“Surely the wrath of man shall praise You; With the remainder of wrath You shall gird Yourself.”
Psalms 76:10 NKJV
The wrath of man is nothing compared to that of God, but it can be turned to praise to God.
Psalms 75:1
“We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks! For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near.”
Psalms 75:1 NKJV
Yes! God’s works declare His Name is near! Where His Great Name is, that is where He is!!!
Look around, look at all He has done – He is with me! What have I got to fear? What is fear? It is a tool of the devil, and I will not let it get the best of me. NEVER!
Psalms 74:1-2
“O God, why have You cast us off forever? Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture? Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old, The tribe of Your inheritance, which You have redeemed— This Mount Zion where You have dwelt.”
Psalms 74:1-2 NKJV
I can feel like this at times. Like God has left me to my own devices, but I know He bought me – Jesus bought me, with His blood – He won’t forsake me. Trials are to make me better and stronger.
Psalms 73:26-28
“My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish; You have destroyed all those who desert You for harlotry. But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, That I may declare all Your works.”
Psalms 73:26-28 NKJV
The Psalmist starts saying how he almost stumbled because he envied the lifestyle of the wicked. But he closes with this. It is good for him to draw near to the Lord, to put his trust in Him. Because in doing so, he will see all that the Lord has done and he can declare it – I.e. not keep it in.
Psalms 72:18-19
“Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who only does wondrous things! And blessed be His glorious name forever! And let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen.”
Psalms 72:18-19 NKJV
This chapter ends saying that this is the end of the prayers of David, perhaps this is the last of the Psalms he wrote? If so, what a great way to end them! What jumps out to me here is the fact that God only does wondrous things. At first, I thought it said wonderful – and He does those too, but this is a little different. Wonderful has been taken to mean good and pleasing to the beholder – but that isn’t always the case. Sometimes God does things that I may not see as wonderful, at least not in the moment, but it is still wondrous – because the great power that goes into it is, well, wondrous! I cannot fathom the power that God has and that He uses when He does ANYTHING. How can we forget just how powerful He truly is???
Psalms 71:12-13, 24
“O God, do not be far from me; O my God, make haste to help me! Let them be confounded and consumed Who are adversaries of my life; Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor Who seek my hurt. My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness all the day long; For they are confounded, For they are brought to shame Who seek my hurt.”
Psalms 71:12-13, 24 NKJV
These are two sets of verses, the first David is asking for God to “confound and confuse” those who would bring David hurt. At the end he writes how God has already done it. I believe David is writing in faith, knowing because he asked, God has already done it!
Psalms 70:1
“Make haste, O God, to deliver me! Make haste to help me, O Lord!”
Psalms 70:1 NKJV
I have always felt when praying, you shouldn’t put a timeline on God because time means nothing to Him. But here I see David isn’t putting a timeline on Him as much as he is asking Him to hurry. I think God can appreciate that!
Psalms 69:1-2, 13-15
“Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, Where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, Where the floods overflow me. But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Lord, in the acceptable time; O God, in the multitude of Your mercy, Hear me in the truth of Your salvation. Deliver me out of the mire, And let me not sink; Let me be delivered from those who hate me, And out of the deep waters. Let not the floodwater overflow me, Nor let the deep swallow me up; And let not the pit shut its mouth on me.”
Psalms 69:1-2, 13-15 NKJV
David begins this Psalm writing of despair – he is overwhelmed and scared. However, midway, he writes: “But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Lord, in the acceptable time; O God, in the multitude of Your mercy, Hear me in the truth of Your salvation.” And then speaks of how God will pull him from this despair. As I write this I’m in much the same boat. I’m feeling overwhelmed, like I’m drowning, but I too am praying and know that in His perfect time, He will deliver me.
Psalms 68:35
“O God, You are more awesome than Your holy places. The God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people. Blessed be God!”
Psalms 68:35 NKJV
I see this as a reminder – God is the Creator of all things – therefore He is greater than all things!!
Psalms 67:5-7
“Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. Then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us, And all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.”
Psalms 67:5-7 NKJV
I want to be careful not to read the wrong thing into this. God deserves our praise, no matter the circumstance. But at the same time – what can we bring the King of Glory other than our praise?
The Lampstand 