angela hormberg

Tag: Meditation

  • Psalm 36

    Psalm 36

    Commonplace –

    “How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings” (Psalm 36:7).

    David begins Psalm 36 with a meditation on the wicked. The wicked person

    1. has no fear of God (v.1),
    2. flatters himself in his own eyes (v.2),
    3. speaks only lies and sinful words (v.3),
    4. has left off being wise and doing good (v.3),
    5. devises mischief (v.4),
    6. sets himself up in a way that is not good (v.4), and
    7. does not hate evil (v.4).

    David then turns his thoughts to God. God

    1. is merciful, and his faithfulness reaches the clouds (v.5),
    2. is righteous, and his righteousness is like “the great mountains” (v.6),
    3. is wise and his judgments are like a “great deep” (v.6),
    4. “preserves man and beast” (v.6), and
    5. is excellent in his “lovingkindness” (v.7).

    Here before us are the two paths: evil and good. We can choose to be like the evil man, or we can choose to mirror the goodness of our God. After reading the comparison, we are left to wonder: is there really any choice? David completes his thought by declaring that between the two, men will choose the clearly better path and “put their trust under the shadow of [God’s] wings” (v. 7). A person who chooses to seek goodness

    1. will be completely satisfied with the fullness of God’s house and drink from the river of His pleasures (v. 8) and
    2. will live in the light of God, where the “fountain of life” resides (v. 9).

    David ends by praying for those who choose to follow the path of goodness: that God will continue to extend his lovingkindness and righteousness to those who know him (v. 10)

    Finally, he closes in prayer regarding himself: that God will keep pride and the wicked far from him, which have been the downfall of those who have chosen the path of evil (v. 12).

    Matthew Henry notes the following related to Psalm 36:

    “If, in singing this psalm, our hearts be duly affected with the hatred of sin and satisfaction in God’s lovingkindness, we sing it with grace and understanding” (297).

      Works Cited

      Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 36.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

      Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

      © 2025 Angela Hormberg

    1. Psalm 27

      Psalm 27

      Commonplace –

      “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple” (Psalm 27:4).

      Psalm 27 is a meditation on “Whom shall I fear?” (v.1), if I have God as my light, salvation, and strength.

      This meditation immediately causes David to recall an instance, where God has saved him. His enemies came to kill him, and they stumbled and fell. (v.2) This reminder encourages him that even if enemies and war come against him, he should not fear in his heart, knowing God is with him. (v.3) Knowing God has led him to desire God even more, asking God to allow him to be with God in eternity, which will be the ultimate victory. There he will sing with joy. (v.4-6) He then petitions God to hear him, have mercy on him, answer him, not hide his face from him, to never leave him, to never forsake him, even if his parents forsake him. (v.10) He asks God to teach him and deliver him from his enemies. (v.11-12) Finally, he declares he would have been lost without God and encourages others to “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord” (v.13-14). What a lovely meditation! We have the privilege of following along with David as he moves from thought to thought, giving us a perfect example of how we, too, can meditate on God.

      Matthew Henry notes:

      “[Psalm 27] is very expressive of the pious and devout affections with which gracious souls are carried out towards God at all times, especially in times of trouble” (269).

      Works Cited

      Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 27.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

      Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

      © 2025 Angela Hormberg

    2. Psalm 8

      Psalm 8

      Commonplace –

      “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of mine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger” (Psalm 8:2).

      and

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

      “O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens” (Psalm 8:1 and 9).

      David begins and ends this contemplative psalm with the same verse, praising God for his excellent name and His glory. In Psalm 8, David marvels over God’s kindness towards man:

      1. Even the children of men are recognized and loved by God, speaking God’s word in strength, stilling the enemy (v.2.).
      2. Even man, himself, is loved by God, placed a little lower than angels and above all creation.

      Why is God’s kindness so amazing? Because God as Creator does not have to love His creation, yet He does. Throughout the psalm, David recognizes God as Creator of all things: the heavens, the moon, the stars, beasts of the field, fowl of the air, fish and everything else in and of the sea. And God, Creator of all things, is mindful of everything He created. Note David’s emphasis on God’s recognition of children. Children were not prized, as they are often not prized today, but God takes notice of them and gives strength to children through his Word. Probably God’s recognition of His Creation is more of a marvel to David, who as King of Israel was aware of how difficult it is to keep an eye on his kingdom. It’s impossible for an earthly king to be attune to all the goings on of His Kingdom, yet God is mindful of the entire world and everything in it.

      But we can be mindful of the One, who is mindful of all things. We can acknowledge how excellent He is. And that is what Matthew Henry points us to in his summary.

      “This psalm is a solemn meditation on, and admiration of, the glory and greatness of God, of which we are all concerned to think highly and honourably” (216).

      and

      “When we are observing the glory of God in the kingdom of nature and providence we should be led by that, and through that, to the contemplation of his glory in the kingdom of grace” (216).

      This psalm is an excellent example of how to meditate on God’s word, thinking about an aspect of God and considering it.

      Works Cited

      Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 8.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

      Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

      © 2025 Angela Hormberg

    3. Psalm 1

      Psalm 1

      Commonplace –

      “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful” (Psalm 1:1).

      Matthew Henry has much to say on this Psalm, so I will let him take the lead.

      “This is a psalm of instruction concerning good and evil, setting before us life and death, the blessing and the curse, that we may take the right way which leads to happiness and avoid that which will certainly end in our misery and ruin. The different character and condition of godly people and wicked people, those that serve God and those that serve him not, is here plainly stated in a few words; so that ever man, if he will be faithful to himself, may here see his own face and then read his own doom. That division of the children of men into saints and sinners, righteous and unrighteous, the children of God and the children of the wicked one, as it is ancient, ever since the struggle began between sin and grace, the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, so it is lasting, and will survive all other divisions and subdivisions of men into high and low, rich and poor, bond and free; for by this men’s everlasting state will be determined, and the distinction will last as long as heaven and hell” (194).

      Further on, Henry continues,

      “whoever collected the psalms of David (probably it was Ezra) with good reason put this psalm first, as a preface to the rest, because it is absolutely necessary to the acceptance of our devotions that we be righteous before God (for it is only the prayer of the upright that is his delight), and therefore that we may be right in our notions of blessedness and in our choice of the way that leads to it. Those are not fit to put up good prayers who do not walk in good ways” (194).

      And so we begin with Psalm 1. As Matthew Henry noted, it is a psalm of instruction. I highlighted the first verse, because the writer states very clearly his position and the position of any person who chooses the path of good. In order to be blessed, a person must choose to avoid

      1. ungodly counsel,
      2. becoming a stumbling block to others, and
      3. being a person who derides others.

      Instead, a person who desires to be blessed must choose to delight in God’s law and make it his meditation all day. Such a person will be firmly rooted and watered in blessing.

      This psalm is connected to the final psalm, Psalm 150, of the Book of Psalms. Matthew Henry notes this connection in his opening to Psalm 150.

      “The first and last of the psalms have both the same number of verses, are both short, and very memorable. But the scope of them is different: the first psalm is an elaborate instruction in our duty, to prepare us for the comforts of our devotion; [Psalm 150] is all rapture and transport, and perhaps was penned on purpose to be the conclusion of these sacred songs, to show what is the design of them all, and that is to assist us in praising God” (645).

      Therefore, let us begin with the end in mind: a life of praising God.

      Works Cited

      Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 1.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

      Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

      © 2025 Angela Hormberg

    4. Psalm 119:97-104

      Psalm 119:97-104

      Mem

      Commonplace –

      “Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.

      Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me” (Psalm 119:97-98.

      Matthew Henry expounds on what it means to meditate.

      “What we love we love to think of; by this it appeared that David loved the word of God that it was his meditation. He not only read the book of the law, but digested what he read in his thoughts, and was delivered into it as into a mould: it was his meditation not only in the night, when he was silent and solitary, and had nothing else to do, but in the day, when he was full of business and company; nay, and all the day; some good thoughts were interwoven with his common thoughts, so full was he of the word of God” (Henry 578).

      As mentioned in the previous post, Mem, meaning water, “represents the sea of Torah, the ocean of Talmud, knowledge, wisdom” (“Mem”). David’s reference to God’s law being his “meditation all the day” means David was allowing the ocean of knowledge that is God’s law to wash over him. Like baptismal water symbolically washes away our sin, so meditating on God’s law washes our thoughts clean. As Henry noted, this allowed “some good thoughts” to interrupt David’s common thoughts, directing him to higher things. When we are meditating on higher things, we are not distracted by worrying thoughts of the day or wallowing in the mucky, dirty water of sinful thoughts.

      Works Cited

      Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 119.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

      Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

      “Mem”. Angela Hormberg, Angela Hormberg, https://angelahormberg.com/2025/06/26/psalm-119-mem/, Accessed 29 June 2025.

      © 2025 Angela Hormberg

    5. Psalm 119:41-48

      Psalm 119:41-48

      Vav or Vau

      Commonplace –

      “And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved.

      My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes” (Psalm 119:47-48).

      The picture David paints here is one of worship: delight, hands lifted up. One can almost picture his face with eyes closed lifted upward toward heaven with a gentle smile on his lips, simply basking in the complete satisfaction of God. That’s a beautiful place to be: satisfied, content. It’s reminiscent of another scene of complete contentment, when on the sixth day God “saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). It seems perfect that these two verses would be found under the sixth part, Vav: “As the number six, the VAV denotes physical completion. The world was created in six days, as explained in Genesis: The first word of Genesis, Bereishit, (‘in the beginning’), can be broken up to form ‘He created six’ (Barah Shit)” (“Vav”). Complete satisfaction.

      Matthew Henry points out the significance of David mentioning his hands raised and his thoughts meditating on God’s commandments.

      “By this it will appear that we truly love God’s commandments, if we apply both our minds and our hands to them” (Henry 569).

      Works Cited

      Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 119.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

      Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

      “Vav”. https://bje.org.au/knowledge-centre/jewish-languages/hebrew-alphabet/vav/, Accessed 31 May 2025.

      © 2025 Angela Hormberg