Psalm 6 – “O Lord, do not rebuke me in your
anger, nor chasten me in your wrath. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak”
(6:1-2).
My soul is
troubled. Please deliver me, “for in death there is no remembrance of you; in
the grave who will give you thanks?” (6:4-5).
“I am weary
with my groaning; all night I make my bed swim; I drench my couch with my
tears. My eye wastes away because of grief” (6:6-7).
“Depart from
me, all you workers of iniquity; for the Lord has heard the voice of my
weeping” (6:8).
I
don’t know if you have had times like this, but I have. And I confess too that
my mindset is much more OT in that I have serious doubts about life after death
as it is usually thought of. It is encouraging to me that I am not alone, that
even a writer of the psalms shared/shares both my despair and my faith that
there is one out there/in there who hears me.
Psalm 7 – “O Lord my God, in you I put my trust;
save me from those who persecute me; and deliver me, lest they tear me like a
lion” (7:1).
“O Lord . . .
if there is iniquity in my hands, if I have repaid evil to him who was at peace
with me . . . let the enemy pursue me and overtake me; yes, let him trample my
life to the earth, and lay my honor in the dust” (7:3-5).
“Judge me, O
Lord, according to my righteousness, and according to my integrity within me .
. . let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the just”
(7:8-9).
Those who
bring trouble to the world and falsehood will fall into the ditches they have
made.
Psalm 8 – “O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is
your name in all the earth who have set your glory above the heavens!” (8:1)
“When I consider
your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have
ordained, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you
visit him? For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and you have
crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the
works of your hands” (8:3-6).
This
is the amazing place of man – male and female – in the beautiful creation of
God’s hands.
1 Thessalonians 2 – He speaks of the “rough
treatment” he and others had received from the Philippians.
He
speaks of the motives from which he and other apostles came to them – NOT to
please men or get money but out of love. They worked very hard over the three
weeks they remained in the city, so as not to be a burden. And they behaved
towards them like a father dealing with his own children, with love and
encouragement, “appealing to you to live a life worthy of God, who is calling
you to share the glory of his kingdom” (1:12).
And
they received the message not as “human thinking” (2:13) but as “God’s
message.” And this message is “still a living power among you who believe it” (2:14).
He
recognizes that they have been persecuted by local leaders who think that they
should not be trying to reach out to the “pagans” (1:16). And Paul says he longs
to see them again, but he has been prevented.
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