What to Do with Wagging Heads...

 Psalm 109:21 But you, O God my Lord,
    deal on my behalf for your name's sake;
    because your steadfast love is good, deliver me!
22 For I am poor and needy,
    and my heart is stricken within me.
23 I am gone like a shadow at evening;
    I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees are weak through fasting;
    my body has become gaunt, with no fat.
25 I am an object of scorn to my accusers;
    when they see me, they wag their heads.
26 Help me, O Lord my God!
    Save me according to your steadfast love!

In many of David's psalms like this one, we find he is facing opposition.  He is weary of the way he has been treated by others. He is worn out and down. He can hear the murmurs and see the shaking heads. What do you do with that? Call out to God for help - based not on how good you are, but how faithful and loving God is. By the end of your prayer, you'll be saying with David: 

30 With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord;

    I will praise him in the midst of the throng.

31 For he stands at the right hand of the needy one,

    to save him from those who condemn his soul to death.

Give Thanks and Praise the Lord 3: The Storm Stiller

 Psalm 107:23 Some went down to the sea in ships,

    doing business on the great waters;
24 they saw the deeds of the Lord,
    his wondrous works in the deep.
25 For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
    which lifted up the waves of the sea.
26 They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;
    their courage melted away in their evil plight;
27 they reeled and staggered like drunken men
    and were at their wits' end.
28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
29 He made the storm be still,
    and the waves of the sea were hushed.

This third consecutive psalm again begins with "Give Thanks to the Lord", and near the end wraps up: "let them praise Him in the presence of the elders." The psalmist again speaks of those who have rebelled against God, only to call out to Him and have Him hear. He truly is the Storm Stiller of our souls. 

Give Thanks and Praise the Lord 2

 Psalm 106:24 Then they despised the pleasant land,
    having no faith in his promise.
25 They murmured in their tents,
    and did not obey the voice of the Lord.
26 Therefore he raised his hand and swore to them
    that he would make them fall in the wilderness,
27 and would make their offspring fall among the nations,
    scattering them among the lands.

Like Psalm 105, this next psalm begins and ends with "Give Thanks" and "Praise the Lord," respectively.  But what we find in between is much different.  Instead of focusing in on how good and faithful God is, we find a lot of how complaining and unfaithful His people can be. The complain about where He takes them, what He feeds them, the water He gives them, and quickly and easily turn to idols, complaining, criticizing, and always wanting more and more. We are called upon to not fall back into those same old spiritual ruts, returning to our old ways and trying to break loose from the hand that gently guides and provides.  What will today be? May it not just begin and end with thanksgiving and praise, but be filled with it in between. 

Give Thanks and Praise the Lord

 

Psalm 105:23 Then Israel came to Egypt;
    Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
24 And the Lord made his people very fruitful
    and made them stronger than their foes.
25 He turned their hearts to hate his people,
    to deal craftily with his servants.
26 He sent Moses, his servant,
    and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
27 They performed his signs among them
    and miracles in the land of Ham.

This psalm is another of the longer psalms which retells the history of Israel.  The focus is on God bringing a small people from humble beginnings to become a great people delivered from the hands of Egypt and brought into the promised land.  Notice that all along God was at work, though the people could not always see it. They needed to be reminded to look back to see where they had come from and that God was watching over them all the time. The bookends of the psalm are "Give Thanks" and "Praise the Lord!" May that be true of our day, beginning by giving thanks as we look back, and ending our day praising Him.

He Takes Care of Them All: Big and Small

 

Psalm 104:24 O Lord, how manifold are your works!
    In wisdom have you made them all;
    the earth is full of your creatures.
25 Here is the sea, great and wide,
    which teems with creatures innumerable,
    living things both small and great.
26 There go the ships,
    and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.
27 These all look to you,
    to give them their food in due season.
28 When you give it to them, they gather it up;
    when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.

This psalm rejoices in both the greatness and goodness of God. The psalmist marvels at how God takes care of His creation, from the greatness of the universe to the smallest details of earth, from the smallest to the creatures man fears most, even the creatures in the sea we cannot see. God is there for them all, including you and me.  How great is our God!

Our Eternal Security

 

Psalm 102
25 Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
    and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you will remain;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
27     but you are the same, and your years have no end.
28 The children of your servants shall dwell secure;
    their offspring shall be established before you.

This is the concluding paragraph of a "psalm of complaint." The psalmist is faint, totally worn out by life. He has come to the end of himself? How can he go on? Only by the strength of the Eternal One.  Everyone and everything else wears out.  He goes on and on and on with full strength and power.  When you can't take any more, turn to Him.  He is our eternal security.

The Solid Rock of Love

 

Psalm 89
24 My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him,
    and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
25 I will set his hand on the sea
    and his right hand on the rivers.
26 He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father,
    my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’
27 And I will make him the firstborn,
    the highest of the kings of the earth.
28 My steadfast love I will keep for him forever,
    and my covenant will stand firm for him.

We notice in this psalm both a reference to God's faithfulness to His covenant with David and an allusion to His promise to see His Messiah through.  The psalmist alternates speaking from the perspective of God, like here, and from the pleas of the people of Israel. Included in the promise of God's love is the promise of His chastisement when they go astray.  When that happened (and still does) God's people cry out to Him and He faithfully hears and hears them. He is the Solid Rock Who is always there, faithful to respond with what we really need.