Bible Reading Challenge Blog

I do have to focus on Psalm 137, but the other Psalms are important as well. Okay, before we look at 137 let’s see 136 which repeats over and over again that the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever. Isn’t that nice to be reminded of that for 26 verses. This is a psalm that we can read whenever we find ourselves in a position that maybe we might be feeling disconnected and separated from God. Remember, the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever.

Now to Psalm 137. This is a Psalm that I believe was written by someone who had been ravaged and attacked and her children taken from her by the Babylonians and killed in front of her eyes. Yes, those things did happen. If you look at vs.7-9 you see her wishing upon her captors the same that she experienced. That is me adding my own perspective, but I think it works.

I can’t read this Psalm without thinking of this song.

We have to focus on Psalm 133 where we read how blessed it is to dwell together with those who love the Lord. Well, that’s not exactly what is stated. The demographic group that is lifted up is kindred. Now, that could be blood relatives, or kin, or that could be spiritual relatives, or the church. I like the latter, although the former was probably what was in mind when this was written. But I have used this verse countless times to describe what it is like to be in unity together in all sorts of different settings, even in those settings where the participants aren’t related in any way shape or form, by spirit or blood.

The first thing that caught my attention was found in Psalm 126 where we read in vs.6 the words that brought about this song.

I hope this got you started on your day. We are very close to closing out our time together on this Bible reading challenge. We only have this week left!

We have two of the most classic psalms that we find in all of Scripture. When we read Psalm 46 we hear the words “God is our refuge and our strength.” What strong words of comfort we find here which should be familiar to us. We hear the words “Be still and know that I am God.” Again, very familiar words that we have used in one setting or another where our life might seem a bit out of control and those words come to calm us down.

Similarly we find in Psalm 118 numerous phrases that we have used and with which we are familiar. We see from vs.25-27 the very words that the people used to greet Jesus when he entered Jerusalem. These are words that were used to greet the pilgrims as they came into Jerusalem and went back out. But they are words that have been immortalized not just in this Psalm but by their repetition in the Gospels. We also hear words that we know in “O give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures.” It does remind me of this song.

We have the shortest of the chapters of the Bible in Psalm 117, but it is powerful. Is there anything more important that we do in our lives than praise the Lord? I have always said that it is from worship where we understand what God has called us to do. I have always said that it is in worship where we practice the righteousness that is required of us in the world. Worship is the pratice field of life, where we practice that which God calls us to do so that when we get into the game, the real world outside of the walls of sanctuary, we will have all the muscle and the heart memory that we need to do God’s work. Worship is at the center of our spiritual life. It has to be.

There is a somewhat secondary theme in a few of these psalms that we read which lift up certainly one of the primary themes of Jesus. We see a consistent recognition that there is a preference for the poor on behalf of God. Those who are poor, those who are marginalized, those who are outcast, those who are on the fringes of society are loved and evern favored by the Lord. But when we look at our own lives and certainly at the way in which society is constructed, there is almost a sense that the poor are poor because of their own doing. As a result we cast even more shame upon that status as opposed to being aware of how God favores the poor and looks out for them and wants them to come out of their poverty.

If we were but able to see poverty as not a result of ignorance or unwillingness to work but rather as a state that often our policies and our attitudes create, then we would probably have a different perspective of the poor, and it would be one that would be more generous and giving and loving than what we currently have.