Psalm 120 - Take Your Troubles

1 I took my troubles to the LORD;

I cried out to him, and he answered my prayer.

What do you do with your troubles? Do you spend a lot of time worrying about them?

Jesus had a lot to say about worry. He knew we would have troubles and knew we would worry about them.

Here's how you should pray:

Mathew 6:7 “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.8 Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! (New Living Translation)And he had this to say about worry:25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
So.... take your troubles to the LORD. Don't keep them to yourself. There's nothing you can do about them.

Psalm 119 - Loving God's Word

I could never do justice to Psalm 119 in a short blog post. There are 176 verses! So below you'll find just some random thoughts and ideas to get you digging deeper and further exploring Psalm 119 on your own.

But I would say that the first few verses kind of summarize - or give the premise behind this magnificent psalm.

1 Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD. 

2 Blessed are those who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart— 

3 they do no wrong but follow his ways. 

It's not listed like this, but Psalm 119 is like a love poem. But it's not a poem of love between a man and woman or between a man and God. It's a love poem about the Word of God.

In the Hebrew there are 22 sections - one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Then in each section there are 8 verses that begin with that letter. 

Almost every verse has a synonym for God's Word: precepts, commands, law, etc.

Our pastor at Hilldale Baptist Church is doing a 22 part (Yes, you read that correctly - a 22 part) Bible study on Wednesday nights using a section of Psalm 119 as the scripture. You can go to our Facebook page and look through the Live Feed Videos and find these Bible studies. https://www.facebook.com/hilldalebaptist/

I knew two of the musical settings listed below. How many do you know?

Musical settings[edit]

• Psalm 119:1 was set to music by Charles Villiers Stanford.
• Psalm 119:18 inspired the hymn Open My Eyes, That I May See by Clara H. Scott.^[19]
• Psalm 119:33–38 was set to music by William Byrd as Teach Me, O Lord.
• Psalm 119:89 is a popular Nigerian praise song.
• Psalm 119:105 was set to music by Amy Grant.
• Psalm 119:1–176 was completed in 1671 by Heinrich Schütz.
• Czech composer Antonín Dvořák set verses 114, 117, 119 and 120 to music in his Biblical Songs (1894).

Here are the two I knew.

Psalm 118

Give thanks to the LORD
His love endures forever.

The psalmist begins by calling on everyone to give thanks and  say "His love endures forever." Then he tells how he isn't afraid because he trusts in the LORD. He also tells how God brought him through some terrible times.
In the third section he talks about going to the house of the LORD to worship then concludes the psalm praising the LORD again.

This is a good way to share your faith.

1. Give thanks saying "His love endures forever."
2. Tell what God has done for you.
3. Worship the LORD at church - telling more of what God has done - joining others.
4. Praise the LORD some more.

Psalm 117

1 Praise the LORD, all you nations; 

extol him, all you peoples. 

2 For great is his love toward us, 

and the faithfulness of the LORD 

endures forever. 

Praise the LORD.

Psalm 116 - How to Repay the Lord

How could we ever repay the LORD for all He has done for us? What can we do to repay Him for salvation?

The writer of Psalm 116 asked the same thing.
12 What can I offer the LORD for all he has done for me?

Here's how he answered (and it is good advice for us to follow as well.)

13 I will lift up the cup of salvation and praise the LORD ’s name for saving me.14 I will keep my promises to the LORD in the presence of all his people.

Then - perhaps for emphasis - he says it again this way.17 I will offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD .18 I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people—

So.... there you have it.Offer thanks and praise to the LORD in the presence of all His people. (Participate in worship at your church.)And...If you made promises to the LORD while asking for deliverance, do what you promised!

Psalm 115 - Not to Us

1 Not to us, LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness. 

This same thought is presented as a command to us in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. They knew that they had freedom in Christ - that they were no longer bound by the law. Paul wanted them to think past their freedom and to their responsibility to other believers.

1 Corinthians 10:23 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. 

24 No one should seek their own good, but the good of others. 

If you don't know the entire background to this click here to read the entire passage. 1 Corinthians 10:23-33

In this passage you'll find these words (which I thought of when reading Psalm 115:1)

31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 

So how are you living your life? Are you doing everything for the glory of God? If not, why not? 

Psalm 114 - The Creator Controls His Creation

Just eight verses... you can sum them up by saying that the Creator is still in control of His creation. And He uses creation for His purpose. The mountains and the sea tremble and run from Him and the rock became water. All of this because the LORD chose to dwell with Israel. He needed to provide for them so He suspended the "laws of nature" so nature would do what He wanted.

Awesome!

Speaking of awesome...if you have some time listen to this gorgeous setting of Psalm 114 by Felix Mendelssohn.