Day #85 – Psalm 36-38 Psalm 36 – Verses 1-4 David decries the moral failures of his generation. He states they have no fear of God (verse 1). If someone points out his sinful thoughts, words, or actions he hates (verse 2). You cannot trust what he says (verse 3). He is constantly devising ways and schemes to defraud or hurt others and thinks nothing of it (verse 4). Read those 4 sentences again. Does that sound familiar? It’s as if David were living in our generation and writing of America 2014. But then David turns and begins addressing what both the sinner and saint have available in the Lord God. David states that God’s “mercy is in the heavens” (verse 5). This I believe is a picture of the vastness of God’s mercy. I don’t know about you but I personally am glad that God is a God of great mercy. Some 400 years after David penned these words the prophet Jeremiah expressed the same though in Lamentations 3:22-24 where we read, “Through the LORD’S mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. ‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘Therefore I hope in Him!’” David states that God’s faithfulness is so great it reaches to the clouds. I couldn’t help but think of the hymn Great Is Thy Faithfulness when I read these words. If the wicked of verse 1-4 had repented I believe they’d have received the forgiveness just as you and I have. Here are the words to the last verse of Great Is Thy Faithfulness: Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide; strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside! Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed Thy hand hath provided; great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!” Psalm 37 – We look at evil people and many of them are extremely rich and or extremely popular. Verse 1 the word “fret” in the Hebrew the word means to burn, to be kindled, to be inflamed, and is often applied to anger. So David is saying not to be angry because of those who do evil. We should not be envious of them either. Why would we be envious of “workers of iniquity”? Because the bible teaches sin is pleasurable in the moment (see Hebrews 11:25). But in verse 2 David says they will be “cut down” and will wither away. Contrasted with those who practice evil is verses 3-4 where we are told if we trust in and delight in the Lord, He will give the desires of our heart. So what does it mean when it says the Lord will give us the desires of our heart? Is that anything we want? Think of it this way. The fact that you desire to find your happiness in Him serves to control your desires, so that you will be “disposed” to only ask for those things which He would want to grant. The fact you find happiness in Him will be a reason why He will grant your desires. The fact that a child loves his father, and finds his happiness in doing his will has a way of controlling his “wishes” or “desires”. That then serves as a reason why the father will be disposed to comply with his requests. Verse 7 tells us to “rest” in the Lord and the word literally means to be “silent”. You may wonder why God allows you to be unjustly accused or looked down upon because of your heart for Him. Know that God does not always act on behalf of the innocent immediately; and there may be valuable lessons He wants to teach you; things such as gentleness, patience and forgiveness the Lord is bringing about in your character. In verse 12 it’s a picture of wicked people snapping at His people (“gnashes at him {the just} with his teeth” and God simply laughs at their attempts to inflict harm. Verse 16 explains how it is better to have just a little and live righteously than it would be to have a lot of “stuff” and live wickedly. Verse 23 means if you are walking with God on a daily basis He will direct your steps; you will know that the path you are taking is the path He has for you. And even if you fall down on the path the Lord as a loving Father will help you up and sustain you with His hand. It is like the promise in Hebrews 13:5 where the Lord says He will never “forsake” us. The word “forsake” was a nautical term meaning to sink. The Lord is promising that He will not let us sink because He will “uphold us with His hand” (see Psalm 37:24). Psalm 38 – This is what is called a “penitential” psalm because in it David expresses sorrow and repentance for his sin (see verse 18). Clearly in this psalm we understand that at times our sickness is a result of sin. We know from reading Job that is not always the case. But when sickness comes, one question we should be sure to answer is are we right with the Lord, that is, is there any unconfessed sin in our life. I want you to notice the effects of sin. David says in verse 10 that sin will affect the way you see things. Talk to a believer who once lived for the Lord but has wandered as a prodigal into sin about their sinfulness and often you will hear something like, “I used to see things that way, but I don’t see it that way anymore”. Verse 13 David says sin will cause you not to hear properly. Be it a witness from a fellow believer or a word from God through a preacher sin will cause a person to become “like a deaf man” and not hear; he simply tunes out the word and witness of God. Verse 13 also says sin causes a person to be like a mute person. A mute person cannot speak, and when they try their speech does not make sense. When you are in sin and you speak, to those believers around you, your speech no longer makes sense. They ask things like, “He (or she) used to walk with God. Why would they say something like that?” So if that is where you are today the best thing you can do is what David did in verse 18. Out of anguish over his own sin he confesses his iniquity before the Lord. Then know the promise of 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Posted on: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 17:10:23 +0000