Ps. 102: Hope for the Future

Psalm 102:28 "The children of your servants will live in your presence; their descendants will be established before you."

This 102nd Psalm is pretty heartbreaking to read. Heartbreaking, but at the same time, hopeful. As bad as things are for the Psalmist (or Israel, I suspect), he doesn't blame God. This isn't a railing against the almighty for neglecting him, or allowing bad things to happen to him. There were very clear reasons why Israel would be cast aside, or ignored, and they have only to do with Israel's commitment (or lack thereof) to the covenant created by God and agreed to by Abraham.

Its pretty incredible foresight to desire these words to be read by future generations, those not yet born (you, me, everyone), so that they would trust God and hold to his covenant, otherwise they would be lost.

Ps. 13: Trouble and Deliverance

Psalm 13:3-4 "Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; my enemy will say, "I have overcome him," and my foes will rejoice when I fall."

David has had to endure a lot, and, like Job, he wonders when he will get some revelation, some sense of just what is going on. He may have railed against God, laboring under the weight of his agony in not knowing. 

Just like Job, David is conscious of how other people perceive him. His enemies, the unbelievers, etc. He doesn't want to be proof that God can be overcome. He still says that he trusts God in spite of this not knowing. Not seeing God's picture. Its just normal, natural to want to see it. While he reacts thinking that God is holding out on him, he still trusts that God will not fail him, will never cease to love him. And that is what I find amazing.

Shane Barnard recorded Psalm 13 on the aptly titled album Psalms (watch). Its a well done song, and I like the treatment the 13th Psalm receives. A lot of lyricists who troll through the Psalms stick to the shiny happy ones, but the 13th isn't exactly the smiliest Psalm I've read.