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Psalms 72-77

Psalms
72:1-20- Read the words - ‘His Name’ shall ‘endure for ever’(17) - and think of Christ. His Name is ‘the Name above all other names’. He is ‘the King of kings and Lord of lords’(Philippians 2:9-11; Revelation 19:16). Read the words - ‘all nations call Him blessed’(17) - , and think of Christ. ‘From every tribe and language and people and nation’, God’s people have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ (Revelation 5:9). Read the words -‘May His glory fill the whole earth!’(19) - and think of Christ. In the ‘new heaven and new earth’, ‘the holy city’ will shine with ‘the glory of God’. ‘Its radiance’, ‘like a very precious jewel’, will be shining from this ‘lamp’: Jesus Christ, ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’(Revelation 21:1-2,10-11,23; John 1:29).
73:1-28- It is so easy for us to lose our way - ‘my feet had almost stumbled’. We look at ‘the prosperity of the wicked’ and we become ‘envious of the arrogant’(2-3). What are we to do when the worldly attitude threatens to take control of us? We must remember the Lord, drawing near to Him in worship and standing up for Him in witness. When others are forgetting about God, we must continue to take our place in ‘the sanctuary of God’(17). In an age when so many show no interest in worshipping God, we must continue to say, ‘for me, it is good to be near God’. Our worship is not to end the moment we leave the place of worship. We are to tell others what the Lord ‘has done’ for us - ‘O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His Name together!’(28; 34:3).
74:1-23- We have been ‘redeemed’. God has brought ‘salvation’ to us (2,12). We rejoice in the Old Testament story of salvation: ‘the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt’(Deuteronomy 7:8). Through Christ, we rejoice with a much greater joy: “In Him we have redemption through His blood’. This is ‘the Gospel of our salvation’. It is ‘good news of a great joy’. Through faith in Christ, we ‘rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy’. Through faith in Christ, we look forward to ‘a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time... the salvation of our souls’(Ephesians 1:7,13; Luke 2:10; 1 Peter 1:5,8-9). ‘Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God’(Revelation 19:1).
75:1-76:12- ‘We give thanks to You, O God... I will rejoice for ever, I will sing praises to the God of Jacob... Make your vows to the Lord your God, and perform them...’(75:1,9; 76:11). True rejoicing in the Lord is more than singing praises to Him. We are to live what we sing. ‘Fill Thou our life, O Lord our God, in every part with praise’. ‘Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee’. These are not words to be forgotten as soon as we leave the place of worship. ‘We ask... for a life made up of praise in every part’. ‘Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee’(Church Hymnary, 457, 462). Such words are not only for singing. They are for living. We must not only sing them. We must live them. ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’(Philippians 4:13).
77:1-20- Sometimes, we have more questions than answers (7-9). The questions keep flooding into our minds. We wonder where the answers are going to come from. What are we to do when this happens? We must remember what the Lord has done for us (11-12). Look back over the ‘years’- and remember how the ‘hand’ of the Lord has been upon you (5,10). Think of how the Lord has led you on your journey through life. He has been your ‘Shepherd’. He has led you ‘in paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake’. Let the memory of God’s many blessings fill you with strength - to face the future with confidence in Him: ‘Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the House of the Lord for ever’(19-20; 23:1,3,6). Trust in the Lord. He will make you truly happy.
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