Raising the Poor

Psalm 113:5-9  ⁵ Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, ⁶ who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? ⁷ He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; ⁸ he seats them with princes, with the princes of their people. ⁹ He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the LORD.

We should always follow God's example in our dealings with other people.

This psalm, like the previous one, can be classified as a praise psalm. In fact, even more so because it not only begins with a Hallellu Yah, it also ends with one. The aspect of God that the author focuses on is His willingness to help those who are in low situations, which in comparison to Him is, well, everyone. Even though God is enthroned in heaven, He takes the time to look upon this pale blue dot in the universe. He goes beyond that and raises up the poor and the needy as well as gives children to the barren woman.

Now we may not be able to literally raise needy people to the level of princes, etc., but we can have a change in attitude. We can view needy people at the level of princes, and not look down upon the woman who is unable to have children. We can give people the benefit of the doubt and not expect the worse from them. Something I read recently stated that thought better than I could.

Charity "doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil." Christ-like love places the most favorable construction on the motives and acts of others. It does not needlessly expose their faults; it does not listen eagerly to unfavorable reports, but seeks rather to bring to mind the good qualities of others. -- The Acts of the Apostles pg. 319

So as we go about our days, let us follow God's example and raise people up to a higher level.

Nothing Like It

Psalm 108:1-5  ¹ My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing and make music with all my soul. ² Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. ³ I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. ⁴ For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. ⁵ Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth.

There is nothing like praising God to improve your day.

Psalm 108 is a praise psalm. The majority of the verses exalt God in one way or the other, either directly as in the passage above or more indirectly as in the remaining verses of the psalm in which David states that God will help him conquer his enemies.

There are lots of things can drag us down such as bad news through the media, and bad news in our personal lives. God is the only lasting way to combat the malaise that comes with bad news. So my thought today is rather short. If you are feeling down, praise God, and see what happens.

Proper Judgment

Psalm 98:8-9  ⁸ Let the rivers clap their hands, Let the mountains sing together for joy; ⁹ let them sing before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.

God is an example of how we should judge other people.

The bulk of this short psalm is about praise, and verse nine gives one of the reason for this praise. God judges righteously and equitably. This passage reminds me that I should do the same. Even well-meaning people with good intentions fall short of being equitable and righteous in our judgement (the word can be properly spelled with or without the "e"). We all have our biases. We all have our blind spots. 

I read recently about how even the apostle Peter after his conversion still had some biases regarding the relationship of Jews and Gentiles, and had to be publicly confronted about them. It is not something that is overcome in a moment. It will take time, and that time frame is different for everyone. So as we go about our days, let us remember to be righteous and equitable in our judgement, and also to be patient with ourselves and others regarding overcoming this character defect.

Lifelong Dependence

Psalm 71:6  From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother's womb. I will ever praise you.

Whether we admit it or not, we are dependent upon God.

This verse somewhat coincides with what I discussed in yesterday's post. I need to remember that even before I could even acknowledge it, I relied upon God. My very life is held in His hands. Because my life is dependent upon him, I need to live in a way that honors that fact. Not simply by avoiding what is bad, but also by remembering that He is always there in my times of need.  I think I often go through life forgetting that part. At least I act that way. When I try to do things on my own, it shows that I am forgetting my dependence upon Him.

The last part of the verse is especially important. I missed it the first time. It states that this reliance upon God is a reason to praise Him. Again the subject of praise comes up. Everywhere I turn, there is a reason to praise God. I think that God is telling me to be more positive, to think less about my problems, and to think more about His power. What do you think this verse is telling you?

The Results of Praise

Psalm 67:5-7  May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him.

Praising God brings positive results.

Psalm 67 is a rather short psalm, and it is all about praise.  In the passage I am focusing on today, the author is saying that if everyone praises God, then good things will happen.  The first thing is one that was very important to someone living in that time and place; the land yielding its harvest.  The people that most likely were reading this lived in what was called an agrarian society, meaning that the society was based on agriculture.  If their land didn't yield its harvest, then their future didn't look very bright.

I don't live in an agrarian society.  The closest thing to farmland around here is the community garden a few blocks away, but I can still identify with the thought.  I can look at harvest in a different way.  I can see that if we praise God then a spiritual harvest will be yielded.  I read somewhere that the greatest argument in favor of Christianity is a loving and lovable Christian.  If I am living in an atmosphere of praise, people can see that I have Christ in my heart, and will be drawn to Him.  On a personal level, I can see that if I am praising God my future will look brighter than before, and I can see God leading in ways I overlooked before.

Another result of praise is connected with the first, and that is that God will bless those who praise Him.  Most likely, some people believe that if they praise God that He owes them a blessing.  Few will actually come out and say that, but many act as though they do.  Praising God is not some magic spell that automatically gives us what we want.  In fact, sometimes the only blessing I would receive from praising God is the praise itself.  As I previously mentioned, praise makes the future look brighter.

Now the final result is somewhat of a paradox, that is a self-contradictory statement, because it states that a result of praise is fear.  Notice that it doesn't say that we praise God because we fear Him, rather that all the ends of the earth will fear Him.  Now fear in the Bible is somewhat of a complicated concept (or maybe we've just made it complicated).  As I mentioned in yesterday's post, words can have additional meanings, this doesn't diminish the original meaning, it simply adds to it.  Now the word translated "fear" in this text is defined, "to fear, revere, be afraid."  If all the ends of the earth fear God, it covers a variety of responses.  If the people are evil, well, then they have reason to be afraid of God because He will be coming after them.  If the people are seeking after Him then they will revere Him, that is, they will regard Him as worthy of great honor. So the way we see fear is simply based on what direction we're viewing God.

So basically, if I am praising God, a lot of good things will happen, and they can happen for you as well.

Psalm of Praise

Psalm 65:1-4  Praise awaits you, O God, in Zion; to you our vows will be fulfilled. O you who hear prayer, to you all men will come. When we were overwhelmed by sins, you forgave our transgressions. Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple.

Sometimes we just need to forget our troubles and praise God.

What initially struck me in this psalm is that in it David doesn't say anything is wrong with him.  There is no complaining, no crying out for help, no telling about what evil men might do to him, he is simply praising God.  The psalm goes on telling how good God is, how He provides for even the natural world.  This is a mindset that I need to have more consistently.  I, like many people, tend to worry about things, and my prayers reflect that. They are often more of the "crying out" kind than the "praising God" kind.  I'm going to take more time out of my day to praise God, and I hope you will as well.

Praise During Disaster

Psalm 57:7,8 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.  Awake, my soul!  Awake, harp and lyre!  I will awaken the dawn.

These verses took on new meaning when I realized the situation in which they were written.

The preamble to this psalm states that it was written by David "When he had fled from Saul into the cave."  I'm not sure exactly what cave it is referring to because there are two stories where David fled from from Saul into a cave.  However, think about it, here is David hiding in a cave from someone bent on his destruction, and he is singing and asking for accompaniment!  I had always heard these verses in the context of a praise and worship band where everyone is happy and having a good time, not when people are fleeing for their life.

The more I read the Psalms, the greater respect I have for David.  What can I say except I want to me more like that.

Help me Lord to praise you especially when things are going poorly.