Psalm 120 | Psalms for Shepherds

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Psalm 120 | Psalms for Shepherds

An audible devotional on Psalm 120

June 15, 2024 • Holly Culhane, Psalms for Shepherds, P4S • Psalm 120

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This is Holly Culhane with Presence Point and welcome to the Presence Point Psalms for Shepherds podcast!

This week we are leaving the beautiful Psalm 119 acrostic of the Hebrew alphabet, and we are moving into the Psalms of Ascent.

We begin our journey with Psalm 120 - A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.

Does this portion of the psalm ring true for you today?

“I am tired of living among people who hate peace!

I search for peace, but when I speak of peace, they want war!”

Or perhaps this portion?

“How I suffer in far-off [you fill in the blank]. It pains me to live in distant [again, you fill in the blank].”

The place may be a city or a work environment. It could be the location where you are stationed in the military. It could be anywhere your loved ones are not, or it could be the distance you feel from someone from whom you are estranged.

The author found himself in a hostile environment for sure. He cried out for deliverance from the deceitful tongue of his enemies. He longed for peace, for well-being, or wholeness as the word “peace” literally translates, but his enemies wanted war.

Maybe you find yourself in that exact spot. You simply want truth and peace, but those around you cannot seem to stop the deceitfulness they utter, the disruption which they cause, or the conflict in which they seem to thrive.

The answer? To do exactly as the psalmist has done. Cry out to the Lord. Take your troubles to Him. In His timing, He will answer your prayer.

Regarding this psalm, Max Lucado reminds readers in his Encouraging Word Bible that “Although [the psalmist’s] enemies were fierce, his confidence in God’s protection was strong. He found great joy in going to the house of the Lord to worship. We, too,” Lucado adds, “find hope and strength when we lift our eyes to the Lord rather than focusing on our troubles… Gaze upon your Savior and remember that He is strong and capable. Allow Him to infuse you with hope and strength.”

And I will add, the hope and strength of a godly shepherd.

Thank you for joining me for this week’s Psalms for Shepherds podcast. May you shepherd well all those entrusted to your care.

Psalm 126 | Psalms for Shepherds

August 3, 2024 • Holly Culhane, Psalms for Shepherds, P4S • Psalm 126

This is Holly Culhane with Presence Point and welcome once again to our Psalms for Shepherds podcast. This week we continue our journey in the Psalms of Ascent with Psalm 126. Although perhaps written as a corporate lament, there is much language of hope and joy in these six verses. Nearly every verse contains an expression of joy – laughter, images of restored fortunes, streams in the desert, and abundance of harvest. However, we can also see in the song that the current state of the psalmist is not one of joy, ease, and abundance, yet he writes and sings in hope. Much like the hope we found in Psalm 125! It was the looking back at God’s faithfulness, at what He had done in the past that allowed the psalmist and singers to proclaim in that moment that they were filled with joy. The question we must ask ourselves is this: Do we live like this, dear shepherd? Facing the day as author Pete Santucci says, “like giddy dreamers whose dreams had actually come true”?, remembering God’s grace, His merciful love, the beauty in your life, and your standing in Christ no matter what may come? The psalm is a reminder to remember… to remember the goodness of God. The writers of the She Reads Truth Bible reading plan, The Psalms of Ascent, sum up Psalm 126 this way: “This song uses the memory of hardships [and rejoicing] as encouragement to remember that joy is worth the journey. And with that hope, this song calls the singers to be confident God will continue to use sadness to bring a better joy as they press forward.” Yes, the joy in Jesus is worth the journey through this world. Today, do you need to be reminded of how in the past our Good Shepherd has kept and cared for you, or a loved one, or one or more of sheep in your life? Pour out your prayer to Him, and may this psalm be a template for you. Look back. Choose praise and joy. Lay your requests before Him with the confident expectation that He will certainly be faithful again. After all, He has promised it. My prayer is that your sadness and mine, when it comes, will bring a better joy to us as we press forward, and that you find yourself held, hope-filled, and at peace in the presence of your Shepherd today. Thank you for joining me this week. As you allow Jesus to shepherd you, may you shepherd well those He has entrusted to your care.

Psalm 125 | Psalms for Shepherds

July 27, 2024 • Holly Culhane, Psalms for Shepherds, P4S • Psalm 125

This is Holly Culhane with Presence Point and welcome to our Psalms for Shepherds podcast. This week we are in Psalm 125, yet another Psalm of Ascent. This one wonderfully names the benefits that faith and faithfulness bring to God’s people. This song mentions “those who trust in the Lord”, who are called good and upright. One translation puts it this way: “those whose hearts are in tune with God”. And this song speaks of the wicked and refers to them as “whose scepter will not rest on the land allotted to the righteous”. In the words of Charles Spurgeon, “Two kinds of men are always to be found, the upright and the men of crooked ways... When God is smiting the unfaithful, not a blow shall fall upon the faithful.” It may not always seem like this last sentence of Spurgeon’s is true, but it is! For believers today, this promise will ultimately be fulfilled when God’s people from every nation, tribe, and tongue reign in the new earth. Ultimately, not a blow shall rest on the righteous. It is that confidence that is what keeps followers of the Good, Great, and Chief Shepherd standing in moments where, in our humanness, we want to sink to the floor and crawl into a corner. It is then that we can have the confidence of verse 1 of this psalm: “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever”. And, from verse 2: “As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore.” And that, fellow under-shepherd, is what we must rest in today. No matter what is tempting to shake us, “even as the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds” us. No matter what wickedness is looming before us, it shall “not rest on the land allotted to the righteous”. No matter what’s happening in our family, among our team members, in our organizations, or among the congregation, even as we lead in the most difficult of situations, we can stand firm, we can obey the father, we can continue to talk to and listen to him, and we can have hope in the God of the universe and every one of His promises. Thank you for joining me this week. And thank you for the commitment you have made to shepherd well.

Psalm 124 | Psalms for Shepherds

July 20, 2024 • Holly Culhane, Psalms for Shepherds, P4S • Psalm 124

This is Holly Culhane with Presence Point and welcome to our Psalms for Shepherds podcast. We continue this week in the Psalms of Ascent with Psalm 124, a psalm that remarkably describes what it would be like if God had not rescued the Israelites, and, as we apply it today, what it would be like if God did not rescue us over and over and over again. This psalm begins with “What if the LORD had not been on our side?” and then repeats that same question to require the singers to ensure they do not pass over what David is teaching! As the NLT Study Bible states, “The negative rhetorical questions emphasize the positive idea that the LORD was indeed on their side.” And, dear fellow under-shepherd, He is on our side, as well. Personalize and camp on these questions for a moment: What if the Lord had not been on your side? Who or what would have swallowed you alive in their burning anger? What waters would have engulfed you and the torrent overwhelmed you? Whose teeth would have torn you apart? What trap did our Father break to set you free? You probably thought of specific circumstances as I asked those questions, circumstances that, as you look back upon them, cause you to sing your own song of thanksgiving because God did save you and the situation is behind you! Just think of how many times the Good Shepherd has rescued you… and me, and we weren’t even aware of it! Ecclesiastes 11:5 says, “Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.” He is infinite. We are finite. He is omniscient – all-knowing. We know only what He has chosen to give us the brain power to learn, remember, and understand, and what He has chosen to reveal to us. Dear fellow under-shepherd, is there an attack, a trap, or something menacing that is exposing itself in your life right now? Or is there a circumstance like that in your future that you fear? Allow me to encourage you to bring that situation before the Good Shepherd, praise His holy name for saving you in the past. Then rely fully on and bask in His PROVISON, His PROTECTION, and His PRESENCE this week. Thank you for joining me.