Category Archives: Psalms

“You Are the God Who Works Wonders”

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“I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples.”(Psalms 77:11-14)

Over the past few days my family and I had the joy of a good friend’s company. Joel Lind is back in the states after two years of gospel labor in Asia. Over the course of that time my family has anticipated the reunion we all just experienced. Elizabeth has drawn pictures of Joel and has heard us pray for him regularly when we tuck her into bed. She was seven months old the last time we were all together. She is getting closer to three years old now and over the past week she treated him like a hero–just like I hoped she would do. I could go on about that and about how Hannah greeted Joel with a lovely smile the first time they met… but I want to highlight something from Psalm 77:14, “You are the God who works wonders.”

The psalmist is battling doubt here. He questions the faithfulness of God. He is surrounded by uncertainty in regards to his present and his future. But then he “remembers the deeds of the LORD” (v. 11). He recounts God’s salvation of Israel. God has worked. He has expressed his power. He is the God who works wonders.

So at the brink of a new semester, a mile-marker in my graduate studies—nonetheless where my family is in seeking clarity for where to be in future ministry—grace is poured out on me to remember the wonders that he has worked. The wonder is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And flowing from that are the numerous shimmers of wonder that have been lavished upon me in Christ.

The connection to Joel’s visit: he is a monument to me of God’s wondrous grace worked in my life. What began as a group of guys who lived together and decided to do a Bible study is today what I look back on as one of the single most important things that has ever happened to me. I cannot quantify the grace that was poured out upon me during that season of my life, along with the other brothers.  Joel’s visit is a means of grace to me in that I am reminded of that wonder in the past and given hope for wonder now and tomorrow.

In Jesus Christ alone, amen.

Our Prayer for Mercy

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It doesn’t matter how messed up you are. That’s what makes grace a controversy. The cry for mercy like David’s in Psalm 51 will not go unheard. This is a holy cry.

We can identify with David because his prayer here must incessantly be our own. The cry for mercy is not only an action of forsaking all other options. The cry for mercy must also be an embrace, a continual embrace. The cry for mercy is confident and focused. It is according to something, that is, according to the LORD’s steadfast love.

What necessitates the life of praying for mercy is not the accumulation of guilt but the absolute extinguishment of it by Another. The cry for mercy is not a license to live in darkness, but a testimony that we have been transferred into the kingdom of light. We don’t ask for mercy because we are enslaved to a life of sin. “Create in me a clean heart! (v. 10).”

The prayer for mercy encompasses our sorrow for sin and our hope in the work of Christ. We ask for mercy in reference to Jesus Christ who bore the wrath we deserved, removed our sins, and freed us from bondage.

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love;”

Amen.

Grace is a Controversy

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TO THE CHOIRMASTER. A PSALM OF DAVID, WHEN NATHAN THE PROPHET WENT TO HIM, AFTER HE HAD GONE IN TO BATHSHEBA.

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.”

Grace is a controversy. The superscript of Psalm 51 gives the reader the horrible occasion of David’s prayer. Here is a man who has committed adultery, then murder. He has condemned himself (2 Sam. 12:1-7). This all makes his prayer more ‘intolerable.’ David is guilty and yet he comes to God. How can that be right? This man is guilty. And in all of his guilt and shame, he comes to God.

David comes to God and cries for mercy on the basis of God’s steadfast love and abundant mercy. He has no leg of his own on which to stand. He has nothing. The only chance that David will receive mercy will be solely dependent upon the LORD’s sovereign grace and unconstrained goodness through the power of His covenant love. The plea for mercy is the confession that you have no other option. The plea for mercy is an act of forsaking all else. There is nothing that he can present before the Judge of the universe. He has no trinket to impress. No good deed to deflect his crime. He is empty-handed and undone.

Here. Right here. This where we are. We may not have committed the same atrocity as David, but our coming to God will happen no other way. Just like David, we have no leg on which to stand. We have nothing to offer. We are just as broken. Just as desperate. Our coming to God must be a cry for mercy. A cry that forsakes all else and is according to the sovereign grace of God poured out in the crucified Son.

Considering Psalm 15: “Who Shall Dwell On Your Holy Hill?”

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I think that the unified reading of Psalm 1-2 is also confirmed throughout the Book of Psalms. Seeing the connection between the blessed man of Psalm 1 and the King of Psalm 2 is particularly helpful when the reader comes to, say, Psalm 15.

Psalm 14 ends: “Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!” (v. 7). This is a clear expression of Messianic hope. Salvation will come out of Zion, the holy hill where the LORD has set his King (2:6).

Now Psalm 15 begins with a question: “Who shall dwell on your holy hill?” (v. 1b, sidenote: the children of man are not good candidates, 14:2-3). The LORD’s holy hill, Zion,  is crucially important. The reader already knows who dwells there. It is the King. And yet, the answer to the question of 15:1 is remarkably similar to Psalm 1. Who shall dwell on the LORD’s holy hill? “He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart…” (v. 2ff). This suggests one who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers (1:1).

I think that the clearest link is in how the Psalm 15 ends: “He who does these things shall never be moved” (v. 5c). The one who will dwell on the LORD’s holy hill will never be moved, that is, he is contrasted to the wicked who are like chaff that the wind drives away (1:3-4).

The King who reigns in Zion in Psalm 2 is the blameless man who dwells there in Psalm 15. Moreover, the following psalms really began to pick up a significant theme of kingship (18:49-50; cf. 2:6-8; 20:4-5, 9; 21:6-7; 22:27-28; 24:1-10). Notice that Psalm 19 (esp. v. 7ff,  ”the law of the LORD”)  is neatly situated in the context of all the King references above.

The King’s delight is in the law of the LORD and on his law he meditates day and night. It shall be with him and he shall read in it all the days of his life (Deut. 17:19). The King loves the word and is saturated by the word and is himself the Word (Jn 1:1-2). This is too much.

The Blessed Man Who Is The King: The One Messiah of Psalm 1-2

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The Psalter is generous and intentional in the opening chapters. Psalm 1-2 is recognized by many to be the reader’s interpretative guide for the remainder of the book. One way to view chapters 1 and 2 is to see a two-part theme of the book: first, the primacy of Scripture; second, the promise to David in 2 Sam 7. Another way of understanding 1 and 2, first introduced to me by Robert L. Cole, is to consider their unity–Psalms 1 and 2 are two parts of really one psalm (Psalm 1-2).

This unified reading suggests that there is really one central theme of the book: the hope of the Messiah, the promised Son/King of David. This one central theme becomes apparent when we consider that the first and second psalm are not speaking about two different things.

The opening chapter is more than an example of a life saturated with the Word. The verbal links and the lack of a superscript in Psalm 2 signify that there is an intentional unity. The two contrasts in 1-2 are the same, although 2 is more developed. The wicked in Ps1 become the nations who rage in Ps2. The contrasted blessed man of Ps1 who does not sit in the seat of scoffers becomes the King who is set on Zion in Ps2. Interestingly, he is set there by the one who sits in the heavens and laughs in derision at the vain plots of the peoples.

The link between the King and a man who meditates on the Law day and night is clearly discernible in light of the Pentateuch. Moses’ stipulations concerning Israel’s kings states that the king must be a man of the Scriptures (Deut 17:18-19). The thematic King of the Book of Psalms will not fail as the past kings have. This King is blessed and he walks in blamelessness because of his delight in the Scriptures.

Moreover, this King enjoys a unique relationship with the LORD. This King is called Son and he is given supremacy over the nations. The King who reigns in Zion will be the King who will reign over all the earth. At this point, supremacy is the definite highlight. This King will judge and the warnings are rightly sounded (2:9-11; cf. Num. 24:8; Rev. 19:15). Pay homage to this King lest you perish in the way, perhaps the way (derekh) referred to in 1:1 (see also “perish” in 1:6).

But then here again is the blessed (‘ashrei). Blessed are all who take refuge in him. Blessed are all who take refuge in the King who is the blessed man whose delight is in the law of the LORD. Could this be the Psalter’s version of the Pauline theme of union with Messiah? To be sure, by the end of Ps2 we can say: May I be found in the King, not walking in the way of our own, but in that which is of the LORD, the way of the blessed man who is our refuge.

The Morning Can Be Devastating…

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“Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.” (Psalms 143:8)

The morning can be devastating. Reality sets in. We need good news. We need to hear of the LORD’s steadfast love. The guilt of our faithless hearts must give way to the faithfulness of Christ who still keeps us and upholds the universe by his word.

Jesus Christ bore our sins in his body on the tree. He has set us free from guilt, shame, and fear, and from the cracked up fabrications of our own righteousness. By his death and resurrection, he has unleashed the covenant love of the triune God upon us. He has united us to himself by faith. He has reconciled us to Father and sealed us with his Spirit.

The holy Three and One has called us his own– the Father through the Son by the Spirit. This is good news.

Grace is a Master and How That Trumps Our Stupid Folk Religion

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“I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine.
“If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine.”
(Psalms 50:9-12)

Folk religion is an interesting phenomenon. It is something like the syncretism of superstition and legitimate religious doctrine. It is not Scripture-oriented. It is saturated with the practical. It is the scribbles of life removed from the realm of true truth. It develops over time, like a fungus. It contaminates our perception of reality. Here is one incentive for the person reformata semper reformanda.

What does a person really think about God if they believe that their attempt to do good things really accrues his favor? Is God so needy that the only way he is capable of giving us good is when we have paid our dues? Is the triune God who is sovereign over everything like a pool membership?

“Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” (Romans 11:35)

God does not want your stupid bull or goat or month of perfect attendance or successful week on your Bible-reading plan. He wants you. How have we forgotten that? We have been breathing in too much of the wrong air. Where are we hearing this stuff that we need to feed God? Who is promising people out there the favor of God if only they would do _____. Or give _____. Or act _____. Or stop _____?

God will have none of it. He says so.

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23-24)

God will stop your doing and giving and acting and stopping. If you will be justified, you will be justified by his grace as a gift. There are no options here. It is grace as a gift or it is suffering under His righteous wrath forever. It is threatening, isn’t it? To know that it is all of grace requires a submission that is not expected if you are allowed to pay your subscription. Grace is a master like that. It is a purely Christian concept.

Like a Weaned Child With Its Mother

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“A SONG OF ASCENTS. OF DAVID.
O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.
O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore.” (Psalms 131:0-3)

The context of Psalm 131 is the psalmist waiting on the LORD in the midst of affliction. “Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth, yet they have not prevailed against me” (129:2). “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the LORD…” (130:5-6). The waiting is a trusting in the hesed of God—the psalm concludes, “And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities” (v. 8). Psalm 131 presents itself as a more detailed explanation of what this waiting entails. The superscript is strategic in that David is the epitome of a faithful Israelite who hopes in the promise of God (cf. 132:11).

Verse 2 follows with a positive affirmation and concluding comparison. David calmed and quieted his soul. Therefore—because David calmed and quieted his soul—his soul is like a weaned child with its mother. What does this mean? How should the reader understand the metaphor?

Without stretching the metaphor, I think the characteristic what is underlined by David’s use of a weaned child is the reality that the child has aged. The child is still with its mother. There is no hint of independence here. But the child has gone through the initial stages of feeding—the late night outbursts and the sporadic, unpredictable desire for milk. The weaned child is patient. This child sits by its mother’s side and waits for her declaration of mealtime. That is David’s soul. It is calmed and waiting. It does not have to whine now, for his soul is as sure that God will fulfill his promise as a weaned child is that its mothers will give food. And it is here that the tone of the psalm changes and David instructs Israel: “O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore” (Ps 131:3).

Longing With the Psalter

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Psalms 93-99 are beautifully composed to celebrate and pray for God’s kingly reign over all the earth. It is explicitly the OT notion of the kingdom of God, portrayed eschatalogically. Psalm 100 summarizes in praise and highlights the covenantal privilege of Israel as the “sheep of his pature.” The psalter focuses in from universal reign to gracious election and the Lord’s steadfast love (100:1 and then in the psalm of David, 101:1)!

The psalm of David portrays a blameless man  who crushes wickedness (101:2; cf. 1:1-6). Then Psalm 102 is very eschatological–there is future hope when the Lord will have pity on Zion and rebuild her, “he appears in his glory” (102:13, 16). This is a day when nations and all the kings of the earth shall fear God’s glory (v. 15). Verses 21-22 show us a new Zion where the peoples and kingdoms gather to worship the Lord.

Psalm 103 is another psalm of David who blesses the Lord. Steadfast love (or “covenant faithfulness”) is mentioned in vv. 4, 8, 11, 17. David writes reminiscent of the Pentateuch… the Lord “great in steadfast love towards those who fear him” (v. 11). Explicit in 103:7-8 is David referring back to Exodus 34:6. He says to God, “this is who You are!”… “this is how You made Yourself known to Moses and back there, in Moses’ intercession, You gave grace and mercy!”

The Lord God is a faithful God who rules over all… David closes, “Bless the Lord, all His works, in all places of His dominion!” (v. 22). And then Psalm 104 comes and shows God as the sovereign giver and sustainer of all creation.

“…these all look to you…” (104:27)

There is coming a day when there will be no more wickedness (v. 35). This is an eschatological hope of the psalter. “Judge the wicked!” means “Your kingdom come!”

Amen, come Lord Jesus!

Psalm 62:5-8

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Selah

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.

He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.

On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him;

God is a refuge for us.

Selah