A Psalm a Day Keeps Satan Away: The Podcast

Psalm 57 - Corners There comes a point in time, amid evil and chaos and crisis, when you KNOW that “it will all come out in the wash” as my grandfather used to say. You have “taken refuge in the shadow of your [G-d’s] wings”(v. 1) and you recognize that He “sends from heaven and saves me.” (v. 3) Our lengthy superscript alludes to this reality with yet another intertextual reference to David and S...

Psalm 56 Do you believe in the power of prayer? Do you believe that G-d hears your laments (complaints) and petitions? The inspired writers of the Scriptures believed so. We start our reflection today in the most obvious place, which is in the New Testament book of Revelation. In chapter 4, John, the writer of the text, describes himself as being whisked away through a door of earthly existence in...

Psalm 55 - Betrayal Betrayal is one of the tragic consequences of the fallen human condition. Husbands betray wives (and vice versa), children betray parents (and vice versa). Employers betray employees (and vice versa). Friends turn against each other and become enemies. In this unique lament (complaint) psalm, the complaint to G-d morphs from a complaint against enemies to a very personal compla...

You are invited to join Reverend David Wachter on a Footsteps of Paul tour of Greece and Ephesus! 11 days / 10 nights April 29 – May 9, 2026 Soak up Mediterranean sights, sunshine and history with all of these included features : * Professional Greek tour guide as well as Biblical teaching by Reverend David Wachter * Arrival transfer from Thessaloniki airport to hotel (if arriving with designated...

Psalm 54 - Submission The superscript tells us that this time it is the Ziphites that rat out David. He is deep in the hill country of the Judean desert hiding and avoiding Saul, the King of Israel, who is desperate to capture David because he is jealous of David’s anointing as the true King of Israel. Once again, the compilers of the Psalms have inserted an intertextual link in the superscript to...

Summary In this episode, I interview Boaz Shalgi regarding the current situation in Israel amidst ongoing conflict with Iran; we also reflect on Psalm 53 and its relevance to the present circumstances. We explore the dynamics of regional politics, the role of international players, and the spiritual implications of the events unfolding. The conversation emphasizes the importance of seeking G-d’s p...

Psalm 52 This is an atypical psalm in that it is not directed to G-d or to the faith community; rather, it is a “speech” directed to an “evil one” who is sarcastically referred to as “the hero,” the “mighty man,” the “brave fellow,” depending on your translation of verse one. That man is personified in the superscript as Doeg, who ratted out David to King Saul, when David had fled to the priest, A...

Psalm 51 Yes … this one is a top fiver on everybody’s list! Technically, Psalm 51 is categorized as a lament (complaint) psalm, but immediately one recognizes a different tone. There is no shaking of fists at G-d because of the writer’s plight as is typical of most laments. This prayer is the psalmist’s confession of sin. It is stark, real and vulnerable. The psalmist is totally empty and spent as...

Psalm 50 – Grace First, Then Obedience We note right from the beginning that Psalm 50 is different. First, the superscript attributes the text to Asaph, who was a Levitical priest serving in the Temple in Zion (Jerusalem). Second, the text is prophetic and oracle-like, morphing from Asaph’s poetic description of the Holy One’s entrance into the presence of His people in the Temple to G-d’s direct...

Psalm 49 – The Redemption of Our Fragile Lives In 2023, during our second cycle through the Psalms, we came to Psalm 49 in mid-July. It had been a rough start to the week: we were with our daughter Hannah at a couple of hospitals dealing with a non-life-threatening issue that ultimately required a series of surgeries; we had also learned about a tragic and fatal car accident involving a dear frien...

Psalm 48 - Mountains In 2022, with a group of intrepid travelers (all of whom are Psalm a Dayers), we woke up in the middle of the night, bussed to the base of Moses Mountain near St. Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai, Egypt, and commenced a 4 mile climb to the summit; it is the probable “Mountain of God” so central to the Exodus story. Led by Ahmed, our Bedouin guide, a group of us made it to the to...

Psalm 47 – Clap Your Hands We have noted that while there are hints of an overall structure to the ordering of the psalms, no one has been able to articulate what it is. We have also observed that within the psalms there are “mini structures” or themes that span a particular grouping. I believe that Psalm 47 is the logical extension of Psalm 46. Yesterday, we recognized G-d’s transcendent power an...

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Psalm 46 – A Mighty Fortress Is Our God We have noted already the preponderance of lament psalms in the Psalter. More than a third of the Psalter’s 150 poems are laments (complaints), all written within a certain structure that we have noted and studied. But sometimes, in the midst of lamenting and complaining, in the midst of shaking your fist at G-d, you have a day where you recognize the power...

Psalm 45 – Spiritual Leadership Now that we have read and reflected on 44 psalms, it is instantly clear that Psalm 45 is different. The purpose of the psalm is not to complain to G-d, to praise G-d, to thank G-d or to marvel at His Word or Temple. Psalm 45 is classified as a royal psalm because its focus is on the king, and specifically, it is a liturgical poem that seems to have been recited at t...

Psalm 44 – The Church A faith community worships together, loves together, lives together, serves together and … suffers together. Doesn’t it feel like the Christian community is on the ropes today and is suffering? Post-COVID, church attendance (which was already on the slide) is plummeting, gross indiscretions by church leaders derail any positive momentum that the church can muster, the educati...

Psalm 43 - Community In addition to the repeated chorus in both Psalms, further evidence that Psalms 42 and 43 were originally one text is that Ps. 43 does not have a superscript, whereas Ps. 42 (and most others in this section of the Psalter) does have a superscript, implying that the poem should continue without a separation. Also, thematically, the desire in Psalm 42 for the writer to be in the...

Psalm 42 - The Face of G-d “As a deer pants for water, so my soul pants for you, O God.” These opening lines to Psalm 42 are some of the most cherished words in all of Scripture. This is the soul cry of so many G-d believers and they need little commentary on my part. But I would be remiss to not offer some reflections on this top-fiver. Almost certainly Psalms 42 and 43 were originally one psalm...

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Psalm 41 – Amen and Amen Fun fact about the psalms: they are divided into five "books." Psalm 41 ends the first “book” of Psalms. Scholars speculate that the reason is that those who compiled the psalms wanted to mirror the five books of Torah. Note the way the psalm ends in verse 13: “Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel. Amen and Amen.” The “Amen and Amen” is repeated at the end of Book II a...

Psalm 40 – A New Song Psalm 40 is a top fiver for sure! Many scholars believe that it consists of two psalms: a thanksgiving psalm in verses 1-10 and a lament psalm in verses 11-17, with the lament portion being duplicated in Psalm 70. Given that duplication, we will focus on the thanksgiving portion for now. The psalmist begins by recounting a period of helplessness. He is metaphorically stuck in...

Psalm 39 – The Brevity of Life … and Mitzvahs Trivia question: Given Israel’s long and storied past, with heroes of the faith like Abraham, Moses and David, and with amazing events like the parting of the Red Sea, what day is considered the greatest day in Jewish history? You might note a different tone and mood to this psalm. It is melancholy and reflective as the psalmist contemplates the brevit...

Psalm 38 - Confession By now, you know my fascination with the psalm superscripts. Today’s psalm includes an interesting one. The NIV translates/interprets the superscript as “A Psalm of David. A petition.” If you have a phone Bible app, toggle amongst the NASB, the NRSV, the ESV and some other translations and you will see a wide variety of translations/interpretations of מִזְמ֖וֹר לְדָוִ֣ד לְהַז...

Psalm 37 – The Next Right/Just Thing … Again Psalm 37 is yet another acrostic structure that has been masked in translation. It is most definitely a top fiver for me. It is classified as a wisdom psalm, and as you read, you can also imagine it being part of Proverbs, with a bunch of pithy and random do’s and don’ts stitched together. Yet the acrostic structure gives it a foundation upon which seve...

Psalm 36 – Righteousness/Justice/Peace/Love Verse 1 presents another translation/interpretation challenge. Evil/Sin/Transgression seems to be personified, and Evil/Sin/Transgression seems to be speaking to the ungodly. This is a strange construct for the Scriptures, so much so that the NIV totally rejects the personification and puts these words completely onto the lips of the psalmist. Compare th...