Psalm 41

Read Psalm 41 again – Celebrate! Psalm 41 marks the end of our time in the book of Psalms for now. Scholars have broken the book into five sections the first of which is 1-41.

It reminds me of another celebration. My husband and I were flying over to Las Vegas to celebrate my mother and father-in-law’s 40th wedding anniversary. Their gift was a very nice bottle of champagne, and I brought along some champagne flutes because drinking this delicious bubbly out of a hotel cup was out of the question. But somewhere in my travel bag the base of these flutes broke off. Rather than despair, I thought how much more perfect, that they were endless glasses and not to be set down, but to be cherished and held until the last drop! It was quite a hit with my in-law’s too.

“In my integrity you uphold me and set me in your presence forever.” :12

As I mentioned yesterday, I got caught on this verse and have spent some time untangling my thoughts in prayer and through the wisdom of bible commentators. That is where I found this excellent commentary by Charles H. Spurgeon; it gave me clarity and tied it to the memory of celebrating with my in-law’s, and as if to seal it firmly, I tipped over a freshly washed stemmed glass that was drying on the counter, and the base broke off just like before!

“Thy power enables me to rise above the reach of slander by living in purity and righteousness. Our innocence and consistency are the result of the divine upholding. We are like those glasses without feet, which can only be upright while they are held in the hand; we fall, and spill, and spoil all, if left to ourselves. The Lord should be praised every day if we are preserved from gross sin.” Charles Spurgeon

Beloved, picture it, your very life is held in our Father’s most protective hand; you are not set down, but held and preserved by our Savior, Jesus Christ.

“Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and amen.” :13

Tomorrow we will begin the book of Matthew. It is the first book of the New Testament. It opens with a genealogy…. You may want to revisit your own today to open your heart to the fascination of lineage.

Thank you, Beloved, for taking this journey through God’s Word with me!

Read Psalm 41 – Jesus is here. It has been said that the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed (Saint Augustine). I say that to draw a correlation between David’s plea for himself, and the multifaceted way it also reflects our need, and gives prophetic whispers of Jesus.

“Blessed is he who has regard for the weak; the LORD delivers him in times of trouble.” :1 Because of the blessings we have received, we are also called to be a blessing to those in need. Jesus is the perfect model of this when he lived out his earthly, human mission with great regard for the weak, like me and you, hallelujah!

“Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me. ” :9. We don’t know the exact situation David is referring to, but we know this is how Judas was identified by Jesus at the last supper (Matthew 26, John 13, Mark 14).

“But you have upheld me because of my integrity, and set me in your presence forever.” :12

This verse proved a giant block for me. I thought David was bragging about his own integrity, which is contrary to the very need for a Savior, not to mention false, as the bible recorded David’s lapse in integrity most clearly. Yet I know the bible is true and does not contradict itself, so it is my responsibility to dig deeper… and was I ever blessed by the effort!

But I’ve used enough words for today, so I will share more tomorrow. Keep reading Psalm 41, as I have been re-reading it daily since my last post. It only grows more meaningful each time.

Tag: Psalm 41

Psalm 41 (again)