Web Theologian

>6 Appoint a wicked man against him;
let an accuser stand at his right hand.
7 When he is tried, let him come forth guilty;
let his prayer be counted as sin!
8 May his days be few;
may another take his office!
9 May his children be fatherless
and his wife a widow!
10 May his children wander about and beg,
seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!
11 May the creditor seize all that he has;
may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil!
12 Let there be none to extend kindness to him,
nor any to pity his fatherless children!
13 May his posterity be cut off;
may his name be blotted out in the second generation!
14 May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord,
and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out!
15 Let them be before the Lord continually,
that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth!

Details have never been my strength, I guess that would be obvious by my reverting back to Psalm 105 for the last few entries for some reason. We are back on track now:)

This Psalm is calling upon God to act against those who have caused trouble for the writer. This is no joke. Let him be tried as evil, may his children be fatherless, and hungry. Let collections have their way with him. I get that the Psalmist does not want anyone to have to deal with this person and time, for generations. Just wipe him out and the place would be much better.

I guess from a New Testament perspective you can pray this, but I think you have to repent afterward. It is very hard in our ‘modern’ society to really identify on a daily basis those who are evil in our life. That is one of the reasons I was disappointed when President Bush said that he had not prayed for Saddam Hussein before the invasion. Bush claims the name of Christ and Christ taught us to pray for our enemies. That was a clear person to pray for in obedience. Just another reason our leaders need our prayers

>16 When he summoned a famine on the land
and broke all supply of bread,
17 he had sent a man ahead of them,
Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
18 His feet were hurt with fetters;
his neck was put in a collar of iron;
19 until what he had said came to pass,
the word of the Lord tested him.
20 The king sent and released him;
the ruler of the peoples set him free;
21 he made him lord of his house
and ruler of all his possessions,
22 to bind his princes at his pleasure
and to teach his elders wisdom.

Silence, justice, and now famine. Boy I sometimes wonder why people think of God differently from the Old Testament. God is not predictable. He does his thing. Often times it is surprising and very different from the road we would take. One of the problems we have when it comes to the Bible is we have heard the stories so many time they seem the norm, but they are not and should shock us more.

God uses famine to send his people into Egypt where through a tiny shepherd boy he has laid a foundation for them to not only survive but to flourish. Israel will become huge in number and take on of the most dramatic road trips, the Exodus, ever recorded.

God uses all things for our good and His glory. Don’t forget it. When you go through you day today and things don’t fall out like you planned. Remember he is in control, go in prayer, and pray for some insight into Him and what he is doing in this world.

>7 He is the Lord our God;his judgments are in all the earth.
8 He remembers his covenant forever,the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
9 the covenant that he made with Abraham,his sworn promise to Isaac,
10 which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
11 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaanas your portion for an inheritance.”
12 When they were few in number,of little account, and sojourners in it,
13 wandering from nation to nation,from one kingdom to another people,
14 he allowed no one to oppress them;he rebuked kings on their account,
15 saying, “Touch not my anointed ones,do my prophets no harm!”

Silence and now judgment. Very hard things to deal with when it comes to God, both are covered in the Psalm. If we were God we would never be judgmental or silent right, probably not the case. The good news of his judgments are they are based upon promises made in the past, those are remember and foundational so that the judgments are right.

God has a habit of taking very humble, small means and making them great. Often times when I read articles about 6 year olds who start companies
http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/09/19/playspan-takes-65m-series-a-founder-in-grade-6/ I feel like, WTF, what have I done with my life. Then I remember that God does use the humble, keep working, being faithful and dreaming and good things will happen. Honestly they already have, I have a great wife, daughter and a second child on the way. He does take care of us in line with his promises.

>109:1 Be not silent, O God of my praise!
2 For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,
speaking against me with lying tongues.
3 They encircle me with words of hate,
and attack me without cause.
4 In return for my love they accuse me,
but I give myself to prayer.
5 So they reward me evil for good,
and hatred for my love.

The silence of God is one of the scariest things in this life. Silence in general can be a very good thing. It can refresh you. When we lived in Oakland we lived on a street that was a cut through for the hospital, the police department and there was a fire station a block away. It was very loud. Returning to Seattle, our neighborhood, Ballard is very quiet. At first the silence was unsettling but then I got used to it and it allows me to sleep better.

The silence of God can do something else to us other than just scare us. That is focus us. God uses unanswered prayer and silence to get my attention and to lead me into paying more attention to what is happening around me. It is never something that I want to experience, yet it can be turned into a good thing in our relationship with God.

This struggle and silence from God leads the Psalmist into something else that is positive. More prayer. Nothing is more frustrating than doing something good for someone and having them spit in your faith. So this prayer can encourage us to pray especially when we are dealing with wicked people.

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>23 Some went down to the sea in ships,doing business on the great waters;
24 they saw the deeds of the Lord,his wondrous works in the deep.
25 For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,which lifted up the waves of the sea.
26 They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;their courage melted away in their evil plight;
27 they reeled and staggered like drunken menand were at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,and he delivered them from their distress.
29 He made the storm be still,and the waves of the sea were hushed.
30 Then they were glad that the waters were quiet,and he brought them to their desired haven.
31 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,for his wondrous works to the children of man!32 Let them extol him in the congregation of the people,and praise him in the assembly of the elders

God appears to have a special place in his heart for sailors. All I can picture right now is the cast of the Deadliest Catch! Hard working salt of the earth, superstitous sailors. God show them over and over, day in and day out what he is capable of doing by controling the sea. He commands the wind and clouds, and they appear to talk him on in the chaos. And it broke them, because they could not control it.

So they cried out. Asking for deliverence. The storm was calm, the waves were quiet. This gave them the opportunity to worship and thank God. When they return to harbor everyone knows about how God has taken care of them. What a accurate picture of God’s work in all of our lives, it is just most of the time we pretent like we have more control than we actually do.