Pastor Mike Impact Ministries

But God is the Judge: He puts down one, And exalts another. For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, And the wine is red; It is fully mixed, and He pours it out; Surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth Drain and drink down. Psalm 75 was written by Asaph as a song of victory and celebration to be sung, a poem to be read, a worship hymn of praise and of thanksgiving, of how the Lord ha...

Psalm 75 was written by Asaph to be a song of praise, of thanksgiving and celebration for how the Lord had miraculously delivered Jerusalem from the powerful Assyrians. True worship really begins when we get our eyes off our circumstances, and we focus on Who God really is! That’s what Asaph did in verse one: “We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks! For Your wondrous works declare that Your...

We have arrived at Psalm 75, which means we will be half-way through the Book of Psalms when we finish our chats on this chapter! What an amazing journey so far! I have learned so much more about the Psalms and their history in this study that already, as I read through them monthly, they mean so much more to me and have experienced in them a “new life”. I trust that you are enjoying them in a new...

In Psalm 73, the Asaph of David’s time had a personal problem in his thinking as he looked at the prosperity of the wicked and the suffering of the godly. It made him think that he was living for the Lord in vain, until he went into the sanctuary and saw their end and the final destruction of the evil and ungodly people. Now in Psalm 74, almost 400 years later, a descendant of Asaph with the same...

We believe that the writer of Psalm 74 is a descendant of the Asaph that David had appointed to lead the worship in the tabernacle during his reign, which was from 1000 B.C. to 960 B.C. After the reign of Solomon, David’s son, the kingdom of Israel fell apart, and for the most part had one bad king after another who lead the people into idolatry and sinful living. They still had Solomon’s temple a...

“ O God, why have You cast us off forever? Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?  .... O God, how long will the adversary reproach? Will the enemy blaspheme Your name forever? Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand? Take it out of Your bosom and destroy them.”   Today, we will begin to look at Psalm 74. The title tells us that this one of the twelve Psalms that...

"And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish; You have destroyed all those who desert You for harlotry. But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, That I may declare all Your works." Psalm 73 was writt...

This morning I woke up a little after 3am with a dear friend of many years on my mind and immediately I began praying for her and her family. Tim and Tammy DeGraff were my next-door neighbors for almost 20 years in Blue Ridge Virginia. Tim and Tammy were the best neighbors ever. As soon as it started snowing, even if it was in the middle of the night, Tim would be on his four-wheeler cleaning off...

Psalm 73 was written by Asaph who was one of the three chief musicians appointed by David to preside over the worship and music services of the sanctuary (1 Chronicles 16:5). Asaph was a spiritually minded man, gifted in praise and prophecy, whose impact upon his own family lasted down through the centuries. God chose him to write 12 of the 150 Psalms.   Years ago, I heard someone say: “You can’t...

Psalm 73 is the first chapter of Book Three of Psalms. We will notice that these Psalms deal mostly with the sanctuary and worship there. From the title we know that someone named Asaph wrote this Psalm. He wrote a total of 12 Psalms. He wrote Psalm 50 in Book Two and the first eleven Psalms in Book Three (Psalms 73-83).   Asaph was a Levite of the family of Gershom and one of the three chief musi...

Today we are going to complete our thoughts on Psalm 72, as we look at these last six verses. Historically, this Psalm is about King Solomon and his rule and reign over Israel for 40 years. It was either written by his father David who prayed this prayer for him and his future reign just before he died, or it was written by Solomon himself as he remembered his father’s last words. But the fulfilme...

Over the years I have often said that most of the Bible needs no interpretation, it basically means what it says. I’m not sure when I heard this quote, but it is one that has stuck in my mind. “When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense.” In other words, the Scripture has only one interpretation but no doubt, it can have many applications. Especially in the Old Testa...

“Righteousness Exalts a Nation” Psalm 72:1-7 “Give the king Your judgments, O God, And Your righteousness to the king's Son. He will judge Your people with righteousness, And Your poor with justice. The mountains will bring peace to the people, And the little hills, by righteousness. He will bring justice to the poor of the people; He will save the children of the needy, And will break in piec...

There are many interesting aspects Psalm 72. This Psalm is the last one in Book Two of the Book of Psalms. This chapter ends with: "The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended" (Psalms 72:20). Remember the Book of Psalms is divided into five books. The five books are Psalm 1-41, Psalm 42-72, Psalm 73-89, Psalm 90-106, 107-150. Each book ends with a doxology of praise to God. The firs...

Today is Sunday, the Lord’s Day, and I trust that you woke up with rejoicing in your heart aa you remember “this the day that the LORD has made, and we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24). This is the day we celebrate the resurrection of our LORD! I love what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:14-19: “And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty… And...

In the first four verses the psalmist declared that the LORD was presently helping him. He knew he could trust the LORD because the “LORD had given the commandment to save him...” (v. 3). The psalmist also was encouraged in the midst of his old age and troubles by looking back and remembering God’s faithfulness in the past (vv. 5-13). He acknowledges that the LORD was helping him now (vv. 1-4), th...

We are not sure who wrote this Psalm, but whoever he was, we can assume from what he wrote, that he was facing old age, he had gone through hard times, he had a pretty difficult life, he had enemies who wanted him to die, and he did not want to be put to shame. He also expressed a great faith in the righteousness of God and was determined to trust him. He was a musician who could both sing and pla...

Psalm 71 does not have a title that tells us who is the human writer. We have already studied five other previous Psalms without a title, which are nevertheless, as complete as those which bear them. Some believe that it is a continuation of Psalm 70, which is ascribed to David. So, it is possible that David could have written it. It is the song of a very old man (vv. 9, 18). David may have penned...

“Make haste, O God, to deliver me! Make haste to help me, O LORD! Let them be ashamed and confounded Who seek my life; Let them be turned back and confused Who desire my hurt. Let them be turned back because of their shame, Who say, "Aha, aha!" Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; And let those who love Your salvation say continually, "Let God be magnified!" B...

And those who love His name shall dwell in it.” As I have read the Psalms over the years, I have noticed a pattern that is quite evident in many of David’s Psalms. The first verses of the chapter are a plea and cry for help and deliverance from his enemies. In the middle chapters David asks the LORD to vindicate him and punish the wicked and those who are seeking to destroy him. And then it seems,...

Psalm 69 is both an imprecatory Psalm and a Messianic Psalm. As an imprecatory Psalm, David is praying for God to take vengeance upon his enemies. David knows that the people of Israel are God’s covenant people. God especially chose them (Genesis 12) and called them to make Himself known to the nations, and to be a blessing to all people everywhere through producing a Messiah. A Savior who alone c...

When you read Psalm 69 you immediately get the idea of a man who is in tremendous distress. A man who is overwhelmed with despair and one who feels like everyone has turned against him. We know that David wrote this Psalm, and he is expressing the emotions that he is experiencing at this particular time in his life. Have you ever felt this way. “I sink in deep mire…I have come into deep waters… th...

  If you watched the video for our pastor’s chat today, you might have noticed my black VBS Friendly Community Church t-shirt. This is where I’m currently the interim pastor and we are in our fourth day of VBS this morning with a great group of children! So far, they are learning in a very exciting way, how Jesus gives them the power to do hard things (Philippians 4:13), how Jesus gives them the p...

For the next few days, we will be meditating and looking at Psalm 69. From the title we learn that is another of David’s Psalms. Again, he wrote it to the “Chief Musician” who was to sing it to the tune of “The Lilies”. Maybe that was a popular tune in those days. This psalm has long been considered Davidic even though there is nothing in David's life which resembles the things he says. We mus...

Today, we will finish our meditations and chats on Psalm 68. We need to remember that this Psalm is a great celebration and praise song written by David to be sung by the “Chief Musician” as he leads the people in worship at the temple in Jerusalem! It is also has powerful Messianic overtones, looking forward to the day that Jesus Christ will set up His kingdom and rule over all the kings and peop...