A How-To Guide for Courage – Psalms 26-31

Joy: You’re listening to Season 2 of the Lifting Her Voice podcast.  This is Episode #169 and today we’ll read Psalms 26-31 together.   A How-To Guide for courage and encouragement.  

Welcome

Welcome to the Lifting Her Voice podcast, Season 2!  I’m your host, Joy Miller, and I invite you to grab your Bible and join me – from the beginning – simply reading God’s word together.  We built some spiritual muscles in 2020 with just the New Testament.  But this year we’re going all out, cover-to-cover, Old Testament and New.  So, whether with your first cup in the morning, your commute to work, or as the last thing on your mind before sleep, God’s Word will equip you for every good work.  I’m really glad you’re here!

Psalm 26

Prayer for Vindication

Of David.

Vindicate me, Lord,

because I have lived with integrity

and have trusted in the Lord without wavering.

Test me, Lord, and try me;

examine my heart and mind.

For your faithful love guides me,

and I live by your truth.

I do not sit with the worthless

or associate with hypocrites.

I hate a crowd of evildoers,

and I do not sit with the wicked.

I wash my hands in innocence

and go around your altar, Lord,

raising my voice in thanksgiving

and telling about your wondrous works.

Lord, I love the house where you dwell,

the place where your glory resides.

Do not destroy me along with sinners,

or my life along with men of bloodshed

in whose hands are evil schemes

and whose right hands are filled with bribes.

But I live with integrity;

redeem me and be gracious to me.

My foot stands on level ground;

I will bless the Lord in the assemblies.

Psalm 27

My Stronghold

Of David.

The Lord is my light and my salvation —

whom should I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life —

whom should I dread?

When evildoers came against me to devour my flesh,

my foes and my enemies stumbled and fell.

Though an army deploys against me,

my heart will not be afraid;

though a war breaks out against me,

I will still be confident.

I have asked one thing from the Lord;

it is what I desire:

to dwell in the house of the Lord

all the days of my life,

gazing on the beauty of the Lord

and seeking him in his temple.

For he will conceal me in his shelter

in the day of adversity;

he will hide me under the cover of his tent;

he will set me high on a rock.

Then my head will be high

above my enemies around me;

I will offer sacrifices in his tent with shouts of joy.

I will sing and make music to the Lord.

Lord, hear my voice when I call;

be gracious to me and answer me.

My heart says this about you:

“Seek his face.”

Lord, I will seek your face.

Do not hide your face from me;

do not turn your servant away in anger.

You have been my helper;

do not leave me or abandon me,

God of my salvation.

Even if my father and mother abandon me,

the Lord cares for me.

Because of my adversaries,

show me your way, Lord,

and lead me on a level path.

Wait For The Lord

Do not give me over to the will of my foes,

for false witnesses rise up against me,

breathing violence.

I am certain that I will see the Lord’s goodness

in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord;

be strong, and let your heart be courageous.

Wait for the Lord.

Psalm 28

My Strength

Of David.

Lord, I call to you;

my rock, do not be deaf to me.

If you remain silent to me,

I will be like those going down to the Pit.

Listen to the sound of my pleading

when I cry to you for help,

when I lift up my hands

toward your holy sanctuary.

Do not drag me away with the wicked,

with the evildoers,

who speak in friendly ways with their neighbors

while malice is in their hearts.

Repay them according to what they have done —

according to the evil of their deeds.

Repay them according to the work of their hands;

give them back what they deserve.

Because they do not consider

what the Lord has done

or the work of his hands,

he will tear them down and not rebuild them.

Blessed be the Lord,

for he has heard the sound of my pleading.

The Lord is my strength and my shield;

my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.

Therefore my heart celebrates,

and I give thanks to him with my song.

The Lord is the strength of his people;

he is a stronghold of salvation for his anointed.

Save your people, bless your possession,

shepherd them, and carry them forever.

Psalm 29

The Voice of the Lord

A psalm of David.

Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings,

ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;

worship the Lord

in the splendor of his holiness.

The voice of the Lord is above the waters.

The God of glory thunders —

the Lord, above the vast water,

the voice of the Lord in power,

the voice of the Lord in splendor.

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;

the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon.

He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,

and Sirion, like a young wild ox.

The voice of the Lord flashes flames of fire.

The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;

the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth

and strips the woodlands bare.

In his temple all cry, “Glory!”

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;

the Lord sits enthroned, King forever.

The Lord gives his people strength;

the Lord blesses his people with peace.

Psalm 30

Joy in the Morning

A psalm; a dedication song for the house. Of David.

I will exalt you, Lord,

because you have lifted me up

and have not allowed my enemies

to triumph over me.

Lord my God,

I cried to you for help, and you healed me.

Lord, you brought me up from Sheol;

you spared me from among those

going down to the Pit.

Sing to the Lord, you his faithful ones,

and praise his holy name.

For his anger lasts only a moment,

but his favor, a lifetime.

Weeping may stay overnight,

but there is joy in the morning.

When I was secure, I said,

“I will never be shaken.”

Lord, when you showed your favor,

you made me stand like a strong mountain;

when you hid your face, I was terrified.

Lord, I called to you;

I sought favor from my Lord:

“What gain is there in my death,

if I go down to the Pit?

Will the dust praise you?

Will it proclaim your truth?

Lord, listen and be gracious to me;

Lord, be my helper.”

You turned my lament into dancing;

you removed my sackcloth

and clothed me with gladness,

so that I can sing to you and not be silent.

Lord my God, I will praise you forever.

Psalm 31

A Plea for Protection

For the choir director. A psalm of David.

Lord, I seek refuge in you;

let me never be disgraced.

Save me by your righteousness.

Listen closely to me; rescue me quickly.

Be a rock of refuge for me,

a mountain fortress to save me.

For you are my rock and my fortress;

you lead and guide me

for your name’s sake.

You will free me from the net

that is secretly set for me,

for you are my refuge.

Into your hand I entrust my spirit;

you have redeemed me, Lord, God of truth.

I hate those who are devoted to worthless idols,

but I trust in the Lord.

I will rejoice and be glad in your faithful love

because you have seen my affliction.

You know the troubles of my soul

and have not handed me over to the enemy.

You have set my feet in a spacious place.

Be gracious to me, Lord,

because I am in distress;

my eyes are worn out from frustration —

my whole being as well.

Indeed, my life is consumed with grief

and my years with groaning;

my strength has failed

because of my iniquity,

and my bones waste away.

I am ridiculed by all my adversaries

and even by my neighbors.

I am dreaded by my acquaintances;

those who see me in the street run from me.

I am forgotten: gone from memory

like a dead person — like broken pottery.

I have heard the gossip of many;

terror is on every side.

When they conspired against me,

they plotted to take my life.

Blessed Be The Lord

But I trust in you, Lord;

I say, “You are my God.”

The course of my life is in your power;

rescue me from the power of my enemies

and from my persecutors.

Make your face shine on your servant;

save me by your faithful love.

Lord, do not let me be disgraced when I call on you.

Let the wicked be disgraced;

let them be quiet in Sheol.

Let lying lips

that arrogantly speak against the righteous

in proud contempt be silenced.

How great is your goodness,

which you have stored up for those who fear you.

In the presence of everyone you have acted

for those who take refuge in you.

You hide them in the protection of your presence;

you conceal them in a shelter

from human schemes,

from quarrelsome tongues.

Blessed be the Lord,

for he has wondrously shown his faithful love to me

in a city under siege.

In my alarm I said,

“I am cut off from your sight.”

But you heard the sound of my pleading

when I cried to you for help.

Love the Lord, all his faithful ones.

The Lord protects the loyal,

but fully repays the arrogant.

Be strong, and let your heart be courageous,

all you who put your hope in the Lord.

Close

Am I as confident as David in my righteousness?  Should I be?  I know – intellectually – that I have no righteousness of my own…that if there is any good in me, it belongs to Christ.  But I feel uncomfortable even referring to my righteousness or my integrity.  This is a difficult exercise in faith – real faith.  That God loves me.  That Christ died in my place.  Don’t get me wrong.  I don’t question those things.  But I find it difficult to speak as boldly as David does here.  Am I reserving some shame?  Do I feel the need to clothe myself in it?  I am literally stepping out in faith and trusting in His faithfulness, even though I don’t know the answer to some of these questions.

Something that I find encouraging though are the titles at the beginnings of each of these psalms.  If you’re reading along, you probably saw them:  Prayer of Vindication, My Stronghold, My Strength, The Voice of the Lord, Joy in the Morning, A Plea for Protection.  They are like a concordance, a handy Biblical tool, a Table of Contents, a topical index.  I can think of so many circumstances in my life where these six psalms could be used as a how-to guide for encouragement and courage.  I bet you can too!  Share your thoughts with me at Lifting Her Voice.com, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

See You Tomorrow!

Thank you for joining me here today.  I pray that by spending time in His Word every day, you will by changed.  Visit me at Lifting Her Voice.com with your comments and questions.  And don’t forget to visit the Blog page while you’re there.  If you like the podcast, it would be great if you’d give it a five-star review and share it with everyone you know.  Don’t forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.  See you tomorrow!

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible(r), Copyright (c) 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible(r) and CSB(r) are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.