Psalms

Psalms Homework

1. Rewrite a Psalms in your own words

Psalms 77 (I got permission from Andrew to do this one Hannah! Just so you know. =])

God you’ve heard me crying out to you

You’ve heard how hard things have been for me.

I miss the times when I would just sit with you and hear your voice.

But now it’s as though I don’t know how to do that anymore. 

I don’t hear you speak like you used to. 

I keep thinking back to when I knew your voice like it was my own. 

It was my rock that I stood on, my comfort even in the hardest decisions. 

But now I wonder if you even remember me.

I don’t come to you like I used to, so you’ve made yourself distant. 

I feel completely stuck in the distance in our relationship.

But then I remember our past times. 

I remember how easily I knew your voice and the promises you gave me.

And it’s on this that I will stand firm. 

It is in this that I will praise you.

The enemy cannot overtake my thoughts.

I won’t be deceived with the idea that I’ve screwed up too much.

I know that you are good and that you care about me. 

I know that you’ve promised great things in my life. 

I live my life to glorify your name alone.

Not mine or anyone else. 

I think back to the hardest times in my life.

It was there that you comforted be, gave me the greatest peace. 

You spoke life and meaning and purpose into my life. 

You broke down everything I had stood on a built me upon you.

You gave me joy when all I wanted to do was weep.

It’s on this that I will stand. 

It’s on the character that you have shown me.

You will prove true again and again

And again I will say “I know the voice of my King

and I will follow it wherever he leads to the end of my days.” 

2. Write your own Psalms 

God you’re so good! 

You’re so holy and worthy of all praise.

Every bit of creation cries out to you in praise of your glory

I’m so blessed to be able to lift my voice an join with you. 

I am even praying through history,

joining with all saints as I sing Holy Holy Holy!

Yet even in this sovereignty, you’re my father. 

Whenever I see a father with her daughter, it warms my heart. 

I see the pride in their eyes, 

The love in their hearts, 

The excitement the have to spend time with them.

Their faces just explode with joy at the laughter of their daughter. 

And I know this is how you feel with me. 

My heart bursts with a love for you as I think of your tenderness. 

You love me as a Father, finding joy and pleasure in me. 

You desire to give me good things.

You discipline me in love to raise me up.

You’re saddened when my heart is sad.

And you desire to be with me. 

Even through your sovereignty,

through you’re great holiness,

you desire to be with me.

I will never get used to this. 

I will always find joy in this. 

This is where I feel at home.

It is with my Father alone. 

3. Create a character study of David from his Psalms and stories in I and II Samuel. 

David was a man who sought after God’s heart. He is someone to admire and strive to be like. We can see this not only through his heroic stories and dependence on God within 1 and 2 Samuel, but also through pouring his heart out to God in the Psalms. David exhibits many attributes, but perhaps his finest would be his dependence on God, his humility, the fact that he knew his identity, his perspective on life and the world around him, and his drive in life. Through these characteristics, we have a great model set before us of what it looks like to truly fear the Lord. 

David depended on the Lord like no other man up to his time. His every action was determined by where the Lord lead him. This often brought him to seemingly impossible circumstances. In fact, in 1 Samuel 17, David finds himself up against a giant of literal sorts with naught but a sling and a rock in his hand. Yet in knowing that he could rely on his God, he boldly proclaimed to this armed warrior “ You come to me with sword, spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies... Today the Lord will conquer you and I will kill you and cut off your head.” And with one shot, he took down the Philistine. The Lord takes great pride in a heart like this that fully trusts in him. God not only gave David a place on the throne, but he promised to make him a dynasty of kings in 2 Samuel 7:11. God wanted all of his kings to uphold this standard. 

Yet through all of this, David remains humble. Not once does he accept praise for his victories, but continuously gives it to the Lord. All throughout the Psalms we hear David demand praise for the King of Glory. In Psalm 20, David proudly cries out “May we shout for joy when we hear of your victory and raise a victory banner in the name of our God!... Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the Lord our God.” This is a rare characteristic for a king to uphold. Many kings are over come with pride in their victories. But all throughout the Psalms and even the Proverbs we see that the Lord upholds the humble and the meek. He makes the righteous stand firm. This is how God saw David. His humility was honored by the Lord. 

David found his identity in the Lord. Yes he depended on him for his strength in battle. He exhibited glory to God in his victory. But perhaps one of the most honorable, David was able to stand firm in the Lord even through his sin. Even after he sinned with Bathsheeba, David was able to accept forgiveness and the goodness of God. He cries out in lament to the Lord in Psalm 51 “You do not desire sacrifice or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering. The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.” But more than just repentance, he goes on to say “Look with favor on Zion and help her... Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit.” Even in the death of his son, the punishment for his sin, David worships the Lord. He knows his standing with the Lord and he knows that He will fulfill his promises. And the Lord honors this by giving him a new son to replace the one he lost as punishment for sin. David did not reject it as many of us would, but instead accepts this new gift of whom it says “The Lord loved this child very much.” 

David see’s life as it should be. It’s fleeting, momentary, and we will leave with nothing aside from what we came with. David lives his life with an eternal perspective. He asks of the Lord in Psalms 39 “Remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered- how fleeting my life is. You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.” God is pleased with this outlook on life. David himself knew this as he said in Psalm 103 “ The Lord is like a Father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are. He remembers that we are dust... The wind blows and we are gone- as though we had never been here. But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear him.” David stood firm in this, choosing to live for eternity over the here and now. He lived his life wanting to leave a lasting legacy before the people in Israel that pointed to the Lord that he loved so dearly.

Finally, David was a very driven man. We see this all through first and second Samuel as he is running from Saul, defeating the Philistines, and even chasing after those who stole his wives. Even after he became king, he always went out to battle with his men. In 2 Samuel 18:1-4, his men have to ask him to not go along with them to battle because “you are worth more than 10,000 of us.” He was always  the first to go out and fight for his King, whether that meant great danger or not. Because whether living or dying, he had the God of Israel on his side. God loves this attitude in his people. It is a holy fire that is dependent on faith in who He is. Paul refers to this in Acts 13:22 when he says “‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.” God was excited to use a man that was driven to fight for the things of his own heart. 

David was a man that exemplified many characteristics of the Lord throughout his life. We would be wise to look to him and model ourselves after his life. Even in sin and through imperfections, the Lord was willing to use a man that was so willing to walk in his ways. How much more should we desire to be used by God?