Daily Devotionals & book resources

Psalm 21 and Genesis 49.8-12

All children are taught how to write a story based on a story mountain. At its simplest characters are introduced and a scene set, a problem arises and then a solution occurs followed by a conclusion.  In a sense Psalms 21 and 22 combine to form a story mountain in the mountain range of the salvation story.  They are royal psalms, focusing on the king.  They follow a common poetic pattern of parallelism where the first line’s meaning is repeated in the second line with a shift in emphasis.        ‘May he grant you your heart’s desire

And fulfill all your plans.’ ^v4

For verses 7 and 8 a variation of parallelism is used called Antithetical Parallelism, where the second line contrasts with the first.

‘Some trust in chariots and some in horses,

But we trust in the name of the Lord our God.’ ^v7

The scene is set, the people and probably the priests are praying for their king (David) before an unknown battle.  They pray for the king because he represents the people.  The characters are the people, priests, the king, the enemy and the Lord.  The problem is the threat of a foreign power against Israel.

The opening verse, ‘May the name of the God of Jacob protect you’ ^v1 appeals to Jacob’s prophetic blessing, ‘The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall come.’ ^{Gen 49.10}   This blessing applies to David as being in the line of Judah and also as a messianic type.  It is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus not only through his death and resurrection but also on his return and the final Victory, Judgement and Restoration. ^{Revelaton chps 19-21}

The meaning of verse 7 takes on a fresh perspective in the New Testament.  Despite various attempts in history Christ’s victory in bringing personal salvation to the nations has never been by military might.*  Might mostly serves to raise resistance rather than win over people’s hearts.  Rather the New Testament way is to come in weakness but in the name of the Lord.  Stephen pioneered the way, following in the sacrificial footsteps of his Lord.  He has been followed by myriads since.   God’s words to Paul were, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ ^{2Corinthians 12.9}  It is not the solution on the story mountain that David’s Israelites were expecting but it is the way of the cross.

The Cross Has the Final Word.

*Personal salvation is a separate issue to national salvation and whether or not it is possible to conduct a righteous war.

Psalm 19 and Romans 1.18-23

Everyone who has spent significant time with a small child has been questioned about the wonder of the world with the intensity of a John Grisham courtroom scene. Who made this?   Where did it come from?  How does it work?  Why is it green?  When will it happen again?

When somebody first becomes a Christian, the question is often asked, but what about people who have never heard of Jesus, how can they find God?  Psalm 19 starts to answer this question.  Creation itself reveals something of the Creator.  ‘The heavens declare the glory of God.’ ^v1  Observation of the world we live in has always raised those childlike questions and in that sense speaks to us of God.  Paul puts it like this, ‘For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.’ ^Romans1.20

Psalm 19 though recognizes the limitation of creation itself as a full revelation of the nature of God and his relationship with humanity. ‘There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. ^v3 Central to this psalm is verse 9, ‘the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.’  Scripture is clear, that through God’s creation alone we should understand that he is eternal and holy and consequently we should worship him through the holiness of our lives and be God seekers. ^{Rom 1.21}  But to more fully understand God and be in relationship with him we need the word of God.  For David, this was the law books in the Old Testament.  ‘The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.’ ^v7  

We however live in a different age and have the revelation of Jesus Christ the living Word of God.  ‘The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  No one has ever seen God, the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.’ ^John1.17

It is now our responsibility to communicate that word so the question, ‘How can they find God?’ is no longer asked.  How then are we being, ‘witnesses … to the ends of the earth?’ ^{Acts 1.8}

How great is our God!

Psalm 18

I sat next to a man I didn’t know at a church lunch. It quickly became apparent that we had a mutual good friend and they had met some ten years earlier.  He told me how it was this friend who introduced him to Jesus at a time in his life when he had an alcohol problem.  Shortly after our friend asked him if he would tell his story about finding faith in Jesus in a church service and he initially agreed.  However, in the week before the service he visited our friend at his home in tears, saying he could not stand up in church as he was still drinking very heavily.  Our friend did what he usually does, he prayed with him for victory over drink.  He then turned to me and said, from that moment he had not touched a drop of drink and he was able to be honest and stand up in front of the church and tell his story.

Psalm 18 is fascinating, it is a narrative psalm, a celebration song, a messianic psalm, a royal psalm and a historical psalm.  It is recorded in 2 Samuel Chp 22 almost word for word as well as in Psalms.  It records David’s eventual deliverance from the hand of Saul in the most dramatic terms.  The Lord’s protection is described in a stream of metaphors, ‘The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer … my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.’ ^v2  This in response to David’s prayer, ‘In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help.’ ^v6 

‘He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me.’ ^v17  Doesn’t that sound like victory over addiction?  David then experiences the capacity to walk righteously, ‘I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin.’ ^v23  The psalm then culminates in praise for God.  ‘The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock!  Exalted be God my Saviour!’ ^v46

God’s deliverance of David was the military victory and spiritual victory of his anointed successor to Saul.  In Christ God has delivered victory over sin and the consequences of sin.  In Samuel the victory was recorded for instruction, in Psalms it was recorded for sung praise.  Contemporary stories of God’s victory over sin both encourage us and induce praise in our times of worship.  ‘For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.’ ^Eph2.10

Jesus is mighty to save. 

Psalm 17

When one of my children was small a favourite book was, ‘Guess how much I love you’.  It tells a story where an adult hare comforts its child by whispering to it how much it is loved with the words, ‘I love you to the moon and back.’  We would then play a game telling each other how much we loved them, each time the distance getting bigger.  To be told how much we are loved is a bedrock for our security, not only for a child but for all of us.

Psalm 17 is an individual lament where David feels unjustly accused of wrong.  He is keen to defend himself before God, ‘Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry! Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!’ ^v1  He appeals to God on the basis that he has been tested and found to be faithful. ^v4,5  David then beseeches God for protection on the basis of a special love bond between him and his Lord.  ‘Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings, from the wicked who do me violence my deadly enemies who surround me.’ ^vv8,9  Here David is harking back to Moses’ song at the end of Deuteronomy ^Deut32.10 where God has found his people in a desert.  Moses describes God’s chosen people in the beautiful phrase as, ‘the Lord’s portion.’  

Jesus is the apple of God the Father’s eye and in him we have become God’s chosen people.  ‘For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.  In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. ^{Ephesians 1.4,5}  Our security therefore lies in the intimacy or our relationship with God the Father.  Our portion is the Lord, ‘As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.’ ^{Ps 17.15}

Love divine all loves excelling

Psalm 16 and Acts 2.25-28

In C. S. Lewis’ children’s book and Christian allegory, Aslan explained to Susan and Lucy that the white witch knew the ancient law at one level but did not understand deep magic.  Therefore, when she killed Aslan on the stone table she had no idea the table would crack and he would come to life again.  So it is with much of the bible, where text carries meaning and application directly to people at the time of writing but also applies again later in a different context sometimes on more than one occasion.  Psalm 16 is a case in point.

David is celebrating the delights of living a life close to God.  He acknowledges that without God he, ‘has no good thing.’ ^v2  He rejoices in the company of fellow servants of the Lord in the same way as meeting as a church for Christians is uplifting for our faith. ^v3   He keeps himself apart from idol worshippers ^v4 just as Jesus prayed for the disciples and the modern church to be kept from the evil one because they are in but not of the world. ^{John 17.14-15}  David is fully satisfied with what God has given him ^vv5,6 as he continually learns from God remaining fixed upon him. ^vv7,8 

David’s confidence extends to his eventual death as he asserts that death is not the end and he will continue into eternal life in the presence of the Lord. ^v9-11  David though, would have had no idea that those very verses would be applied by Peter to the resurrection of Jesus.  ‘You will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’ ^{Acts 2.27,28}

This bodily resurrection from the dead to experience the joy of the presence of the Lord is then promised to all who trust in Jesus.  ‘So in Christ all will be made alive.  But each in turn: Christ, the first fruits, then, when he comes, those who belong to him.’ ^{1Corinthians15.22,23}

How else can we respond but to say, ‘This is amazing grace.’