Year 2, Day 171: Psalms 19-20

Psalm 19

Psalm 19 begins with a really deep thought.  David asserts that all of creation testifies to the greatness of God.  The day brings testimony after testimony of God’s creative power.  The night brings wisdom as we reflect upon what we saw during the day.

Right?

The power of this thought is really in our self-reflection.  Do we see the world today as bringing testimony to God’s power?  Do we get up in the morning and stand in awe of God’s handiwork?  Or – if you are like me – do you get up in the morning resenting the morning and preferring to remain in bed? 

What about life?  Do you see your car, your smart phone, or your computer as evidence of human ingenuity or as a sign of God’s care?  Do we really look around us and see God?  Or do we see God only when we choose to slow down in life and look for Him?  We should be training ourselves to see Him regardless of how fast life goes by.  If we only see the world’s witness to the power of God when we slow down and look for it, then we have a problem.

The second half of this psalm is the perfect answer to the first half.  The Law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.  How do we train ourselves to see God no matter how fast the world goes by?  Obey His ways.  Live the life He desires.  Understand that His ways are right for us.  His precepts are what we need.  Fear/awe of the Lord is what we need.

When we take this approach to life then we genuinely understand the last verse of this psalm.  There is a reason that it is a verse often quoted before a preacher delivers a sermon.  When we have ordered our life such that we see the witness to God everywhere, then we can be assured that the words of our mouth and the meditations of our heart are acceptable and even pleasing in His sight!  It begins with God, but we must respond.  God enters our life, but we choose to follow His lead or not.  It is we who need to train ourselves to see Him rather than thinking that He needs to make Himself easier to see.

Psalm 20

Psalm 20 is often referred to as an intercessory type of psalm.  The word intercessory means “the action of pleading on somebody's behalf.”  Thus, an intercessory prayer is a prayer on behalf of someone else.  Hopefully we’re all really good at intercessory prayer.  An intercessory psalm would therefore be a psalm sung on behalf of someone else.  As we can see all throughout this psalm, it is indeed an intercessory psalm.

There is something neat about intercessory spirituality.  We pray for the benefit of other people.  We sing for the benefit of other people.  We preach for the benefit of other people.  We serve for the benefit of other people.  Do you hear it?  The reason that intercessory spirituality is so neat is because it automatically kills the self-monger within us!  When I pray for other people, I am inherently focusing on someone besides myself!  The same thing is true for preaching, serving, giving, singing, or any other spiritual act that can be done in an intercessory manner.

I think this concept is one of the largest spiritual areas of growth that I have been able to have since hitting adulthood.  When I sing among people, I don’t sing for myself.  I sing for them.  I sing in boldness and confidence because I want them to be able to be encouraged to join me boldly and confidently.  Sure, I could be all timid and concerned about what I sound like.  But then I’m singing for me.  I don’t want to sing for me.  I want to sing for God and for others.

I really believe that this is the motivation behind David’s psalm here.  David wants the people around him to be emboldened.  He wants them to hear how much he cares about them and to empower them to join him in caring about others.

Before I go, I do want to actually talk about the content of intercessory spirituality.  Notice what it is towards which this psalm points us?  This psalm points us to God.  It is God who saves.  It is God who hears and responds.  It is God who is the root of our trust.  That should be true about everything that we do spiritually – especially the stuff we do in an intercessory manner.  If I am praying for someone else, I should be praying for them in a direction that helps them focus on God.  The same is true for talking, preaching, singing, or whatever.  Intercessory spirituality is done for the benefit of another and in a manner such that the other is directed towards God.

<><