Pastor's Ponderings: Old Testament bible study of Psalm 55 (May 21, 2026)

May 21, 2026:  Thursday Bible Study on Psalm 55

Blessings and Peace for you this morning, and every day. At 5:30AM today, I was out in the refreshing quiet and comfort of 63 degrees. God's creation is beautiful! I can't quite say the same thing for the morning at 9AM when the heat was coming up and the drivers were getting much more aggressive. Even in our lives, someone who we have trusted, perhaps a friend, or a casual acquaintance, or a family member, or a co-worker with whom we have had a solid relationship at work, seems to suddenly not be the person we thought they were in our life.  Perhaps there has been a clash of values, or morality and ethics, combined with aggressive behaviors that are tough to get through, especially when our previous relationship with that person seemed to be, or perhaps even truly was, so good. There is a great deal in this Psalm 55 about just such problems. The Psalmist writes that it is not always enmity from outside running over us, sometimes it is from a person, or group of people with whom we have been close. The Psalmist then tells us, and this is truly a great way to deal with such difficult circumstances, throw it at God! Our prayers are not always soft, gentle, reminders to God about the needs of those for whom we care. Sometimes our prayers are a vehement striking out at God. I know what you are saying. "What?! We can't pray like that to God!"  Did you ever have a two- or three-year-old tear into you because they were not getting the good thing that they felt was their right at that moment? Did you stop loving them because this was just step too far? Of course you didn't. Hopefully, you approached them in the calm of your greatest parenting skills, gently and lovingly reminding them of better ways to behave and filter their anger out so that they can act decently. Since God is our parent, should we expect anything different from God? It really is OK to let-fly in our prayers of frustration. God still loves us, and if we trust Him, His answer will come, maybe not immediately, but trust me, it will come. Or maybe I should have said, trust God. When we lose confidence or feel hurt because of the breaking of a close relationship, God's answer may be a new relationship or help in ways that really surprise us. Psalm 55 confronts the person who has become a deceiver. God is always faithful to His children. Of course, you and I know that sin is constantly breaking into people's lives, and sometimes it does more than break in, it breaks people's lives, both the perpetrator's life, and the life of its victim. The light of the life in which we live is the presence of our LORD, which can't be extinguished by sin. We need to always remember this.

Psalm 55 is a Psalm for the betrayals of trust that too many people live with today. One such circumstance is rape. It is most often accomplished at the action of people who have been trusted, a loving family member, a co-worker, a teacher or coach, or any other person who has been in a relationship with the victim. Maybe this Psalm speaks to each of us in a much stronger way when we read it in the context of such a violent breaking of trust.

Today is the final day for our Psalm study until the Fall of this year. I know that we are all inundated by the quantity of emails which we get, and some of you who have been a part of this particular study may feel that it is one more thing too far. With the encouragement of others in this study group, I have been thinking about an expansion of my Monday, Tuesday, Thursday Scriptural studies. If you feel that this is too much time for you to commit to doing Bible study, then you always have the option to hit the button to place it in your trash bin of deleted emails.

A Reminder - there will be no Acts of the Apostles studies for two weeks. They will resume on Monday, June 8th. Thanks again for letting me share with you during the week too.

With the Love of Christ, Pastor Kim