Category Archives: Psalms

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Do You Feel All Alone in the Universe

God Is Listening

PREVIEW: In Psalm 12, David complains to God that he’s the only one faithful anymore. Of course, he’s exaggerating. He isn’t literally the only godly person left on the planet, but it certainly felt like it. Perhaps nasty people and impossible circumstances were closing in on David and in this moment, he just needed to talk to somebody about how alone he felt. And God was the only one listening. Which, of course, is the obvious point of this psalm. At times, there is no one with whom you can share the depth of your despair except God, who is always there and is always the best person with whom to share those things that are on your heart anyway! Even if you are exaggerating, God graciously invites you to pour out your worries to him, the one who truly cares and can do something about it. And in the process of telling God, if you listen, you will find that he is in the process of giving you his perspective.

“God always invites you to pour out your heart to him, even if you spill out your frustrations from a wrong perspective. And if you’ll listen to him, he’ll give you his perspective.” —Ray Noah

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 12:1

Help, Lord, for no one is faithful anymore; those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.

Of course, David was using hyperbole here. He wasn’t literally the only godly person left on the planet, although at that moment, he certainly felt like it. We are not sure what the specific occasion was that led to this outburst, but it was likely that nasty people and impossible circumstances were closing in on David and in this moment, he just needed to talk to somebody about how alone he felt.

And God was the only one listening.

This, of course, is the obvious point of this and many of David’s psalms. At times, there is no one with whom you can share the depth of your despair except God, who is always there and is always the best person with whom to share those things that are on your heart anyway! Even if you are exaggerating the moment, God graciously invites you to pour out your worries to him, the one who truly cares and can actually do something about it.

David’s complaint reminds me of another saint who expressed his feelings similarly: Elijah. You can read the story in 1 Kings 19. He, too, like David, was often on the run from those who wanted to kill him. In this case, Ahab and Jezebel were out to get him, and Elijah was in hiding, depressed, and despairing even of life. So, he cries out to God, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” (1 Kings 19:14)

What is so beautiful about this story is that several times God said to Elijah, “What are you doing here?” (1 Kings 19:9,13). That is kind of a curious question for the All-Knowing God to be asking, wouldn’t you say? But really, what God is doing is simply inviting Elijah to pour out his heart, even if the frustrations that spill out are from a wrong perspective.

That is one of the blessings of taking our hurts, frustrations, and worries to God. In the process of telling him how we feel, he gives us a fresh and truer perspective. For David, he prays himself into the conclusion that “O LORD, you will keep us safe and protect us from such people forever.” (Psalm 12:7) For Elijah, God reminded him that he was not the only one left: “I reserve seven thousand in Israel — all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him.” (1 Kings 19:18)

That is one of the greatest gifts God gives us in prayer. As we honestly tell him about our problems, he infuses us with a higher perspective, reminding us that he is in control of our lives and has his eye on us at all times.

That sounds like a pretty lop-sided exchange: My problems for God’s perspective. I think I will take that any day!

My Offering of Worship: Do you have a really tough and defeating situation that you find yourself in these days? Have you poured out your complaint to God? If you haven’t, try it today. And while you are pouring out your heart, invite God to give you his perspective on the situation.

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Sometimes Shaken but Never Destroyed

God is Never Shaken

PREVIEW: California is known for its earthquakes. And everybody, in theory at least, knows the preferred place to go when one of those infamous quakes hits. So do the righteous! When big spiritual quakes or even little tremors hit, we know to go to the Unshakeable One. When the foundations are being destroyed, he is in the place where the foundations are eternal. Those foundations were here before the earth was even created, and they will be here long after this old earth fades from view. And we have this promise (Psalm 11:7) that is as sure as God himself: “The upright will see his face.”

Sometimes Shaken but Never Destroyed with Ray Noah

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 11:3,7

When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do? … For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will see his face.

In some translations, you might find a footnote to verse 3 that suggests a possible alternative reading: “When the foundations are being destroyed, what is the Righteous One doing?” The ancient Hebrew manuscript is unclear as to which reading is exact, but the preferred choice of the modern editors of scripture was to choose the rendering I have used for this devotional.

Both possibilities are correct. Whichever way it reads, whether it is “the righteous” who are looking for guidance in times of trouble or it is “the Righteous One” we are wondering about, the question is answered in the rest of the psalm, especially the verse that follows, verse 4. When the foundation are being destroyed,

The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD is on his heavenly throne.

That is the confidence we have in times of insecurity and instability: God is in the unshakeable place; He is the Unshakeable One. He is the One to whom we run when the foundations are being destroyed:

In the Lord I take refuge. (Psalm 11:1)

I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for several years, where fault lines run throughout the area like fingers branching off your hand. My home was literally just two or three blocks off the Calaveras Fault Line. During our time there, we endured a few minor shocks — enough to keep you reminded of the possibility of the “big one.” And if you live in California, everybody, in theory at least, knows the preferred place to go when one of those infamous California earthquakes hits.

So do the righteous! When big ones and little ones hit, we go to the Unshakeable One. When the foundations are being destroyed, he is in the place where the foundations are eternal. Those foundations were here before the earth was even created, and they will be here long after this old earth fades from view. And we have this promise (Psalm 11:7) that is as sure as God himself:

“For the LORD is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will see his face.”

The next time you experience a tremor, go where you are supposed to go. Go to the Unshakeable One and claim your place of safety.

My Offering of Worship: Every family ought to have a plan in place, one that each person knows, for what to do when an emergency hits — an earthquake, a fire, a power outage. That is also true in the spiritual realm. If you are a parent or grandparent, talk to those in your care about what to do when spiritual hardship takes place. Make sure they know to run to the Eternal One.

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The Arc of the Moral Universe

Payday — Someday!

PREVIEW: At the proper time, human sinfulness and institutional evil will be called to account before the righteous God who has watched over every square inch of the earth with penetrating moral clarity every split second since creation. That proper time may come sooner, or it may come later, but it will come for sure. In the meantime, this calls for patient endurance on both your part and on the part of God’s people, who prayerfully long for his “justice to roll down like waters in a mighty stream.” (Amos 5:24)

“It may not be this week, it may not happen this year, it may not take place in your lifetime, but there will be a divine payday someday for human sinfulness and institutional evil.” —Ray Noah

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 10:16

The LORD is King for ever and ever; nations will perish from his land.

It may not be this week, it may not happen this year, it may not take place in your lifetime, but there will be a divine payday — judgment — someday for the wicked! As Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us,

The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.

At the proper time, human sinfulness and institutional evil will be called to account before the righteous God who has watched over every square inch of the earth with penetrating moral clarity every split second since creation. That proper time may come sooner, or it may come later, but it will come for sure.

This calls for patient endurance on the part of God’s people, who prayerfully long for his “justice to roll down like waters in a mighty stream,” as the prophet Amos said. Like David in Psalm 10, we too, witness the perpetration of evil by those who have no regard for God and live as if there is no God (v.4), and we cry out, “Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (v. 1)

But James 5:7-9 reminds us, “Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!”

Think about this: What wicked nation has remained in power for more than 500 years? None! What evil institution has stayed in business for more than 200 years? I challenge you to name one! What vile person has lived more than 120 years? The last I checked, the death rate for the wicked is hovering around 100%

My point is, they have all been brought low and have perished from the earth. But God remains! So rather than keeping my eyes on that which will fade before the eternal God, I am casting my lot with him.

The next time you are frustrated by some current evil in your world — an abusive boss, a bully at school, moral rot in academia, the increasing crime rate, corporate executives who rake in millions while laying off workers, poverty in Africa, pollution of God’s green earth — do what you can to address it. Don’t let evil overwhelm you, but overcome it with good, as Paul says in Romans 12:21,

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

And even though much of the evil in your world will still remain after you have done all that you can do, remember, this evil, too, will perish from the earth.

My Offering of Worship: If you are frustrated by some current and specific evil in this world, do these two things today: 1) Ask God for wisdom that will guide you to a specific action you can take that will allow you, in a practical way, to be his hand extended to those affected by the evil. 2) Pray Revelation 20:22, “Even so, come Lord Jesus.”

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A Shelter in the Time of Storm

What Do People Do Without Jesus?

PREVIEW: Even though life doesn’t always turn out as you have planned, it is God’s plan that will prevail. Even when you can’t see him at work, even when you don’t feel his loving presence, he will never abandon you. He has a track record of faithfulness and goodness going all the way back to the beginning. So, my recommendation to you is to determine now to trust God at all times, and when the tough times come around, don’t abandon the only One who will never abandon you.

“Even though life doesn’t always turn out as we have planned, God’s plan prevails. You can take that to the bank!” —Dr. Ray Noah

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 9:9-10

The Lord is a shelter for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for you.

Do you ever wonder what people who don’t know the Lord do when they face overwhelming difficulty and indescribable pain in their lives? I have often thought of that when a young mother is diagnosed with terminal cancer or the sole breadwinner abandons his wife and kids or when parents stand over the grave of their teenage child who has just been killed in a car crash, or a variety of other tragic scenarios.

What do people do without Jesus?

I am so thankful that my trust is in the Lord. He is indeed a shelter and a refuge. Not that I have been kept from hardship and tragedy — neither have you. We have had our share and perhaps will experience more in the future. As Jesus said, the rain falls on the just and unjust alike. (Matt 5:45) The difference is, we know to whom we can run when it’s raining — our loving Shelter. We know where to go in times of trouble—our great Refuge.

That is one of the things I love most about the faith that I’ve placed in Jesus Christ as my Savior. No matter what, I win! When trouble hits, I win because God delivers me from all of my troubles. (Psalm 34:17, Psalm 41:1) Even when I or a loved one goes through the tragedy of terminal illness, relational heartbreak, economic disaster, or premature death, I belong to a God who

  • Holds my hand — “I will never will I leave you or forsake you.” (Heb 13:5)
  • Provides my daily bread — “My God will supply all my needs.” (Phil 4:19)
  • Turns my tragedy to triumph — “In all things he works for the good” (Rom 8:28)
  • Trumps death with eternal life — “He who believes in me, even though he dies, will live again.” (John 11:24-26)
  • And one day will permanently turn my tears to joy and make everything new — “He will wipe away every tear.” (Rev 21:4)

Even though life doesn’t always turn out as we have planned, God’s plan prevails. He will never abandon us. He has a track record of faithfulness and goodness going all the way back to the beginning. So, my recommendation to you is to determine now to trust God at all times, and when the tough times come around, don’t abandon the only one who will never abandon you.

My Offering of Worship: Are you going through a season of sorrow right now? I would encourage you to not only reflect on this psalm, and pray it back to God, but open a hymnal to “The Solid Rock” and remind yourself that your hope — a hope that scripture tells us will not disappoint — stands on Christ, the solid rock!

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Who Put You In Charge?

God Did, So Act Like An Owner

PREVIEW: Hopefully, you are giving great care to creation like a partner rather than a hireling. Hopefully, you have an ownership mentality. Hopefully, you take seriously the calling of stewardship that God has given you over everything he created. You see, he has put you in charge of quite a bit — and he is counting on you to steward it wisely. So, when it comes to God’s creation, don’t let the crazies and radicals hijack the environmental movement. Christians ought to lead the way with a commonsense approach to loving the earth. When it comes to your body —  yet another part of God’s amazing creation — treat it like the temple of the Holy Spirit, because it is. And when it comes to your inner being, tend to it often. Make sure you are doing regular soul work because one day it will return to its Creator. God has given you the keys to his shiny universe — the macro, the micro, and the personal. Steward it well!

Who Put You In Charge

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 8:4-6

What are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority.

In comparison to the overwhelming vastness, magnificence, complexity, wonder, and beauty of the universe — that which we see through both the telescope as well the microscope — humanity seems so insignificant. Yet the Sovereign God created the human race and gave people co-rulership over his creation. He put us in charge!

Imagine that! God has entrusted us with the work of his hands. We are to manage his resources, tend to his investment, and supervise the things he so lovingly and purposely crafted out of nothing. We are to guard, preserve, and even increase what is so precious to him. We have been given stewardship of all creation.

Why did God do that? Only God knows. But when you think about it, it is both humbling and sobering that God has sovereignly placed this weight of glory upon my shoulders—and yours.

That, then, begs the question: How are you doing taking care of God’s universe? How are you tending his environment — Planet Earth? What is your attitude toward things created — stuff? And what about you, God’s workmanship (Eph 2:10), how are you caring for yourself — spirit, mind, soul, and, yes, even your body?

Hopefully, you are giving great care to all these things like a partner rather than a hireling. Hopefully, you have an ownership mentality. Hopefully, you take seriously this calling of stewardship God has given you. Perhaps a great companion chapter for you to consider would be Matthew 25, where Jesus teaches about the parable of the talents.

God has put you in charge of quite a bit — and he is counting on you to steward it wisely. So, when it comes to God’s creation, don’t let the crazies and radicals hijack the environmental movement. Christians ought to lead the way with a commonsense approach to loving the earth. When it comes to your body, treat it like the temple of the Holy Spirit — because it is. And when it comes to your inner being, tend to it often. Make sure you are doing regular soul work because one day it will return to its Creator.

Yes, God has given you the keys to his shiny universe — the macro, the micro, and the personal. Steward it well!

My Offering of Worship: When you contemplate the stewardship God has given to humanity, co-rulership, if you will, try to grasp the divine nature in which God has allowed you to partake. He has shared his authority (“rule over it” Gen 1:26-28, 2:15), sovereignty (“name all the animals” Gen 2:19-20), and creative power (“multiply and fill the earth” Gen 1:28). Once you begin to understand what God has done for you, you might want to fall on your face before God and humbly thank him!

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The Only Critic Who Counts Is Your Biggest Fan

Let God Be the Judge of Your Life

PREVIEW: Critics and criticism abound—in every age and in every place. King David has critics; they were the inspiration for many of his psalms. Even Jesus, the most pure and perfect person who ever lived, had critics who accused him of gluttony, drunkenness, a traitor, a blasphemer, you name it. You will have critics, too. Whenever your critic shows up and starts shooting arrows your way, rather than spending too much of your precious energy on them, go to God. He is the only one who truly knows you, and at the end of the day, it is his evaluation that matters. You might say that God is the only Critic who matters, and that Critic is your biggest fan.

The Only Critic Who Counts Is Your Biggest Fan — Ray Noah

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 7:10-11

God is my shield, saving those whose hearts are true and right. God is an honest judge. He is angry with the wicked every day.

No one is exempt from criticism. King David wasn’t. In the case of this chapter, a guy named Cush is identified as one who was standing in judgment over David. We don’t know much about Cush, except that he was from the tribe of Benjamin, the tribe of King Saul. So, we can surmise that Cush was harboring resentment that David had replaced Saul as king in the eyes of not only the people but in God’s eyes. His list of grievances would likely have included that David has acted seditiously against the house of Saul and, therefore, against Israel’s government. But even though his accusations were false — David had done none of what Cush was claiming — and even though he didn’t have much influence, he really got under David’s skin. In this case, David was pure.

Now, it is important at this point to remember that even the pure motives of the most perfect person who ever lived, Jesus, were often misunderstood, resulting in malicious criticism:

• They called Jesus a glutton (Matt. 11:19, Luke 7:34)
• They called him a drunkard (Matt. 11:19, Luke 7:34)
• They criticized his association with sinners. (Matt. 9:11, Mark 2:16, Luke 5:30)
• They called him, worst of all a Samaritan, a racial slur, inferring that he was selling out to the enemy. (John 8:48)

The point is, critics abound, in every age and in every place. Maybe you face a critic, too. It could be that you have one at work, or at church, or perhaps you face one even at home — the one place that ought to be free of destructive criticism. And if you let them, they will sap the strength right out of you. Frankly, their criticism hurts, even when it is way off base or even patently false.

If you have a critic nipping at you right now — and if you don’t, stick around for a while, you’ll have one soon enough — I would recommend you do what David did. He ordered his life by the true and only Critic who mattered, entrusting himself to God’s righteous judgment and sin-covering grace.

Whenever your critic shows up and starts shooting arrows your way, rather than spending too much of your precious energy on them, go to God. He is the only one who truly knows you, and at the end of the day, it is his evaluation that matters. Learn to pray David’s prayer from Psalm 139:23-24

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Pray that prayer humbly and honestly before God, listen and respond to his voice, and you will be just fine. By the way, this Critic is your biggest fan!

As the Apostle Paul, wrote in 1 Corinthians 4:3-4, “I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.”

So, do your best to walk in integrity, and let God be the judge of your life.

My Offering of Worship: If you are suffering under the barrage of the critic, spend extra time this week reading and meditating on Psalm 7, then turn David’s words into a prayer to the Righteous Judge. And for extra credit, listen to this song, He Will Hold Me Fast, which has become one of my favorite modern hymns.

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Prayer Therapy — It Really Works

It Will Transform Your Perspective

PREVIEW: As you read through Psalms, you will often see how David was downcast because of the challenges of dire circumstance, difficult people, and personal failure. Just like you and me, he faced the gritty, raw reality of life, and sometimes it seemed that he just couldn’t catch a break. But in those psalms, you will notice that the more David pours out his heart honestly before God the more his spirit begins to lift by the end of the psalm, and before you know it the reality hits David that his life is squarely in the hands of his loving Father — where it has been all along. That will happen for you, too!

Prayer Therapy

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 6:6-9

I am worn out from sobbing. All night I flood my bed with weeping, drenching it with my tears. My vision is blurred by grief; my eyes are worn out because of all my enemies. Go away, all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping. The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord will answer my prayer.

There are times, to be quite honest, when life stinks. Satan attacks, or people say vicious things, or circumstances threaten to sink your ship, or sin weighs you down, or your body breaks down — or all of the above. It is in times like these that, understandably, you just don’t have a positive outlook on life.

So, the question is, what do you do about it? Well, you can just grit it out. Or you can talk to caring people who will encourage you. You can pay a therapist to listen to how bad life is for you. You can hire a personal coach to walk you through it. Those aren’t necessarily bad options.

But the most effective therapy is prayer! And best of all, it’s free. It won’t cost you a thing, except your time and your honesty before God.

David was in quite a pessimistic state of mind. Something was happening that he couldn’t fight his way through. He was down and he despaired of life itself. He spent sleepless nights and soaked his pillow with tears of anguish, with no relief in sight. But David prayed. That’s what David did — a lot!

As you read through Psalms, you will often see how David was downcast because of the challenges of dire circumstance, difficult people, and personal failure. Just like you and me, he faced the gritty, raw reality of life, and sometimes it seemed that he just couldn’t catch a break. But in those psalms, you will notice that the more David pours out his heart honestly before God the more his spirit begins to lift by the end of the psalm, and before you know it the reality hits David that his life is squarely in the hands of his loving Father — where it has been all along.

Had David’s circumstances suddenly changed? Not necessarily. What had changed was David’s perspective. That’s what honest prayer does. David had suddenly come to the realization yet again that through the therapy of prayer, he had received a perspective better than the one he had brought to God at the beginning of his prayer. He had received the healing gift of being in the very presence of God.

That’s always the gift of prayer, by the way: Just spending time in God’s presence. And it is always the best answer to prayer: Prayer itself.

That’s what prayer will do for you, too. It’s the best therapy!

My Offering of Worship: If you are under duress, feeling overwhelmed and alone, depressed, even despairing of life, go to God. Pour out your heart. Tell him everything … and don’t leave anything out, even your disappointment with he is handling your life. I have a feeling after you wrestle with him for a while, you will see that your wrestling is really being help in his strong, capable, loving arms.