Psalm 25 carries with it a great perspective on the way that we approach the Lord.  The psalmist cries out for mercy and forgiveness not because he deserves it or even because God “owes it to him.”  Rather, he pleads for grace on the basis of God’s character.

Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.

Remember not the sins of my youth,
and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you are good, O Lord.

Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.

He guides the humble in what is right
and teaches them his way.

All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful
for those who keep the demands of his covenant.

For the sake of your name, O Lord,
forgive my iniquity, though it is great (vs 6-11).

The Lord is merciful.  The Lord is loving.  The Lord is good.  The Lord is upright.  The Lord is faithful.  And for the sake of His name, He forgives us.  There is great danger when we approach the throne of the Most High thinking we deserve to enter into His presence.  Yet, out of the fullness of His character, He invites us in, for the sake of His name.

Psalm 24 is another psalm well known for the praise songs that it has inspired, most recently “Give Us Clean Hands” from Passion and “King of Glory” by Third Day. And it really is a powerful psalm declaring the magnificence, might and glory of YHWH.

Who may ascend the hill of the Lord?
Who may stand in his holy place?

He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear by what is false.

He will receive blessing from the Lord
and vindication from God his Savior.

Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek your face, O God of Jacob (Psalm 24:3-6).

Only he who has clean hands and a pure heart may stand in the holy place. But only Jesus, the Christ, has ever had clean hands and a pure heart. The rest of us “were by nature objects of wrath” (Eph 2:3). Romans 3:10, quoting the Psalms, declares, “There is no one righteous, not even one.” But that One, the Christ, never lifted his soul to another. He lived a pure, righteous and sinless life. And by his death and resurrection, we have been made righteous that we too may stand confidently on that holy hill. That we may yearn to become the holy generation who seeks the face of the God of Jacob. Praise be to the King of Glory who has invited us into his holy presence that we might honor him and exalt him forever.

On Thursday I woke up to an email from someone here in New Orleans, accusing me of subverting the ministry here all summer. To say the least, it was painful. I was angry and hurt.

I read this email just before I was going to read and journal on Psalm 23. How appropriate that psalm turned out to be for encouraging my heart…

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

I could assess, evaluate and dissect this psalm.  But there is no need.  Rather, in the midst of hardship and trial, sit under it and soak in it.  YHWH is a good God and has promised his presence with us.  Trials will come and go.  But the Lord our God will be with us through them all.  Praise God.

Now we come to Psalm 22, the great Messianic psalm that Jesus both quotes (“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” – vs 1) and fulfills (with the casting of lots for his clothes in vs 18) at his crucifixion.

Yet that is not what jumped out at me as I reflected on Psalm 22 this morning.  Instead, it was the way that David, the psalm-writer, depended upon God’s past faithfulness and provision to find his hope in the midst of his current struggles.

After lamenting that God feels so far off and his salvation is nowhere to be found, David finds remembers how God has been faithful both to Israel…

Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the praise of Israel.

In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.

They cried to you and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not disappointed (vs 3-5).

…and to him personally.

 Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you even at my mother’s breast.

From birth I was cast upon you;
from my mothers womb you have been my God (vs 9-10).

The Scriptures continually reveal how YHWH is faithful to save his people (see Hebrews 11) and we can look into our own lives as see how the Lord has faithfully, diligently and lovingly guided our steps.  Though trials arise, there is both hope and praise to be found in those trials as we remember the goodness of our God.  So let us go and tell those stories to others, that they might also remember the Lord.

Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.

They will proclaim his righteousness
to a people yet unborn – for he has done it (vs 30-31).

Interestingly, in between reads of Psalm 21, I went to Operation World’s website to pray for the country of the day, Japan. One of the prayer requests for Japan, under the category of specific weaknesses in the church, reads, “Lack of understanding about evil spirits in spite of their heavy presence through idolatry, fortune telling and occultic new religions. Many evangelical pastors and theologians deny their existence in Japan.”

I thought it was so interesting to read and pray for that in between reading and re-reading Psalm 21 because the Psalm is a song of rejoicing in the victory that God gave King David and Israel.

How great is his joy in the victories you give! (vs 1)

Through the victories you gave, his glory is great (vs 5)

As Christians, we are not in a battle against flesh and blood (Eph. 6:12) as were the Israelites. But we are no less in battle and we are no less guaranteed victory over the enemy than were David and Israel. Listen to these words later (vs 8-13) in the psalm…

Your hand will lay hold on all your enemies;
your right hand will seize your foes.

At the time of your appearing,
you will make them like a fiery furnace.

In his wrath the Lord will swallow them up,
and his fire will consume them.

You will destroy their descendants from the earth,
their posterity from mankind.

Though they plot even against you and devise wicked schemes,
they cannot succeed;
for you will make them turn their backs
when you at at them with drawn bow.

Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength;
we will sing and praise your might.

Please pray for the church in Japan that they would have the spiritual eyes to see the battle waging around them. And pray that you would don the armor of Ephesians 6 because we are in a war. But take heart because our God is mighty to save and He will not lose!

This summer in New Orleans has been tough.  The demand for both Kim and for me is unbelievably high.  The cell phones never stop ringing and the tasks never stop.  I’m tired physically, emotionally and spiritually.  Unfortunately, the easiest thing to push aside when working so hard for God is time alone with God.  And the result is the weight of the world being upon my shoulders.  And it is a burden that is about to bring me to my knees.

It is here, with all this going on around me, that I opened my Bible to resume my journaling of the Psalms.   Listen to these words from Psalm 20…

May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;
May the name of the God of Jacob protect you.

May he send you help from the sanctuary
and grant you support from Zion.

May he remember all your sacrifices
and accept your burnt offerings.

May he give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.

We will shout for joy when you are victorious
and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the Lord grant all your requests.

Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;
he answers him from his holy heaven
with the saving power of his right hand.

Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.

O Lord, save the king!
Answer us when we call!

 O Lord of heaven and earth, hear me when I call.  I pray that you would receive all my labor and work as a sacrifice of praise and fill me with the power of your presence.  And let me rest in the grasp of your mighty right hand because that hand is mighty to save.  You know that my mind is running a mile a minute with the thoughts of everything to be done – both here and in preparation for our move to Delaware.  I ask that you would give Kim and me, your servants, the desire of our hearts – a job for Kim and a home for us and even a family in your time.  I trust that you save your anointed so I will not trust in the material signs of power.  Instead, I will trust in the name of the Lord my God.  Come, Lord Jesus, and fill me with the power of your presence and a passion for your people.