16. What is your favourite Psalm, and why?

I thought it would be interesting and helpful for me if I had an idea of your favourite Psalm(s) and why. So, feel free to let me know.
Let me start.
My answer: I guess over the years I have had a few, but in recent years it has been Psalm 13. It says:
1 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
3 Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
4 and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing the Lord’s praise,
for he has been good to me.
It is a psalm of lament by David, which I have discovered is able to be applied to many difficult times in our lives and yet ends with a real sense of hope and optimistic faith. Why it is presently my favourite is because I have used it in recent years in encouraging others going through tough times. Together we have prayed this psalm asking God from our hearts, “How long?” and then ending with “But I trust in your unfailing love.” These prayer times have been very moving. I have also appreciated being able to preach on this and other lament psalms. More on this later.
I look forward to hearing from you.

An interesting version of Psalm 13 is sung by Brian Doerksen @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AT7wa0tPVU

A song on his album “You Shine” (2002).

 

5 Comments

  1. Thanks for sharing this, Rod.

    While reading it here I’ve realised that were verses 5 and 6 reversed this would perfectly reflect the familiarity I feel with each of David’s sentiments. I see it as a spectrum beginning with “I know this all too well…” at verse 1 and moving through to “I remember that feeling!” around verse 5.

    I still sing as per verse 6 based on the trust mentioned in verse 5, but I look forward to a little more of the rejoicing inside.

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  2. Thanks for being so honest Steve, which is when you are certainly in line with “David’s sentiments” in the Psalms. Being a musician, and worship leader, I can see how this psalm (and many others of David’s psalms) connects with you. My prayer for you is: may you continue to “sing to the Lord”, all the time acknowledging that “he has been good to” you, and as you do this, trusting in his “unfailing love” for you and for those you lead, that you may receive the desire of your heart, i.e. that your “heart rejoices [is filled with joy in the Lord’s] salvation”. The reality is, from my own experience, that it is the times when we need to ask, “How long, O Lord…?” that are often the most valuable opportunities we have to draw us closer to that place of joy and help us to really appreciate His unfailing love. Blessings. Rod

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  3. Evan wrote via an email: Psalm 16 for its lovely and varied descriptions of God. It has been a great help to me in recent years as it seems to come with great promises.

    Psalm 16
    Keep me safe, my God,
    for in you I take refuge.
    I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
    apart from you I have no good thing.”
    I say of the holy people who are in the land,
    “They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
    Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
    I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
    or take up their names on my lips.
    Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
    you make my lot secure.
    The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
    surely I have a delightful inheritance.
    I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
    even at night my heart instructs me.
    I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
    With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
    Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
    my body also will rest secure,
    because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
    nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
    You make known to me the path of life;
    you will fill me with joy in your presence,
    with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

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  4. Nancy wrote via an email: Psalm 91 is a wonderful prayer of protection for those who understand who they are in Christ, another favourite is Psalm 23, it reveals the heart of our Saviour and his “Agape” love for us.
    I have many favourites, but these two came to mind hence my reason for sending them to you. I can testify without a doubt that “Jesus lives” and he wants the best for his children. He is not interested in our worldly accomplishments only our “Hearts” and what we are doing with the gifts and talents he has “Blessed” us with to help others.
    The “Bible” is his last “Will and Testament” to us, a precious gift full of “His” promises to those who know and “Love Him”.

    Psalm 91
    Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
    I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust.”
    Surely he will save you
    from the fowler’s snare
    and from the deadly pestilence.
    He will cover you with his feathers,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;
    his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
    You will not fear the terror of night,
    nor the arrow that flies by day,
    nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
    nor the plague that destroys at midday.
    A thousand may fall at your side,
    ten thousand at your right hand,
    but it will not come near you.
    You will only observe with your eyes
    and see the punishment of the wicked.
    If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
    and you make the Most High your dwelling,
    no harm will overtake you,
    no disaster will come near your tent.
    For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways;
    they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
    You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
    you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
    “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
    I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
    He will call on me, and I will answer him;
    I will be with him in trouble,
    I will deliver him and honor him.
    With long life I will satisfy him
    and show him my salvation.”

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  5. Phil wrote in an email to me:

    My “New” favourite is Psalm 96.. The psalm of bringing the Ark of the covenant to Jerusalem.
    Why? Oh…. to have a my heart so enraptured with my Lord and my God! As David!
    And to be part of the present and future restoration of worship, as with David’s fallen tent! Acts 15: 15-18 (Amos 9)
    That the nations will see the glory of the Lord among His people and be drawn to Him!
    Just some new thought impacting me…

    Psalm 96
    Sing to the Lord a new song;
    sing to the Lord, all the earth.
    Sing to the Lord, praise his name;
    proclaim his salvation day after day.
    Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
    For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
    he is to be feared above all gods.
    For all the gods of the nations are idols,
    but the Lord made the heavens.
    Splendor and majesty are before him;
    strength and glory are in his sanctuary.
    Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations,
    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
    Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
    bring an offering and come into his courts.
    Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness;
    tremble before him, all the earth.
    Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”
    The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;
    he will judge the peoples with equity.
    Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
    let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
    Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
    let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
    Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes,
    he comes to judge the earth.
    He will judge the world in righteousness
    and the peoples in his faithfulness.

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