Psalm 119 | Part 22 | Psalms for Shepherds

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Psalm 119 | Part 22 | Psalms for Shepherds

An audible devotional on Psalm 119 | Part 22

May 25, 2024 • Holly Culhane, Psalms for Shepherds, P4S • Psalm 119:169–176

Give

This is Holly Culhane with Presence Point and welcome to our last week in the remarkable 119th chapter of the book of Psalms.

We’re looking at the concluding passage of this acrostic based on the Hebrew alphabet – verses 169 through 176 – entitled Tav.

This psalm is composed of one prayer request:

“O Lord, listen to my cry…”

then a sweet confession:

“I have wandered away like a lost sheep…”

followed by a second request:

“Come and find me, for I have not forgotten your commands.”

Timothy and Julie Tennent, authors of a Meditative Journey Through the Psalms, write this about the final portion of this acrostic psalm: “Psalm 119 brings us to a stunning close, one that is crucial for understanding the larger message of the psalm as a whole.”

As Christians, we learn to look back from the perspective of the New Testament as we read the Old Testament. In the same way, it is important to read Psalm 119 by looking back at it from the perspective of the final verse of the psalm, which stands as a kind of final testimony, closing statement, or interpretive witness for all that has preceded it.

As the Tennant’s point out, “This psalm is filled with dozens of strong affirmations concerning the faithful determinations of the psalmist to follow God and his way of righteousness without wavering.... Suddenly, and perhaps unexpectedly, the psalm ends with the striking admission: ‘I have wandered away – or strayed – like a lost sheep.’...”

“It is the final word of grace,” the Tennant’s write, “like that powerful moment in Isaiah when, after a series of exalted, unparalleled revelations, Isaiah says, ‘We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.’”

The Tennant’s remind us that, “As it turns out, the final word is the reminder that obedience, single-mindedness, and determined love of God’s commandments are all made possible THROUGH HIS GRACE, without which we are those who have ‘strayed like lost sheep’.”

Indeed, we are all sheep who have strayed. And indeed we have been found, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Thank you for joining me. May you live deeply into your calling this week to influence well in your sphere of influence.

Psalm 130 | Psalms for Shepherds

October 5, 2024 • Holly Culhane, Psalms for Shepherds, P4S • Psalm 130

This is Holly Culhane with Presence Point and welcome to our Psalms for Shepherds podcast. This week, the journey through the Psalms of Ascent continues in Psalm 130. This song begins with the psalmist in deep distress on behalf of the Jewish community, crying out to God for mercy and, ultimately, placing his hope in the Lord. His perspective changes because he knows that Yahweh will save them in His divine time. Based on that confidence, the psalmist then invites Israel to wait for the Lord. I recently read the Christian allegory The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan. One of the lessons of the book is that a despairing state cannot actually hurt a pilgrim unless they choose to believe it, because it does not reflect the reality of the truth of our God. That is exactly what the psalmist is illustrating in this song. When in despair – no matter the cause – we must cry to our God for help. It is only He that can lift the burden, fill us with hope, and love us with a love that never betrays, never stops, never collapses, and never disappoints. He then allows us to do the same for others (even the most difficult of sheep). He delivers us from the enemy, whether that enemy is ourselves, one or more of the sheep of our pasture, or the evil one himself. And that deliverance – the deliverance of our Good Shepherd – will come with abundance. My friend, what or who represents despair in your life right now? What do you need to do to move forward with hope? Is there a burden you need to lay down at the foot of the cross to move from being a pilgrim with a heavy load to walking more freely? Is there hope in the Lord you need to claim today, or His love in which you need to dwell, or His redemption and rescue that you need to celebrate? I encourage you to take fifteen minutes right now to seek the Lord’s face, to jot down the answers to those questions, and to spend time with Him. His Provision, His Protection, and His Presence will sustain you. Thank you for joining me this week. I pray that you lighten your load and live even more deeply into your calling as shepherd in the lives of those sheep entrusted to your care.

Psalm 129 | Psalms for Shepherds

September 28, 2024 • Holly Culhane, Psalms for Shepherds, P4S • Psalm 129

This is Holly Culhane with Presence Point and welcome to our Psalms for Shepherds podcast. This week, the journey through the Psalms of Ascent continues in Psalm 129. The psalmist begins: "From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me. Let all Israel repeat this: From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me, but they have never defeated me. My back is covered with cuts, as if a farmer had plowed long furrows. But the Lord is good..." As the psalmist continues, it seems he is saying, "Accept the suffering allowed by the Father. Be sure you benefit from that suffering. And commit your suffering to the Lord." None of us are strangers to difficult times and remarkably hard circumstances. Some of us have suffered in far greater ways than others. The same is true of those of faith who lived thousands of years ago. Charles Spurgeon prayed this prayer related to Psalm 129: "Lord, number me with Your saints. Let me share their grief if I may also partake of their glory. Thus, would I make this psalm my own and magnify Your name because Your afflicted ones are not destroyed, and Your persecuted ones are not forsaken." We are not forsaken, fellow under-shepherd. Whether the difficulties we face are our own or those of the sheep of our pasture, our Good Shepherd is with us. I pray that today you sense His presence, especially if you are in the midst of a challenging time, a difficult decision, or an especially hard circumstance. And I pray that, with the psalmist, you can say: From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me, but they have never defeated me.

Psalm 128 | Psalms for Shepherds

September 21, 2024 • Holly Culhane, Psalms for Shepherds, P4S • Psalm 128

This is Holly Culhane with Presence Point and welcome to our Psalms for Shepherds podcast. This week, the journey through the Psalms of Ascent continues in Psalm 128. This song may be a psalm of ascent, but it feels like a remarkable blessing to me! One resource I read calls this psalm the “The Celebration of Fruitfulness”. Another speaks of how this psalm illustrates that “the godly will know true happiness because the Lord is with them, building their home life and blessing them across generations”. That is exactly how it feels when you read this beautiful prayer and exhortation. When we fear the Lord, when we live as if He truly exists and as if He is who He says He is, when we follow His ways, we will be fruitful! What a beautiful way of life! It is the life the people we shepherd need to see us demonstrate day by day in the tough, in the easy, in the extraordinarily exciting times and in the excruciatingly difficult times, when all is going well, and when it seems that everything around us is falling apart. If that way of life seems foreign to you, fellow under-shepherd, you have some work to do. Maybe spend some time pouring your heart out to the Father, or journaling a prayer to Him, or asking Him why your joy and peace and the sense of blessing in your life have gone and what you need to do to see it return. Remember it is not our circumstances that dictate joy, peace, and blessing in our daily walk with Him, but rather, it is our time with the Father. Thank you for joining me today, as we have looked at the blessing and promise and Psalm 128.