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Psalms for Ukraine

Songs of Hope in Times of War

Psalm 133: Unity

Psalm 133: Unity

What would it take for people today to co-exist in peace and harmony? I know a Russian pastor whose attempts to bring peace was one of the most moving things I’ve heard from Ukraine in recent months. At the start of the war he wrote a public letter to Ukrainian Christians to ask for forgiveness for his country’s actions, and wrote a moving account of meeting to pray with them, with many tears. He did so at risk of his life, and he and his family have now had to go...

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Psalm 122: Hope

Psalm 122: Hope

One interesting outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic was the resurgence in 2020 of the word ‘hope’. It was everywhere: shop windows, newspapers, social media. My favourite was driving past a bus stop and seeing the words ‘THERE IS HOPE’ in large print; as I got closer I...

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Psalm 121: God Watches Over You

Psalm 121: God Watches Over You

When we are afraid of the threats that surround us, where do we turn to for help? This traveller’s song begins with fear. As the pilgrims travelled to ancient Jerusalem, they looked to the mountains surrounding them and wondered where their help would come from (v1)....

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Psalm 120: Dissatisfaction

Psalm 120: Dissatisfaction

It is often said that ‘life is a journey’. For years we can be oblivious to the fact that we’re moving in a particular direction; in other phases of life, we are more deliberate about our direction of travel. What is it that awakens us to these more intentional parts...

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Psalm 86: Help!

Psalm 86: Help!

‘Help! I need somebody; Help! Not just anybody; Help! You know I need someone; Help!’ (- The Beatles) Who do you turn to when you’re in need of help? We modern people are not as independent as we think we are. We all need somebody to lean on - someone who can take the...

read more
Psalm 85: Harmony

Psalm 85: Harmony

In wartime, the thing most desired above all else is harmony: the end of discord and the putting right of all things. Yet knowing how to achieve it is a question almost impossible to answer. How do we bring to an end falsehood, injustice and confusion, and at the same...

read more
Psalm 84: Homesickness

Psalm 84: Homesickness

A recent infographic about the war in Ukraine shook me. It highlighted the vast numbers of refugees (over 6.5 million people) crossing into neighbouring countries between February and May 2022. And behind every single number is a personal crisis, an uprooting, a...

read more
Psalm 83: Shelter

Psalm 83: Shelter

“War, children: it’s just a shot away.” The Rolling Stones’ song ‘Gimme Shelter’ was written during the violent era of the Vietnam War, when pillage and burning were on TV screens daily. Mick Jagger commented that as well as being an end-of-the-world song it was also...

read more
Psalm 82

Psalm 82

Where can we find justice, when the judges of the world are unjust?  This Psalm imagines a court case, where God had previously given judicial authority to human leaders (here referred to as ‘gods’, because of this delegated god-like status). They had failed to...

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Psalm 81

Psalm 81

When I doubt that God is good, how can I trust Him? By looking at what he offers in Jesus.  This is another psalm that looks back with great rejoicing (v1-5) on how God famously saved his people from slavery in Egypt (v6-7), recorded in the Old Testament book of...

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Psalm 80

Psalm 80

When we are experiencing hard times, it is easy to ask, ‘Does God up there really understand what I’m going through?’ Look at the contrasting imagery in v1-3: God is a humble shepherd who cares for his sheep, and yet is also a glorious King seated between angels. It...

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Psalm 79

Psalm 79

It’s so unfair when a person gets bullied. If you’ve experienced it, you’ll know how tempting it is to take revenge. Our ideas of revenge rarely solve the situation. What a comfort, however, to know somebody bigger than the situation who you can turn to for...

read more
Psalm 121: God Watches Over You

Psalm 121: God Watches Over You

When we are afraid of the threats that surround us, where do we turn to for help? This traveller’s song begins with fear. As the pilgrims travelled to ancient Jerusalem, they looked to the mountains surrounding them and wondered where their help would come from (v1)....

read more
Psalm 120: Dissatisfaction

Psalm 120: Dissatisfaction

It is often said that ‘life is a journey’. For years we can be oblivious to the fact that we’re moving in a particular direction; in other phases of life, we are more deliberate about our direction of travel. What is it that awakens us to these more intentional parts...

read more
Psalm 86: Help!

Psalm 86: Help!

‘Help! I need somebody; Help! Not just anybody; Help! You know I need someone; Help!’ (- The Beatles) Who do you turn to when you’re in need of help? We modern people are not as independent as we think we are. We all need somebody to lean on - someone who can take the...

read more
Psalm 85: Harmony

Psalm 85: Harmony

In wartime, the thing most desired above all else is harmony: the end of discord and the putting right of all things. Yet knowing how to achieve it is a question almost impossible to answer. How do we bring to an end falsehood, injustice and confusion, and at the same...

read more
Psalm 84: Homesickness

Psalm 84: Homesickness

A recent infographic about the war in Ukraine shook me. It highlighted the vast numbers of refugees (over 6.5 million people) crossing into neighbouring countries between February and May 2022. And behind every single number is a personal crisis, an uprooting, a...

read more
Psalm 83: Shelter

Psalm 83: Shelter

“War, children: it’s just a shot away.” The Rolling Stones’ song ‘Gimme Shelter’ was written during the violent era of the Vietnam War, when pillage and burning were on TV screens daily. Mick Jagger commented that as well as being an end-of-the-world song it was also...

read more
Psalm 82

Psalm 82

Where can we find justice, when the judges of the world are unjust?  This Psalm imagines a court case, where God had previously given judicial authority to human leaders (here referred to as ‘gods’, because of this delegated god-like status). They had failed to...

read more
Psalm 81

Psalm 81

When I doubt that God is good, how can I trust Him? By looking at what he offers in Jesus.  This is another psalm that looks back with great rejoicing (v1-5) on how God famously saved his people from slavery in Egypt (v6-7), recorded in the Old Testament book of...

read more
Psalm 80

Psalm 80

When we are experiencing hard times, it is easy to ask, ‘Does God up there really understand what I’m going through?’ Look at the contrasting imagery in v1-3: God is a humble shepherd who cares for his sheep, and yet is also a glorious King seated between angels. It...

read more
Psalm 79

Psalm 79

It’s so unfair when a person gets bullied. If you’ve experienced it, you’ll know how tempting it is to take revenge. Our ideas of revenge rarely solve the situation. What a comfort, however, to know somebody bigger than the situation who you can turn to for...

read more
Psalm 78

Psalm 78

When others fail me, and when I fail too, how can I know God won’t give up on me? God's actions in history are recorded in the Old Testament through the story of the Israelites. Psalm 78 is a long reflection on these actions, and it observes a cycle that repeats over...

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Psalm 77

Psalm 77

Christian faith is not always easy. Sometimes it is really, really hard.  I really appreciate how honest Asaph is about the wrestling involved in the life of faith (v1-9). There are sleepless nights, with disturbing thoughts that won't be comforted (v2). There is...

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