Another Musical Meditation

Another musical meditation by a group that feels called of God to give voice to the
psalms through contemporary arrangements.  Psalm 148 by the Sons of Korah:

Extra Post (Psalm 137)

I was on vacation when we read Psalm 137 so I didn't get to post the following musical interpretation.  One of my favorite songs by Sons of Korah:

Upholding the Cause

I love verses 5-9 of Psalm 146.  They reveal the heart that God has for his world.  Those verses say:

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
⁶ the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them—
the Lord, who remains faithful forever.
⁷ He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
⁸ the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
the Lord loves the righteous.
⁹ The Lord watches over the alien
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. (NIV, 1984)

 

Who's side is the Lord on?  He's on the side of the disenfranchised and the downtrodden.  He works to help those who have been beaten down by corruption and abuse of power.  He helps the alien (apparently legal or otherwise).  If that is what God does, should we do any less?  We need to have the same heart for people that God does, helping the broken and the weary.  It's what Jesus did.  It's what we should do too. 

 

Defeating Sin

Many times I will have people come to me and ask me as their pastor how they stand against sin and temptation.  Psalm 141 provides a good answer.  In verses 3-5, David writes:

Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord;
keep watch over the door of my lips.
⁴ Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil,
to take part in wicked deeds
with men who are evildoers;
let me not eat of their delicacies.

⁵ Let a righteous man^[a] strike me—it is a kindness;
let him rebuke me—it is oil on my head.
My head will not refuse it. (NIV, 1984)

 

 

How do we stand firm against sin?  These verses suggest two ways.  First, we must pray for God's help in fighting sin.  Often we make the mistake of thinking our willpower can beat temptation.  It cannot.  We need to pray that God would guard our mouths, our actions, or desires that we might stay true to Him.  Second, we must be willing to take correction from godly people.  This means setting up relationships of accountability with strong Christians who can tell us if we are going the wrong way. Being struck with correction and rebuke is not pleasant, but there is no way to fight against sin if we are not willing to be corrected. 

 

So what are two important keys to defeating sin?  God's power and God's people.

A Well-Timed Psalm

Our reading of Psalm 118 is aptly timed.  On the one hand, Psalm 118 is clearly intended to be a Psalm of thanksgiving and thus it is appropriate to consider at our Thanksgiving season.  The timeliness of this Psalm does not end there however.  I think Psalm 118 also gives us a message that is quite worthwhile in the light of our recent election.  Commentators have noted that the election shows how deeply divided our country is on political issues.  My own personal experience bares this out.  Almost everyone I know had a rather visceral reaction to the election results.  Some of my friends (the smaller number) rejoiced at President Obama's re-election.  They saw the granting of a second term as a sure sign that our nation was heading in a healthy and prosperous direction.  Other of my friends literally wept at President Obama's reelection, and they were not weeping tears of joy.  These friends couldn't have been more depressed if we had elected the Antichrist. (Some think we did).  My own election days thoughts are not going to be revealed here.  If you think you know which way I leaned on the basis of this blog post, you don't.  Both sides, though, could probably stand to remember the words of verses 8-9:

"It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in humans.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes." 

 

I don't blame either side for having their emotions vested in the election of their candidate.  There is probably a virtue in having the strength of one's convictions.  But both sides need to remember that our hope is in the Lord not a prince (or a President).  Elections matter.  But their outcomes seem less significant when we remember that the King and King and Lord of Lords reigns eternally.  He is the One in whom our hope is placed.  Elections can never change that.



God Has Not Forgotten Us; Don't Forget Him

Like many of the Psalms, Psalm 115 is written in a time of trouble.  A careful reading of the Psalm suggests that Israel is going through some sort of trial, probably at the hands of a foreign enemy, and that God seems far off.  The enemies taunt Israel for the impotence of their God, while the people wonder where God is during this struggle.  The Psalmist though reminds the people that God has not forgotten them.  They should not forget him.  The Psalmist reminds Israel that it is in fact the gods of the enemies that are the impotent ones (vv. 4-8).  He also reminds them that while men "rule" on earth, God rules in heaven (vv.16) and thus He is the one truly in charge of Israel's circumstances.  Psalm 115 is designed to rally the nation.  It reminds them that in times of trouble they should trust God because God has not abandoned them.

The same lesson holds true for us as Christians today.  God has not abandoned us.  And so we should seek His glory not our own (v. 1).  We should trust in the Lord and know that He will bless us.  God doesn't forget us; we should not forget Him. 

One of These Things Is Not Like the Other

Psalms 105 and 106 are basically Psalms that are both about the same thing.  They both recall the history of Israel, particularly its exodus from Egypt.  Yet, the way they tell the stories is very different.  Psalm 105 places the emphasis on God's faithfulness.  As I read the Psalm, I thought to myself: "This is a pretty sanitized version of the Exodus.  You would have no idea that the people of Israel spent most of their trip to the Promised Land in rebellion."  I did not have that thought as I read Psalm 106.  There I wondered why God was even faithful to Israel as I read about their sins.  Two stories concerning the same event are told in very different ways.  In some ways, I wonder if this isn't the story of our lives in Christ.  Told from one perspective, our lives are really histories of rebellion, disobedience, and sin.  Certainly none of us lives the Christian ideal and there are probably times we wonder why God doesn't abandon us.  Yet, from another perspective, sin isn't present in our stories.  Our lives are really testimonies to grace and God's goodness.  In Christ, our biographies are narratives of God's mercy and faithfulness with no need for the discussion of our failings.  I find the contrast between these Psalms to be encouraging.  While I see my life more from a Psalm 106 perspective, it is good to know that in the grace given by Jesus my story can also be told as Psalm 105. 

Another musical interpretation of a Psalm, Psalm 103: