Good Morning Siblings!

Today’s readings are Psalm 40-45

Click here to read today’s passages on BibleGateway.

Rabbit Trails

Our reading begins with:

I waited patiently for YHWH; He inclined to me and heard my cry. Psalms 40:1

We need to take a moment to comfort ourselves with this thought. We live in rapidly changing and uncertain times. Many of us would love to go back to simpler times, whether we consider those to be our childhood days or just a few years ago, before so much in our world was upended. But here we are. In this time. At this moment. And so, as His people, we naturally turn to the Father. But many others are turning to the Father as well, some of them for the first time.

There is uncertainty in this world. There is anxiety, and job loss, insecurity with basic needs, and financial issues that can weigh heavily on the best of us, no matter how strong our faith. This world is not our permanent home but it is our home for now and the issues that impact this world and how we operate in it will obviously impact us, so don’t feel it is a deficit in your faith when matters of this world bring you to your knees before Him.

Remind yourself that being on our knees before Him is better than standing in a castle that belongs to this world.

Psalms 40:1 reminds us of a very important thing.

He hears our cries.  He will draw us from the pit of destruction and pull us from the miry bog. He will make our steps secure and put a new song in our mouth. Psalm 40:1-3 promises us this.

And Psalm 40:4 culminates in letting us know what puts us in a position to receive this wonderful rescue from the Father:

Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.  (NIV)

And what happens when we put our trust in the Father?

You have multiplied, YHWH My God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts towards us. Psalms 40:5

Indeed He has!

Since I showed you the tactic I use to dig deeper and glean more than a simple surface reading of Psalms yesterday, I’m going to continue with a few more examples today.

I found several directives in Psalms 40:9-11, let’s see if you can spot them.

I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.”

I have told the glad news of deliverance
in the great congregation;
behold, I have not restrained my lips,
as you know, O Lord.
I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
from the great congregation.

As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain
your mercy from me;
your steadfast love and your faithfulness will
ever preserve me!

Psalms 40:8-11

First, I want to point out that the Hebrew in the original text did not say “law” but “torah”, which is YHWH’s instruction and also the first five books of the Bible. I’ve mentioned it before but we need to know some of these Hebrew terms because often they carry deeper meaning than the simplified English translations. Also, we need to do what we can to build bridges to our Jewish brothers and sisters, with whom many of these terms are familiar and our translated terms may feel a bit more foreign, depending on the context of the conversation. The first time I heard the word “torah”, I automatically assumed the person using it was Jewish and it was some other book outside of the Bible itself. I had no idea it was the age old name for the foundational texts of my own faith!

Back to our verses, what directives did you find? Here is what I came up with:

  • We are to tell of His deliverance. When He frees us from bondage, we need to proclaim what He has done. Psalm 40:9
  • He is faithful – and we need to let that be known, too! We have to tell people the hope and truth we have found in Him. We cannot hide it or keep it to ourselves and we cannot let an opportunity to praise Him pass us by. Psalm 40:10
  • We do this for many reasons but one of those is because He has not held back from showing His mercy to us, He has remained steadfast and faithful to preserve us. This is one of our if/then statements. If he does this, how can we not then do our part? Psalm 40:11

I dissected Psalm 40 just a bit for you. I’d like you to pick one of our Psalms in the reading today and see if you can do the same. Look for a directive or perhaps an If/then scenario. Remember a directive can be an example of what to do or what not to do.

The Psalms, like the rest of the Word, is a guidebook on how to live, but we have to train ourselves to read the instructions.

Test everything, hold tight to what is good.~ 1 Thess 5:21

We are saved by Grace alone: Obedience is not the root of our salvation, it is the fruit!

May YHWH bless the reading of His Word!

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Christy Jordan
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