Psalm 60 is a different kind of Psalm of King David than we have read. The difference is David starts by stating God has not been with them, that they have been defeated in battle, that God has given them wine that has made them stagger. It’s as if God is their enemy. But David calls on God to restore them, to give them victory over their enemies as He has done in the past. David “reminds” God once again of the victories He has given Israel before, and the promises He has made to them. He concludes with confidence God will deliver them from their enemies. This pattern is helpful for us, because we all go through times in our lives when we have been defeated. When that happens, David helps us remember the LORD has been with us in the past, and He is with us now. We must trust in His faithfulness, and call out in confidence based on who He is, regardless of our circumstances. That challenge “says easy and does hard,” when we’re in the midst of it, which is why it’s always helpful to learn these truths in easier times, so they will be there for us to remember in the difficult ones. To sum it up succinctly, “Don’t doubt in the darkness, what you’ve seen in the light.”
In Psalm 61, King David praises the LORD and calls on Him to bless “the king,” who would be himself, forever. We might think, “What a selfish prayer.” Not at all. It is not selfish to desire the LORD’s blessing in our lives forever. Indeed, unless we experience that blessing our lives will never be what He created them to be. It’s helpful for us to thank the LORD for His blessings, and to call on Him to continue those blessings, and as important as our relationship with Him–forever!
In Psalm 62, King David praises the LORD and reminds us of a vital truth: it doesn’t matter whether we are “lowborn” or “highborn” our end is the same. What matters in each person’s life is to trust the LORD, to praise and honor Him. As we do that, each life becomes valuable.
Psalm 63 is another Psalm of praise from King David. He extols the LORD and reminds us His loving kindness is better than life. This psalm is one we ought to turn to when our lives are going well, and we want to offer the LORD our thanks and praise for watching over us and providing us all we need.
Psalm 64 starts with King David writing, “Hear me, O God, as I voice my complaint.” This tells us no subject is off limits for us as we turn to God in prayer. As usual, David states his case before God, tells of God’s goodness, and closes with assurance that God will vindicate him and other righteous people. This message has become clear to us by now!
As we turn to Luke 12, Jesus devotes the first twelve verses to warning His disciples about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, to encouraging them not to worry about those who could kill their bodies, but not their souls, and to remember the Holy Spirit would tell them what to say in future times when they were arrested for serving Him. He closes out the section by warning them about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which is attributing to Satan the work of Jesus.
As we move to verse 13 and following, Luke records Jesus interaction with a man who asked Jesus to divide his father’s property between him and his brother. This seems odd on the surface, but rabbis were used often for such matters. Jesus showed He wasn’t a typical rabbi, by saying He was not a judge between them. Then He used the opportunity to tell a parable about a rich man, whose arrogance left him with the assumption the biggest thing he had to worry about in life was where to store his riches. The LORD showed the man he was a fool, when he told him, “This very night your soul is required of you.” Jesus’ punchline was “So is the one who lays up treasure for himself, but is not rich toward God.” We must always remember our financial resources are not ours. They have been entrusted to us by God, and He expects us to manage them wisely, to meet our needs, and to advance His Kingdom.
Next, Jesus told His disciples the same thing He told them in Matthew 6:19-34: not to worry about their needs, but to seek God and His Kingdom first. Then they would have everything they needed. Here in Luke 12, Jesus went on to remind the disciples both to store up their treasures in heaven, and to steward their master’s good’s well, because the reward for such behavior is great blessing from their master. Luke seems to have combined Matthew 6 and Matthew 25 in this passage, or it could well be Jesus instructed the disciples on this matter more than once, because it is so important, and matters pertaining to stewardship are often challenging for us to remember in life with only one hearing!