True Words
May my cry come before you, Lord;
give me understanding according to your word.
May my supplication come before you;
deliver me according to your promise.
May my lips overflow with praise,
for you teach me your decrees.
May my tongue sing of your word,
for all your commands are righteous.
May your hand be ready to help me,
for I have chosen your precepts.
I long for your salvation, Lord,
and your law gives me delight.
Let me live that I may praise you,
and may your laws sustain me.
I have strayed like a lost sheep.
Seek your servant,
for I have not forgotten your commands.
Psalm 119:169-176
No. There hasn’t been a mistake. I’ve skipped ahead. Tomorrow I want to get back to our regular programming. So today is our last venture into Psalm 119.
The Psalmist finishes the often circuitous and repetitious poem with a series of hopeful declarations. And this in itself is instructive. Here’s why;
I was talking to someone who found it hard to sing at Church. Not because their voice was bad or because they didn’t like the songs. But because the words didn’t match their experience or true feelings.
Words like “I will build my life upon your love, it is a firm foundation.” They read these words and said - but I’m not really and right now, I don’t know that I have the energy to even want that.
But this is to miss the place that song has played in the cultural life of God’s people. As Paul says in Colossians, teach and admonish one another with Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.
What he’s saying is that songs are often aspirational. Unlike today's pop-songs - the Psalms don’t always describe how we feel but sometimes how we should feel and hope to feel. They are a declaration, an admonition of how we should be.
And this is captured in the word ‘may’. The Psalmist knows we aren’t the finished work. We are raw. We are undressed stones. We are sheep gone astray. But may the Lord be at work in us to finish what He has started.
For Today:
Pray: Praise the Father who is perfect and complete in every way. Give thanks for Jesus who lived the perfect life. Ask God for His Holy Spirit to help you and others listen to the admonition of Psalm 119 and other songs and seek to live them out.
give me understanding according to your word.
May my supplication come before you;
deliver me according to your promise.
May my lips overflow with praise,
for you teach me your decrees.
May my tongue sing of your word,
for all your commands are righteous.
May your hand be ready to help me,
for I have chosen your precepts.
I long for your salvation, Lord,
and your law gives me delight.
Let me live that I may praise you,
and may your laws sustain me.
I have strayed like a lost sheep.
Seek your servant,
for I have not forgotten your commands.
Psalm 119:169-176
No. There hasn’t been a mistake. I’ve skipped ahead. Tomorrow I want to get back to our regular programming. So today is our last venture into Psalm 119.
The Psalmist finishes the often circuitous and repetitious poem with a series of hopeful declarations. And this in itself is instructive. Here’s why;
I was talking to someone who found it hard to sing at Church. Not because their voice was bad or because they didn’t like the songs. But because the words didn’t match their experience or true feelings.
Words like “I will build my life upon your love, it is a firm foundation.” They read these words and said - but I’m not really and right now, I don’t know that I have the energy to even want that.
But this is to miss the place that song has played in the cultural life of God’s people. As Paul says in Colossians, teach and admonish one another with Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.
What he’s saying is that songs are often aspirational. Unlike today's pop-songs - the Psalms don’t always describe how we feel but sometimes how we should feel and hope to feel. They are a declaration, an admonition of how we should be.
And this is captured in the word ‘may’. The Psalmist knows we aren’t the finished work. We are raw. We are undressed stones. We are sheep gone astray. But may the Lord be at work in us to finish what He has started.
For Today:
- Do you struggle to sing some songs because of their words?
- Do you pray and sing aspirationally?
- Listen and even sing a song today that reminds you of who you should be in Christ.
Pray: Praise the Father who is perfect and complete in every way. Give thanks for Jesus who lived the perfect life. Ask God for His Holy Spirit to help you and others listen to the admonition of Psalm 119 and other songs and seek to live them out.
Posted in Psalms
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