Psalm 6 – “O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, nor chasten me in your wrath. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak” (6:1-2).

My soul is troubled. Please deliver me, “for in death there is no remembrance of you; in the grave who will give you thanks?” (6:4-5).

“I am weary with my groaning; all night I make my bed swim; I drench my couch with my tears. My eye wastes away because of grief” (6:6-7).

“Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity; for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping” (6:8).

I don’t know if you have had times like this, but I have. And I confess too that my mindset is much more OT in that I have serious doubts about life after death as it is usually thought of. It is encouraging to me that I am not alone, that even a writer of the psalms shared/shares both my despair and my faith that there is one out there/in there who hears me.

Psalm 7 – “O Lord my God, in you I put my trust; save me from those who persecute me; and deliver me, lest they tear me like a lion” (7:1).

“O Lord . . . if there is iniquity in my hands, if I have repaid evil to him who was at peace with me . . . let the enemy pursue me and overtake me; yes, let him trample my life to the earth, and lay my honor in the dust” (7:3-5).

“Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, and according to my integrity within me . . . let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the just” (7:8-9).

Those who bring trouble to the world and falsehood will fall into the ditches they have made.

Psalm 8 – “O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth who have set your glory above the heavens!” (8:1)

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have ordained, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you visit him? For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and you have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of your hands” (8:3-6).

This is the amazing place of man – male and female – in the beautiful creation of God’s hands.

1 Thessalonians 2 – He speaks of the “rough treatment” he and others had received from the Philippians.

He speaks of the motives from which he and other apostles came to them – NOT to please men or get money but out of love. They worked very hard over the three weeks they remained in the city, so as not to be a burden. And they behaved towards them like a father dealing with his own children, with love and encouragement, “appealing to you to live a life worthy of God, who is calling you to share the glory of his kingdom” (1:12).

And they received the message not as “human thinking” (2:13) but as “God’s message.” And this message is “still a living power among you who believe it” (2:14).

He recognizes that they have been persecuted by local leaders who think that they should not be trying to reach out to the “pagans” (1:16). And Paul says he longs to see them again, but he has been prevented.