Daily Bible Encouragement

Psalm 80:3 Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us,   that we may be saved. This verse is like the chorus of the psalm, repeated between each section. So, we'll come back to it a few times, and consider something different each time we read it. Today, we'll focus on the idea of God's face shining on us. Do you remember 'The blessing' - an online music video which was wide...

Psalm 80:2 shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. Awaken your might; come and save us. The way that we describe a place or person often focusses attention on one particular aspect of their character or history. When we read about 'the Britain of Shakespeare and Dickens' we know that the writer wants us to be thinking about our literary heritage. But if we read 'the Britain...

Psalm 80:1 Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth Those of you who are as old as I am might remember 'The West Wing' - a TV series from 20 years ago about a fictional President of the United States and his staff team. One of the things I loved about it was the way we saw the President 'behind the scenes&#39...

Psalm 80:1a Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. Today we're starting Psalm 80. Although we're not told exactly when and why it was written, if you read through the whole psalm it seems that God's people are suffering under God's discipline, so it could well have been written hundreds of years after David's time, when the nation of Israel had been inva...

Psalm 33:22 May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you. This verse echoes verse 18 in making a connection between our hope and God's unfailing love. We can be confident that God will rescue and deliver us because he loves us with an unfailing love - he doesn't get bored of us, or give up on us, or encounter obstacles which prevent him doing the good he wants t...

Psalm 33:21 In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. How does the idea of ‘trusting God’ make you feel? Totally secure, in the arms of an all-powerful, all-loving heavenly Father? Or dangerously at sea, all out of your own ideas and resources, and forced to reluctantly fall back on Plan B, at least until you can get Plan A up and running again?  I have to admit, sometimes ‘trustin...

Psalm 33:20 We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. What are you waiting for today? The sun to come back out? A delivery to arrive? A child to grow out of a particularly frustrating stage of development? We do a lot of waiting. Yet we're not always very good at it. So often, waiting feels frustrating to us. We think it is time wasted. Wouldn't it be better if what we w...

Psalm 33:18-19 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. Yesterday we reflected on the way that we often find ourselves putting our confidence and hope in things that are not God. Yet none of those things can save us. 'But' says v.18, there is one who can deliver us. There is o...

Psalm 33:16-17 No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength.  A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. Where is your confidence? What do you rely on to make everything alright?  None of us has an army. I doubt that many of us even have a horse! And if we did, we probably wouldn't be relying on it for our safety...

Psalm 33:13-15 From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling-place he watches all who live on earth – he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do. During the Covid-19 lockdown it occurred to me just how easy it is to assume that something is pointless if no-one else ever sees it. Why bother doing the washing up/cleaning the flat/getting dressed in the...

Psalm 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance. So far in this Psalm we have been reminded of many wonderful things about God. He is faithful, righteous, just and endlessly loving. His word is true and right and powerful enough to bring all creation into being. His plans stand firm, his purposes alone will last for ever. No wonder the psalmist thin...

Psalm 33:10-11 The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.  But the plans of the Lord stand firm for ever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. Whose plans dominate your life? Yours? Or God's? That’s an awkward question, isn't it? We know what the 'right' answer is! We should be people who live to serve God's purposes. In our b...

Psalm 33:9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. Already in this Psalm we have reflected on the fact that when God speaks, things happen. God says 'Stars!' and whole galaxies of them appear. His word is powerful not only in creation, but in the new creation that comes through the word of the gospel. God says 'Live!' and spiritually dead sinners are broug...

Psalm 33:8 Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him. Verses 6 & 7 have reminded us of God's mighty power in creation. As we reflect on the immensity of the galaxy, and the power of the oceans, it is right that we feel small. The sheer scale of creation reminds each of us that we're not actually the centre of the universe. But we can't stop there....

Psalm 33:7 He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses. One of the things that we really missed, as a family, during lockdown, was the sea. Usually in the Spring we'd have at least a couple of day trips to the coast, to sit on the beach and look out at the sea. Huge and wide, stretching away as far as the horizon. Perhaps because we don't have enormous mou...

Psalm 33:6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. One day last summer, we had a picnic outside, which was briefly interrupted by a stranger's over-enthusiastic Labrador. It took the owner several attempts to get the dog to return to them. Our sausage rolls were apparently more compelling than the owner's voice. Any of us who've trie...

Psalm 33:5 The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love. What is your world full of right now? Uncertainty? Exhaustion? Frustration? Joy? Sunshine? Rest?  What is the whole world full of right now? Covid-19? Fear? Acts of kindness, even heroism? All those things may be true, and you could think of many others. But let's not forget, the whole world is ALSO f...

Psalm 33:4 For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. I don’t know what’s in the news today, as you listen to this. But I wouldn’t be surprised if sometime this week there’s a headline about a celebrity caught doing something that doesn’t match their carefully-constructed image, or a politician acting in a way that doesn’t live up to their promises. We’re used to fi...

Psalm 33:2-3 Praise the Lord with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.  Sing to him a new song; play skilfully, and shout for joy. Hands up anyone who's got their ten-stringed lyre out recently! I'm guessing that's none of us. I'd be surprised if we could even muster a harp.  Shall we just skim over these verses, then, and move onto the next bit?! Of course not! Af...

Psalm 33:1 Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him. Sing! Praise God! Rejoice!  We've read verses like this a lot over the past few weeks. Is it starting to feel a little repetitive?! Perhaps it's not very surprising, since we are in the songbook of the Bible. We should expect songs of praise to God to be a big theme. And it's certainly goo...

Psalm 5:12 Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favour as with a shield. How useful is "God's favour"? What difference does it make, knowing that the God who rules over all things welcomes you as a child instead of turning his back on you as a sinner? Why does it actually matter? For many people, Christianity is irrelevant because they don't think th...

Psalm 5:11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. Here we get to the 5th and final type of prayer in this Psalm ... praise/rejoicing. Joy is in short supply in our house this morning. Between us all we are variously ill, tired, grumpy, missing people who we can't see, frustrated...

Psalm 5:10 Declare them guilty, O God! Let their intrigues be their downfall. Banish no them for their many sins, for they have rebelled against you. So far in the psalm we've seen prayers of lament, request and worship. All things that are probably quite common in our prayer life, too. But what on earth is this verse? David is praying for the judgement and banishment of his enemies - we proba...

Psalm 5:9 Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with malice. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongues they tell lies. Here David's attention returns to his enemies, who are clearly both wicked and dangerous. But what I find surprising is the weapons they are armed with. We might expect that enemies of a king would be notable for their violence and their wea...

Psalm 5:8 Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies – make your way straight before me. We saw yesterday that because of God's great love, David (and we) can safely come into God's presence to worship him. But that's not the end of the Psalm. We might think that being in God's presence was the end goal, the final climax of the story. And one day, it will be. When w...