PsalmsT H E B O O K O F

PRAISE PRAYER

POSTURE

Usually, when we read the word “blessed” in Hebrew, we find בר (barak), which has to do with favor, or kneeling. When we speak of God blessing someone or when we bless the food, we are speaking of בר (barak). But not here. Here it comes from the Hebrew word אשר (esher). So then why does this and some other instances of the word “blessed” mean something different than favor?

This rendering, used for “blessed is the man” in this passage, which comes right from the Hebrew אשר (esher), is speaking of actual, genuine, true happiness. This isn’t mere mirth, and it’s not fleeting. This is real, deep, lasting happiness. We could rightly substitute the words “truly happy” for the word “blessed” in this verse and arrive at the exact same understanding: The man who accomplishes the actions in verse one (and inversely, verse two) is the man who is truly happy, enjoying the delights of God and the joys of fellowship with the Divine.

Interesting to note is that this word, אשר (esher), is actually rendered in the plural form in this verse. It seems to properly indicate, in the words of Adam Clarke, “O the blessedness of the man!” There are overwhelming blessednesses for the one who will accomplish the actions to follow:

Firstly, we see that the truly happy man does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. What does this mean? The word “ungodly” here is rendered from the Hebrew רשע (rasha) which indicates moral wrongness, or — properly — actual ungodliness, since God is absolutely moral. We will cover the “walk, stand, sit” aspect in a little bit; for now, observe that the truly happy man does not take heed to the counsel of the ungodly. He does not allow the ungodly to affect his life. Note here that “ungodly” does not necessarily indicate something committed for the deliberate purpose of being “anti-god,” as it were; rather, it simply means something that is outside the sphere of influence of moral rightness, or something “without God.”

GENUINE HAPPINESS

Psalm 1

Secondly, we see that the truly happy man does not stand in the way of sinners. This word, sinners, comes from חטא (chatta), indicating a criminal. This is aptly stated, given that sin is the transgression of the law. This seems to be an escalation of the former state in that it is not merely ungodly — that is, without God, but rather a transgression of His law. The truly happy man does not stand in the way of sinners. Well, what is the “way” of sinners? Let’s take a look at that word “way.” It comes from the Hebrew דר (derek), which means a road, a path of life. A manner of living. A custom, a conversation, a lifestyle. The truly happy man does not live like those who transgress against God’s law. They do not live a lifestyle given to sin.

Thirdly, we see that the truly happy man does not sit in the seat of the scornful. is the word here from which “scornful” is translated, and it means to (letsim) לציםscoff, mock, or, of course, scorn. This goes beyond godlessness, and even beyond sinfulness, to the extreme of actually challenging and opposing God deliberately in excess of what sin already does by nature. The truly happy man does not sit in the seat of the scornful — he does not ישב (yashab) in the מושב (moshab) of the scornful. To ישב (yashab), or, sit, means to settle, marry, establish. The seat, or מושב (moshab), denotes the abode or population. The truly happy man does not marry the population of those who challenge and strive with the Creator.

But then, what does he do? What is it in which he engages that allows him to be so happy, that fuels his ongoing happiness, that motivates even more wise decisions? It is the Law of the LORD. It is obeying the precepts that God establishes for us. It is recognizing the beauty and wisdom and love behind these precepts to such an extent that it actually causes the truly happy man to delight in the Law of the LORD. That word, “delight,” comes from the Hebrew word חפץ (chephets), and sincerely indicates actual pleasure, desire, and value. Now, we know it is not the flesh that feels this way about the LORD, nor does it esteem His Law at all. No, it is the Spirit of God indwelling the believer, causing him to have a love for all things Holy.

But look at what else the truly happy man does. He meditates הגה (hagah) — which means to ponder, mutter, utter, imagine — in the Law of the LORD day and night. All the time he’s thinking about the Law of the LORD. He can’t stop thinking about it, because it delights him so, and it is so good for him, let alone bringing honor and glory to the One True God.

Now look at the results of this man who has true happiness, the man who does not entertain ungodly counsel, endear sin, or engage in scorn. Look at the state of this man. He is like a tree planted by rivers of water. Can you imagine a more blissful, pure scene? He is nourished. He is pure. He is healthy. He is pristine. He is, most of all, fruitful. He will not wither, and his efforts will never be in vain.

Now look back at these ungodly, sinful, and scoffing ones. They are not so. They are like the chaff which the wind drives away. They are here for a moment, gone in the next. They are transient, weak, anemic, powerless, emaciated. They are like the summer snow. They are but for a stitch in time. They are altogether unprofitable and vain. And they will not stand in the judgment in this world or in the world to come, and they will find no quarter among the redeemed in the last day.

You see, God knows the way of the righteous. Job knew this when he stated that God knew the way that he took in Job 23:10. Paul knew this when he exhorted Timothy in II Timothy 2:19. David knew this when he testified of God’s goodness toward him in Psalm 18:20.

And God knows your way, too.

Believer, you have been declared righteous before God. Your sins have been washed away. You will never stand in condemnation before God. But how much more perilous is it, then, that professing believers often slip and slide their way into identifying with the deleterious and harmful participants of this passage? Here is how: It is, after all, almost always a progression, whether indicated by this passage or not. It begins with ungodliness by incidence, then by sinfulness on purpose, then savage by intention.

Don’t even begin to go that way. Stay in the Word of God. Delight in it. Meditate in it. Speak of it. Live in it. And you will be truly, actually happy. Holy. Happy.

Something to think about.

fin

This Psalm begins with a question, posed presumably by David; however, like Psalm 1, it is left unsigned. We do not know for sure who wrote this Psalm, but we do know that ultimately it is God who divinely inspired all Scriptures like this one and preserved it for our edification. The question is an honest one, and opens up the first of four parts of this Psalm: “Why do the heathen rage? Why do the people imagine a vain thing?” The first part is the Alliance of the Wicked-Doers.

So to rephrase the question in other words: “why do people actually rebel against God?” And it’s not just some mindless, cult-like rabble. It’s everyone. All people, all nations. The Hebrew word גוים (goyim) is used here, and it means just that — the nations, particularly the Gentiles. The speaker goes on to state that even the kings of the earth form alliances and cabals just to oppose Jehovah, their own Creator. You can really sense the indignation and shock in the author’s tone here.

Do we not see this sort of thing take place every day, though? It wasn’t just in the Psalmist’s day, and it wasn’t confined to the Sanhedrin only. No, even today in most homes, in almost every (perhaps every) human government, in many churches, and in most companies, people are completely determined to prevent, prohibit and oppose God and Jesus Christ in this world. That’s what the Hebrew word רגשו (ragash) means — to gnash teeth, to violently plot, to thrash about. They imagine a vain thing: They go about to oppose God, His Son, and His Kingdom, but it is indeed vain.

Note that the word משיח (mashiyach) is here used; this can be translated “Messiah,” but here it is not. This can lead to one of three common understandings of this word, “anointed.” Some believe that this refers to those people who have trusted in Christ and are thus anointed, preserved, chosen, saved, set apart. While the central idea of this passage isn’t impacted greatly either way, it would seem much more fitting that this verse refers to Jesus Christ when it says “his anointed.” Well, then, why doesn’t it say, “his Anointed One?” Well, in Hebrew, we don’t often have the convenience of completion in the English sense right up front, and the

FOUR ACTS, FOUR PLAYERS

Psalm 2

early translators were faithful to not add to the Scriptures (unlike many of the translators today, tragically), and that’s fine. But note that this word is singular, which renders the plural understanding of “anointed ones” grammatically impossible. And this leads to the third possibility of understanding this verse, which would be that the “anointed [one]” here refers to whomever God has put in place as His anointed at the time and place, whether prophet, priest, king, or Jesus Himself. The most plain interpretation, however, remains that this is speaking of Jesus Christ. This seems to be made even more clear as the Psalm progresses.

The third verse reveals their motives: They wish not to be bound by the bands and cords of the laws of God and His Anointed. This lends more credence to the second and third views of the local meaning of the word “anointed,” especially the second view, the plain one referring to Jesus Christ as the Anointed One. These wicked ones have all allied to say, “We will not have God rule over us!”

The second part of this Psalm is the Response of the Heaven-Dweller. God here is called יושב בשמים (yashab shamayim), the One Who Sits in the Heavens. This is said to contrast the utter foolishness and vanity of the attempts of mere mortals to break away from accountability to God and His Anointed One. He is recorded as mocking, laughing! There is absolutely no way they can accomplish that which they have set out to do — we saw this at the Tower of Babel and we see it at last in the Book of Revelation. Nothing that is formed against God shall prosper! Nothing! He will have them in derision. That’s a really, really interesting word because it comes from לעג (laag), which means to babble unintelligibly. Remind you of Babel much? It should. This is what happens when people oppose God and His Anointed.

The text further reveals that God speaks דבר (dabar) to them in His wrath and vexes בהל (bahal) them in His sore displeasure. There’s a few understandings of what this might mean, but I believe it means exactly what the text says — God speaks to them and this vexes them. To be vexed means to tremble inwardly, to be alarmed or afraid. When God speaks in His wrath, this has an effect on people. Just His words alone!

The next verse is a phenomenal testimony of God’s insistence upon His own glory and absolute victory and advancement in the midst of the opposition of simple mortals. He says, “even though you’ve tried to oppose me, I just laugh and disquiet you. As for me, I’ve set up my King upon my holy hill of Zion.” You see, that term “yet have I” involves the Hebrew אני (aniy), which carries an understanding of “[that’s fine for you, but] as for me…” God is telling them that right while the wicked

ones are trying to separate themselves from the Kingdom of God and His authority in their lives, He is setting up His King, Jesus Christ, His Anointed One, to rule from His Holy Hill, Zion. That’s powerful, and sends a massive message to those who would oppose His reign.

The third part of this Psalm is the Testimony of the Zion-King. Here, the speaker switches from Jehovah to His Son, Jesus Christ. This is obvious from the text at hand, but a quick trip to Hebrews 1:5 and 5:5 verifies this further. Jesus is speaking! He now declares the decree, the חק (choq), the enactment, the ordinance, the commandment. He now states how it is going to be!

He first testifies of His Sonship, and states clearly that God has begotten ילד (yalad) Him. Now, we know that Jesus was not “begotten” into existence at any fixed point in time as we know it, but He was begotten from eternity and in that He came forth from God into flesh on this earth. So what does it mean that He said “this day” in particular? Well, there are several views, but we will observe only the three most obvious and plain views.

The first view is that the “this day” refers to the point when Christ was determined to be the King of the All Things in eternity past, and obviously not at a fixed point in time (although יום [yom] is here used, remember that this word can be either literal or figurative, depending on the context), due to the eternal sonship of Christ.

The second view is that the “this day” refers not to Christ’s beginning in eternity past, (as though there were one), but His resurrection. The resurrection view seems to be compatible with Acts 13:33. “Begotten” doesn’t have to mean “brought to life” as though it were the first time; it could refer to the second time Jesus was “brought to life,” in the resurrection.

The last view is that the “this day” prophetically refers to the occasion in which Jesus Christ was actually begotten in the flesh on the earth. Either way, the message of the verse is intact: God has set up Jesus Christ, His Son, for the following, which we see in the upcoming verses:

Verse 8 continues God’s declaration to His Son, Jesus Christ. “Ask of me, and I shall give thee.” Sounds familiar, yes? We are given the same promise! But with Christ it is particular here: God promises all the kingdoms of the earth to Jesus Christ. All He has to do is ask. The promise continues in verse 9, where we read of God stating to His Son, Jesus Christ, that Jesus will break the rebellious nations

with a rod of iron and dash them to pieces. This is in startling contradiction to the desires of the foolish nations that oppose God and His Anointed!

The fourth part of this Psalm is the Warning of the Psalm-Writer. Here the straw-men, the rebellious nations of the earth, are admonished to be wise and instructed based on what they’ve just heard: Serve Jehovah with fear, and rejoice with trembling! That’s the only real option at this point that doesn't involve desolation and destruction, simple as that. What does it mean to “serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling,” though? Well, the first part is simple enough to understand: That word “fear” comes from the Hebrew יראה (yirah) which means a moral reverence.

But rejoicing with trembling? What does this mean? Let’s take a look at the Hebrew word from which we get the word “rejoice.” The word is רעד (raad), and it’s an interesting word, because it means to spin around in a circle. There’s no way around it — this is talking about being especially jubilant, but to do so with trembling! So how do we reconcile these two? Well, let’s take a look at Philippians 2:12-18. This is what it means. It means to enjoy the wonders of salvation while holding our position in Christ with solemn reverence. It means to “work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling.”

Lastly, the Psalmist commands the rebellious nations of the earth to kiss the Son, which is an older expression of complete submission to Jesus Christ. Why? Because His wrath is kindled against the nations who will not submit to His Lordship. That phrase “but a little”, מעט (me-at), is interpreted various ways, but the plain interpretation is that even a little bit of God’s wrath is enough to completely eradicate His enemies.

But to those who will accept Him as the God of all, the Lord of all, the King of Kings, and put their trust in Him alone, they are blessed.

But what about you? Surely you have trusted Christ as Saviour, yes? Surely you have received His free gift of salvation and forgiveness of sins. But is He your Lord, really, in the every-day? Do you kiss the Son? Do you submit to His Lordship not only positionally, but practically?

Something to think about.

fin

Especially in America, and especially in the 21st century, we like peering into the lives and minds of others. The television shows and radio programs that bring in the highest ratings are those who have the “exclusive scoop,” the glimpse into a situation that no one else has, the invasive report about what’s going on behind closed doors, what’s being said while no one else is looking. Tragically, this usually pertains to gossip, slander, and scandal; we’ve been exposed to this a number of times recently during our current election cycle.

However, despite the negative connotation applied to this concept these days, an inside look at something or someone isn’t necessarily a bad thing at all! Remember reading the Gettysburg Address? We weren't the audience, but my, how wonderful it is to recall the inspiring words of our nation’s greatest American. What of those words spoken directly to Houston Command by Neil Armstrong? We weren’t there, we weren’t directly addressed, but what an honor and excitement to witness and hear what happened on the moon that day.

This evening, we’re given the first of many glimpses into the mind of David as he records his emotions and testifies of the glory and goodness of God in this Psalm. Let’s take a look together.

Firstly, we see inscribed at the beginning of this Psalm is the occasion in which it was written, when an aged David was fleeing from his son, Absalom, during a time of great mutiny unrest in Jerusalem. Absalom had craftily gained power and influence and used it to drive David out of his own city and now a father is running for his life from his own son. This is recorded in 2 Samuel 15:12-14. Tradition states that David composed these words as he passed by the Mount of Olives.

So now, a fugitive from his own child, David speaks, or rather cries out, these chilling words: “Jehovah! There’s so many of them that are closing in on me to kill me! There’s so many of them that are rising up against me!” This isn’t something to

YOU CAN GO TO SLEEP

Psalm 3

which David was accustomed — his own son leading a band of murderers and insurgents against him! This was a new and terrible suffering into which David is thrust.

After this interjection, however, David elaborates, breaking his address to God (to resume in verse 7) to form a testimony of His goodness and continued providence and protection even in the face of his enemies: “Many say that not even God can help me.” And then he says “Selah,” which is actually a direct Anglicization of the Hebrew סלה (seh-law), which is actually a musical term meaning to hesitate, signifying a break in the music and rhythm of the Psalm. He states here to stop, apparently hoping to direct us to reflect on what was just said. So let’s do just that.

It wasn’t just one person who stated that there was no salvation for David. It wasn’t just a band, either. Absalom had succeeded in causing many, many people to betray and turn against David and claim that there was no salvation for David, that his God would not save him. David wants us to hear that. He wants us to focus on that. He wants us to understand that this is what the enemy is saying. So that’s the first observation of this text this evening: The Claim of the Insurgents.

But David doesn’t allow this to go on without an answer of his own, and so we immediately hear the second part of this Psalm, The Counter of the Anointed. David simply says, “They’re wrong. They don't know Jehovah like I do.” AMEN! You see, David was deeply, truly acquainted with the God of the Bible, and this intimate relationship between this earthly king and the King of Kings was fully sufficient to give him the following assurance that he states in verse three: “But you, Jehovah — you are a shield for me. You are my glory. You are the lifter up of my head.”

My. My. What grief David must have been enduring. His own son. But Jehovah was the lifter of his head. He was the One who lifted David’s head, wiped his tears even as they continued flowing, and held him close. He was David’s glory. He was David’s shield. He was David’s everything. He was David’s absolute, final everything.

David now moves to testify not only of God’s role in his life, but also His actions in his life. He says, “I cried unto Jehovah with my voice, and He heard me!” David here says “Selah” once more, indicating a stop, a rest, a break. So can I ask you to do something with me? Can I ask you to try your best to never take for granted that this great God, the One, the True, the Jehovah hears us when we cry unto Him? Even when we are going through torments, even when we have no idea what’s going on or what’s coming next — HE HEARS YOU! He heard David from

the same Holy Hill that we read about in Psalm 2, and He hears His own even today.

Take a look at this third part of this psalm, The Confidence of the Secure. David now testifies to us an otherwise unbelievable thing: He lays down and goes to sleep! People want him dead, but he knows that God is with Him and won’t let a hair on his head by afflicted unless God says it’s okay. Can you imagine that kind of trust? That kind of confidence? That kind of relationship which brings about such a confidence! Wow! So indeed David wakes up just fine and tells us about it.

Now David testifies again, and we notice the fourth part of this psalm, The Courage of the Afflicted. Look! Look at David’s courage because of who God is and what He does! Listen to him boast about God’s amazing protection and provision even when surrounded on all sides by tens of thousands of men who want him dead!

How much more should we trust in Jehovah, who are not surrounded unto death? Then we see, lastly, The Call of the Dependent as David, fully assured of God’s sovereignty over all those who would oppose him, calls upon God to save him from his situation. God has already shattered the teeth of those who would gnash upon David, and he has already broken their jaws. There is nothing they can do to devour him. They can’t even bite. Amen!

Finally, David testifies once more of God’s great goodness and salvation and follows this with the final occurrence of the word “Selah” in this Psalm. In an amazing answer to the defiant claims of the insurgents in verse 2 and a powerful testimony directed to God Himself, David says, “Salvation belongs to Jehovah; your blessing is upon me.” He seems to say, “No matter what, I know I’m safe with you.”

What about you? Do you have the kind of relationship with God that assures you of your safety and providence even in the face of terrible persecution? You can. Draw close to Him. And no matter what your enemies or your flesh insist, remember that they are insurgents against God and the Holy Spirit inside you. Just know that they’re wrong, God’s Word is right, and The Creator of the Universe lovingly has your back.

Something to think about.

fin

The first sentence we read, the pretext of this Psalm — the title, if you will — is a bit of a mystery to most readers of the Bible, and so it is passed over. But if we take more than just a cursory perusal into this opening pretext, we will find that there is a really wonderful musical notion here.

This Psalm, like five other Psalms after it, opens up with a sentence that includes the word “neginoth.” Some have taken it to be a person’s name, but that doesn’t make any sense when read plainly. So what does this word mean? Well, let’s talk about that. This word, “neginoth,” is straight from the Hebrew נגינת (neginath), which is a plural form of the word נגינה (neginah). Once out of the six times this word is used in the Psalm titles, it is left singular, perhaps to indicate a solo piece of music. The other times, it is rendered in a plural form like we see here.

Okay, so what does it mean, then? Well, the word itself is translated as “song” in passages like Job 30:9 and Psalm 77:6, and is translated as “stringed instruments” in Isaiah 38:20 and Habakkuk 3:19. Interestingly it is rendered “song” in Lamentations 3:14, but as “musick” in Lamentations 5:14. Here and in the other five Psalm titles, it is left alone in its Hebrew form.

So on to actually answer the question: A “neginah” is almost certainly a stringed instrument of some sort, and it’s very likely that when someone said, “sing me a neginah,” they were talking about a song with a singular stringed accompaniment. If there was to be more than one stringed instrument, it seems that this song was called a “neginoth.” No one really knows for sure what this instrument looked like, but there’s a lot of conjecture, to be sure: Some have it pictured as a lyre or a harp, while others draw it as a bow with multiple strings. And perhaps that’s fitting: Maybe the “neginah” was a generic term for any stringed instrument, and by connotation and idiom, any song sung while accompanied by said string instrument. And the same goes for the plural form here, “neginoth.”

THE SEQUEL

Psalm 4

So we see right away that this was absolutely intended to be a song, but we must also remember that this song came from the deepest part of the heart of David at one point in his life.

Note also that this song was directed to the Chief Musician, perhaps someone like Chenaniah in I Chronicles 15:22 or Heman and Jeduthun in I Chronicles 16:41-42. This phrase is found at the beginning of 55 of the Psalms.

This Psalm seems to be a sequel, if you will, to Psalm 3. It appears to be part of a set with the previous Psalm, if not historically, then at least principally. We will see this as we go through the Psalm together this evening.

Verse one begins with a supplication: David is imploring God to hear him when he calls — this isn’t to say that David felt that God would not hear him unless he specifically asked, or that there was any possibility that God would not actually know that he was speaking to Him. No, this phrase is said from a standpoint of a humble, destitute begging soul. These words were uttered by a man who knew that there was no one but God even worth imploring. He calls God צדק אלהים, (Elohim tsedek), the God of his righteousness — David was aware that God is his righteousness, and doesn’t bother trying to establish his own before Him. This is the proper posture of prayer!

David then testifies of God’s goodness to him, harking back to the times when God was indeed very good to him, and begs for mercy from God, asking Him to hear his prayer once more.

Please understand that this isn’t David merely going through some motions of prayer here; no, we’re not listening to routine babblings. We are hearing the words of a man so humble, so contrite, so aware of his position before a holy, holy, holy God that he can’t help but beg from the lowest possible place despite his deep relationship with God Himself. This is, again, the proper posture of prayer, to be sure!

David now shifts his address to the sons of men; that is, the ungodly line of unbelievers, the same men who would rise up against God and foment insurrection against the very One who lovingly crafted them. He asks them how long they will turn his glory into shame, and this could mean a couple of things. First, it could be referring to the same rebellion from the last chapter, and he could be stating that his glory was being turned to shame — he was the king, and now he is running for

his life. But this phrase could also mean that his glory, which we know is God from the last chapter, is being turned into shame in that they are saying that there is no help for him in God. It likely has to do with both, in a plain estimation.

David now asks another question, this time in two parts: How long will they love vanity (temporal, fleeting objectives and desire) and how long will they seek after leasing (that which deceives and misleads)? They clearly do not think that what they are doing is vain and self-deceiving, but David knows that it is and calls it what it is. He then calls for a pause in the music, and this is a great occasion to reflect and consider this truth — those who do not know the utter aimlessness of sin often indulge in it; why, then, do we? Why do we, who know the vanity and deception of sin, indulge in it as well?

David then assures the enemies of God: Jehovah has him completely covered. He is kept apart for God Himself, and God “has his back,” so to speak; nothing will happen to David of which God is unaware, to be sure. This is reminiscent of the last Psalm, as well. Also note David’s confidence that God will hear all who call unto Him. He is sure, and nothing will dissuade him from this truth.

Next, David commands the enemies of God to stand in awe. They have no idea who they are up against, and he is once again attempting to inform them: “You are standing before the God among gods, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. Stand in awe,” he says. This leads to David’s next command: Don’t sin. Be so overcome with dread and fear before this awesome God that you do not sin any longer. He simply states to stop sinning. He then says to commune with their own hearts upon their beds — to take some serious time and ponder — and then be still.

Wow — that’s packed with implication, and there’s plenty to delve into upon this next pause, this next Selah: a proper view of God, coupled with a proper meditation of who He is, will cause us to stop sinning and oppressing our Maker.

David next commands the enemies of God to offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put their trust in the LORD. He is calling them to salvation, essentially: “Stop trusting in your own horses and chariots, in your own works, in your own intellect, and start trusting God instead. Do what He wants you to do.” Came you imagine? Instead of telling his enemies, and the enemies of His beloved Jehovah, to go jump off a cliff, he insists that they join the right army, the Lord’s army. He commands them to get on the correct side of things.

Now David brings up an all-too-common question posed by everyone at any given time: Who will be good to us? Who will show us any good? Who will be truly good to us? What is actual, true goodness? Who is good? David answers the questions of the lost men, the enemies of God and otherwise, by stating that God is good. The light of His countenance is good. But the light of His countenance, that special, particular goodness and favor beyond the general goodness of God expressed in events such as good bounties and such (an example of which we’ll see in the next verse), will only be shown upon all those who put their trust in Him.

In answering the question above, David begins His address to God once more and this address continues in verse seven: “God, you put true gladness in my heart, and it’s a gladness that transcends the temporal, fleeting gladness that just anyone can experience when things go well.” You see, there is a special gladness that stems from a special goodness for those who will acknowledge God as God and put their trust in Him.

Lastly, David echoes the same confidence and comfort that he expressed in the last Psalm: “I’m going to lay down and get some good, deep sleep. Because God and God alone creates a genuinely safe and secure dwelling place for me.” Interesting to note is that that phrase “makest me dwell” comes from that Hebrew word ישב (yashab) which means “to sit,” the same phrase used in the very first Psalm. This, then, is a continual dwelling place created by God for those who will simply put their trust in Him.

So for the believer, there is a call to put one’s trust in God. To trust Him for salvation and begin to offer the sacrifices of the righteous. But for those of us in this room who name the name of God and have already trusted Him for salvation: Let this be an exhortation to continue to trust in the One who saved you: He has created an environment of protection, provision and providence for you — rest in it.

Something to consider.

fin

This Psalm opens up with a pretext just like the last, except there’s one small difference. Where the previous Psalm, Psalm 4, opened with instruction to be played on neginoth, stringed instruments, we read that this Psalm is to be played on נחילה (nehiloth), which means a wind instrument. This really gives emphasis to the great care that David took in the planning, preparation, and performance of the Psalms he wrote for the Most High God! David certainly thought God was worthy of such dedication and attention. Amen to this!

Verse one opens up the Psalm with an already-familiar refrain: “Give ear to my words, O LORD…” David here petitions to Jehovah God to hear his words and consider his mediation. The word for mediation here is from the Hebrew הגיג (hagiyg), and is an interesting word in that it is derived from an unused root, and it’s only used one other time in the Bible in Psalm 39:3 where it’s translated “musing.” David here says, “God, please hear me out, and listen to what I’m thinking about. Hear me out, hear my meditations.” David reaches out to God to understand David’s innermost thoughts, and to understand everything about what David was saying. God is not too small that He cannot do this, and not too big that He will not do this.

David continues his petition in verse two: He again begs God to hear his cry, and implores God as His King and His God, the true, one and only Elohim. Imagine that: The King of the king! David states that it is only to God that he will pray — remember, “pray” means “ask” and that’s all “pray” means — and this is at least in part because God is the only true God, the only One who can hear David’s prayer in the first place!

David now shifts his approach from verses three through seven from an attitude of petitioning to an attitude of testimony. Almost to reassure and reinforce his own confidence and boldness before God, David here states that God indeed will hear him when he prays, and he says so with absolute confidence. Note that he states

GOD DOES HATE THEM, AND THAT’S OKAY

Psalm 5

“in the morning” here, and then he then testifies that he will, as a result, pray in the morning to the One True God. Here we see evidence that the morning-time is a most fitting and appropriate time to pray, to ask God for what we need that day: guidance, direction, protection, and so much more. Interesting that David here states that he will “look up.” This phrase, to “look up,” comes from the Hebrew and carries an unmistakeable connotation of those who would look ,(tsaphah) צפהup in earnest expectation. It means to “peer,” “observe,” “behold,” and “wait for.” David stated that he would petition God, and then eagerly expect that his prayer would be answered! What faith!

Verse four continues David’s seeming parenthetical as he launches into a testimony of the character and nature of God: “You do not have pleasure in wickedness, and evil will not dwell with you.” But look at that little word, “for,” at the beginning of the verse. What is it there for? It is a causal word referring back to verse three, indicating that David has great faith that God will respect the imputed and practical righteousness which he possesses as opposed to the enmity which belongs to the enemies of God mentioned in the following verses. He says, “you will hear and answer my prayer, but you will not hear those heathens who are against you and opposing you.”

In fact, David goes as far as to say in verse five that the foolish will not stand in the sight of God! Note that this word for foolish is the Hebrew word הלל (halal); this word has to do with putting on a show (see I Samuel 21:13) or praise (like that found in 2 Samuel 14:25 or Judges 16:24). This word is actually translated “praise” more often than any other rendering, but it also used for words like “shine,” “rage,” “renowned,” and even “marriage.” So it’s clear that this word has to do with those who are putting themselves up above God just like we’ve read about in the previous Psalms, and are putting on a show of rage and pride — really, “foolish” is the perfect word here. Because that’s all that sort of thing is before God: foolish.

And here we arrive at the crux of God’s attitude toward these fools: He hates them. And this doesn’t mean anything other than that He HATES them. No diminishing or softening is necessary here; God doesn’t need you and I to twist His Words in an attempt to justify His actions. Unlike us, He needs no advocate.

But it would be just as much a travesty to leave this verse unstudied as it would to change it just because we are apprehensive and uncertain of its meaning. So what does it mean, that God hates the workers of iniquity? Well, it’s pretty clear, actually, but requires that we look a little deeper than we might normally look. Let’s break it

down into steps. These three steps, by the way, are often necessary for proper understanding of any Biblical passage, not just the one at hand.

STEP ONE: Recognize that our 21st-century connotations we apply to words don’t always line up with what a word actually means (i.e. “pray,” “repent,” etc.).

STEP TWO: Check for other times this word has been used in equally-dated literature (preferably the Bible) to determine what the chronically local denotation or connotation was at the time.

Let’s look at Malachi 1:2,3 crossed with Romans 9:13. God treated Jacob with favor, and treated Esau with hostility.

Now let’s look at Genesis 29:31. Jacob was more intimate with Rachel, and treated Leah with hostility.

Let’s dig in to what the word “hate” means. In Hebrew, it’s שנא (sa-ne) or שטם (salam), and in Greek, it’s μισέω (miseo). The Hebrew meaning is simple: it means to count as a foe and/or to persecute, to oppose oneself against. In Greek, it’s just as simple: to detest, to persecute.

What about this word seems to conjure the idea of an emotion? The word is generally a word of action, a word that conveys the sense that someone actually did something to someone or treated someone a certain way. It doesn’t have to do with uncontrolled rage or wrath, and it doesn’t mean “gritting teeth” or “red in the face.” It’s actually a very simple word, and it means to treat like an enemy or persecute. To treat someone in a way that indicates that you don’t esteem them or respect them. It’s to act toward someone as though they’re a foe, and oppose them.

STEP THREE: Surrender self-will and accept what the Bible says, not what we want it to say or have been taught in the past that it says.

So what does the Bible reveal about God here? That He’s in an uncontrolled rage, a blatant, unrestrained, loveless wrath against anyone who is a sinner? No. Not at all. It means that He treats them as an enemy, for they have declared war against Him. It really is as simple as that. When we hate, it is wrong, for we do not have the right to hate, for we are not perfect. What is reserved for us to do to our enemies is to love them, which — like hate — is an action. God alone can love and hate at

the same time. So he hates the workers of iniquity, those who have committed themselves to being an enemy of God, and that’s just fine. He can do that. He would be unjust and unrighteous, by the way, to treat them as anything but an enemy.

In the next verse, David goes on to declare that God will destroy those that speak leasing, and will abhor the bloody and deceitful man. This word, abhor comes from the Hebrew תעב (ta-ab), which means to loathe or detest. Again, this does not mean that God is dwelling in a state of uncontrolled wrath or something. He is long-suffering and patient and wise and kind and loving! But again — these wicked people have declared war against God with their sin, just like the rest of humanity, and He properly loathes not just their sin, but the actual sinners. He detests them. But He loves them. He loathes them. But He died for them. So this isn’t some sort of foolish vitriol that we often call “hate.” No, this is a proper view of sinners in the eyes of God alone. We are not to detest or loathe, but God is, for He is perfect.

David now turns the attention back onto the righteous man in this story, namely himself, without an ounce of vainglory or pride; in fact, he mentions himself only to bring more glory to God! David says, “they have made themselves your enemy, but as for me…I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy[!], and worship in thy fear toward thy holy temple.” Wow. Night and day. Quite literally. What a difference!

Now David resumes his attitude of prayer in verse 8 when he asks Jehovah to lead him in His own righteousness, the righteousness Jehovah, because of his enemies. He asks God to make God’s own way, His path for David, straight before his face. David knew that his enemies lay waiting like a lion, crouching, ready to strike at him without just cause. So he asks God to direct his paths. Amazing truth here: God is still ready to direct the paths of those who put their trust in Him for salvation and desire to please Him with their lives.

David now explains to God the exceeding, head-to-toe, full wickedness of those who make God their enemy. This may not be an exceptionally charitable view of mankind, but it’s an accurate one. The enemies of God described here are wicked to the core, and full of vanity and death.

David then, not out of selfishness or on a whim, asks God to destroy his enemies. This is known as an imprecatory portion of this psalm. There are entire Psalms that are known as imprecatory Psalms, but this one is not entirely imprecatory.

However, it should be clear to the reader that David is petitioning God to destroy his enemies not out of anger, but for his own safety and to satisfy the justice and righteousness of God. David was not in error here! He asks God to allow their own counsel to bring them down and to cast them out, because they have rebelled against Him.

Lastly, David contrasts his own security and safety as a righteous man with the inevitable doom of those who would rebel against God: He states that those who put their trust in God will rejoice and shout for joy because God is not their enemy! He is their Defender! Those that trust in God and love His name can rejoice because He stands ever ready, able and willing to defend those that are His.

David states a truth to close this Psalm: God will bless the righteous, and with favor He will compass him as with a shield. What a powerful truth! The same God that will completely and totally destroy the wicked will totally and completely defend those that are His! This is reason to rejoice! This is reason to shout! This is reason to praise Him! This is reason to adore Him, to rest in the beauty of His holiness.

Something to think about.

fin

This first of seven “penitential’ (pertaining to penitence [and sorrow]) Psalms, David is here found in a most profoundly disturbed and hurting state. Let’s listen in as David cries out to God in one of the hardest times of his life (presumably after his sin with Bathsheba, but certainly after some sin that greatly affected him). After all, it was recorded as a Psalm, a piece of music to be sung, and therefore intended for us to glean something powerful from this extremely personal ordeal.

First, please note that this Psalm is even more specifically ordered in terms of its musical accompaniment — it was not only to be played on the neginoth, the stringed instruments, but very particularly to be played upon a שמינית (sheminith), which was almost certainly an eight-stringed harp of sorts. Why? Well, I have an idea. Have you ever heard a harp before? It’s some of the most beautiful music you’ve ever heard. Serene. Calming. Incredible and indescribably pacifying. What wisdom to accompany this music with an eight-stringed harp. This psalm needs to be played in a pacific way, as we’ll find during our journey into this painful, even abrasive song.

In verse one, we read that David foregoes the typical respectful, redundant, heavily-emphasized multiple addresses to God and pleas to be heard. There is a place for those, but David did not find that this was the place for such an address, to be sure! David immediately bounds into a plea for not an audience with God, but for mercy!

But take a look at this first verse carefully — David isn’t asking for God to stay his hand of chastisement. After all, to chastise (from יסר [yasar]) means to instruct or reform most of all. We should all want to be chastised, despite how painful, especially because it is evidence of our sonship in the family of God (Hebrews 12:8)! David here is asking for God to not rebuke and chastise in his hot displeasure and anger. Why? Because the anger and wrath of God is reserved only for those who are the enemies of God. So did David think he was going to

“WATCH OUT, SINNERS!” -SIGNED, A DELIVERED SINNER

Psalm 6

lose his salvation or something? Well, I’d like to think that David was a bit more established in the faith than that…

There’s two possibilities: Firstly, it seems more and more possible as we read the Psalm that David felt that he was being chastised beyond what he could bear. He, as a result, asks God to chastise him not in his hot displeasure and anger. This seems to be the heart of David in this Psalm. Secondly, it could be that David’s cry here may have been one of, “God, I am not your enemy, even though I just acted like one of your enemies. I am your child! Please remember me for good, God, and treat me like your child despite my sin! Don’t cast me off! Don’t disown me!” Though it’s not likely that this was David’s heart, it’s not impossible, and here’s why:

In the second possibility, if it doesn't make sense that David would ask God to refrain from damning him, refer to the previous Psalms where God is being asked to hear David even though it was a certainty that David would be heard, or flip ahead to where David makes some heavy requests of God to not be forsaken, even though God has already promised not to forsake His people — David is saying these things, making these requests not because they won’t be heard and not because he’s afraid that God will disown him, but that he realizes his true place before God and knows what he deserves.

However, it seems clear as we read further and further into the passage that David is simply overwhelmed at this point and is crying out for God to show mercy in this midst of this chastisement. You see, David continues his plea for mercy (but note — not forgiveness! David has already been forgiven of his sins when He became a child of God! The only time we see David ask for forgiveness is but one time in the book of Psalms, in Psalm 25:18, where he is asking for the burden and consequences of sin to be lifted from him in a practical sense. The word “forgiveness” is not used in a typical sense at all in that verse! But more on that later), in verse two, acknowledging his weakness in the flesh and calling upon God to heal him in a physical way, because his bones are vexed.

David is experiencing the deepest, most awful form of sorrow and contrition here. He is literally physically affected because of his sin and his confrontation of the sheer wickedness of the transgression he has committed against a holy God. His bones are vexed; he is trembling and shaking and hurting because of his sin. His skin is cold, his breath short and hot, his eyes are wide, his mouth is dry, his stomach is empty and cramping, his body is simply vexed. All because of some

sin. Some transgression. Maybe some transgression that would be laughed off or at least minimized in the Christian community today.

David continues in verse three to state that it’s not just his body that is vexed; no, his soul is, too. His soul isn’t just vexed, though. It’s sore vexed. It’s even worse than his body! His body is simply suffering the physical ramifications of what his soul is enduring! And then he says, “but thou, O Jehovah, how long?” That is to say, “God, I’m suffering so greatly over here! I’m suffering so very greatly! But as for you, Lord…how long will you let me suffer? You have the ability to deliver me, but when will you?” This verse seems to be begin to unpack the possibility that David felt that his chastisement was too much to bear in his flesh and that God was truly going to kill him.

Verse four continues the thought presented in verse three: “Lord, return, and deliver me.” Now, many might say that this means that David felt forsaken here and that he was asking God to come back to him. This may very well be true; however, let’s take a look at that word, “return.” The Hebrew word there is שוב (shub), and means, well, to “re-turn,” or “turn again.” As in, “redo,” “redraw,” “retry,” and so forth. He is asking God to “turn again,” or “give me another chance.” He is literally asking God to change His mind here, and there is absolutely no mistake or “wiggle room” about it. He says, “God, in your mercy…give me another chance. Return. Deliver me from this, because it seems you’ve decided to kill me and I’m asking for another chance. Re-turn.” It seems appropriate to note that “repent” carries much of the same meaning: “think again.” David says, “turn again.” Wow. (Doubts? See verse 10 of this same chapter for proof of this meaning.)

David continues in verse 5 to make his case, and notice that it’s not all selfish! This is more than a bargain with God, by the way — this is sincere. He states, “If I’m dead, how can I praise you? How can I thank you? How can I worship you? How can I do these things if I’m dead? Please let me live!” Important to note is that David wasn’t advocating for some weird soul-sleep or annihilation doctrine here. He was stating his case for staying on this earth, plain and simple, and he happened to notice that there wasn’t exactly a vibrant church service occurring at the local graveyard each night. Psalm 30:9 echoes this sentiment effectively and gives even more clarity to David’s thoughts here.

In verse six David continues to state his complaints to God about his physical state. He tells God that he is actually weary with his groanings; that is, he was tired of being tired and didn’t even have the strength to cry out anymore! He was so

inwardly exhausted and worn out that the only way to describe this condition effectively would be to state that he was actually weary not only with his state, but with his very groanings about his state! “I’m exhausted with my sighings,” he said. “All night long I weep and cry so much that my bed is soaked and swims in my tears.” The words for bed and couch (מטה [mittah] and ערש [eres], respectively) are both used for the place he slept, and he hyperbolically stated that his bed became a raft because of all of his tears at night. His weeping, don’t forget, wasn’t just because of his physical state; it was because of his soul’s vexation, as well. Simply put, David was a mess. A horrible, pitiful, sorrowful mess beyond concise description.

He elaborates further in verse seven that his eye is consumed because of his grief. That word, “consumed” is from the Hebrew עשש (ashesh), and means to be dried up and sunk inward. He states that he hasn’t gotten sleep and that his eyes had begun to suffer because of it — sullen eyes, dark circles, emaciation, and even blurriness has begun to set it because of his state. He goes on to state that it waxeth old — in other words, it feels like his eyes are much older than the rest of his body because of their state. Psalm 38:10 elucidates this text a bit for us.

But look at what happens next! At some point, David has shifted from the sorrow he had brought upon himself to the sorrow brought about by his enemies! Surely they are one and the same, though — note that after his sin with Bathsheba, the prophet Nathan didn’t pronounce sentence upon David simply because of his sin; no, it was because David gave occasion for the enemy to blaspheme God as a result (II Samuel 12:14) of what he did. It had become public somehow, and now it had to be dealt with. You see, God is generally not interested in “airing people’s dirty laundry.” He is, however, very interested in defending His own name represented through the testimony of His people.

It seems that David’s greatest chastisement was not the bodily harm he had received as a natural consequence from his sin, and it wasn’t even that he had lost so much that was dear to him. It seems clear that the worst part of David’s chastisement was that he, in his sin, had given the enemies of God an opportunity to mock David and his God; in essence, David’s sin harmed the name of God in the sight of the enemies of God. And the oppression of these enemies as a result was too much for David to bear, both for his own sake and (most gravely) the sake of the glory and testimony of God Himself.

However, watch as the confidence of David comes back like a storm. David seems to pick himself up a bit now in verse eight, when he states boldly — “get away from me, workers of iniquity.” Note that he no longer considers himself one at this point, just verses removed from verse one! He has confidence in the deliverance of God just like he stated previously (“I will pray, and I will expect the answer!” from Psalm 5!) and like a lion says in verses eight and nine, “He has heard me, and has heard my request, and will receive my petition! I know this to be true, so WATCH OUT!” Amen! David closes out the Psalm with more confident words based on the confidence He has in God’s deliverance and mercy. He says “I’m not going to be sore vexed for long, sinners. It’s going to be you who is sore vexed!” Turn around and run for the hills, guys! God is on my side!” Well, amen. Need we say more? I think not!

Something to think about!

fin

In this psalm, we are immediately thrust into a bit of a mystery! In the preface, we are told that this is a שגיון, a shiggaion of David, which he sang unto the LORD concerning the words of someone named Cush, who was a Benjamite. First, we wonder what a shiggaion is, and then we ponder about the identity of Cush.

Let’s not pass over this — it’s recorded for a reason! So what is a shiggaion? So let’s take a look at the actual Hebrew word, שגיון. It comes from the word שגה, which means to mislead or mistake, and it itself means an aberration or, more technically, a dithyramb. So what is a dithyramb? It’s defined as a passionate, rambling poem or speech. So then we’re led to understand that a shiggaion is a passionate, rambling poem. Now, this isn’t necessarily wrong, but, well, oftentimes it really helps to look at other parts of the Scriptures to get some help in determining exactly what one of these is. So when we do that, we find the following:

This word is only used one other time in the Scriptures in Habakkuk 3:1, where Habakkuk is recording a prayer upon shigionoth. Now, given that this terminology (something played “upon” something, such as a neginah or neginoth) used thus far refers to an instrument, we are led to understand that Habakkuk wants his prayer recorded upon shigionoth, the mention and usage of which causes one to think of a particular instrument.

So then what’s the answer? It appears it’s a bit of both. Clearly, a shiggaion is an unfettered, unpredictable poem, but it is also understood to be something which is generally impassioned, such as a plea or a lament, something so passionate that it seems disorganized, wild. So when something is recorded upon shigionoth, it seems to indicate that what is being said or recorded is a wild, passionate plea and should be rendered as such during its recital. This is not to be read dryly or vainly; this was recorded in the throes of pain, loneliness, and trembling before God and should be remembered as such. A shiggaion.

THE PIT OF CUSH AND COMPANY

Psalm 7

So then who is this Cush? Well, we’ll try to keep this one simple. Some folks believe this refers to Saul, who was the son of Kish, and was a Benjamite. That may be, but the obvious answer is that this is someone who was oppressing David that we don’t know. It may have been Saul. Sounds like it could be. But we don’t want to assume here. We do know, however, that this Cush had spoken words to David that were considered words of persecution. It seems that Cush had likely promised David’s death, thus prompting the first words of the actual Psalm…

Verse one opens up quite a bit more optimistically than other Psalms do — David begins the Psalm by iterating that he is fully trusting God, and asking God to save and deliver him from all them that persecute him. Verse two gives the reasoning: He is convinced that without God’s deliverance, his enemy will tear his very soul and rend it in pieces. Obviously, David is not concerned about his salvation being lost here by his use of the terminology “soul” here instead of body. No, this was clearly a strong way of stating his concern about the full, total, complete destruction that the enemy would cause if left to their own devices without Divine intervention. Also note that the pronoun “he” is used here (singular) as opposed to “they” (plural). David is obviously talking about Cush here, and when he states “the enemy” or “enemies” or “the wicked,” it seems clear that he is talking about all they that are working with Cush (or just his enemies in general, but given the heading of this Psalm it seems clear that Cush and Company are of more immediate concern, just like Absalom was earlier).

Verses three through five give us a lucid view of the honest, desperate plea of David. He states, “God, if I’ve done anything to deserve this, then let it happen. If I’ve given evil to those who don’t deserve it, if I’ve instigated this upon myself, then let it happen. Let the enemy persecute my soul and destroy my honor.” Note that the word for “honor” here is כבוד (kabod), which is, of course, recognizable from the Hebrew phrase אי־כבוד (ichabod), meaning “the glory is departed.” So we understand that this honor of which David spoke is his glory, which is God Himself as we learned earlier in the former Psalms. David is essentially stating that all of his glory and honor is God’s anyways, and that he fully acknowledges that if he has done anything wicked to deserve persecution, he would accept the consequence and the loss of testimony and honor. What courage! What transparency!

But we read that David had done no such wickedness. In fact, he testifies to God that he had done quite the opposite — in I Samuel 24:4, David is recorded as having preserved Saul, who was definitely an enemy of David without cause! David closes this thought with a musical rest, a mental break, a proper hesitation.

David now moves to imprecation in verse six, and calls upon God to arise in His anger and lift up Himself in response to the rage of his enemies. He further implores God to awake, not that God has ever slept, but that he is calling on Him, as if He were somehow unaware of or insensitive to David’s plight, to hurry and deliver David by bringing utter destruction upon his enemies. Absolutely fascinating is David’s particular plea to God here in the end of verse six — he says “God, you’ve always commanded justice and judgment; I’m asking you now to fulfill the same thing that you’ve expected of me and all your followers.” What a powerful plea! It almost sounds like a bargain, but not one to David’s detriment. It’s a magnificent request based on David’s thorough knowledge of the character and personality of God Himself. What a plea.

Look now as David continues his bargain of sorts with God in verse seven: He states that after God brings justice upon his persecutors, there will be a great congregation of people to worship Him — all the more reason to deliver David! Please observe here that the word for “return” is the same as we’ve seen prior: the word שוב (shub). And just like the last time this was used in Psalm 6:4, a misunderstanding of this phrase can lead to seriously harmful theology. Observe: God has never left His throne, so He therefore does not need to return to it on high. No, this word שוב (shub) is used the same way it was before: “God, please cease from your apparent inactivity and deliver me!”

David now pivots from a personal address to God into a testimony of His goodness in verse eight, and this testimony continues for the duration of the chapter. David, like Nehemiah did in his endeavors to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls by saying “remember me, O my God, for good,” now states that God will judge everyone according to their righteousness. David, knowing that his righteousness was not due to his own goodness but rather due to the imputed righteousness of God by grace through faith, calls upon God to judge him according to his righteousness and integrity based on that imputed righteousness.

David now launches into an imprecation again, this time not exactly addressing God, but rather a general request of imprecation (an end) upon all those who are wicked. He states that the צדיק אלהים (elhohim tsaddiyq) righteous God tries the hearts and will pass justice and judgment according to His divine scales, whether a man is righteous or wicked. He tries the hearts and כליה (kilyah), reins (or, kidneys) of all. He will make no mistakes on the day of judgement!

David then, in verse ten, reiterates his confidence his safety from the anger and wrath of God due to the fact that he is upright in heart. Again, it is imperative that we do not see this as pride or arrogance on David’s part — he knows his frame, that he is dust. But he also knows that God has saved him from wickedness to righteousness, and that he is safe from the wrath of God.

David continues this thought into the next verse where he states that God judges the righteous and finds them vindicated; He judges the wicked, too, and is angry with the wicked all day, every day, with no limit and to no end. Remember — whatever God is, He is infinitely that. Whatever God expresses, He expresses infinitely. This is not problematic that God is angry with the wicked every day; He hates them as enemies! They’ve put themselves square in a position of anger and condemnation! If God was not angry, He would not be a just and holy God.

David now warns the “straw man” that if he does not repent, then God will sharpen His metaphorical sword and bend his metaphorical bow and prepare his metaphorical instruments of death and set up His metaphorical arrows in order. The concept of metaphor is mentioned here excessively because we know that God is no wielder of these weapons, but you know who was? That’s right — Cush and Company. They have all their weapons aimed squarely at David here, but God is the one who really wields the power to destroy, not Cush.

Just like in verse two, David now speaks in verse fourteen directly of Cush, and indicts him on several counts, but in a most peculiar way: He portrays Cush as a mother, and iniquity, mischief, and falsehood as his offspring. What powerful imagery! Note how David’s fear of Cush is almost turned into pity and disappointment in the midst of this indictment. Almost, it would seem. Almost.

Verses fifteen and sixteen introduce more stunning imagery: Cush has made a pit for David, to ensnare him, to destroy him, but he himself has fallen into this pit, this ditch, which he made for David. Much like Haman in Esther, he would be defeated by his own devices. But take a look — David is speaking as if the battle is already done! As if Cush is already defeated! Listen to his confidence now as he speaks: “Poor Cush — he’s dug a ditch for me, but he’s fallen into it. His best-laid plans of violence will come smashing down on his own head.” What confidence! He simply says, “this battle is already won!”

He closes this shiggaion by declaring that he will praise the LORD according to His righteousness — he will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High. What a

faith-filled praise! What a confident endeavor! Oh, that we would be like David. In the midst of fear, that we would praise God knowing that He has already won.

Something to think about.

fin

This Psalm, like many others now, begins with specific instruction to be played upon a specific instrument or performed or sung in a specific way. David here states that this Psalm (מזמור mizmor), this poem set to notes, is to be played “upon גתית (gittiyth).” But what does this one mean?

One of the most delightful aspects of these Psalms we’ve been studying is finding out new things about David and his heart just through these opening instructions. This is absolutely no exception. If you were to look it up in a standard concordance, you’d likely find that a “gittith” is a harp, and you wouldn’t be misled — it is indeed a harp. However, that’s just the beginning! This word is a feminine form of the word which means “a Gittite” or “an inhabitant of Gath.” Okay, so what does ,(gittiy) גתיthis mean? It means that this harp and relevant style of music is a very particular kind — one from Gath (remember, just like with the neginoth, the musical instrument named also carries the connotation of the music style it brought forth or with which it was associated).

So why is this significant? It is significant because David was in Gath at a very low, horrible time in his life. Check out I Samuel 27:1-7, where we find David taking refuge from Saul in Gath, hiding for his life. But while he was here, he “bloomed where he was planted,” so to speak, and assimilated the music instrument and musical style to be a channel for the praise of God! This also serves as a lesson for us that something which can be used for bad can also be used for good!

One last thing — every time this instrument is used to instruct the way a song is to be played (see Psalm 81 and 84 for the other two uses), it is used in an excited, lively, animated fashion. It is a good thing to get excited for God!

Verse one explodes into praise right from the start — O LORD our Lord — oh Jehovah our Adonai — how excellent (defined as “gallant,” “glorious,” “lordly,” “noble”) is thy name in all the earth! David erupts into praise of God and His name;

THE STRONG SONG OF THE CHILD

Psalm 8

in using the term “name” here, David is speaking of God’s reputation, testimony, character, and such like. David goes on to state that God has set His own glory above the heavens; He is higher than the highest! He alone is forever above and eternally transcendent in all His glory!

In verse two, we hear David praise God by saying that out of the mouths of babies He has ordained strength because of His enemies, so that He could quiet His foes. So what does this mean? Let’s start by taking a look at that word for “strength,” which is the Hebrew word עז (oze). It’s a very broad, wide word and has a lot of applications. So which application is right for this occasion? Well, let’s take a look in Matthew, because this is actually a really neat prophecy.

In Matthew 21:15-16, we read of children praising the name of God in that they praised Jesus Christ; when they praised Jesus Christ, they were very much fulfilling prophecy spoken in Psalm 8 by God through David — the enemies of God were sore displeased. And they were stilled. They couldn’t say anything about it. Why? Because they had seen it themselves! Jesus is LORD! And there was nothing they could do! All their power, all their pomp, all their position, all their posturing, was eliminated in an instant in the minds of those who embraced the liberty and love of Jesus Christ! The enemy and avenger was stilled by the strength of the children.

So what is this strength that God ordained for young ones? Their praises! Their strong song of praise! AMEN! Praising God is strength! It was the strength of the jailed apostles, it was the strength of the early Baptist martyrs, and it can be your strength too! Praise the name of Jesus Christ, who is God!

David elaborates in verses three and four: He states that when he considers everything that God has made and ordained, he (like Job in Job 7:17) ponders deeply how otherwise insignificant and small mankind is. He meditates on the awesome power of God and the moon and stars and then contrasts his pitiful state to the magnificence of God. He compares the perfection of God with the sinful, miserable state of man and marvels that God Himself would visit mankind in such a state.

So what does this mean in verse four, this “man” and then “son of man?” This requires a little bit of digging. If you’re a student of the meaning of the names of the line of Seth revealed in the book of Genesis, you’ll note that אנוש (nosh / enoch) means “mortal.” This is the word used for “man” firstly in this text, so as to say, “what is a mere mortal, that God Himself, the Eternal One, is mindful of Him?” David

then uses the word אדם (adam) for man next in this verse so as to say, “how could you ever deign to visit the sons of Adam, sinners though we are?”

Now, some have supposed that this “son of man” here is Jesus Christ. However, I would disagree profoundly given that David is contrasting man’s feeble, pitiable state compared to God — given that Jesus is God, it doesn’t fit in the context presented here. Furthermore, it is stated that the son of man was visited — the word “visited” comes from the Hebrew פקד (paqad) which means to oversee, care for, and remember. So clearly, this refers to the dutiful, loving care which God possesses for His crown jewel of His creation: mankind. Furthermore, to state that the first part of the verse refers to mankind and the second refers to Christ shatters the Hebrew poetic structure of the verse and context of the passage altogether.

David continues in his praise and astonishment in verse five by stating that God has placed mankind just a little lower than the angels and crowned him with glory and honor — mankind is not some evolved accident, the incidental happenstance of time and chance! No, mankind is special! Truly, very, actually special!

In verses six through eight, David marvels at this specialness and expounds upon it by listing the way is manifested: God gave mankind charge over all of His creation! God gave mankind authority over every rock, hill, animal, everything. This is why David marvels — again, if this were Christ of Whom these words are spoken, this would be no cause for shock and worship in David’s mind. Of course Christ has dominion! But the cause for David’s dropped jaw and wide eyes was that mankind, this frail, sinful, mortal creature has been esteemed by the excellent, majestic God in that God exalted mankind, loves mankind, and thinks constantly of mankind and their best interests. Absolutely marvelous!

David closes the psalm with another exclamation of how excellent God’s name is in all the earth, and how fitting it is. He has just explored and expounded upon the amazing, wondrous judgment and care, and now sits in awe of the fact that mankind is a special, wonderful, beloved creation. David says, “I don’t deserve it, but I’m special. I’m different than the whales and the dogs. I’m more important than the moon and stars. I’m so loved and regarded by the God of the Universe!” This should make us marvel and praise, too.

Something to think about.

fin

This Psalm opens up with yet another different particular description of how the song is to be played; this time, the chief musician is given the instruction that this Psalm is to be played upon מות לבן (muthlabben). Now what this means is, once again, a bit of a mystery.

The word מות לבן appears to come from a combination of two Hebrew words: ,meaning "son." As a result ,(ben) בן meaning "death" or "to die," and ,(muth) מותmany have supposed that this Psalm was composed upon the occasion of David's son dying -- however, this does not make sense contextually or syntactically. Others have alleged that this Psalm was written after one of David's enemies died; this, while likely, does not explain all of what "muthlabben" means for reasons we'll discuss in a bit. Others still have gone quite a bit further into the realm of the fantastic, going as far as to say that the "labben" portion of the word is some mysteriously inverted form of the word "Nabal," somehow referring to an event involving Nabal using a code of sorts. This seems strange and outlandish.

Meanwhile, back in reality, let’s continue to figure out what this means. Well, we remember that so far -- consistently -- when a song is directed to be played "upon" something in the prefaces of Psalms like this, it is referring to a form or style of music or instrumentation that is to accompany the Psalm. Now, this does not exclude the possibility of an exception to this principle, but when we are given hermeneutical consistencies like this we should attempt to stay within that pattern first of all.

In this case, this Psalm does not appear to be appealing to the use of a particular instrument called a “muthlabben” this time; rather, it seems to be referring to a class or kind of [instrument conducive to a] style of music pertaining to the death of an enemy of sorts. I know that's a mouthful, but bear with me -- apparently there was indeed a victory over David's foes (traditionally, this is assumed to be Goliath and the Philistines, but that's quite unfounded with the exception reading into the

The God Who Can and Does

Psalm 9

concept of the "death of the son [of Anak]" or utilizing textual criticism to correct the Masoretes and render this to be the "death of the champion"), and a celebration was now in order by way of performing this song upon "muthlabben." So then what exactly is this? An event or a style of music or instrumentation? The answer: apparently, both. This was evidently a particular style of music and instrumentation used when enemies fell; in this case, a particular enemy has fallen, and this Psalm is evidence of the fact that David gives glory to God for taking care of Him. One might call it a victory song, really!

Before we begin — this Psalm, together with Psalm 10, forms a sort of acrostic. Between the two Psalms, all but 7 letters of the Hebrew alphabet are present and in order. This, coupled with the absence of a introduction to Psalm 10, indicate that the two Psalms were meant to be read and understood together as one. However, we will cover the Psalms separately as we have been doing thus far in our series.

So the first two verses begin with exuberant exclamations from David: “I will praise thee, O Jehovah, with my whole heart! I will show forth all your marvellous works! I will be glad and rejoice in thee! I will sing praise to thy name, O thou Most High!” It’s a glad jubilation of excitement and praise. God has done it, and David is glad! Oh, that we would abandon our reservations from time to time and just rejoice!

David goes on in verse three to state that when his enemies are turned back, they will fall and perish at God’s presence. Even in their retreat, they are doomed. What faith and belief predicated this declaration, and how sweet it is to rejoice with David now that it has come to pass! The word “when” here is not found in the Hebrew text (it simply reads אחור שוב [shub oyeb] that is to say, “enemy turn back”), and is therefore not used in a chronological sense so as to indicate that David was still waiting for it to happen; no, this word is placed here in an accomplished sense, so as to say, “even in their falling back, they have perished!” This word “when” is not here in error, by the way, in case someone might be wondering. No, it’s quite necessary in English to help us understand the perpetual nature of this praise: it is as if David is saying, “any time the enemy rises up against me and shirks away because my great God has appeared on the scene, they are as good as done.” By the way, this event built hope in David and strengthened him for other occasions in which he could boldly proclaim that when he cried out to God, his enemies would turn back (Psalm 56:9).

Listen to David in verses four and five as he praises God once more: “God, you’ve maintained my right and my cause. You executed righteousness and judged rightly.

The bad guy lost (and lost badly) and the good guy won. Because of you.” David here renders praise to God for keeping track and keeping an accurate record and judging according to righteousness. He, as we’ll read soon, kept David’s tears in a bottle — He keeps track and judges righteously, you can be sure of that!

David now taunts the straw man enemy in verse six which leads into praise through verse nine, but not out of pride. He does so in a way that glorifies God and lifts Him up: “Enemy, you destroyed a lot of things, and you destroyed them completely. But now you understand that Jehovah endures forever and he will judge the world in righteousness. He will always vindicate the righteous ones. He will always be present and a refuge for people like me, who were once threatened by you. My God is greater than you.” It’s worth noting that some have read verse six to mean that the enemy has now met their end, but it’s a difficult thing to extrapolate given that he is addressing them particularly in this text. However, it’s not outside the realm of possibility here.

In verse ten, David looks up toward heaven and begins to praise God directly — “those that know you will put their trust in you, Jehovah, because you’ll never forsake them that seek you.” What an amazing, awesome statement. And how true it is. Then, in verse eleven, David then turns his attention to the people of Israel and calls for praise! He calls all those who belong to Him to praise Him and declare among the people His doings. It is hard to not conjure songs like “How Great Thou Art” and “Isn’t He Wonderful” when thinking of a passage like this. We are told to praise Him, for He certainly deserves it!

Verse twelve continues this testimony of God and states that when the wicked make inquisition (דרש [darash] is the word used here for inquisition, meaning a pursuit or a diligent requiring) for the lives of His people, He remembers them; they won’t get away with what they’re attempting to do! God does not forget the cry of the humble! For those who will humble themselves enough to call upon Him, He will not forget them.This is a pattern that extends through the entire Old Testament well into the teachings of the New Testament: God resists the proud, but gives race to the humble (Proverbs 3:34, James 4:6. 1 Peter 5:5).

Coming right off the declaration of the promise of God to deliver those who would rely upon Him, David now faithfully engages in claiming that same promise by calling upon God, begging Him to consider, ראה (ra-ah, meaning to “see, approve, perceive, have respect to”), his trouble and deliver him from those who hate him. Note that David here attributes a title to God here: מות רום שער (rum

sha’ar maveth, “Thou That Liftest Me Up From The Gates of Death.”). What an amazing title for God Himself! Only God can do this! No one else can!

David follows up with his plea for deliverance in verse fourteen with a reason: It’s not just selfish! David has an innate, sincere desire to show forth all God’s praise in public (note the contrast between the gates of death and gates of Zion) and the best way to do that is by being alive! David then states that he will rejoice in God’s salvation. What else is there to do in the light of it?

In verses fifteen through seventeen, David now testifies of the same principle we first observed in Psalm seven — when the wicked digs a ditch, he falls in it. When he sets a snare, he gets caught in it. But this is more than just a natural principle occurring here — this is the providence and vengeance of God taking place on behalf of His people! Notice David’s observation here — he states that Jehovah is known by His judgment; that is to say, God has a reputation! He will always, always, always make it right in the end. The wicked truly will never prosper. Take a look at this word in verse sixteen: “Higgaion.” It’s the one word before the word “Selah,” which we already understand to mean a pause in the music and lyrics. So what does it mean? The word הגיון (higgayon) means a “murmur,” implying by connotation a solemn movement in the music. What a thought in this verse, verse sixteen, and what a marvelous thing that David would accentuate this thought with both “Higgaion” and “Selah.” This means we must absolutely ruminate upon this truth! David then reiterates this truth in the following verse. The wicked will be turned into hell. Everyone who are foreigners and strangers to God will perish. David then states in verse eighteen that the needy will not be forgotten, and their essentially a word meaning a “lifeline” or “expectation” or “rope of — (tiqvah) תקוהhope” — expectation will not perish. Note that the second occurrence of the word “not” in this verse is indeed supplied by the translators, but not in error. The second “not” is implied to have continued from the first one in the passage — these are two continuing, repeating thoughts, not contradicting ones.

Verses nineteen and twenty signal a marvellous end to the chapter: David summons Jehovah to arise and ensure the failure of man’s devices. He petitions God to judge properly as He always does. You see, it is not a harmful or bad thing to ask God to do that which He has always donjon e and has promised to do. David then implores God to put the enemy, the heathen, in fear, so that men will recognize their frailty and mortality. What fitting end to this wonderful chapter.

fin

This Psalm, given that it is meant to be read alongside Psalm 9, presents an alternative view of the world and circumstances when contrasted with Psalm 9. In this Psalm, we’re given a look at “the other hand” of David’s worldview, but it’s imperative to note that these don’t contradict each other; rather, they complete each other beautifully. You note that there is no introduction to this Psalm; however, make no mistake about it – this is almost certainly not meant to be sung in the same fashion as the muthlabben we just had the privilege of reading immediately prior. This Psalm sounds different, right from the start. Verse one opens up with a question asked by David, addressed to God: “Jehovah…where are you? Why are you standing afar off? Why aren’t you out here showing yourself and snatching your loved ones out of trouble?” We ask this question perhaps more often than you might imagine: “Why aren't you silencing the oppressors, God? Where is the provision you promised? Where is the protection of which I was assured?” Interesting that this Psalm was written as a sequel to such a victorious song. If it is not too much of a “stretch” to draw this application: There really are ups and downs in the Christian life. But they must never hinder our forward progress or reliance on God. They should actually increase our faith.

The next several verses form a portrait of the wicked man. In verse two, David launches into a multifaceted description of the wicked when we describes him as persecution the poor in his pride. This is a contrast to David’s own behavior; not that David was never proud and not that he never persecuted the poor — rather, it is the settled pride of the ungodly that causes them to never look upon the poor with pity — only disdain. David goes on to, in an imprecatory fashion, wish for them to fall prey to their own מזמה (mezimmaw, or “[usually] evil machinations” and “witty inventions”), a recurring theme from the previous Psalm.

David explains a little bit more of his indictment of the proud in verse three when he states that the wicked ones boast of their heart’s desire, like Nebuchadnezzar in

A Portrait of Settled Defiance

Psalm 10

Daniel 4:30; they have no concern for the poor! They only want to make themselves richer, often on the backs of the poor! Therefore they bless the covetous (themselves and others like them), and David makes no bones about it: God abhors or, נאץ (na-ats, to “scorn,” “contemn,” or “despise”), the covetous. Again, this does not mean that a believer cannot covet — in fact, the Bible contains one edification after another for followers of God to not covet — but this is speaking of the general way of life, the settled embrace of covetousness, not the occasional sin. If you can’t imagine what it would be like to live like Ebenezer Scrooge, that’s probably a good sign.

In verse four, David continues speaking of the pride of the wicked when he states that it is this pride that keeps them from seeking after God. And of course it is! Why need God when we have our heart’s desire — self and wickedness? Now carefully observe David’s next words: “God is not in all his thoughts.” Now that phrase is a powerful one, and it provides an amazing glimpse into the mind of the wicked, provided by God Himself in His Word. Let’s take a look:

This phrase, “God is not in all his thoughts,” is a translation of the Hebrew phrase and there’s a few things of (ayin Elohim kol mezzimaw) ”אין אלהים כל־מזמותיו“which to take careful note: First, notice the use of that word mezzimaw. Their inventions and machinations? God is not in all of them. But it goes further than that. This phrase does not mean that God is in some, but not all. No, it means that out of all of their machinations and inventions, not a single one involves God or His purposes or His glory or His will. Not a single one. They are altogether wicked. The last thing to note here is that this is a symptom and product of their pride.

Saints, please consider that we as believers are not above losing sight of God’s glories and allowing our own “best laid plans” to take precedent over God’s plan for our lives. Our machinations can be outside of God’s will, too.

This concept of perpetual, ongoing, complete secular (that word means the opposite of sacred; that which is completely without God) wickedness is further explained and intensified here in verse five when David states that not only is God not in a single one of their thoughts, but that every one of their actions is grievous and that God’s judgments of ,(”khool meaning “twist,” “pervert,” “pain) חול)righteousness, holiness, pity, compassion, and purity are far above their reach, out of their sight, even. The wicked man is described as someone who looks upon his enemies (the poor, the lowly, the pure) and puffs at them — that is, he פוח (puach) at them. Literally, this suggests that he figuratively huffs and puffs and suggests that

he can and will blow their houses down. He exalts himself above others who are despised in his sight and makes sure that they feel oppressed by him at all times.

Verse six reveals to us more than ever the wicked man’s defiance and stubbornness (and his ignorance). He states that he will never be moved, and that he will never be in adversity. Fascinatingly, the Hebrew structure here reads “לדר which specifically gives a powerful ,(dor dor asher lo ra-ah) ”ודר אשר לא־ברע׃rendering of how the wicked man feels: he says, “from age to age, from revolution to revolution, from generation to generation, I will never be in misery or pain.” Wow! What presumptuous pride! Whether or not they actually said this with their lips (undoubtedly they did), their lives showed that this is what they perceived about themselves, and rested in false security — because of pride.

Verse seven peels back the layers of the wicked man even further when it reveals that this sort of man has a mouth full of cursing (hurling imprecations at others) and deceit and fraud. This next phrase refers to an actual serpent: Their venom is located right under their tongues; David is calling these wicked men snakes, snakes who are full of the toxic poison of mischief and vanity (emptiness and useless, temporal, selfish pursuits). See Psalm 140:3 for more on this powerful, image-conjuring illustration.

David continues his description in verse eight when he paints the portrait of the wicked man as one who creeps around in the מארב (ma-arab, or “ambush-places”) and the מסתר (mistar, or “concealed places”) and murders the innocent and secretly plots against the poor, those who were counted wretches and unfortunate (that’s the meaning of the word poor, by the way, חלכא [che-leka]: essentially, it was those who couldn’t hardly do a thing to protect or defend themselves). They're the Sheriffs of Nottingham against the poor, pitiable citizens of his domain. As wicked as could possibly be!

David continues painting this picture in verses nine and ten when he reveals the wicked man as a lion who waits in his den to spring upon the feeble and weak, and as a sick, convoluted hunter of sorts who would snatch the poor and draw them into his net. Verse ten furthers this conjuration in that the wicked man is seen crouching and lowering himself (not the good kind of humbling) so he can pounce upon the poor, that they may fall by his “strong ones,” that is to say, his עצום (atsum, a Hebrew word usually indicating paws, which is from the Hebrew word which means to close upon the bones and crunch them and break ,[atsam] עצםthem). What kind of sick man could be this way? Why, everyone who opposes

God is this way at heart, and the only reason we don’t often see the sheer wickedness of their hearts is because it is generally held at bay by the influence of the church, the basic image of God and subsequent societal implants. That, and they are full of deceit and are adept at pulling the wool over people’s eyes, so to speak. This should make us immeasurably grateful for the salvation offered by Jesus Christ — He didn’t just save us from hell; He saved us from a life like this!

Now look what the pride of man causes him to think in verse eleven: “God isn’t going to remember this (either his actions or the oppression of the poor; maybe both)! God can’t even see this happening! He is hiding His face; He will never see me oppress the poor!” Perhaps this thought is present in the mind of the wicked, derived from the text at hand: “He cared or saw what was going on, surely He’d be doing something about it! Where is He? Nowhere! He can’t see what’s happening!”

Now David sit up straight. He widens his eyes a little bit and then narrows them into a tiny slit of righteous indignation and fervent desire for the glory of God and protection of the poor, presumably particularly God’s people. It seems he almost growls his petition to God in verse twelve: “ARISE, O JEHOVAH! Lift up thine hand! Don’t forget the humble! Show your enemies that you DO INDEED SEE what’s happening here! Vindicate us! Deliver us! Arise and take action!”

Verse thirteen: “What in the world is the wicked man thinking when he contemns (scorns, despises, belittles) God (by contemning the poor)? Where do they come from thinking that they can do this? Haven't they seen your works? They’ve actually said that you won’t require this of their hands! They don’t know you very well! Their pride has blinded them!”

Verse fourteen continues: “YOU HAVE SEEN, Jehovah! You have seen! You know exactly what’s going on! You’ve seen it all! You’ve peered into every single dark corner and every place of ambush! You’ve seen the deepest parts of their hearts and every sick, twisted sin they’ve committed against the poor, the defenseless, the feeble! You’ve seen it and you’ve kept track so you can repay it with your hand of justice and righteousness. God, the poor trust you, and you will help them — because that’s who you are and what you’re known for. You are the helper of the fatherless. You are the helper of the widows. You are the God who sees and will help!

David now specifically calls God to action in verse fifteen: “God, break the arm of the wicked so that they cannot oppress the poor anymore! Take away their

strength and root out every last bit of wickedness and wipe it all out until l you cannot see it anymore! Notice here that David is concerned not only for the poor, but also for the glory of God — he knows that God cannot stand the sight of sin, and wants God to be at rest from this wickedness, too. David is interested in honoring God and helping people.

David now launches into a praise of God that is both profound and amazing in verse sixteen. He extols God as King, the True King, the One King, the Only King, the King of Kings. He is above all, and sees all, and will vindicate the helpless. He is a GOOD KING! Now David praises God for his proper and faithful execution of justice: The heathen, those wicked ones, are perished out of his land. They cannot dwell where God reigns for long. He is KING.

David closes this amazing Psalm in verses seventeen and eighteen by praising God directly, addressing God specifically: “Jehovah, you’ve heard us. You’ve heard the desire, the תאוה (ta-avah, meaning “longing” and “delight”) of the humble, and you will stand them up and cause your ear to hear.” That’s right, the word prepare here doesn’t mean necessarily to “get ready” like it exclusively does today in our modern vernacular. No, it comes from the Hebrew word כון (kun) which means to “set up,” “establish,” to cause “to be erect,” to “make provision.” Amen and amen! What an amazing insight into God’s desire for those who have not anything or anyone but Him. David continues, “God, you will cause your ear to hear so that you can judge the fatherless and the oppressed, so that the sinful, wicked earthly man can’t terrify and oppress the poor and helpless anymore.” What an amazing God we serve!

Saints, there could be a situation you’re facing right now, and it probably doesn't have anything to do with a threat on your life or even your health. But you’re facing life itself, and a lot of that life you're living is influenced by wicked, ungodly people. Please know this: God is watching. God is waiting. God will see you through this. He will stand you up, wipe off your tears, and cause you to sing His praises once again.

Something to consider, to be sure.

fin

This Psalm opens up rather plainly, with no description of song style or occasion; however, there is a clear reference to the author and the intended recipient: King David wrote this Psalm, and it was meant for the Chief Musician to play and pass along to others.

But what was the occasion of the writing, if it can be discerned from the text at hand? Well, while it is impossible to tell for sure, it seems to be in a situation not unlike when David was fleeing from Absalom during the coup of David’s throne. Interestingly, however, David begins this Psalm with first and answer and then the question to which the answer is addressed. Let’s take a look.

In verse one, David begins with the answer: To Jehovah, to the LORD alone and no other, will David commit his trust. He states this as a response to the question he then asks: “How can you tell me to flee to your mountain for safety?” You see, David was stating here that he found no safety in the mountains, not even “his” mountain, the area with which he was most familiar; no, he found no safety in the valleys and rocks and hills. He found no safety in the chariots and horses and armor of the king. He found no safety in a sword and shield, and he found no safety in the shelter of the environment. His only safety was in the King of Kings and Lord of Lords — there was no other option in David’s mind. To David, he was safer in the middle of a wide open area with God’s protection than in the most impenetrable fortress without Him.

And David was right.

What’s particularly interesting here besides David’s unique approach to the opening of this Psalm is that someone clearly told David to flee like a bird to his mountain. That’s remarkably specific for someone not having said these words to David. No, someone did suggest this, and while it may have been a taunting enemy, most now-departed students of the Bible seem to think it was a well-intentioned friend or two of David that was suggesting that he flee to his mountain. Either way, David is

The Art of War, NOT according to Sun Tzu

Psalm 11

responding to this suggestion with the proclamation that he will not trust in his mountain — rather, he will trust in the Rock of Ages.

Now for a bit of a twist on the traditional understanding of this passage. It seems immediately evident to most readers that the quotation of the friend(s) of David ends here in verse one. However, when reading this chapter syntactically, one can see how the next two verses are quite probably the words of his friend(s) as well. Please don’t disengage because of this; please hang in there and let’s see if we can figure this out together.

Verse two continues with “for lo,” which indicates that the speaker in verse one is still speaking giving David a report of what’s going on (more on that in a couple of paragraphs); he is giving David a reason behind his suggestion for David to run to safety. He says, “because, look — the wicked are getting their arrows ready to shoot the upright in heart: namely, you.” Then listen to what happens: verse three actually makes sense in the context in which it was delivered:

Verse three reveals the grave concern of the friend(s) of David as they say, “If the wicked ones kill you, the one true king, our moral example, our righteous ruler, what will the rest of us, the righteous do?” They’re worried sick that David is going to be destroyed by the wicked, and that the unrighteous will rule in his stead. Therefore, they, like any good citizen, desire strongly to protect their king.

These three verses make a lot of sense this way, read as a continued statement from David’s caring friends; in fact, reading verse two makes no sense if it’s uttered by David. Consider the following: “Why would you say to flee? Because look — the wicked are preparing to kill me!” It doesn’t make sense. The causal word “for” at the beginning of verse two used with that word “lo” forms a “because look” connection. So David wouldn't say “why would I run? Because look — they’re trying to kill me!” No, he would be more like to say, “Why would I run? Because look — I trust God alone!” What is what he did say in verse one already.

Furthermore, verse three is similar in that if read in any other way than this being a quotation of David’s concerned friends, it invariably leads to massive context issues in this chapter. This verse simply doesn’t fit in this chapter well at all if David is saying it. It doesn’t make any sense at all, really: Why would David be asking what the righteous can do? That’s not his literary style so far as we can see, first of all. What’s more, it doesn’t work that David would say this, particularly because of that

word “foundations” used here. You see, David’s friends have a point: “If the foundations be destroyed, what happens to the rest of us?”

So it might help us to understand their point not just for the sake of proving that this is David’s friends talking, but also because there’s a good amount of truth in this passage that can apply directly to us today.

We’ll figure out what this means by breaking down the term “foundations” here. This word is a perfect English translation of the Hebrew word שתה (shathah), which means a basis, moral support, or purpose. In other words, David was essentially the moral compass of the righteous world — those that followed after David as king were positively influenced and spiritually enriched by his leadership. Without him, they would be as sheep without a shepherd! They wouldn’t know what to do, thus their panicked cry: “What will we do if you die?” So this furthers the evidence that David’s friends are still speaking in verse three — they are talking about him!

So thus far, we’ve seen David open up this Psalm by saying, “I’ve committed my trust to God! I know you’re concerned about your future, but how can you say to run away just because the wicked are trying to kill me?”

But David has the answer for them in verse four and speaks up with it: “Don’t you worry about that, guys. Thanks for your concern, but Jehovah is on duty!” AMEN! David states resolutely and faithfully that God is in his holy temple, a sacred place of judgment and wisdom, and is properly trying the children of men. That word “try” is from the Hebrew בחן (bachan) and means to test, investigate, examine, or prove. You see, God is constantly on the lookout, and knows the deepest thoughts and intents of the heart. Because of this, David doesn’t worry. God knows.

By the way, while it’s unusual for us to conceptualize someone “seeing” with their eyelids rather then their eyes, it was a perfectly normal Hebrew custom to refer to the eye by painting a picture (remember, Hebrew is a language of pictures, almost like Egyptian hieroglyphs!) of what the eye does — in this case, it עפעף (aph-aph), or, flutters and blinks. The eye, the eyelid, the eyelash, and so forth, were all considered one unit, though often mentioned by any one of its parts to represent the whole.

David continues in verses five and six to describe God’s actions: Jehovah examines the righteous and no more is mentioned of their test. However, when Jehovah examines the wicked, particularly those who wanted to engage in violence

against David like the ones prompting the occasion of the writing of this Psalm, He acts out according to His holy hatred (remember, that word “hate” (שנא [sa-ne]) means to treat someone as an enemy or foe) and rains snares, fire, brimstone, and a horrible tempest — a seething, raging blast of wind — upon them. This is their portion; this is what they’ve brought upon their own heads with their rebellion and wickedness.

David closes this Psalm with an outstandingly confident assessment of God’s character, and it’s perfectly accurate. He states: “The righteous Jehovah loves righteousness. He is always looking out for the upright.” And how true that is today! God will never, ever leave us! He is always, always watching out for His own. He delights in your doings when they are pure and glorifying to Him. He loves you and desires to keep you safe even more than we desire to keep our own children safe. Let’s endeavor to trust Him even as David did in this Psalm, inasmuch as to recognize Him who is invisible and intangible as being even safer than the tallest, mightiest fortress. Not exactly how Sun Tzu, author of “The Art of War” would say to do it, but David and we have a Defender that Sun Tzu almost certainly didn’t know.

Something to think about.

fin

This Psalm opens up with a similar opening to the sixth Psalm – like that one, this Psalm is to be played upon an 8-stringed harp. The reason for this is similar to the reasoning in Psalm 6 as well; this, after all, is no happy Psalm. Just like in the sixth Psalm, David exhibits a grieving, overwhelmed spirit in this text, one that is clearly evidenced by the first word of the first verse: “help.” In verse one, David begins this psalm by crying out to God for help. Why? What’s the reason? Well, in a sentence, he is overwhelmed by the apparent falling away of Godly people around. Have you ever felt that way before? David sure did here. He states specifically, “the godly man ceaseth;” he, like Elijah of old, was encumbered by the burden of perceived isolation. He felt alone, and he felt like he was the only true follower of righteousness around. This wasn’t motivated, it seems, out of self-pity or anything like that; no, he looked around and didn’t see any other good, honest men. No other righteous men. He felt terribly alone in his endeavors to do right. He goes on to describe why the godly man is ceasing, or coming to an end: because the faithful were failing from among the children of men. So what does this mean? Well, that word, “fail” comes from the Hebrew word פסס (pasas), and means to “disperse” or “disappear.” It doesn’t necessarily carry the connotation of moral failings or a mass compromise of integrity, but it simply means that David was perceiving that there weren’t any Godly men anymore, that the good ones were dying off and/or being scattered away, and thus everyone around him was a vain, flattering liar. An oppressor of the poor. A wicked, hollow man. This greatly grieved David, as it would anyone, prompting him to call out to God for help. David continues in verse two to describe the actions and attitudes of those who, it appeared, were everywhere, outnumbering the Godly ones by what seemed to be millions to one. They are the sort who speak vanity, or emptiness, with their neighbors. They are consumed with the temporal and fleeting. The big annual football game is more important than church, their favorite TV show is more

A Seven-Fold Promise

Psalm 12

important than holiness, their lust for the pleasures of the flesh is more important than purity. They are vain. This is what thrills them; this is what excites them; this is what makes them get out of bed in the morning. They speak with flattering lips and a double heart – everyone is a politician! Everyone is a lawyer! It seems like no one said what they meant or meant what they said. It was like Hollywood and Washington DC all combined in one. And David wasn’t wholly wrong in this observation, because it’s still true today: LOOK AROUND! Turn on your TV or listen to the radio or watch folks at work! This sort of stuff is glamorized! Let this never be found in us, fellow believers. Let this sort of mindset not be named once among us, as becometh saints. David continues in verses three and four with a solemn, grave promise based on his knowledge of the character and reputation of God Himself: God will put an end to all the flattering lips. God will stop the mouths of those who speak proud things, of those who revel in their vanity and emptiness. God will curtail their foolishness and flattery. Those who said, “we will win the world with our words!” and those who claimed that their lips were their own and those who presumptuously asked the question “who is Lord over us?” would be silenced by God in His divine, perfect timing. You see, even though David felt isolated, he knew that God was still on the throne, and He wasn’t oblivious to what was going on. David now reveals to us the words of the Lord God in verse five as a record of God’s answer to David’s petition and confident expectation. God is heard as saying that He would now arise, like a mighty force awakening from some sort of slumber (though we know God sleeps not but is ever vigilant), in response to the oppression of the poor and sighing of the needy. Clearly, the vain flatterers were harming those who could not help themselves in their prideful presumptuousness, exactly like we read about previously in the tenth Psalm. God continues His statement and declares that He would now set the helpless ones in safety, safe from those who would puff at them. Exact same wording as in the fifth verse of the tenth Psalm! God is fully, intricately invested in the safety of His people! In the sixth verse, David takes a minute to give us one of the greatest verses in the Scriptures, reaffirming the infallibility and perfect reliability of the words of God. They are pure, they are sevenfold pure, and they are thus there is not a bit of deception or doublespeak in them. See what David is doing here? He is drawing an infinite contrast between the words of those who oppose God and God’s words themselves. They are opposites, to be sure. One is pure, the other is corrupt! One

is holy, the other is vain. One is reliable, the other is double-tongued. Only God’s words are pure, and what He says will come to pass. As a quick aside, it is sure that there are those who would take this verse and use it to put forth the notion that this is a direct reference to the King James Bible, as it somehow exists in the minds of many as the seventh English translation. However, the King James Bible is not the seventh major English translation – it is the tenth one. To try to force this verse into a particular context is a mortifying, radically inappropriate use of Scripture. Let us never be guilty of doing such things. This verse simply and powerfully states that God’s words are perfect and pure and right. That’s certainly enough. In verse seven, David is recorded as praising God’s testimony of faithfulness, stating that God would keep them and preserve them from this generation for ever and ever. Now, this is often understood to refer to the words of God, and this is true of God’s words as well; however, the Hebrew syntax seems to lend itself to an alternate understanding here: the “them” in this verse may be referring back to the people mentioned in verse five. There’s a tremendous amount of study on either side of the issue, but the great news is that it is true of both. For ever and ever, those that are saved by God’s grace will be preserved. And forever and ever, God’s words will never pass away. This is not an attempt to sidestep the issue, but the words are rather ambiguous, perhaps for a reason. David closes this Psalm with a bit of a proverb, a general axiom of truth: When the wicked are lifted up and exalted, this spawns and gives free course to more wicked men on every side. The phrase “on every side” comes from the Hebrew picture-word סביב (sabiyb), carrying with it an understanding of being encompassed or encircled by the wicked, giving a proper understanding of oppression of the righteous and the poor in this context. When the wicked rule, more wicked are able to come out of the woodwork and wreak havoc with their vanity and pride.

But thankfully, God’s words are sure – He will deliver the righteous. The job of the righteous in those circumstances? Do exactly what David did: cry out for help. It will come. Despite how silent God can seem sometimes, He will rise up and deliver you. And that’s a promise.

Something to think about.

Perhaps the most trepidatious event one can encounter is walking in the dark without knowing anything about one’s surroundings. Whether in a jovial sense, such as stepping on toy cars and building bricks in the dark or in a much more serious sense, like being genuinely afraid of not knowing what lies in the shadows ahead. This fear, this hesitancy causes most people to walk very cautiously in the dark, so as not to be harmed.

In a sense, David found himself in a very, very dark place in the thirteenth Psalm. When we join up with David in this chapter, we do not find him rejoicing or praising the name of Jehovah for His faithfulness and providence. Nor do we find him stating his expectation of God’s vengeance upon the enemies of the throne. No, we find David in a much more sorrowful state, perhaps the most sorrowful we’ve seen so far in our study of the Psalms.

This Psalm begins with no particular instruction to the Chief Musician as to tone or musical accompaniment, almost as if to say, “that’s not important right now.” David, possibly fleeing from Saul but likely fleeing from Absalom at this time, opens up this mournful dirge by crying out to God, “how long will you forget me, oh Jehovah? How long are you going to hide your face from me?” He follows up in verse two with two more questions that begin the same way: “Hoe long will I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?”

Those are four tremendous questions, and they are questions to which David yearns for an answer from God. Because right now, it seems that God is out of sight, far away, having forgotten about David in his struggles, fears and infirmities. So let us address these four questions before moving forward with our study of this thirteenth Psalm. You will notice that the first two questions are very similar, but it is always worth taking the time to dissect all of the Scripture before us to obtain an accurate understanding of the intents and feelings of the Biblical author from the text at hand.

Running, Not Crawling, In The Dark

Psalm 13

First, David asks God, “How long will you forget me?” This is a reflection of David’s feelings of abandonment and disownment. Because of his circumstances, he feels as though he has been neglected by God. Now, can such a one as David truly believe that his God could genuinely misplace His recollection of David, His servant? Probably not, but please understand that David isn’t in the frame of mind to think things through theologically at the moment. No, he was consumed with the notion that because God had not answered his prayer in what he considered was a timely fashion, that God had forgotten about him, or at least was acting like it.

So the first question deals with feelings of abandonment and disownment.

The next question David asks, “how long will you hide your face from me,” reflects feelings of loneliness and isolation — David felt alone. Not only did David feel, in his oppression, that God had put him out of His mind, he felt the feelings of emptiness and despair that came with such a perceived action on God’s part. He was convinced, in this very dark time, that God had put him out of his mind and left him alone to die in a void of isolation.

So the second question deals with feelings of loneliness and isolation.

David then inquires, “how long will I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily?” This reveals first of all that David was not going through some brief “hard time” that lasted a few hours or even days and weeks. No, David was enduring something far more powerful, something far more sinister, something far more destructive. He was suffering from a dark time of doubt and despair almost certainly quite unlike anything he had endured so far.

So what does this first part mean, this question of “how long will I take counsel in my soul?” We understand that he was sorrowful day after day, but how does that first part of the question factor in to his sorrows? Well, let’s take a look. David asks how long he would have to אשית  עצות (shith etsah) within himself. The Hebrew here gives an understanding of “how long will I have to place a plan” or “frame a purpose?” Adam Clarke put it best here when he speaks for David: “I am continually framing ways and means of deliverance; but they all come to naught, because thou comest not to my deliverance.”

So the third question deals with helplessness and grief.

The fourth and final question David asks is “how long will my enemy be exalted over me?” This question is simple but at the same time profound. David is not only asking how long his enemy will be seemingly winning, but notice the indictment behind the question: “God, you promised that you would protect me. Yet here we are — the enemy is winning and I’m about to die.” David is emotionally hurt, confused and frightened. He sees that the enemy, unless there’s some sort of divine intervention, will prevail over him.

So the fourth question deals with loss and fear.

Now in the third verse, David moves from asking questions to pleading with God. He asks God to consider and hear him, something we’ve seen before. He asks God to recover from his place of absence and arise to hear and consider his plea for deliverance. He is tired of trying to come up with solutions himself; he’s exhausted his own resources, what little they were, and is simply begging God to come help at this point.

He asks God to lighten his eyes, lest he sleep the sleep of death. What does this mean? Well, the word “lighten” comes from the Hebrew word אור (ore), and it means to illuminate or cause to shine. This certainly could apply to his occasion of spiritual darkness, and it could apply to his physical state as well. Likely both. Concerning the physical aspect: David was apparently concerned that if he slept, his enemies would assassinate him in his sleep, or perhaps that if he slept, he would die of exhaustion or deep sorrow. This is not unlike David to suggest such a fate for himself. Concerning the spiritual aspect, however: David, in a darker place than perhaps ever before, begs God to shine down on Him and make His presence known. Certainly his request for enlightening his eyes could apply to both here.

In the next verse, verse four, we are made to know David’s greatest concern: He does not want the enemy to have an occasion to boast against him in his defeat, and surely does not want to give the enemy an opportunity to boast against God by subjugating and murdering David. Look at the way he words his concern: “I don’t want the enemy to say they’ve won. I don’t want them to rejoice when I’m moved.” Something to note: Many men are and were moved by threats and lusts — not David. The only thing that could move David was death itself. And he surely did not want to die, to be moved from what he knew was God’s plan for his life: continued leadership and glorification of Jehovah.

In verses five and six, we see the turnaround. As if roused by the remembrance that God would never let the enemy have such a victory over him and his God, David straightens up a bit, chins up, and states that he has trusted in the mercy of God, and says that his heart will rejoice in God’s salvation. He states that he will sing unto Jehovah, because He had dealt bountifully with him. WOW! What a reversal! What a u-turn! What a spiritual victory! David, who was once nervously, fearfully, blindly, desperately tiptoeing and crawling, even writhing in the darkness was now running in the dark!

His circumstances didn't change! His enemies didn’t die! His life didn’t automatically improve! What did, then? What made this change? Let’s take a look!

David trusted God. Even in his sorrows, even when David couldn’t see God or what He was doing or His plans for him, he trusted God. John Gill says it well here: “The faith, hope, and comfort of the psalmist grew and increased by prayer; from complaining he goes to praying, from praying to believing; he trusted not in himself, not in his own heart, nor in his own righteousness and merits, but in the mercy of God…” Amen to that. Observe: Rejoicing was the natural outflow of that trust!

David thanked God. Even though he didn’t have a lot of things going well for him, he took the time to consider that God had dealt (and would deal) bountifully with him. That phrase “hath dealt bountifully” comes from one singular Hebrew word, the word גמל (gamal). Take a look at what it means: to benefit, ripen, or reward. Absolutely stunning — David, even in his oppression, took the time to thank God for His treatment of him. Observe: Singing was the natural outflow of that gratitude.

What a Psalm. There’s so many lessons to learn here. Let us be like David and trust in God when we cannot see Him. Let us thank God for His wonderful works and goodness to us even when things aren’t going that well at all.

Something to think about.

We begin once again with no particular musical instruction, and, like in the eleventh Psalm, not even a titling of this work as a “Psalm” in particular; however, it is indeed a Psalm, and that designation has been honestly supplied for us in the italicized words “a Psalm” in the title. Suffice to say that this particular work of David had no musical instruction; merely an address and a signature. However, as we will see in a little bit, there is, after all, a musical instruction given for this Psalm eventually.

Speaking of signatures, this Psalm has one, and it’s very clear: it was written by David himself. However, there are those who, because of the content and apparent time of the writing, would discredit David as the author and propose that a lying imposter wrote the Psalm instead; they purport Daniel or Haggai to have written the Psalm and either they or someone later placed David’s name on it. Why? Mostly because the “captivity” is mentioned at the end of the Psalm, and this is taken to mean the Babylonian captivity or some other captivity of Israel. However, as we will soon see, this does not refer to the Babylonian captivity or any other captivity at all.

So then, how do we know David wrote it, other than by trusting the integrity of the Biblical writers and providential hand of God in the action of divine preservation? This one seems fairly simple: we have Psalm 53.

In Psalm 53, we find this Psalm recorded once again, with slight variations, the profundity of which repetition and differences we will discuss upon our arrival at the fifty-third Psalm. Our purpose for jumping ahead, to to speak, to this Psalm is to get a glimpse at the musical instruction for the Psalm but primarily here to show evidence of the Davidic authorship of the fourteenth Psalm.

Note how David instructs the fifty-third Psalm to be performed on Mahalath, or in the Hebrew, which apparently means “sickness” since it (machalath) מחלתcomes from the Hebrew root חלה (chalah), which means to be weak, sick,

Nabals, All

Psalm 14

afflicted, and so forth. The only other times we see this word “mahalath” used in Scripture is as the names of two ladies, Ishmael’s daughter (Genesis 28) and Jerimoth’s daughter (II Chronicles 11), the former of which was Abraham’s granddaughter, and the latter of which was David’s granddaughter; in addition to that, we find this word used once more in Psalm 88, which is a heart-rending, depressive Psalm.

Well, then, what does this designation of “sickness” mean? Some have suggested that this means some sort of flute-like instrument, but this assertion is completely without merit, just like the other assertions that it means a choir or a stringed instrument. To deduce that this word means a particular instrument requires a staggering amount of textual reconstruction.

So then what does it mean, after all? It means simply what it says — with sickness. It seems clear that there is a putrid sense about this Psalm (53) as well as the Psalm it accompanies (14) — words like “corrupt” and “filthy” leave no room for sanitation; it seems that the word “mahalath” means exactly what it says.

The fifty-third Psalm also employs the use of the word משכיל (maschil), which means, in a word, “instruction.” So this carries one of two meanings in its current context: this Psalm was meant particularly to instruct, or the Psalm required great skill to play. Thought the latter has been suggested with some merit, when considered contextually, it is likely that this meant the former — there was some instruction to be imparted especially in this Psalm. The term משכיל (maschil) is used in the headers of thirteen Psalms and each one contains information to be absorbed; it is not likely that only those thirteen required great skill to be played. Therefore, we can reasonably infer that the latter meaning is accurate.

Therefore, we can almost certainly apply the musical style and instruction to Psalm 14 as well as it is applied to Psalm 53, since they are practically (but intentionally not exactly) the same Psalm.

So then how does this fifty-third Psalm show evidence of Davidic authorship? Well, it seems likely that if a Psalm were to be hijacked and misappropriated to David in a random fit of intellectual dishonesty, it certainly wouldn’t happen twice. Now, some have said that simply because it bears David’s name doesn't mean he wrote it; it could mean that it was written after his style or written to him. However, these explanations are very, very far-fetched. These two Psalms, Psalms 14 and 53, are properly ascribed to David and absolutely written by David.

So now back to our Psalm at hand, Psalm 14.

Verse one opens up with a bold statement: The fool, נבל (nabal), has said in his heart, “there is no God.” Now, there’s a few different words for “fool” in the Old Testament. One is the word כסיל (kesiyl), which is a Hebrew picture word for someone who is fat in the head — literally, a fathead. It carries the connotation of someone who is stupid or silly. Someone who has no sense. Another word for “fool” is אויל (eviyl), which carries the added connotation (in addition to the definition was just covered) of perverseness. The word for “fool” at hand, נבל (nabal), which means not only a stupid, silly person, but a particularly impious one; one that has no reverence for things sacred, particularly God Himself.

In this passage, we are confronted right away with the nabal. The impious, irreverent fool. The (no fleshly insult intended here) fathead who denies divinity. He denies that there is a God, and is thus relegated to perhaps the most unintelligent class of humanity ever designated by God.

Now, as an aside, many of you may remember the man named Nabal in I Samuel 25, and there’s not a lot of folks who lived up to their name like he did. In fact, he was such a dolt (that’s what his name actually means) that when the Scriptures describe his wife, it is careful to make known that she was a woman of good understanding; that is to say, she was the smart one; the Hebrew words טוב שכל (tob sekel) used for “good understanding” literally mean “good intelligence” or “bountiful knowledge.” Nabal was a fool, indeed!

However, when this Psalm says that the nabal has said in his heart that there is no God, it is not, of course, referring to the man bearing the name. No, it is referring to anyone who would deny the existence of God, particularly those of whom David is speaking in this Psalm. Verse one continues: These fools are corrupt (which comes from שחת [shachath] meaning “decayed” or “spoiled”), and they have done abominable (from תעב (ta-ab), meaning “morally detestable,” “loathsome”) works. David is not at a loss for words for this kind of man. And he states that they’re everywhere: “There is none that doeth good.” So understand then that by saying that these men are everywhere, David isn’t necessarily calling all men atheists; rather, he is describing the actions of men — they are acting as though there is no God, acting in denial of the consequences of their actions so as to even, in practice, deny an obvious fact, much like the adulterous woman in Proverbs 30:20. They were acting as though there was no God because they had no

allegiance to him; He might as well not even exist in their minds. We will get back to this in a little bit.

Verse two continues this thought: God looked down from heaven. Literally, he שקף (shaqaph), a Hebrew picture word for leaning out of a window as far as He could, searching intensely to the greatest of His ability (which is unlimited, as we know). For what reason? Why was God doing this? For what was He searching? The Scripture tells us: He was searching for any who were of understanding, anyone who knew well enough to seek after Him! Awesomely enough, this word for “understanding” is a kin of the word used for Abigail in I Samuel. It is the word שכל (sakal), which means “circumspect” and “intelligent.”

See what David is doing here? He is saying that there is a stupid, fatheaded way to live, and that is as if there is no God. But there is an intelligent, circumspect way to live, and that is as if there is a God, seeking Him out as a result.

But wait! Does not Romans 3:11 state that no one seeks after God? Isn’t this a contradiction? Not at all. In fact, Romans 3 references this very chapter at great length! Take a look! Paul is using David’s indictment of the sinners of his day to cast a cloak of condemnation upon all who have rejected Christ. Those who are under sin (Romans 3:9) are not righteous (3:10), fatheaded (3:11) (and do not seek God as a result of that being the opposite of fatheaded as we have just seen in our text), and useless and spoiled (that’s what the word “unprofitable” means there, from the word αχρειόω [achreio-oh] in the Greek). You see what Paul is doing? He is saying that everyone under sin is this way. No one seeks God. They all live like there is no God. Those who reject Jesus Christ are fatheaded and decayed. This is possibly and likely verified by the fact that in Psalm 14, David specifically says that God looks down upon the “children of men,” a phrase denoting humanity in general. Humanity in general, then, is under sin and depraved.

So back to our main text: David is saying that the opposite of being a fatheaded denier of God in practice or even words is to seek God. And we’ve just seen that those who are under sin cannot seek God. They are yet unsaved. God seeks them. But for those who us who are not under sin but under grace, we can seek God! And so we must! Amen!

In verse three, David finishes the thought that began in verse two: God looked down to see if there were any who sought Him, but found none. This, too, is reflected in Romans 3, and directly quoted by Paul. God did not find any who were

righteous in their own right. They had all gone aside, or, סור (sur). That word means to turn away or turn off, to decline or call back. As “depart from the faith” meant “apostasy” in I Timothy 4, this word “gone aside” means that same very thing in the Old Testament. They have apostasized. They have gone aside. There is not a good thing in them. All men are sinners; they are totally, fully depraved.

Verse four continues: David now goes on to amplify the indictment of foolishness upon those who live as though there is no God — he now questions, as if astonished, their intelligence once again. “Have they no knowledge, these cretins who eat up my people as they eat bread?” Now, why would David say “my people?” Succinctly, it seems that this is not said in terms of ownership, but rather in a sense of belonging, like one might say “this is my church” or “this is my family.” David continues by stating that these fools are not calling upon the name of the LORD, Jehovah. They are remaining outside His salvation and favor.

In verse five, we find an almost out-of-place statement: These cretins, these fools who have wreaked havoc on the Israelites, are recorded as having been in fear even in their assail of the children of God, because “God is in the generation of the righteous.” Even in their attempts at destruction of the children of Israel, they still knew Who they were up against, though they denied Him with their actions and perhaps even their words.

This is still true of people today. Even those who claim there is no God cannot truly deny Him. Interestingly, those who most vehemently say there is no God usually spend their whole lives talking about Him in their arguments against Him! There certainly is a God, and everyone knows it, no matter how seared their consciences may become. God has put “the world” in our hearts, according the Ecclesiastes. There’s an idea of something, Someone, greater, more vast, more infinite than ourselves deeply rooted in the foundations of our very existence.

Verse six seems to be a bit hard to understand, but it seems to bring a scathing indictment against the fools: They have taken the counsel of the poor — counsel which, by the way, directs them to run to God in their trouble — and shamed it. They have made it seem like their counsel is for naught. They have brought trouble upon those whom God has promised to deliver and keep safe, and brought shame upon the counsel of God for them.

The Psalm closes with verse seven, which many have seen to be either preterist or futurist, but seems to be, when properly interpreted within the context of the Psalm

and keeping in tune with the intent and burden of the Biblical author, neither one. It seems to be a plea for the deliverance of Israel from her current state of bondage to sin; David seems to be using the concept of captivity as an illustration for the depravity of mankind and cries to God for deliverance to come out of Zion. He is crying out for the salvation of his people not from a physical army, but from the shackles of sin. There is a lot of speculation about this verse, but seems to be rather simple: When Israel is saved from their sin and depravity and foolishness, they will sing the song of the redeemed, the songs of those who seek after God and not after self, who walk in the Spirit and not after the flesh.

Many have seen this phrase “come out of Zion” to mean Jesus Christ, possibly coming out of Zion; however, we see that Zion is used many times not in reference to an actual city, but rather the seat of God (see Psalm 3:4, 20:2, and 128:5 for examples of this). It seems that this is the use of the term “Zion” in this passage.

What an amazing chapter the reveals the full depravity of man and the solution as well — calling upon the name of the Lord!

Something to think about.

This Psalm opens up with no particular designation of music style, tone, recipient or instrumentation, and we are not informed as to what occasion, if any, prompted the writing of this particular poem set to music. It simply plunges us into the beauty and majesty of David’s deep, inspired thoughts.

This Psalm mirrors a significant portion of Psalm 24; however, we will address the similarities when we arrive in that Psalm. For now, let us simply ponder and examine the passage at hand.

We are asked the question right off the bat: Who shall abide in the tabernacle, or, dwelling-place, of God? Who will dwell in the Holy Hill of God?

First, it is important, nay, imperative that we understand what the Holy Hill of God actually is. It is a place of nearness to God, a place of rest and service. It is a place listed many times in Scripture as the place where the believer should long to be (II Chronicles 5:7; Isaiah 33:15-16; Psalm 2:6; 3:4; 43:3; 24:3-5; 99:9). It is not a physical location, but rather an understood concept of the place near God’s own heart. It is considered the place from whence help comes and judgement is decided. It is the place where we will dwell eternally, but at the same time a place where we might find some consolation even in our mortal frames. In short, it is the heart and haven of God.

With that understanding, let’s move on to look at who gets to dwell with God, who receives blessings from God, who lives in the center of the pleasure of His goodness. It is, according to verse two, he who first walks uprightly. Let’s begin with that.

That phrase, “walketh uprightly,” comes from the Hebrew הל תמים (halak tamiym), and carries an understanding of living a life without blemish, a life characterized by blamelessness, literally “without spot.” One might say, “like Jesus

The Holy Hill is for the Ones Who Will

Psalm 15

Christ.” Though it is impossible to life a perfect life on earth while we are bound to the flesh, God does give us the power by His Holy Spirit to live a life of spiritual victory over the bonds and afflictions of sin. That’s what it means to live a life without blemish — a life characterized by the person of Jesus Christ.

Next, we see that it is he who “worketh righteousness,” or פעל צדק (pa-al tsedek) in the Hebrew. This means someone who systematically commits himself to rightness and equity as a way of life. Interesting to note is that when we look at the name “Jehovah Tskidenu,” or, “God our Righteousness,” this is the word that is used — tsedek, perfectly translated “righteousness.”

After this we see that the Holy Hill may be inhabited by he who “speaks the truth in his heart.” The Hebrew word for truth here is אמת (emeth), and means stability, certainty, trustworthiness and faithfulness. He is a trustworthy man. He is one who means every word that comes out of his mouth, and there is no guile in him. Only Christ can and did accomplish this perfectly, but let us remember that we are to follow in His steps!

Verse three continues with the characteristics of he who would dwell with God in His Holy place: He is one who “backbiteth not with his tongue.” The word from which we get the English translation “backbiteth” is the Hebrew word רגל (ragal), and has to do with not only slandering, but also being a talebearer. It is a poignant picture-word that carries an understanding of “walking along.” In other words, someone who goes around destroying the reputation of others or discredits someone is a backbiter. And not welcome on the Holy Hill.

The next item on the list is “nor doeth evil to his neighbour.” This is broad, and rightly so — the word for evil is רעה (ra-ah), and means just what it says: anything evil. But it has to do with a certain brand of evil, namely affliction. Note that this word is used for “affliction” back in Psalm 10:6, where the wicked man is boasting רעהthat, from generation to generation, he will never be afflicted. He thinks he is invincible against hardships and calamities and barriers to prosperity and success! And it is just this sort of affliction that the Holy Hill-dweller will not bring upon his neighbor.

This verse continues with “nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.” The word for “reproach” here is חרפה (kher-paw), which carries an exceptionally powerful understanding of great shame and exposure. In fact, the word here used for reproach — without digging too deeply here — is intertwined with the idea of

someone’s most private areas of their body being exposed. Now, this passage is not necessarily talking about that kind of exposure, but that is the gravity with which we are supposed to understand this word, this word of great shame and humiliation. Those who would bring reproach upon their neighbors are not going to be dwelling on the Holy Hill.

Verse four jumps back on to the positive side of things — you’ll notice a pattern of alternation: verse two is positive, verse three is negative, verse four is positive, and verse five is negative — and describes the holy man once more: He is someone “in whose eyes a vile person is contemned.” Now this phrase “vile person” comes from the word מאס (ma-as) and it means someone who is utterly contemptible or loathsome, for all legitimate reasons. It speaks of someone who possesses no desire to submit to the righteousness of God, someone who is described in many Psalms as those who would afflict David and seek after his life (Psalm 12:8 uses the word “vile” to describe a man like this as well). Therefore, the righteous, holy man will “contemn,” or, בזה (bazah) this kind of man. He will disesteem him, and not honor him, for he is wicked.

On the other hand, he “honoureth them that fear the LORD.” In a stark contrast to how he disesteems the vile, wicked man, he כבד (kawbad) them; he bestows great weight and glory and nobility upon them; he honors them. Note that this word directly has to do with “glory” as well — where “ichabod” means that the “glory כבדis departed,” this word alone speaks of its presence and gravity. It has not departed here! No, the righteous man will make sure that the right people are esteemed and honored.

Lastly in this verse, we read that the righteous man is one who “sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.” You’ll notice a lot of italicized words there, and they are there to help us understand what this means: It means someone who will take an oath and abide by it. Now, it is clear that we are to avoid swearing and making oaths today and simply let our yeas by yeas and our nays be nays according to Jesus Christ’s words (Matthew 5:37) — this means that our “yes” should be as weighty as our “I promise” — but this is not a contradiction of that; rather, it carries the same principle, though oath-taking was not at that time disallowed. The principle which transcends testament periods is simple: The righteous man is a man of his word. It is as plain as that.

The last verse in this amazing Psalm lets us know that a he who aspires to dwell in the Holy Hill of God is he that “putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh

reward against the innocent.” Note that the holy man is not forbidden from putting his money to usury in the form of proper investment or banking techniques, or taking reward of properly acquired interest. No, this is speaking of he who would prey on the נקיא (naqiy), or, the innocent. The doe-eyed would-be investors who are easily scammed or deceived. The righteous man will not oppress the poor or gain money off of them in deceptive ways. He will not take advantage of someone’s lack of savvy or financial prowess. He will be fair and right.

This Psalm closes with the reassurance that “he that doeth these things shall never be moved.” From where? From the Holy Hill, of course. He will live a life in the perfect center of the will of God — regardless of geographical location or social status — and drink deeply from the wells of God’s presence.

Something to think about.

Thus far in our journey into the Book of Psalms, we’ve explored mostly Psalms; that is, almost all of the chapters in this book have been clearly laid out as works particularly entitled “Psalms.” The only exception to this so far has been what we know as Psalm 7, which is particularly a “Shiggaion,” which you’ll remember means a “rambling, aberrant poem.” This evening, we’re acquainted with a work known as a מכתם (miktam).

This word “michtam,” just like the word “shiggaion” before it, is left untranslated from the original Hebrew, and means, interestingly enough, an “engraving” or even a “sculpture.” Now, there have been a number of views on what this could mean, exactly, many of which tragically come from a standpoint of poorly-executed, negative and merely speculative textual criticism. So then, what does it mean that this work is referenced as an “engraving” or “sculpture?”

Well, one of the best ways to discern what a word means is to find it in other places in the Scriptures and see how the providentially-enabled translators translated this Hebrew word into English. If the word isn’t translated any other way, we can at least see other places where it is used to shed some light on what it might mean in this case, too.

However, with this word “michtam,” we find no occasion in which this word was translated into English at all, or used in any other context other than the title of a work of David in the book of Psalms. It is used six times in the book of Psalms, once here and then directly and continuously in a sequence of Psalms, the 56th through the 60th Psalms. So we find no elucidation by comparing this word with other occurrences in the Scriptures.

However, let us take a look at the Hebrew etymology of the word, where we will find some enlightenment as to what this might mean. The word “michtam” finds its roots in the word כתם (katham), which means to carve or engrave, or inscribe. It is

God’s Graces, Pleasant Places

Psalm 16

here that we find our first crumb on the rabbit trail, so to speak, as to the meaning of this word in relation to our text.

Now we turn to a cousin of that word, the Hebrew word כתב (kathab), which means to engrave, but has more to do with writing than carving a sculpture. This word כתב has a derivative word, and that word is מכתב (michtab), which is remarkably similar to our word under examination, “michtam.” Now, in English, if a word is similar to another word, it generally (though there are exceptions) doesn’t signify a connection between the two words. However, in Hebrew, which is much more a hieroglyphic language than English, similarities do count for a lot. This word is found 9 times across 8 other verses of Scripture, and every (michtab) מכתבsingle time it is translated “writing.” Fascinating!

Furthermore, about half of these times the word “writing” is used, it is used to denote that which has been actually engraved on a tablet of stone, and every single time the word is used, it refers to that which is written from an authoritative perspective, either by God, a king, or a prophet. This makes even more sense (and brings us closer to understanding what this word “michtam” means in relation to the Psalm at hand) when you notice that with three of the other times “michtam” is used in the Psalms, it is accompanied by אל תשחת ('al tashchêth), meaning “do not destroy this.”

So then, what does it mean? Well, it means that David is writing something, but it seems to carry with it a connotation of endurance and preservation. This is not a Psalm. It is a Michtam. It is to be carefully preserved and recorded exactly as is; not that this differs from the divine preservation of the other works in this book of Psalms, but it seems to have been a title given to those works deemed particularly suited for permanent engraving.

Lastly, a couple more thoughts on the matter: Some have stated that this word “michtam” comes from כתם (ketham), meaning “gold” or “pressed gold.” While this is possible, it seems to stray from the denotative understanding of the word and, at its roots, smacks of corrupt textual criticism. Finally, some have asserted that this word “michtam” simply means an instrument or type of music; however, it is hoped that our brief foray into the etymology of the word will prohibit such a baseless conclusion.

Finally, in addition to the clear signature of the passage (which we know does not quell the questioning of the textual critics), we know that it was David who wrote this Michtam because Acts 2:27, which quotes it directly, attributes this to David.

Before beginning our study of this Michtam, it is imperative that we understand that this work is very, very different from any that we have so far discussed in our study. Let us quickly refer to Acts 2 when we join Peter in his awesome sermon on the Day of Pentecost; in his sermon, he states that David spoke of Jesus Christ and then quotes Psalm 16 in verses 25-28. This is a very unique Psalm! John Gill, a favorite commentator, states the following concerning Psalm 16: “The whole psalm belongs to the Messiah, and everything concerning the person in it agrees with him…”

Robert Hawker continues this thought in his commentary as follows: “This blessed Psalm is so directly applied, under the influence of God the Holy Ghost, by the apostles Peter and Paul, to the person and work of the Lord Jesus, that we must wholly overlook David the writer of it, (except considering him as a prophet,) so as not to lose the great object intended by it, in supposing that ought of David is meant by what this Psalm contains. Here Christ, and his faith in covenant engagements, are beautifully set forth.” Well said!

Now let us begin our study of the verses of the Michtam at hand!

Verse one opens up with what appears to be imminent danger or a looming threat on the horizon where one might suppose that David cries out, “preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust!” However, given that this Psalm is very different from others (maybe why it is called a michtam?), we know that this is almost certainly the words of Jesus Christ speaking to the Father. Could it be David speaking for himself and for Christ? Absolutely. Is it only for Christ? That seems more likely, given some of the other passages in this Michtam.

Before we think it is too far-fetched for Christ, in His humanity, to put His trust in God by way of actuality and example, let us consider passages like John 12:27 where Christ is pleading with God to save Him. So please understand that these may very well be the words of David here, but let us not be so ignorant as to exclude the probability that Christ is the main subject of this Michtam!

Verse two makes a powerful statement that really only makes sense when looking at it from a Christological standpoint. This reveals clearly that this is a Messianic work — only Christ could say what is about to be said.

Firstly: “O my soul” is italicized, which means it was supplied by the King James translators, but it was supplied correctly to help us understand that the Writer here is not speaking to anyone else, but to Himself. This is given to us by the context, and clarified by the italicized words here.

Now He states to Jehovah: “you are my אדני (adonai), or, Lord.” Remember that this Psalm is magnifying the human aspect of Christ, rather than the Deistic aspect; in this sense, Jehovah is the Lord, or master and ruler, of Jesus Christ. There is no confusion here; Christ Himself said many times in the New Testament that He was subordinate to God the Father in His humanity. This is called economic or relational subordination.

Now is uttered possibly one of the most misunderstood and mysterious phrases in the whole of Scripture: “my goodness extendeth not to thee.” Granted, the word “extendeth” is supplied by translators here as well, but it is done to give a proper understanding of the text. Good thing, too, as textual critics have gone a bit wild with their conjectures and thoughts about what it essentially “should have” said or how it could have been said “better.” However, great trust should be placed in the Biblical understanding of the scholars who God divinely used to preserve His Word in the English language at its height; there is no confusion here either. The phrase simply means that the goodness of Jesus Christ doesn’t extend to God the Father, but rather to those mentioned in verse three…

…the saints that are in the earth, and the excellent. God delights in them, and thus the goodness of Jesus Christ is extended to them. The word for “saints” here is the Hebrew word קדוש (qadosh), and means those who have been sanctified or set apart for God, the sacred ones. The word אדיר (‘addıyr) is translated “excellent” here, and carries an understanding of “wide, powerful, glorious, worthy.” Now tell, I pray thee, how David could be extending his goodness to all the saints in the earth. No, this is Messianic in nature. This is Jesus Christ speaking here through David. That’s why this is a Michtam.

Verse four continues this thought with an inverse of verse three: Those who hasten after another god, will have multiplied sorrows. The Hebrew here רבה עצבת (râbâh ‛atstsebeth), indicates that there will be an abundance of wounds or pain for those

who choose a false god above Jehovah. This has been seen time after time in the Scriptures!

Note that the verse continues with a thought that is generally applied both presently and prophetically but admittedly seems much more Davidic in nature: “I will not offer the sacrifices of false gods; I will not even speak their names.” It does seem as though David “takes over” in the upcoming verses as well. Either way, what dedication here is stated: the names of the false gods will not even be upon the lips of the righteous! This carries an implication of worship. David will not worship false gods, for He worships the True One!

Verse five continues with a verse that could either be implied prophetically or presently as well, but again, seems Davidic at first glance (and perhaps properly so): “Jehovah is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup: you, Jehovah, maintain my lot.” The word portion used here comes from the Hebrew word מנת (menâth) meaning “allotment.” Interestingly, the word “inheritance” here is from the Hebrew חלק (chêleq) means pretty much the same thing: a “portion” or an “allotment.” So David (or Christ; either way actually works really, really well) is saying that Jehovah is his all in all, his Everything. Note that the word “cup” here, כוס (koce) in the Hebrew, means exactly that — a cup. However, we understand that this has to do with the concept of one’s possessions or inheritance as well. When we arrive at the beloved twenty-third Psalm soon, we will address this more deeply. And when it is stated that Jehovah maintains one’s lot, this is stating the same principle in a different way: “You are holding fast my inheritance.” Amen!

Verse six continues this thought beautifully: “The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.” This verse is incredible. The concept of “lines” used here is a reference to something similar to the “cup” in the previous verse: it is a measurement of one’s personal possessions, material or immaterial. Consider Amos 7:17b and similar Scriptures for more on this. David (again, or Christ) is here stating that the lines, or the boundaries of his possessions, are fallen in pleasant places. In other words, he’s saying, “I’ve got it great! I’ve got it made in the shade drinking pink lemonade!” Remember that these words come forth from the mouth of one who was heavily persecuted his whole life, whether it be David or Christ. This teaches us that our attitude is everything, and it should be one of gratitude and humility for our lines given to us by God.

The נחלה שפר (shâphar nachălâh) here, or, goodly heritage, is not referring to one’s lineage or ancestry, contrary to some people’s truncated, myopic perusal of

this word in relation to only its modern usage. No, this phrase refers to once again, that which has been handed down. It has to do with an “heirloom” or “inheritance” or “possession.” David (or Christ) is here rejoicing in his goodly heritage, or, his inheritance. What inheritance? Why, Jehovah Himself, of course, according to verse five!

In verse seven, we see something that seems to only apply to David here, but also could very well apply to Christ, who too had to increase in wisdom and stature (Luke 2:52). The writer blesses (remember, this comes from בר [barak] meaning to “kneel” or “adore” or “praise”) Jehovah in relation to the counsel and instruction. Note the interesting phrase “my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.” Where the words “counsel” and “instruct” are relatively plain words to understand, the word “reins” here is more obscure. However, the word “reins” is also quite simple upon studying it a bit: it comes from the Hebrew word כליה (kilyâh) and means “kidney.” However, this is used metaphorically for the mind; consider such Scripture as Jeremiah 11:20 or Job 19:27. David (or Christ) seems to be saying here that as he prayed to God and meditated on Him all night, he found counsel in Jehovah.

Verse eight possesses a glad and steadfast declaration that he has set Jehovah always before him, and that because He is at his right hand, he shall not be moved. Again, this could apply to David, but in this case, however, we know that this does indeed apply to Christ as it is attributed to Him in Acts 2:26. Christ states that he has made God the Father and the Father’s will the center of his life. Because of this, He is exposed to His counsel and His direction (this renders the critics of the Messianic view [on grounds of Christ allegedly not possibly being able to receive counsel at the right hand of Jehovah and thus could not be in this Michtam] totally silent) and thus will never be moved.

(An interjection is appropriate here: Jesus had to grow in wisdom and stature. He clearly had some degree of knowledge stripped from Him in His incarnation, it would seem. Let us not forbid Christ as the center of this Psalm simply because we insist we understand everything about the incarnation of Christ and all its subsequent effects on the Deistic attributes of Jesus Christ!)

Verse nine continues this thought with the gladness and joy and hope that is to be found in the inheritance and eternal preservation provided by God the Father. Note that his heart is glad (likely referring to the soul), his glory rejoiceth (possibly casually alluding to the spirit or even his jubilant tongue or speech), and his flesh will rest in hope (obviously the flesh) because of the promises of God found at His right hand.

Verse ten is a direct continuation of the previous verse — “I am glad, joyful, and hopeful…because this life isn’t all there is. You will never leave me in the grave or allow me to see corruption.” Note here that this verse is quite possibly the strongest reference to Jesus Christ in this whole Michtam: the term “Holy One” is from the Hebrew חסיד (châs ıyd) and is used only for Jesus Christ here. How do we know? Easy: Acts 13:34-38. This is Jesus! Note also that the word for “hell” here is שאול (sheol), meaning “grave” or “pit.” Jesus did not suffer in what we understand commonly as “hell” or a place of torment. There is not time or occasion to discuss that at length here, suffice to say that although Jesus was in the grave, He did not suffer in hell.

The last verse here summarizes the height of the Christian experience: “You will show me the path of life; in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.” This is Christ / David saying that because God is good, because He is set before Him, because He is at His right hand, because He gives hope, there is only life and joy and pleasure.

What a thought! And indeed something to think about.

Rather than this Psalm being listed as a actual song with musical direction or even instructions to the musicians, it is listed simply as a תפלה (tephillâh), or a prayer. An intercession, a supplication. However, this word has also been used connotatively as a “hymn,” which fits the occasion perfectly. This is a hymn, and so it is in a book of hymns; it is also a prayer, and so it is to be understood as one.

Verse one opens up with an interesting phrase from the words of David in his prayer to Jehovah: “Hear the right, O LORD…” This word “right” comes from the Hebrew word צדק (tsedek) which, as you may know by this point in our studying of the Psalms, has to do entirely with righteousness and holiness. Therefore, we can and must understand that this phrase might also be said as “Hear the righteous” or “hear the holy” and mean the exact same thing.

An aside here is appropriate regarding the newer translations. Where the King James Bible is translated wholly in a literal, word-for-word method, many of the newer versions are not; instead, they rely on a method called “dynamic equivalency,” better understood as a “thought-for-thought” translation. The reason why this is important is because God promised to preserve His Words, not His thoughts or impressions. His Words are infinitely important and perfect; the thoughts we derive from them, not so much in the grand scheme of things.

Now — there are versions of the Bible that are so thought-for-thought that they are rejected by serious students of the Bible at large: “The Message,” “The Living Bible,” and so forth. Even the “New International Version” is chided by many for being too subjective to be taken authoritatively. But there are other versions that claim to be word-for-word as well; The English Standard Version is one of them, and for good reason — it is a much-beloved, admirable work, despite its origins in the corrupt minority manuscripts, and it claims to be just as word-for-word in its methodology as the King James Version. However, this is not accurate, as we’ll discover as we look at this phrase in the English Standard Version: “Hear a just

A Guileless Prayer From the Blameless Man

Psalm 17

cause, O LORD…” While that may be a fine application of what it means to צדק hear the right,” that is not what the Bible actually says and“ (shama tsedek) שמעcan actually subtract from the individual standard of righteousness David is attempting to convey in this text. Be wary of the newer versions of the Bible; they are very subjective in nature, even the ones that claim to be “word-for-word.”

Anyhow, on with our study.

The verse continues: “Attend to my cry, give ear to my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.” David here is pleading with God to attend, or קשב (kashab) to his cry, which means to hearken or “prick up the ears.” David is crying out to God as though his petition will incite God to some sort of attention and action. And as well he should pray this way! Would that we all prayed in this way! What desperation! Note that David further justifies himself (not to convey himself as sinless, but rather blameless — we’ll see that a lot in this text) by stating that his prayer, his petition or plea, doesn’t come from deceitful or even treacherous lips. In other words, David is saying that there’s no guile or lack of sincerity in his prayer. Also note that because of the accent placement on the word “prayer” in this passage, the lack of feigning applies not only to the prayer, but to the entire verse at hand, and sets the stage for the rest of the chapter.

In verse two, we hear David plead for his sentence to come forth from God’s presence. What does this mean? It is simple when one properly understands what this word “sentence” means: it comes from the Hebrew word משפט (mishpâṭ), meaning “verdict,” “determination,” or “justice” among a number of other connotations. Now, when one thinks of a “sentence” in a court of law, one usually thinks of it in a negative way. However, there can also be a sentence of vindication, which is the kind of sentence we see in this passage. David is pleading for his judgment to be from God, thus vindicating him.

Of note concerning the translation issue here as well: this is translated not as “sentence” but as “vindication” in the aforementioned translation, showing another example of subjective application rather than a word-for-word translation. Though this would mean “vindication” in this case, that is not what the word says in Hebrew. That is a radical over-simplification of the word that eliminates any other understanding of the word. In a very real sense, the newer versions are teaching their interpretation of a verse rather than presenting it without bias.

David continues to plead with God for a just sentence by asking God to behold the things that are equal (for the final time: the ESV here says “right” rather than “equal.” Again, that may be a fine application, but it is not what the text reads). The word “equal” here comes from the Hebrew word מישר (meyshar) meaning “evenness,” “straightness,” and “equity.” David is asking God to see things the way they are, and judge with perfect judgment.

Now David goes in verse three to vindicate himself and support his prayer not out of arrogance or pride, but rather a brilliant testimony of blamelessness and Godliness. He states that God has proven his heart, visited him in the night (we discussed this phrase briefly in the last lesson regarding Psalm 16:7), tried him, all to find “nothing,” which of course means no sin or corruption in his life. Again, that’s not to say that he had not sinned, but rather than he had not engaged in a practice or habit of it or lived a single moment dedicated to its pursuits. It is to be assumed, then, that David may very well have penned this before his sin with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah. Perhaps not, however, given that David was almost certainly in possession of a proper understanding of forgiveness.

Note also that David testifies that he had purposed that his mouth would not transgress. He is stating that he had committed his lips to praise and service to God, not blasphemy or complaining. Now, could David say that he had never done these things? Of course not. Certainly David had sinned with his lips before. But again, what we are seeing is a general pattern of life about which David is testifying — he never said that he was perfect, only that he had purposed to be so. As should we. That being said, it should not be considered a far-fetched notion that David only spoke sinfully on extremely rare occasions.

In verse four, David continues with another seemingly odd phrase: “Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.” Note here that “me from” is italicized, indicating that it was here supplied by the translators, adding clarity to an otherwise-hard-to-understand text. The meaning is actually rather simple: “LORD, in regards to wicked men: I’ve abided by your words and they’ve kept me from the paths of the destroyer.” Okay, so what is this “path of the destroyer?” Well, that seems rather intuitive as well: The word “destroyer” comes from the Hebrew word פריץ (per ıyts) and describes a violent, ravenous tyrant: succinctly, a “destroyer.” David is saying, “I’ve kept your word and not become like them, the ones that oppress the poor and harm your people. We’re like night and day, them and me.” And indeed they were!

Now David moves from a justifying stance to some verses leading up to his actual petition in a most beautiful transition here in verse five: “Hold up my goings in thy paths [as opposed to the paths of the destroyer!], that my footsteps slip not.” This couldn’t be more clear: David is saying that, yes, although he was holy and very much unlike the wicked ones, he was giving all glory to God for holding him up, and begging Him to continue upholding him in the right way. He knew all too well his propensity for sin, his “proneness to wander,” as the old hymn puts it.

In verse six, David moves to state that he has קרא (qara), or called upon Jehovah, meaning something similar (but not exact) to the what the phrase means in the New Testament (yet carrying the same connotation in some way, at least in Genesis 4:26): here it means simply that he had literally cried out to Him for help, that he had put his trust in Him alone and was waiting for Jehovah to deliver him. David now states his confidence in God’s ability and promise to answer his prayers by saying that Jehovah would indeed hear him, and thus He asks again for God to incline his ear unto him, and hear his speech.

Verse seven provides for us a piece of David’s tremendously magnificent request: “Show your marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them.” David now reveals a little bit more about his situation and the reason for his prayer to God: There are those that are rising up against him, and he needs God to deliver him on the basis of his “marvellous lovingkindness.” The word “marvellous” here is amazing! It’s so overused in our society that we’ve forgotten what it means and what it connotes! It here comes from the Hebrew פלה (palah) which means “distinguish,” “put a difference,” “show marvellous,” “set apart,” and “make wonderfully.” That would make a man marvel, would it not?

Now we arrive at verses eight and nine. Here, David makes an impassioned, beautiful plea to God — “keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings, from the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies who compass me about.” And what Father could resist such a plea! One can almost hear Jehovah respond, “Of course I will keep you as the apple of my eye! Of course I will protect you!” And this is a wonderful way for us to pray, as well.

David now moves to indict the wicked in the following verses, verses ten through twelve, which we will peruse only briefly for sake of time: “They are inclosed in their own fat,” “they speak proudly,” “they have now compassed us in our steps,” They have set their eyes bowing down to the earth (this likely has to do with a predator’s

stance before attacking their prey, as supported by the next verse and phraseology regarding a lion in wait for its prey).” These phrases all describe the awful character of the wicked, not only for the sake of describing them, but also to contrast their character with David’s own character.

Now in verse thirteen David fully unpacks his prayer to God. He implores God to arise and cast down the wicked man and deliver his soul from him, but then he also apparently states that the wicked is the sword of God. Now, there are two reasonably possible interpretations of this. Firstly, it would be understood as seen: “The wicked are also your instruments of chastisement.” However, this does not seem to fit the context at hand, nor does it make sense: God is not generally understood to use a sword against His own. It is not a tool of chastisement. A rod is, such as in Isaiah 10:5. The other understanding of this concept is that the deliverance spoken of in this verse is to be accomplished by the sword. However, this understanding has syntactic issues as well. The Bible does not actually indicate that. Even more so, the italics supplied by the translators seem to lend support toward an understanding that the wicked man here is the sword of God; this is the first view. Thankfully, the next verse gives much more clarity to this concept.

David continues in verse fourteen to ask deliverance from the men which are the hand of God. Although the which are is in italics, they are properly supplied to help us English-speakers understand what the meaning of the text is; therefore, the first view in the preceding verse is correct, even though it may seem out of place at first. Remember that God knew exactly what He was doing when He inspired these Words to us. Consider the following, however: David mentions twice that the enemies, the wicked ones, are God’s instrument of chastisement. But he is clearly not in a position in life right now that is deserving of chastisement! It is plausible, then, to surmise that David is mentioning their role as a tool of God for chastisement in order to further plea for deliverance: “God, I haven’t done anything worthy of chastisement! Why, then, would you not deliver me?” Perhaps. One final consideration: Perhaps this is Saul that is being described — in this case (and in the following verse), it might mean that while David is acknowledging that Saul is the sword of God and the hand of God, being in authority, he is still wicked and thus David remains in need of deliverance.

David continues to indict these wicked men in the rest of the verse, stating that they are men of the world; interestingly, the word “world” comes from חלד (cheled), meaning “to glide swiftly,” implying a fleeting or transitory concept. This is evidenced by the following phrase, where David says that they have their portion in this life,

indicating that they have none in the world to come; their portion, rather, is hell. They have “hid treasure,” implying that gold and silver which comes from the depths of the earth, and they have many children to which to leave their treasure. This indicates two things at least: Firstly, that they have much stuff, stuff which is their portion here. They also have many children, which is an indicator of prosperity and wealth: this is not evil in and of itself, just like with the hid treasures, but it leads into the second indication of this latter half of the verse…

…Secondly, that their stuff will go to their babes, (possibly, but not necessarily, indicating their children’s children), marking once again the fleeting nature of life itself and the avarice and greed that characterizes the lives of those without God. Think of it: Do not many men today live to leave wealth to their children? Do they not work to provide a college education, which is, in their minds, the key to wealth and success? They do, and David states that while wealth and children are not wrong, having them as gods is wrong, which the wicked clearly did.

Lastly, David closes with a testimony in verse fifteen: “As far me [as opposed to them], I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.” When David arose from slumber every day, his goal wasn’t wealth, and it wasn’t a legacy of riches and treasure. It was the righteousness of God. David had no desire to make an idol out of this present world; rather, he desired to worship and serve the God who saved him out of it and thus bases his cry for deliverance on this truth.

One final consideration about the Prayer of David at large: Please remember that, as David was indeed a sort of typological representation of Christ, this chapter could quite easily be rendered a Messianic Psalm in a manner similar to Psalm 16. Though we do not have a New Testament verification now as we did then with that Psalm, it does seem very fitting for these words to spring from the mouth of Jesus Christ, the One in whom was no guile or sin. Perhaps there is something there, and something worth pondering as we make our way through many more Psalms.

Something to think about.

There is a lot to this Psalm.

Let us begin as the Psalm begins, then, with the opening title as follows: This Psalm was written, as many others were, to the Chief Musician, and it was written by David, described here as the servant of Jehovah. The title states clearly that this Psalm is a record of the words of David to Jehovah “in the day” that He delivered David from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.

This is a good time to bring in the original record of this Psalm, written quite possibly at the end of his life and recorded thus at the end of his life in 2 Samuel 22. Now, here comes the objections: “But wait! The title says that David wrote this Psalm in the day that Jehovah delivered him from Saul!” But does it? No, it doesn’t. It states that David sang this in the day when God delivered him from all of his enemies, including Saul, his greatest adversary. Perhaps John Gill states it most clearly in the following quotation from his work, “John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible,” as follows:

Not that this psalm was composed and sung the selfsame day that David was delivered from Saul, and set upon the throne; for it seems to have been written in his old age, at the close of his days; for immediately after it, in the second book of Samuel, it follows, "now these be the last words of David”…but the sense is, that whereas David had many enemies, and particularly Saul, who was his greatest enemy, the Lord delivered him from them all, and especially from him, from him first, and then from all the rest; which when he reflected upon in his last days, he sat down and wrote this psalm, and then sung it in public, having delivered it into the hands of the chief musician for that purpose. (emphasis added)

So we have established the likelihood that David, while probably singing songs like this his whole life, did not record this in written form addressed to the Chief Musician until later in life. But then why are there differences between the two accounts? If they were written by the same person at the same time, why are there

PART ONE: We Are Weak But He Is Strong

Psalm 18

differences? So us briefly address the dilemma of the differences between the II Samuel 22 account and the Psalm 18 account.

There are, depending upon whom you ask, anywhere from a few to almost 130 differences between the two variations of this Psalm. Men like Charles Spurgeon call the differences “significant,” where men like Albert Barnes call the differences “unimportant.” So then, who is correct? Which view is right? Are these differences to be noted and examined, or are they to be wholly overlooked? Answer: Probably a little bit of both, and it really depends on whether or not this was one writing or a set of an original and a revision of the same writing. You see, it is possible that there was only one public singing of this Psalm (as noted by Gill in our quote above), first recorded in II Samuel 22 and then re-recorded in Psalm 18, only written once by David and delivered to the Chief Musician once and for all at the same time. But this does not answer for the differences between the two accounts, and thus we must address the possibility that when David spoke these words in II Samuel 22 he did not actually record them; rather, they were sung publicly then only to be refined at a later date by David and submitted to the Chief Musician. This is important because it determines the importance of the differences between the two accounts of this Psalm.

By the way, it is important to note that this isn’t exactly a situation like Psalm 14 versus Psalm 53 because they are both Psalms, and they also differ quite significantly — no one claimed that those were the same work, either. But Psalm 18 claims to be the words of David which he spoke in Psalm 22. So, let us briefly discuss these possibilities; it is important.

Initially, let us address the first possibility, that David spoke these words once and submitted them to the Chief Musician at the same time, toward the end of his life. That’s fine, but this does not address the differences between the two accounts. If we are to understand that II Samuel possesses a perfect record of David’s Psalm, then why is the record of Psalm 18 different from the record of II Samuel 22? Many say the Masoretes committed scribal errors (time and time again) while preserving II Samuel’s record, to be later corrected by the Masoretes in their transcription of the Psalms. They say that the differences are the result of human error, and that this is the only explanation for them because David only spoke these words once and submitted them to the Chief Musician on the same occasion.

(After all, it’s not simply the English translations that form differences between the two [where מגן (mâgên) is translated “shield” in II Samuel but translated “buckler” in

Psalm 18, this would be an English variation rather than Hebrew], but Hebrew as well [where “channels of the sea” is used in II Samuel 22:16 employing the Hebrew word ים (yam), we see Psalm 18 employs the phrase “channels of the waters” using the Hebrew word מים (mayim) instead]. Nor is it any other form of interlingual loss or transliteration such as we see in New Testament quotations of the Old Testament — this is strictly Hebrew. So if there’s differences here, either the critics are right and there’s some sort of scribal error or there’s some legitimate reason why.)

So while Barnes and friends are correct in their assertion that the differences between the II Samuel 22 account and the Psalm 18 account make no change in the intent or message of this Psalm, it is unsatisfactory to assume that the Masoretes committed egregious, repeated errors in their preservation of the Old Testament canon.

This brings us to the second possibility, the one that precludes the possibility of God making mistakes. David did indeed speak these words to God as indicated in II Samuel, but it seems that this was not the last time David presented them. It is very possible that David later recorded what he had spoken in an authorized Psalm addressed to the Chief Musician, and in so doing, made some small changes to his Psalm that he sang that day which we observe in II Samuel 22. It is likely that this was a later revision or separate edition due to the fact that we see not only some changes, but also the addition of the beginning phrase, “I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.” That phrase is almost like a title which describes the contents of the Psalm, and a title would be most fitting on a proper Psalm recorded in an early Psalter.

Another possibility is that David had actually composed this song earlier in life, and had only revised it as he aged, having seen the miraculous hand of God in his life time and time again.

Another possibility still is that the Psalm is simply another, updated edition of what David said, edited and added by a scribe later (this is not a negative thing; consider how Moses managed to write the last few chapters of the Pentateuch after he died…someone else had to take over). Either way, we need to arrive at a conclusion that does not insult the ability of God to properly preserve His Word. The Masoretes were not nearly as careless as some critics would assume.

So what are these differences? For the sake of time, we will not delve into them here. Our goal is to study the Psalm at hand, and it is fearful that we have already delved into areas that have taken us far away from Psalm 18! Suffice to say that the differences are quite minor and in no way affect the meaning of Psalm 18 when compared to II Samuel 22.

Now, on to the study of the Psalm.

Quickly, now — is this a Messianic Psalm? Certainly, Paul seemed to think at least part of it was. In Hebrews 2:13 and Romans 15:9 we see this Psalm quoted and ascribed to Jesus Christ (18:2 and 18:49 respectively). Though we will not approach the Psalm in its entirety as a Messianic Psalm, it would not be remiss to do so in this case, simply because David often spoke for Christ (II Samuel 23:1-2).

In verse one, we read the following: “I will love thee, LORD, my strength.” This could be considered, whether intended or not, to be a title or topic sentence describing the entire Psalm! David here declares his love for Jehovah, since He is his strength. He goes on in the following verse to describe — to colorize, so to speak — the ability of God to be one’s strength. He speaks of God in verse two in the following manner:

God is his rock (סלע / sela‛ meaning lofty, stone, rock, fortress), his fortress / פלט) his deliverer ,(metsûdâh meaning defense, castle, strong place / ומצדתי)pâlaṭ meaning to slip out, to escape, to carry away safe), his God (אל / El meaning Almighty, powerful, strong), his strength (צור / tsûr meaning cliff, rock, refuge, strength), his buckler (מגן / mâgên meaning shield, defense), the horn of his salvation (קרן ישע / qeren yesha‛ meaning power of deliverance, peak of liberty), and his high tower (משגב / miśgâb meaning cliff, inaccessible place, refuge). Wow! David clearly felt safe with God! No one could touch him!

David goes on to state the natural outflow of this thinking which in verse three we read is to call upon the LORD, Jehovah, who is worthy to be praised. He adds that he will be saved from his enemies. Sure, this is a great verse and a fun chorus, but it isn’t something that is manufactured out of nowhere! It comes from David’s knowledge of who God is and what He does and how He protects those who are His! We can call upon this One who is our Rock, our Fortress and wait upon Him with great expectation!

David now begins in verses four and five to narrate his state, the state brought upon him by his enemies, the state that he was in before God delivered him from them: He was encompassed by the sorrows of death, flooded by ungodly men, encompassed by the sorrows of hell (שאול / she'ôl meaning grave or pit — David wasn’t afraid of actually going to hell!), and prevented (קדם / qâdam meaning met or gotten there before) by the snares of death. In short, death was everywhere he looked. In fact, there’s something really neat here: The Hebrew word for “sorrows” here is חבל (chebel) meaning “twisted rope, ruin, destruction, snare.” It is a potent Hebrew picture-word that conveys a sense of ruin caused by ropes. It is altogether fair to say that wherever David looked, he saw snares, nets and nooses.

Now David testifies in verse six of God’s goodness, and this thought continues through verse nineteen, and is perhaps the most beautiful, epic, poetic, amazing Scripture we’ve come across in our study of the Psalms thus far. First we see David, cornered, in trouble and distress. He then calls upon Jehovah and cries out to Elohim — a poetic restatement here, certainly not wasted on the enamored reader! God then heard him, as promised.

Now observe the glory and majesty of the description of God’s response to David — one can hardly comment upon it. The entire earth shakes and trembles before this Mighty God! Look at why: He is angry! Dear Christian, He is not angry at you; He is angry for you! Notice just how angry He is at those who would oppress His children: Smoke comes from His nostrils; a consuming fire comes out of His mouth so hot that it kindles coals!

Now watch as God forces the skies to bend in His presence — He comes down with darkness under His feet, so as to indicate that this isn’t a glorious appearing of joy and tranquility. No, this is a time of anger and wrath toward the enemies of God’s children.

Observe the scene these next verses paint for us.

Above: glorious heaven, God Himself, riding upon a cherub, upon the wings of the wind. Hasting, rushing, hurrying to the scene with urgency in His eyes.

Below: dark, billowing clouds of wrath, filled with thunder and hail and lightning and fire and arrows! Earthquakes and floods! Calamity and destruction!

Inbetween: the bending skies, dark and foreboding, looking as though they could break at any moment, revealing the brightness and glory of God Himself!

All for what?

For you.

Verse sixteen reveals that God, in the midst of His fury, reaches down and carefully, lovingly snatches up David and rescues him. Look at the wording: He “sent from above.” He שלח מן מרום (shâlach min mârôm). That means that He arose from His throne, and took action. He Himself came to save David. He took him. He drew him out of many waters. He rescues him from the flood of his “strong enemy,” from those who hated him, as they were too strong for him. But not for God. They prevented David, but not God.

Our final verse for this evening’s portion of this grand Psalm: “He brought me forth also into a large place (a מרחב / merchâb or enlargement, a place implying blessing and bountiful prosperity); he delivered me, because he had delighted in me.” Now, we’ll talk about the why aspect of God’s delighting in David next week, but for now let us simply rejoice and marvel at the fact that God actually delights in us! He delights in you! And me! What an amazing thought.

Something to think about.

Last time we were in the book of Psalms, we left off in the middle of the eighteenth Psalm, right at verse nineteen.

By way of review, this Psalm is a preservation of the song which David sung at the end of his life in II Samuel 22 as a praise to God for delivering him from all of his enemies throughout the course of his life.

In the first part of this Psalm, we covered the description of God as a strong place, aptly listed in verse two; we also discussed the magnificent descent of God to David’s rescue — what a marvelous text! God came down with great fury and holiness to deliver David in the midst of his troubles.

Before we adjourned last time, we rejoiced in the notion that God delights in David, and of course, in anyone else who is called by His name. But now we have the opportunity to continue in this passage, to discuss the why instead of merely the what in Psalm 18. A couple of thoughts before we begin:

Remember, as we briefly discussed last week, this seems to be at least in part a Messianic psalm; however, we will attribute this song and its concepts and thoughts to David principally as we progress through the rest of this Psalm.

Also, this passage seems to be evenly and easily divided into four main points as follows:

I. The Vindication of David before God (vv. 20-27) II. The Enablement of David by God (vv. 28-36) III. The Victory of David with God (vv. 37-48) IV. The Thanksgiving of David toward God (vv. 49-50)

Now, with these demarcations in mind, let us progress through the text at hand in a manner slightly different than to which we are normally accustomed; you see, not

PART TWO: It’s All Good

Psalm 18

much Hebrew etymology is called for here. Rather, we will approach the text in a way conducive to emphasis of the four divisions of the latter portion of Psalm 18. This lesson, we’ll be covering the first two points of this four-point outline.

Now, let us begin!

In verses twenty through twenty-six, David now reveals the motivation for God delighting in him, for rewarding him, for saving him, for recompensing him — it was his righteousness, his clean hands, his uprightness. Now, let there be no mistake: David is indeed actually claiming that God is rewarding him based on his צדק (tsedeq), his righteousness. So does this imply a works-based acceptance before God? Interestingly, the answer is a resounding “NO” and a yes at the same time.

Positionally, we do not merit a single ounce of God’s pleasure or delight in our own righteousness at all. So if David was suggesting that he somehow earned the blessing and favor of God based on his performance alone, he would have been gravely mistaken. Thankfully, however, David was not saying this at all.

Rather, consider one (or more) of the following possibilities: First, David may have been stating that his positional righteousness, as applied by God, was what was preserving him. Though it was David’s righteousness, it was originally God’s; we saw this earlier in verses four and five of Psalm 17(and later repeated in verse 36 of the present Psalm at hand) — we are righteous only because God has imputed it to our account.

Another possibility (though linked to the former alternative) is that David was stating his cause before God as he was in Psalm 17; his enemies had, his whole life, tried to turn David’s glory into shame. He was possibly stating here that his righteousness was particularly that which vindicated him against their claims. In other words, he could have been saying here, “God, I’m not like them. I don’t do what they do. I’m yours. I’m righteous.”

A more obscure possibility is that this is Christ alone speaking; however, though this Psalm is likely mostly (or enitrely) Messianic, we cannot exclude the possibility that this, too, is from a Messianic standpoint. However, it is also David speaking here at the end of his life; an exclusively Messianic standpoint is unrealistic and does not fit the context at hand.

Yet another possibility is that David here was stating that his righteousness wasn’t positional, but rather behavioral. Though a good father will love his child at all times, there may be an occasion of rebellion in that child which would hinder the proper application of blessing and even protection at times, in order to chastise (straighten, correct, train) that child.

The evidence points more toward a practical (or, behavioral) righteousness (though entirely contingent on positional righteousness), due to the wording in this chain of verses — however, David is certainly not applying credit to himself wholly here; no, he of all people is certainly cognizant that it is not some tremendous effort to gain God’s favor based on his own righteousness that has saved him. No, David is certain that his own righteousness is entirely because God has imparted His own righteousness to David to begin with. The book of James deals with this concept more fully: We are justified by His grace, but that grace works out a certain righteousness which justifies us against those who are unjust. This active, overflowing righteousness, then, is the kind of righteousness under discussion here in these verses.

Either way, David is explaining that God is a lover of righteousness and this is why He has chosen to preserve David. No disagreement here! Righteousness was present in the life of David, and so he was delivered from the evil that threatened his life, time and again.

This, then, begs the question: “If David didn’t act righteous and live a life characterized by holiness, would he have been delivered?” The answer is “no,” and it is because either he wouldn’t have been truly saved, or because his disobedience would have caused God to chastise David into the hands of his enemies. Then again, if David wasn’t righteous in the first place, he wouldn’t have been king to begin with, so it all really goes back quite far. A large topic of discussion, to be sure! But to avoid any further ado, let us progress to the next verse, which is verse twenty-seven.

In this verse, David leaves aside from saying “righteous” and “clean” and those sort of things and now says “afflicted.” This is because those who were truly righteous were afflicted. There’s an entire Psalm about this, Psalm 10; the poor are clearly the righteous in that Psalm, and they seem to be the same here. This seems especially true when one contrasts the afflicted against the “high looks” רום עין (rum ayin), literally those who would look down on others, rather than the naturally occurring opposite, which would be “not afflicted.” So since he contrasts the afflicted with the

sinful instead of the well-off, we can then infer that these afflicted people are righteous as well.

Now David moves from a place of vindication and explanation to a place of praise to God for His enablement in the following verses, verses twenty-eight through thirty-six. Look at how David describes God’s enablement!

• Lights his candle (This is read as “thou art my lamp” in the II Samuel 22 account), enlightening his darkness

• Enables him to run through a troop and leap over a wall (yes, literally, as “run through” comes from רוץ [rûts], meaning “divide speedily” or “break down” and there is no reason to see these as allegorical since they are clearly a memorial of David’s actual accomplishments with God’s strength)

David now takes a second to praise God some more and proclaims that God’s way is perfect, and that there is no fault or blemish in His word. As a result of this, God is a buckler to all who would trust in Him. He is the RIGHT CHOICE to trust! David now proceeds to beg the question: who is אלוה (ĕlôahh, a rare and powerful name for God used only four times in the entire book of Psalms meaning “the deity”) but יהוה (Jehovah)? And who is a rock save our אלהים (elohim)? What an amazing praise!

• Girds him with strength and makes his way perfect (that word “perfect” comes from the Hebrew תמים (tâmıym) meaning “entire” or “complete.” What this means is that David’s way was not corrupt morally or misleading generally. God made his way perfect.

• Makes his feet like the feet of deer and sets him in high places. This is a combination of two principles offered earlier in the Psalm: The principle of swiftness (verse 29) and protection (verse 2).

• Teaches his hands to war, to the end that even a bow of steel is broken in his own arms (once again, there is no reason to suppose that this is not literal — it appears very much to be an actual account of a circumstance allowed by the power of God).

• Gives David the shield of salvation, holds up David by His right hand, and makes David great by His gentleness (the Hebrew ענוה [‛ănâvâh] is used here, meaning condescension, modesty, meekness, humility, gentleness; David is here stating that God is so great that He could crush David with just a look, but is gentle enough to make David great! Amazing!).

• Enlarges his step under him, to the end that his feet do not slip. Again, we see this theme in Psalm 17, in the fifth verse. God is the one who is responsible for David’s success and righteousness, not David.

And so we conclude the first two points of our four-point outline of this latter half of this Psalm. There is a lot to learn from David’s vindication and enablement — let us endeavor to identify with this man and draw closer to God!

Something to think about.

This final part of the eighteenth Psalm begins with a continuation of David’s testimony of God’s preservation and providence; let’s just jump right in.

You’ll recall that there is a bit of a four-point outline in the last half of this chapter, and it is as follows:

I. The Vindication of David before God (vv. 20-27) II. The Enablement of David by God (vv. 28-36) III. The Victory of David with God (vv. 37-48) IV. The Thanksgiving of David toward God (vv. 49-50)

We will now observe the final two points.

In verses thirty-seven and thirty-eight, David testifies of his victory over his enemies; he states that he, rather than being the pursued, is now the pursuer of his enemies because of God’s providence in his life (as we saw in the previous lesson). God enabled David to not only avoid his enemies, but to soundly defeat them — every last one. David completely and totally annihilated his opposition in the power of God!

And it is this power of God of which we read in verse thirty-nine: “You have girded me with strength unto the battle.” Though David was strong, he acknowledges that it is God who was his strength. “You have subdued under me those that rose up against me.” Though David was victorious, it was God who was his victory.

The next verse is an amazing example of how God is the Game-Changer! Listen to David’s testimony in verse forty as follows: “You have given me the necks of my enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me.” You see, there is a time for fleeing and there is a time for hiding, and David put in his hours there. He had plenty of moments in the shadows, in the caves, in the rocks like the coneys. But

PART THREE: He Lives

Psalm 18

now was not that time. Now was a testimony of victory over the enemies! Yes, there finally came a time in David’s life when he was given full victory over the enemies that oppressed him so!

Humanly speaking, verse forty-one is both a tremendously joyful and horribly sad verse. It contains the final moments of the enemies of David, the ones who cursed God and oppressed His anointed one, David. It possesses the record of their well-deserved and awful plight — they cried out, even unto Jehovah, for mercy and deliverance, but God did not answer their call. Why? Doesn’t God hear the cry of the penitent?

Well, to answer this question: look at I Samuel 28:6 for a reference here. Saul inquired of God, but God did not answer. Why? Because Saul was not inquiring with a right heart. He was not seeking God in humility and meekness. He proved this by immediately seeking after the necromancer of Endor when he realized that Jehovah, the One True God, was not going to answer him. Also consider Proverbs 1:28 in this matter. You see, these enemies of Jehovah were not penitently seeking God. They were crying out to anyone, everyone for salvation from the just hand of David, God’s anointed.

In the future, during the Great Tribulation, there will be a similar setting; there will be those who cry out to God for deliverance, but there will be none for them, at least not physical deliverance.

Now listen to David’s record of his victory in verse forty-two. He states that he beat them small as the dust before the wind; he cast them out as the dirt int he streets. They were nothing before him. They, who once had David cornered and quivering, were now entirely insignificant. They were as dust.

Verses forty-three through forty-five are tremendous verses; David now testifies that God has delivered him from the strivings of the people, and made him the head of the entire world! This word “heathen” is obviously not referring to only one “heathen;” rather, it is from the Hebrew word גוי (gôy) meaning “nation, people,” or even “Gentile.” David was not only in charge of the Jewish lands, but was the subjugator of all the known nations of the world. He was literally, actually, honestly the King of the World, with every nation bringing tribute and honoring King David. How wonderful this will be when the throne of David is restored with King Jesus Christ as the ruler! Like with David, they will obey, submit, and fear. Wonderful!

Now David gives a praise to God, and reveals the reason behind all of his victories. He gives the “way,” “why,” and “who” behind the “what.” He states it clearly in verse forty-four: “The LORD liveth, and blessed be my rick, and let the God of my salvation be exalted.” Amen! What a praise! What a doxological exclamation! What a thing to say every morning we awake!

Who has an enemy? Who has struggles? Who has oppressions? GREAT NEWS: Your God lives, and He is your rock and salvation! So PRAISE HIM!

David continues in the following verses by stating that God is He that avenges David, and it is He that subdues all David’s enemies under his feet. Lest any look through the lens of materialism and doubt, David makes it clear: it may have been his sword doing the swinging, but it was God who gave the victory, because HE LIVES and SAVES. Amen! It was God who lifted up David above those who rose up against David — look at that: When they arose, God raised David higher and delivered him from the violent man. Amazing! What a reason to praise God!

And now the final part of our four-part outline through the latter part of this great chapter, this amazing end-of-life recollection from David: “Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.” When God gives victory, we give thanks. Simple as that!

David closes this chapter and sterling work of art by summarizing his whole life into one verse as follows: “Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.” Wow. Oh, that we could share in this solemn, sober, and truly joyful and wonderful testimony. God gave GREAT DELIVERANCE, to King David, and He will give ,(yeshua gadal) ישועה גדלit to all of his anointed and His seed forevermore. Thankfully, as we are in Christ, the anointed Seed of David, we, too, have this great deliverance.

Should we not thank God as well?

Something to think about.

This Psalm, succinctly entitled as a Psalm of David to the Chief Musician, begins with one of the most familiar and most-beloved verses of all time. That’s no exaggeration!

David begins this Psalm of praise by opening up with a profoundly insightful statement: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.” Let’s take a look at this praiseful statement a little bit deeper before moving on, shall we?

That word “heavens” is the English translation for the Hebrew word שמים (shâmayim), which we find first in the book of beginnings — Genesis. In fact, it is found in the very first verse of the very first book of the Bible: Genesis 1:1, which states that in the beginning, before the earth was even formed and before the Holy Spirit had brooded upon the face of the waters —incubating it, nourishing it, giving it life —there was only the heaven and the earth. It makes sense that the word was rendered as a singular word in the English in Genesis 1:1, given that שמיםthere was not yet a firmament; however, we find that now in Psalm 19:1, there is more than one heaven visible to man: The atmosphere and the exosphere. And they declare the glory of God.

To understand this, let us talk about numbers for a bit.

Forgetting the amazing immediate atmosphere in which we live (and how we breathe!), the most recent tally of the size of the entire observable universe is 93 million light years in diameter. Interestingly, this is a measure of distance more than it is of time, although it uses time as a standard. This means that if someone was traveling at the speed of light (186,282 miles per second), it would take 93 million years to get from one end to the other. Now, that’s just the size of the observable universe. About one year ago, scientists surmised that the actual universe is about

PART ONE: They Are Not Quiet

Psalm 19

250 times bigger than that. That’s 2.325e+13, whatever that number means. It’s big, that’s for certain.

Now let’s fill that space. With over 400 billion stars on average (and that’s a low average) in any given galaxy (such as our own), and over 170 billion galaxies in the observable universe alone, that makes for 10e+24, or one septillion stars in about one 250th of the universe, making for 250 septillion stars in the universe, a number so great that no man could ever hope to comprehend its vastness. To help — there’s 7 quintillion grains of sand on the earth, including under the immense oceans.

Now let’s put those stars in context: Our sun alone emits 430 quadrillion joules just toward the direction of the earth every hour (that’s 430 followed by 18 zeroes), which is more than humans use in an entire year. So just a portion of the sun’s energy for one hour dwarfs our yearly needs as humans. In fact, in just two seconds, our earth has received more energy from the sun than the Tsar Bomba 50 Megaton Nuclear Bomb.

So imagine the power contained in 250 septillion stars. Our God created all that with just a word. And for what?

To glorify Him. To amaze us. To declare his glory among His creation.

And David, almost certainly not knowing any of these numbers and figures, knew that the heavens declare God’s glory. That word, “declare,” is from the Hebrew ”which is the same word God used when he told Abram to try to “tell ,(saphar) ספרthe stars. This word means to inscribe, to enumerate, to count. The heavens tell, count, reveal, declare God’s glory to all mankind.

David goes on and speaks of the firmament (the רקיע, raqiya), though it is to be understood in this context as “whatever you can see when you look up into the night sky” rather than limiting this to the lower atmosphere alone. Indeed, the sky sheweth God’s handywork. The word “sheweth” comes right from the Hebrew נגד (nagad) and means to “front” or “stand boldly” or to “manifest” or “announce.” You see, the sky is no quiet creation! Every thunderstorm, every raindrop, every gust of wind, every planet we can see with our eyes — they ANNOUNCE God’s handywork, which, coming from the Hebrew words מעשה יד (ma‛ăśeh yâd), means the work or activity of His hands. Who can doubt the Creator when one sees His might works or feels the breeze upon one’s face? No one.

Now David moves to verse two, which states that יום יום (yom yom), or, day after day after day, the heavens utter speech, and ליל ליל (layil layil) night after night after night, they show knowledge. Such profound truths can hardly be expounded upon!

To “utter speech” is to (נבע אמר) naba omer, to “gush forth, utter, emit, flow” a “promise, speech, words”. In other words, we are seeing a restatement of an oft-ignored truth: The heavens are not passive! They are shouting words! To “show knowledge” is to (חוה דעת) châvâh da‛ath, to “live, declare, show” whatever “knowledge, cunning, awareness” God has ordained for them to show. The heavens are not silent! They are proclaiming the glories of an amazing God!

David continues in verses three and the first part of verse four to describe the extent of their words — there is no speech nor language (different but similar words, one apparently relating to the manner in which one speaks, and the other referring to the words they speak) where the words of the heavens are not known. What an amazing revelation! Everywhere, at every time, in every land, people hear the words of the heavens, declaring God’s glory to all! What an amazing thought!

David now states that their “line” is gone out through all the earth. What does this mean? Well, given that the next part, a parallel phrase, says that their words have gone out to the end of the world, it makes sense that it means something like that, right? Absolutely.

The Hebrew word for “line” here is קו (qav), but that doesn’t really give us any clues. You see, that just means a “cord,” or a “rule,” both of which have connotations of measuring. The only other meaning is a “musical string,” but we don’t have any more information than that. So we are left to ponder. What does it mean? Well, it could mean something musical, but that’s not necessarily supported by Scripture here. What does seem best here is to use a plain, simple etymological approach to this word — the roots of this word קו have to do with fastening, being stalwart, and being meted out, as well as being bound together or collected.

This seems then, to mean that the words of the heavens are steadfastly in place throughout the known world, which resonates well with the rest of the context surrounding this mysterious terminology.

Now watch as David states something particularly wonderful here when he says that in the heavens God has set a tabernacle, or, dwelling-place, for the sun. What

a poetic and grand way of expressing this truth! Now David goes on to speak of the sun, our solar system’s star, for a verse or two more.

David now states in verse five that the sun is like a bridegroom, racing out of his chamber of waiting for his bride (no hesitation there!) and rejoices — that is, שוש (sus), to make mirth or be bright — as a strong man to run a race; you see, there’s no doubt in the strong man’s mind that he’ll get too tired or lose his way or be overtaken. No, there’s a strong, joyful countenance in the one who is running confidently, and the sun is likened unto this and an eager bridegroom coming from his place of waiting to be revealed in all of his power and splendor, the anticipation now over. What an amazing couple of pictures!

Now David ends his cosmological doxology with verse six, in which he states that the sun, likened unto a man, has his going forth from the end of the heaven (the east, from whence it arises), and his circuit (תקופה), or, teqûphâh, meaning “revolution, course” or “lapse,” goes unto the ends of it (the west, where the sun sets). Note that this does not mean that the sun was supposed to have revolved around the earth — remember that the Bible, and certainly the Book of Psalms, was written from an anthropological perspective. David now declares that there is nothing hid from the heat of the sun, and there is most certainly not! Who could create such a work that all men would see it and be influenced by it?

Only God, in all His glory.

Something to think about, indeed!

We meet David once again this week in the nineteenth Psalm; this time, however, he is not speaking of the glory and majesty of the God of the stars and the sun and the amazing works He has created. No, he is “zooming in,” so to speak, on the more express, direct revelation of God and interaction with God in the rest of this amazing work of art. Let’s jump right in.

Verse seven begins what is a most popular chorus which extends through verse ten, utilizing verse ten as a refrain after each of the other verses. It is a most fitting tune, and a most amazing passage. This works particularly well because verses seven through nine contain six characteristics and actions of various subjects with two contained in each verse. Let us proceed by simply examining each one.

The first of six as follows: “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul.” This word “law” comes from the Hebrew word תורה (torah), but this is not referring exclusively to the Law of Moses, as it is speaking broadly of the law of Jehovah in general; this is revealed further in our text. Furthermore, this word תורה does not always mean a written law like the Law of Moses; this word “law” can simply mean the precepts or statutes, which is exactly what that word תורה means if one were to look it up in a Hebrew dictionary.

So we understand that the statutes or precepts of God are that which is being spoken of here; so what does it mean that they are perfect? Well, the word “perfect” here is תמים (tamiym), which carries an understanding of “entire, without blemish, undefiled, upright.” In other words, God’s words, His instructions, His statutes, His counsel is always right, good, and infallible. Anything God says is always good and for His glory. Always.

Always.

PART TWO: A Brief Survey of Six Subjects

Psalm 19

So what does the perfect law of the LORD do? It converts the soul. It שוב (shub) the soul — this word is a very full word, carrying an understanding of retreat or repentance. This word has been translated as “again” or “return” or “bring” in the Old Testament, and seems to have an idea of restoration in this text, which is very similar to the restoration of soul mentioned in Psalm 23. God’s perfect Word restores the soul of the weary and brings rest and revival to those who need it.

Next, we see that the testimony of the LORD is sure. That word “testimony” comes from the Hebrew word עדות (eduth), which simply means “testimony” or “witness.” Not much clarity is given here, but when one considers that this is the feminine form of the word עד (ed), which means something of a “record,” one might see the sense a little bit more clearly — The testimony of the LORD is His record, His testimony, His reputation, and it is “sure.” It is אמן (aman) which means to “establish, build up, support.” So God’s reputation and testimony and record of words and kept promises is rock-solid, and we know that it makes the simple to be wise. But how?

Well, to know God is to know wisdom and understanding. Albert Barnes put it the following way: “The statement is, that that testimony, or revealed truth, makes them wise in the knowledge of God, or imparts to them real instruction.” That’s a good way to phrase it.

Now on to verse eight: The statutes of the LORD are right. His statutes, or פקוד (piqqud), actually have to do with His commandments or mandates! This is not referring to His suggestions or counsel, so to speak. This is that which we absolutely must do as His creation. These statutes, these commands and mandates, they are “right.” This is from the word ישר (yâshâr) and means simply that: “Straight, upright.” In other words, whatever God says to do is right. He would never guide a person into an action that would go against the grain of His character and nature. Never ever.

So what do these statutes do? They rejoice the heart. They שמח (samach) the לב (leb), the center of the feelings, the mind, the heart. This word שמח is an amazing word; it means to “brighten up, cheer up, make merry.” See, God’s mandates are not meant to bog down His children. They, when properly followed, brighten the heart! They make a person cheery and joyful! This is a loaded, loaded truth.

Next we find that the commandment of the LORD is pure. This word “commandment” comes from the Hebrew word מצוה (mitzvah) and means a

“command, precept,” or “ordinance.” It is very similar to the former word, “statutes,” then, and carries a very similar understanding. Notice that they are pure. This word “pure” comes from the Hebrew word בר (barah) and means “beloved, clean, clear, pure, empty.” It means that there is no hint of guile or darkness in the commands of God. One can follow God’s commands and never be led into darkness or impurity as a result. God is pure. Adam Clarke says the following on the matter: “All God’s commandments lead to purity, enjoin purity, and point out that sacrificial offering by which cleansing and purification are acquired. This is Its character.”

Now notice that this pure commandment of the LORD enlightens the eyes. It אור (or) the עין (ayin) — it makes the day break in the eyes. It makes light come from where there was once darkness. To revisit Clarke again on the matter, listen to him as he defines “enlightening the eyes” as “Showing men what they should do. and what they should avoid. It is by God’s commandments that we see the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and the necessity of redemption, so that we may love the Lord with all our heart, and our neighbor as ourselves. For this is the end of the commandment, and thus to enlighten the eyes is Its use.” Well said!

Now in verse nine, we read that the fear of the LORD is clean. This word “fear” means not a phobia of sorts, but rather a dreadful, exceeding moral reverence, such as is described from this word’s Hebrew counterpart, יראה (yirah). How can a fear be clean? Well, let’s look at that word, “clean.” It comes from the Hebrew which means “pure, fair,” or “clean.” It is not too different from the ,(tahor) טהורformer word “pure,” though it may be worth noting that this word carries a connotation of a ceremonial cleanness. There is nothing in the fear of God to corrupt or defile the one who fears God. It is altogether proper and clean to fear God, and this act of fearing Him is as a pure sacrifice offered unto Him.

Note that this clean fear of God endures forever. It will never cease! As we do now (or should), we will through all eternity. This fear will be a proper, wonderful fear, a holy reverence, a trembling unsteadiness of the feet for all eternity. The kind that makes us want to bow down in reverence to a thrice-hoy God.

Lastly in this series of six, notice that the judgments of the Lord are true. This demarcation is a bit different from the first five, in that there is no action given by the subject in this case. However, we will treat it in a similar manner of exegetical study. The judgments משפט (mishpats) of the LORD have to do with a “verdict” or a “sentence.” Whatever God hands down from His bench is true, or אמת (emeth).

This word means “stable, certain, established, faithful,” and “right.” God’s verdicts are always, always right. Nothing He does is wrong.

Note that these true judgments of God are righteous altogether. They are צדק יחד (tsâdaq yachad), or, unitedly righteous. That is to say, however and wherever God hands down His verdicts, they are in every way right and perfect.

What a God we serve, that we can truly and honestly testify with David in this fashion! In the next lesson we will learn of these subjects some more, but for now we will rest on the intricacies of the beauty of the law, testimony, statutes, commandment, fear, and judgments of Jehovah.

Something to think about.

If there is one controversial concept in the sphere of human communication, it is quite possibly the issue of one person telling another person how he or she should feel about something or someone or some event. Most people do not like to be told this, which is quite understandable given that each person processes relationships and events and the like very, very differently from any other given person.

However, we find in the latter part of this wonderful nineteenth Psalm that David is, in a very practical way, telling us how we should feel about the law of Jehovah. That is to say, God is revealing to us how we should feel about Him.

We meet up with David after he finishes describing the glorious attributes and profound benefits of the law of Jehovah, a wonderful theme he explains only after sharing the glories of God to be found in His creation even earlier in this Psalm. Now we find ourselves following up on the law of Jehovah, a concise term referring to all His words and mandates.

You see, David does not rest after simply praising the law of Jehovah — no, he goes on to speak of their desirability and their profit, and then continues with even more inspired statements before finishing this Psalm. Let’s jump right in at verse ten, where we find David speaking still of the law of Jehovah. After we discuss these attributes, we’ll go on to speak of how we should feel regarding the law of Jehovah as indicated by this stellar Psalm.

In verse ten, David states that the law, testimony, statutes, commandment, fear, and judgments of the LORD, Jehovah, are altogether perfect and right. But not only are they all that David testifies of them; no, they are to be desired, desired even more than gold. However, please understand that this goes far beyond our typical 21st-century American-English understanding of the word “desire.” To “desire” the law of Jehovah is to חמד (châmad) the law of Jehovah. That is, it is to

PART THREE: How We Should Feel

Psalm 19

treat it as greatly loved, coveted, delectable, beautiful, and goodly. It means to, essentially, live for it. To make it the only thing that matters, the apple of one’s eye.

How are we doing this evening when it comes to our desire for the law of Jehovah, for the Word of God? Do we desire it? Listen to David as he points out that the law of Jehovah is to be desired more than gold, even more than much fine gold, two modifiers which serve to clarify the point: NOTHING should be more desired in our lives than the Word of God. See Psalm 119:72 for another aspect of this.

If we desire anything else more, then this is a revelation that we’re out of order. And we should strive to be in order, should we not?

Secondly, not only is the Word of God, the law of Jehovah, to be desired, but it is sweet. It is sweeter than honey, than the very honeycomb! In other words, David’s reality is that the law of Jehovah, the Word of God, is sweeter to him than honey. My, how frequently we put other things, people, and events in front of God, thereby citing sweetness in these that is to us somehow superlative to God’s Word! How could we think something or someone or some event to be sweeter than the Words of the One who loves us most, the One who endowed us with the capacity to love in the first place? What a travesty!

Oh, you must understand — the law of Jehovah is sweet, sweeter than honey, sweeter than the honeycomb. See Psalm 119:103 for more on this.

Not only is the Word of God to be desired, and not only is it sweet, but it is a warning. Understand, please, that this word “warning” is not limited to the negative connotation in which it is almost exclusively used in our modern American speech today. No, this word “warned” means much more than we possibly think.

The word “warned” here comes from the Hebrew word זהר (zâhar), which means to gleam, to enlighten, to admonish, to shine, and to teach. Far deeper than the modern usage, one would think! And indeed it is. Of course, then, David is testifying that the law of Jehovah, the Word of God, is that which enlightens him, that which makes the proper way known, that which directs his way. Consider just a few verses prior in this Psalm, back to verse eight — “enlightening the eyes.” That is what the law of Jehovah does, for those who would heed it.

And upon being enlightened by the Word of God, one now has the proper understanding of how to follow God’s laws and thus be rewarded as a result.

That’s right — there is great reward for those who would follow God’s laws. Consider the excellent words of John Gill regarding this concept, “which is to be understood, not of keeping the law of Moses, and the precepts of that, which, if a man did keep perfectly and constantly, he should live in them; but of observing the word of God, and by diligent searching into it, reading and learning it, and meditating on it, to get and obtain knowledge of divine things; which carries its own reward with it, and is better than thousands of gold and silver…” Well put!

Not only is there an inevitable reward within the very duty and joy of keeping the law of Jehovah (as Adam Clarke would say, “every man is wise, holy, and happy, who observes them.”), but we find that God does explicitly and specifically reward those who adhere with the commandments of the Word of God, primarily with regards to salvation — they that would hear the Word of God and obey it (repent and believe the Gospel) will be saved. What a blessed truth!

That is how we should feel with regards to the law of Jehovah — we should desire the Word of God; it should be sweet to us; we should heed its warnings; and we should keep the Word of God so as to be rewarded by God. It is simple and right!

Now David moves on a bit in verse twelve to a question most enigmatic as follows: “Who can understand his errors?” He follows this seemingly rhetorical question with an answer of sorts, saying, “cleanse thou me from secret faults.” He is apparently addressing God in asking for cleansing. This is not a wildly irrelevant line of thinking, however; no, David moves from the glory of God in creation to the glory of God in His law to the glory of God in sanctification, it would seem.

You see, David is not allowing glory to his own name for anything that has to do with the realm of sanctification. Now, before one might go yelling, “But wait! I’m not a Calvinist! I believe that sanctification is a cooperative venture between God and man,” please understand that this is in no way a Calvinist concept or a miscarriage of the proper understanding of the role of God in sanctification. Here, David is marveling at the seemingly infinite depths to the natural depravity of man, even once regenerated. He states that he needs God to cleanse him from his secret faults. But that’s not all —keep reading.

He also petitions God to keep him back from not only the hidden sins, but also the presumptuous sins as well! He asks that they not have dominion (from the Hebrew word משל or mashal meaning “rule” or “power”) over him, for it is only then that he will be upright and innocent from “the great transgression.”

So what is this “great transgression?” Some say that this definite article “the” means it must be referring to a specific sin of apostasy, and then these folks will go on to point to the “great falling away” in the end times. However, this is not necessarily (or likely) this case. No, this likely refers to a kind of sin, a great transgression of which David just spoke, thus earning the word “the” instead of “a,” since he just talked about it and we know which sin to which he is referring.

You see, David is almost certainly referring particularly back to the one sin we were just discussing; remember: context, context, context. He is praying that God would keep him from presumptuous sins, that they would not have dominion over him. He notes that only then will he be upright and innocent from presumptuous sins, or, the great transgression of which he just spoke. He is doing the same thing he did in verse twelve, saying, “God, without you doing this for me, I can’t do anything or keep myself from any sin.”

David closes this Psalm with a bit of a trifecta on this concept: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” You see? He is not only giving God the full responsibility for cleansing him and keeping him back from sins of every kind, but now for governing his very words and thoughts to be acceptable unto God! He also refers to God as his strength (as he is weak and thus unable to perform these tasks) and his redeemer (as he is unable to redeem himself). Do you see the theme of these last three verses? He is giving God all the responsibility!

But then where does free will come in?

It’s already here! In the fact that David is surrendering his will to God for Him to transform! David has already done his part! He says, “Here, God, I’m all yours. I’m going to delight in your Word and obey it, and you have to do the rest. It’s all on you.”

And that’s EXACTLY what sanctification is all about: You surrender, He works.

Something to think about, indeed!

This Psalm opens up exactly like the Psalm before it — simply, “To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.” Obviously, we are to infer and trust that David and no other person wrote this Psalm. And that is absolutely correct. However, there is something really, really peculiar about this Psalm, and that is that it likely takes the form of two different voices, and thus is known as a liturgical Psalm. Psalms 20 and 21 are both liturgical Psalms, and they bookend a battle of some sort, likely the battle with the Ammonites. This Psalm describes a time before the battle, and the next seems to celebrate after the battle. Let’s have a look at Psalm 20 now.

Verse one begins with an exhortation directed at an individual, as this word “thee” is singular throughout the Psalm. This “thee” is almost certainly David in this case,especially since this person is revealed to be the anointed one in verse six. So this Psalm, then, begins with one voice (later revealed to be the congregation of Israel by the use of the words “we” and “us” in this Psalm) praying that Jehovah would hear David in the day of trouble, and that He would defend him.

So from this we can begin to understand from this that David is engaging in an action that would place in him squarely in the middle of trouble; thus, this is likely right before David left for war, likely the war with the Ammonites recorded in the tenth through twelfth chapters of II Samuel. Keep in mind that this congregation that was speaking at this point very likely included (or was composed completely of) the army that David was taking with him into battle.

So this verse, verse one, reveals the tremendous amount of dependance upon God that the people of Israel possessed; they didn’t want their leader to fight without them fighting for him behind the scenes! Of particular interest is that they pray for the name (or, שם [shem]) of the God of Jacob to defend David. The “name” of God here means His honor, authority, character and renown. In other words, the people of God were counting on the reputation and character of God to defend their leader.

How To Follow and Support God’s Anointed

Psalm 20

However, this concept remains incomplete unless one considers the name of God employed here: “The God of Jacob,” a title which hearkens back to the faithfulness of God even during the days of their nation’s founding father. From then until now, God’s testimony has been one of deliverance and protection. What a thought!

Next, we read in verse two that the people ask God to send David help from the sanctuary, and strengthen him out of Zion. Note the continued flow from the previous verse: “Hear thee, defend thee, send thee help, strengthen thee.”

To “send…help from the sanctuary” is a potent request! This word “sanctuary” comes from the Hebrew word קדש (qôdesh) and means “sacred place,” or simply “hallowed” or “holy.” They are praying that Jehovah would send divine assistance from heaven to David. This should actually cause us to reconsider what we tend to call “The Sanctuary” as it relates to the physical plant of the local church building. It is an auditorium, a large seating room, a perfect place for a meeting or an assembly, but it is no sanctuary in and of itself. The members which compose the local church’s membership are indeed the sanctuaries of God Himself!

The people now pray for David to be “strengthened” out of Zion, that is, to be סעד (sâ‛ad), or supported, comforted, established, held up, refreshed, and strengthened. What a packed concept! That the people would pray for David to receive such a boon from Jehovah is reason enough for us to continue this prayer for our leaders today!

In verse three, the flow of thought from the first two verses continues when the people pray for God to remember all the offerings of David and accept his burnt sacrifice; this was a sacrifice that David seems to have made (or was about to make) in preparation for this upcoming conflict with Ammon. Notice how they pray directly to God toward David as they beseech God to remember all of his offerings and his sacrifice. This is a very emotional, desperate, human prayer — “God, please don’t forget your anointed one. He’s about to go fight for you, and he needs your help. Remember his righteousness that can only come as a gift of your righteousness and keep our leader safe.” This prayer is sealed with a “Selah,” that profound word which may very well have been added by David for the sake of the musical pause; however, it was added here for a reason: This seems to indicate that the sacrifice was the reason for this ceremony of sorts and quite possibly was offered right after the words recorded in verse three. We could very well be witnessing a sacrificial ceremony as we read Psalm 20, and that is exciting.

Now verse four — many have said that this is another speaker coming onto the scene, but this is clearly incorrect. Consider the current flow of thought and grammatical structure that we have been seeing so far; it’s such a clear syntax pattern as follows: “Hear thee, defend thee, send thee help, strengthen thee, remember, accept, grant thee, and fulfill.” It’s a perfect train of thought here! It seems that the people are now continuing their prayer after offering the sacrifice to God here, saying “God, you do what pleases you, because what pleases you is always, always right. Do everything you’ve set out to do.”

Of note: that word “fulfill” comes from the Hebrew מלא (mâlê) and carries the understanding of the word “accomplish, confirm,” and “satisfy.” This, along with the word counsel (from the Hebrew עצה [‛êtsâh] meaning “plan” or “purpose,” is a tremendous petition. “God, do whatever you want to do. Accomplish YOUR plans.” This is an acknowledgement of sovereignty in the midst of petition, much like how Christ taught the disciples how to petition God.

Verse five seems to take place while the sacrifice is being consumed, or immediately after: God is pleased with His sacrifice, and the people continue to pray for their leader while first addressing God. They begin with, “We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners…” Please understand that they aren't stealing glory from God by saying “thy salvation” while addressing David — in fact, it’s quite the opposite: The Hebrew structure here states, “We will rejoice in the fact that God will save you!” David’s “salvation” here isn’t that he would save them; rather, it’s that God would save David!

So they say, “We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners…” So what are these banners? Well, they come from the Hebrew word דגל (dâgal), and this word teaches us that these banners were used for not only identification. This Hebrew word דגל means to flaunt or be conspicuous! They said, “You’ve given us the victory, God! You’ve given David salvation and you’re going to save the day! We’re not going to hide this confidence! We are going to raise our banners high!” What an amazing thought! How can we apply this today?

And just like that, the prayer is over (and by the way, these people do not sound like people who only pray in a crisis. They sound like prayer warriors. AMEN). The sacrifice is consumed, and now a new voice speaks up in verse six.

Who is this voice, and how do we know it is a new voice? Well, we know it is a new voice primary because of the use of the singular pronoun of self-address. Also, we know it is a new voice because of the difference in procession of speech; the prayer is over, and a new section of this ceremony of sorts begins. Someone new is speaking.

It seems to be David. Of course, it could also be the high priest speaking by way of accepting the sacrifice, but either way, it is powerful. Assuming this is David, it appears that he is emboldened by the sacrifice and the prayers of the people, and in a most eloquent way, “Henceforth, I am certain that God will save me and hear me.” See, that word “now” comes from the Hebrew word עתה (‛attâh) and means “henceforth, straightway, this time.” And that word “know” comes from the Hebrew word ידע “yâda‛” which carries an understanding of absolute, certain knowledge. Simple as that.

Take a look at that beautiful alliteration, there in verse six. What an artful, accurate, and eloquent way to put such a timeless truth. Praise God!

Now, verse seven. This could be David continuing, but to be consistent with the plural pronoun usage, we will defer the following verses to the voice of the congregation once more. As you may know, David did not have chariots for this battle, but the Ammonites did. Thus, the content of the verse at hand: “Some trust in horses, and some in chariots, but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.” What a fantastic truth! What a marvelous encouragement! Of course, that word “remember” comes from the Hebrew word זכר (zâkar) which means “to be mindful of,” “to think on,” and “to mark.” To think! The Ammonites had the physical advantage, but the Israelites had the name of God. Remarkable and magnificent!

In verse eight, the thought continues: “They are brought down and fallen, but we are risen, and stand upright.” This is the thought that the banners conveyed: “We have already won. We stand tall. We are confident. Because we have God on our side. And if God be for us, who can be against us? Certainly not you, foolish Ammonites!” You see, the Israelites didn’t place their trust in their own efforts, however, noble they may have been. They simply rested in the deliverance of Jehovah. Oh, that we could learn from this!

Lastly, the ceremony ends with a solemn and dependent plea: “Save, LORD. Let the king hear us when we call.” There is some dispute on who the “king” is here. The Hebrew does not give any clues (it is simply מל [melek], meaning only “king”).

Because of the ambiguity, there is occasion for textual criticism here, but these criticisms, like all others, are unwarranted and unfounded. They do remove the ambiguity in that they make the verse read, “Save the king, LORD: hear us when we call,” but it is not read that way in the Hebrew without some awful hermetical perversions of the text at hand.

Instead, let us read the text as it is rightly presented unto us in the Bible. It simply says, “Save, LORD…” Well, save who? Obviously, the anointed one, as we’ve been reading in this chapter. We don’t need to take a figurative scalpel to the Word of God to understand that. Then they say, “let the king hear us when we call.” This king could be either Jehovah or David, and either makes sense.

Consider if it is Jehovah, then it is immediately lucid that they are simply addressing Him. Granted, it seems to fit the syntax but not the context. They haven’t called Jehovah the King, and they don’t seem to be the type to simply call Him “king” with no doxological adornments. So then is it David?

Perhaps we will never know, but the point is clear: Salvation is of the LORD!

Something to think about, indeed!

This second of two liturgical Psalms begins with the same heading as before: “To the chief Musician, a Psalm of David.” Simple as that. As with the aforementioned Psalm, this is clearly a Psalm of David and it was clearly delivered to the Chief Musician by David, intentionally.

As you’ll recall, this Psalm follows Psalm 20, a Psalm that was written as a record of liturgy (whether extemporaneous or planned) by the people of Israel apparently just prior to David’s battle with the Ammonites. Now, the battle is over, David has won, and we jump into the scene hearing God’s people rejoicing for David’s victory.

Quickly, as an aside, note that there are many possibilities of speakers in this Psalm, perhaps even more so than Psalm 20. However, we have no reason to believe that David would refer to himself in the third person (to such a protract extent, at least), and thus come to the logical and hermeneutically sound conclusion that this is the same group of people from Psalm 20 speaking after the battle. These two Psalms are the bookends to an eternally significant battle in David’s life and in Jewish history. Lastly on this, please understand that regardless of the speaker, the message is the same.

Also briefly note that this entire Psalm has been viewed as starkly Christological in nature. While it is clear that David is he whom the Psalm is speaking, the Bible is profoundly wonderful in that it can refer to more than one subject within its hallowed sentences. So keep this truth in mind as we proceed. Now let us begin.

Verse one opens up with a testimony of praise: “The king will joy in your strength, O Jehovah; and in your salvation how greatly will he rejoice!” This opening verse gives us some indication as to two items: First, that it is not David speaking. Second, that it is a time of jubilation and rejoicing. Let’s study that word “joy” and the word “rejoice” here for a moment.

A Liberal Pool of Prosperity

Psalm 21

The word “joy” here comes from the Hebrew word שמח (samach), and means to be “gleesome, bright” or “merry.” What a description! That’s someone who has experienced victory! How then should our faces look? Please consider this!

Now look at this word “rejoice.” It comes from the Hebrew word גיל (gıyl) and means “to spin around, to be glad,” and to be “joyful.” Oh, that we would just drop our inhibitions sometimes and just spin around with joy at what God has done! But alas, we are likely too enamored with the baubles of this word to do such a thing. And that is a travesty, is it not?

So why is David so cheerful? Why do the people note that he is he so happy he could just spin? Well, we get quite a clue in the first verse by itself: “…in thy strength” and “…in thy salvation” are mentioned in conjunction with his joy. So clearly God has come through for David with regards to the prayers and sacrificing of the people in Psalm 20!

Verse two elaborates: “You’ve given him his heart’s desire, and didn’t withhold the request of his lips.” So this is clearly indicating that David prayed for victory, and received it from God. God gave David what David wanted, because the desires of David’s heart were in alignment with the will of God, quite simply!

We also see a “Selah” here, indicating a pause, for a reason: Please consider that David received what he asked for from God. How often God gives us what we do not even think to ask Him for, but how much more often could God grant us our wishes according to His will if we but asked? My, what missed opportunities and blessings!

Verse three goes on: “You preventest him with the blessings of goodness and settest a crown of pure gold upon his head.” That word, “preventest,” comes from the Hebrew קדם (qâdam) and means “anticipate, hasten, precede.” In other words, God went before David and blessed him with victory. God encompassed David and the events of the battle long before David even arrived on the scene! Now we read that David is given a crown of gold upon his head. Now, wait a minute here: did not David already have a crown of gold? Was he not already king?

Well, some possibilities present themselves as follows: First, this could be simply expressive of the fact that David retained his kingship after this battle. Secondly, he could have attained the crown from the Ammonite king (2 Samuel 12:30); this seems most likely. A third option, however, is the Christological perspective.

However, the Psalms are not written to be read as exclusively Christological. Particularly in this Psalm (at least), they must needs apply to David as well, to represent Christ rather than to only apply to Christ alone.

Verse four continues: “He asked you for life, and you gave it to him, even everlasting life.” All right, so what about this verse? Is this not exclusively Christological? I mean, surely, David couldn't have everlasting life, right? Well, of course he could have! And did! David was a child of God and received not only temporal salvation from God, but also eternal salvation from God. Simple as that. Could this apply Christologically? Certainly, but it must first apply to David, as while this is a historical recollection bound in poetry, it is certainly history first. Also, this could refer to David’s kingly line or his genealogical descendants, one of whom was the King of Kings, Jesus Christ.

Verse five continues to extol Jehovah: “David’s glory is great in your salvation: you have laid upon him honor and majesty.” You see, David was no stranger! He was a glorious man, a kingly man, a lion of a man, who was a leader among leaders. He was clothed with honor and majesty, but every little bit of that came from God. The same, of course, is true to today of every living creature great or small, saved or lost. All glory comes from God. And David’s glory came from God and the fact that He saved David and gave him glory and exaltation, all to the ultimate end of glorifying God above all.

Verse six follows through with this thought, adding that God had made David “most blessed forever” and “exceeding glad with” God’s “countenance.” Now there’s another concept that applies to us today, but you wouldn’t know it from looking and the countenances of many believers today! “Most blessed” comes from the Hebrew word ברכה (berâkâh) and has to do with a benediction, or particularly, a “liberal pool of prosperity.” Almost as if one’s cup was running over! David was filled with gleeful mirth and was blessed beyond measure…all because of God.

Now verse seven gives some reasoning behind all of these doxological exclamations: “Because David trusted in Jehovah, and it’s because of His mercy that he won’t be moved.” Notice how it doesn’t just say that David wasn’t moved. It said that he would not be moved. There’s a confidence for the future that is built up when God answers prayer, isn’t there? Sure, there is. Or at least there should be! Sometimes it seems like when God blesses us, all we do is complain! When we have it better than most folks we know! Wow, what a thought!

Notice there that David trusted in Jehovah. Not anyone else. Only God.

Now the Psalm continues to address God, but in a more imprecatory way: Verses eight through twelve describe what God does in the face of His enemies. Take a look:

First, God’s hand will find out His enemies, those that hate Him. That’s a parallel, by the way, remember? Hating someone isn’t a word we say or even a state of mind, but rather a matrix of actions taken against that person or concept. There is no such thing as a passive hatred. Treating someone as your enemy is hating them. Nothing more, nothing less. Let’s be sure to preserve a solidly BIBLICAL understanding of words rather than a modern one.

Secondly, God will make them as a fiery oven, in the time of His anger. He will swallow them up in His wrath, and the fire shall devour them. Notice here that this is the second set of parallelisms in the description of what God does with His enemies, the one who picked a fight with Him. He makes quick work of them, to be sure! What power! What awesome might!

Thirdly, in yet another parallel set of truths, God will eradicate the fruit, the seed, the children of the wicked ones from off of the earth. This does not seem to be a merely vindictive action on God’s part, oh no. Rather, this is a practical judgment of God to remove the wicked from the earth. Adam Clarke said it the following way, “Even their posterity shall be cut off, and thus their memorial shall perish.” See, this is a right thing to do, not a wrong thing to do: exterminate all stiff-necked resistance against the One True King. This is not a pitiless thing to do — this is the stuff of war, the act of Jehovah, the One who tarried in His long-suffering for so very long. And now they have met their end, the ones who have oppressed God and his anointed one. And this is what will happen at the end of time, before heaven truly begins in all its splendor. And it must happen in order for heaven to be heaven, and why would not God do the same here when He wills it?

In verse eleven, the description seems to branch off into a reasoning regarding the particular battle and hand (while still preserving a greater sense of the whole of God’s treatment of His enemies) before resuming course: “Because, God, they intended evil against you (by intending evil against David and Israel here, obviously). They put together a plan they weren’t able to carry out.” Again, another parallelism, another truth as follows: They oppressed God, and it didn’t go according to their feeble, fiendish plans.

Now in verse twelve, the Psalm continues almost by way of summary when it states “Therefore you will make them turn their back, when you draw back your bowstring against their faces.” This is a break from the parallelism, but still a return from the particular reference to the Ammonites, back to the general description of what God does to His enemies in a broader sense: “They run when you flex, Jehovah. They run when you flex.”

Verse thirteen ends this glorious Psalm of victory and triumph with a praise to Jehovah: “Be thou exalted, Jehovah, in your own strength: So we will sing and praise thy power.” Wow. There is no one like Him. It is in Jehovah’s strength alone that we all find our strength, and it is He strength alone that gives us the victory over all. What an amazing Psalm!

Something to think about, indeed!

We now have an opportunity to glimpse into the mind of David, and of Christ, in what must be the darkest moment of David’s life, and certainly the darkest moment in the life of our Saviour.

Before looking into the content of this Psalm, let us observe the opening title of the Psalm, as it differs from any other Psalm before it or after it. This Psalm is addressed to the Chief Musician, “upon Aijeleth Shahar,” and is labelled as a Psalm of David. So what does this אילת שחר (‘ayĕlĕth shachar) mean? Well, there’s a few different opinions, of course.

First, the simple translation — this word אילת (‘ayĕlĕth) means “hind” or “doe” and occurs two other times in the Old Testament, where it is translated as such. The word שחר (shachar) essentially means “dawn” and occurs twenty-three other times in the Old Testament and is translated as one of the following words every time: “early, dayspring, day, morning, light, riseth.” So then what does this mean? This Psalm is to be played upon the Dawn Doe? What are the implications here? Many have suggested that this is actually the name of a musical band of the time — much like we have both whimsical and meaningful names today for music groups, they did then as well.

Another option would be a non-literal approach to understanding this wording. What is implied by the Doe of the Dawn, or the Hind of the Morning? And how can something be played “upon” or “by” it or them? The answer, according to this view, is that there is a certain instrument (or subdivision of instrument, such as a tenor saxophone or an alto clarinet) commonly called the Morning Hind or something like it. This instrument, then, would have been the ideal choice for playing a mournful tune.

Also, there is a view which states that there was a song in existence known as the Morning Doe, and that this tune is the tune in which this Psalm was to be played.

Beating the Bulls of Bashan

Psalm 22

Lastly, there is a view which states that this is not an instrument or a band of musicians; rather, it is simply the tone in which the Psalm is to be sung. The tone, of course, would be a mournful one, given the context of the Psalm, and is derived from a creative use of Hebrew linguistic techniques to derive “mourning” from the two Hebrew words אילת and שחר. It seems to be a wishful argument rather than a substantive one, to be sure; however, it bears pointing out that there are many manners and customs with which we are not acquainted as 21st-century Americans that would seem foreign and odd to us but normal and fitting to others.

No matter what the final conclusion is, the setting is clear: This is a Psalm written in the darkest of times and was almost assuredly meant to be played in such a fashion as to convey the emotions that accompany such a shadowed valley. Now let us begin our treatment of the Psalm at hand.

Verse one opens up with the cry of David: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?” Of course, the first part of this powerful, sorrowful cry is well-known, for it was uttered by Christ Himself on the cross. We read of this in Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34 — Christ asks the words in a language that was foreign to the people around Him (so it was likely Hebrew or some Hebrew-Syrian hybrid tongue rather than Greek or Aramaic) but it was clearly a reference to this Psalm.

So this begs the question: Is this Psalm strictly a Messianic Psalm, speaking only of Christ and not at all of David? No. This is unlikely at best. In fact, much like other Messianic Psalms, this events are almost certainly happening to David, but for more purposes than David sees in his lifetime. You see, David is a typological representation (or “type” for short) of Jesus Christ. He is a shadow of Christ ahead of time in many ways; the events of Psalm 22 are no exception! So while Christ does cry out in this fashion (for reasons we will not discuss here, for sake of context and time), it is certain that David cried out in the exact same way about a millennium before Christ did. All the events of this Psalm belong to David, and many of them do belong to Christ as well, as we will point out along the way.

So we resume: David is now in the throes of despondency as he cries out for God, begging an answer to why He has apparently forsaken him. David, in his mind and intellect, surely is aware of the omnipresence and nearness of God; however, this is not the intellect of David coming through in these words. This is the raw emotion of David, crying aloud to God in his despair. He feels forsaken. Of

particular note is that David here uses the word “roaring” to describe the nature of his utterances in his pain. This comes from the Hebrew word שאגה (she’âgâh) and is used six other times in the Old Testament. Of these times, three of them actually mention lions; this word then, is not meant to be translated as mere “groanings” or “murmurings.” No, this word is used to describe the heart-rending cry of a man whose wearied voice and sore throat are about to give out from overuse. This sound might be best understood as a sigh with a yell behind it, plagued with tears and choking on sobs. This is no mere groan. This is a roar of pain and sorrow.

Verse two continues: “Oh my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.” David complains to God in a very real way: “I cry out to you day and night, but I am forsaken still. You haven't answered me, and I don’t have deliverance from you. I am alone.” This verse and the verse before it represent the darkest valley through which a person can pass through. But David is aware that it is indeed a valley to be passed through, not a valley in which to stay.

Verse three reveals this truth to us: David asserts the holiness of God. He testifies to God that God is קדוש (qâdôsh), reinforcing the moral rightness of God. This is to say, “God, I know that you will do what is right.” Now David moves to say that God inhabits the praises of Israel. While this stands alone as a profound testament to God’s character and habits, Albert Barnes helps us put this in context with the following quote from his work, Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible: “The sufferer looks upon him as worshipped by the multitude of his people; and the feeling of his heart is, that though he was himself a sufferer - a great and apparently unpitied sufferer - though he, by his afflictions, was not permitted to unite in those lofty praises, yet he could own that God was worthy of all those songs, and that it was proper that they should be addressed to him.” This is well said, and seems to make sense within the context of the passage.

David continues this thought in verses four and five, testifying that the fathers of his people (and thus his own forefathers) trusted in God and were delivered. They cried unto God, and they were delivered. They trusted in God, and were not confounded, as David is fearing right now. That word “confounded” is the English translation of the Hebrew word בוש (bûsh), which means “to pale,” which means to be ashamed or disappointed.

In the next three verses, David now contrasts himself with the fathers that God answered and delivered. Since he feels forsaken and has not yet seen the deliverance of God, he considers himself to be not a man like they, but rather a

worm — a reproach, neglected and minimized, unfit to be helped by the same God who helped his forefathers. You see, David’s pain was so great that it ultimately drove him to see himself as sub-human due to his feeling of being forsaken. It was the only logical response while in the throes of such emotional turmoil. Notice how he says that he felt this way in the face of the “people.” This comes from the Hebrew word עם (‘am) meaning “people” or “tribe.” He, in his emotion, hyperbolized his imagined perception of himself before all; he believed that every soul in his circle of acquaintance, yea, in the world, would mock and revile him because He trusted in God and God didn't come through. This is the “confounding” David mentioned, to be sure.

In the next three verses, verses nine through eleven, David now somewhat builds a case before God, asserting that it is God who has been His God from the beginning, even from when he was a newborn babe. He acknowledges God’s sovereignty in caring for him, and then moves to implore God to take that same degree of care for David in this time of distress. Notice how he appeals to God’s help in verse eleven — as a baby, unable to help himself.

In verses twelve and thirteen, David now cries out to God and describes his oppressors as being the strongest of them all. He describes them as the “Bulls of Bashan,” which is a remarkably colorful way of describing the strength of his enemies. Bashan was a land near Jordan, a land particularly known for the strength of its cattle (See Deuteronomy 32:14 and Amos 4:1 for more on this). David was truly in what he believed was the hardest part of his life.

Verses fourteen through eighteen are very telling — they reveal that David was beyond merely being afraid of his enemies or something else minor. No, David was suffering from deep psychological pain, pain that extended into his very body. This pain was almost certainly accompanied by the pangs of malnourishment and starvation. David was also suffering psychologically from the protected pursuit of his predators.

There is much to consider here on David’s part, but perhaps even more poignant is the remarkable similarities between David’s suffering and Christ’s suffering — the piercing of the hands and feet, and parting of the garments and betting on them, and even more similarities for the keen reader. This is more evidentiary of the typological nature of this Psalm.

David continues in the next two and a half verses to call upon God for salvation, and we notice an interesting word used here: “Darling.” As we have seen in patterns in the Psalms by now, the Hebrew parallel is obvious here: my soul from the sword, my darling from the dog.” The word “darling,” then, refers to the soul. The Hebrew word used here is יחיד (yâchıyd), and means “united,” “sole,” “only,” “life,” and “solitary.” David is begging God to save His life! But remember — this is typological as well. It seems very reasonable to imagine that Christ, in His humanity, silently called upon God to save Him in this fashion while on the cross. We simply do not know exactly how much of this Psalm is to be understood as typological; however, it certainly seems fair and fitting to apply much, if not most, of this Psalm to our Saviour.

In the second half of verse twenty-one, we see a transition: “Thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.” Before we address the peculiarity of the word “unicorn,” let us address the magnificence of the message of this verse! David pivots! He says, “you have heard me!” This is a tremendous step away from the concept of being forsaken! And now to address the “unicorn” in this verse, often used to correct the King James Bible or to insist upon the ignorance of its translators: the word “unicorn” comes from the Hebrew word ראם (re'êm) and, for simplicity’s sake, was likely a rhinoceros. In fact, the Septuagint’s translation of this word is rendered “monoceros,” or, “one-horn.” Many versions attempt to correct this word “unicorn” and make it read “wild ox,” but that's simply not what the original text reads in its proper context and usage of the time.

Verse twenty-two begins a praise that extends all the way to the end of the chapter. It is with great difficulty that we will abbreviate the rest of the chapter, for there is much to read and appreciate about this praise. However, for sake of time, it is most fitting to simply recommend the truth of this passage to the reader in the form of a brief summation as follows: “God will save, and the whole world will know it and will worship God as a result.

What a change! David begins by questioning God’s presence in His life and his worthiness as a man. However, upon baring his soul to God and with proper reflection upon the promises of God, David emerges from his darkened mindset (although his circumstances do not change!) and praises God for what He will do in Bis life. Such faith! Such confidence in God! Such belief! And this is what beat the bulls of Bashan in the life of David.

Something to think about, indeed!

Perhaps the most quoted and memorized Psalm is now before us: The twenty-third Psalm. This Psalm, in 21st-century America, is a bittersweet one; thought it provides a message of solace and confidence for the believer, it is at the same to so often tragically misused to provide comfort for those who rejected Christ. Nonetheless, it is known by many, so let us not allow familiarity to pave the way for ignorance of the power this Psalm possesses. Let us begin!

This Psalm opens up as simply “A Psalm of David.” Fitting, given the tremendous simplicity of the Psalm. Let us not add complexity where conciseness was intended and instead simply move forward into the body of the Psalm.

David opens up verse one with a profound declaration: “The LORD is my shepherd…” Before we even continue in this verse, let us pause to reflect on the truth of that statement. We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. We are but dependent, needful, often self-willed sheep. We are in desperate need of a Shepherd! Though it for some reason pleases the minds and rationales of many to conjure thoughts of a distant God who is not involved in any personal way in the affairs of humanity (this belief system is called “deism”), David proclaims the truth with no buttress of argument, but rather a plain declaration of fact: “Jehovah is my Shepherd.” Oh, thank God that He is our Shepherd! A personal God, One who cares enough to meet the needs of the sheep in every way!

Since God is David’s shepherd, David builds on this truth: “…I shall not want.” This word “want” does not mean that David had no desires in His life, but rather that he lacks nothing. The Hebrew word here is חסר (châsêr), which means to lack, to fail, to decrease or make lower. In other words, with God as our Shepherd, we will never, ever lack anything we need. A proper, responsible Shepherd makes sure his sheep never go without anything they need. Water, food, shelter, affection, chastisement and so on. They have it all. How much more, then, will God give to His sheep? Amazing.

A Pasture In A Valley

Psalm 23

David follows up on this thought in verse two: “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures…” This is an indication of the consistent provision of Jehovah. No barren fields here, only green pastures. This is particularly imperative to remember when it seems that we are lacking that which we need — we are not lacking! We are in green pastures! He will never let us starve; we will always have pasture. Bear in mind that pastures are not only for eating — they are also pleasant resting places.

This thought is furthered in the next phrase of this verse as follows: “He leadeth me besides the still waters.” A sheep will not drink from a raging torrent of water. It will frighten the sheep, and it will recoil. The sheep needs still, gentle waters from which to drink and thereby to rest in tranquility. The word for “still” here is מנוחה (menûchâh), which has to do with repose, peace, or consolation. We have a Shepherd who offers peace. Also note that the Shepherd “leadeth” rather than “forceth.” Thanks be to God for a Shepherd who is gentle and loving!

Verse three opens with a powerful statement: “He restoreth my soul.” This is an interesting phrase! The Hebrew word employed here is שוב (shûb), which alone means to turn back or retreat. However, the usage here provides an understanding of restoration — where one’s soul was wearied and empty, it now turns again to a state of fullness and satisfaction. We then see that our Shepherd “leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” Again we see Him leading.

But what are these paths of righteousness? What does that mean? And what does it mean “for His name’s sake?” Simple: The Shepherd always leads the sheep along the best possible course for the sheep. Over crags and thorns will he not lead, but rather along the healthiest, best paths that are conducive for the survival and growth of the sheep. For the believer, this is the path of righteousness! A path of purity and holiness, a path of justice and mercy and grace. And “for His name’s sake” carries an understanding that it is by Him and for Him and through Him that He does this. It is His joy to care for His sheep in such a fashion, for it is the glory of the Divine Shepherd to care for the sheep in a manner consistent with His Holiness. It is all for God’s glory.

Now David shifts from a description of the Shepherd and his actions ever so slightly to a description of his most perilous circumstances, only to reveal the wondrous care of the Shepherd in the life of this sheep named David. Verse four reads “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil…” Right there, David indicates a powerful truth to us, and that is that we have a Shepherd who leads us to green pastures and still waters even while we are in the valley. But

what is this “valley of the shadow of death?” Well, this is a difficult thing to express in English, but it’s been done beautifully in the Scriptures here. Originally, one would have simply said one word, צלמות (tsalmâveth), instead of “the shadow of death.” That word צלמות comes from two Hebrew roots, צל (tsêl) and מות (mâveth), meaning “shade” and “death” or “the dead” respectively. This “shadow of death” is speaking of the state of imminent physical destruction for David. And it certainly was a valley, a dark place.

Now notice that even in the midst of this valley, right at death’s doorway, David feared no evil. He didn’t consider himself to be in any real predicament, and he wasn’t cowering. But why? Why did David fear no evil? Well, he tells us: It was because the rod of the Shepherd and the staff of the Shepherd comforted him.

Many have allegorized these two elements, but it is really quite simple: shepherds used a staff with which to walk and balance and upon which to lean. This staff also served another purpose, as it was crooked at the top and used for guiding and correcting sheep who wandered off a little bit too much. The staff was used to guide and direct. The shepherds also carried with them a rod with which to strike predators who would attack their sheep. Our Divine Shepherd has a rod and a staff for us — what an amazingly reassuring thought! What an awesome reality! Indeed these two elements comfort David, and they should comfort us as well!

In verse five, David now testifies that God prepares a table before him, denoting the provision and care of God toward His children, toward His sheep. Notice that this is in the presence on David’s own enemies! This is often misunderstood to mean that God is attempting to cause envy on the part of the enemies, but it seems to be clear that David is testifying of the ever-present help of God, even when in the midst of opposition on every side. Even when confronted by the evil ones, God prepares a table for us.

David also testifies that God anoints his head with oil — this has to do with the providence of God and superabundant blessings of God. Often, oil was bestowed on the heads of guests of honor in David’s culture, and it was a signifier of favor and blessing. God’s favor toward David is that which is spoken of here. David then continues this thought by stating that his cup runs over, again noting the superabundance of the blessings of God toward Him. What a marvelous thought!

Lastly, David affirms these blessings by saying, “surely [that is, of an absolute truth] goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the

house of the LORD forever.” Simple as that. David is remarkably confident in and thankful for the superabundant blessings of God. He states that the goodness of God and mercy of God would never depart from him — all the days of his life, indeed! This wouldn’t end on earth, though — David was also confident that he would dwell in the house of the LORD forever, not only because of the divine preservation afforded by our generous God, but also because nothing could tear David away from the good shepherd.

Imagine — dwelling in the LORD’s house…forever. ’Tis a sobering thought, then, to think that most churchgoers today cannot even tolerate but a couple of hours in the LORD’s house on Sunday before their minds wander off to the next event they have planned! What a shame.

This chapter is beloved for a reason — it is a beautiful picture of the relationship between Jehovah and His children, His sheep. Let us rejoice with David as we consider the glory of our Great Shepherd.

Something to think about.

This Psalm, like the one before it and the next several after it, begins with a simple introduction: “A Psalm of David.” Once again, we are only briefly acquainted with the author of the Psalm in favor of the actual content of the Psalm: the very content into which we will dive right now.

The first verse opens up with a blatant, amazing statement: “The earth is the LORD’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” At first glance, this verse is powerful enough; however, observe the parallel here: This whole earth, this physical place in which we live, is Jehovah’s. But not only the earth — the fulness of the earth. But what does that mean, the “fulness” of the earth? Well, in this case, the parallelism helps us to understand! The second part of this verse, a parallel of the first part, uses restatement to reinforce the point.

“…The world, and they that dwell therein.” This word used here for “world” is actually a poetic use of the word תבל (têbêl), commonly translated “world,” which primarily carries an understanding of fertility and habitation. Thus, this word “world” is referring primarily to the people who live in the earth (for an example of this disambiguation, see Job 37:12). So we see then, that this verse is saying that this world, and every single living creature, rock, plant, and molecule belongs to God. Simple as that.

This sort of ownership should give pause to us, then. It should motivate us toward holiness and proper stewardship!

The second verse goes on with this concept to establish God’s ownership of the earth (and by implication, the inhabitants therein) by stating his power in Creation: He founded the earth upon the seas and upon the floods. This is actually important not only to the immediate context, but also to understanding the original formation of the earth — The Genesis account is clear that the earth (as well as the sky surrounding it) was formed above the waters and below the waters, which were

Authority, Purity, Victory

Psalm 24

ultimately gathered together in one place. During the Great Flood, these waters sprung up from under the earth and contributed to the worldwide flooding along with the collapse of the suspended firmament above the earth’s atmosphere (for more on this, see Job 38:8 and 2 Peter 3:5). The Bible is full of little sparkles of truth for those who have eyes to find them.

The third verse now launches into a beautiful parallel of Psalm 15, sprinting off from the starting line of God’s authority over all mankind to display the holiness of this same God in His affairs with mankind. The question is asked, much like it was in Psalm 15: “Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who shall stand in his holy place?” This question is asked not from a standpoint of wondering or even out of frustration with mankind, but rather as a way to qualify God’s holiness in light of man’s unholiness. The answer to the question, as we will see, is only those who have been qualified by God, not of their own works, but by His grace.

Verse four shows this to be true: Only those who have clean hands, a pure heart, a soul not lifted up to vanity, or sworn deceitfully. So what does this mean? Firstly: “Clean hands” comes from the Hebrew phrase נקי כף (nâqıy kaph), meaning “innocent” or “guiltless” hands. Now, how can one be innocent or guiltless? For every single person reading or hearing this lesson, this can be only by the blood of Jesus Christ. Only those who have trusted Christ as Savior and have been born again can be innocent. This is not only a state of being, however — it is an active lifestyle that is conductive to dwelling in the pleasant pastures of God’s favor. Though we are declared innocent, we must still strive to live lives that reflect this!

A “pure heart,” from the Hebrew בר לבב (bar lay-bawb’), means something very similar, almost forming a parallel with the former concept in this verse. This word for “pure” here means “emply, clean, clear.” The word “heart” here, of course, means “mind” or “understanding,” the very seat of humanity’s self. Once again, this can only be achieved by receiving Christ and becoming a child of God through the adoption that Christ offers in His death and resurrection. However, just like with the former concept of “clean hands,” this is not only a simple state of being. This is a lifestyle that is practiced and maintained through denial of the flesh and its wanton urges and carnal desires.

“Lifting up one’s soul unto vanity” is simple enough to understand, yet requires discipline and self-mortification in spades! This means that one has not given his life to idols and vain things — this is a lifestyle associated with those who have rejected Christ, not those who claim to have accepted Him! Those who spend hours in

front of a television screen while doing nothing for the Kingdom are those who are lifting up their souls to vanity — may this never be said of those who are bought by the blood of Jesus Christ!

Lastly, to “swear deceitfully” means to bear false witness of any kind, with the intent of lying. It is to say that something happened when it did not happen, or it is to say that something did not happen when it, in fact, did. This can extend quite a bit further than the “big lies” and “whoppers,” to be sure — small exaggerations, overly-dramatic retellings of stories, “white lies,” and even untruths that we feel are justified are all part of swearing deceitfully. This could even mean making commitments and not following through with your commitments! The Scripture states clearly to let your “yeses” by “yeses” and your “no’s” be “no’s;” our word should be our promise every time we speak. And when we forsake the truth in our speech, we swear deceitfully, quenching the Spirit of God and destroying our trustworthiness.

Verse five summarizes the blessings of the person who will keep him or herself pure: He will receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Now hold on — does this mean that if we act a certain way, we’ll be saved? Not hardly. Listen to what Albert Barnes says in his work, Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible:

“The idea of the psalmist would seem to be, not that he would obtain this as if it were a gift, but that he would obtain the divine “approval” of his character as righteous; he would be recognized and dealt with as a righteous man. He would come to God with “clean hands and a pure heart”…and would be welcomed and treated as a friend of God. The wicked and the impure could not hope to obtain this; but he who was thus righteous would be treated according to his real character, and would meet with the assurances of the divine favor. It is as true now as it was in the days of the psalmist, that it is only the man who is in fact upright and holy that can obtain the evidences of the divine approval.”

It is clear to any student of the Bible that this truth is woven throughout the Scriptures — the just shall live by faith, and that faith is evidenced by our works. This seems to be what the Psalm is resounding at this point.

Some have contended that this verse, verse five, is not speaking of eternal salvation or positional righteousness, but rather temporal favor and such. Either way, the truth is the same: It is our calling and new nature to live a life of purity and

holiness. God is not pleased with the workers of iniquity, so let us never be named among their ranks by our actions! Verse six simply reinforces the truth that Albert Barnes so skillfully pointed out in the above-mentioned quote: Those who act in this holy way are the ones that seek God. However, notice that they are not only listed as seeking God, by rather seeking the face of Jacob! Now, many have written this off as a transcribing error of sorts, where is should say “God of Jacob” or something. However, the Bible does not say this. It says, “O Jacob.” Then it says “Selah,” which is something that perhaps many commentators failed to do when pondering this verse.

There are a couple of possibilities that exist outside the realm of mutilating the text: The first is presented by the Pulpit Commentary. When discussing the possibility of this being a simple mistranslation, the commentary reads as follows: “This, no doubt, is possible, and removes all difficulty. But it is better to loose a Gordian knot than to cut it. We may keep the present text, and obtain a satisfactory sense, by regarding ‘Jacob’ as grammatically in apposition with ‘generation,’ and translating, ‘This is the generation of them that seek him—that seek thy face—even Jacob.’ All they are not Israel who are of Israel (Rom 9:6). The true Jacob consisted of those Israelites who answered to the character described in Psa 24:4.”

So it could be a simple difference in grammatical vernacular and usage. Or it could indeed be that God is here called “Jacob” as a result of His ownership of Israel and intimate care of this nation. Either way, this is not a result of an error in the Bible — when we suppose such a thing, there is an error in our thinking.

Also, as an aside, does this verse contradict Romans 3:11, which paraphrases the fourteenth Psalm, which states that no one seeks after God? Not at all! In fact, it’s quite the contrary: The only ones who seek His face are those who have been sought out and found by God already! We love Him because He first loved us, and we seek Him because He first sought (and found) us! In Romans 3:11, we are seeing the unsaved multitudes described — those who are lost in sin. Those who are saved are to be seekers of Jehovah every moment of every day!

Now the Psalmist finishes this Psalm with a rousing hymn of sorts, almost as if harking back to the beginning of the Psalm: Verse seven calls for all the gates of the world for all time to be lifted up in honor of the Great King who would be coming in, displaying His victory and leadership throughout the whole world. The King of Glory is coming! Open the gates! Even the gates of Heaven!

A question is now asked in verse eight: Who is this King of Glory? It is Jehovah! There is none like Him! He alone is the conqueror of death and hell! He is strong and mighty in battle!

Verse nine repeats the refrain: “Gates, open up! Everlasting doors, open up! The King of Glory is coming in!” Many read this to be prophetic as well as triumphant: It is possible that God is declaring that the doors of the world would be open to the Gospel, which would bring victory and light to a lost and dying world, bound in sin.

The tenth and final verse of this Psalm asks the question once more: “Who is this King of Glory?” It is Jehovah! He is not only strong and mighty, He is the Lord of hosts! The King of Glory is coming! The Victor! What an amazing hymn, and note the very last word — it is never supposed to end, to be sure: “Selah.” The Psalmist writes this word, certainly, with a hint of “keep thinking about this truth.” And indeed we will, David, while the ages roll!

Something to think about, indeed!

We arrive now at the twenty-fifth Psalm, which is an outpouring of the heart of David in a time of trouble and distress. It would do us very well to consider these thoughts personally as we endeavor to endure trials and afflictions in a Christlike way! Like the Psalm before it, it simply opens up as “A Psalm of David,” but this Psalm is very special in its literary principles: it is the first of seven Psalms that is arranged in an acrostic; in the Hebrew, each verse begins with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This is thought to have been done to aid in memorization, but exactly what David’s motivations were will be unknown to us until we greet him in heaven. But what a fascinating literary device! What care went into this Psalm!

The first verse opens this Psalm with David saying, “Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul.” Almost certainly before lifting his soul to anyone or anything else, he lifts it to the LORD. Why bring our troubles to anyone but Him, the only One who can actually do something about it? How often we wait until we have nowhere else to run before running to the One who can help!

Verse two continues with David stating simply: “O my God, I trust in thee.” Can you imagine how many complaints, how many murmurings, how many anxieties would be eliminated, “nipped in the bud” if we just started our day with this statement? And how quickly would we find our troubles go away just by saying this statement!

Now David builds on this thought by asking God to prevent his shame and the triumph of his enemies over him — it’s like he says, “God, I’m trusting you, particularly to preserve me. I’m trusting you, particularly to prevent my enemies from taking me out.” And David was right to trust God for this, wasn’t he? Absolutely!

David follows up on this thought in verse three by broadening his plea — “God, let none that wait on thee be ashamed. In fact, the ones who should be ashamed are the ones who sin without cause!” So now David is saying that all those who “wait on” God should be protected. What does that mean? Well, this concept of “waiting

PART ONE: Waiting and Trusting…and Waiting

Psalm 25

upon” God comes from the Hebrew word קוה (qâvâh) and, interestingly enough, carries an understanding of binding together or collecting (See Genesis 1:9 for an example of this). But this concept has a connotation of an expectation or a patient looking toward something, as it is translated “look for” or “wait on” many, many times in Scripture (Job 3:9; 7:2; Isaiah 40:31). See, this word-picture is almost like someone who’s gathered everything up and is ready to move — all he or she is waiting on is the command. Everything is picked up and ready, and now it’s just a waiting game, just looking for movement, motion, a signal.

Now David petitions God in verse four to show him His ways and teach him His paths — this might be cause for pondering some ambiguity were it not for the following verse, into which we’ll delve at the same time as verse four: You see, the fifth verse expounds upon this concept just as verse three expounded upon verse two: David says, “lead me in your ways, and teach me your paths, God!” and by this he means “Keep me in truth and salvation! I need you right now and there’s nothing I can do to save myself! So I’m waiting on you.” Notice that word קוה (qâvâh) again — simply waiting on God.

An aside here — verse five is the first of many verses in this chapter where David pleads with Jehovah to do things that He has either already done or has promised to do, without fail. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen David do this in our study of the Psalms, and it won’t be the last. Why, then, does David do this? Does he fear that God will not remember His promise? Does he fear that he has somehow lost God’s salvation and forgiveness? No, not hardly. David is simply claiming the promises of God and asking God to do what He has already promised to do!

Consider the following — do we not ask Christ to come again quickly? Indeed He has already promised to do so, and is in the process of coming, and has already been scheduled for a certain time according to the Father. Why, then, do we ask? Well, simply because we know it is promised; we ask, claiming this promise and agreeing with Him in it. In the next lesson, we will discuss this at length.

Verse six employs this principle as well: David now asks God to remember His tender mercies and lovingkindnesses. This is not because he is afraid that God will somehow forget, but rather is because David is expressing his heart to God and calling out to Him in a remarkably beautiful way. Consider this verse: “God, remember Your mercy and lovingkindness. It’s Your reputation! You’ve always been merciful and loving and kind! This is who You are!” And David prayed thusly to stamp the image of his emotional, troubled heart upon the mind of God, who

needed no reminding and needed no awareness of how David felt. However, simply because God already knows something does not mean do not communicate it to Him, and simply because He has promised something does not mean we do not ask for it!

Now we follow this pattern of thought into verse seven, where David prays for God to not remember the sins of his youth, or his transgressions, according to His divine mercy, and to remember him in the light of God’s mercy instead of His own sins. These two words, “sins” and “transgressions” come from two different Hebrew words, חטאה (chaṭṭâ’âh) and פשע (pesha‛) respectively, and they have slightly different connotations: “Sin” here is defined as an offense, whereas “transgression” is defined as a revolt or a rebellion. David is not here attempting to sequester certain sins into certain categories; rather, he is attempting to “cover all the bases,” so to speak, and completely list his iniquities that he is beseeching God to not remember. What is salvation today if it is not this concept? “God, don’t see me for the sinner I am — see me in the righteousness of Jesus Christ instead.” Amazing.

In verse eight, David now breaks from requesting and changes briefly to testifying. He states clearly and plainly that God is good and upright, and will as a result of this teach sinners in the way. Wait — did he say “sinners?” Absolutely! Only those who are sick need a physician, only those broken need to be healed, and only those lost need to be found. Thus, only sinners need to be taught His way. Continuing into the next verse, the concept continues: Only the meek need to be guided in judgment, and only the meek need to be taught His way. You see, it is not the boastful pharisee to whom the Lord attends with His wisdom and provision and salvation. It is the one who knows he needs it — the sinner who would be saved by grace.

In verse ten, David continues with more of the same: All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto those who keep his covenant and his testimonies. This is not to say that God is without mercy or devoid of truth in any way; no, He is merciful and truthful, but it is clear that these attributes are only seen and truly enjoyed by those who abide in Him. The sinner receives pardon and mercy, not the pharisee. For the sake of time, let us divide this Psalm at this juncture; however, this lesson should be learned: God is good, all the time — even if that means waiting…and waiting…and waiting. Look unto Him, for salvation is coming for you soon.

Something to think about.

In the last lesson, we left off after verse ten of the twenty-fifth Psalm; we now continue this Psalm beginning with verse eleven.

Verse eleven flows from the truths of the previous verses appropriately; seeing the guiding hand of God and His mercies, David now pleads with God: “For your name’s sake, Jehovah, pardon my iniquity, for it is great.” Now, wait — does not God forgive once and for all? Of course he does. Well, then, did David have some sort of half-salvation? No, not hardly. What David is doing here is the same as he has done before, even in this very Psalm, and what he would do again in this very Psalm — claiming the promises of God. You see, God has already forgiven and pardoned David. Once a sinner is forgiven, he or she is forgiven once and for all. There is no jeopardy in which a believer may find himself or herself should they die before saying “I’m sorry, please forgive me” after sinning. How do we know this?

Well, simply put, there is both a practical and Scriptural problem with this sort of thinking.

Practically, we have so many sins in our lives, even as believers, that we could never hope to apologize or seek forgiveness for them all. Sins of omission, commission, ignorance, and so forth. We were conceived in sin, and as long as we have this flesh, we will battle it, the old nature against our new nature.

Scripturally, we know that Christ said “it is finished” at the cross. In Hebrews 10:14, we read that Christ has perfected believers forever. There is no dilemma here. David has been forgiven once and for all by grace through faith, just as believers are today. Why then, did David ask for pardon? Clearly, it is for the same reason that he asks for mercy in verse sixteen and forgiveness in verse eighteen: This was promised and accomplished, but David is claiming these promises of God in this way. David did not for one second doubt the forgiveness of God. He did not for one minute doubt the mercies of God. He did not for one hour question the

PART TWO: “Forgive Me Again and Again and…”

Psalm 25

pardon of God. He knew he was forgiven. He was simply emotionally claiming these truths, perhaps in a moment in which he could not even forgive himself.

Some have suggested that David was simply asking for a “fresh application” of forgiveness, much like he did in Psalm 51, asking God to restore unto him the joy of salvation. This is altogether possible, and even quite likely, all things considered.

Some men of our generation have put forth the perverse notion that there is a valid Biblical principle of constantly needing to ask forgiveness and pardon every time we sin as though it is something for which we need to beg to receive again and again. This is blatantly unScriptural. Though constant confession and repentance is necessary and proper in the life of the believer, it must be understood that Christ’s forgiveness is just that — Christ’s total, absolute forgiveness. David knew this, as should we.

Note that David was aware that his iniquity was “great.” That is to say, רב (rab) or “abundant” or “excessive.” There is no sin that is not this way before God. Let us never attempt to minimize our own sins in the light of His holiness; to do so is an affront to our Holy God. The proper treatment of sin is to confess it and forsake it.

Next, we see David making a statement in the form of a question — this is done more and more infrequently today, so it can be a bit difficult to decipher. The verse reads “what man is he that feareth the LORD?” Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.” Today, we might say this as “show me a man who fears the LORD, and I’ll show you a man who is led by God.” Note that this final “he” seems to refer not to the path that God chooses, but rather the path that the man chooses; he makes the choice, but is led by God in his choosing by being taught by Him as a result of properly esteeming God.

The thought continues in verse thirteen: This same man is a man who with dwell at ease. Primarily, this deals with prosperity in a general sense. He will לון טוב (lûn ṭôb), or, “lodge in goodness.” He will have what he needs, since he is living according to wisdom provided by God. As a result, his seed will inherit the earth! They have a grand inheritance and will prosper as well! All because of righteous, wise living. But note also that this concept seems to apply well to a sense of mind, as well. The man who dwells at ease doesn’t have to constantly remind himself that it’s all going to be okay — he simply knows. He does not quake in fear or tremble inwardly from anxiety. He is at ease.

Verse fourteen continues this concept furthermore, and states that “the secret of the LORD is with them that fear Him; and He will show them His covenant.” Now, what does this mean? It’s not immediately apparent, is it? Well, let us examine this closely! This word “secret” comes from the Hebrew word סוד (sôd) and actually comes from a root meaning a “seat cushion.” So what does this entail? Keep in mind that the Hebrew language is almost like a hieroglyph of sorts — this cushion imagery evokes a conference or session between intimate friends, a consult among counsellors. Thus, this word connotatively means “intimacy” or “close counsel” in this text. Now look at this word “covenant.” This word comes from the Hebrew word ברית (ber ıyth) and carries the understanding of a compact, confederacy, or league.

So understand, then, that this verse is not speaking of any particular covenant; rather of a general intimacy and closeness with God for those who will fear Him. What a tremendous concept! What an amazing promise!

In verse fifteen, David enters into a transition of sorts back into testifying of God’s goodness while resuming his plea to God for mercy. In this verse, he simply states, “Mine eyes are ever toward the LORD; for He shall pluck my feet out of the net.” By now in this passage, we understand that David’s meaning here is that he is looking to God and only God for deliverance, but what is really fascinating about this verse is that David is, in a very real sense, may be claiming some sort of culpability here. Think about it: If God is leading those that fear Him, how did David get caught in a net? It is because he ceased to fear God in his infatuation with whatever sin is on his heart in this passage. He admits to being snared, but he knows that if there’s One who will free him in His mercy, it is Jehovah God. Amen and amen!

David continues in verse sixteen in a desperate plea for help. In this verse, David pleads with God to turn to him and have mercy upon him, to free him from the net, because he is desolate and afflicted. Sin has a price tag, and David is paying the price right now. This word “desolate” comes from the Hebrew word יחיד (yâchıyd) and means “sole, lonely, solitary.” Sin makes one feel distant from God. Even if one is forgiven and the sin is forgotten by God, it can still interfere in our relationship with Him because it is so vile and bears so many consequences. Also, consider the possibility that David has yet to “forgive himself,” so to speak.

David then speaks to God about his troubles in verse seventeen. He tells God that the troubles of his heart are enlarged. Now, in today’s society, we use “troubles” in an almost lighthearted way, but please understand that David’s troubles were

exactly what the Hebrew word צרה (tsârâh) (translated into “troubles” here) meant: tightness, anguish, distress, and tribulation. He was in actual trouble. Notice that they didn’t simply exist, but were rather “enlarged,” so as to say that they were aggravated or infected, a worst-case-scenario somehow made worse. He then cries out to God to bring him out of his distresses, knowing, once again, that God is the only One who could.

Notice in verse eighteen as David’s plea continues that He asks God not only to look upon his affliction and pain, but also to forgive him all his sins. Now, why would David cry out to God to forgive him not only of this sin, but all of his sins? Hasn’t he done this before when He trusted Christ? We covered this at the beginning of this lesson and for just a little bit in the previous lesson, but now let us allow John Gill to speak to this issue by reading an excerpt from his work, “John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible,” as follows:

David's conscience, being brought to mind by the affliction he laboured under, not only his sin with Bathsheba, but all others; and these were on him as a heavy burden, too heavy to bear; wherefore he entreats that the Lord would lift them off, and take them away from him, by the fresh discoveries of pardoning grace to him. The sins of God's people are removed from them to Christ, by his Father, on whom they have been laid by his act of imputation; and he has bore them, and all the punishment due unto them, and, has taken them away, and made an end of them; and through the application of his blood, righteousness, and sacrifice, they are caused to pass from the consciences of the saints, and are removed as far from them as the east is from the west; and this [fresh discovery of pardoning grace] is what the psalmist here desires, and this he requests with respect to all his sins, knowing well that, if one was left upon him, it would be an insupportable burden to him.

This makes sense (if understood properly), and precludes any unBiblical nonsense about having to constantly keep a short account with Christ with regards to forgiveness not being perpetual. One final note: Hebrews 6:1-6 speaks to this very clearly, stating that if we need to be forgiven again, Christ would have to be crucified again. Simple as that.

David now speaks with an imprecatory tone as the Psalm’s entire tenor shifts to vindication and delivery from David’s enemies in verse nineteen: He asks God to consider his enemies, for they were myriad, and they hated him with not only general hatred, but a cruel hatred. Let not this concept be lost on you! Remember from former lessons: “hatred” simply means to treat someone as an enemy. This

“cruel hatred” goes a step further. The word “cruel” here comes from the Hebrew word חמס (châmâs) and in addition to “violent,” means “unjust, false, unrighteous.” These enemies of David were savage, wicked people who hated God and most assuredly hated David because of their hatred for the God he worshipped.

In verse twenty, David now begs God to keep, or protect, his soul, and deliver him. In a request that mirrors the request of verses two and three, he asks to not be made ashamed as a result of a loss to his enemies, due to the fact that he trusts in Jehovah. This prayer is made more powerful by the addition of verse twenty-one, which is a tremendous evidence of David’s restoration to confidence and fellowship with Jehovah: He actually asks for vindication based upon his integrity and uprightness! This is veritable proof that David is aware that his integrity and uprightness come not from having a perfect “track record” with God, so to speak, but rather having a salvation-producing relationship with God once for all! David then states, as he already has in this chapter before, that he waits upon God.

This marvelous Psalm closes with David pleading with God on behalf of all Israel, much in the spirit of verse three. He asks God to redeem Israel out of all his troubles. This could be because he was concerned his sin had affected his entire nation (a distinct possibility), but is likely a simple, more general plea for God to vindicate the Apple of His Eye, Israel, in the face of the enemy, despite any of their own shortcomings, just like David asked for his own sake.

Something to think about.

This Psalm once again opens up with a simple, no-frills opening statement: “A Psalm of David.” It doesn’t get much clearer or more succinct than this! Let us move right along to the body of the text.

Verse one opens up with what will end up being the theme of this short Psalm: David implores Jehovah to judge him according to the lifestyle that David knows he has lived. David’s first area of qualification is his integrity. Now, as we learned in previous Psalms, David is not appealing to God to observe some sort of inherent integrity found in David’s natural man; no, David is clearly under the proper impression that his integrity comes from God alone in the first place. And so he states to God: “Look at me, and see that I am one of yours. I am not like the wicked heathen who hate you.”

David’s second area of focus in this request is his trust in God. David mentions this not as though he is listing some second, separate quality outside of his integrity, but rather speaking of a companion characteristic to his integrity — he has trusted in God, and will not slide. That word “slide” comes from the Hebrew word מעד (mâ‛ad) and means to waver, shake, slide or slip. David is, of course, speaking once more of his integrity — it is found in his trust of God.

In verse two, David once again petitions God to examine him; however, where verse one speaks of vindication using the word שפט (shâphaṭ) meaning “pronounce sentence,” “vindicate,” or “litigate,” this word “examine” in verse two comes from the word בחן (bâchan) meaning to test, investigate, or prove. So David is asking God not only to vindicate him based on his righteousness and apart-ness from the world, so to speak, but also to test him and try his reins and his heart. This is beautifully paraphrased by Adam Clarke in his Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible as follows: ”To thee I appeal; and feel no hesitation in wishing to have all the motives of my heart dissected and exposed to thy view, and to that of the world.“

“Examine Me, Prove Me, Try Me”

Psalm 26

David, continuing to validate his position before God in verse three, states that God’s lovingkindness, as opposed to His hatred and enmity, is before his eyes. He is a friend of God and he knows it; not by any self-work, but by the justifying power of Jehovah’s salvation by grace through faith. David continues to state to God his position before Him when he tells God that he has walked in His truth. What a concept! To be able to speak with God and let Him know that His salvation has wrought such holiness in one’s life!

In verse four, David continues in this theme by testifying that he has not sat with “vain persons,” that is, people characterized by lying, dissembling, or backbiting, not has he “gone in” with these sorts of folks. We do see some poetic restatement in this verse and the next, but all of these phrases make one truth clear unto us: David is in no way associated with the wickedness of sin as most men of the world are.

Verse five further evidences this great truth as David proclaims that he has hated the congregation of evil doers, and will not sit with the wicked. Please understand that this does not mean that David hates sinners with a “gritting-teeth” hate, so to speak, but rather that he has counted them as an enemy, just like God does. He does not count them as enemies beyond the saving grace of God, but rather as those who hate His God, and as such he will not associate closely with them. Simple as that. This is Biblical separation!

David now invokes sacrificial tradition in verse six as he states that he will wash his hands in innocency — what does this mean? Well, the next part of the verse clarified for us what he means without a doubt: David intends to compass the altar of Jehovah. Literally? Figuratively? Both? Regardless, the truth is the same: David is stating before God that he will be able to render sacrifice to Him with a clean conscience and pure heart. The enemies of Jehovah cannot say the same, to be sure!

In verse seven, David states one of the benefits of this purity and good testimony — it is that we may thankfully proclaim all of God’s good works! My, how often we sully our testimony before God so sorely that if we were to indeed go into our secular places of business and work and gratefully proclaim God’s goodness, it would seem odd and peculiar to those who know us! Oh, to have the love of God and His law like David writes about here! To have the innocence before God that David speaks of in this beautiful, convicting Psalm!

David now summarizes the bulk of his self-vindication in verse eight by telling God that he has loved (notice that state of continual affection, rather than periodical or sudden affection) God’s house, and it is said so strongly that one might correctly infer that David loves absolutely everything that has to do with the House of God. F.B. Meyer, in his devotional, Through the Bible Day by Day, states the following about this thought: “Hatred to evil men is one side of the coin; love to God’s house, the reverse. Either implies the other.” Well said!

David builds off of this truth in verses nine and ten to ask God to not “gather” his soul with sinners or his life with bloody men, men who had mischief and bribes in their hands. Men whose lives were characterized by corruption and wickedness.

So what does this mean, this request? Well, this could mean a more immediate “gathering,” meaning a mere association, and the Hebrew word אסף ('âsaph) does not necessarily prohibit this. However, this Hebrew word is fraught with connotation regarding finality and destruction. It seems that David was pleading with God to not do something that He had already promised not to do — punish the righteous with the wicked. Why? For the same reason David pleaded with God for other causes that were already sure and concrete: he may very well have been claiming the promises of God in a passionate way. He, in his pleading his cause with God, was stating that he was not like them, so he was not doomed along with them.

David now begins to finish the Psalm in verse eleven by committing that he will walk in his integrity. As a result, he asks (and, with proper understanding, we recognize that this is as much an expectation as it is a request) to be redeemed and be shown mercy. Again, David has been redeemed. He has been shown mercy. But he asks for these as a way of humbly claiming the promises of God.

In the final verse, David testifies that, because of the goodness and mercy of God, his foot stands in an even place. And he, in the midst of the entire congregation, will bless the Lord as a result of this. It doesn’t sound like David had a hard time testifying or singing about the goodness of God in his life. It doesn’t sound like he mumbled through songs or was silent in times of public testimonies of God’s grace and mercy. And neither should we.

Something to think about!

Though this Psalm opens up with simply “A Psalm of David” like the surrounding Psalms, it stand alone in its prose and ability to relate to the common reader like not many other Psalms do. Let us examine this divine work of art and allow it to transform our walk with God!

Verse one of this Psalm begins with a simple but amazing statement: “Jehovah is my light and my salvation;” Oh, that we would begin our day as this Psalm begins! If we would but refocus our thoughts and lives on this One, the Light and Salvation of our souls! How easy it is to be distracted from the light in this present world of darkness! Let us never be so entangled in the affairs of this life that we stop worshipping our Light and Salvation, Jehovah! Does not John testify that Jesus is indeed the light of men? Let us look toward the light!

Now listen as David continues: “Whom shall I fear?” In other words, when the light is on, the darkness flees! When salvation comes, death has no power! The enemy is no longer frightening, the devils are no longer threatening, and life is no longer looming! The light is here! No fear!

David parallels this thought with the following profundity: “Jehovah is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” You see, when we are weak, He is strong. And He is strong enough to tackle any enemies that come our way! You who are without strength, rejoice! God is stronger than anything you will face today or tomorrow or in this life! Let Him be your strength! Amen and amen!

Verse two continues to testify of God’s protection: “When the wicked, even my enemies and foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.” Clearly speaking metaphorically here, David speaks of how his enemy came after him like a lion, like a ravenous predator, seeking to devour him whole. But they would not succeed. Why? Because God Himself, the Master and Creator of this World and Beyond, was running interference for David, the little shepherd boy-

Bravery, Faith, Patience

Psalm 27

turned-king. God is running interference for you, too! He is preventing the enemy from swallowing you whole, even if you do not feel this way! Praise Him!

David now expounds upon his confidence in God in the midst of enemies: “Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.” What confidence indeed! Our brother David is trusting God in the midst of anything and everything, and having tasted the deliverance of God before, now declares that he could be confident in the middle of any trial because of the strength of God!

Now listen as David shares his heart in verse four: “I only want one thing, and I’m going to pursue this one thing: To dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, to behold His beauty, and to enquire in his temple.” Wow. This is possibly one of the most revelatory statements made by David in the Psalms: it reveals his deepest intent, which is simply to bask in awe of God forever and ever. Consider that word “enquire.” It comes from the Hebrew word בקר (bâqar), and has to do with seeking out, admiring, and considering. Some have interpreted this to mean asking for things, but this does not seem to be the case due when one considers the syntax and context. No, David is thinking only of delighting in Jehovah and nothing more. That’s all he wants.

Is it all you want?

One advantage to dwelling in the house of Jehovah is stated in verse five: When trouble comes, God will hide David in his pavilion, in his secret place of dwelling, up on a rock, away from all trouble and adversity. Notice that word “pavilion.” It comes from the Hebrew word ס (sôk) and carries the meaning of a covert place, a hidden den. David knows that in the presence of God, he is safe. No matter what.

David continues his testimony in verse six as follows: He says “and now my head is going to be lifted up above my enemies; therefore will I offer in His tabernacle praises of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises unto the LORD!” What a testimony! David is compelled to sing as a result of this confidence he has in Jehovah! This leads one to ponder: Is the lack of wholehearted singing in many of today’s churches a direct reflection of a poor relationship with God? Likely, yes.

In the next several verses, we see a transition to a more petition-oriented approach. In verse seven, David abruptly prays to God to be heard when he cries with his voice, to have mercy upon him and answer him. Again, as we’ve seen in the

Psalms so far, this is not a request that comes from a heart of vacillation in the promises of God, especially not after the last several verses! No, this is, as we've seen prior, another way to claim the promises of God: by genuine request. David just got done stating how confident he was that God would always protect him, and now goes to put this confidence in action by pleading with God to always hear him.

David builds a case of sorts for his petition before God by revealing the utmost of his heart in verse eight: “When you said to seek your face, my deepest self, my heart, the real me said ‘OK’ and sought your face.” This is to say that David was trusting God and no other, at the request of God Himself!

And now in verse nine we read David pleading with God again: “Don’t hide your face far from me, or put me away in anger. You’ve been my help — don’t leave me or forsake me, O God of my salvation.” Whether or not David is actually in the throes of conviction or sorrow here is less relevant than the truth he is proclaiming: God will never leave us or forsake us, no matter what. He may seem afar off, but He will never abandon His own! Praise God for that!

David punctuates this truth in verse ten briefly by stating that even if his own mother and father were to forsake Him, God wouldn’t. No matter what, God will never forsake His own!

In verse eleven, we see a repeated theme first noticed at large in the twenty-fifth Psalm: “Teach me your way, O Jehovah, and lead me in a plain path, because of my enemies.” Simply put, this is David saying, “keep me safe and secure, morally and physically, as I abide in you,” once again claiming a promise of the character and nature of God by way of request. Would that we would claim this principle as well! Would that we would desire this as well! Far too often, we meander about in this world of darkness, never petitioning this of our God! May it never be so!

In verse twelve, we read a bit more of the same as we read in verse nine, though focusing this time on the enemies: “God, don’t deliver me over to them. False witnesses have risen up against me and they breathe out cruelty.” If you’ve been falsely spoken of, you’re not alone. You’re in the same boat as David was, and you ought to pray the same prayer that David did! Claim this promise of God! He will keep you and preserve you from even the most vile and wicked of men!

David now testifies beautifully in verse thirteen: “I would have fainted if I didn’t believe to see the goodness of Jehovah in the land of the living.” Sermon upon sermon could be penned from this astounding verse. Suffice to say, however, that David was aware that if it were not for the goodness of God, he would have fainted, particularly if it were not for his belief in the goodness of God. It was his hope that kept him going. It was his belief that kept him waiting. Which leads to the final verse of this Psalm:

Verse fourteen teaches all readers to simply wait upon God. Be of good courage, that is, חזק (châzaq), dig in, dig deep, seize and don’t let go, and He will strengthen your heart. He will win your battle. Wait, I say, wait on Jehovah. Hard to do, but my, what a victory He will win for you if you simply wait on Him.

Something to think about indeed!