Pastor Mike Impact Ministries

Today we begin looking at Psalm 51. This is the fourth of the Penitential Psalms. Psalm 6 is the first of seven "penitential psalms" in which the writers are being disciplined by God and experiencing suffering. The other psalms are Psalms 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143. All of these psalms are helpful to us when we need to confess our sins and draw closer to the Lord. This is also the fir...

Today we will be finishing our chats on Psalm 50 and when we do, we will be one-third of the way through the book of Psalms! We need to remember that Psalm 50 is prophetic in several ways. Hebrews 9:27 tells us that, “It is appointed unto a man once to die and after this the judgment”. But from this chapter we learn that not only is judgment coming in the future, but we might also have to experien...

Psalm 50 begins by reminding us that God is the “Mighty One” and one day He is coming as the “Judge of the whole earth”.  “God has already spoken” (v. 1) to us through His creation and His Word and He will “gather His saints together before Him” (v. 5) and He will speak in judgement (v. 6).  He first speaks to His people Israel in verses 7-15. He condemns their heartless worship as they bring thei...

The Psalmist introduces this message with a reminder that God is a holy and righteous Judge (vv. 1-6). In the first verses of this chapter, God reminds us that one day He is coming and will not be silent. Even though it appears that God is not paying attention to us and doesn’t care what we are doing, He is keeping a record of even the thoughts and intents of our hearts. He has a “Book of Remembra...

The Psalmist introduces this message with a reminder that God is a holy and righteous Judge (vv. 1-6). In the first verse we read: “The Mighty One, God the LORD, has spoken….”. My friend, when God speaks, we better listen. Now in verse 7 we learn what God what wants us to hear. “Hear, O My people, and I will speak…” He speaks first as Judge to His own people. This reminds me of 1 Peter 4:17: “For...

When we as believers are experiencing and enjoying the wonderful blessings of the LORD, we are so prone to wander from Him and focus on the blessings instead of the Blesser. This reminds me of the old hymn written by Robert Robinson in 1758 when he was only 22 years old, called "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing". One of verses goes like this: “O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m con...

Remember we said that Psalm 49 is a message, a sermon. It was a message of warning and instruction about the deceitfulness of riches. Psalm 50 is similar, in that it is also a sermon type Psalm informing us that God is the “Mighty One”, Who is coming as the Judge of all the earth. From the title we learn that it was a Psalm of Asaph. This is the first of the Psalms of Asaph. But we are not sure wh...

Psalm 49 is a message warning us about the deceitfulness of riches. Jesus talked about this same truth in His parable on the Sower who sowed his seed on four types of ground. In Matthew 13:22 Jesus said, “Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.” If we are not careful,...

Psalm 49 is a sermon. It is a message warning us about the futility and vanity of thinking that wealth can buy you happiness or even life itself. There are several lessons we should learn from Psalm 49. The second lesson we should learn is that wealth does not determine our destiny (vv. 13-15). When Jesus told His disciples that it was hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven, they we...

Remember yesterday I said that Psalm 49 is a sermon. It is a message warning us about the futility and vanity of thinking that wealth can buy you happiness or even life itself. Even Solomon, probably the wealthiest person who ever lived, found out that money and wealth and all the things it could purchase did not bring him satisfaction. He declared: “For the wise and the foolish both die. The wise...

I like what the great Bible commentator Matthew Henry said about this Psalm in his introduction to it. “This psalm is a sermon, and so is the next. In most of the psalms we have the penman praying or praising; in these we have him preaching; and it is our duty, in singing psalms, to teach and admonish ourselves and one another.” This psalm is about poor rich people. People who have money, but that...

Psalm 48 is the third of three Psalms (Psalm 46, 47 and 48), written to commemorate the defeat of the Assyrian army in the days of Hezekiah that we read about in 2 Kings 18-19 and Isaiah 37. Psalm 48 could have been written by King Hezekiah or even the Prophet Isaiah as they led the people in worship after God sent an angel and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night.  In preparation for tod...

This is our 1,100th Pastor’s Chat since we started doing them back in March 2020. I trust they have been as much a blessing to you in reading and listening to them as they have been to me in doing and producing them. I know that it is only by God’s grace that I wake up very early every morning, (without an alarm), to do them. It is my desire to continue doing these on a daily basis, as the Lord gi...

As we continue to look at Psalm 47, we need to remember that Psalms 46, 47, and 48 go together. If we will humble ourselves as King Hezekiah did and believe that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). And we will “be still and know that He is God” (Psalm 46:10), we will be able to “clap our hands” and proclaim His victorious presence in our lives (Psalm 47:1...

We can imagine that the Hebrews were delirious with delight. History had known nothing like it. It was a defeat to the pride and might of King Sennacherib, a defeat from which he would never recover. Never again would Assyrian armies tramp across Judean hills. Hezekiah went quietly to his room, looked over his previous psalm, Psalm 46, the psalm he wrote the night before reminding himself and the...

We believe that Psalms 46, 47, and 48 were written on the occasion in Israel’s history when the Assyrian King Sennacherib had surrounded the city of Jerusalem with his great army and was demanding their surrender. King Hezekiah took their letter of demands and laid it out before the LORD and prayed for deliverance. Because he prayed and trusted the LORD, the prophet Isaiah came and told him that t...

What do you do when disaster strikes? Who do you turn to when you are overwhelmed with trouble or circumstances beyond your control?  I would suggest that you keep Psalm 46 handy! We need to remember that Psalm 46 was written to celebrate the victory that the LORD of Hosts gave to Hezekiah and the people in Jerusalem when He sent an angel and destroyed 185,000 invading Assyrian soldiers in one nig...

We need to remember that Psalm 46 was written to celebrate the victory that the LORD of Hosts gave to Hezekiah and the people in Jerusalem when He sent an angel and destroyed 185,000 invading Assyrian soldiers in one night. Verses 4-7 gives us the picture of the city of Jerusalem where the people are confined because of the Assyrian army camped around them. Water was a precious commodity in Palest...

Most of us or either in trouble, or we just came out of trouble, or we are headed for trouble. For sure that is the story of every person’s life. Job sure experienced it when he lost his children in a tragic accident, lost his wealth to thieves, and lost his health. His friends, who came to comfort him did just the opposite. They criticized and condemned him and said he deserved it. Job finally pr...

Psalm 46 is a very well-known Psalm and is famous for being thought to be the inspiration and basis for Martin Luther’s hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is our God.” The personal pronouns in 46 are plural (our, we, us), so this is a song for communal encouragement and worship. "Alamoth" means "young women" and is a musical direction we can't define. The emphasis in this psalm is on...

Psalm 45 is a beautiful wedding song that is really all about Jesus Christ the Messiah, Who He is and what He has done and what He is going to do for His bride the church!  In this Psalm the palmist gives us four pictures of Jesus and the presentation of His bride!  First, he presents Jesus as the Gracious Son of Man (vv. 1-2). Then he pictures Jesus as the majestic, mighty, victorious Warrior (vv...

Psalm 45 is a beautiful wedding song that is really all about Jesus Christ the Messiah, Who He is and what He has done and what He is going to do for His bride the church!  In this Psalm the palmist gives us four pictures of Jesus and the presentation of His bride!  First, he presents Jesus as the Gracious Son of Man (vv. 1-2). Then he pictures Jesus as the majestic, mighty, victorious Warrior (vv...

Yesterday we celebrated the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, not only in our local sunrise services and church services, but with millions and millions of believers all over the globe! What a beautiful sound it must have been in our Father’s ears as He heard His children proclaim, “He is Risen! He is Risen indeed!” Honestly, we should celebrate our Lord’s resurrection everyday by living resu...

Happy Resurrection Day!!!!! I love Psalm 118:24, “This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.”  I believe this is a prophesy and the Psalmist is referring to the day of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ! Jesus was “the Stone that the builders rejected” by nailing Him to a cross. (Psalm 118:22-24). The cross of Christ would have no meaning if Jesus did not resurrec...

Psalm 45 has a long title but does not tell us who the specific writer is. It was written by or for the “sons of Korah” and is another “maschil”, or “contemplation” Psalm. Which means it was written for instruction. It is also inscribed, "To the chief Musician set to the Lilies”. "A song of loves" identifies this as a marriage song, and "Shoshannim" (lilies) identifies the...