Psalm 110
110 Royal (heavenly king)
My God Reigns, and Will Reign
1 The LORD says to my Lord:
“Sit at My right hand
Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
· Before honor is humility. It was so with the Redeemer.
· Let us imitate Christ and give God his time. Everything is most beautiful in its season.
Psalm 109
109 Imprecatory
God’s Judgment Is Just
21 But You, O GOD, the Lord, deal kindly with me for Your name’s sake;
Because Your lovingkindness is good, deliver me;
· Whatever you do or suffer, maintain a good conscience. Sin not against the Lord in one way to defend yourself in another.
· There is no bondage like the slavery of sin; and there is no tyrant so cruel as Satan.
· Let no good man, however calumniated, regard himself as at liberty to invoke curses upon his foes.
· While God is very long-suffering and patiently waits for the return of the wayward, yet when his hand takes hold on vengeance, retribution is as terrible as it is just.
Psalm 108
108 Praise
I Must Exalt God
1 My heart is steadfast, O God;
I will sing, I will sing praises, even with my soul.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
And Your glory above all the earth.
· Whatever our trouble may be, let us look to God for help. When we think we can carry our own burden it is always too heavy for us.
· The course of life alternates between the heights and depths. Such was the experience of David . . . . Let us not hope to cross the sea of life without storms. (Tholuck)
Psalm 107
107 Thanksgiving (community)
Praise God for Answering My Cry
13 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble;
He saved them out of their distresses.
· Though God is not bound by covenant to hear prayers not offered in faith, yet he has never said that he would not hear the cry of distress. He has many a time heard the call of wretchedness, even when misery was the fruit of guilt.
· Sinners are fools. There is a marvelous infatuation in all wrong-doing. “Sin blindeth sinners, and bereaveth them of the right use of their reason, and maketh them choose trifles, with the loss of what should be most precious.” (Dickson)
· God’s blessing makes rich, and adds no sorrow. God’s anger makes poor and strips us of comfort.
· Blessed be God, he pursueth not his creatures that he may destroy them, but that he may humble them.
Psalm 106
106 Praise
God Is Faithful, Even When I Am Not
1 Praise the LORD!
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
6 We have sinned like our fathers,
We have committed iniquity, we have behaved wickedly.
· A sense of weakness and of short-coming in any duty, particularly in worship, does not release us from the obligation to do our utmost. God’s glory is not designed to dishearten us in our approaches to him.
· How little we know of ourselves! What sudden transitions our emotions and even our purposes undergo! We behold stupendous wonders and think we never shall lose the salutary impression received from them; but without special grace we soon forget all, and sin with greediness, and rush with madness toward destruction.
· The recent reception of great and astonishing mercies, which have profoundly moved our affections, is no proof that we will not soon fall into gross sin.
· The case of Moses clearly shows that the strength of the temptation by no means excuses for the sin of yielding. The reason is that God always provides a way for escape, and that nothing whatever can possibly justify our sinning against him.
· While eternity endures, good men will not be done celebrating the love and mercy of the Most High.
Psalm 105
105 Praise
Remember God’s Sovereign Works for His People and Purposes
5 Remember His wonders which He has done,
His marvels and the judgments uttered by His mouth.
· God’s ways are indeed very strange, but they are very wise.
· “We greatly mistake when we do not rank afflictions among our mercies.” (Scott)
Psalm 104
104 Praise
Nature Declares God’s Eternal Glory and My Dependence
31 Let the glory of the LORD endure forever;
Let the LORD be glad in His works;
· Benedictions may fitly open and close every act of worship. This is true not only of seasons of prosperity, and while dwelling on God’s excellent works, but also in times of deepest distress.
· Poor thoughts of God greatly corrupt his worship, and make it contemptible, causing men thoughtlessly to rush into his presence. Therefore it is always incumbent on us to keep in mind that he is clothed with honor and majesty.
· “The phenomena of light are among the sublimest exhibitions of the Creator’s skill in the material universe; they furnish some of the most awful and pleasing displays of his eternal power and Godhead.” (Morison)
Psalm 103
103 Lamentation
God Mercifully Pardons
8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
So great is His lovingkindness toward those that fear Him.
· “Let our sharpest trials not silence the voice of our thanksgiving.”
· “Whatever others do, let me do service to my God. Whatever others love, let me love my Redeemer. Whatever others glory in, let me glory in the Lord.”
· “. . . it is evident that no matter has stronger claims upon our study and our thankfulness than the forgiveness of sins.”
· “’Pardon is not a state to which the believer raises himself by a long and holy course—it is an act of God’s free mercy and grace in Christ Jesus.’”
· “By pardon the God-man imparts health to the conscience and by sanctification he infuses health into his affections. Pardon and purity are the medicines of the Gospel.”
Psalm 102
102 Lamentation
I Must Cry to God in Distress
11 My days are like a lengthened shadow,
And I wither away like grass.
12 But You, O LORD, abide forever,
And Your name to all generations.
· “The greater our distress the more fervent should be our calling upon the Almighty.”
· “When God is seen to be angry, the comforts of this life are tasteless and can yield no pleasure.”
Psalm 101
101 Royal (earthly king)
Commit to Walking in Integrity
3 I will set no worthless thing before my eyes;
I hate the work of those who fall away;
It shall not fasten its grip on me.
· Whoever would do right must resolve to do right. A thoughtless man may possibly do a thing in itself right, but he will habitually err.
· Let us untiringly labor and pray to keep our aims and designs pure. If they are corrupt, all is rotten.
· “Among the vices of the heart, forwardness, perverseness and wickedness are most of all to be eschewed and abhorred, because those evils harden the heart against admonition, and make it incorrigible in an evil course.” (Dickson)
Psalm 100
100 Praise
I Belong to God, and I Need Him
3 Know that the LORD Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
· Our powers of music should be cultivated. If we are to sing, we must learn to sing. Otherwise we will make discord, and disturb the devotions of our fellow-worshippers. The greatest preachers and scholars have given their attention to this matter.
· The obligations under which we all lie to worship, love and obey God are many, indissoluble, and stronger than any mortal has ever felt them to be.
· God prescribes and has a right to prescribe whatever he pleases respecting his worship.
Psalm 99
99 Praise / Royal (heavenly King)
God Is Holy
5 Exalt the LORD our God
And worship at His footstool;
Holy is He.
8 O LORD our God, You answered them;
You were a forgiving God to them,
And yet an avenger of their evil deeds.
· However surrounded and beset by foes human and Satanic, let us fear God and nothing else.
· And the more God’s holiness appears, the more vile and abominable must sin appear to be; and the more dreadful our ruin, the more glorious and amazing is salvation by Christ—a salvation which in nothing impinges upon justice or holiness.
· Preaching Christ’s gospel and praying are the two greatest things done in this world.
· It is a fair test of all worship and doctrine, if we can ascertain whether it exalts God. Whatever puts up the creature and human inventions is false and foolish. Whatever puts Jehovah on the throne, and makes him Lawgiver, King, Judge, Redeemer and All, is right.
Psalm 97
97 Praise / Royal (heavenly King)
Rejoice in the God that Reigns above All
1 The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice;
Let the many islands be glad.
12 Be glad in the LORD, you righteous ones,
And give thanks to His holy name.
· Let not the saints, therefore, undertake to avenge their own wrongs, nor effect their own victories; but quietly leave all in the hands of him, who reigns forever. Let them wait patiently for the Lord.
· But let us not forget that all piety not based in integrity and an upright heart falls short of the divine requirement, and must end in shame. God cares not for names, or forms, or appearances, if our hearts are not with him. The feet may not be swift to shed blood, the hands may refuse a bribe, the tongue may be as smooth as butter; but if the heart is wrong, all is wrong.
· Let Christ’s people learn greatly to love, and thank, and praise their Lord and Redeemer, especially for his holiness; the remembrance of which makes all heaven glad. Nothing in his character would be adorable, were it not for the infinite rectitude of his nature.
Psalm 96
96 Praise / Royal (heavenly King)
Proclaim the Salvation of God
2 Sing to the LORD, bless His name;
Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
3 Tell of His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
· “This is a missionary hymn for all ages of the church . . .” (Hengstenberg)
Psalm 95
95 Royal (heavenly King)
Praise the Rock of My Salvation
1 O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD,
Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
· [We should not] expect to raise the devotions of men to any height of spiritual comfort till we bring them to contemplate Christ Jesus.
· It is vain for us to pretend love of the teaching or atonement of Christ, if we reject his laws and statutes.
Psalm 94
94 Lamentation (community)
Chastisement is a Blessing
12 Blessed is the man whom You chasten, O LORD,
And whom You teach out of Your law;
· “Those who imagine that the exuberant goodness and mercy of God are inconsistent with the exercise of rigorous justice, and with the infliction of vengeance on the wicked, must certainly have formed very erroneous conceptions of his character.” (Scott)
· It is no novelty, but a truth long known in the church of God, that it is good to be afflicted. The blessings connected with sanctified afflictions are many, temporal and eternal. Even in this life the righteous gathers no more delicious fruit than that from chastisement. His sorest punishments are but fatherly corrections. They lead him to an understanding of God’s word which otherwise he could never acquire.
· Pious people living in countries that have long been exempt from open and legal persecution are in danger of undervaluing their great mercies, and of supposing that their exemption is owing to something else than the great kindness of God. At any moment they may find the very laws a gin, a trap and a snare to their souls, their consciences and their lives.
Psalm 93
93 Praise / Royal (heavenly King)
The Lord is Clothed with Majesty
1 The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty;
The LORD has clothed and girded Himself with strength;
Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.
· It is no new thing for God’s church and people to have enemies, numerous as violent. It has been so ever since the days of Cain. Mightily have evil men combined against God’s cause. Terribly did Roman emperors and governors rage against Christ and his people. Christians, no strange thing happens to you, when the wicked bend the bow against you. Because the kingdom of Christ is divine, it has withstood all the shocks, and shall continue to survive all the assaults made upon it.
Psalm 92
92 Thanksgiving (individual)
Giving Praise is Intrinsically Good
1 It is good to give thanks to the LORD
And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High:
· All angels and all men united could not make one grasshopper.
· Is not he brutish who cares more for his appetite than for his immortal soul?
· Grace does not die out in the soul. “The longer it acts on the human spirit, the more vigorous does it become in its operation.”
Psalm 91
91 Lamentation / Trust (community)
God Is My Refuge and Fortress
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!”
· The name of the Lord is a strong tower. But if men do not run into it, they are not safe.
· “Confidence in God will divest the mind of that dread and anxiety, which threatening events are fitted to inspire.”
· All real evil is averted from the people of God, or is so controlled as in the end to do them good.
· “Promises are not made to foster men in their turning after folly, but to encourage them in the course of obedience in their several callings.” (Dickson)