Psalms 56:1-57:11
“Be
gracious to me, O God … Be merciful to us, O God” (Psalm 56:1;
Psalm 57:1). In mercy, Lord, You don’t send to us the judgment we
deserve. In grace, You give to us the salvation we don’t deserve.
How
do You do this for us? You make Your grace and mercy available to us
through Your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. How do we receive Your
grace and mercy? We look to the Cross of Christ. There, we see Your
“steadfast love and faithfulness” (Psalm 57:3,10). Your love is eternal
love. It’s love unchanged, unchanging and unchangeable – “I will give
thanks to You, O Lord … I will sing praises to You … Be exalted, O God”
(Psalm 57:9-11).
Psalms 58:1-59:17
“Surely
there is a God who judges the earth … Deliver me from my enemies, O my
God” (Psalm 58:11; Psalm 59:1). May these words send us to the Cross of
Christ. We come in our need. Lord, we need Your forgiveness and Your
victory. What do we find at the Cross of our Saviour? – “My God in His
steadfast love will meet me … My God will let me look in triumph over my
enemies” (Psalm 59:10). What a great Saviour we have! We think of His
love and His power, and our hearts are filled with praise to You – “I
will sing of Your strength … I will sing of Your love … O my Strength, I
sing praises to You; You, O God, are my Fortress, my loving God” (Psalm
59:16-17).
Psalms 60:1-61:8
“With
God we shall gain the victory, and He will trample down our enemies”
(Psalm 60:12). When, Lord, we’re feeling defeated, Your Word gives us
great encouragement. The battle isn’t ours. It’s Yours. The victory
isn’t ours. It’s Yours. In the heat of the battle, You are our “strong
tower against the enemy” (Psalm 61:3). When we’re feeling the ferocity
of Satan’s hostility towards the truth of Your Word and the Gospel of
Your grace, help us to remember that You, Lord, are “enthroned for ever”
(Psalm 61:7).
Psalms 62:1-63:11
You,
Lord, are “our rock and our salvation” (Psalm 62:2,6). We think of Your
Son, Jesus Christ – the “rock of our salvation” (1 Corinthians
10:1-4,16), and we say, “Your steadfast love is better than life … I
will praise You as long as I live” (Psalm 63:3-4). We look at Jesus, our
great Saviour, and we say, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable
gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15).
Psalms 64:1-65:13
“Let
the righteous rejoice in the Lord” (Psalm 64:10). Lord, You give us joy
– true joy, lasting joy. This is Your joy. It’s not just a passing
emotion. It’s more than a feeling that doesn’t last very long. Your joy
changes us. It gives us the strength to live as “a new creation” (2
Corinthians 5:17).
Psalm 66:1-67:7
“Come
and see what God has done …Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I
will tell you what He has done for me” (Psalm 66:5,16). Lord, You invite
us to read the story of all that You have done for us. You invite us to
let the story of Your salvation become real in our lives. Help us,
Lord, to come to You with this prayer – “May God be gracious to us and
bless us … ” Help us to receive Your answer – “God has blessed us”, to
“be glad and sing for joy,” and to call “all the ends of the earth” to
“worship You” (Psalm 67:1,4,6-7).
Psalm 68:1-35
Lord,
You are “the God of salvation.” You are “our salvation” (Psalm
68:19-20). Your salvation covers our past, present and future. You
have saved us – You have forgiven our sins (Romans 5:1). You are saving
us – You are making us the kind of people that You want us to be (Romans
5:3-5). You will save us – You’re leading us on to Your eternal glory
(Romans 5:9-10). From beginning to end, salvation is Your work. It is
such a great salvation. Help us to rejoice in You – and to give all the
glory to You (Psalm 68:13,35).
Psalm 69:1-36
When,
Lord, we are going through “the deep waters” of suffering, help us to
pray to You for deliverance (Psalm 69:16). We have sinned against You.
We do not try to hide this – "the wrongs that I have done are not hidden
from You, my guilt is not hidden from You” (Psalm 69:5). You are the God
of “steadfast love” and “abundant mercy” (Psalm 69:16). We remember
that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” You don’t send
the judgment we deserve – This is Your mercy. You send the blessing we
don't deserve – This is Your grace. Help us to come to You and receive
Your “mercy” and Your “grace” (1 Timothy 1:13-16; Hebrews 4:14-16).
Psalms 70:1-71:24
“May
all, who seek You, rejoice and be glad in You! May those who love your
salvation continually say, ‘God is great!’” (Psalm 70:4). When, Lord,
we’re going through “many terrible troubles”, help us to look beyond our
problems, to look to You, to know that You are our “rock of refuge” and
our “strong fortress” (Psalm 71:3), and to say, from our hearts, “You
have done great things, O God … You will revive us again” (Psalm
71:19-20).
Psalm 72:1-20
Lord,
we read the words – “His Name shall endure for ever” (Psalm 72:17),
and we think of Your Son, Jesus. 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). We read the words – “all nations shall call Him
blessed” (Psalm 72:17), and, again, our thoughts turn to Jesus, our
Saviour. “From every tribe and language and people and nation, “Your
people have been redeemed by His precious blood” (Revelation 5:9). We
read the words – “May His glory fill the whole earth!” (Psalm 72:19),
and we rejoice in Jesus Christ, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin
of the world” (John 1:29). Thank You, Lord, for Jesus. What a wonderful
Saviour He is!
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