“Deliver me, O LORD, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man; which imagine mischiefs in their heart; continually are they gathered together for war.
They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders’ poison is under their lips. Selah.
Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent man; who have purposed to overthrow my goings. The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the wayside; they have set gins for me. Selah.
I said unto the LORD, ‘Thou art my God: hear the voice of my supplications, O LORD. O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, Thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.
Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked: further not his wicked device; lest they exalt themselves. Selah.
As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them. Let burning coals fall upon them: let them be cast into the fire; into deep pits, that they rise not up again. Let not an evil speaker be established in the earth: evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him.’
I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor.
Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto Thy name: the upright shall dwell in Thy presence.” Psalm 140:1-13 (KJB)
Selah
Glorious Things Spoken
“His foundation is in the holy mountains.
The LORD loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah.
I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there. And of Zion it shall be said, ‘This and that man was born in her: and the Highest Himself shall establish her.’
The LORD shall count, when He writeth up the people, that this man was born there. Selah.
As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there: all my springs are in thee.” Psalm 87:1-7 (KJB)
He Is Awesome
“Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands: sing forth the honour of His name: make His praise glorious.
Say unto God, ‘How terrible art Thou in Thy works! Through the greatness of Thy power shall Thine enemies submit themselves unto Thee. All the earth shall worship Thee, and shall sing unto Thee; they shall sing to Thy name. Selah.
Come and see the works of God: He is terrible in His doing toward the children of men.
He turned the sea into dry land: they went through the flood on foot: there did we rejoice in Him.
He ruleth by His power for ever; His eyes behold the nations: let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah.” Psalm 66:1-7 (KJB)
My Rock, My Salvation, and My Defense
“Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from Him cometh my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.
How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? Ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence.
They only consult to cast down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.” Psalm 62:1-4 (KJB)
When Fearfulness and Trembling Come to Me
“Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not Thyself from my supplication. Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise; because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me.
My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! For then would I fly away, and be at rest. Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah.” Psalm 55:1-7 (KJB)
You, LORD, Have Made My Days
“I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.
I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred. My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue,
‘LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am. Behold, Thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before Thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.” Psalm 39:1-5 (KJB)
Covered and Forgiven
“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.” Psalm 32:1-5
The Giver of Joy, Blessing, and Glory
“The king shall joy in Your strength, O LORD; and in Your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! You have given him his heart’s desire, and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah. For You meet him with the blessings of goodness: You set a crown of pure gold on his head. He asked life of You, and You gave it him, even length of days for ever and ever. His glory is great in Your salvation: honor and majesty have You laid upon him. For You have made him most blessed for ever: You have made him exceeding glad with Your countenance.” Psalm 21:1-6 (KJB)
Trouble, Help, Defense, and Strength
“The LORD hear you in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend you; send you help from the sanctuary, and strengthen you out of Zion; remember all your offerings, and accept your burnt sacrifice; Selah. Grant you according to your own heart, and fulfil all your counsel. We will rejoice in your salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all your petitions.” Psalm 20:1-5 (KJB)
While in Thought the Fire Burned
“I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me. I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred.
My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue, ‘LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am. Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity.’ Selah.” Psalm 39:1-5 (KJB)
The Psalmist, the singer, was refusing to speak and be silent. While he is being silent his thoughts rage, the fire burns as he continues to add fuel to that fire.
I have been there. I am fairly certain that all who are reading this has been in that place where you bridle your tongue, and wisely so, but the anger, the hurt continues to rage in your thoughts. What do we do with that?
David realized he had a problem. He took it to the LORD. So must we take it to Him.
Going to God in prayer is the best place to vent, to complain about that man or woman or situation that has caused our thoughts to roar at us; rousing anger, rage, and maybe even bits of hatred.
I was asked not too long ago, ‘Don’t you ever get angry?’ My answer to that was, “Yes!” If it is not seen by others there must be something going on. One of at least two things: 1. I am just covering it and building a fire in me making me even angrier; or 2. I have taken the rage, anger, and hatred to the throne of God.
The first can be dangerous. The second is the way of the faithful Christian. When we take our complaints to the Lord, then we will have less of a problem getting along with others.
Jesus Christ died on the cross to deliver us from our sins. He was buried to carry away our sins and shame. He arose from the grave the victor over sin, death, and hell. He is coming again. Do you know Him?
Ask Life, and GOD Gives It
“The king shall joy in Your strength, O LORD; and in Your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! You have given him his heart’s desire, and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah. For You meet him with the blessings of goodness: You set a crown of pure gold on his head. He asked life of You, and You gave it him, even length of days for ever and ever. His glory is great in Your salvation: honor and majesty have You laid upon him. For You have made him most blessed for ever: You have made him exceeding glad with Your countenance.” Psalm 21:1-6 (KJV)
King David was speaking of much more than what he had requested. He was speaking of the future King of Israel, King of the world who would receive all that He requested because He had died to redeem His bride unto Himself.
On that word “Selah” I want you to remember that I look at that word and pause, think about what was just read, what it says, and reflect on it. Now thinking on that second verse for a bit: did David get all those things? Did he get all that his heart desired? I really do doubt it. He was joyous in knowing the LORD and resting in Him. It would seem to me that it is directly related to the coming King, the Messiah of Israel, and Savior of the world.
He asked life and was raised from the dead. He asked for long life, and will live eternally, even for ever and ever. He is glorified in the salvation GOD has provided through His death, burial, and resurrection.
This Psalm is a song of David thanking and praising the LORD for His answer to his prayers; that they are exceedingly abundant over what he could ask or think (Ephesians 3:20).
Ask Life, and GOD Gives It. He gives life through faith in His Son Jesus. Will you ask?
How Are Your Thoughts and Attitude?
“Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God? Thou art the God that doest wonders: Thou hast declared Thy strength among the people. Thou hast with Thine arm redeemed Thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.” Psalm 77:13-15 (KJV)
This Psalmist, Asaph, has begun the Psalm feeling a bit sorry for himself. His thoughts are on his own life situation, and he is addressing the LORD, but only about his aches and pains of heart and soul. That is the place we all need to take them; but when we have encountered God those thoughts, attitudes will perish.
You alone are in charge of your attitude. It begins with your thoughts. If you are driving to work on one of these busy freeways in the cities, and someone rudely cuts you off; when the traffic is moving quite well; you say, “That affects my attitude”; but does it? It can. It is however your personal responsibility to redirect your thinking toward a different attitude.
The Psalmist began with sorrow, and basically a pity party with God; but he ended up focusing on the LORD; and he saw things completely different.
Asaph began to focus his thoughts on the strength of God; His deliverance of Israel from Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea; and he saw the awesome, power and glory of God. In the verses ending this Psalm, the Psalmist describes the sea as being fearful of the LORD and parting at His appearance. He describes thunder, lightening, and trembling and shaking of the earth.
Oh my; when we see the power and glory of God all our problems melt away. Our thinking and our attitudes will reflect the glory of the LORD. All this begins with having a personal encounter with God through His Son Jesus. There is no other way (John 14:6). There is only one cross, one Saviour, one resurrected Lord, and one returning Lord of lords and King of kings. His name is Jesus.
So what is your problem today?
Life is Short
We hear of people living to be 90 to 100+ years of age. We marvel at reaching such ages. We read, however, in the Scriptures of people living to be hundreds of years in age, then dying.
The Psalmist wrote,
“Behold, Thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before Thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.” Psalm 39:5 (KJV)
And these are words that we know and hear. Every human being knows that life is short, and many seek to live much longer. We read in Psalm 90,
“The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is there strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” (90:10)
The measure of a “handbreadth” is probably one of the shortest physical measures of man. It is used to measure the height of a horse. We are told that a horse is 14 hands high, and that means at the top of their shoulder. David says, “Life is short.” and it is.
A few years ago I was reading where the Psalmist had written, “So teach us to number our days…” and I began to think seriously about how old I was in days. I did some calculations and came to a conclusion, and I still number my days. To this day I am now 20,950 days old. In days, at least to me, that does not seem so long. I was just thinking if I had a dollar for every day, it would not equal a poverty level annual income.
Life is short. So we best be sure that our lives are in connection with the LORD of Hosts through His Son Jesus. The Psalmist has written the word “Selah” at the end of this verse. I take that word to mean, “Pause and reflect” on what has just been said. Life is short. Let us reflect the image of God in a dark and dying world.
-Tim A. Blankenship
Broken Pieces 