“Praise the Lord… Praise the Lord” (NIV 149:1 & 9) “Praise the Lord… Let everything that has breath praise the Lord Praise the Lord” (150: 1 & 6) The end. Our summer spent in the psalms is over. Over the course of the next day or two, I encourage you to spend some time with […]

“I keep getting the praising God psalms. What am I supposed to do with those?”  This is a real question I asked the other day. I’m a lovely Christian. Other questions that day included Are parking lot people going to be this terrible always? and Do you think angels sing our worship songs or theirs?  […]

This is our last week of Psalms, friend! I’m so incredibly grateful for this journey that we’ve been on together. One section of our Psalm reading this week jumped out to me in particular and for me it’s deeply personal, so I’m gonna share how it lands home for me.  I hope this is applicable […]

  “For the enemy has pursued my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead. Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled.” (Psalm 143:3-4) There are many times in life where we are dragged down by the enemy; […]

These two Psalms seem to document a time in Davids life where obstacles are all around him and the only option available to him is to call to God. Throughout this study we constantly find David and the writers displaying the widest range of emotion. From victory and praise to fear and insecurity, the Psalms […]

Psalm 139 talks about God’s infiniteness. The Amplified translation titles it God’s Omnipresence and Omniscience. I think verse 6 an accurate summary if you were to try and distill the Psalm to one verse (don’t actually try that though, read it). 6″Such [infinite] knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high [above me], […]

As I write this, I’m hurtling to Atlanta on a cramped bus following a trip to Durham to tour Duke Divinity school.  The campus is a beautiful arrangement of Hogwarts-gothic stone buildings, gardens, trees, and lush lawns.  Durham is simultaneously quaint, sleek, and hip.  Right in the middle of the city, however, is an enormous […]

“Now that I think about it, when they were walking in the desert, I did get some ‘Ashirra l’adonai’ vibes.” My friends and I had just finished watching War of the Planet of the Apes, and they were telling me that it was the story of Moses, which at first I didn’t see at all. […]

  Both of our Psalms this week are really short, so I’ll try and give some thoughts on both! Psalm 133 (VOICE) A song of David for those journeying to worship. 1 How good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters live together in peace! 2 It is like the finest oils poured on […]

    This Psalm is titled, in The Voice translation, “a song for those journeying to worship.” In other translations it is titled “A song of ascents.” It is thought to have been a song, sung by worshippers pilgrimaging to encounter God. This Psalm expresses the determination David lead in his life, to meet and […]

“Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways! You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.”  (Psalm 128:1-2) I’ve had an issue with understanding the intent behind certain key words in the bible, let alone words in […]

  In Psalm 126, we find the writer rejoicing in the amazing blessing that God has granted the nation of Israel. Israel was a land that other nations looked to due to their amazing success during the time of King David and King Solomon. This is due to the hard work and tenacity of not […]

Language is in essence a dialogue. It’s dialectic. It requires a response. Language is not just words on paper or words dictated. It’s always conversation. In that way, everything in scripture is conversation. Language in conversation is always changing. Language is therefore a creative act, a dance of give and take reflective of our ever-changing […]

The real reason why I went to Italy this summer was because I wanted to get close to God. All I had left of me was a the smallest seed of hope, and I wanted to plant it in the Vatican City. I thought that perhaps if I were to go to a land of […]

I love traveling. It’s one of my favorite things to do. I grew up on a tour bus. I visited 25 of our 50 states before I was 12. That being said, Psalm 121 really resonated with me because it’s affectionally known as “The Traveler’s Psalm.” Imagine this Psalm being read in the 1st century […]

This psalm was challenging for me at first. Where the psalmist adores the law, I find myself uncomfortable at the thought of adoring any set of rules or commands. I adore God’s heart for us, I adore the Grace he has extended us, and the sacrifice he made for us on the cross. But I […]

Psalm 119:13-44 “Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works. My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word! Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me your law! I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me.” […]

I don’t know if I’m just projecting on to King David, but this is the tone I get from this section of Psalm 119. The section from last week (82-88) is a passioned plea for deliverance and God’s presence. This week’s passages seem to be David reminding himself all he knows about God (especially seen […]

Here we go on sections eight through eleven of this poem. I do want you guys to remember as you read these three sections that they are small stanzas in a greater poem about blessing. I want to invite you guys to read a section and then read my commentary before moving to the next […]

As introduced by Gabi, this week we’re going to be spending a bit of time praying through Psalm 119, both the longest psalm and the longest chapter in the bible. Psalm 119 is comprised of 22 carefully constructed sections, each corresponding to a different letter in the Hebrew alphabet and each verse beginning with the […]

Isabella cried out with grief. None but Jesus heard her. That didn’t keep her from praying. “Let others say what they will of the efficacy of prayer. I believe in it, and I shall pray.”  That didn’t keep her from speaking. “I want to say a few words about this matter.” That didn’t keep her […]

Echoed throughout these two Psalms is this account of God’s love, with faithfulness at the core. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. (Psalm 118:1) What would be God’s love be if not at least faithful, or eternal? Yet, we have these intense proclamations repeated, again and again, […]

Psalm 115-116 “The Lord has remembered us; he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron; he will bless those who fear the Lord, both the small and the great.” (Psalm 115:12-13) Yet again, King David dishes out another dope verse expanding on how great God is, and how much he cares for […]

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about legacy. It’s kind of a pretty word right? Sort of rolls off the tongue and inspires grand thoughts about time and powerful figures in history –Martin Luther King Jr, Abraham Lincoln, Jesus, Oprah, Bono, the list goes on. With the plethora of larger than life figures in our […]

Covenants. Answered prayers. They’re both a form of promise from God. As part of music video week, I am revealing a deep, dark secret. I have a love for NSYNC, and I’ve always loved this song. Few things make me cry but this one is pretty consistently successful. Disclaimer y’all–the video is more about the […]

Yesterday was the fourth of July. I spent the day among friends I love, laughing and communing over food and sugary drinks, some of us hanging out on hammocks suspended in space between syrupy trees, all of us it seemed at home. Austin and Ty conquered the roof; Zak presided over the grill and Hannah […]

Psalm 107 Context…because ya’ll know I love context :). Psalm 107 is the first chapter of “Book Five” of the Psalms. The prevailing theme of Book Five is the people of Israel returning to their home from a time of exile. Which for some of them was literal, actually returning back to Israel from a […]

This psalm has pulled something out of me that I have not experienced many times before, and that is genuine thankfulness for my past and for my journey. Fun fact about me: I really really really hate nostalgia. I hate the feeling of happy-sad memories, and I hate re-living emotions from my past. So, like […]

Psalm 105  The other day I was cleaning my room, like I usually do when I am stressed, and I had a realization that I have had about a million times before. I stopped cleaning my room, closed my eyes, and just stood there. I thought to myself a very simple, but forgotten, phrase: “God’s […]

This is going to be a little different than my last few. Psalm 104 is pretty long, but has a lot of affirmation of God’s power and consistency. Because of that, I am going to pull out some of the verses that really struck me (either as convicting or heartening). Psalm 104:4 We talk about […]

Do you ever talk to yourself? Like, out loud? Am I a crazy person if I do? Because I do. I talk to myself when I’m embarrassed by something I’ve done or said, which seems to happen much too often…. I talk to myself when I’m thinking through my to-do list. And when I’m not […]

I have a side hustle at Justice, the clothing store for young girls. I get klutzy high fives from six year olds who purchased their first backpack and hugs from girls who are afraid of moving to California tomorrow (let’s get her a comfy pillow and jacket for the plane). Wednesday I clocked in and […]

Psalm 98:1-3 (ESV) 1 Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. 2 The Lord has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. 3 He has remembered his steadfast […]

“Wow. I never would have guessed that. Your dad’s not that scary.” When I tell people that my dad is a judge, the response is usually something like that. Some fun facts about my dad: 1. He has, on multiple occasions, dressed up as a cop from the seventies (complete with a wig and a […]

I find it healthy to put things in perspective for a little bit. You live on a planet that is so perfectly positioned around our sun that it is literally called the Goldilocks zone by scientists because it is just the right distance away. We are  one random asteroid from dying. Some might say that […]

If you make the Lord your refuge,     if you make the Most High your shelter, 10 no evil will conquer you;     no plague will come near your home. 11 For he will order his angels     to protect you wherever you go. 12 They will hold you up with their hands     so you won’t even hurt your foot on […]

I love God. The thought popped pleasantly in my head as I slid a dimpled hash brown into its bag, silently tilting my head in tune with a Gungor song. I’d gotten up ten minutes early – at the generous time of 3:50 a.m. – so I could meditate and arrive at the not-yet-shined doorframe […]

Psalm 87 The meaning of the Psalm is not clear at first pass, but as we dig in, this is one of the more beautiful Psalms. Verses 1 – 3 describe a future Zion as the chosen city of God. It is on the holy mountain, loved by God and spoken of gloriously. This is […]

When I sat down to write about these Psalms, I couldn’t help but reflect on one of my favorite rap lyrics of last year. Chance the Rapper in his song “Blessings” reminds us: “When the praises go up, the blessings come down.” I think that the psalmist is thinking along these lines in Psalm 86: […]

Psalm 84 I have this thing that happens to me each time I read the Psalms, and it sometimes gets on my nerves. I was raised in a church-going family that always found a way to be involved with the worship team, no matter what church we were at. That being said, I have a […]

Psalm 81 “God said, “I removed the load from your shoulders. I set your hands free from carrying heavy baskets. You called out when you were in trouble, and I saved you. I answered you out of a thundercloud. I put you to the test at the waters of Meribah. Selah” ‭‭Psalm‬ ‭81:6-7‬ ‭NIRV‬‬ You […]

Fun fact: the author of these Psalms is David’s music director! He was also Solomon’s and if you want more history here’s a link. http://www.hfbcbiblestudy.org/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=482 In the first part of Psalm 79, Asaph is bemoaning the world’s hatred of God’s people. The way he’s describing it hits home about how a lot of the populace […]

“O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance; They have defiled your holy temple, They have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.” (Psalm 79: 1) I’m reading this book – The Invention of Nature – about this guy – Alexander Von Humboldt – who was once described by his contemporaries as the second most famous man in […]

Reading Psalm 77 felt like I was reading the same words I have been writing to God for seven years now, so I thought it may be a neat experiment to go through my prayer journal and find words that matched these cries from Asaph. Blue words are things I have written to God in […]

PSALM 74 AND 75 I read an article this week about scientists discovering a new black hole the size of 17 billion suns. For perspective, 1.3 million earths fit inside of the sun. I tried to multiply 1.3 million by 17 billion and this is the number that came out: 2.21e+16. I don’t even know […]

My impression of Solomon at some point during his praises, probably. Psalms 72 and 73 tell of a situation we often find ourselves in, especially when we are trying to find that foothold onto higher ground. For Solomon, higher ground was his vision of heaven on the earth. The entirety of the first Psalm is […]

Psalm 70 While demanding justice has been a concept I’ve been wrestling with all summer, for some reason these verses resonate with me a little bit more (probably cause we’ve been hearing similar phrases for a few weeks now). To me, this particular passage is David begging God for the work of good men not […]

Psalm 69 starts with this plea from David. He pretty much says he feels like he’s drowning. That, I think, is a pretty relatable concept for a lot of us whatever it is we’re drowning in. This picture is an accurate outward representation of my inner world when I’m in one of this places where […]

“May God be gracious to us and bless us   And make his face shine upon us –  So that your ways may be known on Earth,    Your salvation among all nations” (Psalm 67: 1-2)     The picture I’ve chosen to share is a sort of testimony: “Come and hear all you who fear God / […]

At 27, I’m gonna crack–the type of losing it that looks a lot like a sad episode of 90210. I’m going to do all of the things that my anxiety and emotionally cluttered mind would never allow me to do in my early 20s. I’m going to do something illegal or blow all my savings […]

  Psalm 62 5 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. 6 He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. 7 On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. The central theme of […]

  WARNING: The following text has been written by a natural FEELER, NOT a natural THINKER. Psalm 60 The beginning of this Psalm speaks to a feeling of abandonment that I believe many of us have struggled with in times when we feel defeated by the “enemy” or by our circumstances. Yet, then it reminds […]

Psalm 58/59 David is lamenting about the evils of the world and that which opposes his kingdom. His frustration is written poetically and violently in the following verses. “The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies. They have venom like the venom of a serpent, like the deaf adder […]

  Psalm 56 9 “My enemies will turn back when I call out to you for help. Then I will know that God is on my side” It’s hard to live life with a more expanded perspective than just the now. Our busy lives tend to keep us in the present and unaware. Due to […]

Psalm 54 is a great example of prayer. Personal background here: according to Meyers-Briggs I’m a Thinker, specifically an Intuiting Thinker, so I think big picture, and according to the CRAP model I’m a DOer, so I like to doing things with my faith. For me this has combined to a bit of an aversion […]

A little background on Psalm 52 and 53: These are responses to one of the darkest moments in Israel’s history. David is on the run from King Saul, fleeing for his life. The King finds out about a group of priests that has aided in David’s escape. Saul responds severely. 1 Samuel 22 18 Then the […]

Psalm 50:3-4 “Our God comes and he will not be silent. A burning fire goes ahead of him. A terrible storm is all around him. He calls out to heaven and earth to be his witnesses.” These verses inspire me. Not simply because of the majesty and glory of God (even though just that alone […]

Psalm 49 I see this verse as a shoutout to all of us who think we are hot stuff. It calls on those who have attained glory, riches, and other worldly possessions, and then it puts things into perspective. No matter how great you are, all life ends in the same place; the grave. So […]

I so wish I could hear what these Psalms sounded like whenever they were sung. Could have been cool. Anyway, let’s get started! I love the overarching narrative found in Psalm 46. We find the writers declaring that even if the world is falling apart around us, God will still be present and move it […]

  So this is our second time seeing a Psalm written by the Sons of Korah. A little bit of insight: This is the same lineage that includes Samuel and his son Joel (you can get the whole story in 1 Chronicles 6). The important (ish) thing to note here is that a bunch of […]

In first grade, Ms. Richardi called me out in front of the whole class for being elbow deep in my nose. I now know that what I experienced in the moment following Ms. Richardi’s enthusiastic expose’ was shame. At six years old, however, and although I could spell “because” with unhindered confidence, I did not […]

  “When I was 13, I spent most of my life sick from PopTarts and daydreams.” This is a recycled line from a short story I wrote a few years ago, but I think it works for my actual 13-year-old self. All day long I would escape into my head, searching for some form of […]

When we pick up in Psalm 38, we find David fighting against a heavy sickness. He seems to think that the sickness is punishment from God because of his “sin” and “guilt.” Psalm 38 1 O Eternal One, please do not scold me in Your anger; though Your wrath is just, do not correct me […]

Psalm 37 immediately speaks to me in verses 1-6. “Don’t be upset because of sinful people. Don’t be jealous of those who do wrong.” Man. If this isn’t applicable to our world today, I don’t know what is. We see our world falling apart due to injustice and evil and it makes you feel incredibly […]

I’m going to start at the end and work backwards, because right now that makes sense to me. The first two verses I want to look at are Psalm 34:18-19. I’m not sure if they’re intended to be hopeful, but instilled a lot of hope in me. If we’re talking about distance from God, if […]

In the spring semester of my freshman year, I jumped out of a tree at 12 a.m. on a Tuesday and upon impact my knee exploded. (Truth is I’ve forgotten the Truth of what “actually” happened, but if you meet me for coffee I’ll lay bare the standard narrative. Cross my heart.) So anyway, after the […]

As an INFP, my INTJ roommate should win an award for having such a high emotional capacity with me after she battles a long day of school and work. For those of you who don’t know yet, my roommate is Malarie, and she is awesome. Here’s how a typical night goes in our apartment. While […]

I invite you to read Psalm 27 the way I read it this week. Give yourself 10 minutes of quiet; no phone, no tv, no distraction. Read it through one time, slowly. Next, identify what is your “enemy” in this season of your life. For me in this season, it’s my self-doubt. That small voice […]

Once again in the psalms, we find David navigating the loving and judgmental characteristics of God. In Psalm 25, he is crying for God’s merciful nature (verses 7-11) and in Psalm 26, he asks again for mercy (however in a much more colorful way, haha) when the “sentences” are handed down (verse 1). I don’t […]

Psalm 23 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil…” (Psalm 23:4 ESV) This verse is probably one of the most commonly quoted Bible verses out there, but also one of the most calming, comforting, and realistic. At the beginning of Psalm 23, we are introduced to […]

Psalm 22 reaches out and grabs me from the beginning. I am reading from an ESV Bible and the heading for this psalm reads “Why have you forsaken me?” This grabs me and pulls me in because I believe most people have a moment in time when they do not believe that God is present […]

There was a lot of talk about God’s judgement in last week’s psalms, and a lot of talk about David’s enemies as well. I’ve pulled out a couple of verses that I think keep that theme going a little bit and I hope they connect the pattern through these three psalms. Psalms 19:9 “The fear […]

       My dad has often teased the idea of becoming a storm chaser. Growing up, every storm was the same. Mom and I would hide out in the basement with flashlights and candles, and Dad would be outside in his jacket we got him from The Weather Channel. Periodically, Dad would come down […]

This week in our Psalm readings, I want to work backwards. Psalm 17 6 I am crying aloud to You, O True God, for I long to know Your answer. Hear me, O God. Hear my plea. Hear my prayer for help. In Psalm 17, we find David feeling abandoned by God. Pleading that God […]

Psalm 13-15 “The Righteous and the Wicked”        These psalms to me depict a man that is striving to understand good and evil in the world he lives in. In Psalm 13, David is wrestling again with a feeling of distance from God and the feeling of evil overcoming him. Psalm 14 paints […]

In Psalm 11 and 12, King David is in a place you would most often find a king: at war. His enemies are closing in, preparing their armies, and ready to destroy David and all that he stands for. Even though the vast majority of us reading through the Psalms Study this summer aren’t kings facing armies, […]

As I was doing a little research on these psalms, I discovered that in Hebrew the texts are read together to form something called an acrostic poem. An acrostic poem is a type of poetry where the first, last or other letters in a line spell out a particular word or phrase. Unfortunately, I don’t […]

The first thing that stuck out to me here was the titles of the two psalms. Psalm 7 starts “the erring one” while Psalm 8 starts “to the Overseer.” (As always, I’m using Young’s Literal Translation if you’re not seeing what I’m seeing.) It’s striking that one of these starts by referring to himself and the other […]

If nothing else, the psalms train us in honest prayer.   Psalm 5 and 6 are both expressions of King David looking to God for deliverance in times of trouble. In Psalm 5, we again find David lamenting his enemies and asking the eternal to bring judgement upon them:   “Declare them guilty, O God!… Banish […]

  According to Rob Bricken (I don’t know the guy), the 12 best villain voices of all time are the following: 1) Mark Hamill as The Joker, Batman: The Animated Series2) Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor, Superman: The Animated Series3) Jeremy Irons as Scar, The Lion King4) Douglas Rain as Hal 9000, 20015) Helena Bonham […]

Psalm 1 Psalm 1 sets the stage for all of the Psalms. The pursuit of wisdom and the expression of the human experience, that’s ​what we’re in for over the next few months. As I read this passage over and over​,​ I hear my mother saying to me when I was a child, “show me […]