Page 69 - Psalms Ebook

kindness is everlasting.” If you go through the whole Psalm, he keeps
saying that over and over. Now this is more than a Psalm where one
person reads one part and then there is an answer to it, a responsive
reading. This Psalm is the history of Israel. You could actually take out
of the Psalm, “His mercy endures forever,” and you would have a
running historical commentary.

For example, look at verse 3, “Give thanks to the LORD of lords.”
Verse 4, “To Him who alone does great wonders.” Verse 5, “To Him
who made the heavens with skill.” Verse 6, “To Him who spread out
the earth above the waters.” Verse 7: “To Him who made the great
lights.” Verse 8, “The sun to rule by day.” Verse 9: “The moon and
stars to rule by night.”

You see, you can take that out, but God has put it in. In other words,
here is the history of Israel and in between the lines is the loving
kindness of the Lord. You can have a history without that, but God says
I want you to see something. That in between the history of Israel, in
between every line, is the great mercy of the Lord.

You have a history as well. If you look back at it I bet you would say,
His mercy has been written in between the lines of my history also. His
mercy has been written in between everything. As I look back I can say,
I went here. “The mercy of the Lord endures forever.” And I made this
decision. “The mercy of the Lord endures forever.” And then I
invested here. “The mercy of the Lord endures forever.” It is the mercy
of God written in between the lines.

And so you have one group of Psalms that says God reigns, God is on
His throne, God is in charge, God rules. Then you have another group of
history saying, I decide, I choose, I go, I make my own choice. God
reigns with a capital “R,” but it is also true man reigns with a little “r,”
and we also have a free will.

Now, for thousands of years men have tried to put together the Royal
Psalms and the Historical Psalms, and in their mind they tried to
understand what is God’s part and what is man’s part. God reigns. How
does that affect me? Now, relate that to prayer. If God reigns, if God
has ordained, if God has a will, can my prayer change the will of
God?

Let me state the principle up front and then try to illustrate it for you.
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