Daily Bread Pastor Mike Anderson

Psalm 86 A prayer of David. 1  Hear me,  Lord , and answer  me,      for I am poor and needy. 2  Guard my life, for I am faithful to you;      save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God;   3  have mercy  on me, Lord,      for I call  to you all day long. 4  Bring joy to your servant, Lord,      for I put my trust  in you. As in many of the psalms of David, we see his intimate prayer life and how he relies on God for everything in his life.  David starts his petition by showing humility by saying that he is "poor" and "needy".  He acknowledges that without God's help he has nothing.  Importantly David expresses this prayer as evidence of his trust in the LORD.  At the end of the day, prayer shows we are trusting in God.  Prayer is saying, " God I need you to help me in my time of need.  I will rely on you to take care of me and no one else."   David asks God to meet his need in prayer, not only for his own good, but also that he m

10  10  Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed. 11  Truth shall spring out of the earth, And righteousness shall look down from heaven. 12  Yes, the  Lord  will give  what is  good; And our land will yield its increase. 13  Righteousness will go before Him, And shall make His footsteps  our  pathway. We often think that mercy and truth don't go together too well.  Mercy is giving people what they don't deserve, and truth is giving people what they do deserve.  What gives?  How can God be both merciful and gracious and truthful and righteous?   One of the ways we can know this is that none of us are righteous.  None of us follow the truth all the time. When we sin, God is justified in His sentence.  The wages of sin is death.  But the free gift of God is mercy, because of His great love for us.  Though we deserve punishment God has mercy on us and forgives us.  Earlier in the psalm it said, "You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people

Psalm 84 For the director of music. According to  gittith. [ b ]  Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm. 1  How lovely is your dwelling place,      Lord  Almighty! 2  My soul yearns,  even faints,      for the courts of the  Lord ; my heart and my flesh cry out      for the living God. 3  Even the sparrow has found a home,      and the swallow a nest for herself,      where she may have her young— a place near your altar,      Lord  Almighty,  my King  and my God. 4  Blessed are those who dwell in your house;      they are ever praising you. We all have our favorite places we like to go to.  Maybe it is a cabin near a lake, or a beach house by the ocean.  It is usually a place where you get away from it all and enjoy time with nature, family and possibly a few good friends.  One thing is for sure, when we leave that place we usually feel refreshed and replenished.   The psalmist talks about another place of rest and replenishment.  He calls it the "court of the living God&qu

Psalm 83 A song. A psalm of Asaph. “1  O God, do not remain silent;     do not turn a deaf ear,     do not stand aloof, O God. 2  See how your enemies growl,     how your foes rear their heads. 3  With cunning they conspire against your people;     they plot against those you cherish. 4  “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation,     so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.” 5  With one mind they plot together;     they form an alliance against you.” The psalmist is crying out to God to help the people of Israel with their enemies.  He describes them as a “calculating”, “cunning”, and “ever plotting” against His people.  Notice they assume that if their enemies are plotting against them, they are plotting against God too.  Since Israel is one nation under God, what their enemies are doing to them, is to God as well.  And this is part of their reasoning to cry out for God to deliver them for the sake of His Name. It strikes me, as God’s people today,

Psalm 82 A psalm of Asaph. 1  God presides in the great assembly;      he renders judgment  among the “gods”: 2  “How long will you defend the unjust      and show partiality  to the wicked? 3  Defend the weak and the fatherless;      uphold the cause of the poor  and the oppressed. 4  Rescue the weak and the needy;      deliver them from the hand of the wicked. One of the truest lithmus tests of any religion is how they treat the weak and the needy.  In some religions it is taught that the weak and needy have brought this on themselves. If only they believed in God more, they would get better.  In the caste system the family one is born into determines where they stand socially and economically.  The higher up the caste, the more favor you have materially and otherwise.  In a caste system, loosely speaking if you are poor you will always be poor.  You were born that way and will stay that way.   One of the differences in Christianity, as opposed to other religions, i

Psalm 81 11 “But my people would not listen to me;     Israel would not submit to me. 12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts     to follow their own devices. 13 “If my people would only listen to me,     if Israel would only follow my ways, 14 how quickly I would subdue their enemies     and turn my hand against their foes! 15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him,     and their punishment would last forever. 16 But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;     with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” Every parent has experienced the frustration of when their kids do not listen to them.  Though they know the best possible course for their children, the kids choose to go their own way for various reasaons.  Part of it is they are learning to make decisions and hopefully see the consequences.  This is part of the learning curve that every child and young person must go through.  The hope is that they will learn from their mistakes and learn to make

Psalm 80 3  Restore us, O God;     make your face shine on us,     that we may be saved. 4  How long, Lord God Almighty,     will your anger smolder     against the prayers of your people? 5  You have fed them with the bread of tears;     you have made them drink tears by the bowlful. 6  You have made us an object of derision [ b ]  to our neighbors,     and our enemies mock us. 7  Restore us, God Almighty;     make your face shine on us,     that we may be saved. In Psalm 80 we see the phrase “ Restore us, O God; make your face shine upon us that we may be saved. ”     “First there is the restoration or turning of the people of God, then there is the radiant face of God, shining in all the goodness of His presence. In those things combined we see the work of true revival happen.” (Charles Spurgeon) The context was that the people of Israel were looking to God for deliverance from the Assyrians.  Like in yesterday’s psalm, God had poured out his anger on th

Psalm 79 - A psalm of Asaph. 1  O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;     they have defiled your holy temple,     they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble. 2  They have left the dead bodies of your servants     as food for the birds of the sky,     the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild. 3  They have poured out blood like water     all around Jerusalem,     and there is no one to bury the dead. 4  We are objects of contempt to our neighbors,     of scorn and derision to those around us. 5  How long, Lord? Will you be angry forever?     How long will your jealousy burn like fire? This psalm is written after the Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. God had allowed this foreign power to invade the land and even desecrate the holy temple.  It is a grisly scene.  Bodies are left outside to rot and be food for the birds and animals.  On top of this, they are the “laughing stock” of their neighbors.  I’m sure they are saying things like,

Psalm 78 1  My people, hear my teaching;      listen to the words of my mouth. 2  I will open my mouth with a parable;      I will utter hidden things, things from of old— 3  things we have heard and known,      things our ancestors have told us. 4  We will not hide them from their descendants;      we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the  Lord ,      his power, and the wonders he has done. 5  He decreed statutes for Jacob      and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors      to teach their children, 6  so the next generation would know them,      even the children yet to be born,      and they in turn would tell their children. 7  Then they would put their trust in God      and would not forget his deeds      but would keep his commands. This psalm repeats a theme that we hear a lot in the psalms, which is to remember the things we have heard and known from our ancestors.  History repeats itself, and the psalmist

Psalm 77 For the director of music. For Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A psalm. 1  I cried out to God for help;     I cried out to God to hear me. 2  When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;     at night I stretched out untiring hands,     and I would not be comforted. 3  I remembered you, God, and I groaned;     I meditated, and my spirit grew faint. 4  You kept my eyes from closing;     I was too troubled to speak. 5  I thought about the former days,     the years of long ago; 6  I remembered my songs in the night.     My heart meditated and my spirit asked: 7  “Will the Lord reject forever?     Will he never show his favor again? 8  Has his unfailing love vanished forever?     Has his promise failed for all time? 9  Has God forgotten to be merciful?     Has he in anger withheld his compassion?” 10  Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:     the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand. 11  I will remember the deeds of the Lord;     yes,

7  Psalm 76 7  It is you alone who are to be feared.     Who can stand before you when you are angry? 8  From heaven you pronounced judgment,     and the land feared and was quiet— 9  when you, God, rose up to judge,     to save all the afflicted of the land. 10  Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise,     and the survivors of your wrath are restrained. This psalm celebrates the great victory of God on behalf of His people.  While God sometimes allowed evil rulers to prosper, he also judged him with His wrath honoring His promise to His chosen people.  He praises the God who can completely defeat any human enemy easily.  All of Creation is used by God when He unleashes His righteous judgment.  The earth quakes and the mountains tremble at his rebuke.    We don’t often uplift this side of God of God’s character, who judges evil in His time.  Though God is kind and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, there is a time when God judge