E-votion for January 14

14
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+14&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+44&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+74&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+104&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+134&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+14&version=NASB

When you read the Psalms you can notice similarities with the Proverbs. That’s because the way of wisdom was central to Israel’s culture. We saw that theme in the first Psalm, that the one who is attentive to the Law is like a tree planted by the water. And for Israel, wisdom begins with knowing God.

E-votion for January 11

11
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+11&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+41&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+71&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+101&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+131&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+11&version=NASB

Couple items of business — if you missed yesterday’s devotion, it might be because I had to send them from my phone. I’m now posting the devotions on WordPress again so you can find old ones there. Also, I finally chose a site to host by sermons. you can follow the link below. I put up everything since last Labor Day.

Our life is like a bird in Psalm 11 — a hunter has drawn his bow but God invites us to fly to his refuge in the mountains.

E-votion for January 10

10

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+10&version=NASB

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+40&version=NASB

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+70&version=NASB

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+100&version=NASB

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+130&version=NASB

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+10&version=NASB

 

Psalm 10 is a lament as the psalmist voices his disappointment at the perceived inequities of life.

It seems commonplace today to hear rants from the talking heads in the media. While it seems to me that these rants are intended to increase the level of frustration of one’s audience, the psalmist’s laments are intended to give voice to our frustrations constructively as we speak them to someone who can do something about them, namely our great God.

There are painful things in life that are worth lamenting: the deaths of innocents, the misery of famine, the decay of our cities. The psalmist’s lament let speak our pain.

E-votion for January 9

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+9&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+39&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+69&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+99&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+129&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+9&version=NASB

The psalmist speaks often in this psalm of being exalted over one’s enemies but the psalm begins with simply with praise to God. That’s the place to begin.

E-votion for January 8

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+8&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+38&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+68&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+98&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+128&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+8&version=NASB

Psalm 8 asks an interesting question about man:

4 What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him?
5 Yet You have made him a little lower than God,
And You crown him with glory and majesty!
6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,

Interpreters have gone back and forth as to whether the Psalmist is talking about humanity in general or one particular man, the Messiah Jesus. I would say that is both — that humanity was created to have dominion, meaning to care for, over the rest of creation but Jesus is exalted above all. I think it is a good thing to think of humanity in these terms, as long as we also accept the responsibility that comes with it.

E-votion for January 7

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+7&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+37&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+67&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+97&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+127&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+7&version=NASB

Psalm 7 contains a common theme in the Psalms, a prayer for vindication over one’s enemies. We don’t know who Cush was but King Saul was of the tribe of Benjamin and surrounded himself with fellow tribesmen so it might have been someone who was contributing the friction between David and the paranoid king.

We might want to be vindicated immediately but verse seven might indicate that it will be at the final judgment. That’s certainly the time when we do want to be vindicated but that means we wait for it in faith.

E-votion for January 6

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+6&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+36&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+66&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+96&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+126&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+6&version=NASB

For our Bible reading plan this year I’m going to focus on Psalms and Proverbs. There’s two ways you can approach this. There are 150 different psalms so if you read five each day, you’ll read through the Psalms every month except February. Proverbs is divided into 31 chapters so one chapter each day will get you all the way through Proverbs in six months of the year, and most of the way through in the others.

E-votion for January 5

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+5&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+35&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+65&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+95&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+125&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+5&version=NASB

Psalm 5 is a morning psalm.

E-votion for January 4

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+4&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+34&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+64&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+94&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+124&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+4&version=NASB

The fourth Psalm is called an evening psalm as the psalmist actually talks about lying down to go to sleep. The fifth Psalm is a morning psalm. This actually corresponds to the Hebrew concept of a day, which begins and ends at the setting of the sun. This goes all the way back to the account of creation with the recurring statement, “And there was evening, and there was morning—the … day.”

We tend to think of our day beginning when we get up in the morning and get started with our day. The Psalmist trusts his day to God and then lies down to go to sleep. God’s at work before we are.

E-votion for January 3

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+3&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+33&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+63&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+93&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+123&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+3&version=NASB

You might notice a verse 0 at the beginning of this Psalm. Most scholars think that these descriptions were added after the Psalms were written but they do give us a context. Psalm 3 was written as David fled from his son, Absalom, who was attempting to usurp him. It certainly gives a greater appreciation for the psalms when we realize the life situation of the writer. He wasn’t just dealing with a bad hair day.