Psalms for Shepherds

This is Holly Culhane with Presence Point and welcome to our Psalms for Shepherds podcast. This week, the journey through the Psalms of Ascent continues in Psalm 129. The psalmist begins: "From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me. Let all Israel repeat this: From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me, but they have never defeated me. My back is covered with cuts, as if a farm...

This is Holly Culhane with Presence Point and welcome to our Psalms for Shepherds podcast.     This week, the journey through the Psalms of Ascent continues in Psalm 128. This song may be a psalm of ascent, but it feels like a remarkable blessing to me!     One resource I read calls this psalm the “The Celebration of Fruitfulness”. Another speaks of how this psalm illustrates that “the godly will...

This is Holly Culhane with Presence Point and welcome to the Presence Point Psalms for Shepherds podcast. This week we continue our journey in the Psalms of Ascent with one of only two psalms attributed to Solomon - Psalm 127. These five verses speak boldly about the importance of the WHY behind what we do and who we do it for - the importance of remembering that unless a house, or a family, is bu...

This is Holly Culhane with Presence Point and welcome once again to our Psalms for Shepherds podcast. This week we continue our journey in the Psalms of Ascent with Psalm 126.    Although perhaps written as a corporate lament, there is much language of hope and joy in these six verses. Nearly every verse contains an expression of joy – laughter, images of restored fortunes, streams in the desert,...

This is Holly Culhane with Presence Point and welcome to our Psalms for Shepherds podcast.     This week we are in Psalm 125, yet another Psalm of Ascent. This one wonderfully names the benefits that faith and faithfulness bring to God’s people.    This song mentions “those who trust in the Lord”, who are called good and upright. One translation puts it this way: “those whose hearts are in tune wi...

This is Holly Culhane with Presence Point and welcome to our Psalms for Shepherds podcast.     We continue this week in the Psalms of Ascent with Psalm 124, a psalm that remarkably describes what it would be like if God had not rescued the Israelites, and, as we apply it today, what it would be like if God did not rescue us over and over and over again.    This psalm begins with “What if the LORD...

This is Holly Culhane with Presence Point and welcome you to our Psalms for Shepherds podcast.     We continue this week in the Psalms of Ascent with Psalm 123.    Please join me in reading the four verses of this psalm.    I lift my eyes to you,  O God, enthroned in heaven.    We keep looking to the Lord our God for his mercy,  just as servants keep their eyes on their master,  as a slave girl wa...

This is Holly Culhane with Presence Point with my granddaughter, Isabella, and we welcome you to our Psalms for Shepherds podcast.     Today we’ll be looking at Psalm 122, the third of fifteen Psalms of Ascent.    The very first verse of this song may have you singing a chorus from your childhood. “I was glad when they said unto me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’”    I have such a fun memor...

This is Holly Culhane with Presence Point and welcome to our Psalms for Shepherds podcast.     Today we’ll be looking at Psalm 121, the second of the Psalms - or Songs - of Ascent.    Raechel Myers, the founder of She Reads Truth, contemporizes this group of psalms this way: “These songs for the journey are words to set our hearts on as we go. They are written to help us feel what we are meant to...

This is Holly Culhane with Presence Point and welcome to the Presence Point Psalms for Shepherds podcast!    This week we are leaving the beautiful Psalm 119 acrostic of the Hebrew alphabet, and we are moving into the Psalms of Ascent.    We begin our journey with Psalm 120 - A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.    Does this portion of the psalm ring true for you today?  “I am tired of livi...

This is Holly Culhane with Presence Point and welcome to our last week in the remarkable 119th chapter of the book of Psalms.   We’re looking at the concluding passage of this acrostic based on the Hebrew alphabet – verses 169 through 176 – entitled Tav.  This psalm is composed of one prayer request:  “O Lord, listen to my cry…”  then a sweet confession:   “I have wandered away like a lost sheep…”...

This is Holly Culhane with Presence Point and welcome to week 21 in our series on Psalm 119.     Today, we’re looking at verses 161 through 168, the stanza of this psalm that is based on the letter Shin in the Hebrew alphabet.     David is continuing his plea to God to save him, but in this stanza, he has a peace, a shalom, that emanates from his reverence and belief in God’s Word. Just as it shou...

Today, we’re looking at verses 153 through 160, the stanza of this Psalm that is based on the 20th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Resh.     As I read this psalm, I thought how much the psalmist sounds like us when we come before our Lord in desperation. We often ask for him to save us from whatever we’re facing. And, while making the request to Him, we often remind Him of His mercies, how we are p...

This is Holly Culhane with Presence Point and welcome to week 19 of 22 in our series on Psalm 119.     Today, we’re looking at verses 145 through 152, the stanza of this Psalm that is based on the 19th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Qoph (pronounced KUPH or KOPH).     This passage is a reminder to us as under-shepherds, to go often to the Father on our behalf and on behalf of the sheep n our lives...

This is Holly Culhane with Presence Point and welcome to week 18 of our series on Psalm 119. Today, we’re looking at verses 137 through 144, the stanza of this Psalm that is based on the 18th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Tsadhe (pronounced SAHdi).    the Puritans had a deep and meaningful prayer life, as illustrated in the collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions in the book, The Valley of Vi...

Welcome to week 17 of our series on Psalm 119, and we’re looking at verses 129 through 136. This stanza of the Psalm is based on the 17th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, known as Pe which in Hebrew means mouth. I have not spoken of the meaning of the Hebrew letters during this Psalm 119 series, but I’ve been so drawn to the meaning with this particular letter. The fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabe...

This is week 16 of our series on Psalm 119, and we’re looking at verses 121 through 128. This stanza of the Psalm is based on the 16th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, known as Ayin. In this portion of Psalm 119, the psalmist --- the author --- feels he is at the mercy of his enemies and that he has done what is just and right, and wants assurance that God will rescue him. The psalmist knows and exp...

This is week 15 of our series on Psalm 119, and we’re looking at verses 113 through 120. This stanza of the Psalm is based on the 15th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, known as Samekh, and reminds us that God protects His people, God upholds the obedient, God rejects the wicked, and that God alone should be feared. This passage is a perfect reminder that respecting God’s judgments begins with respec...

This is week 14 of our series on Psalm 119, and we’re looking at verses 105 through 1124. This portion of this acrostic Psalm based on the Hebrew alphabet, represents the 14th letter, known as Noon.          It has often been said that “the greatest ability is dependability”. And we know this applies to our Savior, as He is fully faithful to us. Of course, then, is it not unreasonable for our Savi...

This is week 13 of our series on Psalm 119, and we’re looking at verses 97 through 104.   This portion of this acrostic Psalm based on the Hebrew alphabet, represents the 12th letter, known as Mem. In this passage, the psalmist again speaks of His love for God’s word, His desire to meditate seriously on it, and the wisdom and understanding it gives him, and he shares how his desire to keep God’s W...

This is week 12 of our series on Psalm 119, and we’re looking at verses 89 through 96.   This portion of the longest Psalm, also an acrostic based on the Hebrew alphabet, represents the 11th letter, known as Lemedh. It’s clear in this passage that God’s Word is settled, that He is faithful, that His creation is established, and that peace is available for those who choose to believe His Word and f...

This is week 11 of our series on Psalm 119, and we’re looking at verses 81 through 88.   This portion of the longest Psalm, also an acrostic based on the Hebrew alphabet, represents the 11th letter, known as Kaph. This is where it seems the psalmist is worn out from waiting for the Lord, but still has hope in God’s future rescue, he still expects God to step into his situation. How many of us can...

This is week 10 of our series on Psalm 119, and we’re looking at verses 73 through 80. This portion of this acrostic Psalm represents the tenth letter in the Hebrew alphabet, known as Yodh, and it reminds us of our Creator, our need for understanding, His righteousness, His faithfulness, and His mercy, even, or especially, in affliction.   I recently read a devotional from Disciplersonline.org tha...

This is week 9 of our Psalm 119 series, we’re looking at verses 65 through 72. Since this psalm is an acrostic from the Hebrew alphabet, this portion of the Psalm represents the ninth letter in the Hebrew alphabet, known as Teth.               In Psalm 119:65-72, the psalmist describes himself as a penitent sinner who gratefully accepts the Lord’s discipline and a passage that affirms the goodness...

This is week 8 of our time in Psalm 119, we’re looking at verses 57 through 64 covering the eighth letter in this Hebrew acrostic, known as Heth.   It seems the psalmist is pretty straightforward in this psalm --- the Lord is his portion, his Master, and his greatest joy!     And He should be the same for us! In that regard, the under-shepherds of the 21st Century are no different than the under-s...