Psalm 139:10, ‘…even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.’ Verses 7-10 of Psalm 139 form something of a meditation on the inescapable presence of YHWH. David poetically maps out the heights (‘If I ascend to heaven’), the depths (‘If I make my bed in Sheol’), and the width […]
Psalm 23:5, ‘You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies…’ A prepared table implies things like peace, security, fellowship, and joyful celebration…none of which would be expected ‘in the presence of my enemies.’ This tension is designed to slow our reading and cause us to question: ‘How is it that YHWH
Psalm 144:1, ‘Blessed be YHWH, my Rock, who trains my hands for war…’ Psalm 144 is written from the point of view of the Davidic king in the face of adversity. Its entire structure may be mapped onto—and, indeed, is ultimately grounded in—the Crucified and Risen Jesus Christ, who is Himself the true David and
Psalm 29:10, ‘YHWH sits enthroned over the flood; YHWH is enthroned as King forever.’ Psalm 29 poetically describes the onset of a violent storm that shakes the earth and splinters the trees and leaves humanity humbled in awe; at every point, the Psalmist is clear that it is YHWH Himself who stands behind and orders
Psalm 57:8, ‘[I will sing and make melody!] Awake my glory! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn!’ The Glory of God is that Body that hangs in terrible beauty upon the cross. That Crucified Lord, that Pierced One, that shattered Heart, that One who gives His flesh as food and His
Psalm 31:7, ‘I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have known the distress of my soul…’ /// This Psalm is written from the depths of affliction. Though v.8 presents YHWH’s salvation in the past tense, it is a past tense of David’s faith, not yet
Psalm 51:10-12, ‘Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit.’ This picture was a request from one of
Psalm 139:18, ‘I awake, and I am still with you.’ In context, this verse speaks of the Lord’s faithfulness to preserve His people through the night and waken them to His presence in the morning. However, bearing in mind the double meaning Scripture assigns to the concept of ‘sleep’—i.e., both the sleep of physical rest,
Psalm 46:2, ‘…though the earth gives way…’ In Psalm 46, we see that YHWH God Himself is the unshakable refuge for those who have fled to and hidden themselves in Him. To emphasize this point, the Psalmist employs catastrophic language about the earth itself being shattered, the mountains being hurled into the sea, or the
Psalm 42:11, “Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.” How do we know that ‘we shall again praise Him’? How do we know that this darkness is going to lift? That we will rise again from this pit? That the hopelessness that has devoured days, months, years of
Psalm 127:1, ‘Unless YHWH builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.’ And what is the ‘house’ that YHWH builds? Ultimately, it is the House of the Crucified and Risen Jesus Christ. Christ Himself is The House built by the Lord on the cross and from the tomb, raised up from the ashes
Psalm 27 Rather than a specific verse, this image attempts to visually exegete some of the central movements of the 27th Psalm. So, perhaps the best way to explain it is to walk through the elements of the image in the order that they appear in the Psalm. David begins by confessing that YHWH
Psalm 102: 24-26, [v.24] ‘Oh my God,’ I say, ‘take me not away in the midst of my days—you whose years endure throughout all generations!’ [v.25] Of old you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. [v.26] They will perish, but you will remain… Heb. 1:10 cites
Ps 89:9-10, ‘You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them. You crushed Rahab like a carcass…’ Here we find a poetic description of YHWH’s creation of the world, which may also be understood as a poetic recounting of the Exodus. How do we know this? First of all, the
Ps 90:12, ‘…teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom.’ Much of our culture is designed to prevent us from numbering our days, to prevent us from looking steadily at the absolute reality of our own mortality and the unshakable certainty of our own death. But this is
Ps 83:16-18, ‘Fill their faces with shame, THAT they may seek your name, O YHWH. Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace, THAT they may know that you alone, whose name is YHWH, are the Most High over all the earth.’ Two points — First, there is a
Psalm 80:10, “ I am YHWH your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. YHWH alone—as the God who raised His people out of slavery—will be the God of His people. A necessary implication of this is that He alone will be
Ps 37:23-24, ‘The steps of a man are established by YHWH, when he delights in His way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for YHWH upholds his hand.’ Here we see an interesting dynamic of the Christian life: The saint is one who both will most certainly fall and who will never
Today’s picture is divided into TWO PARTS in order to highlight two different perspectives on the ‘dark night’ of the Christian soul: Part 1 (the darker one) corresponds to Ps.22:1-2; Part 2 (the lighter one) corresponds to Ps.22:9-10. Picture 1: Ps. 22:1-2, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you
Psalm 22:1-2 & 9-10 Read More »
Psalm 61:6-8, “Prolong the life of the king; may his years endure to all generations! May he be enthroned forever before God…So will I ever sing praises to your name…” Notice that God’s prolonging of the king’s life and His enthronement of the king in His presence *results in* or *forms the ground of* the
