"Only Life Changes"

Usury is interest on money loaned. It is bad to do to an enemy, and worse to do to a brother in Christ. The Jews were forbidden to charge usury. It is a shame, but the poor, who can ill afford to pay high interest, are the very ones who have to pay unreasonable interest. Their credit is no good, so they pay unreasonable amounts to be able to borrow. The person loaning them this money is not helping them. He is digging them a hole they cannot get out of. Be kind to the poor. Except for the grace of God, you would be that poor. If we were to sum this lesson up in a few words, we would have to say these are instructions on how to get a permanent home in heaven. We are saved by grace and grace alone, but if we are saved we will live our life pleasing to God. The life we live before others would show the love of Jesus.
Psalm Chapter 15:1-5
A psalm of David.
LORD, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the LORD; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things will never be shaken.

“Psalm 15”: This psalm raises the question of qualifications for service in the tabernacle “The first verse , then answers that question by describing the man who has personal purity (verses 2-3a), and interpersonal integrity (verses 3b-5). Verses 1-5: Whereas (Psalm 14), focused on the way of the wicked (Psalm 15), concentrates on the way of the righteous (compare Psalm 1). The saved sinner is described as exhibiting indications of ethical integrity. These characteristics alternate in triplets of positive and negative descriptions. The whole psalm unfolds through a question-and-answer vehicle, and indeed it may be regarded as the ultimate Question and Answer session. With its focus on moral responsibility, the psalm offers a sequence of responses to the question of acceptable worship.
Heavenly Father, thank You that by grace through faith I have the privilege to enter into the presence of the Lord and abide in Christ and He in me. I pray that I may walk with integrity, truthfulness, humility, and grace, and I pray that in Your strength, I may bring forth godly works of righteousness for Your name’s sake. May my actions and attitudes reflect the godly characteristics that are pleasing in Your sight. This I ask in Jesus’ name, AMEN.

“{A Psalm of David.} LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill?”
(Psalm 15:1)

About “Psalm 14”: This psalm could be dedicated to the atheist. With the denial of God’s existence often comes the moral decay described (in Psalm 14 verses 1-6), and which was used by Paul to prove the universal depravity of the human race (Rom. 3:10-12~ As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”). While the “fool” may deny that God is, the righteous finds in Him the object of hopeful prayer for deliverance (verse 7).
For the director of music. Of David.
Psalm Chapter 14:1-7
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. The LORD looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. Do all these evildoers know nothing? They devour my people as though eating bread; they never call on the LORD. But there they are, overwhelmed with dread, for God is present in the company of the righteous. You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor, but the LORD is their refuge. Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restores his people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!
Father God, when I consider the depth of depravity to which humanity has fallen and the amazing redemptive price You paid to redeem my life from the pit of destruction, I can only praise and thank You with all my heart, and soul, and mind, and strength. May I never become indifferent to my great salvation or complacent in my Christian walk. May I live each day to Your praise and glory for You alone are worthy of all my praise and honour, not only in this world but throughout the eternal ages to come. Thank You heavenly Father, in Jesus’ Precious Name Amen.

“The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.”
(Psalm 14:2)

The Synoptic Gospels present Jesus sharing the Passover meal as His last supper with the disciples. He reinterpreted the common elements of the celebration in the light of a new covenant. The unleavened bread became His body(Mark 14:22~While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”) and the wine became His blood (Mark 14:23-26 ~ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.)
Customarily, the head of a Jewish household would explain each of the elements of the Passover meal. When explaining the bread, He would announce. This is the bread of affliction which our ancestors ate when they came from the land of Egypt.” He was not suggestion that it was the literal bread eaten by their ancestors, which was by then over 1,000 years old, but that it represented the bread their ancestors ate. This was one way Jewish people could identify with their ancestors whom God had first redeemed from captivity.
The head of the household normally blessed the bread and wine at other meals as well, but at Passover, when four cups of red wine were drunk, he would lift the cup a hand~breadeth above the table and recite a special blessing. Jewish men normally sat in chairs for meals, but they reclined on couches in typical Greek fashion when eating at banquets like the Passover. With their feet pointed away from the center of the room (When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. Luke 7:36-38) and their heads more toward the center(One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to Jesus. John 13:23) they generally reclined on one elbow, using the other arm to reach the food on the table beside them.

Jesus remarked about the “blood of the new covenant” {“You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. John 14:28}looked back when God redeemed Israel from Egypt {Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.” Exodus 24:8}. By His blood being “shed for many,” Jesus possibly alluded to the suffering Servant pouring out His life (Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Isaiah 53:12). He saw Himself as redeeming His people by His own death.

Jewish people customarily finished, their meal by singing more psalms from the (Hallel~a portion of the service for certain Jewish festivals, consisting of Psalms 113–118~ comprise an important unit called the Hallel, which in Hebrew means “praise.” Composed after the exile, these six psalms are recited together by observant Jews during some of the major holidays on the Jewish calendar.). Likewise Jesus disciples sang “a hymn” (Mark 14:26~When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.) before departing for Gethsemane, where they would in the end desert Jesus

Psalm 13 Addresses anxious believers who have been beat up by the enemy of their soul, just as the lamenting David does. His misery is repeated over and over and continually petitions God for deliverance. David trusts in God’s loyal loving kindness, His salvation and bountiful love and care but his anger. The distance between four occurrences of “How long”, punctuated with question marks (Psalm 13: 1-2), and the confident and joyful song at the end (Psalm 13:6), is covered only with prayer (Psalm 13:3-4), and trust (Psalm13:5).
Psalm Chapter 13:1-6
How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death, and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall. But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the LORD’s praise, for he has been good to me.

Father God, thank You for the example of David who despite the many problems, pressures, disappointments and pain that he was called upon to suffer, trusted in Your never-failing promises and kept in his remembrance Your never-ending faithfulness. Help me to follow his example when life’s pressures bear down on me and keep me under the shadow on Your goodness and grace – this I ask in Jesus Precious Name, Amen.

“How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?”
(Psalm 13:2)

It is supposed that David penned this psalm in Saul’s reign, when there was a general decay of honesty and piety both in court and country, which he here complains of to God, and very feelingly, for he himself suffered by the treachery of his false friends and the insolence of his sworn enemies. I. He begs help of God, because there were none among men whom he durst trust ( {Psalm 12:1- 2~Help, LORD, for no one is faithful anymore; those who are loyal have vanished from the human race. Everyone lies to their neighbor; they flatter with their lips but harbor deception in their hearts.). II. He foretels the destruction of his proud and threatening enemies (Psalm 12:3-4~May the LORD silence all flattering lips and every boastful tongue ~ those who say, “By our tongues we will prevail; our own lips will defend us—who is lord over us?”). He assures himself and others that, how ill soever things went now , God would preserve and secure to himself his own people and would certainly make good his promises to them . Whether this psalm was penned in Saul’s reign or no, it is certainly calculated for a bad reign; and perhaps David, in spirit foresaw that some of his successors would bring things to as bad a pass as is here described, and treasured up this psalm for the use of the church then. “O tempora, O mores!—Oh the times! Oh the manners!’’ To the chief musician upon Sheminith. A psalm of David.
Psalm Chapter 12:1-8
For the director of music. According to sheminith. A psalm of David.
Help, LORD, for no one is faithful anymore; those who are loyal have vanished from the human race. Everyone lies to their neighbor; they flatter with their lips but harbor deception in their hearts. May the LORD silence all flattering lips and every boastful tongue~ those who say, “By our tongues we will prevail; our own lips will defend us~who is lord over us?” “Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will protect them from those who malign them.” And the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times. You, LORD, will keep the needy safe and will protect us forever from the wicked, who freely strut about when what is vile is honored by the human race.
Father God, the world seems to be spiralling out of control, but I praise and thank You that You are in control and that it is not Your will that any should perish, but that all come to faith in Christ for salvation. Use me to be a true witness to the truth of the glorious gospel of grace~ and as the world is sinking deeper into sin, use me to help rescue those that are perishing – to your praise and glory in Jesus Precious Name I pray, Amen.

“{To the chief Musician upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David.} Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.”
(Psalm 12:1)

In this psalm we have David’s struggle with and triumph over a strong temptation to distrust God and betake himself to indirect means for his own safety in a time of danger. It is supposed to have been penned when he began to feel the resentments of Saul’s envy, and had had the javelin thrown at him once and again.

“Psalm Chapter 11:1-7
In the LORD I take refuge. How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain. For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart. When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD is on his heavenly throne. He observes everyone on earth; his eyes examine them. The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion. On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur; a scorching wind will be their lot. For the LORD is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will see his face.

Father God, there are times that I feel overwhelmed by all that is coming on the earth as evil is waxing worse and worse and all godly foundations of truth are being eroded by a God-hating, Christ-rejecting world. May I read, mark, learn and inwardly digest Your Word of truth so that in Christ I may stand fast in this evil day, knowing that You are my foundation and the Rock upon which I stand – an eternal foundation Stone, which can never be shaken for You alone are God – thank You in Jesus Precious Name, Amen.

“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
(Psalm 11:3)

“Psalm 10”: In contrast to the prayer at the end of the preceding psalm, David now points to the present condition in the world, where God seems to have permitted the wicked to triumph over the righteous (verses 1-11). He then appeals to the Lord to act, to set the matter right, confident that the King of the world will do so (verses 12-18).
“Prayer for the overflow of the wicked”
Psalm Chapter 10:1-18
Lord, why do you stand so far away? Why do you hide in times of trouble? In arrogance the wicked relentlessly pursue their victims; let them be caught in the schemes they have devised. For the wicked one boasts about his own cravings; the one who is greedy curses and despises the Lord. In all his scheming, the wicked person arrogantly thinks, “There’s no accountability, since there’s no God.” His ways are always secure; your lofty judgments have no effect on him; he scoffs at all his adversaries. He says to himself, “I will never be moved from generation to generation I will be without calamity.” Cursing, deceit, and violence fill his mouth; trouble and malice are under his tongue. He waits in ambush near settlements; he kills the innocent in secret places. His eyes are on the lookout for the helpless; he lurks in secret like a lion in a thicket. He lurks in order to seize a victim; he seizes a victim and drags him in his net. So he is oppressed and beaten down; helpless people fall because of the wicked one’s strength. He says to himself, “God has forgotten; he hides his face and will never see.” Rise up, Lord God! Lift up your hand. Do not forget the oppressed. Why has the wicked person despised God? He says to himself, “You will not demand an account.” But you yourself have seen trouble and grief, observing it in order to take the matter into your hands. The helpless one entrusts himself to you; you are a helper of the fatherless. Break the arm of the wicked, evil person, until you look for his wickedness, but it can’t be found. The Lord is King forever and ever; the nations will perish from his land. Lord, you have heard the desire of the humble; you will strengthen their hearts. You will listen carefully, doing justice for the fatherless and the oppressed so that mere humans from the earth may terrify them no more.

Father God, I lift up our brothers and sisters who are suffering in so many places of the world, by the acts of wicked men. Arise Lord and lift up Your hand. Hear the cries of Your people and send them swift deliverance, in Jesus Precious name Amen.

“Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?”
(Psalm 10:1)

Psalm 9 is a classic example of a lament psalm. As you recall, a lament psalm has five ingredients to its structure, the most prominent of which is the lament itself. The lament is where the psalmist exposes the enemies of God – who are also usually his enemies as well. The title of this psalm reads To the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Death of the Son.” A Psalm of David. The title indicates for us that David wrote this psalm to God Himself (generally regarded as the “Chief Musician”) to a popularly known tune in his day (in Hebrew, Muth Labben). In this psalm, David celebrates the help and goodness of God with a big vision for the nations. While most believe the title Muth Labben refers to a tune, others suggest that it refers to an instrument upon which the song was played. Some (as in the New King James Version) associate the title with the phrase The Death of the Son, and apply that title as the ancient Chaldee version does: “Concerning the death of the Champion who went out between the camps,” referring to Goliath. Perhaps David wrote this psalm remembering the victory over Goliath from the vantage point of many years since that triumph. “From this point in the Psalter up to Psalm 148 the versions differ over the numbering of the psalms, since the LXX[Septuagint] and Vulgate, followed by the Roman church, count Psalms 9 and 10 as a single poem, while the Protestant churches follow the Hebrew reckoning.”
Psalm Chapter 9:1-20
“A Psalm of Thanksgiving Celebration for God’s Justice”
For the choir director: according to Muth-labben. A psalm of David.
I will thank the Lord with all my heart; I will declare all your wondrous works. I will rejoice and boast about you; I will sing about your name, Most High. When my enemies retreat, they stumble and perish before you. For you have upheld my just cause; you are seated on your throne as a righteous judge. You have rebuked the nations: You have destroyed the wicked; you have erased their name forever and ever. The enemy has come to eternal ruin; you have uprooted the cities, and the very memory of them has perished. But the Lord sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for judgment. And he judges the world with righteousness; he executes judgment on the nations with fairness. The Lord is a refuge for the persecuted, a refuge in times of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you because you have not abandoned those who seek you, Lord. Sing to the Lord, who dwells in Zion; proclaim his deeds among the nations. For the one who seeks an accounting for bloodshed remembers them; he does not forget the cry of the oppressed. Be gracious to me, Lord; consider my affliction at the hands of those who hate me. Lift me up from the gates of death, so that I may declare all your praises. I will rejoice in your salvation within the gates of Daughter Zion. The nations have fallen into the pit they made; their foot is caught in the net they have concealed. The Lord has made himself known; he has executed justice, snaring the wicked by the work of their hands. Higgaion. Selah
The wicked will return to Sheol~all the nations that forget God. For the needy will not always be forgotten; the hope of the oppressed will not perish forever. Rise up, Lord! Do not let mere humans prevail; let the nations be judged in your presence. Put terror in them, Lord; let the nations know they are only humans. Selah

Father God, thank You for the great encouragement I receive from the wonderful Word of You Father God, and how I praise You that the day is coming when You will judge the ungodly in righteousness. Help me to look to You no matter what difficulties and dangers arise in my life and may my trust in You be strengthened with ever passing day as I continue to prove Your faithfulness to the truth of Your Word. Praise God that Your Word abides for ever and that You have established Your throne in righteousness and justice, in Jesus Precious Name Amen.

“But the LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment.”
(Psalm 9:7)

The title of this psalm reads, To the Chief Musician. On the instrument of Gath. A Psalm of David. It indicates the audience of the psalm (the Chief Musician), the author of the psalm (of David) and the sound of the psalm (the instrument of Gath). In this psalm David speaks of the glory of God, and how the glory of man and his destiny reflect upon God.
“The Lord’s Glory and Man’s Dignity”
Psalm Chapter 8:1-9
“God’s Glory, Human Dignity”
(For the choir director: on the Gittith. A psalm of David.)
Lord, our Lord, how magnificent is your name throughout the earth! You have covered the heavens with your majesty. From the mouths of infants and nursing babies, you have established a stronghold on account of your adversaries in order to silence the enemy and the avenger. When I observe your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you set in place, what is a human being that you remember him, a son of man that you look after him? You made him little less than God and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all the sheep and oxen, as well as the animals in the wild, the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea that pass through the currents of the seas. Lord, our Lord, how magnificent is your name throughout the earth!
There are three wonderful and important truths about man found in this psalm; when these truths are denied or neglected, man never is what God made him to be.
1) God made man.
2) God made man something glorious.
3) God made man for a high and worthy destiny.
All three of these principles are rooted in what God has made man; they do not exist nor are they fulfilled from the plan or work of man. That is why this glorious psalm about man is even more so a psalm about God. “The most striking feature of Psalm 8…is its description of man and his place in the created order. But the psalm does not begin by talking about man. It begins with a celebration of the surpassing majesty of God.”

Father God, I am astonished that You should love this race of fallen man so much that You purposed to become a Man and live a perfect life so that I might be saved from my sins, by faith in Jesus. Thank You for all that You have done for me, O Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth. Thank You that You are mindful of me , mindful of man. Thank You that by grace through faith in Jesus Christ we will witness the full and final restoration of man’s appointed position as Your chosen representative, through Christ’s returns from heaven to rule and reign. I thank You, praise You and give You all the glory in Jesus Precious Name Amen.

“What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?”
(Psalm 8:4)

The Hebrew title to this psalm reads: A Meditation of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning the words of Cush, a Benjamite. The New King James Version translates the Hebrew word “shiggaion” as meditation, though the word is difficult to translate and is used elsewhere only in Habakkuk 3:1. The specific occasion is not easily connected with an event recorded in the historical books of the Old Testament; it may be a veiled reference to either Shimei’s accusations against David in 2 Samuel 16:5 or to Saul’s slanders against David. More likely this Cush, a Benjamite, was simply another partisan of Saul against David. The psalm contains both David’s cry of anguish and shout of confidence in God’s deliverance.

“Psalm Chapter 7:1-17
“The Lord Implored to defend the Psalmist Against The Wicked”
Prayer for Justice
“A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.”
Lord my God, I seek refuge in you; save me from all my pursuers and rescue me, or they will tear me like a lion, ripping me apart with no one to rescue me. Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is injustice on my hands, if I have done harm to one at peace with me or have plundered my adversary without cause, may an enemy pursue and overtake me; may he trample me to the ground and leave my honor in the dust.Selah Rise up, Lord, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my adversaries; awake for me; you have ordained a judgment. Let the assembly of peoples gather around you; take your seat on high over it. The Lord judges the peoples; vindicate me, Lord, according to my righteousness and my integrity. Let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous. The one who examines the thoughts and emotions is a righteous God. My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart. God is a righteous judge and a God who shows his wrath every day. If anyone does not repent, he will sharpen his sword; he has strung his bow and made it ready. He has prepared his deadly weapons; he tips his arrows with fire. See, the wicked one is pregnant with evil, conceives trouble, and gives birth to deceit. He dug a pit and hollowed it out but fell into the hole he had made. His trouble comes back on his own head; his own violence comes down on top of his head. I will thank the Lord for his righteousness; I will sing about the name of the Lord Most High.

Father God, How I praise You and thank You that the evil of wicked men will one day be judged and those that have been accused unjustly by people who are at enmity with God will one day be vindicated. Thank You that Jesus Christ’s death on the cross conquered sin and death and that all who trust in Christ as Saviour will one day be exonerated. Help me to patiently endure in these increasingly dark days and may my life be pleasing to the You. I thank You, praise You and give You all the glory in Jesus Precious Name Amen.
“Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.”
(Psalm 7:9)