Read the Bible in 2023 ◊ Week 32: Wednesday

Wednesday’s Bible reading is Psalms 93–95. Alec Motyer writes:

“With Psalm 93 we begin a set of psalms dealith with Yahweh’s kingdom. Psalms 93–100 (or indeed Psalms 90–106) may be an originally separate collection inserted in its totality into the final psalter.”¹

The psalms in today’s reading as they speak to us of who God is tell us of His might. They assure us of His constant watchfulness over us. They enjoin us to bow before Him and worship Him. They warn us to heed His Word.

We have a mighty God who is King over His creation; He is a righteous Judge who sees our affliction, who will take vengeance on the wicked; He is our refuge and our Creator who cares for us, and whom we should worship, obey, and trust.

Motyer gives us some things to ponder on Psalms 93 and 94.

“When we look around at the world we are living what should we see? Psalm 94:20 refers to a ‘throne of destruction’ — in other words governments doing or planning something we know to be a disaster, and even backing it up by fresh laws to give it a colour of rightness. What should we see ? Or suppose we ourselves are ‘up against it’ through bad or ill-minded employers? What should we see? Psalm 93 replies, we should see a God of unimpaired sovereign rule, far, far superior and power to any, every or all forces on earth. The ‘breakers’ pounding us may seem invincible, but Yahweh on high is mightier. Psalm 94 replies, we should see a call to prayer, to cry out to the God to whom requital belongs (94:1–2). Are we to say, then, that we are to live ‘looking two ways’? Yes, provided we understand what this means. Our first, before-all-else, look is to the real throne where real power resides. ‘God is still on the throne’ we used to sing — and the thoughtless accused us of being simplistic! No, not simplistic, just holding to the simple truth. the greatest and most reassuring truth that ever was. Our God as king. This is the state­ment of faith with which to begin every day, and of which to remind ourselves over and over as the day develops. Our God reigns! Look into the face of disaster or ill-mindedness and affirm the truth. And let the truth hold you firm. There is no greater resource for the troubled day than ‘I believe in God the Father Almighty’. Nor is there a more practical rejoinder to challenges at whatever level — govern­mental, civic, personal — than to “leave it’ (Rom. 12:19) to the God to whom vengeance belongs. Leave it to him in the exercise of con­stant, urgent, trusting prayer. He is over all powers, he is the Creator (94:9), redeemer (14), carer (17), the God who is on our side (18–19), who knows how to dig pits and place them suitably (94:13). The God of top-security (94:22).”²

Remember we are reading God’s Word. This is God’s revelation to us of who He is. Through His Word God speaks to us in the midst of our anxieties and the perplexities of our lives. With His Word God gives us assurance He will take care of us in our darkest hours and never forsake us. He comforts us that He will take a stand for us against those who work evil against us.

Psalm 95 calls us to worship, reminding us who God is and who we are.

Psalm 95 closes with a warning from the example of the Israelites from the time they were in the wilderness on their way to the land God had promised to Abraham. Click on the links at see what happened at Meribah and Massah.

If you look at the footnotes of the Legacy Standard Bible, you’ll see that Meribah literally means test and Massah literally means quarrel. The grumblings and contention of the Israelites with God at Meribah and Massah are used as warnings in various places in the Bible.

In his above translation of these verses Motyer uses the phrases, when your fathers put me to the test and tried me out. He explains the meanings of test and tried.

“‘Test’ and ‘Try’ are synonyms. To ‘put Yahweh to the test’ (Exodus 17:2) is to withhold trust until he provides fresh proof — instead of believing on the basis of what he has already done. As though to say, ‘Can he do it again? We’ll believe him if he does!’ The psalm looks back to Exodus 17; Numbers 14:22; Numbers 20:13. They turned an occasion into which they could prove that they were believers into a chance for God to prove that he was among them!

“…’Had seen’ exposes the unbelievable nature of their refusal to trust after all he had done in Egypt and at the Red Sea, etc.”⁴

Psalm 95 began with calling us to worship, then ends with that severe warning. Derek Kidner comments,

“By ending on this note the psalm sacrifices literary grace to moral urgency. If this is a psalm about worship, it could give no blunter indication that the heart of the matter is severely practical: nothing less than a bending of the wills and a renewal of pilgrimage.”⁵

We each have times when it is difficult to trust God. The Israelites had a pattern of complaining, rebellion, and refusing to trust Him. We have to look to ourselves to make sure we don’t do the same.

How can we do that? For some it’s far easier than for others. There may be things in our past that make trust hard to come by. These warnings are repeated in Hebrews 3 and 4. Look at how the author tells us we can find help.

Notice the command to all Christians See to it brothers. There’s respon­sibility for the church at large to ensure no one has an an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. We are commanded to to help each other by encouraging each other so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

The author continues his warning in Hebrews 4. At the end of this chapter, he tells us of a second means of help: our great Savior.

God’s wonderful provision for us is the encouragement of other believers and the mercy and grace we find in the Lord Jesus. We have a high priest who who has been tempted in all things like we are, yet without sin. We are to come to Him in prayer. His throne is a throne of grace. There we will receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Go back to Psalm 94 for a minute and look at this verse.

There are many times when our anxious thoughts multiply within us. During the day or at night when we can’t get to sleep, and we worry about someone or difficult things that are happening. God gives us consolation through His Word, through the encouragement of others, and through prayer and His Holy Spirit. The psalmist says Your consolations delight my soul. Motyer points out the Hebrew word translated as delight in this verse:

“sha’ a’, compare Isaiah 66:12 [translated as played with], of a child being petted and cuddled.”⁶

We are God’s children. He loves us. He knows our anxieties and will console us. In the New Testament Paul writes about anxiety in the well-known passage in Philippians 4. I’ll look at that in another post.

I came across a treasure of a Bible study that’s online, “Their Problems and Ours: Studies in the Sufficiency of God” by Raymond Brown. He was a pastor and Principal of Spurgeon’s College in London, and one of those prolific British Christians of the last half of the 20th century who wrote so well and ministered to so many. I’ve used his commentary on Hebrews.

He takes 13 people of the Bible and leads you through a straightforward and helpful Bible study of their lives and their problems. He draws insightful principles from each one to help us when we have similar problems.

It’s at the EasyEnglish Bible site. I’m unfamiliar with the site, but it appears that his original book has been reworded to make it readable for those whom English is a second language. In his introduction he quotes Romans 15:4, and writes that these great Old Testament stories teach the mind, encourage the heart, and make the will strong.

One study is title, “Jehoshaphat: The Problem Of Anxiety.” With this study Brown can encourage you with God’s Word. Notice the very first thing he says about Jehoshaphat, “First of all, he prayed really hard.”⁷

We have the encouragement of others, the Lord Jesus from whom we receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need, and the consolations of God. Be confident. Draw near to the throne of grace.

We are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.

---

For a brief overview of the structure and poetry of Psalms see my post, The Five Books of Psalms.
Silvesterzug Laterne: Bk muc. (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Sheep, Storhofthi, Suðurland, Iceland: Diego Delso. (CC BY-SA 4.0).
^1,2,3,6Alec Motyer, Psalms By The Day: A New Devotional Translation (Christian Focus Publications Ltd, Ross-shire, Scotland, U.K. 2016) 264, 268, Psalm 95:8–11 translation 270, 271, 267.
⁵Derek Kidner, Psalms 73–150 (Inter-Varsity Press, Leicester, England: 1975) 346.
⁷Raymond Brown, “Study 6 Jehoshaphat: The Problem Of Anxiety,” Their Problems and Ours. https://www.easyenglish.bible/problems/tpaou06-pbw.htm Retrieved August 7, 2024.

I’m using Michael Coley’s Bible reading plan (one page PDF to print) to read through the Bible in 2023. Each day my posts are on different books because he divides Bible readings into seven categories, one for each day of the week: Epistles, The Law, History, Psalms, Poetry, Prophecy and Gospels. There’s more information on his plan and other ones at Read the Bible in 2023.

Copyright ©2011–2023 Iwana Carpenter