Psalm 11

Some sort of crisis has presented itself to David.  It’s big enough that it looks like the very foundations of his society are about to crumble, and it has his closest advisors worried, ready to run.  But David seeks asylum in God.  What he knows of his God prevents his own panic, and can prevent ours.

Verses 1-2.  Someone is trying to convince David to leave and hide in the mountains.  But this strikes him as ridiculous, as incompatible with his faith.  The bow and arrow here probably represent the false words and accusations of enemies, ready to strike down God’s anointed, David. 

Verse 3. ‘foundations’ is probably a metaphor for the very order of society, established institutions and civil order.  Anarchy is upon them. 

Verse 4. David has been walking with God for years, and knows that ultimately, even his throne is in the hands of the true king, whose throne is unshakable.  His faith is fixed on the sovereign Lord, not human institutions.  It is easy to find comfort and even salvation in good, godly institutions.  They are gifts from above, for sure.  But our confidence is not in good schools, godly elected leaders in government, or even a great church.

Eyelids/see and test - This denotes careful examination.  First, God beholds, looks intently, gazes at.  This is divine investigation, full awareness of all human activity.  Second, God tests, literally as the smith purifies gold or silver. God’s knowledge of us is not passive, but evaluative. Think of the way you watch your children when you have specifically directed them to do something.  You watch their motives, their method, their every move, not out of spite but out of love and desire to see them grow into a right and true character. God tests us, and it’s often painful.  ‘The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the Lord tests hearts.’ Proverbs 17:3.  We don’t like to think about this, the fact that God may actually SEND pain into our lives.  But he is much more concerned with the state of our hearts than our current enjoyment of circumstances.

Verses 5-6. “The Lord may have been testing David’s faith with the threat of anarchy and persecution, for in the Bible they are often God’s way of proving the faith of believers” (Ross). Eventually the wicked will be judged, as we see in the two images of judgment here: fiery coals and burning sulfur, and a scorching wind.  In the middle East, the hot wind blows over the desert and turns all living things into withered plants over night.  This is the future of the wicked.  

Verse 7. This is ultimately our confidence - the character of our God.  Our future is seeing his face. As Van Gemeren states, “To see the face of God is an expression of deliverance from adversity, of close communion, and of the reality of God’s blessed presence in this world and in the world to come.”

Food for thought:

1. What human institutions (marriage, church, public/private/home school) are you tempted to put ultimate trust in instead of God himself?
2. Where might God be testing you right now?

Psalm 10

Oftentimes it seems that those who ignore God, or live as if he does not exist, abusing the weak and exploiting others, prosper wildly, seemingly unchecked.  Meanwhile those who acknowledge and worship him, caring for the “least of these” may be seriously struggling.  “It is a function of the Psalms to touch the nerve of this problem and keep its pain alive, against the comfort of our familiarity, or indeed complicity, with a corrupt world.” (Kidner)  This is Psalm 10 - predator and prey, strong and helpless, and a God who is decidedly on the side of the underdog.

Verse 1. This is the question our hearts very often want to scream out to God, especially when we know the situation is something close to his heart.  Though he is never far away or hidden, he certainly can feel that way to us.

Verses 2-4. Powerful, wicked people are using the weak in their schemes to get what they want.  This may be a tyrannical ruler in a country far away, but it may also be a ruthless businessman down the street who ruins others’ investments while walking away with a fortune. They purposely avoid God, believing they will never be brought to justice.

Verses 5-6. Because God has not yet judged them, they become more brazen, bold, confident.  Think of the slumlord who charges a ridiculous rent to the new immigrant or refugee living in his property.  He does so well he buys more buildings to exploit more people. 

Verses 7-10. Their attacks are sudden, secret, stealthy. And the afflicted person is no match for these planned ambushes.  One cannot help but think again of young girls sold into sex trafficking.  Also the title pawn business comes to mind, charging ridiculous amounts of interest on loans to the already working poor.

Verse 11. Once again, the wicked utterly disregard the Lord.  “They mistake God’s patience with evil for God’s lack of interest in justice and the innocent victims of injustice” (Van Gemeren)  Maybe it’s the computer hacker team who manages to steal the credit card numbers of thousands of people.  Perhaps it’s the sex offender who slowly reels in another child victim. 

Verses 12-15.  Asking God to ‘arise’ is asking him to act.  The Psalmist knows that God has been the ‘helper of the fatherless’.  He knows God cares for these weak and defenseless people.  The word here for ‘helper’ often describes God; it means that he is able to do for people what they cannot do for themselves.  The writer prays that God would break the power of the wicked.  

Verses 16-18. The hope of this unjust world lies in the Lord. The fatherless and the oppressed are the class of people who are most easily wronged.  ‘you encourage’, ‘you listen’ - these are progressive imperfects, meaning this is what God is now already doing as a result of having heard the pleas of the psalmist.  He is still the eternal king of glory, in charge, the ultimate victor.  He is just and will bring the wicked to account.  They will answer to the judge for what they do.  And those children of God who are preyed upon will be rescued.  

What does this mean for OUR prayers? It means God cares about the foster children in our congregation.  And so our prayers for them should be bold, confident.  It means God is on the side of the widow and the orphan in countries where they are ruled by horrible, despotic rulers.  And so our prayers for them should hold God’s promise and his own words before him, asking him to do something about what he cares about.  It means that God hears us when we are the victims, the helpless, the ones at the mercy of the merciless, whatever that might look like.  

Food for thought: 

1. When you pray for such issues as justice for the oppressed in some category, do you expect God to act? Have you decided he doesn't care? 

2.  What are some things you know God cares about after studying this Psalm that you can take to him and hold him to his word?

Psalm 9

Psalm 9 is an incomplete acrostic psalm, using the 11 hebrew letters aleph-kaph.  Some scholars have argued that this may have been imposed on the psalm, but it bears mentioning if for no other reason than to remind us again that this is not a letter or prose.  It is an artful song, lyrics to be sung to a God who hears.  While beginning as a song of thanksgiving, it turns into a prayer for the righteous judge to act.

Verses 1-2. David exhorts himself to praise the Lord, not only as a therapy to forget his troubles for a moment, but to deepen his trust in the Lord. (Van Gemeren)  David knows that the right ordering of his world and heart begins with worship.  And so whether he feels the particular inclination to sing to God at that very moment or not, he pushes himself to do it.  Are we not the same in our need?

Verses 3-6.  Apparently the Lord has won some victory for David. Not only has he won, but God has “blotted out their name”. These are present perfect verbs, meaning they have continuing results.  God continues to rebuke, destroy and blot out their character and evil nature, removing even the memory of their acts. 

Verses 7-10.  God is absolutely sovereign and will judge those who oppress others.  This is what makes him such a refuge.  He WILL WIN, and will stand by “those who seek you” - literally “your seekers”.  Here again we are named with a wonderful name; we are God’s seekers, to be added to the title “beloved”. 

Verses 11-14. afflicted - the poor, wretched, weak, helpless, humble.  They are overwhelmed by their sense of need and inability to deal with their situation (Van Gemeren).  This is us.  This is also the small girl who lives in the trash dump in India, the child in the US who is at the mercy of the state to find them a permanent home, and the woman who is told a lie and sold into prostitution in Thailand. The sovereign judge has not forgotten the cry of the afflicted.  And those who trust in him will be delivered, some not until the day they meet their righteous judge.  

Knowing that he will be heard, David again pleads with God for his help.

Verses 15-18.  The verbs here are prophetic perfects, meaning that David has such confidence in God acting again for him as he has in the past, that he speaks of sure victory over his enemies. 

return to Sheol - Note here that those who hate God will not just be sent to death, they will return to it; it is their native land.

Verses 19-20. The word used here for man is one that emphasizes his frailty.  Man is dust, a vapor that rises and is gone.  Only God gives man his dignity.  God’s judgement reveals the reality of God to the world.  And only when we realize our own weakness and helplessness can we really understand who God is. 

Food for thought:

1. When do you worship and thank God? Do you do it outside of Sunday, not just singing songs, but marveling at him, thanking him for things?  Do you make yourself do it when you don’t feel like doing it? What would it be like to choose to worship at some point this week when your heart and mind want to do anything but that?
2. How does God’s concern for the afflicted (verses 11-14) change your perspective on the suffering in the world? Or does it? What does this mean for how we pray for those who suffer?

Psalm 8

Like Psalm 1 described the ideal person, so Psalm 8 returns to the world of ideal.  We leave betrayal, injustice, depression and longing for the majesty of the creator.

Verse 1. majestic - could be translated ‘wonderful’, also meaning lofty, high, noble or splendid.   name - as usual in the Bible, this does not just mean the actual word we call the Lord, but his character, his nature. We could read it, ‘Oh Lord, our Lord, how wonderful you are’. 

Verse 2. While the Hebrew is translated ‘strength’, the Septuagint translates this word ‘praise’.  The general idea here is this: God works through things that appear to be weak and insufficient (Ross). As children are weak and small, but have intimate access to their more powerful and resourceful parents, so the weak and marginalized of this world cry out to their all powerful God, who does what he pleases. One commentator suggested that the very sound of children’s voices is evidence of God’s reign on earth.  The human race continues, no matter what the enemies of God do.  “The sound of opposition is silenced by the babbling and chatter of children” (Ross).  

Verses 3-4. Out of the entirety of creation, only man can stand back and actually look at the scene and ask this question. The word ‘man’ here is used in a poetic sense, emphasizing the frail existence of humans. 

mindful - This is not just implying fond thoughts, but movement toward the man he is thinking of, action.  In the Bible, God’s remembering always leads to God’s acting on behalf of those he remembers. The word here is used in the imperfect tense, which implies not just a one time action, but a continuing action.  God doesn’t just think of mankind once or twice, but continually moves toward and remembers him, acting on his behalf.

David must have sat some nights, gazing at the stars without our modern city lights, overwhelmed by the detail and design of what he saw.  In Psalm 19 he says, ‘the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.  Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.” In the middle of this beauty we can almost see David shaking his head and quietly asking, “why in the world would you choose to direct all your power and focus on man, so frail and small in this amazing universe?”

Verses 5-6. Though we are not God, or angels, though we are now so clearly not wonderful or majestic, we are still ‘crowned’ with glory - dignity and importance, and honor - external splendor.  This is the way we were created by our God, important, with a place in the world, magnificent, weighty in our value. So much so that the great king put us in charge of all things listed in verses 7 and 8: animals, birds, marine life.  All creatures are subject to human authority.  

Somehow this strikes me as similar to creating a beautiful, precious, fragile piece of art and handing it to my 2 year old to oversee.  What honor has God given us in freely entrusting such and intricately designed, unbelievably beautiful, ordered world to us. What a vote of confidence, what an act of belief in us to create such beauty and unreservedly hand it over. 

Verses 8-9.  Again the refrain is sung, now with fresh understanding. 

God uses the weak things of this world to show his strength. We, the seemingly small and powerless, have been put in charge of this vast world and all it contains.  We are weak but have access to the one who is not. This is the way that God has ordered creation. 

Food for thought:

1. Over what or whom specifically has God given you dominion? With what has he entrusted you? It may be helpful to even make a list, naming children, objects, areas of responsibility.  Do you see these as God’s vote of confidence, his entrusting you with a portion of his amazing creation? Are they burdens? Annoyances? Privileges? 

2. Where in creation do you experience God’s ‘majesty’ or ‘wonderfulness’? 

Psalm 7

Because of some extra responsibilities this week, I will not be posting on Psalm 7.  Feel free to read and study and comment here for all of us! I'll be back for Psalm 8.

Psalm 6

Psalm 6 is a lament Psalm, full of anguish, pain, desperation.  When the early church appointed certain psalms to be used in services on particular days, Psalm 6 became one of the penitential psalms to be sung during Lent.  Saints through the generations have used it to learn how, and with what confidence they may pray in the midst of physical pain, depression, or God’s discipline.

Verse 1.  There is an implied confession of sin in these verses, and David is not nearly as concerned with the anger of his enemies, which surrounds him, as he is with God’s anger.  Sometimes God’s discipline is so harsh that it seems he is angry.

Verse 2. David’s request for mercy shows us that while he knows he deserves discipline, he asks for grace.  He uses the word ‘bones’, which may refer to the whole physical body, but often this word means the spirit within the body, the center of the painful distress.  

Ross writes, “Not all physical suffering or affliction at the hands of enemies is chastening for sin.  However, when devout believers find themselves in such trying situations, they naturally will do some soul searching to see if they are in fact being chastened.  If no obvious sin can be uncovered, then the believer may consider other explanations for suffering.”

Verse 3. David pours out his pain to God, and is stopped from speaking by his extreme stress and frustration.  He cannot even finish his sentence, but simply says, ‘how long?’  If he had been able to complete it, the thought may have finished something like, ‘how long will you allow me to go on living like this?’  

To David, it must have seemed as though God had gotten carried away with his discipline, and left David to suffer, alone, distressed, weak and anxious. As the commentator writes, “his suffering at the hands of his enemies had wreaked havoc with his health and well-being.  What made it so frustrating was that the Lord was silent and apparently willing to let him languish in pain and depression.  He knew his suffering was divine discipline, so all he could do was appeal for a gracious deliverance.”

Verse 4. David boldly says to the Lord, ‘Turn’, or ‘Return’. He wanted and needed God, at that very moment, to stop the chastening.  And here we see the basis for David’s boldness with the very God he has wronged - unfailing love.  This is hesed, again.  This is what we named ourselves with in Psalm 4.  This is the covenant-keeping, never-failing, never-giving up, always and forever love of the God of Abraham.  And so David pleads with God only on the basis of this love for his people.  David has nothing with which to bargain, nothing to offer God but his pleas for mercy and confidence in God’s character and promise.

Verse 5. Death is the great leveler, and the one thing that stops all worship.  David appeals to God with this logic - people will not hear about how God saved him from this present suffering if he is not present for the next gathering where praises were offered.  Though this may sound like bargaining with God, it is simply an acknowledgment that the outcome of answered prayer would be glory to God and the encouragement of God’s people. 

Verses 6 - 7. David may have been experiencing physical suffering because of attacks of his enemies.  But even worse was the mental anguish caused by God’s silence. 

Verses 8 - 10.  This sudden boost of confidence tells us that David has seen some answer from God, almost ‘as if we saw the singer’s face light up in recognition’ (Kidner). 

put to shame - This is a figure of speech which expresses a sudden reversal of fortune and defeat which the enemies will experience.  

As Ross writes, “God does chasten people for sin, and God does use other people as part of the chastening process.  For a king, this may have involved personal enemies or national enemies with their armies.  When God is through using the natural animosity of enemies as part of the discipline, he then judges them for their eagerness to destroy his people.”  This is the power and sovereignty of our God.  He uses all things, all people, whole armies and nations, for the loving discipline of his beloved.

Food for thought:

1. We know that David was suffering because of his own sin.  His suffering was great.  And yet he confidently asked for God’s mercy, for relief from his discipline.  How do you talk to God when you know you have sinned? Do you hide from him? Walk about in shame? Try to make it up to him? Do you ask confidently as David did for help? Do you see a pattern in your dealings with God over your sin that is different than what the gospel lays out?

Sources:  Intro to the Psalms, ESV Study Bible

Psalms by Derek Kidner

Expositor’s Bible Commentary by Willem A VanGermeren, Edited by Tremper Longman and David Garland

The Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 1, Allen P. Ross

Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible

Psalm 5

If you have not yet read the previous post, please do.  It will help give us a context for Psalm 5.  This is a morning Psalm, written for flutes as well as voice.  It’s a helpful reminder, in the midst of parsing and interpreting these songs, that they are indeed songs.  They were sung in the temple, probably multiple times during one’s lifetime, so that one could have many of them, or parts of them, memorized.  Just as we may flip on the radio and easily sing along with the lyrics of the 1984 song being played, though it be 2013, so the music and lyrics of the psalms must have stuck in the minds of the Israelites who heard them, helping them to shape their thoughts and attitudes towards the Lord.

Verses 1-3. The psalmist uses audible sounds, though they may even first be groans or sighs.  He knows the Lord hears even his inner thoughts, and does not think about the formality of prayer.  The word for ‘groaning’ or ‘sighing’ could even be translated ‘meditation’, and describes a scarcely audible sound, such as when Hannah was praying in I Samuel, and was misunderstood by Eli to be drunk.  This is the attention paid to us by our God.  He hears and understands even our indistinguishable sighs.

The psalmist lays his requests down, and waits in expectation. He keeps vigil, waiting for an answer to his prayer, like a watchman.  This word for ‘watch’ is used of God’s prophets posted to report the first sign of his answers (see Isaiah 21:6; 8).  David doesn’t just ask and forget.  He waits, looking for God’s answer.

Verses 4-6.  We may read these verses and think, are we not doers of wrong? Is this speaking of God’s hate for me in those moments? But Ross helps us by explaining that this participle (remember your English grammar here: a participle is a word formed from a verb, used as an adjective, e.g. working, sinning) describes people who are characterized by sinning, as an ongoing trait.  Their typical, distinguishing, normal behavior is sin.  These are ‘evildoers’.  In contrast to this, if you are the beloved, you are a saint who sins, but your sin is not the truest thing about you.  We must remember the contrast between the two categories of people in Psalm 1.  The wicked are those who are outside of the covenant, who live with a total apathy towards God.  The righteous are not those who are perfect, but those who orient their lives around the covenantal God, and who find their refuge in him.

abhors - This verb is related to the noun ‘abomination’ which describes something that God totally hates.  It is off-limits, taboo.  

Verse 7. David distinguishes himself from the wicked, not by his actions, but ‘by the abundance of your steadfast love.’ He will enter the Lord’s house, a place where the evildoers cannot go.

Verses 8-10. make your way straight - a request that the direction be free from hindrances and temptations, echoed in the Lord’s prayer phrase, ‘lead us not into temptation’

The enemies cannot be trusted.  Their plan is to destroy the righteous, to ruin people’s lives.  They speak deceit, with the verb used having the idea of smoothing something over to conceal it, giving the false idea of trustworthiness or truthfulness.  

make them bear their guilt - The psalmist calls on the Lord to declare them guilty and to judge them with an appropriate sentence, casting them out of the covenant community.

Verses 11-12. The shield in verse 12 would be a large shield for the whole body (see I Sam 17:7). The image here is of a protective shield surrounding God’s people. 

Food for thought:

1. Have you felt alone in your ‘groaning’ or ‘sighing’ about certain things in your life? Hopeless? Defeated? What would it be like to direct those cries to the King, knowing that, as verse 3 says, ‘you hear my voice’?
2. What is your attitude towards ‘wickedness’? Is it like David’s - knowing what God hates? What can you identify throughout your day today that God ‘abhors’? 

Sources:  Intro to the Psalms, ESV Study Bible

Psalms by Derek Kidner

Expositor’s Bible Commentary by Willem A VanGermeren, Edited by Tremper Longman and David Garland

The Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 1, Allen P. Ross

Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible

A little something to prepare us for Psalm 5

Before looking at Psalm 5, here is a short introduction to the imprecatory Psalms, with the help of some notes from Dr. Phil Long, former Covenant Seminary Professor.

Imprecate: To invoke evil upon; curse.

Psalm 5 is the first of what may be categorized as the imprecatory Psalms, or, as the use of imprecations in the Psalms.  These may make us, as 21st century, tolerant Americans, very uncomfortable. While some have tried to explain these as ‘the language of the heart’ and others have said that our ethical standards have evolved and improved since this Psalm was written, neither of these are helpful or logical when applied to the Bible.

We must consider the Psalms as a genre.  This literature is middle eastern rhetoric - poetry, not prose. They are emotive expressions of poetry from the fervid, impassioned and demonstrative eastern peoples.  We need to be careful of adopting a wooden interpretation of the imprecations.  Horror is piled upon horror more to express the speaker’s outrage in this context than to sentence the enemy to something specific. For example, in Jeremiah 20:14, Jeremiah says, ‘cursed be the day I was born’... 20:15, ‘cursed be the man who brought the news to my father...‘  Certainly Jeremiah doesn’t want to literally kill the messenger in this situation.  This is simply the rhetoric expressing the depth of his despair.  

Long concludes from his study of the imprecations in the Psalms that there are several common themes to these Psalms, including this very important one: The curses are pronounced against those who are against God.  They’re not just aimed at those who are personally against the Psalmist. Jesus says if someone strikes you on the cheek, give them the other also. But here, it’s not just the author that is being harmed.  The rebels are against the theocratic King, and therefore are rebelling against God himself.

(See Psalm 5:10) 

Long also makes the observation that these imprecations were the expressions of the longing of an Old Testament saint for the defense or vindication of God’s righteousness.  In David’s case, they were utterances of zeal for God’s kingdom.  These saints did not have the clearer picture of heaven and the final judgment that we New Testament saints have.  They longed for wrongs to be righted and the evil men to be judged.  They hated sin and may have had a harder time separating the ‘sin’ and the ‘sinner’ as we do today. These are prophetic teachings, says Long, as to the attitude of God towards sin and impenitent and persistent sinners.

So who are the enemies of Christians today? Old Testament scholar, Tremper Longman, says the enemies against whom we New Testament believers war are different.  We struggle against principalities and powers - spiritual forces of darkness.  And how are we to fight? First, by praying for conversions, yes.  However, Long warns against spiritualizing this entirely.  Judgement day is coming.  The weeds and the wheat, which are still currently growing together, will be divided.  From our perspective, which is which, who is who, will not be known until the end. 

Psalm 4

Psalm 4 is both an individual lament and a Psalm of confidence. Though the exact circumstances of David for its composition are not known, the situation of misunderstanding, lies and exasperation is universally understood.

Verse 1. ‘righteous God’ - This is not just a name or a standard;  This is a description of God’s actions, of how he relates to his people, as a father to his children. Psalm 18:47-48 describes some of this activity: ‘...the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me, who delivered me from my enemies; yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me; you rescued me from the man of violence.’

relief and distress - The word used here for in distress implies being in a tight corner, stuck. The NEB translates it ‘I was hard pressed’.  Correspondingly, the phrase give me relief is the imperative form of the phrase ‘you have broadened’ or ‘you have enlarged’.  The picture here is one of being stuck between a rock and a hard place, pinned down, unable to move yourself, and asking for God to make your space bigger.

Verse 2. O men - These ‘men’ are the prominent citizens of the day - the landowners, the powerful, the wealthy.  They have gone astray and are opposed to David’s position, leadership and glory given to him as the anointed king. David has known amazing power and a loyal following during certain times of his life.  Here those who hold the power outside the kingship are turning away to things opposed to God’s kingdom. 

Verse 3. the godly - This is a wonderful name, literally ‘the beloved’.  Its root is the hebrew word hesed - weakly translated (because it’s the best we have in English) ‘lovingkindness’ in the noun form.  It has a rich, full meaning, encompassing God’s covenant promises.  The well-loved phrase of Psalm 23:6, ‘goodness and mercy’  which ‘shall follow me all the days of my life’, is a translation of this word, hesed.  It is the source of all our joy, the motivation of our love, the reason for our existence - God’s full, sure, overflowing love/kindness/loyalty/promise/mercy all wrapped into one. Take all of that and name yourself with it.  THAT is what David is calling himself.  In the middle of everyone doubting his relationship with God, David stubbornly clings to what he knows to be true - he is the beloved.

Verses 4-5. Confident in whose he is as king, David begins to instruct those ‘men’ of verse 2.   ‘Be angry’ could be translated ‘tremble’, giving us the phrase, ‘tremble with fear, and stop sinning’. And ‘ponder in your own hearts’ could also be read ‘search your hearts’ or ‘speak to your hearts’.  David is telling these men to repent and then worship God through the sacrifice.  They must submit themselves to David as king, and ultimately to God.  

Verses 6-7.  Who can make us happy, or show us something good? This is the way of the world, and the natural inclination of all of our hearts.  We make idols out of everything, searching for anything to fill our hearts.  But David knows here the true source of joy, and prays not only for himself, but also for his people, the blessing the priests would have given at the sanctuary, ‘The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his face toward you and give you peace’ (Num 6:24-25). 

grain and wine abound - Harvest time was a time of incredible joy; full granaries and vats meant security for months to come.

Here laid before us are the two outlooks of inward and outward joy.  As Kidner writes, the first wells up, ‘steadily from God through every discouragement, the second the rare product of a pleasant set of circumstances.’  David’s friends long for better times.  David longs for God.  Here we see our own choice of where to find our joy.  Do we long and wait for the right circumstances, complaining all the way until we get them?  Or do we look for the Lord himself in the midst of every circumstance, content to have him alone?

Verse 8. in safety - This last word of the Psalm derives from the root for ‘trust’.  The NEB translates it ‘unafraid’.  This is how David can sleep, free of fear or anxiety.  

Food for thought:

1. How do you regularly name yourself? This is sometimes out loud to others, usually quietly to yourself.  Failure? Close enough? Better than? Fat? Smart? Hard working? Stupid? Needy? What would it be like to replace those things with the name 'Beloved', as described above? 
2. Look at the questions in the paragraphs about verses 6 and 7.  Practically, how do you think this contentment could be fleshed out in our lives?

Sources:  Intro to the Psalms, ESV Study Bible

Psalms by Derek Kidner

Expositor’s Bible Commentary by Willem A VanGermeren, Edited by Tremper Longman and David Garland

The Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 1, Allen P. Ross

Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible

Psalm 3

Before reading this Psalm it is very helpful to take a quick read of 2 Samuel 15-16, the setting for David’s writing of this Psalm. 

In Psalm 3 we go from the orderly and idealistic world of Psalm 1 and 2, to the disorientation and distress of Psalm 3.  It strikes me that this is where we usually live.  This is the first Psalm of David recorded.  And although it was written for a specific time and place, its title, ‘The Dark Hour’ is very applicable to our lives.

Verses 1-2. It had always been known that God was with David through his many victories.  But now, because of the circumstances, people are questioning God’s loyalty to David, and even his very salvation.  Notice that David does not have this question.  In the midst of rebellion, David calls out to the Lord using his covenantal name, Yahweh.  This has the same connotation as Abba in the New Testament.  God’s very name was an assurance to David of his promises.  

Verses 3-4.  Read verse 3 in contrast to 2 Samuel 15:30, ‘But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, barefoot and with his head covered.’  David  lives the disappointment and shame of the moment as he climbs one mountain to make sacrifices to God.  But when he writes about it, his head is not hung in shame but is lifted as he speaks of the Lord, his glory. He reflects that God answered from another hill, Zion.

In the midst of total shame and dejection for a king who had known such human glory, David calls on his history with the Lord to remind himself of what is actually true - he is known, called, heard by God.  What a picture of the choice we have to either fret and complain or declare what is true.  As the commentator writes, ‘Instead of being vexed in his soul or making plans to relieve the pressure, David has learned to console himself with God.  Too often plans come before prayers.  How many blessings we miss by conceiving our own schemes only to see God frustrate them later and work out his own plan!”

Verses 5-6.  Satisfied that God would deliver him, he was able to sleep.  David commits his problem to God, and abandons it there.  Oh, that we could do the same.

Verses 7-8. This striking of enemies on the jaw is an expression of humiliation.  And the mention of the teeth likens the enemies to wild animals who lose their strength when they lose their teeth.  This may sound harsh to our ears, but the Psalmist is telling us that God will be victorious, no matter what enemies arise, from inside or outside of the people of God.  Consider here the fact that David had been victorious over and over against the enemies of God’s people.  And now, when there is external peace for Israel, an enemy emerges from within.  Even the internal enemies of the church are not beyond God’s ability to help.

By the end of the Psalm, David has written himself into a place of confidence, a long way from the attitude of verse 1. 

Food for thought:

1. What ‘dark hour’ could you name in your life either right now or in the recent past?  Can you name, like David did, truth in contrast to what you see in your circumstances?
2. How would it change your attitude today to choose one truth about God and replace your meditation of worry or anger or other negative thought with that truth?

Psalm 2

This Psalm is commonly labeled a ‘royal psalm’, implying it was written about the Israelite monarchy.  But as we’ll see, it clearly speaks as well of the ultimate monarch - our King Jesus!  Let’s work our way through it.

Verse 1.  nations - this is actually the word for Gentile.  peoples - the masses.  plot - meditate.  There is that word, meditate, again, just like from Psalm 1.  While the righteous one meditates on God’s Word, the enemies of God meditate on or plot rebellion.  The tone of this Psalm is one of astonishment.  We could read it like, ‘What in the world are they thinking? Why do they even bother?‘ 

Verse 2.   Rulers - people with authority, but below the rank of kings.  Anointed One -  the Hebrew for Messiah.  There is always warfare between the world and the church, between Jesus and his enemies.  The believers quote this verse in Acts 4:26, after being released from prison for preaching about Jesus.  They were living the fulfillment of this verse - speaking of Herod and Pilate.

Verse 3. chains or fetters - These refer to the manner the yoke of a cart or plow was placed on the necks of animals.  Violently the people reject the ‘yoke‘ of God’s kingship.  The wicked feel his kingship to be a restraint, and want to be free of it.  But we, his sheep, know his yoke to be easy and his burden light.

Verse 4. It is futile to try to escape the rule of God, and he laughs at the attempts.  We will all obey him - either willingly or unwillingly.

Verses 5 - 6. God tolerates no competition, opposition, or apathy.  He has set his King on Zion, the place where the Davidic king ruled, God’s chosen dwelling place.  The Psalmist speaks here of the Israelite king, but clearly points to the ultimate king. 

Verse 7.  Here the Messiah speaks.  In terms of the earthly, Davidic king, the phrase used here may have been a part of a coronation rite, to mark the day when the new sovereign took up his titles.  In reference to the true King, the Messiah, the ‘day’ probably means the moment that he started his redemptive work.

Verses 8-9.  The new king will rule all things.  Verse 9 may seem severe, and like words that could not describe the kind and mild rule of Christ.  But as the Pulpit Commentary tells us, “the objectors forget that there is a severe, as well as mild, side to the dealings of God with his human creatures.  As the appointed Judge of men, he takes vengeance on the wicked, while he rewards the righteous.”

Verses 10-11.  The wise king submits to God’s ultimate ruler.  

Verse 12.  kiss the son - pay him homage.  It may sound here like a touchy tryant, but the wrath of Jesus was quick against wrongs like the turning of the temple into a marketplace. As the commentator writes, “God’s patience is not placidity, any more than his fierce anger is loss of control, His laughter cruelty or His pity sentimentality.  When His moment comes for judgment, in any given case, it will be by definition beyond appeasing or postponing.”  

Blessed - This is the same word that was used at the beginning of Psalm 1 - ‘happy’.  The only true happiness, in the midst of this powerful and unrelenting King, is to take refuge in him.  What the wicked interpret as bondage at the beginning of this Psalm - the king’s yoke - is actually security and happiness.  

Imagine the power of this God.  He laughs at rebellion, places his own king exactly where he wants him, gives him rule and dominion over all things, and allows him to utterly destroy anyone or anything that rebels.  And yet there is a refuge from his terrible power, in his love and in submission to his rule.  THIS is the true picture of Jesus - not just the soft, European - looking unworked man holding a sheep, but a king of immeasurable power, strong, alive, put in place by God himself, fiercely loving and compassionate.  He is beautiful, honorable, worthy. 

Food for thought:

1. How do you react to the power exerted by the king/Messiah in this Psalm? Are you awed? Annoyed? Scared?
2. How would holding this picture in your mind affect the way you worship this week, pray this week, use your words this week?

Sources:  See 'Intro' and add: hebrew4christians.com and Rabbi Benjamin J. Segal, Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies at psalms.schechter.edu

Psalm 1

You may want to have a copy of Psalm 1 near while you read this - I’ll refer to it as if you do.

It’s no accident that this Psalm was placed at the beginning of the prayer book/songbook of the Bible.  It’s been called the gateway Psalm and tells us how to approach the Psalter as a whole.  Psalm 1 lays out the ‘2 ways’ which with life presents us, and doesn’t leave much grey area.  Let’s work our way through it.

Verse 1. - blessed.  This could be better translated ‘happy’, but in a deep, abiding sense.  It’s the Hebrew version of the word Jesus uses in the sermon on the mount in the Beatitudes - “blessed” are the meek, etc.  So how do we become this way? The Psalm tells us by first telling us what we do NOT do: conform to the ways of this world by accepting its advice or joining those who mock God, who are farthest from repentance.  Then it tells us what we DO:

Verse 2.  We delight in God’s law and we meditate on it.  This is far from simply (for example) memorizing the 10 commandments and reciting them.  Law here is Torah, and at the time this Psalm was written probably meant the Pentateuch, the first 5 books of the Bible.  It’s more helpful to think of Torah as ‘Covenant‘ or ‘story’. It is the totality of God’s dealings with his people.  Israel didn’t have personal copies of God’s word.  They memorized it through the repetitive hearing of it, and then thought about it while they worked, walked and lived.  So, meditating on his law is enjoying it, thinking about it, listening to it over and over in your mind while you drive to school, do the dishes, wash the floor, restock the shelves, check in patients.  It is letting God’s words become your backdrop, your chorus, the thought that invades your conscience over and over. 

Verse 3. This, the person who meditates on the Word, is no ordinary tree, haphazardly grown from a seed blown by the wind to a random location.  No, this tree is planted purposely right next to the water of life - God’s word.  Therefore this person yields fruit - good works - and her leaf stays green - an emblem of her faith being steadfast.  Yes, there are seasons.  The tree is not continually bearing fruit, but it does bear.  We all have seasons of impressive growth and fruitfulness that encourages and blesses the church as a whole.  We also have winters - a normal part of the life cycle.  As the commentator says, ‘the promised immunity of the leaf from withering is not independence of the rhythm of the seasons, but freedom from the crippling damage of drought.’

Verse 4. But what of the wicked - those who live as if there is no God? As opposed to the rooted, secure, weighty place of the tree, the wicked are weightless, like chaff, which in the winnowing process would have blown away in the wind, useless husk.  They do not often look weightless in this present life, many times with immense power and possessions.  But this is God’s perspective of them - they have no future.

Verse 5. The 2 ways have very different ends.  Those who do not make God their ultimate aim will be punished by separation from God and his people.

Verse 6.  But those who delight themselves in God and find refuge in his annointed one - they are known by God.  But this is not just informational knowledge - this is ‘yada‘.  Yada is the Biblical knowledge between married people.  It is intimate, tender, careful, loving knowledge.  Isn’t it a wonder that this is how the writer describes God’s knowledge of our way or path?

Verse 7. Those who live as if God does not exist are destroyed.  There is no third way. 

Food for thought:

1. Which of the 2 ways are you on?
2. Tim Keller says that whatever you meditate on when you’re in solitude - that is your religion.  How about you? To what does your mind wander repeatedly when you’re not forced to think about anything else?
3. How would it change the way you thought about and talked to God this moment if you really believed he knew you and your ‘way‘ in such an intimate, tender fashion?  

Please use the comments function to post your thoughts and comments!

Sources:  See Intro post 

The Psalms - A Short Introduction to get us rolling

’They found another tumor.‘  The words sit in the air, refusing to make sense, to enter you.  You can’t accept them.  Your hands suddenly feel numb, and the dread that is so familiar begins to tie your stomach into a slow knot.  

It’s been a year since the last tumor, and your family has been happily lulled into a sense of relief, of safety, of reprieve.  Of course, you’ve known it wasn’t over; you knew it would be back.  Yes, dad has cancer.  Yes, it’s incurable.  But right now he’s doing well; he’s thinking, working, talking, living.  Let’s enjoy him and visit him and let him see his grandchildren.  

Until now.  “They found another tumor.” The words are poison, black ink that stains the bright day, shocking you out of the simplicity of the evening.  And after the baths are finished for the day, the children in bed, the dishes done, the only words you have for God are these, ‘How long? How long, God?‘  It’s the refrain of sadness, a cry for mercy.  How long will we wonder and will he linger? How long will we watch him slowly lose function, lose ability, lose life? How long will we fear the next phone call, the next discovery, the next bit of news? 

The words of the Psalm roll over you as you close your eyes for sleep that won’t come. How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day?

Psalm 13 was written by David, hundreds and hundreds of years ago.  He wrote it as he fled from Saul, hiking in the mountains, hiding in caves, fearing for his life.  Saul had taken a vow in his jealousy to kill David, and David sings his song of longing while hidden in those mountains, “How long, O LORD?” 

It was written by David, but untold numbers of God’s people have used David’s words to  give voice to their emotion, crying out to God in their own waiting, their own pain, their own injustice, “How long, O LORD?”

And so was and has been the use of the Bible’s songbook - the Psalms - what John Calvin called “An Anatomy of all Parts of the Soul”.  They were sung at the temple daily and for special festival days by Levites hired by David - at one time 400 of them! They were taught to children by Israelite families. They were learned at the local synagogue and sung all the week long, burned into the memories of God’s people, repeated over and over until they were like old friends, familiar and comforting, words for every occasion, every emotion.

Almost half of the Psalms were written by David himself, the orchestrator of so much music.  They are complete with musical notes such as ‘selah’, which occurs 71 times and is probably the signal for an interlude or a change of musical accompaniment.  ‘Higgaion’, related to the Hebrew verb meaning ‘murmur‘ or ‘meditate‘, was also used, among many other musical instructions.  It prescribed the use of quiet, meditative instruments.  Though we don’t often sing them anymore, the Psalms really are a songbook, written by David, Solomon, Asaph and others, over a period of as much as 1,000 years.  

The Psalms are grouped in with Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs and Lamentations in a section of the Bible called the Poetic Books.  The Psalms themselves can be put into different categories like hymns, community laments, and thanksgiving songs.  But how did all of these different types of songs, written over hundreds of years, come to be the book we know and use in our Bible?

The book of Psalms is unique in its composition.  Songs written by individuals were placed in mini-collections over time.  Editorial hands shaped the final form of the book into five ‘collections’ or ‘books’.  The books in our Bible begin at Psalm 1, 42, 73, 90 and 107.   

The fingerprint of certain communities who used the Psalm has been left on them.  Just as the wording of a hymn will very from one collection to another to suit the needs of a certain Christian group, like changing ‘thou’ to ‘you’ in the next generation, so the Psalms contain signs that they were used over large spans of time by different groups.  In early Psalms, the word ‘Yahweh’ or ‘the LORD’ is largely used to speak of the creator.  But as time went on and in later Psalms, ‘Elohim’ or ‘God’ replaced the name ‘Yahweh’.  These changes reflect changes in use of language over time, just as much other change happens over long swaths of history.

The structure of the Psalms has been compared with that of a cathedral built and perfected over a matter of centuries, in a harmonious variety of styles, rather than a palace displaying the formal symmetry of a single and all-embracing plan.  

The English designation ‘psalm’ comes from the Latin ‘psalmi’ and the Greek ‘psalmoi’ (songs with musical accompaniment) which is a translation of the Hebrew ‘mizmor’.  The Hebrew title of the book signifies the contents of the book, ‘songs of praise’.  But if the editors and compilers of the Bible call these songs of praise, how are we to account for those angry Psalms, those asking God to judge and destroy?  And what about the laments - the largest category - making up as much as one third of the Psalter? The primary function of a lament was to lay a troubled situation before the Lord, asking him for help.  In the Psalter we find community laments, dealing with trouble faced by the people of God as a whole, such as Psalm 12.  But there are also individual laments, such as Psalm 13, mentioned earlier with David’s cry of “How long?”

Perhaps we have too narrowly defined our worship. What if worship is not only the naming of God’s glory and might, majesty and power?  What if worship is not limited to singing of the stars and heavenly beings of Psalm 8 and the perfect law of God of Psalm 19? What if worship is also the longing cry of Psalm 13, the waiting, broken, heart- rending sigh of desperation? What if it includes the moments of anger and confusion, sadness and loss?  And what do we make of the sudden change of tone at the end of some of the sad, angry Psalms - where suddenly the Psalmist seems to be, even if in a small way, trusting or hoping again?

The Psalter is the songbook of the people of God, both in their gathered worship and individually.  These songs cover a wide range of experiences and emotions, and give God’s people the words to express these emotions and to bring these experiences before God.  At the same time, the psalms do not simply express emotions: when sung in faith, they actually shape the emotions of the godly.  The emotions are therefore not a problem to be solved but are a part of the raw material of now-fallen humanity that can be shaped to good and noble ends.  

The psalms, as songs, act deeply on the emotions, for the good of God’s people.  It is not ‘natural’ to trust God in hardship, and yet the Psalms provide a way of doing just that, and enable the singers to trust better as a result of singing them.  A person staring at the night sky might not know know what to do with the mixed fear and wonder he finds in himself.  Singing Psalm 8 will enrich his ability to respond.  Singing Psalm 13 helps give voice to the feeling of desperation, but also to the real hope that we have as believers.  

Studying the Psalms is studying all of life, all of the roller coaster of emotions, the width and depth of human experience.  In them God once again condescends and gives words to his finite and helpless sheep, that they might hear the voice of their shepherd.  

SOURCES

Intro to the Psalms, ESV Study Bible

Types and Original Uses of Psalms, Article for Unit 2

Alex Varughese, professor of Biblical literature at Mount Vernon Nazarene University 

Psalms by Derek Kidner

Expositor’s Bible Commentary by Willem A VanGermeren, Edited by Tremper Longman and David Garland

Enter the Bible - enterthebible.org - Fred Gaiser, Luther Seminary Professor of Old Testament

Welcome to the Psalms!

Hi everyone and thanks for visiting.  Soon you will find the "Introduction to the Psalms" post, giving us a context for what we'll be studying this summer.  Feel free to use the comments as a place to ask questions and discuss.  This is a place to find a few friends who are reading through, studying or just thinking about the Psalms this summer as Michael, Jacob and Adam preach through them.

I'll plan on posting a relatively short study of each Psalm a few days before the sermon each week so you have the week to be thinking about it.  Once you get to Sunday, you'll be primed to be further engaged by a sermon on the same Psalm.  It's just a practical way to help us meditate on God's word, while in the midst of work, children, husbands, gardening, whatever.