A Bible study on the Psalms that you can do with other Redeemer women, but in your pajamas.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
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.
According to a Bible dictionary, shiggaion is defined as "from the verb shagah, "to reel about through drink," occurs in the title of Ps. 7. The plural form, shigionoth, is found in Hab. 3:1. The word denotes a lyrical poem composed under strong mental emotion; a song of impassioned imagination accompanied with suitable music; a dithyrambic ode." There's a lot of emotion going on here. David feels strongly.
v. 1-2 This psalm seems to piggy-back off the end of chapter 6 - David seems confident that God is for him and against his (David's) enemies (rather than the beginning of chapter 6, in which David seems to think that God is not for him). How do I view God? As for me? Or against me? I think I tend to think of him as for, not against.
v. 3-5 He's confident of his innocence, to the point of being willing to die if he's wrong. Selah - I love this term, found often in the Psalms. It's probably a musical command, but it indicates that there should be a pause, almost as if the writer is saying, "Stop! Think about this. Don't just read and go on. What I wrote was important."
v. 6-7 "Awake for me." Again, David exudes that confidence. He is strong in his identity, that he feels he can call on God to act. There's a shift, though, in the reasoning: verse 6 implies that David is calling on God to act on David's behalf; verse 7 calls on God to act on His own, for His glory and His names' sake. I often fail to think big-picture enough to see that God acting on His behalf and for His glory affects me as well, if that makes sense.
v. 8-9 Reminds me of Ps 1, the contrast between the wicked and the righteous. It's clear where David stands. At first I thought, am I that confident in my righteousness? No. But then that's where the Gospel plays in, that I am covered with the righteousness of Christ, that because of His blood, I am righteous. Praise the Lord, then, that He judges according to righteousness! I love the Gospel in the OT!
v. 10 "My shield is with God." The original word for shield here is different than the whole body shield in ch 5. that you (Chris) talked about. This word is smaller, giving the picture that (instead of God covering us with a full body shield, like in ch 5) He himself is holding the shield, protecting me. That seems a lot more personal to me!
v. 11-13 God is not okay with unrepentance.
v. 14-16 Is that saying that sometimes God's consequences are actually natural consequences for unrepentance? Is v. 14-16 the carrying out of v. 11-13?
v. 17 The conclusion. God is righteous. He is the Most High. And He deserves praise because of who He is.
I love the gospel in the OT, too. It's been really neat to read it in the Psalms. Especially to read about God's loving kindness, the continuity of that word throughout the Psalms. To think of the smaller picture they had in the OT and how our picture is so much more broad and full. I love to see the seed of it in the Psalms. And I think my understanding is still so small.
According to a Bible dictionary, shiggaion is defined as "from the verb shagah, "to reel about through drink," occurs in the title of Ps. 7. The plural form, shigionoth, is found in Hab. 3:1. The word denotes a lyrical poem composed under strong mental emotion; a song of impassioned imagination accompanied with suitable music; a dithyrambic ode." There's a lot of emotion going on here. David feels strongly.
ReplyDeletev. 1-2 This psalm seems to piggy-back off the end of chapter 6 - David seems confident that God is for him and against his (David's) enemies (rather than the beginning of chapter 6, in which David seems to think that God is not for him). How do I view God? As for me? Or against me? I think I tend to think of him as for, not against.
v. 3-5 He's confident of his innocence, to the point of being willing to die if he's wrong.
Selah - I love this term, found often in the Psalms. It's probably a musical command, but it indicates that there should be a pause, almost as if the writer is saying, "Stop! Think about this. Don't just read and go on. What I wrote was important."
v. 6-7 "Awake for me." Again, David exudes that confidence. He is strong in his identity, that he feels he can call on God to act. There's a shift, though, in the reasoning: verse 6 implies that David is calling on God to act on David's behalf; verse 7 calls on God to act on His own, for His glory and His names' sake. I often fail to think big-picture enough to see that God acting on His behalf and for His glory affects me as well, if that makes sense.
v. 8-9 Reminds me of Ps 1, the contrast between the wicked and the righteous. It's clear where David stands. At first I thought, am I that confident in my righteousness? No. But then that's where the Gospel plays in, that I am covered with the righteousness of Christ, that because of His blood, I am righteous. Praise the Lord, then, that He judges according to righteousness! I love the Gospel in the OT!
v. 10 "My shield is with God." The original word for shield here is different than the whole body shield in ch 5. that you (Chris) talked about. This word is smaller, giving the picture that (instead of God covering us with a full body shield, like in ch 5) He himself is holding the shield, protecting me. That seems a lot more personal to me!
v. 11-13 God is not okay with unrepentance.
v. 14-16 Is that saying that sometimes God's consequences are actually natural consequences for unrepentance? Is v. 14-16 the carrying out of v. 11-13?
v. 17 The conclusion. God is righteous. He is the Most High. And He deserves praise because of who He is.
Thank you Rachel!!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Rachel!!!! -Chris
ReplyDeleteI love the gospel in the OT, too. It's been really neat to read it in the Psalms. Especially to read about God's loving kindness, the continuity of that word throughout the Psalms. To think of the smaller picture they had in the OT and how our picture is so much more broad and full. I love to see the seed of it in the Psalms. And I think my understanding is still so small.
ReplyDelete