Month: March 2017

So this psalm begins a new section called Book 4 which encompasses psalms 90-106.  The entire book of Psalms has 5 sections and we are heading into the next to last section.  Hard to believe that we are so far into our Psalm Challenge.  If it were a 90 Day Challenge we would be done today!

I have often referred to verse 4 when I speak about the story of creation.  I am what one would call a creationist.  I believe the story of creation as found in Genesis.  I just don’t think it took 7 literally 24 hour days in order to create the world.  I believe that dinosaurs existed millions of years ago.  The point of creation is simply that God created.  I use vs.4 as an example that the timing of God is not the same as our own.  When the Scripture says that God created in 7 days there is nothing that limits our understanding to think that it was 7 literal days.  But the point of this psalm is not creation.  

We find the introduction of this psalm calling it a prayer of Moses.  You remember him.  He was the one who led the people of Israel across the Red Sea onto dry land.  He was the one who received the 10 Commandments directly from God.  He was the one who experienced first hand the wrath of God as it is described in vs.7.  

I can picture Moses putting this prayer together.  The actual petition itself begins in vs.13 and goes till the end.  Before the petition we find the prayer of Moses being that of one extolling the attributes and the presence of the Lord as witnessed throughout history.  That is a great way to pray.  Begin with a celebration and then follow it up with a petition if you happen to have one.

The petition that Moses brings before the Lord is asking God to turn His anger away from the Israelites.  This could very well be a prayer that he prayed once God said that they would not enter the promised land, but rather the generations that followed would enter.  Who knows when it was, but I can definitely picture Moses putting this prayer together.

In unrelated news, today if Friday and it has been raining like crazy.  Today also is one of my favorite days because I get to meet with the preschool kids.  Here is a song that we sang today.

This is one of the earlier praise songs that I can remember.  I really, really like this song.  And who knew that the words to it came from Psalm 89?  So did you notice how this psalm is broken down?  From the beginning of this psalm all the way to vs.18 you have the author speak to the mighty power of God.  He goes on for 18 verses about how amazing and good God is.  He speaks specifically about how powerful God is.  

Then starting in vs. 19 you have the voice of God ring loud and clear and He is absolutely an ally who is by the side of the people of God in all situations.  God is speaking specifically to David, or at least the one enthroned by God.  Thanks to Dot for the insight into who Ethan the Ezrahite was.  He was a grandson of Samuel, the high priest.  He would have been a close friend of David as well.  But once these verses end in vs.38 we see a very clear strong transition.

We find the author bemoaning the fact that Israel has turned its back on God and so as a result God will strike them down.  It is another lament that has come out of the psalm of joy.  But it ends with the thanksgiving of vs.52 where we are told that in all times and in all things: Blessed be the Lord God forever and ever.  Now that’s the truth (which is a literal translation for Amen and Amen).

Well, if yesterday I wanted a lament, today I surely do not.  I’m feeling great!  But boy do we get a lament in Psalm 88.  It is one of the most gut wrenching psalms that we have in the entire psalter.  The despair in the voice of the author is palpable.  What strikes me the most about this psalm is his many references to death in a whole variety of nuances.  

Let’s look at the different words that he uses to describe death: Sheol (it is often used synonymously for Hell as well.  But that is a mischaracterization.  Sheol is simply the place where people go when they die, according to the Old Testament.  It is interesting that in the Old Testament there isn’t a place where people go where there is the weeping and gnashing of teeth or where Christ is with them in eternity.  The conception of heaven and hell doesn’t become more defined until the New Testament and John Milton much, much later.), pit, among the dead, grave, the regions dark and deep, shades, and land of forgetfulness.  There is enough there to make you think that he thought about death often.

Here’s to hoping that the next psalm speaks more about joy than death.  

I’m listening to this music as I’m writing the Psalm since it is one of my favorite hymns and it is so upbeat.  It is also completely taken from Psalm 87.  Do you see that in vs.3?  See, you probably didn’t know that so much of what we know and so much of what we do in church comes directly from the Psalms.  That is especially true in Presbyterian churches since the Psalms have always served such an important role.  

I was actually feeling more in the mood for a lament today since: my knee is crazy swollen and no one seems to have any idea why, I dropped my computer and broke the back of it, they replaced our wood insert (for free) and after saying everything was fine I went to start a fire and it rocks back and forth like crazy, and I’m sure there are other reasons for complaining.  Anyway, all of this led me to wanting to hear and read another lament so I could say: I know exactly what you mean!

But instead I get this psalm and I still have the hymn in the background (I pressed replay).  That is what the psalms are able to do for you.  They can take you from one stage of mind to another which is much more healthy and reflective of the presence of the Lord in our life.  

So I should be the one who provides insight and understanding as you read this Psalm.  I am puzzled and cannot find an answer, however, to vs.16.  Who is this serving girl that is mentioned?  The only educated guess that I can make, since I can’t find any of the commentaries which address this, is that this is actually Solomon who might be writing this Psalm.  I know, it says Psalm of David, but as we have seen in the past just like artists who were around in the 15th and 16th century there were schools of art that were attributed to famous artists and so they are attributed with that work.  Solomon, who was the son of Bathsheba, who could be considered a serving girl, just might be the author of this psalm.

If this is the case then that is ironic, because he begins the psalm by claiming that he is poor, and yet Solomon is considered not only one of the wisest leaders in history, but also one of the wealthiest.  

Vs. 8 makes me think of this song.  I’ll leave you with this.

Will you just read vs.10 and tell me what you think.  I love to think of the marriage of righteousness and peace.  So think about it.  You can have peace in a nation but if the ruler is a despot and a dictator then it would probably mean that righteousness is not a part of the picture.  Conversely, you may have the most righteous ruler who is a lover of all humankind, but if there is not peace in the land, then you will have war.  But, when peace and righteousness kiss, you get both and the ideal rule takes place.  

Don’t get me wrong, we do not live in a theocracy, but I’m not sure if I wouldn’t want to.  What I mean is that I think I might want to live in a Christian theocracy.  Israel was a theocracy which meant that the king also built the temple and encouraged the people to worship.  I think people in our nation want to live in a theocracy, as long as the theo (god) who is worshipped is the Christian God.  Our nation was founded upon the freedom of religion.  This does not mean a Christian majority, it means that you are free in this country to serve and worship the god that you want to.  

IF you are someone who complains that there isn’t prayer in school, or that as Christians we are persecuted in this country, then I would invite you to rethink the way this country was founded.  It was not founded for Christians, it was founded for refugees who would be able to worship the god that they wanted how they wanted.  I love our country because of this history, but I wonder what people expect when I hear folks complain that Christians are no longer the favored ones.  We were never meant to be.  

This song reflects the words of this psalm.  We used to sing this in Moscow when we had a jazz pianist as our accompanist.  You never were sure where it would end up, but the words never changed.  Better is one day in our courts than a thousand elsewhere.  

In encourage you to listen to this song and follow along in the psalm and I think it will speak to you.

For some reason this song comes to mind when I read this Psalm.  

I think it is because this Psalm is a walk down memory lane of when God came to the rescue of Israel against some of the fiercest foes.  You notice that the author does describe and call out by name those enemies.  I hope you also noticed that there were 10 enemies which are listed.  The number 10 is not one of those numbers that is used consistently in Scripture like 12 or 3 or 7, but it is one that is used often enough for us to know that it basically represents all of the enemies of Israel.  

So when we get to vs.13 we know that when he says: “Make them like whirling dust”, we know that he means all of the nations when he says “them”.  Some of the victories described in this psalm are some of the greatest victories that Israel ever had.  What are some of the greatest victories that we may have had as a nation?  When we talk about D-Day, we know that it set the path for a victory in WWII, but do we remember the slaughter that took place where so many of our troops were decimated?  The Psalmist certainly lifts that up as a reality which they faced even with the victories which are recounted.

It is always a bit disconcerting when you read about God taking his place among the other gods.  It almost sounds like it gives credence to the fact that there are other gods.  Remember where Israel found itself as a people and as a nation.  We do not live in a culture where on every street corner there is a figurine or a statue that is thought to have power because it is somehow a god who oversees and protects.  That was the reality of the psalmist, he lived in the midst of people who had their own family gods.  Remember Laban who pursued Jacob because Rachel had stolen the household gods? 

We also see earlier on in Genesis 6:2 a verse that I have never understood.  Is a pastor supposed to point out verses they don’t understand?  Anyway, this whole reference to me serves as reminder that there are people out there who believe so radically different than we do.  The terminology that we use: salvation, grace, redemption, sacrifice, etc. is so comfortable and familiar to us that we often forget that when people step into the church it almost sounds like a different language to them with its own vocabulary.  

But what people will recognize and appreciate is the fact that the God that we serve, and I will maintain that He is the one and only true God, is concerned and cares about the weak, and the orphan, the lowly, and the destitute.  As long as we share the same concern as our God, then people should be able to see the light of Christ in us.

It is interesting that in this Psalm it seems that the voice which is used to depict the speaker is that of God.  More often than not it is the voice of the psalmist who is pleading to God for one reason or another.  Here, instead, the author takes on the voice of God.  This is true especially starting in vs.6 through the end of the psalm.  

The reference to the waters of Meribah is a reference to Exodus 17 which describes the Israelites and their demand for water.  The places Meribah and Massah mean quarrel and test respectively.  This psalm reflects the quarreling and the testing that the people of Israel were responsible for in respect to God.  It is a psalm of lament not of the people against God, like it usually is seen in the psalms, but rather a lament of God against the people, like is seen in the prophets and other places.  I like the way which God trades places.  It is absolutely justified in this situation.