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.