Day 1 Evening Psalt Intake
David is greatly distressed but he takes comfort in knowing that God hears and accepts his prayers. Always remember that God hears your prayers and cares about what you are going through.
Psalm 6
For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments, upon the eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm by David.
1 LORD, don’t rebuke me in your anger, neither discipline me in your wrath. 2 Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am faint. LORD, heal me, for my bones are troubled. 3 My soul is also in great anguish. But you, LORD—how long? 4 Return, LORD. Deliver my soul, and save me for your loving kindness’ sake. 5 For in death there is no memory of you. In Sheol, who shall give you thanks? 6 I am weary with my groaning. Every night I flood my bed. I drench my couch with my tears. 7 My eye wastes away because of grief. It grows old because of all my adversaries. 8 Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping. 9 The LORD has heard my supplication. The LORD accepts my prayer. 10 May all my enemies be ashamed and dismayed. They shall turn back, they shall be disgraced suddenly.
David is processing a situation in which someone has accused him of doing something he didn’t do. I think many of us can relate to how this feels. Ultimately, David settles in the understanding that God know the truth and with that understanding he is able to give thanks and praise.
Psalm 7
A meditation by David, which he sang to the LORD, concerning the words of Cush, the Benjamite.
1 LORD, my God, I take refuge in you. Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me, 2 lest they tear apart my soul like a lion, ripping it in pieces, while there is no one to deliver. 3 LORD, my God, if I have done this, if there is iniquity in my hands, 4 if I have rewarded evil to him who was at peace with me (yes, if I have delivered him who without cause was my adversary), 5 let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it; yes, let him tread my life down to the earth, and lay my glory in the dust. Selah. 6 Arise, LORD, in your anger. Lift up yourself against the rage of my adversaries. Awake for me. You have commanded judgement. 7 Let the congregation of the peoples surround you. Rule over them on high. 8 The LORD administers judgement to the peoples. Judge me, LORD, according to my righteousness, and to my integrity that is in me. 9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; their minds and hearts are searched by the righteous God. 10 My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart. 11 God is a righteous judge, yes, a God who has indignation every day. 12 If a man doesn’t relent, he will sharpen his sword; he has bent and strung his bow. 13 He has also prepared for himself the instruments of death. He makes ready his flaming arrows. 14 Behold, he travails with iniquity. Yes, he has conceived mischief, and brought out falsehood. 15 He has dug a hole, and has fallen into the pit which he made. 16 The trouble he causes shall return to his own head. His violence shall come down on the crown of his own head. 17 I will give thanks to the LORD according to his righteousness, and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.
It’s time to break out the instrument of Gath and celebrate! No one is really sure what ‘an instrument of Gath’ is, but in the three Psalms it is called for (Psalm 8, 81, and 84) it is connected with a Psalm of joyous character. So, pick up your Gath and sing it out, “LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”
Psalm 8
For the Chief Musician; on an instrument of Gath. A Psalm by David.
1 LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth, who has set your glory above the heavens! 2 From the lips of babes and infants you have established strength, because of your adversaries, that you might silence the enemy and the avenger. 3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained; 4 what is man, that you think of him? What is the son of man, that you care for him? 5 For you have made him a little lower than God, and crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You make him ruler over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet: 7 All sheep and cattle, yes, and the animals of the field, 8 The birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, and whatever passes through the paths of the seas. 9 LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
