Psalm 53 thrusts us into the life of David regarding his first trip to Gath, where he had to fake insanity to leave the city alive. What we find is that is is a beautiful reminder of how God hears our cries and has secured victory in our lives. It gives us assurance that while our enemies are many - and more powerful than us - that they are not more powerful than the God we serve, the God that in this New Testament age dwells within us.  He is always present now just as he was then, and we have victory in him.

In Psalm 55, David once again laments the situation with his son Absalom and the betrayal of his trusted friend Ahithophel.  But in the struggle, he gives us some options how we can deal with our struggles. In the end, he points us to the ultimate solution - finding peace in the struggle, even if the struggle persists.

In Psalm 52, 53 & 54, we find a common theme. David speaks of the wicked and the contrasting righteous. In light of where we see the wicked and their hopelessness, their condemnation, should we not rejoice the greater knowing that that is exactly what God has saved us from? Can we look at their blindness and remember when we were in their shoes and see where God has brought us and rejoice? Should we not want to show them a God that wants them to rejoice with us?

Psalm 51 begins a string of psalms written by King David. This on takes us back again to David's sin with Bathsheba. In this psalm, David gives us a pattern for how we should pray when we've come to a place of repentance. What we should pray for in restoration, how we should ask for our desires to be changed, how we can move from broken fellowship to full worship. David knew what he needed. He shows us in his prayer how to join him in that place of worship, where God can get the glory in our lives.

Psalm 50 is a wonderful song penned by Asaph, one of David's worship leaders. Asaph writes of God's call to worship. why we should worship him, and then tells us that worship falls into 3 categories. The dutiful worshiper worships God because it is what is required of a Christian. The negotiating worshiper worships God so they can balance the scales of the evil in their lives. God doesn't want that fake worship. God wants the worship of a loving and thankful believer, who cannot help praise escaping their lips.  Which worshiper are we? Which do we want to be?

In Psalm 49, the psalmist gives us a glimpse into what money can actually buy for us. Hint: It's not eternity. As we look at our finances and how we think about money in our Christian lives, it is easy to mistakenly believe God wants us to have a ton of it and never worry.  The psalmist lets us know what our regards will be if we pursue money at all cost, if we make it a priority in our lives. When it comes down to it, is money just a tool for us from a Kingdom view, or is it the only thing we want to view?

In Psalm 47 & 48, the psalmist continues his praise as he exalts the God of power and might, the Lord of hosts. He continues with so many explanations of God our refuge.  How is our praise life? Do we see God as awesome? Do we glorify him as such? Do we see him in the kingdoms of the earth, do we see his might in how he rules as King over all? Do we anticipate with joyous expectation his eventual eternal reign and our place in his kingdom economy? Let's see if the psalmist can help us get our minds to our God who is above all others. Hint: Yzeah, God's Word can do that!

In Psalm 46, we see a time in Judah's history that God won a victory on their behalf. This Psalm extols the God our refuge, our strength. We are in a daily battle. It is a struggle. God is our refuge. How much more of a refuge could he be for us if we did not turn to him and instead dwelled in him?

As we celebrate Resurrection Sunday, we thought it fitting to read a somewhat harmonized account of the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ. We close with Paul's comments on the importance of the Resurrection from 1 Corinthians 15.  Without the Resurrection , we are indeed of all men most miserable. In the glory of the Resurrection, there is hope.

In Psalm 45, the psalmist writes of his great joy, his gushing, overflowing readiness for worship. He then goes on to detail the why and the object of his worship. It is none other than the Bridegroom, the Chosen one of God. His worship was personal. His praise was pointed, specific.  ThisPsalm teaches important lessons about Christ, his majesty, his redemptive power, and our role in praising him. Our future role as we finally are with him for eternity.

In Psalm 44 the psalmist begins with remembrance of all that God has done for the nation. The Psalm quickly turns to feelings of frustration due to a perceived abandonment. Before we point fingers, how many times have we felt this way? We remember stories - and have some ourselves - of how God has worked in the past. We remember fondly the revivals of old.  God, where are you now? Where are you in this dark season in my life? Where are you when the churches seem to need you most?  Yet in what seems like despair, there is hope. God is shaping us into the image of Someone and we have to take all of that shaping, not just the parts that feel good.

In Psalm 42 & 43 the Psalmist seems to have been present with us in 2020 during the COVID outbreak. As we take a little walk down memory lane, we look at and apply this Psalm to that time, and draw lessons form the same. In every moment, our hope can be found in only One - Jehovah.  The One who loves, when we are unlovable, unloving. Who never changes, who is always faithful.  He will be our only hope for the future.

IN Psalm 41 David reminds us of how God is for us when all others seem to be against us. I doing so he shows us the importance of forgiving those who have wronged us. Jesus stated that he had come to give life more abundant. An abundant life is one free of bitterness among many other things. Going into this Psalm I didn't think I struggled with this issue very much. The Holy Spirit showed me otherwise in David's wise words, inspired by the Holy Spirit. Whatever hurt you're holding onto, it's time to let go.

In Psalm 40, David provides a simple guide for exponential Christian growth: Patience. More even than patience, we have to learn to lean on Him, to call out to Him. To allow him to work, to recognize and never lose what he has done for us. To see how we need him, how lost we were without him. To daily acknowledge that we have to give him our hearts, but even if our hearts are in the right place... It still takes time. So let's learn some patience.

This week we have a first - 2 Psalms in one episode! Psalm 38 & 39 share a very important instruction amidst David's lament for his failures, for his sins. Our sins rarely happen in an instant, most often, they are the result of many dominoes of sin that compound and grow until they take us captive.  Thankfully, our Father in heaven's love never changes or diminishes. je is always ready with forgiveness. David provides us in these Psalms with a pattern that we can follow to restore the relationship with God.

In Psalm 37, David challenges us with getting angry with the wicked and maybe even angry at God when we see them just sinning and yet prospering. Why do we suffer and they seem to not? Why do bad things seem to happen to us? Loss, disease, struggles. What is our hope?  Stop. Trust. Delight. There is so much we can do, we can let God do, to get through these feelings - and to get through this season.

David takes us from the wickedness of the wicked to the goodness of God in a single Psalm. One of the most beautiful things we see about God's holiness in this Psalm is how he blesses our sacrifices with and abundance only a God who is above all else and all others can.  When we acknowledge his holiness and sacrifice our own desires - when we sacrifice self because he is holy and deserving of sacrifice - what does he do but pour out abundance on us! This again serves to solidify what he says about himself and what we only partially understand - he is holy.

Psalm 35 finds David calling on God to fight against his enemies for him. There is a great lesson here in how we can be hesitant at times to ask for the same.  So often we want God to just keep our "enemies" of temptation merely at arms length from us, instead of asking him to vanquish them violently from our lives.  While David speaks of flesh and blood enemies, the truths in this Psalm are applicable to our battle against our flesh and the influences of the devil and his "principalities of the air" that we contend against every day. Thankfully, God has secured victory for us, we just need to let him fight.

This episode is crazy! Well at least it is an account of something crazy. We find ourselves in Psalm 35 and David is praying God as he so loves to do. Ever made a bad decision for a good reason? When the outcome was favorable by God's grace, where did we place the credit? David writes this Psalm on the heels of a bad decision he made for a good reason that he wound up needing deliverance from. His praise here is a testimony that God indeed is good... ... and we can be very, very dumb.

Psalm 34 teaches about God's glory, his awesome power and how our joy can only be full in him. Do we rejoice? Really rejoice? Does it spill out of us like water from an overfilled glass, splashing everything and everyone around us to where they can't help but fell joy as well? Do we paint an attractive picture of the joy we have in Christ to the point that others want to experience it, partake in it? How else could we respond to God's greatness? To his redemption? Where else can we find that kind of hope?