Psalm 135 “Praise the LORD! Praise the name of the LORD, give praise, O servants of the LROD, who stand in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God! Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing to his name, for it is pleasant!” ~ Psalm 135:1-3 This…

Psalm 134 “Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, who stand by night in the house of the LORD! Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the LORD! May the LORD bless you from Zion, he who made heaven and earth! ~ Psalm 134:1-3 This is the last of…

Psalm 133 “For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.” ~ Psalm 133:3b Verse one is a verse I have encouraged my middle two sons to memorize, meditate on and live out.  (Hasn’t always gone so well…) But this is a verse that any one of us (myself included), as brothers and sisters…

Psalm 132 “The LORD swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back:” ~ Psalm 132:11 As another Song of Ascent, sung by the Jews while on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, his psalm looks to the past and implores the LORD to action today.  Most of the verses of this psalm (v.1-7,11-18)…

Psalm 131 “I have calmed and quieted my soul,” ~ Psalm 131:2a This is a power packed little psalm…only 3 verses.  But it rightly directs my heart toward humility and a proper perspective (v.1)…encouraging me to know my place in the grand scheme of things.  I should not be wise in my own eyes (Proverbs…

Psalm 130 “If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.” ~ Psalm 130:3-4 We are still in the Songs of Ascent (11 of 15). Today’s psalm is noted as a psalm of David and is themed upon waiting, hope and…

Psalm 129 “…yet they have not prevailed against me.” ~ Psalm 129:2b This psalm opens with what must have been a common phrase among the Jews, “Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth” (v.1).  Although a phrase that perhaps was not untrue, it does have a bit of a “poor me” sentiment.  So, this…

Psalm 128 “Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways!” ~ Psalm 128:1 This particular Psalm of Ascent reads as a benediction.  Starting with an acknowledgement of specific realities of God’s blessing on those who fear him and walk according to his ways (v.1-4) and ending with the bestowing of a…

Psalm 127 “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” ~ Psalm 127:1a This psalm, or at least portions of it are likely very familiar.  The last half of the psalm (v.3-5) is often referenced by those who have many children or by those who want many children or by…

Psalm 126 “The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad.” ~ Psalm 126:3 The 7th of the 15 Songs of Ascent.  This psalm may have been written after the Jews returned from exile in Babylon under the leadership of Ezra, Nehemiah and Zerubbabel (see Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah).  But it is also…