There are moments in life when chaos seems to reign. Mommy died with Alzheimer. It was a degenerative process as chaos prevailing over life.
In Psalm 93:
3-4 Sea storms are up, God,
Sea storms wild and roaring,
Sea storms with thunderous breakers.
Stronger than wild sea storms,
Mightier than sea-storm breakers,
Mighty God rules from High Heaven.
Sea waters are related to chaos. Even though chaos seems to prevail, the psalm declares that God rules over chaos.
God rules over Alzheimer and death.
I have had many difficulties in my life to better understand the Bible and fellowship in a local church. There have been times in my life, especially when I was single, when I gave up attending church and in a way went my own way.
I cannot say that I have been faithful to the Lord all my life, but the opposite is true.
The Lord has been looking for me and always brings me back to Him.
Psalm 92 is a song that should be sung in the congregation on the Sabbath.
1 It is good to give thanks to Yahweh,
to make music to praise your name, O Elyon.
2 It is good to announce your mercy in the morning
and your faithfulness in the evening
Brazil is a dangerous country. I live in a house. Some guys decided to work as security guards. They roam the streets on their motorcycles. They are supposed to give our neighborhood some security. They go and charge some value from the neighborhood (mainly those who live at home).
I did not adhere to the payment and therefore my home is not protected. Last year my daughter decided to study at night. I take her to the train station and drive her home. It is very unpleasant to find some security when entering or leaving the house. Yesterday I had a strong impression that a motorcycle courier was following me when I went to pick up my daughter.
I read in Psalm 91:
14-16 “If you’ll hold on to me for dear life,” says God,
“I’ll get you out of any trouble.
I’ll give you the best of care
if you’ll only get to know and trust me.
Call me and I’ll answer, be at your side in bad times;
I’ll rescue you, then throw you a party.
I’ll give you a long life,
give you a long drink of salvation!”
My life is in the Lord's hand. I must trust in Him and rest in Him. He will get me out of any trouble. He is the One who really protects me.
I was bullied when teenager. I suffered physical violence but the worst was the loneliness. I couldn't have a friend because everyone who approached friendly to me would be bullied too.
I grew up lonely, with no friends. Even now, I don't have friends. I have a family but I don't like parties. It is difficult to me to socialize.
I grew up in church, but I didn't get a church support in my loneliness. I can´t say I had real friends in church.
In Psalm 90:
1 God, it seems you’ve been our home forever;
but despite that:
7-9 Your anger is far and away too much for us;
we’re at the end of our rope.
You keep track of all our sins; every misdeed
since we were children is entered in your books.
All we can remember is that frown on your face.
Is that all we’re ever going to get?
I didn't enjoy parties (even nowadays if I go to party, I can't enjoy). Most of time I was chasing something: to study and go to college, to find a good job, to keep the job, to take care of the health of my children, etc. As in Psalm90: Is that all I am ever going to get?
10 We live for seventy years or so
(with luck we might make it to eighty),
And what do we have to show for it? Trouble.
I am 60 years old now. I would like to enjoy life now.
12 Oh! Teach us to live well!
Teach us to live wisely and well!
15 Make us rejoice for as many days as you have made us suffer,
for as many years as we have experienced evil.
That is my pray: Teach me to live wisely and well at 60 years old! Treat me with kindness. Make me rejoice for as many days as I was lonely, sad and lost.
The psalm finishes with:
17 let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us,
confirming the work that we do.
Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do!
Let the loveliness of my Lord rest on me. Let my life please my Lord.
In the old testament, we read promises to David: his kingdom will last forever. The psalmist is very aware of this promise to David:
3 You said, “I have made a promise to my chosen one.
I swore this oath to my servant David:
4 ‘I will make your dynasty continue forever.
I built your throne to last throughout every generation.’” Selah
He remember this promise again:
35 On my holiness I have taken an oath once and for all:
I will not lie to David.
36 His dynasty will last forever.
His throne will be in my presence like the sun.
37 Like the moon his throne will stand firm forever.
It will be like a faithful witness in heaven.”
However, there is no descendant of David ruling during the exile in Babylon. We Christians understand that "Jesus is the solution", through Jesus, a descendant of David reigns forever.
I don't know when Psalm 89 was written, but it seems to me that it reflects questions in Babylon exile in verses:
38 But you have despised, rejected,
and become angry with your anointed one.
39 You have refused to recognize the promise to your servant
and have thrown his crown into the dirt.
40 You have broken through all his walls
and have laid his fortified cities in ruins.
41 (Everyone who passed by robbed him.
He has become the object of his neighbors’ scorn.)
42 You held the right hand of his enemies high
and made all of his adversaries rejoice.
43 You even took his sword out of his hand
and failed to support him in battle.
44 You put an end to his splendor
and hurled his throne to the ground.
45 You cut short the days of his youth
and covered him with shame. Selah
46 How long, O Yahweh? Will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your anger continue to burn like fire?
The psalmist is very upset. Given what is happening, it seems that the promises were a lie (opposing to verse 35). Despite all circumstances, the psalmist decides to trust in the Lord. That is why he is questioning the Lord, because he trusts in Him. He finishes the Psalm with:
51 Your enemies insulted me.
They insulted your Mashiach every step he took.
52 Thank Yahweh forever.
Amen and amen!
We Christians trust in the Lord. We know that his promise to David was fulfilled in Jesus. However, this psalm inspires me to trust in the Lord near a denial of reality.
In Psalm 88, the psalmist is about to die. He prays:
9-12 I call to you, God; all day I call.
I wring my hands, I plead for help.
Are the dead a live audience for your miracles?
Do ghosts ever join the choirs that praise you?
Does your love make any difference in a graveyard?
Is your faithful presence noticed in the corridors of hell?
Are your marvelous wonders ever seen in the dark,
your righteous ways noticed in the Land of No Memory?
He is confident that the Lord prefers life than death because only a live audience praise his marvelous works.
The Lord loves Zion.
Psalm 87:1-3/MSG He founded Zion on the Holy Mountain—
and oh, how God loves his home!
Even though I was born in Brazil, the Lord makes me citizen of Zion.
In Psalm 87:5/MSG:
The word’s getting out on Zion:
“Men and women, right and left,
get born again in her!”
When teenager, I was bullied. I would like to kill the bullies, or worse, I would to see them tortured before their death.
David wanted their enemies to be shamed. How?
In psalm 86:12 he prays:
Make a show of how much you love me
so the bullies who hate me will stand there slack-jawed,
As you, God, gently and powerfully
put me back on my feet.
In Psalm 85
8 I want to hear what El Yahweh says,
because he promises peace to his people, to his godly ones.
But they must not go back to their stupidity.
I want to hear what Yahweh says, what pleases Him, what He wants from me.
I know that following his way is much better than my way.
His way leads me to peace. My way leads me to stupidity.
In Psalm84:
10-12 One day spent in your house, this beautiful place of worship,
beats thousands spent on Greek island beaches.
I’d rather scrub floors in the house of my God
than be honored as a guest in the palace of sin.
All sunshine and sovereign is God,
generous in gifts and glory.
He doesn’t scrimp with his traveling companions.
It’s smooth sailing all the way with God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
This year, my son began to study at a college in another city. He comes back only on weekends. He longs to come back. I think that he would easily exchange Greek island beaches to stay with family.
We, as Christians, long to stay with the Father because we trust in Him, we know how generous and kind He is.
In Psalm 83, we read:
2 Look, your enemies are in an uproar.
Those who hate you hold their heads high.
3 They make plans in secret against your people
and plot together against those you treasure.
4 They say, “Let’s wipe out their nation
so that the name of Israel will no longer be remembered.”
The enemies of Israel are the enemies of the Lord. The psalmist prays to the Lord, against the enemies:
16 Let their faces blush with shame, O Yahweh,
so that they must look to you for help.
17 Let them be put to shame and terrified forever.
Let them die in disgrace
18 so that they must acknowledge you.
Your name is Yahweh.
You alone are Elyon of the whole earth.
The psalmist asks that the Lord shows his power. In v17, he asks: "Let them die in disgrace", so that the remaining acknowledge that Yahweh is Lord".
I am not from Israel (not genetically descendant of Abraham), but I understand that I belong to the Lord's people. I was born an enemy of the Lord, but now, I acknowledge that Yahweh is Lord.
In psalm 82, the Lord is angry with others elohim who received the mission to judge fairly. Instead of defending the cause of orphans they sided with wicked people.
The Lord says:
6 “You are gods.
You are all sons of Elyon.
7 You will certainly die like humans
and fall like any prince.”
We expect justice from the Lord saying:
8 Arise, O Elohim!
Judge the earth, because all the nations belong to you.
Psaml 81 repeat "listen" many times.
In Egypt, Israel was in pain and called the Lord. He was hidden in thunder (v7), but He listened to Israel. However, Israel didn't listen to the Lord. The Lord asks:
8 Listen, my people, and I will warn you.
Israel, if you would only listen to me!
The Lord demands loyalty from Israel. Israel must serve only Him and not other gods.
11 “But my people did not listen to me.
Israel wanted nothing to do with me.
As Israel wanted to follow his own ways, the Lord let Israel go his stubborn ways and face the consequences of it. The Lord laments Israel decision:
13 If only my people would listen to me!
If only Israel would follow me!
If Israel listened to the Lord, He would feed Israel with the finest foods, He would prosper Israel.
The Lord resembles a father who laments that his son doesn't pay attention to his words and wastes his time on nonsense things.
Am I listening to the Father?
In Psalm 80, Israel is destroyed. Despite the prayers of Israel, the psalmist asks:
4 O Yahweh Elohim Tsebaoth, how long will you smolder in anger
against the prayer of your people?
Psalm 80 asks three times that the Lord smiles at Israel:
3 Turn us again, O God (Elohim), and cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.
7 Turn us again, O God of hosts (Elohim Tsebaoth), and cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.
19 Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts (Yahweh Elohim Tsebaoth); cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved!
The psalmist trusts in the Lord despite He has not attending the prayers of Israel. He asks that the Lord changes his mood and save Israel.
I must learn with the psalmist to persist on my prayers.
In Psalm79 we read:
1 O Elohim, the nations have invaded the land that belongs to you.
They have dishonored your holy temple.
They have left Jerusalem in ruins.
However the psalmist believes that the Lord is sovereign. He knows that the nations who destroy Jerusalem is under God's control. He understands that the Lord is angry with his people:
5 How long, O Yahweh?
Will you remain angry forever?
Will your fury continue to burn like fire?
He also understands that the enemies must be punished despite being controlled by the Lord. He asks:
12 Pay each one of our neighbors back
with seven times the number of insults they used to insult you, O Adonay.
One argument for free will would be that the enemies of the Lord are responsible for their actions if they have free will, if the Lord doesn't control them. However, in Psalm 79, we understand that the Lord controls the enemies of his people, but they are responsible for their actions and must be punished. The Lord controls the enemies showing his angry to his people, but the enemies show their own angry to Israel.
In Psalm 78, we read verses where Israel tested Elohim three times:
1) Israel wanted meat in the desert:
18 They deliberately tested Elohim by demanding the food they craved.
19 They spoke against Elohim by saying,
“Can El prepare a banquet in the desert?
20 True, he did strike a rock,
and water did gush out,
and the streams did overflow.
But can he also give us bread or provide us, his people, with meat?”
21 When Yahweh heard this, he became furious.
His fire burned against Jacob
and his anger flared up at Israel
22 because they did not believe Elohim
or trust him to save them.
2) Israel forgot the power of the Lord.
41 Again and again they tested Elohim,
and they pushed Qedosh Yisrael to the limit.
42 They did not remember his power—
the day he freed them from their oppressor,
43 when he performed his miraculous signs in Egypt,
his wonders in the fields of Zoan.
3) Israel rebelled against the Lord.
56 They tested Elohim Elyon and rebelled against him.
They did not obey his written instructions.
57 They were disloyal and treacherous like their ancestors.
They were like arrows shot from a defective bow.
58 They made him angry because of their illegal worship sites.
They made him furious because they worshiped idols.
Israel tested the Lord by not trusting in Him. We could think: "Israel didn´t trust in the Lord and the Lord let Israel abandoned to his own fate". However, the Lord became furious (v21, v41, v58). The principle is: "The more is given to Israel, the more is expected (more trust) from him.".
It's good to always meditate on what the Lord has done for me and how I am responding to his love.
We are tempted to think that we are on our own saying, Psalms 77:10/MSG:
“Just my luck,” I said. “The High God retires
just the moment I need him.”
because, it seems that the Lord doesn't listen to my prayers as nothing different happens.
The psalmist decides in Psalm 77:11-12/MSG:
Once again I’ll go over what God has done,
lay out on the table the ancient wonders;
I’ll ponder all the things you’ve accomplished,
and give a long, loving look at your acts.
Even though he didn't see with his own eyes ancient wonders such as the exodus, he believes and exclaims in Psalm 77:13-14/MSG:
O God! Your way is holy!
No god is great like God!
You’re the God who makes things happen;
you showed everyone what you can do
In a similar way, when it seems to me that the Lord is far away from me, I have to look at the cross and resurrection of Jesus to praise the Lord for his salvation.
Batman is an example of someone fierce to criminals. In general, the public thinks of Batman as a brave enforcer of justice and has a positive view of him.
Something similar happens with the Lord.
In Psalm 76:7-10/MSG:
Fierce you are, and fearsome!
Who can stand up to your rising anger?
From heaven you thunder judgment;
earth falls to her knees and holds her breath.
God stands tall and makes things right,
he saves all the wretched on earth.
Instead of smoldering rage—God-praise!
All that sputtering rage—now a garland for God!
The human reaction to his anger can be a latent anger, and indeed, some people hold a rage against the Lord. The psalmist enjoins praising the Lord rather than harboring anger against him, and indeed the anger of the Lord is another characteristic of the Lord to be praised.
In Psalm75:4/MSG, the Lord says:
I say to the smart alecks, ‘That’s enough,’
to the bullies, ‘Not so fast.’”
Since childhood, I expected to gain the respect of others being the best student, with the best grades. Now I am retired as a professor from a university. One day, the Lord approached me and said: "That's enough".
Since then, I don't need to gain the respect of others by being a "smart aleck". I began to say (Psalm75:1/NOG):
I give thanks to you, O Elohim; I give thanks.
You are present, and your miracles confirm that.
In Psalm 74, the first temple of Jerusalem was already destroyed. The people of the Lord was mistreated. How can the Creator of the Universe let his people in this condition! There is not so much to them to do but to pray to the Lord and ask:
22 Arise, O Elohim!
Fight for your own cause!
Remember how godless fools insult you all day long.
23 Do not forget the shouting of your opponents.
Do not forget the uproar made by those who attack you.
There are times when I forget that the Lord is a live God. He is the one who defends me, but there were moments when I wanted to defend the Lord.
I read the Bible and I understand what pleases the Lord. I do my best to please Him but what do I get in return?
In Psalm 73:
13 I’ve received no reward for keeping my life pure
and washing my hands of any blame.
14 I’m plagued with problems all day long,
and every morning my punishment begins again.
However, I see wicked people doing great in life.
In Psalm 73:
11 Then wicked people ask, “What does Elohim know?”
“Does Elyon know anything?”
They understand that Elohim has nothing to do with our lives, so they live theirs lives as they wish. It is really unfair that the wicked are "blessed" even though despising the Lord. Is Elohim good? It doesn't seem so.
In Psalm 73:
15 If I had said, “I will continue to talk like that,”
I would have betrayed Elohim’s people.
16 But when I tried to understand this,
it was too difficult for me.
17 Only when I came into Elohim’s holy place
did I finally understand what would happen to them.
My Aha! moment was in the holy place. I understood the fate of the wicked people.
19 They (wicked people) are suddenly destroyed.
They are completely swept away by terror!
Although wicked people seem to be doing great they will be suddenly destroyed.
But this will no happens to me.
The psalmist prays:
23 Yet, I am always with you.
You hold on to my right hand.
24 With your advice you guide me,
and in the end you will take me to glory.
25 As long as I have you,
I don’t need anyone else in heaven or on earth.
26 My body and mind may waste away,
but Elohim remains the foundation of my life
and my inheritance forever.
I will be resurrected. The Lord will make me win over Death.
So, let me return to the question: "Is Elohim good?"
1 Elohim is truly good to Israel,
to those whose lives are pure.
The Lord is truly good to those whose lives are pure. May my life be pure before the Lord.
Psalm 72 is a prayer to Elohim for the king. It was written by Solomon. In this prayer he asks:
4: May he grant justice to the people who are oppressed.
May he save the children of needy people
and crush their oppressor.
He makes some statements about the king:
12 He will rescue the needy person who cries for help
and the oppressed person who has no one’s help.
13 He will have pity on the poor and needy
and will save the lives of the needy.
14 He will rescue them from oppression and violence.
Their blood will be precious in his sight.
The king has power and he must use his power to defend the oppressed ones. Solomon prays that he becomes an instrument of the Lord. Our Lord is a good lord. He wants to rescue the poor and needy.
