I will go in the strength of the Lord God; I will speak of Your righteousness exclusively.

These sincere declarations of faith will change and heal and sustain our lives; the faith which gives us access to our Provider and Protector will propel us with purpose.

71:17-18 The Psalmist asks for protection and sustenance from God so that he can praise God. The joy of his life was to express his love for God, to make God's philosophy known and heard.

And our God is on-board for the whole duration of our trip here. Every moment. We should remind ourselves to invite Him into the whole, into each moment. As God declares His love for us in action, so must we declare our love for Him. Every decision we should consult with Him about; every opinion we should align with His word; we should share our joy with Him and abound His blessings to others. 

71:19-21 Our God is great and incomparable. He disciplines and revives His children, and all of it done from love and compassion. He blesses and comforts, humbles and heightens. His love is precise. 

71:22-23 Praise and worship is an important element to our relationship to God, but also to our soul. Our love for God needs expression, and He deserves for it to be expressed.

It is so beneficial for us to consider how He listens to and answers prayers. It is crucial for us to maintain an awareness of His promised presence, and so we sing gratitude for the promises He makes and keeps. 

Sometimes we overlook the answers He gives, the promises He has bought into fulfillment. We constantly have more requests and the former ones are forgotten. But God remembers... and because of that faithfulness, so must we. He knows what we need and He provides it; He also goes further and blesses us with things we want. Our sweet, sweet God is so loving.

OT: The Book of Psalms, Psalm 70

Psalm 70:1-5

7:1 This Psalm is a prayer for swift rescue. 

7:2-3 David asked God to confound the plans of his adversaries, and to make them feel shame for their wicked behavior. Shame is a special emotion in that it motivates a person to change; shame causes a surge of remorse and compassion, and from that place much can be restored.

Shame is a form of tough-love discipline. 

7:4 David felt that all who seek God should rejoice because of the safety and salvation they are promised to find. David was upset and afraid for his life but he still found wholehearted reason to magnify God. He knew that ultimately, he was safe and his prayer would be answered because of God's love for him and attention on his life.

7:5 David remained humble; he was steadfastly aware that he relied on God. He remembered that God established him and made (and maintained) such great provisions for him. The beginning and end of this Psalm is David's desire for God's presence.

OT: The Book of Psalms, Psalm 69

Psalm 69:1-36

69:1-3 David was not hesitant to be honest and vulnerable with God. Although David was crying, he cried as he waited for God. He knew that his sadness was temporary; he knew that his barrier was sentenced to destruction; he knew that his path would be cleared. He knew that all of those things would happen because in faith, he waited on God. The wait was not easy, but neither was it something David was willing to abandon. 

69:4 David was wrongly accused and unfairly targeted; from David's situation we learn to ask ourselves whether we believe that God is willing and able to establish (or restore) justice in our life against our adversaries. In the New Testament, Jesus was several times glad to find people who believed Him capable. 

Matthew 9:27-31

And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou son of David, have mercy on us. And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. And their eyes were opened;...

It is through our faith that we are blessed and helped and healed.

69:5-12 David was self-aware; he knew that he had made mistakes and he prayed that none of his mistakes would tarnish God's reputation. As followers of Jesus, we are representatives of God. Our behavior has specific influence. However, none of us are able to be perfect. Like David, we pray for God's forgiveness and assistance in becoming better.

69:13 Chaos surrounded David and often surrounds our world, but ultimately, peace is found when we look exclusively to God in prayer and faith.

69:14-15 We are pulled from the mire because of the strength of God's grasp on our lives; and His grip is a tight as our faith. Patience in faith is our buoy through all rough waters. Communication is important; we must keep our relationship with God alive and active in every moment of our lives. David prayed and prayed and so much we. 

69:16-18 Hear me, turn to me... David asked God in prayer. David prayed for God's presence and the restoration He brings with Him. God hears and answers every prayer, and He is actively present whenever a child of His calls for Him. Jesus Himself promised always to be with us, Matthew 28:20. God is always with us and always willing to act on our behalf; our relationship with Him enables that constant protection and consistent power. 

69:19-21 God sees our whole life and whole self. He is aware and invested in healing our broken hearts, lifting our burdens and demolishing our adversaries. Nobody takes care of us the way our Father does; and though some may respond to us with harsh treatment, God always provides what we truly need to heal.

In Matthew 27:34, Jesus also was given vinegar. Jesus rejected it. We must also reject what the world offers us. 

69:22-28 David prayed for that destruction of the wicked. He prayed for their plans to fail and God's righteous indignation to respond to their actions. Indeed God has a book of names, and only the righteous remain in it. The others are blotted out... erased from existence. 

Revelation 21:27
And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

69:29-33 Poor and sorrowful, David praised. Poor and sorrowful, David prayed. Rich and happy, David prayed. David's relationship with constant, alive in every moment. Because of David's steadfast faith, whenever he had lapses or made mistakes, he always returned to God and was disciplined, healed, restored.

We are heard by God no matter what our circumstances, poor or rich, free or enslaved, happy or sad. He cares about us. Seek Him and live. A good life, a productive life. An eternal life. Live with gratitude and self-awareness, pursue His principles. Exhibit His characteristics. Express compassion. Submit to His compassionate discipline. Praise.

69:34-36 Praise the One who loves you more and better than anyone else. David called for the whole earth to praise God, our savior and spiritual sustenance. God our life-giver, life-healer, life-saver. He has built a fortress, a kingdom for us, His family, to safely reside. 

OT: The Book of Psalms, Psalm 68

Psalm 68:1-35

68:1-3 God's presence scatters and disintegrates the evil while simultaneously gathering and restoring the just. 

68:4 It was a characteristic of David to frequently encourage us to praise our good and mighty God. This verse uses the word YAH or JAH to name God, also known as Jehovah. It is a sacred and vehement form of the word God. Jehovah meaning: the existing One. 

It is so important to contemplate not just God's presence in our lives but also the character of His presence. Our God is alive and His Holy Spirit is attentive and engaged in our every day lives. 

68:5-6 Our God has always made Himself available to the orphans and widows, literal and figurative. He is a home and a family to all people who are/feel alone. Because of Him, we are connected to an everlasting family. Because of Him, we have the support and guidance that we might not always have access to in the world.

God makes Himself available to the poor and enslaved. The literal poor, the figurative. The literal slave, the figurative. By His love and guidance, we are set free from all bondage, including our internal trials. 

Yet the rebellious, those who do not align themselves with God's compassionate philosophy walk themselves right into barren lands. They do not have the hope or help our God provides because they rejected it. 

68:7-10 Scripture provides us example of God's faithfulness and power in our lives. When we are weary and scorched He provides rest and healing. When we are weak, He provides strength. When we thirst, He provides precisely what we need to be quenched.

68:11-14 At God's word, powerful things happen: destruction, protection, provision, cleansing. 

68:15-16 There is no kingdom stronger or more prominent than God's kingdom. This hill or mountain of Bashan means fruitful. And surely all works of righteousness are fruitful. The righteous yield because of the provision of God.

68:17-18 God's army is vast and has His strength. In it's midst is Him, God, fighting for us and against injustice and cruelty. Claiming the victory, crushing the enemy.

68:19-20 Not only does God provide life-eternal to His children, He also provides for us while we are alive here on earth. And He is an abundant provider, as David says: Who daily loads us with benefits. Every day of our lives God ensures provision specific to the moments we require it. He loads us with benefits; His love is not scarce. 

68:21-23 It should be a comfort to us that God responds to evil with righteous indignation. We know the gentle and fatherly side of our God but He is still a fierce father. Powerful and active. Though the evil flee, He catches them and draws them back for judgement. He ensures that their crimes are faced. 

68:24-27 The houses of Israel and Judah will praise God. All who are welcomed into the family will praise God. For the houses of Israel and Judah have been scattered across the earth; our kin are everywhere. Our kin are whosoever loves God. And those who love God will praise Him because He is worthy. He has rescued and helped, restored and established us throughout our lives and so we praise.

68:28-31 The righteous will be solidified, but the unrighteous deconstructed, scattered and enfeebled.

68:32-35 Sing and praise. Acknowledge God's strength and excellence. Live a life of gratitude because He shares His strength and power with us so that we will be safe and healthy and happy. Blessed be our compassionate God.

OT: The Book of Psalms, Psalm 67

Psalm 67:1-7

1:1-2 Our relationship with God is a light in our life that guides, teaches and reveals. Life can be difficult to navigate, and even endure, but God's presence enables us to sojourn wisely and persevere with strength and courage.

Children who follow God's guidance trail-blaze a path of peace for others to join and take refuge on. Our obedience to God allows us to learn from Him how to build lives that love, support and protect others throughout our world. God's outreach, often, comes through His fellow work-relationship with His children. We are instruments through which He implements blessing.

1:3-4 Praise! The Psalmist knew that God is worthy of the praise of all peoples across the earth because of His perfect judgement. God is merciful and compassionate... He is also fair. We can trust His judgement to balance humanity and restore order.

1:5-7 If the whole earth were host to a steadfast faith, the whole earth would yield increasing blessing. God's presence makes a tremendous difference in any place, situation or relationship that a righteous child invites Him. Eventually, earth will receive blessing, as at the culmination of this age of earth, all shall be reconciled with God and His judgement. 

OT: The Book of Psalms, Psalm 66

Psalm 66:1-20

66:1-4 There was power in worship. He knew that proclaiming the power of our God is an act of reverence as well as remembrance. Worship is the acknowledgement that things things and people are within His authority. For the righteous, that is reason for praise. For the wicked, it is occasion for either reconfiguration or inevitable destruction.

66:5-7 Meditation and observation on the will and creation of God supplements our faith. Not only is our God kind and powerful, He uses that kindness and power to restore and establish us. On the land of this earth we rejoice and praise the God who created it for us. We praise the God who has led us across it, the God whose love has persevered with us through generations. 

66:8-12 Humanities history with God is rich and complex. He has endured our selfishness at times, cherished our faithfulness and love at other times. We have endured His discipline, benefited from His faithfulness and love at all times. Though He has cherished us, we have many times forgotten Him and neglected His statues and laws and commandments. No matter what, however, God has always brought us out into fulfillment. 

66:13-15 The psalmist promised to make vows to God and keep them, to sacrifice to God. He made burnt-offerings but our offering, since the life and death and resurrection of Jesus, is the sacrifice of the worldly things in our life.  We trade them for what Heaven has taught us to value: truth, wisdom, compassion and righteousness. 

66:16-19 If you revere God, listen, the psalmist called. Listen to him explain how God saved and healed and filled his soul. Listen to him as he describes our attentive Father, who hears and answers and forgives. God attends to the prayers of the righteous.

66:20 Our Father is unfailingly receptive to our prayers. We are constant beneficiaries of His mercy. 

OT: The Book of Psalms, Psalm 65

Psalm 65:1-13

65:1-3 Our God has earned His praise. As we walk toward Him, make mistakes and He makes atonement for them. Therefore as we walk toward Him, we praise. 

65:4 Blessed is the person seen and chosen by God for His purposes. The blessed condition of our service to Him: to be in the presence of God. For all the wealth and power that is in the world, it is the Lord in heaven that David valued. 

Psalm 84:10 

For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

65:5-6 God's answers are consistently in the form of awesome deeds in righteousness. Even when His answer is quiet, even when His answer is not yet, even when His answer is no, all of the answers come and come with righteousness. God makes decisions for our lives based in compassion and justice. Divine intervention comes into our lives awesomely: with wisdom, power and majesty beyond our comprehension. 

65:7-8 God possesses such power that He can put to rest the calamity of oceans and nations. 

65:9-10 Creator of this biosphere enables it to function perfectly, sustaining life in an exquisite design. 

65:11-13 Children of God have a different experience with life than others. The days of our years and the years of our lives are crowned with His goodness; ours paths drip with the abundance of His provision. His provision causes the little hills, the wildernesses in our lives to rejoice, to become verdant with blessing and full. Children and the earth rejoice at the abundance His love yields. 

OT: The Book of Psalms, Psalm 64

Psalm 64:1-10

64:1-4 David made several requests in prayer:

Preserve my life from fear of the enemy 

Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the rebellion of the workers of iniquity

Notice that David asks for God's preservation from fear as well as the force that caused the fear. Fear can do as much damage to us as any enemy threatens, perhaps more. We have the blessing of our protection and preservation from God that indeed preserves us from the reckless actions of harmful people. We need only to call on Him, to invite Him into our lives as an authority.

64:5-6 Just as in Numbers 22 regarding Balak and Balaam, though the wicked plot against the righteous, their toil is inevitably fruitless if their target in within God's haven. The tribulation will come, but the fire of it does not burn. God creates outlets for us to escape, restore, remain, rejoice. 

64:7-10 The end of the story, for the righteous, is always a recount of God's triumph on their behalf. God is our hero, our undefeated warrior. And so we trust and praise and glorify Him.

OT: The Book of Psalms, Psalm 63

Psalm 63:1-11

63:1-2 Even though in his life David was often chased into barren lands, it was spiritual barrenness that David concerned himself with. David knew that his soul needed constant access to the Living Water: His God. Our souls thirst for God's nourishment, the peace and wisdom and love that satisfy and come only His holy source.

Revelation 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

John 4:13-14 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again,  but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

David searched for God, for His power and glory rather than prideful pursuit. When you are in need, of anything, search more deeply for the Lord. Your need, your thirst, can be quenched by Him only.

63:3-5 A pure and faithful, righteous heart is satisfied only with the love of God. God's love is so absolute, to unrelenting, so direct and alive that it is better than even the miracle of life. David frequently basked in God's love, His light and while doing so, David praised. Joyfully, David praised because nothing compared to the feeling he felt within God's love.

63:6-7 There is so much we can learn from David, who was described by God to be a man after His own heart. David constantly meditated on his faith, his relationship with God and on God Himself. David remained aware and grateful for the help God provided to his life and soul. Within the protection of God, David rejoiced. He was constantly aware of his blessed position under God's wing. 

63:8 David said that his soul closely followed God. He was not merely a follower but an eager one... constantly making effort to be as close as he could get. 

Interestingly, David attributed his strength and stance to the support of God. Not muscles nor bones or willpower but God. For David knew that it was God who not only gave him life but sustained him through it. Our relationship with God should deepen and develop every day. Our effort should be vehement and consciously to the point where we are constantly trying to reach His heels.

What use is it to us, to God or to anyone else to be reluctant or apathetic followers of God? The fullness of God's glory is made available to us and in return, He deserves our whole selves.

63:9-10 As in the previous Psalm, David speaks defeat to his enemies. It is helpful to us to declare the destruction of the fear and forces that are against us because indeed God has defeated those things already. They are dead things already. We are alive in God.

What others mean for evil, God turns to God. Tribulation is made productive and temporary by Him:

Genesis 50:20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. 

1 Peter 5:10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

63:11 As king, a man who witnessed God's divine establishment of his position and the kingdom, David chose to rejoice in God.  David did not lose sight of Who true authority belonged to. 

All who align under God's authority shall glory, as David experienced, but those who do not will be thwarted.

OT: The Book of Psalms, Psalm 62

Psalm 62:1-12

62:1 No matter what the situation was, David waited on God's will to unfold. Trust in God and the inevitable arrival of His presence and plan allows us to have solemnity within chaotic circumstances. Rather than panic, rather than react with fear and complicate matters, wait for God. And while waiting: pray.

6:2 Choose God to be your only rock. Place what matters to you exclusively on God as a foundation. As in Matthew 7 and Luke 6, build your house, your life, upon the rock. The unshakable establishment: the kingdom of God. 

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Know that neither rain nor storm, nor force nor person can move you when you are founded in God.

62:3-4 Because of his confidence in God, David spoke defeat to his enemies. When our full confidence is in God, in times of distress and as fear encroaches, we can speak defeat to that which against us. We can do so because our God has already declared victory. We know that because Saul couldn't kill David; Jezebel couldn't find Elijah; Noah escaped flood; Joseph left the prison; Daniel survived the lions den. We know that as righteous children of God, nothing has power over us because our God has already won the war. 

Find peace in contemplating that your enemies have already been sentenced to defeat by your Advocate.

62:5 Anticipate nothing but the presence and power of God over your life. David's expectation was from God and it gave him the peace to live patiently as life unfolded.

6:6-7 In his psalm, in his prayers, David highlighted what God was for him. Define what God is for you, as a reminder and as a confidence because life will pry the hope and strength out of you if you do not know precisely Who your God is and His capabilities. You need to know how much and how capably He loves you.

This verse defines God as:

My Rock
My Salvation
My Defense
My Glory
My Strength
My Refuge 

From all sides, from every position, God is our support and provision, our defense and leader.

62:8 Let there be no separation between you and God, no gaps in your relationship. Pour your whole self out to Him: your hopes and dreams and fears and sorrows and questions. Trust Him at all times because lapses of trust in God are hard and painful and regressive. We need Him and humanity needs people who are connected with God. 

62:9-10 Do not hitch your heart or fulfillment on wealth or status or power. Humans who do so are vapid and have no substance, no weight on God's scales. Only those whose wealth is the love of God and whose power is in God are valued by the kingdom of God. 

62:11-12 Power belongs to God; no man can possess it or wield it, even though many are convinced they can. Like Daniel and Joseph, true leaders take instruction from God and accept no reverence for themselves. Power and judgement, the gift of mercy, is God's and He expertly decides in what measure.

OT: The Book of Psalms, Psalm 61

Psalm 61:1-8

61:1-2 David makes a raw and personal prayer:

Hear my cry, O God;
Attend to my prayer.
From the end of the earth I will cry to You,
When my heart is overwhelmed;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

Every person reaches a point in life, in relationship or in situation where they feel overwhelmed. Whatever it is that leads us to that emotional place, described by David as the end of the earth, we have all seen the view from that edge. We have all surveyed from that place, the landscape that led us there. 

In that place, there are two things we need first and foremost: love and hope. But that place is a barren land, and even the whole rest of the earth can seem unable to provide what we need. Like David, in that place we have a desperate cry and an overwhelmed heart. Yet like David, we must also have a prayer. Because like David, we have a God who will hear the cry and will attend to the heart.

Father lead us to You, the rock that is higher than the place that feels to us like end of the earth. For we need His stability and His perspective in order to persevere. We need His love to lead us and to restore hope in the empty place.

61:3 God has drawn us into His shelter before, and He will always do so. He is a strong tower from which we escape and view the battle field. With Him we strategize a plan of action from a safe place. In His fortress, we have access to His weapons-room and we arm ourselves with the whole arsenal, the entire spiritual armor.

Ephesians 6:14-17

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;

Essentially, Ephesians 6 explains further what Matthew 6:33 teaches: to seek the kingdom above all things and to let God take care of the the rest. The kingdom of God is our shelter and strong tower. 

61:4 David pledged to remain in that place... not the barren land, not the edge of the earth but in the kingdom. In the tabernacle, the place of God forever. We must make a steadfast commitment, a dogged commitment to remaining in the house of the Lord. Fear will call to us from the base of the tower but will we descend? Like David, we find ourselves walking down the steps as it calls our name but even as we descend we must call out to God to redirect our steps. We constantly need Him to turn us around, to help us climb back into His haven.

Because as we step down it gets darker and we become more overwhelmed... but every place our cry is heard by God. His light penetrates every darkness. We were meant to see the dawn, each day, from the top of the tower and so it is to that place He always leads. Symbolized by the word "wings," we know that God uses His own body to protect us; we are that important to Him.

61:5 David built a relationship founded on truth with God. No matter where we are in that constructive process, we will continually learn that God is faithful. To those who make a commitment to God, there is a grand covenant to inherit. A holy home and the deepest love. The most abundant provision and spiritual sustenance.

61:6-7 Our relationship with God reminds us, while we stand on that emotional edge of the earth, that this life, juxtaposed our eternal life, is able to be persevered. The perspective reminds us that if God can wield the universe, an eternity, He certainly has power and plan for this life. The undercurrent of His every plan is love and provision for His children. That knowledge helps us to see our temporary lack as space He has already planned to fill. Weight He has already reached out to carry. Fear He has already abated. 

61:8 Our praise of God is fulfilling in a way nothing else ever could be. From the standpoint of worship, we diminish fear and anxiety. We mute the voice of our enemy, within or without, and we void the burden of present moment. Worship brings us to the doorstep of the kingdom, and our voice rings its bell. With our worship we pray to be let inside and the door is always opened.

Because in worship we are heart to heart with God. When we worship from a broken place, especially, something miraculous happens: as we observe God's strength, God absorbs our weakness. 

OT: The Book of Psalms, Psalm 60

Psalm 60:1-12

60:1-3 Discipline is never an easy cup to drink or process to endure. But it cannot be avoided as a child of God. In several places, including Revelation 3:19, God explains that He disciplines us because He loves us. His correction is meant to help us; we learn better behavior from His disapproval of poor behavior.

Thankfully, like the Psalmist we can pray for restoration. We cannot accept the process of betterment and know that God's mercy will forgive and guide us. 

60:4-5 Those who revere God receive a banner; we march with His holy army. Even though we made missteps, His guidance (and our adherence to it) keeps us ultimately where we need to be.

60:6-8 God has a plan for every region and person on the earth. The claims and divisions He makes are definite and inevitable.

60:9-12 Most of us learn the hard way that any advice separate from God's will is indeed useless. Through God we will do valiantly, as the verse says, but away from Him we consistently fail. Fail in hope and success and peace. He is our provision of those things and therefore without Him, we are deficient of those things.

OT: The Book of Psalms, Psalm 59

Psalm 59:1-17

59:1-2 We all need God's protection. Free will for humanity means that people can behave as the choose and humans often make wrong and selfish decisions. But though we have free will, children of God exchange it for God's will. We use our free will to choose His will. And God's will comes with protection. David prayed for that very protection as he became surrounded by enemies. 

59:3-4 David's enemies assembled for destruction, but David knew that a sincere prayer to God would assure his own stability.

59:5 And though many choose to take matters into their own hands, David asked for God to take over the situation. 

59:6-7 As our enemies bark and amass and surround and doubt, deny God, we know that God sees and hears.

59:8-10 God is not fazed by the bark of evil. His power decimates it all. He sees and takes account. As we wait for His plan to reach fulfillment, we trust in His strength. We rely on His defense. We know that judgement and righteousness will arrive with His kingdom and because of that belief, because of the might and goodness of the God we believe in, we persevere. 

59:11-13 God's intervention and defense over our life is an example, a message to the rest of the world. David prayed that God's will over His life would abound beyond the borders of Israel. And surely God's will and philosophy are for the whole earth to absorb, for whosoever will (Romans 10:13).

59:14-15 Fear and doubt, enemy and dismay will always prowl around. They are greedy, hungry, selfish beasts...

59:16 ... but as children of God, they should not have any grip on us. We sing of His power in praise and remembrance. His mercy  separates us from darkness. He is our constant dawn and defense. He is our refuge when we feel we cannot escape.

59:17 Like David, acknowledge God as your strength. The strength that cannot be defeated or even diminished. Sing praises; celebration and remembrance of His goodness will sustain. Our merciful God is our defense that He is worthy of praise.

OT: The Book of Psalms, Psalm 58

Psalm 58:1-11

58:1-2 David calls out hypocrisy. No person or institution can claim or preach righteousness if their actions do not reflect righteousness. 

58:3-5 Evil actions remove a person from God's family. Stubbornness and wickedness sever the spiritual connection. A child of God must be receptive to His voice and discipline, to His commandments and statues and laws. A righteous lifestyle is how we come to identify with God as our Father.

58:6-8 David prayed for the destruction and elimination of evil. 

58:9-11 God, the ultimate, righteous judge will determine the outcome of all things and people. Find comfort in His will and power, for as David said, surely their is a reward for the righteous; surely He is God who judges in the earth."

OT: The Book of Psalms, Psalm 57

Psalm 57:1-11

57:1 The Psalmist prays for mercy and finds comfort in the fact that because he trusts in God, he will receive it. Mercy and refuge are promises made by God that His children can claim. We do not need to bundle up in fear or run to other people or substances or anything else. We have refuge in Him, we need only pray for it... trust in it.

57:2-3 God takes care of us and that fact should give us confidence to cry out to Him. The Psalmist says: To God who performs all things for me. Indeed God has prepared us, intricately for this life. Nature is tailored to support us. Our spirits are as tailored to God's spirit. He can wholly sustain us. When we give God authority over our lives, He takes control of the whole picture, every element, including the ones beyond our own grasp.

57:4-5 When you feel surrounded by lions, within or without, praise and pray to God. When you feel on fire, and attacked, and cornered, praise and pray to God. Praise because He will come, pray because He will hear.

57:6 Though the next phase of our life may seem like an end or a grey zone, God can rejuvenate it. The pit becomes a path. The net becomes a sphere of His protection, a guide into new freedom and joy.

57:7-8 Love and trust God steadfastly. Sing and praise. 

57:9-11 Exalt the One whose glory is available throughout the whole earth, and even life beyond what we comprehend.