Psalms 95 & 96

This morning, or now, this afternoon, we are still awaiting Hurricane Milton. It has been pouring all day and we are getting a few gusts. Nothing major, yet. In fact, we may not see the storm until 11 pm, but I am not sure because it changes constantly. We are guessing that the peak will come between 3 am to 9 am, but we could be wrong. So we wait.

PSALM 95

I opened my Bible to Psalm 95. This is a call to worship and obedience. First David (possible author) called all to worship the Lord, with joyful shouting to the "Rock of our salvation." He told them to come into His presence with thanksgiving because the Lord is the great God and King "above all gods." 

In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land. 

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; lets us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.  

Then David gave a different command: 

Today, if you will hear His voice; do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, as in the day of trial in the wilderness...

Now the Psalm changes to a warning of God's wrath. God's people tested Him in the wilderness, and He was grieved with them. The people went astray in their hearts and they did not know God's ways," which was why He did not permit them to enter His rest (the Promise Land). 

PSALM 96

This Psalm is a song of praise to God coming in judgment and makes reference to the future millennial rule of the Lord, Jesus. One day all the nations of the earth will worship Him, and there will be a new song in our hearts.

For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before Him; strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. 

All of nature will "tremble before Him!"

The world also is firmly established, it shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously.

Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and all its fullness; let the field be joyful, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord. For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with His truth.  

That's right...the world will be firmly established when Jesus rules all the nations. And finally there will be righteous judgment instead of corrupt judges. All nature will rejoice at the newly established Government in which Jesus will reign forever. 

 

Psalm 139

This morning I am meditating on Psalm 139, written by King David.

To summarize:

God knows everything about David, as He does about each and every one of us. 

David knows that he cannot hide anything from God because God knows his every thought. And likewise our thoughts, too.

God controls David's circumstances to restrict behavior. And God is still controlling our circumstances, as well.

God watches over David and sees everything. Same for us.

David cannot go far away from God, and neither can we.

David knows who His creator is:

For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance being yet unformed. 

The MacArthur study Bible says: "By virtue of the divinely designed period of pregnancy, God providentially watches over the development of the child while yet in the mother's womb." It would do us well to remember that each and every new human life before being formed is known by God. And in the case of abortion, we will be held to account for holding particular opinions about babies in the womb. I just had to throw that in there.

In this next verse, David says:

And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.

David declares that all of his days were known by God before he was even conceived. So are our days. 

I love this section, too:

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.

David describes the infinite mind of God, all-powerful, all-knowing God! 

Then David shifts gears and talks about his enemies. He hates them because they hate God. How so? He means he is not neutral towards God's enemies and he will never join them, which is a right position for all of God's people to have. We should not be soft towards God's enemies, and especially we should never align ourselves with their ideas and actions. 

Next, David asks God to search his heart for iniquity and to root it out. We should do likewise because once it is brought to our attention, believers should want to kill sin in their lives.  

And lastly, David expresses his desire for everlasting life, and we should, too. 

* * *

I found a need to read the Psalms this morning (multiple, yes) because I am here in central Florida, outside Tampa, awaiting Hurricane Milton (in three days), and I am unsettled. When I get like this, I have to focus on the Psalms because many of them, like Psalm 139, are good reminders of how small I am before my Creator and God. He is also my Comforter. And He is also the creator of the storms. A lot of people don't like to remember that, and they are blaming the government...our inept government...for being responsible for such powerful and destructive storms. Granted, I know man would love to think he is capable of and even successful at creating powerful storms, or altering their paths, or controlling them for whatever purpose, but I still have not been convinced that God would permit itty-bitty man to override what is His creation. 

Matthew 8:27: Who can this be that even the winds and the sea obey Him? 

Why would God permit such storms? There are a multitude of reasons, and probably more than I even know. But one could be judgment, another could be to get our attention, and still another could be to increase faith in believers. For everyone, it could be a different reason. He is also demonstrating His power and might. Man is nothing in the face of God. We cannot build strong enough buildings to protect ourselves, we cannot flee far enough away from His power, and we cannot hide from His judgments. The best thing we can do is repent now and recognize Him as Lord and Savior of our fragile lives. Then pray for His mercy to cover you with His hand.