Psalm 117 Guess What?

Psalm 117

This is a remarkable chapter in the Bible - first off it is the shortest chapter in teh whole Bible a mere couple of verses.

However this chapter is also exactly half way through the Bible chapters in total 929 chapters in the Old Testament and 280 in the new so a total of 1189 chapters.
Psalm 117 is chapter 595.

If you have read my posts you may have noticed that I skipped a couple of books that covered the kings of Israel (For the Third time!).

I'd like yo say a HUGE thank you, or Possibly THANK YOU for reading my blog, I hope you have found something interesting in it

The Chapter reads - 
Praise the LORD, all you nations;
Extol him all you peoples, for great is his love towards us,
and the faithfulness of the LORD endures for ever.

Praise the LORD

Join me in upcoming posts as we enter the second half of the Bile

Psalm 116 Promises fulfilled

Psalm 116

This Psalm begins I love the LORD for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy.
Because he turned his ear to me I will call upon him as long as I live

Now to me it sounds a bit like the Psalmist badgering a charity donor here! However let's carry on!

The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came over me; I was overcome by distress and sorrow.
Then I called on the name of the LORD: "LORD, Save me!"

I'm going to let you in on a secret here - sometimes I feel a bit like that, my mind turns on transience and mortality - when I think about it rationally I turn to God who has given us so many wonderful things to enjoy in life and remember, as in my last post that God is the God of the living, and to quote another great hero from the Christian faith "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain" St Paul letter to the Philippians

Suddenly the tense of the Psalm changes from the first person - 
The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.
The LORD protects the unwary.

Does this mean that I can go wandering alone in the rougher areas of Bradford (pick a city of your choice, Bradford is local to me.) in the middle of the night as God will protect the unwary?

There may be a thin line between "unwary" and "idiot".......
I know of Christians who go out to the night clubs and pubs in the early hours as street pastors - they try and protect some of the (self induced) vulnerable people and share that there is more to life than needing help counting your feet (or whatever they think they are doing) But they take precautions and are wary of their surrounding 

Then back to the first person - 
When I was brought low, he saved me.
Return to your rest, my soul, for the LORD has been good to you

God's goodness here has a response from the Psalm writer -

What shall I return to the LORD for all his goodness to me?
I will lift the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD.

I will fulfil my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people.
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful servants.

I was going to skip over this verse, but actually I want to say something.
In November and December of 2015 my grandparents died. Both had followed the Christian faith most (if not all) their lives. They met a church, married at church and their church minister took their funerals. Both their lives spent in service of God were precious but here I find that God treasures the moment they passed into glory. I type this with a tear in my eye and a lump in my throat amazed by this fact - Precious in the sight of God is not only my life, but my death!

Truly I am your servant, LORD; I server you just as my mother did (and my grandmother and grandfather if it comes to that!) 

I will fulfil my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people.
In the courts of the house of the LORD - In your midst, Jerusalem.

Praise the LORD

Psalm 115 Non nobis Domine

Psalm 115

I have verse 1 of this Psalm in latin on the back of a T shirt celebrating Medieval knights. In particular the knights templar.

It is a famous prayer - ordered by Henry V following the battle of Agincourt. 
In latin verse 1 reads (the famous soldiers prayer) 
"Non nobis, Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam"
In the NIV bible is is 
Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.

The Psalm goes on to talk about the difference between God of Israel and the gods of the other nations - 
Why do the nations say "where is their God?" 
Our God is in heaven he does whatever pleases him.
But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands.
They have mouths but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see.
They have ears but cannot heat, noses but cannot smell
They have hands, but cannot feel, feet but cannot walk.
They can't make a sound with their throats.
Those who make them will end up like them as will any who trust in them

The Psalm continues with the injunctions to God's people - 
All you Israelites, trust in the LORD
He is their help and shield
House of Aaron (the priestly leaders), trust in the LORD
He is their help and shield
You who fear (respect) him, trust in the LORD 
He is their help and shield 

Do you see a pattern emerging here?

There is faith in this Psalm that God remembers and will bless us.

May the LORD cause you to flourish, both you and your children, May you be blessed by the LORD the maker of heaven and earth.

There is an interesting bit at the end of this Psalm - 
It is not the dead who praise the LORD, those who go down the the place of silence; it is we who extol the LORD both now and evermore.

Jesus was asked a question by a group of leaders who did not believe in life after death - Jesus quoted from Exodus and God's introduction to Moses "I AM the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob" God's friends and followers are NEVER in the past tense for God is "Not the God of the dead, but of the living" to quote from Jesus

Psalm 114 When Israel left Egypt

Psalm 114

This is a short Psalm remembering the events of the exodus of Israel from Egypt -

The long trek from Egypt to the land of Canaan is described as Jacob coming out from a people of foreign tongue, Judah became God's sanctuary and Israel his dominion.

At the time the sea looked and fled, the Jordan turned back and the mountains leaped like rams.

Why was the natural order in such disarray? the Psalm asks 

It is attributed to the presence of the LORD, the God of Jacob , who turns rock into a pool and hard rock into springs of water.

I guess that some people would argue that unusual weather and global warming are myths and that climate change is the will and purpose of God 

Personally I don't think the science and evidence mounting annually can be ignored - if there is the slightest chance that our overuse and misuse of the planets resources, dumping literally billions of tonnes of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, we have to take seriously that we are temporary residents of this planet and have a responsibility to look after and use the resources in the best way we can
Science has proved that we dumped millions of tonnes of poisonous lead in an effort to make our engines operate more efficiently on lower grade petrol. 
Amd that we used thousands of tonnes of CFC which destroy a vital layer of the atmosphere that absorbs harmful UV radiation to make our armpits smell better

Ironically these last 2 were the brainchild of just one person!

Psalm 112 Delight in God

Psalm 112


At the end of the last chapter we read that "Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom"

This Psalm kind of carries on the theme - 
Blessed are thay who fear the LORD, who find great delight in his commands.
Their children will be mighty in the land, the generation of the upright will be blessed.

Delighting in god's command? What does that mean? Many of the laws of God I've been reading recently have been concerned with what animals are clean and what do to if one becomes ritually unclean.
Having said that many commands of God do make sense. 
One of the people who inspired me to write this blog was a chap called AJ Jacobs who wrote a blog and a book called "my year of living Biblically" - in that book one of the things he found was that thinking about these things actually made him more  thankful and thoughtful - so perhaps there is something in it!

In the Psalm, the righteous last forever with wealth and riches.
Even in the dark, the upright have light, no fear of bad news.
In the end they will look in triumph on their foes.

Who are these people? - those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous, generous and lend freely, they conduct their affairs with justice, freely scattering gifts to the poor.

I wish I was rather more like these people!

Psalm 111 The fear of the LORD

Psalm 111

I don't know about you, but I get excited when something amazing happens - hearing about the mighty acts of God and seeing the wonderful creation.

Praise God,

I will extol the LORD with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly.

Great are the works of the LORD, they are pondered by all who delight in them.

One of the commands that is repeated through the Bible is to remember - in the passover it is commanded to remember and tell of the acts of God, in communion as Christians we are told to remember the death and resurrection of Jesus.

The Psalm ends with a statement of faith  "He provided redemption for his people, he ordained his covenant forever - holy and awesome is his name."

And with a famous quote - "Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise"

The word "fear" I think has changed in meaning over the years, I don't think it means "be afraid" I think perhaps a better word would be "respect" - I respect fire and electricity for their potential to overwhelm me, yet the one keeps me warm and the other allows me to write this blog!


One is no fool to respect the creator and sustainer of life, in my opinion.