Psalm 15

This psalm asks "LORD, who may dwell in your sacred tent?" and proceeds to list out all the requirements to live on God's holy mountain. The one in particular that stands out to me is "who speaks the truth from their heart."

This tells me two things:

1) This person has truth in their heart and

2) He or she has the love and boldness to speak it.

I am neither, but I thank God that because of Jesus, I can dwell with Him in His Sacred Tent, His Holy Mountain. And by being there, God will plant Truth in my heart and give me the boldness to speak it.

Psalm 14

3 All have turned aside
they have together become corrupt,
there is no one who does good,
not even one.

What I find challenging about this verse is the idea of collective corruption, communal corruption. Not only evil within individuals, but among them: our individual fears, insecurities, and wounds bleed out and hurt the people around us.

We have a planet filled with broken people that inevitably create broken systems, only egging each other on in selfishness and destruction.

I don't want to acknowledge that my individual refusal to care for "the least of these" (Matthew 25:40) contributes to a global disparity between the rich and the poor.
I don't want to see that my individual dishonesty in relationships is the same strain of dishonesty in hedge-fund economic practices.
I don't want to admit that my individual passivity towards sex trafficking results in even more women, girls, and boys being brutalized.

And this is what I love about God, that he offers not only individual healing, but communal restoration as well.

He is just that big.

Psalm 13

1 How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts

and day after day have sorrow in my heart?

How long will my enemy triumph over me?

The psalmist presently questions the existence and power and love of God. He questions whether God will do what he says he will do: heal, strengthen, restore, save.

5 But I trust in your unfailing love;

my heart rejoices in your salvation.

6 I will sing the LORD's praise,

for he has been good to me.

At this time, he turns to what God has done for him in the past. Remembering God's provision and goodness in the past to bring clarity and certainty to the present.

And this time, that is enough.

Psalm 12

6 And the words of the LORD are flawless,
like silver refined in a furnace of clay,
purified seven times.

I often feel cheesy when thinking about the promises of God. I perceive them to be slogans we print on mugs and Christian t shirts rather than beautiful and rare and pure and eternal. Flawless. They are perfect and absolute truths. There are no conditions or loopholes or strings attached. They bring life and restoration our lives and our world screams for.

Words like Zephaniah 3:17:
The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.

What words of God are bringing you life?

Psalm 11

3 When the foundations are being destroyed,

what can the righteous do?

4 The LORD is in his holy temple;

the LORD is on his heavenly throne.

He observes everyone on earth;

hi eyes examine them.

Lately, I have felt like my foundation of self-reliance and self-protection have been taken away.

I've been nervous, inarticulately moody, and sullen, unable to explain how or why I felt ravaged by guilt, fear, and anxiety.

I felt shaken, without a foundation.

After his rhetorical question, the psalmist assert what the foundation-less can do: know that the LORD is in his holy temple, on his heavenly throne. How frustrating is that?! The man without a foundation can do nothing but know. Know and trust that God is set apart by His goodness + justice + purity + mercy + power.

That "upright men will see his face" rather than illusions of self-importance and security.

Psalm 10

In his pride the wicked does not seek [the LORD];

in all his thoughts there is no room for God.

5 His ways are always prosperous; he is haughty and

you laws are far from him;

he sneers at all his enemies.

6 He says to himself, "Nothing will shake me;

I'll always be happy and never have trouble."

The psalmist continues to describe the wicked and how they oppress others. I identify most* with this man's pride, with a religious twist. I settle for what I already have: my faith in God. I don't seek out more of God. I don't yearn to be challenged or encounter God in new ways. I think that my relationship with God is all it'll ever be, as opposed to relationship that will continue to deepen and grow in beauty and intimacy as it ages. I assume God is finite and that I covered all the bases; I've got my theology down pat and I've already been transformed by God.

My narrow view of God and my complacency crowd out any room for God. Nothing will shake me; I'll always be happy and never have trouble.

*I am starting to see how I relate to this "wicked Psalm 10" man in other ways. He's not a cartoon villain twirling an outrageously curly mustache. He stalks victims in ambush: how often do I wait for people to make mistakes and sin just to silently judge them? He murders the innocent: Is it murder if I'd rather spend 20 dollars on a new shirt I don't need than on helping someone have clean water for 20 years?

Psalm 9

5 You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;

you have blotted out their name forever and ever.

6 Endless ruin has overtaken the enemy,

you have uprooted their cities;

even the memory of them has perished.

I feel fake when praising God for his destruction and wrath because it terrifies me thinking of my Father act this way.

This enraged, violent God.

The only analogy I can think of that doesn't make me cringe is the thought of a child being kidnapped and sold into slavery, sex trafficked, and his or her Father doing whatever it takes to rescue His child. I am glad that God is enraged by injustice and oppression and slavery, enraged enough to do something about it and save us.

I once heard this prayer something to the effect of, "Let us love you and other people, and hate nothing but sin itself." I really like it because I don't have a hatred for sin right now. Not yet, but I'm starting to see why we need it.