The Search

At first, Psalm 66 seems like a pretty standard praise song honoring God for bringing the people through a time of testing. However, the psalmist also says that the test itself was caused by God. How are we to understand this, and other, puzzling features of Psalm 66? ---------------------------- Please follow us on these platforms: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Jointhesearch Podcast: https://...

How should the righteous react to answered prayer?  It's simple--with praise! Psalm 65 seems to be a joyful response to the prayer David asks of God in Psalm 64. Find out how David voices his complaint and then rejoices in God's answer. ---------------------------- Please follow us on these platforms: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Jointhesearch Podcast: https://thesearch.buzzsprout.c...

Psalm 63 opens with the line: "You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water." Let's consider the earnest pleading of this prayer as David desperately reaches for God. ---------------------------- Please follow us on these platforms: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Jointhesearch Podcast...

When all that needs to be prayed has been prayed, sometimes the only thing believers can do is silently wait for God. Psalm 62 represents David's silent waiting where he tries to convince himself of truths he believes but is having difficulty fully embracing because of his difficult circumstances. ---------------------------- Please follow us on these platforms: Youtube: https://www.youtube.c...

This trio of psalms differ in style and content, but they are bound together by the common theme of God's power to deliver His people. ---------------------------- Please follow us on these platforms: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Jointhesearch Podcast: https://thesearch.buzzsprout.com/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jointhesearch Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jointhesearchtoday F...

Sometimes the emotional distress of the psalmists is so intense that they cry out for God to hurt and even kill their enemies. These imprecatory psalms can be difficult for Christians to read, especially in light of the teachings of Jesus who said that His disciples should love their enemies. Psalm 58 is one of those graphic psalms in which David asks God to bring about an extraordinary act of jud...

Psalms 56 and 57 are lament prayers David wrote during the era of his life when he was on the run from King Saul. However, while many of David's laments focus on his complaints, these prayers are much more focused on David's unyielding trust in the Lord. ---------------------------- Please follow us on these platforms: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Jointhesearch Podcast: https://thes...

To whom do believers turn when the world seems against them? How should Christians respond when friends become traitors and enemies? David's own life experiences and prayers are instructive in answering these questions. ---------------------------- Please follow us on these platforms: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Jointhesearch Podcast: https://thesearch.buzzsprout.com/ TikTok: https://ww...

Do you know the story of Doeg the Edomite and the slaughter of Israel's priests at Nob? According to its superscript, this horrific incident is the backdrop to Psalm 52's important message about the wicked. ---------------------------- Please follow us on these platforms: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Jointhesearch TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jointhesearch Instagram: https://www....

David made many mistakes in life, but Psalm 51 reflects the best of the King. Yes, he has been caught in grievous sin, but his penitential prayer radiates his contrite heart and serves as a model of confession even to this day. ---------------------------- Please follow us on these platforms: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Jointhesearch TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jointhesearch Instagram: h...

Throughout their history, Israel needed to be rebuked by God. Psalm 50 discusses such a time when God gathered His people together to call them to repentance. They were guilty of both idolatry and immorality and God did not hold back in His demand that they change. ---------------------------- Please follow us on these platforms: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Jointhesearch TikTok: https://www....

Psalm 49 is the last offering of a mini-series of psalms from the Sons of Korah. It's a wisdom psalm about the universality of death which focuses on the question of whether or not the rich have any advantage with God in the end.  ---------------------------- Please follow us on these platforms: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Jointhesearch TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jointhesearch Inst...

Why does the Psalter refer to Jerusalem as God's city? What made that ancient place unique and special? Psalm 48 is one of the Zion Songs and it offers insight into what God thinks about Jerusalem.  ---------------------------- Please follow us on these platforms: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Jointhesearch TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jointhesearch Instagram: https://www.instagram.com...

God is Israel's refuge and strength (Psalm 46:1), but He is also "the king of all the earth" (Psalm 47:7). In these psalms, God's work on behalf of His covenant people is celebrated and then expanded so that all the nations join the children of Abraham in jubilant praise of God. ---------------------------- Please follow us on these platforms: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@...

The idea of a royal wedding evokes all kinds of grand and festive imagery. Psalm 45 is a wedding poem dedicated to the king and his new bride and there are many interesting and noteworthy concepts associated with this particular psalm addressed in this lesson. ---------------------------- Please follow us on these platforms: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Jointhesearch TikTok: https://www.tikto...

Psalm 44 documents a time when Israel has suffered a terrible military defeat. What are God's people to do when the nation is facing such a horrifying disaster? Consider with me the message of this interesting psalm. ---------------------------- Please follow us on these platforms: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Jointhesearch TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jointhesearch Instagram: https:/...

Book 2 of the Psalter opens with a collection of psalms from the Sons of Korah. Psalms 42-43 were written by someone who had become separated from Jerusalem and was unable to return to the Temple. His heart's desire for home where he could once again worship God is poured out in these psalms. ---------------------------- Please follow us on these platforms: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@J...

Book I of the Psalter closes with Psalm 41. Like Psalm 1, Psalm 41 opens with a beatitude: "Blessed are those who consider the poor/weak." One of the chief characteristics of God is His rescue of the poor. It is fitting that this last entry in Book I takes that divine attribute and enjoins it upon believers.  ---------------------------- Please follow us on these platforms: Youtube: http...

One of the Christian's greatest privileges is the right to call God, Father. As a Father, God protects and provides for His children, but He also guides and disciplines them. David experienced divine discipline and wrote about that experience in this trio of psalms.  ---------------------------- Please follow us on these platforms: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Jointhesearch TikTok: https...

How should the righteous feel when they see the wicked prospering? What should God's people be doing while they await His work of redemption and restoration? These are important questions David wrestles with in Psalms 36 and 37. ---------------------------- Please follow us on these platforms: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Jointhesearch TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jointhesearch Instag...

David had many enemies who often slandered him and spread lies about him. Rather than seek vengeance, however, David sought vindication that is based on God's own righteousness. What does it mean though for David to ask that God will vindicate him?  ---------------------------- Please follow us on these platforms: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Jointhesearch TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/...

Fear can drive people to act in ways they would not normally act. David learned this lesson during a particularly fearful time in his life when he faced almost certain death. Psalm 34 is all about what David concluded about fear. ---------------------------- Please follow us on these platforms: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Jointhesearch Podcast: https://thesearch.buzzsprout.com/ TikTok: https...

Paul says that the fruit of the Spirit begins with love, joy, and peace (Gal 5:22-23). Why were these virtues so important to Paul's understanding of what it means to live a Spirit-led life? Probably because he learned them from the Psalms. In particular, Psalms 31-33 emphasize the centrality of love, joy, and peace for those whose lives are connected to God. ---------------------------- Plea...

People serve God for all kinds of reasons. Many people become a Christian or attend church simply because they expect to get something out of God. Psalms 29 and 30, however, reveal something vitally important about God and why He is worthy of worship. ---------------------------- Please follow us on these platforms: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Jointhesearch TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jo...

Many of David's psalms include requests. He often asked God for healing, deliverance, and/or justice. However, there was one thing David desired above all other petitions and that singular priority is the subject of this trio of psalms. ---------------------------- Please follow us on these platforms: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Jointhesearch TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jointhesearc...