Psalm 4

Devotional by Monty Sholund, Founder of Village Schools of the Bible

Hello, my friend.  Now, we look at Psalm 4.  He starts out with a simple statement:  “Hey, Lord, when I holler ‘help’, please answer my cry and give me relief from my distress.”  I just had a special phone-call from a dear brother, who shared with me some of the testings he is going through with his company, with some of his staff, with other circumstances, and one is just dumbfounded by all that seems to be piling up on him, all at once.  Ever feel that way?  Ever feel like Elijah did, when he had fled from Jezebel, there in I Kings 19, after having had a great mountain top experience as recorded in chapter 18:from vs. 16.  And there in chapter 19:4, he simply says, “Lord, I’ve had enough.  Take away my life.”  Ever feel like that?  Then Psalm 4 is a special Psalm for you.

In the midst of his distress, David cries out to people around him, “How long will you love delusions, and seek false gods!” vs. 2.  How often we feel like that, when we are confronted with people who lie, who are greedy, who seem empty of any awareness of right things and get away with it. And we get discouraged.  But notice the very next verse, when David is so powerfully reminded that “the Lord has set apart the Godly for Himself;  the Lord will hear when I call unto Him”    I truly think this is one of those very encouraging, special, precious verses, to know that the Lord has set you and me apart for Himself, for His pleasure.   Such a reminder of Philippians 2:13, “God is at work in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure, for His enjoyment.”

And then he reminds himself of the danger of going to bed, only to sin there, with doubt, and worry, and resentment.  And he is reminded that God can fill his heart with greater joy than when he was prospering.   So he turns over in bed, lies down and sleeps in peace, knowing that the God of glory, who cannot lie, has promised to supply all our needs, according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Phil.4:19).  So take heart, dear friends, and God will indeed let the light of His face shine on you.

“Thank you, Lord Jesus, for this refreshment, in the midst of such huge problems and testings, and even anguish.  Let us be partners with you, in your suffering and your resurrection, each day.  Bless my friend who is faithfully along, to share and pray and bring great encouragement.  And we pray again for those in very special need.  Help us indeed keep our trust in you alone.” 

Thanks, partner.   I thank God for you.  Cheerio!

Psalm 3

Devotional by Monty Sholund, Founder of Village Schools of the Bible

Hello, my friend. You may remember that the Psalms were originally in five books;  you will probably find this indicated in your Bibles.  The first Book is from Psalm 1 through 41, and it closes, as do all the other four Books, with a doxology of Praise to the Lord.  This first book is largely made up of the Psalms of David.  PSALM 3, OUR TODAY’S PSALM, is one he wrote when he flees from his son Absolam, as recorded back in 2 Samuel 13-37.  It begins with a cry of fear, as David reflects on the troubles surrounding him.

He is especially grieving because people are taunting him with the cry that God could never deliver him from his difficulties.  However, vs. 3 starts with one of the precious ‘buts’ in Scripture, and five verses follow it which are tremendous encouragements to people in desperate circumstances.  He shouts, “The Lord is a shield around me, He bestows glory on me and lifts up my head.”  But then comes that remarkable vs. 5, where David, weary after many nights of tossing and turning, of worrying and fretting, says, “I lie down and sleep;  I wake again, because the Lord sustains me…I will not fear, tho’ tens of thousands (of anxieties) draw up against me on every side.”  We find that same thought in Psalm 4:8, “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”  And the same thought is found there in Leviticus 26:6, “I will grant peace in the land;  you will lie down and no one will make you afraid.”

When we make the Lord our refuge, the last verse of Psalm 2, nothing can possibly touch us except by Royal permission.  If deep testing comes into my life, God permits it for my enriching and for His glory.  What God permits, I can thankfully accept, and what I thankfully accept, He can richly use. That gives me strong reason for a good night’s sleep. Claim it, friend.  

“Thank you, Lord, for this personal, precious promise from your hand to our hearts.    Bless my friend, as we together seek to make you our refuge.  Bless those in urgent need, as we wait on you.”  

Thank you, partner, for your fellowship in Christ.  I thank God for you.  Cheerio!

Psalm 2

Devotional by Monty Sholund, Village Schools’ Founder

Hello, my friend. Let’s look at PSALM 2.  What a vivid description of the world today in verses 1 and 2, the amazingly defiant attitude of nations and leaders against the Lord.  And it is startling to read in vs.4 that God will laugh at their foolishness, as they plot in vain.  And the Father glorifies the Son, promising that He will make the nations His inheritance, the ends of the earth His possession.  Psalm 14:1 says, “The fool says in his heart, There is no God….” simply because one acknowledging the presence of God must submit to His authority in of all of life.  What folly to resist.

We are living in an age when there is what seems to be an increasing moral decay, as God’s commands are ignored and in some cases mocked.   I have recently been reading a national magazine on Politics, Business and Culture, which begins to wonder if America is not turning a corner, an increasing backlash against all that is happening in the White House and in other areas of public thought and behavior.  It begins with a quote from Douglas MacArthur, “History fails to record a single precedent in which nations subject to moral decay have not passed into a political and economic decline.  There has either been a spiritual awakening to overcome the moral lapse, or a progressing deterioration to ultimate national disaster.”

Then it quotes Alexander Tytler who wrote two centuries ago that great historical democracies have tended to last only a couple of hundred years, during which time they have progressed through the following sequence:  From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage, to liberty, to abundance;  from abundance to selfishness, to complacency, to apathy, to dependency back into bondage.  But Psalm 2:12 says, “Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.”

“Thank you Lord for this strong reminder of the danger of falling into the trap of self-glory, of self worship, of self sufficiency.  We long to dwell in you and with you, this privileged place of refuge.  Guide us, Lord, as we seek your will for the future!”  

Cheerio.

Psalm 1

Devotional by Monty Sholund, Village Schools’ Founder

The Psalms are strong instructions from the Lord for a walk with Him here on earth, so we may know Him well.  The Proverbs, on the other hand, are instructions for a useful life on earth, so we may share Him well.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

So we begin today with PSALM 1 and I want to spend a moment on vs.3, “The blessed man is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.  Whatever he does prospers.”  What a marvelous promise to the believers whose ‘delight is in the Law of the Lord, and on His law they meditate day and night.’ (vs.2).

The key to this description is referring to delighting in the Lord, thinking about His Word day and night.  I love the word there in verse 2, ‘whose delight is in the Law of the Lord’, in the Word of God.   It is always thrilling to be with someone who is thoroughly enjoying what they are doing.  Watch the smile on Tiger Woods when he gets an eagle, look at the radiance on the face of a champion figure skater when the result is all 6’s, look at the sheer pleasure on the face of a highschool footballer whose life is largely football and he scores a touch-down.  One could go on and on.  But the reason for the delight is the depth of the preparation, the fact of the commitment, the growth of the understanding of the subject.  We delight in the presence of someone we deeply love, and our delight simply invites us to love them all the more.

Some people say the Bible is boring, others that it is inscrutable, incomprehensible.

But the new birth brings new appetite, and appetite engenders a hunger that grows with excellent nourishment.  And as we feed on God’s Word, we find a delight in it beyond description, and we find our minds brooding over it, even during the busy moments of a work-day.  And the result?  Well, our verse for today is well worth memorizing…the blessed person becomes planted, rooted alongside the living Water, and the result is the fulfillment of the purpose for which we have been born anew, as described in John 15:16, “You didn’t choose me but I chose you and anointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain.”  And life is always fresh, and one does prosper, according to God’s measure of prosperity, simply bringing Him glory and enjoyment.  Ian Thomas said, “Go where you’re sent, stay where you’re planted, give what you can.”   That’s a blessed man!

“Thank you Lord for these precious promises in your wonderful Word.  Bless my friend who is alongside with a hunger to know you and grow in your Presence.  Bless any who are alongside, Lord, with special needs.  Use us all, for your Glory.”

Reflections on the Psalms

The heart of any culture is its music, what it sings about reveals its soul.  That’s one reason why the Book Psalms resonates with readers today.  Through poetry, the reader is exposed to Israel’s history of captivity and freedom.  The poems were written over a 1,000-year timeframe and preserved as Israel’s songbook.  And like the best songs, the poems capture the tension, anger, sorrow, pride and joy that the nation felt during their defeats and victories.

On the other hand, many of the Psalms are also deeply personal.  The intimate pleas for forgiveness, for justice, for retribution read more like a personal diary than a public songbook.    Reading how someone else processes the uninvited disruptions in life is instructive.  It models for us that being real and authentic before God is not only possible but approved of. 

Whether written about the nation or the individual, a prominent feature of this Hebrew poetry is the use of imagery.   Masterclass defines imagery as “a vivid and vibrant form of description that appeals to readers’ senses and imagination”.  Since imagery remains figurative in the majority of the Psalms, the image can apply to a number of different situations.   For example, when the author uses “the adversary” or “the enemy”, the actual enemy is unnamed.  This gives the Psalms flexibility.   As I read one day, my “enemy” may be my own tendency to procrastinate while years later the same imagery in the same psalm might apply to a form of cancer that is invading my body.  The image speaks to the reader based on whatever “enemy” the reader is envisioning. 

But how does this book of poetry relate to The Scarlet Thread of Redemption (referring to the theme of redemption that is traced from Genesis to Revelation)?   The book of Psalms is powerfully used by Jesus himself to prove His pre-existence.   Jesus, in the context of being questioned by the Pharisees (Matt.22:34-45) turns the table to ask them a question.   “What do you think about the Christ?  Whose son, is he?”  They (the Pharisees) said to him, “The son of David.” He (Jesus) said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit calls him Lord saying, “The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”? (quoting Ps. 110).   (ESV)

As L. Michael Morales writes in his article, Jesus and the Psalms,  “Jesus saw himself as the object of all the Scriptures of the Old Testament, summarizing their threefold division in Luke 24:44 as “the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms,” with the Psalms standing as the summary representative of the Writings.” 

We gladly re-launch our Village Schools of the Bible blog with reflections of the Psalms written by the founder of our ministry, Monty Sholund.  Monty was a prolific writer and his study of the Psalms shows how naturally he integrated God’s Word with everyday life.  It is our aim that our blog posts on Tuesdays and Fridays will exalt the name of Christ as widely as possible, and encourage believers to apply their faith in everyday life. 

Please subscribe, ask questions or leave comments as you wish.  We like to hear how the series grows your faith.

Laurie