Psalm 21: What is Good Leadership

The weekend Psalm
Read Psalm 12 from the World English Bible
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This is a Thanksgiving and Royal Enthronement Psalm.

The Big Idea
When you read this Psalm, think in terms off gratitude: God has provided; God is providing; God will provide. The gratitude of the King in this Psalm is not based on having arrived--the first verse makes that clear. Everything is based on the strength, and faithfulness, of God. 

These days, the wrath of God is not a trendy topic, but there it is, in roughly the last half of this Psalm. It's important to recognize that we cannot fully understand the absolute, untarnished perfection of God. For us, tarnished and imperfect as we are, we quickly lose sight of the fact that even God's wrath is good, loving, and holy. As our Orthodox Christian brethren would say, it is a mystery. 

This Psalm refers to "The King," so while it is a reference to King David, it is a prophecy about the Messiah, Jesus. He is the bridge between God's wrath and God's favor. The one way out of despair and hopelessness. 

Meditation
You may struggle with this, but the point of the Psalms is to give us a new vocabulary for prayer. You can pray this whole Psalm for our leaders -- and if you are a leader, you can pray it for yourself, if you have the courage.

Pray all of the blessings and benefits on behalf of good leaders, and pray all of the curses on behalf of evil leaders. But note this: You don't get to decide which is which. Again, God does. Jesus provides the pathway out of the curse and into the blessing.

This is not a place for editorializing in your prayers, and reminding God of who is good and who is evil in your eyes. This is the time to simply pray: Use the words and ideas given to us here, and trust God. 

I find that when I pray this way, I become more and more aware of the faults, weaknesses, and sins in my own life. It becomes an opportunity for repentance -- turning to God and trusting in His strength. Jesus, as the King, is that strength, personified. And that idea brings us right back to the opening phrases of this Psalm.

Praying With This Psalm
The focus of our prayer in Psalm 21 must be on God's Goodness. God is always good, even when our limited perspective won't let us see it for ourselves. 

• Almighty God, may ______ trust in your strength and the assurance that you have provided, you are providing, and that you will provide.
• Oh, Yahweh, examine _____'s heart(s) and make us holy.   
• May ____ trust in the lovingkindness of Yahweh. 
  
• Lord God, I fearfully ask that you find out those who hate you and devour them. May they have no future, no inheritance, no hope because they havea turned from youi. 
• When ______ face those who plot evil, may we rejoice and celebrate your strength and your power.  
  

Related Scriptures and Scripture Prayers

• Ephesians 2:3-5 -- May ____ remember that we were all once "children of wrath," just like everyone else.
• Ephesians 2:3-5 -- May _____ remember that Jesus is the only way to move from God's wrath to God's blessing. even as the rest. 
• Ephesians 2:3-5 -- May _____ live in gratitude that God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved..."
• I Timothy 2:1-2 -- Lord, hear our petitions, prayers, intercessions, and givings of thanks" for everyone, including "all who are in high places, that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and reverence."
•  1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 -- May ____ seek Jesus Christ, who delivers us from the wrath to come, 

Psalm 11: Guess Who's Watching

 

The weekend Psalm
Read Psalm 11 from the World English Bible
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This is a ... Psalm.

The Big Idea
The world is not a friendly place, and there are those who mock the people of God. The last half of that first verse has the undertone of a schoolyard bully: "Yeah, Run on home to that God of yours." There is bitter mockery there.

The situation doesn't get much better in the lines that follow. They're ready to shoot, eager to take us down. They have their bow, they have the bowstring, and they have the nock of the arrow in place. Everything is ready -- and they would ambush us -- but notice this: They are shooting in the dark. They can't see to shoot straight. 

God (Yahweh) is the one who sees. He is the one who is in charge. And then he reminds us of something we'd rather not consider. We've got people taking shots at us, and even the righteous ones are powerless, too. We don't have the right--or even the ability--to play the trump card of "God is on our side." We are not in control of things: God is.

Meditation
When our own tendency is to want to make things right, God is in the business of examining our hearts. If that sounds intimidating, it should be, and in fact, it should strike a note of terror. 

It's a good terror, though. God hates the wicked, to the point that he won't even look at them. It's worth a little thought that God watches them, but will not look at them. Better to be known by a God who examines every detail of our lives, rather than watched at by a God who hates our actions, and will ultimately bring about justice (in the grandest, most transcendent sense). 

It's sometimes troubling that God's ideals of goodness and holiness get in the way of our own life and preferences. That's why this Psalm is so important: God watches, God sees, and God is in control. We are not. And that is a call to humility, repentance, and prayer.

As my beloved wife puts it: "God is in charge, and I am not. I don't have to like it, but I do have to submit to His authority."

Praying With This Psalm
The focus of our prayer in Psalm 11 must be our own weakness, powerlessness, and helplessness. It reminds us of the greatness and goodness of God, and the fact that he is sovereign over everything. 

• Almighty God, may we remember that you are in control. You are reigning from your holy temple. 
• Oh, Yahweh, examine _____.  Purify _____ before your presence.
• Lord God, you said that the righteous will see your face. May that be true of ______. Purify their heart, and may they see your face, your goodness, and your grace. 
  

Related Scriptures and Scripture Prayers

• Proverbs 3:5-6 -- May ____ trust in God above all, and not on _____'s own understanding. May they trust the road ahead to God alone.
  
• John 14:4-7 -- May _____ know that Jesus wants them with him. May they understand that Jesus is the way the truth and the life, and the only way into God's presence.
• I Peter 3:13-14 -- May ____ know the value of doing good, and be comforted by the fact that even when things do not go well, that God is with his people. 
• 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 -- May ____ turn from idols and false gods to the one living and true God. May _____ seek Jesus Christ, who delivers us from the wrath to come, 

Psalm 1: Staying Green and Fresh

The weekend Psalm
Read Psalm 1 from the World English Bible
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This is a Wisdom/Teaching Psalm, 

The Big Idea
Are you going through a dry spell? It could be that the company you keep is weakening your roots. God's people choose all of their relationships wisely. In verse 1 of this Psalm, the blessed man avoids the common problem of getting more and more comfortable with sin. The progression is clear: First you walk its paths, then you stand still, and finally, you wind up sitting in it. Choose your friends wisely.

God is the cure. When you find yourself anchored in Him, drawing nourishment by having your roots in God, you will be fresh, fruitful, and beneficial to others. In contrast, this Psalm teaches that roots anywhere else will leave you dry, lifeless, and like chaff. Chaff is the dusty, dry remnant left over when wheat is prepared for making flour.

This Psalm shows two paths of life, and the present and ultimate outcome of those choices. One man chooses the way of pleasing other people and himself; the other chooses to live for God. Eventually, the God-centered life will flourish. A life focused on anything else will wither.

Meditation
I can't tell you if you are dry or not. Chances are, though, you know. Read through this Psalm, and consider your own life. Are you alive, fresh, green, and rooted in God? Or is your life dry, dusty, and choking. Be honest--that's where repentance starts, and where real life can begin.

Seek to put your roots down deep into Jesus Christ. He is the Living Water. He is your source. Take time this weekend to focus on planting yourself "by streams of water." Take time to pray for someone you care about who needs that living water in their own life.

Praying With This Psalm
You can pray scripture prayers for yourself or for others.

• Father God, I ask that you set _________ free from wicked counsel. Protect ________ from getting comfortable around people and situations that lead them to doubt your goodness or scoff at your mercies.
• I pray, Father, that you will plant ________ by streams of living water. May _______ live a life that is fruitful, pleasing to you, and refreshing to others.
• If there are areas of ________'s life that are dry and chaff-like, I pray that you will show that, and give ________ a desire to have roots in you, Lord.
• Lord God, I thank you that the righteous can stand before you. Make that true of ______'s life. May _______ know your grace and your leading: May you know his/her way and watch over him/her.

Related Scriptures and Scripture Prayers

• John 4:7-14--Jesus is the Living Water.
  Lord Jesus, let ____ find all satisfaction and contentment in you. Everything else we seek just makes us dry and thirsty. Only you can quench _____'s thirst.
• Col 2:6-7 -- Be Rooted in Jesus Christ.
  Lord Jesus, help ____ to walk in you, to be rooted in you, and to be established in the faith. Help ____ to live that out with gratitude for you and your mercy.
• John 15:5 -- Apart from Jesus, we cannot live fruitful lives.
  Lord Jesus, help _____ to abide in you. Without that, life is fruitless. Help _____ to be aware of our human limitations, and our pride. Remind ____ that apart from you, he/she can do nothing, but that with you, _____ can bear fruit. Help _____ to understand what that means.

(Some Rights Reserved, CC-BY-NC, 2009-2015, 2021). L. J. Sam Helgerson, PhD

The Return Of Weekend Psalms

Yes, this project has taken a lengthy hiatus. Actually, two lengthy hiati (I have a PhD, so I can make up words like that), but after an extensive review by our editorial team, we're bringing back Weekend Psalms. 

This project will relaunch on Friday, February 12, 2021. 

The plan is to blend new and legacy content, with the same goal--re-introducing God's people of the power of the Psalter, and using it as the starting point for personal prayer.  

This time, we're drawing from the open-sourced World English Bible, an update of the highly regarded 1901 American Standard Version (ASV). One of the unique features of the WEB is that the name of God, YHWH, is not changed to LORD (as in most English translations), but the more personal Yahweh. In addition, each Psalm will include a description of its genre or type. Also, we're not shying away from the Psalms of Lament or the Imprecatory Psalms: These are not cheerful or trendy, but we need them: They give us the vocabulary we need for crying out to God.

I am not a theologian. I'm just a guy, and way ordinary, at that.
As I like to put it, I love the Word of God, and I love the God of the Word. 

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