August 13, 2021
Central Truth
As followers of Christ, we are called to take ourselves (and the world) for what we are and always look to God's goodness. We are the powerful images of God, who, at the same time, don't always live up to the title. Praise God for the sacrifice of Jesus!
O my Strength, I will watch for you,
for you, O God, are my fortress.
My God in his steadfast love will meet me;
God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.
. . .
consume them in wrath;
consume them till they are no more,
that they may know that God rules over Jacob
to the ends of the earth.
1
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
till the storms of destruction pass by.
2
I cry out to God Most High,
to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
3
He will send from heaven and save me;
he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah
God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!
4
My soul is in the midst of lions;
I lie down amid fiery beasts—
the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords.
5
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
6
They set a net for my steps;
my soul was bowed down.
They dug a pit in my way,
but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah
7
My heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast!
I will sing and make melody!
8
Awake, my glory!
2
57:8
Or my whole being
Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awake the dawn!
9
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
10
For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
11
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
1
Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?
4
58:1
Or you mighty lords (by revocalization; Hebrew in silence)
Do you judge the children of man uprightly?
2
No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
your hands deal out violence on earth.
3
The wicked are estranged from the womb;
they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
4
They have venom like the venom of a serpent,
like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
5
so that it does not hear the voice of charmers
or of the cunning enchanter.
6
O God, break the teeth in their mouths;
tear out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD!
7
Let them vanish like water that runs away;
when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted.
8
Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime,
like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.
9
Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,
whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!
5
58:9
The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain
10
The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11
Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
surely there is a God who judges on earth.”
1
Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
protect me from those who rise up against me;
2
deliver me from those who work evil,
and save me from bloodthirsty men.
3
For behold, they lie in wait for my life;
fierce men stir up strife against me.
For no transgression or sin of mine, O LORD,
4
for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.
Awake, come to meet me, and see!
5
You, LORD God of hosts, are God of Israel.
Rouse yourself to punish all the nations;
spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah
6
Each evening they come back,
howling like dogs
and prowling about the city.
7
There they are, bellowing with their mouths
with swords in their lips—
for “Who,” they think,
7
59:7
Hebrew lacks they think
“will hear us?”
8
But you, O LORD, laugh at them;
you hold all the nations in derision.
9
O my Strength, I will watch for you,
for you, O God, are my fortress.
10
My God in his steadfast love
8
59:10
Or The God who shows me steadfast love
will meet me;
God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.
11
Kill them not, lest my people forget;
make them totter
9
59:11
Or wander
by your power and bring them down,
O Lord, our shield!
12
For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips,
let them be trapped in their pride.
For the cursing and lies that they utter,
13
consume them in wrath;
consume them till they are no more,
that they may know that God rules over Jacob
to the ends of the earth. Selah
14
Each evening they come back,
howling like dogs
and prowling about the city.
15
They wander about for food
and growl if they do not get their fill.
16
But I will sing of your strength;
I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.
For you have been to me a fortress
and a refuge in the day of my distress.
17
O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,
for you, O God, are my fortress,
the God who shows me steadfast love.
1
O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses;
you have been angry; oh, restore us.
2
You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open;
repair its breaches, for it totters.
3
You have made your people see hard things;
you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger.
4
You have set up a banner for those who fear you,
that they may flee to it from the bow.
11
60:4
Or that it may be displayed because of truth
Selah
5
That your beloved ones may be delivered,
give salvation by your right hand and answer us!
6
God has spoken in his holiness:
12
60:6
Or sanctuary
“With exultation I will divide up Shechem
and portion out the Vale of Succoth.
7
Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim is my helmet;
Judah is my scepter.
8
Moab is my washbasin;
upon Edom I cast my shoe;
over Philistia I shout in triumph.”
13
60:8
Revocalization (compare Psalm 108:10); Masoretic Text over me, O Philistia, shout in triumph
9
Who will bring me to the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10
Have you not rejected us, O God?
You do not go forth, O God, with our armies.
11
Oh, grant us help against the foe,
for vain is the salvation of man!
12
With God we shall do valiantly;
it is he who will tread down our foes.
1
Hear my cry, O God,
listen to my prayer;
2
from the end of the earth I call to you
when my heart is faint.
Lead me to the rock
that is higher than I,
3
for you have been my refuge,
a strong tower against the enemy.
4
Let me dwell in your tent forever!
Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! Selah
5
For you, O God, have heard my vows;
you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
6
Prolong the life of the king;
may his years endure to all generations!
7
May he be enthroned forever before God;
appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him!
8
So will I ever sing praises to your name,
as I perform my vows day after day.
1
For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
2
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.
3
How long will all of you attack a man
to batter him,
like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
4
They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.
They take pleasure in falsehood.
They bless with their mouths,
but inwardly they curse. Selah
5
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
6
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
7
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
8
Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah
9
Those of low estate are but a breath;
those of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
they are together lighter than a breath.
10
Put no trust in extortion;
set no vain hopes on robbery;
if riches increase, set not your heart on them.
11
Once God has spoken;
twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God,
12
and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.
For you will render to a man
according to his work.
1
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
3
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
4
So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.
5
My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
6
when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7
for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
8
My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.
9
But those who seek to destroy my life
shall go down into the depths of the earth;
10
they shall be given over to the power of the sword;
they shall be a portion for jackals.
11
But the king shall rejoice in God;
all who swear by him shall exult,
for the mouths of liars will be stopped.
1
Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;
preserve my life from dread of the enemy.
2
Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,
from the throng of evildoers,
3
who whet their tongues like swords,
who aim bitter words like arrows,
4
shooting from ambush at the blameless,
shooting at him suddenly and without fear.
5
They hold fast to their evil purpose;
they talk of laying snares secretly,
thinking, “Who can see them?”
6
They search out injustice,
saying, “We have accomplished a diligent search.”
For the inward mind and heart of a man are deep.
7
But God shoots his arrow at them;
they are wounded suddenly.
8
They are brought to ruin, with their own tongues turned against them;
all who see them will wag their heads.
9
Then all mankind fears;
they tell what God has brought about
and ponder what he has done.
10
Let the righteous one rejoice in the LORD
and take refuge in him!
Let all the upright in heart exult!
1
Praise is due to you,
14
65:1
Or Praise waits for you in silence
O God, in Zion,
and to you shall vows be performed.
2
O you who hear prayer,
to you shall all flesh come.
3
When iniquities prevail against me,
you atone for our transgressions.
4
Blessed is the one you choose and bring near,
to dwell in your courts!
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
the holiness of your temple!
5
By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness,
O God of our salvation,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas;
6
the one who by his strength established the mountains,
being girded with might;
7
who stills the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples,
8
so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.
You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.
9
You visit the earth and water it;
15
65:9
Or and make it overflow
you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide their grain,
for so you have prepared it.
10
You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
11
You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.
12
The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills gird themselves with joy,
13
the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they shout and sing together for joy.
Ah, King David. Just another family member in a long story of family members who can't seem to get it quite right.
At this point in the story of the Bible, we are still looking for that "offspring of the woman" from Genesis 3:15 who will crush the head of the serpent, and it starts to look like David might be a good candidate. Unfortunately, we see David make some terrible decisions back in 2 Samuel 11 and 24 that keep the story moving and let us know the serpent crusher still hasn't arrived.
The Psalms are incredible because we have so many chapters written by David that allow us into his mind while he is at his best and his worst. Psalms 57-65 show us a version of David that relies HEAVILY on Yahweh (God's name) for daily provisions. What a role model! But as is true with all people, we also see David calling on Yahweh to punish the evildoers . . . as long as that means everyone else. Take a look at Psalm 59:9-10 and see how David relies on the power of Yahweh! Now look a few verses ahead at Psalm 59:13 . . . yikes.
Now, it is important to take note that David lived in a different time and culture than when Jesus walked the earth, and certainly a different time and culture than we do now. What is important to understand here is that these portraits of godly role models also serve as a warning to us about the reality of our situation. We are the image of God from Genesis 1:27, made to work and rule over this earth as partners with Yahweh! We are also people who fall short of that title and can never quite live up to the original ideal. The characters in the Old Testament are like mirrors we should hold up to ourselves and realize that the same cycles of love and brokenness exist within us. Let's take the stories of these characters' good and bad for what they are, recognize the same potential within ourselves, and draw closer to Christ.
1. David was said to be "a man after God's own heart," yet he engaged in some exceptionally shady decision-making. What does this tell you about our relationship with the Creator? As you wrestle with this question, consider the reality that we are imperfect partners with a perfect God.
2. Throughout these psalms, we see David depend on Yahweh for his safety and protection. I must admit that I have never been chased down by armies, but I have certainly walked straight into meetings and situations with the understanding that God was the only thing protecting me in those situations. What can you personally learn from David's reliance on God in these chapters? Be mindful that David explicitly wrote some of these psalms for the purpose of teaching younger generations.
3. As we read the Old Testament, we have to always be on the lookout for the prophesied "serpent crusher" from Genesis 3:15 that will destroy the serpent and end his reign of terror over humanity. Throughout the Old Testament, we are constantly let down by characters such as Noah, Abraham, Saul, David, and Solomon until we eventually get to a point where it doesn't seem like anyone is even TRYING to give off the right impressions. Thankfully, we have the New Testament to tell us of the One who comes and crushes the head of the serpent at the cost of being mortally wounded when the serpent strikes back. Who fulfills the prophecies from Genesis 3:15, Genesis 12:3, 2 Samuel 7:12, 16 (and so many more)?