Category Archives: Psalms

Psalms 142-150

Jehovah finds pleasure […] in those waiting for his loyal love.
~Psalm 147:11

Jehovah God feels happy when his worshippers take his will into account when making choices.
When we do God’s will instead of carrying out impatient or selfish desires, we are letting his spirit guide us (Ps. 143:8-10).
This indicates faith.
In turn, Jehovah himself remains faithful, “securing justice for those defrauded.”
God demonstrates his loyal love by taking it upon himself to ‘thwart the plans of the wicked,’ but he intervenes when he deems the moment right (Ps. 146:6-9).
While we wait on Jehovah, we can present our distress to him in the form of prayer, knowing that he will not forget about us (Ps. 142:2,5).

Psalms 135-141

“If I say: ‘Surely darkness will conceal me!’ Then the night around me would become light.”
~Psalm 139:11

When we feel overwhelmed, we can rely on God’s strength to pull us through difficulties.
“On the day I called, you answered me; You made me bold and strong,” (Ps. 138:3).
Key spiritual activities that should never be cast aside include heartfelt prayer, Bible reading and public praising of God.
We should also set aside some time to kindly demonstrate personal interest toward others (Heb. 10:22-25,35,36).
As long as we have the cardinal points of spirituality guiding our day to day lives, we will not be overcome by darkness.
Jehovah can even transform that darkness into our brightest moment.

Psalms 120-134

“For Jehovah is loyal in his love,
And he has great power to redeem.
He will redeem Israel from all their errors.”
~Psalm 130:7,8

“Redeem” connotes a number of things:
You can redeem a coupon, in which case the literal meaning is to exchange.
You can redeem something you pawned, in which case you are recuperating something valuable.
You can redeem a mortgage, which basically means you’ve paid off a great debt.
You can also redeem abstract things, like when you fulfill a promise.
You can redeem people, including yourself, when you or someone else recovers your reputation.
It is possible for God to redeem us from sin because He has exchanged the perfect life of his son for each person born into sin (Rom. 5:8).
He has paid off our debt and recuperated our chance to live forever.
Because of Christ’s sacrifice, Jehovah can fulfill his promise to save those who exercise faith in His son (John 3:16).
His pardon is so great that He can even reestablish our reputation (Isa. 1:18).
How can we make use of God’s loyal love?
We must show appreciation for what He does for us (Mic. 6:8).

Psalm 119

“I have strayed like a lost sheep.
Search for your servant,
For I have not forgotten your commandments.”
~Psalm 119:176

Who wrote Psalm 119?
Though the writer’s name is unknown, we can form a portrait of where he (or she) was in life by some of his expressions.
Although verse one affirms: “Happy are those who are blameless in their way […]” the psalmist is not applying these words to himself, for verses five and six explain: “If only I could remain steadfast so as to observe your regulations! Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commandments.”
The psalmist is evidently undergoing some type of affliction as a consequence of past mistakes.
Even though he no longer ‘goes astray,’ he is still an object of “scorn and contempt,” targeted by insensitive, presumptuous liars (Ps. 119:22,67,69,70).
Although the psalmist does suffer sleeplessness and grief, this allows him to find comfort in his knowledge of Jehovah God (Ps. 119:28,52,55).
The psalmist goes so far as to say that his spiritual heritage is the ‘joy of his heart,’ (Ps. 119:111).
What fueled his strength?
Verses 92-95 read:

If I had not been fond of your law,
I would have perished in my affliction. […]
I belong to you; save me […]. The wicked wait to destroy me,
But I give close attention to your reminders.”

Time and again, the psalmist references his bond with God and love for God’s Word as the reasons he can bear his affliction and carry on.
Undefeated, he resolves to fulfill his vows to God and rely on His justice and loyal love (Ps. 119:106,149).

Psalms 110-118

“I will not die, no, I will live, In order to declare the works of Jah.
Jah disciplined me severely, But he did not hand me over to death.
Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will enter them and praise Jah.”
~Psalm 118:17-19

God created you with a sense of spirituality which you need to satisfy by knowing and praising him (Ge. 1:27).

If you are ever denied that God-given right, you are being denied one of the fundamental blocks of happiness (Matt. 5:3).

Knowing that God hands you the privilege of praising him with the congregation is reason enough to evade death.
It gives you a purpose in life, and no one else can praise Jehovah for you.
Verse eighteen clearly states that Jehovah does not discipline his servants to the point of death.
Therefore, to deny a repentant, depressed soul the joy of serving God goes against God’s express will and He will hold those persecutors accountable.

Psalms 106-109

“But you, Jehovah the Sovereign Lord, Act in my behalf for the sake of your name. […]”
~Ps. 109:21

When we use God’s name, Jehovah, others come to identify Him as our God.
It is both a privilege and great responsibility.
But when others mistreat us, we can count on Jehovah acting in our behalf.
He does not tolerate anyone bringing such disgrace onto Himself, and what that means for us is that He is a God of action.
While Jehovah may allow an oppressive situation to continue for a bit of time, he will never allow his servants to be left hopeless or helpless.
He loyally extends kindness toward them in the form of deliverance or endurance (1 Cor. 10:13; 2 Cor. 4:7-9).
He may even save us in the form of giving us wisdom to know what our next step should be (Ps. 31:3; Ps. 119:98,99).
And yet another way he acts on our behalf is by forgiving our sins when we have truly repented (Ps. 25:11).
How wonderful it is to serve such a loyal God!

Psalms 102-105

“Jehovah is merciful and compassionate,
Slow to anger and abundant in loyal love.”
~Psalm 103:8

Have you ever become so angry at someone that you became obsessed with their flaws and that, in turn, affected your joy in the congregation?
We do well to imitate Jehovah in being slow to anger.
One way to improve on this is by meditating on the example of Christ Jesus.
Jesus had a mild temper (Matt. 11:29).

He did not allow others to provoke him.
Rather, he entrusted himself to the Highest Judge (1 Pet. 2:23).

How can we, too, be slow in anger?
We want to be able to discern right from wrong, and a big part of that is knowing when to keep our mouth shut.
Otherwise, if we feel contempt toward others, we might end up slandering them (Prov. 11:12,13).

The way to a calm spirit is constant and straight (Prov. 15:21).

Although we feel forces trying to knock us off our path, having a mild temper implies steadfastness.
Jesus remained calm even when his disciples did the exact opposite of what he had asked (Mark 14:34-38).

Likewise, in the congregation, there may be someone who constantly does the opposite of what he is instructed, and yet he has a certain level of authority.
Jehovah does not expect people to be perfect, so it should not surprise us when they err.
True- it is extremely grieving to be targeted by someone’s rudeness on a personal level, or worse yet, to see your loved one bullied by a brother in the faith.
But Jehovah can use others’ shortcomings to develop endurance, faith and a positive attitude in our own personalities.
Another way to look at it is to remember that Jehovah isn’t asking more of us than he himself is willing to give.

Psalms 92-101

“The One who made the ear, can he not hear?
The One who formed the eye, can he not see?”
~Psalm 94:9

When we feel we are victims of oppression, it is reassuring to remember Jehovah God is not blind to our suffering.

“Who will rise up for me against the wicked?
Who will take a stand for me against the wrongdoers?
If Jehovah had not been my helper, I would soon have perished.
When I said: ‘My foot is slipping,’ Your loyal love, O Jehovah, kept supporting me.”
(Ps. 94:16-18)

Jehovah’s eye continues to watch over us and guard our steps like a loving father.
Even when we feel we are being attacked on several fronts, we can trust that He will eventually execute justice on our behalf (Ps. 94:21,23).

Psalms 87-91

​“With his pinions he will cover you, And under his wings you will take refuge,”
~Psalm 91:4

It is normal to feel overwhelmingly tired from time to time and maybe even wonder if you can go on.
When you are on good terms with your Creator, you can count on him to fight your battles when you’ve done all you can.

“For he will rescue you from the trap of the birdcatcher,” (Ps. 91:3).

The “birdcatcher” is a metaphor for Satan, who relentlessly tries to trick people into making the wrong choices to destroy souls.
You needn’t fear making the wrong choices if you are making God your refuge.
Jehovah God is particularly fond of those who seek him by name (Ps. 91:14,15).

To know someone by name implies more than just knowing their name.
For instance, my boss is a doctor.
I am aware of my boss’s first name, but I would not call him by that name to his face or to others unless we had a much closer relationship.
In God’s case, he is inviting you to build up to that level of closeness.
Once that trust is established, you can call on him with full faith in everything his name represents, and ‘he will cause you to see his acts of salvation,’ (Ps. 91:16).

Psalms 79-86

“May you hear the sighing of the prisoner. Use your great power to preserve those sentenced to death,”
~Psalm 79:11

In a sense, we are all sentenced to death, due to the consequences of sin (Rom. 5:12).
And while there are people literally imprisoned because of their faith, we may feel trapped in our own life because of burdensome problems.
How wonderful it is to know that our loving Father hears our sighing and is ready to grant us the necessary strength to endure our trials (2 Cor. 4:7).
If we resolve to walk in integrity, come what may, we will be protected behind Jehovah’s spiritual shield.
That will in turn strengthen our confidence, which will allow us to experience the happiness belonging to those who patiently wait on Jehovah (Ps. 84:11,12).