God Speaks
Psalm 13
For the choir director: A psalm of David.
1 O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever?
How long will you look the other way?
2 How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul,
with sorrow in my heart every day?
How long will my enemy have the upper hand?
3 Turn and answer me, O Lord my God!
Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die.
4 Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!”
Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love.
I will rejoice because you have rescued me.
6 I will sing to the Lord
because he is good to me.
Psalm 14
For the choir director: A psalm of David.
1 Only fools say in their hearts,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and their actions are evil;
not one of them does good!
2 The Lord looks down from heaven
on the entire human race;
he looks to see if anyone is truly wise,
if anyone seeks God.
3 But no, all have turned away;
all have become corrupt.
No one does good,
not a single one!
4 Will those who do evil never learn?
They eat up my people like bread
and wouldn’t think of praying to the Lord.
5 Terror will grip them,
for God is with those who obey him.
6 The wicked frustrate the plans of the oppressed,
but the Lord will protect his people.
7 Who will come from Mount Zion to rescue Israel?
When the Lord restores his people,
Jacob will shout with joy, and Israel will rejoice.
Psalm 15
A psalm of David.
1 Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord?
Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?
2 Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right,
speaking the truth from sincere hearts.
3 Those who refuse to gossip
or harm their neighbors
or speak evil of their friends.
4 Those who despise flagrant sinners,
and honor the faithful followers of the Lord,
and keep their promises even when it hurts.
5 Those who lend money without charging interest,
and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent.
Such people will stand firm forever.
Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Reflection: These three short psalms will be addressed in one post. Psalm 13: David was asking how long he would be in conflict with his enemy, who appears to be prevailing. In the end, David reaffirms his trust in the goodness of God. Patrick Henry Reardon applies this psalm to Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane and considers it “a fine psalm to be prayed just before going to bed.”* Psalm 14: In the Bible a fool is not someone “intellectually challenged” but one who has stubbornly hardened their heart against the truth that is self-evident to others. That is why a fool can say in his or her heart, “There is no God.” Reardon says, “The atheist does not know God, because he has chosen not to seek God. . . The constant, unreversed cultivation of sin leads in due course to total blindness, even blindness to what is self-evident.”* The author of this blog can’t help but think that this characterizes many in today’s polarized culture. I believe that the more secular our society becomes, the more foolish and anti-God it will be. Psalm 15: In contrast to the fool’s attitude in Psalm 14, this psalm addresses what God expects of those who wish to dwell with Him on His holy mountain. One’s life will exhibit blamelessness, righteousness, truthfulness, harmlessness, avoidance and hatred of sin, honoring and faithfulness to others, generosity, steadfastness, and stability.
*Patrick Henry Reardon, Christ in the Psalms, Ben Lomond, CA: Conciliar Press, 2000, pages 23 and 26 respectively.
Prayer: Thank You, Lord Jesus, for wrestling with the powers of darkness on my behalf. You defeated them then, and I can now through the empowerment of Your Holy Spirit. I affirm that You are a good, good Father, always doing what, in the long run, is best for Your children. Please make me wise instead of foolish. Correct any way my heart is hard, replacing it with a heart that is soft toward You and other people. Help me to be a good reflection of Your loving-kindness so that people will be drawn to You instead of turning away from You. LORD, I wish to dwell with You on Your holy mountain (Heaven). Holy Spirit, please assist me so that my life will exhibit blamelessness, righteousness, truthfulness, harmlessness, avoidance and hatred of sin, honoring and faithfulness to others, generosity, steadfastness, and stability. All this for Your glory, LORD, not my own. AMEN
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on one of the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)
- I will build a habit of praying Psalm 13 each night just before I go to bed, remembering Jesus’s wrestling in prayer in Gethsemane.
- I will examine my life to see where I might be behaving or speaking as a fool. Then I will ask the Holy Spirit to help me change.
- I will take courage and stand up to a fool, politely but firmly stating the self-evident truth regardless of their reaction, offering proof as necessary. I will take this action, not to prove I am right, but to bring glory to the One who is the Truth.
- I will ask the Holy Spirit to help me work out a realistic plan to develop the qualities listed above. Then I will cooperate with Him in my own life and in helping others to do so as well.
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.