Pastor Mike Impact Ministries

Psalm 131 is the twelfth of the fifteen “Ascent Songs” or “Pilgrim Psalms”. This is a psalm about humility. From the title we know it was written by David. If anyone in Israel had reasons to be proud, it was David. The eighth son of a common citizen, he began as a humble shepherd and yet became Israel's greatest king. A courageous soldier, a gifted general and tactician, and a sincere man of G...

Psalm 130 is the eleventh of the fifteen “Ascent Songs” or “Pilgrim Psalms”. It is also the sixth of the seven Penitential Psalms. The other six are Psalms 6; 32:1-11, 38:1-22, 51:1-19, 102:1-7, 143:1-12. These are psalms where the psalmist is crying out in repentance asking for mercy for his sins and iniquities. Psalm 130 emphasizes what God does for helpless people who cry out to Him for mercy....

Psalm 129 is the tenth of the “Ascent Songs” or “Pilgrim Psalms”. The destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians was described by the prophets as "plowing" (vv. 3-4; Isa. 51:23; Mic. 3:12; Jer. 26:17-18), so this psalm was probably written after the exiles returned to the land. There they were surrounded by enemy people who hated them, so the theme was appropriate. The psalmist speaks f...

Psalm 128 is the ninth of the “Ascent Songs” or “Pilgrim Psalms” and is a companion to Psalm 127. Because families traveled together to the annual feasts in Jerusalem, it is only right that another psalm be devoted to parents and their offspring. The previous psalm pictured children as a rich heritage and as arrows for defeating the enemy (127:3-5). This psalm uses agricultural images for both the...

Psalm 127 is the eighth of the “Ascent Songs” or “Pilgrim Psalms”. It has an inscription that attributes it to Solomon as the writer. Some scholars believe that King Hezekiah is the person who organized the “Ascent Songs” for the pilgrimage of the people and for their worship when they arrived in Jerusalem. Others think that it might have been Nehemiah or Ezra who complied these fifteen psalms for...

Psalm 126 is the seventh of the “Assent Songs” and the writer is anonymous. Several verses in this psalm appear to describe the return of the Jewish exiles from Babylon (Ezra 2:1; Neh. 7:6; Isa. 10:22; Jer. 22:10). Cyrus gave his decree in 537 B.C., an event prophesied by Isaiah (44:24-45:7). Jeremiah had prophesied that the captivity would be for 70 years (Jeremiah 25:11-12; 29:10). Isaiah also p...

Psalm 125 is the sixth of the “Assent Songs” and the writer is anonymous, but most commentators seem to think that it was probably composed during the post-exilic period of Ezra and Nehemiah. Remember that they were the leaders who lead the captives back to their beloved “Promise Land” to rebuilt the temple and the walls of Jerusalem. Both Ezra and Nehemiah mention all sorts of people who made the...

Psalm 124 is the fifth of the “Assent Songs” and the second that is ascribed to be written by David. Remember the contempt and ridicule of Psalm 123? It has now been mixed with anger (v. 3) and become open hostility in Psalm 124. There are several occasions as to when David might have written it. After he was anointed king, it wasn’t long till Saul was trying to set traps and kill him. Or possibly...

Psalm 123 is the fourth of the fifteen “Ascent Psalms”, also called the “Pilgrim Psalms”. This is another of the songs of degrees which have no named authorship but as some believe it was possibly written by King Hezekiah. It definitely fits the setting of the Assyrian invasion of Judah and the encirclement of Jerusalem by the armies of Sennacherib. The immediate occasion was probably the blasphem...

Psalm 122 is one of the fifteen “Ascent Psalms”, also called the “Pilgrim Psalms”. From the title we know that this one was written by David along with three others. One was written by Solomon and the other ten have anonymous writers. There are many commentators that believe King Hezekiah is the person that compiled these particular psalms together to encourage the Jewish pilgrims in their worship...

We need to remember that Psalms 120-134 are the “Pilgrim Psalms”. They have the title: "A Song of Ascents." These psalms were compiled together to be used by the Jewish pilgrims as they journeyed from their hometowns up to Jerusalem as least three times a year to worship. The pilgrims would sing or recite these songs to remind themselves of what the LORD had done for them over the centur...

Today we come to a new section of 15 exciting psalms, Psalms 120-134. Each of these psalms is called "A Song of Ascents." The Hebrew word translated "ascents” or "degrees" comes from a root that means "to go up," as ascending a stairway. Ten of the psalms are anonymous, four are attributed to David (Pss. 122, 124, 131, 133) and one to Solomon (Ps. 127). These psa...

Psalm 119:169-176 is the twenty-second stanza of this psalm, and every line or verse begins with the twenty-second letter of the Hebrew alphabet “TAV”, in the Hebrew Bible. The psalmist finishes this longest psalm and chapter in the Bible with a prayer, a plea, a cry for help. And once again, he is assured and confident that God will answer his request and meet his every need because of the promis...

Psalm 119:161-168 is the twenty-first stanza of this psalm, and every line or verse begins with the twenty-first letter of the Hebrew alphabet “SHIN”, in the Hebrew Bible. During our time of study in Psalm 119, we have noticed that the writer practiced a balanced life of faith, hope and love by keeping the right perspective about life and what was going on around him.  We especially notice this qu...

Psalm 119:153-160 is the twentieth stanza of this psalm, and every line or verse begins with the twentieth letter of the Hebrew alphabet “RESH”, in the Hebrew Bible. Have you noticed that the writer became more urgent as he drew near the end of the psalm? The Hebrew alphabet was about to end, but his trials would continue, and he needed the help of the Lord. The last three stanzas all speak of per...

Psalm 119:145-152 is the nineteenth stanza of this psalm, and every line or verse begins with the nineteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet “QOPH”, in the Hebrew Bible. The writer prayed throughout this entire psalm, but in these verses, he concentrated on prayer and cried out to God day and night. From his experience, we can learn several basic instructions about successful Biblical prayer that wi...

Psalm 119:137-144 is the eighteenth stanza of this psalm, and every line or verse begins with the eighteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet “TSADHE”, in the Hebrew Bible. The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to implant faith in our hearts (Rom. 10:17), and the more we live in God's Word, the stronger our faith will become. Some people have no faith (Mark 4:40), others have little faith (Matt....

Psalm 119:129-136 is the seventeenth stanza of this psalm, and every line or verse begins with the seventeenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet “PE”, in the Hebrew Bible. Years ago, as a young believer I wrote in the front cover of my Bible these words, “This book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book”. And I’ll never forget a preacher preaching a message entitled, “Getting Used...

Psalm 119:121-128 is the sixteenth stanza of this psalm, and every line or verse begins with the sixteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet “AYIN”, in the Hebrew Bible. For the first time, the words "oppressors" and "oppress" appear in this psalm (vv. 121-122). The word describes the abuse of power and authority, taking advantage of the underprivileged by either violence or deceit...

Psalm 119:113-120 is the fifteenth stanza of this psalm, and every line or verse begins with the fifteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet “SAMEKH”, in the Hebrew Bible. It is obvious from this passage that the psalmist is dealing with the enemy of his fellowship with the LORD, who is trying to drag him back into the world with his lies and deceit. If the life of faith consisted only of meditating o...

It has well been said that the greatest ability is availability along with dependability, and this especially applies to the Christian life. We want God to be faithful to us, so is it wrong for God to expect us to be faithful to Him? Faithfulness is an evidence of faith, and faith comes from hearing and receiving the Word of God (Rom. 10:17; 2 Thess. 2:13). From this stanza we learn several areas...

Psalm 119:97-104 is the thirteenth stanza of this psalm, and every line or verse begins with the thirteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet “MEM”, in the Hebrew Bible. As I read these eight verses, I couldn’t help but see a connection between this Hebrew letter “MEM” and the main theme found in them. Honestly, I have no evidence that the Hebrew letter has anything to do with this, but these eight ve...

Psalm 119:89-96 is the twelfth stanza of this psalm, and every line or verse begins with the twelfth letter of the Hebrew alphabet “LAMEDH”, in the Hebrew Bible. We live in a changing world. To younger people, change is a treat, but to older folks, change is a threat. We like to relax in our comfort zone and resist the dramatic changes going on around us and within us. But if we do, we fail to gro...

81 My soul faints for Your salvation, But I hope in Your word. 82 My eyes fail from searching Your word, Saying, "When will You comfort me?" 83 For I have become like a wineskin in smoke, Yet I do not forget Your statutes. 88 Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, So that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth. Psalm 119:81-88 is the eleventh stanza of this psalm, and every line or...

Psalm 119:73-80 is the tenth stanza of this psalm, and every line or verse begins with the tenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet “YODH”, in the Hebrew Bible. Led by God's Spirit, the author wrote this long psalm to convince us to make knowing and obeying the Word of God the most important activities in our lives. In the previous section, he reminded us how necessary God's Word is when we are...