Please read Psalm 148 (14 verses)

These last Psalms in this book are full of the praises of the Lord. The Psalmist calls on all things to praise God. The heavenly hosts praise Him in the highest heavens; the stars and planets and all phenomenon in the firmament praise His holy name; the weather and all its manifestation in stormy clouds glorify the Lord; the sea creatures in the depths of the ocean sing His majesty; mountains, hills and all trees announce His everlasting nature; the animals, wild and tame and all birds sing of His great provision every day. Should not humankind?

Are we so insensible to His greatness? Are we so stubborn to remain silent at God’s obvious beauty?

Let young and old, exalted and abased, lift their minds, hearts and voices in praise of their glorious king, Jesus, the creator of the ends of the earth and the Saviour of the world. We observe His magnificent splendour and yet remain silent. We are recalcitrant and depressed and unbelieving. Let us cast off our gloom and lift our eyes to all that God has done, in the physical realm and also in the spiritual. Surely, He has done all things well!

Most specifically, may the people close to His heart rejoice before Him with great joy, for He has lifts up a horn for our salvation, ever the Lord Jesus Christ. All those who remain faithful to Him must raise their songs to praise His great name. There is nothing more glorious for the exercise of our souls…

Please read Psalm 147 (20 verses)

Praise is good for our psyche. We were made to praise our God. It gives us a strong sense of well-being, happiness and pleasure. It is a sure remedy for the troubles of life and we are instructed to rejoice always. The Lord will keep us in perfect peace when our mind is focused on Him and we worship Him. The Lord is gathering in His people, delivering them from the power of the enemy and healing all their inner and spiritual wounds. By His mighty power He lifts the needy and casts down the wicked.

The Lord sustains all His marvellous creation, and sustains the people of God who humble themselves before Him. God does not delight in human strength nor any of our vaulted show of human power, but gives strength to those who delight in Him, who fear Him and put their hope in His unfailing love. It is faith that pleases God and not our demonstrations of devotion, however amazing they might be.

Gos sends His commands over all the earth. The weather, the hail and the snow obey Him and so should we. We see His demonstration of power in the natural realm and lift our voices to praise Him. The Lord has revealed Himself in the Scripture and we read His power and glory there. We see it revealed in the works of grace that He showers on humankind and most clearly in the message of the gospel. We see it revealed in His Son, Jesus Christ, our Saviour. There is no excuse for anyone to not know or not to find the Lord, for He has shown us His glory. The psalmists tells us clearly to praise the Lord, for as we acknowledge Him and come to Him in faith, we are made part of the holy city of Zion and are filled with the praises of His people. As God has determined the stars, so He also determines the number of His people. Let us be glad and rejoice to be part of that company.

Please read Psalm 146 (10 verses)

If we are trusting in the Lord we are blessed people. If we are trusting in other people, we are not secure. People cannot help us in many instances, and certainly only the Lord knows our inner life, our heart issues and out thinking processes. God is the only remedy for sorrow, as only He has the facility to know the secret depths of our hearts and has the love and power to address those issues. He is the eternal, omnipotent God and has provided all we need for life. He has provided a way for us to be reconciled to Him, to know Him, to talk with Him and the psalmist enjoys that privilege.

The creator of everything is willing to bring us to know Him and to remain faithful to us all our life and bring us safely to His heaven. He will feed us and care for us especially in our souls, which relate to Him. God sets us free from the power of sin and enables us to live godly lives for His glory. He opens our eyes to understand and obey His Word and gives us insight into meaning and purpose. The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us and we are renewed people as we walk this world with Him.

God watches over the outsider and the oppressed and provides the needs of all those who have no provider. He cares for us daily and watches over every step we take. The Lord reigns over all His people forever and will bring them safely through this troubled life and into the heavenly kingdom. We praise Him for all He is. The psalmist praises the Lord with all His soul, which is the antidote for all suffering and disappointment. We are never disappointed if we trust in the Lord.

Please read Psalm 145 (21 verses)

This is a wholly positive Psalm extolling the glory of the Lord and all His marvellous works. The psalmist praises the Lord every day for the Lord is worthy of praise and His glorious works are unfathomable. We can learn from this how to praise our Lord and God and share His glory with other people. As we meditate on the Lord and proclaim His goodness, so we can tell all His faithfulness to the generations that come after us. We are encouraged to celebrate the Lord and joyfully sing about Him. We magnify the Lord together and lift up His holy name.

I cannot do justice to this Psalm by writing about it. I encourage you to actually read it. It is full of magnificent praise and exalted language towards our God and lifts the heart to want to join in the worship.

The Lord is great; the Lord is good; the Lord is trustworthy; the Lord is righteous. These are the general themes in the Psalm. People may ignore the Lord and His glorious works, even in the created world and fail to see His glory, but the kingdom will come in all its fullness and every heart and mind will be lifted to the Lord. No one in the family of God will be left out of the praises, which will continue forever before the Lord. Every creature in the new heaven and new earth will sing for joy.

Please read Psalm 144 (15 verses)

This is such positive and affirming Psalm in the power of the Lord. The psalmist is rejoicing because the Lord has taught him so many things through his troubles. His hands have now been prepared for war and his fingers are now strong enough to fight! Whatever life will bring his way, his faith is strong enough to withstand the battering and his mind knows what to do and who to turn to. He has learned to use the weapon of the Word of God to fight the negativity and all the attacks of the evil one. He is thoroughly made a good soldier in Christ and is able to stand and fight in the strength that God provides. God has become his fortress and a shield in times of trouble. When the fiery darts of the enemy come his way, the shield of his faith protects him and the Word of God counteracts the effect of the attack.

The psalmist rehearses the might of the Lord and his demonstrations of his power in the world for all to see. The mountains erupt showing his destructive power; the weather demonstrates his will and total control in our world; the intervention of the Lord in the life of the psalmist shows God’s sovereign will over His beloved people.

The psalmist finds himself able to sing praises to the Lord and play instruments of praise to magnify God’s name for all He has done.

The Lord has delivered him from self, sin and the hand of his enemies. His family and estate prosper under the kind provision and upkeep of the Lord. He is grateful and recognises what God has done and takes none of it for granted. His family and animals and business all prosper through the blessing of the Lord. The writer knows he is truly blessed to belong to the Lord and to have the privilege to know God. Blessed are all those who belong to the Lord…

Please read Psalm 143 (12 verses)

The psalmist has enemies and they are not all outward. His heart is failing him and his spirit grows faint in his being. He is oppressed by trials within and without. He remembers better days and many instances when God was close, and he longs for those situations again. He sees the work of the Lord and longs to know the presence of the Lord in his life and not the constant fear and dread. The psalmist needs an answer to his prayers or he will slip away from the Lord forever and become like someone who has lost their faith and is heading into perdition.

The writer spreads out untiring hands to the Lord, in the darkness of his soul’s night, and longs for the brightness of the day. Rescue is his chief request, for the oppression of his mind is closing in and his will to follow the Lord is under assault. He asks the Lord for mercy and to be led on level ground where he can be stable and secure. At the moment he is at the mercy of his thoughts and feelings because of the enemies that are attacking him.

The psalmist appeals to the name of the Lord, that God’s name will be exalted when he is delivered from all his foes. He is sick of trouble and wants a quick and lasting deliverance so that he can again serve the Lord with a true and steadfast heart. The Lord will rescue the psalmist because he has entrusted his life to the Lord and obeys the commands of the Lord. This is a real emergency prayer out of deep trouble and we can reiterate it in our own time of need.

Please read Psalm 142 (7 verses)

Where can we find counsel and refuge in these dark days? The psalmist is experiencing dark days too, and seeks a hiding place for his soul, where he can find rest, good advice and adequate care for his person. It is difficult to find, indeed, impossible without the Lord. There is only one refuge for the soul and we are encouraged to go to Him and find the grace we need in our times of trouble. When our soul is deeply wounded and we have almost lost the ability to go on in life, we can find new energy in the Lord our God. It is He who watches over us and can sustain us through the most testing of times. When life becomes impossible, God can show us the way ahead and sustain us as we face the impossible odds against us.

When all friends and family leave us and we are left to the ravages of life, the Lord will take us up and do such a deep work in our life that we will be amazed. If only we would trust Him, we would see days of such blessing, courage and peace. When there is nowhere to go, we find refuge in Christ, for He is our Saviour and Lord. He rescues us from enemies, self, sin and Satan, and is our portion in this life.

It is good to be in need and to be in a state where we must trust God, because it builds our faith in Him alone. We tend to always look to our own internal resources to sustain us, but if these are all taken away, we can find ourselves spiritually destitute, which is our state without God. God will show us His power in very personal ways, so that we know that it is from Him and that He is in charge of the situation we find ourselves in. If we trust in His dealings with us and rest on His promises, there are days of such blessing ahead as we learn to walk with God. We will find that we do have the strength to cope and more. People around us will see it and acknowledge the Lord and we will be encouraged. Christ makes us powerful people through His love.

Please read Psalm 141 (10 verses)

The psalmist cries out to the Lord to give him the desire for personal holiness. He asks that his prayer rise up before the Lord like incense at the evening sacrifice. The evening sacrifice was a sweet aroma to the Lord, the sanctifying of the soul to the Lord after the business of the day. We come to God requesting forgiveness and renewed holiness as we progress into the twilight of the day. Our whole life is a sacrifice of praise, but the continuing holiness we seek is precious to the Lord, especially in the mature years of our spiritual life.

The psalmist asks that a watch be put over his lips, that he is not drawn into the evil of the practices of this fallen world all around. He does not want to be taken in by the pleasures of this life and disappoint his God. We must seek purity of speaking and to control our words and thoughts, so that we be are more holy as our Saviour is holy. If we control our words then our deeds will follow. We invite the rebuke of the godly, who will encourage us and lead us into all truth. We do not entertain pride and self-aggrandisement, but humble ourselves before the teaching of the Word of God.

The wicked will be cast down for they pursue the godly, who are living like dead people – bones not even buried at the mouth of the grave. But God will care for His people and protect them in their distresses, for they seek His holy ways and to be obedient. Rulers of this world will be cast down, and show the wisdom of the Word of God, spoken by His people.

Our eyes are fixed on the Lord because from Him alone comes life everlasting. Only the Lord can deliver from the traps of the enemy, people or Satan, and protect the holy life of His people. The enemy will be entrapped in their own schemes, while those who seek the Lord pass through life under the safety of God’s protection.

Please read Psalm 140 (13 verses)

This Psalm is a complaint and a prayer for protection and vindication from the wicked. The psalmist focuses on people who speak evil words against the righteous and are constantly posturing for a state of war. Violence is the byword and violent deeds are a constant threat against the people of God. The psalmist prays for protection against those who are trying to trip him up and make traps to catch him in wickedness. Those who do such things do so in great pride, thinking that they are having the upper hand since they are strong and think themselves greater than other people. The people of God can often appear weak, as we do not retaliate or give back evil for evil, and are therefore perceived to be easy targets. We are, but God will show Himself in the long run and will, in the end, vindicate His people.

In the meantime we suffer the slights and indignities of the wicked and persevere in our faith in the strength of the Holy Spirit within. God can make us to stand up under all kinds of oppression and persecution and will enable us to be over comers for His sake.

The psalmist prays for peace and power. He prays for deliverance and that the plan of the godless will not succeed. He asks that the mischief the wicked conceive with their lips will turn back and hurt them, and that they will suffer the consequences of their sin, showing the justice of God in all things. It is the righteous who praise the name of the Lord in all difficult circumstances and not the proud who shoot out their lips and boost themselves up in their pride. The violent are rejected from the eternal kingdom, and God will make the light of the needy shine, for they will radiate His mercy and demonstrate His everlasting justice, in the end. The Christian is strong in character to resist the fear that would destroy their faith, and trusts in the power of God to see them through the difficulties.

Please read Psalm 139 (24 verses)

There is no one like the Lord and no one who knows you and loves you like Him. The psalmist gives us an insight into God’s dealings with Him, that we might understand the Lord better. The Lord searches us and shows us things about ourselves, because sin makes us blind to our faults and gaping character flaws. The Lord knows us through and through, yet still loves us despite our bad attitudes, prejudices and rampant sins that we find so difficult to control or turn away from. God knows our thoughts before we think them and every word we say, spoken or in our minds. It is amazing to think of the love and forbearance of the Lord for such ignoble us!

God plans all our life and oversees every decision, making us wise or foolish. We can never escape Him, no matter where we might go or how we might try to hide. In heaven or in the depths of despair, the Lord is there. No matter where we run to, or how dark the night might be, He is right there, watching, guiding, protecting and knowing us completely. Even hiding in the depths of our mother’s womb, the Lord sees us and directs all our growth and development, making us as He intended and ordaining every day in the book of our life. Even before we were conceived, He knew we would exist and His many thoughts towards us are precious. Human beings are not lumps of flesh, but spiritual beings made by God and known deeply to Him. Those He calls to Himself have the glory of knowing Him too and walking life in His power.

We wake every day in the consciousness of the Lord. Every day is a gift and one to know Him better and discover things about ourselves so that we can grow. To belong to Him is to live life to the full and to die in great peace. His thoughts towards us never cease and we are so treasured by Him as His people.

The wicked go their own way and will suffer the consequences of that path of life. God knows every heart and it will be brought into judgment. The ungodly will not ruin His kingdom nor be partakers of the eternal life. Beloved, Let us ask God to search us, that we may be led in the everlasting way of life.