As I backed down a driveway one night, I was startled by a loud crash. I had accidentally gone off the driveway and backed the car into a large potted plant, leaving a scratch on the rear bumper. If the car had been my own, it would not have been a big deal. However, this particular car was a rental. I would have to give an account of my mistake to someone else.

In today’s reading, David reminds us that the world we inhabit and everything in it belong to God. We may sometimes act as if our house, car, possessions, or even our bodies belong to us. The reality is that God created everything and everyone. All creation belongs to Him (vv. 1–2). Israel was reminded of this truth every fiftieth year when all debts were canceled and all property reverted back to its original tribal allotment (Lev. 25). They were not the ultimate owners of the land.

In verses 3–4, David reminds Israel that approaching God in worship is not to be done lightly. He outlines two characteristics of an authorized worshiper. We must have “clean hands and a pure heart” (v. 4). That is, we are to be people who have purity in our motives and in our actions. We must also be loyal to the Lord alone. Our trust cannot be in any of the false gods who so easily attract our attention (v. 4). These are the people who can worship the Lord and receive His blessing (v. 5).

The final portion of the psalm calls for the gates of Jerusalem to be prepared to receive the King of glory. Since the whole earth belongs to the Lord, it is appropriate that the psalm ends by anticipating the future coming of the Messiah-King to take up His throne (Matt. 25:31).

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According to the National Solar Observatory, the core temperature of the sun is 27 million degrees Fahrenheit. Every second of every day, the sun releases five million tons of pure energy. Consider that the sun is one of trillions of stars in the sky, which were created when God spoke, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky” (Gen. 1:14).

Psalm 19 celebrates the truth that it is possible for us to know the Creator of the heavens and the earth. One way we can learn truth about God is by opening our eyes and looking at the world around us. Just like a painting can reveal truth about the artist, the stars and mountains, woods and streams reveal truth about the One who spoke them into being. David declares, “Day after day they pour forth speech” (v. 2). The phrase “pour forth” is used of a spring bubbling up out of the ground. It is as if the heavens are bubbling over, jabbering away about God.

In the second half of the psalm, David declares that we can know God through His Word. It is perfect and refreshing to the soul (v. 7). If we had to choose between Scripture and a heap of gold, the obvious choice is God’s Word. In addition to giving us wisdom, joy, and life, it warns us of danger and keeps us from errors (v. 11).

Most people desire money and pleasure. David here proclaims that Scripture meets both needs. The Word of God is sweeter than honey and more precious than gold. David concludes by thinking about his own speech. He recognizes how pure and true the words of Scripture are and prays that his own words will mirror those same qualities (v. 14).

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When I was a child, we used to sing the hymn “Count Your Blessings.” The first verse was, “When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed; When you are discouraged thinking all is lost; Count your many blessings, name them one by one; And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.” This is very practical advice. When we face discouragement, we need to step back and remember all the ways the Lord has been faithful.

In Psalm 16, David enumerates four gifts of God for which he is grateful. The first is God Himself. He confesses to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing” (v. 2). The fact that God has made a way to be in relationship with His people is a precious gift. In God alone is true joy to be found (v. 11). The second gift David reminds himself of is the gift of being in community with God’s people. He delights in worshiping with fellow believers (v. 3). We were not meant to live the life of faith alone.

The third gift is that of God’s Word. He proclaims, “I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me” (v. 7). This recalls the blessed man of Psalm 1, who meditates upon the Law of the Lord “day and night” (Ps. 1:2). Instead of being overwhelmed by his circumstances, David resolves, “I keep my eyes always on the LORD” (Ps. 16:8).

The fourth gift is David’s hope that God’s faithfulness will extend beyond the grave. He tells the Lord, “You will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay” (v. 10). David knows the grave is not the end. His hope is fulfilled in Christ who defeated death in resurrection. As the apostle Paul put it, “As in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22). David’s hope was not in vain.

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Thomas Edison was determined to invent a commercially viable electric light bulb. He knew the value it would bring to the average person. Yet after countless failed attempts, his friends and family began to ask if he was ready to give up. The story is told of a newspaper reporter who asked Edison if he felt like a failure. Edison replied, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

In today’s psalm, David faced adversity. We do not know exactly what trial he was facing, but it was significant enough that people around him encouraged him to “flee like a bird to your mountain” (v. 1). Their advice was to run away! After all, wicked men were dangerous. They hid in the shadows and attempted to assassinate the righteous (v. 2). David’s problems were not just these men, but that the very foundations of society were being destroyed (v. 3). The moral order had fallen away. What could a righteous person do but run?

David had an answer. Instead of running, we can choose to look up. “The Lord is in his holy temple; the LORD is on his heavenly throne” (v. 4). The wicked may seem like they are getting away with murder. It may look like there is no hope for the upright. But David knew that was not the full picture. The Lord sits on the throne and will hold the wicked accountable. He is not aloof to human oppression, but carefully examines “everyone on earth” (v. 4). In His justice, He will judge the wicked and uphold the upright. We can trust in this because the Lord “hates” evil, but “loves justice” (vv. 5, 7). We can choose faith in our incorruptible God.

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In the preface to his commentary on the Psalms, John Calvin describes the book in this way, “I have been accustomed to call this book…‘An Anatomy of all the Parts of the Soul’; for there is not an emotion of which any one can be conscious that is not here represented as a mirror.” The Psalms are a true reflection of the life we experience in a fallen world.

Psalms 9 and 10 belong together as one psalm in two parts. Psalm 9 is the first half of an acrostic that runs through Psalm 10. David begins with a rousing call to give thanks to the Lord (Ps. 9:1–2). He calls on people everywhere to rejoice because the Lord has defeated His enemies, established justice, and been a refuge for the poor and oppressed (vv. 3–10). David has experienced the truth that God does not forsake His children (v. 10). One of the ways that the Lord defeats the wicked is by allowing them to reap the natural results of their own actions, “the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands” (v. 16). The Lord reigns and “does not ignore the cries of the afflicted” (v. 12). The proper response to God’s deliverance is to celebrate His deliverance with God’s people in worship (v. 14).

At the cross, Jesus “disarmed the powers and authorities” (Col. 2:15). However, like David, we still struggle against “the powers of this dark world” (Eph. 6:12). At times we can long for justice and pray with David, “Arise, LORD, do not let mortals triumph; let the nations be judged in your presence” (v. 19). We can place our hope in the victory that has already been achieved. One day we will be able to sing, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever” (Rev. 11:15).

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In 2009, Susan Boyle achieved international fame for her audition on Britain’s Got Talent. She did not seem like the usual contestant. She was forty-seven years old and unemployed, and no one expected much from her— until she began to sing. Her brilliant rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” became the most watched video on YouTube that year, and Susan went on to sell millions of albums.

When we encounter the unexpected, we respond with a sense of wonder. In Psalm 8, David praises God, not for His power or might, but for how He often uses the people we least expect. In verse 2 David proclaims, “Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.” In the ancient world with high infant mortality rates, babies were a symbol of powerlessness and fragility. David glorifies God because He uses the praise of the most insignificant, weak, and needy people in society to silence His enemies. God is shown to be majestic because of how He chooses the weak to silence the strong.

God has always enjoyed working in this way. In verses 3 and 4, David reflects on how vast the created universe was and how God put all these wonders under the care and authority of humans. How small we seem compared to elephants or supernovas! Yet, “you made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet” (v. 6).

This theme of God showing His strength in weakness comes to its ultimate fulfillment on the cross. When Jesus was at His weakest point, beaten and mocked and hanging on a Roman cross, He was accomplishing the most. In His death, He defeated His enemies: the power of sin and Satan and death.

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Every day the news gives a list of reasons why we should feel uncertain. The economy, politics, global conflicts, and the climate are all listed as reasons to feel uneasy. Even within our own families, we face struggles. There is a lot to worry about. The people of Israel returned from exile with a long list of worries. They were still under the thumb of the Persians, which included paying high taxes. The people were impoverished. They often wondered, “Where was God?”

Malachi 4:1–6 includes the final words of the Old Testament. In it, the Lord provides a message of comfort to a discouraged people. He desired Israel to take their eyes off their current troubles and look to Him. In particular, He wanted them to anticipate the future He had promised them—the day of the Lord (v. 1). At this time, God will judge the evil and arrogant. Justice will be done. The righteous who have put their faith in the Lord will be vindicated. They will rejoice and dance (v. 2).

Until that day, we are to remember God’s word (v. 4). We are to seek hope not in circumstances but in God’s promises. Before the day of the Lord comes, God promised that He would send a messenger, the prophet Elijah (v. 5). The New Testament clarifies that this promise was partially fulfilled in the person of John the Baptist who prepared Israel for the coming of the Messiah (Matt. 11:13–14).

There is an interval between Jesus’ first coming in grace and His second coming in judgment when all of God’s promises will be fulfilled (Rev. 22:10–15). What a fitting way to close the Old Testament by reminding us to keep our eyes focused on the Lord and His promised future, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20).

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Why do we worship and trust the Lord? Because we get something out of it? Is our reverence for God primarily a way for us to be blessed? That is essentially the question Satan posed to God about Job (Job 1:9). He claimed that Job only served the Lord because the Lord had blessed him. If God took Job’s material blessings away, “he will surely curse you to your face,” claimed Satan (Job 1:11).

The same issue surfaces in Malachi 3:13–17. The people of Israel complained that it wasn’t worth the trouble to worship the Lord. It did not seem to make a difference in their lives. They went about mourning before the Lord and still suffered (v. 14). At the same time, the arrogant and godless seemed blessed (v. 15). So, why bother with God?

Instead of answering directly, the prophet pointed to a group within Israel who “feared the LORD” (v. 16). These people trusted in God despite their circumstances. They encouraged each other to keep the faith. The Lord noticed. He wrote down their names in a “scroll of remembrance” (v. 16). On the day of the Lord’s judgment, He would redeem these devoted servants, “my treasured possession” (v. 17).

Sometimes we can be deceived by our present experience. We look around and have a hard time discerning God’s justice or even His presence. In those difficult times, we can be tempted to lose hope. But like the faithful remnant, we need to remind one another that the Lord is present, He hears, and He cares. He has written the names of His beloved children in the “book of life” (Phil. 4:3). And one day, Jesus has promised that He will “acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels” (Rev. 3:5).

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