Pastor Coe s Devotional Commentary on the Psalms

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1 Psalm # Pastor Coe s Devotional Commentary on the Psalms Pastor Coe's Comments 1 A great introduction to the Psalter. Verse 3 is a wonderful goal for the Christian life. 3 Verse 3 is a great prayer. This psalm is a lament with a powerful statement of faith included in 3, 5, 6. 4 An evening psalm. Verse 8 is a great prayer as we get into bed. 5 Following the evening psalm, psalm 5 is a great morning psalm. 6 A powerful lament and prayer for recovery from illness. Think of the workers of evil in verse 8 as the cells of illness. Verse 6 & 7 offer powerful imagery. 7 Verse 14 has some beautiful poetry. They "conceive" evil, are "pregnant" with mischief, and "give birth" to lies. 8 A beautiful hymn of praise of God and God's creation. We humans are humbled by God's majestic creation. Also an excellent example of the literary form called "inclusio." The first and last verse are identical, acting as bookends to the psalm. 9 Verse 18 is well known and often heard. God's promise of care for the needy. 10 The first use of the phrase "incline your ear" in the Psalter. The idea of God inclining his ear to us is a common and powerful image in the Psalms. It occurs (1) as a request that God will incline his ear, and (2) as a promise that God will incline his ear or (3) as a praise and thanksgiving to God for doing so. The following verses request God to incline his ear: Ps. 17:6 Ps. 31:2 Ps. 71:2 Ps. 86:1 Ps. 88:2 Ps. 102:2 And these verses are either promises of God to incline his ear or praise to God for doing so. Ps. 10:17 Ps. 40:1 Ps. 116:2 13 An excellent example of a lament with an accompanying expression of faith. A psalm that prays itself in our hearts. 14 Psalm 14 is nearly identical to Ps. 53, yet the former uses the divine name, Yahweh, and the latter the generic name, Elohim. The same is true for Ps. 40:13 17 and Ps Another great lament with a statement of faith. "The Lord is my chosen portion and cup." Pastor Coe's Devotional Commentary On The Psalms.Docx Page 1 August 14, 2014

2 17 Verse 8 is part of the Compline Service or Evening Prayer. A beautiful verse. 18 A Thanksgiving psalm with beautiful and comforting expressions. See especially vss. 1-2, 29, 33. We don't often remember to tell God that we love Him. Praying this psalm will help us to do just that. For additional references in relation to vs. 33 regarding the feet of a deer, see 2 Sam. 22:34 and Hab. 3: Another great hymn of praise to God for Creation. Verse 1 is well known. See verse 19, a variant of which you hear me say every Sunday. 20 Vss 4-5, 7 are a great benediction. 22 A powerful lament with a wonderful change to praise at verse 22. This psalm was quoted by Jesus as he hung on the cross. We use this in Good Friday or Maundy Thursday worship. 23 Can you memorize this psalm? It is one that can provide comfort to us throughout life. 25 I love vss. 6 and 7. In verse 6 we tell God what we want Him to remember. In verse 7 we tell God what we want him to forget. 26 Do you like coming to church. Psalm 26:8 is your verse! 27 A psalm of confidence. Pray verse 1 and 14 over and over. 30 Thanksgiving for recovery from illness. Verses 4 & 5 give a great promise, of which we can always remind ourselves. I like verses 6 & 7. When we are "prosperous," when we are experiencing the mountaintop, we have great faith, we "shall never be moved." But at the first sign of trouble, at the first hint that God may have hidden his face, we "are dismayed." Verse 11 is famous and beautiful. God turns our mourning into dancing. 31 Pray verses 3 and 5. A lament with a statement of faith. Can we pray with the author in verse that we trust God and that our "times are in his hand." 32 A psalm of forgiveness. 33 Vss, a wonderful prayer. 34 Check out the well known and wonderful verse at How big is God's steadfast love (vs. 5)? Who is welcome under God's wings (vs. 7)? 37 Check out vss God holds us up, even when we are stumbling, God holds us by the hand. Whew! Thanks be to God. 39 How many times do I keep coming back to verse 1 and trying to muzzle my mouth? Please don't answer that question. 40 As a pastor, verse 10 is my prayer, but often verse 12 is my experience, and verse 17 is my hope and joy. You may have the same experience. 41 Verse 13 is the doxology ending Book I of the Psalms. Pastor Coe's Devotional Commentary On The Psalms.Docx Page 2 August 14, 2014

3 42 Don't we often long for God as verses 1-2 describe. This is the beautiful poetry of the psalms. 46 A favorite psalm of many people. One we can come back to day after day. "Be still and know that I am God." 48 A Song of Zion praising the Jerusalem temple. 50 See verse 15, God WANTS us to call on him. He wants to hear from us. It is not a burden to God, he desires to hear from us. 51 A well known psalm of confession. "Have mercy on me, O God," not because I deserve it, be according to your steadfast love. It is all about you, God. It is not all about me. Verse 15: "Lord, open my lips," you have to do it, I can't praise you on my own O God, you must open my mouth, I am too guilty to speak. You do it, O God! 55 Two of our favorite songs comes from verse 6. I'll Fly Away and On the Wings of A Dove. And verse 22 is beautiful and has also inspired songs. 56 Check out the last line of verse 9. God is "FOR YOU." On your side, in your defense, on your team! How about that! God is for YOU! 57 I love verse 1 and the idea of hiding under God's wings until the storms pass by. Such marvelous imagery. And again, read verse 10 to be reminded of how big God's love is. 58 Know someone that you are mad at? Someone that you are angry with? Check out verse 8. No it's not pretty, not polite, not kind, not loving our enemies as Jesus teaches--but it is what we feel sometimes. The psalms pour out real life feelings and experiences to God. And then they remember that judgment and retribution is left to God, it is not our job. Whew, I hope you never think that about me. 59 Vss 9 & 17--A new name for God that I love, "O my strength." Try praying to God and addressing your prayer to "O my strength." Beautiful! 60 It was Nikita Khrushchev that allegedly took off his shoe and pounded it on the podium at the United Nations? Verse 8 provides biblical support for God doing the same thing. Can you imagine how big God's shoes must be? How often do I remind myself of vss 11 and 12. Human help certainly is worthless, but with God we shall do valiantly. Thanks be to God! 62 Verse 8 - when should we trust in God? When life is easy, when things are going well? NO! At all times, ALL TIMES! God is our refuge. Pour out your heart to God, that is what God wants. 63 I challenge you to read verse 1 without feeling your mouth begin to go dry. Are there not times when our spirits feel parched and cracked? This is the psalm for those days. 65 Verse 9--and in answer to the dryness of psalm 63, "the river of God is full of water." Pastor Coe's Devotional Commentary On The Psalms.Docx Page 3 August 14, 2014

4 Life-giving water. 69 This is one of my favorite psalms and prayers. How often I have prayed verse 1, crying out to God. Verse 6 is a pastor's prayer--that my mistakes will not in any way bring shame upon God. After the great lament in the early verses, look at the powerful statement of faith in verse 13. Given everything else I could depend upon O Lord, my prayer is to YOU! "At an acceptable time, O God," not in my timing, not according to my plan, but according to YOUR plan, answer my prayer. What powerful faith this represents! 71 Verse 9 & 18 are the prayer of all of us who are beginning to feel a little old. See how the psalms cover every age and situation of life? 73 Some of the Bible Study groups have had discussions about the question, "Why am I a Christian?" A great answer is in verse 25. There is none for me in heaven but you, O God and there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you. As Peter says to Jesus, "Where else would we go, Lord, for only you have the words of eternal life." 77 A great lament with verses telling us what to do when things are bad. "Remember the deeds of the Lord." 78 Verse 19 asks, "Can God spread a table in the wilderness?" For the answer see Psalm 23:5. Verse 25 is a beautiful line speaking of God providing manna in the desert, but which can also be read in regard to Holy Communion. Verse 38 is the center verse of the Psalter, the center book of the Bible. And what does it talk about? God's compassion... even when our hearts are not steadfast. 80 Verse 5 is again a wonderful image of the poetry of the psalms. A lament crying out to God. 84 I think of verse 10 as stating my desire to be around God's people. Where else would you want to be? 85 Don't miss verses 8 and 10. This is what God has to say, this is what happens with God. You can trust in these promises. 86 Verse 15 tells us what God is like. This is the character of God. You should remember this verse if you have been around Grace Lutheran very long. This is the central message of Scripture. It is repeated again and again throughout Scripture and especially in the Psalms and it is lived out for us in Jesus Christ. 89 Verses explain that even when we face the consequences of our sin and brokenness, God still loves us and is faithful to his promise to forgive us. 90 Verse 4 explains God's view of time. 91 Read this psalm over and over to yourself, out loud even. It is fantastic! Again, think Pastor Coe's Devotional Commentary On The Psalms.Docx Page 4 August 14, 2014

5 of this poetry and the powerful imagery it provokes. 92 Verse 14 is my primary prayer for my old age. Who said I was "full of sap?" 94 Verses are beautiful. "When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul." 95 A call to worship. 100 Another great call to worship. 103 Verses 1 and 2 and well known. See verses 11 and 12. How big is God's love and what does he do with our sins? 106 Verse 20 speaks of the time the Israelites made a golden image of an ox and worshiped it. When it is put like this, as verse 20 puts it, it does seem kinda dumb. But do we ever do the same thing? Verse 23 speaks of Moses "standing in the breach" between God and God's people. I think we are all called to "stand in the breach" sometimes. We are called to speak God's loving word to hurting people, to be God's arms to hug and hold, to interpret God's Word. How does God call you to "stand in the breach?" Each book of the psalms ends with a doxology. See verse 48 for the ending doxology of Book IV. 107 This psalm is a beautiful piece of poetry with a repeated refrain. Things happen to people and they cry out to the Lord and He answers. How many places in the psalm can you find verse 6 & 8 repeated? Note the contrasts in verses God turns "rivers into a desert," but he also turns "a desert into a pool of water." Fascinating! 108 Verse 4--dare I ask again how big God's love is? We have read this again and again in the psalms. Are you getting the point? Verse 13 says, "With God we shall do valiantly." I like that and it reminds me of a saying I have heard, "God and I are an overwhelming majority." 109 A pretty ugly, imprecatory psalm. A psalm of cursing. Remember it is better that the wish for violence be presented to God and left in His hands than for it to be acted out. 111 Verse 10 is well known and often heard. But what does it mean? "Fear," when used in this way, usually means respect or awe of the Lord. 112 Verse 7 - are your hearts secure, so that they do not even fear bad news? 115 I love verse 8. It is a statement that we are like what we worship. If we worship dumb idols made of wood, with ears that cannot hear and mouths that cannot speak, we will become like them. But if we worship the God of heaven, who is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love... well, we may even become like him. May God make it so. 116 Why do I love the Lord? Verse 1 and 2--because he has heard my voice and my Pastor Coe's Devotional Commentary On The Psalms.Docx Page 5 August 14, 2014

6 prayers, because he has inclined his ear and listened to me. And in return what does God ask of me? See verses To praise God's salvation, to receive Holy Communion (lift up the cup), to continue to call upon God, to pay the vow of praising God in the presence of his people. 117 A call to worship 118 See verse 22. This verse is quoted in Mt. 21:42 Mk. 12:10 Lk. 20:17 Acts 4:11 1Pet. 2:7 See verse 24 for another wonderful call to worship. 119 The longest psalm in the Bible, psalm 119 is an acrostic psalm, meaning that each verse begins with a succeeding letter of the Hebrew alphabet. There are a small number of these psalms in the Bible. However, psalm 119 is a little different. There are 22 sections in the psalm corresponding to the 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet. Each section has eight verses and each of the eight verses begin with the same letter of the alphabet. So there are eight verses for the first letter and then eight verses for the second letter and so on, all the way through 176 verses. Imagine how hard that would be to write. 121 A cool traveler's prayer. The one leaving speaks vs 1-2 and the ones remaining behind speaking vs I also think of it as the "Sound of Music" psalm, because it is quoted by the Mother Superior. 122 Are you happy to go to church? This psalmist is. "I was GLAD when they said to me... Let's go to church!!" 127 Are you trying to catch up or get ahead by working harder, spending more hours, burning the candle at both ends? Verse 2 is what the Bible has to say about that! It is vain! "Unless the Lord builds the house (not me, not my hard work), it is built in vain." 128 Verse 6 is the prayer of grandparents... or grandparent wannabes. 130 Verse 3 and 4. God is not in heaven counting our sins. Instead he is all about forgiveness! 132 Verse 9 is another pastor's prayer. 133 This psalm is describing God's people living together in community. This is what we strive for. 134 A perfect psalm for evening prayer or bedtime. 135 Verses 15-18, another explanation that we will become like that which we worship. 136 An amazing piece of literature weaving together a recitation of God's works with the reassurance of God's steadfast love. Try rewriting this in your own words from your Pastor Coe's Devotional Commentary On The Psalms.Docx Page 6 August 14, 2014

7 own life, recalling the times and situations when God has been clearly present. Weave those memories into the reminder that "his steadfast love endures forever." 137 After the beauty and love of Psalm 136, we have the darkness and hatred of 137 with the psalmist crying out to God from the Babylonian captivity. 139 One of my favorite psalms explaining how deeply God knows us. God is always with us, though we may try to escape from God, he is always there. I usually stop at verse 18. I don't need the hatred at the end. 141 This is an evening psalm. Another good psalm about our out of control tongues. What a great prayer verse 3 is. 145 See verse 8 --just in case you had forgotten God's character These are the Hallelujah Psalms. They begin and end with the Hebrew word "hallelujah" often translated "praise the Lord." They are a wonderful end to the Book of Psalms and the end of our journey through the beauty and emotion of the Psalter. We might translate hallelujah as "Y'all come on now and praise the Lord." Pastor Coe's Devotional Commentary On The Psalms.Docx Page 7 August 14, 2014