I Don’t Want God to Think I’m Stupid – Psalms 90-95

Joy: You’re listening to Season 2 of the Lifting Her Voice podcast.  This is Episode #182 and today we’ll read Psalms 90-95 together.   I don’t know about you, but I don’t want God to think I’m stupid.  

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 90

Eternal God and Mortal Man

A prayer of Moses, the man of God.

Lord, you have been our refuge

in every generation.

Before the mountains were born,

before you gave birth to the earth and the world,

from eternity to eternity, you are God.

You return mankind to the dust,

saying, “Return, descendants of Adam.”

For in your sight a thousand years

are like yesterday that passes by,

like a few hours of the night.

You end their lives; they sleep.

They are like grass that grows in the morning —

in the morning it sprouts and grows;

by evening it withers and dries up.

For we are consumed by your anger;

we are terrified by your wrath.

You have set our iniquities before you,

our secret sins in the light of your presence.

For all our days ebb away under your wrath;

we end our years like a sigh.

Our lives last seventy years

or, if we are strong, eighty years.

Even the best of them are struggle and sorrow;

indeed, they pass quickly and we fly away.

Who understands the power of your anger?

Your wrath matches the fear that is due you.

Teach us to number our days carefully

so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.

Lord — how long?

Turn and have compassion on your servants.

Satisfy us in the morning with your faithful love

so that we may shout with joy and be glad all our days.

Make us rejoice for as many days as you have humbled us,

for as many years as we have seen adversity.

Let your work be seen by your servants,

and your splendor by their children.

Let the favor of the Lord our God be on us;

establish for us the work of our hands —

establish the work of our hands!

Psalm 91

The Protection of the Most High

The one who lives under the protection of the Most High

dwells in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say concerning the Lord, who is my refuge and my fortress,

my God in whom I trust:

He himself will rescue you from the bird trap,

from the destructive plague.

He will cover you with his feathers;

you will take refuge under his wings.

His faithfulness will be a protective shield.

You will not fear the terror of the night,

the arrow that flies by day,

the plague that stalks in darkness,

or the pestilence that ravages at noon.

Though a thousand fall at your side

and ten thousand at your right hand,

the pestilence will not reach you.

You will only see it with your eyes

and witness the punishment of the wicked.

Because you have made the Lord — my refuge,

the Most High — your dwelling place,

no harm will come to you;

no plague will come near your tent.

For he will give his angels orders concerning you,

to protect you in all your ways.

They will support you with their hands

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

You will tread on the lion and the cobra;

you will trample the young lion and the serpent.

Because he has his heart set on me,

I will deliver him;

I will protect him because he knows my name.

When he calls out to me, I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble.

I will rescue him and give him honor.

I will satisfy him with a long life

and show him my salvation.

Psalm 92

God’s Love and Faithfulness

A psalm. A song for the Sabbath day.

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,

to sing praise to your name, Most High,

to declare your faithful love in the morning

and your faithfulness at night,

with a ten-stringed harp

and the music of a lyre.

For you have made me rejoice, Lord,

by what you have done;

I will shout for joy

because of the works of your hands.

How magnificent are your works, Lord,

how profound your thoughts!

A stupid person does not know,

a fool does not understand this:

though the wicked sprout like grass

and all evildoers flourish,

they will be eternally destroyed.

But you, Lord, are exalted forever.

For indeed, Lord, your enemies —

indeed, your enemies will perish;

all evildoers will be scattered.

You have lifted up my horn

like that of a wild ox;

I have been anointed with the finest oil.

My eyes look at my enemies;

when evildoers rise against me,

my ears hear them.

The righteous thrive like a palm tree

and grow like a cedar tree in Lebanon.

Planted in the house of the Lord,

they thrive in the courts of our God.

They will still bear fruit in old age,

healthy and green,

to declare, “The Lord is just;

he is my rock,

and there is no unrighteousness in him.”

Psalm 93

God’s Eternal Reign

The Lord reigns! He is robed in majesty;

the Lord is robed, enveloped in strength.

The world is firmly established;

it cannot be shaken.

Your throne has been established

from the beginning;

you are from eternity.

The floods have lifted up, Lord,

the floods have lifted up their voice;

the floods lift up their pounding waves.

Greater than the roar of a huge torrent —

the mighty breakers of the sea —

the Lord on high is majestic.

Lord, your testimonies are completely reliable;

holiness adorns your house

for all the days to come.

Psalm 94

The Just Judge

Lord, God of vengeance —

God of vengeance, shine!

Rise up, Judge of the earth;

repay the proud what they deserve.

Lord, how long will the wicked —

how long will the wicked celebrate?

They pour out arrogant words;

all the evildoers boast.

Lord, they crush your people;

they oppress your heritage.

They kill the widow and the resident alien

and murder the fatherless.

They say, “The Lord doesn’t see it.

The God of Jacob doesn’t pay attention.”

Pay attention, you stupid people!

Fools, when will you be wise?

Can the one who shaped the ear not hear,

the one who formed the eye not see?

The one who instructs nations,

the one who teaches mankind knowledge —

does he not discipline?

The Lord knows the thoughts of mankind;

they are futile.

Lord, how happy is anyone you discipline

and teach from your law

to give him relief from troubled times

until a pit is dug for the wicked.

The Lord will not leave his people

or abandon his heritage,

for the administration of justice will again be righteous,

and all the upright in heart will follow it.

Who stands up for me against the wicked?

Who takes a stand for me against evildoers?

The Rock of Protection

If the Lord had not been my helper,

I would soon rest in the silence of death.

If I say, “My foot is slipping,”

your faithful love will support me, Lord.

When I am filled with cares,

your comfort brings me joy.

Can a corrupt throne be your ally,

a throne that makes evil laws?

They band together against the life of the righteous

and condemn the innocent to death.

But the Lord is my refuge;

my God is the rock of my protection.

He will pay them back for their sins

and destroy them for their evil.

The Lord our God will destroy them.

Psalm 95

Worship and Warning

Come, let’s shout joyfully to the Lord,

shout triumphantly to the rock of our salvation!

Let’s enter his presence with thanksgiving;

let’s shout triumphantly to him in song.

For the Lord is a great God,

a great King above all gods.

The depths of the earth are in his hand,

and the mountain peaks are his.

The sea is his; he made it.

His hands formed the dry land.

Come, let’s worship and bow down;

let’s kneel before the Lord our Maker.

For he is our God,

and we are the people of his pasture,

the sheep under his care.

Today, if you hear his voice:

Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah,

as on that day at Massah in the wilderness

where your ancestors tested me;

they tried me, though they had seen what I did.

For forty years I was disgusted with that generation;

I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray;

they do not know my ways.”

So I swore in my anger,

“They will not enter my rest.”

Close

Do you remember who quoted Psalm 91, verses 11-12 and what the circumstances were?  Yep, even the devil knows Scripture. You can read about when he tries to trick the hungry, thirsty, and exhausted Human-Jesus in three out of the four Gospels – Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, and Luke 4:1-13.  And as we know, Jesus knew scripture too and shot right back to that wily devil.  Matthew 4:5-7 says this:  Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written:

He will give his angels orders concerning you,

and they will support you with their hands

so that you will not strike

your foot against a stone.”

Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.”

That’s why we treasure the word of God in our hearts, so that we might not sin against Him.  We have to be on our guard in case that rascal tries to do the same to us.  

I don’t know wrote Psalm 92, but I wanna be that guy.  He is so excited about praising God.  I want to be obedient to all those directions so the blessing will be mine too!  Not only that, but I don’t want God to think I’m stupid.

Finally, isn’t cool to read Psalm 95 after having read the account of the 40 years of wanderings in the desert?  We actually know the stories of Meribah and Massah!  It’s all tied together.  It’s all one story that leads to Jesus.  Tell me what you think 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.