Join the Psalminizers (Jason, Melanie, Jim and Pastor Tim) as we turn to our next three Psalms (37-39) and reflect on how they turn us towards our need for repentance and God’s grace.
Read along with us! Throughout the week, read this week’s Psalms and, as you have insights or questions, please leave them in the comments below! We’ll be here throughout the week interacting with each other on the readings! We’re aiming to read Psalm 37 today, Psalm 38 by Wednesday and Psalm 39 by Friday so that we can discuss all three of them together.
Get the full details on this 2022 Reading Plan through the Psalms by visiting our overview page.
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Re: Songs for Our Temple (Week 13: Psalms 37-39)
Psalms 37, here are three good verses from this chapter to encourage you to walk with Jesus Christ.
5Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. Every morning I try to remember to give my day to the Lord; I’ve gotten better with time as I practice this verse. I believe in being detailed in giving my day to the Lord by naming things I am about to do for the day. 6He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Where do you get this light and justice? It comes from daily involvement in the scriptures; the more you focus on Christ and not the world, the more yourself in Christ, not the worldview image.
7Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! It’s hard in this time to wait; we have developed an instant world where we got things at our fingertips.
Re: Songs for Our Temple (Week 13: Psalms 37-39)
1O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath!
David is feeling something from God and is asking him not to pour his wrath upon him.
2For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me.
Here David describes the pain that he feels from his disobedience toward God.
3There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation;
I looked up the word indignation, which means “anger aroused by something unjust, unworthy, or mean.” Righteous indignation is typically reactive emotion of anger over perceived mistreatment, insult, or malice of another, and it is akin to what is called the sense of injustice. Do you feel empty when someone mistreats you? How does God feel when we mistreat Him?
Towards the end of this chapter, you find David repenting for what he has done towards others and God.
Re: Songs for Our Temple (Week 13: Psalms 37-39)
Psalms 39 I am focusing on verses 7-11 this morning. “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you. 8Deliver me from all my transgressions. Do not make me the scorn of the fool! 9I am mute; I do not open my mouth, for it is you who have done it. 10Remove your stroke from me; I am spent by the hostility of your hand. 11When you discipline a man with rebukes for sin, you consume like a moth what is dear to him; surely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah.
We all know life is short and some lives are shorter than others. I have outlived people I have known in my life and I am only 57 years old. Things fall away in the world, what is new now will be old later in life. Material things we strive for and put all of our energy into getting are no longer of value to us. What have we done with our lives? I question I have to ask and I do this for myself is, “What have I let you God do in my life for your kingdom?” There is another phrase I heard and think to make part of my life is “I am a representation of an invisible God.” So the question is to ask yourself; are
Psalm 39
Amen, Jim. Psalm 39 reminds me greatly of Ecclesiastes — life is so short and passing. All the more reason to want to use every second we have to focus on the eternal God and to help those whom we love to know Him. I want the people I love and care about to be there in eternity and not just in the passing moments of this life, so as you said, we need to be thinking about how to serve and focus on representing God.