Overview of: PsalmsToday's Reading:
Psalms 6 – 10
SONGBOOK I : Psalms 1-41
Focus Verses: Psalm 7:15-17
15 He who digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit he has made. 16 The trouble he causes recoils on himself; his violence comes down on his own head. 17 I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.
Insight:
King Saul was a Benjamite. David's succession to the throne was a difficult and contentious road. Many from the tribe of Benjamin opposed him. This psalm arises out of that conflict. It's about a specific circumstance and person. The note in the title tells us it is a song David sang to the Lord about Cush, a Benjamite.
David begins the psalm with a statement of trust in God, and ends the psalm with a statement of praise and thanks to God. The body of the psalm is filled with the fears, thoughts, and anger that filled David's thoughts and heart due to his conflict with Cush.
As David considered the motives and morality of others, he must have also been considering his own integrity and heart. He believed that evil motives and actions would eventually bring destruction upon those who did them. Ultimately, David trusted God to sort things out, to vindicate the righteous, and to judge the wicked.
Response and Action:
It makes sense to bring specific conflicts and problems to God. When I come to God with specific people and circumstances in mind, I will be careful to start with expressions of trust and end with thanksgiving and praise. While talking to God about the actions and motives of others, I will also be careful to evaluate my own heart. I will give careful thought to how my problems may have been brought on or worsened by my own actions. I will ask God for humility, wisdom, support, and restoration, because my ultimate hope is in him.
O God, help me live for you and through you in thought, word, and deed. Help me to turn away from what is wrong and do what is right. Help me to love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Lead me away from temptation and deliver me from evil. Help me to delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your name. Amen
New Testament for Today: James 1:2-6
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
In Context: James 1
Proverb for Today: Prov. 14:8
"The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception."
Recommended Reading:
How to Read the Psalms
by Tremper Longman
