Please read Psalm 6 (10 verses)

The Psalmist is deeply troubled. He feels he is near to death and the grave beckons him as the place where he should be. He is tired of all the complaining of his body, soul and mind and the throws of mind illness are dogging his steps each day. He is so sad that all his tears have gone into his sickbed and the chair he sits on is saturated with the crying and weeping over his situation. His eyes are dissolving and pouring out from their sockets because he is being so bullied and oppressed by the enemies of his person. No one understands and no one cares about him and he thinks the Lord may also have turned against him.

He thinks his suffering is something to do with his sin and asks God not to rebuke him or chastise him any more. He asks for mercy and healing and wants to know the reality of it straight away, for he is so weary of the sorrow. Even his bones hurt him, the pain going on in his life is so deep. His body aches with the pain of the effort of living, which makes him weary and sad. He pleads for mercy that he will not descend into death and the grave, for in that place, there is no hope and no remembrance of God.

The writer rallies at the end of the lament and the mood changes dramatically. He is assured that the Lord has heard his cries and has given him the strength to deal with his enemies and get them to leave. This could be physical enemies, but could also be depression, guilt and fear, the inner enemies of the psyche. He is glad that the Lord has heard his prayer and the voice of his weeping. God has intervened for him and changed him, making him stronger and more resilient.

Please read Psalm 5 (12 verses)

The psalmist raises his voice in a plea to the Lord his God. This is the pathway of wisdom and the highest court of appeal when dealing with the injustices of life and the disregard of other people. He asks God to consider him and to listen to his plea for mercy. He lays his petition before God, early in the morning when he awakens after the long night.

He appeals to the Lord, since God hates bloodthirsty and deceitful people, who lie to themselves about their state before him and think God does not know their hearts. They fail to understand their own psyche and excuse themselves of all blame or responsibility for what happens in their lives. God takes no delight in any wickedness either inward or outward and no evil person will stand in the presence of the Almighty. Their tongues flatter and cajole in order to get their own way and find out information that they can use for harm. There is no love in their dealings and their motivations are purely fleshly. The psalmist calls on God to find them guilty and to be caught in their own wicked counsels.

The Psalmist fears the Lord his God and seeks to come into the house of God to worship and serve, where he might find refuge from the onslaught of the unrighteous. He asks for good discernment that he might combat the enemy effectively and rejoice that his trust in the Lord is well placed.

He rejoices in the Lord at the deliverance from foes that he has experienced, for God will bless the righteous and surround them with favour like a shield. The favour of God acts as a hedge around the believer and delivers them from temptation, fear and intimidation. It builds resilience of character and a deep confidence in the LORD. Favour lasts a lifetime, because it is the result of grace.

Please read Psalm 4 (8 verses)

The Lord hears the call of the righteous and has comforted them in their many distresses. He has provided all they need and shows them every good thing. The Lord can fill the heart with gladness and enable us to lie down after our days work and sleep in peace. It is His blessing and He gives the confidence to rest in peace and the clear conscience that enables us to sleep and get our rest.

Even when things do not go right for the righteous person, they are able to deal with their emotions and sort out in their mind the right thing to do. The ability to be able to think through a situation and come to a good resolution, is of the Lord and in the end we put our trust in him to sort out the situations that we cannot understand or see a resolution to, knowing that He is sovereign and will not fail us.

The Lord hears us in our distresses and relieves us from the burden of carrying them, through His tender mercy towards us. He will hear us when we call to Him because of His promises to us in the Scripture. The godly person is set aside for God and God will not allow them to be destroyed by those who follow falsehoods. The Lord will conquer all the destructive forces that militate against His people and will give the victory to those who call on him. The Lord allows those who trust in Him to dwell in peace and safety.

Please read Psalm 3 (8 verses)

The enemies of my souls are all around and inflict me with their negativity and lack of peace. Lord come, quickly to help me…

Such is the cry of the troubled people of God who are defamed and detracted from by the wicked who do not believe. They are accused night and day and threatened with disaster. The doubt that God will ultimately fail them and leave them in the grip of their enemies is used against them, but to no effect. The enemies may rage, and carp and quibble and cause discomfort and pain.But the Lord will not permit His people to be troubled forever. He will deliver them and raise them up in the kingdom of light. They will have great peace, even in this troubled and troubling world. They will lie down in peace and sleep and not be troubled by the unbeliever or any threat from the enemy.

No matter how many foes gather against them, they will be saved and the deliverance will be great. The enemy will be struck and defeated and all the vaunted powers they imagine they possess will be seen as completely ineffectual. This is possible because salvation belongs to the LORD and to Him alone. He is the shield of His people and will hear their cries from His holy hill of Zion and deliver them.

Please read Psalm 2 (12 verses)

This Psalm concerns the triumph of the Lord of Hosts and the stability of the eternal kingdom.

The rulers of this dark and fallen world have risen up against the Lord and His anointed king. They have no scruples about the nobility of the Lord nor His sovereign choice. They do not realise that they themselves are subject to that choice and only rule according to His directions. The Lord is God over all kings and all powers in heaven and earth, yet they rub their foolish hands in glee as they plot against Him, to cast off His authority over them.

No matter how mighty we might think and be in the culture of this world – no matter how powerful a ruler or influential a person we are, we are mere women and men of the human family and only exist because the Lord who made us allows us to be. Every mighty Queen and King are lifted to their position over others because of the sovereignty of God and His permission for them to be in such a high place.

What they refuse to realise is that the Lord Jesus is Lord over all and God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name above every other name. To that name they will bow and the Lord laughs at them and their foolish plotting. Jesus is the eternal Son of God and no one can deny Him the inheritance that is already His.

Christ will do what He pleases, and all His ways are righteousness and justice. It is supreme foolishness to ignore Him, let alone rise up against Him. He will have His will and purposes carried out and only those who shelter under His dominion are safe from the wrath to come. Those who refuse Him and His rightful authority will suffer the terror of ultimate loss.

Please read Psalm 1 (6 verses)

This Psalm tells us the way of the righteous and the fate of the ungodly. The path to perdition is gradual and progressive. The unrighteousness person walks in the way of the ungodly company, which they prefer to the righteous, and therefore become increasingly like them. They stand shoulder to shoulder with the ungodly issues of the day and are intimidated into denying what they really think and become more and more amalgamated into the prevailing culture. They eventually find themselves sitting comfortably with those who scorn the Lord of heaven and earth and the Holy Scriptures. They are not embarrassed about their stance against the ways of God, but glory in the popularity and the godless acclaim they receive.

The blessed woman or man is not like this. They delight in the Word of God and stand by its precepts against the scornful eyes and mindset of the unbeliever. The righteous person meditates on the Word of God and obeys if carefully and with great delight. Everything they seem to do prospers and their relationships are deep and fruitful. All their plans are before the Lord and He directs their steps, so that they succeed according to His purposes. Their lives bear rich fruit to God and they bring spiritual light wherever they go. At the end of their earthly journey they are full of good works and have a mighty inheritance in heaven, kept for them by the Lord.

All those who revile the Lord will have dried up lives that will simply blow away in the wind of the Spirit of God, who searches every heart. All the false motivations will be found out and the selfish insincerity will be seen for what it is.

Those who hope in the Lord will never be confounded but will rejoice every day and be blessed. They will reach the congregation of the righteous, but all ungodliness and the wicked will perish.