59 – ABOUT AND WICKEDNESS , 14, 15, 36, 37, 39, 40, 49, 50, 73, 76, 82, 84, 90, 92, 112, 115 April 27

THREE DAYS’ READING

One of the consistent themes of the Scriptures is the inherent superiority of righteousness over wickedness. Even though the wicked sometimes SEEM to escape punishment, it should be enough for us to know that GOD KNOWS. Besides, those who follow God know that behind the façade of wealth and power is often discontent and misery. Certainly those of us who have been on God's earth for a while know that the Law of Sowing and Reaping is true! (Or, as others would put it, "what goes round comes round!") And, of course, the wicked will receive their just reward in due time anyway! Look for these ideas and more in the next 17 psalms!

PSALM 1 The first psalm is beautiful in its simplicity. Truth is truth. We reap what we sow. You will probably already be familiar with the message of this psalm from songs at church. In particular, "Rejoice, rejoice, in the law of the Lord, rejoice, rejoice in the Law of the Lord, meditate on his words all the day and the night, meditate on his words all the day and the night."

PSALM 14 If this isn't the way of so-called "modern man"! I love the opening, "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'" Doesn't that sound familiar? Paul later quoted part of this in the third chapter of Romans. And I love the question, "Will evil doers never learn?"

PSALM 15 This is one of my all time favourite psalms. I have used it for bible talks and even for a Women's Day speech. Basic truth and righteousness - there is no escaping it. Let's look at a few of the timeless qualities of someone who is pleasing God mentioned in this psalm: a-does what is righteous = your should change your life. There is no such thing as a Christian life and a separate personal life. b-speaks the truth from his heart = not a deceitful type, but also includes speaking the truth in love and being open. c-has no slander on his tongue = Eph 4:29 "Do not let any unwholesome word come out of your mouth but only that which is …useful for the building up of others." d-honours those who fear the Lord = even if you don't know a Christian but if you know that they are a Christian and don't know any reason to not believe them, you should honour them for just being a Christian. This includes hospitality and serving. e-keeps his oath even when it hurts = I find this one especially challenging! I like things the easy way in my sinful nature; I like to be "comfortable", but this verse cuts through all excuses! The closing message is short and sweet: "He who does these things will never be shaken."

PSALM 36 I call this one the arrogant psalm. This one is scary but true: "There is no fear of God before his eyes. For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his ." God, on the other hand, is loving, just and righteous. "Spare me, O God, from becoming so arrogant that I am too deceived to see my own sin. And please give me good friends who will tell me the truth if they see me becoming this way."

PSALM 37 This is another of my personal favourites. (Ok, Ok , I know I always say that, but I can't help it!!) This is a great psalm for children going into primary school who may be dealing with injustice for the first time. This prayer highlights what a wonderfully positive God we have, and reminds us that we shouldn't even waste our time worrying about the wicked but instead spend our time doing what it right, such as: Trusting, dwelling, enjoying, delighting, committing, trusting, and also, being still, waiting, not fretting, etc. My favourite line: "Trust in the Lord and do good". This is also a great psalm to counter worldly thinking.

PSALM 39 This psalm is a crack up! It is basically raw indignation at the injustices of life. And boy, is life unjust. Sorry. Welcome to the world. I am sure we have all needed to have a "muzzle on our mouth" at times.

PSALM 40 captured the feeling we all have when we see our sin - I was in the slimy pit but God came and placed me on a rock and gave me a new song to sing! What a brilliant description of salvation, and of all the times we repent of major ! And what a classic line, "I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart." As usual, David was focusing on the heart and knew that was what God wanted.

PSALM 49 Spiritual insight is better than wealth that disappears when you die. That is the sentiment of the Sons of Korah, who penned this prayer. Excerpts from verses 16-20 read, "Do not be overawed when a man grows rich…for he will take nothing with him when he dies…a man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish." I have an old note by these verses which reads, "from Hollywood to Hong Kong". Smile.

PSALM 50 This psalm contains several notable thoughts: God is perfect and powerful; he needs nothing from us (the cattle on a thousand hills belong to him); the wicked have no part of him; those who sacrifice out of gratitude give honour to God and will be saved.

PSALM 73 And yes, once again I must say that this is one of my favourite, favourite psalms!! I first became familiar with this psalm when Mike Hammonds, my campus minister back in 1980, (no chuckling, please) taught us this during our bible talk leaders' meeting as a great passage for helping non believers. I've never forgotten that lesson. I learned a lot in those 7am bible talk leaders' meetings…But I digress…

Here we read of Asaph, the old song leader in David's court, who got a roaring bad attitude when he saw the "prosperity of the wicked." He admitted how he almost "lost his foothold", and by that I assume he meant that he almost gave up on God and considered tossing in the towel as an active Jew. Asaph recounted at length all the blessings of the prideful sinners he knew and how they seemed to be getting away with everything just fine while he had struggled to keep his heart pure over the years - had it all been in vain?? Had his life in service to God been a punishment?? He felt like telling others but he knew if he did it would cause them to stumble, so he mulled over his depressing thoughts with a grieved heart and a bitter spirit. He likened himself to a senseless and ignorant brute beast. But then, he finally got spiritual, AMEN!! He "entered the sanctuary of God" and finally understood everything from an eternal perspective - the wicked may look happy now, but they won't be happy for long once we hit the judgment day. Coming out of his bad attitude, he then wrote one of the most beautiful passages in the bible: "Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

This is great passage to read if you ever envy sinners, and it also really does make for an interesting bible talk!

PSALM 76 God is great, his wrath is to be feared, and if you make a vow, please fulfill it!

PSALM 82 Many people act like they are God, but THE GOD will judge them one day!

PSALM 84 This is another favourite!! Smile. And I can't read this one without thinking of Jim Blough and the message he preached from this psalm on the nature of pilgrimage, but more on that later.

This is a psalm about being emotionally close to God. I would love to feel this way everyday. I don't. But I have more days like this when I am really in the word, really engaged in the spiritual battle and LIVING ACCORDING TO THE WORD than when I am just drifting along on auto pilot. The sons of Korah wrote this one as well - I hope they wrote it AFTER they wrote (the depressed one, remember?). Look at these lines - "my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God; blessed are those who dwell in your house; blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage". This captures the idea that until we get to heaven, we are all just pilgrims here and we should have our hearts and minds on getting to our real home, which is heaven, and not be sidetracked by the trappings of this world. I have a note in my bible that says, "Karen, set your heart on going wherever God needs you!" And who could forget John's lesson on the Valley of Baca? Haven't we all been in a "valley of Baca", a desert where nothing would grow? But then when we get close to God, everything changes and he turns everything into an oasis. "Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked." When we have the attitude of this psalm, we will find true peace and happiness. And of us the last verse will be true: "Blessed is the man who trusts in you."

PSALM 90 Now, if you want to be legalistic, then this psalm shouldn't be here, because it was written by and he sure as heck didn't live during the time of David. Oh well…. This is a great psalm. But beware if my husband reads this psalm to you - he usually reads this to people who are dying in the hospital. (Seriously! And I am not trying to be disrespectful - if he read this to a relative of yours who died, please forgive me.) Back to the psalm… I figure that Moses had to have written this before he went back to Egypt to confront Pharaoh. Just a hunch. Why? Because he wrote that man's years would be 70 or 80 at most, but he was already 80 when he and Aaron met up with Pharoah (Ex 7:7). Surely he wouldn't have written that if he were already over 80. Anyway, my point is, he was a shepherd during those years (40-80) and he would have had lots of time in the hills alone to meditate on God and write such a peaceful song to God. (Hmmm, something about that job…) Moses had a very spiritual outlook. He had been born a pauper, raised as a prince, and seen his people enslaved for the first half of his life. That does something to your perspective. What is important in this life, really? We find the answer in verse 12: "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." His prayer ended with, "May the favour of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us." If only Moses had known how God would answer that prayer - he would have never believed it. This is proof that it is a good idea to keep your prayer requests written down somewhere, because you never know when reading through it at a later time will cause you to stand back and be utterly amazed!!

PSALM 92 The bible is full of understatements. What about the first verse of , "It is good to praise the Lord." I love it. This psalm says that it was particularly written for the Sabbath day. Maybe it was always sung on those days in later years. Who knows? But it sure has some great teachings for us: a- it is great to praise the Lord. b- it is great to sing to him both at morning and at night. c- God's works should make us glad. d- even His THOUGHTS are awesome. e- the righteous will flourish eventually.

PSALM 112 Righteous living brings security and blessings; if not material blessings, then certainly spiritual blessings. Fearing the Lord will cause us to find delight in God's teachings, which will in turn spur us on to righteous living. No wonder we will then be blessed. "Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely." This is a biblical principle that is repeated over and over because God is generous, therefore, when we are generous, we are imitating God and we will be blessed. And the righteous and generous man will be so secure that HE WILL HAVE NO FEAR OF BAD NEWS. Wow, this is an incredible promise.

PSALM 115 This is the final psalm in this chapter on Psalms about Righteousness and Wickedness. I call this one the "To God be the Glory" psalm. The opening verse is amazing, "Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to YOUR NAME be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness." We could stop right there! This is a great psalm to remember whenever you are tempted to take the glory for yourself in a situation - just remind yourself that you are an unworthy servant and that all the glory goes to God. It sounds cliché. But it is true. The writer of this prayer juxtaposes the trust that God's people have in him with the futility of those who worship idols and ends with more praise of an awesome and glorious God. [email protected]