Timeless Biblical Truth.
Unbelievers reject God and live in defiance of His laws, but believers trust in his committed love and receive abundant physical and spiritual blessings.
- Revelation: God reveals the evil lifestyle of unbelievers (1-4).
- Sin appeals to the unbeliever because he does not fear God (1).
- The unbeliever rationalizes his sinful lifestyle (2-4).
- Celebration: Believers find deliverance and blessings in the LORD (5-9).
- The LORD’S nature is revealed in his great acts of love (5-6).
- Believers celebrate the LORD’S blessings of protection and provision of them (7-9).
- Petition: Believers ask the LORD to continue to preserve and protect them in this wicked world (10-12).
“Praise may be given in many and varied circumstances, from a social gathering to the congregation at worship. But the one we must praise is God. In the Book of Psalms praise is always directed to God. That is the only way praise may be said to be on target. This might seem to be obvious, but it must be given emphasis for it is so very crucial. Praise is not merely feeling good inside. Praise is not just a sense of belonging in the community. Praise is rather participation in the worship of God. It is the expression of delight in knowing Him and in learning more about the Savior. Praise happens when God is glorified.” Ronald Barclay Allen: Praise! A Matter of Life and Breath, 73.
Questions for Second Milers
- How is the wicked person described?
- What are his goals, his view of (i) God, (ii) himself, and (iii) truth?
- What actually has become the wicked man’s god?
- How can he be so fearless in doing evil?
- To what end does the wicked come (v 12)?
- How is God contrasted to the wicked?
- What quality of God’s righteousness does David stress?
- What is David’s prayer in view of God’s greatness?
- What in verse 10 indicates his confidence (cf. Ps. 32)?
- What gives you confidence that God loves you?
- What sin (as in vv. 1-4) do you need to confess?
- For what will you praise God now?
- Give your own short title to this psalm.
“If we have no real interest in praising him [God], it shows that we have never realized who he is.” Thomas Merton: Praying the Psalms, 11.
“We have been successful in fitting God into our important schedules that worship is often just another activity. . . . For worship to be as glorious as it should be, for it to lift them with adoration and praise, for it to be the life-changing and life-defining experience it was designed to be, it must be in-spired by a vision so great and so glorious that what we call worship will be transformed from a routine gathering into a transcendent meeting with the living God.” Allen P. Ross: Recalling the Hope of Glory: Biblical Worship from the Garden to the New Creation, 35, 39.
Lanny Tanton is the Pastor at The Bible Church of the Lakes in Horseshoe Bay, Texas – just outside of Marble Falls. Pastor Tanton welcomes you to our website and hopes that you’ll enjoy reading these insightful blog posts. Please contact us if you have further questions!!
