Memory Verses

The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, to guide and to shield me], I shall not want. Psalm 23:1 AMP

The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness of it, The world, and those who dwell in it. Psalm 24:1 AMP

The Lord is my light and my salvation—Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the refuge and fortress of my life—Whom shall I dread? Psalm 27:1 AMP

One thing I have asked of the Lord, and that I will seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord [in His presence] all the days of my life, To gaze upon the beauty [the delightful loveliness and majestic grandeur] of the Lord And to meditate in His temple. Psalm 27:4 AMP

⁴ Sing to the Lord, O you His godly ones, And give thanks at the mention of His holy name. ⁵ For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may endure for a night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning. Psalm 30:4-5 AMP

Key people

Here is a list of key people found in today’s reading (in order of appearance) with bios from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

God. The Creator of all mankind. David sings songs and prays to God.
David. In the Books of Samuel, David is a young shepherd who gains fame first as a musician and later by killing the enemy champion Goliath.

Today’s Devotional Reading: Psalm 23 – 30

Psalm 23 Amplified Version (AMP)
Psalm 24 Amplified Version (AMP)
Psalm 25 Amplified Version (AMP)
Psalm 26 Amplified Version (AMP)
Psalm 27 Amplified Version (AMP)
Psalm 28 Amplified Version (AMP)
Psalm 29 Amplified Version (AMP)
Psalm 30 Amplified Version (AMP)

The 23rd Psalm

Many of David’s psalms are full of complaints, but this is full of comforts, and the expressions of delight in God’s great goodness and dependence upon him. It is a psalm which has been sung by good Christians, and will be while the world stands, with a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction. I. The psalmist here claims relation to God, as his shepherd, Ps. 23:1. II. He recounts his experience of the kind things God had done for him as his shepherd, Ps. 23:2, 3, 5. III. Hence he infers that he should want no good (Ps. 23:1), that he needed to fear no evil (Ps. 23:4), that God would never leave nor forsake him in a way of mercy; and therefore he resolves never to leave nor forsake God in a way of duty, Ps. 23:6. In this he had certainly an eye, not only to the blessings of God’s providence, which made his outward condition prosperous, but to the communications of God’s grace, received by a lively faith, and returned in a warm devotion, which filled his soul with joy unspeakable. And, as in the foregoing psalm he represented Christ dying for his sheep, so here he represents Christians receiving the benefit of all the care and tenderness of that great and good shepherd (Chapter 23).

This psalm is concerning the kingdom of Jesus Christ, I. His providential kingdom, by which he rules the world, Ps. 24:1, 2. II. The kingdom of his grace, by which he rules in his church. 1. Concerning the subjects of that kingdom; their character (Ps. 24:4, 6), their charter, Ps. 24:5. 2. Concerning the King of that kingdom; and a summons to all to give him admission, Ps. 24:7-10. It is supposed that the psalm was penned upon occasion of David’s bringing up the ark to the place prepared for it, and that the intention of it was to lead the people above the pomp of external ceremonies to a holy life and faith in Christ, of whom the ark was a type (Chapter 24).

This psalm is full of devout affection to God, the out-goings of holy desires towards his favour and grace and the lively actings of faith in his promises. We may learn out of it, I. What it is to pray, Ps. 25:1, 15. II. What we must pray for, the pardon of sin (Ps. 25:6, 7, 18), direction in the way of duty (Ps. 25:4, 5), the favour of God (Ps. 25:16), deliverance out of our troubles (Ps. 25:17, 18), preservation from our enemies (Ps. 25:20, 21), and the salvation of the church of God, Ps. 25:22. III. What we may plead in prayer, our confidence in God (Ps. 25:2, 3, 5, 20, 21), our distress and the malice of our enemies (Ps. 25:17, 19), our sincerity, Ps. 25:21. IV. What precious promises we have to encourage us in prayer, of guidance and instruction (Ps. 25:8, 9, 12), the benefit of the covenant (Ps. 25:10), and the pleasure of communion with God, Ps. 25:13, 14. It is easy to apply the several passages of this psalm to ourselves in the singing of it; for we have often troubles, and always sins, to complain of at the throne of grace (Chapter 25).

Holy David is in this psalm putting himself upon a solemn trial, not by God and his country, but by God and his own conscience, to both which he appeals touching his integrity (Ps. 26:1, 2), for the proof of which he alleges, I. His constant regard to God and his grace, Ps. 26:3. II. His rooted antipathy to sin and sinners, Ps. 26:4, 5. III. His sincere affection to the ordinances of God, and his care about them, Ps. 26:6-8. Having thus proved his integrity, 1. He deprecates the doom of the wicked, Ps. 26:9, 10. 2. He casts himself upon the mercy and grace of God, with a resolution to hold fast his integrity, and his hope in God, Ps. 26:11, 12. In singing this psalm we must teach and admonish ourselves, and one another, what we must be and do that we may have the favour of God, and comfort in our own consciences, and comfort ourselves with it, as David does, if we can say that in any measure we have, through grace, answered to these characters. The learned Amyraldus, in his argument of his psalm, suggests that David is here, by the spirit of prophecy, carried out to speak of himself as a type of Christ, of whom what he here says of his spotless innocence, was fully and eminently true, and of him only, and to him we may apply it in singing this psalm. “We are complete in him.” (Chapter 26).

Some think David penned this psalm before his coming to the throne, when he was in the midst of his troubles, and perhaps upon occasion of the death of his parents; but the Jews think he penned it when he was old, upon occasion of the wonderful deliverance he had from the sword of the giant, when Abishai succoured him (2 Sam. 21:16, 17) and his people thereupon resolved he should never venture his life again in battle, lest he should quench the light of Israel. Perhaps it was not penned upon any particular occasion; but it is very expressive of the pious and devout affections with which gracious souls are carried out towards God at all times, especially in times of trouble. Here is, I. The courage and holy bravery of his faith, Ps. 27:1-3. II. The complacency he took in communion with God and the benefit he experienced by it, Ps. 27:4-6. III. His desire towards God, and his favour and grace, Ps. 27:7-9, 11, 12. IV. His expectations from God, and the encouragement he gives to others to hope in him, Ps. 27:10, 13, 14. And let our hearts be thus affected in singing this psalm (Chapter 27).

The former part of this psalm is the prayer of a saint militan and now in distress (Ps. 28:1-3), to which is added the doom of God’s implacable enemies, Ps. 28:4, 5. The latter part of the psalm is the thanksgiving of a saint triumphant, and delivered out of his distresses (Ps. 28:6-8), to which is added a prophetical prayer for all God’s faithful loyal subjects, Ps. 28:9. So that it is hard to say which of these two conditions David was in when he penned it. Some think he was now in trouble seeking God, but at the same time preparing to praise him for his deliverance, and by faith giving him thanks for it, before it was wrought. Others think he was now in triumph, but remembered, and recorded for his own and others’ benefit, the prayers he made when he was in affliction, that the mercy might relish the better, when it appeared to be an answer to them (Chapter 28).

It is the probable conjecture of some very good interpreters that David penned this psalm upon occasion, and just at the time, of a great storm of thunder, lightning, and rain, as the eighth psalm was his meditation in a moon-light night and the nineteenth in a sunny morning. It is good to take occasion from the sensible operations of God’s power in the kingdom of nature to give glory to him. So composed was David, and so cheerful, even in a dreadful tempest, when others trembled, that then he penned this psalm; for, “though the earth be removed, yet will we not fear.” I. He calls upon the great ones of the world to give glory to God, Ps. 29:1, 2. II. To convince them of the goodness of that God whom they were to adore, he takes notice of his power and terror in the thunder, and lightning, and thunder-showers (Ps. 29:3-9), his sovereign dominion over the world (Ps. 29:10), and his special favour to his church, Ps. 29:11. Great and high thoughts of God should fill us in singing this psalm (Chapter 29).

This is a psalm of thanksgiving for the great deliverances which God had wrought for David, penned upon occasion of the dedicating of his house of cedar, and sung in that pious solemnity, though there is not any thing in it that has particular reference to that occasion. Some collect from divers passages in the psalm itself that it was penned upon his recovery from a dangerous fit of sickness, which might happen to be about the time of the dedication of his house. I. He here praises God for the deliverances he had wrought for him, Ps. 30:1-3. II. He calls upon others to praise him too, and encourages them to trust in him, Ps. 30:4, 5. III. He blames himself for his former security, Ps. 30:6, 7. IV. He recollects the prayers and complaints he had made in his distress, Ps. 30:8-10. With them he stirs up himself to be very thankful to God for the present comfortable change, Ps. 30:11, 12. In singing this psalm we ought to remember with thankfulness any like deliverances wrought for us, for which we must stir up our selves to praise him and by which we must be engaged to depend upon him (Chapter 30).

References

« The Amplified Bible
« The King James Bible
« Matthew Henry’s Commentary

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Image Source: 365 Seeds of Promise by Shenica Graham.

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