Daily Reader for Day 290: Psalms 94 - 102


by Dave Moore

“‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’”  - Deuteronomy 27:19

Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.  – Isaiah 1:16-17

Psalm 94 is an especially powerful call for the LORD to intervene: O LORD, God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, shine forth!  Rise up, O judge of the earth; repay to the proud what they deserve! 

Listen closely to the Psalmist’s complaint: They pour out their arrogant words; all the evildoers boast.  They crush Your people, O LORD, and afflict Your heritage.  They kill the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless…  The Psalmist knows the law and the prophets; he knows how things should be among the people of God.  Here in Psalm 94, the law and the prophets intersect upon a prayer of one who is confident only because the LORD is his help: “They band together against the life of the righteous and condemn the innocent to death.  But the LORD has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge.”  

But a sharp turn occurs in Psalm 95, and the remainder of today’s Psalms are calls to the congregation to celebrate and worship the LORD.  “Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!” bears no resemblance to the shadow of suffering and lament to which we’ve grown accustomed.  Psalm 94 feels like rock bottom, against which Psalm 95 and its successors jolt our senses. 

But neither is out of place, if we consider the course of life.  The petition for the LORD’s vengeance and the celebration of the LORD’s rescue are, for the righteous, a firm acknowledgement of the LORD’s sovereignty and faithfulness.  For the Psalmist knows, and wants the congregation to sing, that “The LORD reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity.”

Our verses for this week are Philippians 4:6-7: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Psalms 94 through 102.  Now let’s read it!

Psalms 94 - 102

94:1   O LORD, God of vengeance,
    O God of vengeance, shine forth!
  Rise up, O judge of the earth;
    repay to the proud what they deserve!
  O LORD, how long shall the wicked,
    how long shall the wicked exult?
  They pour out their arrogant words;
    all the evildoers boast.
  They crush your people, O LORD,
    and afflict your heritage.
  They kill the widow and the sojourner,
    and murder the fatherless;
  and they say, “The LORD does not see;
    the God of Jacob does not perceive.”
  Understand, O dullest of the people!
    Fools, when will you be wise?
  He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
  He who formed the eye, does he not see?
  He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke?
  He who teaches man knowledge—
    the LORD—knows the thoughts of man,
    that they are but a breath.
  Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O LORD,
    and whom you teach out of your law,
  to give him rest from days of trouble,
    until a pit is dug for the wicked.
  For the LORD will not forsake his people;
    he will not abandon his heritage;
  for justice will return to the righteous,
    and all the upright in heart will follow it.
  Who rises up for me against the wicked?
    Who stands up for me against evildoers?
  If the LORD had not been my help,
    my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.
  When I thought, “My foot slips,”
    your steadfast love, O LORD, held me up.
  When the cares of my heart are many,
    your consolations cheer my soul.
  Can wicked rulers be allied with you,
    those who frame injustice by statute?
  They band together against the life of the righteous
    and condemn the innocent to death.
  But the LORD has become my stronghold,
    and my God the rock of my refuge.
  He will bring back on them their iniquity
    and wipe them out for their wickedness;
    the LORD our God will wipe them out.

95:1   Oh come, let us sing to the LORD;
    let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
  Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
    let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
  For the LORD is a great God,
    and a great King above all gods.
  In his hand are the depths of the earth;
    the heights of the mountains are his also.
  The sea is his, for he made it,
    and his hands formed the dry land.
  Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
    let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
  For he is our God,
    and we are the people of his pasture,
    and the sheep of his hand.
  Today, if you hear his voice,
    do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
    as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
  when your fathers put me to the test
    and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
  For forty years I loathed that generation
    and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,
    and they have not known my ways.”
  Therefore I swore in my wrath,
    “They shall not enter my rest.”

96:1   Oh sing to the LORD a new song;
    sing to the LORD, all the earth!
  Sing to the LORD, bless his name;
    tell of his salvation from day to day.
  Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous works among all the peoples!
  For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
    he is to be feared above all gods.
  For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
    but the LORD made the heavens.
  Splendor and majesty are before him;
    strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
  Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples,
    ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
  Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
    bring an offering, and come into his courts!
  Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness;
    tremble before him, all the earth!
  Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!
    Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;
    he will judge the peoples with equity.”
  Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
    let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
    let the field exult, and everything in it!
  Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
    before the LORD, for he comes,
    for he comes to judge the earth.
  He will judge the world in righteousness,
    and the peoples in his faithfulness.

97:1   The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice;
    let the many coastlands be glad!
  Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
    righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
  Fire goes before him
    and burns up his adversaries all around.
  His lightnings light up the world;
    the earth sees and trembles.
  The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
    before the Lord of all the earth.
  The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
    and all the peoples see his glory.
  All worshipers of images are put to shame,
    who make their boast in worthless idols;
    worship him, all you gods!
  Zion hears and is glad,
    and the daughters of Judah rejoice,
    because of your judgments, O LORD.
  For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth;
    you are exalted far above all gods.
  O you who love the LORD, hate evil!
    He preserves the lives of his saints;
    he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
  Light is sown for the righteous,
    and joy for the upright in heart.
  Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous,
    and give thanks to his holy name!

98:1   Oh sing to the LORD a new song,
    for he has done marvelous things!
  His right hand and his holy arm
    have worked salvation for him.
  The LORD has made known his salvation;
    he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
  He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
    to the house of Israel.
  All the ends of the earth have seen
    the salvation of our God.
  Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth;
    break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
  Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre,
    with the lyre and the sound of melody!
  With trumpets and the sound of the horn
    make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD!
  Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
    the world and those who dwell in it!
  Let the rivers clap their hands;
    let the hills sing for joy together
  before the LORD, for he comes
    to judge the earth.
  He will judge the world with righteousness,
    and the peoples with equity.

99:1   The LORD reigns; let the peoples tremble!
    He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
  The LORD is great in Zion;
    he is exalted over all the peoples.
  Let them praise your great and awesome name!
    Holy is he!
  The King in his might loves justice.
    You have established equity;
  you have executed justice
    and righteousness in Jacob.
  Exalt the LORD our God;
    worship at his footstool!
    Holy is he!
  Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
    Samuel also was among those who called upon his name.
    They called to the LORD, and he answered them.
  In the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them;
    they kept his testimonies
    and the statute that he gave them.
  O LORD our God, you answered them;
    you were a forgiving God to them,
    but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
  Exalt the LORD our God,
    and worship at his holy mountain;
    for the LORD our God is holy!

100:1   Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
    Serve the LORD with gladness!
    Come into his presence with singing!
  Know that the LORD, he is God!
    It is he who made us, and we are his;
    we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
  Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
    and his courts with praise!
    Give thanks to him; bless his name!
  For the LORD is good;
    his steadfast love endures forever,
    and his faithfulness to all generations.

101:1   I will sing of steadfast love and justice;
    to you, O LORD, I will make music.
  I will ponder the way that is blameless.
    Oh when will you come to me?
  I will walk with integrity of heart
    within my house;
  I will not set before my eyes
    anything that is worthless.
  I hate the work of those who fall away;
    it shall not cling to me.
  A perverse heart shall be far from me;
    I will know nothing of evil.
  Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly
    I will destroy.
  Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart
    I will not endure.
  I will look with favor on the faithful in the land,
    that they may dwell with me;
  he who walks in the way that is blameless
    shall minister to me.
  No one who practices deceit
    shall dwell in my house;
  no one who utters lies
    shall continue before my eyes.
  Morning by morning I will destroy
    all the wicked in the land,
  cutting off all the evildoers
    from the city of the LORD.

102:1   Hear my prayer, O LORD;
  let my cry come to you!
  Do not hide your face from me
    in the day of my distress!
  Incline your ear to me;
    answer me speedily in the day when I call!
  For my days pass away like smoke,
    and my bones burn like a furnace.
  My heart is struck down like grass and has withered;
    I forget to eat my bread.
  Because of my loud groaning
    my bones cling to my flesh.
  I am like a desert owl of the wilderness,
    like an owl of the waste places;
  I lie awake;
    I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.
  All the day my enemies taunt me;
    those who deride me use my name for a curse.
  For I eat ashes like bread
    and mingle tears with my drink,
  because of your indignation and anger;
    for you have taken me up and thrown me down.
  My days are like an evening shadow;
    I wither away like grass.
  But you, O LORD, are enthroned forever;
    you are remembered throughout all generations.
  You will arise and have pity on Zion;
    it is the time to favor her;
    the appointed time has come.
  For your servants hold her stones dear
    and have pity on her dust.
  Nations will fear the name of the LORD,
    and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
  For the LORD builds up Zion;
    he appears in his glory;
  he regards the prayer of the destitute
    and does not despise their prayer.
  Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
    so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD:
  that he looked down from his holy height;
    from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,
  to hear the groans of the prisoners,
    to set free those who were doomed to die,
  that they may declare in Zion the name of the LORD,
    and in Jerusalem his praise,
  when peoples gather together,
    and kingdoms, to worship the LORD.
  He has broken my strength in midcourse;
    he has shortened my days.
  “O my God,” I say, “take me not away
    in the midst of my days—
  you whose years endure
    throughout all generations!”
  Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
    and the heavens are the work of your hands.
  They will perish, but you will remain;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
  You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
    but you are the same, and your years have no end.
  The children of your servants shall dwell secure;
    their offspring shall be established before you.

(ESV)


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