Along The Way (May 19th - 25th)

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May 19th

• Scripture

  Psalm 102 & 103

  Prayer to the Eternal King for Help

  A prayer of one afflicted, when faint and pleading before the Lord.

  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 stricken and withered like grass;
 I am too wasted to eat my bread.
Because of my loud groaning,
 my bones cling to my skin.
I am like a desert owl of the wilderness,
 like a little owl of the waste places.
I lie awake;
 I am like a lonely bird on the housetop.
All day long my enemies taunt me;
 those who deride me use my name for a curse.
Indeed, I eat ashes like bread
 and mingle tears with my drink,
because of your indignation and anger,
 for you have lifted me up and thrown me aside.
My days are like a lengthening shadow;
 I wither away like grass.

  But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever;
 your name endures to all generations.
You will rise up and have compassion on Zion,
 for it is time to favor it;
 the appointed time has come.
For your servants hold its stones dear
 and have pity on its dust.
The nations will fear the name of the Lord
 and all the kings of the earth your glory.
For the Lord will build up Zion;
 he will appear in his glory.
He will regard the prayer of the destitute
 and will not despise their prayer.

  Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
 so that a people yet unborn 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,
so that the name of the Lord may be declared in Zion
 and his praise in Jerusalem,
when peoples gather together,
 and kingdoms, to serve the Lord.

  He has broken my strength in midcourse;
 he has shortened my days.
“O my God,” I say, “do not take me away
 at the midpoint of my life,
you whose years endure
 throughout all generations.”

  Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth,
 and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you endure;
 they will all wear out like a garment.
You change them like clothing, and they pass away,
 but you are the same, and your years have no end.
The children of your servants shall live secure;
 their offspring shall be established in your presence.

  Thanksgiving for God’s Goodness

  Of David.

  Bless the Lord, O my soul,
 and all that is within me,
 bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
 and do not forget all his benefits — 
who forgives all your iniquity,
 who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the Pit,
 who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good as long as you live
 so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

  The Lord works vindication
 and justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses,
 his acts to the people of Israel.
The Lord is merciful and gracious,
 slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always accuse,
 nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins
 nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
 so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
 so far he removes our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion for his children,
 so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.
For he knows how we were made;
 he remembers that we are dust.

  As for mortals, their days are like grass;
 they flourish like a flower of the field;
for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
 and its place knows it no more.
But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
 on those who fear him,
 and his righteousness to children’s children,
to those who keep his covenant
 and remember to do his commandments.

  The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,
 and his kingdom rules over all.
Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
 you mighty ones who do his bidding,
 obedient to his spoken word.
Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
 his ministers who do his will.
Bless the Lord, all his works,
 in all places of his dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.

• Commentary

  Psalm 102 is an individual lament and may have been written during the exile. The outcry of the Psalmist is individual in perspective but concerns not a private problem but the destruction of Zion – meaning the city of holiness and the city of refuge.

  Psalm 103 is a hymn, but what is apparent is a desire on the part of David to praise God for all that He has done. He speaks of God's personal blessings; His forgiving love and then ends with a universal call for all believers to praise the Lord. The people praise God for His compassion and forgiveness of sins and implies the eternal life of the believer. We are not by nature immoral, but God does not abandon us to death!

May 20th

• Scripture

  Psalm 104

  God the Creator and Provider

  Bless the Lord, O my soul.
 O Lord my God, you are very great.
You are clothed with honor and majesty,
 wrapped in light as with a garment.
You stretch out the heavens like a tent;
 you set the beams of your chambers on the waters;
you make the clouds your chariot;
 you ride on the wings of the wind;
you make the winds your messengers,
 fire and flame your ministers.

  You set the earth on its foundations,
 so that it shall never be shaken.
You cover it with the deep as with a garment;
 the waters stood above the mountains.
At your rebuke they flee;
 at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.
They rose up to the mountains, ran down to the valleys,
 to the place that you appointed for them.
You set a boundary that they may not pass,
 so that they might not again cover the earth.

  You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
 they flow between the hills,
giving drink to every wild animal;
 the wild asses quench their thirst.
By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation;
 they sing among the branches.
From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
 the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

  You cause the grass to grow for the cattle
 and plants for people to cultivate,
to bring forth food from the earth
 and wine to gladden the human heart,
oil to make the face shine
 and bread to strengthen the human heart.
The trees of the field are watered abundantly,
 the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
In them the birds build their nests;
 the stork has its home in the fir trees.
The high mountains are for the wild goats;
 the rocks are a refuge for the coneys.
You have made the moon to mark the seasons;
 the sun knows its time for setting.
You make darkness, and it is night,
 when all the animals of the forest come creeping out.
The young lions roar for their prey,
 seeking their food from God.
When the sun rises, they withdraw
 and lie down in their dens.
People go out to their work
 and to their labor until the evening.

  O Lord, how manifold are your works!
 In wisdom you have made them all;
 the earth is full of your creatures.
There is the sea, great and wide;
 creeping things innumerable are there,
 living things both small and great.
There go the ships
 and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.

  These all look to you
 to give them their food in due season;
when you give to them, they gather it up;
 when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
 when you take away their breath, they die
 and return to their dust.
When you send forth your spirit, they are created,
 and you renew the face of the ground.

  May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
 may the Lord rejoice in his works — 
who looks on the earth and it trembles,
 who touches the mountains and they smoke.
I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
 I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
May my meditation be pleasing to him,
 for I rejoice in the Lord.
Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
 and let the wicked be no more.

  Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord!

• Commentary

  Psalm 104 is a hymn, and all creation testifies to the goodness and power of God. The Psalm presents a glorious picture of God as Creator and a sweeping view of the world God made. The main subject of the Psalm is the order of the world and the sovereignty of the God who created and maintains it.

May 21st

• Scripture

  Psalm 105

  God’s Faithfulness to Israel

  O give thanks to the Lord; call on his name;
 make known his deeds among the peoples.
Sing to him, sing praises to him;
 tell of all his wonderful works.
Glory in his holy name;
 let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Seek the Lord and his strength;
 seek his presence continually.
Remember the wonderful works he has done,
 his miracles and the judgments he has uttered,
O offspring of his servant Abraham,
 children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

  He is the Lord our God;
 his judgments are in all the earth.
He is mindful of his covenant forever,
 of the word that he commanded for a thousand generations,
the covenant that he made with Abraham,
 his sworn promise to Isaac,
which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
 to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
 as your portion for an inheritance.”

  When they were few in number,
 of little account and strangers in it,
wandering from nation to nation,
 from one kingdom to another people,
he allowed no one to oppress them;
 he rebuked kings on their account,
saying, “Do not touch my anointed ones;
 do my prophets no harm.”

  When he summoned famine against the land
 and cut off every supply of bread,
he had sent a man ahead of them,
 Joseph, who had been sold as a slave.
His feet were hurt with fetters;
 his neck was put in a collar of iron;
until what he had said came to pass,
 the word of the Lord kept testing him.
The king sent and released him;
 the ruler of the peoples set him free.
He made him lord of his house
 and ruler of all his possessions,
to instruct his officials at his pleasure
 and to teach his elders wisdom.

  Then Israel came to Egypt;
 Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.
And the Lord made his people very fruitful
 and made them stronger than their foes,
whose hearts he then turned to hate his people,
 to deal craftily with his servants.

  He sent his servant Moses
 and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
They performed his signs among them
 and miracles in the land of Ham.
He sent darkness and made the land dark;
 they rebelled against his words.
He turned their waters into blood
 and caused their fish to die.
Their land swarmed with frogs,
 even in the chambers of their kings.
He spoke, and there came swarms of flies
 and gnats throughout their country.
He gave them hail for rain
 and lightning that flashed through their land.
He struck their vines and fig trees
 and shattered the trees of their country.
He spoke, and the locusts came,
 and young locusts without number;
they devoured all the vegetation in their land
 and ate up the fruit of their ground.
He struck down all the firstborn in their land,
 the first issue of all their strength.

  Then he brought Israel out with silver and gold,
 and there was no one among their tribes who stumbled.
Egypt was glad when they departed,
 for dread of them had fallen upon it.
He spread a cloud for a covering
 and fire to give light by night.
They asked, and he brought quails
 and gave them food from heaven in abundance.
He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
 it flowed through the desert like a river.
For he remembered his holy promise
 and Abraham, his servant.

  So he brought his people out with joy,
 his chosen ones with singing.
He gave them the lands of the nations,
 and they took possession of the wealth of the peoples,
that they might keep his statutes
 and observe his laws.
Praise the Lord!

• Commentary

  Psalm 105 is a Hallelujah hymn. The Psalm recites the history of the Israelites from the patriarchs to the exodus as a reason for praise. Psalm 105 calls God's people to give Him thanks and praise in response to His “wonders.” The bulk of the Psalm highlights God's special work with the Israelites, beginning with the covenant with Abraham and focusing on the exodus from Egypt and movement to the Promised Land.

May 22nd

• Scripture

  Psalm 106 (Verses 1-13)

  A Confession of Israel’s Sins

  Praise the Lord!
 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
 for his steadfast love endures forever.
Who can utter the mighty doings of the Lord
 or declare all his praise?
Happy are those who observe justice,
 who do righteousness at all times.

  Remember us, O Lord, when you show favor to your people;
 help us when you deliver them,
that we may see the prosperity of your chosen ones,
 that we may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,
 that we may glory in your heritage.

  Both we and our ancestors have sinned;
 we have committed iniquity, have done wickedly.
Our ancestors, when they were in Egypt,
 did not consider your wonderful works;
they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love
 but rebelled against the Most High at the Red Sea.
Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,
 so that he might make known his mighty power.
He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry;
 he led them through the deep as through a desert.
So he saved them from the hand of the foe
 and delivered them from the hand of the enemy.
The waters covered their adversaries;
 not one of them was left.
Then they believed his words;
 they sang his praise.

  But they soon forgot his works;
 they did not wait for his counsel.
But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness
 and put God to the test in the desert;
he gave them what they asked
 but sent a wasting disease among them.

  They were jealous of Moses in the camp
 and of Aaron, the holy one of the Lord.
The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan
 and covered the faction of Abiram.
Fire also broke out in their company;
 the flame burned up the wicked.

  They made a calf at Horeb
 and worshiped a cast image.
They exchanged the glory of God
 for the image of an ox that eats grass.
They forgot God, their Savior,
 who had done great things in Egypt,
wondrous works in the land of Ham,
 and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
Therefore he said he would destroy them — 
 had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him,
 to turn away his wrath from destroying them.

• Commentary

  Psalm 106 is a Hallelujah hymn. The Psalm praises God by reciting Israel’s history from the exodus to the judges’ time. God forgave many rebellions. However, Israel failed to believe at the Red Sea. They complained about food in the wilderness. The Psalm focuses on Israel's past failures and God’s generous grace, and highlights the need for repentance and forgiveness in any historical context, but especially in the exilic and postexilic periods.

May 23rd

• Scripture

  Psalm 106:24-48

  Then they despised the pleasant land,
 having no faith in his promise.
They grumbled in their tents
 and did not obey the voice of the Lord.
Therefore he raised his hand and swore to them
 that he would make them fall in the wilderness
and would disperse their descendants among the nations,
 scattering them over the lands.

  Then they attached themselves to the Baal of Peor
 and ate sacrifices offered to the dead;
they provoked the Lord to anger with their deeds,
 and a plague broke out among them.
Then Phinehas stood up and interceded,
 and the plague was stopped.
And that has been reckoned to him as righteousness
 from generation to generation forever.

  They angered the Lord at the waters of Meribah,
 and it went ill with Moses on their account,
for they made his spirit bitter,
 and he spoke words that were rash.

  They did not destroy the peoples,
 as the Lord had commanded them,
but they mingled with the nations
 and learned to do as they did.
They served their idols,
 which became a snare to them.
They sacrificed their sons
 and their daughters to the demons;
they poured out innocent blood,
 the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
 and the land was polluted with blood.
Thus they became unclean by their acts
 and prostituted themselves in their doings.

  Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people,
 and he abhorred his heritage;
he gave them into the hand of the nations,
 so that those who hated them ruled over them.
Their enemies oppressed them,
 and they were brought into subjection under their power.
Many times he delivered them,
 but they were rebellious in their purposes
 and were brought low through their iniquity.
Nevertheless, he regarded their distress
 when he heard their cry.
For their sake he remembered his covenant
 and showed compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
He caused them to be pitied
 by all who held them captive.

  Save us, O Lord our God,
 and gather us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
 and glory in your praise.

  Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
 from everlasting to everlasting.
And let all the people say, “Amen.”
 Praise the Lord!

• Commentary

  Psalm 106 is a Hallelujah hymn. The Psalm praises God by reciting Israel’s history from the exodus to the judges’ time. God forgave many rebellions. However, Israel failed to believe at the Red Sea. They complained about food in the wilderness. The Psalm focuses on Israel's past failures and God’s generous grace, and highlights the need for repentance and forgiveness in any historical context, but especially in the exilic and postexilic periods.

May 24th

• Scripture

  Psalm 107

  Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Many Troubles

  O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
 for his steadfast love endures forever.
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
 those he redeemed from trouble
and gathered in from the lands,
 from the east and from the west,
 from the north and from the south.

  Some wandered in desert wastes,
 finding no way to an inhabited town;
hungry and thirsty,
 their soul fainted within them.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
 and he delivered them from their distress;
he led them by a straight way,
 until they reached an inhabited town.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
 for his wonderful works to humankind.
For he satisfies the thirsty,
 and the hungry he fills with good things.

  Some sat in darkness and in gloom,
 prisoners in misery and in irons,
for they had rebelled against the words of God
 and spurned the counsel of the Most High.
Their hearts were bowed down with hard labor;
 they fell down, with no one to help.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
 and he saved them from their distress;
he brought them out of darkness and gloom,
 and broke their bonds apart.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
 for his wonderful works to humankind.
For he shatters the doors of bronze
 and cuts in two the bars of iron.

  Some were sick through their sinful ways
 and because of their iniquities endured affliction;
they loathed any kind of food,
 and they drew near to the gates of death.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
 and he saved them from their distress;
he sent out his word and healed them
 and delivered them from destruction.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
 for his wonderful works to humankind.
And let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices
 and tell of his deeds with songs of joy.

  Some went down to the sea in ships,
 doing business on the mighty waters;
they saw the deeds of the Lord,
 his wondrous works in the deep.
For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
 which lifted up the waves of the sea.
They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;
 their courage melted away in their calamity;
they reeled and staggered like drunkards
 and were at their wits’ end.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
 and he brought them out from their distress;
he made the storm be still,
 and the waves of the sea were hushed.
Then they were glad because they had quiet,
 and he brought them to their desired haven.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
 for his wonderful works to humankind.
Let them extol him in the congregation of the people
 and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

  He turns rivers into a desert,
 springs of water into thirsty ground,
a fruitful land into a salty waste,
 because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.
He turns a desert into pools of water,
 a parched land into springs of water.
And there he lets the hungry live,
 and they establish a town to live in;
they sow fields and plant vineyards
 and get a fruitful yield.
By his blessing they multiply greatly,
 and he does not let their cattle decrease.

  When they are diminished and brought low
 through oppression, trouble, and sorrow,
he pours contempt on princes
 and makes them wander in trackless wastes,
but he raises up the needy out of distress
 and makes their families like flocks.
The upright see it and are glad,
 and all wickedness stops its mouth.
Let those who are wise pay attention to these things
 and consider the steadfast love of the Lord.

• Commentary

  Psalm 107 is a hymn of thanksgiving, extolling God for delivering God's people from a variety of troubles which includes homeless aliens, war captives, those punished for their sin with personal holiness and those who have encountered dangers on the sea, famine, and other afflictions.

May 25th

• Scripture

  Psalm 108 & 109

  Praise and Prayer for Victory

  A Song. A Psalm of David.

  My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
 I will sing and make melody.
 Awake, my soul!
Awake, O harp and lyre!
 I will awake the dawn.
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples,
 and I will sing praises to you among the nations.
For your steadfast love is higher than the heavens,
 and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
 and let your glory be over all the earth.
Give victory with your right hand, and answer me,
 so that those whom you love may be rescued.

  God has promised in his sanctuary:
 “With exultation I will divide up Shechem
 and portion out the Vale of Succoth.
Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;
 Ephraim is my helmet;
 Judah is my scepter.
Moab is my washbasin;
 on Edom I hurl my shoe;
 over Philistia I shout in triumph.”

  Who will bring me to the fortified city?
 Who will lead me to Edom?
Have you not rejected us, O God?
 You do not go out, O God, with our armies.
O grant us help against the foe,
 for human help is worthless.
With God we shall do valiantly;
 it is he who will tread down our foes.

  Prayer for Vindication and Vengeance

  To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.

  Do not be silent, O God of my praise.
For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,
 speaking against me with lying tongues.
They surround me with words of hate
 and attack me without cause.
In return for my love they accuse me,
 even while I make prayer for them.
So they reward me evil for good
 and hatred for my love.

  They say, “Appoint a wicked man against him;
 let an accuser stand on his right.
When he is tried, let him be found guilty;
 let his prayer be counted as sin.
May his days be few;
 may another seize his position.
May his children be orphans
 and his wife a widow.
May his children wander about and beg;
 may they be driven out of the ruins they inhabit.
May the creditor seize all that he has;
 may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil.
May there be no one to do him a kindness
 nor anyone to pity his orphaned children.
May his posterity be cut off;
 may his name be blotted out in the second generation.
May the iniquity of his father be remembered before the Lord,
 and do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out.
Let them be before the Lord continually,
 and may his memory be cut off from the earth.
For he did not remember to show kindness
 but pursued the poor and needy
 and the brokenhearted to their death.
He loved to curse; let curses come on him.
 He did not like blessing; may it be far from him.
He clothed himself with cursing as his coat;
 may it soak into his body like water,
 like oil into his bones.
May it be like a garment that he wraps around himself,
 like a belt that he wears every day.”

  May that be the reward of my accusers from the Lord,
 of those who speak evil against my life.
But you, O Lord my Lord,
 act on my behalf for your name’s sake;
 because your steadfast love is good, deliver me.
For I am poor and needy,
 and my heart is pierced within me.
I am gone like a shadow at evening;
 I am shaken off like a locust.
My knees are weak through fasting;
 my body has become gaunt.
I am an object of scorn to my accusers;
 when they see me, they shake their heads.

  Help me, O Lord my God!
 Save me according to your steadfast love.
Let them know that this is your hand;
 you, O Lord, have done it.
Let them curse, but you will bless.
 Let my assailants be put to shame; may your servant be glad.
May my accusers be clothed with dishonor;
 may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a mantle.
With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord;
 I will praise him in the midst of the throng.
For he stands at the right hand of the needy,
 to save them from those who would condemn them to death.

• Commentary

  Psalm 108 is a hymn and a communal lament where the Psalmist teaches us how to praise God. David is among the greats of the Old Testament who is qualified to instruct others on how to praise God appropriately. He states that those who praise God must do it out of a heart of steadfastness or a fixed heart.

  Psalm 109 is an individual lament and a prayer for deliverance from enemies where the massive cruse on the enemy is founded not on personal revenge but rather on a sense of justice.