Psalms of Honesty and Truth
We are human. We are weakened when it comes to being attacked on any level. Our enemy, the evil one, attacks daily. Sometimes he is subtle and sometimes it is an all out war on our very being that is so in love with God, our Father who sent Jesus is Son to save us. HOWEVER, evil does not win!
As I read the praises of God, the Almighty, in this next Psalm of David, who obviously has gotten to other side of his battles and is praising God with all that is in him, a thought occurred to me. Do we spend way too much time extolling the enemy with our whining, complaining, thinking about the evil deeds and how we can beat him at his own game? Do we soak in the sweat of letting him get to us? Is he at the beginning of all our conversations? Is he at the forefront of our thinking? If only….we think or say. Does he guide our actions with rebuttals and explanations of why we are messing up? When we think like this, aren’t we praising his efforts in a way?
STOP the madness! Halt the wallowing in our self made misery! THINK and talk less of the enemy and MORE of our God who is daily fighting our battles. Stop listening to evil voices within who tear us down with self loathing thoughts. Let us lift our heads up high and cast our eyes on the Savior who died for us, defeated death and the enemy by going to hell and back for us. Lean into His teachings in God’s Word to us.
YES, praise GOD right in the heat of the battle for this is our part in the battle. The battle is not our own and we are NOT alone fighting for our salvation, integrity, and character. Stop talking and dwelling on the enemy as if God does not know him. Remember Who we belong to and love most. LISTEN to God’s Holy Spirit who corrects, cares and comforts you. Allow His continuing pure peace to overwhelm us and wash over us, flooding our dark souls with His bright Light that guides us. We are a redeemed people! We must learn to think less of the enemy and more about our God!. Lay down the dark side and lift up more and more praise to God our Deliverer!
“UP WITH GOD!”, as The Message paraphrases the opening of this song of enthusiastic praise! Think about Him all day long and into the night and see what happens to our thinking, our physical, emotional and spiritual well being. Take all the time you need. I am.
Psalm 68, The Message
(Warning: This is a long litany of praise…because we need it to change how we think!)
A David Psalm
68 1-4 Up with God!
Down with his enemies!
Adversaries, run for the hills!
Gone like a puff of smoke,
like a blob of wax in the fire—
one look at God and the wicked vanish.
When the righteous see God in action
they’ll laugh, they’ll sing,
they’ll laugh and sing for joy.
Sing hymns to God;
all heaven, sing out;
clear the way for the coming of Cloud-Rider.
Enjoy God,
cheer when you see him!
5-6 Father of orphans,
champion of widows,
is God in his holy house.
God makes homes for the homeless,
leads prisoners to freedom,
but leaves rebels to rot in hell.
7-10 God, when you took the lead with your people,
when you marched out into the wild,
Earth shook, sky broke out in a sweat;
God was on the march.
Even Sinai trembled at the sight of God on the move,
at the sight of Israel’s God.
You pour out rain in buckets, O God;
thorn and cactus become an oasis
For your people to camp in and enjoy.
You set them up in business;
they went from rags to riches.
11-14 The Lord gave the word;
thousands called out the good news:
“Kings of the armies
are on the run, on the run!”
While housewives, safe and sound back home,
divide up the plunder,
the plunder of Canaanite silver and gold.
On that day that Shaddai scattered the kings,
snow fell on Black Mountain.
15-16 You huge mountains, Bashan mountains,
mighty mountains, dragon mountains.
All you mountains not chosen,
sulk now, and feel sorry for yourselves,
For this is the mountain God has chosen to live on;
he’ll rule from this mountain forever.
17-18 The chariots of God, twice ten thousand,
and thousands more besides,
The Lord in the lead, riding down Sinai—
straight to the Holy Place!
You climbed to the High Place, captives in tow,
your arms full of booty from rebels,
And now you sit there in state,
God, sovereign God!
19-23 Blessed be the Lord—
day after day he carries us along.
He’s our Savior, our God, oh yes!
He’s God-for-us, he’s God-who-saves-us.
Lord God knows all
death’s ins and outs.
What’s more, he made heads roll,
split the skulls of the enemy
As he marched out of heaven,
saying, “I tied up the Dragon in knots,
put a muzzle on the Deep Blue Sea.”
You can wade through your enemies’ blood,
and your dogs taste of your enemies from your boots.
24-31 See God on parade
to the sanctuary, my God,
my King on the march!
Singers out front, the band behind,
maidens in the middle with castanets.
The whole choir blesses God.
Like a fountain of praise, Israel blesses God.
Look—little Benjamin’s out
front and leading
Princes of Judah in their royal robes,
princes of Zebulon, princes of Naphtali.
Parade your power, O God,
the power, O God, that made us what we are.
Your temple, High God, is Jerusalem;
kings bring gifts to you.
Rebuke that old crocodile, Egypt,
with her herd of wild bulls and calves,
Rapacious in her lust for silver,
crushing peoples, spoiling for a fight.
Let Egyptian traders bring blue cloth
and Cush come running to God, her hands outstretched.
32-34 Sing, O kings of the earth!
Sing praises to the Lord!
There he is: Sky-Rider,
striding the ancient skies.
Listen—he’s calling in thunder,
rumbling, rolling thunder.
Call out “Bravo!” to God,
the High God of Israel.
His splendor and strength
rise huge as thunderheads.
35 A terrible beauty, O God,
streams from your sanctuary.
It’s Israel’s strong God! He gives
power and might to his people!
O you, his people—bless God!
In Jesus Name, Amen! Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!
