Psalm 45 – The Royal Wedding Psalm 45 pivots from heartache and hardship to the joyful celebration of a royal wedding. The juxtaposition of soul-churning lament and a soul-inspiring love song captures the extremes of life. The psalms move from the depths of persecution to the heights of the throne of God. True worshipers live in the reality of one and the hope and expectation of the other.
It is difficult to imagine a person knowingly praying Psalm 93 without experiencing some dissonance with the prevailing scientific, social, and political idelogies that shape us. We are immersed in a culture that prides itself on nature alone, the freedom of the individual, and self-government. There is a clash between the popularly conceived American Dream and the Kingdom of God.
Psalm 91 – The Lord Is My Refuge Psalm 91 is a psalm about fear, faith, and fellowship with God. The psalmist begins with a powerful faith statement, followed by a vow of trust. This eloquent opening is enriched by four metaphors for security and four names for God: Most High, Almighty, The Lord, and my God.
Psalm 44 – Yet For Your Sake If Psalm 42-43 line up with Jesus’ expectation of the cross and his feelings of being God-forsaken, then the communal lament of Psalm 44 lines up with the persecuted Church. What is truly remarkable is that Jesus’ Prayer Book describes the state of the Church in a hostile world long before the people of God understood the strategy of the cross. The psalmist’s lament foreshadows the apostolic strategy for how the Church is to relate to the world.
Psalm 42 – 43 The Counsel of Prayer Dry, drowned, and disheartened, capture three frank confessions from a person who longs with his whole being for the fellowship of God. The painful paradox of depression and devotion runs through this psalm and makes a valuable contribution to our understanding and experience of true spirituality.
